Biting the bullet

[Wonkyth]

I've decided to see if I can improve my art in my spare time.


I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to achieve, but surely some greater being can show me how I might improve it?

[NsMn]

CONTRAST.

[Calin Leafshade]

All the below comments are likely to be bollocks. Don't take my advice without seeking the advice of proper arty people

Agreed, CONTRAST.

also remember that a tree stump is essentially a cylinder so it should be shaded as such.

Also I thought your perspective was a little off.. I dont think you should be able to see as much of the top of the stump.. but i might be wrong.

When dealing with something like grass you can shift the hues more to the yellowy end when doing the highlights.. its much more interesting to look at.

quick paintover:

[Jim Reed]

TEXTURE! =P

[Danman]

Yes! Most definitely needs a Texture . I would do an example but I am not on my own PC.
Got the shape quite OK though.

[Jim Reed]

EDIT: Added more steps, so you can see how I did it. I mostly failed on the texturing in the darker parts, due to my lack of concentration

EDIT2: Also, looking at your sigs (wonkyth, NsMn) I can see improvement in my woodcrafting back from that CB.
You two have really crappy looking wood trophies. =P

[Wonkyth]

Wow, thanks guys.

@NsMn & Calin: Contrast is one of the many things I cant seem to get my head around a the mement, but hopefully that can be changed.

@ just Calin: Yes, I was pretty certain my perspective was out, but every time I try to fix it it just looks worse. Nice stuff with the grass though, I hadn't thought of that. As far as shading goes, I've decided not to touch it until I have some of my other issues worked out, as I'm not happy with my current way, and trying to fix too many problems at once will just make it hard. Highlighting is something I've never done, but I'm sure it cant be too hard, so I'll give it a try.

@Danman & Jim Reed: yes, texturing. great idea. I'm still not sure how to do it, but it would definitely improve. One problem may have been that I was basing this picture on the many old stumps at home which being gums are relatively smooth, also as they're about twenty years old they've lapsed into a dull grey-brown colour, lichen sprouting out everywhere, and are falling apart in places.
The lack of buttressing on mine may also be attributed to that, as gums don't buttress.

Btw, I happen to have fire-insurance for all my trophies, so if one just happened to burn down perhaps I could get the latest model?

[Jim Reed]

Haha, you will get a trophy when I next host something. =D

Basically, what I did for texturing that stump is pretty easy.
First I designated which area is lighted in what shade. (The middle stump) this can get tricky, mind you, as you need to imagine rays of light coming from your lightsource. Mine is somwhere up and left, so I painted the areas facing the lightsousce with the most bright colour. Then I worked my way down to the darkest colour, painting areas with it that are facing directly opposite of the lightsource.
After that I just painted that texture, using one shade darker lines, and folowing the contours/shapes of the areas. Buncha random lines drawn with the pencil tool in MSpaint, with the mouse, actually.
See...? Nothing to it actually!
The grass is pretty cheap, too, just zoom in and you'll see =D

[Wonkyth]

Ok.
Give me some time and I'll have another attempt up.