Requesting feedback for Dark Souls Fan-art: Bonfire scene

Artwork Focused Critiques
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BonFire-Render-ForCritique
BonFire-Render-ForCritique1920×1080 273 KB

I’m sharing a Dark Souls Bonfire fan art render I’ve been working on for past months.
It’s in stage where I think it’s complete and I’m generally happy about, despite some necessary tweaks, but I’m seeking targeted critique on following subjects:

  • The overall mood: I’m trying to recreate Dark Souls 1 mood, particularily from Firelink Shrine much like displayed here. However I feel like my process so far is a tad too flat and I’m struggling to get the mood right and I’d like advise, commentary and techniques on how to improve it.

  • Lighting. There’s something - off with the lighting setup and I’m quite not sure how to improve on that. Generally the scene is dominated by a sun lamp and an HDRI map that gives it taste. The bonfire itself needs to be the focus of the scene and a dominant source of illumination, but not too overbearing.

Regarding fire, I’m aware of the blocky nature of it, and I’ll most likely fix it afterwards. Character I’m reasonably satisfied with.

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It looks amazing my dude! The character looks very good and I like the rocks surrounding the bonfire, they look natural in their setting. The bridge is also great for the composition of the piece. To create a more dark souls style of atmosphere, personally, I would probably add deeper shadows to give it a more dramatic, moody look. Maybe increase the intensity of the fire and experiment with the hdris brightness?
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Maybe some well placed geometry scattered around the ground and near the stone outcroppings, would catch the light from the fire a bit more to add some extra fidelity to the scene. Aswell as some displacement on the rocks would help catch light in a more dramatic fashion. Those are just some thoughts, I really like this piece! :+1:

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Thanks for the valuable feedback! I didn’t even consider scattering smaller rocks about, but now that you said it, it makes so much sense. I’ll see how I can toy around with the lighting and displacement tweaks.

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My pleasure! Giving feedback helps everyone involved :grin: Please make sure to upload the finished piece to the finished projects section, Id really enjoy seeing there :+1:

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