Blood in the Snow

[euphony]

the next in my whole listening-to-too-much-metal series of pics. i've been trying to get new feels with each picture. this time, i went for a much colder feel, using cooler colours, and having one stand out colour (the red). this was a tennis match between photoshop and painter. you can view a step by step process of this here : http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/46443949/ (apologies for the deviant art link, however my host will not support continuous downloads of such a huge file and i do not want to compress the quality of the images).

all comments and crits are highly encouraged :)

[luciole]

I think it looks great :) Verrrrry nice work on the clothes and her skin.

[Bammer]

The light on her skin doesn't work.

[evolutionofshaun]

I feel like I'm seeing a ton of different points of perspective. When looking at the top half of the image, it is a apparant she is kneeling, but then the perspective is looking down at her leg on the right. Maybe a way to fix this would be to raise that knee so if overlaps her torso, so it is coming towards us, and not down the page.
Another thing I'm not sure about is the arm she has across her body. I know that for myself (without boobs) cannot extend my elbow that far across my body very comfortably, I can only imagine that a woman with her assets getting in the way might have a bit of a problem placing her arm in such a way.
Good work though, I love the intensity in her face, and her hair and clothing looks beautiful.

[Stark]

The light on her skin doesn't work.
Agreed. Try either darker shadows or "whiter" reflections from the snow or something. Great composition.

[euphony]

Agreed. Try either darker shadows or "whiter" reflections from the snow or something. Great composition.


thank you for explaining. :)

[euphony]

I feel like I'm seeing a ton of different points of perspective. When looking at the top half of the image, it is a apparant she is kneeling, but then the perspective is looking down at her leg on the right. Maybe a way to fix this would be to raise that knee so if overlaps her torso, so it is coming towards us, and not down the page.
Another thing I'm not sure about is the arm she has across her body. I know that for myself (without boobs) cannot extend my elbow that far across my body very comfortably, I can only imagine that a woman with her assets getting in the way might have a bit of a problem placing her arm in such a way.
Good work though, I love the intensity in her face, and her hair and clothing looks beautiful.


i think the b/g perspective doesn't click with the reference i had. i should def. work in a grid next time.


thanks for the crits :)

[Elwell]

The face is really bothering me, which is unfortunate, since it's the natural center of interest in a piece like this. Also, her sword hilt looks is really skinny and doesn't line up properly with the blade.

[euphony]

The face is really bothering me, which is unfortunate, since it's the natural center of interest in a piece like this. Also, her sword hilt looks is really skinny and doesn't line up properly with the blade.



may i ask what bothers you about the face? i could certainly use the advice.

[plastik-nastik]

I agree with Elwell, face needs to be more thought over
It doesn't have enough depth and character, i you understand what i mean
Her feeling is not clearified - she is sort of tired and kind of angry, but she is not sure if she really is yet :)
Hair is nice though;)

[Mr.Punch]

Its really good and has tons of potential. The reflected light should'nt be whitter than the primary light source. And like the primary light source, you need to determine a direction for the reflected light. For example, I don't think the light reflecting from the snow would reach the top part of her fingers.

Tone down the value of the reflected light, and give it a source.

Also the narrative is a bit confusing. Are those spears surrounding her?

[Mr.Punch]

The reflected light areas are definately too light. For example in the thigh, the space really sinks in It resembles more a misplaced highlight than a reflected light. It needs to be more subtle than that. Youre straining the eye by not completing those turns.

[quickreaver]

Oh, I dunno about all that light source stuff. I buy it! I can sense this funny sort of twilight-in-the-snow atmosphere. When I used to ski, this sort of light phenom happened all the time. And since your style is exaggerated, so too can be the lighting. I do agree with the physiology being a bit wonky on that wrapped arm; I'm have small boobs, and I can't even come close to hugging myself in such a fashion! And yeah, the sword grip looks a bit small and doesn't quite align.

The face, though...I like it. PERHAPS her eye is a little close to the nose, s'all all I can think. The horizon line might be a little high too...maybe possibly? Tiny fixes, little tweaks. Overall I think this piece is very ambitious and successful on about nine different levels. I dig it.

[euphony]

i guess the lighting seems subjective at this point (i'm right confused).


i fixed the eye closer to the nose b/c it wasn't lining up with the nose right (as pointed out in WIP section of this site)

notably wrong, though, is the arm and leg. looking back at my reference pic, i kinda dropped the ball in looking at my proportions.


thanks guys :)