182 replies to this topic

[leahnkain]

There are a couple of sketches...

Did you ever finish these pictures? I am wondering how they turned out.

[HERD]

@leahnkain
I've been making areas mostly, but now my mod is almost done - testing and making last fixes, will go back to portraits later.

[AnnabelleRose]

@leahnkain
I've been making areas mostly, but now my mod is almost done - testing and making last fixes, will go back to portraits later.

Excellent news.

[HERD]

This might of been reported before, but I can't actually see any of the pictures in this thread's first page

Tried to fix.

[Kellen]

It's funny seeing Sawyer in Paladin armor.

I really like this one. Was this made for someone of just random changings? (I must admit though the first time I saw him I thought he was female)

[HERD]

Was this made for someone of just random changings?

Check this out
http://ca.spellholds...=npc&s=vildamyr

[Kellen]

Okay. Oh well. I think I've found something else I could use.

[HERD]

A girl for cmorgan

Attached Images

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[leahnkain]

Herd, the girl for cmorgan excellent! I can't wait to see the art you use in your Mod.

[cmorgan]

HERD, I owe you code help or proofreading assistance - thank you! This is excellent.

I really appreciate it!

[HERD]

@ leahnkain
The wait is almost over!!!

Edited by HERD, 11 June 2007 - 02:58 AM.

[leahnkain]

I am eagerly waiting to try your Mod. I hope you can release it soon.

[Kulyok]

A girl for cmorgan

The actress in question is pretty indeed. However, the picture below is just what it is - from the first inexperienced glance of a player(that is, me), it is a cut-and-paste photograph. If you compare her skin tones to BG2 Portraits, the difference is striking.

[Ilmatar]

I wouldn't say it looks like cut-and-paste. In my opinion HERD is extremely good fitting the pieces together and getting the color scheme and the shadow/light values right in each of his portraits. It is true, however, that HERD's style is photographic and it differs from the original Baldur's Gate portraits, but I have never seen any custom portraits that would fit perfectly in, and to me it isn't that a big deal. I rather like it if the artist's own style comes through in the portraits.

The portrait made for cmorgan is indeed beautiful and very stylish.

Edited by Ilmatar, 13 June 2007 - 02:08 AM.

[Kulyok]

It is true, however, that HERD's style is photographic and it differs from the original Baldur's Gate portraits, but I have never seen any custom portraits that would fit perfectly in, and to me it isn't that a big deal.

I concur that such examples are rare - Keto, perhaps, might be one. Mods which blend with the game's original content are rare, as well - again, Keto might be one. However, this is not the reason to dismiss the possibility of reaching original Baldur's Gate content's quality - or, indeed, surpassing it, while blending well with the original game content.

I rather like it if the artist's own style comes through in the portraits.

As long as it is not a part of a mod, yes, it is quite enjoyable to me, as well.

[HERD]

I absolutely agree, my portraits all are ?cut-and-paste?, I can?t draw what so ever, especially shadows on faces. But when I see a request on SolEkSa that hangs without an answer for some time and if I have a similar picture in my ?collection?, I try to do something quickly till a better artist shows up (usually portraits that I make end up modified by professionals).
The longest time I ever spent on the portraits was for the art competition on FW, so I assume that this is the best I will ever be in drawing over photographs.

http://www.shsforums...t=0#entry209304

[leahnkain]

I wouldn't say it looks like cut-and-paste. In my opinion HERD is extremely good fitting the pieces together and getting the color scheme and the shadow/light values right in each of his portraits. It is true, however, that HERD's style is photographic and it differs from the original Baldur's Gate portraits, but I have never seen any custom portraits that would fit perfectly in, and to me it isn't that a big deal. I rather like it if the artist's own style comes through in the portraits.

The portrait made for cmorgan is indeed beautiful and very stylish.

When CA first was started Herd was the first artist I contacted because I loved his stlye. His picture for Kivan is amazing, look at his avatar. I would have loved to use it for CA. Plasmocat is another great artist who created well over half of CA's pictures. She often surpases the quality of BG art.
Althon, Rilithar and Fala'stra are excellent examples of her work.

I am surprised that you have never seen any portraits that would fit in... all of CA's portraits are original art done by various artists. Most would fit in nicely with BG. Plasmocat and Herd are two of the best artist I have seen on these forums. I am so grateful they could help out by creating pictures for CA's NPC's. Here is a link: http://ca.spellholdstudios.net/?p=npc

BTW It is a shame Sol Ek Sa seems dead. Many people go there for help and recieve only unanswered replies. Maybe a good idea for a portrait contest would be to help out one of the posts in Sol Ek Sa get a picture.

Edited by leahnkain, 13 June 2007 - 08:33 AM.

[Dirt_Squirrel]

Well, for what it's worth, I thought I would chime in with my two cents.
To date, I have seen many different artistic works from different people here. I would have to say that when it comes to portraits, my personal favorites are HERD and Ilmatar.
When it comes to areas, my personal favorite is Cuv, followed by Minotaur in Maze.
Good job to everyone and thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for sharing your fantastic skills with all of us!

*Hugs*
DS

[EvaineDian]

As Ilmatar said, it is by no means easy to create a good-looking picture from parts of photos. You have to find the proper angles, lightings, colours, shadows etc. to make a picture look genuine. Comparing the pictures you posted here in 2004 and the ones you posted now, I think you made a lot of progress since then. I don't know when you made them, though; since you said you have a collection, these might be older as well, but I see a big improvement from the first pics to the latest ones. Especially the last portraits look good and genuine to me (the girl). Vildamyr is my favourite, he's very feminine, but hot.

As for the portraits being too realistic to fit into the game, I don't think so. I used to dislike using too realistic portraits ingame, but when I tried it, I saw that it doesn't really show, anyway. The small portraits are too tiny to show too many details, so no big deal. And I like seeing some fresh faces, not just the old ones.

As for Keto: To be honest, I dislike her portrait. It's just wrong on so many levels and I can't see why this would fit into the game more seemlessly than any photo.

Edited by EvaineDian, 13 June 2007 - 11:10 AM.

[Ilmatar]

As for Keto: To be honest, I dislike her portrait. It's just wrong on so many levels and I can't see why this would fit into the game more seemlessly than any photo.

My thoughts exactly. The portrait itself is rather plain, meaning that it isn't eye catching or interesting, and the technique used is not as refined and skillful than in the original portraits.

BTW It is a shame Sol Ek Sa seems dead. Many people go there for help and recieve only unanswered replies. Maybe a good idea for a portrait contest would be to help out one of the posts in Sol Ek Sa get a picture.

Now that's one kick ass idea. I have to remember that.

And hay peeps, just a friendly nudge. This is HERD's portrait topic. Let's talk about them rather than Keto...