Posted 26 July 2010 - 06:20
grunty and lostviking, thanks for your posts. As for the text on #2, it wasn't meant to stick out, the idea was for it to kinda blend in there, yet be big enough to be noted by the eye.
grunty, furthermore, any of the graininess in #3 or oversharpness is a new take that I am currently exploring, it's a different feel from the norm that I am trying to express. If you notice there is some noise around him from minor splatter around him. This is a play on a level of depth that I am trying to achieve, a new level of extrospection within a scene. As for c4ds covering parts of the render, it shows different z levels in the render plane, streaks of light flying over the render; it exactly adds a higher level of depth when done right, and I feel in #2 - #6 it achieves it perfectly [if only at least in terms of adding depth]. As for #4, I still follow the rule of the 3rds, the focal is not exactly in the middle, and that's how it operates, you should be able to draw 4 lines, 2 equidistant verticle and 2 equidistant horizontal, and your focal should be boxed in the middle box, but not directly in the middle of the tag; it is offset. I'm the person who started preaching the rule of 3rds on this forum, haha. :] If I darkened the left in #5, the lighting on his shield would seem out of place, in respect to my lighting, I do sometimes like to emphasize the light source, I'm not big on emphasizing shadow sources, though I will use harsh-contrast quite often. Finally for #6, my favorite art style is that of Tenebrism (Tenebroso), a style pioneered by Caravaggio taking chiaroscuro to the next level. It is a very harsh lighting/contrast style, and to tone it down so that it wouldn't be super-harsh [as it isn't being as well received by the critics here], I decided to lower shadow contrast a bit. I'm trying an overbrightness style at the moment.
BeastBoy95 and grunty, I do agree, the red-blue balance should have been better executed to include the red in the background as such, looking back on it now, I see that.
I would like to close with a slight apology as to how disorganized this post is at the moment, and that I really should have a more cleaned up post in response to the critiques that I have been given thus far, however, it is 2:16 in the morning at the moment, and I just wanted to address a few things before I got any further critiques. I also would like to note that I highly appreciate all criticism given thus far and will further look into everything being said here thus far again later in more detail. I am currently trying to find a style I feel fully comfortable with, and if I could contribute a new unique perspective into art doing so, that would be great; however, I still know that I have a long way to go, and I am not expecting to break through a mold overnight. That said, I do know that every piece of art could be better, and I know that this may not be my best work, but that's why we all ask for criticism, no? :]
Xel.