eilidh: sketches, WIPs, and the abandoned

#36

Definitely! :slight_smile:

For a start, a close-up, so that you can see what’s going on:

These were rendered in roughly three stages.

For the basic folliage I used one of the custom photoshop leaf-shaped brushes. I decreased its roundness at about 20-something%; Slightly angled. Size jitter is optional; minimum size diameter at 30-40% angle jitter around 10%. Scattering, both axes, ca. 250-300%. Other Dynamics: Opacity and Flow at Pen Pressure. All these values can vary of course.

I went on erasing and blurring some of the edges here and there to remove the stamped like effect; I next switched to Painter, where I used the Pepper Spray from the Airbrush menu, with the feature slightly increased (so as to have larger specks). I kept my pen tilted so as to have a larger spread. This was used relatively sparingly and I erased a lot of it once I came back to Photoshop.


(50% original size)

Photoshop again, blending in; not just black or dark colours now, but also colours I picked from the sky and environment, or intermediate tones. The brush is a standard hard round brush, roundness decreased at about 50%, slightly angled. I changed the angle several times while painting – this was the same with the leaf-shaped one. Size jitter about 30% (Control: Pen Pressure), Angle jitter 14% (Control: Off), Scatter: both axes, ca. 500%; Other Dynamics: Opacity and Flow at Pen Pressure. Again, I’d periodically adjust these, especially scattering.

Hope this is clear enough. :slight_smile:

#37

You know, that last brush – I did something like that for my second digital piece -ever- way back in december 05 — for bushes – and I never did it again, as I deemed it cheating.

I have issues methinks - because damn – it looks AMAZING.

I think I’m coming to the conclusion that in some ways, the ends justify the means.

Another thread on CA.org is kind of helping me realize this as well. I wonder what that will mean for my paintings. I’ve been trying to do everything as ‘traditionally’ as possible in a digital medium, to make it feel more authentic – am I missing the boat?

I dunno, I guess I have this feeling that if I don’t slave over something for hours it isnt any good. BAH. I think I am wrong in the head.

#38

And if you don’t do it like that, how will you do it? :slight_smile:

Traditional doesn’t exclude using various means – on the contrary. You get to use large bristly brushes, palette knives, sponges and cloth or wrinkled paper to make patterns, your own fingers – all sorts of things, in order to produced a desired effect. And the same happens in digital; only it’s easier, handier, and definitely more controllable.

I think it’s far from cheating: it’s plainly trying to do things in an efficient way. I don’t think it requires less skill to do something with specialized brushes like these than it would to paint them individually; I still had to think about composition, balance, flow, texture and feel. Customizing these brushes was part of the process, and it required attention as well.

I think I’ll have to refer you to your own signature as a conclusion, Renee. :slight_smile:

#39

wow. thanks for the brushes and tips eilidh. it’s great help. :slight_smile:

runecaster: i agree with everything eilidh said. i think that i was proceeding with the same frame of mind as yours until i did my forest piece. normaly the leaves would have been done by dabing etc… but how do i do that in digital media and still have the same effect? the solution was to make custom brushes. i just couldn’t do it otherwise. maybe think of each medium as a whole new game with it’s own sets of rules. some techniques you can import and some you can’t. :wink:

#40

Very well said, I think people have to be a little more open when painting digitally. If you were going to paind all those leafs individually, not only would it be a very daunting task, but the results might not even be as good than taking the ‘faster’ way.

Having said that, I’m looking forward to more progress, your artwork is great.

#41

Thanks, Giwrgo :slight_smile:

I’m afraid I might be updating much less frequently now. We had some strikes at uni in June, which means our exam period has transfered to July; I’m starting on Monday, and I have a ton of studying to catch up with. But I’m trying not to drop this altogether.

#42

How did I miss all those great replies!

My brain is warped apparently :eek:

I’m sorry to hear about the strikes - that’s a bummer about the moved test dates :frowning:

#43

Runecaster: pretty much, yes – but I can’t complain, I had all June at my disposal. Hopefully I’ll be able to steal some time in between papers to paint some more. :slight_smile:

These are from last week, for the Anatomy Lesson Series: The Head. I seriously doubt I’ll get all 50 of them done till the 26th, with the exams and all, just like I missed the deadline for the OFDW 018 – my poor Pope picture! Still, I can make a try. Every head is a bonus in terms of learning, after all.

The first, along with the original and progress:

See how warped the initial stages are? :stuck_out_tongue: It took me 2,5 hours to complete this.

And a few more in pencil (and one in pen):

#44

For the record, I’ve now uploaded some (older) works in my CGPortfolio. You can check it out if you’re interested. :slight_smile:

#45

neat! heheh, nice work once again.

#46

Great work on the head, nicely done.

#47

I happen to have a fixation with imagining cities and structures on top of / in between clouds, so this DSG topic was too, too hard to resist.


Photoshop, Painter, I guess something like 2.5-3 hours – it was done during breaks… erh… okay, during long breaks from studying. I had trouble getting the colours and textures right.

#48

Quick one, not sure exactly how long it took. Mainly done for the mood.

Photoshop – and ArtRage for some of the textures.

#49

I like the last one very much.
I like the characters you draw, like this one above, and the first one with the gunshot.
They all have a stylistic stature somehow.

#50

Thank you – and come to that, you’ve got a point about the figures. I guess Stalker would fit in that category, too.

This is an older one from June that I completely forgot about; it was an exercise in making stars following a tutorial, and on top of that I wanted to figure out how to paint aurora borealis (based on some 40 photos I searched for and downloaded).

The clouds aren’t that good looking, I know. I painted them even more hastily than the rest.

#51

Phototshop, 55 minutes.

#52

Wow, I’m in love with the one with the silhouette, it would be amazing on a large canevas!
Great sketches, some colour variations on the aurora borealis would be nice IMO :wink:

#53

Thank you, Diane. You’re quite right about the colours in the aurora borealis picture. If I retouch the picture, I’ll go for it.
Heh, the sillhouette picture is so small – this is the actual size! I really made it as an idle sketch. Fortunately, it wouldn’t be difficult to reproduce it in a larger scale.

#54

i haven’t noticed how things have been progressing in here. these are very nice ones eilidh. i love the city in the clouds.

i’ll tag you so i don’t loose track of how things are in here. :thumbsup:

#55

Thanks Ryan! It had been quite slow this past month, exams and all, and some post-exam fatigue as well. I hope I’ll be picking up again now.

Right… nothing substantial to show at this point. So here’s some quick nose studies for a character concept. Please disregard the marble texture underneath: I had it open for another WIP, and it just seemed convenient as a base colour to sketch these on.