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painting methods - let´s paint together and have fun (page 3)

ZBrush Artworks
#81

Kokoro,
A very inspiring thread you have here! Great job on those paintings! I especially like the swordsman as well as the scorpion and the bear! I just got back from vacation and this thread was a great way to get back into the rhythm of things!
Thanks!
Michael

Ed,
Good to see you posting… A wealth of great information and paintings!
StoneCutter,
Good to see you posting too… Almost feels like the old days! Very good images!
Grub,
That is one super cool elf! Building up quite nicely! Great eyes!
Jambeau,
That is awesome! Great talent!
Andres,
Very unique and cool painting!

This is my first time painting in ZBrush. I find it more than suitable!
Here is mine:

I used Jaycephus’s method for the black and white version.

#82

Nice to see you joining in on this thread, Mr. P! (And with a great painting…I really like the effect of the sparse beard…! :+1: :sunglasses: :+1: )

#83

Kokoro here’s the close up of the eyeballs on elfy, hope it helps. :slight_smile:

Pus, I like your method of starting with the b/w version, nice skin tones on your portrait, bud. :+1:

Good job on that one Ed. :sunglasses:

#84

Nice pieces posted here recently people! :+1: (E the A: Even though stylistically it’s a million miles away from his style, I get a really cool ‘Gahan Wilson’ flash from that Duotone piece! :sunglasses: )

What has been most interesting to me so far with this thread, is to see the many ways people are blending, placing, manipulating, and contrasting colours…It’s like an ‘idea factory’ here! :+1: :sunglasses: :+1:

#85

hello Pusghetty, nice that you join in. and i am really happy how the thread evolves. :slight_smile: and a wonderful first image you have. i like how you have chosen the angle of his head, it supports expression.

grub, thank you.

and an update. i tried to do a backgound, but somehow i think i messed the image :frowning: and still WIP very obviously

#86

I respect how high your standards are, Doris…This looks like it is coming along wonderfully to me, and in fact, I hadn’t thought of there being a wall behind him…That adds a lot to the potential menace entering to threaten the warrior. :+1:
You have a nice clear style to your painting, and the hues you use here both play off each other, and yet unify. This is turning out beautifully! :sunglasses:

#87

oh, thanks. makes me going on… somehow i thought the wall spoiled it…

#88

worked the whole day on this :slight_smile: mainly cleaning ups, so difference is only subtle. tried to get the eyes right. thanks again grub, your closeup was very helpful. and added a little more to support the idea of the entering menace, :rolleyes: anyway, i feel like it is done …

(but, if there will come hints, how it can be improved, i will pick it up again, as i really would like to make it as good as i can :slight_smile: )

#89

Hi Kokoro…

I like what you have done with your picture…very clean, almost A “cartoon” in the real sense of the word.

How did You get your background in behind a Flat picture in ZBrush?

#90

hi ed_the_atom, no i do not mind. its interesting and i can learn from it.

the bakcground, i draw first on paper, since the vanishing points are far outside the canvas, it was easier so. then i imported into a new layer. made the paintlayer with basic material, and made that half transparent. now in render panel deselect render all layers. then the draw lines shine through. i painted them carefully in avoiding the warrier. then deleted the draw layer and put back flat material. now i have the helping lines in the picture and can paint carefully the background.

i still do not understand what you mean by broken line. (i am very newbie in art :rolleyes: )

i will study your suggestion. as first sight i see that you changed the direction of main light, and made the colors more “aggressive” (sorry if that is a wrong expression) i intended the light of the “menace” to be secondary light. thank you for take your time in helping. :slight_smile: it is very appreciated.

#91

hi ed_the_atom, i studied your suggestions very carefully. then i experimented to get similar. i like how you made the lightning give the scene more drama and depth. if i understand correctly you achieved this by more contrasts in the colors and much stronger shadows. i tried to mimic this, but with my idea of light setup. the image is still very smudgy (and there are still parts i want to improve)- was today my first time i really worked with the smudge tool, is kind of difficult not to destroy things you want to keep. but on the otherhand it is wonderful tool for blending - now i need to clean up again, i only hope this is possible :wink: what do you think ? is it going in a good direction ?

#92

Sorry for delay…

I was arguing with myself on how to reply to your last post.

Incidentally I took my posts down…because they were rubbish…I shall post all versions in time.

Now I can say white…others will reply black.

What I will say…to me the light is wrong. Everything points to a menace…sword, figure gesture etc…reaction to the menace would appear to be the theme of the painting…then to further the story the light from the direction of the menace would enhance the theme and complete the story.

Secondly…with your light set up as it is it doesn’t place your character in the scene. It places the character on the Scene.

I think that your colour now has become form,and it adds more dimension to your figure.

However the choice is obviously yours in this regard…is there a right way? Is there a wrong way?

#93

Lobe the planets and all good stuff. :+1: :+1:

#94

hi ed_the_atom, i wondered why you have taken your posts out. its a real pity. i respect your decision - though i am not your opinion :wink: i think your images were very inspirational, i myself tried quite some of the methods you suggested, only i did not post them, as mine were really not good, just ment for me to get the technique you showed. but again, its your decision and i respect it.

hm, i understand your point of view with the light and the menace, and may be i need to reconsider it. but may be, it is really just a question of taste ?

but i do not see why you say my ligth puts the character on the scene and not in. need to study this…

thanks a lot for taking time to comment and help. :slight_smile:

#95

Now here I will probably ‘open up a can of worms’ (cause trouble).

Yes there can be opinion…
Most opinions however do not matter. They are generally fostered by the uninformed, or by others who have not reached the same point in a journey. However that is not to say that they should be dismissed entirely, each is no doubt a special case and requires some attention.

With your picture…it is a story, the story may well be written in your eyes, but what can make the story worth telling, worth remembering, and worth understanding? The story has to be unified, engage the imagination, thrust, suggest etc in an eloquent, engaging manner. Does your story do that? Are all parts equal to the other parts? Does the sum total add up to belief?

The rough shadow I did…was just that, ‘rough’. That picture of mine is not the answer, nor was it intended as the answer.

Re-read my last post. Now add the human psyche to the mix…low light…or darkness, invoke fear…or a barrier. The swordsman has no exit behind himself…yet there appears to be one where the menace that must be confronting him is. How do we heighten the drama unfolding? Any comic artist (black and white) will make use of contrast…root the character into the scene…with shade…direct the viewers eye to where it should lay. All succeeding in painting what isn’t shown into the viewers imagination.

Now people wil agree and disagree, me I couldn’t care less…I have written this and will not be drawn into anymore discussion.

At present the way you have cast the shadow you have two separate paintings…one a cut out sitting on top of the other. You may still wish to use your light settings…but look to your angles of light, look to your figure the parts that should be dragged into the shadow.

Actually I am not fond of writing these things about pictures…it tends to do more harm than good.

So if anybody has a problem with this please don’t take it up with me.

Anyway all food for thought…certainly not hard fact.

#96

Hi Kokoro, your picture’s coming along very well. If you put the shadow underneath his feet, and have it receding into the distance behind him, it’ll help create more of a sense of perspective. At least, that is what I think Ed might be trying to explain, because that’s how I analyse it. With the current shadow, it makes the character look close to the back wall. :slight_smile:

Also Ed, it’s a shame you took your wip images down, I was enjoying your participation. Besides, regardless of what you keep saying, your input is always very valuable. :+1:

As for me, I’ve been improving the elf’s features, trying to get more subtlety to the original face, which was too heavily lined. I haven’t touched much else in the picture apart from developing a staff of some sort. Top tip: by default I was using the freehand stroke to paint as it’s continuous, but I found the dot’s stroke mode is preferable over the freehand, especially when smudging as you can achieve a finer blend. :+1:

Here’s the update:

#97

Grub this is fantastic, and so beutiful¡¡
Congratulations

#98

REALLY interesting to watch the way you’re working with your image G…! :+1: :sunglasses: :+1:
That’s exactly the beauty of this thread. Watching the way different people work out things, the intensity of their commitment to improve, and all the useful information, I for one, and I’m sure the others here can gain from that information/style/conviction/opinion/delusion…Whatever… :wink:

Ed, I still have your ‘Grafitti’ ZScript, that you did for DOM an eternity ago, so give me the benefit of the doubt, both on the grounds of sincerity, as well as appreciation of your skills and knowledge.
I personally hope that you DON’T remove images, comments, or anything else you post here…Your thoughts are always valuable, and you deprive us by the self-editing. You don’t HAVE to be right, but your input has value either way. I would never model the way you do, although I love watching you do it, and I learn greatly from it. For instance, from you I learned that ‘Draw’ sux compared to ‘Move’… :+1: :slight_smile: (I’m WAY too ‘tight-ass’ to adopt your method… :slight_smile:

Anyway, what I’m saying is that this is a painting thread. We exchange ideas, share experiments, discuss problems and techniques, and as the title says, ‘Have fun…’ You are a part of that process for sure to me…
Keep it coming, Wild Man… :sunglasses:

And Grub, you might want to try the ‘Color Spray’ stroke, with various Color Range settings…The default is .2, and adjustment of this expands the range of tones within that initial colour…So, if you pick a midtone shade, and use this brush, with varied scale settings and brush sizes, you can get totally natural variations on skin. If you then use the same stroke, Color Spray, but now use the Shading Enhancer brush with it, with and without ALT, you can put the proper specular effect together on the skin…
:sunglasses:

#99

How paint a portrait !(not Zbrush but adaptable easily)
Maybe this can help someone :slight_smile:
It’s classical digital painting but you can use it for another style :smiley:
Have happy Zbrushing
Pilou
Ps Tuts marvelous site for tutorial on any graphic subjects :cool:

#100

thanks frenchy , your links are very welcome. :slight_smile:

yes, grub your painting is getting really nice. prince zelf is already very handsome. thanks alos for the tip. i noticed similar lately, also the dotsstroke is more subtle than the freehandstroke. if you want to paint just a very faint hint of color, it works easier with dots stroke.

ed_the_atom , thanks again for taking the time to comment and giving food for thought, even more when i now know that you do not like talk about it. but be assured, it helps. as it makes me think about what and why i am doing things.
if one starts painting, there are so many things to learn that it is really difficult to keep the focus on the important things, since one is heavily struggling with technique. your writings helped me to sort out things. :slight_smile:

andreseloy, how about joining in again :wink:

yes, and as michael said, always have fun. this is most important.