Fan Art Relaxing at Denas Lake -critque/thoughts?- - PSO-World.com Forums

Sha Sha · **Relaxing at Denas Lake -critque/thoughts?- -** 07-03-2009, 11:12 AM

My contest entry was Relaxing at Denas Lake

i wanted to hear thoughts and stuff about it.
I got it sent in 2 mintues to spare on the last day. I was sick all week (still am)
I had a 103.4 fever the whole time i was drawing it and spent 9+hours working on it
I sketched the pose and linearted it in openCanvas. The CG and sketch of the background was done in Photoshop and the CG for the background was done in Corel Painter 10.

So thoughts?
and sorry if i cant post it still? i thought it would be ok since the contest has ended

THe character is my Fortetecher Tassja

Ryna · 07-03-2009, 11:29 AM

I thought this picture looked very nice, especially given the circumstances under which it was drawn. The way she is holding that Halarod seems very uncomfortable to me though.

qoxolg · 07-03-2009, 12:28 PM

Not bad! like Ryna said the hand looks a bit uncomfortable.

Otherwise I have some small style problems with the picture, but I don't think you feel like hearing my rambling, so I'll just shut up

Sha Sha · 07-03-2009, 08:02 PM

go ahead and post them i need some xD

Elwain · 07-03-2009, 10:08 PM

The only the I would like to point out (if you dont mind) is the legs. they seem a tad odd. not particularly bad.

over all though, its a nice pic!

HUnewearl_Meira · 07-03-2009, 11:08 PM

The picture includes a pleasing arrangement of colors. It is easy on the eyes. The head placement on the neck seems a little off, though.

Sayara · 07-04-2009, 08:16 AM

I love how soft and comfortable this image is, i just wish the outlines were bit more smooth and blended it'd help make it more comfortable.

CupOfCoffee · 07-04-2009, 12:42 PM

I didn't even submit a contest entry, so any and all critique by me can be taken with a grain of salt. That said, I do study art at university.

+ The pose is good. It's an interesting posture that isn't seen too terribly often, although it does have a noticeable anime vibe. Then again, PSU is basically an anime styled game, so no lost points there.
+ Your perspective is pretty successful, especially in the weapon.

- The coloring looks a little flat, and the lack of a real background hurts the end result. Remember that almost nothing in existence is only "one color." Reflective color and subtle tone shifts and other nuances are what bring color to life. This would be especially apparent in the hair and skin tones, which are organic. There could be all sorts of wild arbitrary color (subtle, but enough to matter) and reflections of blues and greens and purples bouncing off things, but most areas just seem to have been given one hue and then hit with a really light black for shadows (which reminds me about shadows--they're not just black! It usually looks cool to do them in a darker shade of the color that the thing is, or even in an entirely different color. Do some experiments and see what tickles your fancy).
- The shading and highlights appear in places to be randomly applied, or not given enough credit. It looks like there are only two modes of shadow; light and medium. While that can work in certain styles, it definitely flattens this picture. Where's the light source at? If it's the sun, it's going to be from above, so some of the shadows on the legs and arms are visually confusing. And I would want to see DARK shadows. You know, really dramatic, dynamic shadowsplosions! Also, the boots are really dark, but not in the dramatic way. Unfortunately they disappear into the stump or rock or whatever it is she's sitting on because they share the same color and shading, which is a particular shame because it makes it difficult to see the (really nice) posture of the feet.
- The line work is a bit off. I won't give you too much advice on the wobbliness because I have the same exact problem. I mean, how are lines supposed to be straight when you're working with a tablet? You can't see precisely where the pointer is going because you aren't physically touching the screen, and that little white end knob (and even the nicer felt ones) don't exactly skate along the drawing surface like a pen or a pencil would in real life. It's tough. However, I will say that you should try experimenting with different line weights, especially in a more stylized image like this one. It looks here like all lines are basically the same thickness, with maybe a few pixels' worth of variation in some areas. But it could be so much more! Especially on the outmost edge of the figure, where the lines should be the darkest and fullest. Or, if you don't want to embrace the flat cartoony look (which can admittedly be a beast to pull off when you're also sort of going for elements of realism), try no outlines at all. Let the plane shifts, colors, shading, and highlighting do the work. That can be tricky at first, but it's not too terribly difficult to get the hang of. Hardest part I'd say is just breaking out of the outlines habit.

Anyway, all that said, I like the piece (especially the eyes)! Good on you for doing it all with a crippling fever, too. When I get sick like that I don't get anything done at all. Even reading sometimes becomes too big a chore to be bothered with.

Sha Sha · 07-04-2009, 01:33 PM

thank you for the help I shall try to fix the mistakes in the next image =D
that really helps alot

qoxolg · 07-04-2009, 04:52 PM

CupofCoffee pretty much nailed what I wanted to say

Quote:

The line work is a bit off. I won't give you too much advice on the wobbliness because I have the same exact problem. I mean, how are lines supposed to be straight when you're working with a tablet?

Simply draw your lines on a resolution of something like 8000x6000 and keep zoomed to at least 100%, 200% zoom gives perfect smooth lines, no magic, really!

Also with soft colors, try to color your linework by using Sayara's line coloring tutorial.