city gate WIP

[babix]

WIP needs critics, this is a painting of an outer gate of a big city inside a mountain. the focal point of course the gate itself, the purpose is to show a very huge mountain that can fit a big city inside, with a morning-noon mood. i don't really know about composition and such so i would really appreciate any feedback for this, a paintover would be great too.
thanks for watching.

[Wardy]

WIP needs critics, this is a painting of an outer gate of a big city inside a mountain. the focal point of course the gate itself, the purpose is to show a very huge mountain that can fit a big city inside, with a morning-noon mood. i don't really know about composition and such so i would really appreciate any feedback for this, a paintover would be great too.
thanks for watching.

Hey, im not a great artist but thought I could sort out your composition issue.
Have you heard of the rule of thirds?
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutoria...thirds.htm
Have a peek, you should place your focal points on the intersections of the lines.
I wasnt quite convinced by what i assume was a mountain bit on the left, so I thought I'd try to add some depth by repeating the shape of the entrance to the city again on the left on a larger scale. Also, I added a bit of atmospheric perspective by doing a quick layer on top with a light blue soft brush on low opacity.
I was a bit lazy with the bit on the right but thats details that I'm sure you can sort out. As things get further away, contrast is decreased and the value gets lighter.
Try doing thumbs with only 4 shades- near white, mid high grey, mid low grey and near black. That should sort out the values and then you can work from there.
Also, to draw attention to the focal point, I made the saturation higher and increased the brightness of the entrance, as if it is carved stone it would reflect more than rough, untouched rock. This pulls focus, as well as using more intricate shapes.

Sorry the paintover is so sketchy but i dont have too much time, thought I may be able to help you out a bit in my little way! Hope that helps at all :)

[babix]

thank you very much! it does look much much better. i will study more about rule of the third, again thanks for taking your time to do a paintover for me, it really helps!

[Wardy]

thank you very much! it does look much much better. i will study more about rule of the third, again thanks for taking your time to do a paintover for me, it really helps!

No worries mate, sorry that the paintover kinda sucks but I'm pretty much at the same stage you are so I'm just regurgitating information! For composition, if found this site invaluable:
http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFe...n_tutorial

Have fun and keep it up :D

[warmics]

if the gate is the main focus and you want it to be grandiose and imposing, i would push the shot much much closer to the gate and push the size of the mountain, if you want to keep the current distance, this shot might help http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd68/...Tirith.jpg