Myrddraal

#1

I almost enjoy watching people’s process more than the finished work. So, I’d like to share the WIP shots from my latest piece.

 The finished image depicts a concept from the Wheel of Time books. A Myrddraal raiding a village with his fist of trollocs.
  
 So here they are starting with enlarged thumbnail, finished sketch, to completed painting.  Comments and critiques are welcome.
 
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal17.jpg[/img]
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal1.jpg[/img]
 
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal4.jpg[/img]
 
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal6.jpg[/img]
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal7.jpg[/img]
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal8.jpg[/img]
 
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal12.jpg[/img]
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal14.jpg[/img]
 
 [img]http://www.zombiemariachis.com/randomstuff/myrddraal17.jpg[/img]
#2

Very nice work, Josh! Great to see the WIP series (the jump between 1st and 2nd version is almost a bit difficult to follow, though :smiley: )

I could see the final also in colour.(the idea with the red eyes is almost a bit well-worne, but perhaps it’s just me… and perhaps just the red not subtle enough, hard to say) The creatures look somewhat lightened up in the final version - imo the brightness better two versions before, making them looking heavier, more dangerous.

Keep it up!

#3

I agree - # 6 feels “finished”, color-wise - the juxtaposition of the sepia/blue is very powerful, and too faded in the final. I feel it really helps the focus of the figures quite well.

This is a monster of a painting, it’s I think the best work presented in this forum (WIP) that I’ve seen, and one of the better pieces i’ve seen here on this site overall. As someone who has worked as an art director, if this was handed in professionally, I’d keep you working a long, long time! Bravo!

#4

Thanks guys for the encouragement and critiques!

The first progress image was just one of my feeble thumbnails. I like to look back and see how an idea can start from a mess of values and be refined into something “hopefully” worth looking at.

As to the relative values of the monsters compared to the centered figure. I felt that I was loosing my focal point without knocking the monsters back some. Also, they didn’t seem to have enough atmosphere in between them and the Mryddraal that would suggest their distance. It’s probably not perfect, but it’s hard to paint what you can’t see!

Thanks again guys!

#5

Nice work!

The foreshortening of the sword can be a bit more obvious–right now it looks a little strange, with the tip actually narrow than the base (or maybe the design of the sword is like that, where the tip is wider than the base?).

The overall contrast is a little much in some areas. I suggest you manage the tonal composition a bit more and keep certain areas lower in contrast, or even flattening them out altogether. I think the more coherent and solid your tonal composition is, the stronger your work will be in general.

#6

First of all, awesome image…and thanks so much for sharing the progression! I love looking and learning.

I agree with previous comments about the perspective of the sword. More like this:

I think also that the sword looks a bit sloppy, needs more detail in the blade.

#7

Thanks guys! I’ll tweak the sword some more.

Something else I noticed that’s probably making the sword hard to “read.” It looks like there’s a streak of rain touching the left edge of the sword making it’s shape look wonky. Late in the painting I was shifting and adjusting random layers and I bet I moved the rain unintentionally.

#8

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