Here's a design that's been on the backburner for a while. It's the first design I've ever tried to do digitally from start to finish so I thought I'd chronicle my progress here.



All/any suggestions welcome.

hmm, instead of having (what looks like) a dozen teddy bears and one bear cub, maybe throw in some other "bears". like, gummy bears, care bears, etc, to give it more visual variety?

I will take it under advisement. My initial idea was to have the stuffed bears made out of a type of patchwork so they were covered in patterns, so that might help.

I like the fact that one of the bears seems to "break the mold". He also seems a lil angry that someone has replicated a bear 11 times!

No way, you gotta go digital with this! The patchwork idea sounds cool so they aren't just one or two solid colors. I think the real cub should look more realistic though, maybe just a bit fatter and furrier is all that's needed. If you do go with the patchwork teddy's what about having the real one holding up pieces of the same cloth blending himself in a little with the others? Good luck on it, sounds like a fun one!

I like it just the way it is. It works well with him being the only different one.

Thanks guys! I am kinda debating if the bear should actually be a REAL real version of a bear instead of a stylized version of a bear. I think that will be my next update....

like your style.

but the real little bear needs a reason to be sad-angry.

i don't know: maybe the little bear is part of a collection; maybe it's tagged by a scientist; or is being dressed up by a Elvira-like person.

A quick sketch plus color - thought maybe the real bear would be trying to fit in...?

that is cute and sad! poor real bear! i think that is a great idea that he's trying to fit in. and he looks a little bit sad about it. poor guy!

Thanks! Next I'm fixin' his feet because the way they look is driving me nuts. Need to be less feet and more paw methinks.

way to blend...

I like the drawing, it`s great, but you should make the real bear more obvious...color it and leave the teddy bears uncolored maybe... MY DESIGN

Was anyone bothered by his paw/hand? It's kinda driving me nuts but I don't know if it's only because I redid it like 20 times...

the thumb is the only part that might need reworking in my opinion... maybe it should show up on the other side of the crayon, so it looks more like he is holding it

Maybe change the spots (on the heads) on the second and third bears in the second row to opposite sides?

why dont you give each bear his own character ?

for example the bear who is holding the crayon can wear a leather jacket and hat

I LOVE this.....

lol, awesome ideas.



make sure you accent the dog a little more when you have a final design



hey can you please rate my shirt?

http://www.threadless.com/submission/193430/Guitar_BIG

Dog? hmmmm maybe that's an issue.

The paws are redrawn - otherwise very similar to #2. Next I will start cleaning up the bears and "inking".

Great idea!

I really like the idea. Look forward to seeing it when all cleaned and placed.



jump right in...

ink away!

This is amazing, I agree with alex, cant wait to see it all done and placed. I think "awww" everytime i see the bear who colored on himself.

This is looking really good.

I'm looking forward to seeing the coming versions of this design.



I'm ready to submit my latest design. I would appreciate your input on whether or not it looks ready for submission.

Tongue Tied

Uhhhh....there was some weird error when I uploaded this. V.4 should be the most current.

Must be trouble in the Threadless upload warehouse tonight. Last two version are all funked out - and my comments never posted.



Anyway - here is the digital inked version. I'll be fixing the line quality difference between the real bear and the teddys.

Have you done away with the color, or just in between stages? (I liked the color. :)

Between stages :) I'll have to start drawing in all the patterns in the final version next!

Working on the patterns. They will be changed to different colors once I bring it into Illustrator.



Thoughts?



Also still having problems uploading new versions of this. All my new comments are erased and after I hit "submit" the screen goes blank.

this is sooo cute!

i love it

haha i love the v1 it's very sketchy and cute (:



critique mine please?

http://www.threadless.com/critique/35772/Goldfish_Massacre

Cute but I liked it better when the real bear had scribbles on him.

Oh, he will! Working on it! :)

Haha awesome.

Its looking cooler and cooler each day so keep up the work :D



Check out my critique?

Okay - Now I've started in illustrator and I'm working on choosing colors. I kinda mocked up that back row but I'm not exactly feeling the color scheme right now...suggestions?



The brown in the bear needs to change as well...everything is looking to bright/solid to me right now...hmmm

I've decided the brown and red are far too bright and I'm toning them down. Suggestions about colors?



I also thought about keeping the bears one color and only adding color to the patterns...

Wow. I love it. It took me a while to get that the markings on the real bear were his attempts to put patterns on himself though.



Crayons wouldn't show up near as much on fur though as this is. Maybe paint? Like a paintbrush instead of a crayon.

hehe LOVE THIS

Thanks, guys! Any thoughts about the colors?

And I think I will be changing the crayons to paint :)

i think you are right about keeping the bears one color and adding them only to the patterns... they are turning out to be a lot less "cutsie" so i think it might give a little less contrast... i like the bottom ones more than the top actually... and i think it's because they are all more similar in color to one another...

I really like the patterns on the bear just right of the real bear. (our right)







Mutiny!

looking good dude! I think you should finish up coloring these guys and submit an option with less colors. Maybe go with a little bit more muted colors too. I like the white lines on the blue bears though, you may not even need the lighter blue fill for the teddy's. nice progress.

Thanks! I think I'm gonna finish up the colors and edit them so they're not quite as "in your face" then I'd like to take them out and just show the colored lines to see how that looks too - that way people can let me know which they think I should go with....

I've spent all this time working on colors but I think I'll be going back to a much more limited color pallete....*sigh*



There's just too much going on I think.



I also changed the bear from using crayons to fingerpaint and I think that part is much improved.



Color help?

Yeah, I can see how much work obviously went into colouring this so I really hate to say that I think it looked a lot better in muted colours- just shades of blue. If you did that then your could get the real one looking even cuter by having himself smothering his body in blue paint- that wold look great! At the moment it is a bit tricky to tell that what he is doing is creating patterns on himself. But I think this will end up looking cool!

(BTW, I'm from New Zealand, hence why I insist on spelling colour with a 'u'. Sorry bout that)

Inescapable Monotony

I know it - I had just started and I wanted to see it through.

Love the colors! But I looked at your blue version with varying white patterns and it looked cool too. :D I say see what this full-color version looks like with the colors muted and taken more to the pastel, low-saturated range, or go back to the blue & white. Really like the real bear's paints too!

This is a version with the colors muted. - Obviously not done but gives you an idea of how it might look.

Please compare this version and the previous one!



I'm deciding if the bears should be filled at all, or just have the lines colored like this one. Neither is done but I'd like help deciding which to go with. Personally I think this one will work better in the end.



Thought?

I really like this version better! It makes the real bear pop. This is very nice ^_^

I love this, your illustrations are great! I think this version is better too. I was curious about your process, did you ink this with pen and then scanned it? I ask because I really like the line work...

i did take a look at the previous critz.. and version 3 is ma fav.. love the sketchy style.. u have excellent technique..



one thing though.. the position of the other bears.. maybe if u try to make the main bear surrounded by the teddy bears instead of him being at the bottom..



but this looks great though.. can't wait to see the final tee..:)

Leo Toribio - Actually this is the first submission which I have done entirely on the computer. I used a program I've never used before with a tablet laptop called Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. It's the closest I've ever come to being comfortable sketching right on a computer. I used the initial sketch as a background to do the final "inked" lines.



Every other sub I've done is pretty much scanned in though.

I love it! That little bear needs a hug =p

I think this version is better, with the lines rather than filled in

I feel so sad for the real bear. I love it.

I like this one.

It really sets him apart. All the shades of blue also enhance the 'sad' feel of it.

I like the older version, the subtle browns feel nicer on the eyes,





if you get a chance crit my new version http://www.threadless.com/critique/35886/SnakeWine thanks :)

this one is better

If the teddy bears were all brown or brownish, the real one wouldn't be so obvious. He stands out too much now and the subtlety which made this design great is totally lost.

Also he's painting himself with different colors than the teddys so he's not blending in at all.

good point. i forgot how he blended in more in the beginning. what if the shirt was some form of light brown, and the teddy's a shade lighter, and him a shade darker?

The first time I saw this design, I loved it. Then, a couple minutes later, I realized that one of the bears was real. That made me love it even more. It would lose that for me if it were too obvious, as it is in this version. I like v10 better.

These are great suggestions/observations. Originally I HAD intended him to blend in more (thanks for reminding me).



What do you think about him "painting" himself the color of the others bears? That way he would blend in, yet stick out a little.

i like all the other bears in the previous one but the odd bear out i liked better in this one.

nice, nice.

version nine is tasty too, but thats just my opinion.



heres mine:

http://www.threadless.com/critique/30610/Flight

Another option I'm fiddling around with colorwise.....

Alright - I think I have fixed some lagistical issues by switching him to a POLAR bear :)



I couldn't look at that poop brown version anymore....

I take it back, the poop brown is growing on me...now I can't decide.

I'm getting closer! I think I'll submit both versions - this one is updated with a lot of final tweeks and I'm going to work on the blue next (purple too maybe)

ahhh i love it

Oh! Yes! THIS is good.

i like the polar bear one better, this color falls on me poorly. i havent followed this whole critique but i really like the crayons and i dont know why they were lost. perhaps a needle and thread could replace them now that the bears are stuffed?



being a poor, base, rascally, lack linen mate, what a bottle ale rascal, basket hilt stale juggler, i would greatly appreciate comments.

This looks awesome. The colors definitely work better in this version. And I like the paint. It works and makes sense in the context.



The only thing that jumps out at me is that the real bear looks like it's missing an arm. Is it just me? With the angle the bear's at and all the whitespace under its head, it just seems like there should be an arm or hand in there.



Anyway, I love love love this design!



I'd love it if you critiqued mine, too :)

I've kinda waffled about adding that other arm in. I'm afraid it will look a little crammed there. Still I'll give it a go.

This is coming along nicely!

Yeah, I get that. My suggestion would be to try showing just a finger or two peeking over the foot in that whitespace. Then the hand is there but it doesn't call attention to itself or anything.



But anyway, the missing arm isn't a big deal. You could submit it like it is and I'd totally wear it *^_^*

i think the design is ready, but i don't like the colors. too kidsy. and think about what background color, maybe use something bold because the colors are more muted

I adore this design, though the real bear blends in far too much for me.

very cute, not my style but none the less very cute

Finished and submitted!

Yay for it being up for scoring! Thanks once again all for your input!

i really like the seedy little bear at the front

Forgot to post a link! VOTE FOR IT NOW!

This was fun to check out! Great work!

Nice job! I really like it.



Critique mine Here

Lovely really ;D

I love this! Submit, it's ready!



Check out mine?

It was already submitted.....but I've thought about reworking it a little.