Curse

Qing Guang · Dec 21, 2009, 11:10 PM // 23:10

@Chyminy: Whoa! Cool.

Hey guys, look, I finally started mine! (Kind of.) Here's my rough placement sketch.

I think something's up with 'Dea (in the middle, playing a not-well-outlined fiddle). I know she's sort of leaning over, and I've got to fix that, but she seems disproportionate as well. Is she too big for her position in the picture? Also, ought there be something in the middle of the room (a low table, maybe) or the left corner?

Oh! Ignore the varying sizes on the sofas and such; that'll get fixed in the rough draft.

Chyminy Riquet · Dec 21, 2009, 11:50 PM // 23:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Verene

Pssst, Chyminy...it's spelled "Emperor".

Otherwise, it looks great

Gah! *panics* I already sent it into Arenanet. Maybe they will allow me to send in a corrected version. Thanks Verene for pointing out my spelling error.

Qing Guang. Thanks. And looking forward to seeing how your work proceeds.

Verene · Dec 22, 2009, 12:20 AM // 00:20

I would have pointed it out sooner, but I haven't been on much in the past few days. I do really like the book cover idea, though, it looks great

BlueXIV · Dec 22, 2009, 01:34 AM // 01:34

Oh man, I just finished unpacking back home for the holidays. Looks like I should probably start on my entry eh?

I'm still offering illustration critiques for the workshop, but it might take me a while to find old posts, so if anyone needs some CC for illustrations, please let me know.

Minami · Dec 22, 2009, 01:49 AM // 01:49

@ Kiya: Oooo summoning stones!! How cool! I think if you'd put the rudi mask on your son and put him together with all the other plushies, it would make SUCH an adorable picture, and the rudi mask would stick out more too. (this is an answer to one of your questions ^_^)

@ Chyminy: That cover turned out really really nice and original! Grats on it!

@ Blue: Since I'm a first time drawer, I would love some CC on my picture to help me get better with pictures I'll draw in the future. I have sent in my entry already, hope that doesn't disqualify me from your advices

Dyeane · Dec 22, 2009, 03:09 AM // 03:09

I freed him! I guess the best route would be to turn him into a snowman, though I prefer the ice elementals myself.

BladeWind · Dec 22, 2009, 12:20 PM // 12:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyeane

I freed him! I guess the best route would be to turn him into a snowman, though I prefer the ice elementals myself.

I dont know why, but I suddenly like you.

Shy Guy · Dec 22, 2009, 03:34 PM // 15:34

Okay well I started from scratch and had some new ideas, so I wanted to get some opinions on which is better ^-^

Please PLEASE feel free to give CnC.

Edit: Ignore cheesy text please xD

Edit: Actual images are much bigger

Arghore · Dec 22, 2009, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Sigh totally forgot about the contest, to busy with playing GW and RL ... might still start though seeing the 31th deadline though with christmas around might not have allot of time on my hands...

Went through most of the thread and like what im seeing, cool stuff allround

One thing that stood out most for me was this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shewmake

Hmm...that's a good point. I think I'm being unrealistic too, so here's my progress: http://picosong.com/wYk/

Anyone think I should leave out the last little bit (from the GW2 trailer)? I was thinking about taking that out & adding the GW:EN theme, but I don't want it to be too long, so idk.

I rather liked it, though i also have a few comments to make...
1. Hopefully you will find a way to take out the irri computer *peebs*
2. I realy missed a snowbal fight intermezzo, the slow composition with the high pitches pretty much sounded like a snowcovered Tyria with Dripping icepegs ... unfortunatly this lasted for a short bit, after which for almost the whole track it becomes a bit bland, so i would realy suggest to add some snowball fighting as that is a large part of Wintersday and would add a more *cant find the word for it (busy, swelling, dynamic, not just snowcovered land, less monotone track)* part to the track; Perhaps it would help if you were to come up with a story that the musical piece needs to represent, something like:

*Wintersday Trailer Music*
1 Autum on Tyria (Prophecies theme slowly slowing down/fading)
2 First snowflakes (high pitches over theme fading), Swelling into full snowfall ...
3 Magestic fly over white covered lands, dripping Icepegs in a wintery sun
4 Then entering Lion's Arch from North Kryta Province, a fly-over the outpost, bussy, people running pressents chased by Grenthies, NPC Shouting Wintersday related lore, people taking and completing missions, people talking around a fire, roasting chesnuts .. then the camera flies into the Wintersday tree, fades...
5 To come out the other end (unfade) during a chaotic snowball fight (perhaps use prophecies fight music, together with low tone snowballs landing (dont forget spells like Hidden Rock, Yellow Snow)
6 fight ends, everybody joins in around the campfire for roasted chesnuts and Hot Choco, still busteling in excitement..
7 Camera then leaves the snowball area, to show a snowcovered Tyria and dripping icepegs again... slowly fading to black..
*after the end of your music piece, the trailer would go on*
8* Then Logo's show NCsoft / Arena Net
9* Then Grenth's head appears, the camera zooms out to reveal him fully infront an army of Grentchies, Grenth gives the sign of attack, and all the grenthies storm in to a still retreating camera, a rain of snowballs flies towards the camera.. they land, then all black, end of trailer...

------------
In the current piece you allready sortof have parts of this 'story' nailed..
- the first 35sec (orso) sounded alot like part 2 and 3 of the above
- then after 3sec nothing, your piece slows down, think this part should go with part 1, though should last way shorter and go over into what the first 35sec are now..
- then at about 1:30 the music is swelling, which sortof goes with part 3 and leading to part 4, though to my taste it should have more going on at the moment the swelling reaches its peak, become bussier afterwards, perhaps more instruments or just bussier stacato, town like ... :/
- Then you should add a piece with snowball fighting..
- to go back to the first 35sec style, to then end... after hearing it a few more times i noticed you allready do this, just b4 the GW2 part starts part 7 of the above story is basically covered...
- Idd leave out GW2 part...

But feel free to come up with a different story all by yourself, mostly i think you shouldnt be scared to at some parts dont hold back as the overall sounded a bit bland (appart from the first 40sec or so), esp. where the violins kick in I expect some grandour of epic scale, for say 10-15sec to represent something big going on, i miss this currently ...

Only thing that bothers me a bit, is how to send it in, since basically its somewhat outside the rules, might work as a written down piece perhaps with a link to the above (finalised) piece ... Btw. this is also why it stood out to me, since it is audio art instead of visual art ... though art non the less

Love'd to hear progress... and to all other see progress too, love to see all those created pieces

... and of course:

HAPPY WINTERSDAY TO YOU ALL !!

Shy Guy · Dec 22, 2009, 05:44 PM // 17:44

More ideas.........

KiyaKoreena · Dec 22, 2009, 05:51 PM // 17:51

@ ShyGuy. I like the latest one best.

Shy Guy · Dec 22, 2009, 05:55 PM // 17:55

@Kiya: Thanks ^-^

I mean I know I'm new to photoshop and stuff, so what would you critique about it? I'd really appreciate any critique AT ALL anyone gives me.

KiyaKoreena · Dec 22, 2009, 06:20 PM // 18:20

I think the figure on the right is too clouded over by the border. It kind of looks like his head is disappearing. The figure should be just as distincive as the Dwayna one. I would also shift the polar bear to the right about an inch and the text about half an inch to the right and up 1/4 an inch. Those two items seem rather shoved to the left and makes it feel like two pictures mashed, not close enough to compliment the larger scene on the right side. It also might be cute to put a little gift right next to the bear on the right, like he is guarding it.

Yasmine · Dec 22, 2009, 06:49 PM // 18:49

I also like the last idea best

I agree with kiya on Grenth's figure. Plus the contours of the polar bear figure look a bit sharp. Also the picture is very light/bright (can't describe what I mean :P) - though it may depend on my monitor - too much of light blue imo.

Shy Guy · Dec 22, 2009, 07:24 PM // 19:24

Okay well Here's the next verions

I moved the polar bear, text, and made grenth more noticeable. Also, I tried to make the border more wintery and warming, if that makes sense. I might end up adding some christmas lights later. In addition to the border, I added some snow and snowflakes to just add more to the winter theme. Lastly, I gave the poalr bear a santa hat and gave him a gift to gaurd ^-^

I'm thinking of putting a little blur on some of the objects to make them less sharp. :3

Kha · Dec 22, 2009, 07:42 PM // 19:42

@Shy Guy - This latest idea is definitely more interesting than the pack one and has a stronger Wintersday feel to it. I pretty much agree with everything Kiya said - good to know I'm not the only one thinking of these corrections. Grenth is a bit blurry, especially his head. The overlaps on the bottom from the border is fine but coming from the side is kind of overpowering him. It's even more so distracting since he's the only figure with that problem and the others are standing out cleary. I like the composition though of the two sitting in front of the tree.

The text needs shifting around a bit. Right now it's too far against the left side and too far from the top. It needs more centering around that top left corner so there's more of a balance between its distance from the left and the top. This will also help to fill in the slight gap between it and the tree image's background. The 'y' in Wintersday overlapping the image a bit can help it look a bit more united as a whole because right now it looks like you could divide the entry in half and make it two separate things.

I agree again with Kiya about a gift next to the bear. It needs something to help fill up the space. Not sure if you already had plans, but my initial thoughts were a gift and maybe some other Wintersday decorations like one of the large candy canes. Don't need a lot because you don't want the bear to get lost, but I think the bear could look cute with a few decorations around him.

I like the overall blue tone to the image. I don't find it too bright though I do think you need to find a balance between highlights and shadows - what I mean is the left side doesn't really have any dark objects or detailing to weigh it down a bit and even it out with the right side.

Sorry if I ramble, hehe. I rarely talk on forums, but when I do...

Edited to add: Between the time I started and the time I posted, you put an updated version so I'll comment on that. I prefer the older border. I found the softness of it complimentary to a winter scene and snow. While the new one does provide for a clearer view of Grenth, for me at least it's a bit too overpowering around the border. The added snowflakes are very nice and fill up the blank space well. I like the presents next to the bear, but I suggest removing the hat. It's not of the same style as the rest of the art and being the only thing of this new style makes it pop out too much. The bear is cute enough without a hat anyways

It also seems like you darkened the picture a bit and I don't think it needed that (see my comment above about balancing the highlights and shadows).

KiyaKoreena · Dec 22, 2009, 07:44 PM // 19:44

I liked the previous edging better. On my screen it seems over-saturated for the blue now, it doesn't feel as harmonious with so much contrasting. The bear blended better on the previous one; the grass from the original photo is too noticeable now and the present doesn't match the viewing angle. Larger bear (like the previous photo) and a smaller gift might be better. That grouping is also not centered between the right side images and the left border so it feels shoved to the side. The grenth avatar is too high now, it doesnt match the other parts of the scene. Also you really need to redo your croppings. There is too much old picture left around them and then some edges are fading out too quick. (note his toes, left edge of present, top of the rump of the bear)

Edit: You said you are new to photoshop, so Im not sure if you are just erasing the edges or using layer masks. If the former, I strongly suggest switching to the latter. Use a brush that doesnt have the sharp edges but keep it small so it's neat. Sharp edges stand out when editing photos together and dont look nice.

BlueXIV · Dec 22, 2009, 07:50 PM // 19:50

Blue's CnC Corner, ep2

NITPICK WARNING
Prepare for epic nitpicking! I will comment on much more what is wrong with a piece than what I like about it, because I feel like it's more helpful. This does NOT mean it's a bad piece or that I don't like it, but rather I hope you'll do a better job next time

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minami Kaori

The first thing I notice about the piece is the lack of saturation on Dwayna's skin. I think the color here could be a bit lighter and a bit more saturated to match the rest of the picture. Maybe introduce a new tone to make it look more 3-D?

Next, make sure you know what you want the focal point to be. Right now, all the ornate noodley details on grenth and dwayna's armor draw and trap the eyes there. If you wanted to really put the focus on the miniature dhuum or the gods' faces, you could probably some how differentiate those areas from the rest by highlighting with some highlights, or putting a bit more detail in there comparatively. I liked Grenth's present, how the white and red stood our from Grenth's hand and the eye could easily differentiate between the forms. If you were to squint your eyes at dwayna's figure, the Dhuum seems like a part of her hand.

While drawing, it's always important to zoom back out and look at the piece to see where you want the viewers to look. It will lead to a much more dynamic piece.

Also, I feel like the tags on the Dhuum mini could be a lot bigger. It might seem like a good size when you are at 100%, but when we are looking at the whole picture on a monitor, the text and the tags are rather hard to read. If you feel like the typography give important information, make it bigger and easier to read.

When I look at the two figures, they seem to be floating. If this was not the intended effect, you may want to look into the shadows a bit. If something is grounded, the shadow ends at one of the edges. If the shadow is slightly bigger than what's casting it, and if it's a bit fuzzy, it gives us the illusion that what is casting the shadow is floating.

Also, shadows are almost never black. I'm going to go on a tangent about color theory, so feel free to ignore this if you want :P. Since you are a 3D artist, I think you have heard of diffuse and direct light. A shadow is cast by an object when it occludes an area from receiving direct light. However, diffuse light will still be hitting the shadows from minuscule light diffractions. So the color of a shadow will appear to be a darker version of the diffuse light in comparison with that of the direct light. Like in your case, the diffuse light would all the steely blues that comes with a snowy/frozen day, and the direct light would be the whiteish warmish light coming from the sun. The color of the shadows would then be the color of the surroundings (a light blue) minus the color of the direct light (yellowish white), which would be a desaturated dark blue.

This diffracted/direct light could be applied to both figures as well. Like the inside of Grenth's cloak could pick up hues from the light reflected off the surface of the ground, making it more of a medium grey blue. Also, metals in particular (like the gold of Dwayna's armor and head piece) particularly reflect surrounding light. If you could include some reflections in there, it would really make her armor seem metallic.

Most beginning artists tend to shade with black and highlight with white. However, this usually leaves subjects looking flat. There is a hierarchy of hues that correspond to light and dark. Usually more brilliant colors look lighter (yellows, greenish blues), while more muted colors (reds, purples) look darker, EVEN with the same value. If you can apply this into your pieces while paying attention to how atmospheric lighting affects hues, it would make your pieces look hella more alive.

Despite what I said, it's a solid piece overall, and I hope you'll do well in the contest

Operative 14 · Dec 22, 2009, 08:10 PM // 20:10

Jeeze Blue, write a textbook or something!

Good critique and tips though.

@Chyminy: I really, really like the finished product. Your figures remind me of those 3D puppet-esque models from the SW:Clone Wars movie and series. I like the work overall, I would love to read that book.

@Shy Guy, I like your piece a lot. I think I'll agree with a few other people and say that it's a bit too blue, you might tone that down a bit and let the real colors of Grenth, Dwayna and the tree peek through just a little bit. I think that only thing I can say that I noticed and hasn't been covered is that you might want to change the background overlay from kind of a stained concrete (not sure how else to describe it) to something a little more festive - something like this maybe?

Here's what I'm considering a final draft of mine. I was going to try adding an Elf and a Grentch in the right foreground hiding behind a bush, the Grentch getting ready to throw a snowball at the characters and the Elf holding up his hands in alarm to stop him. But I thought about it and decided against it. As I said before, this was just supposed to be a quiet, peaceful depiction of Wintersday and I think the jocularity of adding an Elf or a Grentch in anyway would detract from that and mess up the image.

I am however worried that the little border things just don't fit and are too much. Aside from any other critiques, do you guys think they should go?

Dzjudz · Dec 22, 2009, 08:20 PM // 20:20

Operative, I was wondering where the right arm of the female went and then I saw it. I think the highlights on that arm look too much like the plants in the background. I love the serenity of your piece and agree that adding a grentch/elf would detract from that. Good work.