(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/catedral-1.png)
I decided on going with this style of drawings for my next project,
What do you think?
Is it too "unclean", even if it's not fully painted?
I hope that with such a large background you won't have such small characters. It's a big ratio. I usually draw my characters at 1/3 of the screen height.
Also I'm not a big fan of the generic photoshop craquelure texture. I much prefer the hand drawn cracks you have around the door and pillars.
Thanks for the reply, Ryan,
I'll draw the characters on top of the paper drawn background on another paper, that way I'll not loose sense of dimensions, then will scan those.
This screen will be the opening sequence and I'm not planing on having inplay screens that far from our eyes anyway but I know what you mean, it can get weird with small characters loosing detail.
As for the craquelure efect I think you're right, it felt bad when I did it and it was a dumb choice when I think about it.
You didn't mention color selections so I believe I'm on the right track...
Quote from: miguel on Sun 03/01/2010 12:35:10
You didn't mention color selections so I believe I'm on the right track...
I guess I kinda like the colors. They have this basic kids fairytale book style (hopefully that's the direction you're going for :P).
(quick google search) The colors and style remind me of something like this: http://picture-book.com/files/userimages/260u/pb_hut.jpg
As for the kids fairytale style I didn't mean to follow that, it's just the way I draw.
I guess I do relate to the link you gave me.
Thanks for the support, I will for sure avoid Photoshop effects and keep with the pen and paper direction.
Another update with the tips you all been giving me!
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/outsidevillage-4.png)
Looks rad, Miguel, but I do wish the white spots weren't in there.
Still, very nice scene :)
Those are really great. Very stylish and with a hand-crafted feel to them. I particularly dig the cathedral.
Three things:
1)The branch partially covering the view of the houses makes it confusing to look a them. I'd get rid of it, or move it above the roofs.
2) The puddle in the center is very distracting and doesn't feel natural. I'm not sure why, but probably the composition suggest it is the most important part of the picture.
3) A minor one - IMO the hay stack would look better without the green section at the front.
Ben: thanks, coming from you it's a big YES to me. I'll get rid of those white spots! It's a promisse!
Ascovel: thanks for the compliment, I wasn't really sure I had the craft to go for this kind of backgrounds...
1) yup, I'll put it higher;
2) I didn't notice it and it was accidental, maybe the bright blue and not having any reflection contrasts with the pavement;
3) yes, that was the "fill" situation...
To both, thank you very much, hope you can continue to help me out on this on further improvements!
Use layers to avoid white spots.
Color on one layer and contour on another.
Miguel, just make two layers. One layer for the line art and one for the colour, if you play around with the layer overlay settings you will be able to simply paint onto the colour layer and it will overlay just your lineart over the top.
micamic and Chicky thanks for that tip, it will surelly simplify my next backgrounds.
If you're using Photoshop, multiply will probably work best.
I think the stones in the street have to much detail, and too many different colors so it gets the unnatural look...
It looks like you put in a lot of effort in making these. A bit of advice.
No filters. NO no no bad.
Yes, multiply layers are your friend. So are other adjustment layers. Darken layers are ok for shadows, but give em a bluey-grey tinge.
No no no to hatching or shading in your pencil drawing. Shading can be added to the colour layers.
The further away things away are, the more desaturated they become. They also get blue. Atmospherics and crap.
Your lineart is too prominant. either draw over it in with vector lines, or change it's opacity.
Invest in a drawing tablet. It'll be the best $150 you ever spend.
Draw from real life. If you need to draw a tree with branches and stuff, go find a cool looking tree and copy it.
Layabout's advice is quite similar to what I would recommend and reminded me of a tutorial I once wrote on my own art style (http://agsezine.wordpress.com/2007/07/22/do-it-garagegothic-style/). Not saying it's the be-all-end-all tutorial on the matter, but maybe you can find a few tips.
I've updated the outside screen with some differences...
Auriond: thanks for that, I'm using it right now even for characters;
MrCheminee: I get your point, maybe with some layers on top I can soften them...
Layabout: When I did the scan I was using "Fill" to paint the BG and I had to use "Find Edges" to cover the white gaps, that's why the lineart got so prominant, I'll try to play with those layers (depth and atmospherics) you're talking about.
GarageGothic: thanks for the link, I'll dive into it today.
Thanks to all!
Avoid using fill to be honest. Unless you are using straight pixels (no anti-aliasing), where it is okay, but there are techniques to make even pixelled backgrounds more interesting. It'll just come out crap. What you want is to choose a nice big brush and paint the details on a multiply layer. It makes a huge difference. Try it. You would need to start again from scratch, but it will be for the better, and much quicker once you get used to it. Just make sure to 'lock' the lineart layer, so you don't accidently paint on it.
When I used to work with scanned pencil art, I converted it to vectors first.
Ten years ago, Adobe had a programm called Streamline doing this, but I think nowadays it's included in Illustrator.
After having converted your work to vectors you can also begin basic coloring. Most of the vector programs (even Flash) can distinguish between outline and surfaces. So it's easy for you to get rid of the black outlines (which also have been smoothend for you due to the vector conversion process).
After the basic coloring feel free to get back to Photoshop and add the details.
Yeah the white spots are a big problem cause you have spend a lot of time fixing that. which you could be making details and better art instead. If you do use the fill tool on a program like photoshop or even Gimp. Just better to change the tolerance to like 10-15 to fix the white spots easier. And that's my advice ;D . well for the white spots :D
I've updated the outside screen again with some more improvements...
Layabout: I'm doing that now and getting better at it, thaks a lot for the tip!
abstauer: I've never used vectors, does that mean that the lineart will be erased on the final outcome?
Danman: I'm never gonna use "fill" again!!! Damn white spots!
QuoteI've never used vectors, does that mean that the lineart will be erased on the final outcome?
Err.. I don't get it :D
edit:
Phew, I've found some old files of mine, utilizing that technique.
(http://shatten.sonores.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Film2.png)
This is just plain recolored line art. I've been even too lazy to recolor the outlines. Here's the flash file:
http://shatten.sonores.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Film2.swf
The benefit from doing this is that you get really smooth lines, a high contrast and some more control over your picture. The vector program e.g. can distinguish between outlines and flood fill areas. If you're unhappy with some parts of the line art, you can easily edit it as well.
Ok, sorry, now I understand what you mean!
I found a simple way to paint the white spots on Photoshop,
I select an area with the lasso tool and then pick the brightest color,
then I select "color range" so that only bright colors (white and similar) are selected,
then I just paint it over with low opacity.
That second background would be much better IMHO if you re-worked the clouds a bit. I can see some wicked monkey island-style clouds there... But apart from that great job!
Thanks Grim,
I'm working on those clouds!
Here's a sketch for the main character:
Updated legs size...
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/david-idle-left-test1.png)
SHORT LEGS ALERT :p
Sorry about that! His belt, groin and knees need to be raised quite a bit. Probably about half a head, maybe a bit more. You can do this with the selection tool on the lineart layer, then fill in the gaps and adjust with a 3px hard brush at about 80 opacity and the eraser tool.
Sorry for bringing this up again, but your style would be sooo suitable for vectors. You would get rid of the grainy outline once and for all ;)
If you send me a detailed scan (at least 150 dpi) I'll vectorize one for you, so you can see for yourself.
Layabout: yup, got that...I've updated the image, now with longer legs, shorter torso
abstauber: will do that, I'll send you the scanned drawing later this day, thanks!
some more work in progress, I can't remember last time I had so much fun!...Well, I can, but that doesn't matter now...
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/Portrait-Fatpriest-talk2.png) (http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/Portrait-Monk.png)(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/david-standing-test2.png)(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm54/miguel20000/samson-standing.png)