Myrmidon Soldier

[smurfbizkit]

First up, this is my first post of actual things to critique (just lurked, posted in other's threads before). Second, appologies since this is going to be fairly long since this is really regarding 3 peices.

I'm planning an rts mod and since I don't know any good, available concept artists I dusted off the drawing pad and got to work (going to end up needing roughly 30+ concepts done). I'm glad I did since its now become an exersise in improving my concepting and painting, both of which improve my 3d model texturing.

The idea of the Myrmidon soldier is that he's heavily armored and carries a powerful weapon. It took me around 5 redesigns to feel content.

First Design:

pencils (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan_concept1.jpg)
painting 1 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan_concept2.jpg)
painting 2 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan_concept3.jpg)
final (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan_concept4.jpg)

My idea was, spartan soldier with a chaingun and partial plate armor. It turned out alright, but there were some mistakes I made due to it being my first finished digital painting. The contrast isn't consistent (on the legs mainly), lower right leg looks like its almost broken, parts of it arn't properly finished painted and overall it looks very plasticy.

Second Design:

No pics here, sorry. :( I just have some loose sketches on paper, but it was basically a more heavier armored version of the first, with more details. Shortly after doing it I changed the mod's look from realistic pre-ww2 stylings to a more near-futuristic exaggerated realism.

Third Design:

painting 1 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan2_concept1.jpg)
painting 2 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan2_concept2a.jpg)
painting 2.5 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan2_concept2b.jpg) (tried out gold on the detailing, didn't work)
painting 3 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan2_concept3.jpg) (wanted a more angry looking helm, opted for a jin roh-esque helm, ended up looking like vader's helm)
final (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan2_concept3b.jpg)

Got the core idea from a soldier in an old battlechasers comic, basically huge oversized armor. I liked it at first, then started to look at it and saw design errors such as him not really being able to move his arms, why would they not armor the legs at all?, etc. I did like the helm and the overall color styling, which I kept.

I do miss the spartan/roman helm, which I've put into a different unit's design.

Fourth Design:

early painting (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/spartan2_concept4.jpg)

Poor guy, didn't even make it past the initial concept stage. The idea was to make the 3rd design more realistic but the chest wasn't complying so I redesigned it.

Fifth (and final) Design:

pencils (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/eow_soldier_concept2.jpg)
inking (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/eow_soldier_concept2_1.jpg) (had planned to ink him comic-book styled, but instead figured painting would be better)
painting1 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/eow_soldier_concept2_2.jpg)
painting2 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/eow_soldier_concept2_3.jpg)
painting3 (http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/eow_soldier_concept2_4.jpg)

http://www.derelictstudios.net/users/smurf/temp/EoW/eow_soldier_concept2_5.jpg

And thats what I finally settled on. I kept the coloring and jin roh-esque helm, and changed the body to a more manga-like design. I think it works quite well. My own personal crits on the finished peice; pose is off, mainly regarding the legs, chest angle and doodad placement slightly off, right arm not well defined enough from the leg/gun, gun barrel feels kinda flat, gun parts feel off (changed the perspective on it, since it was off...but didn't get it quite right), left hand far too large.

I like the design, am keeping it as my final one since I honestly don't have time to change it anymore. I have a couple dozen other concepts I need to be doing.

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Comments/Critiques more than welcome.

Appologies for the length but I felt it was best to show my whole design process with the guy. I'm looking mainly for errors I (or my friends I showed it to) didn't catch, and suggestions to improve my process.

edit1:fixed links, format

[dogfood]

Hey, Smurf, I really hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you've been polishing a turd. I know that sounds bad, but you've polished it up pretty nice in several areas; the textures are very nice, as are the glowing eyes and paint effects.

Unfortunately, the pose is very constricted and the anatomy has a few problems that the texture just won't overcome. The head is tiny (heck, the helmet is tiny; I can only imagine how big the head is), the arms seem long, and the waist looks only slightly wider than either thigh.

With regard to the pose, with the left arm jacked back like that, you'd expect the pauldron to be affected, but it's sitting just like the one with the hangining arm. Overall, the pose just seems very stiff. A good way to work out a pose is to stand up and be an actor, really hamming it up, and figuring out where the limbs should be.

The perspective is also not making sense. The feet and barrel are showing the eye level to be mid-shin, but the belt says it's higher, perhaps shoulder or head high.

I can tell you gave up on the rendering once you got to the lower portions, so we won't go there, but the values are so similar that things get very muddied and the image seems rather flat (the colors aren't helping, either). And the drop shadow on the back drop is just making that feeling worse, like a big Shrinky-dink. Without knowing where your light source is, it's going to be tough to define the shapes (which is what values do).

One really good way to start designs is to work with the unclad figure, so you can ensure proper proportions. That way, you can correct errors early (and it's easier to see).

OK, this was only brushing the edges of a real crit, but hopefully it's enough to get you thinking: anatomy, pose, and values will be an 80% solution; everything else really is the icing (which is tasty, but doesn't make a cake).

Cheers and welcome aboard!

[smurfbizkit]

Thanks. I honestly love constructive crits, and this was pretty much what I was looking for. :) I'll definitely try working on better figures, then slapping on the gear/detail for my next concepts.

[inspector Lee]

Dogfood, if you're not an art director, you should be. You put into words everything that I was seeing here (and much better than I could have said it). You give some of the best damn crits on these boards.

[dogfood]

Thanks, Inspector. That means a lot.




You'll have a special place in the ship when my people come to enslave the planet.

[BMunchausen]

Yay for smurfbizkit! That was a really classy way to take harsh (but true) news. I congratulate you on being able to take criticism. :)

[BLADES]

Nicely done.