Digital art noob looking for critiques!
#10
Hey lilith-lion o/
Haha, I know that you probably already have enough crits for this piece, but some more can't hurt ;)

Ok so, for like your first digital painting... Can I just say... Holy crapoli 0_0 if I could paint even half as good as this when I first started out digitally... I would be legit so proud!!

It's not that bad a piece at all, I just have some pointers for ya as requested n_n

So firstly, the painterly side of things - you wanted to get a Blizzard-y kinda of promo art style happening - I don't think I managed to hit the nail on the head with the kinda look you were going for, but here are some tips for getting better at digital painting/art in general I can offer you:

*drawing traditionally is imho crucial to levelling up. Draw from life, draw from your head, study with a pencil, in your sketchbook, sketch on the bus, in the train, in a cafe. You probably already draw quite a bit, but it can't hurt to draw s'more ;)

*perspective = the most fundamental drawing skill and will help you visualise ideas + more with ease <3 if you give it attention. Trust me, it'll make everything a little easier if you study this daily.

*focus on observational study e.g. from life/photo/master > not only will you get your mileage in with painting digitally, but also whatever you're focusing on while studying. I personally found still life and self portrait studies under various lighting conditions to work best for me. Find wht works for you.

*in terms of getting better at seeing colour > I would recommend choosing 50 master paintings, (environments work really well) turn them to thumbnail size and place them in a PS document. Then, without using the colour picker, use a hard round brush and try your absolute hardest to recreate the master paintings within your own ruled up thumbnail. This is such a great exercise, I cannot recommend it more.

*for getting better at composition (and even values somewhat), do the same exercise as above, but instead of just environments, include other subjects too - and instead of using colour, use a maximum of 1-3 values. 4 if you must. That's it.
You will see how shapes work within a thumbnail. Detecting what makes an artwork pop! ;)

Oh!
*never disregard the importance of edges. They. Are. Everything lmao
I'll leave this here: http://muddycolors.blogspot.com.au/2015/...s.html?m=1

So I did a thing for you:




*I tried keeping your original elements, just pushed them back a bit to give rise to the central figure. I feel as though the crystals -  although a great storytelling element - were a bit too overpowering, so my interpretation was to surround the figure with smaller crystals, as a means of aiding the focal point, as opposed them fighting for prime time.

*the crescent moon is super important, so that was another reason to make the crystals smaller, to let the moon breathe. Then brightened it with a colour dodge layer. (This layer adjustment is fantastic for final a /touch/ - never overdo it though!!)

*the ground  - I felt that making the ground kind of like a summit, with a nice curve to it would make for a nice contrast to the curvature of the crescent moon.
>> Aaaaaand contrast (on a whole) is what makes an image interesting to look at, so that was my thought process behind that.

* I changed her hair a bit to account for the skull looking upward

*overlay layer > colour dodge layer = to brighten eyes a lot more + create engaging eyes. Eyes are the window to the soul, etc.

*went over your figure adding more colour and built upon her form in doing so. Added rim light from the moon somewhat, but not so much as to overpower her. It was only after I finished this that I added a multiply layer and with a soft brush, went over the figure with a darker tone, closr to black, then lowered the opacity of the layer to finish the rim-lighting setup. If that makes sense.

*the marks on the ground, although crude, were another compositional element I added to draw the viewer to the focal point.
I ran out of allocated time working on this paintover but I hope I managed to help you out, at least a bit.

I wish you the best and I swear to Hex you better keep at this art thing !!!!! <3

sketchbook | pg 52
"Not a single thing in this world isn't in the process of becoming something else."
I'll be back - it's an odyssey, after all
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RE: Digital art noob looking for critiques! - by smrr - 04-28-2016, 10:38 PM

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