[Highfive]

Phew! It's done!

This is Spider Jerusalem, the main character of the bizarre sci-fi comic "Transmetropolitan", written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Darick Robertson. Spider's an outlaw journalist who's more than prepared to break noses and smear reputations in search of the truth.

I hope there's some transmet fans out there because the last one I shows this to picked it to bits. I invite you all to do the same, which includes posting modified images.




*continues bowing to a makeshift Darick Robertson idol*

[grimsheep]

fun stuff, I like it a lot. It extremely vivid and the lighting is excellent.

The eyes are off though I think, they pupils would have us thinking he's looking as sharply left as he can but he looks like he's looking right at the viewer. I'm not sure if its just the position of them or if its the highlights too.

Some nitpicking now his left eyebrow is a little scraggley, looks like he has stitches... and his gums are pretty red, I'd go a little more pinkish.

[Quasar]

very well painted dude!!

[Monkey Majick]

Yeah. Damn good. Great work.

Needs more grit in the teeth. Yellower near the gums, maybe.

Also red in the corners of the eyes. He looks like a journalist who would stay up stay up all night to get a story done.

[Shiro_tengu]

Makes me want to light up a smoke right now.

[Monkey Majick]

Does anybody think that he needs more redness in his cheeks?

[Highfive]

Thanks for the crits, guys:

grimsheep - Thanks! I'm glad the lighting's worked for you. This is the first time I've tried painting without strong linework, so this is a new style for me.
Yes he is meant to be looking off to his left, but somewhere it does look like he's looking straight back at you. Maybe that leftpupil should be moved more to the left.
I'll manicure those eyebrows a little and try desaturate the gums as well.

Quasar - Cheers!

Monkey Majick - The teeth are a little too shiny, aren't they? They're meant to be perfectly clean, but they can probably afford a little more grey on them.
Hehe, I think you may have read an issue or two! I'll make them a little more bloodshot.

Shiro_tengu - Don't do it, man! Resist! Breath deep! Read more Sijun to take your mind off smoking!

Can anyone else offer some suggestions? Is there anyone who finds this picture a little too strange?

[ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: Highfive ]

[Monkey Majick]

Screws on the glasses?

[Shiro_tengu]

*throws pck out window - breaths sigh of relief!*

*refreshes sijun*

(surgeon generals warning: warning sijun is adictive and may lead to serious withdrawals is your net concection goes down!)

[Xoco]

spider is my totally favourite comic book character and i really enjoy to see him painted. some crits tho: as i see him in the comic books his nose is a bit different. additionally imo his ear and the eyes are too small. anyway great work!
sorry, one more: i think the left cheek is too extreme. do some more please, it makes the transmet world alive (tho in some cases it is already, don�t you think so? )

[ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Xoco ]

[ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Xoco ]

[Man With No Name]

Hey there High Five,

Originally I was avoiding this thread because of the subject matter. Don't get me wrong, Ellis is a freaking god when it comes to writing (Planetary should be in everyone's library.) It's just that Ellis gets a little too far to the left for my taste in his Transmet stories. But hey, since you were kind enough to help me out, I'll give it a shot... (from way over here in the moderate right. ).

First off, let me commend you on your bricks, I love them. they almost look hand painted, you must have spent alot of time on them.

I think the callahan picture could be a little more rendered. It looks a little too cartoony compared to spider.

I also think his right (our left) cheekbone sticks out just a little too far. In the pictures of him that I've seen he appears to have smaller bone structure and a narrower face.

If you made the darks on spider even darker (near black) he would punch out alot more. He'd have more depth, then you could even use that cherry as a light source on his face (don't overdo it though.) I'd also make the front of his jacket, his chest, and his shadow near black. Keep in mind, the heavier the contrast between light and dark the better (in most cases anyway, hell, you made that observation in my picture (the light on the back of her leg helps immensely)). Oh, you may want to add a little color to your light sources (and shadows.) Blue usually works good on skin tones (and green) IMHO it helps make lighting seem a tad more realistic.

and lastly, I'm thinking that maybe his left pupil (on right) could move further to the right (but I think you mentioned this already....)

Hope I've helped a little anyway. Keep in mind I really had to nit pick to find stuff, I just felt that you gave such a good crit over on my thread that I should try to give a little back. It is only my opinion though, so feel free to ignore whatever you want. Thanks again for the crit.

[Monkey Majick]

Yeah. I reckon the Callahan pics could be a little more rendered.

Making the posters cheap black an white photocopies could alleviate the need to render them though.

[Highfive]

Shiro - I know what that feels like.

Xoco - Yay! Transmet fan! Thanks for the anatomy crits. I admit I took a few liberties with his facial features. His skin isn't meant to be that rough and unshaven, either.

Monkey Majick - good points.

Man with No Name - Only just learnt about Planetary when I visited Ellis' website recently. I haven't been reading as many comics as I used to. Did you know he's the story-writer for Rage Software's Hostile Waters as well?
Actually I'm surprised you avoided this pic because of the subject matter. This post was disappearing from the bottom of the list the first day it was put up. I guess you've gotta be sure you're painting familar subject matter for other users.

The bricks were handpainted and took little time at all. They were the only things I used a photo reference for.

The callahan picture was quickly painted since it was to be in the background. I thought that shortcut would escape anyone's notice. In your's and Monkey Majic's case, it didn't.

Thanks for those crits on the lighting! They're definitely the most valuable, esp. the ones about the blue and green backlighting. I'll be sure to use those in the next pic I do.

Those help a lot, man. I really liked the Alexandra pic but I admit I was hoping you might add a little comment to this while I was writing that crit. Much appreciated!