04-23-2013, 01:48 PM
Hey man, I'm not really a creature guy, but I'll see if I can come up with something useful for you.
I was gonna say the values need work, but you've improved them and brought the focus to the head and near foreleg in your latest iteration. You could probably still lighten that farthest leg a lot more to push it back and same but to a lessor degree for the closest rear leg. The background kinda hurts my eyes being so bright...I'd be inclined to tone it down with a gradient.
It's still obviously a wip and judging by the standard in this I'd say you're probably pretty good at rendering but you need to start building in more texture work and suggesting and defining the "materials" for the various parts. For example, higher speculars and maybe some more textural details for the creature's hide, resolving what that ridge on his back is meant to be (can't tell if they are boney, spiney, matted fur etc). You can also think about pattern. Many animals use patterning of their skin/fur for camouflage or mate attraction or just cuz it looks so damn cool (IMO haha) so maybe build some of that in to create more interest.
I'd work on that cast shadow to ground him(her?) a bit more.
In terms of design I find the silhouette a little symmetrical and uninteresting. Perhaps adding a tail or playing with the idea of the spiney elements but taken a bit further might help? I find the pose a bit plain but it's not bad; though I do think you've lost some of the dynamism from your original post.
I find the anatomy a little strange. The limbs look more like modified human anatomy than adapted animal anatomy. It could be what you're going for but I'm going to guess that's not what you're going for. I'd say it's better to start with animal anatomy and then diverge/mix and match from there. Makes things a bit more feasible looking I guess. Something in this strikes me as amphibious in nature for some reason so perhaps have a look at frog anatomy and other things like that to get some ideas for the limbs and attaching them to the body?
That's about it. Hmmm actually I did have a fair bit to say. Hope it helped anyway.
I was gonna say the values need work, but you've improved them and brought the focus to the head and near foreleg in your latest iteration. You could probably still lighten that farthest leg a lot more to push it back and same but to a lessor degree for the closest rear leg. The background kinda hurts my eyes being so bright...I'd be inclined to tone it down with a gradient.
It's still obviously a wip and judging by the standard in this I'd say you're probably pretty good at rendering but you need to start building in more texture work and suggesting and defining the "materials" for the various parts. For example, higher speculars and maybe some more textural details for the creature's hide, resolving what that ridge on his back is meant to be (can't tell if they are boney, spiney, matted fur etc). You can also think about pattern. Many animals use patterning of their skin/fur for camouflage or mate attraction or just cuz it looks so damn cool (IMO haha) so maybe build some of that in to create more interest.
I'd work on that cast shadow to ground him(her?) a bit more.
In terms of design I find the silhouette a little symmetrical and uninteresting. Perhaps adding a tail or playing with the idea of the spiney elements but taken a bit further might help? I find the pose a bit plain but it's not bad; though I do think you've lost some of the dynamism from your original post.
I find the anatomy a little strange. The limbs look more like modified human anatomy than adapted animal anatomy. It could be what you're going for but I'm going to guess that's not what you're going for. I'd say it's better to start with animal anatomy and then diverge/mix and match from there. Makes things a bit more feasible looking I guess. Something in this strikes me as amphibious in nature for some reason so perhaps have a look at frog anatomy and other things like that to get some ideas for the limbs and attaching them to the body?
That's about it. Hmmm actually I did have a fair bit to say. Hope it helped anyway.