bear weith me please

[trevor]

im working on a peice for the WoW contest
im getting a bit lost in the details
can anyone tell me what needs to be changed in this picture
im not sure if i like it any more and the colors are killing me
in a bad reservation truck stop sort of way
this is still a WIP so dont tell me "oh you havent painted the elf yet"
i know that i need advice on whats already been done
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/trevorclaxton/badbear2.jpg
if you have some genuine insight please tear me to peices
i want some harsh crits here
not because i think i will win with them
but i cant see this objectively anymore
so opinions would be nice

[savii]

Good start, I've got one crit from just looking at it and that would be the stance of the bear. He appears to be falling forward. I don't know if you bring his right foot forward a bit, or are you going to make him leaning on the pillar to his right?

Hope it helps.

[l.e.b]

Are you going to paint something on the left of the picture?
That pillar i think it is on the right is good itd look if you put some on the left side aswell
Also who would be able to put that strap around his arm on a bear of that size

The elf her hair is blowing upwards really strongly, it looks good, but alot of hair and trees and nothing else is moving

[trevor]

yeah he's not meant to be leaning forward
that pillar is supposed to be a few feet to his right
i see what you are saying about his footing though
i ll try to fix it tomorrow
it may be a bit misleading as far as his paw is concerned because you are seeing the overall blocking in of the peice around that area
and it should be sky not that cloudy purple mess
and im struggling a bit with what else would move in the wind

[savii]

Maybe the trees in the background could be blowing a bit more vigourously. I think that might make the elfs hair make sense. Not too much cause obviously theres a difference between hair and a giant tree, but at the moment the tree is just a tiny bit static for her hair to be blowing around so much.

See what it looks like, I may be wrong. Good luck!

[trevor]

cool thanks for the input
and as far as who would put that on the bear.....
someone he trusted ...soooo sad that poor bear
hes like 100 yrs old and there are still neghborhood kids running around trying to put fire works in his ass

[Kian]

This piece is quite cool man. I really like the colour pallete. Maybe brightening the sun side will give the environment a nice gradation from bright saturated orange through a sky blue/purple. So yeah, pump up the sun//
The vigorous expression in the elf's hair isn't match by the bear's. I realise his hair is shorter, however small "flicks" in the opposite direction would really push the wind effect//
Be careful with how soft your clouds are. They're soo soft right now the just blur into the sky. Interesting clouds have sharp and fuzzy edges//
With the pillar ruins I'd strongly advise you build the forms with definied edges, and soon as possible in the process of the painting//
For the trees, a technique for making them look more realistic, is sampling the sky colour, and "cutting in" around the edge of the tree. And making small holes//
Also get some saliva on the bear :)

[Konstruktion]

I really like the girl! The bear is cool too, but maybe you could make him/her look even more angry. Make the eyes more "evil", maybe some saliva coming from his mouth.... not sure about the pose.

[sciboy]

This thing could really do with some exaggerated body language, but then again i say that for most pieces. The bear is roaring but the rest of the body isn't complimenting it, first you need to figure out the motivation.

Is he psyching himself up for battle? In which case he is a rabid animal ready to tear his enemy apart with his teeth. He'd swing his head to the side when he starts to roar throwing drool into the air and exposing his teeth and the inside of his mouth to the viewer, crouching a bit so his chest is those few centimeters closer to his enemy and allowing him to expell all the air in his lungs, his arms and fists clenching behind his back exposing his chest even more as he musters all his strength into his war cry.

Get the idea? Right now he is standing on two legs and roaring, exaggerate it a bit.
The example i just gave was more directed at a humanoid pose, but if you want to keep things more accurate, you can usually find behaviours the creature displays in nature that would be just as effective. Last time i checked, the library usually stocks those National Geographic DVD's. Find one on bears and you're good as gold.

Hope that helps. :bashful:

[bhanu]

Umm,As for the lighting I think that the focal point is the bear .Try putting more details to the face of the bear.ANd also more contrast around the face and gradually you can lessen the contrast where you dont want the viewers eyes to go.Also more details to the front pillars would enhance the pic to.I cnat figure out the girls colors why you chose them that is.The colors look a tad bit flat.Why isnt her body have highlights if she has sunlight falling over her and if she is being shielded form the light by the bear why doesnt she have the bears shadow falling over her.The texture of the gorund is very unclear.And also the trees should be blowing strongly like mentioned earlier.

I may be wrong.But that is what I think I would do with it.
So best of luck and keep going,

[Heat]

i like how dramatic it is

i hate to say something that would stray from that but maybe lay in the trees vertically instead of on the slant. at least somewhere in between where it is now and 90 degrees.

[Mecha Hate Chimp]

I think so far everyone has given some really valid crits. I agree with adding an additional character/element to the left of the pic... there should be a reason why they look so menacing. I also agree with the bears body language... 100 years of firecrackers in my ass and you can bet shit would be going down like Pulp Fiction in my neighborhod. Id also tighten up the face, specifically the nose and adjust the lower jaw.. it looks broken/off to me.

Other than that, I really like what you have going so far. I love the colors and I think with a little more work youd have an image that would really stand out. Great work :} - J

[GoldSeven]

I really like the girl! The bear is cool too, but maybe you could make him/her look even more angry. Make the eyes more "evil", maybe some saliva coming from his mouth.... not sure about the pose.

Maybe you could tilt his head slightly, I think if it was bent away from the viwer it would add some more drama. Right now, he does look a little stiff.

Love it otherwise - very strong emotionally. :)

[Utum]

This piece is quite cool man...
The vigorous expression in the elf's hair isn't match by the bear's.

I agree with kian about the bear's hair, it looks somehow weird that only the girl's is flowing forward. Besides, by what I can figure, the bear seems to be shielding the girl from the direction of the wind.

The bear expresion I find ok, except for the eye. Its eye does not look so angry as the rest.

On the other hand I find something strange in the pose of the girl with respect to the bear. Particularly her right foot, she seems to be stepping on the bear's toe (maybe that is what makes it so angry).

Otherwise, MAN YOU HAVE AWAY WITH COLORS, I love the colors, their strength and flow. Great work, please post the next iteration.

[Theo]

I just wanna say I think this is awesome. I love the mood. Its going to be one kickass piece when its ready. sorry for no crits.

[Mungus]

....but please don't exaggerate her closest leg that much, it looks like she's being viewed through a fish eye lens when the rest isn't....find another leg, and then sort out who owns the foreground, the girl or the bizarre masonry, which itself needs establishing, like have some extra pieces lying around, maybe some weathering - which will bring you to deal with the terra firma in the foreground,
i know you're trying to recede the two trees with a blurry feel, but they look like wispy candy flosses rather than pine trees,
but the composition is very nice, I agree with most of the posts above about strengthening the characters, this will be a 5 star entry with some clever painting gambits,

you rightly deserve an asspat already

[Mungus]

P.s ...
I think you're getting lost in details because you haven't envisioned all the aspects of the piece in your head sufficiently, - at this stage I would be trying to find some good reference pictures for the landscape, at least some materials or textures, - hard to do out of thin air

unless you plan on having a thick fog all around :)