winter - Good observation, I agree they stand out a bit too much.
On valeryce's advice I tried my hand at a "painter-y" portrait without a photo ref. I also didn't bother blending. I made a video after I was about 45 minutes in to explain:
That last video is pretty good. (Only prob is the sound quality:P)
Just curious, do you work in any particular industry as an illustrator, or is it more a hobby? (sorry if youve mentioned before)
winter_combat_knight on
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MustangArbiter of Unpopular OpinionsRegistered Userregular
edited April 2009
Ahhh I see the problem now, your workspace is far too neat. You need some unpaid bills scattered around along with reciepts for unecessary shit you couldn't afford. Also I find pencil shavings and a used coffee mug that's been sitting there for a week to be a nice touch.
Also you need to work out less, nobody is going to believe you're an artists with a chiseled physic like that. A month long diet of nothing but burgers and beer should sort that out.
Winter - Yea, I kept moving away from the mic sorry bout that. I freelance, and this past year I did pretty well, well enough to have to claim the income on my tax return. :P
Mustang - Yea, I'm a bit of a neat freek, especially when it comes to my workspace. If anything is out of place it drives me a bit crazy and I can't get anything done. Beer and burgers? I like steak, not much of a drinker though.
Spent some more time on this one:
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
Tim why are you painting with just one specific stroke? The only thing you are changing is the size of the brush. Looking at your paintings is like listening to a guy play the piano with just one key. You can only do but so much when you limit yourself like that.. try experimenting with combining long fluid marks with short choppy ones.. etc..
.. A good place to look for insipration for "quick" digital painting is here
Ken - Thanks for the crit, and duly noted. I'll give it a shot. The link you provided was amazing. The "speed painting" style is by far my favorite. Jamie Jones, Dan Milligan, Sparth, Andrew Ley, and of course Craig Mullins are masters of the speed paint. It looks so easy, the paintings so simple, exposed strokes, yet all elements combined and taken in at once can create a sensory overload of awe. To master the technique, stroke lengths, perfectly placed textures, total control over color and value, is extremely, extremely difficult. It is a style I hope to becoming more adept at, and actively try to learn more about. Thanks again for the link.
Pinky - Thanks, hmm..I can see where you're coming from, a change may be in order.
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
The rendering on the robot is a bit simplistic. A few highlights placed correctly would really ad some form..
Pro tip.. when you are doing mechanical shit..Use the lasso tool to draw an outline of the basic shape.. then you can paint loosely and still get a sharp edge. Most of the guys in that speed paint thread use that technique.
Cool Star Wars comic! I like the rendering of the background and the contrast between the different materials like the clouds.
The Star Wars logo is a bit inaccurate. You could make it a bit better by getting rid of the brown line between the S and the T and by extending the R and S on the right. Also, Dark Horse owns the Star Wars comic rights now, not Marvel. (Don't take that last comment too seriously, it was supposed to be a joke. Read in The Comic Book guy voice).
Grievous is instantly recognizable, which is nice and when you're drawing existing characters, it's nice to make your own take on them. But a couple of things are pretty obviously inconsistent with the existing design, most notably in the shoulder area. That could totally be up to artistic license, but the hands really bother me. I know Grievous has four arms, but they split apart from two arms and two hands that have six fingers each, so each hand should only have three fingers. Sorry for being so picky!
I hope that helps a little. I think you have a lot of skill already and you seem to be practicing a lot. So keep it up!
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MustangArbiter of Unpopular OpinionsRegistered Userregular
edited April 2009
Pro tip.. when you are doing mechanical shit..Use the lasso tool to draw an outline of the basic shape.. then you can paint loosely and still get a sharp edge. Most of the guys in that speed paint thread use that technique.
Pro tip.. when you are doing mechanical shit..Use the lasso tool to draw an outline of the basic shape.. then you can paint loosely and still get a sharp edge. Most of the guys in that speed paint thread use that technique.
Genius!
I'm guessing if you pushed this cool technique a bit further with layer masks it would work well.
Ken - Amazing tip, THANK YOU! I used it a couple times in the piece below.
Nib - Thanks for bringing those to my attention, I wish I could go back and change it, but I allready sent it out. He loved it, so did his parents, so I guess that's all that matters. I agree though, not my strongest work, and I could have spent a lot more time on getting the details right.
Mustang - I know right!
Manovan - Thanks for the ref, I'll be sure to use it in the future.
Well, I put the zombie piece aside, all the rendering was killing my brain, so i started bumming around sketching whatever came to mind:
Wasn't digging the space dude, but wolvie is badass...gonna finish this one next:
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
Mustang - maybe a case of shitty fore-shorting on my part....definetly a possibility.
These next two images were inspired by Ken's comments. I downloaded a slew of custom brushes and have had a blast playing with them. Also the bridge piece I used that lasso technique quiet a bit. Speedies bout an hour each:
Finally a commish I'm doing for a clients nursery, this is the first of 3 images. The theme being mama & papa w/ baby animals.
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
can you see the difference in the edge quality between the first two and that last one with the rabbits? I can barely look at the rabbits because everything is so soft and mushy Its hard to focus. Pop a few hard edges to give the eyes something to grab on to.
Id also like to advocate throwing your color around. A technique otherwise know as broken color I believe. That red bridge doesnt have to just be that specific hue/tint of red. You can toss some violets into it, some ultramarines in the shadows.. just play with it.
Right now alot of your color is very localized. Meaning you you tend to keep objects almost monochromatic. (Like that purple helmet wolverine is standing on. Some complimentary colors splashed around in there with the appropriate value/saturation would make it a lot more interesting to look at.)
I enjoy giving you advice because every time you post your stuff is getting noticeably better.
Kendeathwalker on
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MustangArbiter of Unpopular OpinionsRegistered Userregular
edited May 2009
Your rabbit pic looks half finished, like Ken said, some hard edges would sell it a lot better.
Oh jeez, I just re-read my last post, yea that rabbit piece is still a WIP. Sorry for the confusion, shoulda stated it was a WIP.
Ken - Defintely appreciate the crit, maybe I should be a bit more liberal with my color selection. Something I will work on in future pieces for sure. I'm pretty certain I know what you are referring to as well, broken color or refractory lightsource/color is ringing a bell. Yea man your crits are great, You stare at a piece for so damn long, a fresh pair of eyes and insight is always appreciated.
Mustang - My bad bro, gotta spend a bit more time on that one. Just wanted to post a WIP.
I DVR'ed "Everest: Beyond the Limit" which is playing on the Discovery Channel. I consider myself a novice sportsmen, and have done a fair amount of rock climbing, but shit man..the power of a mountain like that. Really great show, check it out if you haven't seen it. It's the first time they've been able to brin HD camera's up to Camp 4 (28k ft.) Then they have helmet cams which operated all the way up to the summit. At any rate, got me really riled up, so I painted this one tonight:
(Tossed the process out there too, I painted the values and some texture in b&w first which is odd for me. But man was it so much easier to throw color down onto an overlay layer!)
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
Toook me a second to realize that was the rope breaking backinto the picture.
Compositionally I dont think its necessary. You already have that light snow shape in the corner curving back upp into the picture to help move the eye around
Compositionally I dont think its necessary. You already have that light snow shape in the corner curving back upp into the picture to help move the eye around
Why would you remove that?
Also, the snow and stuff overall looks too blue now. It worked much better when the snow was less saturated, with some warmer greys in the shadows, and the violet-ish grays in the horizon causing them to relate to the red jumpsuit. Now, even though the suit is much less saturated, it is such a strong temperature contrast that the eye doesn't want to leave it and venture into the rest of the piece.
Manovon - Yea, I see what you mean. I took a look at the pic on my laptop...what a difference. TOOOO blue. I desaturated a the figure a tad and took it to print. I have to deliver the piece next week.
Here's something neat I did yesterday:
Back in '06 I painted this piece for a friend. She had done a photo collage to create something similiar to this. I LOVED her concept so I took alot of her elements and painted it:
When I decided to repaint it I thought a bit of ambiguity was needed. I still really like the graphic qualities of the first piece, just decided to go in a different direction. Also, I thought I could paint a much better piece, it's cool to see the progression in your work.
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
Cool stuff man! Its sweet to see the progression, especially since page one I was about to suggest the use of textures and messing around with custom brushes, but by page 3 I'm seeing more and more of that. My only crit is that some stuff looks too 'fluffy' and photoshop-y. Like in the wolverine illo i'd like to see sleeker metal and a bit more of your broken color technique in wolverine to make him seem less airbrushy. Great stuff keep it goin!
Loomdum - Funny thing is I used to be terrible at enviro's, so where would that leave me HA! Seriously though, I'd like to think I have a decent handle on human anatomy. Exploring different techniques is helpful, refreshing and can keep you feeling inspired. However when trying something new sometimes you hit and sometimes you miss. So as opposed to the speed painting and hard on hard stuff, here is a old fashion sketch/values/refine to a pulp..finally add some color portrait. I posted steps and what not.
t i m on
God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.†Bill Watterson
edit: adjusted the shoulders since i realized you did wanted them slanted
Also I recommend adding a shade of skin tone in the shadow rather then absolute black. As well as reflective light. were the light would be bouncing from the mandible near the edges of the necks.
Posts
NotACrook - Heh, apparently he changed his mind
valeryce - I took you up on your suggestion.
winter - Good observation, I agree they stand out a bit too much.
On valeryce's advice I tried my hand at a "painter-y" portrait without a photo ref. I also didn't bother blending. I made a video after I was about 45 minutes in to explain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Hu228-nHo
and I wouldn't say this is fin, rather a quick speed paint.
closeup:
For fun here's my workspace:
current one, took the posters down:
Just curious, do you work in any particular industry as an illustrator, or is it more a hobby? (sorry if youve mentioned before)
Also you need to work out less, nobody is going to believe you're an artists with a chiseled physic like that. A month long diet of nothing but burgers and beer should sort that out.
Winter - Yea, I kept moving away from the mic sorry bout that. I freelance, and this past year I did pretty well, well enough to have to claim the income on my tax return. :P
Mustang - Yea, I'm a bit of a neat freek, especially when it comes to my workspace. If anything is out of place it drives me a bit crazy and I can't get anything done. Beer and burgers? I like steak, not much of a drinker though.
Spent some more time on this one:
When you don't, it just looks like a photoshop filter, and it doesn't show artist intent on brushstroke control or placement.
Greatnation - Thanks again! I reread your post and those were some really nice things you had to say, I really appreciate it.
In hindsight, I kinda like the last version better. I felt the face had more "character"...meh.
.. A good place to look for insipration for "quick" digital painting is here
http://forums.sijun.com/viewtopic.php?t=29807&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=32820&sid=48478eaba0298ab3f71e27ad6443684d
Its a general speed paint thread that a lot of people post in.. There are alot of good examples of different stroke applications combined effectively.
I put "quick" in quotations because some of the stuff is 30 mins.. some is hours and hours..
Though, Dwight's forehead should be a little taller I think. At least that's the impression I have in my mind from watching the show.
Beer is the perfect lubricant for twisted and vile animal gibberish. I use it myself when the times are ripe and my need great.
Pinky - Thanks, hmm..I can see where you're coming from, a change may be in order.
couple of recent things..
A commish, and I'm reading World War Z, lil zombie infestation goodness.
The rendering on the robot is a bit simplistic. A few highlights placed correctly would really ad some form..
Pro tip.. when you are doing mechanical shit..Use the lasso tool to draw an outline of the basic shape.. then you can paint loosely and still get a sharp edge. Most of the guys in that speed paint thread use that technique.
The Star Wars logo is a bit inaccurate. You could make it a bit better by getting rid of the brown line between the S and the T and by extending the R and S on the right. Also, Dark Horse owns the Star Wars comic rights now, not Marvel. (Don't take that last comment too seriously, it was supposed to be a joke. Read in The Comic Book guy voice).
Grievous is instantly recognizable, which is nice and when you're drawing existing characters, it's nice to make your own take on them. But a couple of things are pretty obviously inconsistent with the existing design, most notably in the shoulder area. That could totally be up to artistic license, but the hands really bother me. I know Grievous has four arms, but they split apart from two arms and two hands that have six fingers each, so each hand should only have three fingers. Sorry for being so picky!
I hope that helps a little. I think you have a lot of skill already and you seem to be practicing a lot. So keep it up!
Genius!
I'm guessing if you pushed this cool technique a bit further with layer masks it would work well.
Hit up http://www.coverbrowser.com/ and check out actual covers to simulate.
Nib - Thanks for bringing those to my attention, I wish I could go back and change it, but I allready sent it out. He loved it, so did his parents, so I guess that's all that matters. I agree though, not my strongest work, and I could have spent a lot more time on getting the details right.
Mustang - I know right!
Manovan - Thanks for the ref, I'll be sure to use it in the future.
Well, I put the zombie piece aside, all the rendering was killing my brain, so i started bumming around sketching whatever came to mind:
Wasn't digging the space dude, but wolvie is badass...gonna finish this one next:
These next two images were inspired by Ken's comments. I downloaded a slew of custom brushes and have had a blast playing with them. Also the bridge piece I used that lasso technique quiet a bit. Speedies bout an hour each:
Finally a commish I'm doing for a clients nursery, this is the first of 3 images. The theme being mama & papa w/ baby animals.
Id also like to advocate throwing your color around. A technique otherwise know as broken color I believe. That red bridge doesnt have to just be that specific hue/tint of red. You can toss some violets into it, some ultramarines in the shadows.. just play with it.
Right now alot of your color is very localized. Meaning you you tend to keep objects almost monochromatic. (Like that purple helmet wolverine is standing on. Some complimentary colors splashed around in there with the appropriate value/saturation would make it a lot more interesting to look at.)
I enjoy giving you advice because every time you post your stuff is getting noticeably better.
Ken - Defintely appreciate the crit, maybe I should be a bit more liberal with my color selection. Something I will work on in future pieces for sure. I'm pretty certain I know what you are referring to as well, broken color or refractory lightsource/color is ringing a bell. Yea man your crits are great, You stare at a piece for so damn long, a fresh pair of eyes and insight is always appreciated.
Mustang - My bad bro, gotta spend a bit more time on that one. Just wanted to post a WIP.
I DVR'ed "Everest: Beyond the Limit" which is playing on the Discovery Channel. I consider myself a novice sportsmen, and have done a fair amount of rock climbing, but shit man..the power of a mountain like that. Really great show, check it out if you haven't seen it. It's the first time they've been able to brin HD camera's up to Camp 4 (28k ft.) Then they have helmet cams which operated all the way up to the summit. At any rate, got me really riled up, so I painted this one tonight:
(Tossed the process out there too, I painted the values and some texture in b&w first which is odd for me. But man was it so much easier to throw color down onto an overlay layer!)
Still on the Everest kick:
Toook me a second to realize that was the rope breaking backinto the picture.
Compositionally I dont think its necessary. You already have that light snow shape in the corner curving back upp into the picture to help move the eye around
My only other complaint so far is that the colors look like those found in a post-processed photograph as opposed to what people would actually see.
Yes to this and also to what ken said about the rope breaking back in, you could cut that easily.
Here's the sketch I submitted to the client for the next "Animal Families" piece:
Why would you remove that?
Also, the snow and stuff overall looks too blue now. It worked much better when the snow was less saturated, with some warmer greys in the shadows, and the violet-ish grays in the horizon causing them to relate to the red jumpsuit. Now, even though the suit is much less saturated, it is such a strong temperature contrast that the eye doesn't want to leave it and venture into the rest of the piece.
Here's something neat I did yesterday:
Back in '06 I painted this piece for a friend. She had done a photo collage to create something similiar to this. I LOVED her concept so I took alot of her elements and painted it:
When I decided to repaint it I thought a bit of ambiguity was needed. I still really like the graphic qualities of the first piece, just decided to go in a different direction. Also, I thought I could paint a much better piece, it's cool to see the progression in your work.
http://kvitella.carbonmade.com
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=91454
It feels like you treat your objects and people the same way you treat your landscape
Loomdum - Funny thing is I used to be terrible at enviro's, so where would that leave me HA! Seriously though, I'd like to think I have a decent handle on human anatomy. Exploring different techniques is helpful, refreshing and can keep you feeling inspired. However when trying something new sometimes you hit and sometimes you miss. So as opposed to the speed painting and hard on hard stuff, here is a old fashion sketch/values/refine to a pulp..finally add some color portrait. I posted steps and what not.
Thats a pretty good example of butterfly lighting hes got there. So called because of the shape of the shadow under the models nose.
take a gander at this google image search of butterfly lighting. I think ull find you are in error.
http://images.google.com/images?q=butterfly+lighting&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=UjIkSobdM5C8M5K1yb4J&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title
(btw I drew over your thing)
edit: adjusted the shoulders since i realized you did wanted them slanted
Also I recommend adding a shade of skin tone in the shadow rather then absolute black. As well as reflective light. were the light would be bouncing from the mandible near the edges of the necks.