Anthony's Speedpainting expedition - Crits much appreciated

[th3rd_sin]

So what's up? I am Anthony and just getting out of school for the summer and to keep myself busy I am going to start a speedpainting thread. One a day, all summer. I am going to try my best to stick with it, at least until I start my new school in July. I'll start with my first speedpainting ever which I did today, 30 min... Crits more than welcome!

[grundybug]

good luck on the one a day thing, can't wait to see more. so here's the crit. I'm probably gonna make an idiot of myself but here goes. the shade on the rocks, some bits are darker than other bits that are facing the same way. And the rock that the person on the right hand side is standing on doesn't have a shadow.

GrundybuG

[Yakumoooo]

Yes sir yes sir, welcome th3rd_sin, or should I say Antwan. I have long awaited this thread. I shall join you in the struggle as well. As for my thoughts, I love the rock atmosphere, but i'd say loose the guy on the right hand side, you dont need more than one focus on a painting like this.
See you soon then!

[Merlkir]

Hi, good job with the first pic ;) I'll probably watch this ;)

[Loolarge]

Wating for another update :) I agree on the crit about the guy to the right

[John T]

Hey Anthony. Nice to see you starting a thread here at last. I'll be impressed if you post every day, though I would not blame you if you missed a few... Fast paintings are a good way to start, to allow yourself to get comfortable with the fundamentals, but after a while I would suggest also doing some longer paintings, so you can confront the problems that you only have the chance to run into in a more finished work.
You are off to a fine start. working in greyscale really allows you to sensitize yourself to the importance of value, which is crucial to a successful image. One tip that is pretty simple; you should always flip your pictures, horizontaly at least, to check for weaknesses in balance and composition.
Looking at your first post here, the main thing that I would think about is that there should be a point of focus. Right now, everything in the picture has pretty equal attention, and the lighting is very even all over. Shadow shapes are a very important thing, particulary in environments, and can be used to draw focus and help balance your values in a picture.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing more, I know you are a hard worker.

-John

[Coinpurse]

Try not to give much attention to environmental surroundings
like those rocky formations around the figure.
More subtle brushes, quick strokes and plenty of layers.
Keep at it!

[th3rd_sin]

grundybug - Not lookin like a fool at all! That is very sound advice, I am having trouble keeping my values constant, I am trying to get an atmospheric perspective thing going on but I just seem to be getting less consistant. Your right about the rock, funny thing is, I saw that too. Before I posted this no less. That started out as a test for my brushes though an I was to lazy to fine tune in those details.

Yakumoooo - Hey dave! Hope to see you thread up soon, you will have to send me the link. Your absolutely right about that man there. I started developing this painting in that corner and later put another man in there too. Again, to lazy to paint him out since it is all one layer.

Merlkir, Loolarge - Thanks guys and I hope to see you around here again.

John T - John! I'm so happy to see you in my thread! Your right too, I do need to work on a composition sketch with a point of focus before I commit myself. I seem to be starting these out randomly and just go with it. Thank You and I will definately work on that.

BOOM! - Hey, your right. I just realized the brush stoke bit today and will work on incorporating it into my future paintings. I am getting to focused on small details and that is a definate no-no. Your right about the layers bit, today I took advantage of it, difficult since I usually paint on one layer but I am getting used to it.

So here's my next painting. Again 30 minutes, sorta like expanding this terrain and give another view on it. Plus I don't know how to do much else and am working on that too!

[th3rd_sin]

Felt like doing another bout 30 minutes again, I was bored. Mental note - Work on composition.

[th3rd_sin]

OK, last one of the night. I am going to do a few tomorrow too. I don't know if I will be able to work on any friday or saturday, if I can't, I will post some traditional work. 20 minutes this time.

[th3rd_sin]

Alright, just finished one. It's my first time using color in a speedpainting and boy do I need to work on using it. I didn't want to break from achromatic just yet, but my character design instructor asked me to do one in color. So here it is, bout 45 minutes. Mental note - work on lighting studies.

[th3rd_sin]

Another, felt like improving color understanding. Learning something new everytime. A bit longer this time to really study it, still about 45 minutes though.

[th3rd_sin]

Alright, So I am away for the weekend and I am using a small 12" laptop. A big difference because it runs horribly with photoshop (elements no less). I don't know about the color or values in this one because the monitor is way off on this and I usually us a 20" widescreen color corrected monitor at home. Enough of a disclaimer...

[John T]

Hey, look at all this stuff. Keeping at it man!
I know that you are into animation, which makes me curious why you are doing environment paintings...
Anyway, couple suggestions.
It can be interesting to try out all kinds of brushes, but be careful not to let brush effects distract you from the core fundamentals of what makes a strong image; you should be able to make an interesting picture with just a regular round brush...know when to break out the fancy tools, and when to hold back. Just something to think about.
Your values are getting muddied when you go to color. Try desaturating the painting so you can see where the values are bad. Also try and give a little more care to your edges to really make things pop.
Another thing is color temperature. In the last one for instance, everything is cool. Paintings almost always should have a warm "side" and a cool "side". This will add an immense amount of interest in terms of the hues. One last thing, when you are painting in color, you can help your brain sort things out a little by thinking of the hierarchy of importance:

Value is most important, since that's what lets you see what's there, and is critical in breaking the image in to a fore/mid/backround.

Saturation is second most important, since that is what pushes things forward or back in space.

Hue is least important. Generally cool things receed and warm things come forward, but if you nail the other two things, you can practically choose any colors you want, and the image will still read...

Keep at it man, hope you are making the most of your freedom

[th3rd_sin]

John T - Wow, that is absolutely great advice John, an thanks for stopping in again. I will definately take this into account and work on all this. Your right, I did jump into color WAY too soon. I knew that, but it was like crack and once I tried color I just couldn't stop it. Back to the ole value studies.

By the way. Yes, I am wanting more to be an animator. But hey, It's all art and I love painting and drawing as well. Besides, I just want to improve myself and become a better artist all 'round, Animation, painting, drawing whateva.

Anyways, I'm back home for a few weeks. I am tired, busy busy day, and I literally JUST got home from a nearly two hour drive, it's 1130 pm and so here is a quick one I am doing before bed. bout 15 minutes.

[Sealegs]

Anthony! Awesome that your starting a sketchbook, mine will be up very soon.... I like your ambition, 1 a day!, your paintings are already looking better! keep it up!! Paint paint paint!

[ChaoticKnight]

The last ones pretty cool. Did you make a new brush for the bushes?

Also, I'm doing the same as you! Im getting a degree in animation, but I'm trying to progress as a concept artist on the side so i can have experience in both fields as well as a greater understanding of art in general. Good plan! :P

[th3rd_sin]

Sealegs - Hey Nick! glad you stopped by, toss me the url when you get your thread up.

ChaoticKnight - Thanks, slowly but surely I'm gettin' the hang of this. No, I didn't do any new brushes for that one. I have been trying to see my brushes for their full potential and been using them for something they weren't meant for, I'm also using them as negative space and seeing what shapes I can get when I erase with them on top of other brushes. Glad to hear there are some more animators on this site. I'd love to see your stuff! Drop back in in July, I am starting AnimationMentor and will be posting my progress with that.

Alright, didn't post last night. Was out ALL day with friends. A bit of a fare well/end of semester day. By the way, if you haven't seen "the black samurai" I highly recommend it. Not many director's can see their films as the "art" they are. Just got done with this one. trying to not use my custom brushes as much and focus on more important things.

[th3rd_sin]

OK, so here is my post for the day. Tried something new here, think I took off in a direction I didn't want to go in. Oh well, that's learning for ya. Definately more tomorrow.

[th3rd_sin]

Going to start thinking about lighting. Could have cleaned this one up for awhile longer, I'm done though. 20 minutes

[th3rd_sin]

Spent more time on this one. It was more thinking than painting, trying to understand what I was doing more.

[th3rd_sin]

Quick one for the night. Going to try to do more structure based stuff....

[John T]

Still carrying the torch I see. That last one is interesting. I'd like to see you try some different types of views. Most of these are pretty similar in aspect and scope. Try some that show a giant area, or some that are focused on a smaller point. Also, maybe try some super wide or tall compositions to help get your head going in a new direction.

[Duque]

Hey man! Nice stuff going on, but I do agree with John, the enviroments and views are too similar. Reverse the perspective, go upshot and stuff, see what comes out of it.

I like the practice you have going on, I might even steal a piece of it, once I get a wacom though.

Well, keep on truckin'

[th3rd_sin]

John T, Duque - You guys are absolutely right. My stuff looks EXACTLY the same. I am trying to spread my imagination, but thats all part of learning this right? Thanks for the tips though, You motivated me to work on that next.

Did a space craft type thing. Going to do a lot more painting over the next few days. I haven't been doing so much over the last week. Been kinda hectic, a good friend of mine moved to California to go to Art Center. So needless to say we have been doing a lot of farewell shindigs for him. I am mentally and physically exhausted right now. More hard works to come soon...

[Sealegs]

Hey i really like these last few! Its almost like you have a sequential art story going! Could be a storyboard! "look at the alien craft up on the cliff!" [close up of alien craft]... Cant wait to see what happens next!!! :)

[Wahuh?]

They look really cool man, the only thing I think they need is a deeper horizon, it feels a little like you have everything in the foreground and almost moving into the middle ground but nothing beyond that, just sky. The best for me is probably the first you posted. I also agree with sealegs about the sequential feeling of your last 3 pics, makes you wonder what may happen next :)

[th3rd_sin]

Sealegs - Cool idea man. Didn't even think of that. Maybe I will continue this epic. Who knows what will come next...

Wahuh? - Your right my brutha, I really need to expand my space. I will work on that.

Well, didn't get around to speedpainting today. I got very caught up in copying Gnomon DVDs for a friend of mine, so instead I decided to post my notes from my head anatomy class today and some skulls I drew, the rendering was just to help me determine the planes of the skull, there was a very generic lighting so I didn't pay to much attention to how accurate it was.

[DoodlinDave]

wow thanks for posting the notes, i needed this! I like how you spelled tuff by the way. As for your speed paintings I'm liking the progress a lot, you might want to try a different subject matter all together to switch it up, maybe a lake, desert, jungle, underwater, city or combine them all together you name it! Can't wait to see more!

[th3rd_sin]

So, it's been a few days since I have posted anything. That doesn't necessarily mean I haven't been working on this stuff. I have actually just been experimenting with different brushes, processes and all the things in between. Nothing I felt like posting. Anyways, here is the newest creation. starting to think about creating structure and trying to avoid making it all look so flat, might take some time...

[Sealegs]

Hey Anthony! to where hast thou gone? I need to see some posts!! :)

[th3rd_sin]

Hey Nick, Yes I haven't been on here in quite some time. I'm not gunna try and lie to you all or myself, I have just been trying to relax as much as possible lately. I want to try and make the best of this free time as I can before My new school starts. From what I have been told, I won't be getting another break, at all, for a year or so and that is the only on I will get in the next two years. So I will probably be getting into this again but don't expect as many posts as before. Here's one I just finished just now, didn't put a whole lot of time into because it was more of a quick study on rocks and some other bits, more like this to come. Nothing but the round brush and the palette knife here. Think I will free myself from the constraints of custom brushes from know on.

[th3rd_sin]

Thank goodness for layers

[loveandasandwich]

These are really really nice for speedpaintings.

I really like this: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=129897&stc=1&d=1177625393 the colors are really soft and nice.

I also like this one a lot: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=129545&stc=1&d=1177571914