Pre-concept stage for a scene

[Maerrick]

Hey everbody, i came up with an idea of cloning myself and fighting it. I plan on painting it in photoshop and making it the cover page of my future website. Right now i'm just trying to figure out the composition and was hoping that i can recieve some feedback from you guys. Tell me what you think. This is my first time attempting a painted scene so i'm not quite sure if its appropriate to explain myself. but i will anyways =D

The genre is fantasy - the characters with the weird hand gestures is conjuring "magic"

as akward as the angle and perspective is, i'll be fixing them when i draw.

1st composition - magic is being conjured up. both characters are on different planes

2nd composition - character on the right is generating an orb while attempting to avoid any sword contact

3rd composition - character on the right is holding the sword akward. Both characters - generating orbs prior to sword contact

4th composition - Character on the right (the real me), bloody, almost defeated, has a generated orb, panic face. Character on the left - laughing mad all dynamic weight lunged forward about to kill his target (me)


my thoughts- i really like the 4th composition because of the dynamics. I'm more convinced that i want a dramatic scene but if you guys think a more subtle approach would seem more fit then by all means, give me your feedback.

*i'll be fighting myself, which composition do you think i should pick... poses,expression etc will be tweaked*

-maerrick

[Maerrick]

after looking at it i think i've decided to lean towards the 3rd picture but have the character on the left swing and nick target's leg, holding the sword like a normal person.

[Corrick]

I personally like the last set, much more dynamic than the previous comps. My compliments on your showing the photographic setups for your work. Haven't seen that in a while from anyone, I love it! Definitely a good step, and the way you've shown it here is great. Can't wait to see more!

Cheers!

[BlackBeret]

I would pick the last 2 pictures. However have the picture on the left jumping in the air with the sword over his head and have the guy on the ground crouched down but with his back straight ready to either block or jump out of the way(or maybe preparing a magic spell).

Now your idea for the third picture in the update isn't a good idea and I'll tell you why. It's a matter of length, a person going for your leg is gonna have less reach then someone going for your head. So while this guy is on the ground trying to reach the guys foot the other guy just takes a step back and brings his sword down splitting the guys skull in half. It's also difficult to recover from a position like that. For the one I suggested the guy is coming down with his full strength and can still easily control the blade, meanwhile the oppent below him is gonna wanna try and either dodge the attack or block it, it's matter of what weapon they are using. The thing is someone on the ground doesn't have a lot of room to manuvuer or anything and tends not to have a strong position to attack.

I'm not sure if any of this makes since. I've taken a couple of weapons class like German long sword, shaolin, and fencing so I'm trying my best to use my experiences from those to help you. But I can have problems articulating my words. Then again I might have read to much into what your going for or something. Anyways if you want any suggestions from me, try to give me an idea of what kind of weapons they are using. Also note that this response is focused more on the actually sword fighting not the magic part. Hope this was in some way a help, sorry for the crappy grammar and spelling.

[Ian Mack]

my comment is that only one of these images looks agressive...the others are all defensive. I like the third one...there is a good connection between the figures.

Next step then is to create a perspective piece of the actual stage?

[afterthought]

have you tried flipping ur images?