[ook]

Heya all (and heya Craig if you read this). Ok the title was just a cheap trick to get you in here... I have no idea how to paint as well as Craig but I did want to share my journey trying to get to that point.

EDIT>>>

HOLY CRAP!!! I just saw the post by Craig of his whitehouse matte. I just can't imagine how he gets those values so perfect! SWEEEEET.

Check it out then come back here and read the rest of my boring post.

<<<EDIT

I have been working on a new technique based on a number of painting tutorials and was hoping I could get some feedback early in the process. The idea being that I keep reading about how important basic masses and light and shadow are. So my plan is to rough out my shadow areas first and force myself to use only black and white to do it. Later I'll put this on a layer overtop of a color layer. Then use a layer mask to blend it with the color underneath.



I'm working small but this basic shape will be blown up much larger once I'm happy with it. (the previews are shown at double size for ease of viewing)

I also wanted to share some of the stuff I learned from trying this and keep posting the progress of the piece as I move forward so that when I'm done other people can see exactly how I got there.

Ok heres some of the interesting things I picked up along the way.

1: Starting with only black and white forces you to visualize/realize the larger masses and 3d forms right from the start.

2: It also helps you see light direction problems more clearly because you can't have any vague gradients.

3: Making your light and shadow areas "interact" is key to making the image hang together (and look cool). Below is a pic of some of the areas where I noticed this happening.



4: Listen to trance music while you work... ok this one might be a little personal but damnit it really helps me shut out all the distractions around me and focus on the painting. If you don't know anything about trance just look for "Paul Van Dyke" "Paul Oakenfold" and "BT" and you'll be off to a good start.

5: Work fast and big first then work slow and small on the areas that still need help. This is one place where I fell down a bit with this piece. I think I got too tight too soon. The key is to only fix those areas that look wrong... don't go over everything with the fine brush and your painting will look looser and have more energy. I need some suggestions about how to get some of the energy back into this piece.

6: Make sure your perspective is right before you get too far. I think I'm going to have to do some serious editing to get the perspective problems fixed. Suggestions?

7: Cropping... I haven't taken a stab at cropping this image to improve the layout. I think it needs something. I might try flattening it a bit... everything seems a little tall... better?



Anyways, thats all I can think of at the moment. I could use some comments on how I can make this less cartoony and feel more realistic. I think some areas are working but I know I'm having some perspective problems.

Any advice keeping in mind that I'm aiming for a semi-photorealistic matte painting would be much appreciated.

Oh yeah one last thing... I haven't posted in a long time but if you are a regular you might recall that I painted this a while back:



- Jeramy
- my site

[This message has been edited by ook (edited October 29, 2000).]

[Trance-R]

Thanks Ook! That's really useful stuff. Your thrid post is already contributing to the forum!!!

[osk]

wow excellent man .. love ur pic of the monster and the girl. as far as the tut , u got some very usefull tips in there actually I think I am gonna give it a try with this one sketch i just did, we'll see how it turns out .. thanks

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http://www.wendle.net/osk.htm

[sacrelicious]

Looks great ook, and great technique! I don't think it looks cartoony at all, but if you're really concerned about it, you can add some scattered, quick lines here and there for a more gritty feel. And when you add color, give everything a grimy, dirty overlay. Rusty metals, decaying materials, etc. And I do remember that painting, it's dope. Keep it up.

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mmm... sacrelicious

[LethargicBoy]

I think that instant black to white trasitions make things look realistic...specially when shadows are casted on other objects....hard to get out of the habit of smudging everything up and leaving hard edges...

[Farwalker]

Right on ook.

Oakenfold and Van Dyke are always playing on my computer also

Did you get Oakenfold's lastest cd?




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Gamingvault.com

[Liquid!]

Personally, I think this piece is great. I think that using only BLACK/WHITE forces you to consider composition and mass more strongly than you would normally. However, I also think that it forces you to make 'unnatural' choices, when you have to makea 50% threshold call upon a particular element. While that in and of itself isn't a bad thing, it might be the factor that is contributing to the 'cartooniness' of the pic. I don't think it looks too cartoony, but I think that is really up to you and how you end up finishing this piece. What you're doing here, is an integral part of the thinking process that I think Spooge goes through, however I think you might have to apply it directly at the stage of laying your basic shapes and base colors down, rather than doing it in black and white.

Just my toughts. Either way I think it looks great and I can't wait to see the finished piece.

-c

[Flinthawk]

I think Liquid explained my thoughts on this method pretty well. This's a great exercise for all artists to go through to force them look at lighting and composition, two -very- important aspects of a painting. There are a few things that this doesn't allow practice for such as color composition but you'll be adding color soon anyway I assume.

I like this piece already...I've already got an incredibly clear image of how -I'd- paint it right now because the forms you've created are very well done and give a good sense of what's in the scene. Can't wait to see the final results of your experiment.

-Flinthawk

[ook]

Wow, thanks to all of you for the great feedback! A few quick responses:

Liquid!
There were a lot of areas that I was just dying to put middle tones into. I'm hoping that I can use a layer mask to remove excess shadow where I need to. I'm also hoping this will help me more easily troubleshoot any problems with the values in my shadow areas.

Flinthawk
Color composition is an area I wrestle with all the time. I just can't seem to visualize what I want so I end up going the way of trial and error more often than not.

Farwalker
Yup, got it. Oakie Oakie!

Thanks again, stay tuned tonight for another update where I tackle the dreaded issues of "scale" and "using reference".

:P

- Jeramy

[This message has been edited by ook (edited October 30, 2000).]