June Mags BG

[=The=Brat=]

I too have entered the June Mags. here is a quick BG i made. I want to know what You think of the lighting.

origanal


lighted


paint overs are more than welcome

i also have problems with the pespective of this character



EDIT:come on guys, i really want some critics

EDIT2: PLEASE I NEED CRITICS, aNYTHING JUST REPLY!

[Haddas]

well for starters the table legs seem very different in sizes and shape. also. you could try different brush sizes for the cave walls. some rocks in it too perhaps?

[=The=Brat=]

ThankGod!

[Intoxicatedowl8]

Needs shading. Looks unprofessional (no offense). Result to tutorials to make it look professional.

[viktor]

Needs shading. Looks unprofessional (no offense). Result to tutorials to make it look professional.

hey not awerybody is an artist.

Don't worry you'll get beter in time. I know I did. Try looking at some tutorials, as intoxicated already said and practise a bit first.

[=The=Brat=]

righto ill try that. i would start using photoshop but when ever i try using brushes it comes up with "error blah blah blah this layer is not directly editable"

any ideas?

[Raider]

I think You should try with more basic programs, and then move slowly onto the advanced. I started with basic programs such as Ultimate paint and GIMP. Then moved onto a better program as I got better and had more practice.
About the BG:

Lighting----------------------------
The lighting is too over done. The places where the light sourse is should be lighter than everything around it, not the only place lit up. If you turn off the lights in your room at night, then turn on a lamp, it lights up most of the room, not just one area where the lamp is. The lamps should be bright in the centre of them.
Perspective------------------------------
I'm no expert on this but it appears that you don't have any vanishing points (or no obvious ones). The table is facing one way and the beds are facing another. I don't have any advice on thatÃ, 
Colour---------------------------------
I think that you are going for an army theme here. The camo beds and pillows are not right. You should go onto google and get a reference for the types of bedding the army has.
General-----------------------------------------
Over all it's a good start. Try to smooth things out. For example, the edges of the bed are rough and you have drawn over the lines. Just fix this and it will help. You havn't put any shading into the background either. There should be shadows from the bed and table from all of your light sources. Also the legs on the table should be straight and not triangular looking.
Character------------------------------------
The character's leg should be seen above his front leg, rather than below it. Make the body less square and more round. He looks like a robot at the moÃ, 

Hope it all helped.Ã, 

[=The=Brat=]

  thanks

but i would still like some info on that photoshop program

[Raider]

I don't use photoshop so, sorry...

[viktor]

righto ill try that. i would start using photoshop but when ever i try using brushes it comes up with "error blah blah blah this layer is not directly editable"

any ideas?

hm that's odd
do you see the layers pallet on your screen.
Choose the layer that your original image is on and then duplicate it (right click and "duplicate layer") Than click on the original layer and delet it (click on the little trash can). Now your image should be editable. I'm shure there is a much simplaer way of doing this but I can't remember any other now.

[=The=Brat=]

hmm . i have no idea what you talking about

look

i am using the line tool which i thought was like the one in paint. flash MX etc.

i have drawn a shape



now i wish to fill it so i get the paint bucket tool, choose a color and click inside the shape but this happens

[Andail]

Brat, you have managed to use "shape" lines instead of the ordinary, mspaint-variety.

Look at your first screen capture. See the diagonal line symbol in the top left corner?
Next to it, there are three square-like symbols. You should check the right-most one, the one that looks the most simple. That will give you ordinary lines, which you can fill.


Good luck.

[He-Man]

The way I make straight lines is with the pencil tool.
Make a dot where you want the line to start and make a dot where you want it to end while holding down shift. To make another line with starting point at the end of the first line simply make a third dot while holding down shift. That way you can easily make closed shapes that are easy to fill with colour afterwards...
This is also a good way to trace your scanned images...

[Andail]

And the background itself (sorry for double-posting; I did it for the sake of clarity):
* KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF THE FILTERS!
The lighting is horrible! Even if you don't believe you can pull it off manually, it's bound to come out better than what you have now.
* Keep it more simple. I don't know what the camouflage pattern is for, but it just looks messy. Start out easy; clean, straight lines with good clear colour fills.
* Use plenty of references in the beginning. Check out real rooms and places. Try to make your backgrounds resemble them in a clear and easy way.

I'm sounding harsh, but if you want to one day become a good background artist, you have to start out in a good direction. This is not a very good start, I'm affraid. Then again, you're very young and have lots of time to develop.

Next time you post a background, I hope to see something much more basic.