Am I on the right path?

[Mike086]

You're issues lie in both the technical area and the more subjective area.

First the technical, because technical flaws must be fixed regardless of your storytelling and design skill.

1. You have too much black in your image. You must utilize a wider range of values, with the correct value range the necessity to use black will diminish.

2. Your anatomy on this central figure is off in the following place: hips, back, and face. Most of these issues are due to the perspective of the figure. The armor also sits strangely on her shoulders and back.

3. You have too much detail in the background that is competing with the foreground, you can hint a lot more at the building she is in front of with less sharp details.

4. Her knife is almost pure white and it's placed in a field of almost pure black, this draws attention away from her face, which a key place to tell story.

5. The lighting on her is not correct. Take a photo and use a lamp to light yourself or a friend.


So with all that laid out. Here are the finer points:

1. Her face can be used to tell a story, her expression and eye direction both leads the viewer and informs the viewer on what may be going on in the scene.

2. Her posture will also help tell some story aspects. If she is hunched or crouched she will look like she is trying to be covert and hide herself. If she was facing towards the camera and looking back she is "leaving" the building. If she is staring at the building she is about to go and enter it.

3. Her costume and dress might need some extra details that flesh her character out visually.


You just want people to be curious about the piece, so wonder and be intrigued. It's simple but hard to accomplish. The story people are mentioning is not literal, but just enough elements to allow them to build a scenario.