A morgue

Started by SookieSock, Mon 08/10/2012 02:01:54

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SookieSock

Hellooo,

I've just finished this background and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for how to improve as a painter. I've tried to keep the mood fairly cold because its a morgue but not too horror-like because its supposed to be a police morgue and so it wouldnt be 'spooky' in that sense.

I'm fairly happy with the composition I think (maybe, possibly, maybe) but critique on my technique would be very appreciated.


KodiakBehr

Tips on how to improve as a painter?  Nope.  I think you've just about mastered the craft.

Andail

Really nice background! I like the handpainted look.
My only real gripe would be the light beams - they're both unrealistic and sloppily drawn. Remove them and add only a bright halo around the light-source itself. The same goes for the light coming in from the yellow windows; just get rid of it.

This is a smaller issue, but something about the scale confuses me. Maybe the body compartments (I don't know the technical term) are too big? They seem like they are designed to fit giants. A pathologist would have to be twice as tall as a normal human to extract and observe the bodies in the top row.

Crimson Wizard

Quote from: Andail on Mon 08/10/2012 06:39:45
This is a smaller issue, but something about the scale confuses me.
Same here, and not just body compartments. When I look at details they are OK, but when I try to overlook the picture in whole I have a very weird feeling, like the upper half of the room is scaled 1.5-2 times in comparison to the lower half.
I mean - look at the clock for instance. It's like about man's torso in size.

OG

Hi SookieSock

Your artistic abilities are very impressive, you've certainly captured the atmosphere with the colour, tone and shading. The flooring and the windows in particular are braw.

There may be some concerns over the scaling and indeed the light beams, but nothing that cannot be cut and re-sized in photoshop for example. You could probably forgive the light beams with a bit of smudge and blurring, perhaps also bringing down the transparency if you really want to rip your hair out. As for the clock - clocks come in an array of sizes so I wouldn't fuss over it largely.

Imo the background is totally usable. It's your style, you should work it. The only time I would give a toss (especially after spending a significant amount of time creating this background) about the scaling of the body compartments was if it was your intention to have the player interact with them and having them animate to open. This could be a bit tricky. Otherwise, if it's just your intention to have some text description of them on examination, I wouldn't stress about it - I know what they are.

If you are looking for comments about improving your general style, just try and achieve less smudge, and apply sharpening in areas where it matters, in terms of perspective.

My two cents.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens

Wow, this background is so similar in placement to one I worked on years ago for Drug Bust:



It's a very nice background and I think it evokes a nice spooky atmosphere without being too dark.

SookieSock

Thank you all for your feedback.

I do think I need to make the shading and texturing sharper but im not entirely sure how to do that.

The scale of the objects in the background wont matter since they aren't going to be interacted with but i see now that they are too big.

The light beams were an experiment but I think I will remove them and think of another way of representing the light effects.

I feel a little bit more positive about this background now  :grin:

AndersM

I think it looks very good and gives a nice eerie feeling.

Quote from: Andail on Mon 08/10/2012 06:39:45
This is a smaller issue, but something about the scale confuses me. Maybe the body compartments (I don't know the technical term) are too big? They seem like they are designed to fit giants. A pathologist would have to be twice as tall as a normal human to extract and observe the bodies in the top row.

Maybe they're designed to fit Americans?

theo

I think it looks great. I'd consider adding a foreground though. Always helps to frame the pic and also really adds a layer of depth once you get characters in there walking behind it.

Neutron

#9
nice job there, one thing that kind of bothers me though is the clock.  workers in the area would be bonking their heads on it if they weren't paying attention.  like a low hanging ceiling lamp fixture.  not a major issue though.
(edit) also what about a bit of a halo around the computer monitor?
(edit) on an unrelated topic, it's been a very long time since I posted here.  Hello again to anyone who remembers me.

KodiakBehr

Pretty sure that's a scale, Neutron.  Welcome back!

void

Although i find this piece of art absolutely fantastic and I'm really having a hard time finding anything I don't like about it, you asked for improvement suggestions, so:

- The locker on the right side does not have a doorhandle while the ones have. I'd suggest adding at least some hole in it to make it look more openable.
- The clock at the wall seems to be a bit huge. I mean, this is a morgue, not a train station or classroom. Time shouldn't be such an important issue here.

Yeah, that's all. As I said, I would hardly notice those both points of criticism if you hadn't asked for it. I find this image very harmonic in colors and setting and yet I think I absolutely like it the way it is. Good work at all!

EchosofNezhyt

Really good, I think anything I noticed has been mentioned. Amazing job!


@shane

I love your work :O... I had to open it in photoshop to look at it zoomed in to admire it.

Daniel Thomas

I think it's looking good, the drawing seems solid and people have mostly commented on stuff like the size of the clock. But you asked for technical suggestions.

Like I mentioned, the drawing is looking good, but where _I_ think it could be improved is the lighting/rendering and the focus of the composition.
The surfaces is kind of diffuse/smudgy and isn't reading as flat. I suspect it's suppose to be reflective, but even then the reflection probably could benefit for more accuracy to really sell the material of the surface. I would go in and really define the surfaces and take the light in to consideration so you have a clear break where the planes change. Another thing that could allow for more room for playing around would be that the light source could be stronger so we have the opportunity to really make the table under the lamp to be really bright and give a good focal point, we could actually use this bright light for any plane facing up to add some areas to stick out.

I did a paintover, but the texture is lost, so the surfaces might look too flat for your taste. To make light vibrant try and add more saturated color of the light as it fades off, you can see that I have more saturated blue around the lamp glow. Now that I look at the paintover I would tone down the highlight of the compartments behind the tables to really separate the back wall from the tables.



Anyway, I hope it helps somewhat. If you are looking for good material on light and practical application for art I would recommend http://www.schoolism.com/school.php?id=3
Sure, it costs, but so far this is the best book/dvd/tutorial/class I ever studied and it helped me a lot to really nail down and practice light and rendering.
Check out The Journey of Iesir Demo | Freelance artist, check out my Portfolio

EchosofNezhyt

Daniel know any other good links?

Daniel Thomas

Let's not hijack the thread, you can PM me and let me know what you are looking for.(sounding like a drug dealer? :/)
Check out The Journey of Iesir Demo | Freelance artist, check out my Portfolio


dactylopus

Quote from: void on Sun 04/11/2012 14:15:47
- The clock at the wall seems to be a bit huge. I mean, this is a morgue, not a train station or classroom. Time shouldn't be such an important issue here.
I actually disagree with this point, if only because I've heard Scully dictate the specific times of autopsies on the X-Files.  Maybe a huge clock isn't necessary, but accurate notations of the time are.

I love the background.  Looks great.  I would take some of the suggestions on lighting, they will certainly help.

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