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Full Version: Environment concept critique please :)
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Ook, right this is an environment concept for a building (church) in a zombie style game (hence the little dudes in the background).
The bin is just a sketch so I know where the light source is so dont worry about that.
I think I may have it raining also, and have the rain dripping off the angel on the right.
I've been told this lacks emotion of 'will of the warrior' as my friend put it- what can I do about this, and what can I improve at this point?
Thanks very much.
Hey dude, another paintover, different forum :D

I'll let the paintover speak for itself. I had tons of fun with this one, so sorry I got carried away and did more on it than I intended...but I think I solved your comp issues and made it a bit more dramatic.

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(02-06-2013, 09:47 PM)monkeybread Wrote: [ -> ]Hey dude, another paintover, different forum :D

I'll let the paintover speak for itself. I had tons of fun with this one, so sorry I got carried away and did more on it than I intended...but I think I solved your comp issues and made it a bit more dramatic.

Ergh people as talented as you make me sick! Haha, awesome job!! That looks 100x better than mine does, and I love how you positioned the angel!
I tried doing a quick sketch of a zombie on the right before but with perspective of the angel it looked very crowded and rubbish, bringing the angel up works wonders!
You are such a lifesaver, great work mate :)
Will get to work asap.
I will do my best to get some studies churned out too, i know im a very naughty student :'(
Doing a dog study next I think, then a landscape, and then a portrait (which will make me cry so badly...). Will get ma sketchbook going, love the community here so thanks for the link!
All the best :D
ok hopefully this has improved a little, still need to add more fog etc, got the dude in a different position as i didnt want to exactly copy, and also i like him kinda leaning back and howling though the face is difficult to do/suggest. Just sketched in another light source (lanterns) so that and what it effects will be refined.
hows it looking?
Oh by the way, the big block on the right will be a tomb, but ive just blocked it out at the moment, will have a bit of lantern light with a lantern by it i think, and also an ironic 'god is our protector' or something inscription :)
Quote: people as talented as you make me sick! Haha, awesome job!!

Thanks! But don't let me hear you use the talent word ever again. :p It's all about the hard work...talent only probably dictates how quickly you learn and apply what you learn, but without the work, it's worse than useless. So it is good to see you planning all those studies. :)

Nice changes to the piece, its heading there....you want to be careful with the size of the tomb, you dont want to be about be too obvious with your framing of the church and have it feel boxed in...as this is an enviro piece you do want to make sure the enviro is still the focus...I know putting the zombie there risked changing the focus a bit as well which is why I tried to make him less active. You also dont want too many competing focal points. Anyway you definitely shouldn't just do what i did so keep working on it and trying to find your own solutions , that's how you'll learn!
(02-07-2013, 04:38 AM)monkeybread Wrote: [ -> ]
Quote: people as talented as you make me sick! Haha, awesome job!!

Thanks! But don't let me hear you use the talent word ever again. :p It's all about the hard work...talent only probably dictates how quickly you learn and apply what you learn, but without the work, it's worse than useless. So it is good to see you planning all those studies. :)

Nice changes to the piece, its heading there....you want to be careful with the size of the tomb, you dont want to be about be too obvious with your framing of the church and have it feel boxed in...as this is an enviro piece you do want to make sure the enviro is still the focus...I know putting the zombie there risked changing the focus a bit as well which is why I tried to make him less active. You also dont want too many competing focal points. Anyway you definitely shouldn't just do what i did so keep working on it and trying to find your own solutions , that's how you'll learn!

Heh no probs, i do apologise! D: good to hear that in a way actually, i dont rate my own raw talent at all. Yeah im getting rid of the tomb on the left, may add a cross rather than a traditional grave/tomb. Yeah looking at it now, it does take too much attention away, may just block him out instead of detailing face or anything. I'm trying not to copy you as much as possible but for every fault i find you seem to have fixed it so its hard!!!
May do some more work tonight ;)
Hey bud,

After a good 4-5 hrs straight with no food since breakfast (currently 8.30pm...) I've done it!
Its up on my da account, I couldnt really replicate what you did with the zombie but I think i've added in a extra nice few nuggets like some framing things :D
Have a peek when you can, would love to hear what you think.
Your help is, as always, invaluable so thanks so much, you've helped me improve it ALOT!
Cheers!
Right this is the final (low res) product, I hope you can see some improvement!
Thanks!
It looks heaps better. Couple of crits: Scale of the statue is pretty large .. if you follow the lines to the VP it's half a church tall. I like the rendering on it though. The way you've indicated cast light from the lanterns is pretty lazy. There would definitely be cast shadows of the frames of the lantern on the ground and plinth....Have a look at reference as always. Other than that, nice job. You're coming along since those first things you showed me on dA! Keep it up.
i think you should raise the horizon or "zoom out". don't cut off the zombie's feet, put the church more in the background so it becomes tinier, surrounded by more emptyness filled with zombies. underlines the hopelessness.
(02-14-2013, 10:00 PM)monkeybread Wrote: [ -> ]It looks heaps better. Couple of crits: Scale of the statue is pretty large .. if you follow the lines to the VP it's half a church tall. I like the rendering on it though. The way you've indicated cast light from the lanterns is pretty lazy. There would definitely be cast shadows of the frames of the lantern on the ground and plinth....Have a look at reference as always. Other than that, nice job. You're coming along since those first things you showed me on dA! Keep it up.

Yeah i know exactly what you mean, i knew it was big but i kinda didnt realise just how big until you said that! wow, maybe i should resize..
The lanterns were a bit of a last minute addition, i may take them out as they do just look a bit fake and underworked. I didnt think about shadows actually, thanks, that may help it a bit :)
I've been told they look a bit too halloweeny though, so will probs get rid of them.
Thanks! I feel like I'm slowly improving :) Been getting some studies done, though need to do much more. Got a holiday coming up, so gearing up for a few all day seshes :D
Cheers for all the help mate :)

(02-15-2013, 10:57 PM)Myriam Wrote: [ -> ]i think you should raise the horizon or "zoom out". don't cut off the zombie's feet, put the church more in the background so it becomes tinier, surrounded by more emptyness filled with zombies. underlines the hopelessness.

Thanks for the comment!
I considered doing that for a while, but I decided that I want the church to be the main focus, seeing as its an environment design mainly centered around the church, and I felt 'zooming out' drew too much focus to the zombie, and not enough to the church.
I had the same problem adding detail to the zombie, it became too much of a main focus, so the image looked confused.
Maybe having him standing on top of a small mound with a shadow and low detail may work... hmmm will have to give it a go! Thanks :D
you're welcome =) the zombie doesn't have to be this close either, maybe that will work. i still think the horizon shouldn't be this low =)