Fira's Sketch Fest!

[Firathion]

Murlock study based on a Ryan Metcalf sketch.
Man murlocks turned out to be on of the funnest things to paint! <3

[Firathion]

Still trying to tackle materials. Original by Ryan Metcalf.

[malcom]

Really nice study. Nice edge control. It doesn't seem like you use soft brush much, but, these are studies so it doesn't matter really. Plus, not using a soft brush helps you get the nice edges and transitions. Nice contrast in values as well.

[Firathion]

Naah you are right, i'm not using the soft brush much at all. like 95% of my paintings are always done with Marc's square brush. I need to start using both soft and rough. I also feel i'm missing some textures so i might start working on that.
Thanks a lot for the feedback!

[Jaivu]

Here right here is a product of practice/studies is paying off.

Digging the Demon Friend.

[Firathion]

Thanks Jaivu, means a lot :)!

[Firathion]

Ryan Met study. He did this scythe for Diablo 3.
Man, he has gotten so so good at rendering. I actually had to paint this 3 times to feel ok with it and i still don't feel very confident with painting bone.
Which was a really good reminder. As we improve, our favorite artists improve aswell.
We really have to try our best :).
Anyway need to finish some more backviews for my characters. brb ^^

[malcom]

Oh man so good. Love the original concept as well. I think you render the bone nicely. It feels a bit warmer which is what I like.

[Firathion]

Trying to improve my values.
-1st original picture by Alexey Gorbatov
-2nd original picture by Anthony Jones
-3rd by Artem Serdechny
Definately check those guys out!

[malcom]

These are really well done. Specially the first one. I know of Aj but not of the other 2. I will definitely check them out.

[Firathion]

Sculpt Study

[Firathion]

Peter Stapleton's works look so 3D. I feel like his knowledge on light is unparallel. I definately recommend checking his stuff out. So here's a copy.

Also, tomorrow i'll be wrapping up the backview of another one of my character. After it's done i think i'll finally give ArtWar a shot. Will be fun :).

[malcom]

Peter Stapleton///I'll check his work out. Looks good. I like the hard edges and soft areas in this study. The rim is amazing.
Look forward to seeing what you can do for ArtWar.

[Firathion]

Thanks mate :)!

[Alboba]

Ugh I just love your art! I don't know how somebody can have so much patience and doing so many studies, I would have died because they are either not perfect or just boring to me x(
But yours look awesome! I love your rendering, I don't know how you do it but I just love how you controle those edges and every color/value seems to have it's place without being soft brushed into another. Miy rendering never looks as clean xD

Anyway, apart from my rant, as always great work. I love your art

[Firathion]

Hey man, thanks a lot for your comment it's much appreciated ^^.

I get what you're saying about the studies. Most of the time i find them boring myself and the end results will never look as good as the original. But i strongly believe it's one of the best ways to improve so i keep at it.
It's also a good way to counter art blocks. You can always do a copy of someone elses art when you have no inspiration and you're staring at your canvas/screen with nothing to draw yourself. This way you force yourself to have no excuses haha ^^.

As for my technique i mostly use the color picker and Marc's Square brush to smooth things out myself. I love how you can still kinda see the brushstrokes after blending that way. It's just a style preferance. Marc's explains this technique in his tutorial 'Getting started with digital painting' and he uses it pretty much every time he paints.

Hope this helps and thanks again :).

[Firathion]

Oh boy, this took way too long but i'm finally done with the backviews. I could go on forever pushing the rendering on the hands etc but i feel like it's not worth it at this point. I'd rather start something new at this point.
Anyway, feedback welcome as always :).

[malcom]

My feedback is a bit picky. You are warned
Even though in 3D the back view could be hidden by the backpack(assuming in a game, this thing always has the backpack on when fighting), I think you can define the back view more with more muscle definition. To the level of the front view at least. This can also just be done by a 3D artist so no real worry.
I like how you handle the arms and the legs for this character. Even without the wraps on his arms, the character has a nice asymmetrical design.
The colors are nice and vibrate. The purples/pinks with the reddish browns works really well. Accent color with the yellow/orange for the eyes is an nice touch as well.
I think the orange flask might be to bright considering it is contrasting with dark clothes right next to it. In a video game, it might still work as an indicator to the player that the flask(fire bomb) is something to look out for or an item they can pick up after beating this guy.
Overall, solid piece. Nothing much to add. This is a good piece.

[Firathion]

Thanks for the feedback Malcom :).
The idea is that as a merchant you dont get to fight him at all. Yet his flask might be too bright as i wouldn't want it to act as a focal point. Thanks for pointing that out.
As for the backview i didn't want to overdo it since he isn't flexing. You are probably right tho. I have to admit that back muscles are one the hardest things for me to paint or draw.
In any case i'm really glad you like it :).

[malcom]

Yeah man, its an awesome piece. Backview is hard for me as well. I have to practice it as well.