[Steven Stahlberg]

"She hears the Keeper approach, keys jangling. This is it, her only chance...
She can't tell by the footsteps if it's Slim, or Hugo, the man-mountain, and she can't reach to peek... but it can't be Hugo, he never works on Tuesdays. It mustn't be him, because she knows she can't take him with this puny weapon, it mustn't be, it couldn't be - could it?
God let it be Slim..."

C&C, coloring and overpaints welcome. (And feel free to continue the story.)


edit: fixed typo

[ January 30, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Stahlberg ]

[DarkStalker1]

Yet another great pic ! She better drop that blade down whats left of those shorts ,becuse
that would be like tring to kill an elephant with a pop gun. I am going to try and color this one ,thanks for offering up this one !

[Ecanem]

Looks really good - I especially like pictures with a story - or even better: suspension! Looking forward to see it in colours! I dare not try coloring it myself..

Leaving her mouth open (panting) and eyes wide open would maybe create even more tension/apprehension in her? - but maybe that's too cartoony for you?

[ January 30, 2002: Message edited by: Ecanem ]

[dkimblad]

Her closed eyes makes her look scared yet her pose is one of confidence. I like the closed eyes. Seems like she's concentrating on hearing the footsteps.
I love your work.

[Lukiaz]

Fantastico
You have yourself a cool/weird style there..

You may have her exactly as you want her, but generally speaking females foreheads slope back significantly more than hers is(though that will vary depending on your ethnicity(sP)). I think that her eye starts to high, this making the whole upper portion of her head to high. Maybe, though I'm not one who can be confident of that!.

Awesome work, sexy chick. I like

PS even though I know that its a shadow being cast over her shoulder it looks more like a tan line or something.

[Novacaptain]

hehe I love it...nice story line too. I don't think she'll make it though - the chain around her neck is already at maximum length.

[Novacaptain]

"She remembered the way the prisoners used to look down the halls when back on 'the fort' and promptly sticks the knife's edge out beyond the limits of the wall. Breathing intensely, she turns shiny blade to an angle and, like an unfriendly mirror, it shows her the dreaded reflection of a man built like a house. Why, God, did it have to be Hugo? Her mind fills up with doubts and questions. Did he see the knife? Will she fight, flee?

[DarkStalker1]

Shizo sorry about the saturation ,I get that all the time ! I hope this is a little better






[ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: DarkStalker1 ]

[Morbid Guy]

Great pic Steven! Very atmospheric and compelling! Love the fat guy, reminds me of the marvel character, the kingpin. Nice sense of movement to him too. Arches look nice too. I noticed a few things that looked a bit off, mainly with the girl.

The first thing that stands out is that her mid body looks unclear as to if she is wearing a vest or something... the shape around her neck looks like it could be one.. I asume it isn't tho as there are no creases. If so I think the flesh values for that area are much too high compared to the rest of her. It might be better if you darken it, keepin some areas such as her right breast for stronger lighting, and adding stronger shadows like under her left breast which looks a little 2d right now.

The forhead juts out too much, her right shoulder seems alittle disconnected, needs to move in a bit.

The left arm doesn't have any kind of construction or shape at all and is very flat. Which is suprising as the right looks constructed and rendered much better..

She doesn't appear to have any nipples and left breast looks like it is being unnaturally moved in or being pushed up by an invisible hand. ;P

Her skirt there looks like there is something protruding underneath it,which is unsettling.

Her foot looks a bit like plastic, like she wouldn't have any joints in her toes. Also the toes seem too short.

The knife hand seem out of sync with the knife, as there is very strong light source on the knife yet nothing on the hand. I think the hand needs some extra construction shapes of light.

The legs also seem awkward, her right thigh looks short and the shape of the knee bone seems to be missing. Her left thigh also looks a little disconnected to the body.

Hope the crits help.

[ January 30, 2002: Message edited by: Morbid Guy ]

[[Shizo]]

DarkStalker1 dude! Your monitors at work SUX!!! I think they're burned out or someshin, cause that oversaturaion is horrid!
Try turning it down say about -50

[Anthony]

Cool stuff. That guy would drop like a butchered pig if she knew how to use that knife. You might want to take the extra time to give her a nice, less generic?, face. She doesn't seem too distraught really. Also, where is that chain going? Seems like she's still tied up :] Nice rendering as usual!

[12345]

hehhe, VERY NICE! Should be in the Gallery/Finished work

This picture also remind me of that Return to Castle Wolf spooge did recently

[Steven Stahlberg]

Thanks guys! Darkstalker1, cool coloring - but (sorry!) I like the first one better, it just needed desaturating a bit.

edit: I noticed you put the older one back, good.

Novacaptain, great idea using the knife as a mirror!
Morbid Guy, I updated (overwrote) the one at the top, trying to fix all the things you mentioned, most of them anyway.
Anthony, she's very cool under pressure. The chain is stuck to the wall still, that's why this is her only chance - she must kill whoever carries the keys, without raising the alarm.
What kind of knife-move would you suggest for her?

[ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: Steven Stahlberg ]

[Lunatique]

Here's my attempt. It's always a pleasure to color your stuff!



I say she'd just run across his path and cut across his throat in one quick deer-like jump.

[vegeta�ONAC]

sheesh u guys are pretty harsh! only problem i have is her right knee stickin out pretty far, but that could help the story factor. (maybe he sees her early. hmmm interestingggg) the best thing about the piece id say is the composition. it has a great circular feel to it, just makes my eye go around and around and arou-...ok u get the point kewl job, dont color it, leave the original alone

[Lunatique]

Oops, I forgot that she's chained up. No deer-like jumping for her. I say just slice his hamstrings and then finish him off?

BTW Steven, I need to ask again--PS or Painter. Let me guess: PS?

Seems you've settled on PS as your primary digital 2D tool?

[ January 31, 2002: Message edited by: Lunatique ]

[Hands]

i got a question.. how do you go about getting that dirty look. Alot of ppl on this board can do it but i've yet to find out how.

[Anthony]

Well, right now she's at the length of her leash. So she should scuttle back to give you some slack. She should then try to lure him over within reach. She should then jam the knife into his crotch, low down pointing upward, and tearing toward her, going up. He'll buckle, and you can sever the artery in his neck easily enough. How to kill a giant of a man in three easy steps. You can do something similar without the knife, although it takes more skill. Great color job Luna!

[Ecanem]

Stab him in the back between his ribs and into his lung - this way he can't scream!

Then she'll have time to ponder her next move while he writhes in agony..

Oops - just noticed - her knife is too short.. Damn.. "Game Over"

[Steven Stahlberg]

nice coloring, Lunatique - only color I don't like is that strong bluegreen (maybe greyer?), but everything else has a nice, pearly, luminous quality to it. I love the red hair, wasn't thinking of it as red, but now I am!

Knee sticking out too far, yes I was thinking the same, but I needed to somehow break up the edge of the wall - that's the biggest problem with these "waiting behind the corner" compositions, they get easily split up into two images and the eyes don't travel very easily from one side to the other.

Yeas, this is PS again. I keep thinking I should try Painter, then I never do... decision: I shall surf to their site now to see what the price is.
That 'dirty look is the paper texture, from the scanning of the pencil sketch, done on ordinary copy machine paper.
Thanks, Anthony, your suggestion makes sense. Sounds almost like you've tried it...
I know it can be unsettling to discuss these things so seriously, but if it helps the story I'm all for it. One of the things about storytelling that annoy me the most is when a writer sets up a tense situation, and we're all wondering how the hell is the hero going to get out of this one, then he gets her out of it using either a cliche, or something impossible, or something that luckily pops up out of nowhere at the last minute.

[OpenCL]

I really like this scene. It has great suspense. Below her right foot seems to need to be cleaned up, but otherwise this is nearly flawless, I think it should be left in black and white, it kind of allows your mind to wander.

[Anthony]

Hehe, so many years of martial arts and weapon training(I love western swordsmanship) give you a sort of weird practical outlook on violence. Not that you become violent persay, you just look at it as doing what has to be done the most efficient way possible. You know who did a good job with using violence in writing effectively was Robert E Howard. Very rough, unveiled kind of writing he did. Pity his stories have been so convoluted everywhere but his books :]

[Lunatique]

I fixed it.

[shazow]

maybe she'll get a headshot?
or maybe she's one of them l33t navy knife throwers!

diee diee dieE!!

[Spectra]

I'm curious how you guys color this kind pics.

I mean how do you paint over a black and white painting? Do you use a blending mode on and other layer, or is there some kind of trick that you can do with the alpha channel to keep the shading over the color when you paint?

This would be really helpfull, i tried normal blending mode with low opacity, or color blending mode, but i dont like the result.

I'd really like to know how you people paint this. Tnx

[Lunatique]

Simple- make another layer with blend set to "color."

That's it.

[julez]

Steven, how do you get the nice brush sweeps if you use PS? Did you draw this by hand or on the computer? With a wacom?

[Spectra]

ok.. thats what i was doing, but the color blending mode change so much the color it paint from the real color you choosed,That i was wondering if there was an other way that color mode.
Also with color mode you can't put very bright colors since white is not displayed(thats logic). So color very bright close to white are not displayed too ;(


Steven Stahlberg: I'm not a pro in perpectives; but the perspective of the side of the wall near the gilr looks wrong to me.
I see what was the intention, but the base of the wall CAN'T be smaller that the top part of the wall.

I think that a more correct perspective would look something like this, if I assume that the base of the wall is correct.(done freehand so its not perfect)



But this way the wall lost of its interest, it looks too tinny, so I would suggest to enlarge the base instead.(something like this, with more dents/scratchs/textures)





As I said, im not an expert, but it make sens, so tell me what you think!

Good night, and best wish from Quebec.

Guillaume Le Tual

[ February 01, 2002: Message edited by: Spectra ]

[ February 01, 2002: Message edited by: Spectra ]

[julez]

Okay how do you smudge in painter6/7 like you can in PS smudge tool?
They have all these nice brushes and the pdf explaint the tools but i can never find anything that works lie pshop smudge/smear (hand point icon) tool.

[Lunatique]

Spectra- yes that's true about colors not being the same as what you chose, but just think of it as something similar to painting in gouche--it takes a bit of guess work. Slap something on, and then try different colors until you get what you want.

I totally agree about the colors not showing up on white. I hate that too. I suppose in that case, you'd have to create another layer with a different blend mode just for the bright spots?