thespaceinvader's portraits - Ancient Wose

[Limabean]

The ring size of that chainmail would be...really small. Like what you might find in a piece of magical elven chainmail, perhaps.

That doesn't seem like a big problem. Aren't dwarves supposed to be experts at making armor, weapons, etc.?

[TheJM]

Yeah, but I doubt they could do something quite that small. Eh, who knows..

I really do like the chain mail though, it's much improved.

[Sgt. Groovy]

There are two problems with the new cainmail:

• The pattern doesn't follow the contours of the dwarf's body well enough yet. You have already shaped it somewhat, which is good, but there are still unnaturally straight lines in the pattern in some places, for example under the belt.
• Another problem is that the pattern has been mangled by scaling. This often happens when you scale down a regular pattern. What happens is that the pattern has a wavelenght (the scale of the pattern unit) that interferes with the wavelength of the pixel matrix. When two wavelenghts interfere, new wavepatterns appear as an artifact. One way to alleviate the problem is to apply some Gaussian blur to the chainlink layer before scaling down (in terms of Fourier analysis, Gaussian blur is a low-pass filter, it filters out the higher frequencies (low wavelengths)). Another solution is to make the chainlink pattern bigger (the closer the interfering wavelegths are to each other, the worse the artifacts). This would be good, because the links could be bigger anyway.

[thespaceinvader]

That looks great! How did you do that?

There's a nifty little GIMP feature that allows you to use whatever's on the clipboard as a brush for the brush tools. I drew out the first few rings (4, one above the other), and copypasted that, made the first couple of lines, copypasted that etc etc.

I'm going to rework with much larger rings, i think. Probably about double the size.

EDIT: boom. Even works at the small scale.

[Cernunnos]

Wow great, honestly the previous (with smaller stitch) was pricking the eyes a little, this one is a lot better.

[thespaceinvader]

Dragonguard lines/flats. I've taken a lot of inspiration from the older model. Most of the cloak is an almost direct copy. The weapon's new. Basically, meant to be a larger, longer-barrelled version of the cannon part of the previous one, with a radically different grip mechanism and a lot more decoration. it's designed to look like the dragon has its tail wrapped around his hand. Initially, i wanted it to be 'pull the dragon's tail to fire' but that was difficult to make work. The front legs are free to attach a stand or to use to balance it on terrain. The eyelets are to attach to the loose strap with the hooks that is hung around his body - this would not be a light instrument, so it would need a carry strap.

I do intend to add slow-matches to his beard, too, i just haven't gotten round to it yet. Only a couple will be lit, though.

[doofus-01]

Nice job on the thunderer. One little thing, shouldn't be too difficult to change if you want to, is that the chain really reflects the secondary light source in a way that it doesn't do with the primary. The part around his right arm and hip looks bright, but from the other materials I'd guess that the light coming from our left is weaker than that coming from the right.

Just throwing an idea out for the dragonguard: If it's a heavy cannon, maybe he can move his left thigh forward to balance? It would make him look less stiff, and would not be much of a redraw.

[Turuk]

TSI, great work on the thunderer and nailing down the chainmail pattern finally.

For the Dragonguard, I do enjoy the initial sketch (<-as you can see, one of my loved units), and I like the details such as the dragon's tail around his forearm. One question I have is whether you intend to leave the dragon as basically a shaded piece of wood, or will be applying some decorative trim and color to the weapon? I know you said a lot more decoration (and this is only a sketch), but I did not know if you meant instead of looking like a cannon, this one will look like a dragon and therefore that qualifies as the expanded decoration.

[thespaceinvader]

The dragon's intended to be bronze, actually. It shows better if you click the image, due to the forum's colour-mangling.

But yes, it will be getting some further embellishment.

And yeah, making his stance a bit more dynamic would help. Good idea, doofus.

[Turuk]

The dragon's intended to be bronze, actually. It shows better if you click the image, due to the forum's colour-mangling.

But yes, it will be getting some further embellishment.

I did see that, I thought as much but not sure if you just wanted to go with a lighter wood for your second hand cannon.

Good to know, then I will look forward to more of you work. Are you going to stick with the fiery based colors of the piece, or just going to see what works and run with it? Your judgement in portrait art has proven sound either way, apparently I am just extra curious this morning.

[Skizzaltix]

Awesome job! I love tail.
My one comment is that, although the entire gun and his hand holding it appear to be facing slightly towards the camera, the muzzle and dragon head appear to be parallel? Seems a little strange
Anyway, great work! I can't wait to see the next version.

[thespaceinvader]

The handle isn't parallel with the barrel, it's not meant to be. I tried the positions, and that was most comfortable. The handle, in fact, swivels.

But I may re-think and go for an under-the-barrel grip. It might be easier to read.

[Skizzaltix]

Oh... Yes. That explains it. *headdesk*
It was probably just my misreading the position, so don't worry about it too much...

[thespaceinvader]

Minor update to Dragonguard, and prelims for the Fighter.

I might get some shading done to the D'guard today, but i'm not certain. If anybody has any thoughts on further embellishments for the dragonstick, speak up. I'm struggling for inspiration.

[Turuk]

I might get some shading done to the D'guard today, but i'm not certain. If anybody has any thoughts on further embellishments for the dragonstick, speak up. I'm struggling for inspiration.

I am not sure how much detail you want to go in to, but what if you used the scale pattern similar to what is used on the drake portraits? While it may seem a bit much, the dwarves are known to love armor and weapons, and it would be expected that such an expert warrior would have some of the best equipment. You could keep the bronze color or go a bit lighter and add a gold tint, especially around the mouth (similar to the sprite). Coloring in the eyes and teeth, treating the weapon as if it were a living dragon, would add that bit of embellishment and emphasize that these complex weapons were crafted by masters.