Warhammer piece

#1

Hi, my goal is get better with my art and get work from companies like games workshop, fantasy flight etc… in this image i tried to convey the wh40k mood. All your crits and comments are so welcome. Thanks in advance.

#2

The proportions of the armor looks a bit illogical to me. If you “draw through” and actually draw the guy’s actual human body inside the armor, it wouldn’t make sense how the armor fits over his various joints and length of limbs. I suppose this is a problem with the Warhammer designs and you’re merely following the designs?

The way you use textured brushes is sometimes a bit arbitrary. When you use it to depict the turning of form on painted metal such as on his legs, you’re conveying that the painted metal is very rough, thus the distinct texture. That is not the same thing as saying the painted metal has a lot of dirt and grime and scuff marks on it. The two are not the same, and you have to approach them differently. In this case, if the painted metal is not very rough, then don’t use such as distinct textured brush, and only when putting dirt and grime and scuff marks on the painted metal, should you then use distinctly texture brushes like that.

The peaks in the distance on the left with bright highlights–don’t make them so blurry. If you’re going to mimic the mechanical limitations of camera lenses where only one focal plane is sharp and the rest get progressively more blurry, then be consistent about it throughout the entire image. Otherwise, don’t do it at all and keep everything sharp and only use contrast and color and density of detail to convey distance.

The skull on the right/bottom–is is absolutely necessary for the narrative/premise? If not, why is it there? For mood? It doesn’t add anything to the composition and seems superfluous.

#3

Hi Robert, thanks for the critique.
Yes, the proportions of the warhammer space marines are veeeery “specials”.
This time i used texture brushes to convey a more painterly look but faiiiil, now i can see the flaws.
Was trying to show the atmospherical effect for the background looking for a blurry effect, usually at the final stage i use to use the gaussian blur effect, but this time only did it with brushes.
The skull was an idea to create different planes and add a bit of mood.
Kind regards.

#4

Hello, Androsm! Nice job, you captured well Warhammer’s iconic design.

[Edited post to include examples now I have my tablet with me]

Just to complement Roberts’s critique with a tip: When in doubt follow the volume with your brushstrokes. Brushstrokes always have a meaning. They communicate volume, movement, texture.

The leg plates look rough not only due the chosen brush, but its direction. Our automatic reflex is to follow the length of long shapes as cylinders, yet it doesn’t help when it comes to depicting shapes. Take a look at this:

The brushstrokes describe the shape’s volume better in the first cylinder than the second. That happens because from our point of view the surface planes of this object flows from the front of this object to the back, not up-down. Using brushstrokes perpendicular to the surface’s flow puts the texture in evidence, and can easily flatten a shape if not used with care.

Practical application of the same principle, different shapes:

Opting to follow this slope flow allowed not only to squeeze more colors, but created depth by overlapping them.

Following the length, however, flattened it. It even looks shorter, and feels more like roots of a tree hugging the ground, since wood would be more textured than far hills.

For context:

Light also depends on volume, it respects the shapes planes, thus in your case softening the texture and following the volume with your brushstrokes as a starting point would suit it better.

In your next painting take a careful look at your objects before picking a brushstroke direction. I hope that helps, and keep up with the good job. (:

#5

Thanks Vielmond, i´ll take in consideration all your advices. Thanks again for expend your time trying to help.