Well, I don’t know what the heck I actually accomplished today. I thought long and hard about the color scheme -a mistake as always. As a result I realized it should probably be blue light coming from the pool and more prominent yellow/white light from behind. So the image is a mess right now…
I think I’ve said it before, but this is exactly one of the reasons I enjoy your WIPs so much. You never shy away from making some dramatic change to your picture if you think it’s for the best.
I agree with you on this new color scheme. The blue colors in the pool give a better feeling of coldness and death than the red colors did before.
Yep, I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this turns out! 
I spent a good three hours trying to clean up some of the mess made by the color change. I also decided that turbulent water about the edges of the pool might be interesting…Not quite done with either the pool or water, but at least you can see where they are going.
Golgi!: No I don’t -but sometimes I wish I could do without them =) More work for me!
I must say I have enjoyed this immensely from the very start. I love your blending of colors and just like Golgi! said, that you dont shy away from making dramatic changes to your pictures - something I never liked doing, since it “wastes” so much spent time. I really like the cold and warm colors in this piece, it gives it such a nice atmosphere! Its also very interesting to see how you work with your little brother as model, gives me plenty of ideas!
I believe the water made more sense when it was calm though, but that might just be me. ~_^
I changed Egan’s outfit because the red one wasn’t working (the replacement is still really rough). I also played around with the lighting on his form and started “cleaning up” his feet. Heh.
DragonSnail: I don’t really enjoy making big changes either, it is just that sometimes when you know something isn’t working you have to shake things up to come up with something better. As for the water, I was thinking that the unnatural calm in the middle and turbulence at the sides helped add to eerie or unnatural feel of the vision.
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Do any of the background kids still look “funny” (in their stances, clothes, features etc.) ?
I think it’s progressing rather well. That one boy is still bugging me…
At 100% view, it looks like he’s looking at something behind your main character, while everyone else is reacting to the boy in the pool (nice how you’ve been working on that). I can tell when I magnify the image in Photoshop, that the boy is actually looking at Egan - however his body and his head are turned away so at a normal view, it looks like he’s not reacting to Egan. No…I haven’t given him Superman powers, but just demonstrating how it appears to me that he’s looking at something else besides Egan.
Maybe, if you changed his positioning just a bit (and this may be more time consuming than you want to do, sorry) if you could do something like the following (just a quick gesture to show what I mean, shifting his stance a bit and turning his head and upper body more toward Egan):
Hope that helps!
t
It seems that the more I fiddle with them the more I find to fiddle with. Sheesh.
tatiana: Major thanks for the paint-overs and crits. Does he look better now? (I know there is still something a little off).
Nice improvement on the boy’s face; he looks a bit younger and boyish now. I think it might help even more if you make the outline of his eyes lighter. Right now it kinda looks like he’s wearing eyeliner/mascara… 
I like where the picture is going. The turmoiled water has a great effect, I think.
I just wanted to say that I think your paintings are great. I love the lighting effects and your use of color.
To maintain the ‘youthfulness’ you’re looking for, I’d stick with those chubby/full cheeks and try not to use too many facial wrinkles.
These images look awesome so far!
I worked on cleaning up the water some and fixing the ripples that come from his feet. I also added some light to the distant background in an attempt to make it less flat. I tried to add some marbled veining to the stone (so-far I haven’t come up with anything I like for more than five seconds). I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to show the connection between Egan and the vision. If anyone has suggestions on that they’d be greatly appreciate -it is supposed to be the focus of this illustration.
tatiana: Good.
Golgi!: You have a point about his “eye liner” I’ll see what I can do.
NinjaSuz: I think their faces will undergo further “chubing” and “smoothing.”
Please keep the crits coming. How would you improve this image?
[font=Verdana]99% finished. I’ll have to see what my independent study professor says about it tomorrow, before I pronounce it “done.” Anyone have any last minute problems they’ve noticed?[/font]
No quibbles from me! This illustration has progressed very nicely. I’m looking forward to seeing what you create with your next one.
t
tatiana: Good =) I’m definitely ready for the next one -I feel like I’ve been working on this one forever.
Ok, more like 85% finished. Here is the laundry list of changes from my professor (I’m trying to get them all down before I forget):
-Revisit the background children’s feet (especially the blonde girl).
-Still on the blonde: adjust her eyes so she’s really looking at Egan.
-Face of the second guy to the right needs proportions readjusted (move eyes down).
-Fix the mouth of the girl with the red cape, rework her expression.
-Lose the “veined” texture on the stone pool surface.
-Fix Egan’s left hand (needs more dimension).
-Get rid of the mask-like effect around the vision boy’s eyes.
One small suggestion from me: Lose some of the rings in the water created by his left foot, so it will look more like he has just taken that step.
Hmm, I would also like some more refinement on the straws in the front. They look very stiff right now; maybe smudge them a little bit and only let a few straws stand out.
I did my best to take care of the above list, as well as Susan’s suggestions. I’ve pronounced this image “finished” (ha ha) and posted it over in the 2D Gallery. Please see that thread here:
The first thumbnail sketch for painting #3. Egan is looking into a crystal ball known as The Crystal of Possibilities. It will be a backlit scene with two light sources -the main one the fireplace behind Egan and the secondary one the crystal in his lap. To either side of him will be the elderly Testers, sitting in straight back chairs, lost mostly in shadow. I’m not sure yet if I want to show just their feet or include their entire bodies.
