Turns out that canvas was super small, I dont know why. Well. I decided to smushy brush some random faces from the google art project, reminding me that I'm shit at measuring.
I might make some hard edges in there, this time, Its fun to toss up my work flow though.Certainly comes out different.
Been working on stuff I cant post, So, Heres a sketchbook dump. Been a while since I did one of these, My sketchbook is too big for my scanner bed. I miss the giant one we had at school. One day I'll buy one. Funny enough going through my sketchbook theres stuff from projects I don't want to post yet either, so this will be a small dump, sorry!
This Face is actually a 3D model I messed with in PS. The geometry on the face itself was bad, but I wanted to play with it anyway. Strange proportions, I just wanted to do something a little different.
A familiar face:
maybe nia and her gang are starting to look familiar too:
Those are all damn cool, especially the top right!
The only comment I can make is that the edge of the glass one (at least I think it's glass) seems a little loose in comparison to the other ones, and that it feels like there should be more cues to show that it's transparent.
with the glass/acrylic/water one, remember that light refraction inside the ball will usually give a halo rather than a shadow. also, the light will give reflections on the contours on the inside of the ball shape. some of your contours (especially opposite of your light source) should be white instead of shaded, and the shadow would probably be lighter from refracted light. the other ones, the metallic one in particular, are really fantastic! sorry this is a Wall of Text with no references, posting from my phone. Googling 'acrylic ball photo' produces a smattering of useful reference though. (think the contact juggling orbs from Labyrinth)
Thanks, I'll put some work in on that clear one. For some reason last night I could only think to search for "clear ball" or "round water drop" and they were not pulling up good references. I forgot that acrylic balls were a thing, Now I wish I had one to reference directly.
Okay, I worked the clear orb, hopefully Its more convincing now. Why the fuck I decided to go gem stone cut clear sphere after that is beyond me. Its still rough around the edges but hopefully its reading okay. I cant find a ref with the exact lighting conditions Im looking for, so Im doing some approximating.
SarksusATTACK AND DETHRONE GODRegistered Userregular
edited March 2011
The glass ball looks quite a lot better but the furry ball is my favorite. I like the additional shadows added to the furry ball. The texture surrounding the highlight on the upper left ball is also really realistic looking. Very convincing. The faceted ball is definitely tough. The shadow makes it look like it's supposed to be somewhat translucent but the ball itself looks opaque. The geometric lines, especially on the bottom, of the faceted ball look confused. It's not really communicating a distinct shape to me.
I'm not really sure how to make it more clear looking. If you are responding to the roughness of the edges, Im still working on it, so stuff will get smoother and tighter as I go. But Im following the logic of my ref
At least, I think I am. Since I changed the shape of it, and the facets, and the light direction, I'm sorta doing a lot of puzzle solving.
Nice studies! On the faceted ball, (that's going to be a pain in the ass to do, btw :P), one thing I would point out is that the light in the center of the cast shadow should probably be as bright, if not brighter, than the highlights on ball. Look at the ref and you'll see what I mean- the light passes through those facets, and the refraction of light bends all the light into a centralized point on the opposite end.
To get that idea across, I might suggest that it may be helpful to have the background be more of a lightish tone than a pure white, make sure the highlighted and pure transparent areas of the ball don't get confused with each other- otherwise the effect may make some places look more opaque than you intend, unless you go in for some extremely careful/tedious rendering.
I havent been careful enough with the rendering to switch out the background now (Unless I'm doing teeshirts, I tend to just paint with the background color to erase rather than erase. Silly I know, I need to break the habit.) So I guess I'll just have to be careful. Thanks for the tips, I'll see what I can do.
That's what a filled layer set to multiply with a layer mask is for, duder.
(I was going to do a very quick paintover to demonstrate, but then I got into trying to figure out how the refraction on this ball would work and now my brain is currently being bent in half.)
If Im suffering through it, I dont see why you shouldn't
Masking out the balls sounds like more work, and I'm not entirely sure it'll reduce the amount of accuracy I need. Your defeat doesn't seem to bode well for it.
Fight the instincts to shadow the side away from the light. Like in your reference, getting the caustic from the light going through the object, then the refraction of that caustic is key.
Thanks wass, that helps a whole lot! Its certainly a challenge for me, since I'm really still getting used to putting this much brain power into light. Clearly this was a bad shape to pick! I'll give it another pass.
If Im suffering through it, I dont see why you shouldn't
Masking out the balls sounds like more work, and I'm not entirely sure it'll reduce the amount of accuracy I need. Your defeat doesn't seem to bode well for it.
Hey, I maintain that the background thing is a good idea and shouldn't take longer than a minute- since you're bringing down everything at once, generally everything sticks together alright, and you just need to brush in a few areas where you need the extra-light value.
As to 'how the fuck do you paint ultra-complicated refraction', however, I fully admit failure, and thus can't give any good advice on the matter.
I'd explain what I did, but I don't think my version abides by, you know, physics, so I'll not poison your brain with bad advice.
What I'm saying is: lady, I've been staring at your balls for way too long, and despite my best efforts, they continue to baffle me.
Looks pretty convincing to me, a bit painterly compared with the others but that's more of an observation than a flat out crit really. the glass one looks miles better too!
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I might make some hard edges in there, this time, Its fun to toss up my work flow though.Certainly comes out different.
Second one definitely needs some hard edges.
that's all I've got
I think that nostril is a quick fix though- the dark spot looks like a booger, extending it would probably make it look like the hole
This Face is actually a 3D model I messed with in PS. The geometry on the face itself was bad, but I wanted to play with it anyway. Strange proportions, I just wanted to do something a little different.
A familiar face:
maybe nia and her gang are starting to look familiar too:
random faces with some nia on the bottom:
little tiny scratchy wrangler
I would love a shirt sequel
also you need to get that crab one printed!
baw, Thanks Ikage! I wanna warp-drive study like you do, you always seem very focused. You and Fug have been pretty great motivators for me.
Kochi, I do want to color that one up. If I had some cash dollars I would looking into printing some of my own tees.
Stop staring at the furry one.
The water/clear one is unfinished, and I haven't thought of a 6th. I am sleepy.
The marbled one at the top and the weird oil slicked one are really cool!
The only comment I can make is that the edge of the glass one (at least I think it's glass) seems a little loose in comparison to the other ones, and that it feels like there should be more cues to show that it's transparent.
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Anyway, they look great.
The only one I'm not digging on is the glass/acrylic one. The shapes could be bending to the contour of the ball more:
Those are sweet, Iruka!
I'm not really sure how to make it more clear looking. If you are responding to the roughness of the edges, Im still working on it, so stuff will get smoother and tighter as I go. But Im following the logic of my ref
The third line down wasn't agreeing with the line above it and that side wasn't straight. But you fixed it! It looks better now.
To get that idea across, I might suggest that it may be helpful to have the background be more of a lightish tone than a pure white, make sure the highlighted and pure transparent areas of the ball don't get confused with each other- otherwise the effect may make some places look more opaque than you intend, unless you go in for some extremely careful/tedious rendering.
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(I was going to do a very quick paintover to demonstrate, but then I got into trying to figure out how the refraction on this ball would work and now my brain is currently being bent in half.)
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Masking out the balls sounds like more work, and I'm not entirely sure it'll reduce the amount of accuracy I need. Your defeat doesn't seem to bode well for it.
Fight the instincts to shadow the side away from the light. Like in your reference, getting the caustic from the light going through the object, then the refraction of that caustic is key.
Hey, I maintain that the background thing is a good idea and shouldn't take longer than a minute- since you're bringing down everything at once, generally everything sticks together alright, and you just need to brush in a few areas where you need the extra-light value.
As to 'how the fuck do you paint ultra-complicated refraction', however, I fully admit failure, and thus can't give any good advice on the matter.
I'd explain what I did, but I don't think my version abides by, you know, physics, so I'll not poison your brain with bad advice.
What I'm saying is: lady, I've been staring at your balls for way too long, and despite my best efforts, they continue to baffle me.
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Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
I think bacon's arrrgghh edit of the multifaceted crystal one is the best crystal one
I want to touch the bottom left one
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