Open Figure Drawing Workshop 019 - The Awakening of the Underground Giant

#161

shyam,

Right now the green is not working as well with the red as I think that it could. At the moment I think the green is too gentle, it may need to feel more acidic / yellow / punched up and given some areas of greater and lesser saturation to really make it frame the red. Look at images of stormy skies and particularly of lightning storms and of volcanic erruptions. As well I would encourage you to look at images of fire ~ fire contains a number of different colors, and working from imagination is great at the outset, but as you refine your concept you may find it beneficial to turn increasingly to reference photos to give your image that dimension of believability.

It may help to locate concept work which inspires you, and to aim for that level of finish. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

~Rebeccak

#162

Hi…NR43 …Like the way your composition is tightening up…starting to get a really nice flow going, with curves ect…not sure about the more powerful gods hate of Ares…the key word being POWER…POWER ALWAYS uses whatever and whoever is necessary to achive it’s or in this case thier ends…:slight_smile: …hate one day,…love the next…always the way , when it comes to WAR…:scream:

Hi…Junpie…THANKS for the help. I am new to 3D, so can use all the help I can get…:slight_smile:
Will push this as far as I can using Z BRUSH, …Then will turn it into a 2D painting, using
PAINTER # 9…Not going to anamate it or use it for anything in 3D, so not concerned with mesh ect. …just trying to creat something BEAUTIFUL…:slight_smile:

Hi…Talaria…BEAUTIFUL DRAWING…very dynamic, and beautifully composed…:applause: :thumbsup:

Shyamshriram…Had the same problem with fire while doing my master and servant challenge
Finally figured it out…less red…more orange, yellow…with blues and greens…look at a flame on a stove or whatever…always changing colors…if you want to , check out my master and servant entry, page # 2… link is below…might be of some help to you…don’t know…:shrug: …GOOD LUCK…:thumbsup:

GREAT WORK EVERYONE…KEEP GOING…:thumbsup:

#163

Here’s the latest… Just roughing in the shapes and values… trying to solidify the composition… I usually work more with just line art at this stage, but I wanted to try something a little different. So far… me likey!

#164

Update…

I’ll keep on refining this. I would love to be able to put some picture frame with funny photo in the picture… Like the husband’s fishing trip or the kids.

@ shyamshriram : Wow, I love the environment! It really makes your giant alive!

#165

I am really enjoying this thread, everyone is doing fantastic

I agree with the coversation between michael and reb, I like the colors you used so far

shaolin7, awsome sketch, what else do you plan to put in the painting? Flames? is he waking up in underground lava area, with some fire, or to get a contrast with the red, waking up coming out of a place with some water, or out of the ground in a forrest, to have some greens. Will there be little demons around him to give us a sense of scale.

masterpete, I like your interpretation, I am not sure I would have thought of it from that point of view. Why is the huge monster scared of the little guy? I mean could she not squish him, hehe

I have not got around to working a new sketch, I will try as rebeccak suggested, to move the camera more towards his shoulder.

#166


yea, so i did something else.anywaysthis is as far as i take the main character,now what i need is a background and things t compare in size…if any of ya have any suggestions about wat should be the bg plz feel free…or if you have critique on the demon plz gon on they r welcome

#167

I am just not happy with my other ideas. I was digging the egyptian idea, but I lost interest.

pencildj - Maybe make the abs smaller. Ideas for backround, hoving over the big hole he just made in the ground upon awakening. Maybe, the ground he just busted through was undernearth a city, and now it is all busted up, some buildings are leaning over, and some have fell over and partly crumbled. If he is way up in the sky, clouds under him and an airplane flying by that is really small. Other things that fly in the sky to give him the giant feeling are, hot air baloon, blims, jets, helicopter.

Here is a quick sketch for another idea. I wanted something a little less human. As legend has it, who ever finds and wakes up the Kiggu gains control of him. Whatever the control ask Kiggu to do, he shall.

Messing with colors mostly. Not sure if I want him over looking a farm area like I have, or industrial, city, suburbs …

Your ideas are most welcomed. I was thinking of doing one of this guy just getting off the ground, a close up, you would see his back, shoulders and face, the guy would be hanging off his head with ropes or something, I will try to get a sketch done.

I managed to do a quicky of the other idea

#168

Hi…Botched…:thumbsup: …Really like that lion giant of yours…your painting has a great mood to it…Not sure about what the tree part represents at this point in your concept…is it the
TREE OF LIFE symbol maybe ?..if so, maybe some creatures of life, in it’s branches, roots ect.
Just a thought…Cant’t wait to see where you take this painting…LION…very strong symbol…:thumbsup:

Hi…Pencildy…:slight_smile: …Very dark theme and subject…if you are going for the dark side, why not go all the way,…make him tearing or ripping the sphere of the EARTH apart with his taloned foot as he breaks free from it…that is what he is best at doing after all… acording to the myth he was greated from and for. A small EARTH would give nice scale to your painting, would make him look gigantic… and the cool blue of the earth, would make a nice contrast to the hot colors that dominate the painting…:slight_smile:

Architectus…REALLY LIKED your first concept…painting coming to life, had some really nice lighting possibilities depth illusion ect…hate to see you give that one up…NICE CONCEPT…:slight_smile:

TAKE CARE
Glenn

#169

a composition concept:

concept02.jpg865x527

–David

#170

Hi…David…:slight_smile: …Can’t wait to see where you go colorwise with this one…cave paintings…one of the trickiest compositions to pull off successfully…one of my painting tearchers used to tell me everytime I did a cave scene…NEEDS AN EXIT…OR IT TURNS INTO A TRAP that viewers
intinctively try to escape from…just a thought you might consider as you work out this composition further…You might take a look at DaVinci’s Madona of the Rocks painting, to see how he handled the exit part…deep space illussion…:slight_smile:
NICE ONE SO FAR BY THE WAY…:thumbsup:
TAKE CARE
Glenn

#171

Spirit - I really like the simplicity of your theme. That is very creative. I never thought about that scale.

Well, I worked on mine for a little while last night. I am still getting used to this new medium (painter 9). I am following the direction from a link Mr. Mu sent me. It appears to be helping. My question now is when doing detailed work. I assume everyone zooms in and paints in localized areas like I am doing now? I love the layer thingy. Also, does everyone do their rough sketches digitally or scan them in? Any-who, here is what I have. It is the majestic mountain beast coming awake. Definately open for suggestions. I need it.

#172

hi everybody
I really like the “giant” theme, so I guess I´ll give it a try (doesn´t hurt,does it? :)) Here´s my first sketch:

#173

HEY…Aggie…:slight_smile: …Glad to hear you got Painter…:applause: :thumbsup:
You may want to go to effects…top of screen…select it, then go on the menu that comes up to…APPLY SURFACE CONTROL…select it…another menu comes up…select APPLY SURFACE TEXTURE…Play around in there for awhile…in there, you will be able to tint your whole canvas, whatevever color you desire…best to get a color down on your canvas to work on top of…You might try out the apply lighting while you are in there also…on same menu… lots of fun…:slight_smile: …Be careful not to get your composition too centered. Have fun in PAINTER…Try out different brushes…might even try blocking in your figure and landscape, with big bold brushstrokes to start with,…then slowly refine, and work into the details with smaller brushes at the end,…after you have created mood, atmosphere, shadow, lighting, colors ect.with the big brushes…just a thought, and a great and proven method of painting.
TRY IT ,YOU MIGHT LIKE IT…:scream: :slight_smile: …OH …if your program slows down to a crawl, from too many layers, switch to BMP instead of RIFF format…RIFF uses up a lot of memory.
I usually work in BMP, and save versions of the painting that I like…label them …A B C ect.
That way you can go back, and play around , modify ect. different versions that have evolved as you are painting…That system works well for me, but everybody as there own way of doing things…JUST EXPLORE AND EXPERIMENT, tell you find what works best for you.:slight_smile:
GOOD LUCK…with your painting…looking forward to seeing how it comes out…:thumbsup:
TAKE CARE
Glenn

#174

Shaolin7: Awesome pencil work! And I love the fell of your painting so far… looking forward to seeing more!

SpiritDreamer: Thanks! As for the tree, I’m vaguely thinking that a tree might be a giant as well… so I’m playing with her awakening as well.

And speaking of trees…

shyamshriram: Looking good! I like the energy of your piece.

#175

Spirit - Thanks. Would you do that after you finish? Mr. Mu has been saying to get your art in by greys first then color. Is that what is meant with the color under surface texture option? Lastly, is riff just another image extension like gif, jpg, bmp, etc?

#176

August 28, 2006

Experimenting with light and color; still have to refine figure more; want to make this theme, “The Dawn of a New Day” and have the Earth-Spirit waking up with it.

Might put stars etc in the lower left corner as light overcomes the darkness.

EARTHSPIRIT / SPIRITEARTH

AWAKENING_EARTH_SPIRIT_4.jpg800x600

#177

Hi aggie93…
.rif is the file extension for pictures created in Painter. I don’t think there is any other program that opens them except Painter. For a long time I had a computer with essentially no memory at all…that was when I started saving my pictures and working on them mostly in .bmp.
If you take it out of .rif, it will merge your layers and dry out ‘wet’ paint.
So it is up to you and your computer if you want to do all your work on the .rif and then save your final masterpiece in another format to share! You can always save it now and then as you are working on it into a format like .jpg to share on the thread but keep your .rif painting going.
As concernes painting in grays fist, then adding color on top…great method for getting your values of lights and darks established first…you can go about it that way, or you can paint in colors first, then check your values as you proceed with the painting by…going to effects, …select… menu comes up …select…SURFACE CONTROL …menu comes up…seect EXPRESS TEXTURE…go to EXPRESS TEXTURE…put slider that says…GRAIN, all the way to the left, then adjust bottom slider…CONTRAST, and top slider…GREY THRESHOULD until your image comes into focus in the little view window…you can move your image around in that little window, by touching your pen to it, and dragging it with your pen. When you see it is in focus,…click where it says…OK. Now you can check out your values in grey scale…check to see if they are correct or not…Keep checking out your values in this manner as you proceed with your painting…if you are just using direct painting with colors, instead of a greyscale painting to start with…Values are the key element in painting, as I am sure you know…:slight_smile:
There are many metods to approach a painting…PAYS TO TRY THEM ALL …OVER TIME…:thumbsup:

Does this help? Or confuse more? :banghead:

:slight_smile:
Take Care Glenn

#178

SpiritDreamer

Your piece is starting to remind me of the tale of Ymer from Scandinavian mythology. Where the first of the gods slay the mother of giant race and creates the world from her corpse.

Its looking good by the way
keep it up.:slight_smile:
David René.

#179

Still roughing in some stuff on a low-rez.

#180

Hi guys, good to see alot of participation here. Shyam, I like yours! That elemental is nicely rendered, it works well with how you’ve lined the figure with a purple / blue hue. Great job picking something to challenge yourself with too, in terms of perspective. The sense of scale might be helped if you reduced the size of the bats, I see you were expanding them in size as you follow the flame “tree” upwards in your picture, which may contradict the perspective you chose (vanishing point is up beyond top of the page, right?). Unless you mean to bring one of the bats forward, coming out at the viewer, but then that might distract from the overall picture? Good progress!

Rebecca, thanks for the warm welcome and also for humouring me via e-mail and my queries! You’re going to post one too right? = ) MechaHateChimp, architectus, Botched, thank you as well.

Mecha, that’s also a tough perspective, wow, but you’re conveying the size of the giant quite well; looking forward to WIPs and finished!

architectus: That Egyptian theme is really cool, but hey I understand sometimes you lose steam on one idea and want to move on to something else you find inspiring. I think you should maybe keep going with it though, keep it on the backburner and sketch out ideas for it or someone else might (maybe me!).

Botched: Two giants in a composition, very ambitious so good on you! The composition looks nice so far, looking forward to more progress captures.

Spiritdreamer, I wasn’t sure at first where you were going with it but now it makes more sense. That is one hell of a big giant!

Danielh68, hey nice block-in so far! Lots of nice little details there, like the futuristic cityscape or the body flying off to the left of the giant’s head, or even the brave guy taking aim = ). Looking forward to the polished iterations on this.

Alright, short update from me as I’m still trying to work through composition / background myself and it may change drastically(sorry for the smaller size, trying to adhere to the 800 pixel width limit):

I also started on another, this time a female figure but I need to at least get some basic blocking-in of paint before I post. Keep the ideas going guys!