Feedback on Artwork

[WhiteLotus]

Hi there, I'm currently doing artwork for wuxia with a focus on Jin Yong novels. I've been working on an action scene in one of the chapters of DGSD; it was the moment Xiao Feng first encountered Ding Chunqiu and unleashed his triple 18 dragon palms strike on him.

It was a scene that's been indelibly embedded in my mind. I'm just interested in what people's thoughts are who've read that chapter think of my interpretation of that famous incident. Any suggestions on ways it can be improved? My favourite viewpoint is from DCQ's angle, as if the incoming strike is aimed at the viewer. I tried others such as capturing it horizontally but it's just not as impressive. What do you guys think?

I think the merged palm strike was described as an invisible wall of chi, which is going to be tough to replicate visually.

Here is the link to my working drawings:

https://imgur.com/RrZlgVE

Any feedback is much appreciated.

[WhiteLotus]

https://imgur.com/a/wPyPPJe

[CC]

IMHO, you need to take creative licence for such things. trying to make it realistic and true to the novel hampers the impact of the art.

e.g.

XF was over 30 feet away at the nearest and that makes him very small from the perspective of DCQ (e.g. the example you linked to, makes it look like they were 5 to 10 foot apart)

The chi was supposed to be invisible (JY always described it as the target felt breathless or pressed down/back but never mentioned them seeing anything) so any chi wall you color beyond minor atmospheric disturbance is already creative licence.

And you can't do dragon images....

[Ken Cheng]

I'd like to see a larger image, if possible.

[WhiteLotus]

Thanks for the responses.

CC: Yes, taking the wall of chi as something that's physical, it does sound impressive. But when imagined realistically and observed with the naked eye, it might look unremarkable. And you're right about the distance, something I did take into account but saw that as another thing to compromise along with the chi depiction. Can't really think of much else that's as close as a barely rendered pair of palms coupled with lines. Other than that, there's hand-shaped projectiles if I wanted to make it look more physical. I also thought about adding in the palms and lowering their opacity on photoshop.

Part of my reason for doing it, is my dissatisfaction with TV series' attempts (or lack of) at the scenario. Either it's heavily modified or outright left out.

Ken: Here are some shots with better lighting.

https://imgur.com/a/yODpSAp
https://imgur.com/a/xREoVMH

[WhiteLotus]

Also, do you guys reckon these comic panels would work for English-speaking audiences who are not familiar with wuxia and Chinese? It's just me poking fun at the name of Jianghu, literally translated as "rivers and lakes". The hypothetical audience would've been provided with context as to what jianghu means prior to looking at those panels. Humour is not my forte, but maybe what I've put out already, can be refined?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Link: https://imgur.com/a/OagqN2s

[CC]

If you wanted to keep the distance, and still have both characters sizable, maybe you need to take the cue from comics using the split unequal diagonal panels?

[WhiteLotus]

CC: That sounds great. I might do that (in addition) if I wanted it to be as faithful as possible to Jin Yong's intentions. Many thanks.

[WhiteLotus]

Hi, just wondering what people here think of my improved mini rivers and lakes comic strip. For this illustration, I poke fun at Chinese nomenclature of certain things, which does sound exotic in other cultures. ‘Crouching Tiger’ is a good example. But I also say that the Chinese are not alone in that exoticism by making a reference to the hippy age of music. I'm just wondering, does it work?

https://imgur.com/4FMIlOi

[CC]

Hi, just wondering what people here think of my improved mini rivers and lakes comic strip. For this illustration, I poke fun at Chinese nomenclature of certain things, which does sound exotic in other cultures. ‘Crouching Tiger’ is a good example. But I also say that the Chinese are not alone in that exoticism by making a reference to the hippy age of music. I'm just wondering, does it work?

https://imgur.com/4FMIlOi

On the pot thing. Dama or weed/pot was known and catagorised as an upper class herb in the Shennong Bencaojing (yes that Shennong from the DGSD sect) dating from the 2nd or 3rd century.

[WhiteLotus]

Oh bugger! What an oversight. I've managed to correct it just in. Many thanks.