Water reflection ripple help

[minray]

Hello.

New one here.
I've been having some problems on making water surface(sea surface to be precise).I've been making this in SAI(i simply love this program).

This is how it looks now & i'm not satisfied with it at all.I never painter sea surface so that's why i'm stuck... :(
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8357/m32f.jpg

I've started to make them but something tells me i'm doing something wrong...with the size & perspective...i don't know.... :thinking: I want to make them by hand & not just using some image brush in Photoshop.
Kinda like this:
http://maxwindy.deviantart.com/art/Eternal-blue-29876928
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=1807945

Mine would also be much more richer in details but i just can't make it right no matter what i do.

Can someone help me here...??Please?
Give me some advice on brush sizes & softening effects...or even give me a link for a tutorial for Anime CG that has this.

[bitjockey]

I think you'd probably get better responses if you posted this in the Critique or Work in Progress forums.

I'm lousy at painting water myself, so sorry I can't be of more help.

[arttorney]

Do a google image search using Anders Zorn and I think you'll see something interesting.

Where is your image supposed to be? Is it a little indoor pool like a big bathtub? The amount of wind would have an effect on ripple size. Also waves propagate away from a source and then reflect. A person can't really get in a pool like that and only have waves right around the legs. There would be the other ripples caused earlier in time that have already bounced off the edges of the pool and are now returned to create interference patterns with the newer waves.

There are darker troughs that correspond to the lighter peaks, but you kind of just applied a region of dark rather than showing specific troughs.

The ripples that are farther away will, of course, appear smaller than the close ones because of perspective.

[minray]

I think you'd probably get better responses if you posted this in the Critique or Work in Progress forums.

I'm lousy at painting water myself, so sorry I can't be of more help.

How do i move it then?

Do a google image search using Anders Zorn and I think you'll see something interesting.

Where is your image supposed to be? Is it a little indoor pool like a big bathtub? The amount of wind would have an effect on ripple size. Also waves propagate away from a source and then reflect. A person can't really get in a pool like that and only have waves right around the legs. There would be the other ripples caused earlier in time that have already bounced off the edges of the pool and are now returned to create interference patterns with the newer waves.

There are darker troughs that correspond to the lighter peaks, but you kind of just applied a region of dark rather than showing specific troughs.

The ripples that are farther away will, of course, appear smaller than the close ones because of perspective.

Using Anders Zorn??I should type that into google search?

Anyway,she's at sea(in the sea to be precise) and the sun is gonna shine from her left...that's why there's riples around her legs...i know that in pool you can't have ripples.The sea ripples lighting effect is really hard to make by hand but i still want to make it.

Thanks for your advice,it helps a bit but my main problem is making those wavy lines that cross each other and in all they make some sort of web.

[arttorney]

"Anders Zorn"

He was fond of painting women standing in the water with lots of realistic ripples. They were generally nudes, so if you are under 18: I did not say this. I was not here.

[Black Spot]

"Anders Zorn"

He was fond of painting women standing in the water with lots of realistic ripples. They were generally nudes, so if you are under 18: I did not say this. I was not here.

Nothing wrong with artistic nudes when under 18.

[Serpian]

Nothing wrong with artistic nudes under 18.

[Kiera]

http://b1nd1.deviantart.com/art/Waves-Tutorial-27344965
use the same principle, only with a circular shape - the transform part makes it easy.
In SAI:
press ctrl+t to transform, to tilt you press ctrl and drag the white corners.

If you are unsure, typing "wave tutorial" and searching on flickr/google for reference pictures is not difficult

thank you Arttorney for mentioning Anders Zorn. The paintings look more real than any photo could be.. amazing.

[Baron Impossible]

Thanks for your advice,it helps a bit but my main problem is making those wavy lines that cross each other and in all they make some sort of web.

Just as an aside, those aren't ripples. The web-like pattern is the pattern that's reflected onto the floor of the pool (or seabed or whatever) by light hitting the surface of the water. That pattern does not occur on the surface of the water. Your DA reference pic is therefore wrong in that sense, although because it's a cartoon I guess it doesn't matter that much. Still, if you're aiming for any sort of realism then it's worthwhile knowing this.

[Black Spot]

Look at more realistic pictures of how water acts around objects. What arttorney said about the shadows is correct. Before you can stylise, you need to know how to get right realistically.

[minray]

http://b1nd1.deviantart.com/art/Waves-Tutorial-27344965
use the same principle, only with a circular shape - the transform part makes it easy.
In SAI:
press ctrl+t to transform, to tilt you press ctrl and drag the white corners.

If you are unsure, typing "wave tutorial" and searching on flickr/google for reference pictures is not difficult

thank you Arttorney for mentioning Anders Zorn. The paintings look more real than any photo could be.. amazing.
I have tried this tutorial already & it turned out horrible...nothing like i wanted it to be but at least you understand what i'm looking for.

Baron Impossible you're wrong..i saw many times people adding this on water surface..look at this:

http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=3414402

I like her coloring style although i'm not keen to such nudity.
Even Kagaya made these water reflections on some of his works....they only weren't so intense to the eye.
Look at what i mean:

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2553/91017537gikqnufs.jpg

I'm not looking for realistic look...my work is anime work & i'm looking for that.

[Baron Impossible]

Baron Impossible you're wrong..i saw many times people adding this on water surface..look at this

No, I am not wrong. However, I'm more than happy for you to remain ignorant.

Edit: Your second picture proves my point, the pattern is on the floor and the ripples on the surface. But if you know best, you just carry on

[minray]

No, I am not wrong. However, I'm more than happy for you to remain ignorant.

Edit: Your second picture proves my point, the pattern is on the floor and the ripples on the surface. But if you know best, you just carry on

You didn't understood...i never said that you're wrong about that.
I just meant that in anime styles people make it like the surface is reflecting like that...sorry if it sounded like that,i have said it wrong.

[Baron Impossible]

Yeah, well, don't worry about it. All I'm saying is that you need to know the basic rules whatever your style of art. I don't know much about anime but the Kagaya reference pic you posted clearly shows the ripples on the surface and the pattern on the bottom of the pool as being separate. You can even see the shadow on the pool floor. If you want to paint stylised then that's fine but unless you understand the fundamentals, in this case how light interacts with water, then you're going to find the process pretty unrewarding and you'll end up just copying other people's concepts without knowing why.