Call me Chii. (Silver Rock pg.2)

Hey everyone. My name is Chii. どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

I've been drawing for a long time. In the depths of the internet, one can probably find my long lost art thread from when I was active on here a few years back. For both our sakes, I hope no one does :).

Since my disappearance, I've been doing various work for my school and clients. Recently I dug up my account on deviantart to take part in a contest for a movie coming out this valentine's day.

I had first done some observational sketches to get a feel for the characters:
<a href="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/DarkMousysMinion/LenaReference_zps29cd6c12.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/DarkMousysMinion/th_LenaReference_zps29cd6c12.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo LenaReference_zps29cd6c12.jpg"></a>
<a href="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/DarkMousysMinion/EthanReference_zps0eff7b10.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d63/DarkMousysMinion/th_EthanReference_zps0eff7b10.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo EthanReference_zps0eff7b10.jpg"></a>

Here's my entry so far (and as done as it will be before being submitted for the contest):
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...dersmaller.jpg

We'll see what happens.

As for this thread, I will try my best to keep it alive (I have repeatedly been unsuccessful in the past). I will be attempting to critique others at least once a day and post at least once a week.

Best,
チー

Haha, it's good to see you flaunting your art here again. Nice to know I won't have to DA stalk you anymore. :P

Well your username certainly rings a bell...

The expressions are priceless.

And other than the obvious stuff like folds and shading, there is some seriously dedicated detail going into the moon there. :o

Not really sure what to say other than good to have you back around!

I find it pretty cool and all that but there are a couple of things that are bugging me. One of these are the colors; you have a yellow light from the moon but still there is almost no shades, or better say, no contra-position of colors. On the cloth, it look like it doesn't follow any light rule and the same goes for the skin. I can see in some part of the cloth or hair, a scratch of the moon light, but everything else that its opposed to that light source has its own light, so there is almost no shade, making zero contra-position of colors, losing theatricality (which as using a black background, would be cool to reinforce it).

The problem of colors doesn't stay on contra-position of light and shade (or different light sources) but also on the fact that its a really black sky, which mean its complete night. This confused me a lot, I thought that the thing covering part of the moon was a roof, as it would make sense for such a dark night, but then I realized it was a farm field, and if a farm field is covering part of the moon then I immediately process it as morning time or beginning of the night, and no mater which one is the case, you don't have a full black sky, even the color pallet changes depending on which one. This confused me, and as I see, the farm field doesn't bring anything to the paint, it might tell me a place where things are happening, but I prefer not knowing if its going to affect the perception of time.

The other thing that bugs me, are the poses and expressions. I guess the girl pose and expression are okay, I guess you wanted to show a really cold cruel character backstabbing another character, if this is what you were aiming, I guess its okay. But the problem relay on the dude, he has no expression nor a pose that tells me something. I don't know if he loved her, if he is his son, if he reject her, I know nothing, because his pose is just death weight, which it makes it weird as the girl is hugging him. Maybe a "still trying to hug her" or a "trying to push her" would make more sense to tell me more about the guy and the relationship with the girl. Also I'm not mentioning that the guy is floating, basically the girl is full straight standing, while the guy is not and he is not even touching the floor.

In resume, I find the moon to be the central point, which would have being way better without the farm field, as it just bugs too much and more than helping I find it takes it out of balance. Also the pallet of colors and the contra-position of light sources are a big deal in this, as it lose dramatic and the theatrical effect that it seems you are trying to go. Finally the lack of expressions it makes too hard for us to understand what is going on apart that the girl is backstabbing a dude, which if we start interpretations we are going to end in the conclusion that she is a cold criminal who back stab people, but we are not going to see any other kind of thesis or emotion displayed in it.

PD: Also, I wouldn't use yellow eyes if the background is yellow, basically it get lost and it become confusing.
PD2: I also feel like the dropping of the cloth in general was made on using references, but without applying it for the case, which it makes it looks way more copy paste that its colors weren't edited to work on the scenario.

Thank you for any kind words given.

Clockhand: oo you're a critical one. Thank you for taking the time to express your opinions; they are appreciated.

I agree on some things and disagree on others. You hit the nail on the head in regards to my color. Color is my weakness, as is realistic painting. It's something I've been working on for a while but dayum it's hard to learn. I can see what you're saying about the ambiguous lighting and the odd colors for the "time of day." I thought about that as I was painting but ultimately decided to make the central characters brighter for contrast and effect. I certainly did not abide by the laws of nature. I can also see how the field might be a bit distracting, especially in its unfinished state.

One thing I'd like to point out about this painting is that the female character is supernatural, as is the moon. Surely that does not rationalize my amateur application of color and believable lighting but it does affect certain things like her skin and eyes and such. Her eyes are the most important part of the piece and I actually tested the moon having different colors in the background but it didn’t look as nice nor as...unified I suppose? After many experiments, I found the yellow moon and eyes to be the most appealing. Perhaps that is just my personal taste?

The matter of poses and expressions is where I have to admit I disagree most. His pose was completely intentional. She is the central character and his expression really doesn’t matter. You can imagine any of the myriad of hurt expressions he might have just by witnessing what’s happened to him. I had thought about making him more...reactive to being stabbed or jurking more violently from the hug but when I thought about their relationship as well as which moment of this scenerio I wanted to capture, I felt it would be best to portray him “slipping into death” rather than dying with more energy. She’s also very strong and, in such a dark state, has a way of dominating people. So...in sum, he’s not supposed to have a pose that tells you anything besides he got stabbed not too long ago and is crumbling to the floor.

You’re right about the floor though, I should have done that differently. I was originally intending for a sort of darkness to be swirling around them but I guess I didn’t handle the effects all that well. Clothing and all was done from reference and I tried to change tones to be consistent with lighting but, again, doesn’t seem I was completely successful.

Annnnd, the contest results were posted. I did not win, nor did I place. I can't say I'm not disappointed but I realize the idea behind mine was not the kind they favored nor were looking for. :snaps fingers: knew I shoulda' done light!

I like it and its so dramatic. I think her lips are set in a more downward angle than they probably need to be but I'm still not sure. The illuminated lines on the ground throw me off a bit because the ones on our left are at a more severe angle and the ones on the right are on a slight angle from being perfectly straight down. The ones on the right suggest a flatter plane in the background hidin in the dark and the ones on the right suggest a hill or sloped area there and it just throws me off some.
The moon is stunning tho and my favorite part of this piece.

When a moon as bright as that is out, it really shines upon the people and things around it. I'm kind of surprised not to see the people have some yellow tinge ( or should I say, more of a yellow glow) on them kind of like this image:

SPOILER! :

http://www.wayseers.eu/wp-content/up...FullMoonEo.jpg
if you can't see the image...

The image and the link are both broken, Rio.

Thank you Psy and Rio for your comments on my previous piece.

Hey guys. I'm not going to say too much but I will post a speed painting I just kind of finished (you never really finish a speed painting, right?).

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...n/pdlwip-1.jpg

Dunno if anyone else plays League of Legends or, as in my case, is surrounded by college guys who do. This is Vi and Blitz. For anyone who doesn't know, she is supposed to have HUGE fists (she has like...some kind of bionic hand gauntlets) and unrealistic anatomy. All the girls in League do come to think of it...

Cheers,
Chii

Looks amazing :O I really like the pose you have put Vi in. I guess the only thing I want to mention is that maybe you could make the yellows a bit more contrasting to make Blitz look a bit more metallic?

EDIT: After reading what Rio said im going to try and clarify my point (attempting ftw);

SPOILER! :

http://www.knobs-etc.com/images/epit...-towel-bar.jpg
http://www.knobs-etc.com/images/epit...-towel-bar.jpg

I kinda meant like the image above going from really light tones to the dark tones rapidly for the metallic sheen? I hope im making sense, not convinced that I am though :(