Hades and Persephone

[DArcy1]

Hi

First off, I do like the image. The poses and her expression in particular are very nice. I do have a few thoughts. The main issue is that your foreground figures, her especially, are lower contrast and value than the far background. This drags my eye away from them to the hills in the background (which is not, I assume, where you want it - although you do have a nice Steven Hickman effect going on there). Becasue of this, there are now 3 focal points; the line of hills, the yellow scarf and the blue scarf. Don't blur the background - just reduce the contrast.

As well, the edge lighting is ambiguous; it seems to be (mostly) coming from the background towards us, but the ground in front of them is in shadow, which doesn't make sence. I think the scene would read better if you had him with the edge lighting, but have it coming from the left, falling more directly on her face, which in my opinion really needs to be the center of attention - the story of the painting is in this moment, when she decides to actually take the pomegranate from his hand. So the flow of light and shadow needs to lead the eye to the pomegranate (which needs to be lit clearly), and her face.

And yes, I know doing any of this might mean some significant repainting...but I think you've got a painting here that has the potential to really grab the watcher emotionally, and I think you should go for it instead of leaving it a nice, but ultimately forgettable piece.

Hope that helps

D'Arcy

p.s. I see that Mr. Stahlberg has his paintover thread going again, this might benefit from his approach. http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=359226

[Mboehman]

Thank you so much! I had been looking at it so long I didn't realize that the background was higher contrast. And I will definitely try to change where the bright light hits.

And the ground at their feet isn't painted yet and I think what you are seeing is the cave ceiling reflection in the water.

And I'll try the paintover thread, although it makes me nervous. I am willing to work on this piece until it is perfect.

Thank you again! I will post an update as soon as I can.

[DArcy1]

Glad to help

D.

[Mboehman]

Here's the latest version. D'Arcy, I was trying the second light source when Steven Stalhberg painted over my work and made it look awesome. So I took his suggestions and added a bit more, and here it is. Aside of any final color and levels adjustments, I think it's finished. What does everyone think?

[IMG]http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/2681/hadesandpersephonewebs.jpg

[ShogunWarrior]

suggestion, there is no focal point of your artwork. Put a moon on top of their head and have it shine in between them so that way the viewer eye goes directly to them, i hope that helps..

[Mboehman]

Here is my attempt at a focal point. Thanks for the advice!

I don't think I'm going to do anything else so this is it!

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5478/hadesandpersephoneweb2.jpg

[rownd]

Very nice! Great job on the faces. The moon light was a great add. I would of tapered in both waistlines and her left hand looks a little small.

[Mboehman]

Thanks! I will bulk up the hand a little, but part of it is the foreshortening. And I'll try and make Hades a bit thinner still. Thanks for the advice!

[Skywolfen]

You can give his arm a little bit more structure also, if you get a reference like this http://www.andrewdiec.com/Anatomy/Muscles-Arm.jpg you can more define the shape of it, knowing the muscle groups below.

Great job on their faces :)

[DArcy1]

Hi MB

Yes, this looks really good. The moonbeams have brought the focus to her face and the pomegranate, and linked them visually so it's clear they are what is important in the image. Amazing what a few small changes can do ! You should be very pleased :-)

D.

[Mboehman]

Yes I am very happy with the overall effect. The changes made a big difference. Adding definition to his arm is a great idea, I just wish you would have said so earlier. I already posted it to my portfolio and I won't re-post it. But I'll make the changes on my original so any time I print it, it will have the changes.

Thank you all!
The final is here http://mboehman.cgsociety.org/gallery/

[Mboehman]

But now I am considering reposting it with the updated arm so stay tuned!

[Mboehman]

Well, I made some changes to his arm. It's not that obvious but is when compared to the older version. Not that much definition would be showing from the pose but I added enough so it looks like he has some muscle.

Here's the final. Thanks everyone!

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=133&t=822924

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.