Grim Reaper

[EhBCz]

Hello everyone,

This is my 3rd project, finished this one over 2 weekends on and off.
It is on a 24" W x 36" H sign board that my wife salvaged from her office.
The art work is 16 & 1/2" x 28".
I used AA paint, and mixed a lot of the colours.
I tried stippling on the grave stone, my first attempt at it.
Cleared it was spray can clear from Canadian Tire.

I hope you enjoy it. It was fun to paint.
I figure I better submit it to the Skull contest also, you never know.

[EhBCz]

Any comments?
Does it blow chunks?

[Cameron Arts]

EhBCz, no it doesn't "blow chunks"! LOL!

I don't know about the others, but I never have enough time to look at all the posts in one sitting, & many I never even get to, even though I would like to look at & respond to every single one of them. Sometimes it takes a while for people to give you feedback...

This is a great 3rd piece, especially when the reaper dude is pretty small. Smaller is harder in my book. I like the colors & swirls in your sky. If it were my project, I would maybe have done the reaper a little larger. Seems like a bit too much sky, but that's just me. The only things that really jump out at me are his hand & his neck. If he had that heavy cloak on, I doubt you would see the vertebrae. Remember, the spine attaches to the skull at the BACK of the head, so it seems to me it would be deep in shadow inside the cloak. An easy fix, if you agree. As for the hand, it looks a bit "glovey". If you look at a pic of a real skeleton's hand, you can see through just about all of it. Another easy fix. Just add lines in the right spots to the back of the hand to indicate the separate bones.

Other than those 2 little things, great job! Love the fact that you delved into the color mixing! That's a skill in itself, & intimidating for some, so good for you. Keep it up!

Marge

[EhBCz]

thanks Marge,
My wife pointed out to me that the hand did not look right so I added some more finger joints but that still did not look good to me (it looked worse), so I went back to what I had first. I know what you mean about back of the hand but I am not sure about the spine. Are you suggesting that I shadow it more because it is further back?

Barry

[Cameron Arts]

Yup, darken it in because it is further back than the chin, but right now it looks like it's almost on the same plane. I also think it need to be moved slightly to the left to appear properly aligned with the skull.

As for the hand, you need to think about where the joints would be, & make those portions of the bone wider, like in the pic I posted earlier. I think the reason it looks a little "glovey" right now is the bones are all the same width.

I hope you don't mind, but I tossed your pic into PhotoShop & did a little doodling to show you what I mean. (They say a picture's worth a thousand words, dontcha know! ) I moved & darkened the spine, especially just below the chin where it would be in the most shadow. I also modified the hand slightly, angling it inward where the back of the hand narrows toward the wrist, slenderized the finger bones & added the wider points at the joints. I also shortened the thumb a bit. Hope that helps some!

[EhBCz]

Thanks Marge,

Your photoshop edit does help. The spine makes sence now. I also should have listened to my wife, she also told me to make the bones wider at the joints. I just had a hard time picturing the hand. Your edit will help for future references. As a noobee, I knew something looked off but had a hard time putting a finger on it

Barry