LordBob's commissionned work

[vultraz]

OOO That serpent is awesome. Seriously, how do you get such lifelike textures? Great work

[LordBob]

Heh, careful observation of multiple references

Here are the final wose and serpent pictures, and with them this commission is concluded ! It's been an enjoyable few months, and eventhough they took longer than initially planned, I'm really glad of those pictures which will be a great addition to my portfolio. Thanks everyone for your support and constructive criticism which helped me get this far.

[alluton]

Both are really goood. Can't really find any flaws. Excellent job.

[vultraz]

One thing I noticed: the water in the serpent portrait doesn't extend all the way to the right border; it kinda makes it look weird/cut off. Intentional?

[LordBob]

Intentional: if it did, there'd be an even weirder crop when the portrait gets used ingame. So instead I drew a decreasing slope, like the crest of a wave. Maybe it could improve a tad, but altogether I'm afraid there just isn't a perfect solution to this kind of problem.

[thespaceinvader]

The serpent's lure could do with looking brighter. It feels odd to me when the eyes are brighter than the thing intended to lure prey towards the mouth and away from the eyes. Otherwise, cool.

[direfish]

Concerning woses.. Do their eyes have to be made of gems/resin? Did you think of maybe making two holes mysteriously glowing from within?

[LordBob]

Mmh... I might post a very minor revision of the serpent for some cleaning up and that lure matter. As for the wose's eyes, I picked resin when I first drew one for the Rise of Wesnoth campaign and I ain't changing it on a whim, so he's final, period.

[Addan-Shem]

The serpent's lure could do with looking brighter. It feels odd to me when the eyes are brighter than the thing intended to lure prey towards the mouth and away from the eyes.

IRL this fish can turn its lure on and off at will. Why would it need to turn it on on the surface, where there's already so much light that it makes the lure useless? Anyway, it's meant to glow in the deep sea, so it wouldn't glow nearly as bright on the surface as it would in the abyss, because again there's so much light already that the lure won't make any noticeable difference.

On the other hand, if this serpent is really huge and its lure is very powerful, it could be used even on the surface as a false light to lure ships. And flies. Wizards could have shrinked sea serpents hanged above their doorsteps in aquariums. These aquariums are to be covered with metal net connected to another aquarium filled with electric eels so tha--

Either way, this portrayal of the serpent is surely creative and unique. Great job!

[thespaceinvader]

Two reasons - the first is feel. It simply feels better for the lure to be brighter than the eyes. The second is a point of logic - the eyes probably shouldn't look so bright they glow anyway, that wouldn't make much sense.

It's a minor point, and you could handwave it either way, certainly - but I'd prefer to see it with a glowing lure and non-glowing eyes.

[nuorc]

I'm probably late with this: aren't the eyes too close to the mouth? I imagine they'd get poked easily when the serpent bites into something overlapping the mouth...

[Iris]

The second is a point of logic - the eyes probably shouldn't look so bright they glow anyway, that wouldn't make much sense.

Yeah, it’s not like there’s anything weird about what looks uncannily like a deep-sea creature wandering on the surface despite its body being specifically adapted to withstand very low temperatures, high pressure, and total darkness.

[Sapient]

Maybe it's waving the team colors? It would be funny if it were magenta.

(Note: not a serious suggestion)

I partly agree with nuorc about his comment, though. There is one tooth that seems to be in conflict with the eye socket.

[nuorc]

I partly agree with nuorc about his comment, though. There is one tooth that seems to be in conflict with the eye socket.

Actually I was thinking about prey; if you imagine the serpent crunches on a ship/spiky or clawed prey, wouldn't stuff get in the eye?

Personally I think the teeth are too long to be functional, but as that was raised before I guess that's settled.

[Sapient]

Actually I was thinking about prey; if you imagine the serpent crunches on a ship/spiky or clawed prey, wouldn't stuff get in the eye?

Ever watch shark week on the discovery channel? There is a membrane to cover their eyes as they close in for the kill. I suppose a sea serpent might have a similar defense... or just not care about eyesight once they get big enough to swallow anything in their way.