New Portfolio Piece Critique

Thrace

Kevin Longueil

if you were to treat the towers the same way you treated the mountain you would have the core shadow in the middle of the towers and fade to the highlights at the edges - just like the mountain shape - right now you have the shadows at the edges of the towers and a highlight in the middle - same thing for the dragon - keep the rim light you had and darken the value in the core or center of the volumes of the dragon - in some places you have a very thick outline - i think you are putting this on the bottom edges of the dragon to show weight - i don't think this formula works for a flying thing - the road looks good - wasn't sure i was making sense with that - the castle looks better where it meets the ground - still a tangent at the top but it is a new one where the finial is touching the edge....do you think the where the moon hits the bottom edge of the castle is a tangent too?...it might be - one thing also i will mention is in Lee White's paint over he softened the edge of the water at the horizon..he also softened the edge of the moon..or is that from Jonathan B? ..either way i would at least put a layer over this and soften some edges and see what you think - as for the tangent...can you increase the canvas size a bit on top? i'm sure you do not want to shrink your castle any further..but you could also increase the size of the castle so more of it is off camera .....maybe Rich will pop by again - so great to get more than one opinion - Cheers

Rich Green

You know I was looking at the update and reading Kevin's comments and as I thought about the image some more I kept wondering if the entire castle would be more in silhouette with such a bright light source directly behind it? I mean in a real world scenario would we really be able to see the front of the castle or the details like that?

Now of course this is a fantasy illustration so it does not have to be totally realistic but it does make me think about it some. Or at least wonder if the castle should at least be a bit darker than it currently is to give that illusion without removing all of the details we see. This way it does not need to be just a solid silhouette but that increased contrast against the moon could be nice.

Hmmm - interesting lighting challenge.

Ace Connell

@Rich-Green Good point.Yeah, with all the light behind, it'd be totally blown out and almost all silhouette (why is that such a difficult word to spell?)

Ace

Thrace

I think I am done with this one.

Rich Green

OK so now that you are done working on this piece - I have to ask the burning story line question I have had. Who is the figure in the castle window???

Thrace

@Rich-Green she is the Dragon Queen.

Lynn Larson

Well done Thrace! I really love the colors, and it is just all around beautiful...nice job dear!

Thrace

@Lynn-Larson gosh, thank you so much for your kind words!!

Will Terry

Hi Thrace, here are a few of my suggestions - nice piece and as always - these are just suggestions

Thrace

@Will-Terry thank you so much for your input!! I will work on your recommendations and I love the bridge that you added!!

Will Terry

@Will-Terry You're very welcome - I meant to say "parallel" down there on the bottom...also - I would get good bridge reference - my bridge is horrible

Thrace

@Will-Terry I knew what you meant. I will get a reference but I don't think yours is horrible it gives me a good idea of what to do!! I really do appreciate your taking the time to help me it means so much!!