Update on the DND character. Tried to work out a few different textures, do some dramatic lighting, and more playing with colors. Need to finish horns/hair/table stuff.
Also I need to improve the heck out of my process. Got to do better in the planning stages before I re-render the same thing 50 times after redraws.
Played around in Aseprite this weekend to get a feel for working at the pixel level...it's tough! But it's a cool way to learn how to distill information down in a picture.
Last two days I've been in a huge rut. I don't like how my stuff looks. I've been doing studies and playing with different brushes and taking the time to just LOOK at art. Hopefully later this week I'll have a few other more interesting pieces, but for now a quick dump of some of the things I've been working on.
Something built out of a doodle
Some hand studies
Torso
DND characters
Doodles
Will be doing some art parent studies next week. This week I've been kinda unable to really produce as I want to.
You are tackling some pretty intense angles and compositions, but I wonder if a little time on lighting and materials in a more focused way would make it easier for you to unify everything. Your studies are starting to feel like they are pushing you in the right direction.
The armor/knights are nice, and I feel like they show a slightly higher level of edge control since you were trying to figure out hard surfaces. You also ditched the black outline with a little more confidence. I think if you spend the time on light and materials for a sec, you'll perhaps have more control and feel more pleased with how your painting process is coming along.
Overall, I feel like you have a knack for poses and as you tackle anatomy and general studies, you're going to have a ton of fun pushing your limits. It wont take much to get a little material studying under your belt and refine your rendering process a bit.
Thanks Iruka, that's a huge help! I've been doing some hair studies and it definitely is pushing me to work on lighting more.
Edge work has been my most frustrating struggle recently and I've been blaming it on brushes a lot, but I think lighting and material work will be a good solution.
I've been battling with my thoughts on how to handle line work for a while as well - should it be loose and covered with a kinda impressionist painterly deal? Or would slowing down and producing very clean lines be more beneficial for me? I think once I can stabilize on an approach it will boost edgework, and give me space to do some solid detailing.
No problem! Brushes can be half the battle, but I wouldn't underestimate just restricting your self to a basic hard and a basic soft round brush. You can truly get a lot done with very little. Refining rendering can be a very fiddly process though, you have to be patient enough to go through and clean things up.
Some artists do it really efficiently by masking off their hard edges with selections, it might be worth sitting down and watching some process videos from artist you admire, if you can find any.
Posts
I put this in the doodle thread but probably should be here:
Also I need to improve the heck out of my process. Got to do better in the planning stages before I re-render the same thing 50 times after redraws.
Gotta stay in the mid values more on those brighter pictures. Going to spend a lot of time on color me thinks.
Also started doing a yokai a day:
Doodled Kitsune
Something built out of a doodle
Some hand studies
Torso
DND characters
Doodles
Will be doing some art parent studies next week. This week I've been kinda unable to really produce as I want to.
The armor/knights are nice, and I feel like they show a slightly higher level of edge control since you were trying to figure out hard surfaces. You also ditched the black outline with a little more confidence. I think if you spend the time on light and materials for a sec, you'll perhaps have more control and feel more pleased with how your painting process is coming along.
Overall, I feel like you have a knack for poses and as you tackle anatomy and general studies, you're going to have a ton of fun pushing your limits. It wont take much to get a little material studying under your belt and refine your rendering process a bit.
Edge work has been my most frustrating struggle recently and I've been blaming it on brushes a lot, but I think lighting and material work will be a good solution.
I've been battling with my thoughts on how to handle line work for a while as well - should it be loose and covered with a kinda impressionist painterly deal? Or would slowing down and producing very clean lines be more beneficial for me? I think once I can stabilize on an approach it will boost edgework, and give me space to do some solid detailing.
Thanks again Iruka!
Some artists do it really efficiently by masking off their hard edges with selections, it might be worth sitting down and watching some process videos from artist you admire, if you can find any.