Creepy forest background (c&c, suggestions welcome)

[Ozwalled]

I've been working on a background that will be leading into an area that's a sort of haunted forest kind of place.



I'm sort of happy with it, but wish that I could:

1) make the trees look a bit more "round"
2) add a little bit of detail to the path.

I've not been successful with either.

Any suggestions for these, or other comments and criticisms would be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

(also note that I plan to blur the background trees and clouds a bit, and I might add creepy red or yellow eyes in the tree knotholes)

[Mephistophilis]

Tis most good... I have no suggestions concerning what you asked about but I would possibly darken all the colours a bit to give it a... well darker feel.

[Ginny]

Darkening won't neccessary help make it spookier, I think it needs a bit more contrast, make the dark colours darker and light ones lighter. A grainy touch to the path might work, if you can make it look good.

Love the trees and clouds, and the tall grass is nice

edit: I had a go at adding contrast to it, first time using the dodge and burn tools, hope you don't mind

I probably ovrdid it on the highlights, and missed a few pixels, but you get the picture.

Btw, while editing I realised how much I like the way you've drawn the trees

[Ozwalled]

Holy crap, Ginny. After having read your contrast increase suggestion (but before you posted the picture), I got to work on that and a few other things, then checked back. Our pictures were awfully similar-looking, save for the fact that I'd darkened the sky substantially. Well, I like your sky better, so I fixed that for my latest version (even if it isn't much of an update).



Does anyone else find the trees to look a little flat, though?
And could the path use more detail (if so, suggestions are appreciated), or am I just picky?

(OH! And thanks for the kind words about the sky and trees -- I just found a way of doing clouds I like today, and have typically had trouble doing trees I liked, so I was especially happy with those elements, too.  )

[Scummbuddy]

Well, I understand the depth when looking at them. Just, if the moon is the only light source, then even that branch on the middle tree would have shade behind it, but its missing. But, yeah, its a great picture all around. Good work.

[Ozwalled]

Hm. The moon is going to be the only light source, but I'm not sure what branch you're talking about exactly, or what you're suggesting exactly.

Okay.  Well, I thought about it a bit more and fiddled around a bit, after looking at this topic: http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?topic=16169.0 .

Here's the result. I'm a lot happier with this so far (the added texture to the path adds a lot, I think). Does the added shade on the trees help them look any rounder, though?

[Darth Mandarb]

The top left branch of the tree is shaded backward ... might be what branch he's talking about?Ã,  Also, the solo (cut-off) branch under the two holes in the center tree looks a little out of place!

I really like this image, and was thusly inspired to do a paint-over:

- fixed the shading on the top branch
- darkened the trees
- lowered the hi-lighting
- added some 'bark' detail
- fixed the outline on the rock in the corner
- added shadows from the back two trees

I think the path looks great in your latest version, so I didn't fuddle with that.

My only complaint was the trees were too bright ... so I darkened them a shade or two.

Hope it helps!

[Raider]

Sorry about this picky comment but is that branch suppost to look like it has been sawn off or what because if this is in ancient times i don't think they would have built a saw just to get that clean cut. But I could be mistaken.

- Raider

[loominous]

Some quick modifications:



Remember that the sky will work as a colored lightbulb and that everything that can t be seen from the lightsource should be in shadow.

(most of the the side of the trees facing us can t be seen from the main lightsource (the moon) and is only lit up by the sky and reflected light).

[filipp8]

loominous' mod is so nice..

[jrl2222]

I love the picture it looks great but I am confused as to what the different colors of grass are. At first look they seem to be shadows of the grass somehow but they are being thrown the wrong direction if thats the case. Something about them, at least to me, doesn't look right. Maybe it is just me though.

[Oz]

Brilliant work Ozwalled! I love the clean-cut style.

[Ozwalled]

Woah-ho-ho!  :o

LOVE the latest two paintovers -- they'll each definitely help a lot for my working on this. Thanks for those, Mandarb and Luminous!

For Luminous's though, it's just too dark for what I'm looking for -- I want it to be semi-creepy, as a sort of precursor/ transition from the regular woods to the REALLY creepy woods. Still, it's amazing, and very helpful.

Also, Raider, it's supposed to look sawn-off and the game's set to take place in a contemparary time. but yeah, it does look sorta' out of place. More or less, it's supposed to be a "nose" of sorts on the tree, but I'm not so sure it does the trick exactly...

As far as the grass goes, jrl2222, if you mean the three different grades of the grass, I more or less threw them in there to have a sort of gradient of lightness/ darkness in relation to the light source (moon). I added the "grassy" top to the lines to simulate a grassy texture to the otherwise pretty flat green areas. Does anyone else find that it looks particularly wonky?

Unless you meant the obvious black-outlined grass tufts... in which case I'm not sure what you mean.

Anyway, I'll see what I can do in my next version of this. Thanks for the help AND for the kind words, everyone!