Luka's Sketchbook

[darktiste]

I feel like some of the stuff you do as more to do with storyboarding which doesn't necessarly require extreme rendering but since it not sequantional it more like action pack concept art.Personally i would say go look at concept art on artstation you will get a better sense of what is concept art and than go to the storyboard section and compare.

I am still saying this in the case those are some portfolio piece you are working on not that storyboarding isn't a skill that marketable it might just be more useful to make sure you understand if you want to do illustration,concept art or tell story not that there isn't place for overlap but i mean in term of making the identity of the portfolio hit the right note as to what you want to be doing in the future.

[cgmythology]

I agree in regards to the pose and composition, they're very solid at this stage already so you're off to a great start. Looking forward to what colors you come up with for this one!

[spectralpainter]

Thanks everyone. Can't say that I'm terribly happy with how it looks but that's how some images turn out.  I think there's a bunch of little things that are off. I think having the other guys in the background from the sketch would have been better as well but I am so tired of looking at this painting, lol. Was a challenging experience all around. Going to study more..

@darktiste not sure that I understand entirely but an illustration should be something like a more refined storyboard no? 

[darktiste]

It not easy for me to explain because i don't know how you define concept art.I know there still alot of misconception around the job title so i am just trying to clear this out if i can help because i think it important to be able to define what type of task you are good at and enjoy and want to be paid to do.

Illustration VS Concept - Why do some companies want Sketches and others want paintings? 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q05Ikl-uUB8

I was just trying to understand what aspect of concept art you were interest by also.For example character, environment ,creature,props or vehicule.Because right now you are doing more illustration than design work as far as i can tell.

Also it can be hard to differentiate the personal work to what you are trying to put in the portfolio so this can be hard to determine for someone outside of you to help you find out what piece might be good to add to the porfolio.

But as far as what i heard from you there an interest for game board and sadly i don't think that there a high demand for narrative heavy illustration in this kind of game.Apart from the art box that doesn't make for a lot of work for you unless you want to jump from one project to an other that up to you.Where there more illustration that would fit what you do currently i would say would be in the ttrpg aspect for example because it more text heavy type of game there often more illustration to be made in by comparaison of the two thing area of game you have mention interest for.

I explained before that there category of subject but you shown so far that you do illustration because you mix the different category and you don't do design(you do but not in a designer pipeline way) That mean you aren't doing turn around and present the subject isolated from the context.This mean you didn't yet made it clear that you design with the intent of the subject to be modelize by a 3d modeler which to me indicate you aren't a concept artist but an illustrator.

You can take a look at my http://crimsondaggers.com/forum/thread-3737.html(i suggest to check more toward the end of my sketchbook at the start i was still very much confuse for a very longtime you might get a glimpse of what concept artist do.I will admit that sometime i have fallen in the trap of getting confuse with concept art and illustration so it might not be extra clear but i hope that i will provide you with a better idea.I am trying to help you not make the same mistake.

[JosephCow]

Looks good, I like how it turned out actually. Could be a little more finished but I like how you've got the lighting on the far character with the sun reflecting from the front and the cool light from behind. Especially the far boot reads really nice. If I could offer one critique It would just be that it looks like technique wise you have some kind of soft smudge/blur brush you use, which I would cut back on. It kind of mushes stuff together in a very digital way, it's not ugly but it's not creating great edges either. idk how to describe it. Just what I'm honing in on rn.


I don't really see anything wrong with what you're doing in terms of career. I mean, I'm not an expert on board game art, if that's what you're kind of going toward. but nowadays board game art is very illustration heavy. You've got the actual game pieces/cards, and then also box art, manual, promotional art etc. Most of the work you've done so far seems fairly appropriate for some kind of work like that. It may not be in that specific format, but the skills shown are relevant.

Because of that, it's probably not a bad thing to have a more general focus on your painting skills right now.

[CBinnsIllustration]

I see what JosephCow is saying when i review the last few pieces. I really a lot of things about them from composition to mood and creativity and you are certainly on the right track. The improvement area i feel would be a  introduce slightly more varied edge control and surface texture. The last piece almost has an overall wet modeling clay feel to it. Not that this is a bad thing as it's well sculpted,  but it kind of gives every surface a similar feel and texture. From the FG soldiers vest to his shirt to the wall it feels very similar. Maybe mixing in some gouges and gritty-ness could go a long way to convince of the materials texture. But this advice of course is only an opinion based on personal preference, and comes from someone who is also trying to get better in all these areas. Keep up the great work!

[_spec]

Hell yeah! love how you're cranking out these polished illustrations.
As usual, i find u have a a good sense of lighting and rendering, but I think this framing/compositions could become a bit more engaging.
Get ready for literally the worst paintover you will ever see lmao. That being said, I hope you don't mind the feedback.



I think camera optics and placement would be something helpful to look into- like cinema stuff and how cinematographers shoot visually interesting films, using where and how they place the camera to best frame the action going on. Even things like FOV, aperture, and exposure could benefit ur work a lot and really dial in that cinematic vibe that i'm getting from them.
In my sketchover thing below, I used ur last piece and just applied some of it there: I introduced 3pt perspective and lowered our "imaginary" camera/view point to play up more of that drama. I also tilted the whole comp a bit clockwise for more.....suspense. I think in the film world, it's called a 'dutch tilt' or something?? Seeing that our camera is now way lower, we could also bring in some rocks/debris into our foreground to really maximize depth! Maybe even some more broken concrete with rebar could be fun.
In orange, i marked some spots that could catch more light from the big hole in the wall- especially our main character. I think that'd be a great spot for lighting to be used as a storytelling element, even if not 100% realistic. Finally, in green, I'm imagining a big ray of light bleeding in from that hole, also highlighting lots of dust, smoke, and/or particles in the air. Said dust could be a great tool for pushing and pulling characters/objects closer or further in the comp too, adding to the depth where u see fit.


Sorry if that was a lot or unwarranted, cheers!

[spectralpainter]

@josephcow Yeah I was really throwing my hands up at the end and ended up throwing a blur filter over a lot of the background..
@CBinns Yes it's definitely something I want to work on. This new painting I'm doing is going to be a good opportunity to do a variety of materials.
@spec I always want critique, lol. I actually prefer people giving advice on what to work on rather than a compliment. You bring up a lot of good points. I did pretty much exclusively person-on-blank-background art for a long time so I really am trying to make an effort to break out of that.. The ideas you mention are definitely helpful in improving my awareness of the various tools artists have for making illustrations

And here's the start of a new painting I did today. I think that it's got a stronger sense of a story going on than some of my other work at least. Now that I look at it again it is feeling a little cramped though. 

[darktiste]

I was surfing artstation and i realize there was a section you might be interest.It called board game art and card game art.https://www.artstation.com/channels/board_and_card_game_art?sort_by=trending&dimension=2d.

So naturally i had you in mind.

[spectralpainter]

I was surfing artstation and i realize there was a section you might be interest.It called board game art and card game art.https://www.artstation.com/channels/board_and_card_game_art?sort_by=trending&dimension=2d.

So naturally i had you in mind.

Hah, thanks. I need to remember to specifically go through that category more.

And I think this image is just about finished. I think it is much more successful in terms of being a complete idea than many of my other paintings. I want to try to clearly express something in every piece from now on..

[JosephCow]

Ooh I like that, it's really nice. Iron Giant vibes

[spectralpainter]

Thanks Joseph!

My next WIP is two character designs, one of which I've started:

[cgmythology]

Your recent character design is looking great, already very solidly constructed with a great design. Looking forward to a more refined version. Keep up the solid work!

[Daft Sketch]

Great stuff! Great lighting over all and especially in the girl and the old robot piece

[Jephyr]

Just looking through sketchbooks and yours caught my eye. Really love your designs and characters.

That little girl with the robot ( ?) is really tasty!