Campaign art - Descent into Darkness

[LordBob]

Perspective it is indeed.

It'll be some time before I get back to Drogan anyway : back to the beginning of the series, rough for young Malin's shading.

[bigkahuna]

I'm no artist but I'll give my little critiques here

His eyes are different colors and the way his right eye is positioned compared to his left makes him look a bit... loopy.

It appears that his left hand is pulling up his robe, and his fingernails are brown. This might just be because of the perspective but it just looks a bit off to me. Finally, how does he grow his gigantic beard in the short period from young to older Malin?

Otherwise, I really like the portrait. I like how you weathered the ends of his robe, too. Small but nice detail.

[LordBob]

Keep in mind that this is only a preliminary work. The squinting, wall-eyes are intentional : I want to give him the looks of someone who will have been rejected by his peers when studying as a mage, making him all the more vulnerable to the manipulations of someone like Darken Volk

For a comparison, here's the preliminary for old Malin. I've toned down the beard, should give him a younger look.

[Kraus]

Yeah, this guy would so get picked on. I pity him already. Poor Malin...

Definitely a nice touch, even if his loopiness might've just gone even a bit overboard. Possibly not, though. These touches add to the campaign a lot. Wonderful.

Kahuna, I'd see the fingernails as shading. There is little wrong with these to my peanut eye.

Just dropped to give thumbs! Lovely work! Any plans for the next campaign to revisit? Eastern Invasion, Southguard?

[bigkahuna]

Now that you mention it, I can see where you are going with this. As Kraus said, however,

his loopiness might've just gone even a bit overboard

Just a bit though. Right now he looks a bit 'dumb', so it would be better if you scaled it down a bit so he would be slightly deformed and as a result misunderstood.

[zookeeper]

Looking good to me. I don't mind the loopy eye(s); it looks like his our right eye is slightly deformed somehow in both portraits, which at least to me just makes him more sympathetic.

However, I'd say the older version with the much grayer skin and the veins is a bit too far on the dark side for some of the scenarios where we'd want to use it; my suggestion would be to keep what you've made, but to also have another version where he looks more normal and healthy (that is, just a differently coloured variant), which we could use for a couple of scenarios before switching to the dark side version.

[LordBob]

Complete shading for young Malin.

I'll do what you suggest for the older version : in addition to the simple, rather healthy default, I'll produce a simple paintover with additionnal shredding of his clothes and a greyish complexion.

[kitty]

So much new stuff!
The new flats for Malin_Lich, Dela and Reval all look fine to me.

The shaded Young Malin looks great as well. I love the idea with the lazy eye, it adds a lot of story! And the sparkles are fun! I'm not sure if I'm reading the hand holding the book correctly, I don't get the way the thumb is supposed to be bent… And since the brooch holding the cloak together is pretty much the detail tying all the different editions of Malin together, you could perhaps add some chiseling to it to make it more easily recognizable.

[Captain_Rage]

Ableit I have nothing constructive to add, take this as a comment from the commoner's crowd:

Nice portrait of Malin! The sparkles really add a nice flare to this portait, blending well with the character. Keep it up, LordBob.

[Mountain_King]

So much new stuff!
The new flats for Malin_Lich, Dela and Reval all look fine to me.

You mean Drogan, right? I think Reval is this guy.

[LordBob]

Kitty : the thumb of the hand holding young Malin's book is hidden. The idea is that he's holding a page with his middle finger. I'll add chiselling to the brooch, since it's indeed meant to match the one you designed for Mal Keshar in IftU.

Here comes a first version of old Malin (not final, though : some tiny details remain, such as the eyebrows and fiddling with the face in order to make it more recognizable). A second, slightly older, will come next, complete with greyed skin and shredded clothes gained from exposure to the dark arts and unhealthy living in dark caves .

And to whoever asked, I'll switch to Sceptre of Fire once this series is done. I already have sketches under way for most of the cast.

[Atz]

Shading is good, but I'm concerned that his clothes look a little too fine, especially considering the state of young Malin and Volk's robes. Also, the line of his jaw looks a bit different to his young portrait to me? I know you said you were still fiddling with the face, so just pointing it out.

[thespaceinvader]

I feel like the far side of his face needs to be pushed back a little - it's at a strange angle compared tot he rest of his head at present. And yeah, the clothing could probably stand to be in poorer condition.

[lostnumber]

I love the messed up eyes, they really add a ton of character.

[Bad_Dog]

Feel free to ignore: I think it would be cool as a visual cue to his going over to the dark side, is as he gets older, the "magic" effects from his wand look more dark and sinister. Young Malin looks to me exactly in character, but light green perky magic from older Malin seems less in character.

-Ben