Sijun Forums :: View topic - UPDATED 8/7 : Olaf, of Olaf and Oleg fame

Flinthawk · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2001 11:52 pm

Yep, that's right. This is Olaf, my half of a PaintChat image Flexible Elf and I did quite a while back. I got it in my head to do an actual painting of the guys so I decided to start with a 'concept' painting of them before I do a full blown painting. It's still very rough since I'm experimenting with a couple techniques but I think it's enough for everybody to critique and comment on. So here we are, the sketch and then the beginnings of the concept painting:

new update

first pass

the original sketch

Enjoy, if that's even possible with these images.

-Flinthawk

UPDATE BELOW

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: Flinthawk ]

Blitz · Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2001 11:57 pm

Looking good man
Good to see more stuff from yas.

Always a plesure

Well Ive told you what I think already on ICQ....Its looking solid...
CHILL

Blitz

Breakerboy2 · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2001 12:04 am

Nice study. I like the loose quality of the linework. Very fresh.

The only thing that I notice is that the axe blends in with the leg and clothing behind it. They're pretty close in value. Just add a cast shadow of the axe and that won't even be an issue. Maybe a metallic highlight on the axe - don't know how detailed you're trying to get.

MadHatter · junior member Member # Joined: 24 Jul 2001 Posts: 10

The colours of his hair and beard dont seem right.... they should be of the same hue...

geoman2k · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2001 3:58 pm

whats up flinthawk
gota say that i like the pic a lot, but theres a prob- the perspective looks all funky. i'm looking at the bottom of his chin at the top, but the the things around his ankles are curving downward.
its a sweet pic, and i can't wait to see more of him.

jcFIG · Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2001 7:52 pm

Supercoolchingon. Hey man, I really like the way you did the sketchy lines and then went in with colors, I need to loosen up with my stuff. Good Job. Later.

Flinthawk · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2001 12:43 am

Phew, sorry about the late replies to, uhh, replies but I wanted to be able to post some progress. So here goes...

Blitz: yo man, thanks for the critique earlier. Actually, the idea you and I both came up with played a part in getting this piece to where it is now. It's not quite as dynamic as what we were thinking but it's at a nice medium ground between what would be cool and what would serve my purpose for this piece.

Breakerboy2: hey, glad you like the linework. Sometimes it seems all people look for and admire are those clean illustrations with the perfect lines and no indication that any sketching went on. Personally, I used to be like that but I've found more progression by keeping things fresh and loose with my ebony pencils.

Good critique on the image. I was noticing the blending going on with the axe but wasn't bothering to fix it until this update. The cast shadow was a good idea...otherwise I might've taken a different approach that wouldn't have fit in with the nature of this piece. Any further thoughts on the progress so far is welcomed because I think I havea tiny bit more to go before I put this one to rest.

Oh, I checked out your site a week ago or so...very nice stuff, definitely has its own style. I'm guessing it's your work that I've seen around...? I can't remember where but I know I've seen it or there are lots of people that illustrate like you.

Mad Hatter: yeah, beard was reddish on purpose. There are people that have dark hair and then reddish tones in their beard but if it's really jumping out enough to warrant a comment then it may be too much. I went ahead and added a lot more brown to it but there should just be a hint of the red now. What do you think of it now?

geoman2k: hey, what's up man? Yeah, I think I see what may be confusing you. At first I thought you were going to comment on the axe's perspective because it does seem a tad off to me (though I think I like it that way...little bit of movement to it). I was trying to set this picture up as if you're at about knee level looking up. The way he's tilted away from us allows us to see more of the underside of his chin, as well. So I think what could be confusing you are the wraps around his legs?... Not sure but I tried tweaking and shading them in a way to make them more clear. Hopefully the image reads better now. Tell me what you think.

jcFIG: hey thanks man, another fan of sketchy lines, hehe. Being loose has helped me in my development sooooo much. I look at peers that still stay so tight and wonder how I thought that was any good because I know all my previous stuff came out too mechanical. Glad you like.

Thanks for the critiques again all. Of course I'm open for more before I wrap this thing up over the next couple of days.

Oh yeah, I posted the update at the beginning of the thread.

-Flinthawk
ICQ#78045851

Bishop_Six · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2001 7:25 am

Hey, flint, lookin' good. I see some problems with the perspective though.

The blades seem to be at a different angle than the axe handle. And his hair isn't matched up with his head. If I just looked at his hair, I would expect his head to be angled more downward like he was looking at the ground.

Anyway, these be my opinions.

Flinthawk · Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2001 10:45 pm

Bishop_Six: Hey man, what's up? Hmmm, I think I see what you're saying with the axe...the hair though...I dunno. It's kinda hard to say because I drew this at a funny angle/pose so I just kind of let the pencil do what felt 'right' with those kinds of things. Since the head is tilted to the side a tad the hair is trying to lay on it which could be causing some weirdness if I didn't do it right. I tweaked the hair a little for this update but nothing major so I think for now I'm going to leave as is. I sketched another quick head at the same angle and found better results the second time around, hair included since I was paying attention to it. But yeah, the axe, I see it and PS is giving me problems at the moment so I can't be arsed to fix it

Soooo, I finished the painting despite a few minor flaws. It's come about as far as I wanted to take it and I think it stands fairly well as is. Once again, thanks for the critiques because they really helped when I was trying to piece together what was making people comment on the leg. I fixed some lines in the leg, got rid of one of the wraps to expose the knee better and moved the lower leg and knee up a little...let me know if this fixed it. I tweaked the face a tad, particularly the nose and ear. Also some changes to the arms to help indicate location of the joints a tad better. Anyway, I'm posting this in the Finished Gallery now so check it out here: Finished Work thread

Thank you all once again.

-Flinthawk

[ August 07, 2001: Message edited by: Flinthawk ]