2 new things

**Blackarts** · April 18th, 2004, 06:41 PM

This is a painting I did for EA for the cover of PSM. It was done a while ago, but I couldn't post it since the game was still under wraps. Now that the magazine is out and the game has been announced, I thought It would be cool to get some feedback.

I did this one for fun...just wanted to do a quick portrait:

-d-

**Matt Dixon** · April 18th, 2004, 07:21 PM

Really nice! Love the subtle stylisation in the first.

**Boris** · April 18th, 2004, 07:36 PM

awesome drawings.

**Matt Smith** · April 18th, 2004, 08:47 PM

These are really nice adn well done pieces. In the first one i really like the texture in the background. My only problem with this piece isn't a consisant stlye . The 2 main faces you have are pretty "realistic" along with the background being "realistic" looking. The part that is bothering me the most is the guy on the left, his fingers are squarish and dont keep with the rest of the style. The other thing that bothers me, is that either the left guys head is too small or the right guys head is too big, but I think it is the left guy that is bothering me. Other than that everything is beautiful. Even the texture in the clothing is really nice, I didnt notice it at first, but the cloth looks awsome. It is a hell of a rendering. Awsome freakin job!

**Sketch** · April 18th, 2004, 09:42 PM

Thanks a lot D, now I'll have to go to Chapters to see it published. I like it, nice to see something out of your usual subject matter.
I think it would be awesome to have Tyler from Fight Club in the background somewhere. The atmosphere of the painting reminds me of it.

The portrait seems really flat. Doesn't have the energy as your other quick paintings. I like the blues with the oranges though.

**Blackarts** · April 19th, 2004, 12:58 PM

hmmmm i've gotten a ot of positive responses on the square fingers..but you make a good point. I think one of the problems was the feedback was always to push the faces, which sort of unbalanced the image a bit. Oh well, live and learn.

Sketch - any suggestions? would you prefer it just to be looser?

thanks guys!

**Titan** · April 19th, 2004, 01:11 PM

Hey man great work and very inspirational, no crits cause you are by far better than I and I'd probably sound like a fool commenting on works this good

....looking through your site I notice you like to sketch or paint a piece a day..I have been trying to get myself to do something similar...can you tell me what size you typically do your quick sketches and paintings?

**Blackarts** · April 19th, 2004, 01:19 PM

I usuallly start those sketches pretty small, about 500x700, then uprez them to about double that near the end. If I want to spend a lot time on something I'll usually uprez it once more, so it's around 2500x3000 or thereabouts and refine it a lot. Anyways, as a rule of thumb, just start relatively low rez so you can work fast, then up-rez as necessary.

**AmadorL** · April 19th, 2004, 02:44 PM

well they look like who they are Red And Meth! so good job on that first one!

**Prometheus|ANJ** · April 19th, 2004, 03:14 PM

I like their shapes and attitude. (first)

On the first one, the background and foreground could be separated by value and/or temperature to make it easier to read. I'm having a bit of trouble on sime parts of it. The background is quite rough, whilst the foreground is very smooth, which gives a slightly inconsistant look.

I's the borg wearing makeup? He could use a jawbone, and maybe some values that suggest the roundness of his face/skull. I like the overall impression of that piece though, colorwise.

**J May** · April 19th, 2004, 04:34 PM

Nice stuff Black! Love the energy of the first piece, you can just about hear the howl of that crowd.

No probs with the fingers for me, I dig 'em.

Second picture is creepy, I appreciate how the design of the armour draws the eyes back to the face. The area under the eyes and the reflected light at the bottom of the jaw are great, and the use of similar colours in the eyes and armour-light really pulls the image together.

Kudos!

**brev87** · April 19th, 2004, 05:57 PM

Hey Blackarts, I'm sure Redman would really appreciate what you did with this. I work with Uniquestdesigns, and they just finished his website www.funkdoc.com.

Doc would love this pic. Would you mind posting it on the forum over there?

brev87

**Loga4** · April 19th, 2004, 07:24 PM

Awesom jop!

**geoffd** · April 19th, 2004, 08:27 PM

i just saw that cover for PSM magazine today and it turned out pretty nice, the background is a lot more subdued (spelling?) then what is shown here, it really makes method man and redman pop out. looks nice!!