Land

#1

Hi to all, this is my new matte painting! Hope you like it! :slight_smile:
Thanks!
Valentina

#2

hey Valentina welcome back !
well there are some issues I see in this image that you should take care of
first of all composition , I think your main focus is the castle, but somehow the perspective looks off, and the vertical lines are not straight, the main problem I see here is lighting, you first must decide your mood, what kind of lighting you want, is is clear day or sunset or sunshine,each photo element you have has different light source.
also very important the reflection on the water,you have a sky reflection but not the environment, the hills and mountains are missing
your layers are cut in a very cg look, either perfect sharp lines without of detail and some others have detail, also pay attention to the kind of foliage and trees you put together, I can see different kind of pines and trees there
I suggest that before starting always draw a very rough idea in photoshop, play with composition after that look for real photo reference and think of a mood , color palette that you want to render in your final matte painting this is the most important the idea, the skills and execution comes with time but without a good idea no matter if you know photoshop 100% the final result will not be good,
try to go back on this one and apply some of the points reviewed in this answer , Im sure the community here will be glad to help you step by step so you improve your eye

#3

Hi Jaime, thank you for your answer :slight_smile: I understand your suggestions and I will improve to do better with next up, I have also put the reflection for hills and trees but maybe I exggerated with the mask and I removed the reflection :stuck_out_tongue:
thank you again
Valentina

#4

Hi, with this up I tried to improve many things, I hope that now is better :slight_smile: thanks!

#5

It is much better.
The backround mountains should be brighter and add a little blue to achive the air perspective.
And the castle looks small. Try to find anouther photo refernces for the castle.
Anyway you are on the way now.

#6

valentina you have many issues within this image, first is visual composition, even though the castle is the main focal node, it is not very attractive to the eye, the scale of the castle is not ok, the pine trees in the background are taller and bigger than the castle that is in the middle ground, the lighting is too flat, try to get someting more dramatic, do a search of reference photos in order to set your mood,
the cliff where the castle is is too monochrome and does not match the background greens , texture and fooliage, take this in consideration and try to improve your same image till you get satisfied with it, compare your work to photos or to other matte painters art
have a good one and keep it up!

#7

Hi guys, really thanks for the feedback, I’ve tried to improve again the image with your suggestions (I have used the golden rule for put there the castle, it’s not ok?)
Thank you again
Valentina

#8

reflection of the rock cliff on the water are off
backward mountains are not matching in athmospheric with the sky
shadows are missing in the castle
the castle is still small the size of the castle windows sre too small compsred with the trees in the background

#9

I’ve changed again the image, but the reflection of the cliff is not possible to see because it’s not visible the point where the cliff and the water meet.

#10

Hi Valentina,

i think 3 things you could do to improve this image are:

  1. lighten the hill on the left, it is almost black at the moment which is too dark for the midground
  2. put some shadow on the right side of the castle as the light in this matte is coming from the left, a quick lasso and levels in PS should do the trick :slight_smile:
  3. Add some colour variation into the fg cliff, at the moment its all various shades of the same green colour, either find some new reference material, or do a bit of creative masking and subtle colour adjustment in ps to get this looking more realistic.

hope this helps

#11

Hi Thomas, thank you for the suggestions, I hope that now is better. Cheers
Valentina

#12

hi Valentina, there’s not much progress with this image, you still have to work on the castle scale, the cliff is too monochrome, there’s no difference between rock and grass everything in just green and that green color and texture does not match the background colors, texture fooliage and trees,also you can see the sun hits the background elements but the foreground is too flat, no light or shadow side, also think about real life elements, how do people get to he castle? is there a roadway that lead us there? some smaller towers maybe at the entrance, I suggest that first collect a bunch of real photo reference study them and then come with a concept art, even if it is just rough strokes and lines, it will give you an idea on composition , not only because you did this image with the golden rule means a guaranteed success, there are a lot of details you have to achieve to have a great image,
looking forward to see your improvement

I’ve found this very useful for all of them that want to learn matte painting and actually is really close to your actual project
*thanks to David B. Mattingly for sharing this !
*thanks to mattepainting.org as well !

WEEK 2
http://mattepainting.org/vb/showthread.php?t=6279

WEEK 3
http://mattepainting.org/vb/showthread.php?t=6297

WEEK 4
http://mattepainting.org/vb/showthread.php?t=6313

#13

I’ve already adjusted the scale of the castle, that is bigger now, and I added blue to the reef, but for the light I wanted to make the idea that it is cloudy, not sunny.
This is just my second matte painting and there are many things I have to learn, for composition and for the lights.
Thanks anyway
Valentina

#14

Yes, also kbarts suggested to me this threads, thank you again
Valentina

#15

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