ART WAR 3 | 2D | Villains | Blackout | sparksofdawn

mr_dessin 2018-11-24 16:13:04 UTC #21

Yeah 3 could give a big feeling of overpower/domination.
1 probably could work too.

tck 2018-11-24 17:37:05 UTC #22

Great oppressive atmosphere
3 works best for me, could be a very cool visual having the guy disappearing into the darkness of her silhouette

rgdraw 2018-11-24 18:56:42 UTC #23

Nice! I like 1 and 3!
But fun fact you should do all the 4 options, so you can do a little animation where the victim slowly fall on the ground and disappear! x)

StylusZer0 2018-11-24 23:27:13 UTC #24

Nice concept. This feels ominous, like Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill film.

sparksofdawn 2018-11-26 18:03:23 UTC #25

Finally managed to work on the illustration some more.
Started thightening the perspective a bit (not too much yet :D). I decided to make the cathedral background a little assymetrical, as it felt too mirrored, but I'll see where it goes when I actually start fleshing it out.
Also removed one of the pauldrons and tweaked the pose for a better flow (and hopefully a better telegraphed condescending expression). The sword feels too bright and messes with the focal point so that goes on the to-do list as well.
Proper material rendering coming soon (Also have to decide on the horn design)

jerrison 2018-11-26 23:30:23 UTC #26

Lookin sick.

nevs38 2018-11-27 04:58:05 UTC #27

I really like this!
You can go nuts with the lighting!
I can even see those rim lights defining the character in the foreground.

I found this .. hope it gives you some more ideas.

https://www.diyphotography.net/howto-dramatic-portrait-lighting-using-nothing-lamps/

sparksofdawn 2018-11-27 08:35:53 UTC #28

Thank you for the kind words!
@nevs38 that was a nice read and is pretty much what I'm going for, thanks

sparksofdawn 2018-11-27 17:34:42 UTC #29

I decided to go back to the concept to update it a bit and check the sillhouette again. I think I could make the spikes on the shoulder a bit bigger but I'll decide in the illustration. Also attempts were made on a logo... it could use some more work

PeterH 2018-11-27 23:35:28 UTC #30

I am enjoying the idea and colors, but I agree that something like increasing the spike size could help in defining the character a bit more, the simple silhouette does just kind of look like "Guy with a Sword" right now.

I look forward to seeing more!

sparksofdawn 2018-11-28 07:11:02 UTC #31

@PeterH thanks ^^ and yeah, that was my feeling as well. At least I'm mostly happy with the overall look and feel, so accentuating elements and some proportions to make her stand out won't really interfere too much with the illustration.
So here's a version with some bigger spikes and added smaller elements all around, tried making it completely smokey below the waist (like a ghost, but I didn't like it, I want to retain the human inside)

sparksofdawn 2018-11-28 18:57:15 UTC #32

Started rendering the illustration, so here's a progress shot

rgdraw 2018-11-28 20:02:33 UTC #33

Starting to look really nice!!

sparksofdawn 2018-12-01 09:37:23 UTC #34

Ok, after a break from looking at the character, I decided I can push the shapes even more and add some more flavor elements all around. At long last I'm kind of happy with how the design and the thumbnail sillhouette look.
I'd be happy with some critiques, as I've been looking at her for too long
(Left -old; Right - new)

And another illustration WIP:

baklaher 2018-12-01 11:03:22 UTC #35

A lot of black.

sparksofdawn 2018-12-01 11:48:34 UTC #36

Yeah, you're right I'm planning on making it just 'dark' instead of black but I was still playing around with the design and the focal area (head and torso), general hue adjustments are next on the list. Thanks for the heads-up!

krizevil 2018-12-02 07:31:00 UTC #37

Looking awesome, my only suggestion is about the background perspective, it's too close and maybe could distract a little bit

sparksofdawn 2018-12-02 08:18:13 UTC #38

Thank you , I'll try to push it further back with some atmospheric perspective

sparksofdawn 2018-12-09 16:13:43 UTC #39

After a busy week - finally managed another update!
Most notably (aside from some more rendering :D), I decided to add hair sticking from under the helmet to make her a bit more 'layered' and physical. Some 'exoskeleton' pieces/mech augments were added around the waist/under her arms to go with the helmet (they need some more structure but that'll be the general direction).
Also, I changed the overall ambient hue, faded the background a bit and eliminated most of the near-black colors. I'm also thinking of getting rid of the middle belt knife, because they feel too crammed as of now.

innocent 2018-12-10 10:00:57 UTC #40

Good idea! It will also add a breathing area.
A few posts back on "composition exploration" you were thinking about mixing two views. I feel enlarging a tad bit your canvas can solves the clogged problem as long as giving you some space to show more of his superpower.