[Marucha]

Something feels unnatural about the positioning or elbow of the Grim reaper's arm holding the scythe. It could be the fist, but I think the elbow looking stiff in unison in unison with the stiffness of the wrist doesn't sit right with the positioning of the arm. It feels 'taught'. I wouldn't get hung up on it, just check some references and see if there might be a part of the arm that looks more relaxed than the other of it the arm might actually be shortened somewhere. Other than that, good modeling

Only other critique is the background could use more contrast with the figure. Perhaps make the rocks a lot darker to match the theme and boost the ambiance between the gradient in the background and what is in the foreground. Perhaps the ground could glow a little around his feet, like green or something specific to the theme of the character (the green just came to mind as I am thinking about Magic cards here...). Right now there's nothing in his scene alluding to who he is besides the lava/stone. The Lava could have small spots or spots of bright saturation to show you how hot it is, while the rocks much more darker to show mood, for example. You could run over it all with a big brush on a separate layer to darken it quickly and see if it helps the piece in your mind

The first version looked better with more unified lightning. It could be the gradient that is now creating an issue

Your stuff has been looking good, Sorks! I'm glad you're able to take the time to paint and draw now. I especially like the one with the two profiles of the woman (the one screaming). The faces look very fresh and the facial expressions are very well done. I have been watching, I just haven't had much to say until this point

[Sorknes]

Thanks Kevin!

And thanks for keeping an eye SayaMaru! Yeah, I started with a different background that's not even here, it really screwed up my lightening. And I know it's the wrist that's making most of the trouble on it, but maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the elbow as well.

I might do something with the background in a while, I need to rest my eyes when it comes to it, worked on it so much I went kind of blind on it.

And the one with the two faces is me, I was in a really good mood when I started on that, so I might go back on that one, since I really get in a good mood whenever I look at it!


Next one is for the 2D Characterforge going at the moment.

Hopefully I'll manage to get this one done before deadline. I was going for the Light Bringer/ Morning Star version, hoping it's ok brief wise, asked about it.

At one point he started to look like Gandalf the Grey instead, and then I was gonna whiten him up - which just turned into Gandalf the White... So I'm now going for a dark version where he has icon light around him.

[malo]

hey there
great take on the reaper and the new one looks pretty great so far.
Would love to see the dark version soon
Keep it up!

[Kherns]

For sure there are progress. In my opinion the Grim reaper would have deserve a more cold and creepy treatment, cause he looks a bit too muh playboyish to cut heads. Also be carefull on elements like stones, so that they don't look like all the same. Cause it's a bit confusing dicerning if this is a wall, or stoned rocks around the ground. Also the lightning on his hands is a bit off for what I see. Anyway frogive me and keep it up man !

[JoseVega]

hey very cool take on the last one.... i really like the shot and his head placement..
cant wait for final!

[Marucha]

Originally Posted by Sorknes

And the one with the two faces is me, I was in a really good mood when I started on that, so I might go back on that one, since I really get in a good mood whenever I look at it!

I can really see that regarding what you said about your mood and the piece. It feels like it has liberating vibe to it. I figured it was you, but also looked like a great chance to study faces . I've been reading a book about drawing facial expressions and I gotta say, it's like a very in-depth anatomy wise so also makes a good portrait book. I think those facial expressions were pretty spot on!

I think that piece you nailed the contrasts in the face, but the backgrounds it seems like you're not sure what to do (I'm the same way). I don't even wanna think about gradients... I try to keep backgrounds them down to tonal 2-3 values, similar temperature, because a full gradient is just too overwhelming and I don't know what to do with them... Maybe play with levels in the gradient layer to control the values so that it doesn't have the darkest dark/brightest bright depending on what you want to do with it. I should probably try that on some of my backgrounds as well

[Sorknes]

Malo: Thanks and cheers! Will try soonish.

Khems: Yeah, I ran out of time on the whole background thing, I should've worked more on it. However, he is supposed to be playboyish, as it is a take on the Grim Reaper based slightly on Thanatos, the Hellenic version of Death, often depicted as a young and handsome man.

JoseVega: Thankies!

SayaMaru: Haha, thank you! I was just messing around on that one, so it was more of a lucky accident than anything else. And yeah, backgrounds sometimes gets the best of me, grrr. Hehe. Need more practise!


And here's the final of the Light Bringer/ Morning Star, was supposed to be deadline yesterday, but we got an extra day. Now there isn't a final thread though, so I hope I'll manage to get into the poll one way or another even though I have to go to bed now.

[Kherns]

YEa I see what you mean but this ain't my kind of guy ! Time will make you have with experience more stable tricks and treats to get quicker towards deadline, and improve it more. For your last peice it's better and epurated than the playboy, but in my opinion a more blueish background, and added with more bluish saturated symbols over his head, would have afford you to make the graphic elements standing out in white for example. also same kind of reflection could have been added on the blade. Then you finish it off with a color balance adjustment layer, to unleash the beast.

[Sorknes]

Whoohoo, got the book I made the cover for in the mail! Got me so excited I had to post it here...

Kind of sad that the photo is so bad, I'll have to get a better one later, I was so amazed when seeing the cover - it looks ten times better in print than it does on my monitor!



And this made me happy too, hehe. And no, the smileyface isn't marker, it's photoshop.

[malo]

Hey there
Congrats on the book cover!
And its really a good feeling to hold your own artwork - printed on a book cover - in your hands. Isn't it
Cheers

[Zentrope]

Congrats...When something like this happen then you have this feeling of excitement and this happy turmoil of jumbled beat mixing in your stomach...weeeeee

[Sorknes]

Kherns: Very good input, thanks a bunch. I'll take it with me.

Malo and Zentrope: Thanks, and YES! Very, very special.

And now... for something totally different. Haha!

[Kherns]

Yo no probs, happy if I can help you know. Congrats for the book cover, this is great. I also love a lot the graphic shapes you made of this kind of abstraction on your last unfinished piece. Keep it up man.

[kevin-]

like your morning star dood, and the last one is sweet!

[Sorknes]

This is the one I did tonight... It started out as a photoref to learn facial features, then I had a couple of beers, went nuts on the hair (photoref had really short), then on the face, then I added some butterflies and stuff.. Yeah.



These two I did earlier just for fun...