MONSTERWORK SHOP - FINAL VERSION DUE TONIGHT (MONDAY)

[loominous]

Miguel:
Looks nice, cool design, and I like the pose/expression. At this point I'd focus on experimenting with some lighting setups and backdrops, as the current ones are quite flat and uninteresting, and making sure the interesting parts pop out.

Misj:
Nice backdrop and flow, like the poses. The lack of values (or is she supposed to be white?) makes it tricky to get an overall impression though, which is what I'd focus on at this point.

dactylopus:
I like the low angle and the design could work out well with some nice dramatic lighting and backdrop. I'd focus on sketching out lighting and composition ideas, very roughly at first, then more refined when you're satisfied.

cat:
I like the roughness of the sketch, and that you've held off any details before going into values/colouring, as you're then able to experiment freely, without sticking to stuff because you like some rendering or details.

ProgZmax:
I like the triangular composition, the monster design, and it tells a story nicely. At this point I'd focus on trying out different composition ideas/lighting setups, before going into details and being stuck with renderings you don't want to ditch. The tricky thing with line art is that it doesn't tell whether a piece will work with values/colours, so you need to keep sketching up lighting ideas to see whether the piece will work as a whole, which is the point of thumbnails. It has the potential of being a very nice dramatic piece, or a flat composite of meticulously rendered elements. The easiest way to ensure the former is to work zoomed out (about the size of the above thumbnail, where you can't see any details), and work on the entire image, trying to make it work as light blobs. If you can show these blobs to someone and they go: "oo, looks like a nice pic!", then you've succeeded, and can start zooming in and add details, knowing that the piece will work as a whole.

waheela:
I like the idea and monster, and the sketching style in general, rough but readable. It's very flat atm, so I'd start differentiating areas value wise, preferably making important elements pop out, and subdue uninteresting ones.

nihilyst:
I like it in general, just feel rather flat atm, and the placement of boat is a bit on the edge of the pic. I'd try a lighting setup with light coming somewhere from around the boat to create a nice focus/interesting light setup, and creating more depth - since water contains plenty of scattering particles, you can add as much depth as you like atmosphere wise.

mordellas:
Looks very promising. Would start sketching in values asap, before spending more time on details, as you may end up finding that the current backdrop/composition doesn't work well with the lighting. Perhaps experiment with a lower angle? (the horizon is nice n low, but it would be nice to get a better sense of the scale of the (huge) monster).

Cerno:
Cool monster design, and nice roughness of the sketch (apart from the detailed claw like bubbly thingies), and with some tweaking it can be turned into a very nice dramatic scene. Atm I think the biggest thing to experiment with is the angle of the whole scene, making it less side view and flat and more 3/4 and with depth. While doing so, you could try pushing the values more, making things close the darkest, and the things furthest away brighter with very little contrast. Lastly, I'd try to achieve a nice focal point in the image, using values/lighting, where you choose a spot which you think is the most important/interesting, and making sure if pops out. The easiest is by making sure this area has the most contrast, either by having a dark object infront of a bright background, or a bright object infront of a dark, and making sure that the other areas have lower contrast, not to compete. You basically want the viewer's eyes to go straight to that point, and even when viewing the image as a small thumbnail our eyes should be drawn there, even though we have no idea what we're looking at.

Andail:
Looks neat, though a bit flat at this point, though I'm guessing you'll be tweaking these things. I'd either go for lots of atmosphere or punch, either could work in this case I think. It's kinda unclear whether you're going for a camera tilt atm, looks like it on the right, but not on the left. Think a tilt would work nicely in a dramatic/actiony scene like this.

selmiak:
Think you've created a nice focus/framing of the monster with the values and foreground. Think it's crucial to determine whether you're going to add any other characters at this point, as the composition/lighting needs to work for everything, so I'd focus on including all the major elements at this point, and setting up a composition/lighting that will make them pop.

SookieSock:
Cool idea n characters. I'd focus on making it more readable and exciting as a thumbnail at this point. Atm the monster kinda blends into the backdrop, instead of popping out, and there's no real light setup. You might have one in mind, but until you put it down, there's no real way to determine whether it'll work out as you wish. So I'd zoom out, and focus on the image as a bunch of blobs, and whether they work in this state, and forget about any details until you're happy with them in that crude state.

Snarky:
Really cool design, and I'm glad to see something more towards Tim Burton, though it may just be the sketching style. The angle is nice, but I'd experiment heavily with the backdrop, to ensure the piece doesn't fall due to a dull one.

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Christ, with 14 entries this took its sweet time.

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If someone wants to use the thumbnails/headers:

Code: AGS

[img]http://marcus.krupa.se/AGS/workshop_13-05-05_monster/stage_II_thumbnails_compilation_a01.jpg[/img]

[b]Miguel:[/b]
[b]Misj:[/b]
[b]dactylopus:[/b]
[b]cat:[/b]
[b]loominous:[/b]
[b]ProgZmax:[/b]
[b]waheela:[/b]
[b]nihilyst:[/b]
[b]mordellas:[/b]
[b]Cerno:[/b]
[b]Andail:[/b]
[b]selmiak:[/b]
[b]SookieSock:[/b]
[b]Snarky:[/b]

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Loominous:

The easiest way to ensure the former is to work zoomed out (about the size of the above thumbnail, where you can't see any details), and work on the entire image, trying to make it work as light blobs. If you can show these blobs to someone and they go: "oo, looks like a nice pic!", then you've succeeded, and can start zooming in and add details, knowing that the piece will work as a whole.

I can give it a try.

[dactylopus]

Time for the critiques.  I didn't realize that so many of us had gotten involved, this is great!  It's also difficult, because some of them are still early sketches, and a lot of you are doing so well I can't imagine what I could say that would help in any way.  I tried to give a bit of good and bad to everyone.

Miguel: This is a wonderful piece.  I really love the design and attention to detail.  If I didn't know that Gorn was an inspiration, I would have said the hands are a little weak, but they actually look perfect.  My only question: What is he doing there?  He looks bored.  Maybe he could have some scraps of food or something in front of him.

Misj': I love this work.  You have a great style, and it works well in this image.  I love the expressiveness of the background characters.  The monster itself is a great idea, and looks truly beautiful and powerful.  While you've said this is set in a cathedral or church, I think it is better if that building is ancient and partially in ruin.  Just my thoughts, because what you have there already looks somewhat cavernous and I like it.

cat: I like the composition of your image.  The idea of a water dragon is awesome, and having it swoop down from the kelp forest is a really cool way of reconciling the differences between land and sea dragons.  I'm looking forward to seeing more detail.

loominous: This is fantastic.  The mood of your piece is wonderful.  The playfulness of the little creatures is great next to the large monster.  In a low contrast piece, I like the high contrast between the character types.  I would suggest not going the route of adding a whole hood full of them, though, as I think it would offset the scene a bit, making the kittens seem like the monsters in the room.

ProgZmax: I really like this elder god.  Your lighting on the left is going very well, and I am eager to see what full application will look like.    As far as the monster itself, I think the wings could use a bit of work, but it looks great.

waheela: This guy is awesome.  For some reason I doubt he's playing fair in that card game.  I like the He-Man inspired equipment as well.  I'm a little worried we're going to see up his skirt when it's all finished, but I trust you not to make him that monstrous.

nihilyst: This picture is very nice.  It has a sense of mystery and dread.  It's a bit tricky to notice the tentacles are even there, but I assume that's a part of what makes them so terrifying.  Also, I am curious about the scale, as it's tough to tell if that is a row boat or a galleon.

Mordalles: This thing is awesome.  It reminds me of some of the big creatures in Star Wars (mostly the prequels, like the Acklay).  The angle is nicely chosen, it gives a good overview of the scene and includes the scale of the monster.  I'm looking forward to seeing your color choices and lighting.

Cerno: I love the look of this beast.  The scene is set really well, and if I wasn't sure that was a wizard I would say that guy is toast.  The issue I see is that the bottom claws are somewhat unreadable.  I would definitely take a look at those eagle pictures, I think they could help.

Andail: This is a really nice scene.  The idea is great, and your monster is a looming menace.  I would consider adding some luminescence, mostly to the monster because your sci-fi environment still has a fairly natural feel that I think works.

selmiak: Your picture is wonderful.  The atmosphere and mood are great, and the monster, while indeed scary, has the most confused look on his face and I love it.  Another character might help to give a sense of scale, so I'd say go for that.

SookieSock: This is a fantastic shot.  There is a lot of energy, and a real sense of urgency on the part of the horse archer.  The faceless tree monster is a haunting thing to behold.  I imagine it having leaves (albeit dried, dead leaves).

Snarky: This is really cool.  It's one of the most interesting concepts, and it's coming along nicely.  The composition of the shot is great, really makes you feel like this is your new mother.  She's really creepy, too.  I'd like to see what the interior of the house will look like, and anticipate the colors.

And here's a little update on my own image:



I traced the pencil drawing and moved some things around a bit.  I worked out the issue with him looking too tall, and a couple of the other proportion problems.  Don't mind the colors, I was just messing around.  I'd rather not have it be blue, actually, but it may stick because it looked better than other colors.  I also need to do something about the shoulders, I'm toying with the idea of adding more horns or something like that.

I'm pondering fur patterns and lighting next.  Lighting is another one of my weaknesses, so I'm trying to avoid what my instincts are telling me, which is to have the creature lit from a torch or flashlight held by the observer in front.

Thanks for the critiques, I've gained a lot of insight already!  I'm not likely to put this guy in an ice cave, although I like the idea.  The Wampa is a huge inspiration here, no doubt.  I am actually designing this as a piece of concept art for a possible game I've been planning, which would put this monster in a series of caves and tunnels below a mine.  But, if I ever do an icy setting, I could see a cold weather variant being a probability.

[loominous]

So when you're experimenting with lighting and composition, you really wanna keep it small n sketchy, to allow you to quickly try out ideas, or you'll run out of steam very soon.

The easiest way is to simply zoom out quite a bit, where you can no longer see any details, and work in that state, or, if you have a program like photoshop, just keep watching the navigator (thumbnail) window, and ignore the ugly blobs in the main window.

An additional benefit of working like this is that you'll run across plenty of "happy accidents", where the looseness of the sketch creates new ideas or seeds to ideas (one blob that you accidentally laid down may turn out to look like a weird cool tree stump, that you can keep n refine etc, or just ignore n paint over).

So in the case of dactylopus' monster, a very quick n sketchy idea could be this, which is basically just me slabbing down some shapes, without much thought (aside from the right lower cliff, which I paid at least some attention to:



Despite it being very quick and boring, you still get a sense of the pic, and hopefully it looks fairly exciting, despite it being just some vague shapes.

Just to show just how messy these things look in full res, here it is.

So yea, just try to ignore details as best as you can, and play around with blobs. If the blobs are exciting, details will be the cream on top of solid painting.

Btw, the grey border is there to try out a cropping of the image, and is just a grey solid on a topmost layer, which you can adjust as you want. This makes it easy to adjust the cropping at any point, as if you just expand the canvas size, you'll end up with no content in those hiddeen areas, whereas here you already have at least some sloppy blobs present.

[SookieSock]

It's so cool to see so many people doing this workshop together, the talent is amazing.
At this stage for most people I will probably just be commenting on what I feel might be missing. You might have already had every intention of including them it's just not down in the sketch yet.

Miguel

I really like the traditional sketching style of your monster; it reminds me almost of an etching, especially one of your earlier sketches. I think all the small details you have, each precise pen stoke really make this monster unique. The only real thing I have to say at this stage he looks a little top heavy, his head is half the size of his body. (If this is intentional though to enhance the foreshortening disregard this )

Misj

I love the setting for your image and the bright sunny colours. Will you contrast them to the monsters? Your monster itself is good and well thought out from looking at your earlier sketches but I feel the pose you have used for this image could do with a little improvement. If I hadn't seen your earlier sketches I wouldn't know from this image that the monster had a lions body, the view is too straight on. Even just making it slightly side on would improve this.

Dactylopus

The foreshortening of the monster is the thing that really stands out in this image.  At this stage the only real input I have to take the menace further is to slightly change the angle of the viewer slightly so we are looking up at the monster more, to make it look as if he is bearing down.

Cat

At this stage im not sure what feeling you are going for. I can really see this image along with your reference images being deep under the sea, maybe with limited visibility. I think the mouth of your monster could really be the focal point of the image

Maybe if you included the mouth from one of your earlier sketches, make it deep and dark, maybe even increase the foreshortening of the face area a little. You might have already had this in mind (sorry if this is the case)

Loominouse

First off, with yours loominouse the lighting is brilliant, and if it's going to go the same way as your earlier work then it's looking good. I really like at the moment. Your lighting has quite deep shadows which contrast nicely with the bright sunlight from the window.  At the moment it looks like the whole image will be warm but it might be nice contrasting that warmth from the window with a danker, darker floor.

ProgZmax

The potential story behind this image is the focal point at this stage I think. At the moment though im not sure the perspective is readable. The cliff that the cultists are on, is it supposed to be a hill with the point being the apex or is it flat? Changing the lighting or the angle could make it more understandable to the viewer

Waheela

I like the start you have made, and I think it does make the viewer question the story behind the image. I think maybe to make the monster more menacing like he is in the story you could make him taller so he towers over the fortune teller more. Your next step will be to add colour and lighting to the image, this will really change the overall feeling. Muted darker colours would make it more menacing bright warm sunny colours would make the image more playful.

Nihilist

The colours and the sketchy details of the monsters themselves are what really draw the view to this image. I like how the deep perspective of the image draws the view in. I think working with this and taking it one step further could be the only improvement at this stage, maybe making the image deeper and allowing us to see further back in the water. Having it in a bowl-like depression just closes things off too much I think.

Mordalles

This sketch is really good with the detail on the monster itself being what initially stands out for me. Ill reserve judgment for when you start adding lighting and colours. They will make or break this image I think

Cerno

I like the monster bearing down on the magician (it's got to be a wizard or magician with that pointy hat and staff) but your image is a little hard to read at this point, adding colours and lighting will improve this loads though. I have two main points for you to consider: What is the wizard doing? Is he is welcoming the dragon as a servant or is he fighting it? At this stage It could go either way. Also the background itself ends in a line with a very flat ‘horizon'. That's ok if we are in a cavern bit if this is outside it needs to extend off in to the distance.

Andail

I love the preliminary colours for this image and the perceived threat coming from the monster. Youve asked for critique specifically on the monster: To me the monster looks like a giant insect floating through the sky, maybe not after something specific but just out to do wanton destruction.
I think to make the monster more menacing with a more direct approach you could turn him slightly so he facing the direction he is going in (that is to say more downwards), increase the foreshortening and make him take up much more of the sky so he appears bigger bearing down on the view.

Selmiak

At the moment this monster doesn't look very menacing, with the only feeling of threat coming from the teeth. Everything else is very round and cuddly.  Looking back at your ref images:



I think this one of Gollum could be used to influence your own sketch to make him scarier.

Gollum is small in the image which just goes to show the monster doent have to be huge to be menacing. All Gollum's menace comes from the way he is crouched on the rock, he appears ready for any opponent all bunched up and ready to strike.
I really like the indistinct shapes surrounding him in the water, I know they were just quickly added but I don't think you should lose them entirely as the image progresses, tidy them up of course but I like the see-through, shadowy quality of them

Snarky

I really like the emptiness in the face as well as the room around the monster. It reminds me sort of the scene from the shining with the little girls in the corridor



I think the sketchy quality adds to this
It will be interesting to see how you colour this to keep the menacing, eerie feeling.

I haven't read anyone else's comments before posting this so I am uninfluenced and so that I give my first impressions.

[Kasander]

This workshop is moving so fast Reposting my monster:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/DUkQiKv.jpg[/imgzoom]

I've started writing feedback for you guys earlier today... that's a lot of monsters to comment on! 

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Loominous:

I took your advice and zoomed out and did a very rough light and shadow application to the entire image.  I've disabled the layers with the detailed lighting and shadow I did on the two cliffs for now so this will look, as you say, very blobby, especially since I couldn't always see some of the fundamental shapes very well.

Still, I think it turned out quite well, though I want to push the highlights up more on some things and the darks on others.

Here is a thumbnail made at the size I was working on.  What do you think  (it's easier to make out on a darker background for now)?

[loominous]

Prog:

Think it's a nice step, and reveals some of the challenges of the image (pretty much all images have these, so it's a matter of problem solving, and detecting these things early on is oh so much better than later). Also, as it often happens when one starts from black, it's quite on the dark side (it's the same as when you start from white, you tend to end up with bright images).

One way to check these things (as one quickly becomes accustomed to light levels, losing any objective sense), is to zoom out even more, and have a look:



Basically we only see some white outlines on a black canvas, and while this could be the case of a night time image, artists do usually try to add some contrasting elements.

For reference, here's the cave thumbnail sketch I did earlier in roughly the same size:



Might seem unfair to compare the two since it's a night painting, but a cave could well be pitch dark, but since I wanted more contrast to make things pop, I just added some light, and left the rationalization to poor dactylopus, should he choose to take the route.

Anyway, so the easiest way to introduce some big light blobs would be the sky, which is also incredibly handy, since clouds can look pretty much like anything, so you're free to mold it pretty much exactly to your liking.

Personally I'd focus on getting the monster to pop out of the backdrop, and since he seems dark, making the sky bright around him should do the trick, and would add some nice drama.

The second thing would be to get the shooter to pop, which is one of the challenges of the image. I think introducing some artificial light would be nice here, say, from a lamp, or torch on the ground. This would have some benefits: for starters, it would illuminate him, as there's little light at his spot. Secondly, it would provide warm light, that would contrast against the rest, and make him pop and add colour variation. Thirdly, it would help bring him closer, atmosphere wise, since we interpret warm coloured objects as being closer to us, further making him pop, and giving depth to the bg.

Just as important as the shooter, I'd really make the wizard at the edge pop, perhaps he's holding a staff with some nice lighting effects. Come to think of it, this should probably be the focal point of the image, so you should really try to come up with any reason to introduce contrast in this area. The monster is a big blob against a sky, the foreground guy is close and warmly coloured, so this guy needs his fair share of attention pullers.

Though this is messier, I'd also experiment with lowering the horizon. It shouldn't really affect the monster to any degree, and mostly the cliff. It would mess up the triangular composition to a degree, but I think it would be worth it, and should be solvable. Perhaps also moving closer to the shooter, making it feel more immediate, and personal. Having high angles tend to lead to a less urgent, distanced feeling, like watching an action scene from a chopper, rather than a hand held next to the actors.

[ThreeOhFour]

Hello, my sketch here:



It's just a thumbnail, I know, hope this is alright

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Loominous:

The second thing would be to get the shooter to pop, which is one of the challenges of the image. I think introducing some artificial light would be nice here, say, from a lamp, or torch on the ground. This would have some benefits: for starters, it would illuminate him, as there's little light at his spot. Secondly, it would provide warm light, that would contrast against the rest, and make him pop and add colour variation. Thirdly, it would help bring him closer, atmosphere wise, since we interpret warm coloured objects as being closer to us, further making him pop, and giving depth to the bg.

Just as important as the shooter, I'd really make the wizard at the edge pop, perhaps he's holding a staff with some nice lighting effects.

I was considering having a lamp but the idea is that he's doing this covertly and doesn't dare draw any attention to himself, so I introduced the idea of the lighthouse light shining in that direction and giving SOME illumination to his position.  As far as the cultist, eventually the book he's holding (the necronomicon) will be lit up as he holds it up for the Elder God to take.  I'm also experimenting with bringing a tornado-like effect from it going up into the clouds.

Though this is messier, I'd also experiment with lowering the horizon. It shouldn't really affect the monster to any degree, and mostly the cliff. It would mess up the triangular composition to a degree, but I think it would be worth it, and should be solvable. Perhaps also moving closer to the shooter, making it feel more immediate, and personal. Having high angles tend to lead to a less urgent, distanced feeling, like watching an action scene from a chopper, rather than a hand held next to the actors.

The horizon seems doable but I'm not sure about bringing the shooter closer.  I kind of like the idea of glancing over his shoulder close up (and it would eliminate the need for drawing another cliff) but at the same time I rather like his pose and such.  I dunno, I have to think about it ._.

[Misj']

Misj, yeah don't worry too much about that.

Cheers!

Also, thanks everyone for the feedback (keep 'm coming). I hope to provide some feedback myself later today!

I continued working on the piece, in this case Sandra's clothing.
-- Visit original post --

The opportunities with clothing are infinite; but they are also crucial to define a character. Depending on what you want you could go very classic or very outgoing. Now I can't say I'm very good at doing original clothing, but for this exercise I wanted to spend a bit longer on this subject.

Designing clothing for Sandra is unusual for two reasons: 1. the has a feline body, and 2. she has wings. As a result I cannot design anything that has to be pulled up, nor can I design anything that has to be pulled over the head. In other words: her clothing should be wrapped around her, and be closed either in the back or at the front.

Also, because of her character, I wanted most designs to be cloth-based (bright colours) with only the occasional leather or metal.

So here are some designs I came up with (front and back; bottom row are accessories). I don't know yet, which design I'll go for; but I kind like the right most of the second set. It's nice and simple (which fits the innocence of the characters). Ideas and comments are appreciated.


Here is a nice tutorial on drawin clothings: How to Draw Clothes by Paris Christou

[SookieSock]

I've had another play around with the pose of the monster, I'm much happy with this one

Now on to the lighting

[cat]

Miguel: Scary monster with high level of detail. I like that you changed the tail. Now the colouring looks a bit flat, so I'm looking forward to your next version with shadows and stuff.

Misj: I'm glad you changed the monster to look more "monsterish". I like the composition a lot, the foreground monk adds
depth. Only the left wing bothers me a bit. I don't know if it is because it's cut or something different. I seems out of
balance.

dactylopus: I already gave you some feedback the previous week. I like the new version much better, the proportions work
really well and the hand in the front is scary.

loominous: Very atmospheric scene, immediately reminded me of this. However, I'm missing the monster feeling a bit.

ProgZmax: When I first saw your last week's sketch, I was a bit worried how you will draw the attention to the focal point. But you did a great job with lighting to pull the priest(?) in focus. My only complaint would be that the gun man looks a bit stiff.

waheela: I think you created a very believable combination of man and crocodile. Your drawing shows the scene from your original post very well. However, I'm missing some emotion on the Kus' side. Is he aggressive? Curious? Even scared of the outcome of this fortune telling?

nihilyst: I like the organic look, a place where I definitely wouldn't want to be. I would love to see more variation in the saturation and contrast of your drawing. Try to play a bit with Aerial perspective

mordellas: I love the composition and details on your monster. Looking forward to see this colored.

Cerno: I think you captured very well that this is a heavy mammal that on one hand struggles a bit to stay in the air, but on the other hand can smash you with ease. I'm not too fond of the feet, though. They look like they belong to someone else. One suggestion for the next stage: Define your light source and see, where there will be shadows.

Andail: This pic reminds me of Aeon Flux. That's also the feeling I get from the moster - something hovering over the city, but not about to attack, only observing. I'm not sure if this is what you were going for, but I like it. I also like the composition and colors.

selmiak: As mentioned before, I like the atmosphere and pose of head and arms. But I think the tail is hanging too relaxed.

SookieSock: Wow, that's some scary tree... the missing face is great. The only thing that bothers me a but is the different level of detail of the tree and the knight - but I guess this is still work in progress, right?

Snarky: As mentioned before, I love the mask-like face, the perspective and especially the pose. Looking forward to what the interior and furniture will look like.

Kasander: I love it - it's so scary and weird, definitely one of the most original monsters in this workshop!

304: I like the lighting and the spikes of the monster. However, I think the pose is a bit stiff. On the other hand, it has a zombie-esque look now!

Edit: Just realised that some people added new versions of their drawings. If not mentioned otherwise, I refer to the drawing first posted in this thread.

Edit 2:

I don't know yet, which design I'll go for; but I kind like the right most of the second set. It's nice and simple (which fits the innocence of the characters). Ideas and comments are appreciated.

The problem with this design is, it won't stay up - the slightlies movement and the scene will change from Disney innocence to R-Rated 

[Mordalles]

thanks for the feedback thus far! i'll try and give mine too, but beware, i might drag you down with me! hehe.

Miguel:
I love the monste design. Great detail. He seems to be falling a bit over towards his left, and his feet's perspective seems to suggest the wall will start a bit lower (where it meets the floor).

Misj:
It certainly looks like a fun piece, and you have a great drawing style. I can't say too much other than, respect!

Dactylopus:
You really nailed the theme "monster"! The update really improves it quite a lot, and the larger head and hand was a great idea.

Cat:
I will also reserve to see how it progresses, but it looks like a great idea!

Loominous:
As always, simply a joy just to see any new image you conjur up. I always learn a lot just following your posts.

ProgZmax:
Love the whole concept, and you have one of the most amibitious projects in here. Looking forward to follow your progress.

Waheela:
I certainly never tried drawing something from 1st person, so much say I am impressed. The only thing I can think of now is that the monster's legs will probably be underneath the table, even from your viewpoint, unless of course, it is a very tall monster sitting with his legs next to table, and not underneath it.

Nihilyst:
Ooh, I love the whole design of the piece. Will follow with anticipation!

Cerno:
Great design! I love the look of the monster. All I can think is the wings itself. I'm no expert in wings, but I would think that when something flies his two wings will stay in line together to keep balance. So his rightwing's end point probably be in line with his other wing's end point. (in terms of height) not sure if i'm making sense.

Andail:
I also love the look of this, and can't much crit it at this point.

Selmiak:
Still a bit early to comment for me, but I think it looks great thus far. Will follow your progress!

SookieSock:
Just love the horse! Great motion shot! I am eager to see the progress!

Snarky:
Love the design of the character. I think the mood of the colours will really sell this picture!

Kasander:
Wow, just love the perspective. This too me is the scariest thing in here! love it.


an update on mine,
i'm going to change the shell pattern and eyes later on, but for now...
trying colours and values. kinda difficuly making the shape of the monster read from the background, but i will continue with this for the next week before i worry about painting details. i will worry about lightning a bit later also. first want to get basic values in there.
i'm looking for a more overgrown cavern with more greens ...

and as loominous suggested, trying to make a very loosely painted monster stand out...

[cat]

Water dragon, week 2, step 1 - Color
Back to initial post

So, update for my drawing!

I started to decide on the colors. The water is blueish green, the kelp yellow-green, so I decided for my dragon on purple to get some contrast here. Underwater there is not much perspective guides beside the kelp going up to the single focus point out of screen. So I intended to use Aerial perspective (does this name even fit for an underwater scene?) which basically means stuff that is farther away is less saturated.

My goal was to draw the viewers eye from the bright top to the mouth of the dragon. At the first try, I didn't succeed at all. It is colorful but looks flat and dull. You can especially see that in the desaturated version I put underneath.

I started to add more contrast but was still not satisfied. Finally I changed the purple to a bluer tone, added shadows on the dragon itself and darkened the mouth as suggested by SookieSock.

[Misj']

ThreeOhFour: Somehow I was hoping that he'd be ordering an umbrella drink at some lava-covered resort for monsters and demons. The summoning in an old mineshaft (my interpretation ) adds some nice depth too though. I still think his pose is a bit 'boo!' rather than 'whrAAAArr!' though. Also I would place him a bit more to the right; I think he's currently a bit close to that piece of wood on the left, and their shapes get a bit mixed.

Miguel: I like the overall look of the monster. The green/yellow colour-palette make it very clear it's a reptile. I'm not entirely convinced about the hair though (since hair isn't really reptilian), and his fore-arms might need a second pass. I do like him as a chained monster though, and it nicely matches the despair in his eyes. Logic dictates a light-source from above, but I would love to see what a light-source from below would do to the image.

dactylopus: In the latest update I kinda miss the messiness/liveliness of the sketch. I've never been no fond of the very thin (single width) lines; but I also know that it works well for some artists, and it all depends on the way you render it. The foreshortening is very daring, but feel it works well with this pose. I would love to see some fog/smoke in the environment to have him appear from; that might add even a greater sense of depth.

cat: (not taking into account the last update) I think there's a lot of movement (and directional lines) in the chosen composition, that will work really well. I'm really interested in seeing the waterdragon come to life That being said, I do not envy you for choosing a (under)water scene...lighting and shadows are going to be a huge challenge; but I think it'll be worth it. I was wondering...is there going to be a light-source on/within the dragon itself?

loominous: Any image that depicts cat-like creatures in a positive light gets bonus points from me. The first thing I noticed, though, when I looked at the thumbnail (I didn't notice it in the full image) was that I though the character had a hood. Considering that his face is his most monsterish feature, I think that area should be left a bit more 'open'. Ever since the original sketch I've had a bit of difficulty reading the monster in the monster; you noted that "the 'monster' label will be used in a Quasimodo fashion, where it denotes freakish qualities, rather than scary", but it currently feels a bit like an old tired man in a library. From the sketch I tried to reconstruct the monster you envisioned, and I think there are some very nice ideas here that I know will fleshen out as you progress.


As I looked at my interpretation of your monster I thought a bit of Bordeaux red and some sort of monk's robe would fit him nicely (of course my interpretation of the monster can be completely wrong).

ProgZmax: I like the adventure-story finale-scene that you depicted, where the hero can't get close enough to the girl to rescue her, and has to disrupt the ritual from a distance (in a last desperate attempt). However, despite the ships and the characters I have a bit of trouble reading the (massive) size of your monster. I think this is due to the fact that he doesn't really interact with the foreground (yet). Also, I think if you lower the horizon he would become a bit more towering. Finally, because the man with the rifle is 'in the open taking his time to aim' the scene looses a bit of imminent threat. Maybe you could have him hide behind a few rocks preparing his one shot left (yes, I know he has more bullets in the box).

waheela: I've already given you some feedback, so I'll just add that I like the crocodile and the grave-yard background. I think the expression on the croc's face will be a challenge, but nothing I think you can't handle.

nihilyst: As with Cat's image, underwater lighting and shadows can make this piece really stand out. I like the monsters, but I think you could umpf the threat to the overhead ship. Oh, and I like use of the rough terrain with monsters in multiple angles.

mordellas: I kinda love this one. Especially the look on the monster's face...she's not evil (I imagine it's a mother protecting her offspring from the people invading her living space). I actually think it would work great in black and white; like some of the work of Doug Tennapel.


Cerno: In my version of this image the wizard controls the dragon; because I like dragon-controlling wizards (on top of a volcano). I think the monster itself is interesting...weird, but interesting; but I would look into his anatomy a bit. This could also help make his pose a little more threatening and dynamic. I like the wizard, and - to me at least - he steals the scene. I think his pose and the directional line towards the monster are strong, and I would build the image around that (rather than around the monster). All the lava would make for an interesting lighting by the way.

Andail: Yes, science fiction monsters in a post-apocalyptic world! - I don't know what the guy in the car is currently doing (is he getting into the car, getting out, trying to open the door?); but as that part of the story fleshes out a bit, I think it's going to be really nice. I would place the monster a pit more to the left and possibly have him interact with one of the buildings. And while I like his design, I would love to see a version where he's just a (fuzzy) looming shape in the fog where we could make out only very few features such as his beak and eyes.

selmiak: The slug/frog-mutant-thing makes me smile; it reminds me of something that could live in the world of Space Quest. It might not be the most menacing monster around, but I can see Roger die in this scene (as he regularly did in SQ). Personally I would embrace that look, and role with it.

SookieSock: I think the new pose is nice and strong. It's both solid/massive and menacing, so I would definitely continue with the new sketch. I'm not entirely sure how arrows are going to stop a living tree though; maybe if the arrows are on fire, and the tree is burning? - Also, I would love to see the horse jump over the 'arms' of the tree as he tries to grab him (I can easily see that happening in the new pose).

Snarky: The oddest of all monsters, and it kinda reminds me of the Edna & Harvey game combined with some Rugrats. The monster appears to be both careful and creepy which is a very intriguing combination I think. This is a piece that I would love to be rendered in pure back-and-white because I think it will add a lot to the overall feel.

[Ilyich]

First of all - watching this workshop unfold is a real treat. Thanks and kudos to all the participants, and to Andail for starting this beautiful thing!

Now, to the individual pieces:
 
Miguel:
The monster with the thorn in his side, behind whose hatred there lies a murderous desire... for love. He's not strange, he just wants to live his life this way. No, scratch that, he is strange. I actually like how thoroughly strange and creepy, yet somewhat vulnerable(in a strange, creepy way) this guy is. I really like the detailed comic book-like penicls as well.

The colours could use some work, though. Try picking more complicated, less saturated colours or just throw a third colour over the whole thing to start tying the piece together. Also, I think you can skip the proper light rendering here and go for a stylized comic book look. I think It could work really well with Moebius(or most other bande dessinée artists) style colouring.

Misj:
Everything seems pretty good here so far. I like how much time you're spending on creating and designing the main character - it's more of an animator's approach, and it's interesting to see it in the illustration workshop. The composition is really solid so far too - like the arches and character placement. The only potential problem I see here is the low value difference between the background and the right(her left) side of heroine's body, but I'm sure that'll be fixed with the addition of clothing. Oh, and the other problem is that I just wrote "heroine" and had no intention of changing that - she definitely doesn't feel like a monster. I'm sure we'll find it in our hearts to forgive you for that and enjoy the final result.

dactylopus:
There's an action shot if I ever saw one! Good job on capturing the monster's intensity, other than that - keep working on it and always listen to loominous.

cat:
Loving this composition! Very striking, effective and energetic. The only obvious problem with it is that it's not very defined and doesn't allow for a lot of extras, so everything will depend on the rendering of large forms and getting the atmospheric perspective(yeah, probably not aerial in this case ) just right. In any case - a very promising start, good luck!

loominous:
Always a treat to watch your process. Very much looking forward to seeing where you'll take this, because although it's looking great and very atmospheric already, I cannot at this point imagine what it will look like in full colour.

ProgZmax:
Love the epic feel, the lovecraftiness and that it tells a story. It's a pretty ambitious project, hope you'll get it done. Loominous has already covered most of what I wanted to say about this, so I'll just post this edit I scribbled for a thumbnail (Okay, I know we're not supposed to make edits, but it's tiny, unusable and can almost pass as a new thing. I also won't do this again, I promise ).

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/Qr2leAQ.jpg[/imgzoom]

waheela:
What a charming fellow! Seriously, there's something about this character that just grabs me, hope you'll manage to retain that je ne sais quoi in the colouring. Good luck!

nihilyst:
Good take on the topic, going slightly beyond simply "huge". Looks interesting and dark and depressing so far.

Mordalles:
Ok, this is just awesome. Awesome monster design, awesome details, awesome composition and sense of scale. Another good candidate for Moebius/comic book-style colouring, in my opinion, although the dark painted thing you're going for looks great too. Top marks, really looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

Cerno:
Cute! It may not be the best entry technically, but it has plenty of it's own charm - now you just need to find a palette that enchances this charm.

Andail:
Really digging the sci-fi setting, the warm, sickly, traditional art feeling of the colour scheme and the upward dynamic here. The monster itself is interesting enough as well, so all that's left is refining it.
So good luck with that, you're going to need it! [because there's a lot of stuff to paint here]

selmiak:
Don't have much to say about this one, except for I'm getting a slight Futurama vibe from this guy.

SookieSock:
Excellent, dynamic sketch, especially with the new pose. The colour palette is very atmospheric and harmonious too. Good work so far!

Snarky:
It's at a pretty early stage, so it's hard to say anything constructive, but I like the very particular brand of creepiness that it possesses and the choice of the angle is definitely a good one.

Kasander:
Really love how energetic and dramatic all your sketches are. The monster is really compelling and well though out, really scary too. Easily the most horrific one of the bunch, but because of the backstory - the one that I empathise with. Also, it made me go through some of the new Swamp Thing comics drawn by Yanick Paquette and that made my day. Thanks for that.

Ben304:
I like the design of the demon, but his pose is a bit stiff and nondescript. Coupled with a very backgroundy background it makes the whole scene feel somewhat lifeless and staged. I'm sure you could make it look nice, seeing how that's you, but I feel you should try an entirely different, more dramatic and illustration-appropriate composition for this.

Good luck to everyone who's working on something - all of this is really, really cool! Here, have another cup smiley:

[miguel]

Ivan, good Ivan, let's say that he's the son and the heir of a shyness that is criminally vulgar.

Colours, oh colours. If only I could see them like they really are! I'll tell you this, I'll consider going the Moebius way, although I really wanted to be able to pull this out by myself.

But Keats and Yates are on my side.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Ilyich:

I really like what you did with the thumbnail!  It didn't occur to me to keep the monster's face in silhouette like that but I'm liking how it looks.  The green is also a nice touch for the clouds, though I want to experiment with tarnished reds and save the green for the big monster himself.  I do really like the overall effect, though, and I might give something like that a try.

[waheela]

RESPONSES TO FEEDBACK

@Cerno
Thanks for your thoughts, Cerno! You suggested some good stuff! Left out the sword in my next draft, but I tried to change
his hands, size, sitting position, and face to make him more threatening. I'm still not completely satisfied with his face,
so it will likely change in later drafts.

@miguel
Coincidentally, I've been playing Skyrim again recently. Maybe this has indirectly affected my piece.

@loominous
Yeah, the original sketch was kind of flat. Currently working on shading now. Thanks for your feedback!

@dactylopus
True dat. Corrected the "looking up the skirt" thing with my pic. Thanks for your thoughts!

@SookieSock
Thanks for your critique! I agree with what you mentioned, so I made Lord Jagged bigger compared to the fortune teller in the foreground, and made him take up more space in the pic. Hope this helps fix the issue.

@cat
Very good point, cat. Since I'm not working with a human face, this is definitely one of my most difficult challenges so far. I'll continue to work hard to correct this issue with each draft.

@Mordalles
Definitely food for thought, thanks for your feedback! I ended up changing my composition based on your critique and I think it looks better.

@Misj'
Thanks for your confidence in me!

@Ilyich
Thanks!




WEEK 2, STEP 1: COLOR, REVISION, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF SHADING
(Updated original thread)

First off, I began with a rough color study based on some of my reference images. I didn't really spend that much time
on the marble or human skin, and the overall colors will continue to evolve anyway with each draft as I fiddle around with the
color balance setting in Photoshop.


(Accidentally made his chest blazon green and not purple. Will change later.)


After this, I went back to my piece and made some changes based on the feedback I received from you guys.


  ------> 

I changed Lord Jagged's hands to make them more threatening based on Cerno's comments (and face, see below image).
I also made him larger compared to the fortune teller and made him take up more space based on Cerno's and SookieSock's
critique. I corrected his sitting position based on dactylopus', Cerno's and Mordalles' suggestions, and lastly,
changed the human's hands and cards after reviewing the feedback Misj' gave me.

Below is a WIP. Still not happy with his face. Will work more on this tomorrow.