07-02-2016, 04:15 PM
Hey Felipe, this post is about the how to apply studies to finished pieces.
The main point I'd like to get across is that all studies you do towards a final, should be addressing a specific problem that you might have or are having trouble with in the final. Studies should be focused on analysis and not reproduction. I would say you are just reproducing, but doing little of the analysis part, which is why you aren't carrying the learnings from the study to your finals. We do need to see some finals or it's just taking your word for it ;).
Here is an example of the process. I decided I wanted to learn how to take a specific style of painting, by master seascape painter Ruo Li. I wanted to do a seascape from reference but paint using what I learned from his work. Original on the left.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=81134]](https://crimsondaggers.com/forum/attachment.php?aid=81134)
As I was painting I tried to think about what it was that made his work great. Specific things like edge control, simplification, colour etc. I wasn't focused purely on reproduction, but I like to practice accuracy whenever I can, things didn't need to be as accurate to get the same learning.
Observations I made during/after the study. Write them down somewhere, it solidifies things in your mind, and you can refer to them later.
I did one more like this, but I can't find it, unfortunately.
Then I took a couple of screenshots from a video on youtube which showed waves crashing on a rocky coast.
This is the image I painted using my observations from the studies, applied to the reference images. Note it's not exactly the same. I took stuff from both images and combined them. Where the study helped are often in little things like the oranges at the top of the big wave crest. I would have had no idea that would have looked good amplified if I hadn't analysed the colours in the previous study. It wasn't obvious at all in the reference images alone. Photos are quite bad at showing nuances in value and colour / saturation that you might see in real life. Ruo Li paints from life as well as from photoreference, which is probably why he amplified those aspects.
I kinda screwed up the final colour balance and values and the rocks are too red so I brought some cools into them especially in the darker values. I fixed it later but didn't update the image.
So, I had a specific study goal in mind, I analysed, I applied to a personal piece, using what I learned. With this one I did it for an entire overall image style, but you can break this down into much smaller chunks for an illustration. If you want to show armour in a certain way in your final, do armour studies, analyse and apply to your final. Then go on to the next thing that you are having trouble with. Every time you are faced with any problem (rendering, lighting, edges, design, colour, anatomy etc) just do the same process. Specific Goal > Study > Analysis > Application.
If you break it down like this, you won't feel as discouraged by everything looking bad. The way to improve and apply study is to break things down into smaller manageable problems, and work towards fixing those individually.
Obviously if you take the time to do it for EVERY problem you have, it may take quite some time to finish an illustration, so you decide where your study will be best used, but it will be worth it. I hope that helps.
The main point I'd like to get across is that all studies you do towards a final, should be addressing a specific problem that you might have or are having trouble with in the final. Studies should be focused on analysis and not reproduction. I would say you are just reproducing, but doing little of the analysis part, which is why you aren't carrying the learnings from the study to your finals. We do need to see some finals or it's just taking your word for it ;).
Here is an example of the process. I decided I wanted to learn how to take a specific style of painting, by master seascape painter Ruo Li. I wanted to do a seascape from reference but paint using what I learned from his work. Original on the left.
As I was painting I tried to think about what it was that made his work great. Specific things like edge control, simplification, colour etc. I wasn't focused purely on reproduction, but I like to practice accuracy whenever I can, things didn't need to be as accurate to get the same learning.
Observations I made during/after the study. Write them down somewhere, it solidifies things in your mind, and you can refer to them later.
(02-24-2016, 04:13 PM)Amit Dutta Wrote: [*]Brushes: One hard texture brush for spray and wave crests worked well. Soft round with a light touch to get that soft wave volume and glow.
[*]The feeling of volume in the large wave was done using a soft round and thought about in terms of general form shadowing. This contrasted really nicely with the hard edged spray and wave cresting and really made the forms pop and give them overlap and depth.
[*]So again, edge balance was hugely important. Similar to cloud forms in many ways, but with more emphasis on dynamism.
[*]Stroke dynamism and direction was hugely important to get the feel of crashing movement. So be bold in your strokes and choose directionality carefully.
[*]Splashes of colour where direct light hit and refracted through water was key: Oranges/yellow-greens at the wave crests and purples at the base where the waves had more volume and self-shadowing.
[*]All the highlights were slightly saturated (5-15) with blues/yellow/greens even the very white looking ones. I tried pure white highlights and they really felt too flat.
I did one more like this, but I can't find it, unfortunately.
Then I took a couple of screenshots from a video on youtube which showed waves crashing on a rocky coast.
This is the image I painted using my observations from the studies, applied to the reference images. Note it's not exactly the same. I took stuff from both images and combined them. Where the study helped are often in little things like the oranges at the top of the big wave crest. I would have had no idea that would have looked good amplified if I hadn't analysed the colours in the previous study. It wasn't obvious at all in the reference images alone. Photos are quite bad at showing nuances in value and colour / saturation that you might see in real life. Ruo Li paints from life as well as from photoreference, which is probably why he amplified those aspects.
I kinda screwed up the final colour balance and values and the rocks are too red so I brought some cools into them especially in the darker values. I fixed it later but didn't update the image.
So, I had a specific study goal in mind, I analysed, I applied to a personal piece, using what I learned. With this one I did it for an entire overall image style, but you can break this down into much smaller chunks for an illustration. If you want to show armour in a certain way in your final, do armour studies, analyse and apply to your final. Then go on to the next thing that you are having trouble with. Every time you are faced with any problem (rendering, lighting, edges, design, colour, anatomy etc) just do the same process. Specific Goal > Study > Analysis > Application.
If you break it down like this, you won't feel as discouraged by everything looking bad. The way to improve and apply study is to break things down into smaller manageable problems, and work towards fixing those individually.
Obviously if you take the time to do it for EVERY problem you have, it may take quite some time to finish an illustration, so you decide where your study will be best used, but it will be worth it. I hope that helps.