Brand New Desert Elves!!!!!!

Make art for user-made content.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

Forum rules
Before posting critique in this forum, you must read the following thread:
User avatar
Iris
Site Administrator
Posts: 6797
Joined: November 14th, 2006, 5:54 pm
Location: Chile
Contact:

Post by Iris »

[rant]I actually would like to practice on new desert elves. However, I guess I'll be forced to animate them, frame-by-frame, and my work will get refused otherwise. I'm not good at animation, from my own experience; I can just do base-frames, and not those of the best quality.[/rant]

In any case, that's why I keep my own spriting thread in Art Workshop, to acquire practice and learn in the way.
Author of the unofficial UtBS sequels Invasion from the Unknown and After the Storm.
User avatar
turin
Lord of the East
Posts: 11662
Joined: January 11th, 2004, 7:17 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Post by turin »

Incidentally, there's already a camel image floating around somewhere... check the graphiclibrary contrib page for Garm.
For I am Turin Turambar - Master of Doom, by doom mastered. On permanent Wesbreak. Will not respond to private messages. Sorry!
And I hate stupid people.
The World of Orbivm
User avatar
Iris
Site Administrator
Posts: 6797
Joined: November 14th, 2006, 5:54 pm
Location: Chile
Contact:

Post by Iris »

Proof of concept I quickly made some days ago at home. I almost forgot to post it.
Attachments
Desert Elvish Captain - edit from SVN Forest Elvish Captain
Desert Elvish Captain - edit from SVN Forest Elvish Captain
captain.png (3.43 KiB) Viewed 5419 times
Author of the unofficial UtBS sequels Invasion from the Unknown and After the Storm.
Clonkinator
Posts: 676
Joined: July 20th, 2006, 4:45 pm
Location: Germany

Post by Clonkinator »

:hmm: Hmmm... That actually looks quite good. It somehow even looks like a desert elf. There just is one question floating around in my mind... If they are living in the desert, the desert elves should get lots of sun. If a human's skin gets lots of sun, it turns a little darker, more brownish at a certain point. Shouldn't this apply to these elves, too? A little? :?
User avatar
Urs
Art Contributor
Posts: 437
Joined: August 11th, 2007, 5:33 pm

Post by Urs »

Artistically, it seems fine on first glance.

However, his skin should really be darker. Also, he doesn't seem very "desert", IMO.
User avatar
thespaceinvader
Retired Art Director
Posts: 8414
Joined: August 25th, 2007, 10:12 am
Location: Oxford, UK
Contact:

Post by thespaceinvader »

That's what's bugging me a bit, too. Outside the bare arms, there's little there which really says 'desert'. And, if oyu really look at desert cultures (middle east and north Africa, primarily, are the UtBS-type deserts), bare skin is not actually all that common - lots of lightweight, light coloured fabric to insulate you from the heat and keep the sun off is more common. I always got the feel of a savannah-type culture from Kaleh and Nym in UtBS, rather than a desert one.
http://thespaceinvader.co.uk | http://thespaceinvader.deviantart.com
Back to work. Current projects: Catching up on commits. Picking Meridia back up. Sprite animations, many and varied.
User avatar
Iris
Site Administrator
Posts: 6797
Joined: November 14th, 2006, 5:54 pm
Location: Chile
Contact:

Post by Iris »

That's actually my annoyance too. The only artistic reference I had for that edit was Pickslide's portraits of desert elves in UtBS. I'm not sure if I should stick to that or darken the skin. Note that he depicts them partially nude (specifically, look at Garak, Kaleh, Nym and Keratur's portraits). The blueish pants idea of my edit was directly taken from Garak's portrait, although I guess my edit's hue is too blueish in comparison. It should be a little shifted to magenta and less saturated.

In that reference, at least his chest should be nude, and I can't do that without switching the sword to the other hand, which is not a bad idea anyways.
Author of the unofficial UtBS sequels Invasion from the Unknown and After the Storm.
User avatar
irrevenant
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 3692
Joined: August 15th, 2005, 7:57 am
Location: I'm all around you.

Post by irrevenant »

Maybe?
Attachments
captain_347.png
captain_347.png (2.95 KiB) Viewed 5279 times
User avatar
Vendanna
Posts: 626
Joined: September 16th, 2006, 10:07 pm
Location: Spain

Post by Vendanna »

I like that one, it gives the unit "character" also the mask on the face is good to avoid sand entering into your mouth when windy. :)
"Mysteries are revealed in the light of reason."
User avatar
thespaceinvader
Retired Art Director
Posts: 8414
Joined: August 25th, 2007, 10:12 am
Location: Oxford, UK
Contact:

Post by thespaceinvader »

Certainly adds a bit of desertiness.
http://thespaceinvader.co.uk | http://thespaceinvader.deviantart.com
Back to work. Current projects: Catching up on commits. Picking Meridia back up. Sprite animations, many and varied.
User avatar
Jetrel
Posts: 7242
Joined: February 23rd, 2004, 3:36 am
Location: Midwest US

Post by Jetrel »

irrevenant wrote:Maybe?
Make the near arm thicker, and give it an elbow. Also, study the bandanna used by the outlaws - I would make this guys face covering brightest in the center, and hang down a few pixels further (e.g be longer vertically). Otherwise, pretty cool.
User avatar
irrevenant
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 3692
Joined: August 15th, 2005, 7:57 am
Location: I'm all around you.

Post by irrevenant »

The mask looks 100% better, thanks, Jetryl!

I'm not great with elbows, but I did my best. I also made the arm thicker and tweaked the hand a bit to make it look a bit less spherical.

[EDIT] Oops! Forgot that Jetryl also suggested lengthening the mask.

[EDIT2] And a slightly different version of the long mask for comparison.

I'm of two minds about the whole thing. :?
Attachments
captain-longmask2.png
captain-longmask2.png (2.91 KiB) Viewed 5067 times
captain_347.png
captain_347.png (2.92 KiB) Viewed 5083 times
captain-longmask.png
captain-longmask.png (2.89 KiB) Viewed 5082 times
Last edited by irrevenant on September 16th, 2007, 9:51 am, edited 3 times in total.
Clonkinator
Posts: 676
Joined: July 20th, 2006, 4:45 pm
Location: Germany

Post by Clonkinator »

Yup, that definitely fits better than the previous ones. Good job.
User avatar
Jetrel
Posts: 7242
Joined: February 23rd, 2004, 3:36 am
Location: Midwest US

Post by Jetrel »

irrevenant wrote:[EDIT] Oops! Forgot that Jetryl also suggested lengthening the mask. I'm of two minds whether I lost something when I lengthened it though. :?
You didn't lose anything - it looks great.

Also, the arm, appropriately for a warrior, and appropriately for (at least my conception of*) an elf, looks pretty buff.




* Namely - I view elves as being "well formed", but not being "muscle bound". More in the "Bruce Lee" spectrum, less in the "schwarzenegger" end. No problem with them having a little meat on their bones, the only problem comes when it looks to be an impediment to them, rather than just a benefit. By the same token, elves shouldn't look ... twiggy - having them look like "Olive Oyl" is equally unhealthy/un-ideal looking.
User avatar
Query
Posts: 27
Joined: June 20th, 2007, 7:19 pm

Post by Query »

I really love the new look. The, arm, however, is a little buff, as Jetryl said.
Post Reply