Sci-fi style sunset painting, took about 2-3 hours i think, trying out a colour pallette and seeing how it turned out.
Any crit would be magical :D
Not 100% sure about the purpose of the building, perhaps a mining facility with the chute that goes underneath the rock, will try to have a clear idea and narrative in future i think.
Thanks
The landscape could have benefitted from the use of layers, where parts of the land overlap... well, it's obvious, and other artists will notice it.
Try to vary your brush size and forms. The texture of the ground is as if it was sculpted out of a single substance. The ground of course has boulders, shrubs, things that make it inconsistent. If you can't think of specific things, develop some interesting brushes and resort to them every now and then. Keep comparing to photos and paintings, mimic the randomness in them.
The structure in the background is plain, flat. You should collect sources and come up with a fantastic design for it, it doesn't really take very long and it teaches you more than just rushing through a design. Don't forget to throw in some evidence of perspective.
This painting is evidence that you can do all these things. So next time, just do 'em.
Ok, so where one layer of the landscape overlaps another so you can see a clear difference- good point will do that next time.
Yes I used only 2 brushes, 1 brush mainly for the entire thing, so I could benefit from a bit of variation for sure, great point. It does all seem to merge into one, so will try to get some definition in the next painting for that and use some references.
Good point with the structure too, im a bit too used to just making 2d structures so will do some studies from different architecture and see if I can make some nice original designs to put in my sketchbook, good idea. I'll also put in some repeating shapes that show perspective, as this was kinda lacking in that.
Ok, will get kick my butt into gear for my next painting, i was definitely too casual with this. Thanks very much for critique, great points.
The arch structure to the left is competing with your illuminated building thing. Remember that areas of high contract (dark darks next to lightest lights) will draw attention.
Very true, I tried to dim it down but I know i didnt succeed in reducing the amount of focus it pulls. It was originally the focal point but I changed it quite late on, so that is why unfortunately. Good spot though, for my next piece i will try to establish a hierarchy of focal points and ensure they are clear, thanks very much.
Just a quick observation, but you seem to fall back to your comfort zone, arched or boney formations for all your imagination works. I'd suggest building your visual library a bit more in your studies....there is a great thread in the community challenges thread that offers viz dev themes each week. Consider participating, or just direct your studies to different landscape forms and then try and apply them to your imagination pieces. It all comes down to application...won't , matter how much you study if you don't practice applying.
Oh also, closed loops like that arch are big no-nos. They create weird closed off focal points in the comp
:)
Yes I've realised this too after comparing my last two pieces. Unintentionally funny enough but yeh I need to vary my stuff a bit.
I'll have a look for sure. I find it really hard to make grass convincing, same with ice, will keep trying different stuff to build up my vis library.
Ok so no closed structures, will keep that in mind. I get completely what you mean- it kinda makes a frame that draws your eye. Will make sure not to do that in future, thanks a lot.