A rough life - portraits

[Jacques_Fol]

But, as you said, it's mostly complete and for a UMC, so not a big deal.

Ahh, Turuk, you say that like you mean it! A Rough Life has a talented artist devoting his or her time to sprucing it up - of course it's a big deal! (Joking, of course, albeit, spoken cum grano salis, it's all a matter of one's perspective, I suppose .)

Anyway, good job, bera! If you decide it's finished, I'm happy to use it as is. The engravings are nice! (They do look a little more painted on than engraved, but I wouldn't worry about it.) I also like most of the details that would stomp me right up, such as the hands and the face.

If you cared for some quibbling with detail, there are two issues that I still spot, but I am not sure how much work they would require to remedy. One is the forearm on his left arm (on the right of our picture). The way it's drawn, it appears that the forearm is too long compared to the upper arm (perhaps some foreshortening would be warranted); in addition, the forearm gives an impression of starting to go in one direction and then midway (a little above the wrist) twisting a bit more to the right. Like I said, though, this is a quibble, so I'll leave it up to you to decide, perhaps also depending on how easy it would be to fix it.

The second issue is the legs/torso: perhaps, the hip area could still be slimmed down a bit, and the undefined upper legs area almost gives an impression that what is worn below is a skirt. Would it be easy to re-define the bottom part as the beginning of two distinct legs in their separate pants or leg armour or what-not? Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can also chip in with views or tips on this.

Finally, I also love the sword hilt. Its little details really make it come alive and both the sword and the bow look just right for Jacques to get enamoured by them and adopt them as his own. I'll get down to writing them into the story, in anticipation of the possible final fixes to Popper's portrait. And then it will be update time!

[bera]

Well, I agree with Turuk in the sense that it lacked depth somewhat (though I should also add I'm trying my best whether it's UMC or not, but time is an issue). So, I curved the lines on his hip - no doubt this will make him look with even a wider hip to Jacques I should emphasize however, he's not wearing a tuxedo but a plate armor, and the references I used for the plate armour do have something like a plate skirt around the hip. I also played (for about a minute) with his left arm (because I don't agree his forearm being long however, at least it doesn't strike me). So.. I'll call him finished.

On the other hand for the 'evil' goblin trader I worked on one of countless goblin portraits I had and I hope this one will do the job.

Next I'll work on Pollox.

[Lord Ork]

Is the spear perspective correct ?

(minor edit: make grammar less Yoda-style).

[thespaceinvader]

Not really. This is a portrait which was rejected for mainline for that reason, among other things. If Jacqes is happy with it though, that's fine, UMC authors are welcome to set their own standards.

[Jacques_Fol]

Good going, bera! Every day brings something new to look forward to, which makes me one happy campaign designer.

The important news from my side is that I have already coded in the new portraits (and also tentatively included this tsi's portrait of the ancient wose since I already like it a lot in its current shape, although I will of course replace it with whatever version is declared final) and added some further text to allow for the new additions.

Spoiler:

Gurk has several added lines he utters as he meets, is attacked by and kills the enemy units (hommage to Delfador in the first scenario of HttT), Gronar is leaning back against various against-leanable objects and the story now mentions the fact that Jacques picks up the bow from Gronar and gets Popper's sword.

It's all looking very fine to me and I'm torn between releasing this updated version right away or having a big bang release when all of the portraits that bera decides to do are finished. (It may also depend on whether thespaceinvader, if he's reading this, would prefer for me not to temporarily use the current version of the wose portrait.)

As for Popper, I'm happy to defer to your opinion and use this portrait as final.

As for the goblin, I think this portrait is very polished (the noted inversion on the spear perspective notwithstanding) and must definitely find a place in my campaign. It just doesn't look like a rouser or a goblin trader, but more like a fighter unit. Ideally, the portrait I would be thrilled to use for the trader is this one, if you decide to finish it, and would also be happy to use this one.

What does this mean for the above portrait? Perhaps, the Evil Goblin Trader could have a sidekick (an impaler, which I suppose is what this unit is) that would provide for another challenge (and perhaps some corny comic relief, although I'm leaning against that) in the otherwise unassuming first scenario.

[bera]

Hello. I'm attaching the flats for Pollock. I remember you loathed him to the extent as not to give him his own portrait, but hey, bad guys are always fun to draw A few things about Pollock: I'm thinking to have the left side of his face slightly disfigured while shading (around his eye socket). Also I didn't want to dress him with a proper leather armor, we only see the vest here - that's because Jacques meet him in the mess hall (or somewhere like that) and so his attire (I hope) reflects that.

For the goblin, it's your decision. And thanks Lord Ork, I remembered correcting the shaft of the spear, but it wasn't really. Now, I have a corrected version which I'm happy with it (despite it not ending up in mainline) - if you wish to put him to the campaign Jacques, let me know.

[Jacques_Fol]

Yummy. I very much like the general idea and where this is going. Good job! As far as artistic detail is concerned, I think it's a little similar to the (initial) Popper portrait: the head and the shoulders look fine on their own but are both too small in proportion to the rest of the body. It almost seems as if his body grows as you move from the head to the legs. Perhaps, the easiest fix to that would be to broaden the shoulders and enlarge the head a bit. I like the vibe it gives out, though!

As for the goblin impaler you posted here, yes, it's now almost certain I will include him as the Evil Goblin Trader's handler in scenario 1, giving Jacques a chance at an additional challenge. I'll see if anyone speaks up against it in the campaign thread, but I suppose they won't. What do you think? Either way, please post the final version, yes!

This leaves us with the image for the trader. Were you planning on completing that original image? If yes, I'll wait to use that one. Otherwise, I am perfectly content to use this wonderful one you've just completed. I should note that I like the somewhat excessive gaudiness Kitty mentioned in her crit because I feel it fits the image of a flamboyant trader! So, even if you choose to recolour it for its original purpose, I am happy to use it with these lively colours for our pesky little bad guy.

[xbriannova]

Hello. I'm attaching the flats for Pollock. I remember you loathed him to the extent as not to give him his own portrait, but hey, bad guys are always fun to draw A few things about Pollock: I'm thinking to have the left side of his face slightly disfigured while shading (around his eye socket). Also I didn't want to dress him with a proper leather armor, we only see the vest here - that's because Jacques meet him in the mess hall (or somewhere like that) and so his attire (I hope) reflects that.

For the goblin, it's your decision. And thanks Lord Ork, I remembered correcting the shaft of the spear, but it wasn't really. Now, I have a corrected version which I'm happy with it (despite it not ending up in mainline) - if you wish to put him to the campaign Jacques, let me know.

I can see that he's been plotting to kill the Orc Leader (Forgot his name) XD. It seems that somehow, he woke up with his mace and sword XD. Nice stuff there.

[bera]

Yup, his shoulders needed streching, however I believe his head size is fine. Fixed those, and finished shading. I hope the left eye is not that weird looking. I think it'll fit to the story rather well though, because from what I remember of the conversation between Pollock and Gronar, he wants the 'slaves' to rise against their captives. So we can imagine Pollock to be one of the restless souls among many contend ones (including Jacques I think). This can easily be connected to an accident Pollock had while hunting scorpions, and that could explain his hatred to their captors - something like that Anywas, I'll consider him finished again unless there's something really funny going on.

xbriannova: yeah I could omit his weaponry, I guess I include them as a habit from unit portraits. Here they quite give him a threatining look though, which is nice as far as I'm concerned.

Next I'm going to either work on Bombasan. Luxor is also a possibility, but if you ask my opinion kitty's portrait is almost custom made for that charachter

[Lord Ork]

Sorry if I arrive too late, but I find two things strange in the portrait. First and more noticeable, the mouth. What he's doing, he seems like playing dumb.

The other thing is the vest. The "strings" (sorry the word just don't come) are very horizontal, like if he was posing totally front, perpendicular from the viewer.

Apart from that, I like the rude appearance of this guy. The mouth is the only thing that prevents me to take him seriously.

[doofus-01]

Lord Ork is right, the perfectly horizontal straps & bottom edge of the vest are damaging the appearance of depth. If you are open to working on it any more, I think you can fix it fairly easily.
Otherwise, it looks nice.

[thespaceinvader]

To echo what lord ork said, and extend it a bit: the problem with the mouth is in part that it simply isn't shaped like a human mouth. It looks more like a cat's. Get some reference, and rework that, would be my advice. Doofus01 has the right idea about the waistcoat. Otherwise, this looks good.

[Jacques_Fol]

I'll second the above comments. Both as far as regards the mouth (the shading actually brought the problem up a bit more) and the vest (which I can live with, but if a quick fix as doofus-01 suggested were possible, so much the better), but also to say that it's (going to be) another most welcome addition to the bunch. Thanks!

Next I'm going to either work on Bombasan.

Hooray. I'll be perfectly happy if you copy the runic hammer from the mainline portrait and then surround it with a regal dwarvish king. He may be somewhat detached, what with being king and all, but remember that he should have enough spark to have been able to woo an elvish beauty at some point in his life!

Luxor is also a possibility, but if you ask my opinion kitty's portrait is almost custom made for that charachter

Do you refer to her generic silver mage portrait? For some reason, that one doesn't do it for me. He just seems too... polite and orderly, in my opinion (look at that carefully-trimmed beard!), especially for Luxor who's older, crazier and more disorderly.

You did give me an idea to go poking around the mainline campaign art, however, and I found this gorgeous portrait of Crelanu that Kitty did for Legend of Wesmere. I suppose it wouldn't mind having a cameo role in ARL, and it would fit Luxor just nicely. So you're right that his portrait should already be sorted.

I think I'll update the first page accordingly, just to keep track of what has already been done. Can you also post the corrected impaler portrait, bera? And let me know when you decide whether you would prefer to tackle that initial rouser portrait or for me to use the one you finished for LoW. Many thanks either way, and looking forward to the next one!

[bera]

I agree about the vest, tried to fix it, but it actually took some time, and I don't want to spend more time on it. I can only hope this one has more depth compared to other one, with the additional shadows.

For the mouth however, I'll prefer to keep it as it is, instead of giving him a generic one. I'm aware it is not your everyday sneer, and that's what I like about it I think It gives him a stupified (maybe idiotic) look agreed, but is he supposed to be your generic bad guy? Besides if I read the lips in 3 dimensions, I can think his upper lip being pushed (by his tongue maybe?) over his lower lip. THe bottom of line is, if you like give me a week or so, and if my opinion doesn't change by then, I'm going put a nice sneer there.

For Luxor, let me have a go at it ok?

Oh and you're asking me whether I'll go back to that goblin rouser with the japanese style hat? Humm, I don't know, if I decide to I'll need to rework the lines/anatomy. On the other hand I don't see why you'd want to use the goblin rouser portrait that was done for LoW. Honestly it wouldn't fit for the evil rouser of your campaign. Again in my opinion this goblin (though it was intended as an impaler) would fit that role far better (since he looks far more agressive/greedy). But it's your call of course, you may either wait and see, maybe I'll feel like working on the intial one you have asked me to, or w/e. By the way, the correction for this goblin is I straightened his spear, that's all

Also, for Bombasan, what runic hammer are we talking about?

[Lord Ork]

Sorry for getting out of topic, but I had to look what "sneer" means. The illustration is frankly funny, and it may serve for inspiration .

Spoiler: