Helvetia, another fake card.

[Psychotime]

Hello again, crit center!

After my last attempt for this little sub-project of a project for the sake of skill building, I've learned a good bit about composition and graphic design. Things that were right in front of my face, but I never noticed until now.

So I've got a new one. This time one of the main characters. Helvetia or "Vet" (named after Helvetia Boswell) is a sadistic pseudo-vigilante who intentionally gets involved with the main plot because it fits her "hobby". She loves beating up "tomato cans" and loves finding opportunities to do so, but she's very observant and never does anything on impulse. She's very cautious and deliberate about everything she does. Most people don't see this side of her, and she wants it to stay that way.

On a normal day she's personable, very easygoing and almost fades into the background, but needless to say she scares the hell out of (most of) the other main characters.

If she had a theme song, it'd totally be Crazy People.



About the illustration, it's nothing specific. Two random throwaway characters beaten up. I was initially going to make them humans, but being funny animals made it...funnier.

I'm at about my 6th card frame now, but I feel it's improving every time. I've made everything much simpler now, less cluttered and haphazard. Text is easier to read.

I've since learned a good bit about the composition necessary for character based card illustrations, and it turns out to be much less rigid than I originally thought.

[Amit Dutta]

Love that Boswell sisters clip! Haven't got much crit, maybe the perspective is a bit off especially with the bg wall, but the style kinda covers for that. Perhaps a bit too dark in the shadowed areas so you might want to show off the beaten up dumdums a bit more, and maybe with a bit of blood on them or smears on the floor as well, less saturated, so they don't just look like drunks? There are some tangents with the ciggy and her face, so that could be separated a bit better. The layout of the card looks clean and effective. Nice job overall!

[Psychotime]

maybe the perspective is a bit off especially with the bg wall, but the style kinda covers for that.

Hmm. Maybe it was a mistake making the pile of boxes two point while the rest of the image is intentionally in one point. Can you maybe explain more about what's wrong there?

I'll fix the blood thing you pointed out, because only now do I notice how strange that is. Wow, what was I thinking? The cigarette should be an easy fix.

[Amit Dutta]

Yeah you nailed the perspective thing, but I don't think it's a big deal at all....just minor if you were to nitpick the angle of the texture on the bg wall and where it's lower edge is compared to the horizon line implied by the crates. I would expect the lower edge to be much lower given we are mostly looking up at the crates.

[Psychotime]

Oh. I looked again and it seems I fudged the perspective in a few spots on that pile of boxes, particularly the one in the middle. Thanks for seeing it!

I put the vanishing point near her left fist, but when I started making the boxes follow it, I noticed that they would be pretty distorted so I fudged it.

I can see that the whole thing is a bit wonky now. I should have followed it rigidly and used the distortion as a sign that I needed to pull the vanishing point back so that I could accurately get what I was going for.

[Madzia]

I did not spot it on first sight but right now it is bothering me every time I look at it :D The lines that I selected with blue colors. Nose coincide with eyebrow and mouth line from cheek with neckline. It makes whole character hard to read when zoom out.
Also what do you think about making her less symmetrical? do something to break whole shape (it's kind of boring)

[Psychotime]

Oh man, now I see the tangents, too! Gotta fix them!

Also what do you think about making her less symmetrical? do something to break whole shape (it's kind of boring)

Now that one I don't know. I could do a little to change up the silhouette her hair makes here. I'll do that.

I feel that looking a bit plain is appropriate for the character's day to day outward persona, so maybe her design is working in some way? I like to think that she's a very subdued and low-key character on a normal day, and so her appearance reflects it a bit.

Thank you for your input. Sorry making what must look like excuses.