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Prometheus|ANJ
April 14th, 2003, 11:54 AM
I deliberately painted one of my organic things as flat as I could. Thread with pencils here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5531
I've put an equal amount of attention on each detail which means all the details are competing against each other. There's no focus point and this confuses the eye.

If you want an excersise you can try doing the following:

Flatten the noise (texture min and max values) so it does not interfere with the modelling of the major shape (for example the spheric shape of a shoulder or a skull). You can almost say that I painted this thing as a flat texture for a 3d model and now you need to 'volumate' it by adding shadows and light according to the shape of the model.
Add shadows.
Bring harmony to the colors.
Add fog or manipulate contrast to bring depth to the objects that are further away.
Flatten the Jackson Pollock background so the character becomes more readable.
Manipulate shadow and light, contrast and saturation so some sort of focus point is created. Overexpose and underexpose where appropriate.
Vary the hues and values on different anatomical parts. I've already done this a bit but it could be pushed further.


Here is the 'noisy' version. It's 50% and sharpened, you can scale it up to 200% if you like.
http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/misc/organic3c.jpg

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Even if you aren't gonna do this excercise you can still look at the image for a while and think about what you would have done before looking at my finished version below:

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/misc/organic3c2.jpg

That is my finished version at 50%, sharpened and flipped. Flipping and zooming out somehow makes the image 'new' to the eye and you see flaws easier.
Crits welcome, I'm trying to learn this thing myself!



Edit: This is a version with no details. Of couse you can put the lightsource and focus point wherever you see fit. This is just one way of doing it.

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/misc/volume.jpg

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People might have posted finished images below so don't scroll down unless you wanna see them.

MindCandyMan
April 14th, 2003, 12:01 PM
I am going to try this tonight...thanks for posting this prom

I.was.ink
April 14th, 2003, 01:00 PM
Im there with you MCM!

You have no idea how much this made sense to me prom. Thank you soooooo much. I usually only get to the first stage, and then I'm stuck, but with this exercise I think my art will progress a lot more. Thanks to you!

Sorry Prom! :(

It's gone!

bboy
April 16th, 2003, 05:27 PM
Hey Prom, interesting image. I wanted to try your exercise, so here is my attempt.

I realized.. that after I had done what I had done that I probably should've simplified and taken away much more detail I think. Also.. I was a little confused with the initial painting that was provided, because of all overwhelming detail. I think in this particular piece I was more focused on the colour aspect.

Any suggestions or crits?

http://bwong.members.easyspace.com/organicafteranj.jpg

Prometheus|ANJ
April 16th, 2003, 07:27 PM
Hey bboy (squall?)

I like the bacground and how you varied the colors a lot. The green smoke is a nice touch too.

Like you said, you could've flattened the values a bit more. There's a lot of highlights popping out, and the saturation makes them even more noticeable. There's a lso some dark details in your lit areas, this shatters the form.

Be sure to think about what your highlights are.

They are mostly:

A lit surface (sun/lightsource colored)
A specular (any color that is reflected, lightsource or sky mostly)
Radiosity (light reflected of a nearby surface. Might amp up saturation)
A lightsource (shining eye etc.)

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This started as a paintover, I wanted to try a gradiation in the background but I went nuts and made some sort of anatomical thing.

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/other/bboy.jpg

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Here's the major shapes that the details are subordinate to.

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/other/bboy2.jpg

bboy
April 17th, 2003, 01:34 AM
Yes bboy (squall) one and the same.

I think I might attempt a second version of this.. I had trouble seeing which parts were the major shapes on your noisy version and also I was confused on the way some of the things were connecting.. like.. how that arm and bent leg things were connecting to the body and the which leg was behind which leg... overwhelming detaill haha.. The new thumbnail you provided shows better how the detailed parts are connected and which thing is supposed to be behind which thing.

Oh.. in regards to the highly saturated colours.. I was trying to put them in areas that would come forward.. and.. gray down the ones.. that were further away or less important.

I'll keep in mind what you said.. and probably try and give it another go.

Oh yeah.. I had some questions about your noisy version. I was just wondering when you did your flat version, do you just set your opacity all the way up.. and just paint? brush tool? airbrush tool? both? I think the texture is through inkblots? I think at 100% opacity.. you would have to be more careful when mixing your colours, as it doesn't mix in with what you put down before.. because of it's opacity, no?

ChaosEidolon
April 17th, 2003, 02:38 AM
this is a great excercise...thanks for posting. Dont have a tablet yet but i can learn alot from this nonetheless.
Im glad you painted the organics. looks quite amazing i must say.
Color is going to be the next big hurdle that i will have to overcome and ive gotten alot of insight from your examples.

Just wanted to let you know that it is very appreciated, and please do more if you find the time.

cheers...

Prometheus|ANJ
April 17th, 2003, 07:48 AM
Thanks Chaos, I hope I'm not confusing ppl to do anything wrong tough. I don't have much academic education.

bboy> Yeah, I work at 50% opacity or so, that way I can mix colors fast by tapping the alt key (colorpick tool). I colorpick quite frequently, like every third stroke or so (not exactly every third stroke of course).
At 100% opacity I have to be a lot more sure about having selected the right color. The advantage of using 100% opacity is that you don't gray the colors by mixing them, and it covers things up better when you want that effect.
I tend to vary between 50 and 100% opacity.

Looking at my shape thing I posted it quite obvious that I missed shadowing the lower leg/feet. It's inconsistant to just put a shadow on the upper leg.

This thing I drew is a bit flat from the start, so you have to use shadows and stuff to give it some depth.

bboy
April 18th, 2003, 12:53 AM
new version.. I think the values are working better in this one.. though.. I guess i kind of cheated, cause I had your reference painting to look at while I was doing it.

http://bwong.members.easyspace.com/organicafteranj2.jpg

Prometheus|ANJ
April 19th, 2003, 11:23 PM
Nice to see you give it another go bboy, here's my crits:

The joint on the fot is red but not the one on the wrist. It would be consistant to make all joints red then. (I noticed I did it on mine too :G )

What is the background? A wall, sky? The viewer will be asking that question. This piece is rather simple but grey (with hues), brown and black backrounds are quite common on old portraits so it should work here too.

I think you could pust the 'volumating' further. I made a cleaner version of the thing I posted above.

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/misc/volume.jpg

Anthony
April 20th, 2003, 01:45 AM
Cool exercise! About 5 minutes in Photoshop yeilded this. I hope its not too dark, he just looked like he'd be most at home walking through the night in a landscape much too small for him :]
http://www.antsin3d.com/portfo/April2k3/organic3cpo.jpg

ELLioT
April 24th, 2003, 05:42 PM
http://perso.club-internet.fr/jordx/pictures/paintovers/organic3c.JPG

Here's my attempt. This exercice is much harder than I expected :D ... Crits please...