ChoW#290 :: Guardian of the Flame

[ChaosTheory]

WIP) Haven't painted digitally for long time) So happy to be back

[mjz92]

Any critiques?

I still need to re-add the sword into her hands. It's not nearly done.

[Obstfelder]

mjz92: Your pose looks good. I think it's a little unclear what is happening with the feet and the fire, so look at how you can make it clear how the weight is distributed between her feet.

The sash that hangs from her shoulder is curved, and I imagine it would be straight if that shield bit had any weight.

Your lighting is giving the character nice depth, but add some more contrast. Either a dark background or in the character itself. It's a little soft right now.

Hope some of this is usefull! Good work so far.

[anaiira]

Hello everyone! I'm kind of new to this so advice would be great.

I was going for the Prometheus thing, and here I thought I was clever and toooootally original until I saw basti0n's post. Ahh well.

I'm thinking of fixing Prometheus' anatomy, make him lean forward more so he doesn't look like he's falling off of the mountain and just widening the shot more. And better armour. Some sort of god-armour(?). Anti eagle missiles?

Time to sketch in values, I guess.

[DePietro]

I think I'm pretty much finished, any tips for some last touches to make it better?

[Dcritelli]

Here's where I'm at. Might finish in time.

[Tea of Doom]

Bnoch! Thank you for your very detailed answer! I'm currently working on my time management so I'm definitely taking note of what you said.

Here is a whip, basic composition + values. Took me about 2-3h.

I'll make crits/comments in my next post.

[paradoxba]

Only the one with the key will have access to the fire.
Will try to finish in time.

[basti0n]

some reworking some life drawing 'improvement'probably wont finish in time. :/

[basti0n]

still doing work. my focus is going to switch to the rendering of the characters form and some more character development. i realized my char is too small so adjusted its size. hopefully more improvement forthcoming.

[JanJager]

Nice round Lot of cool entries. could not resist trying a guardian

[Imagus]

Just a quick update - still hoping to make the Sunday deadline, though today is shaping up to be pretty busy.

[mjz92]

Still haven't worked in the flames or the sword. Playing with the stone texture at the moment. Generally, still sharpening up the folds in the cloth and all that.

[damienflux]

Hey guys , great entry! I started on this theme as a break from my freelance , hope to improve as i go along the way!


So getting on to the impression of the Guardian , i saw almost immediately a sphinx or somewhat an entity of a wise visage , along the lines of roman , gold plating , white and all that jazz.

I didn't culture myself to stick to a sketch strictly , rather as an artist it is easier to explore the means of not knowing and also playing a part in unraveling as i go along.

Eventually after reading about the flames of olympic , it links to the story of Prometheus stealing the flame from Zeus , an epic scene indeed , so here is my take on Prometheus (also my frustration for awaiting the movie debut!!!)

[damienflux]

"If the visage of a God could burn into the eyes of man , let him be spared from that brilliance."

[Noamos]

I have a bad habit of procrastinating and it I have to much time I will take forever to finish any piece so decide to just limit my time in hope to get faster as I continue to grow. Still SOOOOOO much to learn and aloooooot of room to grow. Here is my final let me know what I need to fix or work on besides color lol.

[Obstfelder]

Every four years someone gets the honor of fetching the olympic fire from mount olympus. Candidates must be "world class sprinters". Most are never seen again.

[Grunler]

Damien, I'd think about intensifying your two light sources. Here's a paintover to give you an idea (though the light is probably more exaggerated than I'd recommend.)


Besides that I like the design. Maybe extend the neck and get some reference for those paws. Oh, and I'd make it clearer if those are wings on his back or some kind of sculptural cloak.

[damienflux]

Grunler

Hey Grunler , If there is 2 pressing issue i am guilty of is definitely the Light source from the flame , If it isn't one of the most fatal flaw that i have made was to not plan it out earlier on , and it should have been stronger than the Ambient light source , but good science is good observation and i've charted that down.

Next is possibly what i am going to work on is the Paws , but otherwise i am pretty much losing steam for this one!

But thanks for dropping the comments and much appreciated!

[MasterTroglodyte]

Probably as far as I'll go for now...

Obstfelder - I feel like your characters don't blend with their environment. They should be awash with the blue in the sky, the snow, the mountains.

[mjz92]

A statue that comes to life when the flame is threatened.

[Eofn]

As some of you may or may not be aware, the United Kingdom is currently celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - which lasts for four days! Due to this, the topic deadline has been extended until 8AM GMT (9AM British Summer time) MONDAY 4th JUNE The new topic shall also be posted at this time.

PLEASE TAKE NOTE: The time is in the MORNING (AM) not in the evening!

Thanks!

[Tea of Doom]

Having lots of trouble with the lighting. I find it difficult to transition between the values and actual color.

Right now my lighting has a very synthetic feel to it, I really don't like it.

Don't know if I'll finish this one.

EDit: also added updated values thumb

[dragon4lunch]

Another chance to practice armor designs. The armor on this one looks a bit too advanced for an ancient Greece setting - but we're trying to do fantasy here and I think it's quite alright to amp it.

[Mhugo]

So much great designs =)

Started last night and thx to the dl extension i have a chance to finish it

Wip1

[LukasA]

Still having trouble coloring the background, I'm sucking at using different layer type techniques.

[Obstfelder]

Mhugo: He looks great!

LukasA: Use a texture brush to make smoky shapes in black and white in the background. Then make a new layer on top set to color mode, and add a color or two to that using the gradient tool, and last: Make a hue/saturation adjustment layer on top of that again, and play around with the hue and saturation sliders to tone the colors down and find a better match for your foreground. At least that works for me, and is pretty fast

[Obstfelder]

MasterTroglodyte: Yes you are right. I should have gotten some more reference for the colors. I messed up the lighting too, when I started painting in the helmet. I just hope I have time to save it.

[Imagus]

Getting pretty close to done at this point. Thanks to the extension, will probably get a final in.

Get the feeling I may have missed the "Greek" aspect of the Olympic flame, but I really like the idea of it being held somewhere nobody can find it until it's needed. Also, occurred to me that there could be a possible tie-in to the Aurora Borealis, which would be kind of cool.

Learning/learned a lot doing this challenge, and hope to get the chance to do another again soon.

[Mhugo]

Obstfelder, thanks!!

Wip2