Wose shaman

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thespaceinvader
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Wose shaman

Post by thespaceinvader »

The unit is used in a number of places, including Delfador's Memoirs, and currently looks a little ropey. So I thought i'd replace it. The old one, despite closer inspection suggesting otherwise, always reminded me of a Weeping Willow tree, and looking for ref I came across this image which kinda looks like a hunched over guy, if you read it right.

Match made in wosey heaven. Albeit probably a reasonable amount of creeping biggerism.

This will take a LONG time to finish I fear, but I think it'll be worth it. The only wonder I have is where to put the TC... I thought flowers in long strings in the hair, or maybe fruit. I'd prefer to avoid doing the dull bandage route...
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artisticdude
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by artisticdude »

Awesome. I like the idea of making it a different kind of tree than the other woses.

I will say, however, that the current roots seem too uniform in shape, size and lenth... it even looks like they're an equal number of degrees away from the roots on either side (or in geometric terms, it looks like one root bisects the angle formed by the two roots on either side of it). :hmm:

I look forward to seeing where this goes. :)
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Sgt. Groovy
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

This is a great idea, and if you manage to get the foliage to look like your reference, especially as fluffy, yet heavy, it will be awesome. I suggest you use several reference images, also drawing and paintings, to get more ideas of how to render it.

I'm not sure about the face sticking out like that, maybe it could be covered with the foliage, with eyes as holes in it?
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Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
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thespaceinvader
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by thespaceinvader »

I did think about doing it that way groovy but, like the hands, I just think it would be difficult to read that way.

I'll be trying to shade tomorrow.
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Sgt. Groovy
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

Here's two paintings, they both look quite unlike photographs, and they are very different from each other, but they both embody very essential aspects of a weeping willow, in their own ways:

Image

Image
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by Dixie »

Maybe you could try to slim the trunk (and hands?) a bit, it might help solve the creeping biggerism. Weeping willow don't have nearly such big trunks, anyway, your shaman looks like he's got an oak body or something. And while the leaves could make him look bigger, I think a certain sense of fragility could suit the unit well: it's a mage, even though it's a wose, after all. Is the wose shaman a lv2 or 3, anyway? I thought it was 2, but I ain't sure anymore. I really like what you've done so far, though, the old hag look is quite nice, I'm just not 100% sure it's going the right way.

I think another thing you could try to change is about the leaves patterns. I mean, right now it seems like the center is much lower , like the branches go up before falling down, a little heart-shaped or something, but I'm not sure weeping willows are like that: I think the highest spot should be the center/trunk, and all branches fall to the grown as they split from the trunk. Or they can go furter a bit, but they surely don't rise like you drew them, imho.

It'll be nice to have a new shaman, either case, keep it up! :)
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zookeeper
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by zookeeper »

The weeping willow is a good idea, but I'd suggest making it noticeably old-looking. More parse foliage, more slender and relatively longer and twisting trunk. What you posted doesn't look old, when it's completely covered in green. Having a crooked nose doesn't make one look like an old hag; it's the sparse gray hair drooping over the eyes, hunched back and skinny form. Trees get old and die too, so you should utilize that when making a wose which (presumably) should look old.
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A-Red
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by A-Red »

Willow is definitely the right way to go...

...but it's HUGE. At a glance (though I'm not comparing them side by side) that looks larger than the Ancient Wose, and it's only an L2. Unless you're going to biggerize the whole line, and that seems unnecessary to me.
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by thespaceinvader »

Is it only a level 2? I thought it was a level 3. I'll keep this version in case anyone wants it for that purpose, and make a level 2 with the alterations suggested.
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by wayfarer »

thespaceinvader wrote:The unit is used in a number of places, including Delfador's Memoirs, and currently looks a little ropey. So I thought i'd replace it.
...
Low blow my friend, low blow. :whistle:

I wouldn't call it ropey I would call it less defined. 8)
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thespaceinvader
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by thespaceinvader »

It looks great against units done at the same time. But it is, as you say, a little ill-defined and difficult to read in places. Plus, the perspective and facing don't quite match.

It's served as major inspiration thoguh. I've had this idea in mind for a while now.

EDIT: Since I've come to a pausing point btw, here's a WIP.
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by wayfarer »

Yeah you're definitly right, I still like the basic idea though.
I could never get around to draw every single foliage, I prefer the lichen like appeareance with interweaved foliages.
on Topic. I wouldn't make it too hunched a bit bowed is nice, but that is just personal preference. Nice upgrade btw. :)
This girl, this boy, They were part of the land. What happens to the places we used to tend?
She's a hard one to trust, And he's a roving ghost. Will you come back, will you come back, Or leave me alone?

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thespaceinvader
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by thespaceinvader »

Here's a preliminarily completed version, though I suspect still a little too big. It's got a few pixels on the elder wose, but it's not as burly, and it's smaller, I think, than the Ancient, so it might be a good compromise. Probably needs more TC too, but I'm not sure how or where - flowers and fruit just seem too youthful for a guy who looks as old and frail as this guy does - on that note, I might desaturate the leaves a bit, they do look kinda lush right now. Might also need some deeper contrast to distinguish the leaves - looking at him next to the others, they do fade a little...

ImageImageImage
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by thespaceinvader »

Shameless bump for tweaked shading and contrast:
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Re: Wose shaman

Post by zookeeper »

It looks a lot better than the first one now. However, you might want to experiment with the location of the head a bit more...to me, a quick edit of moving the head up about 10px seems to be an improvement. The base of the trunk and roots also seem a bit too slender; it looks very unstable and about to topple over, especially when the weight is so heavily on our right side.
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