Vladmir Harkonnen.

[patchzilla]

Hi! This is my first post and I wasn't sure if I should post this under Critique or Sketchbook. But since what I actually want is a Critique on a sketch I figured I'd try here first.

I'm doodling with my own interpretation of Dune characters. Starting with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen! (Boo! Hisss!) As I imagine him, he'd be marriage of Vileness and Luxury. Morbidly obese -to the point that he would be barely human- yet, still incredibly vain and proud......but most importantly, really, really disgusting.

Now, I have everything in place pretty much.
Bloated, drippy naked body. Decadent "suspenders."
Lines need to be cleaned up. And the hands need some reworking, I think.

But after pumping him with grossness - I think I forgot he is supposed to be a baron....the Floating Fat Man needs something more regal. Something that shows he's a nobleman. A crown, a cloak, a cape - something of a hint!

And I am stumped!

[Mumph]

Maybe he needs to be sitting down, I mean, he´s a pretty heavy guy, I doubt he could lift his weight like that
So maybe sitting on a thrown, a crown on his head? Maybe an item in his hand? It´s not really clear what he is doing.

Sorry i´m not familiar with the character so I don´t know if those suggestions work. I would also look at his arms, the proportion seems to be a bit of in HIS leftt upper arm, it´s very big in comparison to his right arm.

Keep it up!

[hala]

He's grotesque indeed, I definitely would not want to be touched by this man o___o

I don't know much about those characters, but when it comes to being a baron, I think the jewel things You have hanging from his nipples are a good start. Add some more jewelery, perhaps big bulky jewelry that screams "I'm rich and I want everyone to know it" type of thing--big fat rings, jewel encrusted pocket watch...etc

[patchzilla]

hehe, thanks guys.

A lil background on Big Bad Baron....sometimes I forget my own nerdiness.

He is from the SciFi Series Dune by Herbert. Back in the day, David Lynch directed a pretty intense Dune flick. (Moebius did some awesome character designs for a Dune movie that was never to be. Wahs) And a while ago, The SciFi channel had two miniseries based on the books. (Dune and Children of Dune)

But about Vladimir, one of the biggest (pun!) villians in the story. He is the cruel and incredibly intelligent baron of the Planet Geidi Prime of the House Harkonnen. He is hyper sexual and in love with his own nephew.

There are a few rumors as to why he is so fat. In any case, his obesity shouldn't seem natural. He has "suspenders" that more or less create an Anti-Gravity field around him and allow him to float.

So now you can see, that machine strapped to his back is keeping him in the air...no need for sitting. Mmmm...maybe I should put more movement in his gold chains for that.

[Giacomo]

This looks pretty awesome. Did he go around naked in the Dune book? I can't remember. One way to give him some dignity would be to put some clothes on him.

If I had one criticism, it would be that the face doesn't really reflect the character's lordly sleaziness as much as it could. You'd do well to look at the work of the painter Paul Cadmus for inspiration--he was probably the all-time master at painting fat, supercilious homosexuals (sample attached.)

[Venger]

Not "suspenders" but "suspensors"

Depends on how much your basing it on the books or what you've seen in the miniseries (so you'll be re-interpreting someone else's interpretation, if you see what I mean!)

In the books he wore robes and kind of hid the suspensors (and walked rather than flew) but everythings open to interpretation.