Character design - Rooster rider

Jiří Kůs · 13 Oct 2015, 20:50

Hi, so I turned one inktober sketch into finished painting. What you think?

Lynn Larson · 14 Oct 2015, 13:00

Very cool It's rendered wonderfully! So, is she tiny or is the rooster huge?

Jiří Kůs · 14 Oct 2015, 17:34

@Lynn-Larson I thought the rooster was huge, but thinking about it it might be funnier the other way

mattramsey · 14 Oct 2015, 17:50

I really like this. One immediate reaction I had though was: that poor rooster. It looks like she is almost too big for it (like she may be on the verge of breaking it's back).

What would it look like to increase it's size? One other thing is that the rooster has beautifully rendered feathers (seriously awesome job there) but less so on the head crest/comb/whatever you call it. Maybe push that part a bit more (and the flesh around the eye too maybe).

Here are a couple small tweaks you could do: the spear point kinda curves down when I think it should be straighter (it might just be the angle on it though). The clothing fold over her upper thigh might need to be adjusted to be wider/more in line with her leg. There is something about the calf that seems off but I'm not sure if I can put my finger on it and finally, I would slightly widen her upper arm (her left/our right)--it has a somewhat skeletal look that clashes with her body type.

I might be off on my ideas so if anyone else sees something different...

Really awesome work--it's cool that you took your ink drawing to this level!

Rich Green · 14 Oct 2015, 17:53

Hi @Jiří-Kůs - I really like the rendering of the rooster it came out really nice and the colors and tones are also really nice.

The one thing that stands out to me is that the girls leg seems larger in proportion than the rest of the girl. If you look at the thickness and length of her leg in comparison to her arm it is somewhat too large I think. Right now her upper leg/thigh is the same length as her entire arm. And that is where I think the balance between them is off.

Perhaps if you trying making the size of her leg just a little bit shorter/thinner it will look more in balance with the rest of her.

Jiří Kůs · 14 Oct 2015, 18:50

@mattramsey Thanks! You are right in all points you made. I guess I will fix some minor issues. The dreaded proportions! I felt the chicken is too small, but I just couldnt picture it bigger. But yeah, the rooster would suffer.

@Rich-Green Thanks! Probalby, I am trying to image she is standing and legs would probably get too big and yeah arm is too skinny... in my sketch, it was even smaller

Jiří Kůs · 17 Nov 2015, 11:52

Finally got back to this piece, adjusted spear and thickness of her hand and added full background. I would like to do more variations with different backgrounds, this is the first one I had in mind from the very beginning, Grand canyon. Again, i will be happy for any feedback

mattramsey · 17 Nov 2015, 15:05

maybe try and "blend" some of the hard edges of the character (girl & chicken) into the background more--if that makes any sense.

It kinda has a cut and paste look going on. Possibly bring in some cool rim lighting--that might help.

I like the changes on the main figure--looking really good!

Lydia M · 17 Nov 2015, 16:15

Their expressions and pose make me think of an antique portrait. Maybe that could be a version?

Jiří Kůs · 17 Nov 2015, 19:29

@mattramsey said:
I felt too the edge is a bit too hard, tried to make it softer in the second variant. And the rimlight comes also in the second image. The first one is daylight so I thought it would look to forced to add rim light.

@gimmehummus I am going more for color variations and different times of the day.

Is it better with or without shadows? isnt the chicken too dark?

UPDATE: Ups I deleted also chadow under the character... That was not supposed to happen