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CGMythology's Sketchbook (nudity)

30 Jun 2023 18:37 #46036 by cgmythology
I refined the sketch a bit and proceeded with some color tests.  I think most of them work fairly well, it's gonna be hard to pick one but I'd love to hear what you feel works best, so please feel free to let me know your input!  Going to call it a day for now and take a fresh look at the color tests tomorrow morning, hopefully I'll be more decisive then!

 

 
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30 Jun 2023 19:12 - 30 Jun 2023 19:17 #46039 by Valence
Wow, that's a variety of choices to pick from. :)
I kinda like C out of those. It has a nice harmony and the orange glow at the bottom adds a bit more depth although the lower dragons to seem do disappear a little.

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30 Jun 2023 19:53 #46045 by Charlotte
For the background I prefer C too. I like the range from orange at the bottom to purply blue at the top right. I kind of like her skin tone better in A, though, although I'm not sure that colour would look as good against the red background as it does against the green.

For critique, I think the dragons' hind legs look a bit odd, and especially the nearest one seems to have a human leg and foot...

Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.

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01 Jul 2023 04:18 #46053 by cgmythology
Valence:  Indeed, went a little crazy with the color tests, haha.  C is a great choice and I will save it for a future image, I ultimately decided to go with 'E' after giving it much thought!

Charlotte:  C is a great choice, but I think I'll avoid a warm color theme as I have too many of those in my portfolio and I want to challenge myself to do something different, so ultimately I developed 'E' instead.  Great point regarding the dragon's leg, I'm used to drawing human figures so that sometimes sneaks in when drawing creatures.  I'll keep what you said in mind when developing the dragon further, good eye!

...............Decided to go with E after giving it much thought.  I felt it's the most colorful and I also wanted to avoid a warm palette as that's a bit overdone with my work.  The image is still fairly early but I'm fairly pleased with how it's developing, below is the current progress:
  

 
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08 Jul 2023 00:08 #46169 by cgmythology
I resumed work on the painting and it's pretty much finished.  Pretty pleased with it overall.  I'm still open to any final input should anything major be off, so please feel free to let me know!  Below is the current progress followed by the steps for those interested.

 
  
  
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08 Jul 2023 07:49 #46171 by Charlotte
Well, I still think the dragons look like they have human hind legs and I also noticed now, that her left arm looks very short. That should be possibly to remedy by some alterations to the shading, though. I think - I did try a quick paint-over and wasn't entirely successful :P But I think the upper arm needs more shadow on the lower half, to make the arm look bent, and the curve of the arm guard needs to be reversed for the same reason.

Other than that it has the usual colour and saturation I like in your work :)

Any an all misspellings are henceforth blamed on the cats.

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08 Jul 2023 11:10 #46175 by Banj
It's the same issue as with the gladiator type guy earlier in the thread that I commented on. Arm bones don't change size, so if you have a straight arm that you are resting on (and even more so if you are leaning into that arm as she is) it will raise the shoulder that is connected to it. Otherwise the arm would need to be bent with the elbow moving away from us, which in turn would mean the curvature on the braces would be inverted to what's shown, and the shoulder would be turned with the upper arm. Or, the arm would be angled outward to the side, so her hand is resting on the ground further from her body.

 

The foreground rocks they are on are a little flat looking and could do with more depth. They are nicely lit and more clearly defined in your early stage but that 3rd dimension gets a little lost later on.

The moon/planet and sky are really nicely done, as is the lighting on the characters.
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08 Jul 2023 13:41 #46180 by cgmythology
Charlotte:  Interesting point about the legs of the dragons, I don't really see it but then again I'm used to painting human figures so it doesn't seem that off to me.  I think I'll practice drawing more dragons when I have the free time to help me familiarize myself with the anatomy more.  Great point about the upper arm, just that fixed that issue.

Banj:  Excellent point about the arm, and your draw over was very useful.  Thanks for taking the time to show me that.  I fixed the issue now.

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

Made some tweaks to the image based on the feedback received, hopefully it's an improvement.  Please let me know!  Here is the current preview:

 

  
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08 Jul 2023 14:27 #46183 by Charlotte
Might be hard to familiarize oneself with dragon anatomy as nobody can claim to know what they should actually look like. But personally I think these look a bit too human even if the feet and toes are much bigger than human feetsies. :aha:

And you added a moon! :ohmy:

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08 Jul 2023 14:43 #46184 by Valence
I always struggle with dragon anatomy for those same reasons.
Overall I think that the best creatures to look at for inspiration are bats. Unless you want to do those weird variations that have four legs plus two wings. I have no idea how those work. :dumb:
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