The colour palette for this is meant to be cool blue with red highlights. I want it to feel dusty with ash in the air. I am also doing a clean plate for some elements that I want to try out in After effects.
This needs a hell of lot of work.
Any ideas or suggestions please help out. I am toying with the idea of desaturating it.
Cheers
Rich :arteest:
Steve, looks fine my end I even tried to view it on my mates laptop, its showing there.
I dont know what the problem may be, if you cant see it, I will describe it to you, fantastic masterpiece…LOL
I will try some sort of work around
Rich
Hey Rich,
I do see the image now. I think it was the cafe’s connection that was screwy. So lets being on the “masterpiece” 
You have a very stylized piece here… Is it supposed to be a night shot? You have this blue overall tone but strong saturated reds and yellows going on which make them stand out to much. Also its hard to tell the depth of the image. Is the volcano far away or erupted in the middle of the street? The sharp contrast on the smoke coming out the top makes it seem like the volcano is real close but the size also makes me think its far from the camera. A bit confusing bud
Its a GREAT concept tho but I think you should start with something a bit easier then creating a matte like this. Try n find a plate of a town where the camera is a bit higher then the town looking over to the horizon and then add a massive volcano in the BG. Show us that and then we will go from there to add in detail of smoke and lava. I just think you trying to do TO much in the matte and we should take it down into more baby steps.
Hope this helps a bit
Steve
Hey Rich
Having seen a few of your works on here, you never cease to impress with the ambition of your design, but i think maybe in general you are trying to do too much, and give yourself too much to do.
My advice would be, particularly for complex work such as this, is get a solid sketch done before adding in the photos (apologies if you do this already), so you have something to work with.
Sometimes as a basic blocking technique i will sketch in photoshop then add my reference material as an overlay on top so that it will take on the basic properties of the sketch underneath, and you can figure out how the matte is shaping up. A rough technique i know, and one which might not work for everyone, but it can certainly help me visualise my work in the early stages, before things get too complicated and you find yourself with loads of issues to solve.
My advice with this piece is that if you want it to look realistic, then stay true to the photos, as the blue monochromatic effect takes away from that.
Memo to self - must put some work up on here when i have the time!
Hey Steve and Thomas,
I have read your comments and they are really helpful. I struggle with matte painting and I need as much help as I can get.
I think steves idea about doing a town would be a good way to go. I do sketch out ideas before starting. I am hopeless when it comes to colour theory and perspective. Which I admit.
I was on saturday trying to work out how to do this matte. When I do concept art I sometimes do a tone painting (paint everything in greyscale) then overpaint in overlay blend mode. However on this I collated photographs and sketches together. I think the original photo was supplied by Dave Everlite (hey dude how is it going?) a picture of a cafe. I fell in love with the pillars and tried to come up with something with it.
I then channel mixed each photo to grayscale then matched levels.
I felt such a noob as I forgot DoF ( no excuse as I use DoF in photography all the time) on the the volcano column. To sort out the perspective I used sketch up to layout a rough model. Being honest I fell in love with the minivan and was desperate to use it.
I also have a habit of over detailing, on this matte I gave myself 8 hour time limit on it to see if I cut down adding greeblies.
I want to have the textures sorted on this as it is too matte.
Colours I desaturated it but still feels contrived.
I will crack this one day. I am still proud of this as I looked at my first ever matte the other day, boy did I cringe. But hey I will get to pro standard, but have to learn first.
Steve, Thomas
Thank you for your time and kind comments and support.
Rich :bowdown:
Nice effort Richard
There’s many technical issues but some interesting areas. The left side is interesting with the vehicle and the … actually, wait! …HAHA!!! i’ve just noticed where the reference came from for the building, i recognise those pillars ok
Anyway, the sign to the left is really out of perspective …
Yeh agreed with the general comments above, you really need to pull back a little and tackle something less complex. You also need to plan your approach a little more … it just seems like you have a sudden brain wave then you suddenly try to do it all in one shot with no planning, concepts, tests etc…
Honestly what i would suggest is this; start a new piece above in a new thread, and literally let us see your progress every step so we can see your thinking process and help direct you. Begin with an idea, no concepts or anything, then with that idea do research, for example if you were doing a WW2 night scene set in … france, literally spend a day hunting down reference pics of similar scenes; everything from historical photos to paintings. This way you have a strong base work from, with a good understanding of what kind of lighting works, and all the little details that you might not otherwise think of.
The work you do before hand, all the planning is the foundation of the final painting, and the painting wont stand up if it aint got no foundation 
… yeh, even for me that was cheesy lol
So yeh, please do that, be really interested in helping you step by step, but we need to do it from the beginning
Best,
Dave.
Oh and don’t set yourself a time limit, you’re not helping yourself learn by trying to do it fast. Take a few weeks if necessary, then when you get all the techniques locked down you will naturally become quicker.
And don’t add depth of field into a DMP, big no no
Dave.
I have been waiting a week for you to find those pillars…LOL
Yea I agree with everything you have picked up and the other posters. I am looking for a background plate. To use. Did you notice jamesFX has gone into the fashion industry LOL
Yep I go at it like a bull in a chinashop. Had 8 hours to kill waiting for a flight back to blighty, I am looking for another challenge.
I fell in love with your cafe shot and also I found the picture of the car. I just got excited and went crazy.
i think the time for a invisible run of the mill matte is due, Something basic like removing a tv antennae or making a run down building looking like it has just been built.
I can then move on to a set extension.
This will probably benefit others as well as me, so if you have any ideas or a plate I will start a new thread. Then others can learn as well as my self.
I am determined to become a matte painter. There is a job waiting for me at the MILL, LOL
Cheers Dave for pushing me
Rich 
well if you’re going to look for a base plate, then look for a few, and note to find one that’s using a standard lens not some freaky wide angle, also natural lighting conditions then post them up and discuss which you feel will be the best, why etc … really break down what you’re doing. And again, its easy to feel the need to rush, but don’t allow yourself time, do a little as and when you can.
Dave.
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