[Dolmen 2.0]

Nice one CN! the watercolour is exceptional

anyways this is turning out really nice. would like some C&C or redline:

 LAST ONES OUT4.jpg (474.15K)
Number of downloads: 3

This post has been edited by Dolmen+: 04 November 2013 - 01:52 PM

[Kaamos]

Do you have a significantly larger version? (Or, alternatively, a functioning nanobot treatment to upgrade my eyesight and perceptive braincell count? ;-D)

@Nobby: Well, at least I didn't have to do that for work, but still felt like a caffeine-depraved zombie listening to lullabies. I guess one might get used to it, if done regularly...

[Grimjust Bearegular]

Dolmen+, on 26 October 2013 - 01:58 PM, said:

Bearmione TROUBLEMAKER Grimger, on 22 October 2013 - 03:50 PM, said:

My latest. Non-Malazan related. Was really stumped at several points...just felt like I suddenly knew nothing about drawing. It was really weird. I think I need to draw more

Yeah this happens to me often. Practice REALLY helps, sometimes you forget everything.

Yes, I really need to draw more...but I'm also supposed to be writing more. And then there's Skyrim...and GTA V.

Kaamos, on 27 October 2013 - 12:40 PM, said:

@Bearmione: I like the idea of the scared face dissolving into splatters, may I ask what was the theme/inspiration behind that? Would you like some redlines with it, I can see a couple of things that could use revising.

No particular inspiration, really. Just wanted to paint a face that wasn't the normal staring blankly into space sort of thing, you know? I wanted to see if I could paint something that would evoke som sort of emotion in others... The splatters: Just trying on a different, looser style of painting. Redline away. It's the only way I'll learn, right?

[Dolmen 2.0]

Kaamos, on 04 November 2013 - 09:27 AM, said:

Do you have a significantly larger version? (Or, alternatively, a functioning nanobot treatment to upgrade my eyesight and perceptive braincell count? ;-D)

Better? Tried to up the contrast and size.

@ Happygrim Birthdaybear: ah skyrim...the only reason why I don't work on some skyrim arts is because whenever I do I suddenly need to play Skyrim.

This post has been edited by Dolmen+: 04 November 2013 - 01:57 PM

[Kaamos]

Right, hopefully my cogs begin to roll again after a couple of cups of coffee...a sheer miracle I didn't accidentally swallow a couple of angry birds what with yawning all day long...

Biggest distraction: where does Detts stand? He'd have to have sunken deep into the ground to achieve that elevation...I would suggest that you make him considerably smaller (ie. push him more towards the background), and change the perspective a bit to make him "loom" more over the others. How tall is he? Afraid I don't remember this character at all.
A couple of characters have arms either too long or too short. Since there's no considerable foreshortening visible anywhere, more like straight arms: the wrist is a bit above the crotch, and the hand extends below. The character to the far right edit: LEFT, ooh my permanent Nordic blonde moments!!: the level of the elbow should be above the navel.
Whisky's armor: since he isn't facing the audience straight, I think there should be some curving of the shoulder straps, etc. to the other direction. Would also correct Kalam's arms a bit, I think the (his) right arm should come lower and the (his) left shoulder pushed slightly closer to his head. Something funny about Mallet's face, but cannot see it clearly enough.
Hope this helps!


 dolmenkrit.jpg (280.22K)
Number of downloads: 0

The other one... With that expression, the forehead wrinkles in a different fashion (more like two straight lines between the eyebrows, not a whole deal of crinkling; the forehead above however responds to the muscle movement). The human nose's never that straight; consider the nasal cavity/bone of the skull; it widens out to the sides and affects the shape of the nose, both the bridge and the sides. The whatchamacallit in English...sides above the nostrils and adjacent to the nosetip...shouldn't be that "pinched" when in connection with the nosetip; would suggest using much gentler outlining here. Neck: see redlines.

 bearkrit.jpg (132.2K)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by Kaamos: 04 November 2013 - 09:32 PM

[Dolmen 2.0]

Kaamos, on 04 November 2013 - 05:45 PM, said:

Right, hopefully my cogs begin to roll again after a couple of cups of coffee...a sheer miracle I didn't accidentally swallow a couple of angry birds what with yawning all day long...

Biggest distraction: where does Detts stand? He'd have to have sunken deep into the ground to achieve that elevation...I would suggest that you make him considerably smaller (ie. push him more towards the background), and change the perspective a bit to make him "loom" more over the others. How tall is he? Afraid I don't remember this character at all.
A couple of characters have arms either too long or too short. Since there's no considerable foreshortening visible anywhere, more like straight arms: the wrist is a bit above the crotch, and the hand extends below. The character to the far right edit: LEFT, ooh my permanent Nordic blonde moments!!: the level of the elbow should be above the navel.
Whisky's armor: since he isn't facing the audience straight, I think there should be some curving of the shoulder straps, etc. to the other direction. Would also correct Kalam's arms a bit, I think the (his) right arm should come lower and the (his) left shoulder pushed slightly closer to his head. Something funny about Mallet's face, but cannot see it clearly enough.
Hope this helps!


dolmenkrit.jpg

Super helpful redline is awesome! thanks much! I am really grateful for another eye on my work. I knew there was something off about Kalams shoulders and if I'm honest I did not work Detoran in as well as I could have. I'm surprised you don't remember her as she was in Memories of Ice and I could possibly recite that book off by heart the way I liked it so... anyways she was the big napan heavy that had a thing for hedge. it was a crush both literal and metaphoric.

Trolling malazan Wiki about Mallet:

Quote

"Mallet was a healer in the Bridgeburners 9th Squad. Although only a squad healer he had the ability to access High Denul. He was described as a huge man."

Well...back to the drawing board on that one. I have to say I have no mental image for him or Antsy for that matter. What do they look like in your head?

[Corporal Nobbs]

I think Mallet was described as round-faced, couldn't tell you what book or even if it was him.
But I've been picturing him like the actor who played D'Argo on Farscape, Anthony Simcoe. Or that kind of facial structure.


As for Antsy, I just picture a big, red handle-bar moustache.

[worry]

I think Antsy is somewhat small in stature but still strong/tough, and he's middle-aged, red, and fuzzy.

Kinda like this guy is how I picture him:

[Kaamos]

Dolmen+, on 05 November 2013 - 07:18 PM, said:

Super helpful redline is awesome! thanks much! I am really grateful for another eye on my work. I knew there was something off about Kalams shoulders and if I'm honest I did not work Detoran in as well as I could have. I'm surprised you don't remember her as she was in Memories of Ice and I could possibly recite that book off by heart the way I liked it so... anyways she was the big napan heavy that had a thing for hedge. it was a crush both literal and metaphoric.

. . .
I have to say I have no mental image for him or Antsy for that matter. What do they look like in your head?

Glad to hear it helped. :-D Hmm, Mallet's face is a vague smear in my memory, but having read OST, Antsy appears much like your Fid (my Fid would be thinner and taller). I cannot be expected to process every character with this intracranial cpu, though, come on, I mixed together left and right in the post above!! However, I really don't recall anything about Detoran, I guess my giant radar glitched this time (or, like I surmised in another thread: I read the book upside down while asleep). A thorough re-perusal will be in order sometime after finishing the whole set.
Hope to see the next revision of the artwork soon! :-D

On an entirely unrelated and off-topic note, the background of Forge of Darkness really is from the door of the Urnes stavkyrka (or at least inspired by it): Link

[Corporal Nobbs]

Probably is. The cover artist seems to have got pretty lazy with the last few. My opinion anyway.
Most of them seem like something you could bash out in an hour or so, a few stock photos with a filter thrown on top.

[worry]

Detoran is a huge, dark-skinned Napan heavy. So navy blue skin, I'd say, tall and muscular...I personally picture her with cropped or even shaved hair, something like Eve (the rapper), mixed with a dark blue more muscular Brittney Griner.

This post has been edited by worry: 09 November 2013 - 08:36 PM

[Dolmen 2.0]

worry, on 09 November 2013 - 08:34 PM, said:

Detoran is a huge, dark-skinned Napan heavy. So navy blue skin, I'd say, tall and muscular...I personally picture her with cropped or even shaved hair, something like Eve (the rapper), mixed with a dark blue more muscular Brittney Griner.

She's a brick... house!
She's mighty mighty, just lettin' it all hang out
She's a brick... house!
The lady's stacked and that's a fact,
ain't holding nothing back. —The

Commodores



Basicly. Well I mocked up antsy and got him to look completely unrelated to fid. I haven't really got down to mallet. Will give Detts a look first.

I googled Giantess blue soldier. I was pleased with some of the results :3. Worry why do you imagine her with shorthair and african features? I always thought that the napans might look or have similarities to itko kanese. Am I missing a link?

[Kaamos]

Why can't I get similar results for the opposite gender when I google giant blue soldier? 3:
Anyway, I'd suggest giving her more hips (major reason why I mistook her for a guy in the image), unless it's uncanon.

Corporal Nobbs, on 09 November 2013 - 11:59 AM, said:

Probably is. The cover artist seems to have got pretty lazy with the last few. My opinion anyway.
Most of them seem like something you could bash out in an hour or so, a few stock photos with a filter thrown on top.

Yeah, I've noticed. What was the...latest ICE novel with the jungle knight? Or the special edition somethingsomething with the light source problem'ed menhirs. Gaaa need to revisit the threads, they're here somewhere...

This post has been edited by Kaamos: 10 November 2013 - 07:33 PM

[worry]

Dolmen+, on 10 November 2013 - 10:05 AM, said:

Worry why do you imagine her with shorthair and african features? I always thought that the napans might look or have similarities to itko kanese. Am I missing a link?

No link in the text, that I know of, I just have always pictured Napans that way. If I really dug around in my brain I'm sure I connected both very dark brown and very dark blue as branches stemming from black, and I associate African features with the darkest skin hues. And I suppose I also associate post-slavery African descendents with having the widest range of skin colors (whether that's actually correct or incorrect), and for instance I picture Surly as a powder blue while some other Napans, eg Detoran, may be much darker. And I suppose it's the only way I can picture Napans without them looking like Smurfs; every other way and I start plopping those hats on top.

All that is to say it's how I do it, but as far as I know there's virtually nothing in the books to hint in that or any direction.

Oh and the hair thing is also just a personal choice. I like Surly with short hair, so why not Detoran?

This post has been edited by worry: 10 November 2013 - 07:24 PM

[Dolmen 2.0]

worry, on 10 November 2013 - 07:23 PM, said:

Dolmen+, on 10 November 2013 - 10:05 AM, said:

Worry why do you imagine her with shorthair and african features? I always thought that the napans might look or have similarities to itko kanese. Am I missing a link?

No link in the text, that I know of, I just have always pictured Napans that way. If I really dug around in my brain I'm sure I connected both very dark brown and very dark blue as branches stemming from black, and I associate African features with the darkest skin hues. And I suppose I also associate post-slavery African descendents with having the widest range of skin colors (whether that's actually correct or incorrect), and for instance I picture Surly as a powder blue while some other Napans, eg Detoran, may be much darker. And I suppose it's the only way I can picture Napans without them looking like Smurfs; every other way and I start plopping those hats on top.

All that is to say it's how I do it, but as far as I know there's virtually nothing in the books to hint in that or any direction.

Oh and the hair thing is also just a personal choice. I like Surly with short hair, so why not Detoran?

Great explanation Worry. I think erikson left the features of the Napan a bit too undefined. I mean I'm sitting here thinking: She needs scarring. heavies have scars, but for the life of me I can't make that look normal.

It does leave space to define Napans the way we all feel makes sense so I also logicked it out. I always thought of Napans as a race of asiatic people, due to itko kan connection. I realize they have a connection to Dal Hon aswell so that may have an interesting connotation? a nation of black/asian blue people?

Never really thought of them as near human until recently and you are quite right the darker the skin tone the wider the range. Dark brown to black skin holds a higher reflectivity to protect against the sun. We have yet to hear Napans complain about sun burn etc. despite the seafaring outdoorsy attitudes and lets not forget the barefoot tendancies. They all seem to be athletic and the men in particular have the ability to build thick corded mass which, I know, is not specific to africans but doesn't hurt the point of comparison. I almost had them pegged as some kind of blue alien race like the asari from ME 3 but with hair instead of whatever it is the asari have.

I'd like to try a blend of the two, see where that gets me...

[Dolmen 2.0]

Kaamos, on 10 November 2013 - 01:33 PM, said:

Why can't I get similar results for the opposite gender when I google giant blue soldier? 3:
Anyway, I'd suggest giving her more hips (major reason why I mistook her for a guy in the image), unless it's uncanon.

Yeah the giant blue soldier is a myth unless you google Mr manhattan. Avert one eye to keep your propriety! Also blue giants are notorious for their man eating habits. So there's that to factor in.

Ok so I need to be more hip! can't be sure how to make a musculine woman have a feminine face. surely the cheek fat that softens a womans face gets chiseled out, hence manly, strong chinned muscle women all over the Miss fitness competitions plagueing my E-mail spam tray.

ASIDE: Is hedge Itko Kanese?

This post has been edited by Dolmen+: 10 November 2013 - 08:35 PM

[Kaamos]

Dolmen+, on 10 November 2013 - 08:34 PM, said:

Yeah the giant blue soldier is a myth unless you google Mr manhattan. Avert one eye to keep your propriety! Also blue giants are notorious for their man eating habits. So there's that to factor in.

Ok so I need to be more hip! can't be sure how to make a musculine woman have a feminine face. surely the cheek fat that softens a womans face gets chiseled out, hence manly, strong chinned muscle women all over the Miss fitness competitions plagueing my E-mail spam tray.

ASIDE: Is hedge Itko Kanese?

Propriety? We're two kilometers behind the Imass up here, propriety was invented by someone with a higher IQ and who doesn't mix together left and right. (Need to look into this comic. Not entirely due to a clotheless blue guy, but a friend recced it for the plot a while back...) Have you seen the Finnish movie Rare Exports (highly recommending, it has some mythology stuff within also)? It was rated PG-13 here due to violence, and R in the States due to a hundred naked old men running around.

Anyway, back to blue or otherwise-colored giantesses... As far as I know anything about this, fitness models and whatnot also diet a lot on purpose to get the fat percentage down as much as possible. In "normal" circumstances, while eating regular food, I would expect a certain softness to stay, some also have a tendency to accumulate fat tissue while they may be very strong (corpulent body type, some female shot putters come to mind). Not entirely unrelated, but I read somewhere about a recent study concerning the regular food of Roman gladiators (they also had women among them). They ate a lot of fat and carbs to purposefully develop fat layers that would protect them in their craft of high fatality. (Not an expert on this.) Not saying that Detts and the other heavies enjoyed lard only, but I would judge that the lot included some that weren't all ropy muscle.

I've had to consider the same issue while creating looks for the Donaldson giantesses, retaining as much of the canon as possible. This is a portion of something I've inked onwards this weekend (and struggled with the perspective of the wheeldeck...have to redraw). The woman's monstrously strong and also described as fat. I'm not saying Detts should be anything as stout. Bluelines below to show the body type better. Then further below, Miss Stonemage from earlier posts, another 11-ft horribly strong woman but with a different physique. Perhaps some hip/softness hints here, with less height?

Sorry about giantess-sized files. Also reveals the mystery of me talking about a random door in Urnes. A coincidence with Malazan and my selected reffs.

Spoiler

 galewrath.jpg (320.94K)
Number of downloads: 2

 galewrath_blueline.jpg (141.13K)
Number of downloads: 2

 stonemage.jpg (227.41K)
Number of downloads: 3

This post has been edited by Kaamos: 11 November 2013 - 07:52 AM

[Dolmen 2.0]

Kaamos, on 10 November 2013 - 09:59 PM, said:

Propriety? We're two kilometers behind the Imass up here, propriety was invented by someone with a higher IQ and who doesn't mix together left and right. (Need to look into this comic. Not entirely due to a clotheless blue guy, but a friend recced it for the plot a while back...) Have you seen the Finnish movie Rare Exports (highly recommending, it has some mythology stuff within also)? It was rated PG-13 here due to violence, and R in the States due to a hundred naked old men running around.

Anyway, back to blue or otherwise-colored giantesses... As far as I know anything about this, fitness models and whatnot also diet a lot on purpose to get the fat percentage down as much as possible. In "normal" circumstances, while eating regular food, I would expect a certain softness to stay, some also have a tendency to accumulate fat tissue while they may be very strong (corpulent body type, some female shot putters come to mind). Not entirely unrelated, but I read somewhere about a recent study concerning the regular food of Roman gladiators (they also had women among them). They ate a lot of fat and carbs to purposefully develop fat layers that would protect them in their craft of high fatality. (Not an expert on this.) Not saying that Detts and the other heavies enjoyed lard only, but I would judge that the lot included some that weren't all ropy muscle.

I've had to consider the same issue while creating looks for the Donaldson giantesses, retaining as much of the canon as possible. This is a portion of something I've inked onwards this weekend (and struggled with the perspective of the wheeldeck...have to redraw). The woman's monstrously strong and also described as fat. I'm not saying Detts should be anything as stout. Bluelines below to show the body type better. Then further below, Miss Stonemage from earlier posts, another 11-ft horribly strong woman but with a different physique. Perhaps some hip/softness hints here, with less height?

Sorry about giantess-sized files. Also reveals the mystery of me talking about a random door in Urnes. A coincidence with Malazan and my selected reffs.

Spoiler

galewrath.jpg

galewrath_blueline.jpg

stonemage.jpg

Watchmen is brilliant but by brilliant I mean the movie. I have no idea about the Comic. I got my hands on this Rare Export movie, a buddy of mine collects these things and on a hunch I asked about it...Ok a few minutes in and its interested me. Finnish sounds alot like winter at my door with an axe. How much has it changed over the years? I must agree with the americans. The number of Naked old men I need to witness is infinitely finite. I suspect christmas is survived up there more than it is enjoyed? The movie looks pretty awesome though.

I can't imagine how eating fat would boost fighting performance but no doubt about it, big guys are hard to put down hand to hand. every bit of an edge counts I guess but this ruins all my female gladiator imaginings.

I tried to add some hip to the image of detts. thought I'd work her up individually: giving her more african features adds character I think. Tried not to chisel her up like you said Kaamos. Maybe this is the right direction...will refine it as the week goes.

 DETTORAN.jpg (321.97K)
Number of downloads: 1

[Kaamos]

Huge improvement ('xcuse the pun...), methinks. :-D Definitely hipper. Nothing wrong with the appearance of the ol' Detts, as such, if (s)he were a very pretty young man. I might imagine Skulldeath possessing such a face. Hadn't considered it much before, but the African-ish features do give her more character.

Right, think I'll watch the cinematic version of the Watchmen as well after some work-watch, easier to find than the comic right now. Let me know what you thought of Rare Exports; you're perfectly entitled to dislike it as well. ;-D Yes Finnish sounds exactly like winter hacking down your door: It was conceived as a compromise between the Frost Giants and local trolls, as they could not comprehend one another. It retained the intricate grammar of the previous but the pronunciation of the latter, and for some reason a couple of mammoth-hunting human tribes adopted it later. I guess they had to communicate with both parties as well. Over the centuries, there have been Swedish and Russian influences, as well as German and Estonian, but it's in a fair state compared to Tolkien's times. Some dialects of Saami aren't doing as well, unfortunately. Finnish comprises of around 14 dialects plus the written speech, which often doesn't resemble regional dialects much. In my city, the R is particularly accentuated, and sometimes D's become R's as well, which is why it sounds particularly trollish. What kinds of languages do you have in SA? Afrikaans I know about, but have no idea what it sounds like.

Yule (Joulu) is a rough time. Snow poisoning is common, which makes your skin turn blue as well. Happens often to tourists who think it's cooled candyfloss (we do tell them not to devour it, but do they ever listen...). I guess that's one reason why I didn't shy off from Mr. Manhattan and the Napan.

Also from the top of my head, didn't recall all the details correctly regarding the gladiator diet, but I found the article: http://archive.archa.../gladiator.html
Messes up my daydreams conceptions of male gladiators as well.

[HiddenOne]

whatever you do, Dolmen+, don't change that face & expression - I love it