Other artists inspirations and References

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Lx_121
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Lx_121 »

back after an unintended absence;

here's a change of pace, also old public domain art & from wmc

reminds me of an image from one of the old myth-series rts games, but as the painting is considerably older, i expect the original inspiration was the other way around...

"apotheosis"

(will add the artist name &c. when i get hte time to go look them up again >___<)

ideal for a massively bleak cut scene illustration "after the battle"
:lol2:
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Apotheosis.jpg
Lx_121
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Lx_121 »

Not sure if/how much east asian-themed material we have (so far) in the wesnothian metaverse, but i'm doing mostly japanese stuff @ wikimedia currently, & have some very nice items, so i'll be doing that as a "theme" on & off

1st item a 200+ yr old japanese painting, art-scraped from ebay

(painting is public domain - old; photos are "faithful reproductions" & therefore not copyrightable. wish i could have bought & scanned the original, but it over my max-limit :cry: )

it's in rough shape but it's EXCELLENT work; master-quality, superb detail

this is a samurai, in a lane/roadway between blossoming cherry trees; the petals are falling around him (& all over the painting like snow).

does not appear to be a portrait painting of someone "real"; not sure if he image is of a specific figure in Japanese history/mythology or not.

call him "light cavalry" - mounted archer with sword & NO lance/pole weapon

armour is not as heavy/bulky as the "standard" samurai most people are used to seeing, & note the way he wears his outer kimono over one shoulder (bit like hussars/uhlans/etc.); shirt is a mesh material, not sure if that would use chainmail/wire/something metal, but the "plates" are likely metal. have seen more images of this type of gear, can research in depth if anyone cares/needs the info

note the small stuff in this image: ALL details of his equipment appear to be accurate representations; there were/are many different "styles' of samurai gear, spread over the long history of the place, but this artist knew his sh*t.

i work with japanese culture/samurai gear materials @ wm ongoing, & there's nothing in the image that i can see that is "wrong"

final observation: the horse's tail is rather enthusiastically "fluffed out"; in Japanese folklore multi-tailed animals are considered to have extraordinary powers, & i suspect that the artist was playing with that concept.

or maybe the horse really did go for extra-credit: best in show

:lol2:
Attachments
k40002.JPG
k40006.JPG
k40007.JPG
k40011.JPG
k40010.JPG
fmunoz
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by fmunoz »

Condensed human figure tutorial from http://coelasquid.deviantart.com/art/Ho ... -104342407
Spoiler:
Edit:Added spoiler tags to save space
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Frogger5
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Frogger5 »

It's best to put giant things like that in a spoiler, so they don't take up so much space.
My spritework can be seen here.

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artisticdude
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by artisticdude »

I came across another huge site full of all sorts of weapons and armor. It provides a lot of inspiration for little old me, who is right now busily spriting something from one of their weapons. :P
http://www.heavenlyswords.com/
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Major
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Major »

Here's a little inspiration for more fantasy styled armour.

http://www.legendsforums.com/images/com ... our_23.jpg
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thespaceinvader
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by thespaceinvader »

http://shadowcloven.deviantart.com/art/ ... -135249271 could be useful as reference when we finally come to animating the wolves.
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Jetrel
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Jetrel »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Hospitallers

There is a series of illustration on that page, which depict knightly equipment in 50-year intervals. Quite well-done, too.
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dipseydoodle
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by dipseydoodle »

I used that as some inspiration as well a while back. Thanks Jet. :D
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Jetrel
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Jetrel »

The attached image is copyright Kevin "kaiseto" Chaloux. I'm reposting this single paragraph of his larger tutorial in case something takes out his site (a scare I just had at this moment, because his site had moved). I'm posting this section in particular because he touches on a very important aspect of pixel art that no one else seems to have ever covered in any tutorial. The full tutorial is well worth reading:
http://www.purloux.com/artwork/tutorials/rundown/

kaiseto wrote:Dithering adds texture. It's unavoidable. A lot of amateur pixel artists overdither their pieces and end up with a very rough looking surface that should appear smooth, because they overdithered the piece. Personally, I don't like to use dithering unless I'm trying to make a gradient, or I'm specifically trying to add texture.

With that being said, changing up your dithering patterns can add cool textures to your pieces, and really enhance things.
ditherstyle.png
ditherstyle.png (1.32 KiB) Viewed 17294 times
These are just some I pulled from the top of my head. As you can see, each creates a different texture. In my opinion, this is where the dithering technique really shines. Get creative with your patterns!
My advice when pixelling is straight-out - avoid dithering unless you intend to add a texture. Of course - feel free to experiment with dithering all you want - lots of fun and interesting things can come of it, but do NOT fall into the newbie misconception that all pixel art should have dithering in it, which is unfortunately common.

I mean, I've made a nice piece or two that's been dithered from here to the moon, but that's generally been in spite of the dithering, not because of.


The worst thing about dithering is that it guzzles time like crazy, for little return. All it does is blends colors; it can't fix anything essential about your drawing any more than a smudge stick can fix the anatomy in a pencil piece. A similar newbie mistake I've fallen into numerous times is having a drawing I'm only marginally happy with, and dithering it like crazy in hopes I can somehow redeem it. It never works - I've blown 8-hour sessions on it and ended up with nothing but a mess.
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wayfarer
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by wayfarer »

Don't know if it is the right place either way mods haven't a live anyways, so they can do some overtime. :wink:

I recently stumpled upon this guy.
For someone who want's to learn a bit more about painting and protraits the guy is gold with an interesting taste in music. Most stuff is accompanied with an video. So you can wathc over his shoulders while he draws.
Sadly the side has some content that can only be seen when you pay for it on the plus side there is enough stuff for free to keep you occupied for a while.
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Skizzaltix
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by Skizzaltix »

wayfarer wrote:Don't know if it is the right place either way mods haven't a live anyways, so they can do some overtime. :wink:

I recently stumpled upon this guy.
For someone who want's to learn a bit more about painting and protraits the guy is gold with an interesting taste in music. Most stuff is accompanied with an video. So you can wathc over his shoulders while he draws.
Sadly the side has some content that can only be seen when you pay for it on the plus side there is enough stuff for free to keep you occupied for a while.
Neat site--I can't say I care for his choices of content matter, but he definitely knows what he's doing, and live drawing videos can be pretty helpful in their way.
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wayfarer
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by wayfarer »

Interesting set of custom brushes sadly Photoshop only no cookie for gimp user sorry folks.
This girl, this boy, They were part of the land. What happens to the places we used to tend?
She's a hard one to trust, And he's a roving ghost. Will you come back, will you come back, Or leave me alone?

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thespaceinvader
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by thespaceinvader »

That's what you think, GIMP can import PS brushes IIRC.
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wayfarer
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Re: Other artists inspirations and References

Post by wayfarer »

Well cookies for everyone. :mrgreen:
This girl, this boy, They were part of the land. What happens to the places we used to tend?
She's a hard one to trust, And he's a roving ghost. Will you come back, will you come back, Or leave me alone?

-Ghost Fields
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