Thanks Gurchy! I will definately take those crits into consideration... I have unfortunately done it again... I always forget to save my work (we can all relate) and have lost "El Luchador" [:'(] I only have the JPG image at 900 pixels, so I will do what I can with no layers. BOOO HOOO...
I know you think you understood what I said, but what you heard was not what I meant.
Ok, here goes my first WiP. Introducing my mysterious parallel-universe-crossing Diado :) Based on a pencil sketch and then reworked on photoshop. Tis just a zoom, of course, the whole scene is in the next post (and sorry for the double post btw)
Pretty pictures - quite a superficial goal in life, huh? Too bad, I guess...
And here's the entire thing (although Im thinking of cropping and tightening up a bit)
Btw - Gurch, love your style man, as well as that thing you're spawning there (can't really give it a name but yeah :)) I was actually gonna do something similar, then saw your wips and decided to forget it - no way I'm competing against THAT with anything similar, no chance :D So, I'm trying something different - it's started as a more cartoonish sketch and turned into something of a tribute to Paul Kidby and his notoriously good depiction of Cohen the Barbarian...
I got a few problems to fix - with the legs, making the coat a bit less dominant and the overall composition (not to mention I've never drawn buildings of any sort really) but I'll figure them out as I go :)
Pretty pictures - quite a superficial goal in life, huh? Too bad, I guess...
jackdaw - nice sketch yo got there going, already a victorious gladiator pose ther.
xhastex - many thanks! cool wips you got there, it looks a mongglian warrior is it there?
The Gurch - Many thanks! I am so honoured by your words, most of all coming from an artist whose pencil and painting skills I admire. And thanks for the news as well, will be getting my copy in a week time from the magazine stands here. Arrives late here, no intentions of subscribing everytime I hear/read horoor postman stories bout their mangled copies. lol Thanks again, Gurch.
rey - I dont know whats going on with your background there, but, great armour design you have there! looking forward to see it develop.
dead_meat - nice start there!
here is my update:
it was previously intended to be a riot cop like wearing warrior but I think I changed my mind. want to add a more detailed suit for him and make him a bit interesting ( getting this ready for exotique 4, this is a good topic for our entries there, deadline august 4. visit www.ballisticpublishing.com, see you there! )
Clever and funny start Dead_meat you surprised me, first you show us an intriguing baseball bat wielding character and i gotta tell you never thought i'd see a pair of glasses in a gladiator, fighter and brawler competition and then after that you pulled back and showed us a really tall figure, that height could be an advantage indeed and that little trick threw me - you had the element of surprise on your side there! Thanks for your very kind comments by the way.
What can i say Jeff but woweee i'm in awe, he looked good before he looks even badder now!! No one i know can do amour as intricate and as well designed and as cool looking as the ones your creations don. This is heading for exotique 4 you say, good luck ..not that you need it.
Good developments xHaStex, as you've said you've not touched on the levels yet, if i may make a suggestion I think you should work on the values (values, levels similar lines i suppose), you need to get a greater range into your image, go in with a dark dark in the areas that should be in shadow and then go in with the lightest colour in your composition, use the lightest shade to bring out areas where the most light hits and also where you want the viewer attention to fall, don't go over board just concentrate in the part of the picture that you feel matters the most. Use these two to sculpt some form in. If you put some dark area behind the guys left forearm and put some lighter bits along there and especially onto the blade, the contrasts of the light and dark areas should help to make that arm pop out. When applying these really try to feel the shape of the part you are working with, if you pay attention to these here in the early days of the picture it will pay dividends later on, believe me your art will thank you for it. Liking how its going, is there a story behind it? it look like these two shady sorts are being approached..oh boy there's tension there i can feel it!
"Sleep... those little slices of death, oh how i loathe them!"
the gurch - many thanks again, also for luck wish, I need all i can get. hey, you should better enter too with your great artworks here, as well as others here like, martin, kazky, banjaxed and others more here, great works, could make it to exotique.
here is another update for me, last for the day, will continue tomorrow
the gurch - many thanks again, also for luck wish, I need all i can get. hey, you should better enter too with your great artworks here, as well as others here like, martin, kazky, banjaxed and others more here, great works, could make it to exotique.
here is another update for me, last for the day, will continue tomorrow
cirts and comments welcome!
cheers!
Suppose I will try again Jeff, thanks for the comment!
Your character looks well mean now, kick ass riot cop!
Making Fantasy reality or trying to at least......
Ray - I have to say I liked the first sketch, the one with the one weapon more - I think it had a really nice sense of power, mass and speed of the blow which gets kinda lost when he's holding two weapons...
Starfox - great sense of movement, with the coat and all :D me likey :)
Jeff MD - as martin says, kick ass - one damned dark and threatening knight! Makes me feel sorry for anybody standing in his path ;)
Gurch - the old dude turning out so long and huge i think was primarily due to a mistake in perspective - I honestly didn't intend him to be that big... At any rate, I started coloring and refining and here's the result - I'm going for a near dusk time period, when everything is reddish and flaming orange... so trying to build that through the color palette. Hard stuff :/ Well, for me at any rate... Here it is, hope you enjoy and please, if you have any suggestions throw them in, cause I don't really know what I'm doing (more or less) :D
Pretty pictures - quite a superficial goal in life, huh? Too bad, I guess...
With the Pirate locked away in Davy Jones Locker, it's time to unleash the Gladiator. I've figured with so many massive Golieths fielded I'll go for the opposite and portray a Retiarius.
Oh wow Eaglecaste, it's so great to see you here, fresh from the pirates jaunt and you're also off playing with the demons, i gotta tell you, you are an inspiration to me. I've seen you bouncing from one challenge to the next, turning in stunning art after stunning art and making it all look so effortless. How'd you juggle it so well? I have been run ragged lately trying to keep my balls up in the air.
Its tiring - but i have to admit I'm enjoying it while at the same time forcing my art to get going faster.
Excellent start by you, you have captured a great pose filled with real intent in your first few lines This is just gonna get better and i know i will enjoy this picture.
Its great that we have womanly combatant here, she's definitely a sight for sore eyes and this place was beginning to stink of testosterone!
"Sleep... those little slices of death, oh how i loathe them!"
dead-meat the arena looks a great place to die, you have capture the airy and sunniness of the moment along with the whiff of fresh blood. Love the looseness of your strokes. I like what you've done i am gonna go start my background too. Can i just say that you are posting your pictures too big when you are reading a copy for this site you should make the dimension about 560 across, that way it will fit perfectly.
I
"Sleep... those little slices of death, oh how i loathe them!"
Hey Gurch. Here's me thinking I was on my lonesome.....I oughta know better. The company is welcome. That's why I love the challenges. They're competition, but communal at the same time.
The weekend is the key for me as regards output. It's my only chance to get a bunch of uninterupted hours at the stylus. If I can nail the layout and get a good start on the rendering I can usually do the job.
and 
Jeff MD:
fresh from the pirates jaunt and you're also off playing with the demons, i gotta tell you, you are an inspiration to me. I've seen you bouncing from one challenge to the next, turning in stunning art after stunning art and making it all look so effortless. How'd you juggle it so well? I have been run ragged lately trying to keep my balls up in the air.
