viking boss fight!

**Krezel** · March 11th, 2011, 07:32 AM

yo!

ok so i'll like to share with you another pice from viking sieries.this time i was inspired by ,,pathfinder movie,,(lame story but nice costumes and design

im getting tired of this illustration so im looking for a fresh feedback and critque
from you guys!

posting some illusration progress

cheers and thanks for help!

**S_Gangl** · March 11th, 2011, 10:02 AM

Looking very cool, Krezel! I like your work.

Nice composition. Only thing I can say here is that vikings don´t have horns on their helmets!!! It isn´t historical correct!
Second thing is the skulls in the foreground... they seem a little bit too tiny... I think. They are nearly as big as the head of the viking boss!

**Quigleyer** · March 11th, 2011, 11:30 AM

Hopefully this guy cut through enough water with his sword that he is now a trained viking killing machine...

.

The size of the skulls bothers me as well. In addition, the angles of the two characters' swords seems to be about even (they run almost, if not, parallel- at approx. a 45 degree angle). Try to vary that a little and see what happens.

Good painting man. Keep going with it.

**Pavel Sokov** · March 11th, 2011, 11:54 AM

Oh man, this is going to be a cool painting!

A few thoughts though:

I don't know if the whole skull hanging on stick package even helps the composition. I find that I want to look at the trees behind them, and theya re annoyingly blocking them.

I think the closer viking's head should have more of an indication that he is looking sideways at the other viking. Right now it looks like he may be ignoring the other guy and looking straight.

On the same guy, his leg that is on the left has some really strange shapes going on where the underside of the knee is. Why is there a bump above the under knee? That doesn't exist in really like I don't think.

I think this is going to be a really cool painting

**wooblood** · March 11th, 2011, 05:03 PM

Good stuff. I like seeing the transition from the indeterminate badly-drawn-looking blobs to the cool shit, even in the way you've rendered the ground so far.
Quigleyer touched on the [unintentional] parallel between their weapons, and personally, I'd extend that to the overall feeling and impact of both the fighters. I'm left wanting for some dynamism in this image/story by pushing the difference in the two characters, so how bout if the close fighter's gesture was in more of a battle-ready crouch (more tension), like maybe he just got done warming up on some underlings when this big boss man comes strolling out.

Also, you already have the horizon line set lower than man-in-the-crowd eye level, so could it be possible to size up the closer guy at all? Not saying it needs to be done, I'd just play around with that to see if there might be a more optimal size.

**jbrown67** · March 11th, 2011, 07:42 PM

cool painting! Looks like it will be really epic when it's done. I think you should get rid of the skulls... but the top of the painting looks really empty, you could add a little bit of shadow to the ships in the background, and give them some detail so there's something there. Either that, or you could crop it down a bit.

**Krezel** · March 15th, 2011, 05:58 AM

thanks for reply!
little update. cannot decide what type of atmosphere i should chosse now ,to detail this illustration futher.;/ stuck again...

**TinyBird** · March 15th, 2011, 06:59 AM

I personally like the first one best, the second looks maybe bit too cheery even and the mountains in the third distract from the characters.

**manlybrian** · March 15th, 2011, 07:39 AM

I love this. Personally, I like their gestures, I like the anticipation, and I like the rain. Slightly diagonal rain might create more drama? Also his hair might be too fluffy for the rain, maybe it should hang straight down heavier with water leaking off.

I love where this is all going though, I'm going to keep following this.

**Venger** · March 15th, 2011, 11:20 AM

Little picky note - they're holding their swords weirdly. The blade (and obviously cross-guard) should follow the same plane as the palm.

**Krezel** · March 16th, 2011, 10:58 AM

update;/

**wooblood** · March 16th, 2011, 03:41 PM

Wow I feel pretty silly here, but wondering if it's not just me...
Looking at the last WIPs there, I was just like, "Whoa, the big dude's a BEAR now!" (with the viking helmet just being an ornamental topper to a staff the bear is holding), and then I went back to earlier WIPs to see how it changed and realized the "bear" was there all along. Now, I look back again at the latest ones, and I honestly have no idea whether the big guy is a bear or not... Is that ambiguity intentional???

Edit: I guess examining further, I see that there is an arm in the shadows holding the shield, so logically, the answer is clear, but I still thinks it's looking pretty ambiguous at this point, with the heavy shadows under the "bear" as if the head is lurching outward and forward.

**manlybrian** · March 16th, 2011, 09:19 PM

I just now thought the guy turned into a bear too. The paw draping over didn't help either, it looks like a part of the viking body, adding to the bear-man image. The bear has also got a brown colour while the guy is all gray, which really makes the bear head stand out.

**seabas** · March 16th, 2011, 10:16 PM

Really great work i really enjoyed looking through the progress even especially seeing how you block out the compostion and colours early I have seen other people paint like this but have never been able to do this myself. I personally liked the mood in the first image you posted introducing the rain it felt cold and foggy and more dramatic, it felt believable there were viking wearing heavy fur clothes. Although the detailing in the later one has come a long way, the last post feels a bit like a sunshower to me, and find myself looking at the background and birds wondering why they are flying in the rain, rather than focusing on the battle. Could just be a matter of dropping the green saturation a bit from the background.

**Krezel** · March 17th, 2011, 05:44 AM

ok.youre right.i taken step back.I focused to much at details and lost overal ,,feeling,,.now ill try to achiwe something more ,dramatic,cold and foggy
ive changed look of a boss guy a little please tell me that he dont look like bear right now

thanks for your help!

**manlybrian** · March 17th, 2011, 07:45 AM

Man I love this piece. It's going to suck for the viking 'cause he has to fight with all that extra stuff on his shoulders, but that's what he gets for being the boss!

**Krezel** · March 17th, 2011, 01:13 PM

ok guys i have enough of this piece

much thanks for your help

posting final illustration.sunny and rainy

see you soon in other topic ! <beer>

oh- a little making of clip you can find here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPv5Q...el_video_title

cheers!

**Jie Kageshinzo** · March 17th, 2011, 01:29 PM

I would definitely go for the rain. It has more atmosphere and mood, like you just know shit is gonna hit the fan.

Speaking of rain, how did you do the effects? is that a custom brush?

**Krezel** · March 17th, 2011, 01:51 PM

nope

just create a few white dots then go for motion blur and then have fun with layers efects

**EmiPark** · March 17th, 2011, 02:16 PM

I think I preferred the last one on post 7, the backgrounds is too detailed or there is too much going on on the latest ones, that I can't concentrate on the characters. For me anyway.