Working on a cartoonish style for my bgs, somewhat like CMI
http://hem.bredband.net/kimbil/muffins.jpg
what do you think about it, anything i should change?
and if someone is interested im searching for a project
would be gr8 if i could keep it just to the bg-art
but can do characters / animation to
IMO the clouds and dirt are a bit too defined.
Also, is that her leg flailing out the side of the stall?
EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to say how good it was. A nice feel to a great style.
I think it's very pretty! The style is very cmi, although you've managed to add a touch of something original to it. It's got a very personal and atmospheric style which is funny and appealing to the eye.
Obviously, you need to detach the character sprite if you want to use it as a background.
Right now, the image is pretty flat, in the sense that is has no colour depth. I keep nagging about this in every second c&c I write, but it seems very few people grasp this technique.
In order to create a depth, objects and surfaces further away need to be less saturated, and more affected by the colour of the sky.
I love the style. I can't even pinpoint what I like about it, just that it's appealing. It reads like something in between CMI and various illustrations from children's books.
As Andail mentioned, some desaturation / atmospheric opaquing of the clouds would both add depth to the image and keep it less confusing. As an overall critique, the composition seems a bit muddled in that there are so many interesting things to look at and there's no line of action to draw the eye to a specific spot (The muffin stand, for example).
Aside from regurgitating what's already been said, the round bush on the leftmost side still has its placeholding shading delineator. I imagine this was accidental as it clashes a bit. The palm trees in the background could use some depth-cueing as well, but they also look a little too contrived. They're straining so hard to be cartoony shapes that they've formed angles and have become less plant-looking. The path leading towards the stand has the same rounded shading found throughout, but here it tends to make the texture undefinable and bulge to an odd degree upwards (appearing to give the dirt a "puckered" look).
Wonderful work, approaching CMI's beauty but of a very unique style. I almost want to say it feels a little like a more colorful version of Where the Wild Things Are artwork, but it's been too long since I read that. Can't wait to see more of your game artwork.
thanks! I'm really greatful for your critics,
About the clouds, maybe of i made the sky darker? so the theres not as much contrast?
Yes i will remove the character i just wanted to se how my characters matched :)
You dont think its to intense colors? altough i like it
About the color-depth i am no pro :), what do you mean with satured?, maybe a more gray-tuned colors futher away? and not as much contrast? and should the landscape get darker futher away?
Yes i will remove the line from the left bush d: ), and to get away the muddled style, should i get more contrast and objects where i want the observer to look? and maybe smudge the other things abit?
I see now what you mean about the palms, true
about the road? i intended to make it puckered, but maybe overdid it?
thanks again i will upload new version of the image and working on a new one
(sorry for language I'm not used to english)
edit: really glad u liked it
I think that he meant to reduce the contrast and lighten the whole sky, but I could be wrong. It looks great but is pretty distracting from the 'more important' parts on the ground.
It's not the same style, but if you look at my background here, you can see how I have made the background of the image increasingly "washed out" the more distant it gets.
This gives an illusion of depth, and will be less annoying to the eye.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=23747.msg296219#msg296219
yes i get that with the less contrast on sky i hope , and on my NEW bg, i think ive thought about all things you guys mentioned,
and andail i think i got the lightning futher away somewhat better :-\
although i could have done the same thing on the clouds.
you think ive changed to much on the style :s, maybe to much objects?
--
-- http://hem.bredband.net/kimbil/glashouse.jpg
--
also i tried to spread some blue light from the glas-house but that is just impossible :P
It's quite awesome!
Very nice work indeed. Not much to criticise here, I would say :)
;D :) thx! and thanks for help, i try to stick my western-game style to this d: )
Are you sure that isn't a background from CMI? It could be! ;D
Really, that sure looks great! Good job you have done there. :)
Maybe try to use darker cool colors in the foreground. As it is right now, the shapes are a bit confusing sharing similar hues and values. As an adventure game room, what's closest to the camera isn't really the focal point.
:D thanks pablo
hmm your right about the foreground, ill try darken it but dont know how much :s it shouldnt be to dark, its still out in daylight
i post new pic soon
now
http://hem.bredband.net/kimbil/darkererer.jpg
Kimbil, if you want you can use something like this:
[i m g] www.yourplace.yourpicture.whatever[/i m g] (without the spaces)
this way, you can see the BGs straight to explorer, without having to click everytime. But only jpg...
BTW, very nice all the pics. Apart from what Andail said, I don't have anything else to criticise...
aha i see d: ) didnt know how it worked
thx :)
Quote from: Nikolas
quote]But only jpg...
You can use this with any kind of image that can be uploaded
EX: Tiff GIF PNG (my fav) etc.
BTW:nice
(http://hem.bredband.net/kimbil/muffins.jpg)
(http://hem.bredband.net/kimbil/darkererer.jpg)
I like the backgrounds but may I suggest...
Find your own clouds. Those are Bill Tiller's clouds, I want to see Kimbil's clouds.
Other than that keep up the good work.
Quote from: MrColossal on Tue 13/12/2005 03:00:32
Find your own clouds. Those are Bill Tiller's clouds, I want to see Kimbil's clouds.
Lol, this is very true...
Though there is definitely a value to imitation.
:) i have already thought of some different styles(but none as good :( ), maybe i can post them?
On the second, agree with what you've already stated: with that many objects it becomes a little confusing. Then again, with a character walking through it might not be. Working the walk-behinds will be a little painful I would think, in Roomedit, so an alpha-map to import might help.
While I like the CMI clouds, having your own style be this good is practically screaming for clouds that come from your head instead of Tiller's.
The glass house background could definitely benefit from Andail's atmospheric desaturation recommendation. It looks like you've done some of that on the faraway hilltop, but trying an extreme version to see how far you can take it might help find a better balance.
The outlines are a little more pronounced on the second background and lend to the "cluttered" look. I find the roundish trees particularly distracting. The rug on the hillock seems to follow the curve too much. I would think it'd be rounded a bit more the other way as though it were draped across it rather than being part of it.
Last nitpick - The tree to the top-right looks like it's ducking. In fact, all the palms look more natural in this BG than the first, except for that one. Be wary of trying to fit details into a frame. If the tree extended out of the picture, it make it look less like everything was shoved into a certain space.
thanks! ill try that desaturation on the glass house, although its pretty close to the camera, looks much better just by putting line opacity to ~60%
i see what you mean about the closest palm, why didnt i think of that :) got so blind just cause i wanted it in the picture.
i try to do an extreme version all the time but dont got the guts (lol) so it never become that extreme :P