I think there's a lot of potential in this design.
The weak components, in my opinion, are:
-the horns; he already has a great mean face and the horns, how they're originating from the forehead and how slender they look kinda weakens the character's vibe; taking the character in a more feminine direction; you're suggesting his part animal but other than the horns, nothing really suggests that with the rest of his body; maybe give him more animal legs if this is your intent; whatsup with the pinkish ribbons, molting horn skin?
-milky white thighs; they're bulked up and tanned but white thighs...I don't know. If this is for a game character this would suggest a weak point (also humorous) and should be aimed for by players if this character was a boss, for example
-the sabatons, feet armor; i think if you were to re-design it and use the more primitive shape/form language of the bracers (forearm guard armor) it would make more sense.
-the besagews - round armpit armor pieces; I think if you make it look something like the skull knee guards but in miniature size, the overall armor design might look more cohesive and from the same time period. I get the idea of using pieces of armor from fallen enemies but I'm not getting that vibe just from this art piece.
- axe looks great; you can do a better job rendering the length of the shaft; looks flat while lacking half-tone or texture contrast
I think there's a lot of potential in this design.
The weak components, in my opinion, are:
-the horns; he already has a great mean face and the horns, how they're originating from the forehead and how slender they look kinda weakens the character's vibe; taking the character in a more feminine direction; you're suggesting his part animal but other than the horns, nothing really suggests that with the rest of his body; maybe give him more animal legs if this is your intent; whatsup with the pinkish ribbons, molting horn skin?
-milky white thighs; they're bulked up and tanned but white thighs...I don't know. If this is for a game character this would suggest a weak point (also humorous) and should be aimed for by players if this character was a boss, for example
-the sabatons, feet armor; i think if you were to re-design it and use the more primitive shape/form language of the bracers (forearm guard armor) it would make more sense.
-the besagews - round armpit armor pieces; I think if you make it look something like the skull knee guards but in miniature size, the overall armor design might look more cohesive and from the same time period. I get the idea of using pieces of armor from fallen enemies but I'm not getting that vibe just from this art piece.
- axe looks great; you can do a better job rendering the length of the shaft; looks flat while lacking half-tone or texture contrast
Keep it up!
Thanks for the indepth post! I agree the design has flaws and not enough attention was payed to it. I sort of jumped to rendering a little too fast because I am a noob designer. I got a few comments on the horns already and did a stumped version.
The pale skin was sort of an idea I got from pans labrinth. That creature at the table looked really creepy and demonic to me!
Thanks for the reply though I read over all of your comments and took them into consideration. Do you have a design process you go through? The tutorials on the internet are all sort of quick little doodles and they don't go into depth.
Do you have a design process you go through? The tutorials on the internet are all sort of quick little doodles and they don't go into depth.
For subjects like armor, architecture, etc...after doing some research into real world samples, I find it helps me inform my design choices better (when i draw). Makes the final art it less randomly assembled and gives me some direction, some ideas where to "freestyle". And also helpful when analyzing and understanding works from other artists showing similar themes.
So, in practice...any design info I'm lacking, say tactical gear Metal Gear style...I'd google and try and understand how Snake's seemingly confusing ammo straps work. I practice drawing those then when I have a grasp of how basically theyre constructed, how they wrap the body, how separate pieces connect with the whole, I'd draw my own characters wearing such kit. Then I'd study other games with similar design needs and see how the artists applied them, so after Metal Gear...I watched Resident Evil cutscenes and compare the uniforms and gear of the military characters.
Do you have a design process you go through? The tutorials on the internet are all sort of quick little doodles and they don't go into depth.
For subjects like armor, architecture, etc...after doing some research into real world samples, I find it helps me inform my design choices better (when i draw). Makes the final art it less randomly assembled and gives me some direction, some ideas where to "freestyle". And also helpful when analyzing and understanding works from other artists showing similar themes.
So, in practice...any design info I'm lacking, say tactical gear Metal Gear style...I'd google and try and understand how Snake's seemingly confusing ammo straps work. I practice drawing those then when I have a grasp of how basically theyre constructed, how they wrap the body, how separate pieces connect with the whole, I'd draw my own characters wearing such kit. Then I'd study other games with similar design needs and see how the artists applied them, so after Metal Gear...I watched Resident Evil cutscenes and compare the uniforms and gear of the military characters.
Alright interesting notes. I always tell myself I will put more into the design but tend to fall short a bit and jump into rendering and making up a lot of things as I go. I obviously have an overall idea in my head but the development part doesn't come into play enough just yet. Anyways fingers crossed game dev school this September!
Replies
The weak components, in my opinion, are:
-the horns; he already has a great mean face and the horns, how they're originating from the forehead and how slender they look kinda weakens the character's vibe; taking the character in a more feminine direction; you're suggesting his part animal but other than the horns, nothing really suggests that with the rest of his body; maybe give him more animal legs if this is your intent; whatsup with the pinkish ribbons, molting horn skin?
-milky white thighs; they're bulked up and tanned but white thighs...I don't know. If this is for a game character this would suggest a weak point (also humorous) and should be aimed for by players if this character was a boss, for example
-the sabatons, feet armor; i think if you were to re-design it and use the more primitive shape/form language of the bracers (forearm guard armor) it would make more sense.
-the besagews - round armpit armor pieces; I think if you make it look something like the skull knee guards but in miniature size, the overall armor design might look more cohesive and from the same time period. I get the idea of using pieces of armor from fallen enemies but I'm not getting that vibe just from this art piece.
- axe looks great; you can do a better job rendering the length of the shaft; looks flat while lacking half-tone or texture contrast
Keep it up!
So, in practice...any design info I'm lacking, say tactical gear Metal Gear style...I'd google and try and understand how Snake's seemingly confusing ammo straps work. I practice drawing those then when I have a grasp of how basically theyre constructed, how they wrap the body, how separate pieces connect with the whole, I'd draw my own characters wearing such kit. Then I'd study other games with similar design needs and see how the artists applied them, so after Metal Gear...I watched Resident Evil cutscenes and compare the uniforms and gear of the military characters.
Alright interesting notes. I always tell myself I will put more into the design but tend to fall short a bit and jump into rendering and making up a lot of things as I go. I obviously have an overall idea in my head but the development part doesn't come into play enough just yet. Anyways fingers crossed game dev school this September!