Personal Project WIP (first digital recreation)

[Jason Kilthau]

Hey everyone! As the title kind of states, I am working on re-doing what I seem to remember being my first completed digital back in 2014. Kind of to show myself how far I have come. Here you can see the first one in 2014, and under is my current progress on the remake.

Remake so far:

I'm also looking for a little feedback on anything before I start to apply my color layers, this is definitely a piece I have been spending a lot of time. As well as a piece that has a character that isn't a "full" creature, and the face itself actually underwent a few changes already that I am super proud of.
I thought I would share this here and see what anyone thinks and if there are any significant changes or mistakes I should be seeing that I might not currently see.

Thank you!!

[Gary Wilkinson]

@jason-kilthau Great improvement from 2014. I would suggest you try and fix some anatomy issues, especially in the arms. Also i'm not sure where the woman is suppose to be looking, at the viewer or at the mushroom or somewhere else? The perspective in her face might need altering a bit too. I am guessing that she must be tilting her head towards her shoulder, but you would probably have much less of an angle on her jaw as the the vanishing point is so low. You got the perspective on the mushroom cap quite right, so use that as a reference to how the head should be.

[Jason Kilthau]

Thank you @Gary-Wilkinson this kind of feedback is exactly what I'm looking for. For the arms I'll definitely see if I can't find some better reference, anatomy definitely isn't my strong suite and this is probably the best I've done for a character. So arm references will be sought out today! The direction they are looking is at the viewer, but based on your comment and another one I received elsewhere I might change it to where they are looking at each-other. I'm not too sure yet honestly. Her head definitely started out kind of angled up while also turned slightly, I must have lost that while I was doing the shading/lighting. So I should probably look back at the angle I used as a reference and correct it.
Thanks again, now I can't wait to get off work to start applying some changes!

[stringfellowart]

My question would be, what is happening in this picture. Her pose and posture is very stiff and posed. Like she is posing for a camera. Is she talking to the mushroom? Looking for enemies? Just finished an epic fight to the death? I think you can convey a lot of story telling though her posture which right now feels very awkward.

[Jason Kilthau]

@stringfellowart excellent question and my answer is I didnt do any of that. So i was just going off the original drawing which was just a pose I painted as reference with my own twist. And this kept the pose while changing it slightly. It's mostly just a character drawing without any story really.

[Gary Wilkinson]

@jason-kilthau I think @stringfellowart makes a great point. It's fine to make a character without making a story, but by putting that character in a scene you should consider why they are there and what they are doing. First thing that would come to mind with this piece is that she could be interrogating the mushroom or draining the life from it (maybe it could be your main light source as it's energy spills out) If the mushroom is her companion and they are just chilling, then maybe you could put in hints of a battle they just fought or the food they are cooking.

[Jason Kilthau]

@gary-wilkinson I actually just thought of idea where the mushroom is telling her something and point off in a direction so I'm making that change right now and I'll post an update when I'm done with that. Thank you both for the help!

[Jason Kilthau]

So here is an update to the piece now. I feel like it tells at least a little bit of a story now, what that is is up to the viewer. I also attempted to adjust the arms and jaw a little bit, but I think with the way they are looking now the head makes a little more sense. To me anyway, like I stated before I am not used to drawing anatomy so yeah..

[Eli]

Wow! I really like the changes--it makes a big difference and I find the image very engaging.

[braden H]

That's a hell of a lot of improvement!

What will you be doing with the flat grey area behind the trees?

My instinct would be to add a slight gradient of a (slightly) lighter value near the tree tops to a darker value near the bushes. It'll help them pop and keep the background from seeming dead.

[Jason Kilthau]

@art-of-b Thank you! I plan to do more tress just kind of fading in the back maybe a couple more taller bushes as well. But I wasn't going to do that until I did my colors. There are a few other small details I will add in after color is added as well. So it definitely won't be left plain!

@Eli Thank you! It's great how just a couple small changes pretty much makes it all different!

[TessaW]

Hi Jason, it's great to see such improvement! It means you've been working hard- well done.

I know you said you aren't used to anatomy, but I think taking a bit more time to understand what's going on in her chest/arm/shoulder area, will go a long way and will only serve you in the future. What better time to study a few basics then now? You don't need to necessarily know the detailed anatomy, but breaking them down into simplified masses and learning how they interact with help you attain more believability in the anatomy. Michael Hampton's anatomy book as well as Proko's youtube videos are good sources to help with anatomy. Using reference will also help a ton. Even taking a picture of yourself in the same pose may be very beneficial.

I've done a paintover, that is by no means perfect, but I feel brings you a little closer. The main thing I'm keeping in mind and trying to portray is that the pectoral muscle meets with the deltoid, the deltoid apears to wrap around behind the bicep, and the bicep sort of gets tucked under the deltoid/pectoral. Understanding and hinting at those relationship will go a long way.

As far as the pose goes, I agree with others in that it doesn't feel very natural. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It reminds me very much of formal commissioned portraits, where the person is posed and sometimes given props to that indicate their status or profession. If you were going for a more natural scene, where it's more of a moment in time, then I would play with poses more in the beginning stages of your planning process. I do think that your latest revision does help the pose feel a bit more natural.

Anyways, again, great job! I'm looking forward to seeing it progress to color.

[Jason Kilthau]

Hi @TessaW thank you for this feedback! I searched for some arms as reference yesterday but the images you found serve the image itself a lot better with their angles so thank you for that. And also thank you for the references (Hampton and Proko) I'll look into both of them for sure.

I'll get back into making some adjustments this evening and tomorrow, I'm thinking now about the legs positioning as well but I don't really want to spend too much more time adjusting the pose. I want to thank you for the draw-over, it really helps show what you explained and I am seeing exactly what you mean.

I think after I make some of the adjustments you suggested, I will play around with some other touch ups I have noticed myself and then get the color going!

[Jason Kilthau]

Alright so I started applying color and it has been a process! I am thinking I am going to be taking a lot more time than I anticipated but that's okay! I think so I don't get worn out of working on this piece I will be starting some other ones I have sketched out, but wanted to share the progress so far.

[Jason Kilthau]

So here is the final version.

And here is a side by side. I also saved progress pictures to put them together in some sort of like gif or something, but idk how to do that so I'll figure it out lol.