angrygerbil Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) Hey all, moved into my new house and finally got my painting set up. I thought i'd try something completely different than I did with Nethrymaul. It's my first time trying to paint with directional lighting and this is how the WIP is going. Let me know...does this approach suck or is it heading in the right direction? I was trying to get him to look like he was looming over a flame pit of lava and about to go hulk on some unsuspecting party. Edited December 10, 2013 by angrygerbil 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragma Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 That looks like he is actually lit from below. So either you have a light pointed at him from below, or you've totally nailed the effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leader of the Rats Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 That looks almost ..real Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angrygerbil Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) It is lit from below, but I also painted all of his flesh from that angle (yellow to orange to red to black). The lighting was intended to amplify the effect so it looked comic book like I think. I've just added a new photo with no under lighting so that only the paint job shows. Edited December 10, 2013 by angrygerbil 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ub3r_n3rd Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Awesome work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinh Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Looks good, but using your previous (lit from below) photo as a yardstick i would suggest some additional (white) highlights could be added to make him pop and to make the source of the light more obvious. I myself couldn't get halfway to where your figure is currently so please do not take this obeservation as a criticsm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angrygerbil Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 (edited) I believe you are correct. I've been working on getting a deep understanding of "value" and think this lighting job was closer to what I wanted, but there is still not enough contrast for my taste. I think the contrast in values needs to be increased by another 50%. One thing I think I got down is my layering approach, but I just didn't make the highlights bright enough. Another issue is I have just as much fun setting up the "scene" for the pic as I do the painting, so I wonder if adding that contrast would actually take away from the pic I had in mind when I started painting him. I don't know. I'll add the highlights and try another shot from the same angle and we can compare if it helped or not! Edited December 10, 2013 by angrygerbil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corporea Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Lovely colors! The general contrast rule seems to involve pushing your highlights and shadows to your limit, photographing, taking a step back, and then going back to push highlights even more. It's frustrating, I admit. But, it also depends on the look you're going for- do you want a cartoony/comic-book effect? If so- push the highlights and shadows beyond what you'd consider reasonable, because you need the added "pop." If you want a more realistic look, just push your highlights a bit more to show your directional light source. Regardless- nice blending- I like the layering- it makes for very smooth transitions! Maybe mix a bit more green in your shadows? I love the red and green contrast! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mierot Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 Nice work on the golem! Since you mentioned you where working on understanding value, and are painting the golem with a directional light source, may I suggest using a greyscale version of your photos to check the values? It is a tip I picked up somewhere...but I can't remember the source. :( For example, here are your two WIP images converted to greyscale (I cropped the second). I used photoshop, but any image editor will do. Since the first shot has such a strong light source, it really shows the difference in value to push the highlights and shadows toward. Since I use my smart phone for WIP pictures, I will convert the shot to a black & white photo on the phone so that I do not have to import to my computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angrygerbil Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 Hey, great suggestion. I think I will try that! Looking at it through this perspective, it does seem I need to exaggerate it by another 30% to 50%. Let me give it another whirl tonight and see how it looks. I'll post an update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragma Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I stand corrected - it was lit from below AND you nailed the effect. You've got the hard part, which is the smooth layering. All it needs is that extra push to make it look like the first pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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