On Cover Art for The Moon Etherium

[rowyn]

gnibbles did a cover for me!

I'M NOT A RABID FANGIRL YOU'RE A RABID FANGIRL >_>;;;;; @LadyRowyn #moonetherium pic.twitter.com/TWEP4UCt4o

— B. H. Tang (@catofalltrades) July 8, 2016

The aspect ratio is off, so not quite appropriate for the final book, alas. }:) Although in complete seriousness, I like a number of things about it. She's using the skyline of the Sun Etherium at the top and the Moon Etherium at the bottom to frame the figures, which I had not thought of and which looks cool. And her rendering of Ardent (the satyress on the left) is charming. ♥

I am ambivalent about my skillz as an artist, particularly when it comes to realistic illustration. Silhouettes I can handle. Full color ... eh.

But I have, once or twice, done full-color portraits that approach the general vicinity of the skill level I want for The Moon Etherium cover. Moreover, the final image is going to be mainly seen at 150x250 or 300x500 or so. So I was thinking, maybe if I start with a really big file and then shrink it down a lot, it could be mistaken for professional?

I am unconvinced by this reasoning.

Still, I kinda felt like drawing this morning, and I really did not feel like writing, so I took some reference photos of myself, did a sketch, and started to color it. Not in the slapdash fashion of my quick doodles, but a serious attempt to make it look good, no matter how long it takes.



I didn't really keep track of time, but this is probably 2-3 hours in. I am abandoning it here.

Interestingly, I'm quitting not because I feel like I've proved to myself that I'm not good enough: the jury is still out on that one. From the technical "does this look like a picture of a person?" perspective, it's not that bad.

From the "does this look like an appealing character?" perspective, though, it's not working. I think Gnibbles's painting has more heart and spirit. Mine looks ... off. Not just "I need to futz more with it" (which I do), but it just looks fundamentally not-very-attractive. Possibly I could fix it without restarting entirely, but I think re-doing the underlying sketch and coloring anew will be less frustrating.

EDIT:

Revised version-in-progress! Got to about the same place as the earlier one, after 2.5 hours, and am much happier with it. Not wild about how it looks at thumbnail size, though. I may need to do the headband in a different color so it doesn't blend with the horns at mini-size. Or change the horn color.

Comments

[rowyn]

*gives dark horns a try* Mmm, yeah, I do like that better. Thanks! :)

[canis-lupus03.livejournal.com]

I agree, I like the dark horns better, it looks more natural! Also, I'd imagine them waaay further back and more to the side rather than in the middle of her forehead? You know, kind of following the flow of the skull? I love Ardent's hair, though! So curly!

[whitefangedwolf.livejournal.com]

I think I see what you mean. In the 3rd version, based on the angle of Ardent's head, I'd say the horn to the left is centered over her eye while the horn to the right is definitely aligned to the inner corner of the eye. If the horns are on a separate layer, I'd move the right one over a bit to see how it looked centered over the eye.

[canis-lupus03.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the horns don't seem quite even... But just from how imagine a satyr, the horns would be at the least at the hairline if not an inch higher up, and aligned with the outside corner of the eye...

Edit: Uh, and is it me or is the perspective a little off on the right horn? It would point more towards the viewer, wouldn't it?