RottenPocket: Thanks! B was one of my favorites as well, but ultimately I decided on 'F' as I feel that 'pops' the most.
RonyaSekira: Thank you, and great input! I agree about using more grays. In general I'm trying to do pick less saturated tones than normal, but sometimes by the end of the process I can tend to oversaturate a bit... needs to be more conscious of this! Thanks again!
JosephCow: That's an interesting point, perhaps I'll do that for future pieces regarding the lighting for the quick thumbnails.
ItsAllHam: Thanks! B was one of my favorites as well but I recently already did that color palette so I opted for something different and eventually went with F.
serdar: Thanks, that's ultimately the one I went with!
......................
I finished up the painting process for 'Joan', decided to develop 'F' although I altered the colors a bit further as I went along... as I always tend to do. Hopefully it was for the better! Below is the final image, any input is welcome as always!
Next I finished up a sketch for a Star Wars-inspired piece, this time featuring a Jedi Knight. Any feedback before I begin painting it in would be most appreciated as always!
That Joan piece looks absolutely incredible! The markings on the armour and everything! It looks uplifting with your use of lighting. I would be very tempted to batter up that armour though. Make it look beaten, worn and weathered. It could play into the narrative that she still has faith through all of her battles.
DamienLevs: Thank you! Excellent feedback as well, will implement it shortly when I get the chance!
.........................
I finished the 'Jedi Knight' illustration, much faster than expected. I think it's probably because I stayed true to the original color scheme of the first stages so things were just easier and faster to tackle, so I'll make sure to try and repeat this for future images as that will save me quite some time. Below is the final image, any feedback is most welcome! Steps posted below as well for those interested!
I think you will develop the intuition when it come to color as to what work and doesn't. I am not a fan of the idea of abandoning color test if anything they take so little time that it shouldn't be even on your mind to skip them maybe no need to show them if you feel the color are solid.Of course Waiting for feedback might slow you down that why i suggested i think many time before to have a few project on the table so that you can get feedback but also at the same time be able to work on something new to refresh the eye.But if your fine trusting yourself may the force be with you.
I think confidence and a good plan is always the best recipe.Second guessing everything that not a good head space to be in but one still need to be self critical and that require balance and experience and a part of being critical is allowing critic to inform you on your blind spot.
On an other note.
One thing i would say that could add a bit of movement and dynamism and interaction with the element would be to add a bit of sand moving to imply he taking a fighting stance.(Kicking sand)
By the way your composition is solid here very well thought.Good job.
For a last little critic it would be to add occlusion shadow to your rock it the final touch to help object feel as if they are touching each other.
darktiste: Great feedback as always! I'll add some final changes to the Jedi image soon, will take another look at it after a couple of days to have a more fresh perspective on it. Glad to hear you enjoy the composition as well!
....................
I'll have updated on 'Joan of Arc' and 'Jedi Knight' in a few days, want to take a bit of a break from them so I can view it with fresh eyes and also apply the feedback I've received. With that said, I have a sketch that I completed a few weeks ago that I would like to begin painting. It's futuristic/sci-fi themed once again, something that I'm really enjoying to tackle! Below is the sketch, any input before I proceed with some color tests would be most appreciated!
Small tangente i would say with the end of the knife attach to the boot.
The boot look like her foot is going to explode i think a bit of reference would help.
I would expect some blood to spill a bit of the tips of the blade think of moving element in your piece i think that what missing(i give you that you got ship but they don't look very mobile they look like they are floating because they look bit like zepplin not very streamline which imply speed.
One other is changing the direction of some of those ship to create movement across the piece.Now they are all point in the same direction not sure it the best because to me it push my eye outside the composition.
darktiste: Good eye regarding the tangent, just fixed it. I'm planning on adding blood on the sword during the painting process as well. Changed the direction of the ships on the right side of the image to help bring focus to the figure compositionally, hopefully it works better now. Great feedback as always!
...............
Have several updates today; I finalized both 'Redemption: Joan of Arc' and 'Jedi Knight' based on the input received. Hopefully they're improved now. I think I'll call them finished as well unless there is something major that is off! Below are the finished illustrations:
Next up I resumed work on the cyborg woman, made some small tweaks to the line art and did some quick color tests for the costume. My personal favorites are B and E as they pop the most, and they're also the most stylish which is exactly what I'm going for. I'm open to hear input as well, so please feel free to let me know which you feel works best! Any input is appreciated as always!
I like E it remind me of the color from cyberpunk and i like the idea of seeing yellow latex and now that i mention it would be nice to see you try to do latex texture on this one for additional learning purpose.
Any chance you varies the ship design this look a bit to copy and pasted... for an illutration maybe it would pass in a comic but we tend to look a little longer at illustration which let us see repetition.
the floor looks out of perspective compared to the low angle of the character
Also I agree with person above about white palette for the character and maybe it's not important but I like the red dome on the background building, looks cool near a bright white figure
Damien Levs: Thank you! I like the black and white combo as well but I ultimately decided to go with something more colorful. Regarding anatomy I feel I made the most progress studying Vilppu (most especially for gesture) and Andrew Loomis (specifically in regards to proportion and drawing an ideal figure).
darktiste: Thanks, I decided to go with a mix of the C/E combo! Good call regarding the ships, just updated them as well.
RonyaSekire: Good call! Just fixed the issue!
.....................
I finished up the image and am fairly satisfied with it. I stayed true to the general color palette of what I began with and the painting process has once again gone smoothly and didn't give me too much trouble thankfully. Always pays to plan ahead! Below is the final image followed by some steps if you're interested. Any final feedback would be appreciated!
..............
Next up is a new illustration of Superman. I had a reference for the general pose which you can view here although I tried to draw it much more dynamic while emphasizing the anatomy as well. Any feedback on the sketch before I begin painting it in would be most appreciated! Below is the sketch.
I am not a master at anatomy but is chest look strange to me not sure how much the latex strenching would hide the overlapping of the pectoral muscle over the belly i think adding a hint of the pectoral muscle in the silhouette would help and pushing in the belly section.I suspect the s is a reason as to why you simplify this space so try to find the balance between anatomy and readability.
The s could be resized to be more evident i would say.I don't like the head pose it not looking at the viewer which i think is a miss opportunity to create the illusion of supermen going out of the page.
I change the cape a bit because i don't like the shape that look like arrow pointing toward top left.
I also flip the canva so that we shift the focus to the front fist rather than the back fist.
I tweak the face because i didn't like how far the likeness was to what i would say represent the face of supermen.Your feature were to pointy which make him look like is evil counter form bizzaro.
darktiste: Excellent points, and I agree with a lot of what you have commented on. I reworked the chest area significantly based on your input, and also tweaked the face a bit, hopefully he looks more benevolent in that regard. Also changed the angle of it which was a great call!
Great point regarding the cape's shape as well. I do think it works better with the cape included on the left side of the image, so I decided to keep it but alter it's shape a bit so it's more pleasing visually. Thanks again for your input, very useful input all around!
serdar: Great point! I made the changes and hopefully it looks more natural now, thanks!
.................
I updated the sketch based on the input I received and I feel it works significantly better now. I'm pretty happy with it, but if there's something off please feel free to let me know! Below is the update.
The question now is about the background do you want supermen to fly into a chaos,a clear sky or a cloudy sky i don't know why but i would like to see him fly to outer space with the earth under him not as a planet but very far up enough to see some curvature to add some dynamism and push him foward it would also serve to connect supermen to is space origin.
I agree with darktiste...That Superman would look so cool leaving the Earth's atmosphere. That line work looks incredible and I love how he looks younger too! This could be such a dynamic piece. No doubt, it shall be so. God speed! Looking forward to this one!
darktiste: Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind as well! I think that would be the most iconic and also offer the most contrast so I went with that theme!
DamienLevs: Thank you for the kind words and support, and I agree with your suggestion as well!
................
Now that the linework is solid I decided to try out some different color tests for the background. I really like A as that looks the most natural, but F is also very solid in that it has a solid contrast as well... Below are the color tests, any input on what you think works best would be most appreciated!
I would go for F(it is a bit to gradual of a gradiant) with a mix of E(E is to blue on blue so that why i recommend refering to f for brightness to create contrast).
I would go for a little bit more defition in the earth silhouette below supermen something like A or C there a nice curvature there which help sell what underneath.
Now i like what going on with f it look the most convincing in term of how earth like it look.
I would go for a gradation from dark from top left to brighter toward bottom right. I think A it the best example because it not bright all the way down but instead it create a brightness light cutting the composition at the center where you want the brightness to be.
Lovin' the new stuff especially Joan. The detail on her armor and the lighting and pose are very good.
If I'm not too late for a suggestion on your Superman: I think his left arm looks hyper-extended.
I did this QUICK paint-over — but I'm on a computer without a stylus — so it's just a rough idea without really getting into the anatomy. Maybe your position on that is a stylistic approach but thought I'd share anyway.
You've been very busy and it's great to see all the new paintings. Keep up the good work
darktiste: Great choice, I agree with F with the said variation so I went ahead and did that. Thank you!
Jephyr: Thank you! Love the changes you did to the sketch so incorporated it, feels much more natural now so I very much appreciate it. Thanks again for your support and kind words!
...............
I went ahead and developed version 'F'. It's come quite a long way, made a ton of progress. Going to refine the figure further, see how far I can play up the details. Any input is welcome, below is the current progress!
