Ward - Hero - Name TBD

[AbdultheNewt]

"Hero" and "Painting" brought Conan and Frazetta to mind, so I'm thinking of tackling something in that vein (not that I'm kidding myself or anyone else that I could paint like Frazetta, but it gave me a jumping off point).

I did a few sketches to get myself rolling, although I'm not sure if any of these are "it." Might be a little too tired and cliche, but as I'm new to the whole digital painting thing, I take some comfort in the notion of familiar territory.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch02.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03.jpg

[LXD]

I'm liking the look of the third one. You might try a more radical angle of view more from the top of the monsters head down possibly. I like the idea of seeing the caves or hallways going back into the distance also. And maybe go with the open face look so we can see the fear and/or determination on the hero facing the monster.

[Brazucka]

The second one has the best composition,
in my opinion, and a profound content too.

The third one is great also, but more for a
romantic moment, I guess. The 1st looks
like a pirate.
:D

I´ll be anxious to see wich you´ll choose.

[AbdultheNewt]

Brazucka and LXD, I had to laugh - one of you likes #3, the other #2, and I was kind of partial to #1. This just goes to show that when it comes to taste, you can show 3 images to 3 people and get 3 different choices...

I'll dabble some more today and see if one of them moves to the forefront.

[Brazucka]

Hahahahahahaha...

You´re totally right.
:D

[M_Cederstrom]

Nice sence, the third is my fav... :D

[AbdultheNewt]

Still haven't decided, but I did some color sketches to see what they might look like. I think i'll go without a helmet on #3 if I go further with that one.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_02.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch02_02.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03_02.jpg

[LXD]

Now I'm liking the third one even more, guess I'm just in the mood for moody lighting ;)

[AbdultheNewt]

Alright, I haven't abandoned the others, but I did move this one along a bit...

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_03.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_04.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_05.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_06.jpg http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_07.jpg

[hulahuga]

the first one is cool, but I think the whirling winds in the dragon fight might be a killer!

[AbdultheNewt]

I still have hopes of finishing more than one of these. Tonight, some detail work on the first one...

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_09closeup.jpg

[LXD]

It's coming along but you might consider pushing the top of the shoulder piece up so that it's behind the face a little. It will help bring the face forward a bit.

[AbdultheNewt]

hulahuga, I'm still hoping to tackle one, if not both, of the other concepts. This one just seemed like the easiest and I'm still new to doing digital paintings. Most of what I've done over the past 10 years or so has been cartooning. I bit off on this challenge to see what I could do and hopefully grow as an artist. So, if all goes well, I'll get to the dragons, too.

LXD, good call on the shoulder pad/chin area - here's an update along with a little more detail.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_10closeup.jpg

[LXD]

I really like the detail on the outfit you can really get a sense of the leather vs. the steel in the ax vs. the bronze in the shin guards.

Comparing this version with your original thumbnail, in the thumbnail the warrior doesn't have a light so the light behind the monster works. I think if you're going to have a bright light in front then maybe try no back light at all so that only the front of the monster is defined by the lantern?

[AbdultheNewt]

That's a good point on the backlight. I'll certainly take it down quite a bit, but maybe I'll give it a try with only some rimlighting on the demon wizard and very little (if any) backlight. The whole thing was feeling a bit too well lit - especially if the hero is supposed to be surprised.

Thanks for the comments.

[J.B.]

very nice work abdulthenewt, hope to see more updates soon :), good luck

[AbdultheNewt]

I think this may be it for this one. This was really my first digital painting of this sort and a great learning experience - some successes and plenty I'd do differently next time. So, speaking of next time, I think I'm going to keep the momentum going and tackle another one of the concepts I developed...

Still, hopefully people found this image pleasing - I certainly enjoyed making it. Love it, hate it, or somewhere in between, I welcome any comments. Thanks.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch01_13.jpg

[J.B.]

this turn out realy cool considering this is your first time digital painting :), keep up with the good works

[M_Cederstrom]

wow this is looking great. :D

[noundo]

really interesting characters, but you got to work with light to make scene more bright and colorful, some more contrast shadows. also this guy stands in little strange pose, it is kinda unnatural. i think he should turn left a little with whole body...

[LXD]

I like the detail in the monsters face and the hairs coming out and catching the light. Overall great job, can't wait to see the next one. =)

[derekguay]

Nice. The water effect is awesome! You got it done in a day or so right? That's pretty good I'd say.

[AbdultheNewt]

J.B, Cederstrom, LXD and DerekGuay - Thanks for all the kind words. I'm off and running on the next one and should have a new post pretty soon.

Noundo - thanks for the comments, not sure if I can address all of them, but I may come back around and tweak this image.

[AbdultheNewt]

I've done some color blocking on my next image - still very early and rough. I also got some pressure from a few friends to start recording this process, so I've uploaded a video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrhV_5lY4aM). It was actually kind of fun for me to see the play back, so I'll try and capture the rest of the process.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03_05.jpg

[L3XICON]

the first one is great, the lighting and mood work perfectly.

liking the composition for the 2nd sketch, my only suggestion being, maybe play with the camera 'pitch and roll' a little to give a more dynamic and dramatic feel.

[animationutz]

i like you colors that your using. good work

[AbdultheNewt]

Here's another quick update (still pretty rough, so be gentle), blocking in the hero (also posted as a video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKaEIaENL8E)). Don't get too worked up over the actual colors, really it's more about blocking in the values at this stage. I'll do some color balancing once I get everything fleshed out a little more. I'll try and get one more update in tonight.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03_07.jpg

[AbdultheNewt]

That last update was looking a little rough, so I finished most of the color blocking (video posted here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWLZRGbwl50))and have this image update. Still more to do, but at least it gives a better sense of where this one is headed.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03_08.jpg

[J.B.]

things are starting to look great :), can't wait to see the next update

[aby arty]

abdulthenewt ! u r amazing none the less.
the frst image was rocking, only thing ididnt like was that upper corners were empty.

the second image is so good and its not even fnshed yet.
u sure got some eye for detail.

[AbdultheNewt]

J.B and aby arty - Thanks so much for the support!
I'm having a great time working the images in this thread and learning tons by doing.
It really helps to have all the insight, comments, and positive energy!
I'm really glad I decided to dive in to the challenges here.

[Resenhista]

Hey! My turn to write something about hehe

You're doing such a great job, in both drawings, and it's certainly rewarding when you get so nice feedbacks...I got through this too, in this very forum =D
I must admit that I really liked the last one you posted, and the first sketches were also very good, especially the second one (on the middle)...
As for that last image, it's getting really nice...the color palette, the reflections, your attention to detail (the skullpile rocks!)...if you darken up the corners of the picture, it may add to the tension of the scene, I believe. But there's something that kinda 'bothers' me...i know that he's a very strong guy and he can lift up that huge axe with a single hand, but...I don't think that piece of wood can handle all the blade's weight hehe, it seems it's about to break at anytime...=P

Good job so far! Waiting for the next update =D

[AbdultheNewt]

Good point on the ax handle - maybe I'll change that material...
Can't have him losing the battle because of a broken handle (although I'm sure he'd still stab the beast with the leftover pointy stick).

Thanks for all the thoughts.
And I'm still hoping I might be able to paint that other image (the middle one where they're riding dragons), too...

[AbdultheNewt]

This post wraps up this painting (video available here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHe_7LBozX4)). I think it came out stronger than the first painting - let me know what you think. After a day or two break, I'll see if I can tackle that third and final piece with the dragon riders. I'm going to use this same hero on that one, too - kind of a hero hat trick.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03_12.jpg

[Brazucka]

What´s that about videos and courts thing?

AbdultheNewt: Intense scene, good work. It looks like the hero just thought "Grrr... Damn worm...!" ;)

May I suggest you to make the creature bigger and to turn it´s back for the camera? I guess that would make the scene more dramatic.

:wave:

[ClassicGamer-3DT]

Got rid of the spam posts in here.

[AbdultheNewt]

Brazucka - Glad you liked the hero expression. Here's a close up just for fun. I was really happy with how this part of the painting turned out. I think I'm going to try and do the dragon riding sketch that I posted at the beginning of this thread. That'll get us some larger beasties...

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch03_12cu.jpg

[LXD]

I agree, I think you really nailed the hero on this one and I like the color choices, the cold and warm light came out well.

[AbdultheNewt]

LXD - Thanks for the kind comments. I think that blue/orange (cool/warm) contrasting color combination helps make for a successful mood image.

Feeling a little crazy and going after one more image. Here's the color blocking on the last of the three concepts I proposed at the top of this thread. Going for a third image with this same hero - just to tie the series together. Still pretty rough, but at this point it's just about getting the basic shapes of colors on to the page...

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch02_03.jpg

[derekguay]

Nice work! On your third painting and Lunatech Fringe is up to date. Your ambition is killing me.

[AbdultheNewt]

Been a while since I've updated - made a little progress tonight. Not sure if I'm liking this better than the previous one, but I'm making an effort to complete it. Still a ways to go, and time grows short as the holiday weekend looms large...

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch02_07.jpg

[washka]

Care the backfire.

[M_Cederstrom]

keep it coming. :D

[AbdultheNewt]

One last update on this third one and I'm going to have to pull the plug - not enough hours available between now and the deadline to complete it. I'm submitting my second image for judging, but wanted to at least share the progress on this one (still a ways to go...). Thanks everyone for all the support.

http://www.wardoworld.com/forumart/herosketch02_09.jpg

[dalton_muniz]

Nice skecths studies for the scene man, all of 3 are dynamic. I think you choose the better one!;)

[Heavenly]

Cool paintings, good luck