Sorcerer [WIP]

[Stava]

I've been working on this sorcerer for quite some time, getting lazy

it still lacks something, and Idk what exactly, hopefully somebody here can help me find out what's bugging me

this is what I got so far:

[Candy Man Criminal]

a glowy magic looking bit that really screams "spells and magic and stuff"?
like a gem in the staff head, or an aura, or glowy eyes or markings...

glyphs?

basically anything magic/glowing

right now you could remove the staff and no one could question it, the character itself doesnt entirely have that magical feel to it
but as we mostly just see the cape, that'll be difficult, s'why you need the magic glowing awesomeness, yo

[Dr D]

Is he flying or lying on the floor?

[Stava]

a glowy magic looking bit that really screams "spells and magic and stuff"?
like a gem in the staff head, or an aura, or glowy eyes or markings...

glyphs?

basically anything magic/glowing

right now you could remove the staff and no one could question it, the character itself doesnt entirely have that magical feel to it
but as we mostly just see the cape, that'll be difficult, s'why you need the magic glowing awesomeness, yo

Is this any better?

Is he flying or lying on the floor?

Supposed to be flying 

[Hiuru]

I think making the cape flatter towards the body and more flappy around the sides (the way the wind would push it if it is indeed flying forward and not in reverse ) and changing the way the arms are placed should fix the issue. The hair also should be redone a bit because it doesnt make sense for it to move that way, atleast not with the wind blowing towards the face. Here's an edit:

[Stava]

made some progress and tried some different coloring





1st one is the original colors
2nd I added blue
3rd lightened it up in attempt to show the lightning effect better

[buddy90]

I think the basic problem is the pose itself, and not in the details or anything else. Superman tends to have the same kind of pose you are going for, I would recommend looking at some references and go from that.

Examples,

[Stava]

ok I tried changing his arm positions, but I'm not sure if it really should be referenced from Superman, since Superman is a fist fighter his arms on 2nd picture are in a fighting position kind of, and this wizard is carrying a staff with lightning effects around him



I made some edits on the cloak, is it any better?

edit:
Started working on a bg

[Carnivac]

Looks good but the background as it is now hides the legs you added which helped give the impression of what his body was positioned like under that cloak. 


By the way, thanks buddy90 for that image of Christopher Reeve as Superman.  I was in a bit of down mood and seeing SuperReeve always cheers me up.  Is why I recently bought the Blu Ray set of the movies.  Ah, happy childhood memories

[Stava]

Thanks for pointing that out Carnivac ! Does this fix the problem ?
And Idk if I should call this finished or should I work on the castle more? I have no clue what to do with the castle anymore.. I'm tired of working on this. Maybe some suggestions?

[leroy]

I know this (sort of) contradicts what Carnivac said but I would lose the blue outline from the bottom of his cape and the feet, it doesn't make much sense.  Maybe have the red glow blend smoother to the #091313 by adding that #261C26 and bring out the legs that way.

[Stava]

I added it so it shows the feet better
since Carnivac said the legs give the impression of what the body beneath the cloak looks like, and blue outline looked like good way to define the legs better

@Leroy
Made some small edits, does the cape/feet look better?
Also added a effect around the wizards staff, does it work ?


Edit:
@Leroy
hows this?

[Facet]

Some really nice effects work here, that chunky fire in particular .

I've roughed in some ideas here for the background that I think could lend the image a little more drama: Other wizards in space for an element of open-ended narrative (reinforces relative scale & perspective nicely too), fleshing out the castle with some dark & foreboding openings and just nudging over the main wizard/nixing that distracting bit of fog in the corner to emphasise the circular flow.

Small character changes; I couldn't figure that tiny left arm out, so I sort of reinstated Hiuru's edit & also gave the hair more range for a glossier look.

[r1k]

Everything looks good, but Im not sure how well its adding up.  Right now the wizard and background seem like seperate elements pasted together because they have totally different lighting.  The wizard has this blue light, but hes in a firey red inviornment.   Something about the blue lightning effects seems out of place too.  I dont think the purple effects around the wizard work for the same reasons.

[Stava]

Some really nice effects work here, that chunky fire in particular .

I've roughed in some ideas here for the background that I think could lend the image a little more drama: Other wizards in space for an element of open-ended narrative (reinforces relative scale & perspective nicely too), fleshing out the castle with some dark & foreboding openings and just nudging over the main wizard/nixing that distracting bit of fog in the corner to emphasise the circular flow.

Small character changes; I couldn't figure that tiny left arm out, so I sort of reinstated Hiuru's edit & also gave the hair more range for a glossier look.

Such a great edit ! Thank you !

I was really looking forward to your reply, but I lost the patience and uploaded it on PJ, however I removed it off PJ now since you inspired me to work on it some more 

Thank you once more 

Edit:
I've been making a edit, it's heavily based (hope you don't mind) on yours but here it is so far:

[Facet]

Aw, thanks!

It's looking great, I'm pleased you liked the idea, was hoping to provoke some more of that lovely swirly stuff .

Re: lighting; I don't think it's hurting the piece so much, facing away from the fire the figure would have be lit by an external source (the moon?) and/or lightning magics, so you could experiment with a contrasting cooler/darker palette perhaps.

[Manupix]

I agree there is a lighting issue.

There is a strong warm lightsource in the bg, which should have some visible effect on the wizard. Did you maybe add red in his face and hand for this reason? Doesn't read as light, it's way too dark.
The staff itself is a lightsource, blue and near: it should also have a strong effect on the wizard. It could indeed be the main / only fg light-source.
Instead there is an undefined frontal white lightsource on the wizard which doesn't say anything about the story or context.

Actually, when I saw the first version of the sprite alone, I thought 'pillowshading'. It's not THAT bad of course  , but it does give off this same feeling of inconsistency.

Looks great anyway, I love how you mostly use 'natural' pixel angles.
Too much dithering in that sky though!

[Jeremy]

The lightning seems a little solid to me. I think that there could be a better buffer between lightning and red background (one of the olive greens?).
The wizard still has little interaction with the background. You could push the colours in the cloak towards red/purple to harmonise the two a bit more (especially since the clouds at the bottom are already highlighted towards purple anyway).
Here's an attempt at some kind of lighting, should obviously be pushed further with more dramatic shadows etc.

[Stava]

does this work?

[Decroded]

In Jeremy's edit, the lightning looked a little more like the guy was flying along and the lightning was being affected by this, dragging behind a little.
Your lightning seems "sudden" and doesn't help with the sense of motion.

Looking really cool tho btw.

[Stava]

I was trying to make it look like a meteor falling
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01414/meteor_1414384c.jpg

it's going down in one perfect line

but Jeremys edit is more like he's coming from a side
(not this exact angle but this is what I read it like)


I think he was trying to show a idea how it could work without the multiple light sources,
but it kind of gives me impression that the sorcerers is coming from the castle, and that doesn't match my original idea..

he is just fighting infront of attacked castle