I thought I could give this a go too… If you followed the last CGChallenge you may have seen this guy before.
Since I might come back to him in a not too distant future, I would really appreciate some feedback on how you perceive this as an image rather than a mere 3D challenge entry.
So, can you feel it? What could be improved? What’s your first spontaneous reaction, and how does it appear after some closer investigation?
I like the textures and modeling and lighting on the room but I think you could use an overhead light to create some creepier shadows on your character and also a rim light from behind to pop out an edge on him. Just another way you can go. But good work so far.
My first reaction to this was, there is too much light. Deeper darker shadows, like already stated, would give this a much creeper feeling.
If i was you Id loose the pupil/iris and replace it with a off white maybe greyish mark- it would make the character alot colder and creepier.
also what is that green rope thing holding him to the back of his seat?- Id replace that with the whole strap theme you have going on.
then the lights have already been mentioned.
I’m going to disagree about the lighting, sort of, though it all depends on what you are trying to portray 
I think creepy is the way to go, but I wonder where that creepiness is coming from?
If it is emanating from the man himself, then go with darker shadows to accentuate him.
Personally, I’d prefer it to come from the situation, the exploitation involved in a freakshow. To emphasize this you may want to add more light, especially to the figure. This is like the difference in lighting between eroticism (dark, soft and sultry) and pornography (bright, harsh and revealing). He’s obviously not going anywhere, so maybe one way of doing this would be to enlarge the window at the back so he is rimmed in stark white light.
To this end I’d also give the man a blank, unengaged stare at his lap (as a truly brainless man would do) and reduce him completely to just an object.
I don’t really understand the crucifix. To my mind a brainless man would have no religion, so someone else must have put it there as a talisman and act of kindness. If you went with the exploitation line, you could maybe swap it with something else that was put there as an act of cruelty to mock.
Having said that, I certainly don’t want to hijack your picture, so is there a specific message or story you would like to portray?
Ordibble: Interesting points. Adding a stronger but more localized lighting, like a relentless stage light could really add to the exploitation theme, which is basically what I’m going for.
Enlarging the window could probably make the focal point even clearer too.
The crucifix is mainly a mockery - someone might have put it there with good intentions, but it merely serves as a symbol of false hope - in a multitude of ways.
Having him stare blankly straight down his lap is the more logical choice too.
I don’t like his feet. They seem a bit out of character the way they are. His body has a driedout feeling to it, yet the feet look almost like those of a child. How about making them gnarly? Or did you choose these feet for a specific purpose?
Thanks for the explanation of the crucifix - as you describe it, it fits well with your theme.
While out pruning trees I had an idea that you are welcome to use if you wanted to and that would fit in with exploitation.
You could have some coins thrown by onlookers scattered about the floor, as well as a few in their real target, his bowl head.
about the lighting thing. I think that the real creepy-ness is supposed to come from the eyes and the face. Maybe use the creepy type lights and such and maybe try and then do some glowing of the eyes?
But definately subtler lighting on the character [think splinter cell when the person is hiding under the stairs with two people above the stairs interogating the drunk.]
But I definately think the eyes can have a bit of a silent glow to it to create a sense of creepy-ness.
just my thoughts.
I would also think about “destroying” the wheel chair more…everything in that scene looks old and mysterious. And the wheelchair looks brand-spanking new.
Perhaps appropriately, my impression of this image is… vacancy.
Only maybe a little bit too much of it. The figure is slumped in the chair, in a way reminiscent of a doll. Just sitting there, with no emotion at all. Just kinda there not doing anything.
Is he aware at all, or inanimate? Is he inanimate waiting to become alive, or was he alive once and is now empty? Was his brain stolen away from him, did he lose it through some misjudgement of his own, or was it just never there? Is he sad, or mad and malicious? There is not quite enough of a distinct mood in this image to hint me towards answers to any of those questions. I see a very decrepit room, and a shriveled, debilitated figure, but I don’t see the image’s reasons or wishes.
The glare of the window is distracting, especially placed so near to the character’s head and face. I also find myself puzzled by the wheelchair-- everything else in the image has an air of age and disrepair, but the wheelchair is blue and shiny and perfect as if new.
Engelszorn: Well, he’s never actually used his feet, so they can’t really be worn and weathered. But as you pointed it out, I could perhaps make them skinnier and more dirtied up.
Ordible: Coins is a brilliant idea! Goes perfectly with the theme here. Thanks.
dpvtank: Glow from the eyes would be totally wrong. That sense of “hiding under the stairs” is a usable feeling here though. And the wheelchair probably should be messed up a bit more.
Gnarly: “Vacancy” - I like that. “of a doll. Just sitting there, with no emotion at all” - exactly the intention here. Good. And to answer the medical question: he never had a brain at all.
The glared window is there to accentuate the primary focus, but since you find it distracting I might have overdone it a bit. Perhaps I’ll make it bigger (as mentioned above) and at the same time a bit less luminous.
Thanks all. Very valuable input indeed.
I think the thing that distracts from the vanacy for me is the way he is smiling knowingly at the camera.
This suggests some form of awareness.
Maybe if he was staring blankly at the wall, or the floor, with the mouth slightly more gaping.
His eyes to me seem to be too focussed.
Just a thought is all.
the first thing i wondered about is the end of the stage. to me it looks a bit like an abyss, and i wondered if you meant the drawing in a way that he could roll down the stage any moment. it somehow reminds me of someone standing at the edge of a cliff. but if you meant it that way, the guy might has to be closer to the end of the stage.
not sure if you wanted to cause that association, but thats the first thing that came to mind when i saw it. hope it helps
in regard to the brainless’ posing, both facial and body.
i feel there’s a gap between his body language and his facial expression. as if they each go in a little different direction, although similar. but the effect is that the whole character doesn’t go all the way, to a certain point.
what i mean- his body is sort of thrown in the chair, the pose is quite neutral, perhaps expressing helplesness. but the face is grinning and looking towards the cam. if he’s brainless, maybe his face should be zombyish and his body more active. thats just an idea. even if you go with what you did, which is not bad, perhaps try to create more unity between the face and body language, try to think what he’s doing in the chair, how did he get there, whats his mental state, does he have one at all ???
oh, and i also think you should replace the green rag strap with a buckled leather strap.
hope it helped, good luck.
As art, I don’t like it. And I see no way for you to improve it.
The whole crucifix thing ruins it for me. That is the big problem with using art to make philisophical or political statements, you end up with a strongly polarized audience. As art and a statement of the inhumanity of the sideshow, this image is damaged by your stated intent in using the crucufix.
I would suggest in the future, if you plan on using religious imagery in your art, you leave it to the viewer to take what they will from the image, and leave comments such as “It’s a really important sort of sarcastic philosophical comment on the hideousness of the whole thing…” out of it. After all, this really is not the proper forum for bashing peoples religion.
Electrofirma - I can see where you’re coming from with that - but then again, I’ve never explicitly said that it means anything else than possibly a false hope. Which is objectively true in this case since there is no way for him to escape this situation (or even be aware that there is a situation at all to start with). It could have been any kind of talisman or a backstage pass to a Radiohead concert - it doesn’t really matter. I chose the rosary because it’s a very familiar symbol that most people recognise, and it conveys a lot of “mystery” beyond its mere physical appearance.
I’ve been very careful to let the viewers decide for themselves the exact meaning of the rosary. And I’ll stick to that.
And when I said “It’s a really important sort of sarcastic philosophical comment on the hideousness of the whole thing…” as quoted by you above, it was in an entirely different thread and it doesn’t say what kind of “sarcastic comment” it is, neither does it state what “the whole thing” actually implies. Everybody is free to make their own interpretation.
I totally respect that you don’t like the image because of this (and maybe for other reasons as well, I don’t know) - it’s your prerogative. I’ve seen tons of 3D and 2D I didn’t like either.
I must however disagree that it would be wrong to use art to make philosophical comments. I’d say it’s quite the opposite. Most of the old classics were jam-packed with symbolism, most of which fly by way above our heads nowadays because not many of us recognise the symbolic language anymore.
“As art, I don’t like it.”
I thought the whole point of this particular forum was to evoke an emotion, he succeeded with you by envoking a feeling of disgust.
I find the image slightly offensive, but nonetheless vaguely intriguing, however regarding any insult to christianity well sadly there’s enough historical precedent in the church to warrant such a statement on the part of the artist.
As far as design, I really like the idea of the coins, as it would add another level of interpretation of possibly the foolish throwing their money at a wasted religion.
Depending on how far you want to go with such a theme there are other things that would be possible as well like a plate of bread and a glass of wine on the floor. This may lead to “too” much of a statement though, when you would prefer to be vague.
Overall the image shows real promise and I hope you follow through on relighting and adding a few more elements.
Originally posted by Lorecanth
Overall the image shows real promise and I hope you follow through on relighting and adding a few more elements.
Thanks. I’ve got tons of renewed inspiration thanks to all of this high quality feedback, and I’ll probably start on the improvements much sooner than I had originally planned.
Thanks for your support, btw Lorecanth! I’ve decided to go with the coins as suggested by Ordibble, but any further religious stuff is not happening since that wouldn’t add anything to support my initial intentions. Good ideas nonetheless!
All in all, I’m really looking forward to get busy doing the “remake” and I’ve got a very clear idea about what to fix - the crits and comments have been invaluable.
“As art, I don’t like it.”
I thought the whole point of this particular forum was to evoke an emotion, he succeeded with you by envoking a feeling of disgust.
The art doesn’t evoke the feeling of disgust, the comments such as this do.
The crucifix is mainly a mockery - someone might have put it there with good intentions, but it merely serves as a symbol of false hope - in a multitude of ways.