Please critique my piece?

[frozen-scumbag]

Hello there. So, I somewhat finished this guy last night. I would like to see all of your commentary on what I could do to truly finalize this piece. Thanks for your time

[rseward]

This looks really good to me! I might consider adding some more areas of focus though. Right now, the figure is really polished so I tend to only look at the face and upper body. You may want to pop a few of the tentacles or feathers with some hard edges to add more visual interest.

[FourTonMantis]

first of all, what's going on in the pic? wut's he doing?

[frozen-scumbag]

first of all, what's going on in the pic? wut's he doing?

Well, the name of this piece is Plague Weaver. I guess I should have posted that as well.

[FourTonMantis]

Well, the name of this piece is Plague Weaver. I guess I should have posted that as well.

had you not told me I wouldn't have had any inkling of what's going on, and I still don't, really. is he invoking a plague? summoning one? there's nothing in this pic that indicates anything plague-related, save for maybe the mask (and even that's a stretch).

[frozen-scumbag]

had you not told me I wouldn't have had any inkling of what's going on, and I still don't, really. is he invoking a plague? summoning one? there's nothing in this pic that indicates anything plague-related, save for maybe the mask (and even that's a stretch).

I'm not looking to give a literal depiction of anything. That would make it boring and generic

[littlemonsters]

I'm not looking to give a literal depiction of anything. That would make it boring and generic

??

I think quite the opposite. You have a creature standing in the middle of what looks like a field surrounded by distant mountains, doing nothing. Is there any reason he is there? Does he like waving his arms? Why are there random feathers, did he kill a bird? Your setting doesn't give us much information about anything this character is.

If you are designing a concept there isn't really a need for a dynamic setting or pose. You can give more information with a line drawing and simple colors. But it looks like you are attempting to show us the character in action which is why FourTonMantis prompted the question, what is he doing?

I would suggest giving your character a purpose, maybe he's fighting something, something that will let the viewer know what he is and what he is doing without having to provide us the title.

Hope this helps!

[Jason Rainville]

You don't have to "literally" show him weaving a plague, him at a desk weaving some strands with a sign saying "plague weaving station" but two seconds of thought might yeild something that could at least give us an "ooooh I see it" moment when we see the character and title.

Something as simple as the character walking among withered and boil-covered bodies would be a way of showing us that he's bringing some nasty shit to the table.

[FourTonMantis]

??

I think quite the opposite. You have a creature standing in the middle of what looks like a field surrounded by distant mountains, doing nothing. Is there any reason he is there? Does he like waving his arms? Why are there random feathers, did he kill a bird? Your setting doesn't give us much information about anything this character is.

If you are designing a concept there isn't really a need for a dynamic setting or pose. You can give more information with a line drawing and simple colors. But it looks like you are attempting to show us the character in action which is why FourTonMantis prompted the question, what is he doing?

I would suggest giving your character a purpose, maybe he's fighting something, something that will let the viewer know what he is and what he is doing without having to provide us the title.

Hope this helps!

couldn't have said it better myself.

[frozen-scumbag]

You don't have to "literally" show him weaving a plague, him at a desk weaving some strands with a sign saying "plague weaving station" but two seconds of thought might yeild something that could at least give us an "ooooh I see it" moment when we see the character and title.

Something as simple as the character walking among withered and boil-covered bodies would be a way of showing us that he's bringing some nasty shit to the table.

makes sense. thanks

[Syle]

Apart from the concept approach needing some work, are you committed to keeping it monochromatic? I think the piece could use some 2ndary color treatment. Perhaps some warming of the shadows and cooling of the lights, or vice-a-versa. It might add some nice variation, and it may help create the illusion of depth a little bit more.

I like the overall design of your character. His mask/head is pretty cool.

[frozen-scumbag]

Apart from the concept approach needing some work, are you committed to keeping it monochromatic? I think the piece could use some 2ndary color treatment. Perhaps some warming of the shadows and cooling of the lights, or vice-a-versa. It might add some nice variation, and it may help create the illusion of depth a little bit more.

I like the overall design of your character. His mask/head is pretty cool.

Thanks. Yeah I was thinking about it. It seemed as if any warmth I tried adding created too much of a contrast. It was really bizarre

[Stacybean]

Also because both of those larger feathers have barbs missing in the exact same places on the opposite sides it makes it looked like you just copied flipped and pasted the feather, which is something that always distracts and annoys my eye.