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Shaman WIP (nsf56k)

BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKSRegistered User regular
edited March 2009 in Artist's Corner
this is something i have been working on for the last few hours, and before i tackle the woman in it i would love to see if you guys have any critiques for me on it.

i am usually so terrible about backgrounds that when i do decide to do one i have to get most of it done before i work on the focal figure or i often get too lazy to do a background at all.

The woman is going to have dark skin and white hair i think

the lineart is still a bit sloppy, once i get the basic lines for the shaman down i'm going to go through and add more contour to all the lines, give it some polish.

things i would love addressed especially:
-how do i go about coloring the dirt?
-is the sky ok? D:
-are her proportions all right?
-i think i might add a stack of firewood to the right, to break up the horizon line right above the fire good/bad?
-should i make it a night scene instead of an afternoon scene?


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Belruel on

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    srsizzysrsizzy Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    I'm sorry, I have to mention, I was reading an old thread that said this:
    Actually all that already happened back in '89 when that script was written, but before his death he programmed a robot Alan Moore designed to hate everything and claim he's a shaman.
    and then saw your thread was the most recently updated in the AC. I laughed.

    anyways, those clouds are too substantial. I think there's too much shadow/contrast in them. The color of the sky should be lighter, and there should be some indicator of a sun (it helps when the sky isn't just on solid color, but has some sort of gradient/texture to it).

    Also, the perspective on this is deeply off. Unless that stuff is on a deep incline, the horizon line would be significantly higher (possibly around her head?), and the clouds in the background are...well, also not in the correct perspective.

    With stuff like dirt, it's better to use textures or textured brushes. Same with rocks if you don't want them to look really flat/cartoony. Depends on how detailed you're going, but those clouds look like your aiming at some level of realism.

    Her face and ears aren't on her head at the right angle, and her forehead is pretty big. I mean, if that outline of the skull under the hair is indeed where you mean the skull to be (she looks kind of like an alien).

    The arm shouldn't resemble a tube quite as much.

    srsizzy on
    BRO LET ME GET REAL WITH YOU AND SAY THAT MY FINGERS ARE PREPPED AND HOT LIKE THE SURFACE OF THE SUN TO BRING RADICAL BEATS SO SMOOTH THE SHIT WILL BE MEDICINAL-GRADE TRIPNASTY MAKING ALL BRAINWAVES ROLL ON THE SURFACE OF A BALLS-FEISTY NEURAL RAINBOW CRACKA-LACKIN' YOUR PERCEPTION OF THE HERE-NOW SPACE-TIME SITUATION THAT ALL OF LIFE BE JAMMED UP IN THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL FLOW BEATS
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    The sky, sorry to say, is not ok. For starters, look at it: where have you ever seen a sky that's just one flat tone? It starts out as a saturated blue at the top and transitions to a very light blue-white as you approach the horizon.

    Depending on how you render the rest of the painting, the clouds might become distracting. Those things way way far away, Bel, make 'em look that way- less contrast than you've got now. Use the lighter side of the colors you've got there, otherwise you'll get thunderheads, which I sus[ect you aren't going for.

    The perspective, and therefore the placement of objects, and the girl's stance is jumbled and mixed.

    Girl's pose is pretty stiff- her extended arm, for instance, is almost exactly straight.

    You will also want to vary line weight so as to bring emphasis (more weighty lines) on the foreground and tone down the background. If you use the same line width on everything, it will actually cause disunity, because you won't be letting viewers' eyes where to look.

    Tam on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    well, the horizon line is because she's on the top of a hill, not quite sure how to make that obvious though, hmm.

    thanks for the tips on the clouds, i need to fiddle with them, i pooped them in before i decided to lineart the background and not try and go lineless, so i wasn't sure if i should line them in too or just go straight to rendering. i'll give both ways a go

    Belruel on
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    srsizzysrsizzy Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    it does not appear that she is on a hill. perhaps a slight slope...I don't know, but regardless: the perspective on all those objects is all over the place. You should probably try to use 1-point perspective to figure out what's going on (that's what folks generally do, no?...at least a more geometric system).

    srsizzy on
    BRO LET ME GET REAL WITH YOU AND SAY THAT MY FINGERS ARE PREPPED AND HOT LIKE THE SURFACE OF THE SUN TO BRING RADICAL BEATS SO SMOOTH THE SHIT WILL BE MEDICINAL-GRADE TRIPNASTY MAKING ALL BRAINWAVES ROLL ON THE SURFACE OF A BALLS-FEISTY NEURAL RAINBOW CRACKA-LACKIN' YOUR PERCEPTION OF THE HERE-NOW SPACE-TIME SITUATION THAT ALL OF LIFE BE JAMMED UP IN THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL FLOW BEATS
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    It looks like those rock walls are pretty close, are they?

    Tam on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    hmm, i would say the first one is 100 meters or so-ish, the other ones a bit farther than that

    Belruel on
    vmn6rftb232b.png
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Yeah, that's not working right now. I suppose then that all the curves are hills, but they read like small dips and rises in the land. The rock wall looks to be no more than about 20 meters away.

    Try chopping the top off that rock wall and see what that does.

    Tam on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    sounds like a good plan, i'll try that in a bit tam, thanks :D

    Belruel on
    vmn6rftb232b.png
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Bel, do you think you're too far into this to start over now?

    I've got some tools that might help you get this down better and maybe even faster.

    Tam on
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    winter_combat_knightwinter_combat_knight Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    the concept of your illustration is a very difficult one to tackle. The best thing is to start it really simple, block in the composition and use LOADS of references. I dont mean copy a photo, but see how objects fall and dissapear into the background. Do you have a graphic tablet? If you do, try painting with a standard photoshop brush, but in greyscale (examples HERE). It hels to establish depth without having to worry about the colour right away. Your image doesnt have a sense of depth because the colours in the foregound and background are pretty much same values.
    Keep working at it, and see where it goes. I think at the moment its just a matter of getting used to the tools and techniues.

    winter_combat_knight on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    oh those colors aren't permanent, they are just the blocked in colors to separate the objects right now, i haven't even begun coloring

    t tam- yeah i'm a bit far in it to start over, i'ma finish this one and learn from it, then move on with that, so feel free to give me your tools my friend (winky)

    Belruel on
    vmn6rftb232b.png
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Belruel! Such unbecoming behavior!

    The "tools" are just instructions on how to build a one-point perspective brush. You can stamp it onto its own layer, have a guide to draw on and then scrap that layer when you're done or when you don't need it anymore.

    Tam on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    oh that is a wonderful idea tam

    Belruel on
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    it's actually tamfastic, Belruel

    Tam on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    hahaha
    are you being sassy with me?
    :winky:

    Belruel on
    vmn6rftb232b.png
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    arms akimbo, finger snapping sass

    alright, okay, this thread is for art. I'm going to bugger off and try to find that brush for you.

    edit:

    if you've got CS2 or above, here's a set of 32 grid brushes (2nd one down): [bad link edited out...well, it was an awesome Ultralisk painting, so not bad, but unintended]

    Tam on
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    RankenphileRankenphile Passersby were amazed by the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited March 2009
    I... I don't think those are brushes, tam

    Rankenphile on
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    whoops, heh heh, I get distracted

    here's what I actually meant to link (again, second one down) : http://www.photoshop-free-brushes.com/

    Tam on
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    BelruelBelruel NARUTO FUCKS Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    haha, thanks tam, i'll give these a whirl tomorrow :D,i really appreciate it

    Belruel on
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    winter_combat_knightwinter_combat_knight Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    Although not intended for me, cheers for the link Tam!

    EDIT: HOLY CRAP, Those grid brushes are good!

    winter_combat_knight on
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    TamTam Registered User regular
    edited March 2009
    No prob, guys. I think those probably need to go in the Questions Discussion and Tutorials thread too.

    Tam on
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