Of Pearls and Pirates: Thea Portrait

[Dalas120]

Asmodeus is working on a portrait for Thea, from Of Pearls and Pirates. We'd like to post the draft here and get feedback from doofus-01 before adding more details. Doofus-01, what do you think?

[Asmodeus712]

I'm waiting on this draft to be approved here before rendering, because if the pose needs to be adjusted it will be a good amount of work (being an archer, with both arms involved)

[doofus-01]

Hello Asmodeus,

I don't see any issues with the general pose. I'm not sure if the hands are just quick placeholders, but just in case you didn't already see it, the arrow arrangement is hard to understand, it looks like it will slide off her left thumb pretty quickly. The arrowhead outline, where it meets the shaft, will need attention to make the perspective work. But these aren't things that require changing the pose.

[Dalas120]

Final draft - how does this look?

thea.png (362.62 KiB) Viewed 364 times

[lhybrideur]

I feel like there is something wrong with the face. Maybe the eyes?
I cannot pinpoint exactly what.

[bssarkar]

I feel like there is something wrong with the face. Maybe the eyes?
I cannot pinpoint exactly what.

My guess is facial feature proportions are subtly off, but doofus can say better.

[BTIsaac]

The issue most obvious to me is the right eye. It's smaller, and positioned slightly higher than it should be, sits too far out, and the outer corner is simply cut off by the outline of the face, when it should be rounded off, slightly before the edges of the upper and lower lids. I also think the eyes should be just slightly bit larger (with the upper lids remaining in place). Same goes for the mouth.

[doofus-01]

Agreed, the eyes are a bit off.
- There is notable asymmetry to the cheekbones, orbit/socket hollows, and eyelids.
- The right eye seems to extend past the far edge of her face.
- I think there is an intended specular reflection off her left eye, but it is too blurred and is affecting the upper outline/eyelashes, possibly from the downscaling. It also makes the eye seem open wider or larger than the other when the image is further downscaled.
- Not related to the eyes, but speaking of downscaling, should she really be 500px? 400px is more common for the human portraits.

Left hand and arrow positioning still doesn't add up. How is the arrow staying up? I don't have much archery experience, but think the arrow might belong on the other side of the bow anyway, and that would be the simplest fix.

[lhybrideur]

I personally do not see the issue with the arrow.
It is resting on her left thumb and she is holding it with her other hand.

[BTIsaac]

It is resting on her left thumb and she is holding it with her other hand.

It should be on the other side of the bow. Also, it's too short.

[Asmodeus712]

Update (this is original size at 1024x1024)
I had completely missed that the arrow was on the wrong side when I looked at archery pictures, my bad. The reason it's so short is because I intended to have it foreshortened, it seemed to me that it worked better with her pose and the way she held the bow. If it doesn't work I can give the arrow a more classic length.
I tried many adjusts on the eyes, struggling with volumes as usual, here's where I'm at currently. Do you think they still look off?

[GreenScarab]

Beautiful artwork Asmodeus, you’re incredibly talented.

The one thing I think you could change is the line separating the character’s upper and lower lips. I think a slightly straighter line there would look better and a bit more natural.

[tsunami_]

I think it is the eyelashes that make the closer eye seem bigger.
As the poster earlier said, it is possibly an effect caused by the downscaling, because otherwise they seem the right size and in the right place.
I copied the irises from one side to the other to show what I mean.

thea_original.png (66.93 KiB) Viewed 158 times

thea_eyes.png (110 KiB) Viewed 158 times

Portrait looks great . I always appreciate when hands are drawn well.

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