The elf is good, really good. However, the bow is so awful on so many levels. It is far to thick to bend, the bow’s shape is 100% wrong, the string is attached the wrong way, and the whole thing is too short to even use. Sorry for the harsh critique, but its hard to see such a good quality model ruined by bad reference.
I can tell you now, as a bowyer (person who makes bows) – that the proportions are all wrong. But neither the elf can or does exist, so why should the bow. Although just to note, the a bow can be the short – IF the artist wanted to adjust it for whatever reason I would try and look up a reference image which would show that a shortbow would easily be a 1/3 of the thickness. I dont think that necessary though – other than that – I am really really impressed by this! Not my take on an elf (longer face + ears, prominent cheekbone, tight jawline, etc.), but amazing all the same 5/5!
Totally valid point you make about what is real and what is not. I for one might have gotten bit over excited, but it was for my love of archery, not for any other reason.
PhysicsGuy
I have to say that I agree with Lorenzo. The bow really drew my eye. And I’m not an expert on bows at all. It’s nicely textured and the rope wound around it as a handle is nice. But the shape and the proportions are really weird.
Nice image. The elf is beautiful, but like Lorenzo and Brian said: the bow needs a lot of work. Another good thing is she doesn’t look like a cliche girl elf.
Now go find a good bow that someone’s already made and use that one.
I will agree with the others. Bows are designed specifically to bend; this means that it needs to be made of a strong and flexible softwood, the grain needs to follow the body perfectly (bows bend across the woodgrain), and the ends, which bend to capture the energy, need to be thinner than the center, which needs to be firm to properly aim the bow. If it helps you imagine the bow, remember that classic wooden bows are completely straight until they’re strung. Since this is a modeled image, you don’t need to know much about the wood, although it helps to see images of the grain for wood like yew for reference.
What does this all mean? Well, start by making a cylinder, which will be the hand-held portion of the bow. Then, extrude the “arms” of the bow, and taper them down to smaller ends, perhaps with notches or knobs to hold the string in place. Then apply a woodgrain texture so that the grain follows the bow. Then, deform the bow’s “arms” to the more expected bent shape and string it.
While the bow needs work, however, the elf… not so much. …not at ALL really! Very impressive!
When you are hunting, I don’t think you whant wear thoses huge earrings, you have to be furtive, and able to move freely. But, maybe she’s chasing guys, and that explaine she doesn’t care about the useless bow :)
I agree with Lorenzo, the proportions of the bow are off by a mile nd the string attaches wrong but… I feel like I have to defend the base bow design. It looks similiar to a Hungarian bow, which I have one of… Two of. The tips don’t bend. The flat bendy part in the middle does. You can see it in the lower right blender screenshot.
But yeah. The tips still seem too thick and bend inwards, I have only ever seen ones that bend outwards. They do that because of the geometry change when the string is pulled. You couldn’t pull the string as far as if they bent inwards. (Google image search “hungarian bow” for illustration why.) Also the power curve would propably be undesirable, but I’m no real bow maker.
The notch that string goes to is on the other side again because when you pulled the string it would slip off, and it would be really counter productive to go for some wierd loop thing with the way it is now.
…That all being said, I’m not too familiar with the shortest of all horseback bows. But does she even fight while on a horse?
Also extra conciderations. How is the bow on her back? Is it just hanging from the vine? Ouch for the arrows! Does she have some extra contraption attached to the vine? unnecessary complications? How about a small belt, looped by the buckle around the bow, then over her shoulder attached to an extra buckle? (That’s the thing I have going, of course.) Is she actually able to get the arrows from the vine?
Now that I’ve vented my frustrations on not having a proper place to shoot my bow, about your render. Overall I like it. A lot of work seems to be on a show here.
Like I’m really the one to talk, ’cause I suck at integration, but the foreground and background seem somehow seperated. Maybe think of your lighting, or colorbalancing them to match seperately, or adding some shadows from trees in front of the character to blend her better. But you’d be better off consulting someone else about that.
…!? Is your camera orthographic? was all that piss wiffle about the bow just the lack of perspective!?
In general it’s good piece. I find couple things that need more work though. As mentioned, the bow doesn’t feel that could work as a bow. Other thing which is easier to fix is area between nose and cheek. It seems to have some deformity. I like the facial expression and the cloak.
The elf is good, really good. However, the bow is so awful on so many levels. It is far to thick to bend, the bow’s shape is 100% wrong, the string is attached the wrong way, and the whole thing is too short to even use. Sorry for the harsh critique, but its hard to see such a good quality model ruined by bad reference.
Not sure if most people will even immediately notice those points, seeing how most people aren’t really familiar with the accuracy of a bow design.
I think he is right, it looks a little bit, hard. It would be better if the bow would be round and soft. But I have never seen an elf. ;)
I can tell you now, as a bowyer (person who makes bows) – that the proportions are all wrong. But neither the elf can or does exist, so why should the bow. Although just to note, the a bow can be the short – IF the artist wanted to adjust it for whatever reason I would try and look up a reference image which would show that a shortbow would easily be a 1/3 of the thickness. I dont think that necessary though – other than that – I am really really impressed by this! Not my take on an elf (longer face + ears, prominent cheekbone, tight jawline, etc.), but amazing all the same 5/5!
Totally valid point you make about what is real and what is not. I for one might have gotten bit over excited, but it was for my love of archery, not for any other reason.
I have to say that I agree with Lorenzo. The bow really drew my eye. And I’m not an expert on bows at all. It’s nicely textured and the rope wound around it as a handle is nice. But the shape and the proportions are really weird.
Lorenzo is right. The bow is strung incorrectly and has a poor design overall. An elf is deserving of a more elegant weapon.
Nice image. The elf is beautiful, but like Lorenzo and Brian said: the bow needs a lot of work. Another good thing is she doesn’t look like a cliche girl elf.
Now go find a good bow that someone’s already made and use that one.
but the Elf is great :)
Nice work ! Just a note, in first image, the background is a little fuzzy, it is that the image is resized ?
I will agree with the others. Bows are designed specifically to bend; this means that it needs to be made of a strong and flexible softwood, the grain needs to follow the body perfectly (bows bend across the woodgrain), and the ends, which bend to capture the energy, need to be thinner than the center, which needs to be firm to properly aim the bow. If it helps you imagine the bow, remember that classic wooden bows are completely straight until they’re strung. Since this is a modeled image, you don’t need to know much about the wood, although it helps to see images of the grain for wood like yew for reference.
What does this all mean? Well, start by making a cylinder, which will be the hand-held portion of the bow. Then, extrude the “arms” of the bow, and taper them down to smaller ends, perhaps with notches or knobs to hold the string in place. Then apply a woodgrain texture so that the grain follows the bow. Then, deform the bow’s “arms” to the more expected bent shape and string it.
While the bow needs work, however, the elf… not so much. …not at ALL really! Very impressive!
When you are hunting, I don’t think you whant wear thoses huge earrings, you have to be furtive, and able to move freely. But, maybe she’s chasing guys, and that explaine she doesn’t care about the useless bow :)
I agree with Lorenzo, the proportions of the bow are off by a mile nd the string attaches wrong but… I feel like I have to defend the base bow design. It looks similiar to a Hungarian bow, which I have one of… Two of. The tips don’t bend. The flat bendy part in the middle does. You can see it in the lower right blender screenshot.
But yeah. The tips still seem too thick and bend inwards, I have only ever seen ones that bend outwards. They do that because of the geometry change when the string is pulled. You couldn’t pull the string as far as if they bent inwards. (Google image search “hungarian bow” for illustration why.) Also the power curve would propably be undesirable, but I’m no real bow maker.
The notch that string goes to is on the other side again because when you pulled the string it would slip off, and it would be really counter productive to go for some wierd loop thing with the way it is now.
…That all being said, I’m not too familiar with the shortest of all horseback bows. But does she even fight while on a horse?
Also extra conciderations. How is the bow on her back? Is it just hanging from the vine? Ouch for the arrows! Does she have some extra contraption attached to the vine? unnecessary complications? How about a small belt, looped by the buckle around the bow, then over her shoulder attached to an extra buckle? (That’s the thing I have going, of course.) Is she actually able to get the arrows from the vine?
Now that I’ve vented my frustrations on not having a proper place to shoot my bow, about your render. Overall I like it. A lot of work seems to be on a show here.
Like I’m really the one to talk, ’cause I suck at integration, but the foreground and background seem somehow seperated. Maybe think of your lighting, or colorbalancing them to match seperately, or adding some shadows from trees in front of the character to blend her better. But you’d be better off consulting someone else about that.
…!? Is your camera orthographic? was all that piss wiffle about the bow just the lack of perspective!?
Marvelous! Good job…
In general it’s good piece. I find couple things that need more work though. As mentioned, the bow doesn’t feel that could work as a bow. Other thing which is easier to fix is area between nose and cheek. It seems to have some deformity. I like the facial expression and the cloak.
Wow, very nice model. I’m very much interensted in the hair, very nice. Can you screenshot your hair configuration, or just explain what you did?
I would like to put similar hair on a character I did.