Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post finished and unfinished work here for critique and appraisal.
Larkspurlane
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Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Larkspurlane »

I fail at dragons, apparently. Going for the lanky serpentine look for this character but I um... fail at dragons. As previously stated! :D

Some craptastic crosshatching to at least attempt to demonstrate where light's going to be falling here (basically a ray touching on her left forepaw and leg and a bit of wing). The rest of the pic will fade into haze (hence the lack of detail on that second wing).

She's supposed to look suspended in mid-air rather than in motion, this will be more obvious when it's coloured w/ lots of other floaty particles à la dust motes and stuff. Just chilling.

Grateful for redlines, especially on the arms, claws, or whatever strikes you as off. Thanks!

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AngharadTy
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by AngharadTy »

I'm no good with actual redlines, but I can tell you that it looks like the dragon's left arm (the one on our right) has one more joint than the other arm does. Both have the shoulder socket, then elbows, then the left arm has another angle that's not present on the right arm.

I love the head and neck. It looks already like it's hovering, to me, though of course adding dust and suchlike would help even more. =D
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TCStarwind
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by TCStarwind »

I was going to say what Ty said. Maybe bend the toes on the closer paw a little? Otherwise, it looks awesome. And your fail dragons are like... 1000x better than my fail dragons. XD
Larkspurlane
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Larkspurlane »

Oooh, thanks for pointing that out!

I see what I did wrong there, the length of the top of the 'hand' is way too long compared to the equivalent of her right one & it's messing up the way the rest is perceived. So she's like the accordion-armed wonder. Hahaha. *fix*

I'm also thinking the neck's too long, even with her being one of those serpentine bodied dragons. When I stare at her torso/shoulders her neck seems disproportionate.

I need fresh eyes @_@
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AngharadTy
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by AngharadTy »

I dunno, like I said, I think the neck looks nice. I love long-necked dragons.
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Fjorab_Teke
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Fjorab_Teke »

Oh pretty!

I think maybe the depth of the ribcage behind where the arms connect should be fuller, tapering after then to the waist.

Whenever I need a fresh look at a piece of art, I turn it and look again for balance. I also flip it over and peer at it backlit. Looking at it in a mirror has a similar effect.
Larkspurlane
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Larkspurlane »

Spoiler: open/close
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^ Is the hand issue better? I added a thingy matching up the various joints to make sure I didn't mess up and add another one.

Edit -- thanks, Fjorab! I'll smooth out that chest issue, you're right, it's too deep.

Also, I love the flipping trick. I also just ctrl+T the pic around so I'm looking at it from every wonky angle imaginable. I've abused of it with this pic though x_x I can't even see a difference when I flip. I think I need to give it a rest for a few days, haha.
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Larkspurlane
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Larkspurlane »

Chest issue ok? Do I need to make that far shoulder recede now? She looks like her top half is collapsing on itself or something. I think I need to shave off a couple millimeters from the far shoulder.

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... I think I should just go to bed. Haha.
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Larkspurlane
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Larkspurlane »

8 months later... :@

Laenane's pic is done!

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Scales + feathers + cloud texturing in the same pic? Never again!

I've just finished this and I'm pretty tired of it now. There are many issues that make me almost hate this pic, but I put so much time into it that I don't want to not put it up on her lookup.

I am quite pleased with the clouds because I usually have trouble getting them to look really wispy and cottony. But I'm not sure I managed to convey the effect of distance properly (I was trying to make it look like she was far, far above those clouds, but people who I've shown this pic to seem to think she's surrounded by them very closely... blah). RAMBLE RAMBLE SHUT UP AND POST
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Jax
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Jax »

......

How, do you have the patience for all those feathers :O It's absolutely gorgeous! The sun coming out of the clouds really makes the image pop, as do the dark blue with all the orange. And, shockingly, I love the colour palette, and I normally detest pink and orange together

I always tell myself I'll do a picture with lots of detail then chicken out halfway through XD
Kantark
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Kantark »

My God, that's beautiful!
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Ailiel
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Ailiel »

Wow, it's amazing! I can believe after staring at it for so long you've lost perspective on it, but it really is completely gorgeous. The level of detail is astonishing. Those feathers are incredible. And the clouds look wispy and soft as you said. Love it!
AngharadTy
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by AngharadTy »

The sparkles! All the scales! Wow, that is really impressive. =D I love the cloud texture, mannnnn. I want to pet them. They're really good clouds.
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Jazzy
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Jazzy »

Lovely! It's definitely worth all the effort you put into it. I think perhaps the reason people think the clouds are quite close is they have a relatively high level of contrast - if the ones further back in particular were less defined, I think they might look further away. The ones in the foreground look fine to me; they have exactly the effect you were after.
Marah
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Re: Redline this dragon? Thank you

Post by Marah »

That is amazing! I love the way the light falls on the dragon!

And I thought that maybe the clouds look too close because the ones near the tail of the dragon seem to follow the line of the tail. (am I saying that correctly?) As if the dragon just swept them away with its tail.

I don't think it matters, it is a beautiful picture and he looks so serene!
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