[General Confusion]

didn't really want to post this til it's completion, but I agree with Chapel. Let's be artists again. This forum is addictive, when things are flowing. I need a fix again, I'm starting to go through withdrawal.

This started out as an acrylic painting, I got busy, paint dried, so I scanned it, and I'm currently trying to finish it.



later

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State of Confusion

[Chapel]

Nice atmosphere as always GC. Really impressive that you did that in acrylics. Some of the fades\gradiants are excellent.. almost like an airbrush. Are you going to touch this with PS or are you going to try and finish it in acrylic? The character in purple looks a little out of place.. like he has his own lightsource.

[endrigan]

VERY NICE
I love the ground and the clouds .The whole feeling of the picture is wonderful

wow.....Im already getting inspired

[Flinthawk]

Wow, nice stuff there, GC! I haven't drawn any perspective lines or anything but it all looks to be handled very well. I really dig that floor and the texturing you've got, particularly in the upper right hand corner. Why does that human on the left seem like he's transparent though? Part of it is that stripe going across his suit but it looks like his head is see-through...or is it just me or not finished, what? In any case you have to finish this thing up. I'm sure there're a few things you could do to this now that it's in the computer that you'd find harder by using acrylics. Is this just for fun or is this something work related?

-Flinthawk

[Joachim]

really cool GC !! I envy you that you've done it with acrylics I want to do that stuff to.
I'm looking very much forward to see you finishing it off.

btw, about acrylics. that's waterbased, but I see you are doing one by one part without laying an underlying color first. Is it better/easier to do it that way ? I'm asking because I'm green on that area. One small comment, though the pic is very nice, it could also have looked very good if it had an underlying color, like from the sky which affected many parts of the picture in a subtle way. slap me if I'm talking silly

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Joachim's Place

[CapnPyro]

whenever ive used acylics i usually do a light wash underneath for the general color and work over the top of that.

one thing i definetely recommend doing with acrylics though, is after you finish an area go over with prismacolor pencils for the fine details, like eyelids/lashs hair etc. it turns out really great.

-Capn

[TheMilkMan]

awsome general can't waite to see the final version!!!

[::Dino::]

Nice... I really like your use of perspective and that big alien guy in the bottom left(my left) hand corner. Woohoo, finished version gonna look great

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"Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius"
-Mozart

[shardik]

I love this painting.. im hoping to start doing that stuff (not at this quality but maybe someday) Something about the highlighting on the clouds is bothering me just a little tho... I think there is too much light shining through at the top for us to see from the angle that the "viewer" is at. i think it throws off the angle of the clouds and flattens them... Maybe its just me, if it is.. please feel free to bitchslap me (((Bitchslap Here))) (not here) (nor here)

Matt

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Never, ever trust a banana.

[AliasMoze]

GC, whazzup!
Whoowhee, that's some violent perspective. But I like the image. Can't wait to see this one done. It sounds like you are practicing your ass off, and it shows. Good work. I guess we'll be talking soon I hope.

[General Confusion]

sorry guys for the late response was away.

Chapel - first off "wow" let me commend you on finally putting some life back into this forum! How does it feel to have your name dominate the threads, just hope you remember us little people when you are rich and famous I'm going to finish it in Pshop, the acrylics have already dried this painting is very old, so I think it would be absolute hell to try and get back the same colors, I don't feel like doing it over again. The purple guy was originally intended to have a light source which radiated form off the right side of the page, I'll probably still keep that idea going. That may be the reason why he looks out of place.

endrigan - thnx, I was hoping to inspire someone, the art forum needs more art

Flinthawk - I'll tell ya, this perspective was done before I thought of using a 3-d program for a quick layout, and it was tough. What I orginally did was similar to what I can now do in 3-D, and that was to, when I ran into a hole that I couldn't figure out how something would look (how a shadow would cast, etc) I built little models made out of cardboard and set-up the lighting, it taught me alot, and it also reaffirmed that I have some sort of mental problem. The human is see through, because I paint with acrylics by using many overlayed washes, and he is in a wash stage. The bridge behind him wasa very tough, so I painted throught everything that appeared in front of it, ncluding the human, who is still not complete. This will answer most of the other comments also. This is done for my protfolio, sadly to say my work would never ever use something like this, I am a digital illustrator for a package desing firm. Some of the products I have illustrated are the Good Humor Popsicle products, along with a bunch of other things but if you know of the product, it is very specific and doesn't lend itself to allowing, work like the image I posted here to get into it's look. That's why I'm putting together a new book, so I can find the type of work I truly love to do

description time:

I learned how to paint with watercolor. With watercolor I also used color pencils to add extra detail, similar to the way CapnPyro suggested. I found that it gave me a better control over the fine stuff. However, I also began realizing that I was relying more and more on the color pencil to do my work. Im my mind it was much easier to control. The drawback was that it took forever. So then I stumbled across the airbrush, where things seemed to come real easy, but I wasn't happy with the final look. then similar to the way i used color pencils in my watercolors, I began to use acrylics to help with the details in my airbrush work. This growth helped me begin to gain control over differnet mediums, etc. But my interests, in watercolor, colored pencils and airbrush, started to fade. And I eventually adapted to using solely acrylics. I used them in a way that incorporated all the techniques that I employed with the other mediums. I would take a single area, do a light wash over it, to establish an overall color, then when the paint dried ( as it so eaily does with acrylics) I would wet the surface that was to be further refined, then repaint into it. Very effective, for producing clean gradients, and smooth transitions ( it gave you the ability to constantly refine and refine), but it was veeerrrrryy time consuming. So when I began to make money, and deadlines became a factor in my work, that's when i started using all my knowledge in Pshop. And once digital became the dominant medium I used, i still utilized the techniques I came to be comfortable with, and that was set an overall color for a specific area, render it, and move on. It wasn't until I was exposed to this forum and able to see other artists produce, that I had a brain fart. Why not use these techniques, and apply it to the whole picture, and build it up as a whole. It helps to put the entire pic, in an overall color structure, making it sem to fit better like a big puzzle, you don't have trouble with having that cut-out look in your work, so that's the way I paint now, and I pretty much paint digitally. Simply because that's what clients I deal with want. I try to do some traditioanl stuff when I can, but I have a staff job as well as freelance contacts that keep me very busy.

Joachim - yeah I did each section piece by piece, and no it's not better or easier to do, I chalk it up to my shortcomings as an artist to realize that painting with an overall value is truly the right way. If you read my decription section, it might clear things up a bit. But you are exactly right. Painting the pic as a whole has a much better outcome. And I don't know if that's right even, but at this point that is what I do. You are not talking silly at all

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State of Confusion

[General Confusion]

CapnPyro - check the description, I just wish I had the tme to do more stuff with the medium.

TheMilkMan - Thnx, appreciate it

: ino:: - thnx I like that guy the most also. My original intent was to make him a kind of organic transport (taxi cab) The whole thought process behind this image is it's a futuristic shoppping mall. I do this with alot of the illustration work I do (put a story to the image before laying down a pencil) It helps me to get into the mindset, which hopefully will enable me to make it look convincing.

shardik - thnx, I plan to further refine the lighting on the face of the structure, so maybe that will pull the lighting in better, but I will keep the clouds in mind when doing so and see how it all turns out, maybe darken the bottoms more to make better depth, no bitchslaps here, i want to hear these comments, cause when your closely attached to something, you might miss those littel things.

AliasMoze - GC says thnx Am, sounds official doesn't it when I did the original perspective, I wanted to do it as if you were viewing this scene from a small childs point of view. I was kind of worried that it wouldn't look right, I'm glad you do like it. And definitely I can't wait to "hear" from you in the new year.

thnx everyone, I'm not really looking for a stroke session when I post my work, I was just hoping to push this forum into a more positive direction, as are all the others who came to chapel's calling. When spirits are good here I seem inspired to produce more, so let's try to get it back that way. Let's treat this forum like tribal council, you have to respect it, and treat it properly, or you might lose it. Mo more BS, let's have fun, and do what we all love to do

woops just fell off my soapbox.

later

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State of Confusion