Prince Marko

[Coyotes_75]

A destiny of the Prince Marko,a Serb historical figure from 14 century, has inspired me for this work. When the Turks had conquered Serbia it became a vassal state and the prince Marko was forced to serve in the Turkish Army as a solder of the Ottoman Empire. However, through oral tradition he grew into a mythical Achilles-like great warrior who challenged and fought Turks, a right and courage figure living his life to the full. More details about him can be found on wikipedia. I wanted to show Marko at the moment when he read Sultan's letter in which he demanded Marko to submit to his power. This is the moment when Marko realizes that there is no way but to accept a vassal status. He throws the letter and a cup of wine and sits on his throne resignedly. His sword hangs behind him in a scabbard symbolizing capitulation. At the same time, I wanted to referred to Marko who would grow into the legend in time and I placed an unnatural big mice (a favorite weapon of mythic Marko) in a shadow behind his throne.
Hope you like it. Critics are welcome as always.

[Elwell]

Can we have some info on programs/techniques? Is it all modeled/textured from scratch?
I would definitely work on the lighting, camera angle, and pose so that the foreshortening of the legs is clearer. Also, the handling of the fabric is really weak, the textures look like plastic and the drapery doesn't flow realistically or reveal the form well. The vertical wrinkles on his trunk and leg are especially distracting.

[Peter Coene]

For such a heroic character you sure made him old and scrawny. The flanged mace behind him looks silly; its too large to be realistic, too plain to be epic. Whats with the change in stonework halfway up the wall? Did he fire the professional masons then hire amatures to finish making the castle?

[SMVidaurri]

It looks like his clothes are sticking to his body because he's wet.

[Flake]

Screams "Poser". Dead eyes always look like Poser.

Apologies if I'm wrong.

[dkounios]

I'm with you on that Flake. looks very Poser-esque.
If anything, I would follow Elwells comments to make this really work.

keep at it!

[Coyotes_75]

Thx for your critics, this could help me in the future, but I have to react to some things:
Elwell: Done in 3dmax, Zbrush, and photoshop (what else). Lights, well I wanted this to be dark, just one weak spot light on him (but actually there are 2 lights), and more or less result is what I had in my mind, but could it be made better, 100% YES!!! Camera, well again the same problem as with lights, I wanted to have this view. Fabric, well I agree that this is note very realistic fabrics, but then again, I did not wanted to make photography. Like you do in your works, and most artist (but I am not artist) it is ok to change reality to achieve more dramatic look. Fabric "curves" are to strong, but I thing this is more interesting than "as it should look". But I agree that some work on them could make this work better.

Peter Coene: You did not read my text careful I thing so one more time "I placed an unnatural big mice (a favorite weapon of mythic Marko) in a shadow behind his throne." If you do not like it, well this is just a matter of taste.

Flake\dkounios this is no poser figure, and eyes do look dead, but again I wanted to create total melancholy, and next time I will take more care about eyes.

[egerie]

besides everything that has already been said, the posing of the hand and feet need some work. For instance, the right hand (his right hand) feels a bit too broken forward. Considering where the kneecap is, the feet seem a bit too much on the outside. Either the orientation of the thigh is wrong or the foot is too open.
I suppose you have posed yourself into reference for this?
The left hand is really well done though.

[Coyotes_75]

egerie, thanks for critics. actually I think because of the shadows this figure looks broken like. Definitely I'll have to take more care in the future about lights and shadows, and in 100 - 200 years I will get into rendering art :geekg:

[Bionic7]

The main problem is the colours for me, it looks a little too clownish in a way, even if you do keep the colours of those clothes i think it would benefit from darker more dramatic lighting. The image over all would also be more catching if the camera angle was moved lower and at a slight angle.

[Brendan N]

Thx for your critics, this could help me in the future, but I have to react to some things:
Elwell: Done in 3dmax, Zbrush, and photoshop (what else). Lights, well I wanted this to be dark, just one weak spot light on him (but actually there are 2 lights), and more or less result is what I had in my mind, but could it be made better, 100% YES!!! Camera, well again the same problem as with lights, I wanted to have this view. Fabric, well I agree that this is note very realistic fabrics, but then again, I did not wanted to make photography. Like you do in your works, and most artist (but I am not artist) it is ok to change reality to achieve more dramatic look. Fabric "curves" are to strong, but I thing this is more interesting than "as it should look". But I agree that some work on them could make this work better.

Peter Coene: You did not read my text careful I thing so one more time "I placed an unnatural big mice (a favorite weapon of mythic Marko) in a shadow behind his throne." If you do not like it, well this is just a matter of taste.

Flake\dkounios this is no poser figure, and eyes do look dead, but again I wanted to create total melancholy, and next time I will take more care about eyes.

I'd have to repeat Elwell's crits. I realise that some of it was intentional, but what you wanted or did not wanted doesn't contribute to the image's overall success. You say that you wanted to achieve a more dramatic look but this isn't relfected in your decisions - you have a high key white light, and there is almost no notion of complementaries to sustain this drama. What's more is you've split the compoisition into 4 with the walls and floor, but none of this is helping your image - in fact it's detracting from it by upsetting the value structure. If you wanted him to be melancholic, why is he looking upward? It rather looks like he's daydreaming about those sexy worker class girls :P You're also killing off any drama you might have had by outright employing primary yellow, primary blue and primary red - and within the image they're all very unaware of eachother.

I think you do have an interesting concept though, and I would love to seen it taken further. I'm also pretty optimistic of using 3d to create artworks as you have done here. Love to see where you go with this. hope my critiques are of some use.

cheers!

[Coyotes_75]

Brendan N: what you say have a lot of sense, and next time I'll take more care about some things. Have to do some beginners mistakes, this is the way to improve.

cheers!

[Peter Coene]

Peter Coene: You did not read my text careful I thing so one more time "I placed an unnatural big mice (a favorite weapon of mythic Marko) in a shadow behind his throne." If you do not like it, well this is just a matter of taste.

I read what you had to say, and as I pointed out; it is too plain to be epic. If you are going to make a mace that big it should have a design thats a bit more interesting. The design that you have there was based on a certain type of flanged mace that in the middle ages was designed to look thin and civilized. If you want to make a mace big then change the design to look harsh and brutal.

As it is it is a poor design, as you only took a small mace and made it bigger. either change the design to make it look like its supposed to be that size, or else don't make it that size.