Messages

N3TGraph:Thanks:)

BOYD1981: lol, that is seriously funny i really did laugh when i read your comment.  He used to have a red suit not orange so i was just testing if the santa Look was still there, im pretty sure its gone now:)

Yeh actually daisy is a crap name for a pirate ship.  SO i hereby officially launch the 'Name the Boat Competition'  Best name will get immortalised forever on this image.

Sslaxx:Thanks, I hear what your saying man but did you really NEED to repost the image seeing as its the only one in the thread, i think ppl are gonna know who your talking about.(Im not being a dick when i say this to you i just dont think there was any need to repost the image)  

yeh he is posing the main point of the pictures is the character and hes supposed to be saying like this is my dock.  And to do this pic i used various packages mainly painter classic and paint shop pro for editing colour ajusts and cropping.

Andail:Thanks,  the arm, yeh i have had ppl say about it before i think i will look into it as its got more than one comment now.  About his legs i worked real hard with his pose and im still not happy with it, bad planning on my part before going to paint:)

Not posted for a while, been busy working on stuff and trying to find art jobs and failing mainly.  So im back to doing mundane desk/office type work which bores me senseless and pays really badly.

This is for a competition/ Draw off from an art forum im a member at, based on the topic 'ragtag futuristic pirate leader from 2050, with background and non futuristic weapons etc'



comments crits and santa referances welcomed

Guybrush Peepwood: Thanks, Glad you like the Mummy

done this a coupla days ago based on the egyptian god Horus

Cpage: some good stuff there, check your pm i added some recent good links to check out.

couple of new works

Kung Fu - working on multi - figure scenes, i f&cked this one up:( didnt laydown enough perspective work intially)



and a portrait for face work

cpage: Thanks for the kind words, regarding the request i will more than happily comment and give pointers if your girlfriend were to start up her own thread in the critics lounge:)

Hueij: Nice one, cheers for the links

okay on with the rest of the tutorial this thread is almost dying so i get on with it

so i take my zombie sketch and want to give myself an idea on the colours of the character these are what i came up with



okay with the basis for the work outa the way i check my referance on crypts and have in mind a good idea of what one looks like i go to work from my rough ideas on a final composition.  

STEP 1
went for a widescreen effect here i intended to keep to the anarmorphic ratio of 1 : 2.35 as used on DVD's and on a lot of movies but i somewhat strayed from this ratio. bleh ill put it down to artistic license.




STEP 2
so i have my pencil art that i have scanned into my comp now i create layers 3 in total.  1st is the background colour, 2nd is the figure, and the 3rd and front one is the origional image which goes down as linework and gets multiplied so i can paint under it.




STEP 3
once i am happy with my basic layers of colour i flatten the image and start to work on top i want to remove basically all the black lines - they werent clean enough in the first place to keep but i intended this anyway




STEP 4
im not going to go into massive detail on the next few images because they are fairly self explanatory and i am just working up the image layer by layer




STEP 5
Keeping in mind my origional goal and making sure i enjoy what im doing are more important at this point than anything else




STEP 6
images read from left to right over here in the uk and most western countries, in japan etc they read the opposite way, but here i try to drag the viewers eye from the left to the right onto the zombie.




STEP 7
i am the first to admit i have still got lots to learn, so non of this is gospel just my own slant on what i have learnt so far.

okay here this is pretty much the final image so i test it in a few ways(in fact ive been doing this all along about 24 times in all thats over about a 4/ 5 hour painting session.   converting the image to greyscale and checking the values where i have got tonal balance i want the strongest extremes in the character mainly.  

You are supposed when painting in colour not really to be painting in colour, but actually you should be painting  in the values(the lights and darks) so working in colour just adds an extra factor into the equation.




STEP 8
and this i also do regulary mirroring the image in fact i had 24 stages i flip the image almost after every save.

This is to view it in a new and fresh way it allows you to see mistakes you wouldnt normally because you eye gets used to the image and it begins to look right





FINAL IMAGE
and with that i call it a day maybe ill come back in a few months and think wtf was i doing but today this is what i endud up with.

Okay I know there was a few requests for tutorials on the colouring etc before, its an interesting topic that i figure ill share what ive learnt so far, but you gotta start at the beginning first.  

Ill start by telling you about the latest piece im working on, Based on the classic horror icon the mummy!  

The idea is a piece of artwork that is going to push me a little with a background image, a foreground character and hopefully a dynamic pose and composition.

This is where i start where i warm up my a thumbnail sketch of what is in my head about 3 x 2 " tall, i do a few of these shown below.  
They shouldnt take long and just put the idea in your head, anything in the image that is complicated ie in the background there is gonna be a crypt where the mummy has come from(adding to the story a little) ill need referace for this on the materials size look etc.



Maybe not that relevant to the great adventure games created here, unless you are planning a fancy title screen maybe?
so something maybe more familiar character creation -  I know what my character is, i look at how the character has got to where he is - hes a mummy so hes dead so his skin is dying or dead, his muscle has wasted away
he is a shadow of himself and withough the strong muscles he is gonna hold his body in a gaunt weak way, hinting maybe at his past pysiche(not sure how you spell that)
so i have the basis here to lay down a static pose to work from later.

i start with the basic manequin frame that im pretty sure was made famous by an artist called andrew loomis. (look him up in google if you want to learn more- truly awsome artist)



So once i have the basic frame size etc and proportions down now i can lay more into the detail, this is my favourite bit so far, i get to bring the character more to life added a few detail touches like his uncovered mouth, hands and some jewelery etc that has not rotted over the years.



So thats it so far, next step to come!

Jason: Thanks
my latest piece i figure half naked ladies sell and if im pitching my work why not appeal to the ppl who are going to be judging it  8)

Nice Design, and i like the image in the gallery too nice confident lines and shapes.

I realise you dont want to mess with tables etc but focusing on the positive aspects that rollover buttons would have in making the page come alive.  

A second point to consider is that on your sketchbook the navigation is totally different to your first page it took me a minute to realise where i needed to look to go back to the main, only a small ergonomic point but worth keeping in mind -  i only bring these points up because i think the work is worthy of a good showcase!  8)

done 18/11/2003 - half man half crocodile

just started on a new piece based on the romans heres my intial character sketch.

redid the alien today from before in grayscale ready to be printed.

Igor: Thanks, yes i realised my figures can be slightly stiff:( something i am working towards)

Neole: Hey man long time no see!, yeh i pop into CA chat every once and again, i chat on a channel for another forum now called joined artists:). (check your pm's dude)

MrColossal: Yeh i hear what your saying but dont forget in jpeg compression you lose a lot of clarity.  In conflict i was hoping to catpure atmosphere and movement and struggle over detail, but i am never one to shy away from a challange i have made a few changes to both the latest pics.

a few more defining lines and a new crop for peace


conflict



peace

wow thanks for the kind comments everyone 8)

i got ribbed by my mates for this one they though it was soppy!
the second out of the 3 pieces, this one is 'Peace'

Erwin_Br: cheers:)

here is my latest work i did 3 pieces on 3 topics this was 'conflict'

awsome pic:) i think the skyline could look better a little highter up on the pic
but nice lines:)

re intrerpretation of the crow character

agreed my foreshortening does need work just another area on my long list of skills to aquire that i have to work on