The WIP thread

gaaran
gaaran
edited December 2010 in General Discussion
So i've been inspired by those of you creating awesome artwork that I thought I'd try my hand at digital painting. It looked like fun. Duskreign was kind enough to let me use one of his awesome line-arts. I figured that enough of us were creating and working on new artwork that I'd give us a thread to critique and share and just generally show off you projects :).

So without further ado, I give you my work in progress: "WIP":http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/31901/painting_WIP.jpg

I've been quite pleased with the way this is turning out, as this is my first attempt at painting anything ever (I've dabbled in drawing years ago). The intent with the armor is to make the silver trim look metallic, but right now the contrast looks a little wonky, so if anyone has suggestions for the armor, I'm willing to listen :). Also, the light is suppose to be coming from sort of above and to the left, so any tips on the shading of the skin will be appreciated :).
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Comments

  • Everdark
    Everdark
    Posts: 122
    SHINenzo approves of this thread.

    Looks awesome so far, dude. _Especially_ for that fact that it's your first time digitally painting anything. Keep it up. I can't wait to see the finished piece!
  • RaseCidraen
    RaseCidraen
    Posts: 890
    Gaaran, you're insane with Photoshop, my friend. You're first in line if, whenever I consider conquering the world, I need good photoshop work. Would you care for a large carribean island? The USA? I'm open to negotiations.

    That's quite spectacular. Are you doing each of the elements in separate layers? I think that might be an easy way to get the contrast to look right: it probably involves more work though. I very much like the color red on the armor! Darn it, now I wish I had gotten my fiancee a WACOM tablet for Xmas..
  • FrankSirmarco
    FrankSirmarco
    Posts: 250
    I want to live in the world inhabited by Dusk's female fantasy characters - there isn't an A-cup in sight...
  • DarkMagus
    DarkMagus
    Posts: 425
    Gaaran this is amazing! First time painting too, that's ridiculous.

    Wow, I'm really going to have to make my Spongebob coloring look good now.... ;)
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850 edited December 2010
    Hey really nice work so far Garran! There sure is allot of talent floating around here at the Forums. In regards to your question about painting metallic trim, my suggestion would be to look at some real-life examples of metallic trim and take your cues from them. For instance, I found "this example":http://www.flirtcatalog.com/p-94589-goddess-style-metallic-trim-one-shoulder-dress.aspx that might help.

    One tip about painting (burnished) metallic objects that is worth bearing in mind is that such objects are bright white where light hits (and this light gets somewhat curved on spherical objects), and gets increasingly darker the further you move away from direct light (see for instance, the model's belt). Hence, you need to both work with a generous grayscale and show areas of intense contrast between light and dark. Since your light source is the viewer-top-left, then the brightest portions of the trim ought to be located, predictably enough, on the left-hand side of the trim.

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh
    Post edited by arsheesh on
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    I think healthy bewbage is a constant friend of the fantasy artist, Frank. I don't think I am excessive with it. Compared to many artists, I would say I am downright conservative, in fact. If I'm wrong, let me know.

    Also, it can be difficult to portray a young woman with small breasts without making her seem juvenile.
  • FrankSirmarco
    FrankSirmarco
    Posts: 250
    No worries, Dusk - I really like boobs. Keep 'em coming!
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Thanks guys, I've been really please with how it's turning out, who knew I had it in me :). Haven't had a chance to work on it more yet, but I'm about to, so i'll update with another WIP when I've actually made some progress. Rase, a small island will suffice, as long as I have AC and servants. Those are non-negotiable. And Arsheesh, thanks for that link that should be really helpful. I might change it, since this is my first time painting, I don't need to make it too hard on myself :P For your work, what was your method for painting the pauldrons? Cause they look amazing :)
  • Poutine_Paladin
    Poutine_Paladin
    Posts: 285
    Dusk, agreed that you are definitely conservitive with your chestiness compared to most fantasy artists, and that small breasted characters tend to either look juvenile, male, or, at the very least, not properly proportioned (though this, I'm sure is due at least in part to the bombardment of fantasy artists with their...let's call it eccessively top-heavy female character images)

    I also agree that there is a huge amout of talent (in various forms) on the portal, and I'm super glad to be a part of it (maybe I'll even get back into character design myself at some point). Keep it up everyone!
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    Thanks, Poutine!

    "Here's my current WIP of Simon.":http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1605/simonwip2.jpg Calling it a night.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Well, here's another update, Haven't finished much else yet, but I wanted to see if anyone noticed something I was doing wrong shading the armor. "WIP":http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/31973/wip.jpg
  • Everdark
    Everdark
    Posts: 122
    I LOVE boobs.

    That is all.
  • RaseCidraen
    RaseCidraen
    Posts: 890
    Dusk, Simon is shaping up quite awesomely! It gives me a very good glimpse into his personality! Likewise, Gaaran, I very much like how you're progressing! I like the viewer-left arm, but her viewer-right arm seems a bit flat. I imagine that's just because you haven't gotten to it yet!
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850
    _Gaaran_, Your shading looks really nice, very soft. I like the color palette that you have chosen. As to your question, I spent some time looking at pictures of armor before I began so that I could get an idea of the play of light on metal. Then I began applying paint using a hard round brush at full opacity. I mixed a few other colors into the grayscale: green, blue and brown. This initial "broad brush strokes" step was just to try and get a sense of light and shadow. After that, I just experimented with a bunch of different brushes and opacity settings to try and achieve the burnished metal look I wanted. This "fine grained" approach took a lot of time and a lot of trial and error, and there was more madness than method to it!

    _Duskreign_, Cruz is really coming together nicely!
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    So far so good. I am just now sitting down to do some more. I am concentrating on pants, now. Also, correcting a few issues with his left arm and leg length.

    Gaaran pointed out that the badge was a bit wonky, so I am working on that, too.

    Where you at with yours, Arsh?
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850
    We've had a house guest the last couple of days so I have had to put the project on hold for a bit. Hope to get back to it again soon, but not sure when that will be.
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    Bah, make them sit bored and watch you draw!

    lol

    I can't wait to see how Gaaran does on the new art I drood for him to paint.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    Here's the latest "WIP":http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/32061/wip.jpg

    Thanks for the tips arsh, what resolution are you painting at? cause my line art isn't big enough i don't think for that fine of detail (not that I want to go into that much detail on my first attempt anyway :P)

    And dusk, I shall do that one next, but you must be patient, I started this one, and dagnabbit, I'm going to finish it! (But thanks again, it's been fun so far :)
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    At the time I was drawing the new one, I didn't realize you were already working on Leliana. LOL.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    I didn't want to wait for you to finish your other drawing before I got started, I was just going to do it a bit to play around, but then it actually started to look good, so i wanted to finish it :).
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    I guess my question on my WIP is "can you tell where the light is coming from, and are there any contradictory shading elements?"
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    The light is coming from above her right shoulder and slightly in front of her (viewer left). So far, I don't see any shading issues so far at all.
  • gaaran
    gaaran
    Posts: 740
    haha, awesome! that's exactly what I was going for :)
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085
    So far so good, then!

    "Here is the WIP for Det. Cruz.":http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8913/simonwip3.jpg I put another 2 hours into him tonight. Total time, appx. 6 1/2 hours. I did a lot of perspective repairs, lengthened his torso, fixed a problem with his left arm (and it still isn't right >_
  • Duskreign
    Duskreign
    Posts: 1,085 edited December 2010
    Just noticed a HUGE problem with his right hand. His other three fingers should be visible balled up against him. I painted that area as if it was supposed to be a part of his pants just above the pocket, but that creates a massive proportion problem, causing his hip to cut too far outward on his right side.

    It's easy enough to fix.

    Edit: "Fixed.":http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2992/simonwip4.jpg I just put the hand in his pocket and brought the jacket down and out further. Also took a little more time on the shoes, though they aren't done. Oh, and his suit is magically brown, now. Not sure which I prefer. Thoughts?

    Any feedback at this point would be greatly appreciated, as I am nearing the point where I start working on a background.

    Thanks, guys!
    Post edited by Duskreign on
  • RaseCidraen
    RaseCidraen
    Posts: 890
    Dusk: Loving the artwork! The hand looks phenomenal! I look forward to providing an adequate playground to showcase your character in! The shoes look much better in the brown image. The blue provides more of a "Cop" feel, while the brown, unironically, provides a more "earthy" kind of detective vibe. Almost film-noir ish. Have you toyed around with the idea of Suit/tie color disparity? Brown suit/blue tie, for example? I did some playing around with ties/suit combos, and going with the new shoes feel. Presented for your consideration: "Brown Suit, Blue Tie":http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn274/apmunson/Dark%20Queen%20of%20the%20West/Simonwip4-Alextie.jpg "Blue Suit, Brown Tie, New Shoes":http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn274/apmunson/Dark%20Queen%20of%20the%20West/Simonwip3-Alextieshoes.jpg I wish I could help out more, but I'm a manipulator and a code hack, not an artist :)

    I can't wait to see your rendition of Rinzler - the movie was thoroughly enjoyable!

    Gaaran, again, a superb job of rendering on the excellent line art of the elusive Duskreign! I love the detailing on the viewer left hand. With your color pallete all spread around like that, it looks kind of reminiscent of butterflies fluttering around her. I can't wait to see how you deal with her necklace!
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850
    _Garran_, Leliana is really coming to life. I'm impressed by just how nicely this is turning out, especially given that this is your first attempt at painting. In regards to your question, the Mara doc is 487x708px and at 96ppi. That's not a very high resolution. I wish I had known you could adjust the ppi when scanning. At any rate, I do all my detail work with a small (1px) round brush.

    _Duskreign_, I like the brown suit better than the blue. Also, I think you made the right decision in reducing the bagginess of Cruz's pants. I think he looks more professional this way. My only suggestion would be to add some more hightlights to the viewer-left-hand side of Cruz's hair, since that is the side the light is directly hitting. Looks spectacular though!
  • Joettle
    Joettle
    Posts: 21
    Hey, guys! Just saw this thread. Great idea! You guys do great work! Arsheesh, do you have a link to your stuff?

    Here's a link to my Galleries page that I started for the campaigns that I'm involved with. They're all pretty much works in progress with very little color. One of my friends had a problem viewing the images so let me know if you can't see it.
  • Joettle
    Joettle
    Posts: 21
    Ok, I tried to do a link and I don't know anything so it didn't work.
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850
    Hey there Joettle, welcome to the WIP thread! I browsed through some of your sketches and they look mighty fine. Did you sketch those on paper or digitally? At any rate, I haven't made any progress on my Mara "WIP":http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz351/arsheesh2/Age%20of%20Legends/Mara_WIP_3.jpg since my last post (in another thread), but I've posted the link here so you can see what I've been working on. With any luck I should have another update ready within the next couple of days.
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