Corvvs' Thread of Ill-Fated Portraits: Merman Hunter

[Corvvs]

WOW. That should be quite helpful. Thanks a bunch, gonna fix this today. I looked around for a while to find pictures of jumping lions, as you said, but I couldn't find one I think this will help though.

[Cernunnos]

Hi,

lions, tigers... jumping:

http://www.stockley.co.za/gallery/lion-006L.jpg
http://www.francisdonnacaldwell.com/_im ... umping.jpg
http://ponytailclub.com/storage/the-ranch/Lion.jpg
http://pro.corbis.com/images/AIA005.jpg ... C77787A3F}
http://www.snapfizzle.com/bpfr/nextel/w ... /Tiger.gif

BTW, cats should have a similar anatomy...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/ ... cats39.jpg
http://th01.deviantart.com/fs13/150/i/2 ... graphy.jpg
http://msp2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/ ... nAir01.jpg

[Corvvs]

Well, I fiddled and fooled for a while, and came up with this. The previous ones were meant to be hovering, but, as I realized how ludicrous such an activity is for a massive living tank, this new outline is meant to be of the gryphon landing. How does it look? His left foot is hidden behind his right leg, but I wasn't sure how to hint at it. Also, i simplified the anatomy a bit since I was having so much trouble; I'll add in some muscle lines and fiddle with it for the next update, provided that there aren't any major pose/perspective issues. Thanks in advance... especially for bearing with me.

P.S. @ kitty - the red (orange?) line guides were very good for the flying pose when I tried them, but they seemed odd for landing. I didn't ignore them, I investigated them but ended up changing the whole thing.

[Kestenvarn]

It doesn't look as though you've really changed it that much since my last post. Have you tried experimenting with different poses?

Flight might not be the best option here, since the portrait is static.

[zookeeper]

Looks like a human with a bird's head and wings. That is, not like a gryphon.

[kitty]

kestenvarn and zookeeper are right, i fear.
how about sketching only the lion in a nice position (using ref), then post it and afterwards add wings and change the head?

[Corvvs]

Yes, it seems I have come around in a circle . A while ago someone (doofus? TSI?) recommended that I just start over... That may be the best option at this point.

[Corvvs]

I more or less did what you said kitty, but misread it and already added the gryphon parts. My ref was this: http://www.earthtools.co.uk/Spanish-Sta ... lions2.jpg

how is it?

[Turuk]

Personally, I think it's a much better step in the right direction. A pose with the creature on the ground lets you to edit it a bit more based on C&C, I think you backed yourself into a corner by having it flying, as there were only so many ways you could adjust the body/wings.

I understand this is just a rough sketch, but what is the bib looking piece under his head? Is that supposed to be similar to the breasted plumage on a bird?

[Skizzaltix]

Agreed with Turuk--It's a big improvement.

I feel like the legs are a little bit too close in to the body, though--With the front legs, it sort of makes sense, but I feel like the hindquarters should sprawl a little more, and be more massive
Anyway, good work!

By the way, congratulations on the Forum Sith, Turuk. That was rather fast

[Turuk]

By the way, congratulations on the Forum Sith, Turuk. That was rather fast

Thanks. Effort and devotion to the game pay off, as well as a willingness to be evil.



On topic, Skizzaltix does raise a good point, and I agree that the hindquarters could stand to be a bit larger, however, I think it has to do more with body proportions. When viewing the creature, the chest dominates the body, and I think it has to do with size/how it tapers down/general shape of it. The front legs still seem to attach to shoulders near the head like a human's, instead of attaching to a shoulder-like joint much more animalistic and lower on the body.

Just a bit of critique though, you get credit for acknowledging your issues with the other piece and starting from scratch.



Some images from various sites that help to show the body in motion and standing/sitting to give an idea of how the parts could go. The last picture gives a great view of front legs.
Image #1
Image #2
Image #3

[Corvvs]

[Previous post deleted and replaced]

As far as anatomy/posing,

* enlarged and rotated his right leg
* shifted his left leg
* added some lines to the head
* neatened the lower jaw (beak)
* added the tail
* added a bit of a wing (poky protrusion going off to the left)

I then shaded it all with gray: the darkest gray is completely in shadow, the next darkest is ambient light only, the middle gray is a little bit of lightsource and ambient light, and the lightest is highlighted by the lightsource. Now that I look at it, the shading on the left of the chest should expand further over, I think... oh well.

The "bib" will become a nice ruff when I dedicate some more time to it. ATM, there's some odd looking shadows there that don't correspond to the lines or what the shape seems to be - that will be fixed.

[doofus-01]

This may just be a stylistic difference of opinions, and if so you shouldn't change it to fit my opinion, but isn't its face a little flat? Kind of like an owl, or maybe a parrot. Too much bulk in the forehead (or not enough in the back of the head) and the beak is possibly too vertical.

[Corvvs]

/agree. Better? (there's a bit of work on the ruff there too, don't worry about it.)

[Turuk]

It is better, but still seems a bit flat, and I think this may have to do with the ridge above the eyes still. Given the shape of the head of a bird of prey (as per the image below) I would tone it back a bit more, maybe half as much as it is, or smooth it down entirely. This lets you keep the head the same size it is now while giving that sleek look more like a hawk or eagle.