[topeira]

fantabulous

i think it's one of your pictures i like the most. along with the ship wreck i adore

i remember the formar pic u did with a gladiator. it was nice but not as good as this one.
great piece!!

[A.Buttle]

spooge, have you seen The Goonies yet? I'm waiting, you know.

[Anthony]

Nice colors/perspective...where's his neck? :]

[Wyatt Turner]

cool dude, where is the BLOOD... LOL

y@

[Bishop_Six]

Nifty as usual, Craig. You like to do gladiator pics don't you? Well, I like it when you do gladiator pics

Ed: LOL, stop it, my sides hurt.

[Vortx]

Wow, i really like the mood of this one....you can really feel the heat from the sun...

EDL: you iz off da yayo...LOL

-feng

[eric_morrell]

That is definetly a cool picture. I like the colors, they are very dry and hot feeling. The oranges really look good against the pinks. I also like how you put a lot of greys in there, they give it a very old look. The things that struck me as not so great are the composition and the darks. The composition kind of dies to the right of the gladiator. It looks like you didn't spend to much time on the right because of the lighting but it seems like there really needs to be something over there or maybe the picture needs to be cropped a little bit. Or maybe you could bring the picture up a little bit or down a little bit to better crop the gladiator. The darks in the picture seem to be there darkest in the crowd, even though they are farther away then the gladiator. This might have been what you were going for, I really don't know. Another thing that bothers me just a small bit is I don't really know what you were trying to achieve in the picture because the gladiator really isn't at too low of a perspective to make him look larger than life but it is at a low perspective. And the crowd is awful big but I don't really get the feeling that it is supposed to be gigantic. I'm sorry I tore apart your picture but I love to look at them, you always have such great lighting and I love how rough your textures are usually. Especially in one of your knight pictures where the guy is crossing that creek. Sorry I wrote so much but I also wanted to mention that I met a guy named Ralph who knew you from your first time at the art center. His last name has left me at the moment, but I told him about this forum and he said he would check it out. He also mentioned that Syd Mead also went to the Art Center at that time? Ok, I'm done. I can't wait for your next pic!

[spooge demon]

This is kinda interesting, some like this a lot, some not so much.

Samson, Thanks, but that is not the audience, it is a giant corn on the cob that has been eaten

Andskj thanks!

Blitz, Yes, buff guys in skirts, sounds like fun. Bagpipes as weapons.. King Arthur is British though…

Jason, thanks!

Magicman, The colors are all right there. Make many colors that are very close together, or different colors that are the same value.

Janne, thanks, that is part of what I was after

Staff sarge, thanks, and keep at it. It will come together for you when you least expect it

Dixter, yes that would have been fun to do. The thing they used was a little weak if they asked me, which they did not, hehe

Squeal, This is almost a mono color image, just a strong dominant with a few complimentary accents. As far as the reference goes, I think doing all those architectural illustrations has helped me a lot

Geoman2k, Thanks for mentioning balance, I try to make things balanced on as many different levels as I can

Wayfinder- yes I find that contrast is a good thing generally, and having contrast between finished and more abstract areas is a very good area of contrast

Jezebel, thanks for feeling the gesture is effective! That helps to know it has that feeling. I have been working so hard on my figures, I came from so far back. That has been one of the tasks of playing on this forum. Yes, I will get back to you about your email!

Freddio- of course I read the replies! I like to know what people think about these things, for better or worse.

Victor villain- Tatoos- yes, tattoos on gladiators…

Surferboi- all welcome comments, all good points. I am still learning to exaggerate poses, and I wanted to get the feel of the shoulder blades riding up and in so when the head goes back, the deltoid is right on the ear. And the shoulder armor, I always wondered how you could move your arms with those things on. Maybe this pose is impossible with them. I will have to look more carefully next time I see something like this.

The light on the bottom of his ribcage is form the lit stands in front of him. Maybe it is a little too strong. I am not sure why you feel the eyelevel is off. The one thing that could indicate this is the ellipse of the wall, but we are well below that.

Ed, the stuff under the kitchen sink is not for drinking

Cos, yes that was my concern to. With a big brim helmet, how can you raise your arms like this? The only way would be to throw your head back to get the brim out of the way. Hmmm a complicated pose. The lighting is easy compared to the difficulties like this.

Joachim, thanks!

Wyatt, no blood this time, sorry. I am saving it all up

Bishop- you like movies about… gladiators?

Eric- I see you point about the right side. The character is facing left, and the detail in on the left, so what is all that space doing there? I wanted to make it flat and simple and go off into massive space, but I think maybe I could have flopped the figure and done better. I did want the darks on the left. I wanted left to be dark and contrasty, and goes to the right which is just the opposite. One thing that makes an image look “big” is careful value control, but also careful size and scale relationships. This was done a little too quickly. I should have thought it out a little more, then it would have been more convincing, and it would not have required detail to do it.

Hmm syd mead went to ac in the late 50’s, I went in the late 80’s.

Zorglub, thanks!

Thanks Visigoth, I see the audience works for some and not for others. I think it works well enough, but scale and drawing should have been more carefully done.

Hoodz- he could be a pitcher…

Thanks klaivu!

Edible snowman

Painted Melody- I would have to work to do that. I am allergic to that.

Zenonithus I might try that…

Golden boy- I think you are getting what I am trying to do here, cool.

Smixels- another vote for the audience! And you like this one that much, I am very surprised.

Topiera- hmm another vote for this one. Again, I don’t know what to say.

Buttle- Goonies? It just sounds awful. What is it about?

Anthony, his neck is buried between his arms. The lower deltoid attach is right about the ear. I thought maybe even the arms could be lifting the helmet… It seems to work for some but not others. I am part of the way there.

Vortx- thanks, yes that is one of the subjects of this thing

spooge sleep now

[Jucas]

It is a very good image. I really like it. Crits:

First thing that caught my eye, it seems the right arm is smaller than the left. Also it looks like his left wrist is dislocated or something....

The left arm comes under the helmut and thats ok, but it seems way to close to the head.

Like someone said the shadows are messed up. It almost seems like there is a solor eclipse occuring or something.

Dunno, just my personal opinion. Alot of this stuff has been stated by others, but oh well.

Here's something that might help.....

[wayfinder]

quack, i'm blind

[ May 17, 2001: Message edited by: wayfinder ]

[sacrelicious]

Well, I still can't see the original, but from Jucas' repost I like it a lot! I can't make out any of the character details but the lighting and atmosphere are great... really suggestive of the dust settling after a massive battle.

[A.Buttle]

spooge, The Goonies happens to be one of the greatest movies ever made. I'm sure many here can atest to that, and as an American male that lived through the 80s, it is your duty to see this film.

Hell, I bet sacrelicious can tell you just how good it is.

Furthermore, you are the most nocturnal guy around. Are you running on Hawaii's time?

[-HoodZ-]

haha the goonies was just shown on tv this weekend...

"Rocky Rooooooaad"

[Morbid Guy]

I think this is a fantastic pic, with some really great feeling to it. I hope you don't take offence at this Spooge but there were a just a few things that looked a little odd to me about it and I wanted to try and see if I could make it read a little better. I hope you don't mind me mutilating your pic. Please forgive my arrogance at trying this.



[ May 17, 2001: Message edited by: Morbid Guy ]

[catnip]

This is so good I am drooling!

[catnip]

Morbib, you are nit picking.
the original is fantastic.

[Jezebel]

I think that guy is a statue, since he happens to be standing on every pedestal around the rim

[Snake Grunger]

morbid - The touches you made are very accurate, but what that reveals even more is Craig's ultimate power in focusing precisely, accuratly and rapidly on the important aspects of an image, such as perspective, content and values. Goes to show how much these factors outweight the rendering, proportions and photo-realism. I think it is obvious if he had spent 20 hours on this image, the touches you made would certainly not have been necessary at all.

Craig, my compliments on your fine painting. Even though your work for the past years has been very awesome, and that some may think your art has reached it's pinnacle in terms of greatness, I still see in each of your new images a certain improvement, would it be facial expression, or subject, or theme, etc.. I could browse all your gallery on your website, and not find something that ressembles this. And I think you know this because you put a Sijun forum section on your website to showcase what you draw and post on this board as if it was of almost equal value as your super-ultra-rendered matte backgrounds.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, I'm sure it is deeply appreciated by everyone.

[ May 18, 2001: Message edited by: Snake Grunger ]

[Morbid Guy]

I am not trying to take anything away from Craigs marvelous artwork here.
It's an easy thing for me to come along and make a few alterations here and there. These are just some observations as I see them, which may or may not be right.

I have upmost respect for Mr Mullins as the fantastic artist he is, and this is not meant in any way to belittle his wonderful work.

[Cos]

snake grunger - The changes morbid made was to the porportions, perspective
and anatomy. To even hint that these are not important aspects to an image
is ridiculous. Sometimes even the slightest changes can make a big difference,
slight changes do not take 20 hours. I really like spooges image as it is anyway,
but if any slight changes can imrove on certain aspects then surely that is a good
thing?? The alterations to the pic may or may not be better. Personally it looks more
correct to me, but hey, that is just my 'honest' opinion. Like Kyri said, it's easy
to come along and make a few changes here and there. But if they help in any way
I think they are worth taking in.

It just seems that nobody is allowed to offer spooge advice or constructive crit without
someone rushing on to say no no no or thats not important to the image, when it can be.
If everyone had this attitude then how would we learn from each other?? Personally I
love spooges artwork, I have nothing but respect for him. His art was one of the things
that inspired me to start drawing again when I stopped for many years. Also I love my
brothers artwork and know his knowledge of anatomy is damn good. Soo maybe we should stop,
look, and listen just like the green cross code man, before we start shaking our heads.

Cos

[Snake Grunger]

Cos - I made this repaint of your image once, of this monster holding this guy's face with some girl in the near back.. a few weeks ago I saw that you had worked on the image afterwards, to see that you had taken nothing of my suggestions or modifications. What good are repaints, if you're not even going to take them into close consideration?

And being from England, you should understand english better than anyone here. I said "Morbid your touchups are accurate.", and I said OUTWEIGHT, as being MORE important than the other aspects, NOT "not important". What I said is not ridiculous at all. Also, the one rushing in saying "no no no" is Catnip, not me.

[Cos]

Snake Grunger -

I didn't really want to continue this but just to quickly clear it up. SnakeyBoy I don't really agree that the anatomy/proportion aspects are not as important to an image done in this style. The style is realistic/cinematic so the figures have to look as real/convincing as possible. If it was a comicbook style then fair enough if wouldn't matter as much. Logical to you? well anyway, thats just my opinion.

About the repaint you did of my pic yes I do remember that. But I mean just because you did a repaint of it, doesn't mean I am compelled to do it in that way! Did that upset you or something?? I liked your version but it was just more exxagerated than I wanted to do it. But I liked the fact you put the woman behind the guy and I did take that input from you.. so saying that I didn't take anything from it, just shows to me that you are not talking sense.

and as for the being from england comment... grow up. like your signature says.

Spooge - I'm sorry to disrespect your thread. I love the pic, I love all your work.
Those are just general thoughts and opinions, and not specifically directed at your pic. I hope you do not take what I say here as any kind of insult towards you or your work because they really really are not intended to be

[ May 19, 2001: Message edited by: Cos ]

[vracky]

Beautifull as always Spooge-
I really love it
It s a master piece That I ll like to put on my monitor like wallpaper under windows

With your permission-

Vraky

[TheMilkMan]

Craig masterful as always!!!...

[ May 21, 2001: Message edited by: TheMilkMan ]

[Cos]

Milkman -

Firstly we were not even discussing the painting technique. If you do not understand what is being talked about then maybe you shoud stay out of it.

Secondly I think its funny that the same guy who came onto Frost's post 'oldman' and tried to put Spooges advice right by applying a gaussian blur to his repaint (!??) is trying to lecture other people about giving spooge advice ,when they cannot paint aswell themselves.

[spooge demon]

I don’t mind at all when someone takes the time to work over one of my sketches. I was not trained in the figure; this is something I have been working on my own since coming to this forum. I have worked really hard on it, and I am making progress, but I have a long way to go. So I look very carefully at what someone suggests, and I might not always agree with the suggestions, but I appreciate the time and effort that was taken. There are some here who are much better with the figure than I am.

My best critic has always been my Dad. He is not an artist, does not even like art that much. He grunts and says, “leg looks broken” and ambles off. If something in my sketches looks wrong, it is. When I am much better at this, the truth of the drawing will be there for everyone to see, and the percentage of reactions like my Dad’s will fall. With this image, some really liked the pose and anatomy and commented on it. Others thought something was wrong. I thought it could be a lot better, but without a model, it was beyond my experience. That some liked it means it is in the right direction.

Some poses and angles are exceedingly difficult, and then to try and simplify it as I did makes it even harder. You have to understand something totally in order to paint it in this manner. You cannot rely on finish or rendering to carry the day. I think that is one of the appealing things about working looser.

I think I need to draw the figure everyday, all day, to make the progress I want. Not sure that is practical, but I will see what I can do. I have toyed with the idea of taking a storyboard job full time for a bit, but I would have to be on site, and the cat gets lonely.

[Freddio]

quote

Quote:

My best critic has always been my Dad. He is not an artist, does not even like art that much. He grunts and says, “leg looks broken” and ambles off. If something in my sketches looks wrong, it is. When I am much better at this, the truth of the drawing will be there for everyone to see, and the percentage of reactions like my Dad’s will fall.

haha I love that.. So true..

[catnip]

Hey "guy's"
(you know who you are)
This is not a photograph. It is a beautiful
illustration that captures emotion.

Stop being so critical! You are not being
helpful, you are being hurtful.

[Cos]

Catnip -

A part of this forum is about constructive crit/input, artists helping other artists
with ideas/advice. Its what makes this place so good. I have seen craig do repaints
and give advice to many people, do you consider this as hurtful also?? or is it
helpful? You are talking rubbish.

[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: Cos ]

[u2art]

Hey Craig, nice piece as usuall. I will say your figures have been getting better. "An hour a day for a week, working on the figure is better than 7 hours one day a week." I heard this many years ago, not that you need to hear it...I am just full of random quotes. You certainly seem to have the training to be a master at the figure in time. I hope you keep it up


I just wanted to know...why do people on the forum feel the need to defend Craig and others who post...too many people critique critiques...its ok to debate...but come on..post your comments, then leave it at that...
I am pretty sure that if Craig (or whoever posts) has something to say to someone who has made a wrong or un-intelligable comment, he will say something or ignore them. Too many damn people argue on this forum about stupid shit...argue on your own posts. Otherwise just let the poster take care of his own comments, we'll all get along much easier.
I think some people just wanna argue...oh well...to each his own. Cant we all just get along????

Art