ART WAR | 2D | Larry the Protector | jogri

jogri 2017-02-23 11:43:27 UTC #1

FINAL SUBMISSION:

Name: Joshua Griffin
Email: j.t.griffin94@gmail.com
Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/artist/joshuagriffin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jogri_
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jogri_/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artofjogri/

Larry the Protector

Larry harnesses the mystical runic energy from his armor and its crystals to protect and lead his allies. He acts as a beacon of strength on the battlefield, a fortress of safety and morale, energizing his allies by his mere presence.

Character Sheet

I took the prompt of Fantasy vs. Sci-Fi a little too literally. What better way to answer it than to show a battle between my fantasy champion and drones from an invading sci-fi universe?

Final Artwork

While it's too late to make any more changes before the 'Art War' deadline, I'd love any feedback or critiques about what is or isn't working in the final illustration and character sheet. I've learned so much from this challenge but I know there is plenty of room for further improvement.

jogri 2017-02-23 12:13:37 UTC #2

Time to start designing our boy. Let's keep it simple.

We were doing alright until I started adding colour and trying to make life hard for myself. I mean it looks sweet but I'm not going to be able to recreate that effect.

So again, but SIMPLE this time.

Ok but now he's fruity. Let's harden him up aye?

The cape's back, Larry's toasty, his armour's battle-worn... but our boy just ain't mystical and protective if his armour still has colour.

Time for some composition sketches.

Don't the first few ideas always turn out to be rubbish? After much garbage, I was finally feeling encouraged by the bottom right one. And were I a little more ambitious, the one above it could be good too - but that would mean rendering a crowd of soldiers behind him, something well outside my comfort zone at the moment.

So bottom right it is, time to block out the values.

I traded the spiky desert formations in for snowy mountains, a setting far more apt for a warmly robed boy. But while it is starting to seem like a cool composition, it doesn't seem to make much narrative sense so it's time to rework the pose.

Much cooler, but it's still lacking a coherent story behind our boy Larry.

Larry harnesses mystical energy to protect, heal, and lead his allies. He's the man you want to see on the battlefield because he represents safety, he represents morale, he is the beating heart of the army and energizes his comrades by his mere presence.

Our boy can't lead without followers. Time for some allies.

I know the deadline is looming close but I'm still grateful for any C&C for my progress so far. If you have any ideas about how Larry could demonstrate his power please don't hesitate to let me know.

novanair 2017-02-23 14:49:06 UTC #3

I like the idea that the glow is on the armor, like it's magical itself. Maybe it could be that Larry needs the armor to cast spells (like an Iron Man sort of deal). Could be that the armor is the legendary magical thing, and since Larry can harness it, he's respected and followed. Just an idea, keep it up

adamostridge 2017-02-23 19:03:52 UTC #4

Definitely think the new pose is a much stronger choice. Maybe you could really push the magical power aspect by lifting him up so he's floating off the ground and surrounding him with more visual magical elements to exaggerate the mystical power of him/his armour? Looking forward to seeing where you push this

jogri 2017-02-23 23:02:46 UTC #5

I'd experimented a little with that in one of my earlier concepts but he was looking a little too sci-fi.

I'm sure I can manage something within fantasy limitations though so I'll give it another crack.

jogri 2017-02-23 23:08:18 UTC #6

I love this idea. Once I work out the supporting figure placements, I think our boy Larry is ascending.

jogri 2017-02-24 04:02:15 UTC #7

So plenty of development. Larry's got his boys, his mystical shields, he's flying, and he's entered the realm of 21:9. But it's time to decide on this background before I go nuts on his mystical energies.

I'd planned the illustration with the eye level being roughly in line with the top of the cliff they're standing on. But if I move the horizon, does the perspective still work? Does it work better? Which of these 3 reads best with the strongest composition?

I might also add a drone on the far right as a representative of the sci-fi universe. Providing the narrative that they're in some kind of stand off.

I'd thoroughly appreciate any feedback on which works best so far, or any ideas you have for pushing the narrative.

tablar 2017-02-24 08:17:29 UTC #8

For me No. 2 works very well. Probably it's just the contrast between the legs / sky, not the horizon line... I like the composition in every three pieces (foreground/background/open space on the right side playing well together)

berrysquare 2017-02-24 12:22:08 UTC #9

I like no2 also, for the same reasons as Tablar.

jogri 2017-02-26 13:32:33 UTC #10

@tablar @berrysquare

I agree, #2 looked like it had a good comp, but I came to accept the eye level didn't make sense. It messed with the perspective and became a huge problem when I tried to add a sci-fi drone.

Are they looking at each other or is the drone way off in the distance and actually huge?

I hit a big wall in progress here so I went wild for a while to see what I could do to spice it up.

Forcefield + attack drones + hands + background lifted + 25:9 + dramatic background value shift = badass Larry (obligatory sunglasses).

However, I worry it's getting too busy now. Has the value shift messed with the read too much?

novanair 2017-02-27 19:50:04 UTC #11

Nice sunglasses. But yes, the drone looks so tiny it's actually kinda cute. Like it's just going pew pew into Larry's huge shield. I am not experienced with backgrounds at all, so these are just wild suggestions, but maybe you could turn the drone slightly to face Larry, like it's coming for him in the distance, in a sorta diagonal way? Idk if I'm making myself clear here. I like the shots hitting the shield, like closer drones are off camera, gives you an idea of what he's up against without having extra effort.

jogri 2017-03-01 07:43:48 UTC #12

@novanair The drones do seem a little puny and ineffective - I'm well out of my comfort zone trying to design and paint sci-fi - but that also makes Larry seem even more formidable. Perhaps bigger explosions from the drones weaponry might have helped to make the battle feel more epic.

Also the final versions are now up in the original post.

jogri 2017-03-01 08:13:41 UTC #13

Colour process:

I was quite happy with how the landscape came out, and disappointed that it wasn't more visible in the final version.

Here you can see I changed my mind about the beams the drones were shooting in favour of what I hope looks like incendiary ammunition. And of course I darkened the value key for drama and to make the explosions and magical effects pop.

Final Character Sheet and Artwork are in the original post.

While it's too late to make any more changes before the 'Art War' deadline, I'd love any feedback or criticisms about what is or isn't working in the final illustration and character sheet. I've learned so much from this challenge but I know there is plenty of room for further improvement.

jogri 2017-03-02 12:07:24 UTC #14

Here's a revision after some feedback from a friend.
- Introduced better colour vibrance through a purple dodge layer.
- Corrected the lighting and temperature to reflect the change to a night scene.
- Darkened + desaturated the area outside of Larry's force field for a better read.

It's past the deadline but there's no harm in improving it for my own learning. Any critiques are still more than welcome.