Cyclops. Updated quite a bit. ANY FEEDBACK?

[Quigleyer]

I did this painting a while back. I remember stopping because everything WASN'T working for me.

And here I go again. Colors are muted, but that's okay. This is like an accented sepia or something- I'm gonna color glaze all over it before I put the final layers on. After I render everything .


UPDATED ONE IS ALWAYS AT THE BOTTOM....

[alex_86]

Brush strokes are lovely I think he's maybe tilted a bit too much to the left from the waist up. It seems like he should be reaching a bit more with his right hand towards his front knee.

[Quigleyer]

Yeah. I've got a huge problem with tilting figures when I'm drawing. This is ESPECIALLY so when I work digitally.

But then again... I can just flip things. I did a bit ago, and thought he was tilted as well. So thank you for that, I hope that what I've done here remedies the issue. However... I am getting very tired and might not be happy with what's going on in the morning.

[Star Eater]

I'm sorry, this is not going to be much of a constructive crit, all I'm going to say is I dig that helmet design!

[REGNIRUTH]

i think you've got some great going, the painting style feels very Frazetta-like. which is awesome! i think the pose works, he looks like he's in middle of moving forward. climbing up from the hill below, ready to strike. before the other added colors i thought it was just about right and you probably didn't need to do anything else with the colors other than refine the details, BUT you could add another light source on the other side, perhaps a warmer/brighter color to give some sort of highlighted outline around the other half of the figure.

what you have now, works just fine also, but i wouldn't go any further with the colors, it's tricky to keep a good control on the colors you use in a painting, I have trouble with it sometimes.

i checked out the painting you did prior to this one and I must say this new version is much better altogether, the previous one would probably need an extra subject to complete the scene or the pose would need adjustments, because it was kind of awkward, looked like he was falling back, rather than jumping to attack.

keep up the great work, like your style!

[Quigleyer]

OK I hate updating so frequently with so little progress, but I really did kind of jump into this one without really stepping back much. that WAS my problem last time and I'm kind of considering just scrapping this altogether as well. What is it about a cyclops with a helmet that throws me off?

Anyway, it's got at least a little more time on it before I just call it quits. I gotta find out what to do to make me like it before I get tired of it.

I think I'm gonna be changing the hair DRASTICALLY. Even more so than this one here.

But be honest here guys. IS THE FIGURE DRAWING STIFF, or am I just being a little overly analytical of my own work?

[REGNIRUTH]

I'm curious, are you using painter for this or is it photoshop? i'm curious in how you manage your brushes and use them. i've been toying around with a lot of different brushes.

I like what your doing with the hair, but now that i think about that part it seems a bit too active for his movement, looks like it's floating.it would probably hang and just sway a bit to the side, unless you want it to float haha.

The right hand could act in a different manner, it could be carrying something, shield, dead person, skulls, etc.

[wooblood]

Hey Quig. While the lower body looks fine to me, I think there is indeed an issue with his upper body anatomy looking stiff. One thing I see is that his left arm seems to be coming forward (in perspective) but his shoulder is extended all the way to the side, instead of coming around partially in front of his chest. I suggest scooching the shoulder (and the entire arm along with it) over towards the center some.
His right upper arm looks a bit short relative the the lower arm, I suggest moving the elbow down some. That right shoulder feels a bit stiff to me as well, but I can't figure out if it needs to move up or down or back some.
I think the bellybutton hole needs to be shifted over to his left since his upper body is twisting to the right.

[Quigleyer]

OK guys. slopped a lot of paint around and lost a lot of contrast. BUT. I think I solved a lot of issues I was having with this and now need to paint it up.

Thanks so much for your responses, as they've proven to be quite helpful. The other hand is gonna get a human skull- this I figure will actually give me a chance to show some scale. The cyclops isn't HUGE, but he's a giant human size.

I tried adjusting some anatomy stuff, like wooblood said. he really hit the nail on the head there and I think it lead to me playing around with the leg positioning again and I hope this comes out as more dynamic. His advancing leg was really following the upper body, while the lower leg was not. So now he's coming forward at the viewer more, rearing his (now) skull-hand back.

The colors are still to be determined. This is something that just kind of evolves with my paintings... pre-determined colors would be a good idea for next go.

The brushes used are definitely from Painter. I paint like this in PS also, but it gets streakier, if ya know what I mean. I can't really explain what I do because I don't really know any other way... I'd say I'm just painting. My professors all stressed upon me a build-up of solids, and I think this is often interpreted as painterly brush strokes. Blending done is usually accidental until I get a few tones in there, or when my forms get REALLY confusing to me and I need to solidify some stuff. I'll try and make a more in depth step by step some time because I get that question a lot. I must paint "weird" or something?

Thanks guys. Um. Is is forearm too long? The "skull hand"?

[Quigleyer]

But what if he WAS huge?

[Quigleyer]

Things just got really weird.

I'm all for planning a painting and stuff, but I'm really happy I just dove into this one. I'm glad this is turning out to be, at least, a blast .

[Quigleyer]

OK. HERE IT IS. FINALLY.

This is what I'm gonna paint up to finish. He's gonna get tattoos (red? too many colors?) and I've got to render EVERYTHING up. HAHA.

And he might have a creek running somewhere between his legs. For fun, of course .

I love painting.

But you all should know...

...I've kidnapped everyone's mom's dog. Respond if you wanna see Rex again.

I was also thinking about upping the size here. It's 9X12, but I kind of wanna make it a poster. I should do that now- sooner than later. Maybe we'll see what Rex thinks?

[s.ketch]

Throw some of that shadow you have on the head and left arm to the right leg. Other than that I can't find a problem. Keep it up.

[Quigleyer]

Thanks BuckWiesel. Someone rated your post 2, so I hit it with a 10. It wasn't me and I thank you for your response. Your mother's dog is set free.

As are all of your mother's dogs now. I didn't realize how much I was gonna have to walk them all. Don't worry though- those of you with mother's who own lizards are gonna be really upset tomorrow.

Unless... you allow me your thoughts on this.

Here is some texturing I get to paint over now. I'd really like some thoughts. Even positive thoughts are good...

DO YOU THINK RED TATTOOS ARE A BAD IDEA? I guess maybe you guys would have to see them first? Not until all form is figure out.

I've also got to dapple some light on some of his lower body. I realize the trees are gonna be covering a lot of that up- and I'm glad, because that should really make his upper body pop.

[wooblood]

It's looking good. It amused me to see you working over the torso section in every iteration, you must feel like a masseuse by now.

This isn't necessarily something that needs fixing, but just something that I thought of while looking over this piece as a whole. The bg section with the mountains and sky are looking pretty cold and arctic, while Cyclops is looking more tropical, so I get a bit of dissonance there.
The purple hue in the knife seems a bit off-palette, but I guess if your intent is to draw attention to it, it works.
Will we be seeing a fanny pack stocked with some humans for when he gets the munchies on his hike?
And the elephant in the room (at least for me), is that hair? Or what? haha

[Jazz]

Great progress going there! Looks like your can start really getting the details going in it! I like the way you made the blocky strokes.

While I was going to pick at his "distant" leg's fade into the background, but since you came up with the nifty idea of him being a BIG guy (cool!), I think it works better.

Now, on the belly, where it's supposed to be sticking out and hanging over a bit, I assume (on our right and his left, where the light is shining on it), it looks flat. You probably just need to get some shadow underneath where his belly keeps sticking out, and probably not as dark or rich as on the shadowed side. Also, there probably needs to be a bit of shadow between his pants (knee) and the light yellowish fur, but not a LOT. Not sure yet what you're doing with his front knee, but I'm just assuming you'll be working that shadow anyway.

Very cool stuff! I like it!

[Quigleyer]

Ok, so this time I hit "thanks" and SAW it rate the post 2 out of 10. I think there's something in the wiring. Sorry man, didn't mean to.

Trying to make the colors look a little colder, at least in the plant life. Also started the hint of evergreens in the back, to hopefully suggest the transition better? We'll see what happens.

What's going on with that tree. It doesn't look like he's brushing it aside at all, does it? No one's mentioned in, but then I figured no one could tell what I was going for and it just looked behind him. I can't think of any good references for pushing a tree... bulldozing a tree doesn't look the same, nor does hurricane winds pushing trees. Would it just come out of the ground? I just want him pushing it.

WAIT... what about that scene in Jurassic Park where the T Rex nails the tree? I'm gonna see what that looks like...

Your thoughts? Thanks for responding everyone!

[alex_86]

You could try giving his skin a bit of a glisten. He must be pretty sweaty after a long day of walking through the forest

[justa]

Hi

Well to me he looks really Aztec and that knife looks like obsidian; so I think more saturated/warm in those mountains. Not much bare rock mountains in the jungle. Maybe Aztec pyramids that he is stalking away from instead of mountains?

I really like the tattoo idea, something Maori-like? Red could be cool, but for me there is too much dull clothing on his lower body - if you had all these intricate designs on his upper body and just cloth and leather lower down it would look top-heavy to me. Show us some leg :-)

Maybe something like these guys?
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...c7d2d8a088.jpg
http://www.8thfire.net/images/aztec.jpg
http://www.ghosttraveller.com/AZTEC%20WARRIOR.jpg


Hope that is useful

D'Arcy

[Truepinkas]

Looking good so far man. I think we could still use some points of interest on his skin, white tattoos/body paint (white so as to not confuse your palette), or some piercings, or if you thought you could pull it off some tribal scarring maybe? It's just a lot of very well rendered but ultimately uninteresting flesh there...

Trees are kind of big and brittle. We as little humans don't really have an understanding of what one looks like when it's 'brushed aside' but we do know what bushes or shrubs look like when we brush them aside. I'd think that would be a good place to start. Beyond that just keep in mind the closer tot he ground areas of the trunk will have less give than the higher parts, so don't show it as an angle so much as a curve that gets more vertical closer to the ground.

PS I agree, the knife seems a bit off palette.

Cheers,

[JBurrough]

Great thoughts already... good thread for others to view as an example of how to give and take critique well, and apply it functionally. Just a kudos to all, especially Q.

As a Hawaiian, I love this piece. He seems very island-tribal to me... though I'm sure I'm biased by my heritage

Can't really offer anything that hasn't been said already... the loose styling is interesting, but I'm more of a realist. I do, however, want to move more towards this styling - a favorite of mine is Raymond Swanland - a quick google might provide some inspiro for this piece, regarding the styling. I dig.

The only real change I'd want is to see him 'lurching' forward more... if that makes sense. As though he were pulling himself through that forest.

Elsewise, kudos on a dramatic and well strung piece. Cheers mate.

//JB

[Rabbitstew]

Wow, looking really good.

There's some nice detailing happening in the collar of his armor; maybe repeating that motif somewhere on his kilt would add more interest to his lower half. Right now his helm is really dominating the piece.

Seconding the suggestion for some tattoos/war paint/ritual scarring, although adding a motif to his kilt might eliminate the need for those.

Looking forward to your next update!

[Quigleyer]

I do, however, want to move more towards this styling - a favorite of mine is Raymond Swanland - a quick google might provide some inspiro for this piece, regarding the styling. I dig.

Actually been a big fan of that guy since I started reading The Black Company and saw his illustration for the cover. Had to check him out and wasn't disappointed. But he is FAR more advanced than I am.

Truepinkas- thanks yo. I have plans for tattoos, and should probably add some piercings and stuff! I'm definitely going to be working on that tree. Worse case scenario- he isn't pushing the tree. Thanks man.

JB- not sure if I'm going to be changing his posture up too much, unless I restart this. I'm considering it, as I've taken significant time off from it and only think back on it now that I saw responses to this thread. I'm gonna beat this damn cyclops one way or the other! Thanks yo!

Rabbitstew- yessir, much more decoration after I resolve form!

Alright guys I've got a boat load of work ahead of me (got 2 jobs again) and the girlfriend's birthday is coming up, so I'm gonna try and get a move on this. I need to finish something soon...

Thanks for your help. Any additional comments and criticisms are always appreciated.

[Quigleyer]

And look at that. A FULL DAY OFF. FINALLY.

Liked the comments about the split cultures. Decided to go with the tribal thing! Thanks guys!

TATS STILL COMING. Must solidify form first.

[Quigleyer]

my thread wasn't bumped.

[Lhune]

It's looking quite brilliant and the progress is impressive! It's heaps better than the purple thing you did a long time ago (I remember that one!), which was also good, don't get me wrong!

The only thing that isn't working for me right now is his left leg. It seems to be disappearing into the forest-y background, giving the impression that the cyclops is huge. Which is fine if that's what you're trying to indicate, but in that case you might want to push it a little further because right now how tall he is is a guess to me.

Looking great otherwise though, you might want to add a little bit of saturation into those feathers to match his strongly lit skin .

[Quigleyer]

Thanks Lhune. You're right- I've practically got a halo of feathers I could use to solidify the old focal point there. For emphasis I put some red on there. I'll experiment in a bit.

I was hoping the size of the trees would indicate how big he is. They could be bushes, though? Maybe I'll put a little log cabin on the ground for fun or something if it's a problem.

The rest is a mess. I'm trying to clean it up and figure out what's going on, but I realized I've created a monster. But I need to finish it, so I'm gonna trudge on.

Working three doubles in a row at two jobs in the next three days, so I might not be able to work on this too much. Yikes.

OH YEAH. I know the shield doesn't exactly fit, but it's a stronghold door turned upside down and turned into a shield. From a castle he sacked, duh!

[wooblood]

Nice idea for the shield!
Speaking of, where did he get those giant feathers from? I mean, of course there could be giant birds in the same world that a giant cyclops lives, but maybe to reinforce the fact that he's a giant, you could make the feathers small into some woven pattern or something. In that same vein, you could think about other people sized ornamentation/material to put on him for further reinforcement. Just a thought!

[LordLouis]

Why would a giant need a shield..?

[wooblood]

Why would a giant need a shield..?

To shield from all the toothpick arrows flying at him, duh!

And maybe for sitting on, when he can't find soft bushes?