Mixed Media Commission

**Kuruni** · February 18th, 2008, 11:17 PM

The person still look odd compared to the rest of the painting, but i wont touch this any longer, at least not soon, i need a rest and it will stay like this.
The Owner is pleased and that is the best i can get from this, i'm happy he likes his commission.

At first it started like an oil painting but time was running fast and i have to illustrate a fantasy book with a deadline in april, i had to make the best of this to go on,
so i ended up finishing it with Painter IX, at one point i had a major crash with this program and it ruined about 60% of two files i had of this work.
Had to make almost everything all over again.

This will be used for a Demo or a single or album, the guy haven't told me for sure yet, whatever he choses, i hope it looks nice on the CD box.

Tell me what you think, i was about to drop it all when i had that crash, but please do point out the horrific failures all over the piece including his light source on his skin
( he definitely wanted the moon shining over there )

He is on the right side because that will be the "cover" the rest of the painting will wrap the CD box, he was very strict with the picture he wanted me to use of him and if
i painted him smaller he would look bad on that cover, too small, so i don't know.... i guess i did all i could, but i know there were other choices as to how to position him and
the perspective, i guess that might be my lack of experience doing these things. I'm self taught just in case.

**Kuruni** · February 19th, 2008, 05:45 PM

Should i show it on the critique area instead?

**qabas12** · February 19th, 2008, 05:57 PM

What's up Kuruni..... for one you should size these images down to about 1000x700 or the something like that, because I'm one a 28" monitor and the first image fits my screen just perfectly (I cant say the same for the average computer monitor)...... Think--Small image = more comments...

-Now critiques on the painting.....as a painting, it has alot going on in it. I find myself wondering about the beaver in the lower right corner(the trees in the left side of the painting), rather than the guy in the tree. What exactly is the focus point of this painting?
-Also if it is nighttime, why aren't there any shadows anywhere?
-But then again.... as album artwork this awesome.....5 stars.

**Kuruni** · February 19th, 2008, 06:31 PM

Thank you, resized now :p

About the shadows, to be honest, because i couldn't find any image that could help me with this, i know the shadows look a bit different when the moon is the light source and i wasn't quite sure to make it look natural and i was supposed to add more stuff on the ground but i got tired. I can still add the shadows though, i think i will now, after all he asked me to add an owl somewhere.

what happens with the trees on the left? perhaps i can fix it?

**qabas12** · February 19th, 2008, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by Kuruni

Thank you, resized now :p

About the shadows, to be honest, because i couldn't find any image that could help me with this, i know the shadows look a bit different when the moon is the light source and i wasn't quite sure to make it look natural and i was supposed to add more stuff on the ground but i got tired. I can still add the shadows though, i think i will now, after all he asked me to add an owl somewhere.

what happens with the trees on the left? perhaps i can fix it?

nothings wrong with the trees I mentioned....except that they draw the viewer's attention away from the guy in the tree.....try darkening that side of the image (dark shadows, dark colors, etc)... keep in mind that I'm commenting on it as a painting, not an album cover.....dont want you go a overwork an already awesome cover....

:

**Kuruni** · February 19th, 2008, 07:50 PM

awww that's nice, thank you.

As a painting... well, i would never paint such thing

so i must see it as a CD cover.

Thank you so much for the feedback, i really appreciate it.

**FunkdaFide** · February 19th, 2008, 08:10 PM

Excellent job on the figure. No crits there. But when you look at the piece as a whole, there is an inconsistency in the looks you've applied to the man and the surrounding forest. Each look fine on their own, but when you contrast the lesser detailed, more stylized scenery with the highly detailed and refined human in the tree, it almost comes across as if you photoshopped a picture of a guy into a cartoon forest. Even though the figure looks excellent, it could be hard to recognize the effort you put into it when its surrounded by a lesser quality background.

Overall it's a good piece and you say the client was happy, but how did you feel with the end result?

Also, maybe a pic indicating where the spines would run would make it easier for people to envision how this will look like when it's finished as a cd jacket.

Hope that helps!

**Kuruni** · February 19th, 2008, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by FunkdaFide

Excellent job on the figure. No crits there. But when you look at the piece as a whole, there is an inconsistency in the looks you've applied to the man and the surrounding forest. Each look fine on their own, but when you contrast the lesser detailed, more stylized scenery with the highly detailed and refined human in the tree, it almost comes across as if you photoshopped a picture of a guy into a cartoon forest. Even though the figure looks excellent, it could be hard to recognize the effort you put into it when its surrounded by a lesser quality background.

Overall it's a good piece and you say the client was happy, but how did you feel with the end result?

Also, maybe a pic indicating where the spines would run would make it easier for people to envision how this will look like when it's finished as a cd jacket.

Hope that helps!

Thank you, yes i noticed how sharp the figure is compared to the background, i guess i got very tired of it because i've never done something so detailed digitally,

About the guy, it is because i did manipulate his picture and reworked it digitally but i think i failed in making him look blended with the background, i'm still trying to find out how to do it.

I was so concerned about trying to make him look as he is in real life that it makes him look odd in there, perhaps i can work more on him until he looks more like a painting. I wonder if there is anything i can do for the background because with all that detail already in there i think it would become a mess of sharpened images all mixed up. This is my first attempt to make something like this digitally, i think i got kind of overwhelmed in a weird way with it because of so much pressure with a deadline i have for another project, wich by the way must be digital. ( 42 illustrations).

All in all, i like it because as i said i've never done something like this before and i learned so much in the process, so yeah, i feel fine. but i can see my mistakes and it bothers me a lot, not enough to be upset, but i guess it will help me with the next one greatly and perhaps i can paint someone from scratch and make it look this good. i've done people from scratch but cannot make it look as detail as this yet, i need more practice.

I don't feel bad manipulating a picture as long as it looks good enough. Well, it was a good practice and yes, i will try to show how it will look if it was a CD jacket.

**Kuruni** · February 22nd, 2008, 08:18 PM

Ok, so this is how it would look on the CD,

the idea is that the Track list panel can be folded inwards, if you see the second file, the CD panel is the back of the Track list panel, so when folded, the owl and the Wolverine would be face to face and then you fold the cover on top of the Track list panel, leaving the Record Label, the website and Bar code on the other side.

I hope it makes sense, i almost went nuts after writing this.