09-27-2015, 07:59 AM
@Jeso
Nice to see edge variety in the still life!!!
Nice metallic feel on the dwarf.
Nice foreshortening, construction, proportion and active poses on those figures!! (Where are you reffing from? :O I'm about to start more interesting poses)
Sick colors on that tennis portrait.
Hmmm. I hate to crit the foundations on something you've sunk so much time into, but the gesture to the dwarf is really lacking. I think you probably noticed that your imaginative figures can get really stiff and that's why you're doing such dynamic figure studies? :O
Anyway, I think it's mostly a storytelling thing - Like he's shaking his fist towards some unseen enemy off in the distance, but his entire body is shifted flatly more frontally from the torso, to the pelvis, to the back leg and hand. It gets that kind of ancient Egyptian feel where they always drew certain parts of the body forward/profile to show it at it's most "true" pictoral state. Anyway, definitely something to think about in future pieces, which it looks like you're probably doing anyway.
Also the Axe... esp because you haven't really rendered it yet; the fact that it isn't totally clear that it's axe-like or even weapon-like is problematic. It feels really basic compared to the dwarf, like they don't quite belong together. It kind of looks like a triangular math straightedge you use in middle school glued to a stick.
One of the big problems with the axe design is simply that it isn't enough - it doesn't look like a finished weapon design. At the very least, you need to clarify the attachments of the metal to the stick at the top.Right now it doesn't look like they go together at all - a crude craftsman might secure the metal to the stick by just wrapping and re-wrapping leather around the connections several times. You could add cool doohickeys hanging from that part.
He looks like he's from a more refine society, though, so really the metal should be more clearly fitted to go around a pole. It needs to have some sort of crafted connection meant to go around that pole. Also - I'm just assuming the stick is meant to be round because of the rendering on the hand, but you have a lot of flattening elements where you should have ellipses, especially against the triangle and at the bottom of the stick, but also where the leather wraps go around. Because of the current construction of the weapon, the base of the weapon appears to be a flimsier yardstick type piece of wood.
Here's a quick paintover of some notes on the dwarf -
![[Image: 5F6nHbSm.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/5F6nHbSm.jpg)
Just some quick things - I like the "triangle" theme, but I think you could reinforce it some more. Some good places to do that might be engraving the triangle on some of the metal, especially on the hand greaves (? sorry, I don't really know armor teminology), adding a design to the clothing... But I think an especially great place to do it would be his hair. It's already somewhat triangular in shape, but right now it's kind of just random, haphazard. It's fine, but it doesn't help the design. If you created a triangle-ish shape from the corners of his hair and beard, it will enhance the feeling by a lot.
You can do whatever you want with the weapon, but these are just the quick things I thought of:
- I imagine using an equilateral triangle for a blade would be like constantly JUST missing your mark... curved blades that are wider on the side have a better range, and add some "variety" to the design of the weapon. It will also enhance the axe feel.
+ if you keep the equilateral triangle in the middle, it keeps that same design congruence!
- If you add a tiny diamond on the top, he could use it as just a stabby thing in closer range; not super useful, but a helpful addition to a weapon.
- You have leather grips at the bottom of the weapon... so I assume he swings this two handed (also because it's huge) but in any case, you'll get a nice design feel if you also add leather grips at the top where his second hand will tend to grab the weapon.
- This weapon is really top heavy, and in order to swing it properly, you're going to need some kind of counterweight at the bottom of the weapon. Otherwise it just feels pretty impractical.
Anyway, nice work! These are just some of the things that came to mind.
Nice to see edge variety in the still life!!!
Nice metallic feel on the dwarf.
Nice foreshortening, construction, proportion and active poses on those figures!! (Where are you reffing from? :O I'm about to start more interesting poses)
Sick colors on that tennis portrait.
Hmmm. I hate to crit the foundations on something you've sunk so much time into, but the gesture to the dwarf is really lacking. I think you probably noticed that your imaginative figures can get really stiff and that's why you're doing such dynamic figure studies? :O
Anyway, I think it's mostly a storytelling thing - Like he's shaking his fist towards some unseen enemy off in the distance, but his entire body is shifted flatly more frontally from the torso, to the pelvis, to the back leg and hand. It gets that kind of ancient Egyptian feel where they always drew certain parts of the body forward/profile to show it at it's most "true" pictoral state. Anyway, definitely something to think about in future pieces, which it looks like you're probably doing anyway.
Also the Axe... esp because you haven't really rendered it yet; the fact that it isn't totally clear that it's axe-like or even weapon-like is problematic. It feels really basic compared to the dwarf, like they don't quite belong together. It kind of looks like a triangular math straightedge you use in middle school glued to a stick.
One of the big problems with the axe design is simply that it isn't enough - it doesn't look like a finished weapon design. At the very least, you need to clarify the attachments of the metal to the stick at the top.Right now it doesn't look like they go together at all - a crude craftsman might secure the metal to the stick by just wrapping and re-wrapping leather around the connections several times. You could add cool doohickeys hanging from that part.
He looks like he's from a more refine society, though, so really the metal should be more clearly fitted to go around a pole. It needs to have some sort of crafted connection meant to go around that pole. Also - I'm just assuming the stick is meant to be round because of the rendering on the hand, but you have a lot of flattening elements where you should have ellipses, especially against the triangle and at the bottom of the stick, but also where the leather wraps go around. Because of the current construction of the weapon, the base of the weapon appears to be a flimsier yardstick type piece of wood.
Here's a quick paintover of some notes on the dwarf -
Just some quick things - I like the "triangle" theme, but I think you could reinforce it some more. Some good places to do that might be engraving the triangle on some of the metal, especially on the hand greaves (? sorry, I don't really know armor teminology), adding a design to the clothing... But I think an especially great place to do it would be his hair. It's already somewhat triangular in shape, but right now it's kind of just random, haphazard. It's fine, but it doesn't help the design. If you created a triangle-ish shape from the corners of his hair and beard, it will enhance the feeling by a lot.
You can do whatever you want with the weapon, but these are just the quick things I thought of:
- I imagine using an equilateral triangle for a blade would be like constantly JUST missing your mark... curved blades that are wider on the side have a better range, and add some "variety" to the design of the weapon. It will also enhance the axe feel.
+ if you keep the equilateral triangle in the middle, it keeps that same design congruence!
- If you add a tiny diamond on the top, he could use it as just a stabby thing in closer range; not super useful, but a helpful addition to a weapon.
- You have leather grips at the bottom of the weapon... so I assume he swings this two handed (also because it's huge) but in any case, you'll get a nice design feel if you also add leather grips at the top where his second hand will tend to grab the weapon.
- This weapon is really top heavy, and in order to swing it properly, you're going to need some kind of counterweight at the bottom of the weapon. Otherwise it just feels pretty impractical.
Anyway, nice work! These are just some of the things that came to mind.