Stone alter - album cover - Critique/Paintover - WIP

[Amit Dutta]

Nice work. For next time, I'd do more thumbs and nail the composition, values and lighting design a bit better. Looking at this piece technically, I'd say that you need to work on depicting volume using value changes, and how to make the best use of your edges to aid the composition. While you have the tighter edges at the focal point which is the skull, and is good, everything else has this wavery form, but with sharp, cut out silhouettes which I think really detracts from the sense of volume and depth in the piece. I also have very little sense of scale in the piece. Judging by the candles the mask looks less than full human sized, judging by the trees the candles and altar look huge. The mask material looks more like dull polished metal, than bone. Colour choices: I would recommend designing your colour palette with a bit more focus and intent, eg why that hue of green for the background, what is your gamut, and what are the base temperatures and accent (focal) colours? Perhaps pick colour palettes from already existing paintings, photographs or artwork to help gain harmony.

From a non technical point of view, think about what is going on here. There is a floating mask, some candles of unspecified scale, on an alter which is presumably bloodstained in a dark forest. You have managed to get across the sense of a dark metal album, which is a win. However, if I think about the scene, well I am left a little lost. I don't mean everything has to be explained, because that is just as bad, but perhaps a bit more clarity in narrative would help.

Hope that helps.