minoribus I tried to do the foam in Blender, but the results were very unpredictable and if you managed to get what you are looking for with the very fine foam and splashes you end up with a files that are bigger than 1.5 Gigs, so the render times are ridiculous.
Everything that helps to sell the image is allowed! Poseidon is looking great so far.
Hi All
@Ghost, This has driven me absolutely bonkers, I have sat the whole weekend with different iterations of how he should look, all of them look good on their own, those special glass nodes included :eek:, but add the wave and no matter what I tried did not seem to match up. I even considered just posting the wave as finished and then completing Poseidon on his own with the view that I posted earlier.
Gave it one more bash tonight and I think I may finally have something that is looking half decent, you be the judge of that though.
@Jashhumbie_Talm, thanks for visiting here and your kind words. This like anything else in life gets better the more you practice, I am sure in not too long a while you will be doing works far surpassing what I have done here.
The forum is full of wonderful and supportive people who have helped me and many others on their way, do not be afraid to post what you have made in the FC of here in WIP forums, you will see the enormous amount of support you will get and how you artwork will improve.
Just go for it.
@minoribus, thank you. This Poseidon scene is either going to be the death of me or the death of my monitor. :mad:
Shaun
To me the parts of the body where the foam is minimized look the best, like the right back. The foam frequency doesn’t match up with the surrounding water, so it seems a little off. A couple of other thoughts:
I’d move him left just a tad, per the rule of thirds.
You might consider a more dynamic posture, such as a hand reaching out with fingers spread as if to control the wave, or maybe raised palms up toward the sky. shrug
@rjshae. As I said I have really struggled to get a suitable texture on this guy, this is the best I have come up with in three days. 
Am still planning to get him into a decent pose, still want to also get his trident into the scene also.
Thanks for comments, really appreciate them
Shaun
such as a hand reaching out with fingers spread as if to control the wave
I think this is a good pose idea.
Your getting there Speed… keep going with it. The character maybe is just a touch too transparent and with some continued work on the arms it’s going to become real good.
Hi All
@rjshae, your comments to have him controlling the wave was a good idea and left me thinking long and hard, I always intended to have him as a ferocious personality, but now…
@harley, yeah man, have been really out of ideas with this one and have struggled after the wave was more or less done. Agree about the transparency (this comes from not having any idea where to go or what to do next). I was also unhappy with the size that he was as well as having his back to the viewer showed he had no real personality. He also really dominated the scene and up to this point he has been a little better than crap, but with a spark from what rjshae said I think I am back on track.
Obviously still a lot of work on him as well as the texture, added this real quick in PS. You guys have a look and see what you think.
Shaun
So many ways to portray something. Speed a vertical composition is quite frequently used to show strength, piety, etc. With the point of view (POV) being rather low looking up. As if he ruled the damn ocean since I assume he is the center of interest. And, in several post you seemed headed that way.
Hey, we all do it. Head long into Blender before even nailing a composition down. I don’t think I’ve put a pencil to paper for so much as a thumbnail in years. That’s why I was wondering about all the time on the wave. Not that it doesn’t look great. But, from the beginning I was thinking you wanted him a dominant character looking out over his domain. Also the trident is a given IMHO.
As a matter of fact from the camera view while he is standing tall the arm and trident might be coming forward a bit. If you loose any of that great wave when going to a vertical composition it could be from the right side. And, I suspect he might also be drawing lightning right to his head. A use of line right to the center of interest. Surely he controls the heavens and the sea. But, then again maybe not. 
Regardless what you’ve done is indeed something else.
Having a interest in animation I’m not really up on PS or Gimp in my case. But, what you are doing here is a joy to watch.
Hi Shaun, great, great work so far.
yeah man, have been really out of ideas with this one and have struggled after the wave was more or less done.
Composition is always difficult. Taking into account what Ghost said about the perspective and digging through my “inspiration” folder I sketched a suggestion.
I hope you don’t mind that I post it here.
@Ghost, Got one here I am really liking and may just be back on track. 
Although it is probably the correct thing to do I never ever sketch something out beforehand, you are not building a house, but making an artwork. Mine as well as many others here on the forum benefit from other members input, how do you put that to paper?
Thanks for the help with the dominant scene, I also like that and when I am done with the 1920 I really want to do one from that angle.
@minoribus, thanks and as you can see I really like your suggestion, let me know what you think, this seems to " fit " for me.
Shaun
Yes that’s starting to look dramatically better. The scale is right now, with the one oddity being the gaping black mouth.
I like where this is going, but I’m a little biased 
I wonder how it would be possible to depict him more like commanding, directing and evoking the waves? That was why I made him look at the side. He looks a bit like he is suffering now. That might be due to his open mouth, though.
@rjshae, thanks again. He is supposed to look like he is screaming, obviously I am balsing that up, so…back to the drawing board.
@minoribus, You bias, why :D. See what you think of the latest rendition and if it is in your opinion going in the right direction. Really had a very good laugh at the “in suffering” comment, will need to have a look at some ref pics of rage and maybe just sculpt them in.
There are still quite a few things that need work like the hand holding the trident, the trident itself as I am unsure of the coloring/texture to give it. The eyes have a bit too much glare to them and this is leaking into the face and anything else you guys can notice.
Let me know what you think.
Shaun
Just throwing a few thoughts out there:
To me, the tip of the trident seems a bit too thick and dull, like unworked cold iron. Also, I think the outer trident prongs will normally be pointing outward rather than inward like that (to compensate for the refraction of light by the water). If you tilted the weapon forward slightly, the posture may seem more aggressive.
The hair… mmm, it looks a little effeminate and static to me. Perhaps a matte of sea weed instead? Or maybe he needs a beard?
Could the mouth would work as a dark vortex, like the base of a maelstrom? Not sure.
Overall the scene is looking pretty good.
I know I am late to this thread, but I kind of liked the hairless version of this. Did you ever think of losing the hair, adding a crown and some other bling and texturing it all in water? Maybe even lose the trident all together in favor of forearm gauntlets?
Nice and realy hard concept.
Have you tried to play around with the texture of water and refraction of water?
The light breaking of water is different to glass and will need t be changed to fake huge scales like this one.
And I wonder if you could add a normal map of the waves texture to make his body look more detailed and less clean.
Right now his body looks quite clean compared to the stomy sea.
Adding extra maps for stuff light lights could enhance the result too.
Just one issue. Regarding the texturing of the model. Sea foam is formed due to waves chopiness and water colission. If Poseidon has an stable surface the distrubution of the foam should be according to its anatomy.
the trident itself as I am unsure of the coloring/texture to give it. The eyes have a bit too much glare to them
IMO everything should be textured with the water/foam (including his face, like in #47)…My eyes were instantly drawn to the trident because of the radical difference in the texturing. I like the seaweed idea for the hair by rjshae … i think it warrants a test. Personally I’m not fond of the glow eyes…
Your gonna nail it Speed… just needs continued creative testing to discover what really works.
super cool! not sure about the hair though…
I know you’re just testing the waters but the hair has to go. Speed I agree with several others about the hair, trident (Color, Shape), and mouth and eyes. A crown or battle helmet might be something to play with. But, it seems to me that would have to be water also. Maybe the lighting can be used to separate him from the background. A Spot behind him maybe. Regardless you are in the fun part now.
