character concept needs something?

[cakeypigdog]

hi there
i am trying to take myself to new levels ( i am new to this concept art stuff) i am really enjoying this piece and have already put in a lot of work
i like it but its lacking
i am after comments and suggestions on improving it
(some praise would be nice too if you think it deserves it:P)
cheers!

http://cakeypigdog.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tigerman_revisited1e_wip.jpg

btw: the gun is flat for style reasons: is that working or should i bring it into line with the rest of the image?

the tiger stripes on the face are niggling too: do they obscure it too much? :confused:

[Wynd]

Generally, I think using two different styles in an image (in this case flat colors vs. painted) is not a good idea. It can prove to be distracting and make a work seem unfinished.

Personally, I like the stripes, they add character to the .. well, character. I'm not too sure about keeping the black lineart in the hair though, maybe painting over them to soften them up a bit? They're competing with the stripes I think.

I think the composition is on it's way, but I'm wondering if you need the two headshots at the bottom of the image. They seem arbitrarily placed there, ya know? Also, since they're a dark gray, they have lots of visual impact which is distracting from your character spotlight.

This may be a case where you just remove all of the floating heads, and add a nice shadow and call it finished. Then you could create a smaller addition with the three headshots in a more finished (painted) state.

That's just my opinion though.

Keep it up!

[cakeypigdog]

thanks very much for replying!
i agree with you totally
i shall pull the heads out and make a seperate image of them: they were actually all painted previously but i pulled the painterly layers as the whole comp looked a bit busy: so they look arbritary because they are! i shall get em out of there
the black lines on the hair: i think your right there too: i was concious that the black lines are a bit too 'drawn around EVERYTHING' in this image: i shall go through and eliminat them in places i think and see how it looks
he still has a way to go to finish: expect to see him again soon
and again thanyou very much for taking the time to comment. i REALLY appreciate it

[Peter Johansson]

hey, nice one! :chug:

the only crit i have to say that hasnt been said already is
the belts on his shoulders and the ring around his arm
seems to be floating.

other than that I like it alot

[Dryfire]

Yeehaw, i definetly think you should go on and shade the gun. Also, the same arm that is holding the gun, his right arm, the elbow area seems really flat to me, it looks like there is just that one highlight, then a solid color. I would add some shadow around the top of the forearm there, past the gauntlet. Everything else is pretty good, I like the concept =D the heads at the mbottom are great.. dunno if they belong, like that other post stated, but they do look good =D Nice drawing

[cakeypigdog]

he he,
havent been here for a while... forgot about this thread,
thanks for the input guys.
i left the gun flat (the ebow far arm is semi flat since its the transition from the painterly character to the flat gun) and the straps floaty: i have since made a model of the char (minus gun and hair) for my folio.

if you are interested heres a couple of pics + the finished (compressed for web) concept.

http://cakeypigdog.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tigerman_posed2.jpg
http://cakeypigdog.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tigerman_not_posed.jpg


concept as it stands: i may well revisit this in a few weeks when things quiet down a bit. if i do i shall be making it all painterly.
http://cakeypigdog.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/tigerman800x600.jpg

[tascmaster]

It's an awesome character drawing, but that flat gun is just bugging the hell out of me!!!

[Balton]

will you put the 3d one in some game? I really hope so!

[-ajina-]

something else that's really bothering me about that gun being flat, is that its not flat all the way through. It would be a little less jarring if it were completely flat, but it isnt... so... yesh.

[Big-Dave]

That's what I was gonna say, the gun barrel has been shaded the same way as the rest of the image, rather than being flat like the gun. The other thing bothering me is the line curving from the nose to the brow. If this is only there to show where the nose is I'd advise you paint over it and use shadows to define the shape

[cakeypigdog]

cheers peeps.
well who i am to argue with so many people!!
as soon as i have my current batch of stuff out of the way i shall dig up this picture and rework it.
i might just start the gun from scratch.
thanks in partiular for the crit about the nose line dave: that area bugged me and i could never suss why: well no i know huh!
cheers again and i will try to get it finished asap.