[WIP] guardian

[Dex]

MOST RECENT:



FIRST:



In the spare time between work, painting, soccer, and summer, I've been working on this.

It's one of the few WIPs I really like so far, and I wanted to know what you guys feel like. Comments and constructive criticism appreciated, along with edits, if need be! I'm not looking to change the entire scheme of the piece, but if there are things you'd like to point out, I'll be happy to fix them.

Thanks!

[Indigo]

Very cool man.  The mood it creates is fantastic.

the first thing that stands out to me is I think you begun texturing WAY too early.  The base forms/proportions/lighting is lacking because you jumped straight into the details.  If you spent the time to work out the anatomy beforehand for example, you may find that his torso is far too short, his shoulders are quite disconnected and things of that sort.  When i get some free time I'll try to provide a paint-over to point out these areas.

[Dex]

Since this isn't a human, per say, more of a monster, the proportions aren't going to be exactly human. Thus why the hands are somewhat huge and the suit being open at the top doesn't reveal a body.

I do however see what you mean. I can definitely lengthen and shorten things, but I'm fairly happy with the depth and the forms. Looking forward to your edit.

[Photocopier]

I like this, but that's a wimpy-ass blade on the end of his pole, looks like it wouldn't do much more than harvest crops.

[Mathias]

Hmmm ok.

incoming postbarf, scatter!

Broken horn doesn't look broken, looks meticulously removed by cutting a jaggedy line through it's base
Unbroken horn too close to canvas edge, too much visual tension
Suit's overall design is very un-inventive, it's kinda boring, I know you're capable of better, "collar-bone" back-pieces are especially improvised looking, I have a feeling someone didn't do their reference homework on medieval armor (look at Blizzard's Warcraft III or something)
Weapon is waaay too wimpy for such a mammoth baddie, he needs something either in the blunt category or some huge heavy blade, perhaps double-sided battle-ax, something fear inspiring
light green arent working for me on suit
Reds are barely light enough to stand out as light cast from the center red thingy, almost just seem like pigment/coloration on suit (could be my mons?)
Is red heart thingy closer to us than, co-planar with, or positioned behind the chest plates? Red light is flooding out over chest plates concretely confirming the red circle thing is closer to us, yet the depth clues say it's inset, get'chya Z-stack right
Anat sure is odd, especially his waist/where legs turn into torso, it's like there's no pelvis, legs just connect to the ribcage
Hole in BG rocks is awfully distracting, what's it for? What does it contribute? Did you get bored? The whole bg, it's just bland, so generic, give this poor guy some purpose, show us what he's guarding, make us care he's a guardian, give it some meaning. I, as the viewer have stumbled onto this guy in the cave I'm pilfering through in search of . . . rock walls? Sorry mista guardian, i'll just be going now . . .

[Dex]

Like I said, I'm not really looking to change the design of the piece... I can add some spice to the armor, but I like it looking general, it doesn't distract the viewer too much.

I agree about the horns, I'll work on them. I'll also give him a better weapon... any ideas for a specific type or something of the sorts?

It's supposed to be mysterious, by the way. The background isn't supposed to harbor any attention. The hole can be removed, if you'd like, and I could add some dark details to show something, but it's supposed to be up to viewer's discretion what he's guarding, really.

I don't really get what you mean about the red orb. Show me with an edit, perhaps? Your post was very strewn and while helpful, was kind of hard to follow. :S

I'm also assuming you didn't.... like anything about it? I definitely felt like I accomplished something here, but whatever, I'll work on it. Thanks.

[Ryumaru]

Dex: Don't sound disheartened, I'm sure Mathias could have posted an entire positive response to your work as well, but the main function of this forum is critique and we don't like to pull punches when we could hit you in the face with words that could hurt your feelings AND improve your art at the same time!

You definitely have accomplished something, It's turning into a very nice piece. The mood/ palette is great. I would remove the hole in the wall. whats its purpose? right now it takes away imo.
the texture is really well done, and the modeling of the forms is really nice and smooth.

[st0ven]

Hey Dex,

So your palette and pixel rendering are obviously rather good when it comes down to details, i think that indigo is right when it comes to jumping into the shading bit though, also the forms, while not necessarily being human, are at least humanoid, and without strong structural basis the details wont extend the basic underpinnings of the piece that youre hoping to portray very well.

i like all mathias' points for sure. the first thing that stood out to me was the red lighting issue. this should be the most interesting light source in your piece, and woudl do really well if mixed with some other more natural lighting from the cave.

i just did a reall fast edit to show what basic direction id start off with before continuing down with the rendering of the armor's rustic nature, and some splash of color including that red.

[Indigo]

Because you didn't start your image thinking of the underlying structure, we need to deconstruct it in order to better analyze it.  Once we do this a lot of issues are easily seen...



Even calling a 'monster' or 'unhuman' doesn't mean you shouldn't put a lot of thought to how it functions.  The very nature of it being a humanoid comes with a lot of common traits and ideas that you should be thoughtful of.  In the left image I simply deconstructed it into its very core skeletal structure.  The second image I tried my best to make it work by applying anatomy over top.

the first thing that stands out to me is the complete lack of abdomen.  There is almost no gap between where the rib cage would be and where the hips are.  Unless this guy was designed to be incapable of bending or storing food for any prolonged amount of time, this could be a big problem - as he almost goes straight from pecs to crotch.

You have some symmetry and proportion issues going on with the arms.  One forearm is much longer than the other - even taking into account foreshortening.  You may want to extend the length of the upper arms and shorten the forearms for a more solid feel.  Also notice how disconnected the shoulders connect once i deconstruct the image.  If you pull those arms in closer, it may fix a lot of that weirdness.  It was also weird to me how skinny you made the upper arms in comparison to the forearms.  I'd reverse those relative sizes - or at least lean a bit towards that direction.

I'm sure you can pull a lot more from these images than I wrote here, but this might get you started.


Edit:  st0ven's post echoes a lot of my own thoughts

[Mathias]

C'mon, Dex, thought you knew me better. Yes, I like it. It's an ambitious undertaking. I'd expect, with your pixelling time so limited though, that you would work on something smaller with a shorter lifespan so you could feasibly complete it. Just a thought. Did you dig up any reference for anything before you started it?

Also, I've griped at you before, for launching into big projects with little to no underlying sketching done beforehand. Sketching = planning. It's very beneficial. Did you do that?


Awesome anat overpaint, Indigo. That's very helpful.