Valley Monastery WIP

[arata.stephen]

Hi Guys. I started this painting off of a sketch I did awhile back. It's inspired by some of the monasteries in Meteora, Greece but with a buddhist sort of flare. Any Feedback/Critiques/Paint-overs are welcome. Although this is still pretty rough, but if there's any glaring issues, I always have an open ear/open mind. Thanks!



Reference Photo:

[l.sheridan]

Certainly need to see the next stage of this, but at a glance there is a lot of empty space on the right side. Perhaps filling that in or bringing the focus closer into the buildings/mountains could help?

[Lightship69]

I would agree with the previous crit and say bring us closer to it, it seems too distant and hard to see. I would also give some clues on how they get o the buildings you have made it all really really high.
It will be interesting to see which way this one goes, well done so far its interesting and has the potential to be a great one.

all the best with it.

[arata.stephen]

@ I.Sheridan: Yeah the original sketch was narrower (portrait orientation), but that felt strange. I agree that I need to do something with the right side of the space though. It feels really empty now that I look at it. I'll play around, maybe make some changes. Thanks for the feedback!

@ Lightship: I think you make a great point about the distance. I was thinking about this a little myself. I was looking at a demo that Feng Zhu did on lighting the other day that had some Orient style architecture that was much closer, and got to thinking to myself maybe I should pull the structures in this in close. You make a great point about cluing the viewers in to how people got up on these high ledges, I will definitely have to work some of that back in to the design. Thanks Lightship.

[JeffX99]

You should consider adding a horizon as well...we are at about the same elevation as the main temples and looking pretty much across at them...which means we'd see the distant horizon.

Also your color choices are all cool...compare to your ref photo...notice the warm light and local color in the light vs. the cool, purplish shadows.

Your forms are very soft and rounded/lumpy...making them seem more like mud or sandcastles than stone peaks. You have to consider geology and erosion patterns with an environment.

Your lighting is much too soft...form shadows softly blending into light making everything look conical. Take advantage of designing an environment like this to develop some cast shadows as seen in the ref.

[arata.stephen]

Oh! >< I feel like a novice lol. The horizon line /facepalm.

Thank you for the critique Jeff. I'm still a relative light-weight when it comes to painting and color. I'm trying to start out soft and work to sharp. But I agree everything is very muddy/lumpy and cool right now. I think I have some work to do

*edit*
I started working on some new thumbnails on my lunchbreak. I think i'm going to change things up on the composition/design of this one based off the feedback y'all gave me. So stay tuned.

[arata.stephen]

Working on some thumbnails. Here is what i've got so far.

[Lightship69]

I like the way its going matey, the last one on the right definitely has something going for it and it would look good with the mountains and the distant view out from the plaza bit.

Good, now do another ten or so, and a couple of hours net time looking for different culture references to get a look for the place.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=i....0.jC5hhcEu19Y

http://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=i...w=1920&bih=965

either of those should get you going and get you some ideas, if you tie it in to a style or culture it will come across better and be a little more interesting.

all the best with the image mate.

[arata.stephen]

I appreciate the encouragement Lightship. I spent a little time last night pulling some references. I just hopped on my lunchbreak so i'm about to work on those other ten thumbnails. I'll post that up when it's done, along with a reference page, and maybe some study sketches of some of my reference material. Keeping busy lol. Thanks for the feedback!

[Obstfelder]

I agree with Lightship: Make some more thumbnails, and try to make some with harder contrasts as well. The ones you have shown us seem a little too bright. You should try and put the values that you want in the final painting in there from the start. Your reference image has some much more dramatic values in it. Try out those in a few thumbs and see if you like it.

Keep up the good work!

[arata.stephen]

Thanks for the feedback Obst. I think one of my biggest flaws as an artist at the moment is that I tend to be timid with value in my work; whether i'm sketching or more recently doing digital painting. It's kind of a recurring theme in critiques I have received. I'll work on making the next couple of thumbnails really punch in that regard. Cheers