Dark Knight WIP

[Tymotzues]

Hi
well no real crit yet apart from I'm not really sure what you're showing here (other than a guy obviously) the line work is a little chaotic and with the colour over the top it's a little difficult to see.
If you could post a pic of your original image so we can check your proportions etc.
Your painting looks like it's going ok so far but I wouldn't advise going too dark, too quickly - you'll end up with no room to move in getting your lighting correct.

[rawb]

Thanks for the response!

I know, what I posted probably wasn't easy to really give much help on. I guess I feel a little lost and overwhelmed. I was considering maybe doing a tonal or grayscale first, and maybe try to work from there. I will show the line work (it's rough as I don't plan to use it in the final image) for any tips there.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask some color questions. Since the primary light source is going to be red, do you think seeing as the background color would be extremely dark (almost pitch black, like in a cave or windowless room) the background color should be red as well? I was originally thinking a green for the compliment, but if there is only one light source, any light we would see would probably be red anyways. But I really do want to avoid monochromatics. I would like to use some cool colors in the skin tones, ie some purple/violet instead of dark reds or browns. I suppose dark reds and whatnot would work.

Gah this stuff seems so difficult. But I will keep at it! Thanks again for the help so far.

[Tymotzues]

Ok that helps, can see what I'm looking at now.
Yeah that looks nice, although not sure what he's holding? an apple?
As for the lighting issues - Um, personal choice really isn't it, but if you're going to be going for cool colours in the skin tones (I'm assuming you mean specular highlights not the actual skin tones, or is he undead?) I'd shy away from the thought of a red main lightsource. Although you can have both if the red light source was behind him.
Your idea of working on the greyscale first has a lot of merit, it would mean you could get the values right and then just overlay the colours and play around with them without commiting to much.
Try some colour composites and see what people think - and more importantly what you think.
I wouldn't make your background a flat dark, try using a dark gradient ramp instead with the light coming from below or something similar, will give him a sort of halo, backlit, look, and make the final image a bit more dramatic than just a flat dark background.

[rawb]

Thanks again. :)

Yeah. Digital art is pretty new to me, but I really need to do this or I will get nowhere. He is holding an orb. I want a sinister feel.. which is why I wanted the direct light source from the orb he was holding. I might be able to work something with the background. I like the idea of a lower, off the page, light source for the background. That could work. I am working on the values now, still not an easy thing. I'll try to post some when I get it down a bit. Any technical tips or anything would greatly be appreciated. He is not undead. As for cooler colors in the skin, I guess I just meant maybe using dark purples, or perhaps maroons, for the shadows. Darker red/brown might serve better in this case since the light source is red. Although, maybe it would be just as evil looking with a pale blue. Hrm.

[Tymotzues]

My only advice for digital painting, values or otherwise, when you're just blocking in the colours, but I guess specifically for values, use pure black at 20% opacity and just start painting in, use a hard brush and you can smudge it up later. just try to get the rough values right so that when you sit back and look at it you can still see your image despite the lack of details.
At least that's the advice I've been given and tried to adhere to.

[rawb]

That's a good idea. I was using a softer brush at first. I was blending way too early. I may just start it all from scratch again. When you blend, do you smudge or use a softer brush? I hear it is better to use a softer brush then to overly rely on smudging. It's so easy to get frustrated. I am used to fast results and being a newb at this does not get good fast results. ^^;

[Sarford]

Hi Rawb,

It is a good idea of Tymotzues to use a hard brush. I would also advise to turn off pressure sensitivity. Use your numeric keys to change the transparency of the brush, that way you'll be able to work much faster couse you don't have to manage the pressure you aply to your pen. You can use only a handfull of transparencies to make a total image. Use 50% to block in the first dark and light colors (using only two or three values as a start and work from there). After that switch to 20% and 30% to start adding in the values inbetween. Ocasionaly you might need a 10% or maybe even 5%, but thats it. If you work this way you don't need to blend or smudge and can finish the whole painting with the hard brush.

[rawb]

Thanks for the tips, Sarford. I will give it a try. I am, thankfully, used to shifting with the number keys, along with use of [ and ] (and the shift versions of such) for faster brush swapping. I am very used to using pressure sensitivity, so it will feel weird to not be using that. Is blending still easily achieved without a softer brush? I am so new to this, and I know there are numerous ways to go about doing this. I am interested in trying out many techniques so I will definately give this one a try.

I was workong on it earlier, with a soft brush and it just wasn't going well. I tweaked some anatomy and am going to start from scratch. I know I need to keep at this diligently but man, it can be discouraging at first. :)

Thanks again for the advise so far!

[Sarford]

yeah, you can easely blend with a hard brush. Take a look at my portfolio, the drawing of the woman is done with only a hard brush, no blend tool, soft brush or smudge tool at all.

The trouble with a soft brush is that you start to blend right away, and because of that you can't realy place your values in the right place couse the soft brush doesn't have definition. You have to work from broad shapes to smaler ones and with a hard brush that is so much easier to do. You can see what you are doing and adjust acordingly. The strokes of a soft brush don't have definition, they just blend out, so it is realy hard to see if you placed that stroke at the right spot or maybe too high or too low, and if the value is right couse its more of a ramp than a flat stroke.

[rawb]

Ahhh, I see. Looks awesome. I will post my tonal using the hard brush when I am finished. I haven't been able to work on it the last few hours but I hope to get started on it again shortly. From what I have started so far, it DOES feel a lot faster. Still a little nervous doing it, as I am not used to it. I am not even sure where to begin when it comes to adding colors. I think maybe start with a new layer and set it to Color to start. Not used to that stuff. I am a big fan of Imagine FX so I have a pretty decent understanding of the program. Too many earlier years of ignoring color. Gah. Thanks so much for the advise so far. :)

[rawb]

So I have been trying the method you have suggested. Although I am not finished yet, I thought it might be good to post what I have so far, incase you may have some advise for it. It seems to be taking a while but that's okay. I still need to work out some more contrast and whatnot before I start blending. I am somewhat comfortable with using different brushes for blending things, such as a slightly spackled brush for the skin, perhaps. At any rate , any suggestions would be so helpful! :)

[Tymotzues]

Much better

coming along nicely. I do hope you're using different layers for bits of the piece? Especially for the background vs. your character, makes life so much easier in the end.

[Sarford]

Looks cool. You might wanna up the contrast a bit in his face, and put more light there. Right now your atention goes to the ball instead of his face. Also the lighting isn't corect but I know you are still working on that.

[rawb]

Yes, I am definately using multiple layers :)

AS for the light source, I admit I am not done, and the face is the least worked on. I will definately up the contrast there. It's true that I am not done with the light source yet, but is there any errors that needs to be tweak that I may not have noticed? I will definately post an update tonight after work once I get time to work on it.

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