Laura Diehl's WIP Thread

#361

I know there is still a long way to go before our intrepid heros look right. I think I’ve made some things better today, but there is still a rather big mess to sort out (like the lady’s face, hair, feet)… Anything that is still bugging you anatomy-wise, please let me know. I hope tomorrow to fix the figure issues and move onto the magic and the dragons.

notpill: These aren’t my books. This is a project I was hired to do the covers for and that I’ve consented to do some quick titles for as a bonus… I know I am not the best at graphic design, but the author knows even less about it. I also hate those book covers that seem to be design for design’s sake (many of these are on the site you linked). I prefer simple.

#362

Excellent progress all over!!
Great colour scheme now. :] The landscape is spot on.

The hand looks way better now, far more natural. I’d make his wrist a tad thinner though, and then it’ll be perfect.

Her right foot though still looks a bit off. It’s not anatomically wrong, but it makes the character twist a bit too much in the composition. Maybe if her leg could be rotated to face the same direction of his left leg (towards the camera), she would fit more confortably in the composition.

#363

My beautiful background, covered! sniff There is always the back of the cover, I suppose. As you can see, I’ve been working hard on correcting anatomy and then adding the “magic” effects and the monsters. The lady’s eyes are still bugging me -not so much when I zoom in but when I have the image zoomed out a ways. What do you all think of everything? Crits are reeeeally appreciated at this point.

RalphDL: Thanks! Hope I covered most of the stuff you pointed out.

#364

About lady’s eyes : you have put the whole eye-socket too on face’s side. You should shift it more to the nose. As last step check the pupils’ aligment : they should not be paralell if she is looking at 1 specific point (focus).

Great colors (as usual…you know…I love your palette) !

Looking forward for updates,
Serena.

#365

Serena: Thanks :slight_smile:

I think this is nearing the magical point they call done. What you you all think? I’m especially curious about what you think of the dragons, as I really struggled with them (but I think I have something that works now). Other miscellaneous crits are quite appreciated too. Also, what title color works best?

#366

Great work; The second works the best (red is the color that pops out the most, always, so definitely go with this).

#367

Mmm… I think that dragons are quite ‘hidden’.
Why not create magic-fluid deviations right on dragons’ muzzles?

I prefer #3. It has got the maximum contrast on this background.

Looking forward :love:

#368

Quoted for agreement. :slight_smile:

Also, a couple of links you might find of interest pertaining to creating cover art:

http://outofthiseos.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/covers.html

http://igallo.blogspot.com/

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#369

I worked a lot more on the character’s faces. Improvement? Also added more darkness to the background along with those lights and that smoky haze around the tower and the stars/balls of energy around the dragons.

slickgreekgeo: Glad you like it. But I rather think the red one doesn’t work as well as the other two.

CyborgJA: The dragons are a bit of a problem because they are described as beings made of pure energy and negative energy at the same time. I want them to be present, if one hunts for them, but not too physical -if that makes any sense.

tatiana: Great links. Thanks a bunch for sharing :slight_smile:

#370

I love this piece, this is the best one out of the series.
The magic effects are really awesome.

I think her nose will look a bit better if the space between the nostriles was smaller. Sorry just a minor nitpick.

#371

Serena does have a point; The purple does in fact work the best, as it compliments the image the best, without being too distracting, as is the case with the first one. Let this be a lesson; Never take my advice :smiley:

Seriously though, this is one of your best pieces in terms of color and anatomy, great work.

#372

I really like your woooorks LDiehlespecially that lighting ~emem~let me learn much some things~~~~~~~~

wowkeep it up LDiehland thanks for your participate of these woooorks~:bounce: :bounce:

#373

Great updates !
Now I love their anatomy and also dragons are more visible too. You’ve done a good work.
As last thing I suggest you to ‘dull’ a little red spots on the tower. They distract my eyes from the main scene cause of their brightness. (Ok… you are authorized to kill me :thumbsup:)

@tatiana, slickgreekgeo : I’ve learnt these “tricks” here on cgtalk :bounce:

#374

My internet was down all day :frowning: Meaning I had no way to goof off and was forced to actually work the whole time :wink: I did a lot of tweaking of various things, mostly the faces and anatomy of the two main characters -as I try to reach a point I and the author are satisfied with.

I’ve looked at this image so long that it is hard to know anymore what is best. Know what I mean? I’m really ready to call this finished. What are your thoughts? Which facial features are best?

frostblade: Glad you like it. It’s good to read your vote of confidence. I think I did end up shrinking the space between her nostrils (its been a long day).

slickgreekgeo: Hah! :wink: But, you know, it always helps to have advocates of the other options as it makes me seriously think about their feasibility.

minminxu: Thank you for letting me share my WIPs with you.

CyborgJA: I don’t think the red spots bug me. And this could be a monitor to monitor issue. I definitely don’t think they are going to print at a brightness that would distract. But thanks for calling them into question.

#375

Wow the update on her face is really good :slight_smile:

My only concern now is this painted in cymk mode?
Because I just changed the jpg to cymk from rgb and the magic effects went dull as. Also a lot of gaumt warning patches while in rgb mode.

#376

frostblade: Glad you think so. I didn’t do any of these images in CYMK because the author needs RGB mode JPGs to upload for printing. I don’t know how it works, but from what I’ve seen (judging from the past three covers I have in front of me) these images print with surprising faithfulness to the file.

#377

Thanks a million for your help everyone! The final files for “Dark Warriors” have been submitted to the author, and it is now up in the 2D Showcase Gallery here:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=407096

Next up will be an illustration for a science-fiction time travel related manuscript that is currently on its way.

#378

Uuuu-uhh.

Let’s have a caffeine party ! :bounce:

#379

LDiehl~I hope see more your new pictureskeep it up ~~~~~~:bounce: :bounce:

#380

So I’ve been slacking for a few days: doing fun stuff like backing up files (which I am terrible about doing with any regularity -though I always have two copies of my current file, one on each of my data drives).

Anyway, I figured I might as well work on my own stuff while I’m waiting for the next manuscript. This is an image relating to my ever progressing ideas for my world of Snowmist… playing with the idea of large flying Arboreals in place of Lionesses (based mostly on the Colugos found here on Earth).

What do you all think?