Critique on WIP dragon piece?

Amelia Bothe

Hi everyone, i was hoping to receive a bit of critique on my newest piece, featuring a little dragon and his egg, as i head in to start rendering the background now. Really hoping to show his small scale and make the light read correctly. He is supposed to be peeking his head out from his round nest, so only his head is being hit by light, and a bit of his tail. Any tips will be much appreciated. Thank you!!!

animatosoor

Wow, @Amelia-Bothe, the fur looks phenomenal, and it is very clear how the light is hitting the face of the creature. I don't have any critique on this piece, but I'm wondering if the angle you have picked for this piece is top-down, almost like a flat-lay? A fairly challenging thing to achieve, I think, but you have nailed it.

Coreyartus

This is lovely already! I think you're going to have some great opportunities to play with the cast shadows of the nest on the body of the dragon. Based on the placement of the shadows on the face, it looks like your light source is coming from the upper right. The leaf and whatever twigs you've got on the top of the nest might pose some interesting challenges.

As the body descends into the nest, might we see some deepening of the shadow maybe? I know that's sort of artificially ignoring the intensity of the bounce light, though.

The dragon body itself almost looks like it's a step away from internally glowing, which might be yet another interesting light challenge.

Your detail is already flat out gorgeous! Can't wait to see the finished piece!!

IgorWoznicki

Oh wow
I'm gonna have to pick up my jaw off the floor cause it has dropped!
That's phenomenal, really! You've nailed that fur texture and all the details and shadows. It's on too high of a level for me to criticise without feeling out of place...

HOWEVER ( and I do feel quilty for pointing something out in this masterpiece), those leaves have some tangents in them. I know it's prolly because that area of the painting is still in a quick sketch phase, but it might be worth saying just in case you missed it somehow.

The tip of the right leaf looks dangerously close to the dragon making quite a visible tangent.
Next, in the grouped leaves in the top left corner that brighter leaf's tip creates a tangent with the one below it.
Also, the leaf in the bottom left corner may create a tangent with that branch laying there.

That's it! Hope the things I said were useful at least a bit, although I feel like you knew all that and just didn't proceed that far

Don't forget to post the final product! I really need to see it! Drop me your instagram if ya can too. Would love to leave you a follow

Amelia Bothe

@animatosoor thank you!! i didnt really think about the angle as i planned this piece, but i think the viewer is looking slightly down onto the dragon/ground

Amelia Bothe

@Coreyartus thank you!!! I have some reference for the leaves and how they'll be interacting with the light, so those will help me out. I think i might tweak the bounce light for that reason that you mentioned, it is pretty intense indeed. Thank you for your thoughts!!

Amelia Bothe

@IgorWoznicki thank you so much!!! i definitely agree, those tangents were distracting me as well. i plan to fix them right away. thank you for your thoughts!!

Amelia Bothe

@animatosoor @Coreyartus @IgorWoznicki here is the finished piece! thank you again for your tips!! feel free to critique this piece as a final version if you wish, although i don't plan on going back into it and making edits at this point in time. And @IgorWoznicki , my instagram is @pixus.art!

IgorWoznicki

Oh wow, once more...I am blown away by this! Thanks for sharing, that piece is quite a great motivation in the morning!

Coreyartus

Absolutely stunning!! Well done!!

theprairiefox

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!