Recent Fantasy fantart work

#1

Not an original character but it is an original variation on him. Showing this here just to get some feedback and would like to know if anyone things this would make the gallery before I submit it. I’ve not had one accepted yet and I know very well why for some of them. This one has a lot of things improved upon since my last so just looking for some feedback. I feel like I have a long way to go but I am learning quickly but still likely not putting in enough hours toward doing more of these and practicing more.

#2

What was it that you wanted to convey with this character illustration? Is it supposed to be a piece of concept art that “explains” what this variation of the character looks like, or is this meant meant to be an illustration that portrays something about the character’s personality? For example, the body language and facial expression can convey a character’s personality/aura, and the environment can also help create a narrative context to gives insight into a character’s reason for existing.

Aside from that, there are some general issues that are visual art foundation problems, such as composition, lighting, anatomy, etc.

The composition basically is one that has no forethought into the overall visual design of the image. While an iconic composition of placing a character in the middle is a valid one, there are still room from creativity within that template, such how you offset that central focal point with background elements or lighting to create interesting tonal composition. Also, that raised canon arm is so close to the left edge of the image, creating unnecessary tension in the composition.

The lighting is inconsistent–you have rim lights that don’t show up consistently from top to bottom of the character, and other weird inconsistencies like the face being lit up brightly on one side but that nowhere else on the character is being affect by that same light.

In terms of anatomy, the mouth and philtrum area are too harsh in the turning of the form, creating harsh edges that should be softer. This is not a stylistic issue, but one of being able to depict the turning of form (the rate of turn of the curvature of a surface) properly.

There are some excellent tutorials and lessons in the Art Techniques & Theories subforum (linked below in my signature)–make sure you take a look (especially the sticky threads).

#3

First of all, thanks for the reply, was wondering for a while if I was going to get one. Second after that analysis I would like to ask if there is anything good about the image at all? If you found that many problems with it then that pretty well answers my question about submitting it to the gallery.

As for what this is, a while back, actually over a year ago I did a similar image like this. The idea then was creating Mega Man X the main character from the same series as this one and present him in a little more realistic vision while sticking to the overall original art proportions and such. In the case of that one the setup was as if he had a portrait taken in a scene similar to a car show or technology show with the showroom lights and all hitting him and fog around him. This one was setup to be a brother piece to that one considering this is the partner to the main protagonist throughout the game series. I wanted to start from the same formula and setup and present him in a similar manner but I didn’t want an exact replica just with a different character so I mixed up the pose some for him so that together it was like they both had portraits taken in different ways. The other reason for this piece was my last work was done with a mouse and this one was done with a tablet my first using a tablet thus another reason I wanted to challenge a similar concept as my last to find the differences the tablet makes in comparison to before. This other picture I keep referencing can be found in my gallery here.

Now to the technological details of this, the idea was to have the strongest light come from front, above and off to his right, this light is what is illuminating his face and creating the hard light along his right side or the left side of the image. The gun itself blocks part of this light from hitting the right side of his chest. The other light source is from behind him this is what is illuminating the left side of his body in places. The other shining points along is left arm, left shoulder and along his center of his body are suppose to be reflections from things in the foreground behind the view point that consist of hard light sources. The background itself actually didn’t have much though just more feeling, I couldn’t really decide what I wanted there so I just started working something out, in the end it came off as a sort of flame effect or heat in the background. Since the other picture I did used bluish purple fog around a blue character I wanted to keep the colors here warm since this character is the warm to the others cool which is why I aimed for orange tones in the background.

I definitely do see what you mean about his positioning on the image, looking at it seems like he should be moved over to the right some to balance his arms from the edges of the image. The face was a difficult part for me, it started off much further off than this. I reworked it and got the curvature much better but in doing so his face became androgynous which didn’t fit the character anymore, he stopped looking like himself so I filled back in the jawline some and the high cheekbone area. The original character is anime so I wanted to keep to the shape his face should be to look like him but it is difficult to do when anime characters rarely have realistic form. Looking at it now though it does seem like the helmet is a bit turned on his head still and I can see what you mean about the hard corner around the right side of his face or left in the image.

Overall the idea was to use my new tablet to create an image similar to my last and hopefully improving on it in many ways. If I accomplished that then I am satisfied with the results of the image.

#4

I think the strongest aspect of the image is probably the mood–it’s not typical for Megaman.

When you have a light like the one on the face, you have to consider its exact position and it’s range of influence/illumination on the object you’re lighting. Look at the surfaces that are prominently illuminated by that light and make a note of what angle they form with the light source, and now look at the rest of the object. All surfaces with the same angle should also be illuminated to the same level of brightness, unless there’s obstruction. In your image, you have plenty of other surfaces that are facing the same angle as that lit part of his face, yet they are not illuminated to the same brightness. You only lit up the rim of his contour, which suggests the light is actually not in front of him and to his right, but are to high right and slightly behind him.

I suggest studying studio lighting for photography, or experiment with 3D lighting–they really help you understand the way light sources interact with objects, and the range/direction of their illumination in relation to the turning of a form and the viewer’s position. Everybody has cameras these days, including the one on your cellphone. Get a couple of household lamps and experiment setting up different light situations and take reference photos–it helps a lot. If you are proficient in 3D, then you can do it in 3D too.

#5

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