Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

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kitty
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Re: Draugnatomy - portrait attempt

Post by kitty »

i'm really glad you kept on working for wesnoth! and i think you're pretty much there stile-wise! :) it's good you chose units that go well with expressiveness! it would be great if you continued working on the ghost line!


the draug: looks a ton better! crit-wise i'll just echo what spaceinvader and lordbob said; the skull is too long and the jaw part looks a tiny tad off, too. apart from that i really like the contrast between the bulky armour and the fragile spine, i think a gorget wouldn't do your drawing good - but it's your decision as the artist.

the wraith: is just cool! :D i was worried for a moment that you show such a detailed face while the sprite just has a black hole at that place, but i think it will look very very good if one does a good ethereal, translucent paint job on it. for the rest just what lordbob said (again), a bit more realism in the armour (but not too much), and some work on the hood.

:D
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Re: Draugnatomy - portrait attempt

Post by Captain Swing »

kitty wrote:i'm really glad you kept on working for wesnoth! and i think you're pretty much there stile-wise! :) it's good you chose units that go well with expressiveness! it would be great if you continued working on the ghost line!


the draug: looks a ton better! crit-wise i'll just echo what spaceinvader and lordbob said; the skull is too long and the jaw part looks a tiny tad off, too...

the wraith: is just cool! ... for the rest just what lordbob said (again), a bit more realism in the armour (but not too much), and some work on the hood.
Thanks Kitty, thanks spaceinvader, thanks Lord Bob, thanks others I am not mentioning by name right now. I've tried to take everyone's advice/fixes into account as much as I could, they needed to be, they weren't in opposition.

Draug: I've revised the stuffing out of well not really but I think the skull is just about right now and I tried to fix the armor issues LB noted (they were there, and as he says this stuff is a real monster to draw in prospective) but I'm not fully satisfied so if anyone wants to take a stab at it they are encouraged to - a less jaundiced set of eyes would do some good I suspect. I added something like a gorget - more a collar, and some hint of the back plate - I think it solves much of the issue without hiding the scrawny bone neck the way a real one, or a coif (I tried a nice copper scale coif design but it was too concealing and added to my skeleatoraphobia). Let me know if you think anything else needs changing - I'm going to start on a shading plan so I can really hit the lighting better this time. Also I can't believe I've been drawing anime/graff skulls all this time - and you're the first lot to call me on it - thanks!
DraugDlinesrecisc.png
DraugDlinesrecisc.png (93.41 KiB) Viewed 5111 times
Wraith: Glad he has fans - LordBob hit pretty much my own concerns with him, he wasn't really ready for primetime when I posted, just a concept, so I'm working on him and we'll see where it goes - later today likely.
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by LordBob »

Better, but not perfect yet. Here's a paintover of the draug, hopefully it'll make things easier to correct.

- Red outlines of the spauldron blades ought to make their dissimetry obvious (and hopefully easier to correct)
- Red curve of his right elbowguard should make a smoother shape (my line is thick, its lower edge is the volume I'd want)
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Captain Swing »

Alrighty,

First - another Draug fix is on the way, along with some actual painting on him.

Second, here's the ghost design with floppier hood and better armor.
ghost2.png
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...Swing
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Mirion147
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Mirion147 »

This is a ghost? Wouldn't it be better as the wraith? Considering that the gohst doesn't have a sword in the sprite and the wraith does..If I'm mistaken I apologize. Looks good though! Keep it up :)

[EDIT]

Ok! Nevermind then. :)
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Last edited by Mirion147 on January 29th, 2009, 9:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Turuk »

Captain Swing wrote:Anyway - Here's a sketch I did for the Wraith, though after the above discussion of Wesnoth style I am almost postive it goes way too far into the exaggerated realm, though I would suggest that the ghost line might be a place where this would be somewhat more acceptable (somewhat - I'm pretty sure this is worthless except as a proof of concept sort of thing.)
He just used the word ghost to describe it, it is indeed the Wraith. ;)
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Sleepwalker »

That's a very cool wraith. :D

My only gripe would be that his armor gives me a kind of anachronistic feeling, that is, his breastplate does. When I see it my thoughts wander to a trashcan modified to fit as armor, or a truck grille. Of course, that's just personal opinion so you can just ignore it.
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Corvvs »

^^agree. Very cool though. I think "dynamic" is the right word...
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Captain Swing »

Here's the Draug with a fixed left Spaulder and some inking on the armor. I am not really happy with the inking, and it' not really done -- external shadow and specular lighting hasn't even been attempted.
DraugDink.png
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as to the Wraith - Maybe I'll do the flutes a lot smaller, that should get rid of the Oscar the Grouch feel.

...Swing
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by kitty »

the wraith is really comming along nicely! :) i look foward to see it inked. to keep it in the style i'd suggest not to ink the effects (smoke etc) and fully paint them.

the lines for the draug look really good, too. if your are not satisfied with the inking itself, you could make the lines a bit thicker again. your colouring makes the foxtail (?) strangely important - is there a reason why you chose to do so?
the painting doesn't look as good unfortunately (but i'm amazed what you are able to do with a mouse! i'd break my wrist!). you jump into adding effects way to early, you need to convey a convincing sense of volume and form first of all! chose your lightsource, introduce one lighter shade and one darker shade - if this looks three dimensional, start blending, rendering, adding highlights etc. bla.

your work is really fun to look at :)
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Captain Swing »

So yeah I'm not dead yet.

Anyway, cold got better and I had to do real paid work for a while. Haven't forgotten about Wesnoth though. I'm starting to paint up the wraith and figured I will throw the face out for any thoughts and advice. Its only got it's internal shading - I suspect I'll end up lighting the whole thing with the glow from his evil red sword (if this can be done without hyper cheesiness). Any thoughts on robe color would be appreciated - I'm thinking blackish gray with maybe a purple undertone (given that bluish purple seems to be the color of bad magic around here) - getting wore purple as it becomes less material. Still that idea feels a bit silly.
Wraithface.png
Wraithface.png (260.07 KiB) Viewed 4041 times
Glad to be back, and we'll see if I can pin down that Draug - he's looking stiff and boring to me, even after I painted up his armor and give him a nice steel collar. I am going to set him down for a while I think.

...Swing
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by thespaceinvader »

Looking great!

I'd maybe rotate him forward a little bit, though - at present, the backwards lean coupled with the position of his hands gives me a bit of a sense of ROCK ON! =P

But the rotation should fix that. The only other thing I'd query is the big bone on his sword pommel - it just doesn't fit with the ornate, gothic feel of the rest of his armour. I'll see if i can sketch up an alternative design when I get home today.

Other than that, the wraith looks very, very promising. Your colour scheme works well, i think - slightly greenish highlights would be good. Great work =D
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by JW »

thespaceinvader wrote:Looking great!

I'd maybe rotate him forward a little bit, though - at present, the backwards lean coupled with the position of his hands gives me a bit of a sense of ROCK ON! =P
OMG I was thinking the SAME THING!!! :wink:

Turn that sword into an ax!!!! :lol2:

Seriously though, it looks good. :)
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by Captain Swing »

thespaceinvader wrote:I'd maybe rotate him forward a little bit, though - at present, the backwards lean coupled with the position of his hands gives me a bit of a sense of ROCK ON! =P

But the rotation should fix that. The only other thing I'd query is the big bone on his sword pommel - it just doesn't fit with the ornate, gothic feel of the rest of his armour. I'll see if i can sketch up an alternative design when I get home today.
So I'm still working on this fellow, though I fear those who say a tablet is needed for this kind of thing may be correct. I won't be 'rotating' moving or otherwise reposing this guy in any minor way. No matter how minor a full body repositioning, unless it's to remedy a anatomical error I can't usually do it without a complete re-draw from sketch up. So he stays looking a bit like the 'evil sorcerer' from the original Dio video for Holy Diver (which is worth a watch on Youtube if anyone wants to laugh like crazy - though it is from the 70's so deserves some respect I guess). If the pose is deemed too scandalous I guess I can go back and restart, but the time for that discussion is in the sketch stage.
wraithpaint4.png
wraithpaint4.png (154.91 KiB) Viewed 3563 times
So I am posting progress because I am a bit unsatisfied. The armor is bugging me, the hood is bugging me. I think the 'smoke' (mostly done on back of hood and his right side fairly good but maybe it needs to be darkened a bit. The sword obviously needs work and I agree the guard was/is off - currently I have a place holder, but I will do that last (along with red reflections from the blade - which also is only roughed in now).

So. ideas on how to paint this thing properly or suggestions about where my shading has gone off the rails would be great! Ideas on the best way to avoid 'cheesy lightsaber' but keep 'evil weapon that eats people' are also more then welcome!


...Swing
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Re: Captain Swings portrait work ... Undead

Post by thespaceinvader »

It's looking good - the glow coming off the sword is noticeable, but not obtrusive. The smoke needs some transparency effects, but that should be reasonably easy.

And i didn't mean anything more complex than selecting the whole thing and using the rotate tool, about 15 degrees clockwise.

I'm coming to a close on the dwarves project, so if you'd like me to have a crack at this guy, I'd be happy to give it a go =)
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