First digital painting (Updated)

[Apocalypsebob]

I got a wacom tablet back in January but I haven't had the chance to sit down and try with it.

This is my vision of a teenage mutant ninja turtle, Raphael to be specific. No real reference used for this, I've been drawing turtles forever and this is just where my version has gone.

This is my first real full on attempt at digital painting although I've been using photoshop for years, so I ask for mercy

This took somewhere between 5-6 hours, a lot of trial an error. Hopefully this is a start of more in depth works.

thank you

-Bob

TMNT and the ninja turtles are property of mirage studios, I only take credit for this specific work and all that jazz

[brandnewyork20]

Seems to be some perspective issues right now, ill edit my post once i see it clearly.

ok heres some adjustments i would make.

his shoulder is up really high and too far forward, waist is high, and his eyes could be moved to the left to match his heads position

also his jawline could be improved, also show us that his other shoulder does exist

[Grief]

i know its a mutant turtle and all... but you should get some anatomy reference. his waist seems high and the torso is short. the sai is somewhat transparent for some reason. overall the image is really dark, and i don't feel all the black is really adding much to the piece.

cowabunga dude.

[Apocalypsebob]

yeah i noticed the sai, the transparent parts were meant to be cut and I apparently saved out the wrong file

[brandnewyork20]

I edited in some corrections i think you should apply, bump for you.

[Apocalypsebob]

I edited in some corrections i think you should apply, bump for you.

I appreciate your comments and efforts but your paint over completely changes the pose,body shape, and the attitude that I was trying to convey

i found a very similar pose as to what i was going for on an ironman poster, it is nearly a profile with a turned head, not a 3/4 view as you have painted

changing the way the eyes are looking doesn't effect the perspective of the picture, there is no rule that says characters have to look at you..he is intentionally focused elsewhere

there are some perspective issues that I am aware of in my painting, but your paintover will not fix them the way I would want to

[George Abraham]

The detailing/Rendering/Realism she's not consistent. The buckle's and weapons look stuck on because of being over-rendered. The head band ragged tips are really under-rendered. Look for reference material to help you fix stuff you might not be familiar with at the time.

I like the general feel of the turtle's expression and mood; you could serve it justice if you take it all the way to satisfaction rather than dumping it.

[Apocalypsebob]

here is an update, i worked on some of the issues, changed a few things

[George Abraham]

The part of the head band under his right eye is missing. It lacks a dimentional symmetrical relationship with the other side. There is a bit of a form feeling that I get from the other eye and the way the band folds out from under it that doesn't seem to be the same on his right eye. The highlight on the edge of the band as it goes over his left side also gives it good form but before you do that:

All the stuff he’s wearing, like the elbow guard. See how dark the top line is but the bottom one seems fuzzier. Where is the light or lights exactly? here and there I get the impression that it's top light and on the elbow guard for example it look like it's coming from in front below him. The speculars on his buckle makes it look like it's coming from the left top of the picture. Make these share the same environment and they will look connected. Move the shadows and highlights to the correct positions for the objects. It's ok to have more than one light but you have to scan Raphael and make sure all the parts are rendered to fit. There are a few odd ball's in there. If they all click then the chest shell and it's realism will come to the front without interruption. Another thing to notice is, see how more real the head band part hanging over his left plec in your previous clean up looked. That effect is lost in the most recent one. The whole head band is a little under rendered.

It looks good so far and I like the new background idea much more, there is depth in the scene. You might be sick of it by now but if you have the patience you could work your way all the way to perfecting it. If you like the turtles enough it shouldn't be a problem.

The shredded look on the band looks a tad better because of the texturing but I' don't know. Try a different style of perhaps and see what it does, perhaps a flatly torn look? Toy with it. The masters of old where not that good of making fictional humans look well formed but they were excellent at paining material and had crap loads of refs to use, these carried form really well so they pasted their figures full of cloth and the cloth gave them more dimension. Use whatever works to create conviction, conviction should be more important than complexity.

[Quirk76]

the mouth looks kinda beak like, or do they normally look that way

[Dorkthrone]

the mouth looks kinda beak like, or do they normally look that way

They normally look like that.

[danlambert]

Looks pretty good so far, the textures especially are really great.

Few issues I saw. Lighting continuity is one, also:
The underbelly looks really flat, not to mention really short.
The size of the arm in relation to the head suggests near human proportions, so having the torso that small looks odd, I suggest either increasing the torso size, or shorting and reducing the size of the arm. Also with the size of that arm, the hand will be big, which will make those weapons absolutely tiny in his hand

The mouth is bothering me also, his mouth suggests that he's looking down much more than the rest of his head.

His underwear thing also begins a bit too early towards his bum ((If turtles have bums?)horrible explanation but look at the paintover for what I mean). I think it makes his leg look really thin and also makes his leg look at a different angle to the rest of his body.

Did a paintover to show you what I mean, I think the arm should probably be shorter than that still, and the weapons even bigger. I understand you probably have stylistic ideas such as the shape of the snout/mouth and the proportions of the body so take what you will from it.