rlederer illustration [***UPDATED PG 02*** 11-07-2009 Cartoony-ness!]

[rlederer]

Hi all,
Some new stuff for fun and work Newest stuff up top. Hope you enjoy. Characters were about 3 hours apiece. The environment took about 3 days all told. A higher res version of the enviro piece at my blog. http://raylederer.blogspot.com. Thanks for looking...










This illustration is from a design brief for a book called Green by Jay Lake that is due to be published soon by Tor books. Dan Dos Santos has the honor of illustrating the real cover and it's a beauty. I'm fortunate enough to have had some great input from Dan, Scott Fischer, Greg Manchess, Rebbecca Guay, Donato, Boris and Julie, Dave Palumbo and the rest of the IMC alumni of 2008. Thanks all! I could not have progressed as far as I did without your help and encouragement!

-Ray

****UPDATED***: I did a bit of tweaking to the legs to get rid of the heavy handed musculature. Not a big change but I think it helps some. Thanks for the input everyone!

Medium: Digital and Oil on Panel



Attachment 427010

[shashank]

to good light work

[Alex Alexandrov]

Great image great light and color - thou i dont like her anatomy on the legs ..and her left hand is a bit short

[Cepro]

nice, but the pose is rather strange, specially with the picture beeing cropped like that.

[PieterV]

I agree that the pose and anatomy of the legs is a bit strange. I really like the rendering tough, reminds me of Nox. The face and hands are my favourite parts.

I'm a bit confused, but what part is in oils? I think one of the attachments isn't displaying properly for me.

[Ebony-chan]

Wow beautiful coloring and lighting here. However I do have to agree with the others here. There are some anatomy issues here. Like the legs,and the arm with the bow looks odd. Her head looks a bit to big for her body as well.

[rlederer]

Ebony-chan: Thanks. I'll have another look at some of those anatomy issues. I think If I eliminated the chiseled look of her legs that would solve it since I did use my own photo ref for the figure.

rubbadub: Wow! Thanks for the Nox nod! I'm a fan of his work for sure. As for the anatomy issues I'll have to be more careful with my next piece. Thanks for the feedback!

Cepro: Thanks Cepro. Compositionally there's nothing I can do about that at this stage. I'll just move on with lessons learned from this one You've helped me to see more clearly.

rubabdub: Thanks rub. The original oil painting is more or less covered up with digital now. It was a weird backwards learning experience for me . I used Donato's technique of blowing up the original comp on a copy machine and transferring it to masonite using a brayer and matte medium. Since it was my first time doing a real oil illustration I made a lot of mistakes from the beginning so I took the relatively fleshed out painting, photographed it and worked it over in PS. I learned a bunch from that experience and look forward to applying that knowledge to the next piece.

Alex Alexandrov: Thanks for the feedback. The hand was intended to be foreshortened to face the viewer a bit however it seems as though that's not being communicated so I'll need better eyes on the next piece during the process.

shashank: Thank you!!! ...

I think I'll post in the WIP section here for my next piece 'cuz you've all got some great input.

Thanks again,

-Ray

[Elwell]

Hi Ray, it's a good strong piece, and I know that it's too far along for major modifications. Here are a couple of comments to bear in mind for the next one, though.

Everyone seems to agree that the pose is a bit awkward, especially her squat. Part of the problem is that it's built around a straight, vertical line of action that runs down her spine and right between her symmetrical legs. I really love the action of her hair, and I played around with shifting her torso to follow that, so that the entire pose is built around reflected diagonals, with no perpendicular actions. (Horizontals and verticals give stillness and stability, diagonals give action.) Also, I brought her left knee forward so the legs wouldn't mirror each other.



The other crit I have is that some of the forms are verging on overrendered, especially in her face. You could play down those cool center lights quite a bit without losing anything.

Good luck, I look forward to seeing the next one!

[TheMandalore]

Wow! Great! Beautiful Book cover !

[Asatira]

Elwell pegged exactly what I saw as the problem with the legs. Other than that, I'm going to add to the praise. Very well painted overall. The composition works really well on its own and as a book cover.

[rlederer]

Elwell: Wow! Thanks for the quick sketch Tristan. That's awesome! I totally see what you're mean. That makes perfect sense. I think I took my photo-ref too literally instead of embellishing on the pose. I'll think a little quicker on my feet next time around. This is tremendously helpful. I feel like I should buy you a beer or something now! You rock...

TheMandalore: Thanks Mandalore!!!

Asatira: Thank you so much! That's great to read

[Alex Alexandrov]

Hey man iv just been to your blogspot .... that class you took is something super ultra cool .. i saw you painting in the early state .. and i think that it looks so much better without the strong muscles that you put after that ...

[rlederer]

Hey Thanks Alex. I was going for something specific in terms of the character but I think the lesson learned here is to not stick too religiously to my own preconceptions of what 'should' be but rather what looks best.

Yes the class was absolutely life changing. The camaraderie and spirit of purpose was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I'm still having flashbacks of wonderful moments and the genuine warmth of everyone involved. Sign me up for the next one...

-Ray

[n i c o]

Wow ! Great colors and atmosphere, and i like the light reflection on the front character's skin ! Great work !

[simoncheng]

very strong concept.
color and scene just great.
lot of detail spotted.
remind me of indiana jones : temple of doom.

[rlederer]

n i c o: THank you so much! I see you're a fan of saturated colors too judging by the work you just posted

simoncheng: Thanks simon! hahah! 'Look out Dr Jones!'

[andyhunt]

Very nice work! If I were to gripe about anything, it would be the anatomy in her knee - it looks like the bones are bit busted up. That's still a minor complaint compared to how well most of this image is rendered.

[rlederer]

Thanks andy

[waranghira]

I think I took my photo-ref too literally instead of embellishing on the pose.

oh, so the model didn't pose naturally for the shot.

but yeah, nicely rendered!

[DavePalumbo]

wonderful finish on this! Fantastic attention to detail and lighting. Hope to see you at the next one, sir (fingers crossed of course)

[rlederer]

Dave: Thanks Dave! You were a huge help. My fingers are crossed as well although i definitely plan to make it to San Diego next year...

waranghira: Thanks waranghira...

-R

[Matsign]

It would be an uncomfortable for her to make a full draw on that bow, from that hand, if she is shooting toward where she is looking. That goes back to the pose and what everyone else is saying.

The complementary figures in the back are a nice touch. Nice work on the hair and metal details!

[rlederer]

Yeah basically she'd have to do a full 180 to shoot where she's looking. Ah well. I think more carefully next time

[J Wilson]

I love the play of the purple and orange, it's a great color combo for this piece. The overgrown architecture adds some very interesting elements to the background too. Very cool.

[rlederer]

Thanks J! I tend towards the more saturated complimentary colors and high contrast. What can I say, I'm a Libra

-R

[Kristina]

Hey Ray! Awesome to see your piece up here. She turned out lovely- your attention to detail really makes her stand out. (love the belt design) As for the leg- I think just moving her right (our left) knee forward so she's not doing a plièe would make it look less akward in a jiff.

Look forward to gushing more about Neko Case with you in the future!

[themissinglink]

sweet piece, the update does help a lot. hope to see ya at the next master class

[rlederer]

Kristina: Thanks Kristina! I think your right about the leg. I may revisit later when I have time. I'm already on to the next thing Neko Rulez!

themissinglink: thanks! but who are you? who is themissinglink?!?!?! very mysterious...

[Hatonacat]

ha ha whyy hello there rayford!
its looking good over here too!

[ROBOT_TANK]

The first flaw I noticed was the neck and head area. Even for that awkward pose, it looks like her head is a bit too much forward, but I think I'm the only one that mentioned it, so maybe it's not an issue to raise. Also, the skin seems to have an odd texture. Other than those two points, it's a great piece. The background is beautiful and I love the rendering on the weaponry, awesome detail.