Finished Gnoll (UPDATE)

[Tedsuo]

EDIT: New pic at the bottom.


I finally had some time to work on this, so here it is! I needed lay this one to rest so I could move on to my Thunderdome attempt.



http://tazmanianhamster.tripod.com/pics/Knoll_Web.jpg





For those with more well-adjusted childhoods, a gnoll is a hyena-like goblin man from my D&D playin youth.


Never posted any art in the "Finished" section before. :) I would really appreciate any crits or comments you guys have. Selfcrit: I need to stop being such a wuss when it comes to hard edges. Thanks again to Atomick for your sugestions on the WIP.

[Tayama]

oO!
WOw, really cool!
Like the face, like the hairs and i even more like his little eyes!

Great work man :)

[Vaarok]

It doesn't look very gnollish (http://images.google.com/images?q=Gnoll&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en) to me...

Personally, I like the hyena-head type best.

That one has a fat and roundy face, and it's pink. (!)

[Tedsuo]

Tayama: :D


Vaarok: See, I always thought the full hyena-head looked sort of top heavy. Some of those google images were pretty cool though. But- pink?! Does it really look pink?

[Prometheus|ANJ]

If the value variations in the BG (or any shape/plane) isn't desribing anything, they are best removed/flattened.

Red is an unusual background so the eye will react to it.

Perhaps try to draw the face from another angle?

PO, not sure what I want to say with it. I don't like the PS5.5 brushes. I did the usual sharpen thing too. Just bored I guess.
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/other/tedsuo.jpg

[Tedsuo]

Sweet PO, Prom. For some reason I think he looks like a Spanish Conqistador. And yeah, the dead on side view is kind of a cop-out, I should do something more interesting next time.


With the background, I was thinking about big billowing fires and smoke at night, like the town burning down. But I don't want to actually take the time to render it in detail (lazy), so you're right, I should simplify it. I would like to keep the background warm though, I noticed when you greyed it out in your PO, it really cooled the pic down.

Heh. "Bratlish." As in, 133t RoXOr OMGWTF!!!!!11!!!

[Vaarok]

Yes, it does look pink.

And yes, the hyena-head does tend to be a little topheavy. But if you play around with the body shape, and go kilrathi-ish, you can do some cool things with the ruff/mane in a sticking up in mohawk fashion over a massively-jawed canine head whose eyes glint with malicious intelligence.

Works best at a 3/4 or 2/3 perspective. I tend to try to get a slight upward angle in there too, so it looks big.

There was a great WarCraft illo by Sam Wise that shows what I'm talking about fairly well, it's just that he made them look somewhat comical and stupid.

[Tedsuo]

Played around with it a bit more tonight:



http://tazmanianhamster.tripod.com/pics/Knoll_Web_2.jpg




Working with just solid blocks of color, trying to lose my fear of hard edges. Prom, you were right about the background, simpler is better.

[R_M]

Hi tedsuo.
second one is much better, it is much more alive and scary. Just watch out that you don't make him look like he is laughing. :D
maybe you should show more of the white (yellow in this case?) of his eyes, more crazy like.

[Prometheus|ANJ]

I like that last one better. You could do an orange/red/dark gradiation on the BG I think. Gradiations doesn't conflict with the FG as much as 'spottish' ones do. The eye can usually separate the FG from the BG as long as there is some sort of recognizeable pattern in the background.

I think you could somehow define the edges/detail a bit more clearly, it's a bit fuzzy now and kinda floats togather. Perhaps it can be fixed by using some more value variation at the edges, I dunno (sorta like lineart, or black shadows like Mr Foster do).

[Tayama]

Still like the first one the most.

Don't know why, it just have the things it need...
but...i'm just a weird little guy man :p

[I'm not saying the second one is bad, it is great, but the first one is much better IMO]

[Tedsuo]

Thanks for the response guys. Maybe I'm not done with this one after all, I feel like I'm working though some of my issues by repainting this.


R_M: Hehe, maybe instead I should push the laughing even farther. Make it a balls out insane hyena laugh, complete with rabid spittle. :ep:


Prom: Yeah, that "fuzziness" is my biggest issue right now. I converted it to grayscale and noticed a lot of places where forms overlap do not have a strong value change, only a color change. I think that's part of it. That, and it just needs to be pushed more in general. If I get time this weeked, I will try and make another pass at this.


Tayama: No prob dude. I'm glad you like it!

[GrayMind]

i like his expression. It definitely reeks of self-confidence, gangsta-ness, and a tinge of insanity. Darken up the background a bit to add contrast. maybe add some blood and scrapes and stuff to add character. Maybe an earring or nose ring. keep up the good work.