Finally in the groove!

[WyckdNick]

I've been struggling recently to complete a project due to college and work...(not a job in art) but I got some serious inspiration this past week from Brom and Darrken. This is the result. I learned a ton on this one. This should be the beginning of a continued thread.

Being that I'm trying desperately to get into the games industry, please crit me to pieces...CC much appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.

Enjoy!

[zwarrior]

It's pretty good, but there's room for improvement. I'll start top to bottom

Feathers; there's no shadow or highlights

the ear is flat with a black outline around it which doesn't really pass for shadows. And the top part of it being cut off... you should detail it out more, it just looks like a black line

shadow on its neck doesnt seem believeable, and speaking of, its chain has no cast shadow at all.

collarbone is really sticking out, but since it may not be human, that could've been on purpose

also there's no clear light source. Highlights from the body are coming from different angles and some shadows are missing where there should be some. Before rendering, draw a little sun or light bulb for where your light source is coming from so you dont forget, you can always erase it later.

and lastly the arm muscles are stiff rather than relaxed since his arm isnt really doing anything, maybe if you used a reference picture it could have been of someone who just worked out, but usually the muscles shouldn't be defined so much.

[WyckdNick]

Thanks Z.
You've commented on essentially all of the areas of this painting that were bothering me before I posted it. I just wasn't quite sure what the problems were... just knew there were some things wrong.

[Konstruktion]

I think it looks too much like the Brom one! Perhaps more like a study than a work of your own

[zwarrior]

you're welcome, but I had no idea it was a study, I and other people would give you a better critique if you post the original next to yours, there's a different way of giving crits to a re-imagined painting than an original one.

[WyckdNick]

Yes it mostly a study that got carried away... as you stated Z a "re-imagining" of the Brom work shown below. Not meant to be a shameless copy but a study that included some of my own elements. I've always found that the best way for me to learn is through copying those better than me until I feel comfortable enough to move on my own.

[zwarrior]

so yeah nevermind about the eye postion of the mask and the collarbone. Be careful of shadows, if you look closely at the shadows on the front of its neck, the shadow below his jaw from Brom's version is lighter. And dont use black for shadows, instead usually a darkened shade of the medium color should be used. that's about it

[WyckdNick]

Thanks again man. As soon as I get some time off of work I'll try to work on this to fix some of the more glaring errors.