Stephanie Ruble's Tip - Revision: Breathing New Life Into Old Art
I love creating new art, but once in a while I like to take an old piece and breathe new life into it.
When people think of revision, they usually think of text, but pictures can be revised as well. Many times the image gets revised as it goes from sketch to final, but sometimes you have a piece that just doesn’t work out, or a piece you always loved that doesn’t fit your current style. Those are prime candidates for revision.
Things to consider when revising: composition, emotion, color, character, and what the illustration is for (fun, portfolio, job, etc.).
Here's a piece I revised recently:
First Snow of the Season
What’s new: snow (instead of rain), the cat (instead of a stuffed toy moose and stuffed toy bunny), and multiple changes to the girl on the right. It’s a lot better than it was before, but not perfect. Maybe some day I’ll revise it again!
If you are interested in more recent image revisions (including the paisley whale), I showed them here. Please visit sruble.com to learn more about my art and projects, or my blog to see more recent art.
Comments
Great post and wonderful illustration!
Ginger - Reinterpreting as we grow is a good way to put it. Reworking pieces can also help us grow as artists. It shows us where we've been and how far we've come, which can make us push to improve our skills or look at things with a new eye.
Di - You're right. This could work really well for a vacationing muse. Also, it can help when you need a fresh piece and don't have a ton of time.