first attempt ever at a BG

[drbauul]

Hello people.

Here is my first BG ever...






I did want it to look more mystic, but im pretty bad at drawing!Ã, 

Any helpfull suggestions?

[Babar]

Its good for a first try. I thought I would dislike so many different sizes of outlines, but it seems to work. There are only 2 places where it seems to look a bit off- the branch of the front tree, and the part where the path leads behind the ruins(is that what they are?)
I really like the cart though...

[RyRayer]

I like those plants next to the tree. Something is missing, but I don't know what. Maybe if you know how to use photoshop or PSP, you should add some "Noise" to the grass.

[drbauul]

I like those plants next to the tree. Something is missing, but I don't know what. Maybe if you know how to use photoshop or PSP, you should add some "Noise" to the grass.

Yea. good idea, i added a little "noise" to the path as wellÃ,  - i dont know what to think about it? - but it really helped with the grass!

[Khris]

Quite good for a first attempt.

I noticed that some parts of the sky are darker than the rest, please correct that.

You could try to use the thickness of the outlines to add some depth to the image. Thin outlines for the ruins, medium ones for the trees and boulders, and thick ones for the single tree and cart. I have no idea how that is going to look like, but I think it's worth a try.

[aussie]

I quite like it too.

My only criticism is in regard to the outlines. I just don't like different thicknesses, but then again, that's just an opinion.

The noise looks allright, you've kept it to a happy minimum.

As I said, good work.

[Neutron]

it looks like it's coming along nicely.  i think the black outlines on the rock are a bit thick though.

[drbauul]

Thx guys! 

Probably a good idea with smaller outlines!

I know this isen't the right forum - but how do i easly, make the outlines smaller? (using Photoshop), and i haven't done the outlines in its own layer.

[Khris]

This might work:
select them using the wand tool, then use an erode filter.

[drbauul]

Darn can't seem any filter to do the trick!  :'(

guess i'll have to draw the outlines from the begining again!

Any ideas on how to make small crack's in the ruin walls? (so they dont just look like the lines i did on the trees)?

[Khris]

Any ideas on how to make small crack's in the ruin walls? (so they dont just look like the lines i did on the trees)?

Just use different shades of grey instead of black, experiment.

[Ozwalled]

I like the picture on the whole -- it has a lot of potential. With just a quick example, though, I think you'll agree that a little shading goes a long way.



I also used a "brick" kind of idea to give some of the walls a bit of texture. I'd do more but must return to work soon.  A better idea, even, might be to have the wall cracks much better defined, and stemming more realistically from the places where the walls are crumbling.

[DontTreadOnMe]

That shading added an awful lot of atmosphere, a real improvement. I would try to emulate that if you can. If you want a bit more maybe get rid of the happy happy blue sky? a purply dusk would give more atmosphere.

But its coming along great, i really like the varying thicknesses of the lines, its a cool style

Brilliant for a first and your improving loads already, loads of potential (nothing really wrong with it as it is imo, but it could be even better)

Keep it up - Rich

[TerranRich]

One suggestion I can give is to make certain outlines darker colors than its objects. For example, you could make the tree outlines a dark brown intead of pure black, and the stones could have a dark gray outline. Same goes for the wagon and maybe even the plants. Though you could possibly leave the plants next to the trees outlined in black, to emphasize the fact that it's behind the tree and therefore greatly shadowed.

[drbauul]

looks really good with those shadows! !

and thx for all the good idea's ! - think i got some spare time this week, i'll try to get it closer to "done" this week!  :

thx.

[SinSin]

one thing i noticed is the grass steps down on the far left but is good for a first attempt

[Andail]

I'm sort of in a hurry, so sorry if I'm saying things people have already said, but:

1. The outlining is too thick, and too black.
2. Create "depth by outlining" by giving more distant objects thinner outlining instead of the opposite
3. Use dark colours instead of pitch black
4. The ruins look rather messy and poorly structured. Try to make them look more like actual buildings, only ruined For instance, a stone wall like that would surely continue on the other side of the path!
5. The wagon should be drawn more from above. It looks very flat right now.
6. Don't use noise or textures to add variation to the road (or anything else); use different-sized brushes with similar colours and shade/lighten manually.