[ceenda]

This pic is based loosely on the Mountains of Moria (featured in The Fellowship Of The Ring). I liked the idea of an entire citadel hewn out from the inside of a mountain. No need to build walls!

I painted and repainted the front of the ramparts again and again and I'm still not happy with it, so I've decided to stop at this point. Any crits and advice as always are greatfully appreciated.

[EDIT - Updated version]

[This message has been edited by ceenda (edited February 12, 2001).]

[Nex]

kowabunga!

I like that a lot. great mood and great colors too. Even without reading the text I had some kind of Lord of the Rings association- I guess its the colors

[Hightop]

it's just great....

But i think the wall looks a bit strange....
It's not as good as the mountin and clouds...

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Hightop

As i turn and look into the sun
the rays burn my eyes
happy happy happy
everybodys happy
now like a turtle the sun looks
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dbl design

[Bg]

The castle could be more detailed to make it look enermous... just my opinion. Otherwise reaally good painting, the further mountain looks almost photorealistic.

Your painting skills have improved alot in last few months. I think you took advantage of Loki's advice, 'cos now your clouds are fabulous! Just a bit more depth, and it'd be perfect.

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Timo Vihola

ICQ:101776026
http://www.mbnet.fi/~badgers/

[jasonN]

Very nice I really like how smooth and fantasy-like it is. Thanks for posting it!

-Jason

[MunkY c mUnkY Du]

great work...... B)

[Frost]

Very nice ceenda!

[el tigre]

Say melon and enter, mate!

like it, walls don't look vertical though, kinda indiana jonesey. keep em comin!

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Couldnae hit a coo in the arse wi a banjo if uh wis huddin it by the tail. :�

[Liquid!]

CEENDA -

I think this piece rules! Love the clouds especially - if I would consider elaborating on anything its the "citadel", as it stands right now it doesn't seem to have enough attention from the entire picture. I would get some 'old-castle' reference to try to get more detail in there...

Looks great though!

-c

[BakaSan]

this looks realy good. the only sudjestion i can make is maby make the castle smaller or something. as it is it makes the maountain look small.

[sacrelicious]

I believe the exact words I uttered when I saw this were: Who-hoa! Which means, I like it.

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Weaseling out of things is what separates us from the animals... except the weasel.

[sear]

very nice!

[Bradford]

yay i like that one.

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[email protected]
icq:3704871

[Strawberrysauce]

cooool those clouds look really good, r they totally hand painted?

the other mountain in the distance really makes it work well.

looks good overall to me so sorry, no advice.

[Anthony]

Looks great - don't you think the castle walls should be more up and down though?

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-Anthony
Carpe Carpem

[Binke]

This is beautiful ceenda! The mountains sure look good. Was this made in Painter you said?

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Art Dimensional

[Jaymo]

Wow, you have improved somewhat! Nice colors and atmosphere. Almost matte painting level.

[BooMSticK]

That is really nice, Ceenda. The clouds and the distant montains are truly awesome. I agree that the castle is not eyecatching enough, since it really doesn't standout from the surrounding cliff feature- and colorwise. Alittle more work on the castle and this could turn out perfect...
,boom
PS. any chance on writing a tut on how you do those lovely clouds? Would be most interesting...

[ceenda]

Thanks everyone for the comments and crits. Some very interesting points there I had overlooked too.

The main point seems to be the castle, & perhaps it would probably be best to go into pixel detail using Photoshop as Painter doesn't seem to be too reliable for small detailed work.

I found it quite tough going to get the castle to:-
A) Look realistic.
B) Look the right scale.

I'll have to investigate the matte work out there and see how people go about it.

BooMSticK: I'll try and put together a tut on cloud painting some time soon.

[janne]

this is wonderful! and i want that cloud tut too!

janne

[Bg]

I think you should (instead of going into pixel detail with Photoshop) crop a region (the castle) and scale it up a lot to 1000x500 or corresponding. Then paint using a square brush the basic forms of the castle. After that, go on with the details. Try to keep contrast low because the castle is quite far away from the viewer. At the same time you'll get the sense of scale... just remember not to draw the windows and doors too dark. Strive for very logical basic forms (as concerning the castle). Maybe subtle linear gradient would be appropriate, too, like you did with the mountain.

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Timo Vihola

ICQ:101776026
http://www.mbnet.fi/~badgers/

[topeira]

THIS IS A PERSONAL MSG for u, ceenda-

do u have a site somewhere? do u have any tutorials about how u work? i'm dying for something like that. if u DO, i'd highly appreciate it if u wrote to me to
[email protected]. i absolutly LOVE your art and want to see more of it.

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ToPeirA

[Bizarde]

hehe, Ceenda rules! love this pice, have the Tibet mood in it, cool

~bizarde


[This message has been edited by Bizarde (edited February 13, 2001).]

[MaLoRuM]

*bows down to the LANDSCAPE MASTER*

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The Correct Procedure in The Art of the B*tch Slap: *Extend arm* *reel back* *twist torso* *stare opponent in eye* *twist back and release* :) *follow up with something cool to say*

[shahar2k]

check the profile button,
(the one with the face and question mark)

and welcome to the forum, allways nice to see another Israeli

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Maybe I'm paranoid... maybe it's you!

[bellie]

hey nice on ceenda.. like your clouds and mountain.. i like the idea of a castle in a mountain, but for me it seemed to be on a kindo of slant? leaning towards the inside of th emountain, maybe its menat to be like this, or maybe i have weird eyes. but its real nice keep it up ceenda

[poxen]

Beautiful!


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-Poxen
[email protected]

[Dryfire]

wow, everytime i c yer work i get more impressed by your really nice rendering of landscapes - good stuff

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-=DryFire=-
'Reality is just a dream'
GoD Graphics

[BakaSan]

this new version does look quite a bit better with the castle how it is now

[Vortx]

Beautiful mountains. The clouds look amazing...what res what this painted at?

Comment: I like everything except the castle area. The cut in the mountain feels too clean...which throws off the scale of things and make it feel un-natural. A castle constructed in the mountain should form w/ it's surroundings a bit more. Right now it looks like someone cut the mountain w/ a big knife and placed a castle in it. Try to merge the rocks and the castle more...design the shapes out of the cliffs. Also, the over-hang of the rocks above your castle should probably cast a shadow down. Light source seems to be middle-right.....right?

Anyways, awesome painting. You really captured the mood. It feels really cold and vast....

-feng