into the fray with Captain A....

[GenConfusion]

I'm extremely interested in hearing opinions on this.. it's not conceptart, it's cover art.. for.. well hopefully it's obvious...

1. does it have a dynamic feel to it

2. are the size relations of each element believeable

3. would it catch your eye as cover work

4. is the drawing- rendering good enough for cover art

I know for what it is, there should be a better focus on the main character... according to standard cover design.. (but here is where I can sort of justify this being a concept) I'm trying to think out of the box with this one, so to speak... maybe break the rules a bit.. I'm working on another one with another character, and that one will be pretty straightforward.. adhering to traditional cover work asthetics.. but until then any C & C's on this one would be really helpful..

thanks

Bobby

http://www.taminglight.com/forum/ca.jpg

[yolegas]

1. very dynamic,..

2. i'd say yes , but the man on the ground is bringing a disbalance,.
leave it away, making it seem that the distance is much higher would give more power(suspencion?) to the image.

3.yes, it would

4.yes

peronal note:: at the moment it looks like captain suicide to me. :)
what's the point of this deffensive jump..maybe add some attention to what he's actually doing..to save himself out of this situation? i don't see it.
anayway, better then i'll ever be.

beaucoup respect
-yo-

[Jason Manley]

the head needs more work....the entire head...right now it looks amateur in comparison to some of the other areas.

Im not sure where you want my eye to rest either...


the space reads well though...the action seems odd...i cant tell where he is going....

the background looks great....great color and atomosphere.


watch the rendering of his butt and shorts...its not making sense in terms of glutial anatomy and the folds are odd...

parts look great...parts look like they should be revisited if you want it to really be an A plus image.

the head is a must...and the hips....perhaps trying a different head pose...fix that peanut ear and the headshape at least, make some nice detail in that area not to flatten it out but to give me something to look at...a nice silhouette at least...ya know what I mean?


j

[Jason Manley]

again..the pictorial space is wonderful...right now all my issues are with the figures...jewel them up nicely ok?


j

[amphex]

Eh..just listen to the master =)

[Loga4]

Yes,just listen to Jason.
Whole Cap.A figure has bad ``Abridgment``
(I don`t know if I use good word) in perspective
you give to it and anatomy issues...look how Alex Ross do it(ehhh)or
Travis Charest!
Everything else is pretty much good.

[I.was.ink]

Yes I also agree with Jason especially on that but, whoo. Anyways what I wanted to say is that the bullet light coming from the guns of the soldiers is way to distracting and the highlight on the edge of the cuilding farthest away from us is too bright. Maybe not too bright, but it draws far too much attention from captain A. I just wanted to emphasize the size of the heard. it is lookin kind of weird. do fix what Jason said. I think it would help it out a lot. think also about what u want ur first focus to be. obviously the captain, but pretend to put a line from where u want ur audience to look first, then second, third and so one. Then based on this highlight these areas as needed. For example, if u think the impact of the bullets with the shield is ur central point. then make that impact between the too a lot more interesting. then maybe the gesture of the soldiers points to captain A's head which leads u to the structure of the building which could be emphasized by the swaing of the Nazi flag. u know pay attention to these things. cuz they are important. remember. u should control our view point. so therefore its ur job. cause the first thing i looked at where the yellow of the guns and that alone makes me say "ouch" that s too bright and might make someone less interested in the flow of the whole thing. hope this helps!!!

[GenConfusion]

yolegas- he's jumping to the flagpole that's near him, (but I guess if I have to describe that to you, the image failed) :( I'm gonna revise Cap in general, and repost when I do

Jason Manley- I hear ya, I did this sort of on the fly, no pencil skecth, and I find when I do it that way, I get bogged down in rendering and forget the fundamentals.. I'm gonna muscle out a pencil drawing of Cap that will clear up the current issues and redo it... thansk for the input

amphex- will do

Loga4- I agree with you, but do you think it's reallt that bad??? I agree the drawing is in much need of revision, so I wil post it when I'm done

iwasink- do you really feel that the light flashes are too distracting? I wanted them to be lit to represent some sort of action (heat) I gues I'm too attached to the image to see where they detract form the overall focus.. I'm curiosu cause no one has mentioned the same things you did... and I certainly am interested in hearing if anyone else agrees.... thanks for your comments, perhaps you opened my eyes to another point....


thanks guys for yur replies, sorry for the slow reply on my part I have just been swamped with a new project...

Bobby

[c0g]

I knew where he was jumping... First thing I noticed.

[Loga4]

No,I don`t think that is that bad,I
just see issues on Cap.A that bothers me little,I like everything
else,but you can fix it easy.
I think that best way is that you take picture of
your friend or somebody in that position,and you
will se how to do abridgment in that perspective.
Thats why I told you to look in Alex Ross`s stuff
he do that all the time.
Or take Poser 3D program and make that position.I think that`s really difficul to draw abridgments from head without reference.
I hope I help you little.

[Imp Head]

Bobby,

I've had the time to look at this a little more and I've got more beyond the color issues I mentioned earlier...

I think the thing that's killing the piece for me is a lack of psycological tension. Let me explain.

Whenever I sit down to do a piece I try to work out not only a good composition and color palette for the piece but also the psycology of the image.

Here we've got a nice shot of Captain America, in a dynamic pose, (despite whatever anatomy issues he may posses.) launching off a balcony and making a desperate grab for a seemingly impossible to reach flagpole. Yet it doesn't have a lot of tension... Why?

Well, by showing the ground as a definitive your viewer is immediately allieviated of the responsiblity of deciding for themselves where that ground is. What would happen if instead of a bird's eye view we were given a worm's eye view of a falling Captain? Now the viewer is forced to take an active role in the image. They have to make that vital decision of where that ground is, and like the old saying goes, that which we cannot see is MUCH more frightening that which we can. In short people are going to put that flagpole MUCH higher in the air, espcially if they've got to look UP at it.

Secondly by rotating that camera around we add not only the tension of not knowing where the ground is but we also add the base fear of "big shit falling on you". Think of it this way, how much more tense is standing under a swaying piano supended three stories up on a creaking crane then looking down on one? Again, our imaginations are really going to stick it to us.

Now let's look at CA as a subject matter. While having the camera over the top of CA allows us to experience the fall for ourselves we are not connecting to CA as a person. By swinging that camera around and allowing us to look into CA's eyes we viewers can instead connect with CA himself. In a sense we can now empathize with CA making him and his plight much more real in the our mind.

Lastly, take a look at your the major visual lines. You've got a pretty strong diagonal with CA and the perspective lines help, but on a whole the verticles, the lines that REALLY represent "falling" are almost straight up and down, anything but dynamic. By turning these major lines into diagonals, you add tension to the strongest lines in the piece.

Now, I understand that to impliment any or all of this would mean a complete redraw and at this point you may be better suited to apply it to a new drawing rather than doing this one over but, in either case, the "rules" still apply. When you understand the way a viewer is going to react in any given situations you've got the chance to really direct the viewer's psyche, a very powerful tool indeed.

Brian

[davi]

i have a problem with his ass.

[bOne]

I just think it's a bit strange to show the foot in the foreground...

I don't think this is the most important part in the picture...

[brads3d]

Captain America doesn't seem to have much movement. It's like him sleeping imposed over the bad dream he's having.