Kaladin Stormblessed

Shards, that is incredible.

This is amazing.

It's beautiful!

That's one hell of a way to introduce oneself! Dang, that's good! 

Uhhhhh... what?

You gonna post that and then hit me with a "if you are learning like me or just curious of the process - tips and feedback welcome"??? Man you oughta be giving us tips, DANG that looks good!!

WOW... Ok my first question has just gotta be how, what, where, when, why, who, (rutabaga) did you make that??? I am so curious what program/ setup you were using to make and how long it took. Ok and WOW I don't even know if I'm going to be able to write the rest of this I just keep scrolling back up to the image 

Ok full review cuz this is absolutely amazing. I LOVE the sense of motion that this conveys. You feel like you are leaping across the ground or flying through the air with him. His posture and hand positions are perfect. His energy and momentum just radiate outwards and you can sense him springing forward into the danger of the beyond.

My favorite part of it is the swirl of blue mist across the center of the frame (analyzing with film terms cuz it's so realistic lol) that I am assuming is from the tip of the Sylspear as it slices through the air in front of him to rest at his back. You have captured perfectly the essence of the incorporeal but also tangible form of the spear with it's luminous but at the same time concrete form. 

The colors you use are absolutely perfect!! The illuminating reds and yellows of the lower right contrasting with the somber blues and grays of the top reminds me perfectly of the Way of Kings cover image. This combined with the swirl of the clouds up and to the left is a perfect encapsulation of that image.

I also love the way you balanced your shadows and highlights here. While your eye is generally drawn to the center of the frame first the darker blue of the uniform pushes your eyes outward to be drawn in by the white of his shirt (brilliant color choice to guide attention) and then up to the contrasting lighter tones of Kaladin's face. Next, his piercing blue eyes send you to the matching, shining tip of the spear and is just absolutely gorgeously executed.

Further, I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the perfectly executed motion blur. The perfectly out of focus debri flying past in the center left of the frame and the ghosting on the bottom fringe of his cape are PERFECT at conveying the feeling of the wind whipping past your face. 

Finally, your attention to detail is impeccable. From the shine of his belt buckle, to the distinct illumination on each and every button, to the Shash brand drawn expertly onto his forehead every aspect of this image is absolutely stunning. 

WELL. DONE.

Good grief, that's freakin' gorgeous!

This is spectacular!

I really like your design choices for the uniform. The Epulets (or however you spell those lovely shoulder decorations) are a very welcome touch

Thank you all for the kind words!

5 hours ago, Scout_Fox said:

Ok my first question has just gotta be how, what, where, when, why, who, (rutabaga) did you make that???

First, @Scout_Fox, thank you for the review! It made me scrolling up to reexamine my own painting haha. It is so surreal to have someone describe the subconscious artistic directions I made.

To your questions: This was one of my favorite imagery of Kaladin across the books - When he surfs the highstorms. Close enough to sustain stormlight and see the light ahead but barely racing ahead of the void and violent winds. At the knifes' edge - a good metaphor for Kal. A tied favorite is the epic aerial fight between him and Szeth which I will attempt to render once I gain more confidence with the tools I am using.

Why I did it? The current state of country had me spending more time at home. I was rereading some books and after The Way of Kings I promptly purchased and consumed the rest. Overdosed with inspiration, I wanted to illustrate the various scenes from my mind's eye. The whole technical aspect had me stumped but I was determined to distill the mental imagery into something tangible. The most challenging part was capturing Kaladins' likeness. I also wanted to add more detail like embroidery, jewelry and various other graphical designs but I currently lack the rendering skills to do them. I settled for the excuse that Kaladins' spartan nature would have him forego the embellishments anyway.

I am glad you enjoyed it and hopefully there are more to come.

I love the background, leaves, hair... actually the whole piece of art is just amazing and gorgeous! 

@jastzui This is amazing! 

Quick question, though. Is he missing a leg?

That may be my lack of eyes talking, but I can't see his other leg.

Still one of the best pieces of art I have seen on the shard.

Just now, I Used To Be A Fish said:

Quick question, though. Is he missing a leg?

It’s behind his first leg. I also couldn’t see that at first.

Just now, Emi said:

It’s behind his first leg. I also couldn’t see that at first.

So...

My lack of eyes. 

Disadvantages to being cooked.

On 8/28/2020 at 8:34 PM, jastzui said:

Thank you all for the kind words!

First, @Scout_Fox, thank you for the review! It made me scrolling up to reexamine my own painting haha. It is so surreal to have someone describe the subconscious artistic directions I made.

To your questions: This was one of my favorite imagery of Kaladin across the books - When he surfs the highstorms. Close enough to sustain stormlight and see the light ahead but barely racing ahead of the void and violent winds. At the knifes' edge - a good metaphor for Kal. A tied favorite is the epic aerial fight between him and Szeth which I will attempt to render once I gain more confidence with the tools I am using.

Why I did it? The current state of country had me spending more time at home. I was rereading some books and after The Way of Kings I promptly purchased and consumed the rest. Overdosed with inspiration, I wanted to illustrate the various scenes from my mind's eye. The whole technical aspect had me stumped but I was determined to distill the mental imagery into something tangible. The most challenging part was capturing Kaladins' likeness. I also wanted to add more detail like embroidery, jewelry and various other graphical designs but I currently lack the rendering skills to do them. I settled for the excuse that Kaladins' spartan nature would have him forego the embellishments anyway.

I am glad you enjoyed it and hopefully there are more to come.

 

Absolutely! Thank YOU for giving us this amazing artwork! Lol, we'll just say you were fact checking. You knew all along . For me, I have always been fascinated by the way filmmakers convey subtle meanings through certain deliberate choices in their work and the concepts transfer quite nicely to here. Once you start paying attention to these techniques in one place it's so amazing to see how the ideas appear all over, even in some things you do without even thinking about! 

Ahhh yeah that's totally what it was reminding of!! You can totally feel the wind of destruction seeping across it and the air of anticipation + determination in Kaladin! Ohhh yeah that scene would be sick! I can't wait to see what else you make as your skills with this format improve.

Man! See even if I was overdosed with inspiration I don't think I'd be able to pull this off ! You truly have some amazing talent with this. And I can totally see how capturing the essence and form of him would be difficult. I would just think getting the proportions would be difficult lol but you managed to capture his aura quite well too! It is sooooo cool that you were able to take this image from your mind and put it out to all of us in something physical that we can enjoy! Fantastically well done!!!

Ooh and the extra embellishing, honestly, while it could be awesome in future drawings I kinda like the fact that this one doesn't have too many distracting embroideries and jewelry. It keeps it really focused on him and the motion of the scene instead of being distracting. And yes... I definitely think our brooding Kaladin Stormblessed is less of a jewelry guy !

I eagerly look forward to it!! Keep us posted!

On 8/29/2020 at 0:41 PM, Wyndlerunner said:

I really like your design choices for the uniform. The Epulets (or however you spell those lovely shoulder decorations) are a very welcome touch

@Wyndlerunner Ahhh the epaulettes one of the design choices that I initially regretted due to sheer amount of time I repainted them. But they were a good learning experience and I ended up kinda liking them ;P

On 8/30/2020 at 5:14 AM, Emi said:

It’s behind his first leg. I also couldn’t see that at first.

@I Used To Be A Fish As @Emi pointed out, when I drew the underlying anatomy his right leg was pointed towards the camera a little more prominently after repainting a bunch of times I kinda see how the silhouette of the left leg was lost. 

I actually agree that it is hard to see and edited in a hint of the leg on the original file 1 day after I submitted it hahah! This is why I asked for the community's feedback - I can get tunnel visioned during the process and miss these things! Also after mulling over it I think the sky's blue color is too saturated/vibrant and I am thinking of toning it down to a slate gray (with a tinge of azure) to better represent the highstorm.

If you guys have anymore suggestions post away and hopefully we get a more robust final piece at the end