Crimson CHOW #42 - Elemental Whisperer

[Lege1]

Alright, this is what I conclude for the Undine...

[Pubic Enemy]

Lege, nice job; the background has an appropriately ethereal feel to it. Also wow, you cranked out those other two fast. Salamander is properly metal.

LeoKi, I'm pretty sure the word "conjured" implies physically summoning the creature, so no worries. I like those sketches with the earth golem setting up Stonehenge, and the elementalist's doll is strangely cute. And I'm glad you share my dislike of garden gnomes, LOL.

CBinns, I noticed that you tend to put in a lot of those little details, and I always like finding them. Looking forward to the update!

[Leo Ki]

@Lege1 -

If you are in a period when you can take the time to experiment and run, take advantage of it! I think it's the best way to learn unexpected things, not just about art but also about what one wants to do with it.

You're really playing with light, in the Undine piece the surreal bright light comes out of nowhere, like in the old masters' paintings where a face is dramatically illuminated from very close when there is no candle to be seen.

Yup, villains of old tend to be more interesting because of how caricatural the good and bad dichotomy was often portrayed, although things tend to be more human and nuanced nowadays. I was insisting on the good deed because of the brief mentioning a righteous quest - but we can always take it as ironic :P

I started thumbnailing again, following your advice. I should have known, but on my tiny tablet it always seems like I'm thumbnailing, it's confusing.

Thank you for the Muddy Colors link. I especially like how he exposes the lack of intention in the AI-generated images.

@PE - 

Thank you! That's a relief, I don't have to rethink the whole idea.

About the mini-golem - It's because I can't remain serious for too long. The first one I drew on top of a slate that the whisperer holds over her head, it came as a surprise to me and I wanted to keep the mood.

Here are my latest sketches, building a bit of background story.

[Lege1]

@Pubic Enemy thank you so much man and the ethereal look I was trying best to pull off; I was hoping someone would say something about that so I can tell the readability success of that particular mood/ effect. Yes, I have been on fire lately. Rawk! I appreciate the metal comment on the Salamander for sure; thank you!

@Leo Ki Yes, when I get down time I pour a lot into my art and self development both physical and mental. I love Carvaggios work and love to play with the lighting and try new things. Exactly, I like to create artificial lighting situation or dramatic reflection effects. Ironic indeed,lol.

This is great you have gone back to the thumbnailing and it already looks like its working out pretty well for you. Defnitely explore heavily with different camera angles and perspective in your compositions and see where it takes you. David Finch has great information in general on youtube, just look for his channel and he has some great info on perspective, composition 101, figures in perspective etc; definitely don't sleep on him or his information that is FREE. Also, be sure to number or name your thumbnails so they can easily be reffered to in conversation, it just makes it easier to target them. So far I really like the bottom right. Keep up the great work!

Also, smaller tablets can be better. I love using the Wacom Intous 3, I feel it's the best tablet wacom ever made and I love the button set up on it, the model it PTZ-630 and I would go for the 6x8 tablet. You can download the driver for it and buy nibs on amazon or the wacom site, and you can find the tablets and pen used and cheap on ebay. The 6x8" size is a game changer if you're using something small like a bamboo. I currently use a Wacom Intuous Pro.

This is the current rough I have going for the Sylph / Wind Elemental; I'm hoping to try and get some good kinetic energy and movement in this piece. 

[Lege1]

This was a fun one and learned more per usual...

[Leo Ki]

The poor whisperer has been knocked down by the sylph's energy burst! :) Or he's hurt and calling her to the rescue. The red sky may symbolize a threat that she has come to fight off, or she may be the threat. Impactful color choices again! My only critique would be on her trunk: The breasts are "attached" high and the belly would likely extent a bit further up.

Thank you for all the advice! I actually use a small Intuos 3 - a very old one but still working perfectly. I was going to make some more (numbered) thumbnails, experiment more angles, but got sidetracked and now I'm in panic mode trying to make it for March 6. I took the last one and tried a larger canvas for it.

Yes, she looks like a stork on a bike, lol.

[Lege1]

@Leo Ki
    Thank you so much on that observation and that is something I will look over more about the breasts and stomach area of my Sylph. I'm glad you like the color arrangement of this one, I really wanted to push the complimentary color limits with the purple and yellows.

You're welcome on any and all advice and I hope it serves you well. Your illustration is coming along well. Consider working under your line work till you start getting forms to render with your direct into color approach. Taking advantage of using layers is the ultimate advantage of working digitally compared to working traditionally. Once you have your values balanced out with your colors you an than lower the opacity on your line work some and then paint over the top of everything, working your edges and focusing on the final render.

Never panic on the deadlines of these forums although it is good to have discipline with time. It's much better to focus on the proper development of your work than stressing a pro bono deadline. Take your time, learn, and enjoy the process. There will always be another topic and if worst comes to worst you can always work up, or re-work an old one. 

[Leo Ki]

I like how the sylph looks slightly concerned, in contrast to your first three spirits.

When I started digital I went straight to direct painting after years of only drawing/hatching on paper the monochrome way, it was kind of a revelation but as a result I never really learned to do advanced rendering from a line sketch. I'll try to follow your method of gradually fading the lines away.

I did a collage of two earlier sketches and started again - so much for my efficiency under time pressure ;P Also testing Krita's built-in brushes which I don't know well yet. Will refine little by little.

[CBinnsIllustration]

I really like your concept Leo, and how you have approached the mud beast is awesome. And the subtle explanation of how stone henge was really created is a nice touch. Even though we all know it was aliens. I wouldn’t sweat the timeline you have loads of time still to get something finished. I think if I were to offer some advise, I would maybe play with the composition a little. Maybe overlapping the characters might provide depth and allow the viewer to transition from one object to the next. I vomited a gross doodle to show kind of what I mean, apologies for its roughness just wanted to get something to show what I mean. I feel like if you were to really render out the whisperer, and throw the elemental to the BG with slightly less saturation it could read really well. 

I almost want to look at him/her and say “ what the hell is she/he doing?” And then I see this huge mud beast throwing up this wall and go. ‘Ohhhh…noice!”

Keep up the good work!

[Leo Ki]

Thank you Chris!

Your recomposition is awesomely dynamic!

It also touches on some of my early doubts, namely that I wanted the whisperer to face the golem in a controlling stance, except that I cannot do that in a single illustration if I want to show more than the whisperer's back. In a comic I can navigate the scene. Frustrated I was, still am.

Funny that you mention the aliens, I was thinking of prefacing the concept with "Contrarily to the widely accepted belief that alien technology erected this monument, we now have proof of the historical truth."

I'll keep digging for possibilities. Thank you again for everything!

[CBinnsIllustration]

No worries dude! i totally get your dilemma of wanting to show the whisperes face but have her face the elemental as well, those comps are always tricky. I actually think your top left composition in your latest thumbnails is pretty cool, there is something unique about it as the their forms mimic each other is a cool touch. I would like to see that explored a bit more.

[Pubic Enemy]

I agree with CBinns; I personally like the top left composition the most. Partly because it gets that cute lil' doll in the picture.

[Leo Ki]

Thank you much, Chris and P.E., for the feedback. I tried again to play with angles around the first one, the  "synergy" poses, especially trying to sneak the camera eye much closer and more frontal to the whisperer, which is the main point of this community challenge, but failed again.

Instead, here is some more exploration around the character and her proud tribe that has repelled all invasion attempts throughout history. Also an attempt at re-domesticating painting.

[Pubic Enemy]

Leo Ki, your painting style and use of colors actually looks really nice and solid. There's a good sense of the forms and shadows. And that golem and whisperer are full of character.

I strongly recommend that you choose one composition and stick with it to the end. It might look much better than you thought it would once you've achieved some level of finish. Even a really good thumbnail can look awful in the initial stages of painting if you take it at face value.

I feel your comment about never having learned to do advanced rendering; but a more impressionistic style is certainly fine too. If you still wanna try to get something done for the finals thread, something sketchy-looking would be fine with me.

[Leo Ki]

P.E., thank you so much for your comments and encouragement! I've been erring through a few more compositions trying to show everything that I deemed vital, especially the stone necklace which is the only thing the whisperer can really speak of in terms of design. Fighting time and myself. The WIP below is full of gross mistakes but I'll just carry it along and try to meet the deadline. I'll have maybe half an hour tomorrow after work to finish it, wish me luck :)

[Pubic Enemy]

Looks good to me Leo. You know what, I'll wait an extra day or two before putting the poll up. I'm waiting on Lege1 to post one of his in the finals thread anyway.

[Lege1]

Pubic Enemy: Thank you so much and sorry on the delay, apartment and job hunting here, looking for a solid place to live and work. I'm posting in the finals now.

Leo Ki: Your latest entry looks awesome and congrats with that. I really like the composition of that one and only wished I could see the whisperer's face more. This definitely has potential though and you should def consider tightening it up some and posting in finals.

CBinnsIllustration: I just saw your entry in the finals and it looks great. Big congrats on that and great advice that you have given Leo Ki, that was very generous of you.

[Leo Ki]

It's a minute to the deadline and I only managed to polish a few things (below) in the last forty minutes or so.

PE, if your offer to extend the deadline a bit still holds, I'll try to finish the thing tonight. Definitely feeling better with direct painting than from line, it reconnects me to my old habit.

Lege1, thank you! I miss her face too, but so would the golem if she faced the camera :P

[Leo Ki]

Totally absorbed into it. Redoing the head.

[Pubic Enemy]

Pubic Enemy: Thank you so much and sorry on the delay, apartment and job hunting here, looking for a solid place to live and work. I'm posting in the finals now.

No problem at all dude. I didn't mean to get on your case about it; I know forum posting just has to get moved lower down on the priority list sometimes.

Leo Ki, I was happy to give you some extra time. And I'm glad you posted in the finals thread! I really like your distinct use of light and shadow areas in the composition. And that whisperer's doll turned out even cuter than it did in the thumbnails.