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Environment Design Rocks! - Printable Version

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RE: Environment Design Rocks! - AChi - 02-17-2016

My laaaaate week 2 assignment is here!

@Amit Dutta thanks for ur comment a few weeks ago! Now im handing in my second assignment. I actually finish these a couple weeks ago but i wasnt satisfied with them. But the weeks after I was too busy with uni works and exams and have no time to do it. I still think I should add a lot interesting things on the picture cos I think they are lack of focus points. However after two weeks looking at those pictures I have no idea what did I want to draw at the first place. So I leave them like that and submit them as the final work.

I start painting from using random brush to create random shapes and values then from that to imagine what can i see from these random patterns. That's also a process of having fun with different brushes. But when i bring perspective, composition and lighting in to the image, I start to get confused. In my past practice, I rarely do a fine detailed black and white image then color them up, I prefer to use color straight ahead and by using warm/cold color to make contrast. When it comes to black and white, I found it becomes more difficult for me to separate the distance and also consider about lighting.

That's the problem I was facing when I do this assignment.



[url=http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/user-691.html][/url]

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Amit Dutta - 02-18-2016

Hey AChi, glad to see you posting.  The main issue I see is lack of clarity in values. You are trying to over-detail and texture and losing a sense of value/contrast at the various levels of depth. much of the time at this stage (and indeed throughout the entire painting process), less is more.  You also tend to use too high and too low values together, and your value range within objects is a bit too contrasted. This is a common issue.

I took one of your thumbs and simplified it down to the essentials. The same can be done with all of them. I also created distinct focal points, using shape / silhouette contrast. Any details should mostly go at your various focal points and be implied or very played down everywhere else to provide some negative space to contrast against.
With thumbnails if the read doesn't work immediately it won't work without a lot of changes for the final.  

In terms of workflow and going straight into colour or not. I am not against going into colour right away. I often work this way as it is more intuitive for me as well, but when learning I think it is important to understand how value works and how our perception of colour can change that value relationship.

Keep it up! :)




RE: Environment Design Rocks! - AChi - 02-19-2016

@Amit Dutta Hi Amit, thank you for the critique and example, I decide to do the week 2 assignment again.

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Amit Dutta - 02-20-2016

Great Achi, much better read this time around! With the bottom two you want to start paying attention to scale cues to make sure you are getting the right balance. I feel things are looking too small in general with your architecture. Also be bold with your shapes. Being loose and not detailed doesn't mean you should do "sloppy" strokes (like in the bottom left one) where edges aren't defined and things tend to overlap and blend, but not with intent. In fact the opposite is true with thumbnails...they are probably more benefical down the line if they are simple but a bit more precise, rather than detailed but too loose. Great stuff!

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - jirayu31363 - 02-27-2016

Hello Amit, thanks for your cool videos. I'm a new member here. Just wonder if I can still begin and post my first week assignment here.

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Amit Dutta - 02-28-2016

Go for it jirayu! I can't guarantee crits always, but I will hop in with comments and paintovers when I can! Welcome aboard!

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - neopatogen - 03-02-2016

Here's my personal project! I started with my own ideas and looked for references when I had problems. I'd be happy to hear some comments about the composition and if everything reads or not.
 I think I'd like to work further on the 4th picture, though it's the most difficult one. I don't have a good understanding of lighting because there are too many light sources, not all of them visible on the picture plane. 
I think what I have to do next is to:
1) Check all the perspective once more. The columns look kind of weird. Continue studying S.Robertson's book "How to draw"
2) Refine my black and white sketch. Perhaps try drawing boxes in 3d and position light sources. I've got no experience in 3d though, I tried Sketchup lately but it's not suitable for lighting. Read  and apply "Light and form" chaptet from James Gurney's book.
3) Do a couple of color studies.  Read some more Gurney about color. Update: I'm going to make a master study of Gurney's  Canals at night picture, it's somewhat similar to how I imagine my scene at the temple.
4) Learn more anatomy and something about painting drapery - to make the statues look more realistic.

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - jirayu31363 - 03-06-2016

My first week assignment. Not sure but I can see some improvement from work to work :D

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - neopatogen - 03-06-2016

(03-06-2016, 01:10 AM)jirayu31363 Wrote: My first week assignment. Not sure but I can see some improvement from work to work :D

jirayu31363 great work! I can see that you experimented and your last 2 value studies are more detailed rather  than the first  3 , and your notans became  more complex. Keep it up!

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Amit Dutta - 03-08-2016

@neo: Sorry for the late crit!  The inn, has some perspective issues between the bg and the inn, so I left it alone. The market was fine, but I thought the the toad temple idea was more interesting and could be more epic.



I tweaked the first one a little in comp. I also used dynamic lighting to try and make the scene a bit more interesting and drive the comp. Light coming in between some tall buildings behind us? I thought there was a bit of empty space at the bottom, which while not bad, made the enviro feel a bit sparse. You can think about adding some other things going into the foreground...a little bridge, a pond, a garden? Maybe you could put a long line of people snaking up to the steps to show there is some festival or something where worshippers are leaving offerings.

The second one was cool, but felt cropping it a bit could make it a bit more focused. I think there are some scale issues with the foreground figures cleaning vs the ones on the ground, so watch your measurement.

In terms of design overall, the toad is cool, but maybe bringing more "toad related" shapes and designs could help make it feel like a world where the toad is a huge part of the culture. We all know frogs like sitting on lilies, so perhaps there are lily shaped things around. Maybe the people are sitting on lily shaped prayer mats. Maybe inscriptions on the steps related to the frog world. Any thing frog/toad related, that kind of thing.

In generalyou can really start to think about how you can use 3pt perspective from angles looking more up/down to get a sense of epicness to the scenes. Check out concept artists who do enviros a lot and you will see that the ones with architecture that have an epic feel use 3pt a lot! You have done it slightly, and it's all good, but start to push it more and change things up.
 
@jirayu:  Great work!  Honestly, I have no crits. You nailed the comps. The extra values ones have some nice subtle stuff going on. The notans are great.  Keep it up!

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - AChi - 03-10-2016

Finally finish the week 3 assignment. This assignment takes me more time than I expected to do. At the first stage, i always change my designs and redraw the whole thing and it took me lots of time. Then I finally decide to paint this scheme, I went to do some related photo study includes rocks, sea and atmosphere. After those studies I feel a bit confident to continue my painting and I finish it really quick.

I'm not used to use a overlay or lighten or soft light layer to do coloring cos they dont straightly give me the color i want. So in this assignment, I actually do the top one first, then change the hue/saturation, replace color and some other image adjustments to change the color, and paint over it on the new layer. That's why they dont look exactly the same.

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - neopatogen - 03-13-2016

(03-10-2016, 05:38 AM)AChi Wrote: Finally finish the week 3 assignment. This assignment takes me more time than I expected to do.  At the first stage, i always change my designs and redraw the whole thing and it took me lots of time. Then I finally decide to paint this scheme, I went to do some related photo study includes rocks, sea and atmosphere. After those studies I feel a bit confident to continue my painting and I finish it really quick.

I'm not used to use a overlay or lighten or soft light layer to do coloring cos they dont straightly give me the color i want. So in this assignment, I actually do the top one first, then change the hue/saturation, replace color and some other image adjustments to change the color, and paint over it on the new layer. That's why they dont look exactly the same.
AChi great work!  I  like the 2nd picture most  of all,  though the 1st one is very good too! I have to push my project further, too!

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - AChi - 03-13-2016

(03-13-2016, 03:22 AM)neopatogen Wrote:
(03-10-2016, 05:38 AM)AChi Wrote: Finally finish the week 3 assignment. This assignment takes me more time than I expected to do.  At the first stage, i always change my designs and redraw the whole thing and it took me lots of time. Then I finally decide to paint this scheme, I went to do some related photo study includes rocks, sea and atmosphere. After those studies I feel a bit confident to continue my painting and I finish it really quick.

I'm not used to use a overlay or lighten or soft light layer to do coloring cos they dont straightly give me the color i want. So in this assignment, I actually do the top one first, then change the hue/saturation, replace color and some other image adjustments to change the color, and paint over it on the new layer. That's why they dont look exactly the same.
AChi great work!  I  like the 2nd picture most  of all,  though the 1st one is very good too! I have to push my project further, too!
Thank you neo! I prefer the 2nd, too, since it's more dynamic and powerful. while the last one seems to be too "boring" and dull. The problem is that I cant keep my interest on one thing too long, and I feel bored to continue the last one..just want to do some new stuff. Blushing

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - jirayu31363 - 03-13-2016

My 2nd week assignment, a bit late though. Sorry for my bad human figures. On my way of practicing drawing them.
@neopatogen Thanks. But still have a lot to improve.

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Amit Dutta - 03-13-2016

Hey great stuff guys. Sorry I haven't been able to be responsive, got a lot on at the moment :P So just some quick remarks.

@AChi: I agree with neopatogen, that the middle one is the best. Probably because you've actually nailed the contrast at various depths in that one for the lighting scheme. wrt depth, most of the time issues with depth can be resolved by enforcing overlap of shapes and adjusting contrast of the various objects. With your top one I see mid distance objects having the same darks and lights as the foreground...this is why depth is lost. Reduce contrast as you get further. I have a vid on my youtube channel that talks about factors involved in depth. Proko and S.Robertson have great vids as well.
I rarely use lighten or overlay layers to colour anything. I sometimes use a Color layer if I want to slap on a base coat without changing the value of the grayscale, but then always paint in normal mode after. I also prefer going straight into colour early, but this doesn't always work for client work which is why I showed this process.

@Jirayu: Those are cool. Some intriguing comps there, with a nice sense of atmosphere and great sense of scale. Also strong shapes. wrt the figures...try mixing it up a little. Dark silhouette looking out over landscape is fine, it works..but it will become a crutch sooner or later, so explore other ways of doing scale and integrating figures. If anything I think you tend to blow out your mid range values sometimes a bit much towards the highs so the lighting seems very "overexposed". It kinda works in the middle right one, but the others look too much, except that middle left one has a very nice value balance. Also don't be afraid to show objects being directly hit by light sometimes, rather than all fairly ambient. It can make the scenes more dynamic with strong shadow and light interplay.

Good stuff people.

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Broadway - 04-09-2016

Riiiiiiiiise from your grave!

By God, I will finish this painting if it's the last thing I do.

A cropped shot of my progress. As always, levels got screwed by my monitor/color profile issues so some blacks are too dark and mids too light... But I'll fix it next time... I hope :)

[Image: UCMQ5f2.jpg]

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - Amit Dutta - 04-09-2016

Haha! You are an f'n trooper Broadway! :) so happy to see you continue on. You nailed my main crits yourself, and it's looking really rad otherwise. I'll reserve any further judgment until I see the awful spectacle of this space in its entirety. :)

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - razvanc-r - 12-05-2016

So @Amit's EDROCKS google website is what brought me here and it seems that people are still at it which is even more motivating! So I just started a few days ago and so far this is what I got for assignment 01. You guys think that the value-study thumbs might be a little bit too small?! Also if any of you have any critique/feedback that would be awesome! Thanks!

[Image: edrocks_01_by_razvanc_r-daqniu0.png]

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - razvanc-r - 12-05-2016

Before anyone had a chance I did some self-critique, because, even though I'm not (definitely not :D) an expert on it, taking the time to look at what you did after a day, with fresh eyes makes a huge difference :). So here it is :D all the mistakes I can see with my basic understanding of the subject. Focusing only on the "4-Value" thumbs.

[Image: edrocks_01__self_critique_by_razvanc_r-daqqk8v.png]

RE: Environment Design Rocks! - razvanc-r - 12-06-2016

Yep trying my best to "keep up" with the others, but my best doesn't seem to be that good...

[Image: edrocks_02_by_razvanc_r-daqsukc.png]