None Shall Pass WIP (Monday 8/22)

**Undefeated** · August 11th, 2005, 02:30 AM

The original sketch:

The PS7 paints:

I've dug myself a hole here by ignoring the background till the last minute. I couldn't seem to get it right, so I just moved on to the girl's body to try and at least be productive. Mainly, I'm having a hell of a time painting the terrain with a degree of realism, something I never really tried before. I dont even really care for the color of the mountain, just wanted to get something blocked in.

Obviously there are still parts of the body that need touching up or finishing. I may even end up elongated the canvas from top to bottom..I dont like her being so low on the page.

Critiques and advice would come in handy! Thanks for looking.

**OmegaFilms** · August 11th, 2005, 02:41 AM

The way it is now the weapon will block the details of the moutain
have you thought about her gaurding a bridge or possibly a cave entrance

great shading on the torso I would like to see that kind of details in the face (shade in some cheek bones)

but it looks good so far

**CaptainInsano** · August 11th, 2005, 02:44 AM

hey man

I'd scrap the background all together. The BG colors are too saturated and flat. This would be a lot cooler with no background at all.

You've done a pretty good job painting in her mid-riff so far. There's something not right with the way her head is sitting on her neck/shoulders.

Great start so far. Let's see this updated!

**endercoskun** · August 11th, 2005, 05:24 AM

the shading on her is going nice but the anatomy needs more work. she is too skinny, that may be intentional but her left leg is thinner than her right and her right art is thinner than her left. the foreshortening on the right arm is a bit off. and her breasts are too close to each other, they need be wider apart.

i hope this helps, looking for updates; keep it up dude!!

**Undefeated** · August 11th, 2005, 07:28 PM

Thanks a lot for all the comments, they really have helped.

Omega: I've thought about having her guard everything from a bridge to a ladies' room door, but for some reason, I'm stuck on a mountain setting. I appreciate the specific comment about detailing her face, I'll definitely be doing that.

Parker: The mountain colors were just blocked-in placeholders. I really hadn't gone to too much trouble to add depth or anything. I tried adjusting her weird-looking head/neck problem somwhat. And believe me, I'd like nothing better than to just forget about a bg, but its a bridge I need to cross.

I hope to hear your comments about the new BG.

e n d e r: Thanks for the specific comments. I've thickened up her mid-section and right arm a bit, will go back and touch up that thigh a bit, and need to beef up her halberd wrist. Didn't really focus much on her today, but I will when I update again.

This is the new update: It looks a mess, because I had to cut her from her old background (which was all on one layer), so it's still somewhat sloppy. I was trying to hold off on worrying about her until I have a setting I like, and I think I'm going to stay with this. I'll be adding some clouds and birds to fill things out, but I think this gives the piece a little more balance.

I'll also have to do a little bit of adjusting to get her to better match the background.

Any and all comments always always always welcome.

**Octothreat** · August 11th, 2005, 10:23 PM

I like the new bg much better. Its a bit too small for me to see what you've done with the details, but one thing you might not have noticed, it seems to me that her R leg's legging should curve to her leg more. Keep it up!

**stoph** · August 11th, 2005, 10:41 PM

looks good! i was sorta hoping for a monty python rendition of the black knight..

"COME BACK 'ERE! ILL BITE YA KNEE-CAPS OFF!!"

**darkchild** · August 11th, 2005, 11:43 PM

Hey, looking good so far. The new background is much better. The rendering for the body is well done. Waiting for more progress pics. Keep posting. Later!

**quesadeist** · August 12th, 2005, 12:09 AM

Something really bothers me about the left leg (her right). With the armor you can see the knee and trace the shin, and it appears that her leg is facing you dead on. Then when you reach the foot, it is in full profile. The rotation of the leg/armor is not shown. (I hope I explained that clearly enough, for some reason it's hard for me to find the words to describe what I'm seeing.)

Aside from that and the fact that her breasts are being held too close together (already mentioned by ender) the piece is coming along very nicely. I like the emotion you've captured in her face and the skintones (especially in her midrift) are great. I want to see what happens when you throw in that killer weapon.

**Banski** · August 12th, 2005, 12:11 AM

The pose of the character is appealing. try using some construction line when posing your characters that way you keep the anatomy to the right proportion.. even if its exaggerated and ment to have long arms, unless its a monster or a deformed creature, it doesnt look right. Maybe some darker shading and a bit more highlights might help bring your character to life.

**Undefeated** · August 12th, 2005, 08:06 PM

Again, thanks a ton for all the comments, all the crits are really helping me out. This is my first time trying to complete an image, BG and all, digitally - so anything you have to offer will help me out.

Octothreat: Really good point, I need to give those straps a bit more curvature. I slapped those on a bit lazily, ignoring the fact that that same problem existed in the original pencils. Thanks!

'stoph: Maybe next time with the Monty Python thing. With this piece at this point, I'm unfortunately more scared of it than it is of me!

darkchild: Thanks a lot..I've also posted a full-size image this time to give you guys more to dissect.

steinspinne: I gotcha, and you're absolutely right. At the moment, I kind of like the shin guard facing forward, so rather than turn IT I'll probably turn the foot to face forward more. And honestly, I kind of liked the wonderbra armor, but if two people out of six or seven are distracted by it, I'll obviously need to take a closer look. Thanks!

Banski: As far as construction lines, I'm actually painting directly over the pencil sketch I posted in the beginning of the thread (well, not RIGHT over..the pencils are on the layer beneath.) As far as highlights and shadows, I agree, but I want to wait until the BG is finished so I can use appropriate colors.

With the updated version, I decided to change from a rubbely mess behind the figure to a pair of gate-like pillars. With her pose as it is currently, she would be pointing at the pillar on OUR right and I'm not sure I like that idea. I would want two pillars because I think with the mountain and pillar one one side, the piece would be more unbalanced than it already is. I want their to be runes on at least one of them; if I go with two pillars, I'd put them on both, so at least she's pointing at something that makes sense.

Anyway, here's what I have so far; keep in mind I STILL haven't touched her since that post - I've been working solely on the BG. looking forward to hearing your comments - large and small versions included:

**quesadeist** · August 12th, 2005, 11:33 PM

It probably would be easier to simply turn the foot.

And as far as the "Wonderbra" armor is concerned, it's not that it's implausible or even that it looks bad... but speaking to you not as an artist, but as a woman... that just looks uncomfortable as hell. I feel for the girl.

**Undefeated** · August 14th, 2005, 12:31 AM

steinspinne: Well, yeah, its uncomfortable because...guarding is, like..boring work and, uh..they need to keep her agitated with an uncomfortable..top...

I will be reworking it though, along with her misshapen head and helmet, now that the background is more or less done (depending on what I get in feedback, anyway). I'll probably seperate them and add a centerpiece so that her heart is still protected.
I added the runed pillar to let unwelcome guests to the mountain know whats up. I also adjusted the colors on her body somewhat to hopefully better go with the BG. I worked on her face a bit and added a few more body highlights, but haven't done much with her yet.

Feedback! I'm very interested in hearing how those pillars look.

**Yan** · August 14th, 2005, 06:23 AM

OK..for the most part the problems I see are on the girl. Her hand(fist) is way to small. And her right leg, I don't think the tibia and the fibula are capable of twisting like that with the foot. I'm defintely digging the fire backrop. Keep it up.

**Undefeated** · August 22nd, 2005, 03:48 AM

Thanks Yan! That fist has been driving me nuts as well, I have fix that soon.

Can't believe I haven't worked on it in over a week. Time friggin' flies.

My main goal today was to straighten out her head, and get all of the elements that I'd left blank in there. Added some detail to her face, and changed her expression. Detailed her right foot and helmet a bit more, and roughed in her left hand and the blade. The background is getting messier and messier, but I'll fix it up at a later stage.