Pen tablet painting, I need help

[Pet Terry]

I decided to try making a picture using my Wacom tablet only. It's about time, too. I'm quite satisfied with  the results so far but I need some help with one thing.

Here's the image:


The sea. I can not leave it like that, but I don't really know how to make it look more alive. Any tips/paintovers are welcome.

Also, the beach might look a bit empty and I know that. I will take care of that, I just want to finish the sea first!

Thanks.

[Haddas]

you could try making the water deeper and more shallow at places. You know, as in darker and lighter water

[LGM]

I love it. Nice flat-shading.. Reminds me of Monkey Island. (probably your intention).

You are getting very good.

[scotch]

Quick paintover ideas



for the sea, yeah the main thing is to make the changing depth apparent, and reflect the sky a bit, also, the shading could me more consistent, if something casts a clear shadow in one direction, that side of it should be quite a bit darker than the other.

The thing I'd work on after that is the clouds, look at pictures of real clouds, or the cartoony ones you like, they also need to be shaded based on the sunlight.

[Al_Ninio]

Here's a rather good tutorial for clouds, hope it helps!
http://www.optidigit.com/stevens/cloudtut.html

[Pet Terry]

New version



Thanks for all the help, people. Excellent paintover Scotch, it really helped me. I tried to fix the clouds but so far I haven't been satisfied with the results. The clouds are something to keep in mind though and in the future I shall try different technique for them.

[Chicky]

Ohh, i like the new water

Now that palm tree looks a little like it's made out of lego, actual palm trunks have a lot more texture to them than that and are a bit more mess, see this link. http://www.menavista.com/images/Iraq%20Palm%20Tree%200503.jpg

Id also like to see that forground grass spread along further, at the moment it doesnt seem like it's in all that much of a natural position.

Fix these lil' things and it'll be great.

[Al_Ninio]

Wonderful changes.
The grass, in its current position, looks a bit out of perspective. Try spreading it out further into the background, maybe.
Also, try adding a little detail where the tree trunk meets the sand, currently it just looks as if the tree is floating above the sand, there.

[Reptile]

Petteri> Add more shadows in the water and more shells around the place, some coconuts? 

[.]

Maybe some birds in the sky?

[Al_Ninio]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v681/Al_Ninio/pete.png

Paintovar.
Just added a little mound of sand near the tree, to make it look a bit less like it's floating, and a noise filter on the sand for texture.

[Andail]

Some thoughts:
* Clouds are generally much flatter down under; picture them lying on a glass surface or something
* The leaves of the palm tree are too small and too loosely hanging - make them a more umbrella-like shape
* The strong shadow on the beach is misplaced. I can't see what's causing it really.

Apart from this, it's a clean and beautiful drawing, albeit a tad generic. Of course, it's good practice.

[Haddas]

I think it depends on how you view it. I see the sand as a barrier of some sort, like a circuit track. You know those who are more at an angle than flat, and that the shadow is caused by the sun being on the other side., because it seems to go in the same direction as the palm-tree.

On the other hand, the clouds suggest the sun is coming from the behind of the view, but then it wouldn't match the shading of the palm, now would it?

But then again the shadow on the sand could be a tiny cloud blocking the sun.

[Pet Terry]

Yet another modified version, probably the final for now as this was mostly a practice piece.



I'm still not sure about adding noise to the sand. It doesn't look bad but my point was to make this picture using my tablet only and no filters. Scotch made another neat paintover but as it would be quite a lot of work for me to imitate it, I'll just let it be. But it's another thing to keep in mind for the future.

Good points Andail. I shall keep those things in mind too for my future works.

Thanks for the comments everyone, keep them coming.

[Skippy]

Nice job there Petteri!

What i really like in this picture are the clouds. They just look really smooth and almost authentic. The grass looks also very nice. But there's something missing maybe. I just really don't know what 

[Evil]

The baracade of sand bothers me too. That part looks high above the water and the only way you would be able to get a sand wall that thin and sharp would be if it was wet. I'd make it wider and give it less of an incline.

[Al_Ninio]

The sand doesn't look too insane for me.
Looks like a hill. ._.

[Reptile]

All ya need is some decent texture on that sand.  Looks good overall.

[stuh505]

Is the sand dune meant to be shaped like a wave?

the texture on the palm tree is way off, you should look at a real palm tree for referece

the grass should not be vertical.  beach grass is not lush green like that, either

one thing you did do very well is the water

[DanClarke]

Very nice piece, i love the wash of the sea in particular. Can i suggest some shadowing from the palm leaves on the trunk of the palm itself?