Okay, this is my first WIP-thread ever…a tad nervous folks:blush:. I’m working on this piece to learn about colours, light, and composition. The characters are a crossover between a centaur and a ‘pan’ figure (half goat) and a thingie/being I call a pythia. She’s the bad guy ofcourse:). They need a lot of work too…if anybody feels like giving C&C, it is greatly appreciated!
Plus close-up on face:
Hi welcome.i remember when i first started posting here i was overwhelmed by the talent,and i got like 0 replies.gunne throw in my 2 cents…
iIalways say before u start battling with colour and lighting etc,u should have a good foundation of knowledge of just plain drawing,composition and line.
drawing from still life (random objects) and nude life drawing classes help with this.
But i won’t bore u with that,what i’ll do is list u with some things u could work on.
1.perspective.
2.composistion(the clearest and most dynamic way of depicting a scene
3.dynamic posing.your characters seem a tad stiff.
start off with a few thumbnails sketches of the scene and figure out which one works best.
Hi. Maladie.
first thanks for stop by my joruney thread…
my 2cent advice is, we are (going to be) aritst using paint tools.
so keep trying to express(shouting out) your story by drawing.
don’t think about technical stuff(like prespective, brushing technique, what kind tool you going to use) first.
just trying to tell your story clearly… ONE DAY you will be in contemplation, GREAT QUESTION FROM BEGINNING>>>>HOW<<<<.
then digging into (or back to) basic, technical stuff…
… what story you going to tell us?..
Thanks for the advice and help. I did some first thumbnails for this scene. Boy, am I struggling with composition! Strumkim, I really like your approach:). But I have always solely focused on characters (when I drew, which was not often till a month ago…) and now I want to learn how to express a scene that’s in my head.
It’s a long journey I guess:)
I’ve gone with another composition and tried to give the characters a more dynamic pose. The result so far (far from done, but I work very slowly since it’s my first ever):
It’s coming along pretty well!
One more thing to think about (sorry!) is lighting direction. How is it being lit? Try to light everything logically.
Also, you may like this.
Hi Maladie,
here is something that opened doors for me: work in greyscale! You needn’t drop what you have done so far for this, just either desaturate this or set it back to greyscale (preferrably using a channelmixer - tell me if yo need help on this)
Why is that?
Because, the value (how light or dark tha applied colour is) decides on what your forms look like. Instead of having to tackle three parameters (lightness, hue, saturation) you need to think only about one. And when you are done with that you can very simply add the right colors while still keeping the lightness information in your pics.
While this is suitable for beginners, it is also a pro method. Take a look at this!
As you can see, he starts out in grey and applies colour later, when all the questions about form and light are settled.
In my anatomy thread (link in the sig) you can see on the first page my first figure painting in colour (which I just left there for the purpose of referring back to some really crappy painting I did) and the second in greyscale. It was a real eye-opener.
Just ask if there’s anything I can be helpful at.
And keep it up, put work into this and it will be a good painting that you will look back to once and really love.
Inspired by Mr. Mu I worked on something new today - in grayscale:). I was inspired by the suggestion I should enter the challenge. I don’t consider myself up for that yet, but it gave me the idea to make a comp of a travelling fellowship (and no, they don’t carry a Ring).
I might do a grayscale of my previous painting later. Seems good practice…
Well, the forms look much more 3D now!
I forgot to tell you it’s advisable to only use three tones. black, white and a middle grey. After you applied the first strokes you can pick colors from the canvas.
Also, make sure to check out this thread on composition by Kirt(and maybe post your versions of the assignments there)
deleting a few distracting images that I thought at the time were cool:)…(the system has me type something in order to delete)
A study of a girl I’m working on. Rendered the face a bit today. By the way, does anyone know how to change the title of my WIP-thread? It’s more like a practice pile up to now…:).
Anyway, enjoyed this very much, if you feel like it c&c away, I’m eager to learn!
Here’s an update. It improved (I flipped it:)), but now the chin is a bit strong imo. Anyway, here it is:
Her cranium and forhead is too small. It’s a common error, but it looks like she has no top skull.
Usually, the eyes are right about the center line of the head, so the top of the head is the same distance from the eyes to the chin. Then on top of that goes the hair. Right now, the hair is where the top of the head should be.
This isn’t an absolute measurement, though, but it’s usually true. Also, at certain angles of perspective the ratio changes, but with the perspective you have on her face her forehead would be even larger. Just make sure that when you alter the proportion you’re doing it by decision and with a purpose.
Thanks, Vertrucio! Your tips were definately helpful. Also, in this update I tried to go for a little more of the atmosphere I imagined, so changed the colours a bit and gave her a rudimental hairdo:).
Never mind the rose, that was just a quick placeholder to establish if the idea would work. It’s a photo blurred and adjusted (I’m admitting this now to avoid beat-ups about using it:)).
Still not enough forehead volume. It slants back way too quickly so she looks a bit like a gorilla. Also remember to factor in the volume of anything that attaches to the head. The hair has volume, along with the thickness of the cap. These things also wrap around the head in perspective, so remember to include at least a hint of them on the other side of the head.
Here’s a paintover to show what I mean:
The eyes are slightly too big as well.
I do like the changes made to the colors, and addition of a purple cap works well in the color scheme. The skin tone looks very warm and alive now, and the blending is really getting there.
As I ahve seen in this thread and the Beginner’s Lounge you already got all the hints you need, which mainly is to increase the foreskull a bit - apart from that you already have a fascinating piece (which might be the reason why it gets so helpful c&c in the first place)
So keep working on it!
And, as concerns any other things like improving lights and contrasts or whatnot you can always do refinements later on!
btw,
still a fascinating face… still got me dreaming…
Here she is, bald, but never mind. Tell me if it looks like a gorilla or a giant forehead-disease:).
Leaving the bald gypsygirl mercilessly behind (don’t worry, she’ll have hair one day;)) I’m moving on to another portrait. Lessons from fellow CGists and experience have taught me to really start at the beginning. I keep wanting too much, while I should really focus on learning to draw shapes and lines from ref. So…
I want to do a man’s portrait now. It’s based on a ref picture of Jake Gyllenhaal, but not sure how much I’ll get it to resemble the real thing (sorry gals:)). I’ll be tackling this from different angles. Here’s a first sketch (20 minutes):
