Help on first Digital Painting

[Pr0d1gee]

Hi, I am new to the site, and to digital painting as well. This is my first try at painting, and tips and criticisms would be much appreciated. If you dont mind reading a little, i added a little more detail on my situation with this painting and my abilities.

Painting like i said is new ground for me (any and all types of painting). I have always been strictly a drawer, but i'm starting on a animation degree this fall and I dream of one day being a big shot concept artist. This is my very first painting, i know there is tons wrong and i want to burn it, etc. But i would appreciate any advice, especially on what my main addresses need to be on my second attempt.

I feel I often cling on to outlines too much when adding color. I also am aware that I seem to "whimp out' when developing a contrast between my lightest lights and darkest darks. On this particular piece I read it just looking flat and very uninteresting. I especially wanted to make a realalistic looking lake (light source is coming from the right, i guess near sunset. It felt promising throughout, but upon completing the scene I ended up hating the way everything turned out except maybe the dual moons.

Im going to be deep scanning for helpful threads on these forums too, but thanks anyone who has read this far. I will try to make sure this is the longest post of my time here. Lol. Also sorry for punctuation and all, Im on my phone here.

[Maledict]

Hi, I am new to the site, and to digital painting as well. This is my first try at painting, and tips and criticisms would be much appreciated. If you dont mind reading a little, i added a little more detail on my situation with this painting and my abilities.

Welcome to ca.org Very good first piece/attempt. Better than mine was.

Painting like i said is new ground for me (any and all types of painting). I have always been strictly a drawer, but i'm starting on a animation degree this fall and I dream of one day being a big shot concept artist. This is my very first painting, i know there is tons wrong and i want to burn it, etc. But i would appreciate any advice, especially on what my main addresses need to be on my second attempt.

I feel I often cling on to outlines too much when adding color. I also am aware that I seem to "whimp out' when developing a contrast between my lightest lights and darkest darks. On this particular piece I read it just looking flat and very uninteresting. I especially wanted to make a realalistic looking lake (light source is coming from the right, i guess near sunset. It felt promising throughout, but upon completing the scene I ended up hating the way everything turned out except maybe the dual moons.

Don't worry, it's all about mileage. The more you put into practice, the more you'll get better. Unfortunately, not all of us are born gifted like Bernini, who did a lightning fast sketch of St. Peter for the Pope at age 8. We're merely human . And the self-reflection/critique/loathing is what most of us have - the ones who're able to see that they're bad, by virtue of being there at the very beginning (Which is always the hardest step, the first one always is), and strive to improve. So take it easy on yourself.

Don't feel the need to wimp out - only you will ever see the painting, there's no spectre hovering over your shoulder looking at you, spying on you, and revealing to the entire world what you're doing. Only imaginary ones. So feel free to do everything and *anything* on the canvas in photoshop. It's only several megabytes anyway, and there's no physical canvas for anyone to ever steal a peek at.

Im going to be deep scanning for helpful threads on these forums too, but thanks anyone who has read this far. I will try to make sure this is the longest post of my time here. Lol. Also sorry for punctuation and all, Im on my phone here.

Great that you're enthusiastic But don't worry about length of posts - "Brevity is the soul of wit"; Quality over Quantity. In that vein, it's obvious you took the effort, both taking a risk by putting your art out there in the beginning for review and C&C, and by typing up this post - but by saying that you typed this on your phone, implies that, conversely, you didn't take it seriously enough to type this on your computer keyboard - thus, why should we?

Anyway, I'll try to do a paintover later, if you'd like, with my take on it. Which colour sunset would you liked to have put in? I guess orange, being how Sol is with our sets, but with your dual moons, it's otherworldly/not ours, so need additional information.

[dpaint]

First you need to work from life so you understand what a landscape really looks like and what the conventions are. Second you need to thumbnail out ideas and work on abstract shapes for the idea. Third you need to shoot your own reference for the idea to help realize the elements in a believable way.

[Chris Sanders]

I agree that this is far from a bad first attempt. But i would advise you to stop in your tracks for a couple of months, and go out and draw! every day and also buy yourself Perspective Made Easy or a good perspective book and copy it from front to back.

[Pr0d1gee]

Thanks for the welcome and tips. I tend to pick up on stuff fast so hopefully in a couple years i will have SOME of the ability I have seen from others here. You guys are really good. But i see no reason why i cannot reach that level one day. I feel i have the vision and creativity as much as anyone. Just need to fine tune my device for manifesting my vision more fluently. I plan to just come at it with relentless repetition.

Hope to see you guys around the forums!

[Artfix]

There's nothing wrong with doing a drawing first and painting on top. There's also nothing wrong with using linework in your paintings. You may prefer a line style.

Did you do this entirely from imagination? If so, that is what's keeping you from improving. You won't learn if you simply do what you already know how to do.

[Pr0d1gee]

Yes I didnt use a lot of references if that is what you mean. I looked up images with similar lighting for the water and the moons but that's about it. So would you suggest purposely drawing things i never have or to just explore everything more before I paint. On this I did not do any thumbnails, I just simply painted it because I wanted a complete image under my belt to get feedback on.

But yea, i have gotten the feeling from these forums that preparation is often neglected, so I will make a habit of composing and planning better. I am going to shoot the banks of the Mississippi tomorrow and do some drawings. I want to be able to suggest detail a simpler way than trying to duplicate every line from real life. Some of you guys seem to just have a nack for it, hopefully it is something that can be learned.