lonely warrior

[MarcSampson]

hey guys bin workin on this fella for some time now ..

hope u like it

[darkalp]

marc, if talk about the figure, the left leg is too high and seems like going straight out from the abdomen.But its not matter.you know art is all in your mind not realty, so what important is how your image looks like as an art. free your pencil man.the figure is too static i think.but the colors you choosed are good and in an harmony.free your hand.keep drawing on paper.

[MarcSampson]

thank you dont really understand what exactly u want to tell me ... i like the still pose atleast at this pic ..but thx anyway. will try to do more dynamic poses.

[Genius_Malignus]

His chest looks a little funky - it looks like one plate of muscle, and not separated in the middle like real pectorals. The ribs also usually go in a more vertical line, instead of the horisontal you have suggested. Maybe it would be a good idea to use some anatomical ref for that. Also where are his nipples?
He seems a little flat in the rendering - try to think more about the shape of his body, and employ some more levels of saturated colour in the shadow areas.
Hope that was in any way helpful - and keep on going =)

[MarcSampson]

thanks alot

[Nerahla]

Don't use black for shadows. Ever.

So, since you are that makes me think you need to study some color theory and lighting. It's all good, no worries, everyone has to. But this is a good drawing and would be a lot better painting had it not been sucked into black shadows.

This is an EXCELLENT starter on what I'm talking about: http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

[element1988]

Don't use black for shadows. Ever.

Then what should black be used for?

[Truepinkas]

Then what should black be used for?

Not very much of anything to be honest. Look around you, VERY FEW things are actually black, and even those things often have reflected colors showing on them. Black is literally the void of light, not diminished light. Not using black is generally accepted as a visual arts rule, there will always be exceptions (heck, look at Caravaggio's work), but as a general rule, yeah, don't use black.

I really enjoy this guy by the way, but I think you could have pushed the design a little further since you used such a conservative color palate, he's not as interesting as I think he could be. animal skulls or face/body paint or something.

[Nerahla]

Then what should black be used for?

Shadows in real life aren't even black. They in fact are dark blue/purple. And Carvaggio didn't use black, he used rich, dark browns

Just read that link I posted, Element1988, it gives it a more succinct explanation than I ever could.

[element1988]

Hmm thanks for clearing that up guys, but if you cant use blacks, how dark should your dark dark's be?

[pauscorpi]

think in terms of contrast; usually a good image has good contrast ; the difference between your lights and darks will make the difference in your image.

By looking at your painting i would guess you mostly use tones that are in the mid -range : not too light and not dark enough. If you use lighter tones for light areas that will immediately make everything else seem darker. Also, do choose very dark rich tones, just not pure black (and not pure white either; these two tones create like a whole in an image and should be used very carefully)
hope it helps

[MarcSampson]

thank you so much yes i suck at value and color it just seems that my shadows are allways too light and they look blury thats why i use black ..since im more a drawer then a painter i allways need the line which sux in a painting..

[SnailsPace]

i like the staff a lot, looks powerful.

[MarcSampson]

well i startet my painting in black/white and added color through hue/saturation.. mb i just went at it wrong can i fix it or should i go on ?

thx for the staff comment

[pauscorpi]

MarcSampson: the beauty of digital is that you can always fix things there are a number of ways to correct ; the simplest I can think of is just create a new layer and paint over the problematic areas; layers are very very helpful when you want to correct or experiment. It is a good way to start in black and white as you did; to colorize a black and white image just crete a new layer and set the blending mode to Colour; when painting in colour on this new layer the colour mode will only alter the hue of the layer underneath; it will not change your values. Look around CA or the internet in general, there are very good tutorials for layer management and digital painting

element1988: you are most welcome; glad to be of assistance