I have a filk collection of songs about Robin of Sherwood, and there's a song sung by Nasir about how little he speaks. ' "Two Men, that way!" that's all that's left for me to say...'
Although I like the artwork I really feel it does not fit in with BG.
Taking into account the new NPC portraits (Rassad, Neera and Dorn) do have a similar look to the original art why have they not stuck to this same idea for the new portraits pack? Am I missing something?
I like the art. I feel it will Jar with the original BG1 portraits... But less so with the BG2. I feel it has a more mystic quality... Need to stop myself there as I have no knowledge of art apart from Like it / Don't like it.
@LadyRhian You truly love anything Robin of Loxley...
I like the art. I feel it will Jar with the original BG1 portraits... But less so with the BG2. I feel it has a more mystic quality... Need to stop myself there as I have no knowledge of art apart from Like it / Don't like it.
I don't think anybody has any knowledge of art apart from Like it / Don't like it. People might try and blind you with science but in the end it's just a matter of taste.
@LadyRhian My father-in-law tried to do a bit of bonding with me, Stopped off at an obscure statue by a traffic island below an old nunnery. "Look this is where Robin died!" "Riiiiight, shall we get back into the car I'm getting wet..." Cheery stuff...
I feel like a Robin portrait mod could be possible for the game. Just put pictures from the film of the characters faces and shrink em to size. Job done. Although possibly not as good as the artwork coming out with the game.
i think portrait is awesome, great atmosphere, excellent colors. i really like the atmosphere and style of IWD (although not the game that much). jason has a style i very much appreciate.
its not BGish and although i pretty much care for visual consistency, this is not really that big of deal to me. if it looks good and fantasy-like and can maintain composition ( what i hate is mixed proportions portraits (detail, full-body, torso, head portraits all in one party)) it's all good. i would also support his "remake" of all npc's!
besides bg1 and bg2 portraits are also very different, but can mix together.
so, thank you for the new portraits pack, can't wait to see more!
I think this style is good, has the stance and expression of a BG 2 portrait and the dark tones of a BG 1 portrait, will fit in well with both games when transitioning between them
It looks absolutely fantastic! I always liked the IWD style, where the portraits looked like paintings you could hang on your wall. That's a stunning piece of art. Not to take anything away from Nat Jones, whose work I enjoy just as much.
On another note, I think that might just be the portrait for my kensai/mage. Though, I'm waiting eagerly to see what else we're getting.
I really like the portrait and I love seeing more diversity in the characters skin tones and physical features. Sometimes its hard to find people who like like me or my friends and family members in Fantasy works so it is always much appreciated when more respectful diversity is included.
I can tell you know that I'm using that portrait in either the man game or The Black Pits.
Oh and diversity issues aside, it's just he did a great job on it and it looks great.
*headdesks* Why, universe? Why do you mock me so? ...ahem. What I meant to say was: I love the design, I hate the art style. The emotional dissonance ensues. Frustration rises... *sigh*
Still, I guess I could get used to it eventually, at least enough to tolerate, if not like. But I'd rather prefer if all the portraits on my screen were in one style, so I'm curious if they'll offer an alternate portrait pack for NPCs. It would be interesting to see old faces in new rendition, and at least they could correctly reflect the NPCs' species... (or is it races? I'm never sure) rather than be all human. (I'm talking about BG1 portraits of course. BG2 portraits I consider perfect :P ).
I hope they don't just resize images, but also crop them when appropriate.
I have to agree that the portrait isn't BGish, but I love the IWD potraits and I've been using the Ranger pick from IWD2 in BG games since it came out.
What would be truly awesome was if we could get new portraits for the NPCs in the same style.
Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I'm curious about something that was mentioned in discussion earlier: Is Blackguard a Fighter kit or a Paladin kit? I heard it was a Fighter kit. If so, a 17-18 Charisma score wouldn't be mandatory at all. A score of 18 Charisma is illegal for half-orcs anyway, and I'm 100% sure that the Paladin class is also illegal.
I fear it reminds me of Icewind Dale too much. It is an excellent piece, but I prefer more face and less background. But I suppose Mike Sass is no longer drawing in quite the same way anymore either.
It seems the reason people say "too IWD!" or "stands out too much!" about the potraits, this one and the new NPC ones, is because they're not part of their memories of playing BG, and are thus not "BG-like." I.e., nostalgia goggles.
Honestly, the IWD portaits, and these new ones, are better than almost all of the BG-styled fan portraits I've ever seen.
As many others before me have said, it's a very nice portrait, but one that would be more appropriate for IWD:EE, not BG:EE - the difference in style compared to the original BG portraits is far too big / obvious. While those who like to use the IWD portraits for their PC(-s) in BG will be happy, I can only hope that not all of the new portraits are icewindy.
It seems the reason people say "too IWD!" or "stands out too much!" about the potraits, this one and the new NPC ones, is because they're not part of their memories of playing BG, and are thus not "BG-like." I.e., nostalgia goggles.
Honestly, the IWD portaits, and these new ones, are better than almost all of the BG-styled fan portraits I've ever seen.
I agree that they are much better than anything fans have come up with. I don't agree, however, with the nostalgia goggles. Being part of memories or not is not the point in my opinion, it's just that it's a radically different artstyle. It wouldn't have fit in with BG had in been placed there 14 years ago, fond memories or not.
It seems the reason people say "too IWD!" or "stands out too much!" about the potraits, this one and the new NPC ones, is because they're not part of their memories of playing BG, and are thus not "BG-like." I.e., nostalgia goggles.
Ahhh, no. No it's not. It's like saying that paintings by Van Gogh are really exactly like the ones by Da Vinci, and people just are hung up about their favorite era. Please take a look at those pictures again. Old ones are all about realism. The new one (1) is all about impressions. (And my favorite are still BG2, which are all about kinda-realistic fantasy).
Honestly, the IWD portaits, and these new ones, are better than almost all of the BG-styled fan portraits I've ever seen.
Perfectly true. Most of homemade portraits look from mediocre to bad to very bad. But there are a few out there which look like they came right out of the game, even if the faces are suspiciously familiar. (Some of those, for example: http://enkida.deviantart.com/gallery/33798575 ). Replicating the style is hard, but not impossible. The question is, is it better for the artist to force himself to duplicate 'the old masters', or to just do what he does best the way he does best, and let the audience just deal with it? I vote for the second option, even if I don't like the style of this one picture we've been shown, and never cared much for IWD portraits either. I still will give the new portraits a try, and I'm curious how the old NPCs would/will look if/when painted by a new artist.
Comments
"Gis-bon!!"
Taking into account the new NPC portraits (Rassad, Neera and Dorn) do have a similar look to the original art why have they not stuck to this same idea for the new portraits pack? Am I missing something?
@LadyRhian You truly love anything Robin of Loxley...
"Look this is where Robin died!"
"Riiiiight, shall we get back into the car I'm getting wet..."
Cheery stuff...
I feel like a Robin portrait mod could be possible for the game. Just put pictures from the film of the characters faces and shrink em to size. Job done. Although possibly not as good as the artwork coming out with the game.
its not BGish and although i pretty much care for visual consistency, this is not really that big of deal to me. if it looks good and fantasy-like and can maintain composition ( what i hate is mixed proportions portraits (detail, full-body, torso, head portraits all in one party)) it's all good. i would also support his "remake" of all npc's!
besides bg1 and bg2 portraits are also very different, but can mix together.
so, thank you for the new portraits pack, can't wait to see more!
On another note, I think that might just be the portrait for my kensai/mage. Though, I'm waiting eagerly to see what else we're getting.
I can tell you know that I'm using that portrait in either the man game or The Black Pits.
Oh and diversity issues aside, it's just he did a great job on it and it looks great.
...ahem. What I meant to say was:
I love the design, I hate the art style. The emotional dissonance ensues. Frustration rises...
*sigh*
Still, I guess I could get used to it eventually, at least enough to tolerate, if not like.
But I'd rather prefer if all the portraits on my screen were in one style, so I'm curious if they'll offer an alternate portrait pack for NPCs. It would be interesting to see old faces in new rendition, and at least they could correctly reflect the NPCs' species... (or is it races? I'm never sure) rather than be all human. (I'm talking about BG1 portraits of course. BG2 portraits I consider perfect :P ).
and
Looks much more BG2-like when you actually resize it to the in-game size
I hope they don't just resize images, but also crop them when appropriate.
I have to agree that the portrait isn't BGish, but I love the IWD potraits and I've been using the Ranger pick from IWD2 in BG games since it came out.
What would be truly awesome was if we could get new portraits for the NPCs in the same style.
Honestly, the IWD portaits, and these new ones, are better than almost all of the BG-styled fan portraits I've ever seen.
(And my favorite are still BG2, which are all about kinda-realistic fantasy). Perfectly true. Most of homemade portraits look from mediocre to bad to very bad. But there are a few out there which look like they came right out of the game, even if the faces are suspiciously familiar. (Some of those, for example: http://enkida.deviantart.com/gallery/33798575 ). Replicating the style is hard, but not impossible. The question is, is it better for the artist to force himself to duplicate 'the old masters', or to just do what he does best the way he does best, and let the audience just deal with it?
How do you know its blue?!