08-14-2013, 08:49 PM
Some nice design stuff going on with the mermopusquid lady. Realistic is all well and good, but you want to be careful to control your image so it is still exciting and has saturation value and contrast where needed, so definitely use higher saturation at focal points like her face/torso as well as the octopus face. Agree about cutting off the figure in the comp.
I think in general the value scheme of this is too compressed. All the action happens in the midground, and the fish and coral are adding a lot of clutter to the image where they are because they are so similar in value to the figures. Maybe bring them more into the foreground and off to the side or remove them completely and have some more negative space surrounding the octo face which is another focal point. Similarly the values of the background kelp could probably be a lot lighter and pushed into the distance to add more depth. In general some slight hue variation overall would help the colours be a bit more vibrant even though you are going for that underwater desaturated thing in the left image.
I think in general the value scheme of this is too compressed. All the action happens in the midground, and the fish and coral are adding a lot of clutter to the image where they are because they are so similar in value to the figures. Maybe bring them more into the foreground and off to the side or remove them completely and have some more negative space surrounding the octo face which is another focal point. Similarly the values of the background kelp could probably be a lot lighter and pushed into the distance to add more depth. In general some slight hue variation overall would help the colours be a bit more vibrant even though you are going for that underwater desaturated thing in the left image.