Art Sara <3's Threadless

[Sara]

[color=#333333]

[size=1][b]I'll be updating this post with anything that I actually submit to Threadless. Designs, ideas, and works-in-progress can be found in the body of the thread.

Newest designs are at the top.[/b][/size]

[url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/80304/Ice_cube_of_the_future?streetteam=Verdana][img]http://www.threadless.com/subbanner/80304/banner1.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/75834/Brassica_oleracea?streetteam=Verdana][img]http://www.threadless.com/subbanner/75834/banner1.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/72812/Out_of_the_Library?streetteam=Verdana][img]http://www.threadless.com/subbanner/72812/banner1.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/67874/(starving_in_africa)?streetteam=Verdana][img]http://www.threadless.com/submission/banner/1/67874.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/67873/Illuminate?streetteam=Verdana"][img]http://www.threadless.com/submission/banner/1/67873.png[/img][/url] [url="http://www.threadless.com/submission/62115/Circuitree?streetteam=Verdana"][img]http://www.threadless.com/submission/banner/1/62115.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/60542/dinoXcore?streetteam=Verdana][img]http://www.threadless.com/submission/banner/1/60542.png[/img][/url]

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Original Post:

I discovered that the computers in the nearest library have graphics programs, so I started messing with a sketch I drew earlier this summer. (The original design was a bit of a parody that I was going to submit to Threadless. I swear, the idea was funny when I first thought of it.)

Anyway... Thoughts, questions, comments, wild derision?

The title is "dinoXcore." Yeah, I know. Shoot me. :p


Ah, the joy of indie dinosaurs...[/color]

[Guest kuroinuyoukai]

How adorable! You made a T Rex look so cuddly. I love it. Great job!! I like the details and colors. :catgirl:

[Ellerby]

[color=#333333]From the thumbnail it looks as though it's some n00bish, MSPaint picture drawn up in 30 seconds. And then you see the big picture and realize it's a proffesional looking piece of artwork. I like it.

It makes me happy how it isn't all sketchy or complex but rather simplistic and crisp (I tend to enjoy art like that more than others). It's very attractive to the eyes, good work. It's an interesting concept.. kind of surreal.

I'd like to see more, honestly. ^_^[/color]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]Yeah, Threadless rocks. You should submit this piece - it is really good work. I am impressed ^_^

My one issue is with the picture's left arm. Compared to it's right one, it looks small and deformed. It's hard to do 3D with vectors, but maybe jiggle that around a bit and see if you can get it to look right.[/size]

[RuinedElk]

[center][size=1]This is really good! The arm thing did make some sense, but otherwise I think its great. Personally, I'm in awe. I probably couldn't do that if someone put a shotgun to my head, even. -grins nervously-[/center][/size]

[Sara]

[font=trebuchet ms][color=#333333]Yeah, the arm is a little wonky. And the shoelaces are kinda pathetic. I'll try to fix that.

You know, it really is amazing how much better something looks when you've been working on it and all you want is to be [i]done[/i]. I can't tell you the number of times I've thought this dino was "perfect!" only to come back later and be frustrated as all.

It's good to get some fresh eyes on it.

[url=http://www.threadless.com/submission/60542/dinoXcore?streetteam=Verdana][img]http://www.threadless.com/submission/banner/1/60542.png[/img][/url]

And, of course, if anyone's missed the shameless plug in my signature, the design is now on Threadless.

...Honestly, I'm postively embarrassed about it by now, but oh well. There you have it. :p[/color][/font]

[Solo Tremaine]

[quote name='Lore][font=trebuchet ms][color=#333333]You know, it really is amazing how much better something looks when you've been working on it and all you want is to be [i]done[/i]. I can't tell you the number of times I've thought this dino was "perfect!" only to come back later and be frustrated as all.[/color'][/font][/quote][COLOR=#503F86]Someone once said that the best pieces of art are never finished- you're always adding bits to them. Makes it harder to display in a gallery if you're always doing stuff to them, but I suppose there's always something that can be tweaked :p

My sister thought this was amazing, and I love it, too ^____^ The hair, the collar... it just fits together so well ^_^ He actually looks almost exactly like someone I know who works at a local video store, heh.

The arm does look a little small, but to be honest I wouldn't have noticed it. The eyes almost look as if they need to be bigger, but that's only if you wanted to make it look more cartoony. Similarly, if you wanted it more 'emo' you could get rid of them (well, it, seeing as there's only one in view) altogether. I think this strikes the right balance, though ^_^

Nicely nice. I'd wear it.[/COLOR]

[Sara]

[color=#333333][font=treuchet ms]Thanks for the comment, Solo. (When you mentioned the eyes, I had to laugh. I never actually made pupils for them, because the way the hair fell, I didn't have to.)

Anyway, this is the design I'm currently toying with. If I finish it in time, I may submit it to Threadless for the SXSW competetion. (The theme is "Interactivated," whatever that means.)

There are a couple different color versions of this, but since I like orange on principle, I thought I'd show that one. (And I threw in the lighter-colored one just now, because the dark brown was bothering me. Though looking at it again, I should probably lighten the leaves and things, too. The dark orange looks a little wonky against the lighter trunk.)

I'm not really sure how to attach the little tendrils to the trunk without something looking weird, so suggestions on that end would be nice. And does anyone have a suggestion for a name/title?[/font][/color]

[Semjaza]

Tree of Knowledge? I don't know lol.

I don't honestly have a problem with the way you did the roots at all. I don't really think the design requires anything beyond what you've done already. It works and it looks good. The color usage is great.

I don't really care for most of what is on Threadless (I'm not into totally random, pointless shirts in general -- obviously I'm in a tiny minority), but I do like what you've done thus far. I didn't really know you worked with this kind of stuff. Nice job.

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]As Tony said, this piece looks pretty well much done as is. I prefer the brown version to the paler one though for sure - the paler one looks weak and flimsy, lol. Tree of Knowledge is a good name, but I was thinking of something like 'Bulb', to play off the item and the plant.[/size]

[John]

You got a winner there. ^_^

If you do use the second version, which I don't think is a good idea, then yeah, you need to lighten up the leaves and darken the trunk and such. I think it'd just be a better idea to use the first one, heh.

I'd offer a name, but I couldn't think of one after sitting here for ten minutes in deep thought lol.

[Sara]

[color=#333333][font=trebuchet ms]Thanks for the input, guys. I'm kinda surprised that everyone likes the darker version of the tree better, heh, but that's fine. :p

I originally intended for the tree to have a more "techy" look, but added the curly roots instead. I've also (finally) gone back and done a second (or original?) version that has a different feel to it. I kinda like the curly one better, but I feel like the techy one fits the theme of the contest better. I'm trying to figure out how to integrate the two styles so it doesn't look too awkward. Maybe if I shrink the tree/branches part a little, it won't look so lopsided.

I found a name, by the way: [b]Circuitree[/b]. What else could it have been?

I like this color combination a lot in the other version (normal roots), but it makes the techy roots look kinda... odd. I guess I'd need to find more contrasting colors for thse too look right. Anyway, just to show you, I guess.

And the glowy version looks cool, sorta, but it bugs the heck out of me because it doesn't look balanced. (Not to mention I've been given a crash course in electronics by one of my IT friends, and the diagram is completely inaccurate and would not actuallywork... something I'll fiddle with, I guess. :) )

Again, input and suggestions would be swell.[/color][/font]

[John]

You know, I didn't like this one a whole lot, but I grew more understanding of it when I saw the title. XP

The circuits look ok up close, but not so on a t-shirt. You may want to spread them out a little to balance it more, and maybe you should make the change between roots and circuits flow a little better. But that's just a small thing, when it comes down to it, heh.

The colors on the first are [b]perfect[/b]. The second... eh. I think the loss of all the branches and leaves really makes its tree-y-ness (<-wtf?) very ambiguous, and I'm not a fan of the colors either.

And just for fun, you might try making the roots all plug into light sockets, since lightbulbs relate more to electric than electronic technology. Of course, I don't reccomend submitting that in place of the circuits, because then you couldn't use "Circuitree" to as much effect (that name is what this post revolves around, for reference).

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]I really like these two trees, a lot.

I think the colour contrast in the second one works well; I don't think not having the branches or leaves loses anything in particular (although it might look pretty nifty with some leaves, and perhaps a little more foliage). Diode symbols might be quite cool to have as hanging flowers or something if you wanted more happening on the top half.

I love the circuitry on the roots... I think they work better on the second one because the lines are the same width as those of the tree'd outline; on the first it's all filled in, so they look a bit thin and wispy. They'd need to be longer or more spread out to balance the image, I think.

Anyways, they're really cool ^___^[/COLOR]

[Sara]

[color=#333333][font=trebuchet ms]Again, thanks a lot for the comments.

For those of you following along at home, here's the current version of our friend the tree. I think there's a world of difference between this one and the last. Subtle, maybe, but there nonetheless.

I balanced out the size of the top and bottom a bit--the tree no longer looks like it might blow over in a stiff wind. I also redid the circuits, making them more even and spacing them out. I also worked on the transition from "tree" to "tech," like John suggested. I'm [i]much[/i] more satisfied with this.

If you're not completely sick of this image, please tell me if you think it works. I really do appreciate the help. :)

[b]Edit: And while we're at it, here's my virgin attempt at Flash:

[url=http://img488.imageshack.us/my.php?image=circuitreetemplategood7ql.swf]Yay for Glow-in-the-Dark[/url].

(Hopefully that will work for you. It works for me and Azure, but apparently not for Robb. Oh, well.)[/b]

[/color][/font]

[John]

Looks a lot better now, I'll be sure to vote on it when you put it up. ^_^

[Sara]

[color=#333333][font=trebuchet ms]Circuitree is up now. (Actually, it has been for a couple days--yay for being on top of things!)

Anyway, yeah. That's pretty much all. If you vote, please leave a comment, because that would totally make my day.

[url="http://www.threadless.com/submission/62115/Circuitree?streetteam=Verdana"][img]http://www.threadless.com/submission/banner/1/62115.png[/img][/url][/font][/color]

[Queen Asuka]

[color=hotpink][size=1]Make the orange/brown light bulb tree a T-shirt so I can buy it! These are so cute, Sara. <3 <3 <3[/color][/size]

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]These are really interesting Sara. I really like the electric tree, especially the flash thing with the "light's out" switch.

I'd like to make a suggestion for the dinosaur though. Its mouth really turns me off, I think a T-rex's mouth opens much wider than that. The "hinge" of its jaw should be set further back. But of course if you purposely made its mouth small, that's fine too.[/COLOR]

[Sara]

[color=#333333][font=trebuchet ms]Thanks again to everyone who reads this. I do appreciate it, and I heart your feedback.

New project! It's pretty blinding right now, heh.

[img]http://www.boomspeed.com/omegareh/chameleoflage.gif[/img]

Yellow's not the only color, but it's the first one I did. I drew the chameleon by hand last night; took me about five hours. It looks cool, though.

Working title is Chameleoflage. Yes, again, I know I'm lame. :)[/color][/font]

[John]

lol. Good work on this one, too.

If anything, I'd make the chameleon even lighter, so that seeing him on the shirt would make the intent of camouflage that much more obvious (even on that image, I didn't get it at first that it was supposed to be hiding, heh). I don't think people should notice the chameleon at a distance, but when they get close, they'd be like, "Hey!". That'd be pretty unique.

Also, I wouldn't go with putting him on the side of the shirt. Either keep him at the chest or maybe try on the shoulder.

As for a name, how 'bout "Yellowflage"?

[Sara]

[color=33333][font=trebuchet ms][img]http://otakuboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=25178&stc=1[/img]

I wasn't able to work on things much over break, but having finally (today) turned back to this idea, this is the current version.

Ideally, like John said, the image would be even closer to the shirt color. For voting, though, I do want to make sure that people can see the image clearly.

Input?[/color][/font]

[John]

Sagestone: perhaps
Black: nay

I have to say, I like the idea a lot more with yellow or green. The sagestone looks great, but I don't think it goes well with this idea, since it's not really as "natural" as something more colorful.

Same with the black, but in addition to that, black is sort of the color that's defaulted to when color doesn't matter in a t-shirt, lol. And not only is color central to the joke in this shirt, the shirt's so simple that the element of color should probably be added to it anyway to sort of busy it up a little.

And something you might toy around with is making the chameleon a mite smaller, or offsetting it a bit on the shirt, to sort of emphasize the perception of it being hidden.

Nevertheless, it's still a very clever idea, and I haven't seen anything like it on Threadless before. I really want to see it go into print after the vote. =D

[Sara]

[QUOTE=John]Sagestone: perhaps
Black: nay

I have to say, I like the idea a lot more with yellow or green. The sagestone looks great, but I don't think it goes well with this idea, since it's not really as "natural" as something more colorful.

Same with the black, but in addition to that, black is sort of the color that's defaulted to when color doesn't matter in a t-shirt, lol. And not only is color central to the joke in this shirt, the shirt's so simple that the element of color should probably be added to it anyway to sort of busy it up a little.[/QUOTE][color=33333][font=trebuchet ms]Hm. Looking at my notes earlier, my original color plans were pretty wild--turquoise, yellow, scarlet. I guess I was in a more subdued mood last night, heh.

The black isn't really there because color doesn't matter, but because I really like the idea of a black-on-black (or even black-on-asphalt) shirt. There aren't enough asphalt shirts on threadless.

I'll continue to play with colors, I guess.[/color][/font]

[Ninjah]

[size=1]I absolutely adore threadless [b]and[/b] your ideas. I've been trying to come with ideas for atleast centuries.

I like the colors used in the latest one for your Circuitree design.
Loving the sort of circuits used on the roots, if you can try spacing out the roots a little more.

The glow in the dark thing is a pretty sweet idea. But not really my kind of thing.

I didn't quite catch the program you're using, if you did mention it.
Adobe Illustrator?

Other than all that.
It's quite lovely.

[b]EDIT:[/b]
I got my pages mixed up.

The chameleon design is awesome.

I'd rather go with the sagestone than the black.
Maybe try using a brighter shade of green or some sort.
The yellow version was intresting, but it hurt my eyes.[/size]