Can somebody make a portrait of a fencer for me?

[thespaceinvader]

Previous crits apply - head and hands are diosproportionately large. Otherwise, looks good =)

[Jetrel]

His right hand seems not to be in position to have a good grip on the hilt. For most mortals, a firm grip require lining up the object with the knuckles of the last three fingers:

Your comment about the mechanics of the hand there is absolutely correct - you're correct in seeing that the character has a loose grip.

But I think that's intentional. If you look up, his sword is also being supported by his other hand - I think that his thumb on the lower hand is doing most of the gripping, and the rest of his fingers have relaxed - exactly as portrayed.

[bera]

Okay, glad that you liked that RaustBD, and so here comes with the shading, calling it finished.

For the previous one in regards of Jetrel and jkwchui: I completely agree as well. It's a simple fix actually, but over all I wasn't very
fond of the pose, seemed too static to me and still does. Though if someone wants it, I can fix and shade sometime, dunno

[Captain_Wrathbow]

Wow, you're a great portrait artist! And it's cool to see you helping out UMC authors too!

[Frogger5]

The streak up the middle of the blade doesn't really work unless the light source is perfectly aligned with the blade.

For some reason the crossbow looks off perspective after shading. I think it's because the highlight on the handle is to far to the right. As a result, the handle look like it's pointing further right than the bow.

I think that the line at the chin needs to go all the way right or that the neck be made a little thinner at the right. Right now it doesn't really fit in with perspective of the rest of the face.

I think that the line of shadow on the left side of his face ought to be softened a little in order to look a bit more natural.

The belt looks a bit flat, and I think that there ought to be a bit of shadow on the feather coming of the hat.

One last thing, the handle of the rapier doesn't look aligned with the blade.

Apart from that, great job!

[bera]

Noted Frogger. I'll do some revision on him, not so particularly happy about those things you mentioned. I'm waiting for a response from RaustBD first however,
and I'll probably need some time off him as well.

[Mountain_King]

you might want to know that crossbows are generally much bigger than that shown in your portrait. The crossbow ins't like a blunderbuss that shoots arrows. It has a large cocking mechanism, which involves putting your foot through a stirrup on the front of the crossbow. Or if your crossbow doesn't have a stirrup, it would have a large crank to wind it up. While it doesn't take a lot of strength, it does take a lot of time. (that's why the duelist and dragoon only get one shot with the crossbow). It's big and powerful: A weapon like this would very often require two hands to operate. While the portrait overall is quite good as far as artistic value goes, you might want to google "medieval crossbows" for some diagrams and such of an arbalest. Imagine something like a bow on its side, with a rifle stock. Not like a blunderbuss (musket-pistol) that shoots arrows. there's me rant, ye can take it or leave it.

[Frogger5]

Your generalizing a lot here.
Not all crossbows are big and not all of them require a windlass. Some only require a lever. Smaller ones would not be as powerful, and would be used more in closer range. Although that doesn't make all that much sense seeing as they take a while to operate, that's the way things work. In this case i would say that the crossbow size is appropriate for this kind of unit. He is not a heavily armored sword wielding fighter. He is a smartly dressed toff with a rapier, and a crossbow which also look much more professional than a normal bow.
From googling crossbows I found this which is about the size of bera's if not smaller.

Spoiler:

It's still a crossbow.
Although what you said is true, it only applies to a group of crossbows. Bera's crossbow is still accurate.

[Mountain_King]

Please allow me to clarify my original statement,
What I meant was if that is a 12-1 or a 20-1 crossbow is being used, it would almost necessitate it being one of the larger ones. At least that's how it seemed to me. Though I do reckon that if he's going to remain a skirmisher, he is going to need a smaller crossbow. Ultimately, It's his picture and the artist should do what he thinks is best. He's an artist, I'm not. That's why I said next to nothing about the portrait itself (because it's really quite good and I know I couldn't do better).

[thespaceinvader]

Don't be so picky, seriously. The crossbow is fine.

[Mountain_King]

Evening, deputy. Yes, you're right. I am being overly picky. It's my picky nature as a perfectionist historian. I'll stop being picky now and "resume lurking silently".