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No, I don't. It's just a good way to keep control over what you're doing.

Hehe, and here I was worrying I had skipped a step too many in the paint-over...

Beautiful portrait, Daniel, as always

It's all in the PSD, step by step.
Thanks!

One question; what exactly is the "adding some punch" layer? I see the effect, but is it based on some concept, or just a gut-feeling addition?

Just adding some punch so it's not so flat and even, to be honest it is very flat(especially cheeks and hair) because I didn't spend so much time working up the forms, just a mater of time. Gut-feeling sounds like a good way of explaining it.

I made a PSD while coloring your lineart, I think it contains a good base to get things started when coloring a painting with layers, especially when you are less experienced with painting and light as it allows a way to keep everything organized and you can apply it one by one in a logical way. Even if you paint from a reference I think it would be very educational to use layers this way as you can really see how it should be on the photo and you understand how to apply it yourself when painting. Instead of trying and just copy the colors bit by bit. And when you are done you can start looking into how you can improve it as a piece of art and not a copy, maybe enhance some bounce light to pop some forms out more? What about adding a little rim light to really define the silhouette and make it more interesting?


I think the most important thing is to read up in light and color, when one get the idea of light the rest becomes much easier as you can motivate your choices and have the answers to the problems.
And you can apply your own style: colorful, dark, simplified, detailed etc. Doesn't really matter as it's just an interpretation of how light and color actually work. You will also start making artistic choices where you know that it's not how it would be in real life but you are looking for a certain effect.

(great drawing by the way!)


http://www.danielthomas.se/upload/pics/Paintover.psd

Thanks guys!
Sorry for just popping in when there is updates.

There should be testing starting soon, so keep an eye out for any updates on that (no need to PM me, we will let you all know when we're ready).

We're still looking for someone to help us out with sound effects, if you're still interested let us know (you can find the wanted post on the first page)

I didn't read the question as he wanted to keep the lines.
But if you want to keep the lines but not have it so dark, you can always paint the outline as a darker color of the object. I also like to punch up the saturation of the line, but it depends on what effect you're looking for.
Another, obvious, one would be to make the lines thinner, or introduce line variation. That way they will seem more interesting. tamatic mention that they jump in to the foreground, you can make the foreground with thicker/darker lines, and thinner/lighter as you go back, like Monkey Island 3 - that way there is a clear distinction of where in the space the lines belong.

I'm not sure what you are asking, what happens when you remove the black lines(supposing it's on a layer)? Do you mean that when you remove the lines the shapes just blend together with to real edge? If so the solution is ofcourse to make the shape contrast each other more. For a very obvious example, look at Rembrandt, he uses light against dark a lot. You don't have to go so extreme, but it's just an idea that using light against dark creates a clear edge. And it is not a bad thing that some edges blend in to eachother(also refered as a 'lost edge'). Look at any image/painting and see how they did it, look how they create a good silhouette and make the object pop

http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt88a.jpg
http://www.dan-o-saur.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/2647.jpg

As for a process, you can use the lasso tool and fill the shapes using the lines as a guide(I think this is what Bill Tiller have done for the Vampyre Story background, you can see they have very crisp edges). That way you have a mask anytime you want to tweak a shape/edge.

Looking good!
Nice touch with the 'Dalahäst'.

Let's not hijack the thread, you can PM me and let me know what you are looking for.(sounding like a drug dealer? :/)

I think it's looking good, the drawing seems solid and people have mostly commented on stuff like the size of the clock. But you asked for technical suggestions.

Like I mentioned, the drawing is looking good, but where _I_ think it could be improved is the lighting/rendering and the focus of the composition.
The surfaces is kind of diffuse/smudgy and isn't reading as flat. I suspect it's suppose to be reflective, but even then the reflection probably could benefit for more accuracy to really sell the material of the surface. I would go in and really define the surfaces and take the light in to consideration so you have a clear break where the planes change. Another thing that could allow for more room for playing around would be that the light source could be stronger so we have the opportunity to really make the table under the lamp to be really bright and give a good focal point, we could actually use this bright light for any plane facing up to add some areas to stick out.

I did a paintover, but the texture is lost, so the surfaces might look too flat for your taste. To make light vibrant try and add more saturated color of the light as it fades off, you can see that I have more saturated blue around the lamp glow. Now that I look at the paintover I would tone down the highlight of the compartments behind the tables to really separate the back wall from the tables.



Anyway, I hope it helps somewhat. If you are looking for good material on light and practical application for art I would recommend http://www.schoolism.com/school.php?id=3
Sure, it costs, but so far this is the best book/dvd/tutorial/class I ever studied and it helped me a lot to really nail down and practice light and rendering.

Nine one Misj! Sorry you didn't have more time to spend on it, I would have loved to see a little more if the dark objects.

So anyway, with no other participants and no one asking for extensions I declare Misj the winner.

Well, if you want an extension it's fine by me.
If it's the topic that is the problem I can run a new one. But if it's people lack time/interest I'll just wait for someone to participate?

Ok, I'm really sorry about this, I'm have been really super busy and things are piling up.

Anyone, feel free to make a new comp, so I'm not holding it up for everyone else!

[Theme:]

Theme: A big world (or a tiny you)

Make a background where the world seem much bigger in scale then the possible player character.
It can be just a kitchen that is feels really large, or it can be a living room made out of small things like matches, pens etc. A big fantasy world, or just a kitchen owned by a mouse.
Making the sprites/characters 2pixels tall wouldn't be a practical solution, so try and make sure the world feels large in scale for a normal sized sprite.

Rules: AGS compatible

Deadline: 23 October

So not everyone could die a brave and honorable death, which usually meant that they got a free ticket into Valhalla.
But there was a way for even the cowards. There is a back gate where you could have one last chance to get in. The test? According to the rune stone you would voluntarily put you head on the piece of wood, and depending on the mood of the The Gate keeper you could either walk in with or without your head.

This podcast was very entertaining and informative, looking forward to the next one!

Elvis should have made it though!

My vote goes to amateurhour, which I think had a good clean and clear execution.

Sure do, as I'm no pixel artist I work ATLEAST in double the intended final size. But preferable x4.

So just to be clear on this, the rules are just a joke?

I'm sorry Snarky, I don't understand what you mean?

Ok, so I will need to announce Misj' the winner. So congratulation!

I don't know what happened to all the background creators in this forum, but I hope they come back soon!
Now go and get that new BG blitz up and running so I can paint some backgrounds!