CGTalk - A speedpainting tutorial by Samsonsreaper

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:23 PM

1: I start with selecting a bg-color for the base, this bg-color will initially set the base for the environment. I have choosen a dark brown here, no particular reason, just a color pick. When you choose a bg-color dont pick colors with extreme values,the indexed values for instance. Try going on more saturated colorpicks.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/1.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:29 PM

2: Once you have picked a color, its time to start painting!

In this step you can start with lower or higher values then the bg-color , i start with higher.Higher values will bring out lightinteraction. You dont haveto have a solid idea on what you want to paint, and scribbling will suffice. The main thing here is to try and read the scribble. For instancce i did a few strokes here and noticed...hey this can be some architecture!

You can see a vague ligh on the "ground" and on the sides of a pathway.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/2.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:34 PM

3: Now lets keep building more on that small light amount. In this example i am defining more and more of a pathway. Once i can read the image i can use stronger values, these values will add to the effect of the lightinteraction in a corridor or pathway. Solid lines will tell you that this is some kind of industrial pathway.
http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/3.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:39 PM

4: In this step try to get closer to the values that you feel works well. Tone down the scribble and use more solid lines to fill out areas.This image is getting its enviromental shape now.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/4.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:44 PM

5: K we have coem this far!, now that you have defined the environment base you can start adding small details. All you need to do is pick the values you have in the current painting and add small patined details close to the area where you picked the color.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/5.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:49 PM

6:You can allready now start adding highlights, but do it very gently. Looking back to the first steps you noticed how you defined a lightsource coming from above. Knowing that you also know where to paint the highlights on an object.

Sometimes perspectives can be emphasized with perspective lines, I added some here to creat a "tile-effect".

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/6.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 02:57 PM

7: The environment evolves now. But there is somthing missing on the empty spaces. Thats right we need an object to fil out the gap. An object adds alot to the composition when its placed right. So lets paint something on the large empty space in the front. Since i was going for a hangar/station/pathway i will paint some doors that opens up from the ground.

And since we now have established how strong the light is at certain areas , we can pick the corresponding colors for the "doors". Notice that the light on the foreground is weaker on the left then the right . This means the color we use for the doors will be of weaker value then the doors on the right.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/7.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:02 PM

8: I imagined doors opening up a for an ascending ship and pilot. The colors used on these are painted with pretty low saturation and opacity. I always do that when i want to try out new object,s and of course on a separate layer.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/8.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:04 PM

10: worked more and the shadows under the doors.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/9.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:08 PM

11: K now we have some new objects in the scene, when you feel they work well with the background you can go back to adding details in the background. The colors picked follow the same procedure as before.Here i worked with the help from the lightsource above, and i defined something that looks like a few steps.
http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/10.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:13 PM

12: In this step i added more to the light, i did it by using a seperate layer on which i painted with a soft edged brush and very low opacity. I did this for the light in the back of the pathway and infront where the doors/ship are.This little ligh effect enhances the lightinteraction.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/11.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:19 PM

13: Since its future and all i gotta add some neon-light effects. These small effects can be achieved by painting with a pretty strong colorvalue at first and then using the same colorvalue + dodge + low opacity. Dodge/Burn should be used with care.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/12.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:30 PM

14: Since i liked how the neons worked out i decided to add moooooore light. This time i marked out a small boxed area on the right and painted with similar colorvalues as with the stairs.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/13.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:33 PM

15: this step is very simple actually, all i did here was duplicating the layer with my painting , picked "multiply" on the top layer and adjusted the opacity on the layer. This step adds more contrast to the whole speedpainting.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/14.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:39 PM

15: The image still seems abit empty to me, and adding new objects always creats new readable items for the viewer to explore. In this case i added a crane which for the pilot to operate. The colors picked are similar from the spaceship.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/15.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:48 PM

16: Here i wanted to add blue light , in the front. The reason is to simulate light emitted from a blue sky. You can achieve this in several ways,

1: duplicate layer, use hue/saturation, and then tone down the opacity of the layer and erase the parts which you dont want blueish

2:new layer, use softedged brush with overlay, and lov opacity

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/16.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 03:56 PM

17: Texturetime!!! yay!! Before you paint, make sure you paint on a separate layer. Next thing on your list is texturebrushes. These can be made easily.

My method of doing is creating a new document 100x100, then i pick black , new llayee. I google for lets say..rocks, i paste a desaturated image of the rock into the 100x100 document, and with the default ps brushes i erase in the outlines of the document canvas.Last step in making a texture brush is picking "define brush" from edit-menu.

When you have a texturebrush all you need to do is go lightly with a low opacity brush on the areas you want to texture.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/17.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:05 PM

18: There is missing some lightplay in this piece, so now you need to enhace the light even more. Heres what you can do:

Choose the gradient tool
pick a bright color
creata a new layer
make sure the gradient has the setting , foreground to transparent
draw a line in the lightdirection
adjust the gradient by changing opacity
move the gradient around so the effect will be noticable but not to strong

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/18.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:11 PM

19: 2 parts are involved in this step,

1: i wasnt happy with the yellow light so i decided to add colder blue light. I did this by using color variations on a duplicated layer of the image on which opacity i toned down.

2:to bring out the pilot and to add more contrast, i marked out his body and i painted with a softedgedbrush around him, opacity was set to very low values. The color used was picked from a closeby area where the light is stronger.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/19.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:16 PM

20: you have come pretty far , and in this step you can basically play around with highlights and even adding new objects to enhance composition. You can also correct things , for instance the pilots arm, it looked too odd in the previous image.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/20.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:20 PM

21: higlight added to the small spacraft in the back
http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/21.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:24 PM

22: these last steps are just playing with the image, we are not setting any new major changes.Added a crane for the ship in the back.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/22.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:40 PM

23: when you paint you sometimes notice things you havent earlier in the process, considering there are alot of things to think about when creating an image, and esp on lighplays.

I noticed here the there are some areas kept too dark in the back where the small ship is, so i decided to add more light here, and a warmer kind of light, some vague yellows. This can be done with a gradient tool once again.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/23.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:42 PM

24: most important step!! you gotta add an ugly photograph of yourself, for uhm global domination pruposes hehe:twisted:

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/24.jpg

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 04:45 PM

25: if you want to add more a of a sketchy feeling, you can always use PS´s unsharpen mask. And its finished! behold your work. I painted this between 2-3h.

Hope this small tutorial gave an insight of my process, this is how i paint my speeds.

http://www.leventep.com/Pics/tutorial/Finished.jpg

danielh68

10-02-2006, 05:25 PM

Wow...incredible insight into how you work. I was guessing it was a totally different method. What really gets me is that you don't have a clear-ended concept of what the piece will be until you start. Or, at least, from this example. It seems like a process of exploration via scribbles and such. Very cool, indeed.

Many thanks :thumbsup:

TobyArt

10-02-2006, 05:35 PM

Fantastic Thanks!!

Iridyse

10-02-2006, 06:57 PM

Wonderful tutorial! Thank you so much for sharing!

Terro

10-02-2006, 07:19 PM

Nice step by step Reaper. Thanks

SamsonsReaper

10-02-2006, 08:54 PM

thank you all , glad you like it :thumbsup:

Squibbit

10-02-2006, 09:25 PM

cool stuff dude :thumbsup:

.

Damselfly

10-03-2006, 12:08 AM

Fascinating! Thanks for posting this SamsonsReaper!

Meekon

10-03-2006, 12:42 AM

Thankyou for the effort you have put into this. I will learn alot from it, amazing! :)

Cris-Palomino

10-03-2006, 01:14 AM

Levi, that was great! Great insight into how you work. I will have to try and let myself go and try something like this soon. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Cris

Cris-Palomino

10-03-2006, 06:22 AM

Levi, what kind of brushes are you using? What kind of settings? I'd be interested in knowing if you wouldn't mind.

Thanks,
Cris

Runecaster

10-03-2006, 02:20 PM

I know I mentioned in your speedpainting thread that your ability to work with light absolutely stunned me. It is apparent in everything you lay your hand to - and I admire it so much. I did learn quite a bit from this, and I cannot express my gratitude enough -- doing little things like this really help those of us who have to teach ourselves along this wonderful journey :)

I can't help but think that my problem with light stems from the fact that I always begin a painting with a very low saturated 50-30% grey. I have never been bold enough really to begin a painting on a saturated color, except for my "princess" image, which is my best one to date! haha!

You forget to mention though, that sketching ability is prominent in a piece like this - and some of us could not duplicate anything like this for all the tea in china.

Anything you can add that might be a tad more aimed for us newer people who might not understand all the mechanics behind the light play would be much appreciated as well. You have such an excellent eye, would love to learn more from you! :)

Vahn

10-03-2006, 03:06 PM

vrey interesting to see how you work :)

thanks for sharing :thumbsup:

jmBoekestein

10-03-2006, 04:18 PM

And nooow, wuuulhd domineeesjiuuhhn!!! Real good to see the proces picked a few things allready! :D

:thumbsup:

jingajo

10-03-2006, 06:14 PM

Thank you for sharing this. :)

zng-Y

10-03-2006, 07:19 PM

Always good to see people taking time to make a tutorial. And this one is just great! Thanks Reaper!

SylvanMist

10-04-2006, 02:12 AM

Thankyou very much for making this tutorial!
Your artwork is good inspiriation :)

pap87

10-04-2006, 02:36 PM

Thanks for sharing this with us.
You make it look so easy!

graphicgolem

10-04-2006, 09:38 PM

Thanks for your effort in showing your working method for speed paints. It shows that solid ideas can be realised in a very short time from a blank canvas - it really fires up the imagination!:applause:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Communing with the seven headed serpent WIP (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?postid=3741245#post3741245)

Ferguson

10-09-2006, 08:15 AM

Wow, I am bookmarking THIS. Thank you so much for posting this process, it really demystifies the whole thing for those of us who are much newer at it.

:)

Cavematty

10-14-2006, 04:40 AM

Yeah samson. what they said
you the man
thanks for sharing.
:)
ill see u rnd in the speedy thread :)
warmest regards
matty

Gmax

10-14-2006, 09:18 AM

Well, you have *my* vote for world domination!

SamsonsReaper

10-14-2006, 11:43 AM

wow thanks for the kind words!

Cris: its mix of default,custom brushes, custom brushes are med from photo refs, esp flat textures

Gmax: :twisted: mhuhuhhaha

Vold

10-15-2006, 03:38 AM

Wow! This really will help me with the painting I'm working on. Thanks alot! Can't believe that I just saw this now as the time is 5 in the morning (hey, I was watching Return of the King. who can blame me?). Can't wait to start painting tomorrow with the help of this tutorial!

Thanks again!

SeifoSid

10-15-2006, 07:36 PM

very nice progression, helps to keep in mind some of the things you've illustraited here.

elnady

11-08-2006, 08:33 AM

Great tutorial
Thanks man ;)

Nazirull

11-19-2006, 06:26 AM

Hmm...i think we have similar techniques....the coloring and all..........:wise:

.............'cept yours is 100x better than mine....LOL:D

Thanks for sharing man...appreciate it.

Seppuku

12-10-2006, 02:49 PM

Great tut can truely learn from this....One thing tho what brush opacity do you tend to paint with?

carlg

12-21-2006, 04:39 AM

Hi,

Just wanted to say thanks for the great tutorial. I'm trying to use these principals to do my own drawing -- Here is the link to what I have so far:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=443197

If you have the chance it would be good of you to check it out and let me know how I'm doing so far.