Elric pic

[Erik]

Hello everyone - thought I'd share a picture of Elric from my abandoned Chaosium submission. Hope you like!

-erik

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[PsychicWarVeteran]

Very, very nice, Erik!

Is this your own original art? It's a great pic. Do you have any text to go with it?

"Abandoned Chaosium submission," huh? Care to elaborate? :)

Thanks for the submission, Erik. Much appreciated!

[Erik]

Thanks!

An original pic... no text to go along with it really, though initially the idea was inspired by the scene where Elric conjures the mist to hide the Young Kingdoms' fleet before the attack on The Dreaming City.

Yeah, I waffled about sending some stuff in to Chaosium, then finally decided to go back to the drawing board when I felt that this one and the others I did just weren't quite good enough.

-erik

[DeeCrowSeer]

Originally Posted by Erik

Yeah, I waffled about sending some stuff in to Chaosium, then finally decided to go back to the drawing board when I felt that this one and the others I did just weren't quite good enough.

8O 8O 8O

Weren't good enough? Crikey! It looks pretty near perfect to me... I'm wondering why Elric doesn't have armpit hair, but that's my issue... seriously though, I think your picture is astounding. Of course, from my own humble experience I know that the artist can usually see flaws which aren't always visible to others, but I would certainly gnaw off my left arm to be able to create work like yours with my right arm.

Great site too btw... a little scary, but impeccable artwork!

D...

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Originally Posted by Erik

An original pic... no text to go along with it really, though initially the idea was inspired by the scene where Elric conjures the mist to hide the Young Kingdoms' fleet before the attack on The Dreaming City.

Well, see, that's exactly the kind of text I needed. :D Thanks. I'll add your pic to the [broken link] Image Gallery at my next opportunity. If you have others you'd like to contribute, your work is most welcome!

Originally Posted by DeeCrowSeer

Crikey! It looks pretty near perfect to me... seriously though, I think your picture is astounding... I would certainly gnaw off my left arm to be able to create work like yours with my right arm.

Yeah, what he said.

[Erik]

thanks again! :D

I'll post my other pics from the submission I was working on; I'm also working up a new submission that I might actually send in this time

-erik

[Ailanreanter]

I like it lots! Very good choice of colours and blending thereof!
The pose is great, too and the image carries a lot of feeling!
In short: Great! :)

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Okay, well, this is a work in progress, but what do you think? Do we hates it, my precious?



Certain folks find the hair over the eye annoying. Stupid, even. 8O Any thoughts on that?

Need to add the Arctorios Ring to the left hand. Perhaps add a cloak. Cuts in his pale forearms. Cripes, the list is endless. You know how hard it is to make someone look all self-mocking without making them look like they're just torturously constipated? It's pretty hard. I'm not sure I've nailed that one yet, friends. No.

[DeeCrowSeer]

I really like it... very intimdating! Unfortunately images take so long to load on my computer that I'd read your text before I saw the picture, so I'm not sure if I would have noticed the eye if you hadn't mentioned it first... but now you've drawn attention to it, I don't know if I like the way it seems to glow through his hair. Othere than that, it's very impressive. Perhaps a cloak would be good, to add a little more colour to the picture (I know Mr M is always saying Elric only wears black, but where's the fun in that?). Then again, I'm more of a cartoon type, so I'm not good with subtlety in shading and so forth.

But no, I certainly don't "hates" it. I think the expression is perfect... just the right side of "constipated"! :D

[Bob]

My only issue is that I think Stormbringer looks too small. Other than that though, he's looking mightily fine!

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Hey, thanks for the comments guys!

More color, longer sword. Got it.

I'm now completely convinced the hair will have to be totally redone. Not happy with it at all now.

[DeeCrowSeer]

Of course it's easy for me to sit here behind my pencils and say he needs a cloak, but as I can barely even create intersecting tubes in a 3D program, I dread to think how much work is involved in creating anything as lifelike as the above. Just out of curiosity, if you had to redo the hair, how long would that take you?

[PsychicWarVeteran]

Good question, Dee.

There are two major parts to my 3D artwork which I shall call pre-render and post-render.

Pre-render work involves 3D modelling, posing, positioning, lighting, texturing, etc. These things are all done and then an image is rendered by the 3D program. This rendering is only the base of the piece. From it, I create the final product through extensive post-render work in Photoshop.

Post-render work involves using Photoshop and other programs to mold the rough, rendered image into an actual illustration. With regard to hair, this means using my Wacom tablet to give a more detailed, non-plastic look to the 3D-modelled hair. Even with good texturing and transparency mapping, 3D-modelled hair can look very fake, which is why post-render work is so important.

So... to answer your question more directly, completely changing the hair requires either making or buying a new hair model, posing and texturing it adequately, rendering an image, and then touching up the final render so that the hair looks realistic.

Adding a cloak would entail, again, making or buying a cloak, adding it to Elric's ensemble, rendering, then fixing the inherent problems with the 3D model via extensive post-render work.

I imagine I'll spend a good 3-4 hours redoing the hair alone.

3D purists will tell you that you should try to have your render be the final product -- that good modelling and texturing remove the need for post-render work. I respectfully and vehemently disagree, as I am not trying to make a piece of 3D art so much as I am trying to make good art and just happen to use 3D programs to do it.

[kid]

I know Mr M is always saying Elric only wears black, but where's the fun in that?

[annoying]he wore his long hair bunched at the nape of his neck and [. . .] a breastplate of strangely wrought silver, a jerkin of chequered blue and white linen, breeches of scarlet wool and a cloak of rustling green velvet.[/annoying]


We loves it, my precious. We cannot do 3D for the life of us.

Especially the ears. I love the ears.

All apologies to PWV. I love playing with images.



This is why no-one will buy me a stylus.