Witch & Female Warrior (medium DL) UPDATE

[Muttonhead]

OK, I think this is about done. Any comments or suggestions for finishing touches?


http://www.cybermurray.com/witch.jpg

http://www.cybermurray.com/witch-detail.jpg

[chukw]

Hiya, M-Head! That looks pretty cool- I like the caged familiar. Those shiny sickles look like they should be reflecting the colors of the world around them- blue sky, green leaves, the hands holding them- it would anchor them into this sweet lil' painting...

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

pretty good job there...think the swords needs some kind of hilt(sp?) ...I'm pretty sure those would slip if she ever got sweaty hands.

[bwkeough]

great finish to this piece! My only suggestion is to put a stronger shadow under her left foot. Is this a personal piece or a commision? It looks publish ready.

[Patch]

Fantastic work Muttonhead! Big kudos to you. I like the feel of the color/light. There's amazing storytelling going on here in a single image, and that's something I admire.

My only suggestion/comment is a very minor one: It's actually the knot in the rope that the witch figure has in her hand. I'm not sure how that would work or if it's possible, but you might want to try something slightly different. I probably wouldn't have even noticed but the composition kinda draws your eye to that area. Damn those former Boy Scouts for noticing the frickin knot! ;)

[softdrawer]

theres smthing strange... she just...like... doesnt seem to be part of the background...

but its a nice one !... great job :)

[sPeCiL]

there is no way you could fight with those swords. no one has a shiny handled sword it would just slip right out of your hand when all the blood dripped down the hilt. sorry just my morbid observation. also the girls back looks a bit weird, as well as the over all composition of the peice...it doesnt flow. but genrally your painting skills are pretty nice!

[madjacks]

It looks like someone vacuumed up shit then ate it, then shat it out again and ate it again. More shadows man remember it's what you don't light which makes the picture.

DOn't try to question my authority i am head department at the museum of national art, Amsterdam.

[mcotie]

Muttonhead. I think the piece needs a more pronounced lightsource that creates a point of interest in the composition; it seems to be splayed out equally throughout. Maybe some light creeping through the leaves of the trees or something. You have some nice details in the costumes, but the weapons do seem to be lacking in the care you gave to the other props. Nice job.

Muttonhead sorry to jack your thread for this but....


madjacks- Maybe head department of security at the Museum, right? take your uneducated and hollow feedback to a forum that will actually tolerate your behavior; your welcome is wearing thin. (based on your other posts)


Mitch

[Muttonhead]

Mcotie - Too right. I was having trouble with the light source here. It is outdoors, so there is a lot of ambient light, but i need to indicate better where the sun is. I will repost.

All - It seems my hair-brained design for the swords needs a bit of touching up. I agree about the hilt being too slippery, didn't think about that! That's why it's good to get feedback!

Thanks everyone (except madjacks) for the good feedback!

-Muttonhead

[Patch]

Hey... just checked back in and noticed something that you might want to add. The scabbards are going to need something to hold the blades in. Due to the shape of the blades, they will have to slide into the front of the scabbard... so there should be some sort of tie (or equiv) to hold it into the scabbard. I hope you don't mind this really shitty paintover/modification... just for illustration purposes...
http://patch24.dingojunction.com/reference/misc/muttonhead_witchmod.gif

[Muttonhead]

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys, here is an update:

http://www.cybermurray.com/witch2.jpg

-Muttonhead

[killing.people]

very nice, you did great. is a shame you lose some of your detail because you work so big and work so tite.
great work..

[bwkeough]

Pop! Much improved, great cast shadows really put the warrior in the environment. Color reflections in the sword blades, too.

[mcotie]

:thumbsup:

[Muttonhead]

Thanks fellas.

BWKEOUGH: I forgot to answer your earlier question: it is a personal portfolio piece. I wanted to do sort of a traditional book-cover type of piece.

-Muttonhead

[dajovion]

Really nice. The kicked up dirt helps a lot. I'd like to see a little bit of texture to the dirt though. Maybe some of the leaves as well. Still, great drawing.

[blackhand]

Very impressive work, Muttonhead. In all honesty, this is your best work to date, and that's saying a lot.

The improvements you made were good, but I still think the foreground figures get lost in the background. I think the problem is that everything is rendered in the same sharpness, level of detail, and lighting.

You have some areas where you're starting to separate the figures well--the lower left area of the man's cloak with the gray shadow/dust. There needs to be more contrast like that, and the background could stand to have a little softness to it or a little desaturation. Yeah, just knock back the saturation a bit, and you should be good.

Great work.

[tyboogie]

very cool mutton!


i think her head is a tad too small ( her torso and arms are kind of big in comparison)

also the blue marks on the tree to the left are a tad bit too loud ( i.e.--they stand out as blue marks on top of leaves as opposed to the sky showing through)


keep up the great work man!!--ty

[Patch]

No more complaints. Job well done.
:Pimp:

[Loga4]

Very nice jop,Muttonhead
update is great!

[marc_taro]

Hey - tremendous amount of work - you must really be slaving at the drawing board lately! - Way to represent!!

I really do NOT want to be a downer, because this is a great piece - I like the contrast of youth vs age - the environment is great...

but, I would have to say, I'm just not sure I buy the scabbards strapped to the legs. I have this feeling that this would be really uncomforatable to wear around....like those sandbags you strap to your legs for a better workout...

No culture that I can think of has come to this solution for carrying around weapons...

It reads very strangely for me.

Do you have the scabbbard gear on a layer - so that you could try out repositioning them to some kind of cross draw-fanny pack or back sheaths?

Anyway, this is just one man's opinion so don't take it too seriously...
m

[LemoNHearT]

i like how you rander the tree,pretty nice,the female warrior is much detail than the witch,BTW is a good work too
keep it up :chug:

[SirRon]

Good work Mutton! That last update looks much better.

Though I feel that the lower part of the witch's robe seems kinds flat. The part that covers the right leg and feet. My suggestion would be to put some folds. I hope that helps.

[R_M]

muttonhead,
first off I really dig your style. You have been getting better with all your posts, and this is the bedst picture yet.
you have a very weird way of coloring the picture, and it becomes very flat even if you add shadows.
Don't take it as a criticism, but like a comment. it is exactly this style of yours that makes your picture instantly pop out from the lot. so don't change it!
Can't wait what else comes out from your factory.

[Muttonhead]

Thanks everyone! I have been on vacation so have not been able to check this until now.

Marc: I knew the design of these scabbards would be controversial, but I suppose in my mind I was imagining the swords being made of some sort of strange, light-weight, hard-as-steel substance, maybe almost like some sort of magical rock or something. I know that this is one of those cases where it is hard to portray that in the piece, but I wanted to see what the reaction would be anyways. I actually kind of tested it out with a large metal ruler, but yes, if they were to house actual metal or iron swords, they would be extremely unwieldy.

Thanks for all the kudos from everyone. I will be doing more "book-covery" pieces in the near future so be on the lookout! I find all comments and critiques to be enormously helpful.

-Muttonhead