Snow landscape

#1

Hello everyone,
My name is Usama and I am from India. I did online workshop of matte painting from David Luong and Alp Altiner.And now, I am currently looking for work. Heres my recent WIP of my new matte work. suggestions are most welcome.

#2

Welcome to the DMP forum, Usama.
It’s nice to finally see you on here.
Generally, you are doing a fantastic job capturing the “magical” in your work, and you’re on the right track of becoming a Digital Matte Painter.
However, Matte Painting is not digital illustration. Matte Painting is not simply painting pretty pictures. The art form has always been the most versatile position in the movie industry, even before CGI. A well-rounded Matte Painter must posses outstanding fine art skills while being a well versed graphic arts technician with an extensive understanding of visual storytelling.
The art of Matte Painting fulfills a production purpose. As such, beyond special attention to technical detail in your execution, you have to also help to lead the viewers eye. Currently, your main issue is the lighting. While most of your environment is receiving a harsh sunlight from the right, the statue is lit from the left eg.
Your colours are slightly off as well, ranging from purple to blue and green. You have done a good job matching elements to one another but the overall picture lacks harmony.
Rather than fixing these individual issues, I recommend you rethink the purpose of your shot and determine what you wish to portray. Pools of light can create wonderful visual interest but be careful not to distract from the primary information transport of the piece. If your focal point is supposed to be the statue, flip it within the frame and have it getting hit by directional light. Right now the MG screen left is covered in shadow, implying a huge mountain wall to the right off screen. On the same thought, if you would like to draw attention to the travelers, open it up somewhat to make clear the moment is revolving around them.
Think about what your Styleframe is picturing and then make sure your audience understands without a verbal explanation!
This is a great WIP and you should keep up the good work but remember that Matte Paintings have to function within a realistic realm.
Milan

#3

I would only add a minor note to the awesome feedback you got from Milan - in real world production, live elements (such as people, birds, moving cars etc) are not part of the matte painting, so you should stay away from this illustrative temptation - unless that is what you actually aim for.

#4


I think water needs more work, it seems blury to me. BTW, very nice and awesome suggestions from Milan and Tiberius! I am working on your suggestions. :slight_smile:

#5

Hio Usama,

Since this is pretty much a styleframe matte painting, having people in the FG is fine, and establishes the perspective pretty well. I do miss them in this version! I think Milan and Tiberius gave some nice inputs. And be sure to listen to Milan’s comments about color consistency and light direction/intensity. You want to keep your visual focus mostly on the right thirds where the statue is and the sun peaks it’s light. Have the left side fall more into shadow/mist/less intense light/color etc. Keep atmospheric perspective up in this vast landscape and mountainscape. Generally looking really good!

#6

Hey Usama, I personally feel like the water from the previous version worked better!

This is going in the right direction. David gave you some really good advices! You need to start thinking about composition and how to lead the eye towards the subject (is it the statue?); In this case you can do it with a mix of light pools, light contrast and terrain shapes; Also try to balance negative/positive spaces while at it. Don’t be afraid to doodle some shapes or move things around just to see what works best :slight_smile:

#7

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