Darkchild: Finished PS Art... Darkclouds (8/22/2005)

[darkchild]

Ok, I did this all on PS7. No pencils, no filters. Just brushes and a bunch of layers. I had a slight idea of what I wanted. I started with some clouds and ended up with this. I have posted some progression stuff. I would like your honest opinion of this piece. I'm really getting into PS now and I would like to get some feedback on my progression. I'm hoping to pickup some tips from more avid users of the program. Anyone who has visited my regular SB will know I'm not by any means a PS expert (and if you have never been to my SB take a minute to go through it). I used too many filters and didn't work with layers. Now I hope this will make up for it. This piece is 10" x 20"...

First I started with some clouds
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/darkchild69/Darkclouds4temp.jpg

... then added some mountains....
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/darkchild69/Darkclouds2temp.jpg

Then got another idea....
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/darkchild69/Darkclouds3temp.jpg

Close up of the figure on the cliff...
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/darkchild69/darkcloud5temp.jpg

And the finished product...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/darkchild69/Darkcloudstemp.jpg

Ok let me have it. I'll be posting this up into my regular SB after a week or so. I wanted to single this one out for crits. Thanks for looking. Later!

[Moreuvian_lx9]

I love it! I especially like the clouds ... new to photoshop myself, so I have a lot to learn about rendering clouds. I think my only gripe about it is the uber saturated red. (Not that I have much room to be a critic about colors). I suppose the cool greys balance it out a bit, but the red really stands out for a mountain scene.

[hrothgar]

Hmmmm....... :bashful: well the good stuff first, I think you can use the idea, at least I can see what you were aiming for in general.

But..... first of all the whole thing screams "smudge tool !", the cliffs, the ice, the sky everything. I've seen it so many times before, heck I have even made that mistake myself...hehe, if you look at it you will notice that it all really looks more or less like some kind of swirled soft ice cream.

It's hard to find any definition in it except for parts of the more jagged mountain range on the left and the figure. If you look at that better part of the mountains you'll see what I mean.

Also the sky and the fog which are not affected by the smudging problem are
equally screaming "Airbrush!", I suggest you should build them up carefully with layers of varying hues and intensity by using brushes with low opacity so you get a more dense feel. Right now it's plain to see how it was done, just a couple of flat airbrush strokes.
In my opinion, reducing the piece somewhat in breadth, e.g. cutting of some part on the right and getting the figure more in the foreground, closer to the viewer you can have a much better result, more like you almost look over his shoulder to the vastness ahead.

Speaking of vastness, it's certainly helpful to put some more dark / intense and more detailed things and rocks in the foreground and let it sort of disappear into the distance until one can hardly separate sky and land mass, that'll give it a lot of depth and I think that is what you want here.

Hope I did help you with this, I'm by no means an expert so take it with a grain of salt ;)

Cheers :)

[darkchild]

Hey all:

Moreuvian_lx9: Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments. Yeah I went with the red to give it a bit more life, I guess. I was going to go with a dark and drab sky, but I thought this looked better.

hrothgar: Now this is what I'm talking about, a nice long crit. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. You're absolutely right about the swirly snow on the cliff. I never realized it until you pointed it out. I now have a sudden urge for Baskin Robbins:) My clouds have a lot to be desired for. I will take your advice and try to build it more on my next attempt. Don't worry about not being an expert, we're here to help eachother right?

Alright keep them rolling in. I want to know what I can do to improve my techniques and understanding of PS. I want to thank everyone for stopping by and looking. Leave me a crit please. Later!

[keroppie]

hey you are drawing again!

layers... you need to do more even though they are a pain. use folders and label all of them. it helps!

colors and depth. a trick i learned in a rendering class was to use a palette of colors from the same scheme. like brickwork. bricks are not just a couple colors. usually there are at least 10 different colors. pain in the butt to draw and render every brick, but worth it in the end. also next time i'm around ask or remind me to teach you how to do tiles. they work wonders!! trust me! call me if you want more tips. you know how to find me

~Ker

[darkchild]

keroppie: Hey long time no write! I actually know about folders now, because this piece was pretty old. If you look at the post date it was August of 2005. I've learned a great deal more in PS since then. Thank you for the comments. I'll definitely hit you up for some tips in PS. But right now I'm more focused on my pencil work. I'm trying to achieve a total photorealism to my work. Use the link at the bottom of this post to see the current works!