(--Dark Warlord--)

[Arcipello]

been working on this for the past few days...and now its done :D

a while ago i did a character piece called Dark Samurai which i was never happy with, so i thought it was about time to promote him to a Warlord

and thats a mask hes wearing..not his face :eek:

http://images.deviantart.com/large/indyart/freehand/Shen_Ku_Dark_Warlord.jpg

[strych9ine]

The lighting is beautiful, man. I love the design of his armor and mask. I think if the sunlight from the back wasn't so saturated and was more consitent with the colors you used elsewhere in the image it would carry a more ominous tone. That's the only thing that isn't sitting well with me.

[bwkeough]

pretty wicked, I really like this! What's the story of this guy? Is he an alien posing as a Japanese demon? The armor on his chest looks cybernetic. Very interesting. Nice pic that makes me invent stories for it!

I agree about the sunset, maybe if it were more of a blood red it would be more dramatic, the flag wouldn't stand out so much, and the blue sword would pop more.

I'm a little confused by the horses head. It looks like the armor (chaffron or shaffrein in the West, I don't know the Japanese word) is raised above the front of the horse's skull, but I think it's confusing the appearance of his head too much. Like I said, I don't know much about samurai horse combat and armor, so this might be a completely accurate depiction, I'm just reacting to the way it looks to me.

[Arcipello]

the original character can be found on my site.

i looked at a few images on samurai outfits and and decided to give it a little boost in the armour department...also samurai had a hole in the top of the Kabuto helmets that was said to help the spirit fly free from the mind if ever they were killed...so i made up the horse amour with this in mind:)

[Jimmy Scifi]

Fanatastic lighting, form and composition. I enjoy this piece, I'm not usally into dark war type scenes, I feel they try to hard to be scary and just end up looking laim. But you have captured a mood and atmosphere that is more believable to me. Nice Job.

[sepulveda]

wow arcipello, this is a great piece, love the lighting....actually, I love everything about it.

[Arcipello]

cheers everyone:chug:

[Nerfherder]

Wow, really impressive. The only problem I see is with the length of the horse... given the angle it seems rather short in length given the size of the warlord. Regardless, very cool. Always a pleasure to see your work.

[remedial]

Dude this rules. I'm with everyone else when i say i really dig the lighting on this. Its great how the breaking light on the horizon leaves his frontside to be lit by the magical sword thingy.

Also, great helmet and armor, very unique and yet they still look oriental in origin. All in all- great pic!