thespaceinvader's portraits - Ancient Wose

[thespaceinvader]

I think the problem with light colour is that the tree I'm looking at out my window is mostly ivy, and has very shiny, waxy leaves. I'll tone them down a good deal. Kitty's given me some hints in PM, so I'll be applying those later today - I'll work yours in at the same time.

EDIT: Nother render test. I think i still might have missed the light colour a bit. Not done the eyebrows and beard yet, cos i'm confident I can do those reasonably well anyway.

Thanks kitty, for some hints, and one of the three brushes i used.

[kitty]

Good you are trying something new!
Hmm, two main problems I see with this version:

Your use of textured brushes is not good - it looks as if you used it as a stamp. I can even make out the single shape over and over again. That is bad. If you use textured brushes your artwork should *not* show it. Wether get it more chaotic and hidden or use a simple hard edged brush and scribble.
And related with that also the distribution of the see through spots is too random and looks dictated by your tool, not you. Really observe some real bushes/treetops and do some quick and rough studies. Just trial and error will take you much longer than some old fashioned observation work, as I already suggested.

Your colour choices. LB already started to explain about that, but please look at this comparison of your colours versus some random tree photos I colour picked. Yours are too saturated and not "subtle" enough. Observe how your colours simply go from dark mid-green to yellow light green, while the other examples have different progressions with less saturated midtones and/or from yellow-green to blue-green back to yellow green etc.

(And don't forget about LB's second valuable suggestion - put some branches/leaves in front of the guy, too!)

[Zerovirus]

I can see the brush too... That's a bad thing.

How about you lower the saturation and add some browns and yellows? When I'm painting IRL I often find that adding yellows-brown colors can bring out green highlights more and make the tree look more natural.

[thespaceinvader]

I can see the brush too... That's a bad thing.

How about you lower the saturation and add some browns and yellows? When I'm painting IRL I often find that adding yellows-brown colors can bring out green highlights more and make the tree look more natural.

Thank you for repeating exactly what kitty said. It was necessary, and not irritating at all.



Kitty and I suppse, zerovirus, duly noted, another version will be forthcoming soon. But not til after work.

[thespaceinvader]

Nother try.

EDIT: also, preliminary render test for Gryphon Rider.

[kitty]

So many parallel projects again!

The Wose: Huh, figuring that one out is hard! The colours are a ton better! But now the light is comming directly from the front?! why did you shade all the leave-pillows that way? and I'd use the light colour more sparingly. Don't know how I could help you; look at real tree photos...

Gryphonrider: Very shiney! the feather structure around the breast seems to shape up nicely! The white part isn't as convincing, looks like too many too random thin lines instead of feathers. And I guess, you'll add more detail to the inside of the wings, right? and the shadows of his cap and beak could be darker.


And Yay for productivity!

[thespaceinvader]

Yeah - the breast is basically complete, but of the wings, i've only done form shadows for the majority, of it, and I've not given the head any attention yet. The wose... needs more attention. Tomorrow.

[Jacques_Fol]

Not a very art-informed user here, TSI, but just wanted to drop a word of congratulations and encouragement from someone following this wose development with great interest. While I can but agree with all Kitty's tips, I also do see great improvement from one picture to the next.

I think the last one is very much going in the right direction, and I very much like the improvement concerning the patches of light coming through the foliage. I am particularly happy because it corresponds perfectly to the impression I have of a campaign character that is hungrily "rooting" for this image to be used. Thanks for all the hard work!

[thespaceinvader]

I think this is just about there, now...

[kitty]

I'll try a paintover for a change to explain some stuff (Yes, It's rough and messy - sorry)
(And I want to ask again: Did you do some studies? Drew some real trees/bushes after nature or photo and then invented a few ones? Do that! Pretty please!)

First I desaturated the lights. And then I went and broke up all those leave pillows. Think of a tree to as a irregular sphere, not as a bunch of pillows. And then some structure...

[thespaceinvader]

Hmm. Back to the drawing... tablet... But yeah, more reference probably needed. I've looked at a few bits, and at the trees I can see out of my window, but it's not easy, as I'm sure you're aware... Still, it's definitely improving.

EDIT: preliminarily complete render for the Gryphon Rider.

[Lord Ork]

I think you should be aware, and that's because it's preliminary, but just in case, you have a spot over the bird's head and two or three over its left wing.

[thespaceinvader]

Yeah, I'll get those in the final cleanup.

[thespaceinvader]

BUMP - nother Wose study - I'm attempting to get a feel for the form, before I do any final line work and detailing. Hopefully, this is closer - I've been working from various references I took the last time I walked through trees in the sunlight. Which, these days, is sadly rarer than I'd like...

I decided that one reason it looked a little odd was the squished shape of the top, so I extended it up just a little and made it a touch rounder.

On to edits on the GR.

[fabi]

I decided that one reason it looked a little odd was the squished shape of the top, so I extended it up just a little and made it a touch rounder

That sounds very logic. The wose would do some sort of personal hygiene. Maybe even the style of his hair is the latest cry in wose hair-dress.