Fairy Seeker Part Two

[Jaikkuli]

Here is an update, slowly fixing perspective and adding more shading and general tweaks everywhere.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/Jeebz88/fairyseeker003.jpg

[Jaikkuli]

Another update, nearing completion. CC would be appreciated.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/Jeebz88/fairyseeker002-2.jpg

[CybrGfx]

The anatomy, creepy skin, and dead eyes really don't match up with the sentiment very well...

The hair and hat look very contrived, overexaggerated, and poorly (inconsistently) shadowed.

~C

[Jaikkuli]

CybrGfx: Thanks for the input. The anatomy is not standard human proportions intentionally, he is somewhat more hobbit like, however still different, his body shape is correct as far as my imagination goes anyway is my point.

Yeah his eyes are somewhat dead, that is intentional, though they probably will look less so in the final product. He is not meant to be beautiful or kind looking, think of him as the ugly duckling. Same thing goes for the skin, it is slightly sickly perhaps but perhaps but that is ok. Though not all aparent so far, the image is much more true to the intended sentiment than you think.

Lastly yes the hat and hair certainly need some work, the lighting needs fixing indeed.

[CybrGfx]

Jaikkuli, you asked for C&C after your third post, and seventy-some views, without a single reply.

I told you what I observe, and what many other members most likely see, as well.

You then reply to agree with my observations, and then make excuses for them...
"Hobbit-like?" In what way, EXACTLY? Short, with an oversized head? That is not hobbit-like in ANY description in Tolkein, or in any rendering other than that gawd-awful cartoon version of The Hobbit from years ago...

You are using excuses to attempt to cover your poor rendering skills.

That's fine, it makes NO difference to me, or most likely anyone else looking at this. It ONLY makes a difference to YOU, in that by your own words, you are attempting to learn to achieve what you imagine...

If you upload a work, and ASK for comments and critiques, then learn to just accept them. Better yet, learn to do more than just accept them, learn to utilize them, and pay attention to what is pointed out to you, rather than excusing your mistakes...

Since you feel all the mistakes (except the hair, hat, and lighting) are justified, what exactly are you wanting from us? General encouragement? Sure.

"Looking good, dude, keep it up!"
"Wow...can't wait to see this finished!"

It still has poor anatomy, now made worse in that it is evidently supposed to be "hobbit-like," but isn't, unless the hobbit was deformed at birth, and is now a zombie...

NO ONE said anything about this character being attractive. I could care less if the face looked like 10 miles of bad road. It is the malformed shape of the head, the neck, the arms, and the torso that I was commenting on...

NO, it does NOT visually match the words.

NOTHING conveys air moving
NOTHING conveys "cold"
NOTHING conveys grass, water, a city, a forest, ANYTHING except the hatted dwarf and a firefly thing.
NOTHING conveys any type of "beauty," or "magic," to be bestowed. The firefly thing just looks like something to put in a jar...
The expression on the zombie dwarf does not look like "awe," most certainly not "joy," although possibly, "Mmmm. Brains..."
Yes, this is just MY opinon, and yes, you ARE the artist, and YOU know what you are attempting to illustrate here. BUT, you asked for C&C, and are letting your Ego get in the way of learning from the C&C you requested...
That too, is fine. I've given you the information you asked for. Others may add more, but I somewhat doubt it. "There are none so blind as those who will not see..." It serves little to no purpose to attempt to help you when you think you have a justification for all your mistakes...I've learned MY lesson here, and will trouble you no further...

Best of luck to you with this image, and your efforts to improve your skills.

~C

[Jaikkuli]

I appreciate your point, though perhaps it could have been communicated more like my grass.. (calmly). Btw don't take as negative cheek, that is me making a stupid joke which I tend to do a lot. Not a bad attitude or something.

You were right to say that I am looking to create what I imagine. Specificly with this project my primary aims are to satisfy my own image in my head and to a smaller degree, build painting ability. But I don't use creative license to cover up my mistakes, understood? I don't appreciate that assertion.

I understand, yes it can difficult to critisize when you don't know what the artist wants back from you exactly. It would have been smarter to specify what exactly I wanted feedback on. But next time I think some less angry rant/lecture would be nice instead of acting like I am a peice of gum sticking to your shoe, ruining your day. Sometimes when people explain why something is what it is.. it is because it IS why it is. Basicly put, it makes me feel shitty when people reply like you have.

I think your point would have been better made by saying "What do you want me to look at for crit then?". Less is more. You point is taken, consider my point also if you would. Anyway, this post has put me off the subject for the time being, so I expect no more comments. Next time I shall better explain my wants for CC. Thanks for spending the time posting here anyway.

[Helenlyn]

It's a night scene, so lighting should be something to be thinking about throughout the drawing process. The sky is not nearly dark enough unless you want it to be dusk, in which case you should use some sort of gradient and dim the stars.

Also, since the lighting will be extreme, the primary light source should be visible to the viewer. The obvious choice is the faerie. Faeries usually give off colored light or weak whitish light, so whatever color the faerie is, you need to keep in mind when you color and hilight the face and clothing.
As is, the coloring of the face is going to pose a problem because it is so... green. You'll need to either change the coloring or be very particular with the faerie's color if you don't want the colors to clash horribly.

For the hat, the main definition of the shape is going to come from the outline and the stripes. The stripes should curve more and become narrower where the hat connects with the head.
you're going to have to analyze the hat, pick something out that's making it look strange, fix it, and repeat until it doesn't look funny.

And if the anatomy matches what you see in your head... well, it's not the coffee creamer I prefer, but if this is for your enjoyment purposes, me thinking it looks weird doesn't really matter.

[Jaikkuli]

Helenlyn: Thanks, big help. Probably will post a decent update later this evening.

[DArcy1]

He may be cranky, but Cybr is correct in his comments. If someone who knows a lot more than you takes the time to review your work and post, it really is a good thing to attend to it. For example, regardless of your figure's ethnic origins, he still has to function as a living being. Both in terms of the underlying anatomy and the rather extreme rotation of his head. My suggestion would be that before you paint any more details at all, you draw him nude - figure out where the joints are, how the muscles lie, etc. I'd pay a lot of attention to rotation constraints (i.e. that some parts of the body can only rotate so far) as well. Also pay a lot of attention to the head - unless you get your angles just right, it's easy to make it look really deformed. Take a few reference photos of a friend if you can, otherwise google body pics.

Once you've got some feedback on the anatomy and corrected it, put in a rough background so we can see the context and perspective of how he fits into the environment. Pick a direction the light is coming from. Now clothe him, and get crits on how you've draped the clothes over the body. I'd keep things really simple up to this point, mostly linework and some basic shadows away from the light source.

Once all that is done, you can look at color schemes. Color really has a big influence on the mood of a piece; right now your colors are, well, they remind me of old pics of auchwitz prisoners - so close to dead it doesn't matter.

Once that's sorted out, NOW it's time to paint. I've read lots of artist interviews and they all say the same thing - it takes a month to do a painting - but they don't actually lay brush to canvas until the last week - everything else is planning.

Good luck with this.

D'Arcy

[Jaikkuli]

Another update, fixing some light inconsistancies amoung other things.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/Jeebz88/005-1.jpg

[CybrGfx]

Another update, fixing some light inconsistancies amoung other things.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/Jeebz88/005-1.jpgOh REALLY? Which ones? You've now increased the lighting contrasts, but have yet to address the inconsistency of your light sources...You have the shoulder lit from the back, the hat lit from above, and the glove, which is the closest thing to the fairly light, is less illuminated than the collar, which is lit all the way around to the back...Making bad lighting brighter doesn't make it any less bad...

You've now painted the back of the vest in such a way that it is all puckered up in strange and unnatural folds, which, combined with the uncomfortable looking twists in the shirt sleeves, give this character a "wrung out" look, like a towel someone has twisted at both ends.

The bad anatomy doesn't look any better by you brightening things up. The right arm is still poorly proportioned, with the forearm longer than the upper arm.

If I appear cranky, it is because this piece is so poorly thought out, so carelessly rendered, and you admit that this type of artwork is completely new to you. You post it here and then
excuse your mistakes, trying to cover up your poor drawing skills with "that is intentional...he is not meant to be beautiful..."

Who said ANYTHING about "beautiful or kind looking?" I could care not care less if he looked like Jack Nicholson from "The Shining"
http://www.latexmaskcentral.com/images/Archives/JackNicholsonShining_3073thumb.jpg
Your character looks unattractive and bad because it has so many visual errors in anatomy, lighting, color, shape, space, and proportion. You know. The things one usually discussed in a critique...

Again, this thread was getting NO feedback, and my FIRST reply was "calm like your grass."
YOU then chose to become vain and ignore the comments and observations offered you.
That was when I became irritated.

The fact that you still have not listened to the advice repeatedly given you ~ That the anatomy and general overal shape of this character is flawed, and needs work, with the excuse now being that you don't care for the way it was presented, essentially puts you right back where you started. With a foundationally flawed work, that you are now futilely trying to tweak, without addressing the core mistakes.

Well, you have now gotten 3 separate C&Cs on this piece, and have not bothered to make any noticeable improvement on this, so I have accomplished what you requested.

The rest of you can continue to make suggestions that might or might not be heeded. Do try to remain calm as grass if you do.

Best of success on this piece.
~C

[Jaikkuli]

CyberGfx: I would prefer you not post on this thread or any my future threads any longer please. Your points (some valid, some not) aren't welcome anymore. I am not going to rebut or make reference to your points for this reason.

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