Sketches To Finals - Charles Ratteray

[Charles Ratteray]

UPDATES ALWAYS ON THE LAST PAGE



Heres a recent sketch i pushed toward final






the sketchbook :

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111671

[Donovan V]

Woh! This is a great concept. The image is pretty rough and could use sharpening. Sounds like you already know that though. Concept wise, I wasn't to sure about the nails on his fingers. I suppose thats just a personal style choice. I think the concept is great though and you have roughed it out very nicely.

D

[Charles Ratteray]

now that you mention it Donovan...i probably should take another hit on those hands if i push that piece any farther..... there are definitely some other interesting possibilities for em.

thanks for sharing with the comment... u got my wheels spinning in another direction..

- C

[Venger]

Careful you don't slip into 'Mind flayer' territory.
Might want to alter some of the colours to avoid this

[Elwell]

I wish you had done something about those horrid cut-out edges. They're sloppy and ugly, and ruin an otherwise solid piece.

[Charles Ratteray]

Venger- wow . now THAT is a trip....my concept was so similar...long fingers , claws, subject matter and even colors.... definitely will have to push it in a farther direction...thanks for the heads up....

Elwell- thanks for the honest and constructive crit man



here was the original sketch

[corspufo]

great idea, but I agree with Elwell. Using a custom brush to add on suckers to the tentacles is nice, but it needs to be refined further. Also, using the magic wand to select and delete something is fine as long as you clean up what's left behind. When making selections I highly recommend using the Quick Mask to give you nicer edges.

BTW, your sketches rock the house. Love your style and the direction.

[mindfields]

It might be similar to the wizard design, but I don't really mind that. An octopus headed man is something far from new after all. Cthulhu anyone?

Now, what I really mind is the cookie cut feel in your picture. Needs to blend more efficiently with the background. Also that blue magic glow needs to be reflected on it's clothing and tentacles. Use that reflection in your favor to highlight various textures in your picture.

My $.02

[thr0atcutter]

He looks like you cutted him out from somwhere and just posted it on that bg. However, I think he's pretty good made. Just some sharpening as Donovan V said, and that'll do the job

[Charles Ratteray]

here is another sketch i pushed to final































the sketchbook :

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111671

[mccatana]

I like the concept for the last post...the sketh is good and seem to be an entire univers behind(I also lock for yor other skethes and I was enchant to see them...just fine stuf).
cool!

[Donovan V]

Ha. Totally forgot about the mind flayer. Good thing Venger brought that up. Man your sketches kick ass. I love to see that stuff from the folks. Finished stuff is cool and all but I like to see a window into how they are thinking through their composition and such. One crit about that last one. The guy seems to be a little short in the forhead area. In the sketch it looks like a stylistic choice but in the color piece it didn't quite translate that way. I think it may be the change to the style of the girl next to him that did it.

Still, kick ass job man. Keep it up!
Donovan

[Lalilulelo]

I love the last one, particularly the woman in it. Just...I don't know what it is, but it's visceral, it's just good. When I do dissect it, the anatomy is off in the length of her torso, and her left hand looks kinda man-ish, (perhaps if you shortened the palm and got rid of any scratchy lines?) but when I just take it all in, I'm diggin' it.

[Fvallejo]

Hey man, I'm digging you stuff, nice. But is looks like there is a big gap between your color and your sketches. Instead of painting opaquely over your lines and getting rid of the strongest part (now), maybe try and have your colors on a multiply layer so that the great lines are still visible. You could also try taking some of your more sketchy lines drawings and doing a tighter drawing overtop of it with tracing paper and then do the multiply color thing. I can see great results coming from this. Keep rocking!

[gustavo desimone]

very good drawing

[Charles Ratteray]

thanks for passing thru everyone

mccatana - thanks man

Donovan V- thank you

Lalilulelo- yea ... i agree about the hand ... it could be more feminine ...thanks for the crit

Fvallejo- yea its always a challenge to keep the same life from within the original sketch...sometimes i can get the color to present new life... ....thanks for the crit

gustavo desimone- thank you



here is another sketch i pushed to final






ORIGINAL SKETCH



STEP 2


STEP3


STEP4



FINAL






the sketchbook :

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111671

[gatling]

Great work, but I honestly think you lose life when you slap that color on there. Your sketches have that bloodpulse.

[Spong]

I have to agree with Gatling, I absolutely love your sketches and although your finals are good, they lose something from the original linework.

The padlock neck chain guy & girl are great for the first two drawings, and the blue beast is great for the first, I'm not sure what is happening after that though.

Perhaps its that your lines look like they are tight enough to sustain painting on a layer underneath them using perhaps a multiply layer or something?

[mcaseybickley]

your sketches are amazing! although you do lose something when you start painting. with the woman one it was really apparent. in the second sketch I thought you had two really strong characters but when the color came in it felt blan. you definitely have a talent for drawing you just need to work on your transition into color. other than that I really love your stuff.

[Lazarous]

Thanks a ton for that tutorial!

[Serpian]

Last one is cool, but I think it's too much black in there...Yeah sometimes you might lose life when you finish a sketch, but part of being a good artist is about refining ideas and realizing them in a finished painting. It might get you a different picture than your sketch, but if you're good enough, it'll be worthwile, even if the sketch seems more spontaneous.

[Charles Ratteray]

gatling- thanks man - cool word

Spong- thanks man- yea im going to experiment with the multiply layer some more...its tricky

mcaseybickley- thank you

Lazarous- you are most welcome

Serpian- i agree.....im aware of the gap in translation with the sketches vs color....i also am driven to bridge it.....or at the very least driven to to explore regardless of the outcome.

wont know outcome for sure until its in front of me- gotta keep hittin it

trhanks for the crit


- C

[Charles Ratteray]

i was also thinking more on the subject of the sketch vs paint gap

heres the dilema - keeping the gestural rythm found within the initial line sketch while carrying that over to the painted piece.

All the while adhering moreso to realism rather than to the abstraction found within gestural techniques of the quick sketch.

rather wordy ....

its such a tricky balance to pull off right.......

[Robert.B]

I new I recognized those lines. lol, good to see you posting man.

[Fireflights]

Your backgrounds don't seem to integrate very well with your subjects. They seem like they've gone through a filter or something - they're rather blurry, too.

I love the black and white sketch of the two characters, though. The girl in that is fabulous.

[Charles Ratteray]

original




Render








the sketchbook :

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111671

[Charles Ratteray]

[Duman]

Dude, these are all high quality pieces, but I need to see more of that minotaur, its freaking spot on, the colors and designs are perfect. A full body shot would be greatly appreciated.

[binoched]

I like your b&w sketches - they have a lot of life to them.

[Charles Ratteray]

Duman- thanks man, yea ill see if i can upload some of the process sketches onto here within the next few days. iv got some full body, back and torso shots in there.

binoched- thanks for stopping by man