First attempt for a forest background

[Valiant1]

Hello i'm new here and just discovered this forum a few days ago. Although i've been active in several projects as a writer and designer i always loved to try my own hands at game-art. I try to improve my skills both in sketching and computer art. The background i post here is created in photoshop without any reference or sketch. I would appreciate any tips to improve my skills

[Dmitri]

looks pretty darn nifty to me mate

but on the right, I've never seen a tree smash it's roots through solid rock, maybe extend the roots off screen so that it appears the tree has grown with the rock underneath it.

Other than that I can't really pick anything up

[Pessi]

I agree - really, really good!

Did you take any influence from King's Quest VGA? If not, check it out. It's very close to your style, only a bit more polished.

I'm going to list a couple of things that in my opinion could be improved. Remember, it's just my opinion, and the things I point out might just be part of your style.

- The perspective is a bit off. It could be OK otherwise, but the trees on the foreground - especially the one on the right, don't fit the perspective. You could fix the problem by covering the upper part of the tree with leaves, I think.

- The main light source is a bit indefinite. It's obvious that the light is coming from the sky, but you could emphasize the fact by adding more shadows. In addition to regular, definite shadows, you could for example make the trees' trunks a bit darker from the upper part, as the leaves wouldn't let much light there. Shadows in general would tremendously add to the depth of the image.

- Too clean surfaces. For example the rock. There could be, in my opinion, lots of little cracks and perhaps a bit of grass on it. You could also break the rigid edges of the leaves on the trees to make it look more natural. Also, the tree trunks are a bit of an issue. I really love the texture on them, but you could add different colors to the trunk as well. It's really hard though, and if the color variation doesn't seem to fit in, you can leave it for later. It's just good to know if you ever think your forest is too 'clean'.

- Darker darks - lighter lights. So to say. Often when you add contrast to your image, the illusion of depth becomes a lot stronger. So, you could add highlights on the trunks for example, if there's a bonfire or something like that near the trunk. Or then just without a reason, like it's in many of King's Quest VGA's backgrounds. And on the other hand, you could add almost black to cracks that might be on tree trunks or perhaps on the rocks.

Here's an example of how the tree on the right could be 'improved':

[Andail]

Listen to Pessi; the V.I.P of the critic's lounge

[Valiant1]

Thanks for the tips guys, there are really helpfull
I must say it's both fun and taking up a whole lot of time to practice this
Here is a new edit, i will keep working on it today

[I7esperado]

i'm curious as to what you used to make the grass in photoshop, which filters or whatever, or pixel by pixel(i hope not) ?

[Valiant1]

Since this is the first time i've tried my hands on such backgrounds i did most of the stuff by hand using the burn and dodge tools. But a simpler method is to create your own brushes in photoshop, to avoid having to click 1000 times for some strokes