It's been a bit since I've posted anything, but there have been all these distractions, like being out of the country for several weeks. ;-) Naia is a human wizard. The original character and concept was by Apricane, and I took him up on his invitation to make a color version. Naia was both sketched and painted in PSP 7, with a few bits done in Elements. Only one really poor photo of a lady's handbag was harmed during the making of this portrait (and really, I was putting it out of its misery.)
This is a compilation of the old system into a single score. There were 13 that made this score of 7.77 then rounded to 8.
Posted by Hyunckel ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-08 15:51:00
Ah! A beautiful face at last! I was starting to be really fed up with so many ugly faces!
Posted by gyrfalconthegray ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-08 07:51:00
Don't you hate it when the computer does exactly what you tell it to do (like post your comment before you're finished) instead of what you mean?
I did want to remark on what everyone had to say. First of all I do agree with almost all the comments.
Some things suffer when you scale them down. The source painting of Naia is 600x1200, and I fear that when she was reduced some of the details that gave her more life were lost. That's perhaps what happened to the eyes, and the highlights on the beads (they are there) and several other things. I'm not sure what to do about the "staring into space" thing. I really tried to get her to look at me and I could only get her to look off into the distance, or she ended up looking wall-eyed. So distance it was.
Interestingly, I DID use the handbag texture in a separate layer over a painted layer. As I was finishing up the picture I still felt the skin was too pale, and adjusted the levels on just those areas. (This is where the highlighting on the matte black of the jewelry went... I can get that back easily.) The dress started to look washed out in comparison, so I adjusted the levels by the same amount to match. Perhaps this also will look different in the larger version (which I have posted to the featured art for you to see.)
As to the floating staff: El Agua, I *knew* you were going to notice that! But based on the restrictions of the format (and I suppose I really have to stop drawing in that stupid 2:1 box that portraits require us to use) and the fact that I wanted to include the head of her staff, I could have her right hand holding the staff but have it be "The Disembodied Hand From The Eigth Dimension", or I could let the staff just be. I tried putting a hand in, and didn't like it at all. "Magic Floating Staff" seemed the better option. Another option I toyed with was to bring her left hand up across her body to hold the staff, and I have to admit, I fell victim to that artist syndrome where you like something too much to erase. Basically what it came down to was that I didn't want to obscure the dress texture with a big arm across her body. However, doing that might solve several problems with depth/integration.
I will also admit I'm scared of the dark. ;-) Putting deeper shadows in things is difficult for me, and I have very little experience in it. If my shadows are wrong, it doesn't really surprise me. I'm primarily a line artist, and don't have much to do with them, most of the time. So in an effort to keep from doing something hideously incorrect, I usually go with the minimalist approach to shadows--and perhaps that is why this painting came out more flat. If anyone would like to show me how the shadows *should* go, I would appreciate it. :-)
For all the other positive comments, thank you! :-) It's always a bit of a dicey feeling to put something you've spent so many hours on up for criticism by other artists. I spent a lot of time on the skin in particular (Apricane and I went back and forth on that for a while), and I learned so much about how to blend pale colors! This is also the first time I have used any sort of texture or photo integrated in a painting like this, so that was also a learning experience. When the larger version goes up, see how that compares to the small one.
Posted by gyrfalconthegray ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-08 07:18:00
Wow. I don't think I've ever got so many lengthy comments. I must be moving up in the world. ;-)
Posted by G'Windinel ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-08 03:48:00
Howz it?
I know you can take it, so I will not censor myself.
Over all composition is lovely. Great background. Nice that you have tailored it to the game. The time you have put into the dress is obvious and beautifully done (far better than a handbag,) and the highlighting is perfect.
The problems for me are all in the head (no sniggering please.) It looks a little on the large side? The head adornment adds to the problem by sitting awkwardly making the head look flat. While on the subject of the jewellery, even matt black picks up some reflected light.
Apricane mentioned the eyes, sometimes increasing the catchlights can help and would be OK with the close light source.
How was the trip?
Posted by wycked ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-08 02:31:00
It's different but beautifully done. You're a true artist :)
Posted by Apricane ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-07 22:47:00
Now its finally here ;) Thank you again Marie-
Coming to think of it- the eyes could use a little more color- but guess what. Im giving you a 10 ;)
Posted by El Agua ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-07 20:24:00
I like just about everything except for the fact that the staff is coming out of nowhere. I realize this is a crop of a larger picture, but it's an unfortunate crop. I don't know that that could've been helped in this case.
I like the wand, and I believe I remember the orginal drawing now because of it. Straight out of NWN, a nice touch.
I probably would've made the eyes either a lighter shade of brown (more of a hazel) or a different color altogether, green or blue. Dark eyes are the most difficult to do (if seen in a med-long shot as here) as it's not easy to pick up the highlights of the actual color and all one sees is what looks like a very dark pupil. Or iris. Sheesh, I can never remember which one's the innermost circle. Well, you get what I'm sayin'. Time for sleep. 8-)
Good Work!
Posted by relsh ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-07 19:33:00
this is very good. good color/contrast range and interesting character design.
Right now this is very good-here's the small shite that can make it fantastic: the add-ons(headdress, necklace) are too black, causing them to look flat against the pale skin and light hair. lighten the center of the necklace band with either reflected light or just in tone. the beads on the head are a different beast-maybe fade the extreme R/L ends out from the center with the airbruch erasure tool. small flecks of light toward the center(on the beads) could also help.
anyway, great effort, and i look forward to the next.
BTW-nice job with the dress texturing.
Posted by sporeboy! ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2003-08-07 18:30:00
I like the stylized look of this one--and you've given the handbag a new lease on life!
Suggestions: the figure might be more engaging if she looked more directly at the viewer. There is a hint of "assembly" to the dress, belt and staff. Putting the photo texture into an "overlay" layer above a painted section would help integrate the two.
Very good use of an uncommon color scheme. I also really like the asymmetry of the composition. All-in-all a very appealing illustration.
--sb
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