Two new pieces

[CrazyHarij]

Well I've started painting in PS again, I've chunked these out the two latest days
I'm aiming to keep up with Conceptart.org's daily sketch group and make at least something each day.

Let me know what you think of them!

 

[Dodo]

it looks good... check this guy > www.artbyfeng.com

 

[Vegeta897]

Really beautiful
But...

Can we get more detailed?

 

[Ames]

How do you do your shading?

It looks like you're just going into the color selection menu and just picking out a color. However, that may be because it's a quick, rough sketch which would make it perfectly normal. It's much easier and faster to hold down ALT and use the color picker to pick the colors you want and it gets the colors closer to the ones next to it.

 

[CrazyHarij]

How do you do your shading?

It looks like you're just going into the color selection menu and just picking out a color. However, that may be because it's a quick, rough sketch which would make it perfectly normal. It's much easier and faster to hold down ALT and use the color picker to pick the colors you want and it gets the colors closer to the ones next to it.

I'm not sure what you mean..

First of all, yes alot of my coloring and shading is done on inituition by picking a certain color, but when it comes to lighting or shading a certain color or material I use the color picker and alter it. I'd like you to point out if there's any particular inconsistency you're referring to.

Second, even Da Vinci said that you should vary the colors as much as you can, and use different nuances to taint your colors etc.
For instance, the green color in the tank picture is a mixture of a lot of different green shades.

And yes, these are fairly quick roughs, I can't really be arsed to spend 5-8 hours on a single image (but we'll see ).

 

[The Dark Elf]

Those are good sketches, but your falling into the same trap I often fall into, and quite a few other artists I can think of too. Basically that style - less is more -. What seems to be happening also is your not blocking out enough before moving onto ever smaller details. Again I'm guilty of that at times too. It also looks like you've atleast subconciously tried to mimic others styles..

Best thing you can do, is stop and forget every other artists style out there. Then start again and try develop your own. Never think to yourself (and i'd put money on you thinking this, again most have including me) "damn it doesn't look as good as whatshisnames" cause for all you know it probably does look as good, its just a different style. eg: you can't compare Feng and Anry, as both are fantastic, yet wildly different in style. Both serve a purpose and both are beautiful to look at.

As for spending ages on them. Well generally 5-8 hours is the norm for lower end concepts, days or weeks for paintings. the doodles and quick concepts are usually under 5 hours. But really its not a case of trying to do them quickly if you can't. It spoils the image and shows. Take as long as you need on them. Do them in layers (I don't just mean PS layers) Paint them in layers, start with the larger area's and move down, leave volumetric and atmospheric effects until last, don't be afraid of using different kinds of brushes for various effects. Even an oil painter will use a chalk brush if it does a good job. for example, the leaves on the trees.. well looks like already you've learnt that you don't in most cases paint every leaf. But you could have used a scatter brush to do those. The eye loves chaos, and it also fills in a lot of the image. Look at many of Sparth's images, really look at them and you'll see there is infact little detail in them, its the way he does them that just a few strokes give the effect he wants, there's rarely a sharp well defined shape in anything, yet his work looks fantastic.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Those are good sketches, but your falling into the same trap I often fall into, and quite a few other artists I can think of too. Basically that style - less is more -. What seems to be happening also is your not blocking out enough before moving onto ever smaller details. Again I'm guilty of that at times too. It also looks like you've atleast subconciously tried to mimic others styles..

Hehe, you have no idea how much that applies to me. I've noticed that I frequently try to achieve some kind of mixture of imitation of a multitude of artists...

Best thing you can do, is stop and forget every other artists style out there. Then start again and try develop your own. Never think to yourself (and i'd put money on you thinking this, again most have including me) "damn it doesn't look as good as whatshisnames" cause for all you know it probably does look as good, its just a different style. eg: you can't compare Feng and Anry, as both are fantastic, yet wildly different in style. Both serve a purpose and both are beautiful to look at.

As for spending ages on them. Well generally 5-8 hours is the norm for lower end concepts, days or weeks for paintings. the doodles and quick concepts are usually under 5 hours. But really its not a case of trying to do them quickly if you can't. It spoils the image and shows. Take as long as you need on them. Do them in layers (I don't just mean PS layers) Paint them in layers, start with the larger area's and move down, leave volumetric and atmospheric effects until last, don't be afraid of using different kinds of brushes for various effects. Even an oil painter will use a chalk brush if it does a good job. for example, the leaves on the trees.. well looks like already you've learnt that you don't in most cases paint every leaf. But you could have used a scatter brush to do those. The eye loves chaos, and it also fills in a lot of the image. Look at many of Sparth's images, really look at them and you'll see there is infact little detail in them, its the way he does them that just a few strokes give the effect he wants, there's rarely a sharp well defined shape in anything, yet his work looks fantastic.

Thanks a ton for this advice. Really. After carefully reading through your post I realised that I really was falling down this trap quicklier than I ever would've imagined.

Well, all I can say is that I'll try and develop as independently as possible, I'm just a little worried that it won't quite turn out the way I wanted (even though I'm experiencing the developing of a deviating style when it comes to drawing and that I really like it).

And yes, I have noticed that paintings require a whole lot of time and should not be rushed, since the result always sucks if they are

Once again, thanks so much, I really appreciate that I got to know about this, since I didn't really see the problem myself that clearly.

I'll take heed of your advice and see if I can develop more effeciently and comfortably this way.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Hehe, you have no idea how much that applies to me. I've noticed that I frequently try to achieve some kind of mixture of imitation of a multitude of artists...


Thanks a ton for this advice. Really. After carefully reading through your post I realised that I really was falling down this trap quicklier than I ever would've imagined.

Well, all I can say is that I'll try and develop as independently as possible, I'm just a little worried that it won't quite turn out the way I wanted (even though I'm experiencing the developing of a deviating style when it comes to drawing and that I really like it).

And yes, I have noticed that paintings require a whole lot of time and should not be rushed, since the result always sucks if they are

Once again, thanks so much, I really appreciate that I got to know about this, since I didn't really see the problem myself that clearly.

I'll take heed of your advice and see if I can develop more effeciently and comfortably this way.

Glad I could help and don't worry about the first few times you begin to try develop your own style. They _will_ suck. You wont find an artist around who's first attempts while coming up with something unique to them, didn't suck and make them wish they hadn't bothered.

Don't be afraid to try different styles first either. Never know, you might be shit hot at the same style Feng uses, or maybe you've a secret talent to paint just like Anry. If your personal style that your most comfortable with happens to be close to someone elses ,well, go with it, no sense in struggling otherwise.

But keep at it and you'll surprise yourself. And also because its your style, its easier for you to do, I learnt to mimic other artists styles as clients sometimes ask for that kind of thing, and to mimic them is far far slower than doing them my own styles, which is a hybrid form that resembles Giger's style with bits of Vallajo and others like him thrown in. It's just what you become used to, and naturally you'll know how to get the effects you want far quicker. Not only that but people will get to recognise them "oh yeah I know that style, its Crazy's work" though I gotta admit, when I've had people say mine were Giger's it was a cool feeling hehehehe.

 

[Sui]

The great thing about this advice is that it applies to everyone. So often I read these threads to become drowned in talk of layers and PS and photoshop effects... but this advice is so simple, yet it feels like you should have known it all along. If only I had thought about this during my Art coursework; I didn't experiment enough and I was always constraining myself with the same, repetitive styles. It's all over and done with now, but I can't help wishing I'd broken out of my routine and just messed about. but hey, It's only a GCSE, and I have plenty of time to experiment... not just for some examiner far away, but for someone far mroe important; myself.

And I love your work Crazy, not just this but everything you've done, in previous threads and in personal advice. I still remember those small comments that helped me when I was designing my comic.

Thanks :thumbs:

 

[CrazyHarij]

I'm really grateful for TDE's advice, because now i feel more like I can just relax and paint in my "own" way rather than constantly comparing it to certain artists and styles. It feels easier, and like I'm grasping the painting technique quicklier.

 

[The Dark Elf]

I'm really grateful for TDE's advice, because now i feel more like I can just relax and paint in my "own" way rather than constantly comparing it to certain artists and styles. It feels easier, and like I'm grasping the painting technique quicklier.

see, straight away there's an improvement

just gotta tighten up those shapes

 

[Sui]

Whilst maybe "tightening up the shapes" might be good advice for Crazy's style in general, personally I think the latest image is suited to this vague, blurred style. It seems like the character is drifting through an almost liquid enviroment, merging into the atmosphere as though he was somehow part of the dull, womb-like surrounding... I love the way the character is shaped and fleshed out, as well as the subtle glow that seems to radiate from him :thumbs:

 

[Jimmeh]

Great work Harij I think the only thing I would say is - with the first two pics I would use darker and lighter tones to pick out the details, and define the shapes.

The third one looks great as it is

And Suicide, easy on the thesauraus

 

[Sparta]

Man i really have to get off my ass and start mucking around is photoshop. Haven't touched the program in about 6 months.

Nice work by the way Crazy . Do you have any plain pencil drawings that you can show us?

Edit: Whoa, just discovered what Flow does. Man oh man does that make a MASSIVE difference.

 

[Asuka]

Interesting style and design.