Wintersday Workshop

In response to Blue's Critique:

1)corrected perspective of pillars


2)fixed blocky face (I think)

3)added some subtle atmospheric perspective to the figure. Not sure if I'm totally convinced on this one since it is such a short distance Also, since most atmospheric perspective is due to dust or mist in the air and the current precipitation is snow I'm not sure it will play much of a role. But here it is anyhow so let me know what you guys think. Does it add more depth?

4) Tried to pull the bow towards her by moving it to the right. I didn't think turning the plane of the bow towards (approaching parallel to) the picture plane would have fixed the problem since it would have looked like she was shooting her own foot.

5) Added some atmospheric perspective to the pillars, wreath, and bow. This toned down some of the highlights and cooled down some of the warmer colors like the red bow. Also reduced the value of some of the larger snowflakes to prevent distracting the eye. My larger concern is not the light values themselves but rather that the light values aren't paired with dark values which would create bullseyes to attract the eye. I'll save that for the centers of interest.



A word about the composition and design. It is roughly triangular with 3 centers of interest that Blue adeptly pointed out: The present, the figure, and the grentchie with the blue eyes. To draw the eyes to the present I used contrasting colors (red and green) rather than contrasting values. The eyes of the grentchie on his comparatively darker face created a strong value contrast. The main figure also displays a large value contrast (another reason I'm hesitant to add atmospheric perspective to the figure because it would blunt the value contrast). But the figure is also popping with warm tones against the cooler background.

Thanks again Blue for your well thought out critique. I'm very appreciative that you would take the time.

@Chyminy: Yea its a wire twisted around itself and then you make a stickman sort of. And i put a brass tube in one leg so it can be inserted on the wooden base. (i hope that made sense lol)
This is a pix of how the armature looked before. (theres tape over the wire)

Think the deer is too creepy??

http://i47.tinypic.com/2wf4nrb.jpg

wow Chyminy, that looks *much* better, great progress!

And I can't wait to see that sculpture Evangelin, that's certainly original!
Looks great so far, I really like her proportions, and her tummy looks... so real! O.o'

As my studying drained all my inspiration I decided to give the colouring a try. Went better then I expected. Noticed that shadows can be alot darker then I thought, as you can see on Hailfall ops: Will give her some darker shadows later. All subjects to experiment

Anyway here is colouring on Chicken of the Seas and Hailfall. Hope you like it. Don't know if I'm gonna keep the boots of Chicken this way, I find them rather ugly :?


Hope people like 'm (specially chicken and shala ofcourse )

Haha i love this Tommy ^^

@Chyminy: I really like the angle & setting you chose!

@Crucist: I think the boots look cool!

@Evangelin: Great job on the details; I agree with Tzu-- her stomach looks real!

@Funeral Rites: Like Eragon said, you should add the roller beetle too :P; as for the deer, are you trying to make it a norn form by having the humanoid body? Great job on the papercrafts!

Sleigh Jacking :

Nice Zidane! very awesome

although it feels like the focus is on the entire left-side of the pic and the right feels strangely empty...idk ;-) just rambling

p.s. i want a flying polar bear with a shiny red nose

You have your very own style zidane. And I love it!
Great chance on falling into the prices again!

Ok, finally done with exams and home for the holidays

Everyone's entries are looking great! I am especially interested in seeing how Tzu's costume turns out. Your level of dedication and craftsmanship is admirable!

Here's what I'm working on:



The 2nd image is all blurry because it's still stuck in its jar.. I couldn't find a jar large enough, so it's sealed itself to the bottom! He was really just supposed to be a test run, but I've grown rather fond of him, and even if he isn't quite contest material I'd hate to shatter him

@ Dyeane, that is so cool! Reminds me of chemistry class experiments years ago Except that that was with something blue...

@ Chyminy, your pic looks so much better after you retouched it following Blue's suggestions!

@ Zidane, awesome pic! I want that shiny nosed polar bear! ^_^

I can't wait to see everyone's finished work!


Well, this is as far as I got with my pic...
I dunno what else to do

Minami, in my opinion the lights look somehow cheap and crude when compared to the sweet and detailed avatars, and as such they distract rather than add to the image. Something like a wreath pattern around the edges would produce a visually much more attractive frame and if you then draw a branch of mistletoe hanging from the top it will add to the story and people who spot it will laugh out loud when they understand what will happen after the avatars have traded gifts

I HAVE FINISHED!!



sorry about the preview thingy, I'm just making sure that no one will nick it

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@ Minami: I agree with tmakinen, the lights distract from your wonderful image a bit. I think a big part of you background problems comes from the wide crop. You could crop away a lot of the white stuff and focus your scene at the same time - don't be afraid to crop out little parts of your figures as well! Maybe a bit like that?:

Minami: I have to agree with the above comments. You've obviously put a lot of work into the figures that such a flat background does them little justice. I wouldn't suggest anything too detailed though as they need to stay the focus.

Morag: You might want to try adding a very subtle warming of the colours around the handshake to draw the eye to it. Just a tiny amount will be enough to really cement that as the focal point.

Quick poke about to elaborate what I mean:

Thanks guys!
Your suggestions would fix the problem I've been seeing, thanks so much ^_^

I'll get to it asap

@ Morag: Owoooh... soo awesome!

@ widowmaker: you are sooooo right! Thanks a ton!
@ minami: thanks!

new version:

very awesome morag love it <3

wowsy, Zidane, I LOVE your textures! XD

And thanks, Dyeane. What exactly did you make the frost effect on your snowman of? It's brilliant, looks so real! o.O' And can you take it out of the jar, etc? Your project looks really interesting, got me really curious. :3

Minami, I agree with what everyone else have said, somewhat. I think your background/frame looks really cute, but it's true that it doesn't do your characters much justice in that case. And I wonder what's in Grenth's gift??? D8

Morag D, FANTASTIC artwork, so incredibly inspired and stylish and original, and the theme is just perfect! Widowmaker's idea made it perfect in my opinion, I've no CC for you! XD

@ Dyeane. It looks to me like a salt or sugar crystal figure (am I wrong?), so couldn't you just put a little bit of hot water in the bottom to loosen it up? Just like a mm or two to work it away. I wouldnt try rocking the figure to get it off the bottom, maybe once you dissolve a little of the very bottom you could take a pair of chopsticks and tape a short length of fishing line or dental floss to the very tips (tied and duct taped to be secure). Put the tips down to the very bottom of the jar and loop it under the feet into the dissolved groove. Maybe a little sawing motion with help lever it slightly away from the jar bottom or you can loop it and use the sticks/string to focus the pressure to that area where you want it to break instead of higher up the figure.

Dzjudz, in my opinion this is a much better idea than the first one, and it's funny and original as well.

If you have trouble visualizing the environment then it might be a good idea to go to the place in game, take some nice screenshots and use those as a reference. Should help a lot since the perspective is somewhat challenging.

While we all know that it's a trap, you could underline the fact by making Grenth take a sneak peek from under the hood as he waits for the descending Dwayna. Another possibility would be to draw the scene from the perspective of Grenth (since it's his trap after all) and put Grenth on the foreground, facing camera, rubbing his hands in evil anticipation while we see Dwayna walking down the slope with rabbits at the background. That would provide a more dramatic setting and you would have both characters facing the camera instead of the other way round.

Edit: also, that way you could make Grenth an active participant of the scene, as he could, e.g., be making wintersday gifts with 'unusual' contents (see Nightmare Before Christmas).

Ah yes, I didn't mention that I was planning on making a 4-part comic again. This is only the first of the four screens. (Oh man what have I gotten myself into, even this one only has taken me a lot of time already ). The (un?)expected Grenth revelation (I know everyone sees it coming) is planned for the third screen. The second screen shows Dwayna about halfway down, following the first rabbit, and with several hints that she's walking into a trap. The fourth screen will show a victorious Grenth and a captured Dwayna.

@Tzu & Kiya

Borax crystals, actually They form faster than salt/sugar. It's supposed to come out of the jar but it's stuck! I added way too much borax to the water, I guess! I was so paranoid about not adding enough, heh.The hot water thing maaaay work to loosen it, but there's soo much borax layered at the bottom I'm not sure if it'll be effective. I'm definitely going to try that though.

I want to make a few more, but I ran out of white stems! I thought it'd only take a couple to make a figure, but it takes like 5. I need to go get more.

I never heard of using that before. I need to try it!