[whir]

Hey I am starting to try to learn how to "Paint" instead of draw in my artwork, anyway
what I do now is try to put down only basic colors then add in more detail through color little by little, but I end up with a cartoonish look and give up and try again, in real life it seems that every surface has a zillion colors that are so gradient its imposible to be able to know what to do, how do you determine the correct shade when its a outdoor enviroment were you cant really calculate every single light source? right now I feel as though im doing to much guesing for my images to be technicaly correct so whoever has some tips please spill your guts I want to learn everything I can =]

Here are a few of my failed attempts http://www.concentric.net/~Whir/arttemp/pp/

feel free to check it so you can tell me what im doing wrong, im not concerned about perspective of the objects just colors, how I should work matte, reflections and overall colors etc.

------------------
"and into the eyes of the jackyl i say ka-boom"

skate or die -whir

[lotor]

I am thinking that you start out painting right on a white background. Am I right?

If so that is not good. You should have a flat color laid down over the entire piece even if the piece is digital. It just helps you see the colors easier.

Reference is hugely important. I mean it. Like the painting with the tank in it, this might sound dorky but you will have butt loads of mail all from the biggest army soldiers and marines telling you about all the mistakes you made in the painting.
I know there is no way in stopping the correction mail but you can cut down on it by using a lot of reference.

Also structural drawing is very important when painting buildings. ESPECIALLY if your not using reference. If your not using photos to aid in your painting then you need stuctural drawing for buildings. At least I think it helps me.

I like your paintings. I just think they lack something.

Maybe an overall color scheme. You might want to limit your color palette to less colors.
Maybe give a painting an overall blue color. That might be cool.

You might want to put some more texture into your paintings. Sometimes painting with a little texture can give the illusion of realism to a piece.

Well I hope this helped some. If it didn't please tell me to get back to work on my own paintings.
Keep up the good work!!