Challenge - Environment 3

[Piotr Jasielski]

Hello again

Till now previous 2 challenges were concerning scify environments, so to create a balance, this one leans more towards fantasy (you can make it scify though)

Next challenge is: Depict a rocky and rather cold environment with a gothic-like cathedral towering over it. Focus on mood. The cathedral architecture doesn't have to follow all guidelines of a typical gothic church, but it should have a similar feel to it. If you want you can add some characters (like pilgrims, priests or such), but they shouldn't be the main focus.

Feel free to post your wips ask for critique or give one.

Good luck.

DEADLINE: 2 NOVEMBER 2012

[Piotr Jasielski]

WIP/ thumb

I actually made a mistake in this one. I'm figuring out how to fix it.

[JonHop]

Piotr, awesome challenge! I'll get started tomorrow or monday on this and up date this post with WIP to not clutter the thread.

Also I like how your image is coming along, love the lighting.


Ok here's some very quick (10-15 mins to do all 4) thumbnails, Im def leaning toward no. 2.

[Piotr Jasielski]

Update!
I had lazy 2 days, so didn't do much :/

[Vorseth]

Nice work, I'm not up to buildings yet i don't think :P I'll try jump in on the next one :D

[JonHop]

Vorseth I took a quick look at your sketchbook and I think you can do it, you could push yourself by going out of your comfort zone. What I'm doing at the moment with these challenges as environments are the thing I've painted the least and that I suck at the most lol.

[kisu_shimo]

Hello! This looks cool :)

I'd like to join in if I may. Now... some ideas....

[JonHop]

Of course it's open to everyone who wants to participate ;) looking forward to seeing your work Kisu.

[rainbowsorknives]

First time posting work for a challenge! glad to be here :)

Had an idea in my head of how i wanted to do this and went with it.

[kisu_shimo]

Of course it's open to everyone who wants to participate ;) looking forward to seeing your work Kisu.

Thanks, JonHop. Here are my thumbs:



I'm going ahead with the top one. Perhaps not the best answer to the brief right now... but the most interesting composition to me.

JonHop - I agree, number 2 looks the best in your thumbs! Did you go with that one?

[Piotr Jasielski]

Great to see your stuff rainbowsorknives and kisu_shimo!

I have an update. Crits are appreciated. I'll add a pilgrim in the right corner (similar to that in the last update) later.

[rainbowsorknives]

update ^^ i think the second one doesn't really fit with the brief you gave.

[kisu_shimo]

Looking really good guys.

Rainbow... both work I think. You can just make the tower of the second more into a Gothic castle if you want to pursue that Idea.

Here's a little progress i did tuning up my thumbnail to pin down what I was aiming for. And now I've started the painting.

[JonHop]

@ Kisu yeah Im gonna go with that one, I don't think I'll make the deadline for this though as been catching up with Ira's perspective assignments for his mentoring class. I'll probably use what I've learned and lay out the big shapes in perspective but I doutb I'll finish it by tomorrow.

Also Kisu, I really like your composition how you have the big path way winding through the image.


@ rainbow I prefer the composition of the first one it's more interesting to look at at the moment.

@Piotr it's looking good, I like how you've used the sharp rock edges, I think you could push that more to create more a sense of this place being very dangerous. Allso the pilgrim was drawing focus in the first image, maybe don't have him holding a bright lantern or make him more of a shadow figure.


Looking forward to seeing how far you all got with your pieces :).

[Piotr Jasielski]

I thought I'd finish this piece today, but unfortunately I have to leave my house early in the morning till at least sunday evening. I have to pack some stuff and do some things so I don't feel like I could finish it in time. It's almost done though. I'll probably have to fix the pilgrim in the corner because it may be competing with the focal point.

So if you guys have problems with finishing it in time, feel free to break the deadline and post your painting later. It's not like the deadline is obligatory, it's rather a guide as to when you should present your finished piece, not have to (since we're not judging it anyway).




Should I remove the priest, or maybe just the bright rock beside him?

[kisu_shimo]

Should I remove the priest, or maybe just the bright rock beside him?

Hey Piotr,

If it were my painting (and you're streets ahead of me skill wise btw:) ) I would keep both the priest and the rock, but bring them into the picture properly. Personally I don't think it's a good idea to cut the character off at the edge of the frame. Also, the rock looks too much like the mountain behind it which throws off the scale. I really hope you don't mind, but I did a very quick paint over on that corner to show what I'm trying to say. It's just my opinion though, so please just ignore me as you see fit! And it's a quick doodle on top just to get the idea across, so it's not perfect by any means.

---

The only other thing that plays on my mind with your image is the skull gate in the middle. For me it seems to close off the picture at that point. Like, it should be cropped there. It makes it feel a bit like the castle is just stuck on the back as an after thought. One way you could remedy this, is to open up the gateway a bit. I think that really, the gateway should be a functional element in the picture, helping to lead the eye through it. And at the present, for me, it blocks it off. Again, I've scribbled on your picture (sorry, really hope you don't mind) to try and explain what I'm saying. I don't think I've really got it right either (the skull top too high maybe.. the scale's lost a bit), but hopefully you'll get the jist....



Lord knows what I'm doing with my picture... and why I'm not working on it now?! I hope you see my suggestions as helpful. I'm just letting you know my thoughts, which may be completely wrong! :)

[kisu_shimo]

So.. I haven't nearly finished either.. but here's a WIP. Loads wrong. But as I say, it's in progress. Totally ripped off this John Marston picture.

[Piotr Jasielski]

Thanks, kisu_shimo. I really appreciate your input. I think I'll go with something in between your paintover and mine previous version. I'll doodle a little and we'll see what will happen.

If i may give you some cits, my main concer would be the fact that the cathedral, that's supposed to be the focal point is not very visible. The composition is very interesting, but I'm not sure if the cathedral stands out enough in this case.

Anyway thanks again for advice.

[kisu_shimo]

Hey, Piotr. Totally agree with you. Cheers, and feel free to throw any more advice my way :)

[Feohria]

Wow I really like the topic. :) Good job everyone. I'm sad I've just seen this. > <