Original Artwork (big picture warning)

[Kaio]

Hi guys,
I didn't post a lot here in the past weeks. One reason was, that people kept saying: "Looks nice, but try not to stick to the reference too much!" and "Just paining the reference isn't art!".
So I took my time and tried myself on some paintings without any references. I'd be happy about any kind of feedback!

Here's my current piece "The Dark King":



The contrast is low by purpose to create a certain look, it's nothing wrong with my screen .

The proportions might be a bit off, but that happens when you work with nothing but your imagination, I guess.

Cheers!

[Andail]

I think you should have used references.

Seriously though, I think we need to set some things straight regarding references... just copying another artwork or photo pixel by pixel of course isn't a good idea, but using references to get anatomy, proportions or perspective correct can be crucial, and everybody does that, to some degree.

I think your picture is great in many ways - the overall composition is cool, the character has a lot of...character...etc, but it's just annoying how his anatomy is completely messed up.
For this reason I really think you should dig up some good photos displaying people with roughly the same pose and try to get the body right.
When you've done that I'm willing to discuss other aspects of your piece.

[Kaio]

 :o Really?
Well, the body is supposed to look not very human, in some way, but twisted and sick. I didn't intend to draw a perfect "sixpack", because I did that often enough. It's more supposed to be an evil caricature of the human body. I should have made this clear in the opening post, I think.
The only thing that I wanted to look somehow realistic (in terms of human anatomy) is the arms.
So, under these circumstances, would you be "willing to discuss other aspects of this piece"?

cheers!

[Andail]

Well, I've understood that he's not supposed to look entirely human - but with that being said he still needs to make sense anatomically, in his own way. He still has bones and muscles, and these should be attached to each other in logical ways.

To start with, have you noticed how his right arm is much longer and thicker than his left arm (which is way too thin)?

Also, his entire posture is hard to read. What is it conveying? What is the position of the right hand suggesting? What is he saying to the viewer?

[Kaio]

Thanks, Andail, for the more detailed feedback!

I also got feedback from other places and they also complain about the anatomy. Apparently, the shoulders are to broad and the right arm (from the viewers point of view) is to short (what you said, too).

So there really must be something wrong with the picture.

Anyway, thanks again. I don't know if it would make sense to fix the picture, because it would probably end up in a total redraw. Then, there might be new flaws.
I think the smartest thing to do would be leaving this picture as it is, and seeing it as a reminder, that I have to get more busy with serious anatomy tutorials in the near future .

cheers!

[loominous]

I like the design, but the picture strikes me a bit like one of those behind the scenes shots from lord of the rings, in that you have a cool character that has been photographed under unfortunate lighting conditions.

It's a bit like a scene from that latest batman movie, where you see him in a boringly lit parking garage, and can't help but to think: "huh, he actually looks kinda silly in that costume".

My point is that even if you have a cool character design like batman, you need to make sure you set up the shot that so it brings out the best in him.

In the case of darker characters, and I'm making the assumption that this guy is kinda dark, the customary approach is to use light very discriminately.

Here's a few examples I found of batman from a quick search:



As you can see, most of the pics have lighting coming from either high above, behind, or from a side, to bring out just enough of him out of the shadows.

Course, Batman is a bit of an extreme case, but similar setups are very common in dramatic shots, regardless of the character.

The setup in your current pic, by comparison, is similar to party flash photography photos, which kinda does the opposite, revealing pretty much everything, as the light is coming from the camera, and you have to rely on character design to mask parts in shadow.

Fortunately, altering the lighting doesn't mean that you have to start over, and you can experiment with different setups merely by darkening parts and bring out new ones, though alterations may take some work.

In any case, cool character.

[tzachs]

Am I the only one here that sees the face of a cat on the guy's chest?
If that's on purpose it's really cool.
If not it's even cooler...

[Kaio]

Evil cat is evil. 

(It's on purpose, btw)

[markbilly]

I really like the design and I agree with loominous on the lighting...

@loominous: Is that scene in Batman not lit like that deliberately?

Spoiler

To make Batman's costume look silly and thus the costumes of the 'copycats' look equally silly...

[close]

Either way, your point was made rather well!