[WIP] A Boy and his Demon

[Boxcar]

Started a full scene for the first time in a long while. Trying to convey a scene after a battle where a demon saves a kid from a group of bandits.



Looking for advice first on the composition, and second on the fur of the demon. I want to go for a texture like the Cleric Beast from Bloodborne.

Edit: Also not sure about the perspective. Started on a fur texture though.




Decided I'm not happy with the pose of the demon and child. It seemed a bit out of perspective, and spilled over too much of the image. I'm going to redraw it, but first decided to tweak the environment and lighting. Not entirely sure how the light would disperse once it hits the ground.

[cels]

This looks promising, but a further explanation of what you're planning to pixel would be helpful. Is the light on the ground coming from the  demon, or from attackers with flashlights? If it's the former, then I would expect the surroundings to reflect more light. If it's the latter, then the angle of those light beams are opposite of what they should be.

I wonder if you may have picked the wrong angle and canvas dimensions for a complex scene like this, unless it's supposed to be some sort of game mockup. I'm not saying it' can't be done from this angle, just that due to the perspective you won't be able to pixel the demon and child very big, which makes it harder to see their body language, which makes it harder to understand intuitively that there's actually a demon protecting a child, attacked by bandits.

So far, the body language of the bandits don't particularly convey a sense of danger either, just chaos and conflict. So one wonders if the figure close to the demon (i.e. the child) is part of the same group of people surrounding the demon (i.e. whether the child is a bandit attacking the demon)

Just my two cents.

[Boxcar]

You're right about the perspective, its something I wasn't sure about going forward. The idea behind the light is its coming from a break in the clouds above, out of sight. It was going to highlight the demon in a curled position like a sleeping cat, mostly to draw the eye to the center of the image.

I rarely work on whole scenes like this so it's all new territory, i'm still experimenting with what works and what doesn't. The weird angle probably comes from mostly working on video game assets. Its something I really need to work on. I'm definitely open to suggestions of alternate perspectives.

The bandits themselves are already suppose to be dead, hence the curled up laying positions. I was going to show the aftermath. But now that you suggested a scene of danger, I think that would be better to make up for the lack of space and weird angle to get a sense of protection.



Edit:Did some research and sketched together an entirely new perspective and canvas size. Obviously this is rough, but I'd like some feedback on if this more readable. Lighting is also a topic I need some help with. Any advice on a lightsource coming off screen like this?




A bit more progress. Changed some colors, messed with the light a bit more. Started on a texture for the ground. I think I'm getting a better handle on light. I'll probably have to look into the colors of the demon, it seems like its starting to get a bit lost in the scene.

[Ryumaru]

Hello there, I think this latest attempt is much improved over the first. More dynamic, and better composed in terms of placement; however, I think the VALUE composition is spoiling some of it's potential.



In black and white, we can see why things are confusing, The highest contrast in the image is the light on the back of an enemy. The demon and child get swallowed by a sea of close knit values. Now, doing justice to the piece will be a bit of work if you want to have the rays coming through; I would recommend doing everything underneath and then applying that effect more definitively at the end. Also, all the flowing bits coming off of the demon are hard to keep track of, and I would recommend doing the same for them: pixel everything underneath, and then apply them on top. When you are in control of your values, you can do a lot of crazy things with color; but if you are not, no amount of nifty color work can save the image.