Elements of Magic Cover
Blacksad
Explorer
You can't really argue with art, but I wanted to say that I wouldn't have accepted the enchanter cover:
The red and blue girl have disparate hands (one is smaller than the other).
The blue girl nose (or the shadow on the nose) isn't in the same diretion as the rest of her face.
Plus some strange body proportion.
Sorry to nitpick, but while I find the other cover bland, I think the enchanter one is bad.
The red and blue girl have disparate hands (one is smaller than the other).
The blue girl nose (or the shadow on the nose) isn't in the same diretion as the rest of her face.
Plus some strange body proportion.
Sorry to nitpick, but while I find the other cover bland, I think the enchanter one is bad.
RangerWickett
Legend
Dark Quest Games mostly produces the books themselves, so we give them free reign for most details of layout and graphic style. I'll say that frankly I'm almost never fully pleased with art in 3rd-party d20 books, but I seem to be far more picky than most gamers. I of course have my own biases, and I think all publishers do. We work with certain people, and we come to be used to their styles, or we ourselves just have unique tastes in art.
A lot of people aren't too thrilled with J.L. Jones, who did work for Wild Spellcraft and FCTF, but since I'm her friend, I like her art (even though I still critique her a lot). Other times, even the best artists are rushed, or have an off day, or whatever.
I also agree that the covers all have their fair share of minor faults. But if DQG is willing to let me use my opinions of what I think is good art, then I'll let them. I personally like the enchanters cover best, since I'm not too hot on the style of the first two. It's all a matter of opinion. When we manage to land Todd Lockwood for a cover, I'll tell you.
A lot of people aren't too thrilled with J.L. Jones, who did work for Wild Spellcraft and FCTF, but since I'm her friend, I like her art (even though I still critique her a lot). Other times, even the best artists are rushed, or have an off day, or whatever.
I also agree that the covers all have their fair share of minor faults. But if DQG is willing to let me use my opinions of what I think is good art, then I'll let them. I personally like the enchanters cover best, since I'm not too hot on the style of the first two. It's all a matter of opinion. When we manage to land Todd Lockwood for a cover, I'll tell you.
You know, it is the problem of doing three dimensions in 2 dimensions.
personally I never noticed anything wrong with it, until you meantioned.. and then went.. yeah it is off.
But then I remembered why it looked that way. The middle one does have her fingers a little thin, but the perspective is based on the fact that it is trying to curl around the globe that is in front of her. Remember, think globe, not flat disc.
And the woman in blue has her arm turned towards her and you are seeing the back of her hand and just the bit of her knuckles. Have someone pose in that same position. What is showing is pretty much all you would see.
We are losing some of the coloration detail once it is displayed in the web palette. Perhaps that will make a difference to your opinion if you see the original in print, as opposed to purely on the webpage. Perhaps not. Some people just see things differently. Perspective in art is actually highly subjective.
We do appreciate the feedback on it, good or bad.
personally I never noticed anything wrong with it, until you meantioned.. and then went.. yeah it is off.
But then I remembered why it looked that way. The middle one does have her fingers a little thin, but the perspective is based on the fact that it is trying to curl around the globe that is in front of her. Remember, think globe, not flat disc.
And the woman in blue has her arm turned towards her and you are seeing the back of her hand and just the bit of her knuckles. Have someone pose in that same position. What is showing is pretty much all you would see.
We are losing some of the coloration detail once it is displayed in the web palette. Perhaps that will make a difference to your opinion if you see the original in print, as opposed to purely on the webpage. Perhaps not. Some people just see things differently. Perspective in art is actually highly subjective.
We do appreciate the feedback on it, good or bad.
Well...
I like the Enchanters cover the best, but it's closer to my personal stylistic preferences. It also does a fairly good job of portraying the scene.
The Dark Elves cover.. I don't like, a lot. But I think most of that is the bottom male drow there, he just looks so wrong to me. Closer to the way I like to picture a really deformed goblin than a dark elf. The two females look fine, although a bit more stylized than I prefer, but still well-done.
Elements of magic is cute. A good cover for the product, I think. Not snazzy or eyecatching, but this is a symbol here, not a scene, and that's to be expected.
As for the suggested flaws in the Enchanters cover, actually most of those aren't flaws, they're correct. The problem here lies in the fact that so few artists really do use RL references in much of their work (at least, not the BIG boys) that lots of people tend to get used to things looking wrong. Or, more to the point, things in RL have a strong tendancy to 'look wring' when you take a hard, close look at them. Perspectives have a habit of looking off, because you're used to seeing artistic interpretations of things in perspective, and seeing the real thing can throw the eye, so to speak. It's no masterpiece, but this is illustration, not Fine Art. It's a good, strong piece of it's genre.
And that is officially the strongest I've ever defended a pic I didn't draw myself. (LOL) So I'll stop now.
Oh, and I really like the concept of the Elements of Magic book, from it's blurb at least. Sounds like a great product.
I like the Enchanters cover the best, but it's closer to my personal stylistic preferences. It also does a fairly good job of portraying the scene.
The Dark Elves cover.. I don't like, a lot. But I think most of that is the bottom male drow there, he just looks so wrong to me. Closer to the way I like to picture a really deformed goblin than a dark elf. The two females look fine, although a bit more stylized than I prefer, but still well-done.
Elements of magic is cute. A good cover for the product, I think. Not snazzy or eyecatching, but this is a symbol here, not a scene, and that's to be expected.
As for the suggested flaws in the Enchanters cover, actually most of those aren't flaws, they're correct. The problem here lies in the fact that so few artists really do use RL references in much of their work (at least, not the BIG boys) that lots of people tend to get used to things looking wrong. Or, more to the point, things in RL have a strong tendancy to 'look wring' when you take a hard, close look at them. Perspectives have a habit of looking off, because you're used to seeing artistic interpretations of things in perspective, and seeing the real thing can throw the eye, so to speak. It's no masterpiece, but this is illustration, not Fine Art.
It's a good, strong piece of it's genre.And that is officially the strongest I've ever defended a pic I didn't draw myself. (LOL) So I'll stop now.
Oh, and I really like the concept of the Elements of Magic book, from it's blurb at least. Sounds like a great product.
Cyberzombie
Explorer
Well, to be fair to the artist of the Elements of Magic's cover (my wife), I think y'all should have a full picture to compare, not just a thumbnail version. Yes, I'm biased, but I think it's the best of the bunch.
Blacksad
Explorer
*take a ball in his hands*tensen said:
Nope, it is wrong.
Look at how thick the finger are, and remember that while it's perspective, there isn't that much espace between the hand.
Or look at yourself in a mirror with a ball.
hm...Look at yourself in a mirror, it's easier, you see 4 fingers, and the right hand is still smaller than the three finger perspective on the other hand.
Ok, then:
The arms of the red haired girl are of different length.
Take any photo, and compare the proportion between the red girl head and her body.
The left boob of the white girl is higher than the right one, while it's her right shoulder which is higher (though, being a man, I do not really know how boobs works, so this statement could means nothing).
The white girl face isn't symetrical, this might be normal, but the lips are a bit on the left, while the check on the rigth is bigger than the other, if it is based on a photo in a magazine, it is perfectly normal.
Long Hair do have a weight (blue girl), BTW I have lightweighted long hair.
The light comes from above on the white girl, while it comes from the left on the red girl.
The style is good, I like it, but it doesn't look like someone posed for the cover and/or that it was rushed, and the error in the cover completly spoiled it for me.
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