Smashing Some Warriors

[Truepinkas]

Looking good, but I'd still desaturated that blue some and turn the yellow armor into bronze metal color. The red is fine IMO it'll give a nice pop. Obviously follow your client's feedback, but these colors make it look silly and fake.

Also be careful your starting to lose your atmospheric perspective on some of those flung guys.

[JohnsonTing]

Hi there, its a great work, i love the striking red and loving the way you rendered the colors.

But there are two things that bothered me, since most of them have been already talked about.

1. The pose, he's swinging the column, but i feel that hes abit too slanted and feels like tipping off, he's swinging the column upwards, but his back are leaning alot backwards, and his left leg is lifted up, im just having a feeling that he'll fall. Maybe when im going to swing a very heavy log/column, i'll try to keep a stable position with the legs wider and balance the weight.

2. I dont know whether if it just me, or is the height of the character and the soldiers are abit confusing. Just my two cents.

But its still a really nice piece nontheless. Hoping to see another update! goodluck!

[manlybrian]

I love the concept of this picture.

[Whyatt Thrash]

Dude is having problems with his legs mate. He'll be falling over backwards pretty soon. Still looking pretty damn awesome.

[Sunny]

@Truepinkas - Thanks for the tips. I tried the wilver armour but decided to go back to gold. It just looks way better. I dont mind if it looks silly and fake. Its a product label so it shouldnt be too realistic. But it will get closer to realism the more i spend rendering everything. I just really want to get the pose down solid which I think ive done now.

@JohnsonTing - Thank you also for your input. I havent been happy with the pose either so I tried my best to come up with something more solid this time around. I plan to keep posting here as long as I am working on this so youll see it to the end

@Whyatt Thrash - Ya I didnt want to give that impression I worked really hard to fix the pose here. I think now it looks pretty solid.

I wasnt sure if this character was meant to be a badbuy or good guy. marketing wise you want a hero. So I decided to make the antihero and the client liked it. So now hes a lot more vibrant and warm as well as evilishly happy to be smashing these guys.

[Whyatt Thrash]

- Right eye should be closer to the bridge of the nose.
- It doesn't seem like he's grabbing the pillar with his hands, but rather pressing it towards his body to grab it. I think it needs to be more, well, pressed against his body then.

[Sunny]

- Right eye should be closer to the bridge of the nose.
- It doesn't seem like he's grabbing the pillar with his hands, but rather pressing it towards his body to grab it. I think it needs to be more, well, pressed against his body then.

ya your definitely right. it is meant to be up against his body now, i didnt think of the lighting yet. there are a lot of small artifacts left over still so im happy you could ignore those hehe. ill work on that eye and scrutinize the face more.

[Whyatt Thrash]

Yeah it looked like you put quite some work into the face, so I thought it was a good idea to comment on that before you took it further.

[prince911]

He has got his finger dug into that column as he swings it.

Right that dude isn't working. You clearly did not listen to the baseball bat swing suggestion...

Also, since he's basically torn apart the ranks in the foreground with that column, you will see lots of movement in that direction. There's a specific diagonal that gets that job done. the swing and warriors should follow that diagonal as closely as possible.

[Sunny]

He has got his finger dug into that column as he swings it.

Right that dude isn't working. You clearly did not listen to the baseball bat swing suggestion...

Also, since he's basically torn apart the ranks in the foreground with that column, you will see lots of movement in that direction. There's a specific diagonal that gets that job done. the swing and warriors should follow that diagonal as closely as possible.

yes I dont want to do a baseball swing. as much as it sells the swing it just doesnt work for me. I like your sketch, it definitely sheds light on it. Im gonna give this a bit to think on. Still really not wanting to do the whole baseball thing. Its too easy. The pillar weighs so much more than a baseball bat, even a character at this size would have trouble weilding it. Which is why he is basically hugging it now. The problem then is getting the swing right. I think you are right about the diagonal line. I may need to rethinking some parts to make it work.

[Sunny]

Ok so here is another update. This time I spent more time rendering than I did changing big elements. I did change the angle of the swing which was a great idea! I think now I am more convinced that he is hitting them and its pretty believable. Its not as extreme as prince suggests but then again I like the way he is doing it. Its a lot like a giant monster might do it. I know he looks human but he obviously isnt.

You may also notice the two soldiers on the bottom. I have decided to go with a more matte finish to their armour. I think it retains the elegance I want but also makes your eye go toward then giant. Got a lot of rendering to go but I am very happy with this so far! I reallllllllllllllllllllllly appreciate all the help!!!!!!!!!!

[Sunny]

Ok well I think this is getting a lot closer to being complete. Im trying to separate the foreground from the background with color temperatures. I still need to try and add more greens to this but I think Ive done a lot of that already.

[Venger]

Thats a backwards step - you're messing up the focus (in my opinion)

[prince911]

deleted

[Sunny]

@Venger - Im not sure what you mean. Where do you imagine I am messing up the focus? The focus really will be the text and graphics I add on top for the label information. The artwork is just meant to be a spectacle.

@prince911 - I think others can see things I cannot and they can see errors where I can not. I imagine you must think I am disregarding everything everyone is saying. The truth is very different. I cannot stop and redo this whole piece. If i did that I would never produce anything. This piece has a deadline that I must meet. regardless if its a masterpiece or not. So I take all the advice I am given graciously and I consider it. This is all that I can do. You seem really offended that I did not agree with your swing. You may be right and I am wrong. Im happy to consider that a truth.

[prince911]

Sunny, I am not offended at all. I see some potential improvements, and want you to realize what they are.

I get your point about the deadline, I take back what I said.

[prince911]

Here's a better version of the above. Notice how he's still going to swing it like a baseball bat. But he's going to be balancing this huge column as he does so.

You are losing your primary focus by adding too much contrast up front. Even though the text will be added on top, the artwork will not add a spectacle if it is not a good design in itself.

(I too was wondering how would a giant swing a column. I think this is how.)

[arenhaus]

The latest color direction seems way too bright and saturated. Muting down some colors and minding the shadows would do it good.

[Rusty]

Yeah, I'm with arenhaus on this one, colors have become too bright and saturated for the mood of the piece, almost sound of music happy! My initial impression of the narrative was a group of Spartan midgets out for a picnic on a bright summers day, when out of no where some random jerk (probably high on Meth) comes raging out of the forest swinging a giant pillar at everyone like he's playing guitar hero, and a Leonidas midget being sucked into the air by a magnet for some reason.

Now, if that was your intention, then, I guess it's highly successful but somehow I doubt it was. prince911 is right on the money with his paintover, there is better balance and an overall brutishness about the big dudes pose, which I think you were heading for in the first place. I could only spare 15 mins on this paintover but hopefully spark a few more ideas.

Keep it up dude!

[Sunny]

@prince - Ya I think your right about the end of the column coming out more. I think my image vs yours is similar except mine is past the peak point of energy and hes now in the follow through. I think there is definitely more energy at the peak and I probably should have gone with something similar. I think i will try to protrude the end of the column that is closest to the camera a bit farther and see how that effects the balance. Otherwise I will consider altering the column to touch on the peak of the energy. I might need to save this new knowledge for another project and call this one done. We will see though.

@Arenhaus - Sorry I know it seems that its out of balance this way. Ill probably end up toning down the greens again. The thing to consider is that this needs to jump off the shelf to a customer who is walking by. So brightness and saturation are my friend in that regard. Also I am not actually showing the full image. There is another third added to the right that is quite dark where there is text and other overlays. Which all balances out. Sorry if this is misrepresenting the entire piece. Thanks for the input! it all makes me consider these various things. Ill consider it again before I call it done for sure!

@Rusty - I actually do want this to be a happy painting haha. As moody as it seems. This is going onto a product label so good feelings go along way with brand recognition. I dont want the client to know why they feel good, but I want them to choose ours over another one because its awesome and makes them feel good. I really dig your paintover. The size is cool and the proportions are very cool. I kind want this guy to be really huge though and toying with them. So hes a bit of an anti-hero. Obviously hes an opponent, and a substantial one at that, but he should also seem like somewhat of a likeable warrior.

[prince911]

Sunny, perhaps it would be a good idea to focus on how to design your piece well, rather than focusing on how to sell it. If it is designed well, it will sell on its own, whether it is gloomy or happy, saturated or unsaturated. I know from personal experience that good designs triumph over "happy art" any day.
http://prince911.deviantart.com/ - that image, Machhiwara, is my best seller.

Cheers

PS I am probably replying way too much to one thread.