Better portraits for my party

ScytheKnight

Yeah OK, may or may not be the best forum for this...

So settled in on an evil party, know who I want... only problem is my PC portrait looks sooo much better then the others.

So just as a bit of a fun challenge looking to see who can find some really good portraits for my party.

Some ground rules:
Nothing goofy.
No 'Celebrity' pics
Nothing 'out of style' with the BG saga style artwork (other games(inc IWD, same era i know but very different styles), renders, 3d models, etc.)
Rather then trying to just go for something 'cool' try to really capture the character in question.

As a positive example here's my Half-Elf Bounty Hunter Mishale



The band of bounty hunters she's putting together are:

Kagain
Dorn
Viconia
Edwin
*Spoiler* (not really sure he needs a new portrait as his suits the character and personality well, but won't dissuade you from giving it a go)


*ponders*
Ahhh, hell why not? You got a party that wants better portraits as well? Shoot me the list and some guidelines and I'll see what I can scrounge up.

ScytheKnight

OK well raided dropbox a bit and found some possibilities to make it seem fair.

Kagain

Heavily armored, grey bearded dwarf, but not exactly looking like a goody-goody is he?

Dorn

Looking much more blackguard then just cuddling a two handed sword.

Viconia

She's just not happy being here is she?

Edwin

Malignant mage magnificence! ((*sighs* it's going to take WEEKS to get that Black Pits party post out of my system))

Jalily

ScytheKnight said:

Viconia

She's just not happy being here is she?

@Oxford_Guy is not amused.

ScytheKnight

LMAO! Didn't know that... saw the flipped version elsewhere in the dropbox but for some reason enjoy this one more.

Illustair

If you want portraits for the entire party. You should take a look at this. They're very well drawn, and if you'd ask me they perfectly represent their characters and their attitudes...even in small details like smirking. Some even have alternative portraits like Edwin (if you don't want a lore-coherent bald version, and stick to the original hairstyle).

Eudaemonium

I think artastrophe's portrait pack is stunning, and I am so glad I got it working on my iPad. I find it hard to play without it.

EDIT: Though I admit I think her Dorn looks like he should be a rogue. I still love it though.

Eudaemonium

As awesome as that would be, I don't know if we should burden her with that much of a job! At least she has an Edwina portrait. XD

Lemernis

First, the choices you have above are all great. Just a few personal observations, though, for what they're worth:

The drowess pic for Viconia is an albino, which Viconia isn't. Not that that matters the slightest bit, though (in the words of Bob Ross "it's your world.")

The one for Kagain is great.

Dorn has 16 Cha, which could be attributable to command presence/intimidation versus looks. So the one for Dorn is pretty good. The creature in that pic could be taken for a full blooded orc, perhaps. As for myself, I think I'd probably try to find one that favors his human side a bit more. But that's just my own mind's eye view of him.

The one of Edwin is riveting but the fellow has an almost diseased look. Whereas I see Edwin as a bit more fastidious and possibly even FR's equivalent of "metro."

Valarian25

If i can get pictures of these quality for the other party members i would give allot of "internet honor" thats... thats valuable stuff btw

Erg

Viconia:
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/14472/original-artwork-viconia

Cropped & Resized:

KidCarnival

I agree that Dorn looks too orcish. I don't neccessarily picture him as ugly (to human eyes), and not as a pretty boy either, but he clearly has two healthy eyes. That pic has an eyepatch. I see him more like this (recolored, perhaps):



The Edwin pic... The fire is a nice touch, but a black hood/robe doesn't work for me. His bio says he wears the colors of a Red Wizard of Thay... and that's obviously a red hood. Plus, strictly speaking, fireball isn't his school. To represent him as a conjurer, he'd need a bunch of summoned creatures like kobolds in the background. His paperdoll and BG2 portrait also suggest that his hair isn't black. In short, I think it's a very nice pic for an evil envoker, but Edwin isn't one.

Quartz

Illustair said:

If you want portraits for the entire party. You should take a look at this. They're very well drawn, and if you'd ask me they perfectly represent their characters and their attitudes...even in small details like smirking. Some even have alternative portraits like Edwin (if you don't want a lore-coherent bald version, and stick to the original hairstyle).

Okay 1. Amazing
2. What does she have against face paint?

ScytheKnight

Wow, quite a lot of comments. OK...

@ everyone talking about the portrait pack... I do agree that it's good work but, I dunno it just doesn't quite mesh with me. To me the art style is too different and while I can appreciate the talent, I can't really see me using them personally. Don't intend to discourage others from using it, it's good work, just doesn't really suit my personal 'vision'

@ comments about Viconia Agreed, wasn't 100% happy with that one and @Erg that's a great one.. may just use that!

@ comments of Dorn well the one I did pick to me seems a lot better than the original, and hell personally better looking, @KidCarnival looks alright but the lack of heavy armour bothers me a bit. Looks more a noble barb/druid than a blackguard.

@ comments on Edwin, agree on all fronts it was there for a try at replacing Edwin but the lack of a red hood bothered me as well.

Hmmm, well I guess one thing that may help. What exactly are the differences to portraits between BG and BG:EE? I had.... well, probably over a hundred at least and think I could still find the packs that made it up... sure a lot of separating the wheat from the chafe, but may be something I'd look into.

KidCarnival

Here's an alternative portrait for Edwin. It's close to his normal one, but a slightly different style.

Illustair

@KidCarnival
Where did you get that? The details in the clothing look amazing!

ScytheKnight

@KidCarnival that is indeed awesome and just the type of thing I'd look for for Edwin! Do you have a small size for it?

KidCarnival

@Illustair - From a backup CD I made in 1999, according to it's name.

@ScytheKnight - file names are probably messed up and Photobucket changes bmp, so you need to rename as save as bmp:

ScytheKnight

Yeah noticed that with the Viconias but that fine... they look awesome, also found a better Dorn thanks to @Kamigoroshi and his great half-orc drop-box...



So that's everyone but Baeloth... not sure you could find a better suited one anyway... not to see how easy it is to actually change things over....

And that turned out to be INCREDIBLY easy... just NPCNAMEl/m/s.bmp files in the portrait directory and the game uses them automatically.

KidCarnival

I can dig through my trusted backup CD again, though I think Baeloth near-trollface portrait suits him very well.

KidCarnival

Hmm, I personally wouldn't use any of these for Baeloth, but alas, they are male drow...

ScytheKnight

@KidCarnival LOL yeah that's what I mean... Drow arcanist portraits are a dime a dozen... but honestly I dunno that there could be one to show Baeloth's... unique personality.

KidCarnival

There is; his original portrait. Baeloth, house of rageface.

Mykra

Quartz said:

2. What does she have against face paint?

She's been making alternate portraits for the characters as well, and restoring the face paint has been happening.

One of my biggest problems with custom portraits is that as a group there never is a unified style, and it drives me crazy. I enjoy the BG pack from Lava and Art as not only do they look cool, but the color palette and style is shared between all the characters tying them in nicely.

Just wish their were more PC portraits :P