Batman/Spidey Team Up

[Rahll]

This piece was actually done as a commission and is my first thread here on CA. My deviantART page has more stuff, but this is probably the best I've done yet. There's a few issues with it, but nothing serious, so I'm not worried.

This piece is 11"x14" @ 300dpi and took roughly 25 hours in CS2.
Here's the process thread. (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1314408#post1314408)

[Fireflights]

The lighting in the clouds is interesting, but overall there seems to be too much black (and generally dull colors) in the picture...it makes things - especially the characters in the foreground - look somewhat washed out. Also - the highlights on Spidey's costume? It looks like they're coming from a lightsource that's pure, bright white, and from above slightly. Seeing as how you've got a foggy atmosphere in the background, it doesn't exactly make sense to me that his highlights would be so sharp and bright...and where would they be coming from? A building nearby? The light from such a building would have to be pretty blinding in order to create such a reflection on Spidey's suit. :P

Also, using white as a highlight can, again, make things look a little washed out. You could try using a color'd light, which would add more interest to the picture...at night, the moon, for example, tends to illuminate objects with a blueish light. I understand that the moon wouldn't be out on a night like this...but maybe for future pictures you make, you could consider using it as a nighttime light source.

The rendering's not that bad, but the anatomy looks a little off...Spiderman's arm was the first thing I noticed - it's a little short...this could be emphasized due to his torso looking a little short, as well. Batman's face seems a bit pushed forward, making his head look a little big.

Overall not bad, though! The webbing on Spiderman's suit must've taken you forever, heh. :)

[Rahll]

Fireflights: Thanks for the critique, I appreciate it. I know that it's a bit washed out, but I wanted a darker more realistic feel for the piece. As for the bright outline, yeah I took some artistic liberties, but I think it adds to the atmosphere of the piece... I also wanted to give Spidey's suit more reflective properties and not a dull finish.

As for the arm, if he unclenched the fist, the fingers would make it to midthigh, which is where they should fall... If anything is short, it's gotta be the lower arm. And Batty's face is a bit forward, I do see that now, thanks.

All in all, I like the way it came out. I'm a 19 yearold art student, so I'm still learning. Thanks again. And yes, the webbing took some time, heh.

[tomwaits4noman]

for a 19 yr it is pretty impressive, your understanding of composition and anatomy is quite strong for some one of your age, good piece agree with the above comments that some of the colours seem a bit too dull

[Rahll]

Tomwaits4noman: Thanks bud, I appreciate it. I'm at the College for Creative studies in Detroit for illustration right now. Just finished my first semester, so I've got a ways to go. We're actually in direct competition with the Art Center College of Design. Maybe I'll tweak a bit of the color, increase the saturation in few areas. Thanks.

[Sig.NAL]

Spidey's righ hip juts out more than it should. at this angle there should be a much smoother/low profile transition from the leg to torso. Both heads seem a little too wide in comparison with their relative size compared to the bodies. i also feel that the light on the building in the background is almost too colorful when compared to the rest of the piece and distracts me from the rest of the work. What are you using for this piece, Photoshop?

[Rahll]

KLEVR: Yeah, it's with Photoshop. As for the varying saturation levels, the Empire State in the background needs to drop a little and the foreground elements need to go up a little. Always upon finishing you notice all this stuff later. Thanks for the critique.

[DimMak]

Not bad at all.. my only crits would be:
1. the bodies feel a little stiff and spidey is a little chunky lookin (not fat, just thick) that could be your design though, i'm just going off of the comics.
2. the white light on spidey's costume should be a colored light. the white light really dulls out the whole look. you can keep the white at the hot points but the more diffuse reflections should have more color in them, especially on spidey's arm where it looks like your dodging or burning yielded a muddy color around the elbow. i find that i tend to rely a lot on my dodge & burn tools, but if done too much, your scorch your colors and end up with muddy looks. Maybe try to paint with low opacity colors for all your tones at first and use you dodge and burn towards the end for finishin touches.

Gotta say that i LOVE your cityscape and sky. i'm a native New Yorker and it really captures a nice feel. More like a later afternoon early evening after a rain type of lighting. strange thing though.. our city with all the mixes of tungsten and fluorescent lights somehow takes on a more lavender color scheme in the sky, rather than the warm oranges you would think.

good work! can't wait to see where this leads!

[Rahll]

DimMak: For Spidey I wanted him to be bulkier and more of an equal. I know his phsyique would lean more towards acrobatic than muscular, but I think this makes him more menacing.

For those muddy areas, I actually didn't dodge and burn, it was more or less coloring issues. I adjusted the saturation and I just went back in now and fixed the colored light issue. Also did some other minor color tweaks. Thanks for your help.

Also, thanks for the comments about the city. I've only been to New York once, but it was a great experience. I wanted to capture both the feel of Gotham and New York with the city and I think it turned out well.

Here's the updated image.

[wild thing]

They could make a pretty cool team. Spidey's head seems too round though, like the mask is a solid rather than a spandex thingy.

[Rahll]

ChocoNumNum: Maybe it's the new and improved Spidey. Maybe Bruce designed him a cool ass hemlet. I totally know what you're saying, though, thanks.

[Elwell]

The top of the Empire State Building isn't right.

[Rahll]

Elwell: Uh, okay? Way to be constructive. Also, according to my reference, it's damn close, which is good enough for me.

[Anthis]

Cool pic! here are some suggestions;

About the empire state building; I think Elwell means this part is missing:http://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=empstatehq7.jpg
I personally think spiderman should be more agile and slender then muscular. For example his thighs look really strong.
Also, I think batman is holding spidey's shoulder a bit too "soft", almost like he's comforting or patting him. Might look better if he really grips his shoulder when they shake hand, I think it would make it a stronger gesture.
Some of this might be a personal taste, see if you agree :P

[tanguydewavrin]

nice render, but the pose of the characters could be more heroic, they look quite mundane. it's a shame as you obviously put a lot of effort on this one, so obviously i'm not suggesting modifyoing the characters' poses on this one as its probably too late... But next time, think about heroic stances, and also use a more interesting camera angle, exaggerate the characters poses and the pespective, for that added dynamism that you find on comics covers. keep it up!

[Elwell]

Elwell: Uh, okay? Way to be constructive. Also, according to my reference, it's damn close, which is good enough for me.
Wrong answer.
And, as Anthis pointed out, it's not damned close. You've left out a major structural element of one of the most iconic buildings in the world.

[Rahll]

Anthis: Totally, I see it now. The ref I had has a lot of atmosphere around the top, and it's mostly just glowing. I totally can't believe I did that. As for Spidey, yeah, I wanted to make him more muscular just out of personal taste, but everyone has been complaining on here and dA, heh. As for the grip, yeah, It actually gave me a lot of problems based on how I positioned the arm and body initially and that's how it came out. I agree, though, it is a bit soft. Thanks

Tanguydewavrin: I've been trying to make things more dynamic lately, but being as this was a commission, I couldn't do anything too crazy with it. I understand what you mean, though. Thanks.

Elwell: Touche my friend, I feel like an idiot. Like I said above, the ref had a lot of atmosphere and just glowed. I can't believe I actually forgot about that too, regardless of the ref. My brother is a huge architecture person and photographer and loves NYC. I'm surprised he didn't catch it, I guess I look to him for accuracy too much sometimes. Thanks bud. Sorry to get snippy.

[Anthis]

To be honest, I wouldnt have noticed myself. I just checked it when Elwell mentioned it. Not too familiar with NY either :)
And yes, stuff like the hand can be complicated. I mentioned it because I thought most of the pic was already pretty good. I just noticed someone mentioned the same in your progress topic. I think the background looks great now.
Whats your DA name btw?

edit: forgot to check your signature :|

[Rahll]

Anthis: Thanks again dude, I appreciate it. I'll add you on dA as well!

[halflife99]

hmm dont like the look of batman, not sure what it is, looks very giger.
pretty cool though, i like your backround alot more than the characters

[Rahll]

Halflife99: I guess I see what you're saying about him looking Gigerish. To each his own I guess, personal preference.

[rabeat]

the left arm on spidy looks a bit off.

[yamchops]

the way spideys neck connects his head to his body is off. you got the muscles on spideys legs wrong. his hand looks funny. his hip where the right leg connects to shouldnt be like that. you might wanna do some figure studies so you can get the anatomy accurately.

cheers

[Clodioz]

I would fix the left shoulder and the hip :) (sorry about my bad english)