Art Archive Pencil art & character work - Inverted Sith (17 April 2006) *page 4*

Wow! Your art work is wonderful. I especially love the pencil drawings. You know I clicked on one of your drawings of a Sith Lord and I thought, "Hey, that guy looks like the android in Aliens!" Then I went back and actually read what you wrote before the link and you said you based the character on Lance Henrikksen. So you were right on the money on that one. The likeness was uncany.

I am sorry that I cannot give you any technical feedback but I am not an artist in any way, shape or form. But I do know what I like and I can tell you I am very impressed.

Keep up the good work!

AG88

 

A dreadful lord indeed! I love your work, Paraquem, the mood, the details, the sheer emotion you manage to achieve is mind-blowing. And your skill with eyes is truly wonderful, it's amazing how much we, as the viewer, look to the eyes for reading the emotion and when confronted by these black sinister pools, I must admit I was creeped out at a deeper level. Beautiful!

 

I think the most striking thing about your work is your choice of composition and poses. I love how you blow up the faces and cast them in shadow.

You have wonderful control over expressions and facial details.

I love your works in color, they really capture the mood of the images.

Can't wait to see more

 

I was just browsing the threads, and I happened to take a peek in yours...

Great job! Especially the Sith. Your depictions of them are so creepy, kind of like how they'd appear in a shadowy nightmare, that I don't know if I want to stare at them longer or look away and shudder - perfect for a Sith lord.



I'll definitely be stopping by here more often.

 

Wow, I wish I could do this artwork, the detail is amazing same with the shadows.

 

Two variations of the same character in an effort to cement him in my own head.

http://img93.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pensivesith9sm.jpg

http://img202.imageshack.us/my.php?image=snarlingsith1cp.jpg

 

Huh, this guy really scares me. Sith?
Great shading, he has a very dark aura through it.

 

paraquem has new work!! paraquem has new work!!



And WOW, what work!!

"Pensive Sith" is just an awesome piece--it strikes me as very unsettled, and has an eerie energy, as though he has the potential at any moment to become "Snarling Sith!" And what a fabulous job you've done with that face!! The same face, twisted into a hissing, malevolent visage from the most breath-stealing of nightmares... Just wow!! As always, your superb shading really creates a depth that makes the faces just bloom off the screen, as though they're right in the room with me--real... I am so loving your development of your characters, paraquem--there's so much in them: emotion, complexity, quirks--the whole thing! I'm with Chilla--that snarling Sith face is going to haunt me for a while, I think! Great, great work!

FF

Edit: markups

 

This is quite a beautiful portfolio you've got here paraquem! You really give each piece a palpable sense of mood

 

Chilla Thanks very much for your comments I guess if he scares you, then i've done what I set out to do.

FalconFan I really appreciate your comments on these two. If the pensive rendering fits well enough with the snarling one to convince its the same guy then i'm really happy. In all honesty I wasn't jumping up and down happy with the snarling one - the heavy brow on the character was all wrong (not sure why I ended up doing it like that).

I only have one more piece to do for this character before I can let him go (a full costume, action pose in colour) and then I can couple him with his bio for a final layout.

Darth_Snuggle Thank you, that's very kind of you to say.

 

Yet another version of a Sith, this time done in painter. About half-way done I think (with lots of important changes still to be done).

http://img396.imageshack.us/my.php?image=forsending22wc.jpg

 

Somehow he looks even scarier in color....

That's great! You're very good at drawing.

 

Thank you Chilla, that's very kind.

 

i like these. especially dooku being able to see the lightsaber coming.

-SoL

 

Thanks SoL, though I never could get that Dooku one finished so that I was happy with it. Guess it's always just going to be a detail.

 

Wow paraquem... I just sat and stared at your "Painted Sith" for a long time before hitting the reply button--just wow... Chilla is so right--he's even scarier painted! I think it's the eyes: the hair on the back of my neck stands up if I look at them long enough! And to my extremely limited knowledge of the program, Painter is a notoriously tough program to achieve this sort of result with--this really looks like you've been going at it with traditional brushes and paint! Just aweseome work...amazing "feel" to this Sithly character... It's really a gift to us that you share the progression of your pieces this way--all the drawings from the different views and angles, and now the development of the coloring. It's a beautiful glimpse into your process--thank you for sharing it here! This is an awesome piece of work.

FF

 

Wow, that Sith lord is downright scary looking. I really like the snarling Sith.

AG88

 

All of your qwork is wonderful! Getting really dark darks in images like these really makes them pop. The light/shading on all of them is very realistic.

Did you use a model for the Sith, or was that freehand? Either way, they are fantastic!

 

FalconFan

Thank you once again for your detailed comments (and thanks for taking the time to look at my last effort for a "long time")

This one hasn't turned out as I hoped (when do they ever though?). I actually intended to do a full, in costume character piece, in situ so-to-speak. But what can you do? It is what it is. I guess i'm just not going to break out of the portraits thing so easily as I had hoped.

Painter is tough for me. It takes so long to do something using traditional techniques. This one has taken too long and i've been over the thing umpteen times before admitting its time to let it be. I really admire those who can make painter work for them, for me its an uphill battle with painter winning every time.

I appreciate your thoughts about character developement too. Sometimes it feels lazy doing the same character over and over but if there appears to be a progression going on (and not just simple repetition) then i'm really pleased.

academygrad88

Thank you, scary is what i'm going for so I appreciate your response a lot. (The snarling version is growing on me now)

Siths_Herald

Thank you, that's very kind.

The Sith is freehand. It started off as a very rough charcoal and pencil drawing, before I transferred it into Painter. From there I approached it in a very traditional painting manner (except using chalks rather than oils or acrylics), building up colour and form one layer at a time. I tried not to resort to using solid black (though with the ramping up of contrast in photoshop it comes close now), sticking to purples and reds mostly.


Final(?) colour Sith (closer cropped and lightened a bit) -

http://img118.imageshack.us/my.php?image=afacefromoutofnowhere28ns.jpg

 

Incredible picture! What scares me most are the eyes and the blood (is it blood?) under them.

 

Thanks Chilla. I'm not sure whether they're deep scars or tattoos (i'm veering towards the tattoo option just now).

 

Puh, I'm just happy it isn't blood....

 

Great painting. I don't think I've ever seen a scarier looking Sith-like character before. Those eyes are almost disturbing, and I just love the way in which his features stick out. The method in which you painted it does indeed look traditional. Good Job.

- Suz ^_~

 

Eeesh...I'm glad it isn't blood, too!

I'll say it again, paraquem--this is a chilling piece. I think you've really captured the evil and the "wastedness" of this Dark Side-possessed character: we can see the malice and disdain and utter disregard for life just oozing out of him, and we can also see what the Dark Side has done to him physically, as well. It's a haunting portrait of a souless being, and I think it's one of the best portrayals I've ever seen of a Sith. Rather than resort to the outward manifestations of evil in your illustration, you've conveyed the inward aspect--something that's just amazing to me... Beautiful, scary, haunting, sobering...all describe this piece. Well, well done! And truly--I think you're at least holding your own against Painter, IMHO! Looking forward to more soon!

FF

 

Chilla - You've got me thinking on whether it should be blood now...

Your_Worhsipfulness Thanks a lot. The eyes were the least worked over part, every time I tried to do something Sith-like with them, it just didn't work. Sometimes its best to leave well enough alone I guess.

FalconFan Thanks again for your detailed comments. I'm really glad you felt there was an inward aspect to this one, thats exactly what i'm going for, both in the pictures and the story itself (I thought it would be interesting to tell an archaic sort of Star Wars story with little polish and a lot of grit).

Thanks too for the encouragement re: Painter. My next painting is being done on there, so hopefully with each new one it'll get a wee bit easier.