Nutcracker

[CybrGfx]

...i want an impressive, dark and horrifying image.
Then why do you have a pink background? I almost expect the mouse king to be holding a lollypop.

THINK about what you want to convey. Dark? Horrifying? Then NOT pink!

It's nighttime. The only light source is the window. Keep the pink/red tones as a secondary accent color, but make it night. make the light from the window come into the room...

Here is a very quick and dirty Photoshop adjustment to show you what I mean.
Think about how you want the mouse drool to look...
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8672/nutcrackrsr3.jpg
Keep the highlights in the girl's eyes, but think about some light reflections on her hair. If there is light being refracted by the coverlet, which is not very reflective, hair will definitely show some. Look at the mouse, and he's even farther from the window!

I like the concept, keep working at it, this will be awesome once you get it fine tuned!

[Advarsky]

Thanks for your crit and overpaint, CybrGfx! That blue RULES! :bounce:
I'll try to do my best on this one! And i have a lot of time till 7 jan.

[Advarsky]

Here it is.. A bit too dark.. again. I'll fix it next time - i swear! %)
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7390/menaceatnight4bb3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
C&C wellcome! :applause:

[Tad Ghostal]

have you tried making the mouse's eyes glow?

[CybrGfx]

Keep tweaking it. That mouse king is DEFINITELY looking scarier!

[Advarsky]

Damn.. this image is braintwisting! :banghead: Don't know what to do, but here, at my work with another monitor(i paint this picture at home, and have there not an lcd monitor), whole image became lighter and green'er... :cry:

[Advarsky]

Here it is. I've worked with the hair and the face of a girl.. but i don't seem to have any success in the SCAAARY emotion on her face. I'll take my time on it.. Fixed lighting on the bed. And i think to place some cloth over her bed, but the angle is way too difficult for me. %) Anyway i'll continue my trials. :banghead:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/954/menaceatnight5bk7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Ferril]

maybe the picture needs more lighting? (like glowing mouse eyes?)

[CybrGfx]

Nice! Right now, though, you have a borderline "black-light" poster.

If that is not your intent, you need to rethink the mouse king. The red teeth just don't jive. In the dark, red is black ("and yellow, white...and who are we, to know which is right, and which is an illusion...?"), and the toenails would be more of a dingy grey...

Advarsky, the "green" monitor was miscalibrated. What you upload is correct, elsewise what I worked with would have had a horrid green cast to it as well, which I did not mention in my reply to you. Do not be bothered by it. All monitors are different, but most are calibrated similar to yours at home.
Whichever way you progress with this, best of success to you!

For everyone suggesting a brighter glowing eye, animal eyes glow from light reflections off the back of the retina. The eye towards the viewer is away from the window, the light source for this image. Ergo, there should be no glowing eye, per se, unless the artist artifically inserts one, which will look somewhat contrived and out of place, or has an additional light source, which is not the intent for this work, as described by the Advarsky. If anything, I would make the glow in the eye red, which usually signifies something more demonic and scary, and would be better than the red teeth, which are disconcertingly illuminated similar to the problem with making a brightly glowing eye.

[Advarsky]

Thanks for your comments, CybrGfx! I very appreciate this! :thumbsup:
But there's no red teeth.. it's a blood that runs from his mouth. It really is in the book - and i'm doing a REAL illustration, close to the text! =) But with a horrifying effect. Dunno about glowing red eye, Ferril.. it's a pop, imho. Dunno what to do with blood and other.. But i'll do my best, i promise! :D
And i don't really bother so much about these greens... I hope i might adjust it to normal.

[Advarsky]

Here's what i've done tonight. I've reworked the window and added some basic light from it.
http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1634/menaceatnight6az2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
I can't work longer then 2 hours per evening, couse i have to work.. :cry:
So i'm doing a little every day and i hope i can get this to high quality and make it REAL HORROR!!!
By the way, if someone wanna look at my previous picture that i've done in.. similar style(atmosphere?) - here it is:
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6743/searchforhorrormf8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
I'm sorry for the size of it, but i can't let myself make it smaller... if you know what i mean. :rolleyes:
Your C&C are most wellcome!

[Ferril]

this one is much better!

a few notes about the second picture...
well, since a lantern has a range of light (which obviously ends where your stairs begin to fade) the octopus/cthulhu/demon won't be highlighted that much :lightbulb

[Advarsky]

Yes.. but this is a feature i used for this image. You see - the whole image is devided into a two parts. On one of it the curious explorer steps into a horrifying abyss whatching a misteryous bas-reliefes on it's walls... On the other side is what it waiting for him... a dread creature, that lie in the abyss and waiting for the time when the stars are right.

[CybrGfx]

I like the changes to the window.

If the red on the teeth is blood, then you need to show the teeth as a separate color. Teeth, even those that have been chewing on flesh, will not be glowing red up to the gums like that. The red would be on the edges, dripping off, not staining the entire tooth. That is the visual confusion I see.

As for the second image, NO. The effect you are striving for is cheapened when you attempt to illuminate something so large, and so far away, from such a small light source. Compare it to the illumination you are attempting in this piece with a large window...Subtlety is your friend for this type of environment, you don't have to beat the viewer over the head for them to get the point...

Keep up the good work!

[Eponine]

brilliant work. I love how that window cast light into the dark room.. thats just simply gorgeous!

[headwax]

Hello


Though I like the joy of discovering the girl's face in the compostion, I think if you gave her more contrast, so she is the first thing that you see (she is quite small and not very catchy on my monitor), then your eye will follow her gaze to the large looming rodent in the left side of the picture.

This takes advantage of our tendency to follow someone's gaze amd would mean that you could leave the lighting on the rodent as it is.

We go from discovering the girl, to the joy of discovering the rodent lurking in the shadows.

I enjoy the light spilling form the window and the small scene outside.

cheers

headwax

[Advarsky]

Here's my continue. I've added some contrast and lighened it all up. Also i'm beginning to paint the Mouse King.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/5375/menaceatnight7qq1.jpg

[Advarsky]

A little update. I'll finish it tomorrow. I swear! :wise:
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/1050/menaceatnight8rz4.jpg

[Advarsky]

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/418/menaceatnight9finalue4.jpg

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