Emergency Crit needed

[Nobiyuki77]

Okay, I'm working on a piece for the Sega Sonic Fanart contest (this one http://www.sega.com/sonicblackknight/contest/us/ ) that ends this Friday, and I'm in need of an emergency critique.



Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[CatsWithMatches]

The shading on sonic is great. Nice and deep.

If that's supposed to be water below the buildings in the background, it doesn't quite look like it.

Otherwise, it rocks. What's the medium?

[LuciaOne]

Great work so far! Awesome, I love that you are going line-less I dig your angle, it's dynamic seeing Sonic run at you. It'd be cool if you could add more buildings in the foreground, or you could cheat by doing mist or something, because it seems like they are running in front of a giant backdrop from the Lateshow.

Also you should establish visual hierarchy- everything right now has the same weight, so Sonic doesn't pop as well as he could be. Right now the sky is as saturated as Sonic, making them feel like they are on the same plane. Try looking up some reference on what you want to say.

This is kind of an example, it has a city in the background that really drops out to give an amazing sense of space:
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/3794/madhaven7ts.jpg
Atmospheric perspective will help a lot =]

Edit: Also, maybe dropping the cityscape horizon line way lower in the picture could make them seem really high up- right now they seem to be 5 feet above the water. The negative space will really help the area around them breathe, too. Plus you can paint a sky of wicked clouds then

[Sonic#]

Awesome! Good game to draw from for the contest, too...

It looks really cool. The only thing that struck me about it was the buildings... they look like a cardboard cut-out. No depth. Which, admittedly, you might be on time restraints, but... following LuciaOne's advice seems like it would help that some.

[Sadrin]

Other than what LuciaOne already said, it looks Spiffy!

[Nobiyuki77]

The shading on sonic is great. Nice and deep.

If that's supposed to be water below the buildings in the background, it doesn't quite look like it.

Otherwise, it rocks. What's the medium?

Yeah, depending on the changes, I may just omit the water all together.

Using openCanvas 4.06

Also you should establish visual hierarchy- everything right now has the same weight, so Sonic doesn't pop as well as he could be. Right now the sky is as saturated as Sonic, making them feel like they are on the same plane. Try looking up some reference on what you want to say.

This is kind of an example, it has a city in the background that really drops out to give an amazing sense of space:
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/3794/madhaven7ts.jpg
Atmospheric perspective will help a lot =]

Wow, that's amazing. I can give it the old college try, but realistically I've 2 more days to work on this, which considering I work 8-5 Mon-Fri means about 8-10 maximum >>;;

Edit: Also, maybe dropping the cityscape horizon line way lower in the picture could make them seem really high up- right now they seem to be 5 feet above the water. The negative space will really help the area around them breathe, too. Plus you can paint a sky of wicked clouds then

My only concern is do you think lowering the buildings/horizon would mess up the perspective on Sonic and the track? Would I need to paint the tops of the buildings and paint more buildings behind them to make it look right?

[WD RPG WD]

I'd make the background black as night for more contrast and maybe to keep it like sonic you could emulate the starlight zone.

http://retroperspective.files.wordpress ... ight12.png


Very impressive work though, regardless.

[Nobiyuki77]

Reworked taking criticism into account. Please advise, tomorrow is the last night I can work on it.

[Werefrog]

Wow, I like that a lot more. Not much else that I can say. Art was never my forte.

[WD RPG WD]

This picture reminds exactly of the stardust speedway future. I think you fight that metal sonic as well in that level. If you go to 3:40 into the video, the lightning strikes and it looks very similar to what you have.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L265paLc ... re=related

[Nobiyuki77]

That's exactly the scene I'm illustrating. The contest is to draw your favorite scene from any Sonic game.

Sonic CD forever! ^_^

[LuciaOne]

WOOOOT AWESOME!! Sonic CD is the shiznit. My only little thing now is don't make the clouds parallel to the picture plane, it makes them really boring. Having them go at an angle with some sweet lighting will really make this kick arse. Maybe something like this?
http://are.berkeley.edu/~perloff/PHOTO/VIEW/clouds3.jpg
Don't be afraid to use the most saturated crazy colors to shade clouds, that's the best way to make them look realistic (I'm sure you know but never, ever, ever use white!!).

[Kizyr]

That's exactly the scene I'm illustrating. The contest is to draw your favorite scene from any Sonic game.

Sonic CD forever! ^_^

Yeah, that's my favorite scene of all-time, too!

Man, that change in the background seriously improved things. Now it gives a sense of angle and perspective that was missing beforehand. I'd take what Lucia just said about the clouds and try to work with that. I don't think she's gonna link her own art, so I'll do it; check out:
http://www.alayna.net/original/ninja.html
&
http://www.alayna.net/original/skyway.html

to perhaps give an idea of what direction you might want to go. But, I think that's the last thing to really clear up, particularly given the time you have. It's looking great so far, and I think other folks are gonna be just as impressed if not more so. KF

[Nobiyuki77]

Well, I"ve done what I can do. I've run outta time. Sucks, but thems the breaks. Thank you all for your help with this piece, I couldn't have done it without your help and advise. ^_^

[Kizyr]

I think you got it. I can almost hear the Stardust Speedway song in my mind when I see that image. Looks awesome. KF

[Silver Phoenix]

Sonic FOR THE WIN!

I was looking at your almost finished picture and wanted you to improve Metal Sonic's eyes and I'm so glad to see that you did in the final rendition. I surely hope you win. What's the prize?

[Benevolent_Ghaleon]

Badass!

[Nobiyuki77]

Thanks. I'm really hoping I end up as one of the winners.

What's the prize?

A special gallery in Sonic and the Black Knight will feature the 20 winning pieces, and the winners get a free copy of the game.

[Silver Phoenix]

I'm sure you'll land in there, it really looks great. Now hopefully Sonic and the Black Knight doesn't suck like the current crop of Sonic titles.

[Werefrog]

Let us know if you win.

Also, let us know if the new Sonic game is any good.