30 replies to this topic

[MattTheLegoman]

First up is the beginning of a Facebook cover for a presidential campaign. I used lots of references because I don't have any photos of the candidate doing this is full plate armour. The plan is to make poses for Adventurer, Writer and Pastor - I have references and basic designs ready but I am still working on the vector art for them. Later I want to make themed posters.

 

Any suggestions for this first pose, Revora Creative Network?

 

Click the image for the full view. ;p

Edited by MattTheLegoman, 09 October 2013 - 03:27 PM.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

A suggestion? Get good chainmail, not that crap. Otherwise... not really professional for a conventional presidential campaign, is it?

[Pasidon]

Lots of solid colors and straight lines.  It needs more complexity.  Some more shading, or 'dodging / burning' as the kids call it today.  Nerds.  

 

And your shield's dimensions are a bit derpy. 

[MattTheLegoman]

I want it to keep it's vector-likeness. Hence solid colours and strokes - cartoon style.

 

Burn and dodge, and better chainmail. Thanks for the tips so far. ;D

 

[Pasidon]

Now that I dig.  My only other complaint would be the hair and eyes.  Now, you can do better than that... make the hair blowing in the glorious wind, and the eyes... glorious.  Like the wind.

[Irenë Hawnetyne]

Again, not really what you expect of a campaign.

[MattTheLegoman]

Yep, that's why we like it. Two more poses are in the works (writer pose is meant to be a very political look) and I will add the flowing hair and glorious eyes.

[Pasidon]

It doesn't matter what its for... as long as it looks good.

[MattTheLegoman]

Is this sort of look like what you would expect from a campaign? ;p

 

Thanks for the tips Pasidon and Irene. =D

[Radspakr Wolfbane]

I'd adjust the shading on the sides of his face make it narrower and tweak the shape of the shadow to better suit the contours of a face.

[MattTheLegoman]

I'm getting to that suggestion tonight, Rad. Thanks for the idea, that's tougher than you know because the main shading was done in Inkscape and exported, while the lighter stuff and texture was made in GIMP. =p

 

This is the last in the series. I am hoping these will be ready for next week. At the moment we are planning these to be "fan art".

[Pasidon]

Looks like a Walmart employee.  I'm not sure if that's a criticism.  So... what are these for, exactly? 

[MattTheLegoman]

A student representative campaign. Let us say that this is going to be so much better than the candidate's head stuck replacing each character on a Pitch Perfect movie poster (everybody, but me, loves that here, but that is besides the point). There is a professional poster maker using nice photos and fonts, but I wanted something a bit more cartoony.

[Kwen]

I like the first two, this third one just looks really wonky. It might just be because the lines are dark and do not stand out at all, but I'm finding it hard to actually visualize the proper flow of the clothing. At first glance it looks like a blob.

[MattTheLegoman]

I think that sharper and softer shadows would have worked better for that artwork - rather than the same transition into shadow everywhere. Thank you for the suggestion, I will keep it for when I shade clothes again. Most of the stuff was submitted as it was here (only minor adjustments were made before they went on the official Facebook Page as fan art). Unfortunately, I didn't have time due to my massive workload already. But special thanks to Pasidon, as I was just going to submit the unshaded versions straight from Inkscape and be done with it.

[MattTheLegoman]

I am no epic Kwen when it comes to making these sorts of things. =p

 

Currently I have no idea what I am doing with the irises or the eyelashes. In addition, I have begun work on a complex shirt pattern and I'll need to figure out a way to morph the pattern in 3d within Inkscape.

 

[Pasidon]

Sarah Pailen in her sporting Elephant hunter gear, I presume.

 

Well, just look at a human female face.  The lashes make more of a silhouette around the upper corner of the eye, rather than sticking straight up.  For a male, they're not usually as strong, and with a cartoon piece like dis, you don't really need to emphasize eye lashes at all, at this level of raster,  And the way you did that hair is a bit lazy.  It almost looks like ghost hair.  If that's a real thing.  And I don't believe eyes are that shape.  A few things to consider.

[MattTheLegoman]

Thanks for the tips Pasidon. =D I knew there was a reason to wait up all night to listen to your art wisdom. =D

[MattTheLegoman]

Still not finished.

 

Careful analysis of the shape of her face and skin tone and eye colour. =D

'Anime' style eyes, this also gets the "silhouette around the upper corner of the eye" as Pasidon suggested, but doesn't make it realistic. =p

Fixed the "ghost hair".

Other new details include blur behind the glasses and simple gradient shading and colouring.

The texture overlay is a trial, I've still got the lineart of the entire body to finish.

 

 

Edited by MattTheLegoman, 26 October 2014 - 12:30 PM.

[Pasidon]

Oh yea.  That's looking way better. From this point... try making the eyebrows better.  I bet you can make them into a solid object rather than just lines.