Created as a replacement portrait for BG II NPC, Nalia. I never gave much thought to this character--she seemed an imitation Imoen in several ways. Appropriately, her portrait borrowed Imoen's cloak and brooch. Original art.
On a niggling annoyance front for someone who has more classic proportions she has virtually no earlobes to speak of. And as one of my old schoolteachers one commented having no earlobes hints at criminal tendencies....
Posted by Zero at 2003-04-2915:05:00
Nalia was not a spoiled brat because she was trying to make a difference, and even then, the lower classes hated her because of her heritage. Anyway, I don't know what to say about this pic.At first, I was going to say that she dosen't look like the Nalia I would picture given her personality. But after a good meal, I took a second look, and concidered that she WAS a theif/mage, and though I don't see the mage, I do see the theif w/the cloak (identical to that of your Imowen);I also see the nobility she has in her tiara, but I don't see the kindness in her face but too much authority. Damn good portrait of whoeve it is though. Looking foward to your uploads...
Posted by Thought at 2003-04-2909:59:00
But that material cannot be posted on this site due to it's 'explicit' nature. ;-) Just kidding.
Posted by gyrfalconthegray at 2003-04-2909:47:00
As a woman, perhaps I can offer a comment on the "preferring to draw women" thing. ;-) I don't know that it is necessarily so much *preferring* to draw women as it is *easier* to draw women. After all, in order to understand the female form, all I need to do is look in a mirror. The mirror is one of the primary ways I and most artists I know, informally at least, develop their "mental picture" of how to draw portraits and figures. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) most guys start out drawing guys because they have an easy reference (themselves). However, most guys I know (with some exceptions) would rather look at women, so... they move to that next. ;-) For me, it really wasn't until after I got married that my male figures and portraits improved very much. I finally had good reference material. ;-)
Posted by sporeboy! at 2003-04-2814:36:00
I created this series over a year ago to replace the female BG II portraits. The originals were fine, but a bit superficial for me--that and I was goaded into making new ones. The male images from BG II were rich and well-rendered, so I didn't bother. The images you've seen were never used for PCs--I just re-packaged the NPC replacements for use here. BTW, there are a couple of males in the queue. --sb
Posted by Thought at 2003-04-2810:55:00
I like it, much better than the original Nalia picture. My only comment would be that - IMnsHO - Nalia was a bit of a spoiled brat. This portrait should have a bit more of a hauty aristocratic air to it, although not so much as a complete snob (at least Nalia was trying). At least as far as a portrait of Nalia goes. As just a portrait of a serious young woman, it's very nice. As for most of the good pictures being men. In my experience, the majority of both male and female artists prefer to paint/ draw women. I know why men prefer to do it, women are more attractive to the eye than men, so men prefer to draw pretty pretty women. Don't know why most women prefer to draw other women. That isn't to say there are no artists that don't do good pictures of men, just most prefer to do women. Just seems to be the way it is. As far as Dude's comments about them all being the same - I was looking at the Imoen picture just the other day, and I don't think they are the same. Similar maybe, but as was commented when painting from a mental picture instead of actual reference, that can happen.
Posted by The at 2003-04-2806:38:00
Hmm, maybe he can only make female portraits. Or maybe he's doing female, then male. Whatever the case, I think they're great, as I've said previously. That is all -The Dude
Posted by CorinNeval at 2003-04-2722:12:00
Your stuff looks really great. But I do have a question for you. Do you do any males portraits? I don't know about you, but I like to play male characters, and the majority of good portraits are all female. Any chance you have a male elf portrait sneaking around in your portfolio? Like I said before, this portrait and the previous ones are spectacular. They are as good as Almathea's and Nault's stuff. Keep up the good work, Corin Neval
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