Hlidskjalf- personal work I'm struggling with...

**dawnusllaw** · June 28th, 2012, 04:46 PM

A personal work, first of a series I will be doing. Trying to push myself by doing a full on illustration instead of just sketching something out, if you look at my SB you'll see what I mean. Any critique is welcome and appreciated!
Edit: Update, sorry for the wait. I keep wondering if his head is too long? Or am I just being weird?

**Grunler** · June 28th, 2012, 05:26 PM

If you're transitioning from just doing sketches to creating finished work, I'd recommend doing some thumbnails, if you haven't already. If you have, let us in on what you have planed. Hard to critique a lot of undefined space. I think the figure is off to a good start, but I get the impression his pose should either be more assertive or more relaxed.

Also, you might check out this thread:Painting Sikh History: Hari Singh Nalwa. Similar composition and subject.

**dawnusllaw** · June 28th, 2012, 11:11 PM

Grunler - you're right, I should plan the image a little better. I want to portray the figure on the throne with a relaxed, but regal attitude. I see what you mean about his posture now. I'll change it so that he looks more relaxed. The hand holding the spear looks strange to me as well... Part of the challenge of the drawing for me is that I rarely do backgrounds or have my characters interact. Designing a throne is another thing I'm doing to push my boundaries. This head shot is really all I've done as far as planning.

**dawnusllaw** · June 29th, 2012, 06:55 PM

Here is a compositional thumbnail. I still can't decide what to do with the arm holding the spear, any thoughts? I appreciate all comments/crits.

**Buhardilla** · June 30th, 2012, 02:40 PM

You might try cropping your thumbnail in different ways. Right now, he's totally dwarfed by the cloudscape above the throne. It keeps pulling my eye away from him, and makes him seem less important/powerful than what it sounds like you're going for.

He doesn't look very relaxed in your second thumbnail. I like his pose in the first one better. He could hold the spear, but you might experiment with him propping it against his shoulder, or tucked in the crook of his arm or something too.

**dawnusllaw** · July 1st, 2012, 10:03 PM

an update plus refined sketch of his face. Well, not that refined

I like the second pose best, I think I'll go with that one. Again, comments/crits are welcome!
Buhardilla: thanks for the suggestions! I understand what you mean about cropping the image, and will apply it to the final.

**dawnusllaw** · July 7th, 2012, 10:17 PM

Sorry for taking so long. I was looking for reference and couldn't find what I wanted, so ended up coercing my roommate to pose for me. Here's what I have.

**dawnusllaw** · July 11th, 2012, 06:03 PM

Update, sorry for the wait. I keep wondering if his head is too long? Or am I just being weird?

**dawnusllaw** · July 16th, 2012, 10:07 PM

Small Update!

**Hexokinase** · July 17th, 2012, 09:23 AM

You need to up your value range, and think more closely about the 3D planes and how much light hits each. The area above the lips is upward facing, and thus should be lighter than the downward facing planes of the cheeks. The lower edge of the cheek crease is also downward facing, and thus should be in shadow - you instead have it as light as his forehead.

There are a few other inconsistencies with the direction of your light source. The figure mostly suggests that the light is forward and above, while the body of the spear suggests that the light source is to the right. Pick a light source, and stick with it. If there's any confusion, set up a similar light source and shoot quick and dirty reference photos.

**dawnusllaw** · July 28th, 2012, 05:57 PM

Hexokinase - Thanks for the feedback! I see what you mean about the lighting/values problems. Specifically the light source inconsistencies, I think I got ahead of myself as far as planning out the image before actually putting it down (It's a bad habit I have). As of now I have decided to start over from scratch, because in addition to the values and lighting issues the throne he's on looks like a La-z-boy chair, and his position in the chair is awkward, not to mention the right arm looks displaced. So I'll be starting over, making drastic changes to the throne itself and addressing the other issues as well.