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MirrorandImage — Spark in Embers

Published: 2011-08-09 00:24:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 817; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 18
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Description Still drooling over Assassin's Creed...

Saw the trailer for Embers and (as can be expected) I drooled and squealed. I ALMOST put Ezio in a wheelchair - he's so OLD now! But I wasn't sure that they had wheelchairs back in 15XX when the thing takes place. Embers has also convinced us to scrounge up the money from somewhere to preorder the game.

For the pic itself there's not much to say. The background sucks - though I fault that on my skills rather than the tutorial I was using - but I really liked the idea of burning embers of a fire. Great name, Ubisoft!

As always, let me know what you think.
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Comments: 21

Ebbiegirl95 [2011-08-26 22:30:30 +0000 UTC]

Overall

Vision

Originality

Technique

Impact


Never played or know the details of Assassin's Creed, so I am answering completely on the picture.

I will start with the positives. The colors you chose go very well together in a harmony that is exciting, but still neutral. the glow effect with the fire looks nice as well as the smoke coming off.

Now with the negatives. You have the gist of the pose and the facial features correct, however, the anatomy and proportions need work, especially the hands. Also, the shading needs to have much more depth as in more levels of shading and values. The background has little perspective, the fire is flat and it is to dark in the background. It looks like there is no floor under him, needs to have some sort of texture or pattern. The chair is meaningless unless he is in a building or something.

My advice is to you would be to read up on anatomy, look at some tutorials and look at other artist's pictures for background inspiration. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/s/s… " width="15" height="15" alt="" title=" (Smile)"/> I hope this was helpful!

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MirrorandImage In reply to Ebbiegirl95 [2011-08-27 19:01:30 +0000 UTC]

The general consensus with the background is that it's flat and unimpressive and I agree. A few ideas and tutorials have been given to me and have given me some good ideas. I am surprised that you say the anatomy is off, especially since others say it's spot on. May I ask what's off about it? And the hands?

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Ebbiegirl95 In reply to MirrorandImage [2011-08-28 16:02:52 +0000 UTC]

That's wonderful! I'm glad tutorials have inspired you

The way the neck is doesn't match the way it would look when posing in that manner. The body is off balance, but that could be fixed with arm positioning Now for the hands, look at your own hand in the same position. What do you see wrong?

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LostThyme [2011-08-24 23:08:52 +0000 UTC]

Overall

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Originality

Technique

Impact


Hey! I don’t know much about Assassin's Creed, but I guess that’s not necessary to critique.

Overall, his proportions fit for an old guy, his head might be a tad big. Generally the eyes are halfway down the skull (citation needed), but his eyes are a bit lower which almost mimics the “little green alien” sort of proportions.

Also, I had a hard time telling that he was sitting on something at first glance. I think it might be a combination of the shading on his coat, the shading on his legs, and the way they’re bent.

Oh, and there’s a random squiggle inside his right elbow. That might be your signature, though. Not sure.

I think the background and the foreground would mesh more if the lighting source matched. From what I can see, he should be backlit, but the way you’ve shaded makes it look like the background is just like a wallpaper and he has a bright light in front of him.

I think the fire effect is pretty cool, but generally fire doesn’t separate into nice little strands like that. If you look at reference pictures for it, you can see that fire is more… fluid, sort of like the smoke you see coming off of a candle when you blow it out. Also, the colors would have more variation since they’re determined by color, and it would be giving off smoke that would put sort of a hazy glow around it, rather than straight up gray.

So I guess this can be boiled down to lighting sources. Lighting should be consistent throughout a piece, and light and colors reflect, even on smoke. Sorry for the rambling. e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b… " width="15" height="16" alt="" title="Blush"/>

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MirrorandImage In reply to LostThyme [2011-08-25 18:31:20 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for the feedback. Good eye on catching the proportions of his head, it's off by a tiny bit and I didn't notice it.

I see what you mean about the lighting effects; others have pointed it out too. I think you nailed it on the head when you say the background and Ezio don't fit together, and the lighting only enhances the point. Thanks for the feedback!

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LostThyme In reply to MirrorandImage [2011-08-25 20:12:00 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome! Feel free to ask me if you ever need more on something.

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tardis101 [2011-08-23 10:29:38 +0000 UTC]

Overall

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Hello, *tardis101 from #ProjectComment here!

You requested a targeted comment in which you would like advice on improving the background and overall impact of the piece, so is is a critique aimed at helping with that!

Firstly though, I would like to compliment you on the way you did the smoke in the background - the contrast of grey and black gives a more realistic effect to the picture!

Also, the proportions of the man in the foreground are very good - everything seems to be in place and the right length for a human man!

To improve the background, I would recommend adding some different colours to the fire to make it moe realistic! Adding dark reds, oranges, yellows and whites will help, but also maybe adding hints of blue sometimes will make a nice difference!

I would also try to add some detail to the floor, like perhaps light from the fire hitting it!

To improve the man in the foreground, I would try to add some more details to his clothing - folds, shading and highlights! Also, colouring the lineart will give him a softer and more realistic look!

As a final thought, I would recommend using the overlay tool to add some stunning lighting effects to this picture! The light from the fire would be hitting him from behind, so a nice glow around him would look amazing!

I hope this comment helped you with the advice you were looking for!

*tardis101

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MirrorandImage In reply to tardis101 [2011-08-24 10:32:26 +0000 UTC]

Thanks you so much for such a detailed critique; they're hard to get sometimes and I appreciate the time you took to do this. You've given me some good ideas on how to improve the piece - I've never thought of coloring lineart but as soon as you mentioned it I thought of like a dozen people who do and thought "Why didn't I??" lol.

I'm curious, how would the overlay tool help add lighting effect? My understanding at photoshop is basic to (maybe?) intermediate, and while I know what the overlay tool is, I wouldn't know how to make lighting effects using it...

Thanks for the advice on the fire and the floor and, well everything!

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tardis101 In reply to MirrorandImage [2011-08-24 10:49:13 +0000 UTC]

Im glad you found it useful!

You need to be careful with the overlay tool when you use it, as it gives off some really strong colours! I tend to go a bit OTT with it, but thats just cuz I love it!

An example of lighting using overlay is this [link] everything that is orange was done using different colours and layers of overlay!

If you want me to (this is entirely up to you) I can go on skype and show you how all the different colours and layers affect the lighting of the pic! But thats up to you!

Also, this is a VERY good lighting tutorial, the "back light" one would apply to your picture! [link]

I hope that helped haha Im not so good at explaining stuff!

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MirrorandImage In reply to tardis101 [2011-08-24 20:59:57 +0000 UTC]

Woot! I love that tutorial! (saves) There are some methods there I've never tried before. Thanks!

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tardis101 In reply to MirrorandImage [2011-08-24 21:05:54 +0000 UTC]

Hehe Im very glad it helped you

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SvalaW [2012-01-29 15:25:05 +0000 UTC]

Great work! I like the fierce expression and the effects in the background are really cool, they work well with the overall atmosphere of this pic.

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MirrorandImage In reply to SvalaW [2012-01-29 19:40:39 +0000 UTC]

The background is an epic FAIL, but thanks for saying that the idea works. You're too nice to me.

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SvalaW In reply to MirrorandImage [2012-01-30 16:50:47 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome! I really like it. I could never have made the fire look so realistic like you.

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MirrorandImage In reply to SvalaW [2012-01-30 17:59:48 +0000 UTC]

Ha! That fire's not realistic at ALL. I'll do better next time.

But thanks anyway.

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Imaginarionify [2011-09-15 17:28:59 +0000 UTC]

First off, I would like to apologize for taking so long. I've been having a few difficulties with my laptop.

Anyway, I would first like to put out that this is a really good piece. The facial is by far my favorite. ^_^ Overall, I'd say the only work that needs to be done is with the hands. I can understand that hands are the most tedious thing to draw, but practice, practice, practice. You already certainly have a talent for art, so keep it up!

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MirrorandImage In reply to Imaginarionify [2011-09-16 10:57:51 +0000 UTC]

Thank you for saying I have talent. Hands tend to be hit or miss with me.

Thanks for the comment, and don't worry about when you comment, I'm just happy that you commented!

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Imaginarionify In reply to MirrorandImage [2011-09-16 16:35:54 +0000 UTC]

^_^ No problem. Keep up the wonderful work.

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MizzW [2011-08-23 09:32:42 +0000 UTC]

its a really good piece nice anatomy on the man
the fire doesn't really look like fire though.. you could look up a tutorial to learn from it
for example: [link]
hope this helped a little xxx

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MirrorandImage In reply to MizzW [2011-08-24 10:24:56 +0000 UTC]

Ooo, I like that tutorial. I'm going to save it to my hard drive! Thanks for the help!

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MizzW In reply to MirrorandImage [2011-08-24 14:56:50 +0000 UTC]

glad you like the tutorial I have been looking for a while to find the best (in my opinion)
and you're welcome

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