enderium illustration with WIP pics + two speedy paintings

[PhilHolland]

Hey Concept Arters,

I just finished this painting yesterday. It will be used for my holiday cards and will be printed @ 18x22 for a friends birthday present.
http://www.artbyphil.com/forum/enderium.jpg
Here is the WIP pic.
http://www.artbyphil.com/forum/enderiumsteps.jpg
Here are some close ups from 100%.
http://www.artbyphil.com/forum/enderiumclose.jpg
I sketched out the idea on Wednesday. Brought my laptop to work and painted for about 5 hours. Then took the image back to my pc @ home and worked another hour.
This was done in PS7 @ 3200x4000 all on one layer.
I spent a bit of time trying to achieve a certain mood in this painting. Once I had that "feeling" down it came together quickly.

I would like to hear your comments on this piece.
Also if you reply, please tell me what feeling this painting invokes in in you.

Also here are two quick speed paintings.
http://www.artbyphil.com/forum/grift.jpghttp://www.artbyphil.com/forum/whiteheadt.jpg

I really like what I've been seeing on these boards lately. Andrew's Spods have been a constant source of creative mental fuel for me.
Thanks go to Sparth, Hudnut, Jason, Feng, Davi, Lono, and more for helping me keep interest in my artwork.
I have been going through a transition with my art recently and it's been taxing on my job, my sleep, and my life.
However, I've never felt this close to my abilities before.

Happy Holidays! Feedback is greatly appreciated.

Phil

[MindCandyMan]

I am probably the most unqualified here to give advice but I will do what I can. First I will say that I really like this piece a lot. It is quite moody and scary. I feel like the guy at any moment could jump out of the painting and stab me. His calm demeanor makes it even more scary. I like what you did with his hair. Looks cool...I also like the holes in the curtains. The background looks good as well although I think the upper right portion of the background needs another midtone to help it transition into the lighter tone...the edges are real harsh right there. The only thing I don't like about this piece is the blue frame around the window. I love the color palette outside of the blue. I think if you were to change the blue to a darker color consistent with the background that would really help to pop out the reds and draw our eyes to the main focus...the guys head "shrouded in red light". Awesome work man. I love the belt buckle.

p.s. - thanks for posting the closeups...I love that! Helps me learn.

[zeitgeist]

oooh, an EIGHT pack!

i really like his skin tones

if anything bothers me in this pic... i think its HIS left hand.. seems like his thumb may be too big (or fingers too small)

great work

[PhilHolland]

MindCandyMan - Yeah that upper portion is kinda
stale. The window frame was originally going to
be white, but I changed it half way through. I
thought the blue would would be a good color, but
now I wish I stuck with the white. Your dead on
with the red light. I wanted it to look like the
ambient glow from the cutain was lighting his face.

zeitgeist - That finger thing is a tough one. I tried curling his fingers in with this painting.
I gave my the chills to see fingers all bent and have the thumb sticking out. But you might be right I uncurled the fingers and they seem a little short and thin. Too late now, but good catch.

Thanks for your comments, I'll check in again later.

Phil

[Snowfly]

It's a rich painting overall, and there are bits that look reallyy supple (particularly the head area.) Good job!

The character doesn't look quite ground though.. might be because he's slanting to the left and he also has his left leg forward. Just try that yourself, it's quite akward.

Everything else is just STYLE. cheers!

-Chris

[Ironspy]

but is it really a piece for the holidays?

-spying

[MindCandyMan]

If I got this card in the mail for Christmas I would be so happy...I'm sick of those stupid rosy cheeked cherubs flying around or some other stupid thing. This rocks!

[zeitgeist]

ill second that!

[Dromond]

Originally posted by zeitgeist
oooh, an EIGHT pack!

i really like his skin tones

if anything bothers me in this pic... i think its HIS left hand.. seems like his thumb may be too big (or fingers too small)

great work

This is subtle but I think it actually does something for the painting. Makes it look more... serpentine or something. Very creepy.

[PhilHolland]

Hey there's red, green, and white in it. That's
what Christmas is all about. :)

I gave out most of the cards this weekend. Kinkos
paper folder broke so I had to do them at home.
The
large poster looked pretty good though.
The birthday boy liked it.
Most of the comments at the party were positive.
My mother's quote "This doesn't remind me of Christmas,
it looks like murder".

That was really funny to me for some reason.

On a deeper note. This painting probably represents
the solitude that I've been forcing upon myself lately.
Trying to improve my abilities can be hard and I feel
very distant from my friends sometimes.

On to more happy thoughts.

Yes I was inspired by Phil Hale's hair work. You'll notice
in mine that I actually tried blending the strands of
hair in with the general shape of the whole hair-do.

Any other comments?

Thanks again,

Phil

[Nadim]

I've always wanted to see the complete picture .. err.
That's PhilHolland.