My Star Wars Art: Visions paintings

[Waddell]

Hi All,
Thought I'd post the paintings I did for the Star Wars Art: Visions book now that it's out. The Diptych is in the standard edition and the Twi'Lek Beauty and Jacen appear in the Limited edition. They are all oil on linen. Thanks for looking.

Scott
http://scottwaddellfinearts.com/
http://scottssketchbook.blogspot.com/

[bjoern3000]

I love your portraits and I am a constant visitor of your website!

BUT: a lightsaber is a light source which you did not paint - here it is just a portrait with a (nearly) white beam and red (green) around it. Especially in the first one it should have some effect in the dark landscape.

What is the size of these?

[DSillustration]

I agree with Bjoern.
Even though these are really well painted, the lack of lighting from the saber is really hurting it's potential.
And to make it worse, the lightsaber even has a cast shadow in the first one.

[Mr.Delicious]

Agreed with what the others said. Looks like you just followed photo reference and the lightsabers were all afterthought. These could be really cool if you had addressed the issue, but still, great execution on the figures themselves w/o the sabers

[Duman]

Aside from the mentioned lightsaber issues, these are really beautiful. The realism present in the clothing and skin is superb. Jaw dropping, even.
A masterful utilization of the medium.

[curtmantle]

Superb portraits. I particularly like the face of the character in the bottom right image, but they are all beautifully executed.

I do agree with the light-sabre comments. I don't think it detracts too much from the impact of the images though.

[anitakunz]

I agree! Beautiful work...really extraordinary. Tweak the saber and you've got a gorgeous work

[Jason Manley]

agreed. being able to light scenes without having the reference is a worthy skill to pursue. Even some home made light source for life reference would help...would unify the scene.

One of the other considerations the entertainment character people make is what is the precise pose that would best dictate their inner character...their little moment of gesture subtlety that is uniquely them.

The figure handling is as said though...mmmm.. Nice work.

Welcome to star wars...where everyone is a critic

[Ccs]

The actual skill involved in painting these is breathtaking. You've got spades of technical skill. The painting of the purple girl is like a space version of "The Girl with the Pearl Earing" by Vermeer.
However I'm not sure you thought too much about your purpose when doing these. The characters are just kinda standing there in voids. Not really looking too dramatic, just chillin. Combined with the fact that the lightsabers don't act as a lightsource and the beams actually cast SHADOWS it makes it so obvious that you were using photo reference or had a model to work from. And while there's nothing wrong with reference, when it becomes that obvious it detracts from the work.

So we end up with ridiculously professional work with rookie mistakes detracting from it. Do more thumbnail sketches to work out more dramatic stuff and play around with light. It's obvious you have the talent to do that.

[Velocity Kendall]

Good crit Ccs, although light sabres are opaque so IMO would maybe cast some shadows (as well as tinting nearby objects)

[creativehigh]

fantastic finishing man ..

[Mr.Delicious]

Good crit Ccs, although light sabres are opaque so IMO would maybe cast some shadows (as well as tinting nearby objects)

But they're light-sabers , when you hit light with light... Light doesn't cast a shadow.

Still really great rendering on everything else

[SoufMeng]

I do see Star Wars pictures where the lightsabers don't affect even very close surrounding elements that much.
Also mr. Waddell probably spent countless hours on these and probably gave some thought to this question too? And from a purely aesthetic point of view I have to admit I do like the derogation to the rule of going bananas with rim lights and effects that many an artist would have welcomely followed for the light saber: sometimes extraneous light effects just cheapen things.

So overall I like the light saber decisions in the first image, two minor crits though:

-The edge between the white light of the saber and the red rim could be a touch softer.
-The cast shadow as already said should be more indicative of the fact that it is a light saber.
I can see some red in there but it still doesn't differ enough from the shadow cast by his arm.

Except for that, hats off, the execution is stellar!

[Mandryk]

In the old films the sabers never cast light because they were roto'd in afterwards, but adding a touch of cast light would, as others have said, make these feel really cohesive. And of course, your rendering of the characters themselves is just crazy....you must have mental ray installed in your brain. Really nice work.

[Velocity Kendall]

I have to admit I do like the derogation to the rule of going bananas with rim lights and effects that many an artist would have welcomely followed for the light saber: sometimes extraneous light effects just cheapen things.

Definitely.

[Waddell]

I want to thank everyone for looking at my work. It's nice to see that people care enough to respond. I also appreciate the many nice words of support.
I would like to point out that I did my best to conceptualize the lightsaber. I realize it didn't work for everyone but I was following the idea that the lightsaber is opaque and that the particles of light would be very concentrated and not radiating as much as the primary light source that's interfacing with the figure. I also referred to some Star Wars sources that suggested the opaqueness of lightsabers. Here is a link to a page that both describes and visually represents this: http://starwars.com/theclonewars/guide/episode014.html


Again, I appreciate the interest people have taken.

[Max Martelli]

I really like these but I do agree that some light cast from the sabers would give them a great deal more realism. I really like the formal Jedi portrait feel they have. As if you would see these lining the walls as you enter the Jedi council/Sith equivalent. The Twi'lek beauty is by far my favorite. Wonderful color. Keep it up.

[BSUR]

I've followed this topic with great interest. Ofcourse the amazing realism struck me. And then my eye fell on the shadow of the saber. Finding out the opaqueness of lightsabers was new to me, but I find this very possible. I like the fact that this causes an online discussion. It's like some sort of mystery from the saga which gives different oppinions. For people who are to lazy tho follow the link in Waddel's post, this is what i found:

•When Ahsoka cuts down droids inside the Separatist base, she is shown in silhouette and her lightsaber casts a shadow. Contrary to online debate, there's nothing wrong with this. Lightsabers do indeed cast shadows; anything that is opaque does. Try it with a fluorescent light tube.

Hope you don't mind, copy pasting that quote from the site. I have great respect for your art pieces. And the lightsaber issue for me was a fun exta side element. Loved the discussion. Loved the explanation . Count me on the 'shadow' team!

[willalwin]

really great work, nothing like a little controversy ehh, regardless of the quasi science involved try scrolling down each picture just enough to hide the lightsaber and you will find that the image is much more believable, and striking, I feel like that in itself should end the debate

[vikramranu]

great smooth.....slips......dry.
asif some forms invisible comming out when near to it and feel colld for a moment.
great!!

[Geir]

Just fantastic work. At first I disagreed about the lightsaber should cast light on the jedi. But after having a closer look, I have to say I agree. BUT not much.. or not as much as I think the others mean. I would only put little rimlighting on his front hand and some on the cloth. More or less nothing onto his torso. I realize this would be wrong realistically speaking, but I feel it would distract from the actual motif which is the portrait. To much of this red light spread around would mess up the classic portrait look. My main critic to this painting is that the red light is to saturated. A bit down wouldnt hurt.
The purple lady (which I embarrassingly do not remeber the name of) is a classic. Such emotions, and I so wonder were that gaze is wondering of to.

[Diego de Almeida]

Very good work !!
Is realy amazing!!! congratulations