sergiomonty wrote:I'll be honest with the fanart. Despite the fact that the colors are neat and the lineart is pretty awesome, I must say this design isn't even close to what the original Mr. Dark was meant to be. The mustache is ridiculous, the cigar-thingie is pointless, the hat is wrong, the gems that surround said hat are overly outlined, and his hand looks awkward. He doesn't look mysterious at all. He just looks like the type of villain that would tie your girlfriend to a railway and wait for the train.
The Magician is now a Teensy.
But there are reasons for that. They had to change his species to give sense to the current Rayman universe.
And don't bring the Nymphs' other recipes to the table. That's scrapped content and doesn't count as canon. The Magician's backstory in the other hand does count, since there are physical evidences in the game (like the microphone and the Mr D. posters). But there's not enough evidence to justify the existance of Tarrayzan, or even Rayman's wife.
For this fanart... well...there's no reason to make Mr Dark look like an old, very cliché bad guy.
Tarrayzan was in Rayman 1, I am pretty sure he is real. Now as for Rayman's wife I actually believe it is just a joke. Somehow to me it does not seem like Rayman even knows what love is.
Mr Dark is defined by his lack of definition. The moustache and thin blue arms ground him far too much. They make him a regular guy, with skin and hair. He needs abstraction. We should never see anything but his eyes.
Indeed, I can't add or dispute any of that, Mr. Dark doesn't need much definition, the fact we see little of who he really is adds to the mysterious nature and flavour of the character.
I know that fanwork since a while. Although I like the ammount of detail, I think the characterization looks wrong too. Something I never liked on it was the moustache and the hands. Like it was said before, the only thing we do see are the eyes, but nothing else. Mr. Dark lacks definition and it is what it gives his personality. The artist did attempt to represent the character in RO style but I think he failed.
I think he succeeded, it's just that we don't think that's how Mr. Dark should look like, and I agree. But the artist captured him in Origins style pretty well, I say he succeeded.
In terms of capturing the Origin's style? Yup, I think he got it.
In terms of capturing Mr. Dark? No, the look just doesn't show what Mr. Dark is and what he represents.
Master wrote:In terms of capturing the Origin's style? Yup, I think he got it.
In terms of capturing Mr. Dark? No, the look just doesn't show what Mr. Dark is and what he represents.
Hm. I think the outlines are a little too bold an exaggerated for Rayman Origins' artstyle. However, I can't say much... after all, those who drew these:
Also drew this:
And both are supposed to represent Rayman Origins' "artstyle"
They generally have quite a few artists working on these things, so I doubt very much that those were drawn by the same one. In any case, it's clear that whoever was in charge of the art direction wasn't overly interested in achieving a consistent look.
The first time I've realised that (what spiral said), was when I saw the Daily Bubble with Mamma Hité or whatever her name is. The difference between the two pictures of her on that page is pretty noticeable, and they're like two mouse scrolls away.
I know the fanwork for a good while and I like the ammount of detail put on it. However, I think the artist didn't manage to characterize the character. Mr. Dark shouldn't have definition, like it was said before. We don't even know if he owns a moustache or not, so I find this the most pointless and unrealistic detail of the drawing. I also dislike the hands. Mr. Dark suppousely wears gloves, I don't think it is his real skin colour. The detail that should have had more consideration should have been the eyes, the only thing that we truly see in the character. I would have done the stuff differently.
I think he looks perfectly mysterious and in character on that design too. It's not like he's going around in a bikini. I also think this one's cool, though that fishnet glove should be something else.
Not sure about the patches. Mr Dark has a glamorous slickness and elegance to him that they don't really support. The bulky outline with clearly visible arms and legs also falls into the trap of giving him too much definition.
spiraldoor wrote:Not sure about the patches. Mr Dark has a glamorous slickness and elegance to him that they don't really support. The bulky outline with clearly visible arms and legs also falls into the trap of giving him too much definition.
Exactly.
@OCG Not sure, because the RO style isn't a style that I identify myself a lot, but if I was attempting (it wouldn't get really RO-styled though) I would try to give depth to the eyes and focusing in the hat and cloak. I wouldn't go further.
EDIT: Let me do a quick sketch. Warning: it won't be perfect.
Yeah, I noticed Rayman 2 style works best for you. I saw other versions of Rayman you draw. They all look amazing but R2 Rayman looks always best on your drawings in my opinion.
OK, here's my (crappy) sketch of how Mr. Dark's possible look in RO style. It isn't perfect, I pretty much rushed this (and to do something more convincing I would need more time to draw it) and as I said, RO isn't quite my drawing style. However, I defend that to keep the characterization convincing, you just would need to focus in three elements: eyes, hat and cloak.
