Darth Venom...III(Art/Fiction)

Total PWNAGE as always. But every time I see a front view of him, it just looks awkward.
 
The Trandoshan's always look awkward. I mean, look at Bossk in the movies. That's why I find it hard to imagine a Trandoshan Jedi, because I can't imagine them moving around gracefully and at great speeds.
This is great work again man, I was going to comment on the cybernetic arm being not needed as Trandoshans regenerate, but then I read that he's far older than he should be so that takes care of that. Not keen on the choice of clothes, the colour of it kind of makes it look like his skin, and as if he's wearing some kind of bizarre white thong. I'd have gone for darker clothes, to keep in line with his Sith heritage and Trandoshan culture. Apart from that, and from an artist's point of view, it's flawless.
 
(holy crap I wrote a lot of BS here... if y'all don't read it I don't blame ya)

Your praise is much appreciated guys. Of course as artists we are all generally our own worst critics. I think 'flawless' of course is a grand exaggeration, which I'm sure you realized yourself even as you wrote your response Goraka. Awkward is the pose, without a doubt, although I'd not say it stems from his species. I am quite proud of this rendition of Venom, and I think it surpasses both of it's predecessors, or I would not have bothered to post it. However as proud as I am, I am disheartened by his proportions. I feel his hands are both too small for his overall size. The problem there is that I have quite a bit of difficulty trying to reconcile a three fingered hand to accurate size. I'm not sure why, but it's like a mental block of mine. Also his biceps are not quite of equal length, as well as his forearms, but I explain the forearms away through his cybernetics. For the purposes of that failure we should assume that his cybernetic arm has the capability to extend or shorten it's length. Aside from these points my only other regrets are that the chains around his shoulders lack depth and definition, as well as the white chest piece itself. I did the best I could in both of these area's but the dark lines of the chains did not lend themselves well to that end, just as the brightness of the chest area made it difficult to express shadow and depth. Chest piece wasn't as bad as the chains by far though. I consider the chains to be the major failure of this piece overall.

As for the clothes Gor, I of course cannot fault your personal opinion. But there is an explanation for them. Basically this is a souped up and modified combination of Bossk's own flightsuit and the Rebel Alliance flightsuits. I laughed when you referred to the white parts as a thong. Hehe, I don't see it that way personally, but when you said it I understood where u were coming from. He wears the flightsuit for 2 reasons. First off, for those who may not know or have forgotten, Sokarr is my created character in the Star Wars Galaxies PC game, in which I now almost exclusively wear a black Trandoshan flightsuit. The colors and skin-tones you see are accurate to his appearance in the game. The second reason is more of a role play thing. Sokarr's original version's which you may remember donned a red lightsaber with black and red shorts shrouded in a sort of skirt/cloak/mk-style ninja 'crotch flap'. For the sake of the story you read, you should assume that his saber and former garb were discarded when he abandoned the Sith order.

Now to add one other thing, to be clear on my reasoning for his cybernetic implant, your assumption that his age factors in would make sense, except for the fact that his earlier younger Sith renditions also included the cyber-arm. Since you brought up the subject, which I myself wrestled with when I created a Trandoshan baring a cyber-arm, I do have a bit of backup story which I had decided upon even when creating the first version of Sokarr. It goes like this:

Prior to entering Sith Knighthood, Lord Venom was aware that his masters would require of him a sacrifice. This tradition, upheld by many Sith Lords over the centuries, calls for the apprentice to destroy the life of an innocent person, most commonly one who was close to him. Having been trained as a Sith since his infancy Sokarr had no emotional ties beyond the bond he forged within the Sith order itself. Thus, it would have been assumed that Venom must kill another Sith, or an innocent being not connected with the order. Lord Venom however believed devoutly in the wisdom of Darth Bane, who taught that death without purpose is wasteful. Sokarr could not bring himself to destroy life without cause and thus, when his master called upon him to fulfill the ritual sacrifice, he declared, "I sacrifice myself." With one quick motion he drew his saber and lopped off his left arm at the elbow. Lord Nekt, Venom's master demanded to know what led Sokarr to believe this would be an acceptable sacrifice. But, knowing that his master held the same respect for the teachings of Bane, Venom explained himself. Lord Nekt was satisfied, and proud, although other Sith in the order disapproved. From that point on Sokarr suppressed the growth of a new forearm through the will of the force, and instead opted to have it replaced with a cyber-prosthetic, which possessed many beneficial combat abilities. The implant which Venom had installed was designed for shape transformation to adapt to various shaped and tools that would aid in combat and mechanical repairs, and was also designed as an amplifying conductor for force lightning.
 
Your backstory creation and overall imagination in your writings has greatly improved along with your artwork. I very much like this new rendition of Venom's background and heritage. And while I agree with your own criticism that there are issues with limb proportion, this art is still top-notch. I realized it was a flight-suit immediately. Better eyes I suppose, or a lighter screen.

Though I notice your avatar is a even different from this version...maybe it's newer than I've read thus far. I've been away and have some catching up to do.
 
like your style essay, i don't know how to really critique it but i like it.Well, actually, your story(though I didn't read it all) at least told me he's fully functioning and capable of making decisions.But, his face looks, not there/retarded.Honestly like he's smiling but he's not happy and no one said anything funny.Unless, he knew you were going to draw a picture of him and and smiled kind of.This doesn't really hurt the art, it just pokes my brain with a frozen hot dog.LOL.
 
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