Texture study -> Portfolio painting

[Nordstrand, T]

Hi all!

After being mildly appalled with lack of texture in my recent digital paintings (take a peak! (http://www.ikwarmachine.com/concept_pages/book_menite_charge.html)), I sat down and studied a heap of B/W Warhammer artworks to try and decode its usefulness. This here is a week's worth of PS7 rigging/familiarization and bringing my impressions to a product.

I'm happy with the outcome (though it might be a tad too coarse), but I'm disappointed that I didn't learn any solid maxims to base further work on. I nonetheless expect that the experience will subtly add to my repertoire (and the image will fit nicely in my portfolio, too!)

Anyways, harsh critique and nitpicking is appreciated (I'm a learner).

http://mysite.freeserve.com/tnordst/temp/TN-Skalmann05Temp.jpg

[I.was.ink]

Ummm.....IMO I like the "take a peak" painting better. I think because you used a lot of texture. Kind of like your relied on the texture too much, and didn't focus on the overall subject. Don't get me wrong, I like it and it looks really good, but its missing concrete and solid lines to bring all the textures together. Awesome study, but my advice would be to complement the texture with some solid forms and don't forget that its about the painting/concept as a whole. I'd like to see some more studies like these if you got them.

[stormeffex]

i would have to disagree with your assessment iwasink. i think that norstrands exploration with texture is awesome. i don't think he needs to add any lines to complement the piece. i think any solid lines would detract from the overall piece because he didn't use any strong lines to define his forms. the different colors give us enough hints of the different elements within the piece. the only thing i would say, since your exploration was with texture, is that everything looks to similar...the background texture is similar to the textures within the foreground. maybe throwing a hint of a cool color into the background will create a nice contrast to bring the figure forward more. other than that, great job on this piece.

[Octave13]

This is gorgeous! The colors, the texture, the sheer expressionistic quality of it is true eye candy. I don't feel I'm developed enough as an artist to adequately critique this piece. Rather, I'd love to have seen your process with this one, from start to finish.

[retro]

wow - i have nothing to complain about. was missing your pieces torstein, hope you post more often again. how about a nicely textured selfportrait... ? (hint, hint) ;)

[Nordstrand, T]

Iwasink: Hm, I was actually trying to keep the whole painting in mind when I made it so loose in places. Either you've seen something I can't, or we think differently about how this image represents the situation. I've had other comments on lack of definition, so I guess there's some general merit in it. Afterall, I am planning on using my methods for illustration purposes, and not fine art :) So if the forms are so disintegrated in the textural atmosphere that it is disturbing you getting an impression of what's there, I should at least reconsider. Thanks.

stormeffex: I don't think Iwasink thinks I should turn it into line art :) , just unshroud some parts. That's how I interpret it. You say there are enough hints of the forms to satisfy our understanding them, and that is my impression as well.

Part of the texture experiment was including a common texture to the whole canvas. I believe that every image has it's own set of rules that, when the mind grasps the common factors (be they predominant colour, texture, or anything else), will adapt to it. That's why I didn't clean it up much. Cooling the colours might take out the violent purple common factor, so I didn't consider trying that to separate fore/background more. Thanks!

Octave13: Thank you. I have process shots of all my images, but I'm too busy/lazy to start assembling and describing right now. :smirk: Maybe when I make that ultimate painting that is beyond all critique, I will ;)

Retro:2000: Hey fellow mugshooter you, I've actually launched my freelancing career, so all "for fun" pieces nowadays are slightly aimed at furthering my portfolio. Which means you won't see my beady little eyes lurking back at you for a while yet :) (unless I'm referencing myself for hideous bat-monstrosities, of course) Thanks for commenting!