Valkiers portraits: It's like I can touch you!

[Turuk]

Magic.

Oh right, the catch-all. Could it at least show some signs of wear and tear then, instead of looking fresh and new?

[kitty]

Magic.

Oh right, the catch-all. Could it at least show some signs of wear and tear then, instead of looking fresh and new?

No its not the catch-all, it's specifically a magically reanimated skeleton hold together and moved by magic.
And don't start asking for details like wear and tear when the artist posts a very first version - those details are most of the time added as one of the last steps.

[Turuk]

No its not the catch-all, it's specifically a magically reanimated skeleton hold together and moved by magic.
And don't start asking for details like wear and tear when the artist posts a very first version - those details are most of the time added as one of the last steps.

Right, reanimated the bones and moved by magic, but the sudden growth of an eyeball seemed at odds with the rest of the body, as there is no flesh or any other bits that will be left as our skeletons are nothing besides bones.

And I also didn't say it had to be done now, I am merely saying such effects might help. It makes little sense to not comment on it until the very last steps.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

Right, reanimated the bones and moved by magic, but the sudden growth of an eyeball seemed at odds with the rest of the body, as there is no flesh or any other bits that will be left as our skeletons are nothing besides bones.

And who says that the eyeball came from the same body?

It does seem a bit odd, if somewhat cool.

[Huston]

think of the guy who had the semi-fake eyeball from pirates of the carribbean.

[Mirion147]

I had thought it was from some other unknown creature. (Sort of like those eyeball creatures from Final Fantasy.)

The tongue, however, seems a little much to me as well.

[StandYourGround]

First time I've posted in Art Contributions, as I've not considered myself much of an artist and thus unworthy to do anything but lurk and admire, but anyway, some comments...

Love the skeleton grunt, and I can't wait to see the final Deathblade. I think the eye is cool, but maybe it might look scarier if it was half-rotted and maybe had the grey-purple tint of a Walking Corpse. I see comments about a tongue, but I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is a tongue or light reflecting off the back of the skull/jaw. However, I have noticed one detail I found very odd. While I love the look of the repaired skull fracture, I have to question the use of standard-head steel screws. Were they around in Wesnoth before there were standard-head screwdrivers? Maybe wood pegs or iron nails would be better.

[thespaceinvader]

The repair's nice (I like that used look for skeletons, I'd love to see more of it, paticularly as the levels get higher and the skellies get more expensive to make), but I'll echo the eyeball and tongue being a bit much. The tongue, in particular. You could get away with an eyeball in a zombie, but I feel that you can't in a skeleton.

Overall, I like the look so far, but... it's a skull. It's no surprise that people pick apart these sorts of minor details when that's all you post. Is there any chance you could post your sketch (I seem to recall you said you make one) so we can give some overall crit before you get too far into painting the whole thing?

I was going to point to Girgistian's sketch for inspiration, too - one important detail I'd like to see maintained is the shape and style of the blades (though with thicker handles) - he captured them very well from the sprite.

[Valkier]

I was going to point to Girgistian's sketch for inspiration, too - one important detail I'd like to see maintained is the shape and style of the blades (though with thicker handles) - he captured them very well from the sprite.

Oh god. I thought they were knives all this time. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Right, reanimated the bones and moved by magic, but the sudden growth of an eyeball seemed at odds with the rest of the body, as there is no flesh or any other bits that will be left as our skeletons are nothing besides bones.

The point was to make it look a bit more unsettling, which I think it does. From my understanding, as skeletons progress in levels they're supposed to be a bit smarter and stronger. I think giving it one or two minor qualities like this helps show that sort of evolution. Otherwise it would look like the normal skeleton unit only with better looking equipment, something I believe I've already been questioned about once in this thread. In any case it's a design choice I think I want to see through. If it ends up not working out, then I'll remove it. If it works, then it works. Wear and tear, as always, will follow as I feel the need to add it.

Perhaps the tongue is a bit much. Show us more!

I'm still on the fence about the tongue. I wanted it to look a bit more like his spirit is tortured somehow. I'm not particularly attached to the tongue concept, so I'm exploring different ideas on how to convey the feeling. If you have any thoughts, I'd welcome the input.

I don't know how will the drawing turn out, but I'm having a feeling that you will do the unit justice as you did with the skeleton warrior, so take three cheers from me.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Were they around in Wesnoth before there were standard-head screwdrivers? Maybe wood pegs or iron nails would be better.

Excellent point. Anyone wanna let me know about this? I made them screws because they just seem a little more brutal than a nail. If they aren't supposed to exist however, they're easy enough to change.

Is there any chance you could post your sketch (I seem to recall you said you make one) so we can give some overall crit before you get too far into painting the whole thing?

I'll post a full body sketch a bit later. Everything is saved to my laptop at the moment and I don't feel like dragging it out. This is basically just what I came up with in an hour of fiddling around. I sadly don't always get time to finish my thoughts since I am usually working on my concepts while I'm sitting at my actual paying job. I'm actually kinda glad people are showing as much interest as they are in what's there so far. For better or worse, the crits at least let me know I'm on a decent road with this. Plus it gives me ideas as to what people like and don't like to see. Tongue is probably going to be removed, and more damaged and prosthetic parts are going to appear. All in all, I'm very much thankful to everyone so far.

[melinath]

Were they around in Wesnoth before there were standard-head screwdrivers? Maybe wood pegs or iron nails would be better.

Excellent point. Anyone wanna let me know about this? I made them screws because they just seem a little more brutal than a nail. If they aren't supposed to exist however, they're easy enough to change.

History of the Screw

And this is a carpenter's brace.

Short version: Wesnoth could have screws, probably, but they wouldn't be like modern screws.

[Huston]

kinda like the Ancient Egyptians had batteries. they were made out of a copper tube protruding from the lid of a pot that goes into an acid that is in the pot and somehow it made electricity( i forget exactly work it worked. the documentary was aired on the history channel about a year ago. but it worked something like how i described if memory serves)

[LordBob]

Just a quick comment saying that I eeally like where you're going with this skeletal face.
Such as he is now I'd say he deserves shinier teeth, but doubtless you'll work a lot more on the face before the end

[thespaceinvader]

kinda like the Ancient Egyptians had batteries. they were made out of a copper tube protruding from the lid of a pot that goes into an acid that is in the pot and somehow it made electricity( i forget exactly work it worked. the documentary was aired on the history channel about a year ago. but it worked something like how i described if memory serves)

They found those in ancient iraq, IIRC. And they work in exactly the same way batteries work today - the electricity is generated by the differenct in electrical potential between the acid and the metal. Noone's really sure what they were used for (electroplating metals has been suggested), or even if their creators were aware of what they could do.

However, that's something for another thread. In off-topic. Please feel free to continue it there.

[Valkier]

Sorry for the late update, but I decided on my original sketch I didn't like where it was heading. Restarted and the new one seems to be coming along pretty well.

[A-Red]

Looking good, though like some others I'm not sure about the eye. I think for the blade-resting pose to look comfortable, the handle of the axe would need to be longer, and the hand would need to be further toward the non-bladed end of it.