CRITIC MEEEEEH

ThomasRome

So i have almost finished this one (i think) and i would like to have feedback on the rendering and mood mainly (you can critique the rest but i don't think i'll modify the composition/action, etc).
I have tried to make something mysterious and oppressive, did I succeeded? Can I make better ? Is the rendering ok or should i work it more (and what specificaly) ?
Big thanks in advance for any feedback !
Thomas out ...
  

AtticusMars

Rendering is fine, some inconsistency between your foreground lightsource and the terrain but not really that big of a deal.

It definitely looks mysterious but I would not say it is oppressive and I would attribute that to really the biggest problem with the piece: The composition. I know you said you weren't going to change it, but given its importance I feel it bears mentioning.

I think this is very common for people new to composing scenes but it looks like you applied the rule of thirds in the most basic way possible, you had a background and a character and you put the character in the lower third of the painting and called it a day.

There is a lot more to composition than simply sticking your focal point in a good spot. You need to pay attention to your overlaps, camera angle/positioning, and where in the depth of the scene you are putting your focal point. Your focal point doesn't need to be in the foreground, I think it probably would have been better to stick the creature in the back as a silhouette shrouded by fog.

The creature is so close to the camera yet doesn't appear to be aware that there is an observer. I'm not entirely sure on what you mean by oppressive but if you intended for the creature to seem imposing or dangerous, I don't think this has been accomplished in this composition.

If you haven't already, I would really suggest checking out the book Framed in Ink, it's primarily intended for storytelling and given the authors background most of it is for film (meaning, widescreen aspect ratios), but is invaluable for composition generally.

In the future I would really suggest you do thumbnails first. The composition really feels like an afterthought here, like the background should have been the focus but you wanted to put a character in it.

ThomasRome

@AtticusMars Thanks for the answer ! And yeah the composition is something I plan on working on more in the future, until now I was more focusing on shapes/lights than storytelling.
And I'll be sure to check that book