Digital Painting for 626elemental

[noxartemus]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/Drakolordx/DigitalPaintingLogo-3.gif

Digital Painting Class Members

626Elemental
Deep_In_Food
Fallimar
Tipa
DevinLoveCraft
Theelusiveyoda
Blackeri
|2ounD
Sigit


Digital Painting Class 2 Members

Mechis
cAstAwAyLOVER
Rabbi Satan

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Class One is Temporaily closed

I will not be taking anymore students, because I still have my own learning and studies that I need to keep up with. If there are still others interested I can still help here and there in PM, and place you in reservation for my next class.

I highly reccomend for now however, that you take a good look around the conceptart.org forums, as this place is an invaluable place of learning and resources. Even idle browsing can reveal many unique things.

Happy Drawings! :sungod:
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Useful Links

There are many useful links all over conceptart.org that can help you learn, or help others to learn. I'm providing a link resource for the convenience of others ranging from painting help, to anatomy resources. If you don't see a link here that should be placed up, let me know and I'll put it up.

I hope that all that find this class useful in some way will help inspire them to be active members of conceptart.org as well and further contribute to this great community.


Peer Project: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76955
Photoshop Painting: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107217
Sketchbook Forum: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=107217
Photo Reference: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30
Tutorial Forum: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=42

:sungod:
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First off, I'd like you to post a little mini biography of yourself, like your name, what's your favorite thing to draw, and maybe a few examples of your paintings and anything else that you want. : )

Alrighty, so I'll be setting up the lessons here about digital painting and the color theory where we will discover how to create pictures that will stand out in brightness, contrast, and texture. First off, each lesson will be posted by me in this sort of easy to read format which I'm giving an example of here...

Subject: A Yeti Brushing his Teeth
What this Lesson is About: Learning how to create different textures
Reference Picture: N/A, Optional

We'll be starting off with how I first learned how to paint on Photoshop with bumskee, which is with fruit since the shapes are very basic, and the colors are usually vibrant and fun to play with. Afterwards, once you get a feel for that, we will go alot more indepth, eventually even extending to a full blown painting to analyze how colors and light interact with each other on a subject. (Like a Dragon flying in a sunset, oohhhh!)

I'm willing to take up a few other people, or a mentor myself, however I prefer to be contacted by PM or by email at noxartemus@hotmail.com to keep this lesson area clean.
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First lesson!!!

Subject: Apple
What this Lesson is About: Learning how to choose colors, and getting a feel for it.
Reference Picture: N/A, I would like you to choose whatever apple you feel most comfortable with for our first lesson. However, try getting one that is crisp looking with sharp colors.

(Luckily, I saved the steps in my old apple painting, so we can use this as an example!!!)

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Now, there are four basic steps when you start a digital painting, pretty much. First is the Sketch, second is blocking in the colors, third is blending, and the fourth is refining. Most people that are experienced, don't really put in the third step though, so I will try showing you how to blend color a little later. First, I want you to practice steps one and two.

Step 1:

Here in step one, I loosely sketch in with a regular hard edged brush at about 80 opacity and make any adjustments I need to make. I make small references to large contrasts in dark and light as you can see, and where the glare is going to hit on the apple.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/Drakolordx/Practice_Apple1.jpg

Step 2:

Here, since this is your first time, you can use an eye dropper tool from your reference. Make a small pallete of colors you will be using on the side of your painting. Using your pallete, take a regular hard edged brush at 80-100 opacity, and boldly block in the major colors around the apple, taking note of the color changes. Don't be afraid to be messy, because we're going to clean up our image as the last part, just don't get too much out of the lines.

Choosing color, and where it goes in this manner is very important. When you blend with a blender tool, or blend randomly with the same basic colors, the vibrancy of the image becomes very, very dull, therefore choosing seperate colors like this reduces the dullness of an image as you blend.

Once you have done these two steps, post these two steps on here, and I will teach you how to blend them. :) Remember though! Light colors are sharp, and dark colors are softer in appearance,and the two can give great contrast, especially when blending and choosing colors.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/Drakolordx/Practice_Apple2.jpg

Step 4:

In this step, after I've blended the colors, I take a hard edged brush again and just keep in mind the minor details of the apple, how it's not really an entirely glossy surface, but a little spotty, and even porous in certain areas. I did the large spots with a regular hard edged brush, and used a speckled spotty brush for the yellow spots near the bottom. In the future, we'll be getting more into texture, but for now, color and getting the feel for making things seem natural is the key.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v465/Drakolordx/Practice_Apple3.jpg
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If you have ANY questions, or need any help inbetween all this, feel free to ask me anything. There is no deadlines, you can take your time to learn and get your hands into everything.

[deep_in_food]

You can call me jessy, deep in food or Food here, but I have way too many nicks in both online games and in the forum.

My hobby is mainly eat and sleep. I used to play more online games than I should and I have a lot of online friends out there, but after that time when I ended up getting tired and sleep for 4 hours after an hour of gaming, I decided that I need something else new, and that's why I come here.

Anyways, for my artwork, I have a deviantart account that I post both my sketches and stuff, but i'll attach one of my work-in-progress here.

[deep_in_food]

Finally got to look at your apple. No doubt though, your apple looks awesome in both texture and lighting. I drew an apple for 626 before. The problem with the apple is that it always looks flat no matter what I do, so I would like to know if there's a particular way in capturing the light source well.

[noxartemus]

Finally got to look at your apple. No doubt though, your apple looks awesome in both texture and lighting. I drew an apple for 626 before. The problem with the apple is that it always looks flat no matter what I do, so I would like to know if there's a particular way in capturing the light source well.

**Just took a look at your deviant art apples that you made, and I must say that the last one you made isn't too flat at all, you're going in the right direction. :) And making excellent progress as well. All you need is some practice and help to train your eye for subtle changes. How are you blending and shading all the colors though, if you're using a blur tool, I wouldn't reccomend it as it diminishes the vibrancy of the colors. Once we delve into our first lesson I shall teach you how to bring out the colors more. :)**

Hmm... well there is no magic really in capturing a light source to make it appear better other than observation, practice and learning. It takes lots of practice through reference to gradually get a feel for an object-however if you draw something round for example, I would be able to point out the mistakes, and what you would need to look at which will help sharpen your mind to finding these problems.

My job really is to push you all in the right direction and give you the resources, but the true key to learning is to practice lots and lots, even the "boring" stuff such as basic shapes. :)

Here are some resources I had used when learning about light, texture, and space:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51913

And the links provided in this thread are phenomenal readings, really.
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=76955

[deep_in_food]

Hm, I tried using smudge and lower the opacity of the brush. The 2nd method's better but still the smudge has its use I think, but on that piece I guess I'm just too lazy to use it.

Dodge and highlight tool's too hard to control sometimes (and people abuse it), but I know a friend that always use it to draw robots. I don't really like it usually, though, since the end of it is constant cntl-z lol.

[626elemental]

Hey there Noxartemus!

Sorry it took so long for me to respond... seemed like whenever I could reach the computer CA was down. But I will start on the apple right away!

I'm a high school student at the moment (got a while to go before I graduate...) and my favorite things to draw are people and animals. My least favorite is probably cities/architecture or anything inorganic. Up till now I've stuck mainly with drawing, making a few breif attempts at paint. Once again, thanks for mentoring me!

Here's an example of my work:

[deep_in_food]

yay our ele's back :D
That thing's my work in progress. Testing stuff using instant filters from photoshop

[626elemental]

Well, I finished the first apple, but I'm going to do another. This one didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.

[noxartemus]

626: Hmmm, the apple looks pretty good though. Has eye catching colors and fairly convincing texture. You just need a little more practice in blending and keeping your hand stiff a little.

Remember to post your steps and references so I can see your process!

Deep: So far, so good on your image. We're working on apples though, however, I'll critique any other works you wanna throw in here. The strawberry girl looks really neat, the angle and composition is great, along with the texture for the hair. My suggestion for you, right now is to try to slowly try sharpening the image and use some bolder colors for a stronger contrast. Use a picture of a real strawberry to get an idea.

Also when drawing, keep this concept in your mind that the farther away an image is, the less in focus it's going to be. :)

Can't wait to see the results for both of you guys!

[deep_in_food]

I've been in progress so far. When I did my little doll's strawberry, I used a reference from a strawberry, but it didn't turn out as I expected :(

If I have a light shining in front of the object, or having more than one light source, I guess the object will look flat?

[noxartemus]

Yeah, the object can appear more flat with too many light sources, but using the right amount of colors to contrast things, you can pull it off in a drawing sometimes, but there always needs to be shadow to give it more shape.

Here, I did a small 5 minute repaint of your strawberry girl. (Hope you don't mind, needed a break from my painting.) I wanted to show you how to block in some colors and stuff- I put some white/light pink speckles to show where the light source is hitting and to add texture while adding in a brighter red color. Also showed my reference to show contrast between the two.

Note the striking contrast, don't be afraid to add colors that are very different from each other, like the super light and the very dark greens in the vines, great thing about photoshop is that you can correct any mistake you make if you mess up. :)

Also a great tip for painting, painting in a higher resolution allows more sharpness, I paint at around 2000 pixels minimum. Then when I'm done, I shrink it by half, it makes the image alot sharper, and it's easier to blend. When at high pixels, I zoom out to 33%-66% depending on size and broadly paint that way, then later on when doing final details, zoom in all the way.
Saw your apple in your profile btw, that's a nice apple, great colors :)

[626elemental]

What do you mean by a stiff hand? And on the blending... is it too soft and fuzzy, or splotchy, or is it just not enough? I didn't save any progress shots (oops.) but here's the reference. Sorry!

[deep_in_food]

nice apple ele :D

here's mine:
outline - http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/Annora-s-apple-002-outline-75989954
block in - http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/Annora-s-apple-002-blockin-75989992
refined - http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/Annora-s-apple-002-block-75990088
texture - http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/Annora-s-apple-002-texture-75990017
final - http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/Annora-s-apple-002-final-75990139

I'll look at my strawberry laters :dead:

[noxartemus]

626Elemental: What I mean by keep a stiffer arm, is some of the lines are a little shaky on your apple where it should be smoother, but that takes time so don't sweat about it. :) You followed your reference rather well, I'll do an overpaint and point out some tips for you tmrr, it's almost 12:00 a.m. here and I need to hit the rack. X_x

Your blending is actually very good- it's smooth and you've gotten the grasp of using other colors to blend in two pieces. The major thing I see with the image, is that the colors are a little too vibrant, which makes it slightly unnatural, but that's an easy fixer! :)

Deep_in_Food: Very nice apple, I particularly like the colors, you are improving alot, good job also for blocking in the shapes- very nice bold strokes. You still need to work on smoothening your shading, and also use more than those colors though. I'll also do a small paint over for you too and point out some tips.

Can you give the reference picture, if you don't mind, btw?

Overall for both of you though, you guys are doing really great. Both of you have managed to shade and color without losing saturation, which is a great step, and keep the image from being very flat. After this lesson we'll be going onto a new fruit subject and I'll be giving the reference, so heads up on that! Afterwards when you both feel comfortable with basic shading, we'll move onto something a bit more trickier... :X

[deep_in_food]

I guess I wasn't obvious when ti comes to reference.
http://annora-stock.deviantart.com/art/Annora-s-Apple-002-55460196

When it comes to smooth, the first thing is the smudge tool I guess *smacks head*

[noxartemus]

Okay I made some .jpeg's with some tips and 5 minute overpaints to show where certain colors should be. :3 Next step I'd like you guys to study up on what is written in the .jpeg's for each of you, and do some touch ups to your original image and repost them when you are done.

Take some good time on how to learn how to blend in colors together by using other colors, with minimal use of eyedropper tool for referencing when going back and forth between colors. Don't feel pressured to get them done fast, art doesn't fall out of the sky and I don't expect you to rush when learning. :bounce:

Also, using smudge tool, blur tool, dodge, and burn tool is not a great way for shading or blending. Dodge and Burn tool are decent for doing extreme highlighting and shadowing, but even that is used minimally. Smudge can skew a drawing the wrong way, blur can dampen the saturation of a painting, dodge and burn if overused can make your painting look odd.

Btw, for the spotting of the apple, in certain areas, I used textured brushes alongside with a normal hard edged brush, not just a hard edged brush alone. I'll teach you all how to make your own custom brushes later on in time, it can do wonders for a drawing or painting if you hate sitting down smacking your tablet around for a textured effect.

If you need some help, feel free to ask me a specific question I may not have covered for you. :)

[Fallimar]

Hello!

So glad to be a part of this class, I'll be getting started on my apple as soon as I find a good reference!

About me... well, I'm Sophia, a bit of a dragon nut, so that's what I draw a lot of. I feel I'm quite good at rough sketching, lineart and shading, but I need a lot of work in most areas including composition, colour work (painting) and learning to loosen up my style - worry less about details when I should be looking at the picture as a whole.
Oh! I'm also completely useless at environments and interiors, so if they come up at any point I'll need to be kicked into shape a bit! :)

Anyway, here's a couple pieces I've been working on in the last couple days:
First ever ditital paint - done today (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/EyePaintcopy.jpg)
Sketch - crazy dragon (http://members.iinet.net.au/~fallimar/arts/Crazydragon.jpg), and the Lineart... (http://members.iinet.net.au/~fallimar/arts/CrazydragonLineart.jpg)
Which is now a digital painting WIP (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/CrazydragonWIP.jpg) :)

Right! Apple time!

[Fallimar]

Worked on this for most of the evening, used heaps and heaps of texturey stipple brushes and veeery low opacity. Still, I'm... kinda wowed by what I got :D

Now...
The reference (http://www.waterfootprint.org/images/gallery/original/apple.jpg)
Sketch:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/AppleSketch.jpg http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/AppleBlockBlend.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/AppleWIP.jpg http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/ApplepaintDone.jpg
And with the ref:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/Applepaintcopy.jpg

Sooo proud right now :)

[noxartemus]

Hey welcome Fallimar! Great apple, good use of various brushes to achieve a life-like effect. Overall, I believe you have a fairly decent grasp in blending, some areas you still need to work on, but the only major problem I really see is picking up certain subtle changes in colors here and there which I've pointed out for you.

I didn't do a major repaint because I wanna see if you can pinpoint the colors relatively on your own. For you, I'd like you to throw in the background for the apple and then do some final touch ups and repost when you can. :)

By the way guys, I highly encourage you all to critique each other's work and give each other some constructive feedback along with the lessons. We're all in this together, you know. :sungod:

[deep_in_food]

now my apple..
what's the peanut thing over there? D;

[noxartemus]

The peanut thing is me showing how you can find blobs of colors that are shaped wierd that you can use as a guideline to paint an image. ;D Subtle colors, it can help make it easier.

[allocco]

sketch
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/2456/52859844zu7.th.jpg (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=52859844zu7.jpg)

ended work
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1408/endedxj9.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=endedxj9.jpg)http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/2456/52859844zu7.th.jpg (http://img165.imageshack.us/my.php?image=52859844zu7.jpg)

[noxartemus]

Welcome Allocco. :) Very nice first apple, you've done well in the coloring and texture. The upper half so far is coming out nice and smoothly, though some places still needs smoothing out a little still. My first question is, what program are you using to do your digital painting?

Is it Photoshop, or Painter? Kinda looks like painter, but I wanted to be sure. Also, could you place your reference work, and next time also put in the step of blocking in colors so I can see how you are able to transfer an image onto a work step by step?

I'll do an overpaint once those things are done, I mostly want to know if you're using painter or photoshop. I like it so far though, looks like I can eat it. :)

[Fallimar]

Ok!

Revised my apple a bit, there's a lot I'd like to change about the overall shape, but I'd pretty much have to repaint the whole thing to get it to work properly o..0

So! apple, Mk. 2 :P
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/ApplepaintRevised.jpg

EDIT:

Ahem. didn't see the whole message there, so here's apple Mk. 2.5!

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a34/fallimar/ApplepaintRevised-1.jpg

[allocco]

photoshop crashed so i used painter and i'll soon post a new apple with all passage

[Lior Schiller]

First off, I'd like you to post a little mini biography of yourself, like your name, what's your favorite thing to draw, and maybe a few examples of your paintings and anything else that you want. : )
your goals as an artist, your interests, and other things you feel you'd like to say


Hello~! (sorry for the bad english to come)
I'm Lior, finished school about half a year ago. I want to learn fine arts or illustration (can i do both?) after my army service (I have to :( love and peace!), too bad in my country we don't have courses of only fine art or illustration, only "all arts" (sucks). Well, I want to have a drawing of mine in some cool rpg book.
Except from that, anime is my life.

Examples:
http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs24/i/2007/355/0/b/Sort_of_a____kick___S_by_Tipa.jpg
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs17/i/2007/179/4/2/theme___Akedat_yizhak__by_Tipa.jpg

My deviant: tipa.deviantart.com

(I've got some better traditional works, but they are too big to scan and i was lazy to photograph them, it's really hard!)

Nice to meet you all!

[Lior Schiller]

I forgot to tell that I'm using GIMP, which is a bit different from photoshop, so I would like you, noxartemus, to download it. I'm having a real hard time with the brushes and tools :(

gimp (www.gimp.org)

[Lior Schiller]

My apple :)

Reference: http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/883/apple1em7.jpg


My apple:
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9420/apple1qq1.jpg


And I'm really scared right now, there are so many dots and such... scary to continue =P

[deep_in_food]

:zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz::zzz: :zzz:
I don't know why mine always tend to look a bit dull D:
original http://hafefe.deviantart.com/art/The-green-apple-36401181

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5479/71813842rs5.jpg

[noxartemus]

So so sorry everyone, my computer had some problems and I had take it to the shop. All of you have done phenomenal work so far, I'll give some overpaints and critiqe shortly now that everything's running tip top shape. :)

[deep_in_food]

That's ok, crits do take time I agree

[Blackeri]

Hi Guys!

[TG for forums and wonderful people like you who do classes].

Anyways, I'm Ayden, a 16 year old student in year 10. I've been messing around in art for four or five years, but in the last year I've really gotten into digial art. I'm hoping to major in digital art [mainly fantasy art] and english [Love to write...].

Right now I do alot of fantasy art with pencil and oil pastels, nothing has been scanned into my computer yet though. My favourite digital artists are Jason Chan and Marta Dahlig. I'll probably be posting all of the stuff from this class on windsoar.deviantart.com .

Hmm.....onto apples....

[Blackeri]

So, did my first apple, just a quick sketch to try and get the feel of it. I didn't bother going past step two, I tried, but it was really.....bad.

Anyways, here ya go. I think I may have been too liberal in blocking out the colours, should I have added more to the pallet? Also, I've been taught to use blue and yellow for undertones when working with colour, so I added a pic of that too.

Reference:
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5053/refdb5.jpg

Step Two [Blue and Yellow Tones]:
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5761/shadetwotonewh6.jpg

Step Two [Green tones]:
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/466/shadegreenswv1.jpg

[l2ounD]

Hellos to everyone,

Im Ricky, I just joined and thought this would be a good place to start get back into drawing. Ive been working doing mostly 3d environment/prop modeling and havent really touched 2d stuff in forever. But I think this looks like fun, so ill give it go.

here is my apple and it looks like blackeri did the same one =)

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/65/practiceapplecv5.jpg

[noxartemus]

Overall: Overall I'd have to say that there's lots of talent here, and you're making pretty good progress. I highly reccomend that you all start critiquing each other's work both in class and in your sketchbooks, it's good practice both for you and also for the person you are helping. :)

The relationships that develop here will be important in learning the different styles and aspects of arists, as well. :sungod:

If you have any questions, just ask them here, or pm me. Also, if you want my yahoo account name is noxarcanus@yahoo.com which I leave on, and you can ask specific questions there.

Blackeri and |2ounD: If you guys read the whole entire introductory post in the beginning, it says to pm or email me first about classes rather than leaping in, and also posting up some work examples when you get accepted. Although I don't mind too much, just keep in mind to read a little more thoroughly other people's posts to avoid conflict here in conceptart.org with other members.

Welcome to the class and concept.org, however! I'll post up my critique in a bit. :) Glad to have you guys here.

Alloco: You pm'ed me about your troubles with choosing color while painting. From what I can see, however, so far you're having a good grasp on it. In Photoshop, they have something called the eye dropper tool. While doing your first paintngs, click different areas of your reference with it to see the differences in color to get an idea of how many colors there are in a painting.

There is no real magic to it other than trainig your eyes to pick up the colors, so just practice pracice practice. :) I can give hints how to make a painting less dull however, and if I see a problem in your paintings I will point it out.

Right now, I think you need to work on your blending. You're choosing your colors fine so far, make small circles and long sweeps when you blend, at a low opacity. It helps blend colors a little better. So far though, I like what I'm seeing, so good job. :) I did a bit of an overpaint to show you what I meant when I said smoothen out some of the etchy areas, also remember that when blocking in, and shading, the goal is to hide those lines. :)

Fallimar: Excellent work, you have a good eye. The apple is just slightly dull, so I reccomend dabbling some lighter colors at a later time, also, don't be afraid of making contrast-it brings life to a painting, so throwing some black for shadows is a good thing as long as you don't overdo it. :)

In my overpaint, I just did some minor touch ups to some areas I found very important in learning-mainly adding shadows. I applied some black to the hole in the apple and the bottom quickly just to show you what I mean.

Also, taking the extra time to make the final touch ups in sharpening areas can turn a regular painting, into a near photo perfect image. In this stage, I tend to zoom in closer to the apple and take my time making my lines nice and crisp.

However, I do like the faded out look in the right hand shaded area of the apple, that's the right concept. Dark against dark tends to look more blurry whereas lighter areas are very sharp.

Deep in food: You're making awesome progress, I notice you've picked up how many colors there really are in a single object, and how light sources bounce off the skin to make different effects. :) Well done.

The reason why your colors appear dull is mainly the background you started to paint on is a little dull. Just throw in some neon colors here and there at 5-10 opacity, and use the resulting color to add a little vibrancy. If you feel confident, you can try looking away from reference and start adding a few colors here and there to achieve a brighter effect if you want. References are only for practice, and taking some oppurtunity to do some independent add ons helps us work without them in the end. :D

But you don't have to right now. ;P

I took the liberty of doing some of it for you to show you what I mean on a small portion of your apple. On the bottom, I have bright green and yellow which I applied very gently to the apple, then used the mix of the dull and bright green to polish it up here and there. You can make it a little more dull than what I put on though, it's just an exaggeration to show what I meant.

Also, as you paint, don't scribble, patience is produces the best paintings. Doing long bold sweeps, and gentle circular motions to blend, takes a while to get used to, but once you've found your rhythm, your blending will become infinitely smoother.

I also provided some images of the sizes I tend to use while painting. I usually do finer, and my final blending techniques with the smallest brush. Use various sizes, don't be afraid. :)

Tipa: For some reason my computer doesn't seem to like your program, it made it crash. No worries though, from what I hear, photohop and GIMP are very similar, so I could probably work this out. If you want though I can provide a link for Photoshop if you have no issues with pirating.

Now with painting, when you block in colors, one of the goals is to make sure there are no black lines left. Also, you should pick out a pallete made of the basic colors you're going to first start using. The pallete I provided is just for blocking in. >_>

So far so good however, you have a good eye for sketching, which is very vital. Try blocking in at a stronger opacity, such as 80-100%. The only brush you need right now is a regular brush, so don't sweat it, and just focus on that. Everyone will be getting into texturing at a much later time, as it's a detailed subject all on it's own. :)

Try finishing blocking it in, and then start to blend, if you have a particular question just ask though.

P.S.

Going to post up the second assignment soon, for those already finishing up their apples. :D

[deep_in_food]

My guess is, that the circled part is where I should blend in the way you taught me? I'm not sure if having strokes of brush is a bad thing though, but for realistic stuff I don't see people using strokes very often, which I can't deny.

I even tried for fun to colour my friend's ranger in the game fly for fun. Without much reference it really didn't turn out well. I see when people colour anime for animation they really didn't use a lot of smudge and stuff like that, and that makes matter much harder than I thought it is, although copying an existing one is much easier than painting a realistic apple :xpld:

That colouring thing: http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/sniper-s-ranger-P-76905772

Reference I tried to use...
http://peacexxxboi.deviantart.com/art/Fate-Stay-Night-Archer-57581314
http://mindloop.deviantart.com/art/FFXII-Muscle-Boy-Vaan-49406349

[DevinLovecraft]

Hi, I'm Devin which is what you can call me. I'm 17, and Junior in High school.

Iv loved art As long as Iv been alive, my mom being an artist herself, my dad a writer, its no wonder I'm in into art. My mom gave me my first Heavy Metal Magazine when I was eight. She though I could handle the Adult themes, and I did. Its now my dream to get a comic published in Heavy metal magazine or do a cover just to say that I Illustrated for the same publication that some of the greats namely Royo, Bisley, and Azpiri did.

I failed art 1 in junior high, in 7th grade, because I wasn't "Traditional enough"
.That really heated me up and I stopped drawing, but about a year ago I picked up a pencil and began again looking for a style that suits me. Its all coming back in bits and pieces though so bear with me :D

Don't have a working scanner and just got a tablet, so no art yet but I'm going to do me up some apples and post :D.

[DevinLovecraft]

My First Apple is done, and I'm ready for some hard hitting critique to get my blood pumping and to better myself :D
Oh and Hi Ayden I too am practicing for fantasy art! :D Just love those dark medieval oil paintings :)

Reference: http://www.flickr.com/photos/revilla/644219138/sizes/l/

I'm using Painter btw. I also have photoshop.

[Blackeri]

Hey guys. Tried another apple, and it turned out much better. I'm using the 'smudge' tool to blend....is that right or should I be using another tool?

Step 1:

http://http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8994/apple2ez2.jpg

Step 2:

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/5124/applehighlightsxk6.jpg

Step 3:

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1159/appledoneishao2.jpg

[deep_in_food]

I usually use a brush with lower opacity, and eyedrop the colours around the apple on the way. Sometimes I do use the smudge tool, but I need to be very careful not to blur the picture with it. Depends though, maybe there are people that can manage it well with that tool.

I got sick of apple, so went for a strawberry. I'm not totally happy with it yet, but since it's in progress I'll see how it goes
http://jsiu123.deviantart.com/art/my-first-strawberry-77417149

[626elemental]

Blackeri: Looks good, but kind of fuzzy. Try blending the way Nox said, using low opacity brushes instead of smudge.

Here's my apple, V. 2.5

[deep_in_food]

Ele you're missing the most essential part of an apple XD - you cut off its leaves :D
You did a better job than me in the shadow on the apple though

[Lior Schiller]

I'm not going to install illegal photoshop =P that's why I've been using gimp in the first place.
I guess it'll be fine even if you don't have gimp. or perhaps you can install an older version? 0.o

Did you meant I'll use your palette?
Anyway, I made my own, and tried to block better:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6426/apple6uf0.jpg

And I started to blend it for a bit, but you know, it's damn hard and it takes ages XD
Maybe I choose a difficult apple? or am I just lazy?
I also fixed a bit of the shape here.
Please post your wonderful crits =D

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8964/apple7rx3.jpg

[DevinLovecraft]

Great work, but I think it needs more blending. A lot of the colors are def. shapes because of the contrast of them and their neighboring colors.
You did great at the top though. In my opinion.

[Lior Schiller]

Hi, I didn't really understood what you were saying, what's def? and the sentence afterwards is messy :S
I wrote up there that the blending is ways far from being finished, and that I worked mostly on the top of the apple =P
When I look at it now it really looks like an apple, but it ways far from being the same as the picture (you can find my picture at the previous page).

Please explain yourself :)

[626elemental]

Tipa could you post your reference please? It looks good so far (but of course could do with some blending). The highlight is a very bright white, it might look better as an almost-white tint of color, like very light yellow.

[Lior Schiller]

Well, here is the reference: http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/883/apple1em7.jpg

It's a whity white

[deep_in_food]

Without a dropper guessing colours are always quite a task. You did a good job on not making the apple look flat. Since I'm the one that always makes colours too non-satuated, I guess you can try using either a complementary colour, or some greys for a fixup.

[DevinLovecraft]

Oh I didn't see the blending part =o Ignor my comment lol.

But its looking Great thus far.

[Blackeri]

Just to say this: It started on a quest to work on highlights....

http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/8029/hairfinqd4.jpg

You can see the ref in the background, but the highlights didn't really come out, any tips?

[Sigit]

Hi everyone,
I'm Sigit . I'm 25. I love to draw human although my drawing not too good.
This is my apple. I'm having trouble in blending colors and shadow. Can anyone give me some hints?

[noxartemus]

OK, I finally finished my deadline for college portfolio of 15 drawings in just a single month, so here's to luck I'll get accepted.

Thanks to those who have taken what I said before and work together in helping each other, it's good to learn how to critique others for both you and them. :)

Anyways, now I can focus completely on this class, welcome to the new people, I've already done some overpaints and they will be posted tommorow, along with a new assignment to start thinking about on, very good work so far however- I highly suggest for those who haven't already to start a sketchbook though as well.

Sketching is just as important as painting, because although you may be able to create beautiful colors and shading, without the proper foundation it can still look akward.

Also to answer a frequently asked question in what tools should be used for painting...


Blend tool, Smudge Tool, Dodge, and Burn are things you should avoid. Occasionally the Dodge tool is used to create neon highlights such as a button on a robot or simple things such as that, but typically no more than that.

The paintbrush tool and brushes themselves are the main tools of the trade. Which leads me to question- how many of you know how to create your own brushes?

[deep_in_food]

Blackeri - I think you should focus on on the highlight of the hair. I mean you can always create a new layer and focus on the important spotlights that makes it look like hair. I only got mspaint and a mouse here... :S

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/914/hairfinqd4kr5.jpg

[626elemental]

Sigit, your apple has good shading but no color variation..... it's all different shades of the same green. Try adding some other colors like yellow and blue, see if that helps.

[626elemental]

Oh, and Blackeri, make there be more little strands in her hair. You have a good handle on the overall shape of it, but each strand reflects a bit differently.

[Blackeri]

The paintbrush tool and brushes themselves are the main tools of the trade. Which leads me to question- how many of you know how to create your own brushes?


I don't. >.< I use a couple sets of brushes by Marta Dahlig.

[deep_in_food]

The opacity of the brush you made is affected by the amount of grey. Black is 100% opacity. The more back the more opacity. So you can as well make a brush out of a black and white photograph if you wish.

[ian081271]

I would like to join the class room if it is not to late to join as I need to get some fundamentals down for my digital painting techniques...

Cheers
Ian:yum:

[noxartemus]

I would like to join the class room if it is not to late to join as I need to get some fundamentals down for my digital painting techniques...

Cheers
Ian:yum:

First, the post says that you should pm or email me instead of posting on here, as this is a classroom, dear.

Also the this group of class is closed, but I can put you down for the second round however and help you then. ::sungod::

[noxartemus]

Okay....

I've done some paintover's here for you guys.

Here is some key points in painting.

1.) When painting, don't show any lines or white spots (Unless if there's white there) when blocking in.
2.) When blocking in, don't be afraid to use large brushes and sweep down. The key is to paint big and bold, then sharpen it up as you go along.
3.) Details are the last thing to worry about. Some of you want to do texture while you're blocking in, but that is the last step to do, along with highlighting and shadows.
4.) Contrast- use darker colors and brighter colors to give it a feeling of depth rather than keeping it all pastel and undefined- be bold! :D
5.) Don't be afraid to use an opacity higher than 20%. Although it's good for blending, when doing final touches to the edges, you should erase the fuzzy parts or paint strongly here and there.
6.) No smudge tool, that's only good really good for photomanipulation for the most part. Your brush is your key tool.
7.) When learning how to choose color, you may use the eyedropper tool on your reference to observe the subtle changes of color. This helps sharpen your eyes. Then as you feel more at ease with it, try choosing colors on your own.

If you have specific questions about my notes on your drawings, ask away, and I'll explain anything you may have troubles with that I haven't covered.

Now to post the next assignment for those who are already ahead, and for the ones just starting to think about for the future!

[noxartemus]

LESSON 2


Subject: A Golden Pear
What this Lesson is about: To see how well you can understand painting process in steps from blocking to texture.
Reference Picture: I have provided a reference this time.

Now, I have provided a picture of a pear I did and the reference I used. This lesson is just a small test to see where you are at in regards with learning the process of painting.

Remember that you have to block in and get all the fine colors before recapturing the image and adding the texture. Notice how my image looks like a fuzzy photograph, and then it slowly sharpens as if one were adjusting the camera lens. This is how one paints. :) Study well each step.

Try it out, don't sweat it if you're not good at texture brushes yet either. I used a normal brush for 99% of the drawing. The final steps I used a speckled brush. (Yes the background is lazy, the pear is the main feature and I can be a bum sometimes. :B)

If you have any questions let me know. Goodluck! :sungod:

Order of Images

Steps shown 1-7
Reference

[deep_in_food]

Let me take a guess. The texture may be painted somewhere else, but the size of the brush matters.

[noxartemus]

I don't get what you're exactly asking, but yes, size of the brush can matter. Everyone has their own technique, I particularly use large brushes for the first stage of blocking, then use smaller ones as I progress.

Other people use multiple layers when painting, if that's what you mean by applying texture somewhere else, which is perfectly fine. I prefer painting on a single layer, but either works depending on how you want to work, the major part of layers is naming them so you don't forget which is what.

[noxartemus]

Pesky bugs, made me double post, ignore this second post.

[Fallimar]

Done my blocking!

It's a bit squiggly and weird, mainly because I keep seeing colours that throw me off and putting in big areas of them just seems wrong... but it's all getting painted over anyways :P

Using a bigger brush too, size 27 for blocking, I usually use a size 13 for blending, or 9 for smaller areas.

[Blackeri]

Finally got time to do mine, I did the blocking nice and big, but felt compelled to do the little shadows on the outside with a smaller brush, 9px or so.

Quick question Nox, when you say "...by stippling this thing..." what exactly do you mean? I looked up the word but that didn't really help.... :404sign:

[l2ounD]

Hey guys,

so here is my progress on the pear.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5787/practicepearic7.jpg

getting to the texturing part was really frustrating, but also a lot of fun :p

I duplicated my base layers so I could always revert back to it when I tested out different brushes, which I did many times. But I found one that I thought worked out alright and used a combo of that and the hard brush at different opacitiy

[626elemental]

Did my blocking

[noxartemus]

Blackeri: Nice start so far in blocking, just looks a little fuzzy, so far. Try adding some brighter tones also so when you blend, so it won't be dull. :) Also the drawing is a little lopsided to the side, relook at your sketch and the pear and make the shape more accurate so it looks more natural.

Other than that, you're doing a good job, and you're getting the hang of choosing the right colors so far. Stippling means, taking a tool and just dabbing it around. For example, I took a texture brush and tapped all over the pear on my tablet. That's called stippling, to an extent. :) Just do what feels right for you.

Round: Very nice pear, near perfect texturing. Might wanna add a little more variety in the texture sizes, as you notice the reference pear has big spots, small spots, lines, etc. Also, try sharpening the edges a bit more- the pear is metallic and bright, and should stand out more. Lastly, the colors are slightly dull, so try brightening it with some strong tones.

Fallimar: Very nice blocking, I see you're getting the hang of getting an eye for colors. So far, it's at the right hue, and the shape is fine, just begin your blending the best you can in the proper steps and keep posting, and I'll keep updating you. :)

626Elemental: Good choice in colors so far, you're also getting the hang of choosing a variety on your pallete. :) The only thing I can comment about in your blocking is that it's a little bit messy, which may or may not make your blending a little harder. However you seem to be getting bolder in your strokes, so that's more important for now, just try recapturing your image when you begin to blend. :)

:sungod: Just to let you guys know, I'll be posting some random references that I have in my files sometime, that I hope you will all use during your freetime as practice off to the side.

[626elemental]

Thanks for the advice Nox, you're right, it was a little hard to blend ;)

Here's my pear so far. Might do a little more blending on it before the texture.

[deep_in_food]

I am sorry about the delay. Things have been really busy at the start of the school term :(

[noxartemus]

626Elemental: The pear colors are looking pretty good so far, you're slowly recapturing and sharpening the image I see- that's great! I agree too, you should blend a little bit more before you start to add the texture, and make it very smooth. Texture and details are a definite last thing to do, and perfecting the blend first will make the details alot easier. :)

Just take your time blending at a decent opacity- I like what I see so far though, very nice work.

DeepinFood: It's cool, I know what you mean with busy school stuff, there's no rush. :) Just always remember to keep up your sketchbook, and have fun with art!

[deep_in_food]

Finally I got something (in this hour lol). This time I paid attention to the colours and managed to make it not look too dull.

(wish upload works)
Edit ~ I'll try get a better block-in later

[noxartemus]

Deepinfood: Not bad so far, you've gotten shape down fine and the shading right, my suggestion to you is, is to add some olive greens and oranges. See how the reference has tints of green, and orange where the light bounces off the wood and reflects off the pear? All these subtleties make a huge difference in a painting. :) Try it out some more and post back, and take your time blocking in. :)

[deep_in_food]

Hm where the green come from? Or if it's the colour of the pear itself... I know that orange reflects orange light if it's a white light though...

[noxartemus]

Well, the green if you look closely is lightly shown on the edges of the pear, mostly on the upper side. That's because the blue drapes are reflecting their blue sheen slightly onto the subject, but since it's such a strong gold, it's more of an off green reflecting off the pear. :)

[deep_in_food]

ah now I see the green edges of the pear... perhaps gold is always slightly green?

[noxartemus]

Slightly, yes gold does have a shade of olive green here and there in dark spots, yet in this case it's primarily the blue reflecting, because of the camera flash. :) VERY good observation about gold, you have a good eye.

[Fallimar]

Righty! Blending stage... I know it sould use a lot more smoothing, but I keep running into walls because the reference is so textured, so I'll be shading and blending using texture brushes from here on, and might make some of my own :D

[noxartemus]

Fallimar: Looking pretty good so far, when you texture, try adding some browns, and oranges to the bottom area, and remember to work your darks mostly before your lights in the golden areas. :) Like what I see so far, if you need help in making brushes just ask. :P Share your brush with the rest of the class if you do!

[DevinLovecraft]

Its going to take me a little longer to get things done, my normal schedule now is school 8-3:15, Then work from 4-11:00.

And then I have Parkour and Cross Country training on the weekends if Im not working. :( I need a laptop so I can do this stuff on break and lunch.

[noxartemus]

Its going to take me a little longer to get things done, my normal schedule now is school 8-3:15, Then work from 4-11:00.

And then I have Parkour and Cross Country training on the weekends if Im not working. :( I need a laptop so I can do this stuff on break and lunch.

That's perfectly fine, just take your time and try not burning yourself out, because it seems like you're pretty much working every hour, so relax a bit and try not to kill yourself over it. :) Just check out the classroom every so often so you know what's going on.

[Fallimar]

Aaaand... Pear!

*dies* My wrist is KILLING me from all that stippling and texturing.
not perfectly happy with it, but I'm never perfectly happy with anything XD

[deep_in_food]

I didn't look at the pear you drew ~ (didn't stare at it I mean)
Somehow my colours always seem to be slight off @@;

[626elemental]

Ok, I think I killed the poor thing when I did the texturing..... it somehow doesn't look at all like the pear. I'll try to fix it if I can.

[noxartemus]

Fallimar: Excellent texturing on the pear, I see you've payed attention to all the minute details and variations in it. My only suggestion to you for now is to sharpen some of the edges slightly, and to add some more orange and other colors. Take a look at the reference, and take a look at your image, and try to pinpoint the color vibrancy differences between the two. If you need more help, I'm willing to do a paint over if you'd like. :) Great work.

Deep in Food: You got the shape and idea right so far, but I think you goofed up a little on the texturing part. First, try sampling the colors on reference picture to pick up on the lighter tones, and the darker tones. Then, use a speckled brush. If you need more help let me know, but at least you're getting the eye for complexity. :) I'll do a paint over if you need me to!

626 Elemental: Very nice, you got the colors down pretty much right, and smoothing. What brushes did you use to texture? It needs less lines, and more spots, try fiddle farting with it more, and if you're afraid of messing it up, try painting the texture on another layer. :) Try it out!

[deep_in_food]

I don't usually sample the picture but instead guessing the colours through observation, but if that helps I will try do that instead. What's a specked brush?

[noxartemus]

Yeah, for now it's just practice, and using the eyedropper tool to look at the colors. Eventually when you do pick out colors, you'll have an image library in your head from all the references you've done on painting to make the right judgement.

There's no shame in doing that for practice, just as long as in the end you start to wean yourself off of using it slowly when you feel more comfortable with it and start choosing colors on your own at a later time. :)

[626elemental]

I used one of those speckley brushes, but then it looked polka-dot. So I added the lines but put in too many I guess.Thanks!

[noxartemus]

Well that's why you use the speckly brush at different opacities, and sizes to make it less polka dotty. My best advice is to closely look at the details and try to find guiding points to make it exactly the same as possible. In my painting for example, you notice alot of the major spots are for the most part fairly the same. Play around, and see what technique helps for you, show me what speckly brush you're using?

[Sigit]

My pear blocking. Still having trouble choosing color. Any tips anyone???

[noxartemus]

Sigit: Hmm, try taking color samples from the actual reference to see the variations, so you can learn about the subtle changes in color, and slowly add them on to get a feel for it. :) So far, you got the concept right- bold sweeps, and bright colors, just keep working at it! 60% opacity works just as dandy as 100% when you start getting into more complicated areas.

[deep_in_food]

How's everyone going here?

[Fallimar]

wishing for more assignments :)

[noxartemus]

>_> There are still people in this classroom?

Last time, I asked that you all do some touch ups to perfect your paintings, I assumed you all quit when I didn't get a response, apologies.

I'm working on a larger Photoshop painting class, however, post your works here for now, and I'll critique them.

-Nox :sungod:

[deep_in_food]

I'm sorta there, thinking everyone quit already lols.

[Fallimar]

Oh poo... Thought I'd already posted my revision o..0

Jeebus... must go dig it up... I really did enjoy both the projects here!

[deep_in_food]

This wip is designed to cheer up you guys. Please comment, especially on the idea