Oregano IV :: stuff and things ... and stuff

[S.C. Watson]

redehlert Heya, noodled the comp a little more, and added in an element not initially in, but that needs to be there (see if you can guess what it is! ) Good call on binging his head up above the mountiains. I thought of doing that originally, but had decided against it. Revised the pic acordingly after your comments.

dogfood LOL - "oreganizing" it is, then!

fooxoo Thanks for the comments on the guys' elbow. I'll fix that as the piece moves along. Right now I'm still working out certain background and middle ground elements. As for things looking somewhat centered, yeah, they are. I'm not going to worry about it too much though, as I've got another couple of things to ad in that will hopefully smooth out the rough spots. Most notably, there will be another figure under the tomb, looking back (no,not the little guy there on the right - that's just a distance guage ).

bdfoster heh. me too brotha

sve I had reservations about posting this next process as we begin to see our peaceful mountain scene fall apart. There will be vampiric elves (the woman behind the main character is one, and another will be added on the right) and our main character is really a nasty one. Birds will be flying from the trees from the shock of the explosion as well.

Ah well. the hills are alive with the sound of necromancy... I hope you'll forgive me! Oh, and a larger pic, just for you!

Cheers,
~Shane

[redehlert]

atta boy, shane. i'm startin' to feel it now.
btw, go into the seattle, wa sketch group thread sometime -- possible tdome throwdown with socal. be sweet to have you on board!
peace.
d

[sve]

Looking great, Shane! OK, necromancy it is .
Just wanted to add, that as you said it will be very busy painting, and right now the fire on the left really pulls my attention from anything else. Very bright colors and strong object, it might be hard to compete with it.
I kind of like colors of the sky and the forest in the first colored version, when it was lighter. I might be hugely wrong, but you are making everything in the painting brighter and solo, they are gonna compete with each other. It might be tough job to balance it.
But I like the composition, characters and landscape very, very much.
Sveta

[S.C. Watson]

Red - yeah, I'm game for a tdome. Already posted in the WA thread

Sveta - again, thanks You're right about it getting darker. I'll lighten that as well, because it's bugging me. I didn't mean for it to go that dark...

Anyway, here's a detail of the tomb:

Cheers,
~S

[Alday.J]

Hey Shane !
I miss a ton of good updates, sorry !
But the dragon is terrific ! Great render on this one !
I can't really crit your last pic, but I love some of renders as well. The explosion is very well done !
I keep an eye on you. Keep posting !
J.

[dogfood]

That tomb is the bomb!



(oh, I slay me!)

[Sorknes]

LTNS... And you have made a good progress while I was gone!


Great tomb you got there! And hand drawing improved..... I dunno. Tons? Hehe. Great job!

[bdfoster]

It just got so much better!!!

[S.C. Watson]

Okay, it looks like the host where I typically store my images has crashed. Lovely. I really don't like using photobucket...

anyway, here's an update on the pic:

Enlarged the tomb some. There's a statue there that unfortunately got lost in the explosion, and I'm not quite sure how to handle that yet. It's not a majore issue, but it is bugging me.

I still need to add another figure below the tomb.

~Shane

[Undertow]

The explosion looks pretty solid brotha but the composition seems way too forced. The central figures pose is extremely feminine. I like the costume design but he doesn't really strike me as creepy or powerful aside from the breast plate. I'd say work some thumbnails and get back to it.. this might be one of those pieces that you take a major step back and hit the sketchbook for a while.
-Mike V

[bdfoster]

Shane--

Lookin good, brotha! I think Mike's got some points on the creepiness factor with your main figure being a little low. I've thought, from the get-go, that the composition was a little off, but as you've added more elements you've started to tie it together, so I'm not going to comment on it because it seems you've been addressing that issue yourself.

You're doing this in painter? Care to elaborate a bit on process? what brushes, etc.? I despise painter, mostly because I can't seem to "get it".

[S.C. Watson]

Mike and Foster, thanks for your thoughts on the pic.

If you guys think of the composition as more staged, it will start to make sense. There were some very specific things that needed to be done, so I'm not too worried about creating a traditional scene with this. There are going to be aspects of that, but it's more symbolic than literal, if that makes sense.

You're doing this in painter? Care to elaborate a bit on process? what brushes, etc.? I despise painter, mostly because I can't seem to "get it".

I am doing this in Painter. I don't "get" photoshop for doing artwork, so there

I started out, obviously, with the sketch, which I cleaned up in photoshop and then took into painter. I use the fine tip soft airbrush for any necessary drawing, detail and highlight work. I use the Digital watercolors for laying in color and doing washes. That's about it, really.

The fine tip soft airbrush is very versital, being able to go from a very large fuzzy stroke down to a very precise and tight line.

With the digital water colors I use a selection of brushes, depending on what I need and or am doing. These include:

Broad Water Brush
Salt
Spatter Water
Soft Round Blender - used very infrequently
and the Pure Water Brush

Other brushes include:
FX/Glow
Blenders/Just Add Water
" " /Grainy Water 30
Eraser
Tinting/Basic Round

That's everything that I use. Painter does take a little while to get used to, but it does a good job of imitating natural media. What I've found works best is not confining yourself to a single brush set. If you have any experience with natural media, it makes sense to work strictly with oils, say, or acrylics - you obviously wouldn't mix the two unless you had good reason.

The trick is thinking of the media in painter as nothing more than brushes. Your media is digital, and everything is mixable, so it opens things wide up for going from say digital water color to oil pastels if that gets you the result that you're after. But getting past that mental block can take a little bit of work.

Hope that helps.

{erg, just noticed that most of my keys across the top of my keyboard are not working... all the numerics, and their shift alternatives like exclamation point, "at" sign and so on. sigh... }

Cheers,
~Oreg. [at least my trade mark tilde is still working...]

[bdfoster]

Thanks for the info! I've tried to jump around brush sets in painter, and it really always seems to end up donig things I don't want it to. And digital watercolors? Forget it. The whole toolset makes no sense to me. I like the oils, but I can't seem to get transparent enough with them for the way I like to paint. I'll post some of my "test" painter stuff one of these days, even though it's awful.

Oh, and to reply to a completely non-related thread: Having a kid is easily the best experience of my life. It's eating up so much of my time, but that helped give me the hard edged focus I need to be spending what little free time I have making art, which is such a good thing.

I've got to shoot you a PM one of these days. There were a couple other things I wanted to talk to you about.

Thanks!

-Ben

[staceydiana]

Oregano,
nice rendering on the gentleman in fground!

I pulled youre image and did a little tweak...I could ramble but this is more direct..I really like where you're paint is going and thought these suggestions could help push it more...



you have a few tangents on this "line", mountains-hill, head-hill-explosion...which is stopping any kind of perspective "push" between youre foreground, mid and background...I don't know what the white arrow was for so maybe you already remarked on this...




the red line is where you're canvas was...you mentioned needing to add anouther figure into the painting...you could consider expanding viewing area allowing for you to place char to side? possibly "framing" image..

the circles are where thickened up the tree lines not totally necessary..just idea..also consider patches of light (which i did not place in)...pulling treelines down into field area on left hand side background can help push eye back twords mountain range...darkened shadows in the forground-ish area...moving mountains on left side down could help give more atmosphere and discontinue tangent...

these are just small things...the piece as a whole is def coming along nicely...if this was a bit out of bounds let me know and i'll remove the imagery
-stacey

[sve]

Hello, Shane. Your painting is drifting very far from the first version and that's good thing, also I do miss the first cold, reserved sensation from the northern nature and colors you chose. But I agree that it's a fantasy scene, so you need to say more. And besides the modest sensation from landscape is here, it is just about to be teared apart though with chaos, as I see it ( new energetic colors are in the picture)
I do see the main character as creepy, slowly getting inside mind , cruel personality, Yes, I think his manner to destroy is stealthy, but he is cruel nevertheless, he just enjoys more sophisticated approach much more, makes him all warm and fuzzy inside when the victim is blind to his plans.
My only note is the new violet color you add. But O prefer to see where you want to take this. Right now it's disruptive for me. I like more natural combination, I just think in such a cold day with all these cold color shades in the air, you will never see this warm violet, it will be duller and more reserved.
Sveta

[sve]

OMG, I just love these staceydiana suggestions to move trees and bushes forward a bit, add shadows new forest and change the sky space a bit. Make pictire more put together in my opinion.

[bdfoster]

I pulled youre image and did a little tweak...I could ramble but this is more direct..I really like where you're paint is going and thought these suggestions could help push it more...

(snip)

these are just small things...the piece as a whole is def coming along nicely...if this was a bit out of bounds let me know and i'll remove the imagery
-stacey

Now that was a crit!

[S.C. Watson]

[edit]Okay, merged this thread with my last sketchbook thread. I did say that I was going to keep only one from here on out, *soo*, only one it is.[edit]

Anyway. Yeah.

Here's some stuff I'm working on for the CGTALK The Journey Begins contest. You can check the relevant thread here, but here's the same shit:

Okay. 'nuff blather. Back into the hole with me ugly self.

~Oreg.

[Dile_]

haha ,great to see you starting a sketchbook, > you got one before ? , link !!
I love your work! so make sure to get something 5 rated up now!!!!

[Cup of Joe]

Ooooh, purdy. Seriously, great stuff. I think i like the second on the best. I'm going to have to stick around and see where this thread goes!

[sve]

Hi, Shane . I wish you to get the prize. May I have 10 % of it if my comment is cool? . 8%..., 5%...? Big Mac?

At first I thought that it is a huge painted egg when I looked at the psychedelic space ship. And i was wondering how those guys are so indifferent of it. Now I see, they are funny guys. Very nice, probably, to see this artsy thing passing by while looking from the window. It is sweet, funny touch, I like it.
Poses of the guys are great, very relaxed and happy before they start their journey. I wonder if you are planning to do the sky darker. In this case the group of three friends will look more tight, united and this beautiful lighting you painted will be very effective. Yep, take the idea from the Rembrandt. I might even propose to make the canvas taller and place some attractive looking star on top (or planet or some desirable final destination of those guys). Because right now one of them points somewhere and I follow his gesture and nothing is there and I don't know what those guys are up to.
I wish you painted the racket in some psychedelic or luminescent colors. Because it makes the owners of the space ship very sympathetic. Well, for me. I would even add some details in hippie style to characters' clothes, but it might be not what you have in mind.
Like the close-up face. it's soft and dreamy and trusting. A bit like of a child. Big glove and body language lead me to another impression though. it's manly, confident . I kind of like the sweet awkward dreamer more . His glasses are so naive and his childlike swollen lips. And it is fresh to have a character like this, instead of macho man. No pressure to change anything of course.
So, Big Mac is mine? you can paint it in the picture too, btw, what guys like these took with them. Fast food, I'm sure.

[S.C. Watson]

Dile Thanks for posting. No link to the old stuff - the book was pretty well a collection of broken links anyway, so not worth spending the look time.

Cup of Joe I've had at least four others that I've started and left abandoned along the way. Not to mention real ones. Thanks for the vote, what happened to the Stars? They don't seem to be working for anyone anymore

Dear Svetta Of course you may have a cut of the loot, should I net any of it. You've earned it a hundred times over. I fear that I may be overtaken by some younger scrub though.
I'll try to bring out the colors on the ship some, but doing this and keeping it appearing like night is a trick as most colors go grey.
I'll add more details and whatnots to the space hippies as I get closer to done, but right now I want to get their figures done first.

Back in the hole,
~Oreg.

[Slash]

Another one oreg? this is no fun, its harder to keep track of your progress this way!!

Anyways, i dont know what that egg thing is, but it sure tastes like awesome. ME LIKES! I love that weird shit going on in the sky on one of those images, i'd like to see something like that in the final, only more subtle, so it doesnt steal too much focus from the awesome egg.

[S.C. Watson]

Okay, merged the threads. Didn't make sense to keep leaving sketchbooks laying around like dead bodies...

As for the pic, I'm open to suggestions on how to make the Easter Egg look more "ship-like" yet keep it's funk-a-delic look. I kind of had a peace van in mind from the 60's, ya know? You know, those old VW vans painted all psychadelic? That's was I was thinking.

Anyway.

Back in the hole.
~Oreg.

[skvv]

i like that you're playing with textures, it could turn out pretty well if you just try to keep em from looking flat when going for realism.

[Dile_]

oh, shit, I thought I were on my way to be stupid, when I now see you have 7 pages.. .I was on my way to edit my post but I saw that you merged your thread togeter
Nice sketchbook

[sve]

Hi, Shane. I think if you try to escape any patterns and make the pictures on the racket more chaotic it will not look like an Easter egg. I mean if you add more craziness and spontaneity and skip it being pretty.
Like this maybe http://members.aol.com/commongear/FeaturePhoto13.html
Or Janis Joplin car
http://www.festival-community.net/fo..._userid_83.jpg

Well, this and it would be good to add some machinery details, some mechanic looking equipment. Attached ladder from which they climb down, place near a satellite dish to connect with his home planet. The night lights (hehe, like they need them) are looking very nice and in the last image I don't' think about any egg. You can slightly change the shape of the racket, make it less oval.
I feel good looking at those three dreaming under stars. I love camping. Should generate the same nice feeling in other people too, hopefully.
Sveta.
P.S. What are you doing in the hole? Who was the owner of the hole before you? You like the nature that much, hehe ? Take care, Shane.

P.P.S. the figure closer to us, I think it could be better if you add some flesh to him on the side. he is a little, just a little too thin, a bit flat. But I realise it just the beginning. Love the idea, Shane, very warm. I'm not that brave, but I would take the risk to go on this trip.
Hope, you are fine. You are kind of different now, I missed you great deal and remembered you when you were absent.

P.P.P.S. Showed your picture to my husband, he smiled with childlike smile looking at your spaceship.

[S.C. Watson]

skivvyThanks! You're right!

DileThanks. One of the reasons that I was thinking about ditching this one is because the host where I had my images stored died, so as you can see, my sketchbook is pretty well filled with a bunch of little red x's or just blank space. Ohwell.

sveSome good refereces there. Thank you! I was planning on the ladder, but the satelite dish is an excellent idea! I'll have to ad that in off the top someplace at a wonky angle. should have thought of that myself!

P.S. What are you doing in the hole? Who was the owner of the hole before you? You like the nature that much, hehe ?

Donno. It just seemed to fit. Found it out in the yard and decided to bring it in.

P.P.S. the figure closer to us, I think it could be better if you add some flesh to him on the side. he is a little, just a little too thin, a bit flat. But I realise it just the beginning. Love the idea, Shane, very warm. I'm not that brave, but I would take the risk to go on this trip.

I've thought about this and see what you mean. I'll see about fattening her up some. Shouldn't be too difficult.

Hope, you are fine. You are kind of different now, I missed you great deal and remembered you when you were absent.

Thanks sve. I'm okay, if a little beat up. and thanks for the kind words, as always.

P.P.P.S. Showed your picture to my husband, he smiled with childlike smile looking at your spaceship.

-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
OKAY! Back to the annoying necromancer of the woods! Took a long hard look at the piece and decided that I really hated the composition. SO. I changed it around some in the hopes that it will work better. Also kicked the time of day over to night to help build a more dramatic effect. It just was not working the way I wanted it. Um. Pretty much everything in the picture is getting redone as well. There were some comments about the dimensions of the picture itself, but there is nothing that I can do about that.

Anyway, comments welcome if ya got'em. STILL A WIP.

My *one* fear is that it may be a tad too dark, but I'm working on that as well.

Anyway.

~Oreg.

[bdfoster]

Shane--

I loved this piece early on, but it seems some of the recent color choices aren't pulling together as much as earlier versions. There's also a lot of edges that need to be played with, sharpening on the figures a bit, softening in some of the shadow areas. I'd also like to see a little more coherence in the light sources. The strong light hitting the necromancer doesn't seem at all evident on the girl next to him.

All in all, I still like the piece, and I think the new composition lends itself more to the book market that you're looking towards (though as a band across the middle, since there's no space for text), so I think finishing this should give you another noce portfolio piece. Can't wait to see what you pull out of it.

[sve]

Hey, Shane .
About new version. I'm not sure there is any flaws in this painting. It doe have very strong feeling of the vicious events. Mostly because of the colors ( that violet, very gruesome and alerting) and faces. The thing that makes me think more is I don't know what's exactly going on. Did those two don't do themselves anything, just ordering all bad deeds to be done by someone else? Where is this someone else? Who did the deed? It this couple going away, waiting for when they will be able to take whatever they wanted? Are they impatient, angry, frustrated because it's not going right?
I think you need to add someone third to do the dirty deed. Some damned soul, obedient server of those two, flying around the thumb in desperate attempts to make things look better for its owners. Did you see the Lost ark in Indiana Jones series? Remember in the last minutes of the movie, when they opened the arc, what the hell was going on, with those ghosts flying like crazy. Well, maybe you can put someone like those in this painting. It will still be magic, no hands, no body, just pure evil intellect .
About colors. I actually like them very much, although the violet color did look very active and bright and striking when I first saw it, But it's so moody. Just the right feeling, you know, mysterious and up for no good. Still I personally think it will be better to take a bit from all the attention, it got. maybe by textures and noise, or maybe by reducing the saturation a bit, adding grey. Still I think it would be great to keep this shade, only not that active.

Overall, I like ti a lot. And I still love the landscape, especially in the first version.
I wish you told me what happened to you. I sent you PM when you announced your temporary resignation. but you were already gone. Wanted to ask someone, Chip for example (masgue), but I doubt he would've told me anyway. I guess it was something really sad. I'm sad too in this case. If it's OK, I would like to know what happened. But I think financial problem. Wish it all changed for the better for you and for you to be happy. Wish you to be strong.
Hugs. and some gifts for the "hole". A poster of Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Destroyer to lighten up walls a bit. . Supply of food for one month. A hobbit as roommate, the nice one, with good attitude. Walkie-talkie for connection with world outside . art books , but your roommate will be shocked . better more food .
See you.
Sveta