[sfr]

I just finished this picture, it's done in Painter as usual:



As you can perhaps see, it's sort of a departure from my previous work, and I'm not quite sure if that's good or bad... So, I'd really appreciate any comments!

But one thing's for sure: I've become a terribly lazy painter. I'm finding it more and more hard to detail my images (though I really tried this time), often I'd just prefer to put big blotches of color next to each other and leave it at that.

Similarly, I know I should be thinking hard about lighting and perspective but I just don't, and it really shows in this image - most of the lines here aren't even straight, much less perspectively correct! So I guess those who've been proclaiming the importance of basics will hate my work... And I'm not sure if I hate it myself too... (like Frost, I've been a bit overwhelmed by the amount of excellent artists here recently, it's not good for my already dubious self-esteem )

Well, as I already said, any critique is welcome, tear it to pieces...

(Forgot to say: no reference used, except that I was looking at Mullins' "ship deck" he posted some time ago when I did the layout drawing for this...)

Saffron / Sunflower

[This message has been edited by sfr (edited May 17, 2000).]

[Cos]

Really cool. I'm not much of a painter myself (although I hope to remedy that one day) but I can appreciate it, I think your loose style works really well. You create a great sense of atmosphere with your pics, and I love the colours you get. Really nice work Saffron.

[Frost]

Hey Saffron - brother in low self-esteem.

I think it's very good, and it still has Saffron written all over it. =) It's got your colors, and a certain dose of abstractness, where certain things are kept unclear... definitely makes the piece interesting in my oppinion.

You've mentionned that faults in perspective and such, and if that was not what you were aiming for, I can respect that -- the piece still stands on its own, it's very nice, and expresses much more than a tech piece. =)

I like it! =)

cheers.
frost.

PS- what's up with Sunflower?

[osk]

I like it too surprisingly .. it does have its own style and eventhough it could be detailed further . It could stand on its own .. now if you were to put for say a chraracter in there they would have to be done in the same style .. which you might be surprised that doing people in that style of painting isn't easy ..

[Francis]

This is very nice - I love the cloudy sky and the skyline in the background. I can't exactly tell what the foreground element(s) is/are - some sort of tracks or small building or something?

Otherwise, I like it a whole lot. Your style is cool!

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TeamGT Studios

[Binke]

I know how you feel Saffron, I'm feeling the same way, i would rather just put up solid blocks of color instead of detailing *slams head in the door, bad habit, bad habit!*
But uhh, I have a hard time figuring out what that brown stuff is, it looks like a roof, but its fading behind the city, so that must be one big roof! gah im going crazy here, what is it!!?!
I like the pic though , beautiful colors, as always

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http://binke.gamesquad.net

[Fred Flick Stone]

THis image is great. I love the ambiguous brush work. lots of atmosphere. I also love the forms. Under the orange building it looks like two figures, gives this place a massive appeal...love it...

[Kyri]

Great pic Saffron....I think the colours and lighting evoke a stong atmosphere and mood. I like the painterly style too.

Kyri

[AliasMoze]

Saffron,
Who cares if your lines are straight. You're focusing on the basics and blocking, and this image shows. It's great. Keep doing it.

[sfr]

Thanks a lot guys, kind comments from you really cheer me up!

osk, I don't think a character would fit here. Actually my original intention was to have a couple of giraffes there... I'm glad I took them out though

Francis and Binke, I don't know what that stuff in the foreground (or the "brown stuff") is either, since I started the city as just abstract 2d blocks and only later forced myself to think about the actual shapes of the buildings. Talk about bad habits...

Frost, we've still got plenty of plans for Sunflower; it's just that Wojtek has been so insanely busy for the past 6 months that we haven't really got to the point of actually starting to put a demo together. Maybe things will ease up for the summer, so we might get the demo done for one of the late summer parties. In the meantime I'm working on a Sunflower music video for Lackluster (aka distance/tpolm), although it's only in the planning stages so far...

Saffron / Sunflower

[WacoMonkey]

There's not much I can critique. It's beautiful. It has a very evocative color palette and a wonderful painterly feel. I don't think you should be concerned with lack of detail. Detail I think would ruin the appeal of your impressionistic approach. This image is all about atmosphere and you've executed it stunningly well. Bravo. I'd put this on my wall.

[random]

dp, I think that turning from pixelling to nowadays style made it.

sfr, I like that pic, it have that your very own painterly style in it.
(btw. I forgot to give those cd:s to you last time.. maybe I just give them to soda and he'll bring them with those n+1 cd:s..

[derPunkt]

Hheheh, Sfr, seems ALOT of guys from the scene *I include myself too* started to lose detail, and focus more on THE picture. Unfortunately ppl don't really see pictures as THEM, more like a bunch of detailed groups.
I myself, gradualy, lost detail, background (I am so happy with this, they mess up my whole intention and focus on the main topic), and I kinda reduced the number of colours. Guess we are all sick and tired of working in 800% zoom (atleast I am, friggin 14" monitors) and making eyelashes and such.
Have you maybe seen Made's latest picture? Exhale or something. That thing looks awesome, unlike some of his insanely polished stuff.
Or maybe we just got lazy......
Hope not =)
dP

[Alan]

Well, I think sfr has got one very individualized style. It's interesting to watch how it has progressed from the mostly pixel days. Sfr- does the thought of 100% pixeling an image make you want to go crazy now
I still pixel now and then, and it is strange going back and forth between 24bit and 8bit. I wouldn't say it is being more lazy, just a very different technique, one is much more technical. It does involve a totally different mind set, though...

-Alan