CGAN March 2018 - Roman Gods - WIPs

Banj: Yep, you're definitely on point with the issues regarding the steps, I'll keep it mind when I continue to work on the image, thank you!

Thomgirl: Really enjoying your concept, very much looking forward to how it progresses!

............

I worked on the image some more in between work. I think I'll work on it exclusively during the weekend and spend a lot of time on it then. Feedback welcome as always

Everybody's pictures seem to be progressing well here.
Everybody else's, that is.

Everything I've been doing over the past few days (for this pic and others) has been absolutely terrible but I finally managed a bit of improvement to my two-faced fellow tonight.



I'm hoping I can start to tighten it up a bit more now but ... we'll see.


Keep up the good work, everyone.

Mine isn't too far along either Val!
I hope you're going to keep the painterly styles different on the two faces like your WIP suggests and the 'join' between the two is going to give you some interesting challenges but also some great opportunities to melt flesh (maniacal laughter ensues!)
All your forms are looking good already CG. Especially on her dress and Plutos throne - some really exciting chances to play around with those ghostly figures at the back here.
Thomgirl - flesh tones are looking really convincing already and I get a real feeling that the leather armour encases her form with those early drop shadows.

So heres my first sketch:
Bacchus on a Vespa, excuse the rather stereotypical thought process behind this. I'm just deciding whether to leave him quite slim and muscular (as I see him in statues) or whether to flesh him out with red rosey cheeks and a big belly as he appears in many of the paintings I have found

Valence- I think you're making some good progress despite your concerns. I gotta echo Atto though and caution actually tightening up too much. I really like the brush mess going on. Some good textures. I'd keep any tightening to around the eyes and some highlighted sharp areas like the nose and the lips. Other than that, I like a lot of the looseness. The texture on the lower portion of the bust is really nice. I also really dig the dual lighting tones. Good ambiance.

Atto- I am TOTALLY stoked to see you take a modern approach to the idea. I seriously considered trying to like a sci fi Minerva, but decided to stick with classic instead. Not regretting it, but I'm really liking your out of the ordinary concept on the subject. Should be a lot fun.

As for me, trying to keep to my own advice and keep it loose. A very fun mess, gotta say. I may do a little further tightening on the lips, nose and certainly the hands. Metal's giving me a fit... SHOULD have stuck to leather, but eh... f-it. She's a goddess, she should be clad in the best. It's far from done, just laying out stuff to work out issues. The owl will be my reward, looking forward to tackling him, but he shall be last.

Thanks Thomgirl - unfortunately I was really struggling with any decent ref for a guy in a toga sitting on a Vespa so I've changed it up completely.
I've decided instead to go with Vulcans underwater forge cause thats gonna be SO much easier.
I dropped a blue layer over my ref set to lighten to try and get a better idea of how this might look and then I've worked up his face some with darker hues (purples and blacks) to push the contrast - still miles to go and I haven't even begun to put in the actual forge - which is going to be a mini volcano type thingy with lava spewing out, an anvil and some suggested forms in the background - but I'd love to know if you think I'm on the right track colour wise - Cheers.
Edit - before anyone mentions the glaringly awful mistake, I've changed his hair up so it looks like its in a current! OOOoopsy
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Haven't done one of these contests in a while so I have to remember to put up WIPs as I go. I hope it's okay to post more than one WIP in a single post because I'm putting four into this one (catching up).

Been looking a lot at the work of Alphonse Mucha lately, and how he used to incorporate decorative borders and elements as part of his work. So I wanted to try working other graphic elements into the piece (never tried this before in this style).

WIP01: Drew up shapes in Photoshop to make a decorative design to use as elements to frame my character.
WIP02: Filled the shapes and the border with Art Noveau elements (used stencils and stamps I found online) and adjusted the colors to match the color scheme I have in mind. Since Luna and Diana are part of the same Roman lunar god pantheon (and Diana is a huntress), I used nature graphics to fill the design.
WIP03: Painted a moon and inserted it into the round framing element to act as a halo around the character's head.
WIP04: Used the framing composition as a guide to draw a character (on it's own layer) within the design graphic frame and added some preliminary values (still need to work out the shadows, etc.) Will most likely have stronger light coming from the right.

WIP05: Decided that the color scheme is completely wrong for a moon goddess. The colors are too warm, so I stopped and adjusted the tones of the framing elements to be colder and make the moon brighter by comparison. Still not sure about the decision to make her look like an armored up Marvel version of a Roman goddess as opposed to using more traditional flowing garb. I'm thinking on it.

I think Mucha's ornate designs are the perfect fit for this challenge. I've always wanted to have a go at it but I just don't have the skills for the intricate linework.
You obviously DO have those skills because this already looks amazing!
Both colour schemes looked fine to me so don't worry too much. Just keep drawing those lovely flowing lines.

Atto wrote:

...the 'join' between the two is going to give you some interesting challenges...

Ain't that the truth! (he says after struggling)

I rather liked the humour of your Vespa pic, Atto. You could've put an Audrey Hepburn reference in and made it a Roman (Gods) Holiday.
But your second sketch does fit the theme and tone better and it does have that recognisable muted stillness of being underwater.


I'm liking the progress of your pic too, Thomgirl.
The colours are well chosen and give it a consistent, harmonious feel and those feathers already look convincing with those expressive brush strokes.