very nice used of colors mr freeman~the red and blue contrast perfectly:thumbsup:
The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: David Freeman
Norberg
#42
Have to agree that the coloruse is really interesting. Their expressions are very believable too. Keep it up!
MrFreeman
#43
I’ve altered the robot and added more complementary colours to add more depth and atmosphere.
My main problem is that I tend to get carried away on details that just get lost when looking at the whole painting, so I’m trying to not zoom in so much.
the girl on the right is starting to work and colour and shadow are improving. Still feels a bit flat, but I’m adding more colour to all the characters as well as more contrasting light which definitely helps.
walrus
#44
Looking great, David! I see what you mean about zooming in on the details or not… Seeing the closeup of the 2 left kids, they both look fnatastic… but zoom out a bit and the left girl gets a bit muddy and doesn’t look quite as finished (the boy in green’s face still holds up as fantastic, though! 
) The robot is still looking a bit cartoony compared to the kids, but I know you’ll refine it more.
Hey, here’s a trick that may help - apologies if it’s already obvious. I only recently figured out how to do this in Photoshop CS 'though I used to use it all the time in PS7 and below: Go to Window>Arrange>New Window for “yourFilename.” It opens up a new window for the same fiel you’re working on, so you can have one zoomed in close and other zoomed out. I find it really helpful for working on details and silultaneously seeing how they affect the picture as a whole. Like I said, if it’s obvious and you’ve been using it already, never mind!
-mike
MrFreeman
#45
Thanks Mike
I’ve been using Photoshop for a long time and never knew you could do that - I suppose that’s the only problem with teaching yourself software .
I really love the early stages of blocking in colour and shapes and the freedom this allows, but getting from this to something more finished is always tricky.
thanks for the great advice and i’ll try and sort the girls face and robot later today
Dave
MrFreeman
#47
FANTASTIC Mike… anyone know if Painter has a similar feature??
as I’m working on this mainly in Painter at this stage
Cheers
Atris
#48
Hi David! Great idea! Excellent coloring and lighting! The picturesque surroundings! Keep it up! Good luck!
MrFreeman
#49
Hey Sergey…good to hear from you…I really loved your Spectacular challenge entry - and good to see you’re back in the cg talk world. Are you entering this challenge??
Thanks for your comments
CCCCC
#50
Hi David,
Great job! I like your colors and ambiance, there is really beautiful athmosphere.
Good luck!!
walrus
#51
FANTASTIC Mike… anyone know if Painter has a similar feature??
Who cares!?! bwa-ha-ha-ha-haaa! :evilgrin:
No, but seriously… I don’t know, but it strikes me as highly improbable that Painter wouldn’t have that feature, given how geared it is to traditional painting and how long that feature’s been in Photoshop. You may just have to dig for it… but maybe it’ll be easier now that you know vaguely what to look for.
And yeah, Sergey, why aren’t you in this challenge?
Anyhow, keep it coming. Good luck with it!
-mike
beelow
#52
Oh sergey is in now hehe! I caught him entering last night hehe, he thought he could pull a fast on me!
LexLe
#54
About!! I have precisely assumed:) it is the small robot:)
Color scale at you as always at a level!!
It is very pleasant… At the general competition gives much…
I study in much at others, I look, who as works!
It is pleasant to me CGtalk!
FlaminGlow
#55
Hi there, this is one of my favourites coloring styles. , i like the lighting. you know? the pose of the robot’s head and nick looks a bit weird i don’t know exactly what is it you can try to rotate or scale it (give it a try i think you will get some better looking robot.)
MrFreeman
#56
Thanks for all your advice…it’s really needed…
should post an update very soon…with new robot and third child (which is proving very tricky to get right, but I’m getting there very slowly).
better get on, but I’ll put update and more detailed reply soon
:)…still can’t get smiley buttons to work and only can remember how to type happy face 
MrFreeman
#57
things are slowly coming together…
having moved the third character over to the right and got some sort of facial expression working (she will be pointing towards where they need to travel), I had the sudden idea to change this into a night scene, partly for atmosphere and partly to bring the characters together.
The background needs illuminating, but hey that’s for another day…
The girl on the left needs to be better lit and also, she will be holding the map.
Still need to add a lantern to represent the light source in the trees (didn’t want to lose this light source).
I’ll post close ups of work in progress very soon.
beelow
#58
Cool , I think this will work better! Especially with the girl that is to the left of the comp pointing, to the distance afar, Compo seems a little tight though , I think it may because of the branch above, I think u had that in the previous one, but I think the rock wasn’t there and the girl to the right was in tighter, so u may have to make adjustments, don’t know if ur going for the look, though. I like the changes though!
MrFreeman
#59
Cheers Bryce… great advice
I see what you mean about the composition - I’ve been fiddling with details and now they are working am just starting to look at the overall picture, so hopefully can sort these soon.
I’ve got a three week job starting on Tuesday, so need to get as much done as possible over the next day or so. Still there are plenty of evenings spare.
Thanks again