Stretch Goal - hire Justin Sweet to make portraits.

[Sugarjaye]

Also, I was thinking would it have to be traditional art portraits, or would you be open to digital work. Eg - Digital work like this.

[dlux]

The Baldur's Gate two portraits are not hideous but far from being very nice, At the end of the day this is all subjective.

 

Justin has a great artistic style and is one of the big things that I loved about Icewind Dale and as Obsidian have stated they want to mimic the artistic style from that game, those that love the BG2 portraits should be prepared for some disappointment... dlux.

The portraits don't have to look like the BG2 ones.... Aedelric

If you would have read the rest then you would know that..... Aedelric

 

They just shouldn't look the IWD ones, which were terrible imo.

 

I feel the campaign to get Justin on-board is pointless at the moment, due to the campaign being close to closing. But Obsidian have great artists that can pull off his style well, Dwarven ranger being a good example, I would like to see more of that art soon though.

The style used with the dwarven ranger is also fine..... Aedelric

Edited October 13, 2012 by dlux

[Loranc]

I still think it's a possibility, Aedelric; maybe not as a stretch goal, but they might hire Justin later on. They've previously hinted that they will begin hiring people after the Kickstarter is over. Besides, I know that Brian Fargo hired several writers after the Wasteland 2 campaign was over.

 

From yesterday's chat we know that they've at least considered it.

 

That makes sense to hire people after the project, guess I didn't really consider that until they actually know the 'exact' amount of donation money they're going to be getting, they don't really know how much they can spend. I'm sure there are some people that are pretty darn expensive to hire, I stated earlier that they probably had a full team, but now thinking about it they probably will hire folks on after the kickstarter. I guess with how successful the kickstarter has been, it may even draw people to the project, so there's no telling who they may add on later.

[Merlkir]

Just btw, Justin Sweet (and J.Manley too I think) paints his concept art digitally. (only his gallery work is oils and watercolor)

[Karranthain]

I still think it's a possibility, Aedelric; maybe not as a stretch goal, but they might hire Justin later on. They've previously hinted that they will begin hiring people after the Kickstarter is over. Besides, I know that Brian Fargo hired several writers after the Wasteland 2 campaign was over.

 

From yesterday's chat we know that they've at least considered it.

 

That makes sense to hire people after the project, guess I didn't really consider that until they actually know the 'exact' amount of donation money they're going to be getting, they don't really know how much they can spend. I'm sure there are some people that are pretty darn expensive to hire, I stated earlier that they probably had a full team, but now thinking about it they probably will hire folks on after the kickstarter. I guess with how successful the kickstarter has been, it may even draw people to the project, so there's no telling who they may add on later.

 

Yeah, exactly. They will begin hiring right after the campaign is over and the budget is discussed. I think we can definitely expect more talent joining their ranks.

[ddillon]

I'm not opposed to Justin Sweet and Vance Kovacs creating some of the portraits, but I'd prefer to be able to choose among a range of portraits from different artists (perhaps with some basic stylistic guidelines to unify the general look and feel of the portraits). I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

 

Edited October 13, 2012 by ddillon

[hideo kuze]

 

Well, I liked Imoen as you can see.

 

But yes, the portrait is also very good, much better than anything Justin Sweet could ever whip up.

It's probably the least vulgar portrait in the game. Some of the others are absolutely hideous looking:

 

 

Awful, awful artwork...

 

Well, I liked Imoen as you can see.

 

But yes, the portrait is also very good, much better than anything Justin Sweet could ever whip up.

It's probably the least vulgar portrait in the game. Some of the others are absolutely hideous looking:

 

Awful, awful artwork...

Loads better than the hideous crap from Justin Sweet that is plastered all over this thread.

 

 

 

You just don't like dark themes, that's the only difference. IWD was a very dark game, baldurs gate is a very bright game. Mike Sass did the BG portraits and as you can see they are all 'very' bright, while Justin Sweet's are all very dark. It all depends on the type of game Project Eternity is going to be, if it's a very dark game i'm not going to want bright character portraits that's for sure. But I have a feeling that's it's not going to have that same 'dark' feel that IWD had, which is probably why they only talked about contacting Vance and Justin and never did actually do it.

 

 

Those BG portraits are plain horrible!

Their artist aimed for realism, but then plastered them with irregular brightness patches all over.

Some of them look like they're wearing make up... as if trying to cross-dress or something like that.

 

 

I've said it once, I'll say it again. Justin Sweet just does not work for me. I really just do not like his style, and in my opinion there are way better artists well known or not. You just have to search through the work on Deviantart to see a sample of the quality that is out there.

Yes, we heard you. No need to keep parroting it at every page.

 

Maybe you should start another thread for it: "Portrait styles I'd like to have" or "No Justin Sweet please"

And then post deviant fan art in it.

[Karranthain]

I'm not opposed to Justin Sweet and Vance Kovacs creating some of the portraits, but I'd prefer to be able to choose among a range of portraits from different artists (perhaps with some basic stylistic guidelines to unify the general look and feel of the portraits). I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

 

 

That portrait, at least to me, looks slightly inspired by the Icewind Dale style. I like it.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Karranthain

[Aedelric]

I still think it's a possibility, Aedelric; maybe not as a stretch goal, but they might hire Justin later on. They've previously hinted that they will begin hiring people after the Kickstarter is over. Besides, I know that Brian Fargo hired several writers after the Wasteland 2 campaign was over.

 

From yesterday's chat we know that they've at least considered it.

 

You are right, we can but hope.

[hideo kuze]

It has nothing to do with that. I have no problem with dark themes, I have a problem with Justin Sweet's style. His art is unpolished and very bland. And yes, pictures with nothing other than every shade of brown and black are very boring.

 

Yeah... it kind of reminds me of the amateur that made these:

[ddillon]

snip

That portrait, at least to me, looks slightly inspired by the Icewind Dale style. I like it.

 

Sure, and that supports the idea that we could have multiple artists creating portraits that share a basic style or feel to provide more variety and choice without things seeming too mix-n-matched.

[dlux]

It has nothing to do with that. I have no problem with dark themes, I have a problem with Justin Sweet's style. His art is unpolished and very bland. And yes, pictures with nothing other than every shade of brown and black are very boring.

 

Yeah... it kind of reminds me of the amateur that made these:

 

....

 

 

I was obviously talking about PORTRAITS (see topic of this thread) and not impressionistic art made by van gogh.

 

But feel free to use the flowers as your character portrait in PE if you like..... ^^

Edited October 13, 2012 by dlux

[Karranthain]

snip

That portrait, at least to me, looks slightly inspired by the Icewind Dale style. I like it.

 

Sure, and that supports the idea that we could have multiple artists creating portraits that share a basic style or feel to provide more variety and choice without things seeming too mix-n-matched.

 

Indeed, as was the case with IWD I and II portraits, they were different, but shared a somewhat similar style.

[Piccolo]

I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

So do I.

 

I didn't like the dwarven ranger image at first because I thought it had a slightly cartoony, almost Disney-esque look about it... but the more I think about it, that's probably just because the dwarf character has quite a child-like face. A more serious looking character might give a very different impression.

 

As much as I love Justin Sweet's work, I think it would be a real shame to see their current portrait artist dropped when we've only seen one example of their work.

[Karranthain]

I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

So do I.

 

I didn't like the dwarven ranger image at first because I thought it had a slightly cartoony, almost Disney-esque look about it... but the more I think about it, that's probably just because the dwarf character has quite a child-like face. A more serious looking character might give a very different impression.

 

As much as I love Justin Sweet's work, I think it would be a real shame to see their current portrait artist dropped when we've only seen one example of their work.

 

How about both? The more portraits, the merrier, if you ask me.

[dlux]

Those BG portraits are plain horrible!

Their artist aimed for realism, but then plastered them with irregular brightness patches all over.

Some of them look like they're wearing make up... as if trying to cross-dress or something like that.

They also had to look good on low resolution monitors way back then....

 

ha duuuuuuuh

[hideo kuze]

Justin Sweet isn't a crappy portrait artist. He's just NOT a portrait artist. 90% of stuff posted here is concept art, or illustrations, not portraits. Which doesn't mean he couldn't do absolutely kickass portraits if he tried.

 

Royo is overrated and thankfully almost forgotten now, that girly crap above is not even worth a comment.

The portraits in BGII were alright, although one can clearly see they're real people with earrings and hamsters added. (also the artist seemed to struggle with getting the eyes aligned in most of them)

 

See? It's so easy to spout really really insensitive comments about someone's art. Good grief, I do hope none of the artists read this thread.

(and believe me, artists sometimes do make the mistake of reading what fans have to say about products they worked on.)

 

Why do you say he's not a portrait artist? Because his images show a lot more than a face (whole body and even landscape) ?

 

Since you're also an artist, could you post portraits from or two artists that you consider good?

(even if style is always subjective)

[Piccolo]

I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

So do I.

 

I didn't like the dwarven ranger image at first because I thought it had a slightly cartoony, almost Disney-esque look about it... but the more I think about it, that's probably just because the dwarf character has quite a child-like face. A more serious looking character might give a very different impression.

 

As much as I love Justin Sweet's work, I think it would be a real shame to see their current portrait artist dropped when we've only seen one example of their work.

 

How about both? The more portraits, the merrier, if you ask me.

Perhaps. The dwarven ranger artist could focus on companion portraits and portraits for the player-character, while Justin works on portraits for other NPCs.

[hideo kuze]

I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

So do I.

 

I didn't like the dwarven ranger image at first because I thought it had a slightly cartoony, almost Disney-esque look about it... but the more I think about it, that's probably just because the dwarf character has quite a child-like face. A more serious looking character might give a very different impression.

 

As much as I love Justin Sweet's work, I think it would be a real shame to see their current portrait artist dropped when we've only seen one example of their work.

And that one is a female dwarf. Thus the face.

 

I also liked the dwarf ranger, but I still prefer the IWD art (Sweet, Kovacs, Manley).

And like Karranthain mentioned here, Justin was the art director and the leader of the pack.

[hideo kuze]

I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

So do I.

 

I didn't like the dwarven ranger image at first because I thought it had a slightly cartoony, almost Disney-esque look about it... but the more I think about it, that's probably just because the dwarf character has quite a child-like face. A more serious looking character might give a very different impression.

 

As much as I love Justin Sweet's work, I think it would be a real shame to see their current portrait artist dropped when we've only seen one example of their work.

 

How about both? The more portraits, the merrier, if you ask me.

Perhaps. The dwarven ranger artist could focus on companion portraits and portraits for the player-character, while Justin works on portraits for other NPCs.

 

 

IMO the art style should be the same across PC and NPC portraits.

[Merlkir]

Why do you say he's not a portrait artist? Because his images show a lot more than a face (whole body and even landscape) ?

 

Since you're also an artist, could you post portraits from or two artists that you consider good?

(even if style is always subjective)

 

yeah, pretty much. The idea of a "portrait artist" in most people's eyes means "he paints faces with every wrinkle and mole just how real people look". Which is not at all what Sweet does. He implies rather than shows. Which obviously works for many people.

 

An example of a very skilled "portrait artist" would be Dave Rapoza (he's been doing a lot of fanart portraits lately, TMNT and stuff)

 

http://daverapoza.blogspot.cz/

 

Anyway, there are way too many arists I consider good, because I everyone tends to do different stuff and excels at something else.

 

I can't think of any "portraitists" right now. Maybe Adrian Smith? He seems to be posting a lot of headshots on Facebook recently.

 

http://www.adriansmith.co.uk/published-works.html

Edited October 13, 2012 by Merlkir

[Karranthain]

I want to see more art from the creator of the dwarven ranger portrait released with Update 3. (Who is the artist?)

So do I.

 

I didn't like the dwarven ranger image at first because I thought it had a slightly cartoony, almost Disney-esque look about it... but the more I think about it, that's probably just because the dwarf character has quite a child-like face. A more serious looking character might give a very different impression.

 

As much as I love Justin Sweet's work, I think it would be a real shame to see their current portrait artist dropped when we've only seen one example of their work.

 

How about both? The more portraits, the merrier, if you ask me.

Perhaps. The dwarven ranger artist could focus on companion portraits and portraits for the player-character, while Justin works on portraits for other NPCs.

 

 

IMO the art style should be the same across PC and NPC portraits.

 

Can be done, IWD I and II portraits retained a similar style, even if they were created by different artists.

[dlux]

An example of a very skilled "portrait artist" would be Dave Rapoza (he's been doing a lot of fanart portraits lately, TMNT and stuff)

Wow, Dave is really talented. Dark and beautiful portrait art.

 

How could somebody want Justin Sweet to do the portraits after they see stuff like this:

http://daverapoza.cghub.com/images/

 

WOW! The only problem is that Dave is certainly very expensive....

Edited October 13, 2012 by dlux

[Karranthain]

Which is not at all what Sweet does. He implies rather than shows. Which obviously works for many people.

 

Which is, I think, why his art speaks to a lot of people, but it's also a reason why some find it non appealing.

 

Sweet intentionaly leaves space and lets us fill in the details.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Karranthain

[Piccolo]

An example of a very skilled "portrait artist" would be Dave Rapoza (he's been doing a lot of fanart portraits lately, TMNT and stuff)

Wow, Dave is really talented. Dark and beautiful portrait art.

 

How could somebody want Justin Sweet to do the portraits after they see stuff like this:

http://daverapoza.cghub.com/images/

 

WOW! The only problem is that Dave is certainly very expensive....

Very talented artist, but I really don't like is style. Even the more fantasy-oriented images in that gallery have a distinct comic book feel about them to me. That's completely wrong for this kind of game I think.