Colour help

[MrColossal]

heeeeyo

here i am again with another non game related bit of art that i was hoping i could get crit on

i drew this for jess and she left before i could colour it

i'm fine with the line drawing, i don't care about anatomical mistakes but if you want to point them out i'm always up for hearing you out.

http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/lollypopc.jpg  there's the coloured image, what'd i'd really like is advice on colour, obviously i was going for a certain look with this but it's 5am and i don't know how well it came out.

if anyone wants to give it a try go ahead with the line drawing here:

http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/lollypop.jpg

just don't make me cry by being better than me

love,
eric

[Andail]

Overall it's good, it's a very personal character...the colouring is also good...but how about adding some sort of chair or something, to kind of balance it up a bit? Right now he's just hovering, which is of course an interesting effect...but still

[TheYak]

I think that just a little more detail in shading would be nice.  If the slight contours were a little more well-defined, it would bring some depth to the image.  One example, the toes on the left foot.  With small portions of those toes non-shaded, it would make them a little more "concrete" and not quite as amorphous.

[taryuu]

the anatomy is great as far as i'm concerned excep t for the feetsies. it looks as tho you soent more time on the fingers than you did on the toes.  for example, on the left foot (the one that's up) the ring? toe looks just as fat as the as the big toe.  and on the right foot, all the toes seem to have the same size.  but you're happy with it, and they're pretty minor points.  

as far as colour goes it's rpetty hard to critique, since you'rea obviously going for a certain type of look.  one thing tho.  the puprkle/dark blue shading you have on the skin makes the chracter look like sickly and/or bruised.  it's most noticable on the cheek below the headphones.  

another thing is that the the right hand is in complete shade right up to the lolipop stick.  shouldn'ty there be some shading on the stick as well?

as far as the colour on the sandals, the red/orange strap on left foot(which is in almost complete shade) looks to be the same colour as on the right foot (which is in more light)

you've also used black lines on the skin to show the elbows and ribs, but there aren't any on the ankles.  which should propbaly stick out more than the others.

the background splahes distract the eye from the body, as they lead the eye to the top right corner of the image, and when the eye gets there there's nothing to see.

that's it really.  keep in mind i'm LOOKING for things to critique.  the overall effect is splendid.  excellent work.  kudos and applause.

[Pessi]

That is really sweet, Eric!

About the colors. I think you definitely have attained a certain atmosphere and as always with any art that isn't trying to be realistic, it works as it is! I don't think there's much to change in that respect, in my opinion.

However, if I was to make it more appealing to myself (which is kind of stupid), I would perhaps tone down the difference between the yellow and blue on the skin just a bit. So that the shadow wouldn't be quite as blue, but perhaps closer to red or purple, so that the ambient light wouldn't be as distinct.

Also, as Taryuu (great observations!) pointed out, the background is very vivid, perhaps in a bit distractive way. It's not an error of course. To me, if I was to go deeper into the image, it would symbolize the fast world distracting from seeing the relevant. Anyway, if it was to be drawn more unambiguously, I would tone it down as well. The highest values in this image are on the background, the eyes and the skirt. Perhaps the attention could be drawn towards the eyes more? Or the skirt perhaps... Or not.

All in all, I really like how you used so many colors for stuff that is supposed to be drawn only in one color. It really adds to the image a lot. Here's my more generic approach on the image, http://pelu.jns.fi/~teropa/Misc/Colossal_LineDrawing.jpg . Don't worry, it won't make you cry.

[loominous]

I m working on a technique for use in a game n applied it on the pic as a test.

The colors [in my version] are hardly interesting/inspirering but I thought it might be fun for you to see a very different version of your pic.

I m sorry about the large filesize but the pic couldn t stand much compression.

For the record, no filthy plugins were used.

~100 kb
http://w1.865.telia.com/~u86517124/Downloadable/lollipopc_mod1.jpg

[Pessi]

Talking about professional! :o

That rocks, Loominous! But I agree, the colors itself are hardly inspiring, nonetheless the style and the textures definitely are! And they wouldn't be the same without those unsaturated colors.

Again:  :o

[Igor]

Great!
I like the black&white version much more than colored one though. I think, in the process of coloring, you lost some of the elegance, you managed to achieve with lines. It would be hard to point a finger at specific "fault" (because frankly, there is non- it's a matter of opinion). The colors themself are good... But i'd say that maybe the type of coloring you were using isn't very compatible with such line drawing. Simple, clear & thick black line drawings usualy work good with simple coloring. Here you created nice 3d feeling with shading, but you discarded it with thick black lines. So it would be good if you'd either change lines or make simpler shading.

Pessi's coloring example is great in my opinion, as shading doesn't clash with lines.
Here's my monochromatic try (with even more simple (one color) shading):
http://maniac.adventuredevelopers.com/ericversion1.JPG

Btw, smashing textures Loominous- it gives a pic very retro look- great!

[jason]

I m working on a technique for use in a game n applied it on the pic as a test.

The colors [in my version] are hardly interesting/inspirering but I thought it might be fun for you to see a very different version of your pic.

I m sorry about the large filesize but the pic couldn t stand much compression.

For the record, no filthy plugins were used.

~100 kb
http://w1.865.telia.com/~u86517124/Downloadable/lollipopc_mod1.jpg

Very sweet! May I ask how did you achieve the "old comicbook page" effect without the use of plugins?

eric: I love the coloring job, especially the skirt. The skirt looks very dope.

[MrColossal]

a woop de wooop

let's start from the start:

andail: i drew this on the computer and my ability at drawing straight lines on the comp is so under-developed that i feared drawing a chair or a stool or something cause it would probably end up looking bad and smooshy, like it was a Lichenstein soft art.

yak: i agree, more shading detail prolly would have helped a lot. this is the first time i've coloured like this [well the first first time was in this drawing but it was only using the same brushes http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/bunny.jpg ] and I didn't really know exactly what i was doing.

taryuu: as for the background, more than likely if i moved the heart and my name off of the canvas onto the black that little area where my name was had some colour like the upper left but I took it out so you could read my name... more than likely a bad idea. The background was a result of me dickin' around anyways but it's something I'll keep in mind for next time.

pester: indeed, i really should have pulled up more reference pics for me to get colours right [i was supposed to have learned the colour wheel in college but I never did it cause i was a stupid freshman]

igor: i think you're 100% right, the line drawing has something more going for it than the coloured. the lines in my opinion are real nice looking [toot toot me own horn] and the colouring could be more compatible with it. the reason i didn't go with simpler colouring is cause i feel like that's all i can do, so i tried going out of the ordinary, but i think maybe if i went with how jess colours some art i'd get a better result: http://www.sylpher.com/jes/images/zainacowgirl.jpg

jason, my guess what be that he scanned some denim or something, some sort of texture and then just coloured on top of it, am i right do i win a prize?

The Art:

Pessi: I agree on the face, a second light illuminating the face would have been nice, drawing attention to it and the lollipop. the colours seem really deep and maybe that's just cause there's no background around him for his colours to play off of. next stop, background city for eric.

loominous: i love how it looks like an old xerox that's been coloured or a silk screen or something, i don't think the technique works well with my drawing, as in the mood of the person [at least in my mind i really wanted him to have bright colours] but i love the look of it anyway and would look forward to more.

Igor: you changed the lightsource completely and maybe that's also something i should have done. the two colour shading is nice but again not what i was going for in terms of mood with colour, if that makes ANY sense whatsoever.

But here's what's up for next time: simpler colouring, stretch out from the normal eric but don't go too far or i'll end up in confusionville population 1, i'm gonna try maybe inking at a hight res and without line variation just to see... and take all your points put them in a blender, puree them, add 1 egg and drink it down

thank you SO much for helping and for taking the time to colour me art

if no one minds i'll be posting another image here sometime soon

danke danke,
eric

[loominous]

my guess what be that he scanned some denim or something, some sort of texture and then just coloured on top of it, am i right do i win a prize?

It s actually original marvel comic "colors" picked out from scanned Batman issues from the '70-80s, so it should be almost identical to those comics.

The method used was simply, make textures, apply on pic. Pretty important though is not to use regular black or white for outlines n highlights but scanned versions. Makes a hugh difference.

So you want a prize for your mediocre guess ey? Well I guess you could have this:

http://w1.865.telia.com/~u86517124/Downloadable/lollipop_mod2.jpg

Trying out a new style. People sensitive to strong contrasts or downloads over 100 kb beware.

[MrColossal]

hehe the reason i guess denim is just cause the area was so huge and i couldn't think of a possible reason why there would be that much purple on a comic page

i enjoy the new image especially how the line is all but gone, i think his shadowed foot is great looking

[EldKatt]

One thing that leaped out at me (and that I don't think anyone mentioned here) is how in her waist and lower torso area it's hard to understand where the hell the light is coming from. It seems to be shaded as if light was coming inwards from all directions. Though I haven't tried to figure out why, it all looks perfectly natural in loominous' modifications, even though he doesn't seem to have changed the actual positioning of the shadows and highlights. I think you should try to figure out what the difference is and make it look less impossible (or something).

Other than that, and what other people have already said, it's absolutely lovely. Nice!

EldKatt

[MrColossal]

yea eldkatt i think i went a little too much with the contouring the light on his body

but it doesn't really bother me, thanks for the comments, i was always a little "hmm" about that area

now since i've been doing more drawing than i have colouring [i really need to learn more colour theory...] i'm just gonna post what i've been doing and any comments are more than appreciated from anyone

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/airship.jpg

i did this on a very good day... and i have no idea how i did it to look back on it... which angers the poo out of me

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/notherhead.jpg

trying to paint, guess who it is

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/timetraveler.jpg

just dickin' around

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/timetraveler2.jpg

who's a happy guy?

Pesty and I had a little animation jam where we picked a topic and animated it:

this was our first: Something falling down

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/falldowngoboom.gif

these were just animations i did for fun:

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/getglass.gif

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/liftarm.gif

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/spin.gif

bored colouring:

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/balls.jpg

learning to digitally paint:

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/head2b4.jpg

and here is what i'm doing at the moment, teaching myself to draw women... i've always been terrible at it so here are the new drawings, granted they're only side views but i'm so happy with them compared to what i was doing

http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/nude1.jpg
http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/nude3.jpg
http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/dress.jpg

dunno how i feel about dress but i like the detail on the dress...

i know this is a lot of stuff and i don't care if no one responds or anything, i'm just dipping in to anyone who feels like they'd like to comment on anything here is more than welcome

Spoiler

and if you're feeling adventurous go ahead and look at nude2 it's the end product of staying up WAY too late and drawing.

[close]

[Haddas]

looks at http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/nude2.jpg
:o
ehm.. yea

[Minimi]

Ok this is my first edit, of someone elses work, and I'm a photoshop n00b, so I used the l3NS FL@IR!!

I edited the picture by colouring it, and I added some shadowing to the hair, and the back of the girl.

[Haddas]

hmm...
the outlines of the character are a bit blurred.
I can see "The Holy Lollipop"

[Helm]

Hi I'm just popping in to say that I think indeed your skill at drawing women has improved greatly. Nude3 Is correct in all the correct ways. Correct. Good.

[Xackery]

I didn't really go into much depth with this.. Just reshaded and used a same sort of color concept as you did.. Like the white border, That's an easy touch up, Lollipop, sandals, ect.. Maybe you'll enjoy it's look and use it.. Sorry I'm not too great at drawing, programming is my area =P


Lolli.psd HERE

[MrColossal]

don't mind me.. just bored and posting things

i guess i should just put them on my website......

nah

http://sylpher.com/kafka/junk/gooshy2.jpg