CMI Art Style

[James--]

After buying a Wacom graphics tablet a few months ago I've been working on creating my own background art style similar to that of CMI.  I've definitely come a long way since I started, but I still think there's a lot I could do for my backgrounds, I'm just not really sure what.

I suppose the main thing which I'm not sure about is colouring.  I really don't have much knowledge of Hue, Saturation and Value - when I pick a base colour for an object and then alter it's values for shading and highlights, I'm really not sure what I'm doing.  I remember reading in 'How To Draw Monkeys the LucasArts Way' Bill Tiller saying he used a green-ish hue for the leaves of a palm tree, a blue hue for the shadows and a green-yellow hue for the highlights... what I want to know is why he did that and what the general rules for selecting colours are

Another thing I was wondering about is Tonal Range.  When I posted some art here a while ago someone told me that increasing the tonal range of my work would help a lot.  However, now, everytime I draw something I end up thinking that the tonal range isn't enough, and having the re-draw it darker and darker.  Is it always a good idea to range from fully bright to fully dark, regardless of the overall brightness of the room?

So if anyone has any tutorials on that sort of art style or answers to my specific questions I'd be very grateful.  I've already read Tiller Techniques and How to Draw Monkeys: The LucasArts Way.

[miguel]

I hope this helps:



it's not great example but I think that shows what you've read.
cheers

[James--]

Ah I see, thanks .  So is it the case for all colours that the hue should change when dealing with lighter/darker areas of an object?

[TheJBurger]

Ah I see, thanks .  So is it the case for all colours that the hue should change when dealing with lighter/darker areas of an object?

I think this post by loominous should explain it pretty well.

[James--]

Great!  That was really helpful  So in the example of the palm tree leaves, the highlights are yellow because they are reflecting sunlight, and the shadows blue because the 'bounce light' source is blue?  In Bill Tiller's article he said "using cool colors in the shadows and warms for the highlights"... what exactly is meant by 'cool' and 'warm' colours?

[ShadowWrath]

Wow, an art question that I can answer... this is a first. Warm colours are tones that have a feeling of hot, things that remind you of heat... like the sun (yellow), fire (orange, red), and those sorts of things. Cool colours give the feeling of cold, so obviously blues (water, ice) and greens and such. That was probably a really bad explaination, so here's a colour chart that could help: http://iit.bloomu.edu/vthc/Design/warmAndCool.htm.

Hope that helps!

[James--]

Yeah this was very useful:



Thanks, I get it now .  Should cool colours always be used for shadows then?  For example, if I had a red sofa, what hue should the shadows be...  blue?  Or is that too extreme?

And, as a the shadow on an object increases, the Value lowers, but should the Saturation rise?

Also if anyone could answer my original question on tonal range that would be great.

[MashPotato]

I think this post by loominous should explain it pretty well.

Heheh, I was going to post that link as well--it really helped me a lot

Should cool colours always be used for shadows then?  For example, if I had a red sofa, what hue should the shadows be...  blue?  Or is that too extreme?

I'm no master of lighting, but I'll try to answer anyway
The colour of the shadow depends on the environment .  Cooler shadows and warmer highlights are often used because the sky is blue and the sun is yellow (see Loominous' post again, and pay close attention to how the blue light affects the shadows), but that will not always be the case in different environments.
If you have a red sofa and you want to keep the hue-shifting subtle, go towards blue rather than blue itself... so purplish.  But remember, these aren't hard and fast rules, it all depends on context!
I often see this nice summary tutorial linked to, perhaps it will be helpful to you : http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

[James--]

Ok thanks... I think I understand enough about colours now .

The only thing I'd still like to know about is the question in my first post about tonal range.

[miguel]

hi there, I'm no expert but maybe you are confusing some things like contrast and tonal range?
Contrast is the difference of extremes - black and white, dark and light. The greater the difference between them, the higher the contrast. The numbers of shades of Gray in between (in black and white) indicate tonal range. In color the same is true so one way of looking at tonal range is looking at a high colour pallete spectrum of colors and check the range between, say a dark green almost black to a letuce green, you've got contrast and tonal range!
hope it helps
cheers

[James--]

Ok well then I suppose my question is- is it always a good idea to have a high contrast in scenes, regardless of the overall lighting.  E.g., in a scene set during the night, should there still be shades of colour close to full brightness near the light source, and in a scene set during the day, should there be areas in the shade which are close to full black?

[miguel]

High contrast or low contrast brings some weird effects on drawings but it all depends on the mood you want to set on a particular scene/room. Why don't you get a photo that you are familiar with and play with contrast on the computer, I think you will find out by yourself by testing it.
I have a post on games on prodution showing some scenes from the game I'm making and on the 3rd background I got a very low contrast on the walls. You can see that, because I didn't change the character brightness, his whyte shirt pops out of the screen!!!
So, sometimes you may want to put something relevant for the player to see and use some contrast or light efect up high to do the trick!

[Trio]

Ok well then I suppose my question is- is it always a good idea to have a high contrast in scenes, regardless of the overall lighting. 

No, it's the lighting that causes the contrast. On a sunny day there is high contrast because objects are lit by the direct rays of the sun and have dark shadows behind them. On a cloudy day there is low contrast because the light is bounced around by clouds and comes from everywhere.

Indoors, a  single spotlight would cause high contrast, but a lot of lamps would reduce the contrast because the multiple sources of light would illuminate the shadows.

But the range of values available to an artist on paper or screen is never as great as the full range in nature, so it's still often necessary to use the full range, but emphasizing either the high values or the low values as needed. It's all illusion. If the illusion works then you're doing it right.

[James--]

Ok well then I suppose my question is- is it always a good idea to have a high contrast in scenes, regardless of the overall lighting. 

No, it's the lighting that causes the contrast. On a sunny day there is high contrast because objects are lit by the direct rays of the sun and have dark shadows behind them. On a cloudy day there is low contrast because the light is bounced around by clouds and comes from everywhere.

Indoors, a  single spotlight would cause high contrast, but a lot of lamps would reduce the contrast because the multiple sources of light would illuminate the shadows.

But the range of values available to an artist on paper or screen is never as great as the full range in nature, so it's still often necessary to use the full range, but emphasizing either the high values or the low values as needed. It's all illusion. If the illusion works then you're doing it right.

Ah ok - thanks for explaining that