GR#024 - Demon - Anatomy

[st0ven]

I posted this thread this morning and it seems the boards simultaneously crashed when i submitted the thread.

I had worked on a piece recently and I wanted to post progress pieces here. Just to preface it, theres some anatomy issues happening, the whip is a bit weird the way its being held and some other details that i can spot, but i wanted to get it done, i was excited to do so, and i went with things. (thats my rather quick summation of the more elaborate explanation i typed previously





initial stages sketched up and blocked out in photoshop, pixel detail followed up in paintshop pro.

[Mathias]

What the crap, darn board crashin'. LISTEN my web devonaire friend - Stop using IE and use FF so you can get the wonderful and awesomely Lazurus plugin (free). You will never lose browser typed information ever again. I can vouch for it.

Very attractive colors. Really nice to have a WIP of this. I still wonder why his whip is wrapping around his own wrist, looks like he did it by accident. And just a nitpick fyi, his egg-shaped head bugs me. In fact, I wish his whole body had more of a monstrous lurching humanoid goat-human reverse-knee structure to it, than a typical human.
Why the white bg?

What's your next piece going to be? I have a task for you should be brave enough . . .

[bengo]

Holy hell what a sight for sore eyes, I haven't seen pixels this pretty on here for some time, one little thing, since theres a giant blue fire behind him shouldn't some of that light be hitting him? Or did you purposely choose for that not to happen as purely an aesthetic choice?

[st0ven]

Mathias - The whip is admittedly a mishap. i thought in concept it would look cool if it was wrapping up his arm and he was sort of holding it somehow. i think its the way it wraps and the limp grip he has on it which make it look more snared than menacing. my previous post explained my discontent but i basically went forward just being excited of the overall image. if i redrew it from scratch that would definitely change. I dont disagree with you about the head but it doesnt bother me, but i feel what youre saying. i like the figure established, but i can see how the head mismatches the rest.  For the last time, yes the white bg is necessary! 

im very curious what your next suggested challenge would be in earnest.

Bengoshia - thanks man, and to answer you about your lighting question, i thought about this pretty early on in the piece. i decided not to use the blue as an ambient source of light with the piece, and went with warmer colors instead. I think it does something good and something bad. I think it really helped pop the figure off of the background color (as warms will pull forward from cools), but to the expense of making the figure and the flame disjointed in a sense where they dont feel unified, also the lack of coherent lighting here detracts from the 'realism' of being enveloped in flame.

Xiphirx- this was a bit less than 10 hours in total id say.

[Mathias]

I was going to try and con you into doing something for the current game we're doing. You know you want to.

[st0ven]

I was going to try and con you into doing something for the current game we're doing. You know you want to.

ah you silly goose! check your pm box

[Helm]

Hi st0ven. I really like the demon, however a few points:



Sorry for rough edit.

1. I don't think the whip being tied around the demon's forearm works at all.

2. That area where arm, wing, horn and whip all intersect is a bit of a clusterfuck.

3. The actual gesture of the high arm is the antithesis of intimidating. I'm not sure the 'invisible oranges' gesture I edited in a good enough change but it might give you a few ideas.

4. Any particular reason for no genitals? If it's a matter of being inoffensive, I'd give him some clothing or ornamental armor or something *edit = or even just some hellsmoke in front of his crotch, anything.

5. The whole pose looks a bit like a rockstar holding a microphone, is this intentional? If not you could amend it a lot just by changing the grip hand's gesture on the whip.

[bengo]

Helm I can't see your edit.

[Helm]

My server is undergoing maintenance. Here's an imageschack mirror.

[EyeCraft]

First off, I love the quality of pixel work put in to this. It's truly exceptional.

What it suffers from, to me, is an awkward composition/pose that doesn't give the figure any feeling of motion or life. If someone has a whip flipping around in that way, I feel like they should be just as animated.



Forgive my butchering of your pixels

Shifted a whole bunch of things around to emphasise a direction of movement with repeating angles and curves. I would have liked to recede the foot in to the mist but I have no idea how!  

Get that figure swooshing!

[big brother]

I love the colors and attention to detail on the veins in the wing. Is there any particular reason you chose the white background? It doesn't contribute anything to the piece, but rather detracts from the atmosphere. It would be much more dramatic if the entire background was foggy with hellsmoke and the figure looked to be emerging menacingly from it. Right now it doesn't seem like the viewer is seeing him through the smoke -- the smoke is obviously behind him until it magically overlaps his knees. There are also lots of jaggies around the outside of the horns, wings, and whip. I feel like you polished this before the concept was pushed far enough. Sorry if I sound too blunt. I do like the piece and I think it has lots of potential.

[junkboy]

For some reason I really like that scanline dither on his lower abdomen. I don't think I've seen anything like that before. Perhaps the pose could be a bit more dynamic, but great job regardless.

[xiphirx]

, where'd my reply go?

I think EyeCrafts edit is more appealing in terms of the pose. I do not like EyeCraft's leg edit though

[st0ven]

Xiphirx- dont know? where did it go? kindof mysterious, sort of like this original post disappearing too :/

Helm - I was hoping youd join in . I think i agree largely with everything pointed out. i like the take on the forearm not holding the whip handle, it makes it feel more commanding and less clumsily ensnared, heh. Though i think if a proper redo were to be done, i think it would probably have to be more severe to the extent that eyecraft suggests, though perhaps it would just be more entertaining to draw a fruit tree behind him.

I dont really think a demon needs genetalia, so i neglected to include it. i guess its just my interpretation of what a humanoid demon would look like.

As for the hand pose for the whip, if you can check out the wip animation, youll see early on theres a gesture where the whip actually is pinned under the arm nunchuck style. i think that set up the initial pose for the arm but i changed the nature of the whip's action without following suit with the arm's pose.

Eyecraft - I like the concept a lot and i think youre dead on. A stronger version of this image needs to be reconceptualized from the very basics of it, its pose. I like what you have going on (i actually like the leg sticking up and out of the flame), not sure the edited arms action is right but the whole concept feels a bit more dynamic, which is what it comes down to, yeah? I can really relate to this feedback and is something im always trying to improve.

wanted to do a quick illustration of action lines here



The right is the original pose and original skeletal structure, middle being a self edit of a more dynamic looking but similar pose, the third is a rough skeleton of your edit.

Theres clearly a stronger sense of action and dynamism in your revision even over the other two, a basic skeleton comparison really helps illustrate it.

Junkboy - Thanks for noticing that little area, heh. Im sure there have been others who have used shading methods like this, its one i happened to explore for a certain project that utilized a comicbook feel to the pixel art. i think its a nice touch when done subtly in certain situations. Its more of a style thing, probably not something that should be a substitute for proper rendering however.

[ndchristie]

two-bits time :

inward-facing knees appear weak/fragile without benefitting the composition.  I would definitely have him engage in a stepping motion, perhaps even long the same line of motion, but keep the knee turned out.  arms crossing the chest are also weak/meek.

the reason for both of these things revolves around the negative space used.  here's a quick sketch of the same rocker (because your guy reminds me of one) making different use of the same pose (change in angle provides dynamic negatives and better lines of motion)

[Rydin]

here's a quick sketch of the same rocker (because your guy reminds me of one)

I was thinking the same!