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There's this movie reviewer in Brisbane called Des Partridge.

I like his reviews, but he gets his facts wrong every now and then.

Man, that's an admirable attitude, DG!

Exactly! And no filter could make those colors and shapes. If one hasn't tried it out, I suppose it's pretty hard to appreciate it, I guess. But hey, if he can do it with a filter - more power to him!

As for the filter, he thought it could have been some kind of a scratch filter. I don't know, beats me. He wasn't that willing to try the filter out.

Anyway, it was really annoying at the time but after the rant it's all good. I won't try to argue with him about art again!

I get that feeling a lot from one of my friends. He's one of the few guys who's interested in serious discussion, like debates and such, but he just keeps going "you're wrong, I'm right".

Here's a situation I had a couple of weeks ago. I showed my friends (that guy being one of them) a digital painting made by Craig Mullins, who I respect a lot. He's definitely one of the most skillful artists around these days, in my opinion. If anyone has ever checked Sijun forums, you'll see that I'm not the only one thinking that way.

Here's the image I'm talking about, if anyone wants to agree or disagree with me.

The first response is "what's so good about that?" The next one was "he probably used filters on that". I was completely stunned. Then he goes "you probably don't even know what can be done with filters." It was no use pointing out the perspective, composition and the wonderful hues. Funny how I got so angry over such a minor issue. It's just the feeling of how can anyone be SO WRONG. Added to the fact that the guy knows very little about art. I kind of regret for being so supportive for his art. It obviously was only encouraging him to believe he's good at art, instead of motivate working harder. Although I'm not going to make him feel bad by being destructively critical about his art experiments in the future either, I might recommend a reality check.

It's just that when someone who really knows basically nothing about art starts telling me what the painting is and isn't... That's a pissed of Pessi, something you don't see that often.

Something I probably shouldn't say but just have to - I get this same feeling everytime I hear someone praise the Kill Bill movie. When they start going on about style and whatever...   I haven't heard anyone give good enough reasons to prove me that they would actually respect the movie for something else than Tarantino. Actually, when I told my older brother that I didn't really like the movie, he responded "do you know who directed that movie?" The friend I was talking about earlier said the movie had ingenious camera angles etc. When I asked him to show me one, he just said that you'd need an expert on that field. RIGHT. Not that Tarantio wasn't an amzing director but some criticism wouldn't be bad once in a while. I totally agreed with Eric on the Kill Bill thread, as frustrating as it was.

But then again, who's right, who's wrong? They enjoyed the movie, I didn't. They win. Besides, when it comes to movies it's more of a matter of opinion. I've just seen too much unreasoned praise that really goes beyond anything I've seen before.

I hope I'm not making this another Kill Bill thread.   If anyone wants to prove me wrong (which would be great) - PM me. Otherwise, rant on!

Let's get this baby rolling! Sorry, it's a quick, unimaginative one - i'm working on my speed. Even though it shouldn't come at the expense of imagination.

Not just yet. I just rediscovered the tutorial/image a couple of days ago. It was just lying around on my HD in my 'amazing images' folder. This will be the technique I'll be using for my studies though. I hope I'll be able to post something here at some point.

Man, how much stuff can you put in that long a paragraph, Lili! Seriously, it's been a long while that I saw someone say nothing with that many words. Even I can't beat that.

Anyway, great to see that the situation is starting cool down. And I think Eric rocks at moderating.

Fantastic, dude!!! Man, that is absolutely amazing. Heh, there's not much more to say. I don't think the background is too dark. Lighter value would kind of mix with the character, I reckon.

I've actually read that tutorial before. I definitely like the end result - especially yours - but still I don't feel comfortable using dodge and burn tools. It's just that they don't take the hue variations much into consideration. Though I admit I'm not that good at those anyway but I want to learn.

Here's a method I've been using lately. It makes learning pretty fast. The tutorial is made by HPX - http://hpx1.free.fr/index.php .

Here's the actual tutorial.

Yeah, I think strazer meant to her right. That's how it looks to me.

I think it's cool otherwise but the face could look more feminine. Cause my first impression was to wonder if it's a man in women's clothes. Honestly! It might be because it's pretty small on my screen but I also zoomed in at it still kind of looks masculine. I don't know if it's just me though.

I think Plasticman has a point. Nonetheless, I think it's just because of a understandable misunderstanding.

I think Farlander should've made it more clear that he used Ben as reference and merely wants to get rid of that look and make it more original. I don't think there's anything wrong with copying as a means to learn. It's just that you need to make it very clear so no one will think you're trying to take credit for someone else's work. I once made some DOTT background copies and I got great feedback - mostly because it was obvious that they were copies. It worked as a great exercise and motivator for me.

As far as the character goes, I really like the pants. I think their shape is way better than the original's. There's a hint of Indiana Jones there but still. I think what you should change to make it look less like Ben are the proportions. Not completely, but make him a bit skinnier. I think the new hands by Loominous, for example, are great. They make a significant change without actually changing the proportions. Not that you couldn't change them as well but it would be much work.

Another thing is the color theme. Even if you should keep the same clothes, changing their color and details would make him look a lot different, I reckon. I think making the outlines a bit less Full Throttleish (thinner) would also help in making him look different.

Looks nice, Reiska! Generic hi-tech background stuff - and that's a compliment for looking professional.

I'd like to see some other hues as well, even just little hints of them. Using one hue always makes images look a bit dead. Although I can't really say that about the Blue image - it's definitely alive!

Nice work!

Heh, I think it's called helping out or something like that.

I think resolutions are overrated. I've seen too many people playing Counter-Strike at 1600x1200. Come on, the resolutions of the textures are probably like 256x256! In theory at least, the game looks worse at higher resolution - the edges of the polygons are more clearly visible. Lower resolution smooths out much of the edges.

As far as desktop resolutions go, I think it is reasonable to use something like 1280x1024 on 19" monitor for example (as I do ). 1600x1200 on 21" monitor is also quite reasonable in my opinion. I, for example, got the idea of getting a bigger monitor with bigger resolution when I used 3D Studio MAX and Photoshop. They're both full of tools and the actual working space gets too small. With hi-poly models you need to be zooming constantly.

By the way, those who use Photoshop with low-resolution - check out what happens when you press tab or letter F.

To the point, finally! As far as the AGS homepage goes - I think 800x600 is still one of the resolutions that need to be considered when making a website. 320x200 size for the images isn't that unreasonable as they're probably the original resolutions of the screenshots plus they don't look too small at 800x600 resolution.

Is there a way to make the whole site (bitmaps included) scale according to the user's resolution?

Personally, I think it's a bit flat because of the lack of shading and also a tad too detailed for cartoon look. Talking about criticism!

I've learned to put great emphasis on defining the shape with values. As you said, there's no shading so it's just hard for me to make out the shape instantly. The details do shape the object but only after a bit of inspection. Anyway, don't take my word for it. I'm not good at pixel work nor am I that educated anyway. Just my opinion.

Techically, it looks fantastic - very accurate work. I especially like the black outline as it really ties the thing together. It's perfect as it is - just not my style!

I agree, sketching is much more fun and easier with pencil and paper. However, graphics tablet isn't trying to rival those tools. I think it's more meant for coloring work (and of course CAD and whatever). It's a lot easier to color an image and practice painting with a graphics tablet than oil paints or the kind.

I don't even want to think how much canvas I would've wasted practicing, had I used real paints. Anyway, that's just my opinion. Real paints are of course the number one choice when making 'real' art. You know what I mean.

I have definitely not regretted getting one. I have Wacom Graphire 2. Costs about 100$, I think.

How useful it is for you depends on your style and workflow. If you like painting freehand, as if you were really painting - it's definitely what you should get. If you're more of a pixel-pusher and like using line tools and paint-buckets, it may not be for you. Then again, I, for example, changed the way I work when I got the tablet.

It takes some time to get used to it however. The first couple of times I used the tablet I was kind of disappointed. I really couldn't make any straight lines or anything I would want to see in a game. However, it got better really soon. Especially after finding the smoothing tool in PS.

I personally think it's worth it. You could spend the money in much useless things. OK, that doesn't sound that good.

Actually, Farlander, she's a better person than most of us. For a while I thought she was better at drawing. Phew! Seriously - great stuff, Trapezoid's sister!

Eric: Really great artists there! Many of which I haven't seen earlier. Thanks!

I personally like Craig Mullins' work over any other (that I've yet seen).

http://www.goodbrush.com/

Here's another one I'd suggest. Very, very good but not as good as Mullins.

http://hpx1.free.fr/

Here are some pieces from the masters like William Bouguereau. UNBELIEVABLE stuff.

http://www.artrenewal.com/

Great work, Farlander!

I like the second image more because it's more lively than the first one. Probably due to more color variation, contrast and shapes like the shadows cast on the wall. However, I get the impression that this one relies greatly on reference. Though I might be wrong.

I think it would help a lot if you drew shadows in the first image. It always helps in making the scene more interesting because of the new shapes. Shadows also give depth to the image.

I think the shadows are also the main reason for the fact that in the second image you pay more attention to the entrance than in the first one - in the first one I just keep staring at the windows. It's where the greatest contrast lies. The window frames are of the brightest color in the image, and the windows (or what you see through them) are of the darkest color there is in the scene. I think this is what makes them so prominent. In the second image, on the other hand, there's a reflection of the sky in the windows that makes them pretty bright and thus have less contrast. The viewer won't think they're an important part of the scene.

The second image attracts the eye to the entrance with contrast created by the bright pillars & sign and the open (dark) windows & door.

By the way, if you want to try it out, make the shadows a bit more blue. Like in the second image where they're actually in most places red but they look blueish because they are getting closer to blue and further away from orange.

Anyway, I'm starting to confuse myself so I'll just leave it at this. By the way, what's this painting system you're talking about?

Thanks for the article, DGMacphee! That was a great.

I have totally forgotten about thinking what I'm actually doing when creating a scene. Thanks for the reminder and additional information. Very, very useful!

Usually the first thing that I pay attention to in a movie is the color theme. I always hope it's all bright and happy colors. No matter what it is like though, it has the greatest impact on the atmosphere for me.

Sorry, the server seems to be a bit unstable. I hope you can make something of the image at some point.

Me me me!

It's bound to be one of the best AGS games. I suppose it's too much of an axiom to be mentioned or something. Actually, the reason why I didn't mention it was that I all forgot about it. It's definitely up there in my list with Bad Timing.