My "Escheristic" Christmas Card - WIP

[DBSullivan]

Hi Everyone!

I'm way behind all you guys in doing my Christmas card, and I figured the best motivation to get it done quickly was to utilize all of your encouragement/input and do a WIP.

I wanted to incorporate one of the loves that I share with Escher - "reflecting/mirrored spheres".

One of my most vivid Christmas memories was when I was a little boy was staring very closely at the shiny ball ornaments on our tree, looking at the distorted reflection of myself, the room behind me, and the glowing lights (the old type - the big, huge, bulky bulbs, not the tiny LED ones we have today).

So, here it is.. my pencil sketch depicting that scene. I plan to use mostly stipple for the ornament, and massive cross-hatching for the dark background. I intend to have these printed in B&W, and then hand-color them afterwards.



yeah, that's a distorted version of what I looked like as a little kid with a crew cut!

[valchina612]

This is going to be fantastic Dave -- what a great idea, as well as bringing back wonderful memories. I am looking so forward to your updates. And Dave with a crew cut -- wow, you've made up for the loss of hair now with your long crowning glory.
Can't wait for this to arrive in my letterbox.

Val.

[viking57]

Hi Dave,
If that's you then isn't that kid supposed to have a beard on him!?!?!? Hahahaha! Just kidding you. Looks great so far. I'm looking forward to seeing it all finished up. You're gonna hand color all of these??? Sounds like you are just looking for a way out of having to go Christmas shopping!
Ron

[DBSullivan]

Thanks Val!

Ron - Thanks! And yes - hand-coloring them all ..of course it won't take me all day! lol

Okay.... I'll probably regret this... but here's the ref photo I'm using. LOL

[Troy Rochford]

Great design Dave. Will be looking for updates.

[DBSullivan]

Thanks Troy! btw - you won't see any scribbling in this one.

[Jakeally]

Originally Posted by artistdbs

Thanks Val!

Ron - Thanks! And yes - hand-coloring them all ..of course it won't take me all day! lol

Okay.... I'll probably regret this... but here's the ref photo I'm using. LOL

Lol ... you were quite a cutie back then Dave.

I love the composition of this card ... really unique idea

[marcs_art]

Dave - Great concept. As an Escher fan, I'm really looking forward to this card. Nice kid picture, too. At the end of every school year as a kid, my dad would take my brother and I to grandma's and give us the same kind of buzz cut. It does my heart good to see that others went through the same trauma.

Marc

[MonicaB]

Awww, what a cutie! Looking forward to seeing this one.

[sassybird]

What a cool idea, Dave I can remember the same type fun at Christmas. I was always drawn to the unusal and still am. I love reflections and distortions. This is going to be awsome. Am I on your list?

[Ranger Dan]

Great idea, and looks like it will be a winner!! I was going to say the face should be wider, but looks like you got it!

And you are braver than I in showing a childhood pic. I was all teeth back in the day.

[DBSullivan]

Chris - Thank you! .....and I knew I would regret posting that pic!

Marc - Thanks.. I hope I do Escher proud. And traumatic doesn't even begin to describe my childhood misery when I left the barbershop! It's my mom & dad's fault that I now have a ponytail hanging down my back!

Monica - Sheeesh, another cutie comment! just remember.. almost everyone was cute before they became an adult.

Sassy - Thank you.. and ..hmmmmmm.... I do believe I still have your address.

Dan - Thanks, buddy! I originally had the face a bit wider, but it was too distorted and hid most of the background reflection. I changed it and like results, but I lost the original look of the face. The first version looked more like me.. oh well! Also, I found a mistake earlier, but I don't have time to change it. When looking into a mirrored sphere, no matter what angle you choose, your eyes will always be in the dead center. (in fact, that was one of Escher's facinations with them). I have the eyes a bit too low. To most.. that's a minor thing and I think I can let it slide. (of course, Escher is rolling his eyes!)

[mel-ink]

I'm way behind all you guys in doing my Christmas card

Um, nope, that would be ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is such a cool idea!!! Where's the update?? You know, if you hadn't said anything, NOBODY would see your "mistake". I can hardly wait to see how this turns out. Man, I wish I had your ambition!!!



BTW - CUTE picture!!!!! You don't look too traumatized to me!!

[DBSullivan]

Thanks Mel!

You mentioned "update" and "ambition".. well it's actually my ambition that is preventing an update. The little mistake I mentioned got the better of me and I can't help but to correct it. In addition to the centering issue, the image I used for the "portrait" aspect of this was digitally enhanced (I used a lense distortion effect), and upon further review of that (which would be me spending almost an hour staring into a 2" mirrored sphere as I walked around and observed how the reflections reacted - I know.. I'm kinda strange).. anyway, after doing that, I decided to re-draw my image to be a more accurate version. I'm a firm believer in... "if you're gonna do something.. you might as well take a really long time to do it!"

[viking57]

I'm a firm believer in... "if you're gonna do something.. you might as well take a really long time to do it!"

Dave, that's too funny! I never knew that about the eyes being in the center. Good point! I think this card is going to look really hot. Glad you chose to do an Escher type card. I was on here one day and saw a link to your Square Block drawing...that was awesome! Don't feel bad about being a little behind here...I've still got to print my cards too. I'll work on that this weekend. I just bought all the stuff to do them the other day. Gonna do my tree-shrubs too either tonight or early tomorrow morning.
Hang in there Mr Busy!
Ron