I just got a new pen for my tablet yesterday after I broke it some months ago, and I've made a quick painting with it.
The thing is that there is something that is very out of place or wrong, I just can't put my finger on it.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/ocean_night.jpg)
Well, a couple of design things...
The horizon is abrupt and doesn't curve at all, so it looks like sheet metal placed adjacent to someone's (admittedly realistic) painting of the Night Sky.
Second, the moon reflection doesn't look right to me, like it should taper on both ends...
But the coloration is nice.
More stars!
The shape and look of the moon's reflection depends on the roughness of the sea.
foggy / calm sea (http://www.mbaum.de/Mond_quer.JPG)
clear / rough sea (http://www.kleine-traeumerin.de/Nacht%20am%20Meer.bmp)
Usually it doesn't taper at all.
The reflection is also too contiguous; the surface of the sea is rippled at all times, only lakes can be completely flat.
Edit: in this case, 'taper' means 'get more narrow'.
I would fix the tapering... But I'm not really sure what "taper" means. :D
But thanks for the crits! I will update when I know what to update..
EDIT: And I'll try to curve the horizon and see if that looks better, thanks :)
Ah, la mer...
I read up on "tapering" and I'm still not sure if I've done the right thing.. But here's the updated version. Added an island and it's reflection to make the image a little more appealing! And I've added more stars.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/ocean_nights.jpg)
Much better, but the moon's reflection is still to continuous.
The island is a nice touch, just one nitpick: the crater shouldn't be visible in the reflection.
Keep in mind that the island isn't reflected on a line but on the surface of the sea.
Nice mood and style indeed, but shouldn't the stars, too, reflect in the water?!
Quote from: Ghost on Thu 02/08/2007 21:15:41
Nice mood and style indeed, but shouldn't the stars, too, reflect in the water?!
Thanks! :) I tried making reflections of the stars, but it seemed strange and not quite right...
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/ocean_nights2.jpg)
There! Does it look better now? :) I fixed the reflection of the island, and tried to lessen the continuousity of the moon's reflection!
I liked the shininess of the sea in the original picture, but when you fixed the horizon you seemed to blur the sea somewhat and it looks more pastelly whereas the original sea had some sharpness to it, you could see the ripples and the waves more clearly which I personally liked.
Love the island though and the sky is perfect. Maybe one or two of the larger stars should be reflected but if you think it ruins the picture then it's not that important.
How about some foreground action? Maybe a boat or a buoy?
It is a lovely scene. Very atmospheric.
The water is still to smooth for an ocean though. Some more ripples might help. Also water does not only reflect the light from the light source but also the darkness from the foreground.
A rough sketch.
(http://www.bilder-hochladen.net/files/big/35xi-s.jpg)
Stars are usually too tiny to have visible reflections on a moving, rough surface like the sea's.
cobra:
Darkness is the absence of light. No light -> no reflected light. ;)
If we take the blue sky for granted, then the black parts of the water are shadows cast by ripples.
Btw, I really like the ripples.
I know Khris.
I wanted to highlight that water reflects all surrounding light and if there is no other light source, then there should be shadows. I have no idea why I haven't said so in the first place. :-\
Thanks for the great paintover cobra79! :) That do seem more right than my previous attempts. I'll try to edit it and post it when done! :)