Theme: Melody
Start Date: 24th Feb 2010
Deadline: 3rd March 2010
Status: COMPLETED
First thing of course I thought was music. Since they're more or less the same, why not!
Music really is a big part of my life. Because I am quiet most of the time, sometimes I feel like I can only express certain things through song and melody.
Even when I am sad, I just start singing and it melts my blues away sometimes :D
So, this illustration is just a depiction of how music would flow within one who considers music a big part of his/her life. It moves, it shapes, and it makes the listener. :)
p.s: this was kinda rushed too. I won't have internet tomorrow, so had to put it up before I lose it! :(
Done in Illustrator CS4, 100% vectorized.
-- Submitted by Sara
Title: Melodia The Blind Gypsy
Duration: 7 hours 35 minutes
Software: Photoshop CS3
This piece is very simple compare the last one cuz I'm seriously rushing with my other work & competition. My hands are seriously tied up this week. T.T
Moreover, I say that this piece has the most changes I've ever done. Why? Cuz I totally hv no idea wat to do for this theme. So I kept changing from hiphop to violinist to gypsy. The reason why I kept to gypsy was because of the costume. I think it suits a gypsy better.
As for the pose, it was really challenging. Another reason why I took soo long finish this artwork. I change from 5 dif poses but finally settle for this. The right arm lifting up was hard to do. Took a lot of reference & research for it. Ah well, this is the best I could do. Background was sooo last minute! I simply drew a long scarf to cover up the space & throw in a texture background. And look, I'm done! LOL!
Melodia is a infamous blind modern gyspy from Paris. Although she can't see but she can hear & feel the music through her mind & body. That alone is enough to make her a prodigy dancer. Melodia never misses her beat & she choreographs her own dance style. She's well-known for her belly dance & scarf dance. People from all over the world love to watch her performance cuz it's filled with energy & elegance. Music & dancing is her everything, her life source. Her motto is, "Don't think, just feel the flow in you."
-- Submitted by Y'ng
Hope you can feel the "music" in this piece :D
You know the speed painting thing I wanted to try out a couple of weeks ago? Well this one started out fine. Head and hair took about 2 minutes. The rest of the body however, took a couple of hours. Why? I was trying to carry on the style used on the head, but the more I painted, the more 'smooth' it became and looked like two different artworks smudged together.... I seriously thought of beheading her and turning this into a surreal piece, but....
Also it just occurred to me that the floral sprouting at the end of her instrument would look nice more spread out. Mmm.
Enjoy!
-- Submitted by Daphne
To him,
i was soo hurt & fooled by you that i couldn't shed a single drop of tears. So im expressing my pain in here..
"Blinded by love..
and you took away everything..
Now im left with only a broken piece of melody"
Drew this based on my recent emotions..no matter how i drew it, it still ends up looking emotional.
But i like the end results LOL!! yesh another last minute work again. Was having alot of work to do @A@ while maintaining my emotions.
-- Submitted by Kelly
Well, thought I'd do something sweet after the previous, heavy works.
First thing I thought of when I saw the theme was the Unchained Melody music box I came across as a child. An Aunt also used the same song for her wedding.
As an adult now, the song still haunts me...Guess melodies have that lingering effect on its listeners.
Wonder what's it like to listen to the same song, and be dancing with the same person many, many years later.
-- Submitted by Reeis
A muse may have already prepared the right melody for you, waiting for the right key to be pushed...
Eheh, tried to go for this sort of imagery... The top right of the canvas end up being empty so I played around with brushes to make it less so. The 'muse's design is loosely inspired by the music symbols "treble clef" and "bass clef".
Here's a close up of the 'muse'.
-- Submitted by Maiki
Colors and Rythm makes melody~
Yet i have failed to show it here LOL! XD Had been sick for the past week and busy at work, plus my photoshop software keeps crashing every 5 minutes O_o ... Wanted to try an experimentation
p.s: i have no idea what its suppose to be so don't ask :P *sneezes*
-- Submitted by Natasha
1st thing that I thought about is how music or in this case a melody can really bring out someones true character..Musi
This was kinda rushed...kinda have to work on the fonts...
-- Submitted by Andrew
yea, it's incomplete and halfway done, but cut me some slack, it's exam week and i still submit something rather than nothing~ >. www.youtube.com
Now guess which character has which part in the song? xP
Video Games Live is coming soon! Im in, are you?
Song is called "Suicide Mission" by Jack Wall for Mass Effect 2.
-- Submitted by Adam
I wasn't late on purpose, i swear!!
I thought the deadline was pushed to the 6th -____-
-- Submitted by May Hooi
webmaster's notes: because it would have been a fault on my part that I wasn't clear in communicating that the deadline was still the 3rd, I dismissed this as a late entry for now. If other Cuttle members feels like this is unfair on their part, please contact me!
March 3, 2010 at 12:29 AM
Hi everyone!
Because the webmaster for Cuttle Inc is away and internet-less at the moment, she will not be able to upload the new submissions for "Melody" which is due on the 3rd. She will only be back on the 6th, and can only upload it then.
She is sorry for the inconveniences.
Between the 4th until the 6th, Cuttles and Cuttle Inc fans can browse the Flickr pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1261693@N25/pool/
You can either keep your comments in a Notepad file, or comment on individual new submissions.
Once the post is up on the 6th of March, you can copy and paste your comments into the comments section. Again, very sorry for the horrible inconvenience!
The new theme will be announced on Cuttle Inc Page on FB. So Cuttles, look out for it!
March 9, 2010 at 6:21 PM
Sara - think the composition's great - the way the music seems to flow into her or from her. Nice touch for adding such life-like hair, don't think I would have been that patient. Think the flow of the music can be emphasized with with more fluid looking musical notes, something like in Nat's. Think u two can do a collab of your two images?
Y'ng - very quiet in Cuttle,eh? I'm the first to comment this time. Very surprising, no? Lol, ok, enough of that, love the feeling your piece's is giving me - calm and worldly, matched the Gypsy's story. Scarf is really good touch, ties everything well, but u might need to increase its contrast. Some parts remind me of smoke [not a bad idea also, but maybe not what you were looking for?]
Think u can refer to this [http://bit.ly/d7HwZz] for the arm. Yeah, the arm pit and shoulder muscles are tricky XD;
Daphy - Her facial expression is the one that channels the music to me. Maybe the floral bits can be less solid, more like rays of light? and about the disconnected head bit - yeah, it's a bitch XD what worked for me so far is coloring the base colors of the body and the head at one go, then adding the shadows/highlights and doing the blending to both head and body at one go.
You might start with a blob of colors at first [which is worrying] but eventually after lots of refining, the image will begin to emerge [which is satisfying].
How long did the whole image take? 2 minutes for the head is quick o_o
Kelly - Sorry to hear that you're going thru a tough time. Hope things are getting better for you. That said, looking at those the textures really does make me feel some painful emotions in my chest. Hope this image helped you get some things out.
Myself - I like this. I'll more sweet things from now on
Maiki - Excellent job! It's pretty cool to see the treble cleft wings. Composition and story made an impression, do you know of any muses that'll be so kind to sit on my pen or tablet stylus? XDDD Thinking you gotta tone down the brushes? It's good they're there, but tone it down a little.
Nat - Goodness me, I like this alot! That said, try to keep to illustrations, mate. This is really something graphic design-y.
The movement and colors does make me feel some music coming from it. Again, maybe you and your sis can try collaborating? Her headphone girl with your background could make some lively music themed image XD
Andrew - Top marks for the idea! I also interpreted the image in another way, fyi - the robot and the diva are in love, but they can only express their love for one another thru music, not touch.
Think you can make your story stronger by making the Diva less solid at the part where she's joined to the robot(lower the opacity, refer to http://bit.ly/chg7hJ) and super impose the Diva's image facing in the same direction as the robot. Again, lovely story and you're getting stronger in your composition!
Adam - ...Well? Don't just sit there! Finish this and repost! Looks like the beginnings of an awesome pic! And if you know where to find tickets to Video Games Live, I'm in. Really. Give me a call, I'm going XD
March 9, 2010 at 6:22 PM
@Andrew - sorry, wrong link ^^;; I meant this image http://bit.ly/ayPzj1
March 10, 2010 at 9:02 PM
@Y'ng: i dunno how you can call this "simple", coz there's a lot of detail and effort you put into this! I just love the shading, and I love her right arm! obviously can see that you did a lot of research on anatomy for this piece. great job! =D
@Daphne: at first glance, for some reason I thought it looked really messy, but the more I stare at it, the more i fell in love with it o_O weird! i agree that her instrument would look nice if it were more spread out, but as it is it's still very charming! XD
i guess, if i had to be really picky, is you could have composed it better to maximise that "flow". one simple way you could do that is to extend the left of the canvas by maybe 100 or so pixels, and ta-dah! the image would feel more free and less "restrictive" on the flow of the illustration. that's my two cents anyway eheheh.
@Kelly: can i have this as a notebook cover / poster / A4 folder / etc ?? this is really nice! I love how you've added lots of textures (like you always have, but this is even more-so more nice!) which contributes more towards the whole feel of this illustration. as usual, i love your illustration style. five stars!!
@Reeis: you should so stick to this style! i love the pastel-y colours. can easily be a part of a children's book! =D can't give any critique, coz to me there's nothing wrong with it technically.
@Maiki: I looovvveeeee your texturesssss/brushessss maikiiiiiii~~~~ simple idea, but done beautifully =D i could use this as a desktop wallpaper!
@Nat: ooohhhh I like the colours *___* it's ok, sometimes things aren't suppose to mean anything, as long as they look pretty :P besides the colours and flow of this illustration gives it a certain mood anyway, which is the point of the illustration anyway ahahah. nice one!
@Andrew: this is cool!! it has a little 80's funk feel hahaha. you could made a bit more size variations for the semiquavers, at least then it would be easier to control the "flow" of the illustration, and would create more dynamism as well :D other than that, great!
@Adam: incomplete but i could see this is a nice piece! :D if you have time, finish it okay? don't have to colour it, i think it looks nice the way it is. your drawings is great as always ^^
@May Hooi: hehehehe this is so cute! i see everyone is playing around with textures =P cute illustration, cute idea! muahaha.
March 10, 2010 at 9:33 PM
@Sara : Simplistic, pretty, gets the idea across. Wonder how much it will change with just a little bit of colour. I'm noticing this because matters of the heart usually aren't portrayed in black and white. I'm interested in how you got the lines in the background to curve though. Probably not individually? :)
@Y'ng : I think the shading for the lifted hand is very well done and looks very realistic. The line of the shoulder and underarm it ends with however looks a little odd because im not too convinced with the line that comes in to the side of the torso. Besides that it's great!
@me : There seems to be more than one thing I want to chop off now...
@Kell : I like the results too :) Work comes out greater when our emotions and intricacies are in it. Hope the times get better, not only in terms of relationship. We're here to support you.
@Reeis : It will bring you back to the yesteryear's. A sweet message indeed, one we all hope to get one day. In terms of your painting, I feel it would not end up so dark (and possibly dreary) if the radial darkness you got going round went behind the desk+jewellery box. That might also give the eye a direction to follow instead of circulating within the middle focus. Your darker outlines are a little inconsistent when they become highlights/shadows instead. That makes the picture a look a little half done. Do more sweet stuff :)
@Maiki : Love it! Not much to comment on but perhaps see the little muse as slightly transparent to the piano. Also love the brush/patterns that you have it fading in to. Did you do them yourself?
@Nat : Hope you and your computer get better soon XD
@Andrew : I love the idea and your robot design. Besides the fonts, perhaps work a little more on your background. For the moment, the scattered notes look a weee bit messy :)
@Adam : Nothing much to say here, it looks nice :) Colour it.
@May Hooi : This image seems a lot more serious then just a cough :) More horror-someone-died kinda treatment I feel. Watch out where your text crosses the illustration at the back.
March 10, 2010 at 9:41 PM
@Daph: if i did each individual line, I will die :P instead I did this http://www.ndesign-studio.com/tutorials/abstract-background
March 10, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Hello morons, sorry i'm late :P
@sara : i LOVE everything about this and i think u did a GREAT job with it! i envy ur illustrator skills coz i can do sth neat like that. should teach me sometime ne!
@ying: overal its nice just like how ur other arts were. but in this one i feel like her armpit lines are a bit too *not sure of the word* but it makes it look like she has old granny's armpits or a part of a tree trunk +_+' maybe its too thick or maybe its the shading.
@daphne: if this was a painting on a canvas i am sure u can make a few thousand dollars! i LOVE IT!
@kelly: expressive indeed. looks so sharp and painful i cant bare to stare at it for too long. if that's what u wanted to achieve then u have accomplised it :)
@reeis: i didnt know u had it in u to make sth so sweet~** ahahaha! eth's alright for me cept the old guy's eyes seem to be the same color as the bg and it makes me feel like either it was an error that u forgot to paint his eyes or u were being lazy to paint his eyes. coz i dont feel like that color suits him... that's a bout it.
@maiki: B E A U T I F U L !
@andrew: love the idea. my suggestion is maybe u could have made the human girl being in a dancing pose instead of leaning against the robot. that way it might look more lively and gives the impact of ur concept.
@adam: love the girls~**
@mh: it looks sweet and innocent yet psycho at the same time. maybe those grind scratch marks doesnt work in here ^ ^'
March 10, 2010 at 11:10 PM
Hey guys, I'll comment both melody & skates later cuz I'm seriously busy with projects right now esp this month & next month. There's aso a high chances that you'll be seeing my work in the skull yard in the future. >.<; Just to let u guys know first ya. But i'll try my best to do every week, although... it might be in sketchy or pencil form only. Hope you all don't mind.
March 11, 2010 at 12:03 AM
Reeis here,
Sorry MH, I accidentally left yours out. Didn't copy it from the original text file of mine XD;
As Y'ng has advised, do not wait til deadline to submit! Post it up immediately after you've finished any illustration. Same goes for everyone >D Yes. You.
Overall, cute image, but I think the background's lines look too sleek compared to the pencil outline and shading the girl has. Can see you were going for the old photograph look, so the nostalgic color scheme ish good, just lighten up the scratches XD
March 13, 2010 at 5:21 PM
Once again, sorry for the late comment~
@Sara: Simple and nice. Love the composition and layout. Great job with the hair, i can see those really fine hair, must have taken a lot of time to do that :p
@Yng: Woohooo! another piece of work without the stiffness! looks like u are improving. love the shading. great drawing skills, i know the arm is a very tricky part. good job on that!
@Daphne: Something different. i like how u play around with thick n thin brush strokes to create such effect. hehe feels like it is suitable to be hanged on a wall in a rich people's mansion *-*
@Kelly: I loveee this oneeee! this is one of your best artwork. u express your pain really well as i can feel that u were really hurt. Good job with the textures and strong colours, really enhance the pain feeling!
@Reeis: Awww...so sweet~ i like the spotlight effect that u put focus on the characters. this looks very storybook-illustration-ish. nice work!
@Maiki: Waaa...this will make a really nice wallpaper. like the whole effect here. composition is great too.
@Nat: haha i can feel the melody in this piece. all the pretty colours make it "sounds" like some happy music is playing~~~~
@Andrew: hmm nothing much to comment. only thing is, i think there are too many music notes, kinda makes it look a little messy.
@Adam: Nice drawing! coloured version will make it look better i reckon hahaha :p
March 18, 2010 at 2:18 PM
Bah just realized I didnt comment yet!SORRY!!
@Sara: Wow Sara this is my favourite piece of yours..Its so nice..Love the movements of the lines and the Girl..Is that you? haha..Great job!!
@Yng: Nice one!! She looks awesome..And I like the tint you used.Really makes it feel more authentic..Just her right arm seems really toned..at the armpit area..that muscle..
@Daphne: Really like the background..But I would have liked her more if her hair not so Big..haha..But great painting!!
@Kelly: Ahh back to the style I love from you.I can really feel her pain..Nice Job and sorry to hear you been going through a rough patch..Hope everything works out..
@Reeis: Ah once again you know how tug at the heartstrings.Another very touching piece..Nice job..Though kinda wish the man didnt develop a beer belly..;P
@Maiki: I LOVE THIS!!So so cool..Though for some reason I feel sad when I look at it..Like feels lonely..But if a piece can have that strong an affect on someone means it WORKED!!Awesome!!
@Nat: Wow so Retro..Love the colours and shading but abit too much going on in there..
@Andrew: Work on fonts and yeah I should have made the girl more transparent..
@Adam: Hope to see you colour them in..That would be cool!!
@MH :Sorry for the confusion.She is cute but she looks kinda creepy to me..dunno why..
March 18, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Bah just realized I didnt comment yet!SORRY!!
@Sara: Wow Sara this is my favourite piece of yours..Its so nice..Love the movements of the lines and the Girl..Is that you? haha..Great job!!
@Yng: Nice one!! She looks awesome..And I like the tint you used.Really makes it feel more authentic..Just her right arm seems really toned..at the armpit area..that muscle..
@Daphne: Really like the background..But I would have liked her more if her hair not so Big..haha..But great painting!!
@Kelly: Ahh back to the style I love from you.I can really feel her pain..Nice Job and sorry to hear you been going through a rough patch..Hope everything works out..
@Reeis: Ah once again you know how tug at the heartstrings.Another very touching piece..Nice job..Though kinda wish the man didnt develop a beer belly..;P
@Maiki: I LOVE THIS!!So so cool..Though for some reason I feel sad when I look at it..Like feels lonely..But if a piece can have that strong an affect on someone means it WORKED!!Awesome!!
@Nat: Wow so Retro..Love the colours and shading but abit too much going on in there..
@Andrew: Work on fonts and yeah I should have made the girl more transparent..
@Adam: Hope to see you colour them in..That would be cool!!
@MH :Sorry for the confusion.She is cute but she looks kinda creepy to me..dunno why..
March 18, 2010 at 2:19 PM
Oops ter post my comment twice...sigh
March 19, 2010 at 12:52 AM
Finally got some lil time now! XD
@Sara: Really love the vector art for the girl. Wonderfully done! Love the flow & the tone that you use for the entire artwork. Really wanna see more of this! Keep it up! ^^
@Daphne: LOL! Good try on the 2min speedpainting of the head. it's alredi amazing that you are able to get the shape out in a dam short time! Here's an advice, try to plan out the time of the parts you wanna spend doing. Example, head (15mins), body (20mins), arms (15mins), hair (10mins), and look you're alredi done an artwork in an hour! Give it a try. XD
@Kelly: Another great work from you! Still love how you apply your texture on your artworks. Nice! ^^
@Reeis: Awww... so sweet! Good improvement here! Do add more shading to give out more 3D outlook. try to lessen the outlines by adding highlights or shadow over it. Here's a tutorial which i found very useful: http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Basic-Brush-Tutorial-86379458 Keep improving ya! Lookin good! XD
@Maiki: Haha! I notice a lot of ppl using texture for this theme. Anyways, beautifully executed. I love the piano! It would be great if you can add some reflection of the muse on the piano key. Still, this is great! As usual from you. XP
@Nat: Hehe! this is pretty hard to tell whether this is an illustration or a graphic. Nothing much to comment here. The color & the flow is really nice here. Maybe you try vector like Sara here. ^^
@Andrew:You got a nice idea there. but i think the girl needs more detail on it like an arm so that it balance with the robot girl. it will be nice to put them back to back. but, good job on background! XD
@Adam: Awww... cmon! You must finish this dude! It's alredi looking so good! PLSSSSS FINISH IT! and dun 4get to colour ya. XP
@May: LOL! u must thank Sara for letting you off. lucky u. Heehehee! Anyways, this artwork is really sweet esp the message. Nice to see a new style from you. Just improve on her fingers and foot. ^^
April 3, 2010 at 11:35 PM
Thank you everyone for your comments & hard work on my melody theme XP
Sara: LOve your illustration. SImple and nice. Like hw you have the melody lines to twirl in a neat way. her hair is nicely illustrated. It can be a laptop skin! XDXD
Y'ng: Nice sketch. what medium do u use for this piece? Pencil? cos it looks very smooth & neat. The colors blends in nicely. I like your human drawings. They have their own characteristic & style.
daphne: LOved this piece. Can feel d melody in there. I like hw u design the flute to giv a flowy music feel~ It does feel very canvas like. Will look good hanging on the walls of rich people. I still salute u for ur diff style of painting. what more this looks soo much like a watercolor piece of work.
Reeis:OOoo nice one reeis! LOoks great as a greeting card. Like your idea here.
Maiki: Great idea maiki!!! I like ur lil muse there. So pretty! I dont know how to describe this art. But it feels nice to see it. The brushes r nicely blend in n d keyboards r soo nice. Would love to have it as my laptop wallpaper *V*
Nat: LOL nat!! nice job! so much for complaining abt my theme but u did a good job here! Like the colors n feel here. How do u make d lines twirl these way? Simple but nice.
Andrew: oooo nice one andrew. Like this idea of yours. Very diva-ish!
Adam: woah u drew alot for this thou its incomplete. Finish it up man. Cant realli comment much witout seeing the final pic.
Mh: LOL mh! simple yet cute XD looks like a last minute work for this. But like ur color style. Like its being burned, has a very old feel to these piece of work and maype u dun need the scratch there cos it feels emo XP
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