Background to crit (especially lighting)

[Venus]

I've finally decided to start working on my game again. This is supposed to be the first screen of the intro.

1st version

I wanted to create a cosy, comfortable living-room on a dark and cold winter's night. It took me hours to get this far, but now I just can't go on without some c&c. There are still some things that I don't like and I'm very unsure about my lighting and shadows. Don't know how to improve it, though. Maybe you guys can help...
In game, the fire will be animated and I'm intending to have some snow falling down outside.
All c&c and paint-overs are more than welcome.

EDIT:
2nd version
3rd version
4th version
5th version
6th version
7th version
8th version
9th version

10th and finished version:



Thanks for all the help! 

[Afflict]

Its a very good pic Venus.

I am wondering about the light above the fire place.
I also think that the shadows angle of the chair should be pointing more down.
The space between the bookshelf and firplace should be darker. (like the top)

Thats my c&c hope it helped

Keep up the good work!

Afflict

[stuh505]

Very nice drawing, with very bad lighting

[Afflict]

Very nice drawing, with very bad lighting

I am sure that was appreciated....   

[Kweepa]

If you've drawn the shadows on a separate layer, perhaps you can post the unlit room for paintovers.

[Mozesh]

It's really good, well let's say the lightning isn't so good as the drawing itself
I personally hate to sit on a chair that's in the middle of the room, well that's just me...err ignore that.

[Venus]

Very nice drawing, with very bad lighting

I am sure that was appreciated....   

Well, that's basically what I think myself. Could have been a bit more constructive though. What exactly is bad about it? How can I improve it?

I had another go at  it (trying to improve the points Afflict pointed out to me) and this is what I came up with. Any better?



Here is the bg without lighting and shadows.

EDIT: fixed the link

[Ubel]

Wow! Excellent background! The second version of the shading is much better, very atmospheric, but the light on the bookshelf is wrong somehow... it's just hard to say how you could improve it...

I think we need some loominous here

[Afflict]

Very nice drawing, with very bad lighting

Well, that's basically what I think myself. Could have been a bit more constructive though. What exactly is bad about it? How can I improve it?

Yeah hes stating the obvious, you already knew that.

Your latest attempt is way better, I feel the room is much more cozy, and all the
colours just improves with the darker appearance. Ã, The chair shadow is still bugging
me a little. And the table shadow might becoming out a little too much now...
The bookshelve  yeah, maybe do it at an angle? not like a sphere.
Oh and one more thing the light should be brighter above the lamp as the shade is
open and not closed!

Keep going at it and I am sure youll get it perfect soon enough.

[Venus]

Thanks for all the feedback so far.
Here is another version. I changed the chair's and table's shadows and the lighting of the bookshelves.



Better?

EDIT: Comparing the two latest versions, I somehow like the first one's over-all appearance better. Anyone with me there?

Ah, some loominous would be really great now... 

[Miez]

The last version is really nice. Very atmospheric ... some things that I would change:

- make the light falloff from the lamp a little more smooth, especially on the bookcase. It goes from illuminated by the lamp to near black very suddenly.

- the fire in the fireplace might illuminate the inside of the fireplace and the carpet in front of it some more.

- there's something odd about the snow outside. But I can't put my finger on it.

But all in all it's a really pretty BG, it feels very warm and cozy.

[stuh505]

You make the shelves too dark in the edit

Your main problem before was that you put such sharp edges on all the shadows, which should be imperceptibly gradual

[Venus]

Thanks miez and stuh. You really gave me some useful tips. I did another version:



I like this version best so far. What do you think?

I'm gonna get some sleep now, because I've been working on this background for 12 hours almost non-stop. Thanks for all the feedback. It already helped me a lot to improve my lighting skills. Keep the c&c coming.

EDIT: Damn, I can't stop. Another quick new version with things that were bothering me:

[stuh505]

Nice revision.

* Where the light hits the bookshelves, the illumination should drop off a bit since some of the light is occluded by the side wall of the bookshelf.

* The chair should not have such a long and sharp-edged shadow.  For one thing shadows get blurrier the farther they are from the base.  And for another thing, you have a fireplace causing additional illumination which is going to be helping to cancel out the shadow as well.

* Try adding a bit of browns into the lampshade on the edges, because the light should be brighter in the center of the shade and less bright on the edges where its not coming out toward the viewer

[Khris]

I'm not too good at drawing shadows, but here's the way to determine their shapes:



Quite sloppy, it's late

[Venus]

Thanks a lot krishmus. I had already tried to determine where the shadows should be using the method you showed, but I simply missed some lines. Your adjustments really helped me a lot. Danke 

Here ist the latest version:



What do you think?

[Kinoko]

Now THAT looks good. Very impressive background ^_^

[Venus]

Thanks, Kinoko. I'm quite satisfied with it myself, but it took ages to make. I'm never gonna finish this game 
Anyhow, here is another (hopefully finished?) version with some minor changes:



May I call this one finished?

[DanClarke]

Just a small querie, why is the sofa facing away from the fire? surely itd make sense to have things like chairs facing the fire in as room like this, as most homes do.

[Gilbert]

Maybe there's a plasma TV on the wall it's facing?