Orc Invasion (final revision #7 on page 2)

[tegehel]

And it's me again,

I'd like feedback on that one please. I was trying the old master genre and I would like a buttload of crits please :)

btw, it's fine on my machine, i.e. dark but you see some details. I hope it's not too dark on yours. Maybe that'd be one criticism, huh? too dark?

Thanks,

C.

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/web/Veni_Vidi_Vici_v1.jpg

[deviousg]

cool!!

colors are really cool - and he is damn scary.

the right forearm looks short and I would look at the left wrist thumb hand relationship.

Something says the sword should be longer, maybe punching into the camera might add some dynamics.

It look slike his skull and his armor are merged, which could be really cool, maybe push this concept.

[jester]

No, definitely not too dark on my monitor. Reminds me of Rembrandt's Man with Golden Helmet (color scheme).

BTW - I checked out your website, good portfolio!

Jester

[tegehel]

jester: wow, being compared to Rembrandt. now THAT's a compliment! even if it's just the color scheme :p and thank you very much for the portfolio comment. As you might imagine, I'm still not happy about the folio yet, but given time...(yeah, it's the typical struggling artist's egotrip).

deviousg: thanks, good comments. I will look into them...hmm, except for the thumb maybe, mainly because I'm thinking he's a humanoid, not a human, so there might be some physiological discrepancies and I think that make him slightly less human, more ape-like. Additinally, you will notice that all the fingers are roughly the same size, as opposed to human hands. Very good catch, though.

C.

[tegehel]

Here's the new version (still work in progress). If you have any comments, please let me know.

>done:
. elongated the right arm (the previous one was short because it was at an angle, but it was neither obvious nor effective)
. added more armor to make his rank more obvious and make him more dangerous
. fixed the thumb a bit :p

>to do:
. will add yet more armor and rework the background
. something with the bottom sword as suggested.
. might darken the body armor a bit (to test)

C.

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/web/veni_vidi_vici_v2.jpg

[deviousg]

looks great - I really like the face on this guy.

[Payback]

Those carvings on his chestplate is really nice.

[MindCandyMan]

dude this is freakin awesome...I agree with jester rembrandt...nerdrum all the way man. Looks fantastic. Seems like the more you add the cooler it looks too!

[tegehel]

here's a bit of an updated version with more armor, details and bigger weapons (cleavers now). Comments please?

I'm thinking of adding some canvas to the left and roughly draw some more orcs, but I wonder if it would steal focus from him.

C.

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/web/veni_vidi_vici_v3.jpg

[MindCandyMan]

dude this is awesome...looks amazing

[tyboogie]

this is looking pretty god Tegehel--

if your up to it i would add some canvas on both sides--he feels squished into this format--he needs some breathing room

that right arm is way too short-- look at length of right forearm compared to length of left forearm

i like the highlights on face and shoulder to give teh eye direction and focus to that area but maybe the highlights are too strong compared to the rest of the lighting?

His left arm/hand is awesome, and i love the intricate patterns on the chest plate

keep it up!--ty

[Eyal]

you should focus the details on the areas with the strongest light, which are the face and shoulder armor. think color detail and not only 'light' detail

[tegehel]

Eyal, what do you mean by " think color detail and not only 'light' detail" ?

Add more colors where the details are based on the light intensity?

C.

[Eyal]

i took a few moments to demonstrate some points you might want to consider and apply to the rest of the image. i kept the palette rather limited to maintain the feel

you should pay more attention to the viewer prespective you choose. specifically for the head, which will be your focal point in the final version, i suppose

hope this helps :)

http://www.planetquake.com/skingun/temp/veni_vipolow.JPG

[Erik]

Hey nice work!

I agree with the arm and the canvas size but i love the details o the armor. Keep it up!

Eyal, can you tell us what exactly did you do on the paintover? I can make out some of the changes but i would like to know how you got the head to pop out so much more!

[Eyal]

i just found it easier to explain a few things this way, i wasn't going to paint it completely

i used the shoulder /arm armor as a taget for some extra colors, and tried to correct the prespective and positioning of the head, though its still not right, imo

the thing that seems the most 'not right' is the shape of the sockets, 'scowling' donwards rather than showing their inner space - from below. same goes for the mouth, the lower jaw (teeth, tongue) should be less visible. the backlighting also helps the head - and any other shape -stand out, particulary in such a dark scene.
being the focal point, the head and the area around it should be given more attention than others

one more thing, if thats alright
the highlight at the center of the armor leads the viewer's eye downwards from the head and gets him lost, rather than flow flipped over the arms and swords. if you didnt draw the belt overlapping the armor, i believe you would have found some trouble continuing the center curve to match his pose. even now it is still incorrect

thats just my 2 cents, i am no teacher and hope i didnt sound too fartsy! :)

[tegehel]

Thanks for your comments. Here's an update (not finished obviously)

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/web/veni_vidi_vici_v4.jpg

Eyal, thanks for your explanations. I agree with some, disagree with others. The reason the sockets are the way they are is for effect, not for realism. I do realize that a skull's sockets are shaped differently, but I chose that frown for "eeeeevil" design purpose.

The skull, as deviousg noticed, is sort of merged with the head. In your image, it's much more obviously an helmet, the head's reduced and tilted upwards more. That sort of goes against the inhuman, monster-like pose I was going for. That is also the reason I reveal more jaw, teeth, etc...

The background highlights help enhancing the armor, I like that and added some in this new piece, though a bit more subtly. I understand your argument for removing the details to enhance the focus, but I wouldn't do it that way. I will leave the details, but experiment, later, with darkening the breastplate, to see if that would create the effect you're talking about.

Cool feedback, thanks. Keep'em coming.

Dangit, now I feel there's too much canvas, perhaps...

C.

[Erik]

Good improvement! The bigger canvas really helps.

I have a small issue with his right (our left) cheeckbone it seems to stop too abruptly.

Maybe the background neems some banners or flags or something to contrast the flames with. I'd imagine tall vertical banners without any details on 'em. Or some more spears. That would give the idea of a bigger army. But that's just an idea.

I think the picture is getting better and better and it's really evocative.

Keep it up! BTW. Cool stuff on your website!

Eyal thnx for the explanation

[tegehel]

thanks :)

Here's an update. Still working on it, slowly.

C.

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/web/veni_vidi_vici_v5.jpg

[Wynd]

Looks very badass! Looks fine on my monitor. I'm loving the metal textures.

The main thing that was bugging me though was where the helmet ended and the mouth begins. Is it metal all the way until the teeth? Or is the gum-line actually the bottom rim of the helmet?

Also, if I may ask, what's the original size you're working at? Just curious how your computers handle working at such large sizes.

[tegehel]

Thank You.

The helmet's been an issue since the beginning, almost. Only one person figured out it was sort of "melted" into him. Think Borg, where it's sometimes difficult to see where the "metal" ends and flesh begins. A mutant of sort, or maybe Orc Metal Surgery :) - they wouldn't use plastic.

As for the size, this one was done at low-res because I just wanted to do a piece for my folio online (no prints or anything). The narrow ones are 800x600 @ 72 dpi and the large ones are 1152x800 @ 72 dpi.

However, this is not the usual size I work with, it's way smaller. I intended to do a quick and dirty one, turned out to be a long and err...dirty one.

Usually, it's around 200-300 dpi.

C.

[Peter Johansson]

wow, thats great! :thumbsup:

[Molin]

I think you should drop the 100% white from the picture... Really messes up the depth in the picture. ANd as a rule you should perhaps not use 100% black or white at all.

Also try adding some greensih or blueish pigments to the armor. I think it would help to bring it out some more. from the background.

The guy in the background to the left is crazyloco... i wouldnt want to meet him...;)

Keep it up!....;)
/Molin

My Smilodon - Elephant WIP (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6774)

[Eyal]

the coloring is deffinately better now, keep up the good work

if you take a moment and step back and look at the scene here, ask yourself a few questions:

- is a furious, chaotic battle taking place?
make it feel so. rough the edges, put some dynamics in the strokes, give it movement. it seems like he's somewhat posing for the camera, the others being rather idle

- pay attention to distance and foreshortening. you have chosen to use fill canvas with a very 'near' view, while leaving the larger, telling war scene unseen

- the orcs or the left seem fairly close but remain uneffected by the strong light source u placed. thr swords, a very dynamic object in the scene, also remain dark and stationary

[Grifter730]

D00d, u r0x!

[Dom]

Nicely painted. Great fixes. The pose I am not very comfortable with. He looks like he is posing for the picture. Just very unnatural. This has to do a lot with the arms. His right arm seems like its locked at the shoulder. and his left arm is just arbitrarily positioned above his head like it doesn't belong.

Great rendering of different types of textures and materials. Good attention to light.

Cheers

Dom

[tegehel]

Thanks all for your feedback, I agree with most of it. (can't agree with everything, now can we :D)

The only one I reserve an author's prerogative is the lightsource. Indeed, others are not affected, but that's more for effect. I'm thinking that it's either a lightbeam, or he "stepped into the light". Regardless, I agree that the others need to be a bit more affected by it, but I still want to focus to be mainly on the scout guy, in front - remember how the entire thing started? just one dude alone.

I don't think I've used 100% black here. I will try to see what happens if I kill the 100% white (I personally kinda like it, but I'll try to lesser it to see what it does to the pix).

And, yes, it looks like he's posing, doesn't he? Some changes are to be made...ok, give me a few days, and I'll come up with something.

Thanks again, and please, let me know if there's anything else.
C.

[tegehel]

Ok, been working on this one too long, I'm not objective anymore. I need to do something else for a while. In the meantime, I would appreciate some feedback: Please let me know what works, doesn't and what I can do to improve it. Thanks,

C.

PS: Whoa! I'm noticing the JPEG compression is really mean to this pix, even at max. quality...

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/web/veni_vidi_vici_v6.jpg

[darkcult]

Sweet picture man !!
Very , VERY nice!!!
:chug:

[foster]

hey cyril, this is looking great! started out with a strong piece and have transformed it into an epic! nice atmosphere, i like getting lost in some of the detail and edges. just a little more work on the main orc's hands and pull some of the warm lighting from the bottom right into that side of his form and you have made a masterpiece.

this was fun seeing you develope this. thanks.

jon

[MindCandyMan]

man this is like an orc pep rally! That's their team logo back there...some serious sports goin on. Just kiddin...looks awesome tegehel...I am amazed dude...awesome.

[Carnifex]

i still say that big guy with the grin on the left(from our pointa view) is the scariest:)
great colours,great picture,great artist!:D

[tegehel]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Jon, thanks man, I needed that feedback. I couldn't see problems anymore, got caught in details and the big picture started to elude me.

Here's the new and hopefully last version (#7).

http://www.tegehel.org/graphics/newfolio/colors/Veni_Vidi_Vici.jpg

I will mirror this last one in the "it's finally finished" section to get feedback from people who only check that particular thread.

C.