Critique Request Bulino snake on knife blade.

[Dani Girl]

I am looking for any critiques, tips, advice, feedback etc anyone feels like giving.

 

[Dani Girl]

This is the picture the customer gave me

 

[Dani Girl]

I have til the weekend to give it back to him so there is time for some tweaking.

 

[Brian Marshall]

Has he/she got a name? I was very interested in herpetology back when I was a puppy, but I don't recognize this one.
(Probly 'cause it's not from USA/Mexico?)

Check the spread of the "hood" (skin) that starts behind the head. The off side/away side - seems missin'? And maybe the slight curve down under the eye?


Brian

 

[JJ Roberts]

snake on knife blade

Dani,You need more detail in the snakes back, the belly looks good. J.J.

 

[Dani Girl]

It's an Australian snake called a Red Belly Black.

The "hood" was a bit of an after thought. I wasn't using a big enough reference and had it in my head that snakes were round. They're more complex than that. I'll enlarge that hood a bit thanks for the suggestion.

I'll see if i can get a few more 'scales' happening on the back without it looking funny, funnier.

I have improvement to make, that's cool Having fun doing it.

 

[mitch]

hi, Dani, the engraving is excellent, but the anatomy of the scales is off. reptiles typically have large flat plates on their ventral (belly) surfaces which are called "scutes". the dorsal (back) surface has scales, which also follow a predictable pattern. you've given this poor snake scutes all around its body, making it look more like an evil earthworm or other segmented worm, or "annelid" (yeah, i'm showing off my biology degree today).

take a closer look at the photo and see how the shape, size, & type of the scales change along the midline of its body.

 

[speeedy6]

I think the photo is the problem . I thought the " pose " or the angle of the pic looked odd.

 

[peteb]

Try vectorizing the photo, done with "vector magic"

. Here you can more clearly see the shaded areas and can add dots and lines as you see fit to suggest the various shades of gray.

 

[Big-Un]

There are unique scales separating the back scales from the belly scales. You've done a fine job but just need a little tweaking to bring it to life.

Bill

 

[Dani Girl]

Yes bro said worm too. I have never examined a snake for long before screaming and running in the other direction. I had it in the back of my head they were round and didn't do enough thinking before cutting. I will see if I can 'save' this snake from its demotion to earthworm.

 

[Dani Girl]

Have I covered all his biggest issues? I haven't managed to get his hood to look like it comes out 3d on this side. Not sure if I should leave it here before I do something to make it worse.

 

[Big-Un]

Much better dilineation, if that IS a word!

 

[mitch]

nice save! you could probably even go over the new scales a bit heavier, with more shading, to better hide the original rows of lines. the resulting darker tone will pop out better, too.