LordBob's commissionned work

[DMB]

He needs some angry eyes.... Mr. Potato Head style.

Looks as good as ever.

[alluton]

It looks great. Keep up the wonderfull work.

[LordBob]

It took some time, but there's the finished Delf-mad. As before, the transparent+lines png file will come later, unless we'd have a deadline to meet for an upcoming release.
Next, the human-clad alt for this pose and the "mentoring" one.

[vultraz]

Hm...the first thing that stuck me is his face. I get the impression it's supposed to be a mad, 'eat-my-lightning' expression. Right now it looks like he's glancing off to his left with a 'WTF is going on over there' expression.

Also, I think that black section right over his right temple could be lightened a little, as it has the lightning next to it.

[LordBob]

I'm not sure what you're seeing yourself : see the close-up, he's staring straight at the viewer. Does the highlight on the side of the (our) left eyelid mislead in smaller scale?
Either way, the face will be quite small in the final picture, so I'm not sure if it's worth a shot.

Next, first painting stage for the "mad" variant and sketches for the "mentoring" pose. I'm thinking of doing only a waist-up version of the later, because six full-size variants of the same character is time-consuming and not really required for anything but my own sense of masochism.

Wesnoth_HttT_delfador_mentoring-study.jpg (53.54 KiB) Viewed 3485 times

[zookeeper]

Well, my reservations regarding the mentoring alt are largely the same as before. It just strikes me as very suspect that he's mentoring you by reading from a book himself; it gives off the appearance that he doesn't really know his stuff, but has to refer to a book. He's got to be one of the most learned humans around and an expert in history, geography and politics, and none of the information he gives you during the campaign feature the kind of detailed trivia which he might need to double-check from a book.

Overall it just gives me the impression that he's more like reciting something from a book rather than imparting some of his knowledge. I think there's quite a few alternative poses which might work better (in this particular regard, that is), and I could make some suggestions if you're interested. Once again it's not a big problem really, and what you have there would surely make a good portrait if you want to go with it.

[Dixie]

Angry portrait: while I definitely not see the same thing as Vultraz, to me, zoomed or not, he doesn't really seem angry. As far as I can tell, it's something with his eyes. He almost looks sad. Or like a poor actor who'd try to act anger, adopt the perfect face and attitude, but isn't really mad and it shows in his eyes. I haven't seen reference, but is it the glow in the eye? Is it because the lower eyelids should be a bit more raised? Is it the position of the pupil in the eye (should it be higher/lower)? I don,t know. But even at normal scale, his eyes definitely say "I'm not really angry, guys, but please believe it" to me...

[LordBob]

Oh, well, that's what I get for not using good reference: I did a quick few faces in front of a mirror and went with it. I'll rework those eyes, then.

Zookeeper: it's my fault for basing my work on Kitty's mentoring pose without reading the comments. The simplest option would be to just empty his hand and keep the raised finger, but suggestions are welcome.

[Adamant14]

Dacyn from Eastern Invasion has a similar pose.

On the other image Delfaldor holds a staff, maybe he should hold a staff here too (instead the book),
I think about Priest Edmond from the rise of Wesnoth.
Or Perrin made by DUHH
Or a closed book alternative to the open book.

I like the mad_Delfaldor portrait, nothing to complain about.
Thank you.

[Jetrel]

Zookeeper: it's my fault for basing my work on Kitty's mentoring pose without reading the comments. The simplest option would be to just empty his hand and keep the raised finger, but suggestions are welcome.

Or you could close the book? Seems to me that'd reap most of the flavor-benefits of having a book, whilst not having the fridge-logic problem of "why is he reading from a book to give a lesson?"

[zookeeper]

The simplest option would be to just empty his hand and keep the raised finger, but suggestions are welcome.

Yeah, that or Jetrel's suggestion of a closed book (probably held a little bit differently, too) would work. I'm fine with anything that alleviates my above concern even somewhat.

I wanted to try a few sketches so I'd have an excuse to use my tablet for something, but after I ended up not getting it working anymore, I did a few anyway with a mouse just to see what I can come up with (I'm not calling these suggestions, I'm posting them just in case you'd happen to find something useful in them). Sorry for any damage these cause to your visual cortex.

[line]

The closed book is a good solution to zookeeper's point of Delfador not needing a book to teach his stuff. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to remove the book of the mentoring pose, as everyone associates it to a teaching situation (and it will therefore help recognizing it like only a blackboard and chalk would also do).

I suggest to have Delfador hold the book besides his hip, his arm only slightly bent, in an effort-saving manner (it's a big book getting heavy as time goes by). So the book is with him, but Delfador is obviously able to teach his lessons without it.

[LordBob]

Makes sense. Closed book it is, then.
@zookeeper: I sympathize, drawing with a mouse is trully painful. But still, these doodles convey your meaning well enough.

In other news, I've began studies for Asheviere. Different outfits and colour schemes. As ever, they're modular and you're all welcome to comment and say if you like such or such element from that stance or the other one.

[Dugi]

I vote for A, but think that she should not look so old. She is not supposed to be a grandmother yet, she should be in her fifties. Maybe she might wear a mask, she is quite egocentric and might be ashamed of her age.

[Blarumyrran]

C or D (but if D, then more saturated costume).