Please criticize my work. Thank you very much. :)

[Talonhardin]

Trying out creating characters or creatures. Can't think of anything else to add to this.
Asking for crits,suggestions and ideas to learn. Would mean alot to me and I will take them to heart. Thank you so much!

[justa]

Well you did ask...
The 1st thing that stands out for me is that your use of detail is inconsistent. Yes the focal point should have the most detail and your face does show that, but then the skulls in his hair are a blur. A blurred hand on a detailed forearm, sharp edged grass and a blurry hoof etc. There is no pattern or structure to the detail.
Second, less detail does not necessarily mean "blur", it just means less detail - simpler forms but still clear (I actually find it much harder to render convincingly in the "less detail" areas because you have to be able to make a few paint strokes communicate the real structure - you can't fudge it).
Finally, your lighting on his body is inconsistent, with some areas apparently (e.g. the sword hilt) in bright sunlight and others in diffuse light or fog (e.g.the hand holding the sword hilt).

I suspect you got too caught up in details before you got the basic forms and shadows down. Desaturate it, open a new layer in photoshop and paint over it in 3 values with the bigest brush you can manage - it will force you to get those underlying structures right and then you can start detailing them.

Hope that helps a bit.

D'Arcy

p.s. it is a cool character, I just think you can pull it up a few more notches into a great one :-)

[Talonhardin]

THank you so much @Justa! I appreciate the wonderful crit. Truly gave me a new view. I will start working on those points immediately and will apply them to my future paintings. Thank you thank you, means a lot.

[justa]

Anytime :-)

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Nice job! Everything D'Arcy said is spot, especially about the use of detail/textures. Texture brushes are a shortcut for when you really know how to handle the use of detail. Make decisions and then use them to execute those decisions, don't let them dictate those decisions!

Just to add a few things-
- Black shadows. Avoid. Get some color in there. Just as the lights are seldom white, the shadows are seldom black.
- Make sure you have very good reference if you're going to delineate anatomy. The muscles in the arms are wrong.
- Watch the snout, it doesn't line up with the head properly. Flip the image often!

Great start otherwise, it's a cool character and some passages, particularly the back legs, are handled very well.

[Rotor]

Hi man, I did this quickish paintover as an interpretation for you to underline some stuff like what Justa and Sidharth are talking about.
I have to exclaim I'm still learning lighting myself, but I hope you can find this useful.

I suspect you got too caught up in details before you got the basic forms and shadows down. Desaturate it, open a new layer in photoshop and paint over it in 3 values with the bigest brush you can manage - it will force you to get those underlying structures right and then you can start detailing them.

This. I think that would also be a good time to consider the silhouette and pose of the character to make it as striking as possible. I think you already have a great base here. I also think you have a very good palette going on, nice earthy colours.

[Lhune]

On top of what everyone else has suggested; I think the choice you made regarding the lighting is very unfortunate and unflattering. The one thing that catches most of the light and appears most important as a result is his shoulder plate. Considering that this is a character representation and not a full illustration, you should "force" the light to your hand to light up the important stuff and leave the rest in relative darkness. After all you want it to be absolutely clear that he's the main focus of this image, right?

Quick example;


Conceptually I don't know if I like a sword on a brute beast like this. Seems too refined a weapon for it. I mean, it's a bull; it should either have huge horns and not need a weapon at all, or some enormous warhammer or club. At least, in my opinion.

[fersteger2]

Wow, great crits and paintovers! I think it is a very cool character, I think it could use a lot of texture control, the texture of hair versus skulls, the paintovers got it!

[Talonhardin]

THank you so much for the wonderful advise @Sidharth! means a lot.

[Talonhardin]

Thank you for the crit and awesome paintover! Gives me a true visual for the corrections I need to do

[Talonhardin]

@Lhune THank you! Great idea and crit about lighting, il put more effort in positioning the lights correctly on my future pieces. Thank you so much! means a lot!