woodsy picture for C&C

[Anarcho]

I haven't made a lot of backgrounds set outside, so I'd like a bit of c&c.  Do the trees in the foreground look ok?  How about the forest in the background?  I'd like to put something in that empty hilly space near the middle, but I'm not sure what.  I'd also like to change the horizon a bit, but not sure how.  Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

Logan

[The Ivy]

I like it a lot.Ã,  It looks almost like a lodge on top of a mountain, looking out into a thick fog.Ã,  If it's a woodsy setting you're trying to establish, though, you'll probably want to add a few odd trees to the snowy hills (so they don't look so much like mist).Ã,  Maybe a winding path or something in the distance would help too.

I really like the colours, they're in keeping with your style but I'm glad to see more saturated values come through.Ã,  Also, snow isn't easy to draw (and I see it four months a year ), so kudos to you for getting that down.

The foreground trees seem kind of unlikely; just imagine that those black branches are the very tops of trees and you'll see what I mean.Ã,  Unless there's a sharp drop off in the foreground, they're far too short (and making them taller would obscure your picture somewhat).Ã,  I suggest drawing them like the shorter trees you have next to and across from the house.Ã,  Also, I'd get rid of the black tree in front of the short tree on the left; for a second it looked like the tops of the foreground tree's branches were brown.

Good luck with this, I look forward to seeing any improvements you make.

[Khris]

As usual, the bg needs only very minor improvement

What The Ivy said, and:
-The top one of the piled logs looks like it would fall down any moment.
-The door is too wide. From this point of view, the 2d-width should be slightly more than one half of the actual width.
-The right edge of the door is almost completely visible when it should be obscured more by the frame, especially the doorknob.
-There's a completely snow-free path to the stairs, is there some kind of underground heating?

That's all just nit-picking, of course, excellent work!

[DonB]

You might be the best artist for horrorgames around here...
great atmosphere.. as usual

[Tuomas]

Just a few not to add to those first posts.
-If I were you, I'd check the walls of the house again, or to be specific, the broads. THe ones in the "door side" are a tiny bit wider than the ones after the corner to the window.
-then I'd lower the horizon a bit... and add some trees too
Adn I wonder what's that gray-brown-ish wall under the porch and the satirs, I thought it night be some concrete bases to keep the house together, but yet it leaves a hole under the sairs in the front, not on the side... just looks odd to me. OH, and the snow looks a bit like it's going into it. maybe give some darker shading?

[MarVelo]

For the sky: I suggest that you lower the horizon as Tuomas said, and lighten the color of the sky to a brighter grey and use the current color for a layer of dark clouds on the top edge of the sky.

[Anarcho]

So Ivy, what you're saying about the foreground trees is that basically they're too thick?  I was just thinking that with the vanishing point so high, by the time you get down to the foreground trees you're basically looking down on them from above...so you'd see the lowest branches hanging out.  Does anyone share The Ivy's opinion about the branches?

I'll try taking out that black branch to the far left...

Now that I look at it, the background hills look like mist.  I'll try and add some trails or something.

khrismuc, you're always on my case about doors!    I'll fix the width.

Tuomas, yeah that brown was supposed to be  foundation, but for whatever reason i didn't carey it over to the right side of the house.  And i hadn't thought about that hole under the stairs.  I think originally it was just supposed to be a porch, but then I expanded it without thinking.

Taffytom, I'll play around with your clouds idea.

I always hesitate to post things here because I don't want people to see my whole game before it's done, but you're always so helpful.  Thanks for the help!

Logan

[DanClarke]

I like it very much, my comments for the detailling have already been listed, however my main crit would be on your choice of colours.

From your previous game, your hue and tone selection seemed fantastic, there a few parts of this scene that seem a little off for me presently though:

-The cabin itself seems too saturated, far too colourful considering the colour of the sky and the surroundings.
-The trees on the left are also too bright and bold in their colour

It just seems that your art style has a particular tone when it comes to colour, and these two seem to throw it a little. You could try making a pallete of colours up so that you know exactly which greens/browns/ etc you can use to keep everything consistent.

Apart from that it's a nice piece and i look forward to the next game

[Anarcho]

Man, last time i posted a picture I got criticized for not using enough saturation.  I thought I'd use some different colors on this one, but maybe it backfired. 

Dan, do you have any suggestions on how to fix the trees in the foreground? 

[DanClarke]

I think your style is great, and the muted tones are what give it it's personality, so i wouldnt take something like that as criticism.

For the trees, id suggest the branches would be higher, if you follow the vanishing point, theoritcally the trees in the foreground would seem a lot larger than the ones in the BG, so the branches would be situated higher.

[Mordalles]

wow, looks great, like always.