Wardy's New Sketchbook :)

[Wardy]

Whaddy'a know, its another speedy.
And yes. it is the same composition as everything i do. i need to get out of this habit.
still it was fun, 40 mins approx.

[Wardy]

hey peeps, latest batch of speedies of one environment, different locations
about 20-30 mins each i reckon. tell me what you think :)

[Wardy]

first few steps of the new character im doing, using ref for the pose to nail the pose that i want to use the most (this one).

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second figure, just for fun before bed :D dancing and bums and stuff...
from imagination

[Wardy]

continuation from the figure i had before, slightly tweaked.
the concept is a kind of air/bird druid, with feathers as spaulders and a staff with feathers and charms. Will be adding some bones around her waist as well as some other stuff, the staff and arm are just blocked in really.
Would love any crit at this stage. Oh, and bewbies help me to make the figure seem more formed so the cleavage is staying for now unless you think its horrific :)

[0ziRi5]

Hello Wardy, thx for stopping by in my sketchbook. Your environmental pieces are just great. I really dig the composition and colours. Would be great if you could share some of your process. To the figures pls remember that figure consists mainly of three masses (chest, pelvis and head) which all have some volume and space orientation. Your figures are kinda flat which is also a problem of working from photos. I would recommend to check G. Bammes anatomy book and study these masses and their relationships. Basically something like this http://i.onfinite.com/1gzC105hd.jpg

Hope it helps. Pls stop by again. Tomas

[Wardy]

no worries, thanks very much!
yeah of course I can sometime if you'd like, may do a WIP thing at various stages.
yes true, i tend to do that kind of construction but in 2d rather than 3 which is probably why they look so flat. I'll have a look, thanks for the recommendation!
Will do :)

[JakeB]

Nice stuff :) Those environments look great, really nice sense of perspective. The figure's maybe looking a little flat atm though. I think if you play around with how her right (our left) arm is positioned, you could add a little more depth. Just a thought, looking forward to the final. :)

[Wardy]

thanks very much! yes i totally agree, all of them tend to come out that way, im going to try to push some back lighting or something to describe the 3d form better. any tips would be awesome, oziri5 gave some good advice about constructing them, but im not sure about rendering with clothes.
will keep experimenting, thank for stopping by :)

[0ziRi5]

it will be the same with clothes. :) it still describes underlaying 3d form + can be loose in areas of no contact. Tho im not in painting clothing yet, im quite sure the rules will remain the same. :)

[Wardy]

Tried to think more about 3d space, hopefully this has improved a bit. also went b/w to see the value errors i was making.
make the design a bit more clear, with more feathers and bird skulls, will be adding far more soon, im just blocking things in atm.
please tell me what you think :D

[Wardy]

i figured why not post this, its something i did a long time ago but may finish up someday
WIP

[constructicon]

Wow - you have a very good sense for colors and compositions. Your speedpaintings are very delicious. You really are strong in the force. I like the way you indicate everything.

[crackedskull]

Nice speedpaints, you've got a good feel for the atmosphere. Character is coming along great I quess, a bit too soon to tell. Liking the head ornament.

[Wardy]

Thanks guys! i really appreciate it :)
Ok so this is the WIP of my latest piece, had this in my head for too long so had to put it down on pixels!
Using some photo texture techniques and playing around with some moody atmosphere :)

[Wardy]

latest update, changed the comp quite a lot.
thumbnails? what thumbnails? (whoops...) note to self: maybe do thumbnails to prevent this in future.

[Buzuuk]

I would like to give you advices for this Wardy believe me. But I dont have you skillz for compostition or such architecture.
As I did for my dwarf, push as hard as you can ! If you want you could add more details on the character on the front, maybe give him some red colours to make him pop out.
I would like to see maybe some crows around if you want to bring life and maybe dead trees in the swamp around?
Details as well more the top of the towers, this is another part getting my attention.
But overall great job, cant do so good

[Amit Dutta]

Not going to offer a lot of crit, but will add some ref for you to look at. The near torch is nice but probably too strong. If you want to make the focal point on the castle stronger, do that, and perhaps dim down the bright spot at the gate a little. Maybe you could also try and hit more of the castle on that side with some spill light, so it isn't just one isolated spot. I feel you could do more with the volumes of the castle, especially on the right hand side. They are very flat. Make it seem more like a 3D object. The composition isn't quite hitting the mark right now but with some good value work on the castle it should come right. I feel you need to add some more layers between foreground and midground just to help add to sense of scale and depth. And now some Jaime Jones

[Wardy]

update (before I saw your crit monkey, more work to be done)

Alrighty, I'll dim it down, I was considering the same actually.
I think i may make the gate the focal point instead, the bit on the tower is more to show its form with some dramatic lighting more than anything. I've kinda spilt it onto the new tower and gate a little bit, i tried a more general light before and it looked washed out and strange. Will keep playing with it and post what I find.
What about the composition isnt working? honestly i stopped doing actual grids for rule of thirds a while ago, and im trying to get out of the habit of having everything rule of thirds (though I know it works 60% of the time, everytime...). I can play with the comp a bit more though, may be painful at this stage. I think maybe the tower would be too cramped if i did but will try it out.
Hopefully the bridge helped a bit with the 2d look, but will see if i can use perspective to bring out more 3d in it, good point.
Ermegherd so much love for jamie jones, he makes my art senses tingle....
Gonna leave this for tomorrow now, thanks for the crit as always :)

[Amit Dutta]

Oh it's not that the comp ISN'T working, but maybe that not everything is completely working in concert. For example you have a general triangle of light value, the apex of which is at the lit window, but the gates are the more dominant in terms of grabbing focus. So it is just about knowing your comp is working to the points you want to the right degree. It sounds like you know what you want to do in this case but keep that general larger value shape in mind as well :)

Also you can add more artificial bounced light from inside the castle walls if you need to add lighter value as a leading the eye element to the comp, from the window down to the gate and to add some more interest to the castle itself. That kind of stuff.

I think rule of thirds works 100% of the time, it's just knowing how to adapt it in interesting ways and knowing how to break it which is the challenge. There are actually NO rules after all. It's leaps and bounds ahead of your older stuff so you should be stoked. :)

[Wardy]

yeh in this case i want the gates to be main focus, i only really wanted the top bit to be lit because it adds a bit of interest to what otherwise would be a dimly lit silhouette if you see what i mean.

great idea with the bounce light! could have indications of torches and fire inside the castle walls, and maybe someone in the guard tower. would make the castle seem a lot more alive than it is now, great point thanks :)

haha yeh true i just wanted to get an anchorman quote in there! yeh i want to try some different compositions so will be working my way systematically through them soon (like spiral, triangle, cross/iconic maybe, l composition you get the idea) to try to spice things up a bit.
Thanks man! Gotta keep going :)
speaking of which, havent seen work from you in too long man! im having withdrawal symptoms... or maybe thats just the coffee... i imagine you quite busy atm? would be cool to see any more doodlings! :D