[LordArioch]

I'm doing an Alfonse Mucha style angel for a Christmas card... I've been working on it all evening and I'm starting to go crosseyed. The hands are kicking my butt... too bad, too... 'cause Mucha's figures always have such interesting hand poses. I think the hair is starting to get out of control, too. What do you think? Any suggestions?



Oh yeah... the sketch is 11x14, so the edges didn't scan... but I think you get the general idea.

[sacrelicious]

Looks good! I think that perhaps the head is a bit wide/squat, you might want to increase the length of the head if at all possible. She has a pretty low forehead, if you took the hairline back/up a bit that could help. The forehead combined with the somewhat prominent brow creates a masculine, almost Neanderthal look that you probably want to avoid. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh, I really like it a lot and I think you're on the right track. Can't wait to see progress or the finished pic! Nighty-night.

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mmm... sacrelicious

[bitz]

I really like the face on her, at first glance I wasn't too sure about it, but when I took a real good glance it comes across as really defined.

The index finger on the left hand seems to just drop off as it almost got cut off. on the right hand, i might bring the inside of the wrist up a bit more and exaggerate the swoop out to the thumb a bit more, although, i'm not sure how that would look until you actually did it

the breasts ( yeah, i looked ok? ) overlap, and although it's below the cloth where the final won't show it, the lines that you can see might suggest it. when the breasts get squished, they sort of mash together and push out more. maybe if the cleavage wasn't so sharp?

oh, and the hair is awesome! i really liked that as well. keep up the good work, hope to see the final soon.

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bitz

[Isric]

Wow, I'm a big fan of art deco. And although there's not so much of it in here, the style is deinitley present. Very nicely done.

[LordArioch]

Heh... I guess I mean Art Nouveau. Not really sure what the difference is. Anyhow, the background will have lots of fiddly details, but I'm working on the figure at the moment.

Thanks for the tips. Here's an updated pencil with redone hands, and the eyebrows softened and hairline move up slightly:
http://well-of-souls.com/temp/mucha_angel_sketch2.jpg

Now to work on the wings.

[This message has been edited by LordArioch (edited December 01, 2000).]

[Francis]

This is a nice start. I might suggest expanding the borders of your page a little bit, and incorporating your round border graphic element more completely. I think that's one of the important elements in your drawing, especially if you're going for the commercial art/art nouveau look like Alphonse Mucha.

One other thing - I bet you could tighten up the linework quite a bit, since (imho) that is another major characteristic of this type of art. I did an image sort of like this a couple of years ago - please don't look too hard at the drapery, but it's got some of the things I was trying to describe.

Sorry - I just reread your post and saw that your outeredges did not scan. Disregard the border comment then.



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Francis Tsai
TeamGT Studios

[This message has been edited by Francis (edited December 01, 2000).]

[LordArioch]

Thanks for the tips, Francis.

Here's the inked version. It still needs some cleanup, and I'm going to add a lot more detail to the background digitally.




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-Arioch
well-of-souls.com

[sacrelicious]

Wow, must say, it came out well! Great work.

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mmm... sacrelicious

[jasonN]

Wow! Very nice indeed. The ink job is great. Her left hand looks really nice too. I like the gesture. Both hands look much better in the inking than in the sketch. Post it up when you colour it.

-Jason

[sprout]

Wow, I really like the outcome... especially how the hands ended up... beautiful.. looks great with the ink and border... let us see the color when you finish it

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sprout -- leader in stinky poo

[Solitaire]

yes that inked one is a real step forward.

Francis I like your's too

[kardis]

sweeet! coming nicely along ar..well i need hit back and remmber your name for a later post.. i really like the inking, hope to see the final soon!!

as for you francis.. nice *g* but the arm on the gal looks a tad bit big if you ask me, prolly the perspective.. but what do i know about that sorta stuff.. pfft, i hate it when people post old work that is simply amazing.. grww.. i need to get a pencil and draw on paper again.

-kardis

[LordArioch]

Well, here's the colored version... or the current version, at least. I plan to do a little more with it... the wings need more work, and I was thinking of adding a radial ray-type pattern to the interior circle of the halo. The halo itself (specifically, the circles with the text) also might need some fiddling with. And oh yeah... I forgot the little umlaut on the "e" in Noel.



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-Arioch
well-of-souls.com

[TweeK]

Really nice coloring man, but especially the cleanup and inkting are incredible.

One thing I noticed is that the fore arm may be a bit too long, but maybe that's just me.

Anywayz, love the drawing

greetz
Jeff

[Jaymo]

Damn nice! Really good. I only would recommend making her more pale if it's for being art deco. And now it says "francis" on the pic. Eh? I'm confused...
BTW, Francis, yours is totally awesome, too. I'm in need of such an angel...

[Francis]

Wow that looks terrific - I like the finished product. I guess your name is Francis too then? Funny.

By the way, I sure wasn't trying to usurp your thread by posting my image. I guess that's kinda rude.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

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Francis Tsai
TeamGT Studios

[Chapel]

I'm impressed. Your picture turned out really great. I like the coloring style you used on it. Fits very well. The clouds in the background are great. Nice Job!

Francis: That pic would be great inked and colored.. hint hint.

[This message has been edited by Chapel (edited December 04, 2000).]

[Rinaldo]

Wow, nice progression, nice lines. hell nice colouring^_^

I bow down before you LordArioch.

top stuff.

[Dives]

Francis: i luv your work. Post some more.
Anioch: Nice i really like the colored one.

[Aiko Ito]

Wow that looks great. My only suggestion would be to change the color of her toga thing, matches her skin color too much. A little too much pink at the bottem of the pic. Maybe more yellowy like the wings. But thats just my opinion, the color scheme in general is very good.

[LordArioch]

My real name is Jim Francis... which is how I sign my work.

Francis: Hey, no problem. I appreciate your posting the example.

I'm thinking of lightening up the dress some... as it is, it's very Mucha-like, but it kind of blends into the background.

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-Arioch
well-of-souls.com

[LordArioch]

Here's the final version:
http://well-of-souls.com/gallery/images/mucha_angel09_red.jpg

[Bubonic]

Great job, i really like the final image with the redish type hair.. I was wondering how did you paint the clouds? they look soo realisitc..

[LordArioch]

The clouds were done entirely with the airbrush tool in Photoshop (on top of a gradient sky)... the first pass at the largest brush size just to rough out the shapes of the clouds, and then in closer with smaller sizes to add detail.