Victory Flag

[applejak]

you have some great drawing skill, to give your character more strength, she should definitely be standing, right now she looks like she is holding on to the flag to keep herself upright, think about the stance, spreading the legs out will give her more strength, also if she has the flag over her head like she is about to stick it into the ground, that would also make her stronger, look at some frazetta paintings and you'll see what i mean, landscapes are also more interesting if the central focus is to one of the sides instead of the middle, otherwise think about portrait, good luck

[devilboi]

After seeing your webpage I thougt that I would check out your other threads. I really like the way you draw women. Your style is really great. What I like most is how you make your charecter's body language look very natural.

Apple jack has some good points however I like the way the girl is kneeling w the flag. It seems as if she has had to go through a journey to get there; giving your charecter a human feeling not that of a super hero (things come easy for superheros, making them more archiypical and less human.) Giving a charecter sacrifice makes your charecters more interesting and creates more emotional investment in checking out there story.

Because you said on he heading above the pic, that you want it to have a feeling of strength. You may want to make her stance more dynamic (she can still be kneeling). However maybe you could make her arms seem more clenched as if she is supporting the weight of her body on the pole thrusting it into the soil. Maybe make her face tipped more downward as if she is committed with all her strength to propping the flag. Perhaps make her clothes a little tattered as if she has just went through quite a bit to get here.

The idea composition and layout are great, the pic just needs more emotion to it and you will have a killer image. It will be interseting to see more of how the background turns out. I really enjoy your charecter design and am looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

[zuki1]

I agree with the previous posts... A beautiful drawing as it is, it simply doesn't tell any story about the struggle and the fight it took to be able to now plant the banner of victory... Torn and tattered clothes, yes... bloodstains perhaps - perhaps even kneeling upon/besides the heap of slain enemies (cliché i know, but I'm not really sure what kind of story you're telling here) -perhaps just some broken swords or armour scattered on the ground... She could be holding a shield with arrows embedded in it... pick the symbols of your choice.
Think about the cost of the fight - did she easily defeat her enemies, or was is a hard fight? I don't mind her supporting herself with the flag - she could be dead tired after the struggle, hardly able to keep her self upright, but still it would be a "strong" pose, tired, wounded, but still undefeated!

hehe, I keep rambling. It's just sometimes a nice thing to seek inspiration in the more "pompous" part of imagination.

Hope it helps:)

*edit*
Applejak mentions Frazetta. Yup! Frazetta, Richard Corben, Berni Wrightson(more old horror style)... All those old fantasy icons with their Muscle-swollen Heroes and busty heroines are a treasure trove of imposing body language!
/edit

[MrGrinch]

Ah, I may have misused the words victory and strength. In the story she has unified the empire by political machinations and overthrown the oppressors. The image I'm trying to create is more of a general representative picture of her when peace is finally gained rather than a specific moment in time after a physical battle.
These are all good comments though, thanks, I'll definately try and make her pose a little more dynamic, at the moment it's a weak. Roughing up her clothes would also help with the visual imagery as well I think. I might introduce some other characters to help tell the story better, although this was meant to be an experiment with landscapes.
Thanks everyone for your comments so far, I'm also curious if anyone knows about ways of making the landscape itself convey a particular mood. I've heard about how particular shapes represent certain themes, a circle for unity and so on.

[Gord-MacDonald]

I like the start you have made.
I checked out your website - some very nice work!

Gord

ps: Child labour indeed! Shame on you! :D

[zuki1]

Ah. I *thought* I could've gotten the idea wrong... -She certainly doesn't lend herself to the "hack'n slash" type of picture;)

One thing springs to my mind - You know that specific "communist" style of painting very often used by government commisioned artists in the old East bloc and China? Often disregarded because of its obviously propagandistic nature - but perhaps some research into this kind of artwork could provide you with some ideas? They often included (very) heavy elements of symbolism, "unity" and "strength" being some of them. (Also women with banners seemed to be an ever-popular focal point).

I'm not suggesting you to adapt the style in itself or taking up communist art propaganda, but perhaps you could dig up something useful there.

Or I may be rambling again. Probably am:)

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