[Man With No Name]

Here's my latest attempt at digital painting...

Alex (Alexandra) Fate, Crosses over the dimensional boundaries of time space with her two sisters to once again collect and archive the bizzare and mystical oddities of our reality.

Shortly after breaking into our existance aboard their collection ship, the Silver Key, an unforseen hurricane causes damage to their vessel sending it of course and eventually crashing in The western U.S.

Alex awakens to find herself imprisoned in a laboraty deep underground. (actually in area 51.) They have underestimated her however, with a few complex, yet quick movements and a stomp on the ground, Alex materializes her Sword using her dark magic. She will find her ship, And she will find her sisters! Nothing comes between the Three Fates. Nothing.

www.angelfire.com/mi2/manwithnoname/alex1.html

Comments and critiques are welcome. Thanks for your time.

[Dryfire]

Very cool man! Great job on the glowing things =P Hmm i think you should add some more highlights from them on her and the environment. Also, only one side of the nose should be shaded.. the left.. since the lighting is coming from the right.

If you fix up those lil things, it will be awesome!

[Highfive]

Yeah, a sword that is surrounded by Head-Up Display style magic-wisps is a VERY original idea!
Love to see what that sword looks like when it swings. Would it leave a trail of binary code in it's path? (seriously)
I don't think her costume fits with her ability though. Shouldn't she be wearing some sort of hi-tech gear to go with the sword?

Very fine work! Can't wait to see more

[Flexible Elf]

That is pretty cool. Very cool idea for the tech hologram HUD around the weapon.

-Flexible Elf

[Duncan]

Oi, thats pretty cool. Reminds me of Shirou's Intron Depot 2, Blades. Not the style, more the clothes and maybe the subject matter.

[Man With No Name]

Hello again,

Thanks for the replies...

I'll look into fixing the things you mentioned, I've had a pretty tough time with that nose, but what the hey, I'll give it another try.

I thought you guys (and ladies) would like the HUD on the sword. I think it opens all kinds of possibilties. Perhaps it could rotate and help the user find critical points of attack. Or maybe the HUD on the Sword is actually linked to the HUD over her head. Seeing that the brain is much quicker than the hand, the one over the head actually reads brain patterns to help guide the sword. Cool concept by any means.

As for her costume. This is actually a character from a story I'm working on. In it there are three sisters (three Fates.) Alex here is the middle one. Her Older sister, Daphne, is the tech-savy weapons fanatic. Alex is actually the magic user. However in the world they come from things aren't quite cut and dry like here. Magic there is created by nanites. (so magic is actually the highest form of tech.) Magic was an operating code designed into the nanites that could only be invoked by series of precise movements and chants. Think of Magic users as being programmers over here. The better the magician the more creative and powerful the magic. Strangely enough Daphne's high tech weapons are actually kind of archaic compared to Alex's magic. Alex's costume is loose fabric, which allows her to move freely and perform the complex magic. It's Dressy because she is Vane. If I were to describe her character in two words it would be "coniving bitch." But in even the direst situations, as depicted here, even a coniving bitch has to look out for her family.

[Man With No Name]

Hello,

Sorry to bump this (you all might be sick of it.) But I made the suggested changes and I wanted to know if anyone has a constructive critique before I consider this picture "completly and utterly done."

Anyone?....

www.angelfire.com/mi2/manwithnoname/alex1.html

Thanks for your time.

[Highfive]

I do have some crits on a second glance:

1. Her right hand is held flat to the viewer as she holds her fighting stance, but the fingers, I think, are about 50% too thick. The two hands look different in size, but the left hand looks correct. Tilt the hand a little to show the fingers as still there.

2. I also think the back is arched too much. I'm guessing your art style does have a little exaggeration, which is always good, but I think her back has too much of it. Also, her waist is thinner than her thighs.

Also, one of workmates isn't sure about what that piece of material is wrapped around her waist. I'm guessing it's a bow, but we're not totally sure. Add a little more lighting to show the shape.


3. Put a bit of a bit of back-lighting on her butt, too. I'm sure she's dying to show it off.

4. Not sure about her breasts (why do we always look there?) They look like they're meant to be fairly small and firm, and even if they're meant to be pushed up by the outfit, I don't think they should bulge that much. Since her back is facing the view, the right breast should be hiding the left one in this image.

5. The door frame was a little out of prespective.


Here's a little example:



Critique my critiques, too, if you want. That's why it's called a discussion board!

I hope that helps a little! Shit, look at the time! Back to work...

[Monkey Majick]

I liked what you did to it Highfive.

I think the forearm and wrist could be reduced 20%. Also it could be hilighted much like the butt cheeks.

Also a little more lighting under the hair to highlight smaller strands illustrate the motion of the hair.

I think the back looks fine. It's gestural.

[Man With No Name]

Wow, Thanks for the crit Highfive, I've copied your version so I can view them side by side to understand your points better. I'm not sure I'd go as drastic with the changes you've made (after all, some of those things are kind of my style, but I do like what you did.) I'll definitely take all points into consideration. Damn, thanks for putting the time into it. I'll be sure to post the resulting changes.

Monkey, I'll be sure to look into the hair when I go to tweek Highfives sugestions. (and the forearm and the wrist.)

Thanks for the crits guys (or gals?) I REALLY appreciate them. They should help improve this picture alot.