Myrddraal

[ZombieMariachis]

Painting I'm working on based off the 'Wheel of Time' books. The dude in the center is a sightless creature called a myrddraal, which leads around packs of beast-men call trollocs.

Current state at which point I'm going to call it quits. Tired of looking at this and ready to move on to something hopefully better.

Comments and critiques welcome!

***WIP images moved to post #8***

[Venger]

Surely the sword would need more foreshortening? (the one being pointed) The angle seems off.
Where are the fallen guys legs - he seems very thin?
Apart from that it's looking good.

[ZombieMariachis]

Thanks for the crit Venger!

The dude on the ground is still in his sketchy stage. I took a reference shot of myself lying on the ground and my sketch is pretty on spot with it, but this just goes to show you that sometimes even your reference doesn't read well for its purpose.

Completely agree on the sword. I've looked at it for so long I just accepted it as is. Thanks again!

[Benjaminba]

Great work so far. I agree with Venger as always

I'm not entirely convinced that the crop is working for you. Have you considered expanding the canvas for a more vertical crop? Not sure it's the best idea, but it's something to think about! One advantage is how - with the help of some strategically placed puddles - the foreground leads in on the character on the ground.

[ZombieMariachis]

Wow, awesome paintover! I'm digging the puddle idea, and extending the crop does add something beneficial.

I don't want to pull back too far, as I wanted to stay pretty close to the action, but I'll definitely tinker around with it to add more leading elements like what you've painted in.

Thanks a ton!

edited to add: Would what you've done there fall into the rule of thirds compositional treatment? It might have been an unconscious decision, but it's almost divided into rough thirds in your paintover.

Also, love your sketchbook!

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[yoooee]

I really like the angle and perspective you have going here! Great stuff. Thanks for posting the progression as those are always inspiring to see.

[ZombieMariachis]

Small update! Didn't get to work on it too long last night. Worked on correcting the sword and finished off the first beast-men on either side of the center guy.

Why are these forums olive colored? I'm sure it's been asked before...

[ZombieMariachis]

Progress so far starting with an extremely rough thumbnail to it's current state. Again, comments and critiques welcome!

[Giacomo]

Venger pointed this out in the first comment, and it was also the first thing I noticed: the guy lying on the ground is basically a head and arm with no body attached. I strongly recommend giving him a torso and some legs. Otherwise, the rendering is quite nice.

[ZombieMariachis]

Thanks Giacomo!

I'll take the foreground figure back to the initial drawing stage and see what I can do. I had a mental block as to what a figure laying like that would look like, and the reference I created obviously didn't really solve the problem for me. Maybe I'm giving too much foreshortening in my mind?

[Artfix]

The reference you created? Get reference that YOU didnt create thats the whole point! The reference is not made-up.

Can you differentiate the fallen guy's sword hand from the wolf behind it some? A little fog should do the trick.

Very nice tho I like it a lot.

[Stoat]

Just the arc of his chest and a knee would do it (you've got the knee already, but it needs to be a bit higher).

Here's something I'm not sure I can articulate. You develop a really lovely, highly detailed drawing...and then you paint it out completely. It seems like a waste of time or a lost opportunity to me.

Part of me wants to see you color the drawing, but leave the linework visible, because it's nice.

Another part thinks...no, it's nice as a painting. But maybe switch to painting earlier in the process, before spending so much time developing the drawing. Maybe the end result would be more painterly. Or at least faster for you.

Yet another part of me thinks: it's a nice piece. Do shut up, dear.

[ZombieMariachis]

@Artfix - Lol, it's reference that I created as in I laid on the ground, with sword in hand, and the camera went off 15 seconds later. I will tweak the fog behind his hand though, thanks for the crit!

@Stoat - I was waiting for this! Normally I wouldn't put so much effort in creating really clean line art. I'd just scan the pencil work, tinker with it, and go to town. But I got a new intuos 4 and went mad with the limited amount of power I was given. I was also looking to solve as many problems up front as possible, so there was a little extra effort in the drawing step this time. Trying to learn from Dos Santos...

[Stoat]

Oh, good. It made me tired to think you were inking such elaborate line art and then painting it away as a normal part of your work process. Though, come to think of it, I used to do that for watercolor. I always thought I was going to leave some of the pencil work showing, and I always opted to erase it in the end.

How the heck you're doing such nice lines with a tablet, I do not know. I just can't get the hang of it. I've got enough control to paint, but not draw. I need me a Cintiq!

[bish0p2004]

Oh, good. It made me tired to think you were inking such elaborate line art and then painting it away as a normal part of your work process.

This is something I was wondering about as well. How far should we take our line work before adding values? I think Dave Rapoza (Mr. Delicious on here) does the same thing with some of his drawings in that he fully inks them out.

How the heck you're doing such nice lines with a tablet, I do not know. I just can't get the hang of it. I've got enough control to paint, but not draw. I need me a Cintiq!

It actually does get easier with time...I feel like I'm finally starting to get a handle on my little bamboo tablet after 10 months.

ZombieMariachis: Great drawing and concept. Thanks for showing your process as well!

[Stoat]

Heh. I've used a tablet since 1985, though, to be fair, the early tablets were a whole different animal. You clicked to anchor a point, then clicked to anchor another point...and so on and on. Even in early paint programs, you had to use a vector approach to drawing. Sucked.

[kev ferrara]

The linear drawing is very strong. And so's the Image.

Your form is a bit mushy on the monsters. I assume you had reference on the central head, because the form looks solid.

I don't quite understand why the monsters aren't paying attention to what their master (I'm assuming he's the leader of the band) is doing. And he seems kind of posed, and a bit too far away from his prey to be holding such a pose in the last image there.

Anyway...

Really impressive job, overall.

[ZombieMariachis]

Thanks for the crits and advice everyone. I updated the first post with the current state and added another image to post #8.

edit: Experimenting a bit to see if I can't separate the guy on the ground from the other figures. Can someone tell me how they feel about the fog here? I feel like I'm loosing this painting.

[Stoat]

Put your darkest darks and lightest lights in the foreground - and/or where you want the eye to go. In this case, it's both. Don't be afraid to let shadow and light (but particularly shadow) 'puddle'. The attached is literally five minutes with dodge and burn, just to illustrate what I'm talking about (I don't necessarily recommend dodge and burn as the best way to do this).

[ZombieMariachis]

Thanks Stoat! As a rule, I've trained myself to forget dodge/burn exists. I'll toss the fog idea and start adjusting the levels and see what I can do. I've been painting everything on one layer, so it looks like I'll need to do some cutting.

I've also adopted you as my forum angel. It's a pretty prestigious position.

[Stoat]

My husband is going to laugh until milk comes out of his nose.

[Pavel Sokov]

Wow, I am very excited to see where you take this.
I am unqualified to offer advice, however.

[Artfix]

Zombie did you ever use an intuos 3? Would you say the intuos 4 is much better? I also have a very hard time drawing on my tablet. In fact, I try not to ever do any drawing because it only frustrates me. Maybe I should invest in an intuos 4?

[ZombieMariachis]

@Pavel Sokov - I am unqualified to ignore any advice, so anything you've got please don't hold back.

@Artfix - I have used a friend's intous3, and I can't really notice a difference in the handling or pressure. For me, the only solid selling point the 4 had over the 3 was the wireless option. I was tired of dragging my tablet off into the floor.

[ZombieMariachis]

Finally got time to come back to this. I've updated post #1 and #8 with the piece's current state. Thanks everyone for your help! I am past burnt out on this one and ready to apply what I've learned to something new.