Character Design & Background - Fantasy Monk WIP

[0ni]

Hey everyone!
This is the first digital painting I have done in about a year or so, dropped out of a games design course a while back and eventually just completely lost my confidence with art. Trying to get it back by painting an old character I designed years ago, designed to be a champion is a game I frequently play (but she's basically a fantasy monk).

I have always had a passion for character design but have struggled with backgrounds a lot. Not just drawing something but finding that balance between having an interesting background without it taking any of the focus away from the character I am trying to highlight.

I thought given the lore I wrote for her, it would be fitting to placer her in some kind of temple or shrine, but I'm really struggling to make it interesting to look at. I thought about placing some kind of altar or maybe shelves of scrolls behind the pillars but I'm not very good at suggesting shapes, and making it too detailed will just clutter the Image - any tips / suggestions?

Other than that, feel free to critique as you like, the character isn't quite finished yet and I can see a tonn of flaws myself but it would be interesting to see it from someone else's perspective!

Thanks in advance!

[Iruui]

Hi

I might have not be as good as u yet ( mostly because I can't color well ) however I have quite good understanding in art in general.

First off, when you are designing a char do it without background. Just plain gray or white to gray gradient from the bottom to up of canvas. I'd suggest trying to do it this way:
- make a 3 or even more designs for character explore it as much as u can ,u can also design every piece of clothing ( or whatever she wears ) with the same principle to do at least 3 desings for it. After this process when u like the char draw nd paint final version ( without background ). And at last u can make now an ilustration of your character with background.
- When it comes to the question u asked about ilustration to make character intresting on it there are few things u can do. First is making some thumbnails and sketching the flow of ilustration as a whole not only for character. Second off make some focal points - places in a picture which are of the most contrast like most detailed or contrasting colors. Place those when u want viewer to look. I feel you kinda know that cuz your character face is of the most value contrast and thats good however to make it even more intresting u could add second light source for examle moon which would make your character pop from picture even more.
And if u have problem with shapes just get some references and study them.

Oh and one more thing I feel like a skin of this your monk is little bit unnatural try studying this also.

Hope u get some good ideas out of this. Cheers m8

[strubey]

For this piece in particular I think playing with the lights a bit more could make a big difference.

I'm not really sure if the main light source is supposed to be the ball she is holding or the lantern. I would probably intensify the light from the ball while darkening everything else and just have a very dimly lit fill light from the lantern + add a back-light of some sort. I think adding a cooler (more blue-ish) back light would make everything pop a lot more as well.

Other than that just keep doing studies of different materials in different light scenarios and such to learn how the work and how to light them properly.

Keep it up though! I can't draw human characters to save my life haha.. Need to work on that.

[0ni]

mm I admit the jumping straight into the painting might have been a mistake, because its an old character I've designed a while ago and I had done a ton of sketches previously but I did make a bunch of last minute changes and i think it really does show. Originally I was just going to leave the background plain but I just got carried away I guess.

As for a contrasting light source I really like that idea, maybe I could have some moonlight pouring in through a window in the background or something?

The skin I am struggling with too, for reasons I wrote into her lore I wanted her to look 'deathly pale' almost but I do think I overdid it a bit while messing around with light source (I need lots more practice)

Thank you so much for the critique, it was a big help!

[0ni]

Yeah I agree with you too I think some blue-ish moonlight or something would be a big help. I struggle quite a lot with light sources I am used to doing more concept / design work with pretty standard, front lit or side lit perspectives. Playing with coloured lighting/ more intense lighting is very tough for me I thought this would be good practice. The main light source was supposed to be the ball/orb but I think there is a little too much bright light as if it is the lantern - ill have to fix that somehow

Thanks a lot for the feedback, very good stuff!