Corvvs' Thread of Ill-Fated Portraits: Merman Hunter

[kitty]

and i shall appear...


seriously, i had that paintover done before reading your comment.

[Ranger M]

Obviously this is evidence of our portrait Director's psychic powers, preparing to appear prepared when called even before TSI know she's needed

also, so that this post isn't completely OT, when you do the spear held above his shoulders, make sure that you foreshorten the shaft, at the moment it looks like it's of uniform thickness.

[Corvvs]

Thanks all, esp. kitty for the paintover. Here's what I have so far. He has one armored shoulder, and a belt that will hold a diving knife (that's its only purpose, as he has neither shirt or pants). The quiver has a piece of cloth tightened around the spears to hold them in place. IIRC some ancient civilization (mongols?) did that to arrows, though maybe it was actually to keep them dry...

[Turuk]

The proportions on the spear seem a wee bit odd. Given the size of him versus the size of the spears on his back, the head of the spear in the foreground of the picture seems very large, even given it's nearness to the viewer. Also, and this may just be me, but the angle of the shaft through the hand seems to make the spear want to go out of the picture while the angle of the spearhead seems to want to go more up and out.

[Corvvs]

Good call on the perspective - I think I fixed that. It was ridiculously hard, but very necessary, so thanks. I didn't change any proportions as the angles are now so different I doubt it's noticeable.

[Turuk]

I will leave this fact mainly for a more qualified artist to comment on (maybe TSI could be lured here), but I really do think you could pull of the spearhead coming directly out and being so large if it is shaded convincingly. It would be nice to see that work. However, with his eyes/perspective facing away from the direction the spear is facing, it creates a slight dilemma. Either he is in the action of rotating his spear to throw where he is looking so the portrait catches him at a slightly odd moment, or he is prepping it to throw forward, resting it lightly in his hand. However, the latter would mean that he would have to be looking in the direction the spearhead is pointing (helps that he is looking at the viewer as well, even if off to the side a bit/past the viewer.

[Corvvs]

I fiddled with the pose so that it looks less dynamic. The spear is now resting on his shoulder as it was originally supposed to be. Though it may look awkward, I tried the pose and it's not uncomfortable.

[Turuk]

Though it may look awkward, I tried the pose and it's not uncomfortable.

I did the same, a bit uncomfortable but if someone is tensing to quickly draw and throw a spear (expecting enemy conflict), that seems reasonable for a portrait given the combat setting of the game.

Beyond that, for more direction at this point I defer to those of a more artistic bent to get you on the right track.

[thespaceinvader]

There's something up with the face - overlay kitty's paint onto yours and see the differences, particularly in the size and placement of the eyes.

Also, bear in mind that you don't end to see the edges of the ribcage curve in as much as they do on yours - it has the effect of making him look kinda malnourished, rather than buff.

Nice job on the gear, though =) that looks good. Though perhaps the belt with a metal buckle might be better replaced with something more sea-oriented. IN fact, unless it's actually vital in holding the armour/javelins on, taking it out completely would probably be fine - it's not like he has any trousers to hold up...

[Ranger M]

also with his hair , it's curving towards the top of his head when it really should be continuing around the head (even moving down a little from our perspective ).

[Corvvs]

Ok. I think I fixed the hair and face (and I took away the ribcage lines). Here's the new version with kitty's paintover showing too.

The paintover is really faint, so you have to click it.

[thespaceinvader]

Looks better, but the waist and lower torso really need to match the paintover better. Keep it up =)

[Corvvs]

Like so? (I traced it )

[thespaceinvader]

Looks much better =)

There's no shame in tracing something like that

The only minor fix still needed it to make the strap at his waist conform to the new shape.

[Corvvs]

Alright... I've started shading, and I know I didn't fix the waist strap yet - I'll get to that. Any pointers on the shading though (or egregious linework/anatomy errors)?

I'll probably not get back to this till next weekend, but any tips would be nice