Melons Artwork

[Melon]

I think that the one w/ the web, but w/o the glow looks best.

Although I see nothing wrong with its level of explicitness, but I'd wait for other's opinions

great art, regardless!

Thanks Thawn! The glow is something I'm trying to experiment with actually. On one hand it brings out a lot of the hard to see lines, but on the other it seems to distract from the actual picture. I've tried going back and removing the glow in my older portraits and they do seem to look better as a result, but unfortunately the lines become more obscured.

To the rest of you thank you for all the compliments, don't be shy to throw some criticism at me as well. That's largely what this thread is supposed to be about .

[Espreon]

To the rest of you thank you for all the compliments, don't be shy to throw some criticism at me as well. That's largely what this thread is supposed to be about .

We aren't, it is just that your work is so flawless from our point of view.

[thespaceinvader]

For my mind, the pic is great, but it needs something to hint that she's not just a dark grey nude chick leaning over. If you put a couple of big hairy spider knees in front of her abdomen, that would do it =D

I agree with thrawn on the subject of which looks best.

[AI]

I hope you still have a bigger working version, because in 1.5 support for ~400x400 transparent portraits is being added. This should help with the darker lines.

Looking great, though the style obviously differs a bit from the more realistic type kitty set.

[Thrawn]

@melon: I agree with thespaceinvader that a crop that shows that this isn't some grey skinned nude elf, but rather a half monster mix would go a long way towards making it less inappropriate seeming, though that's your call.

Also, there isn't much I can critique, as you're a better artist than me >_>

One thing I did notice though, is with the tenguu animation, namely that having only the wings move makes it look off; generally if one thing moves it will effect other parts of the body...

[Boucman]

your faction tree llacks consistancy, there are "typicaly bad" things like spiders and "typically good" ones like the musician sprite...

you might want to write a little about the faction itslef (lifestyle, society, biology, whatever is relevant) to clrear your ideas


the sprites themselves are really good quality, though

the portrait of the nude chick is pretty good quality wise, but there are a few details

* you have to show she's a spider girl... change your cropping, find something, but being a spider girl is what makes the unit interesting...
* she is a bit "uselessly naked" that's hare to explain, but even if I personally think she doesn't break our nudity standards, it doesn't mean that having her nude brings much to the composition... it has a feeling of "let's put naked girls in, it's cool for our male audience" However, this is a spider girl, and I can understand that these don't wear any close... you should make her less desirable according to human standards... maybe giving her ape breast instead of human breast, maybe making her more aged... I don't know, but you should really try to get the "this is a cute chick" sign that she has hanging over her head

[Iris]

you might want to write a little about the faction itslef (lifestyle, society, biology, whatever is relevant) to clrear your ideas

Uh... the link to the thread in the F&E contributions section has some information on the faction's background.

[Boucman]

oops missed that... sorry

[Melon]

A lot of you have been suggesting the edition of something to suggest the monstrous nature of the girl in my portrait. Though I understand where you're coming from, I'll have to object on this matter. In the initial planning sketches I did for this character, I attempted to do just as you have suggested and the results were not really as satisfying as I would have liked them to be. The resulting composition ended up confusing, needlessly busy and messy for my tastes, so I discarded those features in favor of just the torso. You have to realize that in the game the portrait is always juxtaposed to the sprite (ie: In the unit information window it is presented beside the sprite), so the game audience will have a pretty good idea of what the remainder of the characters body looks like. If it really makes a lot of you uncomfortable I'll add some clothing (although in my personal taste, nudity makes a lot more sense for this race. The only exception in my unit tree are the Weaver Widows who are exiles and thus not an official part of Weaver culture).

you might want to write a little about the faction itself (lifestyle, society, biology, whatever is relevant) to clear your ideas

Uh... the link to the thread in the F&E contributions section has some information on the faction's background.

I've given only a brief overview of the Yokai races in the main thread. I'll write up more detailed descriptions once the faction becomes a part of an Era. Most of the details about the races are already in my head, I just have to get them down on paper.

I hope you still have a bigger working version, because in 1.5 support for ~400x400 transparent portraits is being added. This should help with the darker lines.

Looking great, though the style obviously differs a bit from the more realistic type kitty set.

Thanks AI, but I'm afraid that I'll have to keep them small. I'm not sure if I'll ever finish them all even at this scale, let alone 400x400. If there will be interest in someone making a campaign featuring my faction I might make a couple larger portraits for the prominent figures.

[Boucman]

You have to realize that in the game the portrait is always juxtaposed to the sprite (ie: In the unit information window it is presented beside the sprite),

not when a unit talks, only its portrait is displayed....

[Melon]

Finished the portrait for the Pixie. Took me much longer then I thought it would. I think the wings look really distracting in this one, so I included a wingless version for comparison.

[Vendanna]

I prefer the winged version because its more "loyal" to the unit than the other one (in which it looks like its simply a child)

You can however (and if you don't like the wings spread) put them showing as if they are closed on her back (you can see them showing off her waist like a bee/fly) dunno if I'm showing you my point or confusing you more, tought.

Also, welcomed back.

[Melon]

Nice to see you too Vendanna!

Here's an updated pic. I'm much more satisfied with this one then the last one I posted.

[deserter]

They look like candy!
I like candy so I guess it's ok.

What makes them look like candy must be that they are quite saturated, when I prefer more realistic colouring myself. But it creates a great athmosphere with your style, and I think that less saturated pictures would then benefit from more realistic lines and detailing as well.

As a whole I do like them.

PS. I get an impression that your lines are a bit aliased... But I don't have any idea where it comes from.

[Shadow]

Too much candy is bad for your teeth.
Serius good work and cute aswell (did I just typed the last part?).

For my taste it almost goes too far. Just my 2 cents.