Please critique my new avatar!

[wkwkwkwk1]

Drawn by yours truly in Inkscape.

I wanted it to be a cross between the old and the new OotS styles, with some extra realism thrown in (weapons and armor, mostly).

Please tell me what you can gather from the image, to know if I managed to convey my mental image on such a small scale, and what, if anything, feels off

Thanks!

[Orcus The Vile]

Looks cool, loved the sunset detail.

[Marlowe]

Ooh! Veeeeery nice.

Why do I know that if you did the Black Shingle party like this Avita would be drawn with her mouth open.

[wkwkwkwk1]

Looks cool, loved the sunset detail.

Thanks!! I did spend quite a good while on it, the reflection was really hard to get right

Ooh! Veeeeery nice.

Why do I know that if you did the Black Shingle party like this Avita would be drawn with her mouth open.

Why, thank you kindly

Maybe I'll do something like that when I get back from holidays, who knows

[Mikemical]

IT'S ****!

jk, I think it looks pretty good.

[Emperor Ing]

I do like it! The lighting and reflection off the water is very well-done, and I love the detail of the shadows on the dock. That is a dock, right? Might possibly be a balcony. Not important. Plus, the orc himself looks very good. The more detailed armor is fitting and appropriate.

I'll give some constructive criticism: The first thing that stands out to me is the dark colors on the docks. It makes it hard to spot where his limbs are. Maybe the wood being made lighter would help. I'm of two minds about adding shadow and lighting to the orc. On one hand, the fact that he doesn't have it makes him stand out even more. on the other hand, he also seems out-of-place a little bit. Maybe experiment with shading, see what looks good, and adding some shine to the armor. Then there's the background. My eye had a hard time focusing on any one thing, and I think what it is is that the sun and background stands out too much. It's too bright and vivid, whereas you want your character and foreground to jump. Blurring the background or desaturating it might make my eye focus on the orc a bit more.

Just some thoughts.

[wkwkwkwk1]

IT'S ****!

jk, I think it looks pretty good.

Thanks

I do like it! The lighting and reflection off the water is very well-done, and I love the detail of the shadows on the dock. That is a dock, right? Might possibly be a balcony. Not important. Plus, the orc himself looks very good. The more detailed armor is fitting and appropriate.

I'll give some constructive criticism: The first thing that stands out to me is the dark colors on the docks. It makes it hard to spot where his limbs are. Maybe the wood being made lighter would help. I'm of two minds about adding shadow and lighting to the orc. On one hand, the fact that he doesn't have it makes him stand out even more. on the other hand, he also seems out-of-place a little bit. Maybe experiment with shading, see what looks good, and adding some shine to the armor. Then there's the background. My eye had a hard time focusing on any one thing, and I think what it is is that the sun and background stands out too much. It's too bright and vivid, whereas you want your character and foreground to jump. Blurring the background or desaturating it might make my eye focus on the orc a bit more.

Just some thoughts.

Thank you! :D

It's supposed to be a boat... that's precisely why I asked in the OP for people to tell me what it looked like to them Anything that would help make it clearer?

I suppose I could make the wood lighter, yes. I made it darker to highlight the lack of light.

The half-/orc does have shadows, but flat ones. I'll see what I can do about it.

I see, so you mean I should make the background more back, and the foreground more fore?

[Lord Torath]

Overall it looks pretty good. The background is beautiful!

The half-orc is casting shadows on the deck (just barely visible at the bottom of the image), but he's not casting any shadows on himself, which kind of makes him look photoshopped in. Look at the shadows on Roy, Elan, and V in The Wrong Eye and Haley in "Pyrohydra".

And maybe shift him just a bit in relation to the railing supports, to make his right arm more visible. The "noodle" arms of the newer art style might help with making his arm more visible as well.

[wkwkwkwk1]

Overall it looks pretty good. The background is beautiful!

The half-orc is casting shadows on the deck (just barely visible at the bottom of the image), but he's not casting any shadows on himself, which kind of makes him look photoshopped in. Look at the shadows on Roy, Elan, and V in The Wrong Eye and Haley in "Pyrohydra".

And maybe shift him just a bit in relation to the railing supports, to make his right arm more visible. The "noodle" arms of the newer art style might help with making his arm more visible as well.

Thanks!!

Oh wow. Those wallpapers are beautiful. I'd only really paid any mind to the older ones (I prefer the older style), but the shadows make it come to life.

As for the thicker arms, no thank you I very much prefer the older style in regards to that. In fact, I think the only things I prefer in the newer style are the shadows and the transparency effects

[Shoreward]

I'll echo the comments other people have said in regards to the limbs. It took me a moment to "find" the leg lines and the arm that follows the railing line on the left.

One recommendation is that lines further into the background would benefit from some thinning, to help show that they're further away. It'd make the focus element (which I assume is the orc/half-orc?) feel bolder as well. As well as this, the position of the sun makes it weird to me that there's no dramatic shading on this side of the orc when there is such harsh shading on the background.

The rest of this is solid, though. It's good to see someone trying for armour that's a little more on-point. The scene in general reminds me of those chapters in adventure books where the main character quietly reflects on the story so far. You know, the bit where the main character broods at himself in a reflection before entreating Krom to help him kill his former-lover-turned-evil-emperor in the future, then turning away with a face of grim resolve for the road ahead? That's the feeling I got.

Maybe that's just me.

[Lord Torath]

Another thing that might help is shifting the orc closer to the railing, so that the top rail is lower on his body, making the tops of his arms more visible. The more-visible tops of his arms will make the rest of his arms more easy to see as well.

[OpiumBear666]

hey thats real cool! I dig it! I can't wait until i can customize my own avatar!