[opticillusion]

Been in the drawing mood lately, despite all the projects I've had going on as well. Here's a dump of images that I've finished up lately.

Crits and comments are welcome.

these two characters are based on ones created by Tad Williams over at Shadowmarch.




This image will be featured on the cover of a new novel set in the 1890s in the heart of San Francisco / Chinatown. I kept the underlying pencil sketch in some parts to keep it looking like the style I was going for.


Here was the concept sketch that the author approved, which I then did the colored final:


a highly un-anatomical concept sketch =)


remember the Heads for Dr. Bang thread? the next three are results of more practice using spooge's method.

here's a funky turtle done totally on the paintboard / (photo ref was used)


this thief was done in photoshop / (using photo ref)


and lastly, this girl evolved from a paintboard sketch. - Rampage - did a "pencil" sketch of the girl, which I then rendered black and white over it. then this is a photoshop retouched version of that:


That's all folks! Also, I have just completed a total remake of my website, which is also up for critique. It will be viewable under Netscape in the next few days. IE users shouldn't have a problem.

*Edit: been so long I messed up the links =D

[ August 01, 2001: Message edited by: opticillusion ]

[]Aratex[]

Wow, optic.. I can't imagine why no one's posted so far, there's some amazing work here... Since everyone else seems to have missed this stuff, I'll to my best to crit you..

1st image: Wow... Amazing lighting work.. I love the solemn/melencholy mood you captured here.. If he had a cigarette, he'd remind me of me sitting down at the park near my house when I'm depressed..

2nd image: Again, I love this one for the mood.. It reminds me quite a bit of an image I've had in my head for a while, but never actually put on paper... The only bad thing I can say is that something seems a bit out of perspective, although I'm not quite sure what.. Still, though, it's very good...

3rd image: Very cool... Nice style on this one.. Doesn't grab me quite like the first two do, but that's because it's not depressing..

[Skipping pencil sketch since it's the same thing.]

4th image: Nice concept, even if he is an anatomical nightmare.. I bet he'd make a cool 3D model.. Anyway, though, there's a little bit of strangeness in this one because his anatomy just screams "evil robot", but his posture makes him look like he's in the middle of a disco or something.. 'Course it doesn't matter too much since he's still just a concept, but there's my 2 cents..

5th image: Wow.. That turtle is just amazing... The light sourcing and everything just seem perfect. Great work on this one..

6th image: Another good one... My only complaint is that it's a bit too blurry.. It wouldn't be so bad if his face wasn't mostly covered, but since it is, this piece just leaves my eye searching for something.. There's nothing that really grabs my attention.. From a technical aspect, there are no mistakes that I see really, but it just seems to be missing something else..

7th image: Not a bad picture at all, but there are a couple mistakes... To me, her eyes and lips seem a bit too big and perhaps a bit out of perspective... Still, though, it's some nice work and, with a bit of tweaking, she could be a very pretty girl.

All in all, great work, optic.. It's nice to see you back.. I remember liking your previous work and it's good to see that I can continue that trend...

[Tiger Eaten]

If you are looking for advice, I would have to agree with ]Aratex[ and say that your "Chinatown" does not have the same 'pull' as the rest of your work. (at least not yet.) Both of your signs appear dead on to the viewer. This I think is fine for Cambell's Dispensary or John A. Pitman M.D but when both are rendered this way it makes one or the other feel a bit tacked on. Perhaps weathering a bit more or a slight sway to the Pitman sign would change this feeling. They are very legible however which is always a good thing in my books.

I was thinking you might also try bringing some of that volume lighting that your have sneaking around in the background up front and see what it does.

Perhaps your could have your woman (stage right) looking in a store window or more actively strolling. As is, she seems to be simply standing and regarding the ground in front of her. Sadness? Part of the story?

These are not crits, rather very light suggestions. Its honestly a pretty iffy thing (read dangerous) for me to attempt to say anything that might be of help to someone at your level.



As a whole this is a wonderful collection of work from a single individual. You have peices here done in very different styles and your skill in all is apparent. Your draft of the robot, your photo renderings and your cartoon frames in the beginning of your post. There are many good people on this board but few that can match your skill in ALL THREE of the these styles. Something to be proud of.



[ August 01, 2001: Message edited by: Tiger Eaten ]

[surferboi]

awesome job on all the drawings.. especially like the first 2 and the paintchat ones

[MoleculeMan]

for those of you who are interested in the Dr. Bang Head thingie, i hunted down the url and here it is:Head Theory
Its really cool.

[opticillusion]

I thought I would bump this back up since I posted it right before the forum went down a few days ago.

Aratex: Thanks for the comments! I cropped the one of the thief to his face to make it more interesting, but the actual reference pic shows him picking a lock. Maybe I'll finish it up, but I was just going for a quick value study.

Tiger Eaten: All very good comments about the bookcover. Unfortunately, it has already been submitted to the publisher. But, I am making changes on the coverart which will be put on postcards that the author wishes to send out to possible sponsers. The girl in the picture is part of the story, yes. And the signs needed to be dead on to the viewer because this is going to be printed 5.5 " by 3 " high, and needed to be clean and readable. Very good suggestions.

surferboi: Thanks!

MoleculeMan: You're right. It is definately a good excercise.

[Superbug]

hey long time no post.

about the pics. I didn't read the others comments but what came to mind first was the chinatown one. It look sjust a little bit too heavy on the ink lines and font usage. Try and draw in the lines Cambels whatever, (u might have i'm not sure, but it looks just a wee bit like a font). I like the second picture the best. The chair is slightly out of proportions it seems.

anyway keep it up