Guardians of the lake, cover art style (updated (9/2)

Andail · Mon 05/02/2007 14:44:08

I sat with this one last night and today instead of preparing my lesson for tomorrow as I ought to be doing.

I wanted to create something old-school, like a comic book cover illustration or something, with a handpainted feeling.
Something corny.
Latest (scroll down for full version):

Original:

Still not done, but I'm posting it here to get some ideas on how to go on with it from here. There are probably heaps of anatomy issues, as I couldn't be bother to search for good reference photos. Also, the imperfection of pure freehand sort of fitted the style, in a way. Maybe.

Akatosh · Mon 05/02/2007 14:46:42

This looks pretty awesome. Only thing: the castle thing in the background seems a bit like it was missing parts...

Mouth for war · Mon 05/02/2007 15:55:47

Amazing.....really really good...but i agree you should add more to the castle...other than that no complaints

loominous · Mon 05/02/2007 16:12:37

I think the sky looks really great, and the boat roving guy has a really nice painterly look.

Some ideas, perhaps a bit too big to be incorperated, since you seem to have already started refining it:

I) Camera:

I'm not sure how dramatic it's supposed to be, especially if it's meant to be more corny than exciting, but a few things that struck me:

Ia) Lowering the horizon quite a bit will probably make it more dramatic, since the monsters will feel a lot more intimidating if we're looking up towards them, and I think it's pretty common in comic covers.

IIb) If you also move the camera closer to the archer, let s say a meter or two behind him(to the left) at waist level, he'll pop out more. Atm there's not that much, except his shirt's slightly different hue, that drags our attention to him.

It would also provide a nice foreground (his bow would take up a large part of the screen, which could provide a nice interesting foreground element that could overlap other elements (atm they're all seperated, for clarity I suspect), so the depth would increase as well.

II) Poses:

I think the roving man looks like he's out on an leasuire boat ride with his beloved, and the archer gives a very relaxed impression as well, even if he's supposed to be a really calm professional hunter.

Some things that could add some drama:

IIa) Bend the knees of the archer, to make him less relaxed and more "ready" looking.

IIb) Make his hair "fly", as if he was sitting down when he noticed the monsters and flew up to engage the monsters. Will probably add more drama and urgency. Atm it's like he's on an archer range.

IIc) Make the rowing man row intensively, as if he's trying to gain distance to the approaching beasts.

IId) Make the water splash really much from the oars, to add drama and make it look like he's rowing quickly.

III) Lighting:

IIIa) think there's a lack of contrasting value areas. Not neccesserily a lack of contrast in the lighting, but lack of contrasting areas. Everything except some parts of the monsters are in mid value, though the sky is pretty bright. (The water in the foreground is dark I suppose, but since it's gradual, it's less noticeable)

I think this makes the composition less exciting than it could be, and robs it of focus, as we're not really led to look anywhere.

IIIb) I think the lighting could be quite a bit more dramatic. Could be a small thing like making some light beams slip through the clouds hitting parts of the castle, though that would pull the focus from the action, which imo already lacks pulling force.

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I think in general that if you'd move the camera to the position I mentioned much would happen automatically. You'd have a foreground, interesting larger shapes, overlapping elements, natural drama, depth etc.

Just some thoughts though. I dunno what you had in mind.

Hope they help!

Edit: added comment:

Another benefit of moving the camera closer would be that we'd be able to see their expressions, perhaps not so much the archer, if we're sort of behind him, but the rowing guy could be placed in the right corner, allowing for a close up on his face (though a sidewide/behind view)

Edit: made the topic font bolder n some added a comment

Andail · Mon 05/02/2007 16:37:56

Good points Loomy.
If this was a commission piece I might take the time to repaint it according to most of your points. This is more or less a "speed painting", and most of the elements were added as I went along, and I'm probably not gonna bother remaking too big chunks.
I agree that the men in the boat look very calm, and I can only blame bad planning of the picture. A more dramatic viewpoint would be closer to the archer, and much lower, to give the viewer a frog perspective towards the giants, just as you mention.
I may consider changing the person rowing so that he looks over his shoulder, in the direction of the boat.

thewalrus · Mon 05/02/2007 17:45:21

Well, for a speed-paint, this looks great!!! Really nice work....

nulluser · Mon 05/02/2007 17:47:11

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Andail · Mon 05/02/2007 18:39:32

Added a face to the oarsman.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 06/02/2007 12:24:33

This is the best work I've seen from you, Andail (not that I've seen a lot), and it definitely has elements of old illustrations for fantasy novel covers and such. While I agree with Loominous that perhaps the values are too similar (in that the bulk of the piece is either yellow or green) I think it works. The only criticism I can think of is that the faces of the giants don't really look that angry or terrifying. Perhaps giving them fish eyes would help to evoke a more sinister appearance? I also think it would be cool if you made their skin appear a bit slimy and glittering in the light. Very nicely done.

I made a quick edit of the left monster with my suggestions.

Krysis · Tue 06/02/2007 16:16:57

I tryed something with the face to make it a little more scary.

EDIT: The sword seems like it's going to fall in the water, the archer needs more than 1 arrow and the bad guys seem more surprised than scary...

nulluser · Tue 06/02/2007 16:47:09

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Andail · Tue 06/02/2007 16:56:10

Beautiful paintovers, Progzmax and Krysis, and I also agree on your points.

The faces of the monsters were deliberately made so they wouldn't express the ordinary human kind of wrath, but some sort of spooky, excited expression. Some inspiration taken from the Shadow of the Colossus, if you've seen those monsters.
Now that I've seen Krysis' version, I understand it would still work better to have them pissed of in the regular sense

As I said, this was first intended to be a sort of sketchy speed-painting (allthough it was around 6-7 hours work to begin with, not exactly speed...) but now I think I will give it a serious revamp, looking at the nice feedback

Snarky · Tue 06/02/2007 18:27:16

Good work, Andail. I like it a lot. It has a subtle Scandinavian feel to it, I think, more than a Frazetta fantasy art look. The monsters recall Theodore Kittelsen, and the palette John Bauer.

I would like to get more of a sense of distance from the background. The castle should almost start to blend in with the sky, I think. Currently it almost looks copy-pasted in there, and the colors (the contrast of the walls with the roofs) are too vivid.

Andail · Tue 06/02/2007 22:49:05

Work in progress:

Major edit. Doesn't look very major, but the whole scaling up of the boat and its passenger took several hours.
Improved water texture, changed monsters' appearance, added more highlights, more details over all and cleaned up the whole lower half of the image.

auriond · Tue 06/02/2007 22:59:55

It looks more dramatic now! But you might want to blur out the bow a little - it looks too sharp in comparison to the rest of your edges.

Oz · Wed 07/02/2007 13:35:55

Quote from: Andail on Tue 06/02/2007 16:56:10The faces of the monsters were deliberately made so they wouldn't express the ordinary human kind of wrath, but some sort of spooky, excited expression. Some inspiration taken from the Shadow of the Colossus, if you've seen those monsters.
Now that I've seen Krysis' version, I understand it would still work better to have them pissed of in the regular sense

No! Please don't change this. The hollow gaze of the monters is the soul of the painting. Very expressionate! I also liked the scene better with the guy rowing the boat facing the monsters. I also like the roughness of the original version. Nice work!

EDIT:

Also, I think the "calmness" of the men in the boat has a certain effect on the scene. It gives the impression that they are experienced habitants of the land and know its creatures - maybe even used to running into these kinds of monsters.

Great work, I was really touched by this!

nulluser · Wed 07/02/2007 16:01:08

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Nikolas · Thu 08/02/2007 08:20:13

Petter, this is brilliant!

But I'm all for realism...

Where is the archer getting his arrows from? Cause I don't see a quiver anywhere really... :p Going to hunt lake men unprepared seems like a bad idea

Anyways, it is a really tiny detail, but just stroke me... While browsing for the 20th time this thread (can't stop watching this "cover"!)

Andail · Fri 09/02/2007 18:22:57

Latest milestone...various changes. Might do one last version if people still have ideas.

ManicMatt · Fri 09/02/2007 19:47:47

You didn't sign it!

I love it! (Except for the monster's eyes, but that could be personal taste.)