Hiding for a blizzard

[bupaje]

I like it overall - probably because I like games and books of this genre. :) A few thoughts though.

-Maybe suggest more shapes out in the blizzard to give it more visual depth -very faint trees etc?

-If the main light source is from the cave mouth then you need to cast some shadows behind the rock at the entrance and also take into account the lesser light of the campfire. Right now it seems too universally lit.

- I'm not sure of the lighting on that person. If you look at someone outlined against a bright light I think they would appear darker, but too dark and I am not sure what that would do given the goblin in the foreground is dark -might flatten it.

Anyway I like it but you might try to small value studies using a copy of your image to work out the light and shadows. Look forward to seeing what else you do with this.

As you see in my sig I am a noob and a student -a potentially dangerous combination so just consider my ideas as I may be off a bit. :)

[Thekkur]

Thanx for the comments! What do you think of the adapted version? I really started out as a speedpaint, but after your comments I decided to give it just a little more work :)

You've got some nice imagery on your site, I like the 3d environments and far-side like gags on the bottom.

http://www.roleplayers.nl/overig/pictures/grot2.jpg

[bupaje]

The shadow/light on the floor and by the rock seem much better. Remember this is a noobpinion but maybe try to work on the shield a little. Right now it is darker but pretty evenly lit. Maybe it should slide towards shadow on the side towards the left wall and possibly pick up a tiny tiny bit of reflected light from the fire on the right side of the shield? Hope your saving layers because I'm just guessing abit here with my limited knowledge -but I know I appreciate feedback. :)

You may try a layer over the snow area and see if you put a tiny bit of blue in that white to increase the feeling of coldness. We were told that warm colors -like the red/orange in your fire come forward and cool colors -like blue- recede so this play may also help to increase the feeling of depth. Also I don't think that the shapes in the distance should be gray but dark/less saturated versions of thier normal colors so for the tree trunks, assuming they aren't covered by snow instead of gray maybe you need to pick your browns and then choose a 'grayish' value for it, same for the greens. The further back trees should be smaller, even less saturated, less detailed and blend more towards the snow color -hope I'm clear as I'm new to the lingo.

Here are a few reference images that you might like from around the net

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~akl3s/pictures/whiteoak/whiteout_lg.jpg
http://www.outryders.org/gallery/outboard03/paul_whiteout.jpg
http://www.outryders.org/gallery/outboard03/peter_powder.jpg

You may find a quick image search of blizzard, snowstorm and whiteout helpful.

Oh, and the guys butt has no shading so it looks flat. Anyway I like it. Hope one of the pros chimes in as well as I am tempted to try a similar snowy scene because you spiked my interest.

[Thekkur]

I'll toy around a little with the colors of the snow. It might just increase the feeling of coldness outside the cave.
As for saving layers; I didn't :) As it started out as a speedpaint I kept working in the same layer. This forces you to think ahead about the progress of the image, which is a good thing.
I think I might just add a little detail here and there (and shape the guy's butt :) and then continue to the next image.

I had some trouble getting the shapes of the rocks right without going into too much detail.
I'm curious about your own image! Please notify me when you start...

[bupaje]

Will do, though I just picked up a small side job which I'll be working on during the holiday break so not sure I'll actually get time to try my own stuff after all.

I should also mention you paint better than I do. :) I've always been a doodler and dabbler of sorts and only started school two months ago so I have much to learn. It's partly why I enjoy these WIP threads so much because watching the evolution, experiments and changes of a piece actually is much more informative for a very visual guy like me than bunches of theory.

[Thekkur]

I did adjust his butt and the outdoor color. This is definately the last thing I'm gonna do about this. onto the next image!

http://www.roleplayers.nl/overig/pictures/grot3.jpg

The next thing is this;
Tell me what you think of it. Took me almost an hour.

http://www.roleplayers.nl/overig/pictures/aurora.jpg

[bupaje]

It looks much better. :thumbsup:


The next image is looking nice as far as mood but it looks a little flat. I can't quite see what the objects on the water are - might be my gamma- but I think (in my noobpinion) that some of the things you need to look at regarding the depth are the brightness of the foreground and the background. Since both have similar value in some areas those seem to be at the same depth -our eyes kind of sort things that way so it groups stuff that seems to be the same brightness as being at the same distance.

The objects in the water have sharp highlight or wave (white line) and these also come forward because objects with more detail seem closer and as the distance increases they fade; so if these are out in teh water maybe that line needs to be a little softer edge and no as bright?

Finally for the cliff walls you might need to consider light a little. If the sun is going down towards the sea then there might have to be slightl lighting on the rock faces at the front facing the sun, but long shadows on the opposite sides and fading to darker -along with the fore ground- as it comes to the viewer?

Anyway this is all just a novice observation, hopefully someone else will jump in with more.

[Thekkur]

Thnx for the comments bupaje! Although the last one is just a 'speedpaint' (although an hour is a bit too long...) I appreciate your comments. Even while sketching I should improve some things, like working in detail. I tend to work a little too 'messy'. The clouds and lighting in front of the cliffs don't help establishing depth :D

As for the image looking a little flat: that's what I concluded. Might be in the lack of use of 'conventional depth techniques' but in this case I think it's primarily the composition. The high horizon, centered focus point and little detail make it quite a static picture.

Stop saying you're a noob! I'm too... if I wouldn't be learning I wouldn't post here :D

http://www.roleplayers.nl/overig/pictures/aurora2.jpg

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