Portrait sketches

[Skizzaltix]

Now that you mention it, shouldn't the cloak pile up a little next to his right pauldron?

[beetlenaut]

Wow! I can hear that rusty metal screeching as he moves around. Great work!

(I agree with Turuk though. I liked the gold better, as it added more color to the picture.)

[LordBob]

Just a quick suggestion for shading the backside gear under the cape: someone in these forums suggested I desaturate shaded areas, so that our eye is less focused on their colour. It works wonders and I'd try it for the bolt stack and other parts which you feel must be shaded.
Speaking of which, I'm still not convinced by the rip - they don't look as damaged as could be expected. Holes, dust, maybe a large patch of missing cloth: let your imagination run wild

You're almost done.

[Kestenvarn]

I like your rusted armor, good job. Adding some scratches/chips/gouges could make it look even better.

Might want to slightly darken the shaded parts of the jaw to have it stand out more.

[kitty]

that looks a lot better! the texture of the metal is really nice - all handpainted or did you use textures (which is completely vaild technique, too)?

with the improved shading the belt looks a bit flat to me. and i still wished his eye sockets were darker (but that may be personal taste).



and even if it is not important at all, just for groovy, a detailed explanation why i dislike the green pants (groovy, if you want a discussion about my critique or my wording or me or whatever, please take it to pm to not start cluttering this thread):
normally i don't talk or think about composition for something as straight forward as our little portraits, but there's something akward happening here. when i look at the deathknight, my eye is first caught by the massive head of the axe and then follows downwards the line of the pole. which leads me to the crotch area (and the green trousers). but there is no line leading me out of this area again, back up to the head (which should be the focal part), instead i somehow "stay" in this area. i think this is mainly due to the colour, which only appears at this singular spot. if it instead featured some kind of colour repetition it would unify the picture.

[thespaceinvader]

That's way over my head o_O

The texture is virtually all thanks to heavy use of the 'Apply Jitter' setting on GIMP's paint tool. It works perfectly to get that slightly pitted, non-smooth reflective look.

I'll do a couple more minor fiddles, i think, then call it a day.

EDIT: etc. If you're OK with this version, Kitty, i'll commit it before bed.

[jzombi]

Hi!

It's a really nice portrait, i've just found a strange thing: the left hand and the iron thing before it looks as if the axe's handle would be vertical, non in 30° angle (in ascii-art: it holds the handle as if it would be | instead of \ ).

[thespaceinvader]

He has a loose grip. Because he's a skeleton. *Nodsnods*

Honestly, unless that will keep it from being committable, i really can't be bothered fixing it. I've fiddled far too much with this guy now.

[Turuk]

To be fair, the weight of the weapon is largely placed towards the head, and with the hand so close to the top, the right hand is supporting most of the weight, thus needing a tight grip. That being said, the left hand is less focused on carrying the weapon and more focused on control (which is split with the right hand anyways), so it is understandable that the left hand would be loose in order to quickly move up and down on the weapon grip.

[jzombi]

I hope it won't keep it from being committed, imho it's far good enough to be committed in it's current state.

[kitty]

you know that there are still a couple of issues that bother me, but have done a lot of little corrections by now and he is good enough to get in....

[thespaceinvader]

Thanks Kitty, committed. I might come back and make some more fixes once I've had a little time away from it.

[Girgistian]

Bang! Tonight's grunt sketch nominee. tsi, if you're gonna have a go with it, I might suggest somewhat dark shades for the outfitting.

EDIT: also, be aware that there's also a 1700x1700 version available.

[Turuk]

While I know this will ultimately be the decision of a portrait director, I have to say I really do like it. The slightly animal nature while still retaining the perspective as a normal functioning humanoid race is nice.

I know this will come out clearer with shading, but how exactly is he holding the sword/is the sword resting? Part of the blade gives the appearance of it sitting flat on his shoulder, but another part gives the impression that the side opposite the sharp edge is resting on his shoulder.

[Sapient]

very nice

the area of the sword hilt and claws/fingers looks a little strange though.