Brushing up those character skills.

sinistergfx

A little something to keep me occupied and to brush up on my character skills. I don't want to only be known as an environment guy :P.



Probably going to make same alpha'd sunglasses or something for him to use up that extra uv space.

Crits are welcome.

KDR_11k

He looks strangely feminine to me...

Neo_God

I agree with KDR, he does look rather feminine. I think if you shrink the eyes and make the lips a bit less red, he may have less of a drag-queenish look.

shotgun

saying he is feminine is about the worst critique you can give. what does he care if he looks feminie? how does making him look less or more feminine helps him improve?

seroiusly guys.. think before you post.

the reason the eyes seem a little big is because the outer corner of the eye is a little too "Stretched" far out. it should curve in deeper, around the eyeball. think more circular. a good way to tell is that horizontally the corner is a little above the inner corner. yours are in the same level.

jaw is a little too wide below the cheekbone, but good proportion and anatomy overall. so is your solid technique. i think your focus should be the color palette, its very dull. id suggest ditch the sunglasses and any other "techniqual" work like that and focus on the palette. not quick modification, real paint.

sinistergfx

KDR & Neo: the title wasn't "Brushing up those manly-man character skills."


Shotgun: Thanks for the helpful critique. I'll give those a try. What would you suggest to improve the colors? I'm kinda lost as to what I could do to make the colors more interesting without making it look too crazy; color is definitely something I need to improve on.

If you have time for a paintover, it'd be much appreciated. Would be nice to see someone else's take on what could be done to improve it.

The sunglasses or any other extras wasn't my way of saying I was done with what's already there, just that at some point I'm going to add something to it to use up some of that empty space on the texture.

Eager to get back to this and improving on it after the weekend (visiting my parents right now).

Thanks again.

Jeff Parrott

Go sin! Nice to see you pimpin some work. Deepen the coloring in the eye sockets I'd say. Also the corners of the cheeks could use a highlight to pop out the jawbone a bit more. Glad to see you back kicking ass man.

adam

Sinister, I like the model but have a small request. Can I see a shot of the area around his jawbone / earlobe?

I'm diggin' this. I admire the environment art you've created; it must be refreshing to do a character, no?

hawken

cut your hair young man!

steady

nice! how did you make the skin texture? did you add a noise layer?

Sean McBride

lookin good sin. Good to see someone branching out. Here's a quick paint over. I'd spend a little more time on it but its 3am right now and ive got to get to bed! I think i desated the stubble area way to much but you get the idea.


Deeper eyesockets, Stronger eyebrow, Stronger jawline (with under shadow) Stronger lip shadow, Drop shadow from nose, A little more shading details in the cheek. It needs more work for sure, but its comming along. Over all don't be shy with contrast!

shotgun

i am using a mouse so give me a break



but just because you asked

unless he is raising his eyebrows there is no light under the eyebrows, there is drop shadow from the hairs. even eyebrows are 3d. once the socket curves in u have the bouncing light reflecting on the inner bottom plane.

cool the shadows. its more of a desaturated magenta tone than actual blue /purple but.. ye..

i marked there where the jaw is too wide; wasnt quite sure of the 3d shape of the socket on the model so its kinda gimp..

i would work the shape of the eye lids socket area but damn this mouse and i gotta go! i know this kinda sux but i hope it will still give you some things to think about. gluck..

sinistergfx

jeffro: Maybe I'll try pimping more often (haha, I always say that). Yeah, I realize now that the eye sockets don't have much in the way of shading.

brome: Sure, I'll get you a shot whenever I get back home and do a bit of updating on the texture. Yeah, characters were actually my first "love" bet I got hired as an environment artist before I got much practice and was any good at them :P.

steady: I used a cement and a rusty metal overlay in conjunction with hand painted blotches and pores.

***TIP for quick blotches/pores/crazy dots ( I also used them for some more defined stubble): In Photoshop, pick a 1 or 2 pixel brush and crank its spacing up all the way. Then just scribble around. Best used with opacity set to pressure.

n30g3n3s1s & shotgun: Thanks guys! Together, you pretty much nailed all the parts that were bothering me. I'll give it all a shot once I get back to it. Should make for a nice improvement pass.

Ruz

Stylistically I like it as it is. Has a bit of character I may be tempted to make the cheek highlights a bit higher up though as the eye bags seem to come too far down

sinistergfx

Bit of an update:


Really happy with the improvements thus far. Thanks again for the helpful crits.

Sean McBride

much much better! Lookin good man. For a stylistic texture its very well done.

MoP

Looks cool. I'd put more shadow between the eyebrow and the top of the eye, especially near to the nose.

Maybe some more saturation and colour in the ear might help?

Also I'm thinking maybe the highlights between the nose and lip, and on the chin, shouldn't be so bright?

Not entirely sure about the grain/noise covering everything right now too, maybe smoothing it out here and there for more skin tightness variation (like, less grain on the forehead and nose) would definitely help, it seems far too consistent and just like a "noise overlay" right now, rather than something natural...

Definitely good work though, keep it up...

sinistergfx

Thanks Mop. Yeah, I totally agree about the noise; something I overlooked, that'll definitely be addressed in the next update.

EDIT: Quick post-jacking update as per Mop's suggestions and a few other small things:

Ruz

looks good.
Not sure if the forehead highlight is slightly too bright. might be just me

ScoobyDoofus

I did a quick paintover, although I'm not sure it illustrates anything new.

sinistergfx

That's pretty cool scoob, but a bit too shiny and wrinkly. Trying to keep this guy in his early twenties and stay away from the shiny and over defined q3-esque style.

Erol

[ QUOTE ]
Trying to keep this guy in his early twenties and stay away from the shiny and over defined q3-esque style.

[/ QUOTE ]

He's reading a bit older than early twenties to me. I think it might be the combination of his squarish face and his stubble. He seems to have a hardened look to him (ie been in jail for a few years)--and it does clash with the hair, maybe why some thought it was drag queenish.

I think some of the stubble noise is blending w/ the lighter areas in the chin which give it a little bit of that 'salt and pepper' look in older men.

Chris Klein is an actor that seems to share some traits with your guy. These may be of use:

http://adorocinema.cidadeinternet.com.br/personalidades/atores/chris-klein/chris-klein03.jpg
http://www.all-pictures-photos.com/images/chris-klein/chris-klein-016-img.jpg
http://lar-la-thon.com/shop/images/621-CHRIS-KLEIN.jpg