help with values

[KO_Miguel]

Hi! As this is the first time i decide to do a value study before doing details and color, i was wondering if someone could tell me if i'm on the right way or not in this piece any other comment about perspective, anatomy, etc is welcome...

[sparkyspace]

I think that's quite a good start. You have a stronger foreground value and the anatomy of the figure in the foreground is good.

Your line quality has a nice feel to it. It's a nice loose style.

I think personally I would change the pose of the creature in the background. Have him squatting ready to pounce or something more dynamic.

[Cyclop3000]

I also agree that the pose of the character in the back needs to be worked on. Like mentioned, a crouch would be nice, and work on the wings too...they look like they are too stiff right now. Bend them down, move them in perspective, those things are heavy, and he would use them for balancing his body on this rock. I usually use stick figures (yep you heard me, and i'm not ashamed hehe) to pose the characters. I'll draw a quick thumbnail, find the right pose, then move to the drawing tablet/pad.

I do need to start doing value studies like you did before I actually draw details, it's nice to see ahead of time the areas that deserve time for details and value...

I like !

[RogerAdams]

It's very cool that you are working in greyscale before diving into color. You are off to a good start but you need to darken the foreground a little bit.

Next time, try putting down four values on your image and just stick with them while you work out the light and dark areas. Two in the light and two in the dark. Don't pick pure black or white. You can paint yourself into a corner when you use the extreme ends of the value scale. You can't go any darker than black or any lighter than white, so save those for highlights and accents.



Generally, the background is in the distance and is so far away the value changes are closer together. As things get closer to camera the value range starts to spread out more, we see more value changes and more detail.

I did a quick paintover using just those values. Well, I think I introduced another value in the light. This step is very quick and you will want to get right to spreading out the value range right away.



One thing to note when working on composition or doing a value study is to zoom way out and use a large brush. If your image doesn't read at this scale no amount of detailing will fix the picture. Study Craig Mullins work and see how his images look almost like photographs when you view them in the thumbnail gallery but when you click on them they have huge splashes of brushwork.



Here is a screen shot I used when I did the paintover. See how everything should read well even at this zoomed out level. Don't know if any of this will help you, I have a tendency to ramble. You've got a good concept here. Keep at it!

Roger

[Cyclop3000]

Good tip on the values RogerAdams. I like what you did with the foregound, although I would have left the detail in the background. To me it seemed more like a closed space where the action took place, rather than some sort of empty wasteland.

Will definitely try the zooming out tip

[KO_Miguel]

Thanks a lot dudes! unfortunately i've been very busy these days so i couldn't work much on the image, and well, before reading your wise advice i did this... as soon as i get rid of college stuff i'll carry on, with your comments in mind.

[Cyclop3000]

Alright, sorry for the delays but my scanner just wouldn't work... Anyways I did two quick sketches and scanned them for you. The first is the character in a crouch, ready to jump at his opponent. Notice I folded the wings as they probably would be in such a pose. I figured you might want to display the winds in their full potential so decided to do a second sketch where the creature would have already jumped up from it's platform, wings spread to catch currents while airborne.

So hope this helps understand what I meant about posing that creature, even though the post was initially intended as a "value verification"

[KO_Miguel]

I liked the idea of the creature balacing his body on the rock in order to give him some evil and calculating personality as u can see.... this is what i got... also added some decorationpld: ...i'll keep working on it thank you all for your interest!!

[Cyclop3000]

Ah better already, glad I was of help to someone And this new decor in the foreground, i think that's a nice addition, it gives volume to the whole thing.

Good work!

[KO_Miguel]

well this is a new update.... i'm not happy with the creature's color, something doesn't feel right, i'll try to dark him until i get to the point. Any help would be appreciated After getting the scense the next step would be detailing right?

[Cyclop3000]

I think your problem with the creature's colors is that his body is the same color as his wings...might want to try and darken his skin tone a bit? Don't forget that the bones of his wings (which you colored dark grey-ish) will be the same color as the rest of his body.

And I would keep the same color but just lighten it for the stretched skin between the wing articulations...after all that's what it is, stretched skin Light is behind him, so it would lighten that skin. And you also need some shade on him a bit I guess...

[voodoofreak101]

I think that's quite a good start. You have a stronger foreground value and the anatomy of the figure in the foreground is good.

Your line quality has a nice feel to it. It's a nice loose style.

I think personally I would change the pose of the creature in the background. Have him squatting ready to pounce or something more dynamic.

I agree with him. It seems with a lot of art it's always better to give the viewer a sense of wonder or suspense. If the creature were squatting ready to pounce, it would give the piece more mystery.