Critique this PS dragon painting?

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11-09-2010, 04:34 AM
Puffin

Critique this PS dragon painting?

I've been working on it for three hours now, and I'd appreciate some helpful comments, like how I can make it look more realistic. You can always save the picture, add notes in paint and then re-upload it, or whatever.

http://i54.tinypic.com/kxlyv.png

Drag and drop into address bar for the full size.
And sorry about the watermark; I have to protect my work. :P

Thanks guys!
11-09-2010, 02:11 PM
nina

watermark is a bit overdone
11-09-2010, 05:22 PM
Puffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquanina

watermark is a bit overdone

I know; it's just because my art's been stolen and the watermark removed before. It's a thin line to draw.
11-09-2010, 06:41 PM
Philosopher8659

I do not see anything wrong with it.
11-09-2010, 07:29 PM
Xei

I think it's awesome. Are you going to colour it? The only thing I can contribute at the moment is that it perhaps looks a bit to smooth, as if it's a 3D render or something. Adding some texture to the surfaces, if you think this is appropriate, would really bring it to life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquanina

watermark is a bit overdone

:/

Actually Puffin, I'd probably suggest changing the watermark; use some kind of deforming tool on it to make it irregular. Currently somebody could easily remove that by just making a layer in the same font on photoshop and then reversing the change in lightness.
11-09-2010, 08:12 PM
Puffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xei

I think it's awesome. Are you going to colour it? The only thing I can contribute at the moment is that it perhaps looks a bit to smooth, as if it's a 3D render or something. Adding some texture to the surfaces, if you think this is appropriate, would really bring it to life.

:/

Actually Puffin, I'd probably suggest changing the watermark; use some kind of deforming tool on it to make it irregular. Currently somebody could easily remove that by just making a layer in the same font on photoshop and then reversing the change in lightness.

I'm planning on coloring it, unless grayscale looks better in the end. I'll try adding some textures and see how it goes. :)
As for the watermark, I'll take your advice into consideration; that's actually a very good idea.
11-09-2010, 08:23 PM
Philosopher8659

Do you really think something is wrong with it? Or, are you starting to suspect that technical skill is not the whole of art?
11-09-2010, 09:38 PM
Marvo

My only critique is that is doesn't really look like a dragon, but rather some kind of alien thing. A mix between Aliens and dragons maybe.

Looks good though :)
11-09-2010, 10:31 PM
Puffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philosopher8659

Do you really think something is wrong with it? Or, are you starting to suspect that technical skill is not the whole of art?

There's not necessarily anything "wrong" with it, but it's not a perfect piece of art either. :)

Marvo - thanks for the input. I only look at it and see a dragon, so it's good to get another perspective.
11-09-2010, 10:35 PM
Xei

Marvo has seen many dragons in the Danish dragon zoos and so does not take a liberal view to deviations from their proper appearance.
11-09-2010, 11:06 PM
Philosopher8659

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puffin

There's not necessarily anything "wrong" with it, but it's not a perfect piece of art either. :)

Technically, it is very good, or at least appears so on a monitor. But as far as art being perfect or not, that distinction is not rated too often by execution, but on something else I believe. Of course, unless one establish some definitions, one is walking on jelllo.
11-09-2010, 11:10 PM
Samael

You might want to add a bit of negative space around the beak; it seems a bit crowded right now.

Changing your background would also make a world of difference. You built the drawing up around that #575757 colour, so at the moment the foreground still fades into the background quite a bit. Consider lightening the background up and adding some scenery, even if that ends up being a fairly simple texture. It'll make the dragon pop a lot better.

The values are great - lots of darks and lots of lights, and your light source itself is pretty consistent. All in all, it's a great picture. Apart from what Xei said about the smoothness, the only other thing I might recommend is finishing the drawing up until it leads off the page. Or are you planning on cropping it into a closeup?
11-10-2010, 12:27 AM
Puffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philosopher8659

Technically, it is very good, or at least appears so on a monitor. But as far as art being perfect or not, that distinction is not rated too often by execution, but on something else I believe. Of course, unless one establish some definitions, one is walking on jelllo.

You have a point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samael

You might want to add a bit of negative space around the beak; it seems a bit crowded right now.

Changing your background would also make a world of difference. You built the drawing up around that #575757 colour, so at the moment the foreground still fades into the background quite a bit. Consider lightening the background up and adding some scenery, even if that ends up being a fairly simple texture. It'll make the dragon pop a lot better.

The values are great - lots of darks and lots of lights, and your light source itself is pretty consistent. All in all, it's a great picture. Apart from what Xei said about the smoothness, the only other thing I might recommend is finishing the drawing up until it leads off the page. Or are you planning on cropping it into a closeup?

Good tips, thanks!
I'm planning on finishing the drawing then I might crop some of the neck out.
11-10-2010, 03:47 AM
Marvo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xei

Marvo has seen many dragons in the Danish dragon zoos and so does not take a liberal view to deviations from their proper appearance.

This is true. In Denmarkland, we have the danish "drage", otherwise known as "dragon". It looks like this:

http://img602.imageshack.us/img602/1295/kitelbl02.jpg
11-10-2010, 04:06 AM
Invader

The only thing that catches my eye, besides the smoothness that Xei pointed out, was the way the lip is visible at the corner of the mouth (which is characteristic of some birds and amphibians). I don't think reptiles have lips, and it adds a bit to the soft texture of the dragon where normally they'd tend towards the rough, scaly side. That was probably intentional anyways, but there you go. Other than that it's pleasing to the eye.

edit: I wasn't entirely correct.

Spoiler for this:

corners of mouth
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:2...iles10.jpg&t=1
11-10-2010, 03:05 PM
Oneironaut Zero

Great work, Puffin! I do agree with Xei and Invader, about the smoothness. Also, the only thing that really stands out to me is that I think the parts on the sides of the face, where the spines jet out, could be touched up a bit. You can really see where you used a difference sized brush to get the areas in between the spines. Maybe if you just smoothed out some of the edges, and blended them more into the spines, it would look more like a solid plate. Actually, I'm not sure what kind of material it is, on the side of the face. It looks like hair or feathers, but blends with the beak/snout, as if it was solid bone. Maybe if I knew what kind of texture it represented, I would be able to better interpret it.

Other than that, I'd say it's perfect. :)
11-10-2010, 05:27 PM
Puffin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Invader

The only thing that catches my eye, besides the smoothness that Xei pointed out, was the way the lip is visible at the corner of the mouth (which is characteristic of some birds and amphibians). I don't think reptiles have lips, and it adds a bit to the soft texture of the dragon where normally they'd tend towards the rough, scaly side. That was probably intentional anyways, but there you go. Other than that it's pleasing to the eye.

edit: I wasn't entirely correct.

Spoiler for this:

corners of mouth
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:2...iles10.jpg&t=1

I didn't know that, thanks. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oneironaut

Great work, Puffin! I do agree with Xei and Invader, about the smoothness. Also, the only thing that really stands out to me is that I think the parts on the sides of the face, where the spines jet out, could be touched up a bit. You can really see where you used a difference sized brush to get the areas in between the spines. Maybe if you just smoothed out some of the edges, and blended them more into the spines, it would look more like a solid plate. Actually, I'm not sure what kind of material it is, on the side of the face. It looks like hair or feathers, but blends with the beak/snout, as if it was solid bone. Maybe if I knew what kind of texture it represented, I would be able to better interpret it.

Other than that, I'd say it's perfect. :)

Thanks. It's supposed to be fur or hair, but it's not looking like that at the moment. :P