new pic *update*

[R_M]

Howdy guys,
Just finished the base for a new pic of mine.
It is Star Wars inspired. Always wanted to do a lightsaber, and never did, so here is my attempt. Any PS tips on how to render one? I think I'll do this one red/orange
comments on the pose?



http://roberto.webconnect.dk/gfxgallery/SW1.gif

[R_M]

Hi again,
been working on the Lightsaber and the skin. I am pretty happy with them both even if it is nowere near finished.
Don't know how much time I want to spend on this one...I am allready up 5hours, not sure it is woth it, but it is a very funny exercise.
Maybe I should remove the open BG, and back him up close to a wall... not sure
what do you think?



http://roberto.webconnect.dk/gfxgallery/SW2.gif
Color test


http://roberto.webconnect.dk/gfxgallery/SW2.jpg
Skintones

[R_M]

Changed the BG, levels and played around a bit,
thinlk the composition works best this way

http://roberto.webconnect.dk/gfxgallery/SW3.jpg

[Gray]

Great Work
I'm not sure about the face... it seems a bit too flat. But I like the pose ver much... The lightsabre worked out pretty good to.. it's fun to see how the picture progressed....

Personally i would lose the empire logo in the background...

[R_M]

Another update,
ST helmet, some clothes, and a bit of BG, with and without shadows. Experimented a lot with flat brushes on the ST helmet, bout 1/30 hour work, and am very happy with the result.
To do list:
Utility belt
BG
touch ups
Approx 80%done now

Gray: thanks for the comment. I wasn't sure if the pose was clear enough, it was pretty tricky to do. On the face I am stil working on it, but I am getting to the point where I am not sure what wil work and what will just mess things up, that goes for the rest of the skin as well.
The Imp Logo, well I really like having some type of Graphic Design elemnts in my stuff, just love big symbols and fonts. But I can see it being distracting, so I might tone it down later.



http://roberto.webconnect.dk/gfxgallery/SW4.jpg



http://roberto.webconnect.dk/gfxgallery/SW5.jpg

[Gray]

Great work on the stormtrooperhelmet. Any chance will see a falling body?

The new imperial logo already is less disturbing to me. Perhaps because it blends in more with the background.

[R_M]

I like the story the helmet tells: you know that it belongs to a poor sob, but you don't see him. I think it makes the pic more living, and it brings the beholder in.

I might ad a cut shoulder pad close to the viewer or something, don't know...

[soupface]

nice. the stormtrooper is definitely one poor sob...

lightsabre glow - that's what's kinda off. there should be a soft glow to it (as well as on the 'wall' where his shadow falls). there's not enough of it, methinks.

you can even sorta motion-blur the glow some to give the impression of motion... maybe...

i think that it should also be a stronger source of light. orange-up his torso and arm and more of his face...

great work so far.

[rimwalker]

Watching the development of this picture was fun.
Nice job. That stormtrooper helmet came out great. The lightsaber's good too.

[geek mode] Lightsaber's have a bright white core which you captured well. However, the aura surrounding the core is generally a bit transparent, especially the further away it moves from the core. [/geek mode]

I like how you made the light from the saber reflect off the surrounding objects. You'd be surprised how many artists who have drawn Star Wars art forget to include their lightsabers as a light source.

Nice job!

[R_M]

Thanks for the comments, I needed some feedback!

Soupface: You are right about the saber shadow, there is stil some work left to do. I also experimented a bit with various blurring effects applied both to the arm and the saber, but never pulled them really off. Now that it is almost finished I don't know if they would actually add anything to the image, I kinda like that "frozen in time" feeling I get without the blurring...
Rimwalker: Yeah totally agree with you, on the cloths. And I the on the saber reflections, well this is my first lightsaber and I must say that it is a bit of a problem as a light source. I mean it is a huge glowing lamp, by rights evrything shold be tinged red, it is much more easy to leave it out as a light source and use a different lighting source... If I followed this resoning the ST helmet should be orange/red, but decided to tone down the saber reflections.
But who cares 'bout lightsaber lighting, only geeks right? guess what that makes me ..... :dork:

Hope to post a finished version, after the week end

[tyboogie]

i thought the people in the background was coolor and mre dramatic and told more of a story--like is this in a outdoor street environment, or are they soldiers surrounding him? it was more provocative IMO---there was something really gerat and moody about your color test too. ( th ebg and wierd shadows and ligthing on his face were really cool)

the pose is a little stiff.. nice facial expression
just my 3 cents keep it up----ty

also--you migth want to try bringing down the saturation of the reflected lightsaber light on him

what if there were a subtle stream of smoke coming off of the base of the helmet?


i aslo think its alittle weird that th ehelmet is flipping so far away and hes looking at us--are we where the troopers decapitated body is?

[R_M]

Hi Tyboogie good comments, think I'll ad the smoke.

Made the last parts during the weekend. I think it is finished so if you want you can see it in the Finally finished section under "My first lightsaber"
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?postid=38206#post38206

Thanks again for the help guys!