Tropical Assassination

[Grimlohk]

http://home.comcast.net/~grimlohk/hitman2.jpg
not sure where the idea for this came from, kinda boring subject. Theres going to be a butler leaving the desk holding a dinner tray with a gun on it. Ive sketched him in, but havent colored it so I hid the layer.

This was to practice perspective and color/lighting more than anything. First time ive done reflections too. Comments/criticism appreciated.

[Mercer]

the water and the sun i think need some work, search around for some refrences the water you have does not seem to be water looks more like lava....i would also check for a refrences that has both sky and water the sky and water in your pic seems to similar alomst as if they were one,they light from the sun should also effect the body,objects and room itself...also make lighter lights to help bring out your focus point (the body)...hope my c&c helps you have a good topic here just need to develope it a little more :D


mercer

[Matt Elder]

Great image that you've got started here. The first thing that struck me was the perspective, then I read your comment that you were working on this. I think it is close but because of the types of objects that you've used (tables/rectangles and balconies), if you are not spot on, it will really show (try drawing two parallel lines, if they are not 100% straight, the eye will very quickly pick up that they are not parallel).

Here I find the main problem is the table. It just doesn't fell like it is convincingly in the same space as the rest of the scene. When doing images like this, it might be an idea initially to actually set up vanishing points.

I'm going to assume that the table is parallel to the balcony. Extend the two long sides of the table back into the scene on the right hand side of the picture. This will give you a vanishing point. Now extend a line along the balcony (from the left hand side of the image back to the right hand side). You'll probably find that the two vanishing points are not in the same place which is the problem.... something that the eye can detect. Try the same for the short side of the table and then look at the table leg closest to the viewer - just something wrong with that space.

Hopefully you can understand the jibberish I've just said. At the sketching stage of an image, step up the perspective and make sure that it works. Everything else will flow from that. If you don't get the perspective right, it will show and take away from your image.

[Grimlohk]

Thanks for the feedback. I actually used a reference for the water and thats what the colors were like :P go figure, but yeah i agree the water is too similar. Also I see what you mean about the focus. The eye is drawn to the bright sunset almost automatically.

For the perspective I actually did use 2 vanishing points for almost everything. They are both on the horizon on the very left and right sides. The table and the wall/windows go to the same vanishing point right now. I think that is what throws the tables off is the legs. If you follow the tile lines on the floor (which uses the same vanishing point) you can see how its really off. It is also hard to lay down accurate perspective lines on a wacom tablet, so that probably doesnt help.

Anyone have any tips on setting up perspective lines/vanishing points on a wacom/photoshop7/painter8?

Thanks again for the feedback, very helpful.

[Bee]

You can use the straight line tool in ps to set up lines for perspective. It looks like the leg on the left is too far left - try drawing in a straight leg and scult the shape you want out of it rather than starting with a complicated shape - I'm improving on this stuff too, but I hope that helps.
Also it would help the water if you made the trees sharper, and/or try using a smaller brush size for the highlights on the water.
Nice work on the lamp and shading for fabric folds. The reflections make the material of the tile very convincing.
watch though, the paper looks like it's not on the desk plane, and there's alot of ambient light - we should be be to see a little more of the guys head

Nice start! Good luck with the update!

[CsakiP]

The butler is I hope on the left becouse right now the picture doesn't really has a center point. The sun draws the eye to the far left and the body is too far to the right.
The body also "points" to the right so the eye leaves the canvas. I think it would look better if the dead guy would be on the right side of the desk leaning to the left. So the image wouldn't be opened there. But it's not easy to paint it again. :)
Nice pic though.

[ProudestMonkey]

I really really like this piece, the colors and everything is really nice.. for me the main parts to refine are the water and sky, and maybe outline the tree's a little bit more.. make their edges a bit harder...

And just as an idea to the people who were wondering about the table being parallel to the balcony... maybe when he was shot and fell foward (which would most likly only have happened if the butler shot him in the back) maybe he slid the table foward a short distance, thus throwing it off of it's origional position...

Another thing to keep in mind is, the exit wound from the gun shot... looks like he was shot in the face... now I don't want to get too technical, because some bullets would not be powerful enough to penetrate the length of the skull, but some would... so depending on the caliber there is a chance that the bullet would pass through his head... and if this was so... there would most definatly be a hole in the chair's back as well.


Wow I write too much ... I simply think that this piece could be really really neat, with a little work...

Keep up the good work.


Proudest

[Grimlohk]

Thanks for the great critique guys. Helps alot! now if only i can stop procrastinating. I always have a hard time finishing a piece when I dont do it all in one sitting,