Learning to paint

Submitted by palantir on
Forum
Work in progress

This painting started out as a quickie for the speed paint thread, but I got carried away. But since I?m trying to improve my newbie painting skills I thought I?d start my own thread in the hopes of attracting some crits.

Anyway, I think I?m better off at this stage taking my time and trying to learn rather then worrying about speed painting.

I?m hoping I?ll come up with the occasional serious attempt to post here instead of the simple manga/comic type stuff I usually draw.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/20059198186_female_rend…]

The sad thing about this one is I think the background is the best part. [:0]
And I still have no idea how to draw/paint hair properly.

Submitted by conundrum on Tue, 20/09/05 - 11:26 AMPermalink

not too bad, it seems to be animprovement over your previous efforts. one tutorial i would really recomend which looks at the basics of lighting and surfaces is [url]http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm[/url], its a good point to start from.

i'd also suggest maybe looking at doing some life studies of things like apples and boots etc. just to get a better feel for the subject, painting from photos tends to be a lot harder.

they are my only suggestions (and they're coming from someone who's as much of an amateur as you) so hopefully they're helpful.

Submitted by Wizenedoldman on Wed, 21/09/05 - 2:32 AMPermalink

Good luck, can certainly see improvement since your last quickpaint posts.

Submitted by palantir on Thu, 22/09/05 - 7:39 AMPermalink

Thanks guys. [:)]
Thanks for the link Conundrum, looks good. I?ve tried a few life studies with pastels and acrylics with mixed results (er, mostly pretty poor really), but not with digital painting yet ? I?ll give it a go.
I think I could really use some more life drawing classes though?

I thought I?d try a greyscale tonight:

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101635738_sabrina.j…]

Submitted by codyalday on Thu, 22/09/05 - 8:18 AMPermalink

Looking really good, though to me the neck seems a tad to long, and the ear should be raised just a litle bit. Keep it up.

Submitted by denz on Thu, 22/09/05 - 10:50 PMPermalink

nice to see initiative palatnir :) going well.

also coming from someone learning, I agree that you should get to life as much as you possibly can. greatly helps, plus much more fun.

also, keep at the value studies. Most people say that good painting comes from good drawing ability, learning to see value relationships, planes.

keep it up.

Submitted by Brain on Sat, 24/09/05 - 1:28 AMPermalink

One thing I'm going to suggest is that you definitely get some base work down first, be it general shapes or a sketch of the piece you're going to do. This may have happened in your nude, as there's much more attention to proportion in this one that the woman in the red dress. Best way to attack it is to have something down first. Pay attention to your shapes and lines and make sure it's all looking good before you attack colour.

I'd also suggest using some hard edged brushes, and try to avoid dodge and burn. For greyscale value studies, dodge and burn can be useful, as you can start from a nice grey and have all your values with one simple tool. That's not to say that picking out your blacks and whites individually shouldn't be done.

Definitely do more life studies too. For every photo, you should be doing plenty more life studies, even if the subject matter isn't the same. You more you draw from life, the more you'll understand how things work in 3D, and then you can relay this information into photo referenced drawings.

All that said, keep it comin' dude @:-)

Submitted by palantir on Tue, 18/10/05 - 1:00 AMPermalink

Codyalday, thanks man. :) Yeah the neck is real screwy on that one, tilted at an odd angle, and I think the ear is too low and too small.

Denz, cheerz. I?m definitely keen on doing more life studies ? I?m looking for some more classes over the uni break. I?m trying to keep up the quick sketches as well as regular paintings.

Brian, thanks so much for the crits. I?m realising more and more how important the underlying sketch is and how much attention I need to give to my drawing skills.

About the hard edge brushes, this is where I get confused. Most of my digital painting experience is in painting texture flats for 3D models, where I mostly use a soft airbrush to build up layers of detail. When I try hard edge brushes in paintings, I have huge difficulty in getting anything looking even close to photo-realistic. But if I just go back to the soft airbrush I find I can apply the same skills used in texture mapping in building up more realistic shades for skin and a 3d look. I?m not actually using the dodge and burn or smudge tools at all, just layers of soft airbrush?

Anyway, I guess I just need to keep practicing with hard brushes until I figure out how to make things look right?

Ergh, I?ve been so slack with this stuff lately! My excuse is that I?ve been extremely busy with uni work lately, so I haven?t found much time for paintings. Looking forward to end of semester next month so I can get stuck into some skills development again.

Despite all the uni assessment, I did however manage a few quick pencil sketches:

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/200510170532_life_drawi…]

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101705357_life_draw…]

Some quick sketches referenced from an art book

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101705511_my_hand01…]

My hand ?life drawing?, and no, my thumb isn?t really that long :P

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101705614_freeman01…]

Supposed to be some dude from some FPS?

I want to try and do something with watercolours next - hopefully I can make some time for it this week.

Posted by palantir on
Forum
Work in progress

This painting started out as a quickie for the speed paint thread, but I got carried away. But since I?m trying to improve my newbie painting skills I thought I?d start my own thread in the hopes of attracting some crits.

Anyway, I think I?m better off at this stage taking my time and trying to learn rather then worrying about speed painting.

I?m hoping I?ll come up with the occasional serious attempt to post here instead of the simple manga/comic type stuff I usually draw.

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/20059198186_female_rend…]

The sad thing about this one is I think the background is the best part. [:0]
And I still have no idea how to draw/paint hair properly.

Submitted by conundrum on Tue, 20/09/05 - 11:26 AMPermalink

not too bad, it seems to be animprovement over your previous efforts. one tutorial i would really recomend which looks at the basics of lighting and surfaces is [url]http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm[/url], its a good point to start from.

i'd also suggest maybe looking at doing some life studies of things like apples and boots etc. just to get a better feel for the subject, painting from photos tends to be a lot harder.

they are my only suggestions (and they're coming from someone who's as much of an amateur as you) so hopefully they're helpful.

Submitted by Wizenedoldman on Wed, 21/09/05 - 2:32 AMPermalink

Good luck, can certainly see improvement since your last quickpaint posts.

Submitted by palantir on Thu, 22/09/05 - 7:39 AMPermalink

Thanks guys. [:)]
Thanks for the link Conundrum, looks good. I?ve tried a few life studies with pastels and acrylics with mixed results (er, mostly pretty poor really), but not with digital painting yet ? I?ll give it a go.
I think I could really use some more life drawing classes though?

I thought I?d try a greyscale tonight:

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101635738_sabrina.j…]

Submitted by codyalday on Thu, 22/09/05 - 8:18 AMPermalink

Looking really good, though to me the neck seems a tad to long, and the ear should be raised just a litle bit. Keep it up.

Submitted by denz on Thu, 22/09/05 - 10:50 PMPermalink

nice to see initiative palatnir :) going well.

also coming from someone learning, I agree that you should get to life as much as you possibly can. greatly helps, plus much more fun.

also, keep at the value studies. Most people say that good painting comes from good drawing ability, learning to see value relationships, planes.

keep it up.

Submitted by Brain on Sat, 24/09/05 - 1:28 AMPermalink

One thing I'm going to suggest is that you definitely get some base work down first, be it general shapes or a sketch of the piece you're going to do. This may have happened in your nude, as there's much more attention to proportion in this one that the woman in the red dress. Best way to attack it is to have something down first. Pay attention to your shapes and lines and make sure it's all looking good before you attack colour.

I'd also suggest using some hard edged brushes, and try to avoid dodge and burn. For greyscale value studies, dodge and burn can be useful, as you can start from a nice grey and have all your values with one simple tool. That's not to say that picking out your blacks and whites individually shouldn't be done.

Definitely do more life studies too. For every photo, you should be doing plenty more life studies, even if the subject matter isn't the same. You more you draw from life, the more you'll understand how things work in 3D, and then you can relay this information into photo referenced drawings.

All that said, keep it comin' dude @:-)

Submitted by palantir on Tue, 18/10/05 - 1:00 AMPermalink

Codyalday, thanks man. :) Yeah the neck is real screwy on that one, tilted at an odd angle, and I think the ear is too low and too small.

Denz, cheerz. I?m definitely keen on doing more life studies ? I?m looking for some more classes over the uni break. I?m trying to keep up the quick sketches as well as regular paintings.

Brian, thanks so much for the crits. I?m realising more and more how important the underlying sketch is and how much attention I need to give to my drawing skills.

About the hard edge brushes, this is where I get confused. Most of my digital painting experience is in painting texture flats for 3D models, where I mostly use a soft airbrush to build up layers of detail. When I try hard edge brushes in paintings, I have huge difficulty in getting anything looking even close to photo-realistic. But if I just go back to the soft airbrush I find I can apply the same skills used in texture mapping in building up more realistic shades for skin and a 3d look. I?m not actually using the dodge and burn or smudge tools at all, just layers of soft airbrush?

Anyway, I guess I just need to keep practicing with hard brushes until I figure out how to make things look right?

Ergh, I?ve been so slack with this stuff lately! My excuse is that I?ve been extremely busy with uni work lately, so I haven?t found much time for paintings. Looking forward to end of semester next month so I can get stuck into some skills development again.

Despite all the uni assessment, I did however manage a few quick pencil sketches:

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/200510170532_life_drawi…]

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101705357_life_draw…]

Some quick sketches referenced from an art book

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101705511_my_hand01…]

My hand ?life drawing?, and no, my thumb isn?t really that long :P

[img]http://www.sumea.com.au/forum/attached/palantir/2005101705614_freeman01…]

Supposed to be some dude from some FPS?

I want to try and do something with watercolours next - hopefully I can make some time for it this week.