Although my new full-time (non-HeroMachine) job might keep me from actually getting to these before this afternoon, it's time for another Open Critique Day!
If you have a HeroMachine illustration or another piece of artwork you've done that you'd like some help with, post a link to it in comments along with your thoughts on it -- what you think is working, what you're struggling with, etc. I will post my critique of the piece, hopefully giving some tips on how to improve it.
Of course everyone is welcome to post their critiques as well, keeping in mind the following rules:
- Make sure your criticism is constructive. Just saying "This sucks" is both rude and unhelpful without giving specific reasons why you think it sucks and, ideally, some advice on how to make it better.
- Each person should only post one illustration for critique to make sure everyone who wants feedback has a chance.
- I will not critique characters entered in any currently running contest, as that doesn't seem fair to the other entrants. You can still post it if you like for the other visitors to critique, but I will not do so.
That's it! Hopefully we can get some good interaction going here and help everyone (me included!) learn a little bit today.
A design I didn’t get finished in time for the Envy contest; The Green-eyed Monster. When growing up, I often hear of envy being referred to as the green-eyed monster, so that’s how I pictured it. An evil little creature whispering ugly things about the beautiful, wealthy woman the girl is passing.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W_gOQk8nw0g/Tx4wM8lYn8I/AAAAAAAAAUk/hrBIxADk4BU/s608/Phatchick-Envy.png
Could use some help with this one:
http://i1064.photobucket.com/albums/u367/MisterDinoMan/Locke.png
FRM, I trashed your “first” post, that’s why it disappeared. And I’ve trashed this one too. I hate them. Putting in “first” has got to be one of the laziest, most idiotic time-wasting pointless and unfunny memes in history.
Very nice! I like the figures and the monster a lot. I think you’ve conveyed the concept well.
However, in my opinion the blonde woman doesn’t fit into the environment. The scale is off — she’s basically two stories tall. With the vanishing point in the lower middle of the canvas, the entire figure would be smaller than one in front, meaning her head should be below the other one’s.
That aside, the characters themselves are neat and I like the concept.
I like the armor and the weapons. And despite my general aversion to purple in super costumes, I think it works well here.
My main area of concern would be with that chest strap where it connects to the leg holster. It is straight, so it looks like that’s as far as it will stretch and that it’s always in that position, which would keep him from standing up. Combined with the way the legs are posed, rather than coming off as flying or leaping, he looks strung up almost.
Still, it’s a neat character design!
A Phatchick: one wonders what they’re doing in a skuzzy back alley 🙂
As one that is MOST FIRMLY supporting Anonymous in their war on Scientology, I give you the villainous El Ron, the Scientolojester.
http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af309/skybandit/Skybandit-ElRontheScientolojester.jpg
Don’t worry, Jeff, I mutated their trademarked symbol by changing the “S” into a dollar sign, so you won’t get sued by the scumbags.
So i can give critique if all accepted. But don’t do anything wait for Jeff critique and the others critiques.
So first.
Phatchick.
Pro – The little green guy on the shoulder is niceee. Very showing the envy feeling.
Contra – If i understand well the green clothed girl envy for the blond girl. – Ok the idea is good, but i can’t see what the reason for the envy thing. The green clothed girl have a better body like the blond girl. Yeap the scale of the blonde girl is not perfect, the arms and the legs size is not perfect. My other what is i think not perfect is the background color. In the picture i think very dominated the green color.
This is only technically thing. I like the concept, and you shown well. Nice work.
MisterDinoMan
Pro – The moving effect of the picture is good. I like the headgear, and the weapons.
Contra – The body pose is a little dizzy for me. The upper body shown the right the lower is the left. – The background is to dark, because the char cloth is also so dark.
I like to you want to leave the borders, and want to make some unique moving pose. I prefer this, first time nothing perfect. I like the atempt.
Skybandit
Pro – He he he! Cool. Very nasty looking Character. The full concept is good. And the pants is number one 😀
Contra – The uppercloth color is think more perfect with white to shown the sience join this char. The head with the green hair and the wide mouth is a little bit remains for a “evil villain”. And me a little confuse the big hollywood word.
I like the evil, nasty looking chars, and this is evil and nasty.
ps.
(I don’t know anything for the scientology)
Ok my picture for critique.
Tribute for Mass Effect. – My version for FemShep. She is Katlyn Shepard
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/tarkabarka/2012/04/Shepard-tribute.png
Hey man, *I*’m not the one who would get sued, that’s all on you, buddy!
It’s a good illustration overall. With that fur pattern on the hills they almost become abstracted, which is a neat effect.
My only suggestion would be to tweak the outer color on the legs. They’re so close to the background color they sort of fade out, which has the unsettling effect of making the hearts that overlap those areas leap out as if they’re protruding from his body.
I’ll confess I wouldn’t know this had anything to do with Scientology if you hadn’t told me, but that’s my ignorance I am sure, not anything wrong with the way you’ve put the pieces together.
Very nice! The composition is great, making the figure the clear center of attention and supporting her, without overpowering her. The logo on the bulkhead is a really good touch as well. All of the detailing in the armor is great; I definitely get the sense that this is real armor that could be in actual use. You’ve managed the turned-torso seen from the back perfectly as well.
My only minor nitpick would be in the head area. From behind, a person looking over their shoulder would have their face partially obscured by the neck column and/or shoulder muscles. But here her chin is over those muscles, as if she were able to twist her head so far to her left that her chin was resting on her shoulder blade. I’m not sure how you’d fix that, but for what it’s worth that’s how it came off to me.
Nice job! I liked this a lot when I saw it on the Facebook page and it’s even better on second viewing.
The Drunken Immortal:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g416/doornik1142/DrunkenImmortalunarmed.png
Basically Jackie Chan’s character from Forbidden Kingdom. I tried to get the pose as close to the traditional “Drunken Boxing” stance as I could.
I also have two other versions. One with a jug of wine and one with a sword:
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g416/doornik1142/DrunkenImmortalwine.png
http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g416/doornik1142/DrunkenImmortalsword.png
Love it! Very clean, effective design and composition. I buy the pose; the slightly loose-limbed flavor the limitations of the app impose actually helps sell the idea of drunkenness here. His expression is priceless, too. I also like the way the high gloves absolutely look like rolled-up sleeve cuffs, that’s a nice effect.
I can’t really think of anything to suggest as far as improvements. I will say that I like the bottle-holding version the best, though, it makes that off hand look much less awkward as well as reinforcing the notion of a Drunken Master.
Great job!
Thanks Jeff.
I fear there is some copyright problem with this to i make a mass effect based picture. I love the game, and i proud to make a picture what is based on the main protagonist.
Next i start to think how i repair the head shape.
In addition to what Jeff suggested, you might also try dropping his head down a few clicks to further imply forward movement. The way it is now, his head and neck look very stiff, like he’s trying to run while wearing a neck brace.
Alright… I have been busy lately, so I haven’t been able to draw much, so I’ll just repost the unfinished drawing I asked you for advice on last week. Again, mainly, I’m looking for advice on where to put folds and wrinkles, but if you or anyone else has any other suggestions, well, go ahead.
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/jadebrain/2012/03/Gannum-F.png
Doornik1142 – Absololutly cool.
Pro – I like the head, when i first see without description my first thinking wow Jacky Chan. – The pose is great, the cloth is nice. If i choose i also choose the picture with the bottle.
Contra. – I don’t find any.
Nice, nice, nice. Great work.
Jadebrain – Great draw. I like it.
Pro. – For me the picture is complex, i can’t see anything to needed.
Contra. – I don’t feel to i have any permission, to wrote any negativ a hand draw picture.
Nice draw. – I like the char, very unique looking.
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/096/7/d/black_diver_by_malfar-d4v63gm.jpg
Dunno why, but i like, how this guy ended up.
Working on some assets for HeroMachine
This one is a DAMN! prize for CKnap. Body armor reminiscent of some so and so hero, probably no one would recognize. 🙂
Body Armor (Torso, Shoulder Mounts, Shoulder Pads, Shorts) http://forums.ugo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82801&d=1333663319
This was a quick and simple headgear piece. Not quite Scarlet Witch but close.
Curved Two Points Headgear http://forums.ugo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82778&d=1333402918
One more:
Another torso piece
http://forums.ugo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82793&d=1333578986
I’ve uploaded a drawing with some suggestions and comments here.
Basically, different materials will fold differently. I think keeping the center loincloth and belt mostly line-free helps sell those as stiffer, while some folding with the over layers helps sell those as a more pliable fabric.
The main question I’d have is with what I assume is the ribbons in her hair. They’re so long and straight they seem like they’d have to almost have a spine in them of some sort, as pure fabric wouldn’t stand out that long without bending some. But if it’s going to stay at that angle, I drew in some suggestions as to how to give it more life.
Me too! Very cool effect. I like the design and the layout a lot, the green blueprint motif is perfect for this.
My only two suggestions would be to make the green of the grid more different from the green in the figure to help separate them out, and to tone down the glow in the helmet just a bit. It’s good as is but I think a couple of notches down would help it not be quite so jarring a change from the pure lines of the rest of it.
Great job though, very cool!
Yay! OCD. Here is mine. My main issues with this are the red eyes of the Duro and the glow effect around the lightsabers.
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/097/f/7/losh_and_dionne_by_dionnejinn-d4vaygv.png
These are just some guys I’ve been working on. They’re a team of five brothers who underwent ritual sacrifice that they might be empowered by specific Mayan deities. I know we’re not supposed to post more than one, so you could say this is more of a sharing post 🙂 If you could, let me know if they look cohesive as a team at all, at least aesthetically.
Ts’oy- team leader empowered by Etznab (God of Blood Sacrifice)
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l607/DiCicatriz/Kid%20Chaos/Antagonists/Etznab-Tsoy.png
Tsha’ak- empowered by Kauil (A fire and lightning deity)
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l607/DiCicatriz/Kid%20Chaos/Antagonists/Kauil_Tshaak.png
Aqab- empowered by Akbul (God of night and darkness)
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l607/DiCicatriz/Kid%20Chaos/Antagonists/Akbul_Aqab.png
Ki’inam- empowered by Quiabelagayo (God of Pain and Pleasure)
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l607/DiCicatriz/Kid%20Chaos/Antagonists/Quiabelagayo_Kiinam.png
Iq- empowered by Hurakan (God of Wind)
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l607/DiCicatriz/Kid%20Chaos/Antagonists/Hurakan_Iq.png
Weeeee! New items coming from dblade! Very nice stuff, sir!
I think the figures themselves look great. The glows don’t bother me either, though the edges around the standing figure’s weapon do seem a bit sharp. I thought, though, that in general these things had a much smaller glow effect?
Anyway, for me the main area that could use some attention is the sky background. Those stars just don’t read as stars, but more as graphic elements. I like the fade you have going from purple to blackish, but the stars themselves really flatten out the whole thing. I’d lose them altogether and either do something with a dark city silhouette or maybe a different item to represent the stars.
Fairly minor stuff, though, for a couple of really nice figures!
Those items look GREAT, dblade!
nice, Dblade!
Happy Good Friday to everyone. Since the kiddies are home from school, I’ll be to busy to post any critiques, but will try to look over all the great pics tonight. I would like to submit my latest creation, SPECIAL ARMORED POLICE UNIT. I’m looking for critique on the right leg. I had to try and match the shoulder pad items I used on the left and wonder if it works. Cheers!
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/ams/2012/04/SPECIAL-POLICE.png
Absolutely. Not only do they look unbelievably great individually, they definitely fit together as a group. Outstanding work as always.
I totally forgot it was Good Friday. Blerg.
This illustration got good feedback on Facebook and I can see why. Nice looking costume.
As for the right leg armor, I think it works well. I wouldn’t have thought to comment on them at all had you not brought them up, they fit in nicely.
Good job!
Im finally able to participate in an OC again!
This is a recent design. I was going with horror disney. In sleeping beauty the prince never comes to break the spell so she never wakes up. she just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. Anyways I like how it turned out but something still seems off. Ideas?
http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae274/capttravis/SleepingBeauty3.jpg
This is a wide angle view
http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae274/capttravis/SleepingBeauty2.jpg
Welcome back, MSCat!
Love the illustration! I read the description before looking at the image and immediately laughed. You did a great job selling the entire concept, from the pink bed sheets to the rotted drapes & clothing. The crown is a nice touch, too.
The only thing I can think to suggest is to somehow darken the side of the sheets facing us. It seems like the horizontal surface the body is on would be a small slice, with the majority of the bedding being the parts that hang off the edge of the mattress. But since it’s all the same color, it’s a little confusing as to which part is the top of the bed and which is the side.
Otherwise, fantasic, I really like it a lot.
Dang, that’s good! i cant begin to imagine how complex the armor-shine is!
(p.s. “dang” is not the word i was going to use.)
ams– oh, and the right leg is spot-on perfect!
A recent character who I would like to be critiqued. I like the way he turned out, but if he can be improved in any way, I’d appreciate it.
Nicholas Keye, a magician
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/vampyrist/2012/04/Nicholas-Keye.png
if you want to critique this, fine, but it is more of a sharing thing. these are a few ways to use shoulder gear as headgear. As you can see, AMS is really the expert, as he made a full body armor with shoulder gear!
http://frmartworks.wikispaces.com/file/view/shoulderheads.png/318222578/609×458/shoulderheads.png
cool! what are the hand-things made of?
Oh my, oh my. I’m having trouble deciding which picture to post. On one hand, I’ve got a picture with a very unambitious design but a sort of tricky pose, on the other hand, I’ve got a picture with a very vanilla pose, but more interesting design aspects.
Decisions, decisions…
Oh, well. I’ll start with the latter. If I’m allowed to post the other one as well, I will.
Anyway. Here’s a female gladiator (a gladiatrix)
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15/Sulemania/Heromachine/gladiatrix2.png
Alternate pose
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15/Sulemania/Heromachine/gladiatrix4.png
I was going for an over-the-top fantasy look, with very slight roman influences. I had troubles picking a color scheme, so I went with a generic black/gold/red. Getting all the pieces to fit together was something of a challenge. The helmet was especially challenging.
I was also trying to make the character look convincingly tough. Not sure if I succeeded or if she just looks silly.
I’m not sure why, but when I saw this, I was reminded of THX-1138 movie and those mechanical police in it… A very nice picture. Convincing. And I think the leg looks good.
Thanks Jeff I see what you mean, I’ll get to work on it.
(BTW no biggie but its MScat not MSCat. Im from MS-Mississippi. Im not a Miss lol 😉 )
I can’t post my comments for everyone but I can do a few.
AMS – I used to be shocked by how good your stuff was, now not so much. It’s ALWAYS so amazing that when I see ams on the screen I instantly think: “this is gonna be good.” Keep it up you have given me a standard that I am TRYING to reach with my designs.
DiCicatriz – I love that your designs are based off a culture that a lot of people don’t know. It makes it different and unique. My favorite one has to be Ts’oy the way his arms are fading to a dark tone is really cool. The only thing is I know Aqab is supposed to be darkness, but the characters face was so dark I couldn’t even see his face. But that may be my crappy computer screen.
All in all everyone had great images. I love the diversity we can all get using the same program and same basic items. It’s amazing
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/097/5/6/peak_by_heinz57xc-d4vb7mk.png
This is Peak, my Mr Sinister/Warblade character. He sees himself as the pinnacle of human evolution. Normally, he’s the usual pale-skinned Scottish dude. When he shows himself in battle, this is the form he prefers. Unlike Mr Sinister, he did not genetically manipulate himself, nor did anyone else. His abilities are merely a series of random genetic mutations. He is a shape shifter who can turn any part of his body into a weapon, though he prefers blades and blunt objects.
LOVE the thingies on his hands, that’s a great effect.
The character looks good, though maybe a little monochromatic or a little … well, I don’t want to say “boring” but … plain? I mean, obviously dark and such is what you were going for so I wouldn’t want to alter the basic concept, but even a few little bits like maybe a belt buckle, or seeing some more detailing on the shirt would help it have more visual impact.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice character portrait. And maybe more pizzazz would be against the concept. But I just thought I’d throw it out there as a personal opinion, not knowing anything about the guy.
Can you think of a better color scheme for a Earthquake type character?
Quake Kid
From Santigo Chile.
His grandfather, Eduardo Nazca, was a copper miner who was killed in an earthquake and the mine collapsed.
Eduardo’s son Luis, then a small boy became obsessed with learning about earthquake and what made them happen and how. He became a siesmologist and a world class geophysisist.
He met Maria and they were married. They had a child and named him José Nazca.
When José was 10 he had a series of siezures and was eventually diagnoses with Epilepsy. He was perscribed medication, but this seemed to do little to help and his seizure’s continued. After trying all sorts of doctors who put the boy through all sorts of medication and proceedures the family turned to holistic forms of healing and the boy started meditation. Soon after he started his meditation routine he celbrated his 13th birthday shortly thereafter José seemed to detect when his seizures were about to strike and through his meditation would try to control them, this seeme to work however he somehow externalized his seizure producing waves of vibrations emenating from him as if externalizing his seizures into localized tremors.
José’s mother, Maria, while going through José’s medical charts she kept of his seizures was talking to Luis while he was working on timetables of tremors and earthquakes, noticed the corilation of the events. José would usually have a seizure the day before a tremor, the intesity of the tremor often refecting in the intesity of the seizure
With more and more practice José discovered he could cause tremors and minor earthquakes and the more he did this, the farther between his seizures happened.
He soomed learned through meditation he could detect tremors and earthquakes, and even counter them to some degree.
(insert some heroism act here … I haven’t thought up yet)
José, now 16, gathered up some earthtone lyrcra bike shorts. a matching lycra half top, gloves and his Converse sneakers and decided to take on the name Quake Kid to fight crime and help out as best he could.
http://s795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/Cliff_HM3/QuakeKid_Bikeshorts.jpg
Nice! Definitely not silly by any stretch. I like all the item choices and I think the colors are fine — sometimes keeping it true to the concept is better than trying to throw in a bunch of zippy colors that don’t really fit.
The staff/spear is particularly cool.
I do have a bit of trouble telling apart the brown of the skin from the brown of what I assume is the sleeve on the upper arm. I think either a darker brown or even a black would help make that distinction clear.
Otherwise not much to add, I think you did a great job with it.
This is nice, clear concept, good job putting it all together. I like his face/head particularly, he looks like he has some personality.
Overall, the dark background and the dark skin get a bit hard to differentiate, mostly in the hair and hands areas. Not sure what to do about that other than picking a different background or leaving it off altogether, though.
On the DNA symbol, it’s so starkly white that it doesn’t quite seem to be part of the costume shirt. I’m assuming it’s a shirt because I don’t see any nipples, although given that it’s the same color as the throat and face, maybe not. I actually like the idea of it as a tattoo or just differently colored skin/fur better than it being a stitched logo or something. Regardless I think it might be interesting to see it enlarged, then moved and masked to the shirt/chest so it starts off the body (unseen) then cascades down across the chest.
Hope that helps, nice job overall!
He looks good, Cliff! I like the face a lot, and the costume is just enough to be good without being over the top. The quake effects are nice, too.
Honestly my only suggestion would be to save it as a PNG instead of a JPG — the color pixelation in this file is noticeable and detracts from the really nice image.
Good job!
How’s this one work out? Broad daylight and better placement of the logo, which is a part of his skin, sort of like a tattoo.
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/097/1/c/peak_by_heinz57xc-d4vb7mk.png
Is this any better?
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/vampyrist/2012/04/Keye-Altered.png
I added a belt buckle and a shirt effect. The character is also an occult detective, if that helps at all.
McKnight, I like it. A suggestion is perhaps play with the line color of the tattoo. I’ve found that by using different line colors, in his case, maybe a light blue, really makes the tattoo pop.
It’s not quite a tattoo. It’s more like the gem on Mr Sinister’s chest which is a part of him. it’s just tough to explain in a forum like this, but I’ll give it a shot, after I get back from class.
Thanks for the advice. I was so stuck on what to put for folds on the center loincloth, it never occurred to me that having it fold-free would be okay… As for the “ribbons,” those are actually her ears, which is why the edge is so thick.
Maybe now I’ll be able to make the final drawing. Once again, thank you!
These are really great, I’d say. I really like the subtle differences in the poses, and the black visual effect is really neat as well. The poses look really natural as well.
I guess the color schemes could use a little more variation. I can see that they’re supposed to be a team, but there’s only so much you can do with brownish red and turquoise. I guess it’s especially noticeable because the dark skin tone blends into the red. Still, that’s a rather minor gripe.
Love it. Very Super Sentai.
Sleeve? Nope, that’s bare skin. She’s wearing metal armor, gloves, and a loincloth. I guess I could have gone with an undershirt or something, but the classic gladiator look is pretty bare, so I figured that would look out of place.
Thanks a lot, though. I guess the color scheme is fine, then. Let’s keep things simple.
Ah, I see now. Yeah, that elbow area is confusing. I see the seems on the hand, which makes me think glove, but then the lines at the elbow much more suggest a shirt cut off there. I think you need to do something there to make it clear what’s glove and what’s not — the elbow peeking out from behind that downward glove bit throws it all off. Personally I’d keep the forearm bare and use a much shorter glove, that stops mid-forearm instead of at the elbow. There’s just too much going on at that elbow joint.
Yes, I like that better.
Yes, I think that’s MUCH better! Much more visually interesting. I like that the shirt pattern sort of echos the pattern on the hands, too. Nice job!
Duh! Yeah, that makes a lot more sense. Maybe a tuft of hair or something to reinforce that? Not like big clumps but just a couple of lines.
The main thing, that I’m concerned about, is the depth of the energy effects around my character. I’m wondering if the whole thing looks to jumbled. https://picasaweb.google.com/103467811171411061951/MyCharacters?authkey=Gv1sRgCMyZnJa_3vehPQ#5727730692519904898
Here is a fantasy illustration I call Dragonslayer. I’m mostly looking for comments on shading and the character’s body language.
http://www.robertmckercher.com/Avatars/Dragonslayer_4.jpg
Okay, I wanted to post one of my characters from an urban fantasy story I’ve been working on. This was the entry:
So far, the characters from my story line have been outsiders to the Shadow world. The next few characters seem to have some prior connection to it.
First of all is Christiana. A wealthy, but reclusive lady, she is the first to explain the shadow world to the others. She seems knowledgeable in magic, but she also seems to be hiding something from the others. While she rarely debases herself to engage in actual combat, she does favor a 14th century Masamune katana, which she claims is enchanted.
http://forums.ugo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82777&d=1333366970
What I’m not sure of is how to maybe soften her image, or even if I need to. Feedback on either of the forums has not been coming in. I’m also thinking about switching up the dragon emblem in the background for a more European model.
I’m not crazy about dealing with png cause it has to open PSP to veiw them instead of my usual pic veiwer,
but here you go.
And yes, it does look sharper.
http://s795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/Cliff_HM3/QuakeKid.png
I don’t think the energy effects look jumbled, no. They’re actually pretty cool. I do feel like I lose the blade in the body, and that the black insignia doesn’t seem to mesh with the rest of the image, but other than that I think you did a great job.
A king on his throne. What i’m wondering about most is if the pose is convincing and if the darker parts of the image are too dark. I don’t know why but I’m always worried about the blacks being too dark.
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/headlessgeneral/2012/03/Kiin-on-throne.png
Okay. Here is the improved version with more three-dimensional background (turned out very nicely if I dare say). I also added some shadows behind the characters.
Putting the link would be good, obviously! Here: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/097/9/c/losh_and_dionne__vol_2_by_dionnejinn-d4vbrer.png
my picture for critique.
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/meniukas/2012/04/easter-rabbits.png
Yeah, I like that one much better too.
I’d like a little feedback on my Cosmo Knight Alrek Dunneldon ( A Character from The RIFTS RPG by Palladium book )
http://www.heromachine.com/wp-content/legacy/forum-image-uploads/kaldath/2012/03/Alrek-Dunneldon-Cosmo-Knight-HM3.PNG
I think this is the only new one you all may not of seen
http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee363/cameron_stanley_84/My%20Characters/TOOL-Barbarian.png
@Dblade, I love the items, as I do almost all of the new ones that come out, but when are we going to get more lower body items. I make do, but sometimes I make a cool character and it would be nice if there were some better pants or something to put on lower half. You know what I mean?
I sort of agree with you, Tool. It would be nice to have some new pieces to use for the lower body. But as I like to draw women, I’d love to see some more dresses…
@Dionne Jinn, even that would be okay, I like to do women and men, wait…what…I mean create male and female characters on HM. LOL
@Tool: Hah hah hah! Yeah. But any new piece for HM is always nice to have.
I ran into a snag this afternoon keeping me from this, but I’ll get to the rest of you all tonight or first thing in the morning. My apologies!
comet:
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/355/4/9/comet_by_karzykyle-d4ju64y.png
Here’s one that I did a while ago. It’s a post-battle image of a warrior.
http://vectorman316.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4my354
http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h464/Kaylin88100/Elfinthewoods.png
An elf in an enchanted sleep. Her people think she’s dead so they have taken her to the deepest woods and put her on a bed of flowers. I’m not sure whether to have the flowers continuing around her.
Any thoughts or suggestions welcome.
Kyle – Very cool image. I like the light bulbs on the cloth.
pro – Strong and not simply char desing. Very cool item useage.
Contra – Maybe the head a little bit little for the size of the body. WHERE IS THE RED NOSE 😀
BTW great concept.
Vectorman – Nice picture, i see your deviantart folder there are a lot of good work, why you don’t join the community in the forum and shown it.
Pro – This picture is great. The stance is simple but shown the energy of the char. The coloring work is good, but the darker skin i maybe use some lighter cloth.
Contra – For me a little bit plain the background.
I personally like this picture, i see something new. Great start? – Or not start i prefer to join the community, i see your pictures, and i think pls shown it.
ps.
In firefox you right click on the picture and the choose the first row, after shown the direct link for your picture.
Kaylin88100
Very celestial picture. I like the flower bed.
Pro – The scene is very nice. I like the bed, great effect.
Contra – Maybe the pose of the feets are don’t good. If i make i use another feet, because now a little bit static the pose.
Okay. I changed the gloves a bit, added a symbol on the empty link on the belt, and added a decorative strip of cloth on the spear, just for fun.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15/Sulemania/Heromachine/Gladiatrixbattle-1.png
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15/Sulemania/Heromachine/gladiatrixbare-1.png
First off, I think you did a great job on the image overall. It has a lot of impact and looks great. Now on to your specific questions.
I like the pose. It gives good emotion and pulls the viewer in. Nice job!
The shading looks good at first glance, but after I studied it for a bit I got a little confused. The huge dragon body is close behind the figure, and yet there has to be a very strong light behind and to his right to cast the strong shadows we see coming from him and the dragon head. Yet the figure’s front is well lit.
The dragon body shading flattens it out to the point that for quite a while I thought it was some sort of wall behind the figure. A big body like that would be rounded, so the shadows would fall on it like on it differently, in addition to having to work around the different segments.
So to sum up: Great job overall, nice pose, but I think the lighting issues are fairly significant.
As an overall illustration, I think it works well. She’s distinctive, I get the same impression from the visuals as I did from the write-up, and the design is effective.
Regarding your specific requests for feedback, I don’t think she needs to be softened. She comes off as a good mix of modern but tough, without veering into some sort of barbarian queen Xena-level roughness. I think you have a nice balance with the way she is.
On the emblem, I like it but I think maybe you could play around with its positioning. I’d be curious to see it moved down so it’s more centered on her body’s center. And I think this might be a case where putting it in an Imp-style circle would be effective, leaving the rest of the background plain white. The current gradient background I think tends to pull attention from the figure, especially since in value its colors and the skirt highlights are fairly close.
In other words, it’s a really nice character design and the overall composition just needs a little minor tweaking to get it to where you want it to be. Well done, sir!
MUCH sharper, very nice.
What image viewer do you use? Will it not open PNG at all, or is the .PNG extension just not associated with it?
That’s probably my fault, because with my old-man eyes I’m always complaining about it in various images. In this case, though, I think you’re fine — the highlighting on the arms is enough to differentiate them from the black parts of the throne back.
The pose is convincing for me, as well. In fact, it’s a really nice piece. I like the way he’s sitting, his armor, and the overall impact. Good job!
My only reservation is with his hair, which is such a neon green that it feels jarring against all the muted colors. It kind of feels artificial because of that.
Otherwise, love it!
LOVE it! Sometimes a complex background detracts from the main focus, but in this case it’s very much the opposite. With the characters in their proper setting the background no longer distracts our attention, but rather focuses it. Really well done, I think you did an outstanding job.
Another great one, Meniukas! I don’t know why but I love your dressed-up bunnies. The details on this, like the fur on the shield peeking out from the front, really help nail it down and convince the viewer that what they are seeing is real. The addition of the other silhouetted warriors just over the horizon is great, too.
An all-around fun and effective illustration. I can’t think of anything to add or change, it works great as-is.
I love what you did with the arms, keeping the blocks of color without lines. That’s a really cool effect. The contrasting purple background and yellow figure work well, too, making the central character really pop. My favorite parts are the arms, as I mentioned, and the helmet.
I’d suggest maybe darkening the yellows/bronzes used on the sword hilt to help push it back a level visually. And I’m not sold on the effectiveness of the thigh area, with that bright yellow line running down it. You can’t see enough of what’s going on in the legs to make sense of what that’s supposed to be, and since it comes off as being the same thing as the yellow edging on the breastplate, the eye wants to treat it as a contour edge. But clearly it’s not because it’s so straight while the thigh is curved.
Finally, I’d be curious to see how it would look if instead of a full-sized background, it were constrained to a design element like a circle or rectangle with the figure outside its boundaries.
Those fairly minor things aside, though, it’s a neat design for an interesting character done very well.
Ooo, nice! I like the colors, the items, the expression, everything. Even the hand holding the axe is nice, like we’ve caught him flexing his fingers on the haft.
I can’t thin of anything to suggest in terms of improvements, I think this pretty much rocks.
I would LOVE some suggestions on exactly what kind of dresses to add. As both dblade and I are guys, I think we have a definite lack of experience when it comes to knowing what ought to be there. If you have some images online you could point me to showing exactly what you’d want, I’d really appreciate it. I want more good female items in the program, I just don’t know what they ought to be.
Ha! I got a good chuckle out of this one. I think an entire team of Santa’s kick-ass deer would be a lot of fun.
I love the concept, the outfit, the colors, and the overall effectiveness of the image. It’s really cool.
I do feel, though, like maybe the upper body / head area is a little squashed, like he’s hunched over. I think I’d like to see the head slightly larger and definitely a little higher.
The only other area for tweaking for me would be his left boot top, which doesn’t come all the way to the edge of the calf. That’s a bit distracting.
Otherwise, nice job on a really fun concept.
Nice one! I like his expression a lot, I definitely get a sense of emotion and personality. Your item choices and colors are great, too, like with the polearm and the nifty little beard.
In terms of improvements, like with Cliff I’d suggest a PNG format for this one. It looks a little blurry for me, which is a shame because it’s a really nice image.
Lovely! The word that comes to mind for your body of work is “lyrical” for some reason.
I get the concept you’re going for and I think it works pretty well. The flowers and setting are nice, as is the figure.
My main concern with this one is that the HeroMachine doesn’t do a very good job with reclining figures. I think it’s really hard to get anything but a direct overhead shot, because of the way a body in repose seen from an angle quickly gets foreshortened in a way that the selection of items just doesn’t support. Combined with the perspective of the trees, which is pretty much vertical, the plane of her body (which is pretty much horizontal) quickly becomes distracting.
You could try maybe not having the background and just focusing on the flowers as the main design/environmental feature. I think without the clashing perspectives the illusion would be a lot stronger. And either way, I think the colors need to be juiced up a bit — with everything being in a more pastel sort of mode, nothing’s popping.
That sounds more negative than the lovely image warrants, but I think it just took a lot of words to type out what I was trying to say. It’s a nice piece!
Love it!
OK, with that I think I finally caught up. Many thanks to everyone who was brave enough to either submit a piece or to offer comment!
That’ll bring this edition of OCD to a close. Thanks for playing along!
Thank you for helping us to improve our work, Jeff.
I might indeed take a look at some dresses, but I thought you only make contest prizes and stuff.
Thanks for the critques and compliment everyone! Happy Easter!
In general that’s true, Dionne Jinn. But the female dresses are particularly weak and if I can improve them easily, I’ll do so.
I found couple of long dresses that might be nice. A friend of mine complained earlier that there was nothing “princess like” in the dresses.
This is Disney, Little Mermaid -styled Ariel dress:
http://origin.kaboodle.com/hi/img/b/0/0/15a/2/AAAAC2DBT1IAAAAAAVoqiQ.jpg?v=1306364386000
The other one I had in mind is the white dress Christine is wearing in the most recent movie version of the Phantom of the Opera, when singing “Think of me”, but when I was searching a picture, my computer froze and I dare not to try again.
A couple of items for HM3
First is a seal body for Kaylin88100’s Random Finalist award. I actually have one more version pass this one but it’s on my computer at home.
Seal Body http://forums.ugo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82815&d=1334093763
And then next is a cape for headlessgeneral’s Random Finalist award. This one doesn’t have Color 2 added yet.
Cape http://forums.ugo.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=82822&d=1334142988