Sork's New SB

[Giorge]

waw nice set of costumes on thos npc's m8, what's next what's next?

[Sorknes]

Thanks guys! And thanks for the crits, as always noting them.

'Nother ChOW, just posted it in the thread over there, so just quoting myself:

So many awsome entries!

I don't think I've ever made as many sketches for different chars that I have now for ChOW ever... But after trying out several things for all of the songs, I've landed on doing two in one image instead.

Soo.. Twisted Sisters, I guess. Need more work in B&W before colours. Thankful for all crits. And I don't look forward to trying to get the colours in my head onto the greyscale at all..

[Sorknes]

Getting closer. At least I'm not at this stage an hour before deadline, for once.

Still having some trouble, but I have a couple of days to find time to fix stuff.

[Cookiedough]

Hi there Sorky,

I must say, i haven't looked further back than this last picture, so i'm not sure what it's for. I think you're making quite some progress these days, you're starting to use more than brown! Good job.

So, here's what i think of your pic:
- Overpaint: This time, you seemed to have picked pink and blue as main colors. It's cool, but you've also repeated the same tints in the bg. Now, that's a good way to go, but you can stray there a li'l bit with the tones. At the moment, the heavy blues in the bg seem to make the whole pic a lot darker. Your pinks start looking purplish overall too. Making it a piece that's mainly pink and blue, without something that they share. You have some gorgeous yellows in the bg clouds, but so far, those aren't on the chars.

What i did was very simple cop out, i'm sure you'll take the more thought through process. Also, i'm on a crt, so maybe my colors are a bit off. I made a new layer, filled it with a greenish/ yellow tone and put it on overlay. Not only will it make the whole pic less dark, but the lightning is now a bit more neutral, without heading to the extremes of pinks and blues. Your chars still have those, but it's less overwhelming now.



- Anatomy: Check the hands again, they seem a li'l clawish (especially the left girls right hand / our left. What's problematic with at least 3 of the hands, is how they connect at the wrist. Yours seem to forget that li'l joint there, and kinda are stuck immediately to the arm. This same problem returns at the anklejoints. It gives them a bit of a stumpy look.
- Other: Maybe it's the compression, but certain areas of the painting still need some love/ seem rather blurry, like the girl on our right face, the feet, the ribbons on the outfits and the eyes on the girl on the left. They seem a li'l beady, like there's too much info in too little space. Try not to paint what you know is there. Think of it more as only including necessary info, and thus being more reluctant with adding strokes. Economy of information and effort. You can just take a big brush and add some bold strokes to eliminate li'l lines.

Now, i've been strict enough. I dig the outfits a lot, very rich and sexy. I'm secretly wondering about the view from underneath them. The poses are cool too. Good luck finishing, hope this helped.

[ASVogel]

I'm going to echo Cookiedough's sentiments. The hands and feet look roughly rendered when there is a lot of promise in communicating the characters' personality by their hands. I would look at Indian and Polynesian dancers' hands to get an idea. Paul Dini (animator for the Justice League, the 90s Batman animated series, etc) also puts a lot of focus on character hands and he has to deal with masked figures as well.

[Sorknes]

Thanks a lot you two, and thanks a ton again Cookie! Helped me a LOT!

So, here's what ended up in the finals thread:

Yulunga/Dead Can Dance to the left (covered face) and Marco Polo/Laureena McKennit (uncovered face) to the right.

[Trashy]

Hi Sorknes,

Not sure if I've been to your sb before. You got some good studies in here. I think you could maybe do some more studies from life and the the values could be pushed further in many of your pieces. I like the character piece your currently working on. I absolutely agree when it comes to those hands...hands are tough but those really need some work. Honestly I would try taking some photos of your hands or somebody else in those positions. I know I myself couldn't draw those off the top of my head like that. Watch the colors of those feet also and hands, right now they actually look like these gory bloody stumps and I don't think that was intended either.

I did a paint over to illustrate some points also. I think you can to simplify this.





Think less is more Sorknes. I see you made it a point to really get into the details in the skirts, helmets and all those areas . The problem is all these little points are distracting from the overall piece. When you go in there with all those points the whole piece might fall flat. You can communicate what your going for with fewer strokes and details. I actually literally took out some parts. Also I added a glow to those two hands, it still can be done better but it shows you that you can work around some parts and not go crazy with all the hands. But just watch those values, maybe use some softer brushes. Anyway man good luck with the piece. I hope this helps, hope I wasn't being too critical there.

[guggemmaneuver]

sork, this is spectacular and inspiring, and i wanted to thank you for putting a link up on fb to it!

Really stellar work!

INSPIRED!
M

[dCepT]

Wow! Level up ahoy! Dig the "bunad" designs.. hehe.. and the twisted sisters look really good! Keep goin!!!

dC

[Cacodaemonia]

Very nice progress with this piece, and you've already gotten some awesome crits.

[Black Spot]

Can you make the one on the right less cross-eyed? It's sort of distracting from a nice piece.

[Sorknes]

Hey Trashy, not harsh at all, that's the kind of cc that I absolutely adore to get, face value straigth on! And I've looked closely at it and taken it to heart, I just couldn't muster up the courage to work on it more after the deadline for the ChoW, but be assured I'm taking the lesson further!

Thanks the rest of you too!

So, I was gonna draw today after being a bit of a turmoil lately, but I couldn't manage to find a proper subject to draw. I couldn't focus on the Chow or anything really, and this is what I do when I can't focus... I didn't know if should post it, but the thread needs an update anyway... It might or might not be finished, this is what I do when I can't think of anything, I just do whatever I feel like. Today it ended up being a bull and a goatpig and a frogman and... whatever you might see in there.

[Cacodaemonia]

That's a neat design. It makes me think of a really bad ass quilt or something.

[Sorknes]

My contributions for the Nov 1st SP day.. Posting them here too.

Photoshop, used photos and mirror for reference.

[Black Spot]

I second the quilt idea - just imagine that on your bed. Nice SP, your hair is so thick!

[Sorknes]

Thanks Black Spot

This one I've gotten tons of good crits on it conceptarts IRC channel, but I'm posting it here anyway. It started out with a ref of an old man, then at some point I ended up wearing a scarf around my head and red yarn (yes, really!) around it for jewellry. So it's looking a lot more like me than an old man at the moment, to say it that way.

Lots of stuff to do with it still, we'll see if Ill have the itme and guts to finish it.

[dierat]

Looks great so far! I love the face. Right now my crits are that the skin could really use some variation in color temperature (but maybe you just haven't gotten to that yet), and the jewelry feels a bit flat, like it's been painted on. Maybe add some cast shadows to emphasize their volume, particularly where they're lying directly on top of another object (like the scarf).

[Cacodaemonia]

Nice SPs. I noticed in this one, though, that where your fingers rest on your cheek, there's not shadows or indication of the flesh being compressed.

[Black Spot]

I love the snooty expression - makes it more regal.

[AsaB]

I'm just now seeing your wonderful Theme CHOW, great idea! I loved the execution of it, the final looks stellar

Your SP is great too! I almost want to start brushing that thick hair of yours, it's beautiful!

And lastly, the you/old man piece is truly something. I agree with Black that her expression really fits the character. I also must echo dierat that her skin needs some hue variation, it seems a little to pink at the moment. But I'm sure you'll get to all that when you continue

[My57]

I really like the last portrait! really reminds something from a fantasy game, kinda like a gypsy or a pirate ya know? but in a good way.

[Sorknes]

Thanks guys. And yeah, I've noticed that with the fingers too, hehe.

I think I might be done with it, unless you can see any glaring mistakes...

[alesoun]

Looking good, Sork. There's a sensuality to this.

[Nellin]

Wow youre awesome, admire your attention and patience to details and some of theese things must have taken long time to finished.

[Black Spot]

So rich - iconic.

Just one thing - her right nostril looks a bit low.

[Pixie Trick]

I agree with Black Spot: check where the nostrils line up in comparison to the eyes and mouth. Otherwise it looks absolutely beautiful!

[So-naa]

Hands seem to be a difficult subject for you, but I think it is for most artist. Your bodies and faces have such expression! I love to see you develop! Wonderful concepts also.. Your mermaid is my favorite.

[dCepT]

That SP is really good! Dig the details and all that.. I got the gypsy vibe like My57

Keep goin'! You're really taking steps now!

dC

[GriNGo]

Nice SP. I think the face needs more "contrast" work, it all looks very bland.

[SMILEFACE]

wowzerz more amazingly HOT HOTNESS THANKS FOR SELF PORTRAITS CHOWS AN THE LIKES!