E.O.W Round #199: In the Dead of Winter

[liquorbleu]

Hey you guys are so awesome, thanks for all the critiques!! I edited some stuff but I'm still having some trouble making more textures. I wanna push it further but kinda stuck...

Tsonline: Hey cool composition, maybe think about adding some little elements that would be in a forest to make your scene more believable, plants, dead leaves, animals, etc. Something to add a bit more narrative.
takashmen: I see some great potential here, but the colors in the castle are really stark against the colors in the background, maybe play with adding some cool colors in the shadows of your castle?
Sandrei: Wow man, love the narrative here - maybe play with the values so the perspective reads a bit more clearly.
Sunseaker: Great work, I'd like to see you loosen up a bit with your strokes.
marko: hey thanks for the cartoon idea, watched some of it at school today and it was really moody and awesome. The first hut closest to us is off for me, perspective wise. Draw your lines on a different layer and adjust a bit.
DNVN: Hey man I'm diggin the 3rd comp
hannesrahm: Hey good to see another awesomehorser here, really pretty piece, fleeting thought - what would happen if you moved the lightning bolt out of the center? Also I kind of liked having the lightning bolt in view hitting something but that's just me.

[Chris Sanders]

Update. Thanks Marko.

[Howie]

Thanks for the feed back on the first image guys!

@CassandreBolan: thanks, I did it all in photoshop mostly with the charcoal brush

here's my second go

[dforman]

Studies for an old English town winter environment (no winter elements yet!).

[Chris Sanders]

spamage! Another update.

[Dile_]

sooooo many entries.. eow is picking up some sick momentum and awesome ppl! I'll try to be more helpful once I've gotten started on this thing myself.

[Chris Sanders]

Right this is the last update for the night. I'll let someone else post something.

[invinciblewombat]

so many good entries so far, throwing my sketch in

[wutangclam]

[Yatzenty]

In the Dead of Winter.

Aurora just started its beautiful display on the December sky but Sir Galahad did not have time to cast his eyes on it, he had to be focused...movement in his armor was very difficult that freezing, whisper quiet night.
The dead was awaiting his victim and there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it. Soon the silence will be broken...

This time artwork produced without use of any 3d, production time 2.5 h Photoshop

[smuli]

BenJackson - Lovely colors, both pictures could look great defined.

Pixeltuner - I like the light on the hotel! My only crit is that either the perspective is off where the facade attaches to the balcony or it's just not defined enough to see the structure.

PhantomFrog - Too early to say anything except nice start!

Coool_brain - I like the composition and silhouettes!

CassandreBolan - Nice composition and expression on the rocks but I'm missing some highlights and more rendering on the skeletons.

Hekatoncheir - I love the composition, colors and textures but I can't make out what's happening. I wish you'd define it because the composition is just awesome!

Andrei411 - Really nice composition and mood on both sketches! I think the blue lights became a bit too saturated on the newer version but that's just my opinion.

Sandrei - I like the silhouette of the building and the confident brushing! The smoke on the background is a fine detail!

AdrianNagorski - Nice colors and feel of snow storm. I'm missing a clear point of focus though, you have pretty much the same amount of rendering everywhere.

Mastertroglodyte - Nice composition, my favorite part is the clouds! Seems like you've used a really soft brush everywhere, it works on the sky but you could try adding a splash of texture on points of interest.

Hannesrahm - Nice mood and composition! I liked your earlier version more though, in the new one I can't make out the lighting breaking the stone.

Takashmen - Good colors, looking forward to seeing it defined!

DNVN - Nice sketches! It's hard to make out what the focal point of each picture is though. My favorite composition is the last one, though it misses some dark shadows to make it pop out.

Marko Marcovic - I really like the shapes and vivid colors on the snowy rocks! The perspective on the wooden structures seems a bit off though. Try flipping the picture horizontally and vertically if you haven't already to see the mistakes.

Sunseaker - Nice feel of sunlight but you have a lot of the same bright white everywhere in the picture, it would be a good idea for depth to reserve that to one area (focal point or best lit area) and darken the rest a bit with a faint multiply layer. I like the smoke coming out of the chimney a lot but I'm not a fan of the "lens flare" of the sun, it looks weird IMO and adds an unnecessary focal point. Great winter mood though!

Sandrei - Nice start but there's a lot happening on different parts of the picture, try to make the focal point clear and use maybe bigger brushes and more loose rendering elsewhere.

Liquorbleu - I really like the mood and snowing effect! Remember to check the perspective when you define it, it looks ok in general but some lines seem a bit off.

Howie - I love the values and ice texture on the foreground! I can't help think the background could use a wash of blue, the greyish green looks surrealistic to me but it's a matter of taste I guess.

Dforman - Nice research!

Chris Sanders - I like the subdued palette and brushing, especially on the snow covered rocks and haze on the background! The extreme foreground still misses some darker values to make it pop out.

Invinciblewombat - I like the minimalistic, calm composition though the colors don't give me the winter chills yet.

Wutanclam - Maybe it's too early to critique but you have a lot of flat grey in your sketch even though the red sky would suggest a much moodier color scheme. Also, I suggest to try to focus on simple shapes and composition rather than strong, characteristic brushstrokes this early in the process.

EDIT: Yatzenty - Woah, incredible mood and pretty damn fast too!


I'm starting pretty late but here are my thumbnail attempts. I think I'll go with the bridge with the horse cart.

[Leoz]

Exhausted he went forward step by step with despair.
He knew he was lost...


My entry:

[CassandreBolan]

Alright, I think that's it. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions on my last one (dont worry, those skele's were placeholders). I was pretty much finished by that point so i'm not going to make major changes at this point but I really took all the crits to heart and will apply them to the next piece. Thanks for making me think!
p.s. there is some incredible work on this thread-good job to everyone

[I-Bomb]

Chris sanders You have really improved chris I can't wait for the final concept you just need a good focal point
Hekatoncheir I love your concept so far brings out that onimous yet strangely beautiful mood


here's what I got so far I little grave for the fallen warriors

[liquorbleu]

Hey guys, not tons of differences but here's my final. Thanks for the crits they were really helpful!!

CassandreBolan: Maybe in your next piece try to think about using different types of shapes in your comp and see what happens, great piece!
smuli: hey I like the portrait canvas one with the statue, I think that has some cool potential and a good sense of composition.
Yatzenty: great idea and really beautiful work man, love the colors only suggestion I have is more time rendering.
chris sanders: hey man I'm so impressed with your rendering ,it's awesome love looking at your brush strokes. still a little lost as to what's going on, I figure they are snow drifts but it looks like it could be a waterfall too.
howie: my suggestion would be to add some other elements into the picture, rocks, plants, somethin else for our eyes to bounce around more.

[TSonline]

Small update

[Vulgar`]

I'm a bit late with the finals thread but it's up now. My fault. I'll take care of your entries if they're in here and not there.

Great week all.

[yAdam]

Great entries all so far! Been so busy I forgot all about this, still a work in
progress, so hopefully I'll have time to finish tomorrow.

[WRappiii]

Love the variety in all these works.
CassandreBolan: Awesome job on the skeletal remains.
Yatzenty: Beautiful color. And so much to look at!
android411: The saturated blues are stunning.

Here's mine. Please critique!

[Chris Sanders]

Thanks for the crits so far guys, let me know what you think of the revised foreground. Also i'm not sure if i want a dominating focal area, i'm trying to lead the eye into the main ice plain via the darker blue exposed rocks in the mid ground, sort of like a spiral culminating into the large rock on the right third, then spreading into the ice plain. I don't really want a key set piece like a castle or something, more the whole terrain. Let me know if that's the impression being received or if it still seems unfocused.

Howie - Loving that image man; the palate and comp are really working well. When ever i think ice and cold i think blue, but you've nailed that green/warm grey theme. My only gripe is the shed, it looks a little out of place, like it doesn't belong. However that might be the point, like a play on the title, which is cool. But maybe research some sheds or barns, and add like some cars or indication of life there maybe. Because it kind of reads like a symbol of a shed or a house if you get me.
dforman - nice prop work, maybe try and get a comp down and then research specifics after, unless that's what your doing.. in which case carry on.
Invinciblewombat - I like the concept you have here. Is that some people lost in there background out there in the top left? either way your going to need to sample the foreground and go halfway to black at least, to emphasis the thickness of the fog. try indicating the top of rocks or trees and letting the bottoms fade away because fog tends to settle lower down, should make it read better. try this in the mid ground and then in the background try painting some rocks that are only like 10 percent darer than the fog itself.
Wutangclam - you have quite a complicated scene there, i like the action, but i think the characters are drawing the attention away from the environment and it's becoming more of an environment. Maybe put them further away in space. Also because snow is reflective and you have a red sky, your going to have a lot of red in the snow, especially as the snow gets closer to the eye level.
Yatzenty - Pretty sick image you've got there buddy, 2.5 hours well spent. can't really crit it sorry.
Smuli - First of all spell check want's to turn you into stimuli, which is unrelated, yet funny. Thanks for the fore ground crit, helped a lot. I quite like c, but i also think you could link the first and last image into like a frozen gothic town or something, if that make sense. Just hurry up and make sure you give yourself plenty of time to render!
Leoz - I think this image needs some sharpness to it, you have some interesting shapes, however i only figured out that was a man and a sled or something(?) because of the description which shouldn't be the case.
CassandreBolan - A lot of positives for this image, i love the skeletal features, particularly long spine at the right hand side, really helps lead wandering eyes back into the composition. Perhaps add another layer behind the main skeletal feature in the center of the composition as it feels like the whole world stops after it. Maybe smaller bones or a mountain range or something. also maybe some close silhouetted spines like the one in the right, but closer into the image creating some overlap and breaking up the repetition of the path to the ribcage gate thingy.
Undonhead - Thanks man. I like the image, couple things i think may help... Firstly move the sword to left or right a tad so it's not smack bang in the middle, keep it central just not dead center, you want some a symmetry going on. Also spread the swords out a little and vary there shapes and sizes. Maybe add some low lying fog to separate the rocks in space. And for some reason i think this image could go with some red. Maybe on the main sword, like a ribbon on the handle, or perhaps a very subtle sunset creating a red band broken up by the rocks. Maybe research it.
Liquorbleu - Thanks for the crit, i like the image man, i think those lights would be casting cool banding cast shadows on the building from the wires. nice stuff though.
Tsonline - nice mood here. try breaking up the repetition of the trees, possibly research other tree formations, and or have some fallen trees. And some subtle colour shifts here and there.
yAdam - love this set up. Can't offer much help i'm sorry. You have totally inspired me to try a top down view like this in future though, not enough of it around. Keep rocking.
WRappii - really sweet image dude, i think it might also fall more under the illustration category. But i can't fault it as an image. Is he missing a shoe lol?

[invinciblewombat]

going in a very different direction than the sketch

thanks for the crits guys, hopefully will have time to finish tomorrow

[Moggie]

First timer here would love some crits, every one has done such awesome work.

[I-Bomb]

some more roughs for the comp got to try blending less it looks sloppy so far

moggie for a first timer you take no prisoners nice entry

[smuli]

Chris - I'm glad if it helped. I tried continuing two of the thumbnails but didn't get them to work so ended up doing something completely different.

Here's a WIP. The lower left corner still needs a lot of work.

[marko markovic]

nice eow....good luck

[MishaArt]

Early morning... Another day of journey - but it seems that it soon will be over.
Far in the distance he saw the towers - it has to be the castle he was trying to reach.
Just a few more steps, despite the very cold winter ...

In the Dead of Winter - my entry:

[LukasN]

Hi everyone! Great work! Lots of cool Mountains! Here's mine MishaArt sorry ,but I really wasn't trying to steal your idea!

[MishaArt]

@LukasN hah really no problem I wouldn't think so either way great stuff though