Minna’s mouse & portfolio review
I recently did this:
I got so much out of it - highly recommend. I’m also really enjoying their podcast. There is a wealth of information on their site and I’m really grateful to Denise Holmes for pointing me in their direction.
I would love to write a long blog post about everything Giuseppe told me but I think I’d rather post it in pieces. I have a short attention span and so do you!
He told me that the mouse from by book cover “Minna of the Meadow” was my best animal. He said he could tell that I had looked at mice reference photos.
I remember telling him that this mouse had come pretty easily to me - unlike Minna herself. I really didn’t struggle with the mouse, I did look at mice photos, and then I just drew him. I told him that I drew this in my sketchbook while waiting in the car for someone. That’s actually not true. This is the sketch I drew in the car:
Actually quite different. Especially the feet. So I really liked this mouse but I must have come home and looked at references and then redrew the mouse:
and that was it. Mouse done. Even the finalizing process here was pretty painless. I may have traced in Ai or gone over in brush. I can’t really remember. All I know is that it was enjoyable. Here is an early version of Minna that I didn’t develop:
The real take away from my meeting with Giuseppe is that enjoying the process is pretty important. I think moving forward, if something is really a struggle, I’ll try and change it up. Go back to references, try something different, go for a walk.
He said my work was really “tight” and that the pieces that seemed looser where the best. I’ll talk more about that in a future blog post.
It’s weird. I feel liberated by that. Like maybe it doesn’t have to be so hard. Maybe the stuff that comes easier is actually better?