jungle jim

[foster]

hello,

just something that needed to get done. but of course they are never done are they.

this is all digital (have not picked up an oil brush in a long time, sniff).

jon

[Lono]

Jon Foster,,, your my heeero...

-Lono

[Living Rope]

YYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS ! a new Foster one ! Hourra !
But what else to say than "just perfect" !!

[ChadTHX1138]

Very Nice.

[hawkprey]

Hey Jon

I am sure you have been asked this before..... What is your typical image size for something like this?

Nice Nice stuff. The clinched jaw and neck tendons on the guy are just awesome.

[WerxOne]

thats pretty damn finished to me

[davi]

awesome foster, Always glad to see something new from you!
Very neat lighting.

[eli]

thats really cool... looks like it hurts to be in those plants grasp..... killer lighting, and I love the traditional media look of this... I cant believe its all digital..... shit.

I am a big fan of your stuff jon.... how long did this one take ya?

I wanted to ask you a question about your tutorial... So I posted it in your 'uninvited' tutorial... (go figure) the question is about selecting a pallete for this type of work. (digital)

Hopefully you'll have time to answer it, cuz I noticed how much you said that it has helped your work and i thought that this might be something to share that could really open our eyes a bit.... as your tutorial has already done....

[ODIN SIX]

I don't like jungles or the desert much anymore... Like actually going there....

I like it !!! You have mad skills.. I'm not all that familar with
your work like most people on here.. I would like too see more...

[zeitgeist]

goot god, foster

*great* job

i could learn so much from you

especially your skin tones

[foster]

I think I like parts of this one. But I must say that it has taken many hours of going back and forth, repainting whole areas, and not liking them then repainting them again.

I used painter 7 and started with a file size of 6 by 10 inches at 150 dpi. When I had it knocked in to a level that I liked I upped the dpi to 300.

I do not make color pallets. Usually I have a black and white under pianting (scanned in pencil drawings, worked on in either photoshop or painter). I colorize the black and white file giving it a single color cast. This is the color base that I think will work well with my idea of the finish. At this point I just add colors by painting in the multiply mode (this does darken things) or colorize mode. It is pretty garish now but I will knock things back a bit. I do this by making a copy layer of the firsts then colorizing it again with the saturation levels low. Next I just play with the opacity slider to vary how much it effects the underlying layer. This is great for unifying colors After this I will play with the color balance a bit then start to paint using the colors I created in the painting or colors from the presets in photoshop or the painter color wheel (which by the way is way cool and I wish photoshop would adopt this method). The important thing is to not get too carried away with your colors try to sneak up on them. Then when you decide to add the bit of color that you want to have punch, it will knock us off our feet.

I constantly went back and forth between painter and photo shop using layers, modes and filters to help me get the colors and value contrasts I was looking for. It is not a fix all but just helps you see a direction, then you can pick up the pace and walk on with resolve.

jon

[Groady]

Phwoah! Nice work! If I was to comment on anything I would have to say the sabre is a bit too solid, needs to be more fuzzy. Either way this is a great piece :)

[Loga4]

Excellence ,as ever!
You are our hero!!!

[davi]

foster when are we hanging out so i can steal your talent, i forgot the date.

[John P.]

As usual very nice. :)

I think I would've perhaps highlighted the sabre more, but on the other hand it would probably make it too much of a focus, and I guess you've been there, tried that as well...

Her hair made me think at first that the perspective was upside down, that her hair is falling down, or rather up in the painting due to gravity, but since his hair isn't, I'm now thinking her hair is just entangled in this....plant.


Anyway, great piece as usual. Thanks for the process info as well. :)

[I.was.ink]

Wow! that's Fosterlishis:p
I love it. I share the same feelings with everyone else?
Small question though. How do you duplicate a painter layer? Can u? btw, im using painter 6

[foster]

hey davi, do you live in new england?

ng, you are right about the hair, i have not resolved it to my satisfaction either. it just gets too busy when i add the vines in with the hair.

iwasink, well i would think that there is a way to replicate a layer in painter but i know so little about the program, that i usually bring the file over into photoshop to do these kind of adjustments. ask jason or andrew, they are the kings of painter around here.

I am including a detail of the face. sometimes it is surprising how much information you need to leave out to make things look right. Also attached is the initial color knock in that I use as the palette to work with. You can see that things went warmer, but that was a slow progression after lots of color balance fixes and layer effects.

Thanks for the input everyone.

jon

[foster]

initial color.

[taff]

That's an very interesting insight in your way of work, Jon. Thanks! - I admit I had my difficulties with your last painting, you showed to us, but I really like this one. It's amazing how painted this thing looks, even though it's all digital.

[daarken]

jon, you rock my pants off! hah

[Oblio]

Hey... what can i say? GO GET YOUR OILS! :D

I'm always stunned by your compositions - the red that flows into the midle of this one is dope. I've noticed that you usualy crop your characters and they do not stand in the picture the way i usualy see characters around. It doesn't look like a key frame... it's an intermediary one... and for me it so nice.
YET... for that matter... this particular one seem to have a small problem (in my eyes ofcourse) - it somehow lacks the dynamic feeling of movement - his hand with the sabre.. it's in a... stiff position - we all know that he is going to stroke but... i think another hand postion would bring more movement to the piece - maybe you didn't wanted it so.. i might be off. Anyway... it's great start this year my friend.. just what I was telling you :D


One more - it think that the contrast on the girl is too hard - she comes a bit too much in the front - i think you wanted it this way but she looks a bit pasted there. The light on Jim :D looks right but if you wanted him to come seccond i think he should be more in the shadow.. a bit.
Doh... look at me... i'm babbleing on a Jon Foster masterpiece - i think i have to go to sleep - no more drinks for me tonight :D

Oblio

[Hellbring]

Hey foster where in New England area do u live? Im in Mass/Maine depending on school or home.

[foster]

hi oblio, you bring up some very good points and ones that i struggled with but did not resolve to either of our satisfaction. i have some time so i will go back and see what i can fix and post the changes. good eyes my man!

hey taff, thanks for the words. tell me what you did not like about "mr. happy". i would like to know, as I?m not sure as to whether it is good either.

hellbring, i'm in providence ri. any body else from around here?

daarken, you are sweet and i must say "FANTASTIC WORK". i have checked out some of the oil paintings you posted and i'm very impressed. what did you end up sending in to spectrum?

jon

[Deth Jester]

Jon.. love it.. you always have great compositions and movement.. I kind of agree with Oblio.. the girl being so bright makes her see to close to the viewer.. maybe tone her down some..

You were also saying you paint in multiply layer mode to get darks.. Have you tried just using the simple watercolor tool in painter and then using white to erase away the excess or what you dont want.. *painter 6* If you don't know what I mean... I can do a simple tutorial...

peace

[ZeeWire]

Breathtaking Work! I love the mood of the piece, and how the oily feeling of the style reflects the action.
Many members gave you already interesting points, mine at this time is just about the vine or curly red tentacle, I think it needs a hint more of separation so we can really see it's trying to reach her.

Just a thought.

Also thanks for the insider on your technique, it really sounds interesting, I think I'll have to try this sizing Up bussiness.
As far as Painter, I never got to figure out a confortable way to deal with it's interface & thousand Controls, so I'm still in PS7 until then.

Zee Ya!

[jrr]

Originally posted by foster

hellbring, i'm in providence ri. any body else from around here?

jon


i'm in new york, that's kindaaaa close to providence right?? ever come down here to the society of illustrators or illustration house? well, commmmmmmmmon down!

[MindCandyMan]

Wow...just when I think that the frustration of my artistic ineptitude is going to overtake me I see a painting like this. Wow...purely awesome...sure like Oblio and others mentioned there are little things that could be changed but WOW...such an awesome awesome piece...I need to get back to work.

I live in Philly...only 4 hours from Rhode Island! hehe...If I buy you a pizza and a nice bottle of wine can I come to your house and watch you through the whole process of doing one of these paintings!!!! heheheh, awesome work Jon. :thumbsup:

[ODIN SIX]

I say Pizza & BEER!!!!!!
:beer: :beer: :chug: :beer: :beer:

[eli]

thanks jon!!! I appreciate your comments and all the help and availability you provide.... I just thought you used a specific pallete because of what your tutorial said.... anyway, thanks again!!! fabulous work.

[foster]

i kind of dropped this line of thought but not on purpose.

pizza and beer! that is a good idea. i would love to meet any and all that are in the area. we could try and work out a place to meet and talk shop.

jason, by the way, is just twenty minuets from me. he just moved in and is working hard but i'm sure we could twist his arm a little. his girlfriend is a charmer and will put you at ease if any of you are afraid to meet the man in person.

i am part of the society of illustrators show this year so i hope to be coming down for the opening. if any of you are thinking about going please try to find me (they usually give you name tags to wear).

i am going to post this in the lounge as well. lets see whom we can flush out of the woodwork!

jon

[taff]

jon - you've got mail, well a private message concerning the happy mech.




why don't i live in new england, by the way? :chug: