EOW #290: Green Meadow in Spring

[Vulgar`]

EOW #290: Green Meadow in Spring


EOW #290: Green Meadow in Spring

This looks like a place to relax and have a picnic, don't you think?

The due date is two weeks from now: April 1, 2017.

This thread is for your WIPs. Post your final entry in the Finals thread. Thank you and good luck!!!

[IntoTheVoid]

Ugh, it's so quiet in here. Man, I hate to be the one to break the silence, since I'm not confident at all in my environment work, but if that's what it takes, then so be it
I'll start biting that bullet once I'm done with the current COW.

[IntoTheVoid]

Welp, it ain't much of a looker, but I've started out on my modest attempt.

[Mythmaker]

Nice start!

I think maybe it's a bit too graphic in design at this stage. It is possible to make that work as a stylistic choice, and you can find flat layered perspectives like that in the real world if you look for them. In this instance though, I think you'd benefit from breaking up the uniformity and symmetry.

To be honest, I'd recommend starting with value studies rather than full colour - so you can more easily concentrate on the arrangement of features and value relationships.

I've just spent a few minutes rearranging and scribbling to hopefully give you some ideas on where you might take it. Sorry if it's a bit rough looking - but I didn't want to over-do it!



I'm really not that experienced at environments myself, so it would be nice to try and tackle this if I can.

[AdamRoush]

This theme is great, I've been dying to do a daytime scene. (I've done too many eerie night scenes in a row.)
Here's a few rough sketches. They're still rather abstract as I try to nail the composition, values, etc. I'm planning on photobashing this, which should be fun.

[Mythmaker]

Nice thumbs!

I think no.2 is the strongest image; The POV, layering of fore/middle/background, and the variety of shapes are drawing me in to the image. The only problem is the meadow isn't very prominent.

So photo-bashing is okay in EOW then? I had thought about it, but I might just go with painterly. Either way, it will be useful practice.

I've started exploring myself, but not had much time for it yet. I did this thumb just to get the juices flowing and think about how I might approach it. Not much thought gone into design yet.



I wonder how IntoTheVoid is getting on?

[AdamRoush]

Mythmaker: Yep, Vulgar` said photobashing is acceptable.
I'll adjust the composition of #2 to make a more prominent meadow. Maybe I'll ditch the lake, or move some of the shapes around.

I know you said you're still exploring and that's just a rough sketch, but color/ value wise, it's a little gloomy. In my mind, this topic is clear blue skies, bright green grass, pastel hues, and warm lighting. Really driving home the lightheartedness of spring. I googled "spring meadow" and got a lot of great ideas about how to approach this topic in terms of composition, color, value, etc. It might be something worth looking into for reference.

[IntoTheVoid]

Mythmaker: that was really helpful! Thanks a bunch. Funny thing is, I actually chose my reference because it had exactly that kind of unique perspective; felt it might be neat to try and recreate it. But yeah, probably should go with something less eccentric.
For your piece, were you planning on making it foggy? Right now, the focus seems to be on a windmill in the distant fog, rather than a spring meadow.

AdanRoush: I'm liking both 1 and 2 about equally. #1 feels more fun and uplifting. #2 feels more calm and serene.

Progress of sorts. Tried to implement Mythmaker's advice as much as I could manage.

[AdamRoush]

Here's a pair of wips. Making progress, but there's still stuff to do, mostly those foreground trees. The closest one is still a little too low-res, and the one on the right looks weird... maybe more trees would help. Might need to play around with the overall values/ color balance a little more too.

[Mythmaker]

Thanks for the feedback! Don't worry about the thumbnail though - I only posted it for the sake of participation! I'll try to post something more substantial soon.

IntoTheVoid: Good to see you're making progress!

If you desaturate your image you'll see the value range is very limited, but you can use values in your design to help create the illusion of depth.

The impact of atmosphere reduces the contrast (flattens out) and alters the colour of distant terrain/objects. In nature, the effect varies a lot due to environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, moisture, dust), but you can use this creatively to enhance depth.

Overlapping features (such as hills/trees/clouds) also helps create depth and interest. Using this along with placement of areas of interest, and thoughtful use of values (and colour), can help create a kind of journey that draws you into the image.

I hope that makes sense. I want to help, but don't like to interfere too much in your creative choices - so I'm holding off on doing more paintovers.

AdamRoush: I didn't realise you were going for a full-on composite! I think the field in the second one is a bit too busy - so the first feels more harmonious. It's already impactful, so I'm interested to see what you'll do to balance it.

[AdamRoush]

Mythmaker: Thanks for the advice.

So I think I'm pretty much done. I re-skinned the foreground tree with high-res textures and better leaves, changed the lighting to make a stronger focal area, adjusted the fields, added some god rays and lens flares. Oh, and added some lava streaks to the mountains to give it some more dynamism and color balance. Felt a little plain without them. Plus a bird for good measure.

[IntoTheVoid]

That's a great help Mythmaker, thanks! Good call on the values. I was trying to stay on top of it, but apparently ended up flattening my values so gradually I didn't even notice. And no worries about disrupting my creative process :p Any paintovers you're ever inclined to do would be more than appreciated.
-------

I couldn't find a good chance to push things through to completion , but I got a better feel for the whole process. Feeling optimistic for the next time.

[Mythmaker]

Nice to see you're thinking more about the design - there's clear progression through the images you've posted. It would have been interesting to see your reference - to understand what cues you were taking from that, and what were purely artistic choices. Anyway - you've clearly learnt from doing this - so maybe we should move on! Are you doing the next one?

Oh - and about the paintovers; I just feel more comfortable doing it once you've taken your work as far as you can without.