Help with shading a dingy office BG

flamingdog · Sun 23/04/2006 18:32:46

Hi, working on a run-down/dingy office type BG for my very (very!) first one-room adventure, and I'm not happy with my attempts at shading/highlighting, and general detailing. Wondering if any of you helpful arty types can give me any pointers?

The window is supposed to be cracked/broken, and with slats nailed up outside. The drippy stuff underneath is supposed to indicate damp. The desk is supposed to be rickety as hell, and propped up with books. I'm planning to add some foreground detail to help put that impression across, but I wanted to try and get the basic room layout sorted and, most importantly, shaded.

I'm happy with the perspective and the drawing itself, although, again, there are a fair few details (objects and the like - computers, a pot plant, a phone, etc) to be added.

Original 320x200:

x2 magnification:

Paintovers/additions are more than welcome, and any help is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Edit: Changed images to .PNGs - sorry about that.

MarVelo · Mon 24/04/2006 02:17:31

DONT SAVE AS .JPG!

I fixed the .jpg distortion mostly
I added a hole next to the board
I added a face to the file cabinet
I got rid of most black outlines

If you want this bg to be grungy and such then lose the cartoony green wall. It just doesnt equal to a serious enviroment. Try something grey, brown, dark red, etc.

Something is a-miss with the perspective. Everything is downhill.

The table is very large. Very wide and long for in an office.

flamingdog · Mon 24/04/2006 16:53:16

Hi, thanks for your response.

One thing I should have made clear, the table isn't just 'one' table, it's two put together, the idea being that two people work face-to-face. It's long, yea, but I have a lot of stuff to put on there

Also the grey 'back wall' is eventually going to be open, showing the a glimpse of the rest of the office (the classier area) in the background (the idea being that my character is on the bottom rung and is looking towards what's ahead - hopefully).

As for the perspective, I've done everything - including all the details - in two-point perspective. I promise you, the vanishing points, etc, are all done correctly - so the 'downhill' aspect, I can only attribute to the point-of-view I've chosen, perhaps?

Anyway - I've done what you suggested:

Changed green wall to dark red.
Added a hole to the wall - and one to the carpet for good measure.
Put a face on the filing cabinet
Painted over all the black outlines
Altered the 'broken' window and put a couple of chunks of glass on the floor

Original:

x2:

Here it is with a few of the extras I was planning on adding (I know the computer is enormous, going to change that.)

Better? Worse?

Thanks again for your comments and help, I really do appreciate it.

DonB · Mon 24/04/2006 19:14:29

Very nice improvement, tho the computer screen is too big, make it something smaller

MarVelo · Mon 24/04/2006 20:20:55

VERY nice improvments. The wall looks much better red. But like DonB said the computer is too big even if it is suppose to be really old. Not to mention you have hidden your calendar with the year on it.

EDIT: The strange perspective is probably because you have a low vanishing point. Its no big deal if you just continue to follow it.

gameboy · Mon 24/04/2006 20:31:28

A nice BG, but -
- the computer bothers me too. It's too big (as DonB already mentioned) and the brighter outlines look a bit weird too.
- the chair looks awfully bad. $:-\$ Just take a look at it.
- the holes in the floor and the wall -- they're too round-shaped. I think they'd look much better if they were like made with straight lines. So they'd look like cracked or something like that. Right now they're like puddles... or... something...

flamingdog · Mon 24/04/2006 21:05:58

The stuff on the desk is really just there to indicate what I've got in mind. I'm going to shrink the puter and the chair is going to be made into a proper one.

The floor is supposed to be carpet, as opposed to something that would crack, not sure how to produce that effect. I'll work on the holes in a bit, thanks for the C&C.

fertoff · Tue 25/04/2006 00:35:10

i would like to see the character sprite you are gonna use.

cause according to the background, is gonna be quite big

pslim · Tue 25/04/2006 02:11:34

I like it a lot so far and I'm eager to see what it will look like when the objects you're putting in are finished.

I'm not good with shading and so on but the one thing I would suggest is to make sure the desk isn't casting a shadow on the wall, since the light is coming from that side.