kitty's elvish portraits

Production of artwork for the game by regular contributors takes place here.

Moderator: Forum Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
kitty
Retired Portrait Director
Posts: 1290
Joined: January 2nd, 2008, 3:29 pm

Post by kitty »

ok - i got that you don't like that concept for the druid :(

but because i like her that way, i finished her anyways... perhaps she will be useful as a custom portrait or so.
concerning holding her dress up, i thought of her as getting closer to nature, plants growing along her path dancing through the woods and she would gather up her dress while hopping over roots... :lol:

i'll give her another try... but you won't get a half naked elfen maiden from me! if you want to see nude girls, the internet offers enough already.


@ groovy: thank you for your long replies and tips! i agree with you about the muscle, but i think your advice for the head leaves her a bit to brainless. and the hair could be a bit backcombed. and she is obviously illuminated from both sides, so that the main shadow area has to be in the middle. in the last version her face was just started and the skirt had no shading at all... your lightning effect trick may be nice for technical objects which have equally strong lightsources, but for a complex form like the human body it won't have any use it seems to me :? do you do your portraits in vector? painting straight away in photoshop always seemed easier to me.
Attachments
druid02.png
druid02.png (108.78 KiB) Viewed 5544 times
Blarumyrran
Art Contributor
Posts: 1700
Joined: December 7th, 2006, 8:08 pm

Post by Blarumyrran »

dont know why, but it looks like something between male and female, which might be considerably worse than the "extremes" :/
User avatar
Redeth
Art Contributor
Posts: 338
Joined: January 21st, 2006, 5:08 pm
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Post by Redeth »

Syntax_Error wrote:dont know why, but it looks like something between male and female, which might be considerably worse than the "extremes" :/
I got the same impression.... I do like the concept, though, so I played around with it until a few details bothered me no more (neck, right shoulder/arm, jawline, etc.) :S

kitty, your portraits rule, I'm sure all of them will be useful. :)
Attachments
druid02_f.png
druid02_f.png (103.65 KiB) Viewed 5501 times
- Rojo Capo Rey de Copas -
User avatar
Sgt. Groovy
Art Contributor
Posts: 1471
Joined: May 22nd, 2006, 9:15 pm
Location: Helsinki

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

do you do your portraits in vector? painting straight away in photoshop always seemed easier to me.
I got more into vector when I was trying to follow the Lutes/cell shaded style, but I've since noticed that since it's conceptually completely different from real-life painting/drawing, it is much more useful as a learning experience, forcing me to rethink everything. Thinking the image as a collection of freely mutable areas of colour and gradients has taught me to look the traditional ways in a whole new light as well.

ETA:

Urgh, Redeth's Girly Girl version is no improvement, IMO.
but i think your advice for the head leaves her a bit to brainless.
Actually, what I suggested was a bit steeper forehead, which would have given her more brainroom. The red line indicates where I see the edge of the skull lie right now.

ETA2:

I only now noticed this: why is her shoulder bulging out like that, and so edgy? It's like she's keeping a cigarette pack inside her sleeve.
Attachments
druid02_424.jpg
druid02_424.jpg (7.73 KiB) Viewed 5482 times
Tiedäthän kuinka pelataan.
Tiedäthän, vihtahousua vastaan.
Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
User avatar
Jetrel
Posts: 7242
Joined: February 23rd, 2004, 3:36 am
Location: Midwest US

Post by Jetrel »

kitty wrote:i'll give her another try... but you won't get a half naked elfen maiden from me! if you want to see nude girls, the internet offers enough already.

This is the sprite:
Image

It's fine if her torso is covered, and if she's showing no cleavage, but her shoulders, and (most of) her legs should be bare to match the sprite. A significant part of her clothing should actually be plants, rather than merely being plants draped over clothing. The trick with the skirt is to have it split in several places, and look very ragged - in fact, all of her clothes should look very ragged, and the line between clothing and plant covering should be a bit tough to make a call on.

Right now, she's costumed like ... well, a costume. It's especially the flat, blocky-cut fabric, and the full skirt that contribute to this feeling like something contrived. I mean, I'm all in favor of not having gratuitous and misapplied cheesecake; it's silly - but this seems almost reactionary to it, and suffers for it.


:hmm: If you'd like, I can take a swing at it, though I'm curious to see what you'd come up with given the above suggestions.
User avatar
wayfarer
Art Contributor
Posts: 933
Joined: June 16th, 2005, 7:07 pm
Location: Following the Steps of Goethe
Contact:

Post by wayfarer »

Who said that we don't like the concept.
Ah whatever. :annoyed:
This girl, this boy, They were part of the land. What happens to the places we used to tend?
She's a hard one to trust, And he's a roving ghost. Will you come back, will you come back, Or leave me alone?

-Ghost Fields
User avatar
kitty
Retired Portrait Director
Posts: 1290
Joined: January 2nd, 2008, 3:29 pm

Post by kitty »

gna - next version....

thank you all for your comments and the edits on the last version! but they were not really necessary, i did it just for my pleasure, it wasn't useful for the druid as was clear beforehand...



@ jetryl: of course i know what the sprite looks like. :roll: but that's where my problem starts. i find it really awful... can connection to nature only be indicated by a half naked girl? i have nothing against nudity, but show me a single good looking male unit that undressed in the game... i'm just upset about that kind of disproportionateness (if you guys get handsome digital nudes, we girls should get some hot looking nudist warriors, too - or no one). and thus your comment that my last version was reactionary is spot on. whatever...



@ wayfarer: ???? look at jetryl's comment above yours...





(and no, the second one is not serious, it was just a by-product)
Attachments
druid04.png
druid04.png (52.33 KiB) Viewed 4688 times
druid3.png
druid3.png (144.04 KiB) Viewed 5513 times
Last edited by kitty on February 18th, 2008, 9:57 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
irrevenant
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 3692
Joined: August 15th, 2005, 7:57 am
Location: I'm all around you.

Post by irrevenant »

kitty wrote:@ jetryl: of course i know what the sprite looks like. :roll: but that's where my problem starts. i find it really awful... can connection to nature only be indicated by a half naked girl
To me it seems reasonable to have her skin overgrown with vines etc. Like your second picture only with a lot more vines so that it covers basically all the exposed flesh.

Jetryl, would that be cool?
User avatar
Sapient
Inactive Developer
Posts: 4453
Joined: November 26th, 2005, 7:41 am
Contact:

Post by Sapient »

I kind of pictured a druid to wear animal hides / fur instead of woven fabric or silk, but maybe that's just me.
http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/User:Sapient... "Looks like your skills saved us again. Uh, well at least, they saved Soarin's apple pie."
User avatar
irrevenant
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 3692
Joined: August 15th, 2005, 7:57 am
Location: I'm all around you.

Post by irrevenant »

Sapient wrote:I kind of pictured a druid to wear animal hides / fur instead of woven fabric or silk, but maybe that's just me.
A human druid probably would. Elves are generally depicted as having a sacred respect for nature and probably wouldn't kill animals for their hides.
User avatar
Sgt. Groovy
Art Contributor
Posts: 1471
Joined: May 22nd, 2006, 9:15 pm
Location: Helsinki

Post by Sgt. Groovy »

I find the vines rather impractical for clothing. Why not rather have moss and lichen growing all over her? And some cyanobacteria in her hair to make it green, like sloths have.
Tiedäthän kuinka pelataan.
Tiedäthän, vihtahousua vastaan.
Tiedäthän, solmu kravatin, se kantaa niin synnit
kuin syntien tekijätkin.
User avatar
JW
Posts: 5046
Joined: November 10th, 2005, 7:06 am
Location: Chicago-ish, Illinois

Post by JW »

Um....this is a wonderful debate and everything, but I think kitty's portrait of the left of druid3 is fine without further reconceptualization. The one on the right we'll save for Sexnoth. :wink:

(Old thread that apparently got deleted by autopruner or something :cry: )
User avatar
wayfarer
Art Contributor
Posts: 933
Joined: June 16th, 2005, 7:07 pm
Location: Following the Steps of Goethe
Contact:

Post by wayfarer »

kitty wrote: @ wayfarer: ???? look at jetryl's comment above yours...
He said it doesn't fit the sprite butthere is a difference between not liking the concept and not fitting.
Because I liked it rather much like others too btw.

kitty wrote: @ jetryl: of course i know what the sprite looks like. :roll: but that's where my problem starts. i find it really awful... can connection to nature only be indicated by a half naked girl? i have nothing against nudity, but show my a single good looking male unit that undressed in the game... i'm just upset about that kind of disproportionateness (if you guys get handsome digital nudes, we girls should get some hot looking nudist warriors, too - or no one). and thus your comment that my last version was reactionary is spot on. whatever...
You know what I could sprite you something like this.
To fulfill the quota. :P
This girl, this boy, They were part of the land. What happens to the places we used to tend?
She's a hard one to trust, And he's a roving ghost. Will you come back, will you come back, Or leave me alone?

-Ghost Fields
User avatar
kitty
Retired Portrait Director
Posts: 1290
Joined: January 2nd, 2008, 3:29 pm

Post by kitty »

@ groovy: i don't think there are cyanobacteria in wesnoth :wink: .... i like to have medieval explanations in medieval setttings. a world with magic and elves who grow wings ( :roll: ) shouldn't have a concept of bacteria at all...

@ jw: yay for sexnoth! are there pictures? :P

@ wayfarer: of course there is a difference between liking and fitting... but i consider it liking in this case. i could have shortened the other girl's sleeves, added a few plants and so on - but i'm dealing with (at least it appears to be that way) a bunch of guys wanting elven chicks...
and the warriors on your image are not at all as naked as wesnoth's druid - they have trousers, shirts, boots. pfft. and anyways even if they were hot enough - my point is, that they are not in game. :twisted:
User avatar
wayfarer
Art Contributor
Posts: 933
Joined: June 16th, 2005, 7:07 pm
Location: Following the Steps of Goethe
Contact:

Post by wayfarer »

Oh well it is more a loincloth. The artists had to keep it at least halfway non G-rated. :lol:
Personal I would have made all elves like the druid.
On the other side we shouldn't go down the path 300 went. I mean yeah 300 well build Spartan without money for a shirt.

I say druid02 would have made a nice female warrior with some changes the pose just screams it.
The new druid is not bad either, very nice face but the leaves should be part of the clothes not destroying them.

For clothes well subtly can sometimes be more fascinating than the obvious. :wink:
This girl, this boy, They were part of the land. What happens to the places we used to tend?
She's a hard one to trust, And he's a roving ghost. Will you come back, will you come back, Or leave me alone?

-Ghost Fields
Post Reply