Hello guys! I'd really appreciate some critique on how to keep rendering this old character I created (I'll figure out the environment later). My goal is to achieve a realistic type of rendering, as with those of Rapoza and Cryptcrawler, but I think I really lack the understanding on how to get this kind of rendering. What I think is that, with these self given assignments, I can learn and apply knowledge at the same time. Halp!
Also, the steps so far
I'd say that the way you've rendered the helmet comes as close as that style out of everything else..
Think about your lighting. Light acts predictably enough in space that you can actually paint it without struggling so much. Research lighting and how artists use it (in movies, photography, etc. not just in illustration.) Your piece right now lacks coherent lighting, materials.
I like the color palette, and the composition has a nice quite contemplation going on. I think that the piece is strong in that regard. Just start filling in the missing pieces and you'll be set.
Cheers, josh
Just do a ton of studies and research, the more you know what you're doing the faster you will be able to pwn at painting.
The best way to achieve any sort of realistic rendering is to understand how things look/behave in reality. And the only way to understand that is basically to observe reality. Light is the most important aspect of realism, as the way light reacts to a surface tells you everything: it tells you form, it tells you surface quality, it tells you depth, it tells you material type, it tells you of particles in the air around or on the surface of an object etc etc.
You can keep working on this picture and try to figure it out if you want, but I would recommend doing studies of the materials you want to replicate, doing studies of artists who achieve this style or even just watching them paint. And I hate to say it but knowing how/when to use textured brushes can be a big help. They wont make you magically better but they can save time and give you consistent results
Some of Dan Luvisi's streams might be good to watch, he has a few that go from start to finish, or at least go through the detailing phase. Just know that you're watching years and years of experience come out in his paintings. it takes time and studying to get a realistic effect.
I would add that in order to render something you have to have something to render. At the stage this is at there is almost no design in the figure at all. I'd say besides learning how to render, on this piece figure out what you actually will need to render first...haha.
Made some studies in fabric and returned to paint. This is what I've got so far. I'm trying to render understanding how the light will bend in the materials, but it's not easy and I'll keep pushing it.
The absolute best way to get specific realism for one illustration, is to mock up the scene in real life as much as possible and take a few photos to refer to. Setup the lighting, dress up in as close to the desired costume as possible, use any props you need, then have someone take the photos. Hands down the best way of doing it. It's hard to find specific reference for every combination of lighting situation and objects off the web, so shoot your own ref, if you really want to help yourself out here.
Having said that, fix the perspective of the rear tubes to match the scene if you're going for realistic...getting that wrong won't help no matter how awesomely rendered this ends up being.
