First Digital Art

[gogo7]

Hi, I'm pretty new to the art scene, and this is my first attempt to do some digital art in a looong while. I would just like to know what I could improve and what could be changed to make it nicer. I'm just looking for ideas to help myself improve. I would really appreciate it if someone would actually edit the pic to show me what could be improved. Thanks.

http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/gogo7/

[Phuzion]

my suggestion would be to treat digital as though it were traditional media, because it is in essance. It's just another tool. So, by that rationale, just because you can make something 100% saturated, doesn't mean you should, as you could not do that with oils or acrylics or anything else. I would say to stick to the left hand side of the pallette when using Photoshop, at least until you're able to see where to apply select spots of high saturation. That green is way too bright for what seems to be a night scene. All the colors should be very dull and muted, and the values shoudl have more contrast. Also, I'd say paint more with traditional, it'll give you a much better understanding of how color works, and how illustration works. Contrary to popular belief, you can't really learn to paint on the computer. However, this is a good point to take off from. It's a good start, so just keep working at it!

-Daniel

[gogo7]

Thank you for the reply, it really helped me. I guess I should really learn the basics before trying to paint. Thanks.

[emily g]

I agree with the advice Phuzion gave. It's good to imagine using real paints when you're working with digital. Digital programs give you a lot of options--but that doesn't mean you need to use them.
For a night scene, I would probably light things with a blue light. The colors would be kind of muted and they would all have a bluish tinge to them. Imagine where the moon is shining from and create the highlights and shadows based on that.
Also think about things like impact. You did well by framing the glowing eyes with the trees. This leads my eye to them. But then my eye becomes distracted by the bright leaves in the trees and the bright detailed grass. It's a good idea to keep your bright colors and details where you want the eye to focus. In other areas, use colors that aren't as bright and use less detail. This will help the viewer focus on the most important parts of the picture.

Hope these ideas help,
emily