"Awaiting the Challenge (color)" by Barbara J. Wickham

Wow, big attitude! Luv the backround.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Attitude is everything! Heck, this burly guy is attitude incarnate...even when he's ordering a latte! *Grrrr* Thanks for the comment. *grin*"

Nice *sword* Hahaha!! Okay-I'm sorry-- too much caffine! Anyhow, wow! How come my guys look so girly--they don't look like this at all. Wonderfully done!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "*LOL* Yep, he's mighty proud of that "weapon". No need to apologize. In fact, I must thank you for the laugh.

I learned how to draw guys by studying villains in classic comic books. It helped alot since everything is so exaggerated in comics.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a great comment!"

Love the color job overall. Really I do. But I do have some nit-picky points to make just to drive you nuts. heehehhe - I really don't want to drive you crazy, but I do try to leave a suggestion on every piece.

His hair is too soft. What I mean is, he looks like he has been under a brush and dryer of a stylist like this. I don't think he needs to have nasty hair, but would it be so soft and billowy if he was a barbarian? My hair isn't even that smooth and soft and I work for hours with a hairdryer and products galore to try to get it there.

The next thing is that the skin tone (imho) needs some other colors. If you examine your own skin you don't just have one flat color of skin, it has blues, pinks to reds, yellows, etc. That is part of what I like about Boris Vallejo's art (see my comment on your sketch). You have a great base, I think you just need to "highlight" with some other colors to put some vibrance in it.

Overall, still a great pic. And I really like the background too. Kind of Vallhalla like. Really neat!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Yes, this poor guy definitely lost some of his charm when I colored him, but the experience helped me immensely in learning how to handle to tools on Photoshop. It took me quite awhile to improve but I owe all my current success to this fellow. *smooch!*

I agree with you 110% about his hair. I so loved the scruffiness of it in the sketch and none of that survived my wild attentions with the paint tool. Gah! I also agree that his skin is very flat and lifeless. He's supposed to be a hot-blooded, man-beast with molten rage flowing thru his veins. What I ended up with was a big puffball with waxy, bloodless skin. *sigh*

This pic is definitely filed under the "desperately in need of repair" WIP. I like how you compare it to an under painting. I feel so much better thinking of it that way. *grin*

I wish I could take credit for the background. It's a stock photo of a mideastern style temple, ruthlessly filtered in Photoshop. *lol* Regardless, thank you so much for your outstanding comment and very helpful advice! "

I think it look better without the whait spots at the eyes, anyvay very cool pic.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "*lol* I have to agree with you. In fact, there are alot of improvements needed but I have grown somewhat fond of this pic because it was one of my earliest attempts at using Photoshop. I may update it someday so I thank you for sharing what you think doesn't work."

Well done in color!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you! I'm a bit nostalgic about this one since it represents my early attempts at photoshop, but he deserves a better coloring job and a more appropriate background. Hmmm. Perhaps a few slumped bodies at his feet and a barbarianette in a chainmail bikini clinging to his leg? *lol* Yes, that would work..."

Well... there could be some improvments with the coloring... as others have said. I think the spots in the eyes could go and the blending is a little too soft... makes the pic look blurry.

Still... it’s much more realistic than anything I do... and I know the linework underneath is wonderful... and you get better with each pic you color.

So... keep up the good work... and I wish more men would walk around in fuzzy britches... do you think we could start a trend? lol...

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "My apologies for taking so long to respond to your comment. I missed it somehow. Maybe because this pic is so traumatic for me in it’s painfully "rough" coloring, that I subconsciously avoided it. *lol*

Fuzzy britches are seeeexy. Unfortunately, the fashion industry has something against furry butts... even after I explained it was faux fur, they said that nevertheless, hairy man are "un-natural". Huh. Go figure.

"

That gaze definitely makes me want to run and hide behind something! I like how the background is blurry but you can still tell what it is so that it doesn’t detract from your barbarian.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you for your kind comment. I still feel iffy about this one, but then I was still learning to use Photoshop and the experience was invaluable in helping me get better."

OOOOH!! Conan!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Nope! Conan’s evil twin. *bwahahahaha*"

Great coloring job! I hafta agree with you that the background doesn’t fit but if you made the columns more bone like and such, it would be perfect!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Oooo! I like it! A citadel of bones!!!! *bwahahahaha*

That totally trumps my idea of putting him in the middle of a midwestern mall... Hmmm."

Much to his surprise and shame, he lost lost the next challenge, when a man demanded he recite the alphabet!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Well, considering that his command of the alphabet consists of A-L-E the challenge wasn’t exactly fair, now was it?

*hehehe*"