Jephyr: Thank you, and for the awesome feedback as well! Glad you enjoy the final image and I appreciate your support as always!
...........
Time for a new illustration! I wanted to try to tackle a bit more of a dynamic perspective with this one, so this is as much as the environment as it is for the figures, which were referenced from Grafit Studio. I'm pretty satisfied with the line art but any input before I do some color tests would definitely be appreciated!
I have one suggestion. They seem to be looking at a comet. The comet looks like it is on the tip of the man's finger rather than high up in the sky. This might be because this is only line art and you didn't add atmospheric perspective yet though.
Hmm yeah with what serdar said, i do kind of think with the placement of the comet, it seems like something they would only be able to see if they looked behind them. They are looking forward, so the comet they are looking at would be off the canvas. However, something you could do, and maybe this is what was intended anyway, is have a few smaller comets raining down behind them, so that it tells the viewer that they are looking at a meteor shower, even though you can't see the particular part of the sky he is pointing to.
I think it's something to keep in mind. I have noticed that in a couple of your paintings at least you sometimes have elements like light sources depicted as if they occupy the 2D space around the subject, from above or the side. But in the 3D space they may actually be far behind or in front. And in some cases that can be a matter of artistic liberty, like in this piece perhaps it's essential that we see the shooting star, and the subject facing front. But really working with that 3rd axis in space can make a painting feel much more immersive.
Personally i am not a fan of how busy the ground element are very blocky and alot of busyness and why always the verticality of the piece(you should try horizontal sometime)
On an other note the stair bloc shape they sit on two different level so it bottom side shouldn't be alligning since they don't occupy the same level in the x y z space since one block sit on side on the edge of what look like a very shallow bassin and the other block is resting in what i assume is the outside edge of the bassin around it which is lower.That unless they have different size in that case it would make sense.But i assume since it seem to be block base they would be similar in size.
To add to this complex situation there a center block missing so i don't understand how it can support the full weight of both without tipping over.Sadly due to the verticality you don't have the opportunity to make it into a full stair it would considerably change the scene.
I don't like how the pillar intersect the bassin.But i see why it in an odd place and why you tried to include it so the top of the pillar can create flow toward the comet but i don't think it necessary when the character point at the object and specially if you get rid of much of what in the top section of the painting like suggestesd in the POV.The contrast in detail of the lower section(busy) of the pov with the emptiness of the top portion direct the eye and instead of element creating the flow it the contrast that move the eye.
Personally you receive amazing feed back that should fix those mention problem so i think it just a question of do you have the patience do redo the line art i personally think storytelling as to be very strong and this POV seem to give you just that.I certainly understand that changing direction and taking someone else direction seem like loosing control over your own process so i am perfectly fine with you trying to fix rather than picking where someone left.But i would say if there major issue it never wrong to go back and keep doing thumbnail specially if there isn't deadline.The trap in those case is learning to finish and not overworking the piece.
I am just unsure about how much of the women face we will be able to capture if you go the POV route and since face are important to tell story it the only concern i can raise if you want to try that route.
First off — I LOVE this composition. The figures are very well done, and I don't see any issues with proportion or poses. Although I do kinda like Lydo's take on it. But I think yours still works fine as well.
You're hitting pay-dirt when it comes to getting suggestions — but I wanted to add a couple of my own.
Your base has an MC Escher feel to it where her feet are (I don't mean offense by that and hope you get the 'reference' joke). Are her feet resting on that area or dangling somehow?
Also his foot is balanced on just the tip — so I think extending the base out a bit where it's resting would solve that.
I did this quick "paint-over" of those areas to try and show you what I mean.
Anyway — this is a very ambitious piece. As someone said above (and I can't find it now because I'm tired) their expressions are great (you always do those so well.)
I'm sure you're going to make this one another fantastic piece.
serdar: Indeed, although I started on this particular sketch weeks ago (I have a bunch of sketches I've already drawn that I'm planning to paint!). I reworked the comet into meteor showers as well for a more natural look.
JoesephCow: Great suggestion with the meteor showers, just incorporated it and it works much better! Excellent advice in regards to 3D space as well, I'll always try to keep that in mind!
Lydo: Excellent sketch! It's a bit too late to rework the sketch significantly but I do appreciate the tips and advice, thank you kindly!
darktiste: I'll try more horizontal compositions in the future, didn't even realize I was gearing towards vertical ones. I reworked the meteors in the back to give the storytelling a more natural feel, hopefully this is enough for a more compelling image.
Jephyr: Thank you! Great point regarding the floor, and great fix as well! Just incorporated it!
........................
I revised the sketch based on the input I received and decided to do some color tests. I think going to go with 'A' as I think the colors works best there, and I haven't used that sort of color palette before so I'll likely go with that... Any suggestions on what colors work best would be appreciated, however as I'm curious to hear others thoughts in that regard!
Excellent job on the changes. I also like 'A' best too.
I have another suggestion or two and did another paint-over:
First, since you have a lot of foreground you could crop your image at the bottom and add some more room for the meteor shower at the top (unless you were planning to add detail to that lower area of course).
My paint-over is rushed — but should give you the idea — and you could play around with proportions.
Also I was looking at his left foot and seeing it twisted inward in an awkward way. I tried to move my foot like that — with my knees wide open like his — and found it uncomfortable and really couldn't do it.
Jephyr: Thanks! Excellent input as well, and the paint-over was extremely helpful. Just implemented all your input!
Lydo: Great point regarding the column, made the change and it looks much better now, thanks!
...............
I resumed work on the image and it's come quite some ways. Pretty happy with how it's shaping up, although I want to push the image as far as it can go in terms of refinement and detail. Below is the current progress:
I think you could adjust the color to take in account the color of the scene.The skin look very unatural and the metal is to bright .
I think it just to bright to make sense which make it look heavely staged.To me this is your most challenging piece because even those you recieve great feedback i think you once again commited to early to something that wasn't ready .
If you would have made this darker this would have reduce the readablity of what is behind which i think could benefit you in term of time spend on this piece since you would not have to work with those building look like cardboard cut out.
On that subject actually i think you should add some texture to those surface after all i doubt they have concrete but i guess you left it for the end to choose the amount and the scale of the masonry.For the vegetation it just look like stamp right now it leaking the depth because there isn't a change in value from the leaf on the outside to the inside of the bush.
Did a quick paint over just to show how much can be change even without much time investment just by playing with selection and brightness and contrast adjustment layer... for example here i ajusted the hue of the image to be more blue.You can also probably realize i kill the brightness and adjusted a bit of the contrast.
One thing is sure is remember that you should think about how to use value andcontrast to create visual hierarchy.By that i mean that even if you pick let say one object over the other don't just make it one value each object should have is one visual hierarchy for example the guy as light in is face he as a shadow side with a little bit of light to to give him more volume but there still a light and a dark side.For the girl it different the visual hierarchy is more establish using value in term of a scale from top to bottom the leg are contrasted but the chest is very much facing the light.
That piece is coming along! Glad any suggestion I make helps. I do think you did a great job with changing the proportion and columns etc. I know that musta been a lot of work.
I really like the wispy colorful sky as well. Very nice.
The Escher-ish base made a return during your renovations though.
Do you mean for that to be a sunken in area or do her feet rest there. That perception has a LOT to do with how you handle the corner on the left and the lighting on it.
Also, you always do well at refining your final images - but I noticed some of your anatomy is a little off in some places (like the elbow area of his extended arm).
Anyway - I'm confident you'll polish this one up well as you always do.
darktiste: Great feedback, and thanks for the paintover as well! I agree generally that the image would look better darker. I applied your input and made things darker which really helped, hopefully it's OK now!
Abnormal: Great feedback! I adjusted the scale of the pillars, made them much larger as suggested. I didn't work the castle/background too much as I spent quite some time on it, but I feel it's integrated better now - let me know!
Jephyr: Thank you! Great input as well, just applied your feedback! Hopefully things look more natural now!
.................
I did some significant work on the image, it was extremely time consuming but I feel happy with it in the end. Although the image is pretty much finalized, I can do minor tweaks and such if needed, so if something feels a bit off please let me know! Below is the image!
darktiste: Thank you! I received some great feedback from you and others, so I'm really happy to hear that it all worked out in the end!
And time for a new illustration! This is based on reference photo I found of Joan of Arc as a statue, I thought it was quite striking I want to do a similar take... although I won't render her as a statue but as a human. The reference is here. Below is the sketch, any input before I proceed with the painting process would be most appreciated!
I proceeded with some color tests, I feel A, B, and F work best but it's hard to pick which. I think I'll take a break for a bit so I can take a fresh look later, but any input until then would be greatly appreciated, so please let me know what you feel works best!
I think B, if you're also intending on adding a golden ray on he face and crown, which she does look like she's turning her face to a light. Would help indicate her identity a bit too, as brunette in armour could be someone other than Joan d'Arc.
hello! have been looking through several last pages of your sketchbook, very cool works, I especially liked greek themed ones. your self-portrait is simply amazing!
one thing I noticed is that you tend to add a lot of saturation and lightened up areas on final stages. I think your paintings would win so much, if you kept colors more delicate, more grayish.
I like the A color test of the last portrait the most, can't really explain why though
I feel like these kind of thumbnail color comps need to have the lighting blocked in as well in order to judge them. Because C, D, and F all seem like a composition that works if it's as shown with her face in shade, dark against a light gradient. But from the last few pictures you've done I have a feeling you're going to put a bright light on her face, thus completely changing the whole composition and framing of the head. I think you've got to really plan for that, not just compare the local colors
Huge fan of "B" of the color studies. It all comes down to how you want the image to be read. One could argue that some of the other ones with different design have a stronger graphical impression (C, D, F) because there's more contrast. They work in their own right, but like I said it comes down to how you want it to be read. I think B has a beautiful mood going on, and the halo around her gets to have a greater presence, as opposed to the ones with lighter backgrounds. You can play around with cools and warms in this dusk-like scene. It's probably the one I'd go for. Can't wait to see more :)
