Caranthir meets the Dwarves of Nogrod Tumunzahar

[bunn]

Sorry, Tumunzahar!

I originally gave the Dwarves larger beards, but Pp pointed out that it's the Dwarves of Khazad Dum and the Lonely Mountain that are called the Longbeards, and that therefore Tumunzahar dwarves might be supposed to have smaller beards.   You can see that as usual it was looking promising in pencil and went all a bit pearshaped when I coloured it.   I should have avoided giving Caranthir such a clashing palette of colours, and stuck to greens and blues, or at least a slightly more subdued red and paler grey.   Also it would probably be a better picture without the mine in the background, and the lighting is a bit dull.  Better lighting would make it much more interesting.   On the other hand, I do like the dwarves faces and the oldest dwarf's plait.


"No great love was there between them; for the Dwarves were secret and quick to resentment, and Caranthir was haughty and scarce concealed his scorn for the unloveliness of the Naugrim, and his people followed their lord. Nevertheless since both peoples feared and hated Morgoth they made alliance, and had of it great profit; for the Naugrim learned many secrets of craft in those days, so that the smiths and masons of Nogrod and Belegost became renowned among their kin, and when the Dwarves began again to journey into Beleriand all the traffic of the dwarf-mines passed first through the hands of Caranthir, and thus great riches came to him. "

Maybe I should have made the Dwarves uglier.

Comments

[songblaze.livejournal.com]

I think the foreshortening on the elves is a bit too severe. If I look only at your figures, I can kind of catch your intended perspective, but the remainder of the piece doesn't seem to support the same perspective. The strongest offender in that regard is the mine cart; I am looking down into it far too deeply when it should look closer to level. That is, I should see more of its front and much less of its insides. I'm not sure I should see the base of the inside at all. I think that may be the thing that is breaking the perspective you want, because I'd have to be at or above elf height to see it that way.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Oh, good spot! Yes, I think you are right about the cart perspective.

I was thinking of re-drawing it with the head dwarf standing on a rock, so that he would be at the same height as the elves, addressing his people who stand lower down. That way he could be gesturing as if making a passionate speech and would look more interesting. I'd probably leave the cart out entirely, I think it distracts the eye.

[songblaze.livejournal.com]

I tried covering the cart with my fingers and looking at the image, and that does help a lot with the perspective. The other spot I see a possible problem is the right-hand wall leading up to the mine. It feels to me like the left-hand wall is more or less level perspective, where I'm looking down on the right-hand wall. I think if not for the right wall and the cart, the perspective is suddenly MUCH neater and closer to having a single PoV like you want.