Style test - Need Crits on background artwork

[Supernorn]

Hey there!

I've been reading up on these forums for a few months - But finally registered today. So I guess that makes me a newbie. So.. *ahem* Hello!

I've been working on a style test for what could become a game. It's the standard "Detective's Office" but I've tried to bring in some influences from the LucasArts games, Most notable would probably be Day of the Tentacle (and it's surrealist tendancy to throw perspective out of the window) and Sam & Max.

I've been seeing stuff that suggests you guys tend to really favour the pixel art and low resolution look, which i'm passionate about. But I felt like I wanted to try something a little higher res. So, don't hold that against me okay?

I've been staring at this for about four days, so it's easy to start losing perspective. So really, Im just trying to get some feedback right now on the style. What do you like/dislike, and what could I do to improve?


Orig Size 1024x768 - WIP

- Thanks!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Welcome to the forums!  I really like your style and the general composition is classy.  The only issue I see with it is that your lighting and shadows are a bit drab, giving the office a very plain greyish look.  Try making the light coming through the window a bright orange so it plays against the desk and chair more and get some deeper shadows so the room has more color contrast.  Those tentacle supports are great.

[JuuJuu]

When I first saw it I said, "Wooow."
It's great artwork. Makes me want to play it.

The first thing I did notice (and as it was stated in the first reply post) was the window. There needs to be a bit of light coming through it.

Also the light from the lamp needs to have some light shining onto the desk.

I also want to say great job with the simple, little details. The letters on the Fridge, the plant on the windowsill, and the little corner shelf are all very impressive.
(I also love the boxes marked "More Files" and "Even more Files" on the top left.

[Uhfgood]

I don't know anything about lighting, and the background looks pretty nice but I think it's a little too busy.

[pslim]

DoTT is really not my favorite art style but I really enjoy your background. I love the color composition, although I agree with the others that it could benefit from some deeper and more dynamic lighting. You have some fun opportunities for light interaction with the small bulb in the ceiling, the window, and the various electronic lights around the place. Some more aggressive reflection of the small, colored lights, as well as more complex interaction between the overhead light and the light from the window would really give it depth I think.

[Nacho]

That' s what I call a good way to introduce yourself, mate! (No trolling, and a humble "Can you help me with this?" in spite of saying "Look how good I am!")

Something you could have said... It's amazing.

On the other hand, the fridge really puzzles me... Even in warped perspective, we should see much less of the top, and more of the side. And it seems to me rediculously lack of deep... You couldn' t put a sixpack of beer there without touching the end

Apart of that, very nice!

[Andail]

I think you have a good eye for shapes and lines, and the composition is clean and nice.

My advice would be to use light and shadow as a way to express depth. The scene is pretty flat right now; for instance the table would take a much more 3-dimensional form if you applied more light on the top and let the sides remain darker.

Also mind that a surface that is being lit with a coloured light must still be rendered brighter, even though the light has a hue. The areas around the blue light above the door and the red light on the fridge seem painted rather than illuminated; you need to make them first brighter and then apply just a soft hue.

The foreground; make the silhouette sharp.
And add some texture to the floor, it needs some details.

Over all, good job so far!

[ThreeOhFour]

I agree with Andail that using light and shade to show depth is something to look at -the arms of the chair look particularly flat to me.

I must say it's the nicest background I've seen in ages, you've gome some talent there

[Jaime37]

WoW !!
It´s excelent ! I´m work so hard but I´ll never make a background so good like this one !! Wich program and tecnique have you used to make this artwork ??!!!

[Darth Mandarb]

What a pleasant surprise...

I agree with all the fine artists who've already commented on the lighting/shadows!  Could really help punch this up!

You have a great talent! 

I know this probably won't go over well but I'm gonna say it anway ...

I would love to see you do something in this technique, but without the wacky perspective.  Such clean lines and fine details (at the higher resolution) doesn't, for me, work well in this off-perspective style.  Something that follows proper perspective, but in this technique, would surpass most commercial games.  That's just my own feelings of course

I, too, noticed the tentacle supports right way.  Very nice addition!

[Ryan Timothy B]

Definitely, Very nice.

I think I disagree with Darth on that one.  I think I'd rather see you draw in this wacky perspective with the cartoon colors and shapes.  You do a good job at it.  Looks great.

I really love the wires for the monitor going into the desk drawer.

I'd love to see what style of character you had in mind for this style of background.

[InCreator]

Amazing background! Truly, it is.

Crits too:

* upper part of the image is badly done. I mean, boxes on top of shelves, all the detail there, it looks too bland and blurry, doesn't stand out from background thus won't contribute much detail. Brighter colors and better defined edges, maybe even stronger shadows are a must.

* I would turn up light/shadow contrast a bit. Super lighted parts like desktop light and window - and yet everything's so ambient-lighted?

* floor would use a bit more details.

* Tiny increase in contrast and saturation overall is something I would definitely try.

[Supernorn]

Thank you for your comments everyone, it's a great help. I've been working on an updated version that should be ready for crit within the next few days.

I've been using another monitor today and I've noticed that the background art does look very gray/drab compared to what I was seeing on the screen I was using before. So I'm gonna take a look and see what I can do about bringing the contrast up.

As for the lighting, I forgot to mention that I hadn't really got stuck into that yet. I'd started on some basic lighting, but I agree that it's the thing that needs the most work right now.  Hopefully I'll make it less subtle and there'll be some proper depth to the image.

Some of the detailing mentioned in the upper area like the photo frames, and other things on the walls are noticably simpler in design and shape. I wanted things of less significance to look simple and subtle so as not to detract from the main parts of the room, as it can get too busy. I'll look into the blurriness Increator, I might be able to bring it out a bit more with some shadowing also.

Jaime37, you wanted to know what program I used and techniques. I started by drawing my original concept on paper, where I then scanned it into the computer. I then used Photoshop to draw digitally over the original image. I found the Elliptical Marquee tool, & Polygonal Lasso tool to be the most useful in doing this.  Here's a link to the original drawing.

You can see I eventually moved away from the original design and expanded on it: http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3830/44im4.jpg

- Thanks again!

[Supernorn]

Update #1:

Thanks for all your suggestions, Especially in regards to the lighting. I wouldn't say it's final, as there's some minor stuff that needs tweaking and fixing - But I think it's a big improvement and wanted to show you guys what I've done so far..

ProgZmax:
Try making the light coming through the window a bright orange so it plays against the desk and chair more and get some deeper shadows so the room has more color contrast.

Andail:
My advice would be to use light and shadow as a way to express depth.... the table would take a much more 3-dimensional form if you applied more light on the top and let the sides remain darker.
...The foreground; make the silhouette sharp. And add some texture to the floor, it needs some details.

InCreator:
...boxes on top of shelves, all the detail there, it looks too bland and blurry, doesn't stand out from background thus won't contribute much detail. Brighter colors and better defined edges, maybe even stronger shadows are a must.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Looks great!  There's much more color variation in this version and my eye is drawn towards the desk and the board behind it where the details are (I assume you want the focus to be there).  Great work!

[loominous]

Nice!

Cool to see some hi-res experimentation, think it looks great.

While I think it works really well on a detail level, I think the overall impression could be improved.

This is most easily spotted if you look at the image at a really small size:



In this size it looks kinda crap to be honest, and I think it's due to a lack of focus. There are these big dull areas of grey n brown that don't do much except steal focus. Some objects pop out due to their colour, like the door, but no areas are really pulling our attention.

This larger impression is lost on us when we look at the image up close, as we're distracted by all these nice details, but it has a huge impact.

A very simple way of creating focus and soft contrast is by darkening the edges of the image (mostly the ceiling), make the center area the brightest, and give this area a tint of some kind.

Here's a slightly over the top quick example, just by adding two adjumentlayers: (the photoshop (cs3) file)

(animated gif)


You can see the overall effect once again more clearly when zoomed out:



While we don t really have a particular object in focus now, at least we have an area of interest, where the viewer is lead. Creating contrast like this is like putting in a huge arrow pointing toward the center saying 'Look here!'. The tint and values also create a significant contrast, while avoiding the harsh look that upping the overall contrast would've created.

Anyway, this edit changed much of the mood/look of the background, and it might not be even close to what you were going for, but it's more meant as an attempt at making a point rather than delivering an improved version.

Hope to see more from you!

[goldensox]

really reaaly nice and classy, not my style, but its so great i kinda nostalgia'd the first time i saw it.

flawless art and composition, look forward for your artworks

[Trent R]

I like and agree with what loominous was saying with the vignette effect, although I wouldn't go with such a yellow hue for it.

~Trent

[markbilly]

Really impressive!

What loominous said, but using a more grey-blue colour or even something closer to white rather than the yellow...

[Supernorn]

Thanks for the tip, Loominous.

The angled lighting on the floor was supposed to be a subtle way of directing your eyes to the centre of the room. But if you shrink it down then that visual aid is lost, so you do have a good point.

I've done something similar to what you've suggested, Obviously it won't be as strong as your example, as that was an exaggeration on your part to get the point across. There's a possibility that it's too subtle? but I think it makes a difference and adds a bit of focus.