Sketches/WiP/Critique

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

groperofeuropa — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:50:10 GMT

Just about done. Another hour or two to go. Changed it so the girl was looking at the deer so they weren't both looking out of frame. recoloured the landscape to make it a little more interesting. Textured the stone and put a little more detail in the midground. yupyup.

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

Chantika — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:35:24 GMT

there is some really beautiful work here - best of luck to everyone!

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

amelile — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 01:34:45 GMT

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

banjaxedmdt — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:34:38 GMT

It's time to pick somebody to set the May Challenge, so...

Lith

consider yourself selected. Can you please set up a new challenge (Finals and WIP threads) by midnight (GMT) 1st May, or you'll miss your chance and one will be set for you. Any questions/problems, chuck a pm in my direction and I might even read it.

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

ultranuke — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:05:01 GMT

wip 2

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

ultranuke — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:03:02 GMT

I'm close to finishing been working on this throughout the month but this is my first post. I have updated more and will be able to post final tomorrow..good luck to everyone it looks like a great month for entries!

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

Lith — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:24:16 GMT

Can't type much as far as crits w/ a baby in my hands but here's an update. Was thinking of adding chains or spooky hands grabbing him from beneath...

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

TJhadley — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:42:40 GMT

http://profile.imageshack.us/user/tjhadley/

Beyond the dark final entry

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

Thulsadoom — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:16:51 GMT

Looking great, groperofeuropa! :-) Look forward to seeing the finished version soon!

Finally finished mine, after a couple of mammoth sessions... I'm reasonably happy with it, I think. There's probably too many points of interest/focus, but I don't mind that, given the style of painting. I think rather than a single point, it's fun to occasionally have one of those types of painting where you can look at different bits and see different things. :-)

There's a bit of a Snow White theme going on, with the white clothing (such as it is ahem!), bright red lips and seven Little Guys who are miners. Thought it would be fun. :-)

Well, good luck everyone!!! :-D

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

groperofeuropa — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:16:49 GMT

Ok here's something with some meat to it. Got rid of the sketch lines and put the deer things in. The mouth is supposed to be the exit to a cave that the children are emerging from. I changed the girl so her face made a bit more sense and pointed her eyes at the boy and put her arm inside the mouth rather than reaching up to hopefully make it look less like they're riding in the mouth of a creature. Will use a textured brush when adding in detail and add pebbles and bits of grass to hopefully integrate it into the scene better. The sky looks a little vast and empty so i sketched in some spots for birds to see how it looked.. not sure how i feel about it all. There's also a pathway now that starts at the cave entrance and stretches over the hill to the left of the frame, to link the foreground with the background.

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

lizclarke — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 11:12:45 GMT

Thanks to everyone who's given me feedback and advice. I'm quickly reworking the holes in the sky and the rivers/lakes and then that'll have to be it for mine.

groperofeuropa: Yours has a great sense of wonder, curiosity and adventure. I love the animals. You're right about the folds of the girl's clothing in the stage of the painting shown here--around her hips particularly the fabric isn't draping naturally or following the lines of her body. I'm looking forward to seeing this one finished.

LizClarke - Just got my copy of the latest mag, and wanted to say congrats on getting the 'Image of the Month' :-D Looks great!!!

Thulsadoom: Thanks! I didn't realise it would be in so soon--I won't receive my copy for a little while yet, so thanks for letting me know. :D

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

Thulsadoom — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:32:01 GMT

Thanks! Yeah, I'd thought of that, and tried one or two experiments, but the problem was that, given the style of the painting, it stands out too much as a texture. On the plus side, it's given me an excuse to use some cave photos for reference, that I took a couple of years ago! :-D I think I may mix in a texture or two, once I've got most of the detail in, just to add that extra step that makes it look right...

Trying to think of some comments on yours, but at this stage, it's looking to be coming along nicely! :-) Only thing I can think of, and this is probably just because you haven't got to it yet, is remember the thin red highlights on the back of the front teeth.

I suppose visually the only question I have (which doesn't actually need addressing in the painting, because wondering is half the fun) is whether the kids are in a living creature's mouth (Or a 'living' stone creature perhaps)? Or is it a static statue that they're sitting in? Though from the girl's gesture it looks like they're directing it. I imagine it's a little like the hobbits on Treebeard in The Two Towers, except this creature keeps its mouth open for them to travel in. ;-)

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

groperofeuropa — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:05:25 GMT

Thulsadoom - It might be worth pasting in a gravelly texture of some kind and skewing it so its in the same perspective, rather than painting in hours of detail by hand. You could paint some features over the top (like boulders or weeds or the mushrooms already there) to give it the detail it needs and save a lot of time. I say this because I've seen it done, not because I have any real idea how to do it :/. Dylan Cole does it a lot in his matte paintings and cuts down the work time five or six fold.

I'll hopefully get mine close enough to completion to post tonight. Keen to know whats wrong with my picture as I know there have to be a bucket of things I'm not seeing, having scribbled it two or three times.

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

Thulsadoom — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:58:35 GMT

Glad to help, Digital Dave! :-) I think it works really nicely, and helps the background and frame feel like part of the main picture, rather than such a separate part. Nice work!!

Thanks for the comments, Groperofeuropa. In all honesty, I'd been lazy and just not got to painting the ground under them. ;-) It's what I'm currently working on. I want it to look like sandy/rocky earth, so I've got a nightmarish area to cover with rocky detail lol! Even keeping it relatively 'suggestive', I need to keep it to a certain level of quality around the characters, so they don't stand out horribly in different levels of detail. I'll get there! (I hope!)

Re: April 2011 - MyFX Monthly Challenge - Beyond the Darkness - WIPs

ANELIM — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:49:53 GMT

hi you all

there are great works here, but unfortunately i have no time to comment. Also I have to stop this challenge for me. I thought i would have 2-3 days free now, but something came in between. So here is where I´m now.

Good look you all!