These were all two-hour speedpaintings, mostly just from stock photo reference. I was trying not to over render everything and force myself to make as complete a drawing as I could within the time limit. I drew these in order from left to right, and I think I'm starting to improve my drawing speed. I can further improve on my speedpainting by using more custom brushes and other shortcut methods. I also need to work out the most important parts of the drawing early on, such as perspective, defining the major shape masses and values, and getting the overall composition to look good.
References used (from the top left to right):
1. http://ulvar-stock.deviantart.com/art/Horse-stock-11-74705461
2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/australian-war-memorial/with/2963002903/
3. N/A
4. "Sheltering Oaks" by Maxfield Parrish
5. http://www.123rf.com/photo_9656887_zurich-switzerland--june-4-2011-a-train-with-a-refurbished-pacific-01-202-steam-locomotive-is-ready-.html
6 & 7. http://www.photo-reference-for-comic-artists.com/
8. Cover art for Ennio Morricone: The Legendary Italian Westerns. (It was originally a movie poster for Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West.)
9. http://depositphotos.com/1319887/stock-photo-Kinds-of-Petra.html
Wow, Swore they're photos from the thumbnails. Looking good!
AntwortenLöschenLike you said I agree looking at the over all lighting, maybe try working with broader strokes and saving yourself from getting into the details? It seems you're jumping in and picking out shapes a bit early.
I couldn't find ref for the comic dudes but I'll have a shot at the Aussie, compare notes :)
Gato:
AntwortenLöschenYeah, those are pretty sweet :D
I don't know how your process works so you have probably the best overview how to do it.
(One important thing: don't forget to use the hotkeys and to program yourself some actions XD)
Don't forget that you can make straight crisp lines with the polygonal lasso tool - that will save you some time with the pillars of Petra or the trainlines. Algenpfleger does it too: http://algenpfleger.deviantart.com/art/Spark-Steps-199315208 no excuse not to do it!
You could work with most of those as finished pictures if you just give them a focal point somewhere - that would be a ten minute job.
The Aussie guy is the only picture with clear focal point- the eyes and the mouth are the sharpest and clearest part of the picture and that's where the viewer looks most.
The rest stays unimportant.
With the woman with the gun for example I can imagine that either the hand or the face are the focus points, but right now they are too blurry. Look how you manage your edges - just clean the edges up a bit around the face or the fingers and add some minimal details with a 3pxl brush, a reflection in the eye, maybe some imaginary rimlight on the gun (I know it's a cheap trick) and some erasing with the polygon lasso. Or just use the filter: unsharpen mask... or just some crosshatching with a hard brush. Dunno, experiment where you want sharp crispness and where it's not important. It will look 10 times better and those pictures will pass pretty much as finished pics. Just choose one spot to cleverly do some detailing - a ten minute job C:.
Thanks LoffelNog!
AntwortenLöschenHere's another link with the comic reference photos:
http://fineart.sk/photo-references/photo-references-comic-artistscom
I do tend to use small brushes too soon, and I also render parts that aren't necessary for a speed drawing. Also, on some of these I should have used straight lines to block in the perspective early on.
Thanks Gato! I agree that I need to quickly work out the perspective before I start drawing
AntwortenLöschenI've been looking at James Gurney's work lately and he does great examples of what you were talking about: rendering important focal points while keeping the rest of the painting relatively loose. A lot of his pieces look very detailed without actually being completely rendered out.
http://www.chronogram.com/image/url/5532/thumbs/OTC-Titanoboa-2-480x608.jpg?1280420040
http://archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/interview-with-james-gurney/
I need to plan out my process more so I can budget my time better.
Gato:
AntwortenLöschenYes, Gourney does that :D
Frazetta is even more extreme, sometimes leaving complete areas blank besides some minimal details:
http://diablo-3.gamersunity.de/img/sys/2010-19/frank_frazetta_thebarbarian.jpg
like the mountain here. But Frazetta is probably a genius.
Here's another one, look how little details there actually are and how the focuspoint, the face of the ogre, is achieved:
http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/fantasy/images/FrankFrazetta-Bran-Mak-Morn-1969.jpg
(high contrast, hard edges, hard shadows. THe shield may have more details but the head stays the focal point)
Ok, you have a lot you want to learn and there's this giant checklist you did for yourself, but if you want to look further into details and focus, check Gombrich's "art and illusion". I don't have the book here so I can't speak 100% sure, but Gombrich compares the brushstreaks of some really perfectionistic painter of that time to those of Rembrandt:
He gives an example of some details on clothes, some beautiful high quality braidwork with golden threat or something - the one artist renders those details completely with every twist and turn and highlight of the material visible while Rembrandt just cleverly dabs one or two times with the brush and the brushstrokes read instantly as expensive lacing if you stand in reasonable distance from the picture. Gombrich goes further, he describes how the one shows the viewer everything, while with the Rembrandt painting, the viewer's imagination has to fill in the lack of details. The viewer feels more "clever" that he gets it, the picture has more soul. There's also a sfere of spontaneus and completely controlled craftsmanship about those sloppier parts, a sort of skillful looseness that is far more impressive than the meticulous and labourous of that perfectionistic painter. Just stuff to think about if you want to go further into this ;).
I do love Frazetta's high contrast and minimal lighting. Also the muddy colors he used.
AntwortenLöschenI'll try to find that Gombrich book. Thanks.