My art. [NEW background!]

[Peder 🚀]

Here is a background that I am making for one of my games:


I pretty crap at doing backgroundsÃ,  .

So tips on how to improve my art etc is wanted.

[CaptainBinky]

Hmmm... depends on the style you ultimately want to end up with. A biggie though would be lighting & shadows. Pick a sunlight direction and start adding some shading - it needn't be complex - if you want to keep a simplistic style then it could just be a case of one lighter tone and one darker tone per colour.

edit: also (art package dependent - not sure if I would be arsed to do it in PaintÃ,  ) it'd be nice if your clouds had some transparency (just at the edges) and softness (er, and lighting).

I like the concept! Perhaps some indication of rock on the underside of the landscape would help too.

Good luck! Keep it up!

[Babar]

Crap? Crap? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

That's an incredible starting off point. It may even be an incredible stand-alone background but for a few things:

The "smoke" from the pit (I assume it's smoke. Can't really tell). You should add it as an animation in-game, or atleast make it "thicker".

I think you have a few perspective issues (the "4 stone slabs" place stands out the most).

What you should do now is go into more detail, like you did with the stone slabs place. Make the side of the hills facing the sun get more light, and the other side, less light. Same with the clouds. Some texturing (like you did with the stones) would also be a good idea.

What program did you make this background in?

[Peder 🚀]

Hmmm... depends on the style you ultimately want to end up with. A biggie though would be lighting & shadows. Pick a sunlight direction and start adding some shading - it needn't be complex - if you want to keep a simplistic style then it could just be a case of one lighter tone and one darker tone per colour.

edit: also (art package dependent - not sure if I would be arsed to do it in PaintÃ,  ) it'd be nice if your clouds had some transparency and softness.

I wants it to be a little bit cartoonish style.
I using Paint for now, I lost Photoshop when I had to format my computer way back, but my brother got it so I will ask him for it..

Iam really crap at shading, (I tried to make the sun come from top left , if you look at the stones in that circle it is lighter where the sun would hit and darker the other places.. thats the only part I done that on.)
any good shading tutorials out there?
(been on the thread with all the links but I gave up looking for some cause most of the links are broken etc..)


Babar:
I used Paint... and my mouse.. *Whising I had those pen thingies (forgot the name )*
and yeah its smoke .

[Peder 🚀]

Tried to do some changes:


Also removed the smoke and made seperate pictures of it, (animating, tried to at least, Ill add it soon..)

[CaptainBinky]

Oooh, that's starting to look nice - perhaps a slightly less dark shadow colour though..? And I'd suggest darkening the colour of the rock underside to match your "things in shadow" tone.

Cool stuff though 

[Peder 🚀]

Changed all of the shadow colors, made the ones over the grass a bit lighter green, and changed those that was black to a darker color of what the shadow is over...

[CaptainBinky]

Cool stuffÃ, 

How's about now adding a bit of detail to the rock underside? I think it needs a second tone now you've got the shadows in there. Just something to idicate that this is rock (I assume it is rock?).

For example, the perimeter of the grass is quite round. Adding a bit of uneveness will give you a mechanism for putting some rock lines into the cliff and implying a bit of texture. It doesn't have to be complex...

[Peder 🚀]

Thanks,

no its not a rock actually, it is supposed to be "ground".
that you grow plants in etc.

[CaptainBinky]

Oh! My appologies! I saw the image as some kind of floating grass plain!
Ignore me then! 

[Peder 🚀]

Oh! My appologies! I saw the image as some kind of floating grass plain!
Ignore me then!Ã, 

Well its floating for sure up in the skies .
I wonder how to get a good "ground" feel on it....

[CaptainBinky]

I think you'll need some sort of "underside" just to ram home the point the the brown ground area is on the same level as the grass. If the landscape is essentially a floating disc, then give the disk a bit of depth with a bevel, and maybe a bit of grass hanging over the edge.

Couldn't really find a good picture to show you what I mean, but...



you see here that the discworld itself has a rim around it.

As far as implying this is ground, I think if you made the border between the grass and the soil a bit less regular, then this'd help identify the soil as soil, so-to-speak.

edit: additionally, if you added a bit more soil into the grass part of the image, it'd identify that colour with soil - specifically around the edge of the lake (maybe not all the way round..? Alternatively, you could try having the soil continue around the disk more, like up the left side or right side a little more. Because it's only currently at the bottom, it does look a bit like the underneath - hence my confusion.

Hope this makes sense, and is helpful.

[Peder 🚀]

Added some trees on the hill in the back to the left.
and also added houses, fences and some flowers around.



CaptainBinky
I dont exactly understand what you meanÃ, 

[CaptainBinky]

Okay, what I mean is (excuse the incredibly crude mockups)

I thought that the grass had a rocky underside...


When I think you mean something more like...



Adding a bit of depth to the surface (like where I've put a (very badly drawn) darker edge around the bottom) helps make the grass and soil feel like they're on the same level.

I like the little details you're adding!

[Peder 🚀]

ooh, thats what you meant by rock?
well, you was right about that, just though its not JUST rock.
its supposed to be "soil".
If you see what I mean?Ã, 

[CaptainBinky]

ooh, thats what you meant by rock?
well, you was right about that, just though its not JUST rock.
its supposed to be "soil".
If you see what I mean?Ã, 

So hang on, I'm getting confused  are you going for something more like the first picture or something more like the second (or neither)?

[Peder 🚀]

So hang on, I'm getting confusedÃ,  are you going for something more like the first picture or something more like the second (or neither)?

More like the first one .
But it is hard for me this part...

[lo_res_man]

think of it this way, is it a big hunk of sod ripped up from the ground? or is it more a flying golf course? and that dirt area is llike a sand trap, (or dirt trap)

[Peder 🚀]

think of it this way, is it a big hunk of sod ripped up from the ground?

EXACTLY!

[CaptainBinky]

More like the first one .

Okay  In that case, the effect doesn't need to be complex...

(again, please excuse the crude mockup)