Crits appreciated

[DPFX]

I appear to have absolutely no ability to self-evaluate, so critiques on this piece are appreciated.

[Slothboy3000]

I like it, but if that's supposed to be a hand I didn't really read it as such. To me it looks more like a horned skull. Might be something to think about.

[DPFX]

Thanks for the reply, Slothboy. Are you saying the tentacle "hand" looks more like horns? Looking at it from that point of view I see where it could look that way. Thanks, again.

[Slothboy3000]

Yup, and i've realised that it's probably because the tentacles are a similar colour and texture to the horn on it's head.

[ChristopherRyan]

awesome. yeah the hands throw me off a little but whatever looks creepy(though i've learned the hands are very important when drawing and painting people. maybe make the eyes more evil looking and less tired? just my opinion. looks great.

[Charadas]

Very creepy. I actually like the tired eyes they give him(it) character. However, the wrinkles under his noes (the dark ones that goes upwards on his cheeks) makes me think of whiskers and cats and cute things and then he doesn't look very creepy at all, but rather silly. Sorry, it might just being me seeing cats everywhere, but those wrinkles really ruins the picture for me

Hm.. now when I look at the picture again, he has a cleaved upper lip and a nose that is a different colour from the rest of his face, so he defenitely has some cattish features, it's just not me making them up

[DPFX]

Charadas Thanks for your input. The wrinkles you don't like are one of my favorite design elements in this one...guess I'll chalk it up to personal tastes.

[ChristopherRyan]

I'd have to agree charades the wrinkles do make him a bit cat-like. I thought that was what you were going for. Something I remember from meeting Ian Mccaig was you shouldn't fall in love with your drawings or paintings. So even if I like an element of my piece, if i know it can be done differently or better i'll get rid of whatever element can be improved. But if you feel that design element is working for you and it's exactly what you were going for, then personal taste is exactly right.

[Venger]

Get flipping

Textures are great, you just need to bring out your forms more.
Think of the bones underneath and how close to the skin they can appear on elderly people.
Be careful on the reflected light - you need more drop off around the back of the head and tone down the cheek…easier to show you (just my take on it)


Read this
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...ips-and-Tricks


Reminds me of John Blanche' earlier work

[DPFX]

*CRASH* (breaks neck...dies happy)

Thank you so much, Venger. I shall never underestimate the power of grovelling again. I'm downloadin' the overpaint now to get a good side-by-side going.

[DPFX]

Okay, I'm looking at Venger's overpaint, and here's what I'm seeing...

-- A more sophisticated treatment of the lighting. This is amazing. Seriously, the overpaint reminds me of Rembrandt. Makes me want to vomit out all of my inadequacy. The highlights are punched up. I was worried that punching up highlights would take attention from the face...clearly this isn't an issue. The shadows are darker WITHOUT losing the forms. The reflected light is very subtle and WAY more realistic. The cast shadow of the head missing the tip of the left ear is particularly pleasing.

-- A change of the creature's structure, taking the head towards a more 'human' anatomy. The head shape is more human, and the brow bone structure and wrinkles are much closer to an those of an old man. I'm not sure about this. My idea for this creature is that its a demon...something ancient that has been lurking in the shadows, just on the edge of our consciousness. It is responsible for humankind's 'clown' archetype. The odd shape of the head in my original is deliberate...trying to incorporate the 'grotesque' nature of the benign clown into a malevolent supernatural entity.

-- The eyes are dark. I had a version with dark eyes, but ultimately my art director (my eight-year-old daughter) determined that the lighter eyes were scarier.

-- The image is warmer. I agonized over this, having painted my 'values' somewhat monochromatically in a sort've warm sepia palette. After I added in the color it was warm like the over paint. I played around with the 'photo filter' adjustments and ultimate settled on a cooler look, feeling that it sold it better as a thing that comes out at night.

Thank you so much for the overpaint, Venger. You've given me a lot to think about as I forge ahead.

[Venger]

My highlights might be a bit punched up and the shadows may be a tad dark, a side effect of colour management.
Although the eyes may be pale they are still spheres and must show that form or they'll just jump out as wrong, unless you are making them a light source?
Either way hope it helps!

[Velocity Kendall]

BTW uploading to the web always seems to push the darks darker, not sure why..

[TheBullion24K]

I tried to do a paint over... but there are too many variables that can make my critiques invalid (because I don't know the actual anatomy you were going for)...

So I'll just list what I think look off and then you can tell me your intent.

1. Compare the left and right ear... "his" left ear starts around the temple, his right on the other hand looks like it starts right at the corner of his eye...

2. His horn looks like it's in 3/4, the back of his skull showing suggests it's also in 3/4 but the face (mostly his nose) looks like it's facing dead on to the viewer. If you were to actually look at him dead on it would appear that his nose would be pushed in and slid over to the left of his face and the right side of his face (more so the ear that connects to his chin) would follow. His whole face just looks flat...

3. I like Vengar's lighting, but I would suggest significantly darkening the wall directly behind the creature (the one that is not facing the light) if you intended to make the corner of the wall to be a 90 degree angle.

4. This goes to #3 as well... You have this cool back light on him... it looks like it's coming from the right, so you would darken only the part of the wall directly behind his right shoulder. His furthest right appendage on his left hand has this light, and the way it's working with the form right now looks like the light source is coming from his clavicle.

I'd like to hear your opinions on these critiques, good luck!

[DPFX]

My highlights might be a bit punched up and the shadows may be a tad dark, a side effect of colour management.

Dang, man...I dunno. On my monitor the tweaked values on your overpaint really makes the thing come alive. As for the darks, I color picked in several of the darkest spots in the overpaint and never hit pure black.

Although the eyes may be pale they are still spheres and must show that form or they'll just jump out as wrong, unless you are making them a light source?

I so badly wanted to maximize the pale eyes in the dark that I think I gave up some disciplined rendering. Call it a side effect of working on too many horror movies...I'll do better.

Either way hope it helps!

You've been a tremendous help.

[Velocity Kendall]

it puts me in mind of something Pennywise would manifest to terrify Richie Tozier or Eddie Kaspbrak!

" Call it a side effect of working on too many horror movies...!"

id love to hear more about that!

[DPFX]

I tried to do a paint over... but there are too many variables that can make my critiques invalid (because I don't know the actual anatomy you were going for)...

So I'll just list what I think look off and then you can tell me your intent.

1. Compare the left and right ear... "his" left ear starts around the temple, his right on the other hand looks like it starts right at the corner of his eye...

2. His horn looks like it's in 3/4, the back of his skull showing suggests it's also in 3/4 but the face (mostly his nose) looks like it's facing dead on to the viewer. If you were to actually look at him dead on it would appear that his nose would be pushed in and slid over to the left of his face and the right side of his face (more so the ear that connects to his chin) would follow. His whole face just looks flat...

3. I like Vengar's lighting, but I would suggest significantly darkening the wall directly behind the creature (the one that is not facing the light) if you intended to make the corner of the wall to be a 90 degree angle.

4. This goes to #3 as well... You have this cool back light on him... it looks like it's coming from the right, so you would darken only the part of the wall directly behind his right shoulder. His furthest right appendage on his left hand has this light, and the way it's working with the form right now looks like the light source is coming from his clavicle.

I'd like to hear your opinions on these critiques, good luck!

Hey Bullion24k...thanks for the crits. I looked at what you said and investigated...



1. As a 'freehand' design, I wouldn't be at all surprised if I had perspective or symmetry issues. I did the yellow lines using the ear tips as a guide, and I'm not sure I see much of a problem in how the ears align in relation to the eyes. I wish I'd dropped the "lobe" of the left ear down a hair, now that I look at it.

2. In my mind, this creature's face is a bit sunken in, with bit of an underbite and a slightly jutting chin. I drew the turquoise line to roughly show my perceived 'centerline' of the face. It is not intended to be an accurate human face. That said, I might have failed to describe the nose very well. Venger didn't change it, so I'm encouraged by THAT.

3. I'm surprised the corner of the wall isn't reading as a normal, 90 degree corner.

4. I'm a bit confused, but I think you're referring to the cooler light hitting the back of the "thumb" tentacle on the left "hand". In my effort to be a fancy, schmancy painter I attempted some back lighting, thinking perhaps there was some dim moonlight coming in from a window behind the creature. At the time I was painting that lighting on the "thumb", it didn't seem unreasonable that it was getting some of that light. That light may well have come from the gap between the shoulder and the neck...near the clavicle.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

[DPFX]

it puts me in mind of something Pennywise would manifest to terrify Richie Tozier or Eddie Kaspbrak!

Yeah...hard to compete with Tim Curry. (Okay...I had to google your references.)

I started thinking about clowns as demons when I found out that the word 'harlequin' may have its roots in a the word 'hellequin': "a black-faced emissary of the devil, is said to have roamed the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell." (Wikipedia)

As far as working on horror movies, that's my day job...makin' rubber monsters. Why? Do you know anybody who's hiring? PLEASE?