Home 3D Art Showcase & Critiques

Style vs Detail, Augmented Male WIP

polycounter lvl 10
Offline / Send Message
Pancakes polycounter lvl 10
Hello. As I've yet to feel I have developed much style, I was practicing on style, expression, and characterization. And here we have an "augmented male" - someone whose body has been somehow pushed beyond the normal limits of human strength, a half demon or the result of military enhancements...this time I wasn't just trying to learn anatomy but also working on style and expression of character. You can critique that if you like.

I have taken 3 pics of various states of small changes in detail. I was wondering whether the small difference give a different impression about the character himself.

The main difference between number one and number three is that number 3 has meatier jaw, cheekbone, brow and sharper crease in bags under eyes.

313t8g8.png

Replies

  • Macattackk
    Offline / Send Message
    Macattackk polycounter lvl 7
  • Illusive
    Offline / Send Message
    Illusive polycounter lvl 8
    3 just looks better defined to me, i can't say that i see much difference in style..
  • Wendy de Boer
    Offline / Send Message
    Wendy de Boer interpolator
    I wouldn't worry too much about style at this stage. You're much better off focusing on realism.

    A focus on expression and characterization is a good one to have, though! I would find some references of interesting faces with interesting expressions, and try and capture their likeness as accurately as possible. The real world already provides very striking characters, realism doesn't need to be boring! :)

    Once you really have that down, you can experiment with ways to simplify or exaggerate them.


    On these faces, the ear anatomy is very off and very distracting. I would find some good ear references (from multiple angles) and really work on those. Right now, they appear to be melting, almost.

    Also, it seems the eyes are a bit too large and too close. It doesn't really read as stylization, because the other proportions seem relatively realistic (aside from the ears).
  • Macattackk
    Offline / Send Message
    Macattackk polycounter lvl 7
    On these faces, the ear anatomy is very off and very distracting. I would find some good ear references (from multiple angles) and really work on those. Right now, they appear to be melting, almost.

    Also, it seems the eyes are a bit too large and too close. It doesn't really read as stylization, because the other proportions seem relatively realistic (aside from the ears).

    I think the eyes and ears are fine since hes going for an augmented human thing but the rest should match it too like you said. its weird to mix normal humanness with random body parts not being normal
  • Pancakes
    Offline / Send Message
    Pancakes polycounter lvl 10
    thanks for the input guys

    I'll just post something else here. Any critiques? Just various body proportions. Still not sure where I stand overall with style v detail. I love detail and realism but maybe I should give a stronger emphasis to style for a time. I'm not looking for a "which one is better". Um, they may all be bad to you - but I am just looking for any reaction you might have.

    It's obvious I love hips and shoulders. I'm just thinking about how far I should exaggerate these things, not that any of these proportions are overly exaggerated. Or are they?

    33kyiau.png
  • Pancakes
    Offline / Send Message
    Pancakes polycounter lvl 10
    I practiced reproducing some photo references for hours, then decided to let go and improvise with a bit of exaggeration. The hat is misleading, her skull is not that big. Whatever exaggerations I made I tried to keep them based on relatively sound anatomy. I'll try to improve this one. I still feel the tug in two different directions to try more realism vs pushing this for more exaggeration and style. And of course still trying to learn anatomy in the meanwhile.

    14nh7k3.png
  • Pancakes
    Offline / Send Message
    Pancakes polycounter lvl 10
    Back to the theme of augmented males. Two brothers who just happen to be ogres. I want to refine them and also add some costumes. I'm thinking sunglasses and piercings and plenty of collar.

    o7j7ug.png
  • Pancakes
    Offline / Send Message
    Pancakes polycounter lvl 10
    I attempted more realism and anatomy but I still wanted to stylize it a bit. So I emulated some of the stylistic choices made in one of my all time favorite series, Lupin III. Fans of the show might recognize the shape of his skull.

    See if you can guess his age and ethnic origin is.

    1588qkj.png
  • Goeddy
    Offline / Send Message
    Goeddy greentooth
    okay so i´ll just point it out like it is.
    you should not take stylization as an excuse for not having to constraint to the rules of anatomy.
    don´t try to "save" a model you couldn´t get as realistic as you wanted by abstracting it.
    you will never get better at anatomy if you always turn around after half the way.
    to create a good abstraction or "stylizized" version of something, the original you are abstracting from has to be very good.
    you don´t realy need to sculpt it hyper realistic before abstracting it, but you need to be able to.

    so my advice to you is to stop finding excuses for yourself, why your artwork is not on the level you want it to be, and instead try to get better at recreating reality.
  • Pancakes
    Offline / Send Message
    Pancakes polycounter lvl 10
    Well I suppose your heart is in the right place, but I don't really think that what you said qualifies as "constructive" criticism. First of all, you don't know me well enough to say that you understand what my thinking process is. Or to say that I'm making escuses for myself and trying to pass it off as style. Actually, I am attempting to practice both style and realism, as they both are skills that I need to work on. Simple as that. I would only be cheating myself to try to bypass the basics in favor of some abstract notion of style as if style alone could save a model without a solid grounding in the fundamentals.

    You shouldn't assume things or launch generic rants at people you don't really know. I started this thread to open myself up to others' critical eyes not to be lectured at like a child. If you have a technical observation to make about a model that is depicted here you are welcome to make it.

    You were blunt, so I was blunt with my reply. Thanks
  • Joao Sapiro
    Offline / Send Message
    Joao Sapiro sublime tool
    If you are aiming into making stylized characterization, you need to have a sound base in anatomy and beeing confortable on it , i like the chick more of all the images .

    I would study the work of charicature artists because those are the ones that are masters of realism but are so confortable on it that they can twist it and exagerate at their own will still maintaining a believable anatomy.

    what i would recomend you is to start with a simple basemesh and try to practise on real world photorefs , but dont subdivide much , lay down the facial planes and when you have the anatomy instantly recognizable move onto another face , this would take around 1 to 2 hours depending on the head and helps immensely with head studies.

    good luck and dont get so defensive with criticism , gives the wrong impression ;)
  • Goeddy
    Offline / Send Message
    Goeddy greentooth
    i did not mean to upset you.
    i simply read through the thread and this is just what i figured, since most of your chars are somehow "augmented" or stylizized etc.
    also this is what i told myself too, because i just couldnt get my models where i wanted them to be, so i made excuses, and it felt to me like you are doing the same.

    i still recognize this attitude sneaking up on me, but you have to fight it as hard as you can, because it will only hinder your progression as an artist.

    this is not about personalitys or anything, just you as an artist.
    and if you don´t like what i am telling you, you are free to ignore my critics.

    i am just trying to help you become a better artist, like everyone else here is.
  • almighty_gir
    Offline / Send Message
    almighty_gir ngon master
    DNjLd.jpg

    read the Pro-Tip:
    "When i first started, I thought I had no style. I was so conscious of it that I used to try and 'manufacture' one.
    Then i found out, years later, that people were recognizing my stuff even though I didn't think it was recognizable!"

    the lesson to take away there, is to focus on becoming a better artist, focus on the fundamentals, focus on getting things right. and your style will develop on it's own.
  • Ashaman73
    Offline / Send Message
    Ashaman73 polycounter lvl 6
    To be honest, I agree with Goeddy, it sounds like an execuse, please don't hit me now :poly127:

    The problem is, that you can call every single piece of work as stylized, taking away any base to C&C it, leaving just a personal opinion (you like it or not). If you want to receive useable C&C you need to compare it to something existing, either realism or an existing style (references). Defining a new style will alienate when first seen, changing the style often will leave just a weird impression.

    If you really want to define a new style, you need more pieces, a complete collection or scene, but if you start with a stylized version, it could be harder to learn realistic pieces later ("bad habits").
Sign In or Register to comment.