Bitten off more then I can chew?

raddicks · Tue 23/01/2007 14:13:55

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/raddicks/japanF.png
So I've been working on this picture for maybe 2 and a half hours now (45 mins to do the pencil/charcoal sketch) And I just think to myself (I've made a mistake and can't go back)

I maybe merged layers to quickly (I wanted to get the scarf over and done with) but oh well. Personally I think it looks flat and boring, and the scarfÃ,Â has got me in serious confusion (I originally intended it to be 'soft furry' and my drawing hand is very quick in REAL LIFE sketching for fur and hair but i'm finding my Wacom not as intuitive or as useful as I hoped (I may have to abadon the idea and just go with a folded scarf, but now I'm just panicking over how I will do the folds because it was a massive change of plan)

I accidently rubbed out a bit of the initial sketch but this was unavoidable as I wanted to 'eye' out the sketch, the ceiling may be a 3D render eventually (unless I change my mind if I feel this effort is problematic)

I am aware it probably looks better a bit desaturated but I'm using the colour scheme as it is so I can identify flaws (for the meantime). Also feel free to contribute to the image if you want too

Jon · Tue 23/01/2007 17:52:32

I'm sorry but what is this meant to be, it looks like a woman against a brick wall, with a factory in the bottom left corner and a hand trying to grab the scarf. Oh and also she seems to be chewing a pen

.

Could you please tell me what is meant to be, then I can comment and give my opinion on the picture.

raddicks · Tue 23/01/2007 18:49:59

Quote from: Jon on Tue 23/01/2007 17:52:32
I'm sorry but what is this meant to be, it looks like a woman against a brick wall, with a factory in the bottom left corner and a hand trying to grab the scarf. Oh and also she seems to be chewing a penÃ,Â .

Could you please tell me what is meant to be, then I can comment and give my opinion on the picture.

well scan is never perfect (either details too confusing or never there), I had to highlight the scarf and 'hand' skin parts to make it more clear (I can always erase it without damage to original). She's wearing a leather jacket. That wall is intentionally vertical, I guess its just my surrealist instinct wanting it like so. They're white-greyish bricks. The 'hand' isn't a hand its just a paintover over sketches of chains - and a locket (the paint serves no purpose other then to visualise changes i might make). I may have to revise how I will do the chains or I may scrap the idea and opt for a simpler decoration. I may scrap the two 'outer' chains and instead prefer for a simpler chain design from the chest. The factory is just gizmo-zip teeth. my scanner is probably 7 years old lol sorry for lack of clarity. I may work on this tomorrow but I just left it here incase someone saw something I didn't.

I dont think smoking biros are better then tobacco

Jon · Tue 23/01/2007 20:42:48

Thanks for explaining that, it makes it a bit more clearer

I think it has some good features and it has some bad features, notably I like the shading and the hair, but the wall is hard to see properly, and as I said before it is hard to see the picture clearly.

auriond · Wed 24/01/2007 01:37:06

I think it's coming along nicely - has a Nana-ish Japanese look to it.

One thing to realise is that tablets and digital drawings don't work the same way traditional media does. So you haven't actually ruined the scarf - but if you're going for a soft fur look, you need to add more layers for texturing and highlighting. So it's ok that you've merged the layers - just add some more. The smudge brush is my best friend, but maybe you have other methods you prefer.

By the way, I could tell that it was a cigarette - but you might want to emphasise the burnt end with ashes and smoke to make it clearer

raddicks · Thu 25/01/2007 21:45:31

the cigerette was the most difficult (surprisingly! being a 'solid' object the tiniest smear made it look unsymmetrical)

I went for a gothy desaturated look, it may or may not have worked, personally I find too much colour wouldn't be too good for this artwork (as in I was aiming for a more noir feel)

tell me what you think

LGM · Thu 25/01/2007 23:29:27

I think you should throw some grain on it so it looks less blurry. Also the burning part of the cig is lost in the highlight on her collar.

Everything else looks pretty good. Though I don't know if I like the placing of her pendant.

Sean · Thu 25/01/2007 23:49:10

Other than the blur, and the pendant positioning/angle it all looks pretty sexy. Keep it up

Babar · Fri 26/01/2007 11:59:30

The cigarette looks like it had been photoshoped onto the mouth, and wasn't there originally. Maybe this is because her mouth does not really seem wide enough to be accomodating a cigarette, and the cigaratte hasn't been bent of squashed in her mouth. The eyepatch thing also seems to be suffering from a similar problem

raddicks · Fri 26/01/2007 18:57:42

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v308/raddicks/badgirl3.png
hopefully touched up enough, i'm content with the penchant looking like that - snagged on the leather jacket off-beatish. Oh the cigerette wasn't photoshopped, but it would of been easier maybe, I just used a polygonal lasso.

Jon · Fri 26/01/2007 20:01:50

It's looking much better now, my onlyimprovement I can say is that the right shoulder seems not quite symetrical compared to the left.
Other than that it looks good!

LGM · Fri 26/01/2007 23:25:21

I think it could still use some grain. Throw a monochrome gaussian noise filter over that chick. Nothing big, thought, something like 1 to 3 percent.

Edit:

I just did some mucking about with it to give you an idea

-added noise
-adjusted sharpness
-adjust color and contrast levels to add a little more style.

Andail · Sat 27/01/2007 16:41:11

Sorry, but I have to say that the colour scheme isn't really working. There are tones of greyish/black which looks like some sort of burn tool, which is a no-no; make your shadows by determining the ambient colours and try to mix them into something more dynamic, organic. A good first step; get rid of the black.
Also, it seems like your shades have been applied a bit sporadically, instead of working out a 3-dimensional shape.

Andail · Sat 27/01/2007 18:00:42

I was bored when I did this, so I got a bit carried away. So much has been changed that it's no longer a useful paintover, I guess.

Numerous changes.

I'm not saying that this is the optimal way to improve your image, I'm just trying to illustrate what I meant by making shadows as a means of conveying a 3-dimensional shape. And to get rid of the black as a careless way of applying shades.