Mermen: Fighter Portrait

[Turuk]

Would light armor really be appropriate for a mage unit?...

Nope, and I am of the thinking that she is fine without anything, but I am merely offering alternative solutions.

She may indeed not be highly muscled, but with all that swimming you have to expect she would be more toned than the average human female.

[Sgt. Groovy]

...you have to expect she would be more toned than the average human female.

Average of what female population? The average your mind is using as a reference is of the modern sitting work culture, where even women who work out mostly do it to lose weight, not to build muscles. The average of Wesnoth world is an peasant culture, where women do lot of heavy manual labour. That is, for a native Wesnothian, she wouldn't look particulary "toned" at all.

That said, she would need some muscles for swimming, as you said, but not as much as professional swimmers, because she has a heavy, muscular tail to provide most of the propulsion.

[Turuk]

Average of what female population? The average your mind is using as a reference is of the modern sitting work culture, where even women who work out mostly do it to lose weight, not to build muscles. The average of Wesnoth world is an peasant culture, where women do lot of heavy manual labour. That is, for a native Wesnothian, she wouldn't look particulary "toned" at all.

Right, I am well aware of that, and my comments were actually made in reference to the Wesnoth world. I did not say that she would be more muscular than the average female, but more have tone due to the nature of her lifestyle and environment. Tone means lean, hard muscle similar to the type that swimmers have (though not professional ones), hence my comparison, as the mermaid would have a different build than the average Wesnoth female.

[LordBob]

Regarding musculature, I wouldn't give much credit to the swimming effort with such a massive tail. Make her lean, yes, but keep in mind that the reader will think warrior/mage before wondering how long she swims in a day

Regarding mammals vs other creatures of the sea, I like the idea of mammalian mermen, closer to mankind than the fish-like naga. Visually speaking, this would play nicely along their respective good/evil character.

[Sleepwalker]

Thanks kitty, I changed it a bit. About Loomis, I had to google it and yes, it does look like I used his way of constructing a head but really, it was just some kind of haphazard blend of circle drawing combined with the "cube" technique I learned from "Constructive Anatomy" by George B. Bridgman. Which you gave the tip of in another thread. Thanks BTW, a great book.

Thanks for defending me Turuk but I decided reduce her toning a little, now I think it shouldn't be a reason for critique anymore.

Belly button stays then.

OK here's two versions, one with cover and one nude with nipples. Actually I think the sash contributes to the greco/roman theme of the mermen in a way. Though the best way to color it would be with white i think, but then it would probably be pretty hard if not impossible to bleach seaweed/kelp?

I think i nailed the issues pointed out before. It looks pretty good to me but then so did the first one. If it looks good then which one should i start shading?

[Simons Mith]

They're both lovely. Can I compliment you on the slightly sad expression you've given her - it's absolutely charming. If I had to vote I suppose I'd go the the one wearing the top - maybe make it of slightly translucent silk?

[Girgistian]

They're both lovely. Can I compliment you on the slightly sad expression you've given her - it's absolutely charming. If I had to vote I suppose I'd go the the one wearing the top - maybe make it of slightly translucent silk?

I agree, the bare chest draws too much attention from the face, which is after all supposed to be the main point of attention in the portrait

[thespaceinvader]

Might I suggest once again the idea of covering her breasts with her hair? If not that, then the sash covering - it does look suitably greco-roman, and personal feelings aside, I think it's probably best to cover her up. It's something of a contentious issue, but I suspect that having her nude would do more harm than good, sadly.

And might I also add, since I haven't before, that you've done a really great job interpreting her staff. I really like that part of the portrait =)

[Cernunnos]

If it was a pole i would tell with the top definitely.

But it's not a pole...

Whatever you choose to go with, the line work is really good so far, so good luck for the color part...

[Simons Mith]

Might I suggest once again the idea of covering her breasts with her hair?

Ugh, who would want to inflict such a tired cliche when that lovely top works so much better? I hope you're just playing Devil's advocate. Besides, I confess I like her current hair style too, so I'd be against making her hair longer just so it can reach her chest.

[Mefisto]

I may be slightly off topic here. I don't know what are criteria in other countries but in Poland every child has to draw this mermaid at primary school or even in kindergarten (the subject of the lesson: Warsaw is the capital of Poland). I did it as a schoolboy and my colleagues did too. So I can say that nobody in Poland would be worried that some minors see another traditional mermaid.

My more important concern is the face - it looks like this Initiate is bored or sad. I prefered Kitty's proposition for the face, looking rather stern or engaged.

The rest of her body is very good for me. I especially liked her gills, though I sometimes wonder if the mermen could have some additional areas for oxygen osmosis - maybe external gills on the back?

[JAP]

Personally i prefer the topless one for two reasons.

1: it is true to the sprite and make it easier to identify, with the top it looks a bit like a priestes/deviner which i think wears a top/bra thingy

2: having units that doesn't wear any clothes at all makes them feel a little more like their own species whit their own culture, and a little less like plain humans with a fishtail.

[turin]

Looks good. I like the Greco-Roman cloth, and you've pretty much solved whatever complaints I had about her body structure and whatnot. Excellent.

If you make the cloth covering her body green or blue, rather than white, it'll solve two problems - it'll be less noticeable, thus it won't conflict with the sprites as much (the Initiate sprite pretty clearly doesn't have a white bra-like-thing on), and you won't have to worry about how white cloth becomes transparent when wet (the "wet t-shirt" effect)... so I suggest making it green.

[deserter]

And deserter, do you want her to have saggy breasts?

No, not at all - quite the opposite.
I was going for small and not-saggy-at-all.
The following link should give you the idea: Removed.

Mermaid breasts don't sag. (They live underwater in low gravity environment.)

[Turuk]

While I understand that the link you posted was only for reference purposes and linked to material that came from an educational source.... no links to nudity please.

I am sure that Sleepwalker is able to find plenty of references online for breasts.