Bridal Ninja WIP- Finished

[Truepinkas]

Okay, so here is my basic layout for this image.

Her costume will be a bridal gown themed ninja outfit. She's supposed to be leaping down from the rafters of a church to kill someone.

At this point I'd like general comments on her proportions and the composition as a whole. Her pose and proportions are meant to be slightly exaggerated. The current plan it to have the background in black and white and her in color.

[Twitchmonkey]

The pose is dramatic and the composition is strong, but the arms aren't doing as much for me. The right seems to be posed a bit unnaturally, though it is harder to tell in silhouette, and the left just seems to be hanging out there a bit. Overall I get the impression that the woman is simply jumping with a sword, not going in for a big chop. Pulling the arms down further and adding more of a bend would be beneficial, I think. Otherwise it's looking great, the left foot isn't quite working for me, but I'm sure you'll tighten that up as you continue to work on it, but the flow of the body in general is very good.

[Truepinkas]

Now that I've finally finished my Orc pic, I've resumed work on this concept. Starting to flesh out some details. I think her shoulders are a bit off, so I gotta see if I can get my wife to pose for that later...

[Klaw]

This looks like it will be cool. Is there going to be a lot of counterlighting from the stained glass? It will be pretty dramatic and colorful! Looking forward to this!

[Truepinkas]

Thanks Klaw. Yes, there are essentially 3 light sources. A golden light from the lower left, blue and red from the front stained glass, and a very minor blue and red form the rear stained glass. (The blue and red is if I can't think of a scene to depict in the glass, in which case the scene will determine the coloration.)

I currently have two different color plans I'm considering.
1. The figure and her clothing are the only thing with color, everything else is greyscale.
2. Same as 1, but the stained glass also gets coloration.

[Truepinkas]

More general work and blocking in. I'm trying to get a better understanding of the forms and lighting before I go into any details.

[Bai Fan]

Her shoulders feel dislocated.

[Truepinkas]

Well, I was going for an exaggerated pose, but maybe I went a little too far with the shoulders. I'll certainly play around with adjusting them and see how it looks.

[Quigleyer]

From what I can vaguely remember from the beginnings of that orc "man hunter" image you were doing I'd say this one does INDEED have a much better understanding of form and light. Much cleaner and more precise, I think.

That said I'm having a hard time with the composition, actually. I don't get a sense of movement because I really don't know where she's going. She fits pretty much evenly in the center of the composition and the only direction I can see is down... so it looks like she's falling down. Does that make sense?

A little more room on your right and you could begin to add hints of someone turning in surprise or something.

I just noticed it's a sketchup model. Nice. Ain't that fun?

Now I wanna go do an interior sketchup model to use...

Haha. Good luck with this, I look forward to your progress.

[Truepinkas]

I played around with the composition for about an hour, and couldn't really come up with anything I liked more then where it was. I did end up elongating the frame, shifting her slightly to the left (opening up the right a bit more for the sake of 'movement') and messing with her pose slightly. The arms are just roughed in at this point. I think I'll start cleaning this up as a base later tonight and maybe start in on the details and fruffy-ness tomorrow.

[aimeemcfarlane]

The breasts really don't look like the arms are being raised over the head. Even with rather large implants, I think the breasts would be flatter, more separated, and (this can depend on the person) the nipples higher and pointing up a tad. I think that if this lady was real, she would be falling out of a dress of that cut, however, I don't really know where you're going with the outfit, and it could be made out of clingy ninja material. Hope that helps.

[Truepinkas]

Thanks. I'll see what I can do about adjusting the breast shape a bit, I thought it looked funny to me.

As for her popping out, we're going with the 'everything just kind of stays where it should' suspension of disbelief model.

[Tangleworm]

Cool idea, but as Quigleyer said, I'm having a bit of trouble picturing the movement. Her lower body seems to be pushing her to the side, but her upper body is straight up and down. Her left arm doesn't appear to be connecting to her shoulder in the right place, even if exaggerated. It might be the way her elbows are pointing that's messing with the line of action.
I like the style and look of it. I think you've mixed the two worlds nicely.

[Bai Fan]

To really pull this off, I would say figure out what the muscles of the chest, shoulders and back are doing. Put in an armpit. Block in the twisting of the bicep and triceps.

Also, the veil would not be hanging loosely if she was dropping from the ceiling.

[Truepinkas]

I REALLY appreciate all the feedback guys. Here's an update. I completely reworked the breasts and upper arms following your suggestions.

I think I can take care of some of the 'movement' issues when I add in the sheer fabrics, but I'm also looking into other ways of adding movement.

I know the arch in her back is very over exaggerated, but for some reason i like it more than the 'corrected' version I tried.

I've been flipping the image back and forth as I work to try and not overlook awkward angles and what not. Just happened to be the point where I stopped for the night was a reversal of what I've been posting.

[Truepinkas]

More work on my girl here. The outfit is really starting to take form. I might be skewing a bit heavy on the bride side with the outfit, which is fine (she is carrying a sword though, and leaping down from the rafters, and wearing pants, which all skew to ninja), it's not like I have percentages to meet, or a clients expectation, but I'd like to do something to bring it back to center a bit. I'm thinking maybe a strap across the chest holding a scabbard across her back maybe? Not sure yet.

Overall I'm pleased with the progress so far. Still along way to go from my ugly fashion-designer-esque costume design sheets (seriously my costume design sheets look like a 4 year old drew them in a hurry...) I think I'm going to reposition that back foot a bit to improve the silhouette, as it currently looks more like a growth than the rear foot...

[Truepinkas]

Another update. more detail on the outfit, reposed the legs a bit, shrunk the head a bit, playing with some lighting effect in the BG.

I still need to actually render the boots, do the shot colors on her from the stained glass, figure out how to do the sheer veil, decide if I want her to have jewelry on, do general clean up and of course actually render the BG.

It'll be a while with as slow as I work, but this is a really fun piece to work on!

Is the movement better now that there are some more things 'moving', or is it still really hard to feel it? I feel it, but I feel I'm biased about that...

[andrea w]

Looking good, I can tell you're having fun with this

How about playing around a bit with her hair? Have some strands flying around etc, it would probably add to the movement. Keep it up

[Klaw]

This reminds me of 300! In a good way, though. I don't know if you are shooting for this, but it it seems satirical, only played as serious. If that's the case, then I "get" it! If not, then I am reading a different meaning to it. Either way, I think you can call it a success. I look forward to it's conclusion. Know this: I look at this picture and I can hear Carmen Burana playing in the background. That's never a bad thing. Keep Going!

[Truepinkas]

I've taken a few weeks off to participate in some CHOW and IDW. The two best efforts of which being CHOW 198 and IDW 128 (just finished the IDW yesterday).

I'm also moving in a few weeks, so I don't have much art time coming up, but once I get settles in my new place, what can I do to finish this out with style?

For starters I'm thinking the shading on her could be pushed further...Help me out.

[wooblood]

Couple issues I see...
The foot that's closest to the edge of the picture, I'm not sure yet whether that's her instep or sole showing, but if it is the instep, it seems like it would be unnaturally twisted at too far of an angle. I would imagine the toe would point more sideways in relation to our view point.
Other thing is, and it may just be me, but it seems like her mouth is either too relaxed, or too round in an O like she's ready to give a BJ, and it may give a false impression that she's thinking "oh crap, I'm falling". I think a more ferocious or teeth-clenched mouth may be in order.

[Klaw]

Aha1 I wondered where you went! Good to see you back (although you didn't really leave). Still like the progress here.... just keep pushing it 'till you like it, till it feels right.

[Truepinkas]

Alright, by popular request, I've picked this project back up. I've been thinking a lot about color, mood, and emotion recently, and I think that this character is likely a jealous b*tch about to kill an ex-fiance and his new fiance or somethign like that, so a jaded green seemed appropriate.

I'm not sure what to do about her arms, which may or may not be in an unconvincing pose. I'm also torn about her legs; on one hand i don't think they are seen form a consistent angle as the scene is, but i do like their shape and energy as is...

It's very difficult to go back to old projects IMO...

[wooblood]

Wow, I was wondering whatever happened to this.
I like the color application. It's looking much more natural now.
I think the arm positioning looks fine, but her right arm seems a little thick relative to the rest of her skinny frame.
Is that a nip slip I spy?

[OmenSpirits]

Big question, which is begging to be ask.

What is she attacking? Without a opponent of somekind, the pic is kind of boring.

[Truepinkas]

@wooblood: Thanks, I was thinking the same thing about the arm width. I'll work on that when I I'm redoing some of the skin parts. If there is a nip slip it was unintentional, so i'll repaint that area a bit too.

@OmenSpirits: Well, since she's jumping down from the rafters in a church, she's a good 20 feet in the air, so it's not really possible for me to show an enemy in frame unless they were up there too and are now falling in front of her. or I could have some bullets or ninja stars being thrown at her form below to imply an enemy. I'm not sure I like either idea but I'll at least play with them. I thought it's be a bit more clear since she's dressed as a bride, in a church, that the target was likely an ex or an ex's new lady friend.

I have a lot more to go on this, as I've hiked up my 'finished' standard. I have a long weekend coming up though, so I'll have plenty of time to work on it. Thanks for the comments.

[Jadedarts]

[QUOTE=Truepinkas;2918829

@OmenSpirits: Well, since she's jumping down from the rafters in a church, she's a good 20 feet in the air, so it's not really possible for me to show an enemy in frame

If shes jumping down on someone and the way she's lit from the bottom right, you could have a shadow of the EX casting on the dress, just a thought

[Truepinkas]

After several mock ups, and due consideration, I don't believe who she is attacking matters to me, nor do I feel it adds to the overall image. The concept is a bride/ninja leaping down from some church rafters to make an attack, whom she is attacking is not a necessary part of the concept to me.

I still have a fair amount to go, but I feel it's coming along nicely. I'm experimenting with textures and lighting effects a little bit, and overall I'm pleased with it.

FYI I am keenly aware that the leg closest tot he viewer is technically at an incorrect angle given our vantage point, but I enjoy how it looks and have elected to leave it as is.

[Pear3.]

I really feel that you are experimenting textures and lighting .You did pretty well.... the concept is believable ( I mean the message is clear and I don't think you have to rethink the whole concept)

[Truepinkas]

Thanks Pear3, it's nice to hear I'm headed in the right general direction.

More work on it. Flipped, added more details, color work, fixes, and costume revisions. I'm not exactly sure where I'm headed or when I'll label it 'finished', but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I'm pretty pleased with the green/yellow color scheme. To me it symbolized jealousy and unhealthiness respectively. You know, like she's probably just a little crazy.