Didn't make it to showcase gallery :(

#1

Hello folks. Recently uploaded this artwork in my gallery. It got turned downed for inclusion in the "2D, Illustrations and Concept Art " thread. I’m somewhat afraid that the art might be too dark or something.
CnC welcome.

#2

i like this a lot! especially the colors and details …

although i can’t understand why it wasn’t included .:frowning:

also, the artwork doesn’t seem dark at all … ( may i ask why you felt so? )

and as for the artwork itself … again, colors are amazing!
few things that can be considered …

  • is the arrow supposed to glow? … if yes, strengthen the glow even more … add a halo … make sure the light affects the elf’s skin and clothes too … ( rim lighting ) … even the hilt can pick up some cool light effects as well …
  • right now, the elf has good amount of contrast … while the forest contrast levels are quiet low …
    to make the whole scene a little interesting … darken the forest and then, using an adjustment layer, add a cold photofilter to change the mood … and to some extent … let the light from the arrow spill onto the leaves … tombstone(?) for a hint of mystery …

your gallery is awesome! very unique …
waiting to see more from you :slight_smile:

cheers dude!

#3

Was worried the artwork is coming off dark in the monitors of the admins or something. S’why they turned it down. Just some monitor calibration fear.

Good tips. You’re right I was too subtle with the glow of the arrow. I might have eliminated the effect without it hitting the stuff around it.

However I did try to make the bg not as ‘contrasty’ as the figure itself. Kinda going for a sort of misty atmosphere for the woods.

Thanks for the feedback. Was pretty sure the image was at least gonna get some exposure in the finished thread. O well.

#4

I don’t think this should have been turned down. You have an obvious focal point, great colors, good anatomy, and the rendering as a whole is top notch!

Nice portfolio as well. Keep on trucking and don’t take moderator judgement’s here as anything personal.

#5

Man they are getting picky up there.
I would say it looks flat in areas. The waist is the best example of that. The belt etc… doesn’t have any shape to it. Doesn’t look like it’s going around the waist. Other areas seem to have the same problem. Also the clothing, it’s like you weren’t sure on how to treat the folds so you just put in a lot of them. It’s giving the clothing a very stylized look that is different then the rest of the painting. kind of like Chet Zar and Chris Mars.

#6

Thank you :slight_smile:

#7

Thank you :slight_smile:

#8

You’re right about the flatness. I need to keep that in mind. And yes, you’re also right about his shirt. I do suck at painting garments so I did push it to a sort of stylized look, mimicking the stuff on the background. His shirt is based on the tree trunks, the small slits and wrinkles on the sleeves are the branches and stuff. Even the stripes on the sleeves were meant to blend in with the bg trunks.

#9

I probably would have accepted this image (had I seen it in the judging panel cue), although there are a few things about it that would have been borderline for me.

  1. His right elbow looks a bit odd, as if it’s been caved in, instead of jutting out like how an elbow should.

  2. The clothing folds are too obviously faked instead of using proper reference. The wrinkles and folds look too homogenized and do not follow the important stress, compression, and loose flab points/directions as they should.

  3. The tonal composition is very flat. If I squint my eyes, most of the values just blend together. You need to plan your tonal composition better, so that even when this image is simplified down to the most basic main shapes, there’s still a sense of compositional design. You should also check your values as a B/W image periodically to make sure your values are strong.

  4. The bow right next to the tree in the background creates an unintentional but distracting parallel in the composition.

#10

Hmm. I never would’ve thought about those things… Thanks for the time in pointing those out. Need to keep these things in mind T_T

#11

“sleeves were meant to blend in with the bg trunks”

Maybe if you had some trees in the foreground to help support that idea?

#12

The rendering is incredible. However, there is not enough contrast, the tone balance is completely flat. Also the hue looks off on the skin (the yellow blotches look like jaundice), as well as the trees where the light comes through (blue is too dark, looks like there is a blue piece of paper behind the trees rather than an actual sky).

I love the pattern of light and dark being cast on the hunters shirt, and would like to see more of this sun dappling in the forest…more contrast.

#13

Thanks for the tips guys. I’ll try to make the next piece better. I’ll fix this image in the future. Kinda tired of it. Onto the next piece.

stuh505 - Ye the bg was a bit half-assed with the blues just popping in and out of there :stuck_out_tongue:

#14

I don’t think you really need to do any more painting to take this to the next level…in my view this painting is like a RAW photo that just needs to be properly developed in Lightroom. Here’s my take.

What I did was:

  • slightly adjusted vibrance of the background greens
  • adjusted hue of skin tone
  • adjusted global contrast and exposure
  • darkened the background forest (but not the foreground subject)
  • added a glow layer over the magic bow
  • added a highlight layer for the background sunspots

Note: with a more dynamic camera angle and the same quality of rendering, I think this could have been a front-page piece.

(see below for img)

#15

here’s another variation…toned down the saturation a little, gave it more of a bluish mysterious tone, and put some depth/motion blur on the bg to give more focus to the character.

#16

Hmm. Might have come off a bit too dark there stuh505. But yes I do get your point. I do however still agree on a bunch of the critiques given upstairs though like the tonal value problem this image has and that parallel distraction with the bow thingy. And you’re right, this was heavily referenced from photos I picked up online lol And not much effort (if any) was given to ‘enhance’ the image based on what I wanted to show. It was a practice in using heavy references based on photos. That in itself, was what did this image wrong.

#17

perhaps, but your initial pic was extremely bright and you made a comment about it possibly being “too dark.” I’ve looked at this one now from two different monitors and doesn’t look too dark to me, so perhaps your monitor calibration is off. just something to check out.

#18

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