Libralis Digitalis

[Longxiang]

My entry to EOW #48. I'm more interested in improving than winning though...

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1540/progress5wf4xj4.jpg

My own critique:

- Looks empty. I intended it to look kinda lonely and deserted, with the midground bare except for some scattered office furniture, a vacant Starbucks and a coke machine. I don't think it looks so much lonely now as unfinished.

- Colors washed out. That was intentional, it is supposed to look submerged, but I don't think I quite captured that feel.

I'm posting this here because I really can't think of what I can do with this to improve it.

[afterthought]

i woulda had ur character up in the foreground, he can be close and but with body language you can make him feel small. maybe like he's hugging the glass wall on the right, and sticking his head out to the left to survey the area.
also i'd take out ur sig, its white, bright, and jus plain distracting.
shadow on the glass with the plant in it feels off. also if u draw a line down that glass, it's not symetrical.
as for the environment. it's.... yea, too mismatched. you've got plants in glasses, technology panels on the right, and small stores. maybe it'd work better if there's a mixture of these elements in each area, instead of how they're so seperated right now.

[Justin.]

Maybe not put the horizon so high- especially not for the scale you did it on. I dunno, play around with different horizons (using 1x2inch thumbnail squares, really easy and fast).

A good artist can make an empty room interesting. you just need to get the right angle. It's all about composition, I would recommend finding some of your favorite illustrations (look at the very top for some good examples), and ask yourself why they set up the lighting like they did, ask yourself where the camera is in space, and how they placed the elements, and how they acheived the mood they did.

[rabeat]

hey, thanx 4 the coment, i was cheking ur "so called sketchbook", really good stuff, also its a remarcable avance u make in every pic u post.
:)

[Longxiang]

Thanks guys. You're all absolutely right, I can see clearly now.