BrushNoir CC 1: GoT Game? WIP

[BrushNoir]

@Piotr Ah cool, that should not be a problem, a druid knight ^^
@PurpleScissors Thank you, I was actully thinking something like the first and perhaps bit of the third.

[BrushNoir]

Started to paint and play with values and the costume.




I probably should lighten it up, but not sure.

[Amit Dutta]

Hey man, good stuff. Check your sketch as you go. I think you are losing some of the power in the sketch. There are some nice diagonals of the branches behind the throne that you are missing in your value work. Also the sketch feels more intimate a view in scale which I think works better, so I would make the character a bit larger. You have some nice foreshortening in the sketch which isn't coming through in the value work because you've hidden most of the chair with that flat robe. I'd like to see more of the character fitting into that intital sketch foreshortening. Tweaking things as you go is fine, but be careful not to lose the good stuff. That's what the legwork is for...to solve those fundamentals so you don't have to as you paint!

*Edit, ok I realised what you posted was flipped, but the value scheme and emphasis suggested in the sketch despite being a simple gradient is working better than the value sketch. The comp also feels a bit too top heavy and symmetrical with the larger amount of dark value at the top of the canvas than was in the sketch.

[BrushNoir]

Yeah it's flipped indeed, I forgot to flip it back haha. But I'll remove the robe and make the background more lighter as intended. I know it's not an excuse but I'm really struggling with workflow so that's something I'm exploring aswell. Like what sort of studies should I do and when I should do them. I notice I sometimes change my mind while painting and then adjust things while I paint. But for next month I hope I have a better process and workflow :D

[BrushNoir]

Update, close to finish I think:




Really need to fix the arms ://

[JonHop]

HI brushnoir, great job so far, I love the green tones and the reflections on the armour, great job rendering that and getting that 'spring is coming' feel. I think that you can push this image even further though as beetles can also have reflective natural armour/colour variation, for example https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dung+b...p1Z06yM%3A
I feel you could use the extra time you have to push those beetles more and use some texture and colour variation to add some more interest, some different variation of hues of that red medallion can be worked into certain areas around the focal point to break up the green a little bit.

Well done on pushing yourself and chaotic workflows are ok you'll learn as you go and streamline it :)

[Amit Dutta]

Yep what Jon said and being careful not to take too much focus away, but they are a bit like ghost beetles atm.  I would also tone down areas of high contrast and saturation at the edges of the canvas, such as those branches with the flowers on them. You can have them relatively highly saturated, but fade them out towards the edges or make them more bark at the edges so the focus is in the center.  Like Frazetta here. Also check out his soft value form lighting on the figure. You could get some of that into yours too.

[BrushNoir]

@jonhop thank you, good thing I have some time indeed for some fixes. Will follow up your advice, thanks again!

@amitdutta that's a good example, I'll look into that and make the saturation less towards the edges. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Hobitt]

Since you are going for a central iconic composition make sure to add even more diagonals because you must balance it, so add more or make the ones you have already more prominent, loving to look of it so far, keep it up!

[BrushNoir]

@Hobitt I'm truly sorry but I don't quite get what you mean by diagonals, do you have an example perhaps?

[JyonnyNovice]

I agree with Hobitt, I think this is what he means:



all the diagonals are pointing down and in from the sides but are too regular, it gives a kind of warping feeling to it (if that makes sense), you can add additional diagonals cutting across and breaking up some of the others, or use other shapes to break them up. I'll try to find an example (although I'm no expert on this kind of stuff).

EDIT: Sorry I couldn't find anything to explain, but maybe having the branches on the left of the image overlapping or twisting in different directions, or adding another different sized beetle to cover up some of those on the left could work.

Good luck! It's looking nice ^^

[Hobitt]

Yeah what Jyonny sed, also another thing i noticed, the arm directions are identical and they  are vertical just like the tree trunk too much repetition change one of the hands so it wont feel weird.

[BrushNoir]

@hobitt, @jyonny aaah like that, I understand now and will try and fix that, thanks alot!

[BrushNoir]

I think I pushed it quite a bit with all the awesome feedback!

[Amit Dutta]

Great improvements. Haha that pet beetle....eek.
I think you should Take a few of those leaves out, especially some of the lower left ones. Again a bit too repetitive, all the same size and depth. I would look at examples of paintings that have used this to great effect and see how the arrangement affects the comps.

[BrushNoir]

@AmitDutta Will do that tommorow and then post the final I think before I'm to late :p.