Elf Druid thumbs

[dwilliams]

This piece originally began as a redo of MTG's llanowar elf, but then I decided to extend the composition a bit to more of a book cover design because I liked the possibilities it gave me. Basically our elf druid here is drawing mana/power from the forest around her with one hand, and the other is releasing or turning it into magical little bugs and butterflies flying around her. I wanted the eye to move across the piece in a loop starting from the hand on the ground, then moving to the hand in the air and following the magic trail to the bugs, and finally back down to the ground with one of the trees in the background. I have some rough sketches showing different angles for this piece and I'm not sure which one works the best. I'm interested in everyone's thoughts.




Thanks in advance!

[Kaffer]

Personally I like the first one best, because it shows more of the environment, which might be helpful for the story :) Maybe a bit smaller main character and more "output" magic would give it a transition feel :)

[missimoinsane]

If I had to choose I'd say the second one. However in all fairness if I had the talents I would work on all of them to create a series. But that's just me. I do look forward to keeping an eye on how this develops!! But definitely "B" I just really like the pose and how the head is positioned looking up at the "magic". I think I'd like to see butterflies or something coming out of the "magic smoke"... that could be interesting/different. Good luck with your piece :)

mii

[Psychotime]

Depending on what the most important part of the image is, I'm partial to:

Character: D
Magic: C
Environment: A

[Elmst]

Very nice thumbnails!

D is the winner for me. When you move into the value study be sure to use the rule of thirds and get that knee close to the lower third intersection and place one the flying insects on the upper right third intersection.

Really nice, can't wait to see more!

[Myriam]

I'm in love with C. The perspective is interesting and there's enough room to breathe, to show the nature and for the magic bugs to fly around without being cramped in there. B is fine, too, but I prefer C.
Excited to see which one you chose and how it's going to look finished =)

[dwilliams]

Here's what I have so far. Our elf friend has kind of turned into more of a ranger than a druid, but that isn't really a big deal for me. This piece isn't quite finished yet- I still have to render her bow on the ground and her dagger, plus the leaves in the foreground and various parts of her body/clothing, but I thought I'd like to hear people's opinions on how the piece looks currently.

[missimoinsane]

oooh I like that. Good choice. :D

[dwilliams]

Here's an update with fixes I made from critiques I received elsewhere. I fixed the proportions in her face some, toned down the greenish/yellow colors, and tightened up the rendering in other places.

I also changed the position of the big bug in the piece. Previously it was in a position I felt lacked any real impact, so I made it bigger and overlapping the figure a bit to show its position in space better. I tiled it also so that the eye goes back towards the hand on the ground, completing the compositional loop throughout the piece.

What does everyone think? I'm trying to get this piece to look as nice as possible before Illuxcon, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[missimoinsane]

I didn't see the previous piece needed improvements. But the improvements you've made make 100% difference. Well done you. Fantastic :) Thank you for sharing :D

[Kaffer]

Good choices, awesome piece of art! Very nice flow with the magic and the tree barks.. \m/