Showing posts with label Resource. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resource. Show all posts
Puzzled by how color "works" in some paintings?
Curious as to how light affects objects??
Look no further.
Introducing "The Dimensions of Color" a website dedicated to teaching you nearly everything you need to know about color, lighting and more!
See "The Dimensions of Color" website at:
http://www.huevaluechroma.com/
Disclaimer:
This site assumes you have some knowledge on the basic principles of color!
Thank you, David Briggs!
http://www.huevaluechroma.com/
Disclaimer:
This site assumes you have some knowledge on the basic principles of color!
Thank you, David Briggs!
"...From a standpoint of taste and content: I photograph whatever pleases me. Consequently, this gallery may contain things that don't please you."
Excerpt from Marcus Ranum's Stock Photography site
Can't draw the human figure? Feel a sense of inadequacy when you realize that you fail to understand what has to be the most essential skill in art? In understanding the lights and darks and all that value study stuff?!
Well, you needn't fret so much! You'd be surprised how a lot of talented and professional artists USE photos as reference when drawing people. A lot of budding comic and digital artists would often use themselves as models and pose on photos when drawing and painting. Believe it!! (Eww) Some would say using stock photos helps you figure out the perspective of the figure without wasting all your time with "fundamentals". (Whoever said that deserves a medal -ck)
I would assume classically-trained artists hate this sort of thing. They prefer artists today should know how to render a realistic a figure, and sometimes use real life models in art workshops. Some argue that part of the problem with using photos as reference in art is that it tends to look flat. Whether that is true or not sometimes depends on the artist I suppose...
Stock Photos?
Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. Setting the debate aside, here's what I have to say for this post - Many thanks to ImagineFX, the pricey digital art magazine I buy on occasion, which led me to discoverd this rather odd photography site. It's run by Marcus Ranum, a photographer with... interesting tastes.
Rendering photos on canvas is only as good as the photo reference, and Ranum certainly doesn't disappoint! He's got really neat stuff here, stuff I feel would be perfect for fantasy and sci-fi artists looking for a particularly pose and can't quite nail em since they never bothered to take formal figure drawing classes. :)
Yes, you can draw a Slave Girl!
You can see how light would affect certain fabrics and materials. Perfect if you suck at that sort of thing. You can see women doing strange sometimes tasteless acts in some of these pictures. Priceless, right?!
Ah, but never fear. There's some neat classical nudes, if all this weird stuff makes you think funny thoughts. These nudes are great, and if you can stand staring at the monitor while drawing, then good for you! I highly recommend you check out the site! (Link below)Did I mention Ranum's site's got Cat Girls? If you ever fantasize of rendering realistic looking "Neko Gals", then this is your one and only chance.
Visit http://www.ranum.com/gallery/index.php for meow--more details. Damnit!
Still, it makes you wonder why so many schmucks like us do this sort of thing. I guess we just like pretty pictures...
The guy who illustrated for Polar Express is somewhere there...
For today, lets I'd like to point out to you a very interesting link from an art site - a link which leads you to about a hundred other links. It's called "75 Artists You Must Know, and Where to Find Them". Intrigued? You should be.
You'll find artists like Adam Rex, popular for his work on Magic: The Gathering.
Or perhaps the amzing works from this Greg Spalenka chap. The fellow has really covered a very broad spectrum of subjects, all done in that weird aged art style.
And voila. You'll also find stuff about Dean McKean, the man that practically invented the look of Neil Gaiman. I'm could be wrong about that, but I assume there's another more well-researched blog out there who talked about this stuff anyway.
What are you waiting for?? Check the link out, and try to at least get inspired by one of these guys. Come
There are folks who spend an inordinate amount of time in from of a computer or console during their high school or college years. Others find time to go out, and live life. Others, spend time crafting and honing their skills in well... art.
I was the guy who wasted his time in the computer.
That being said, there are a few brave souls, at this "golden age" of freedom and wasted youth, working to hone their design skills.
Painting graffiti on the wall? No.
Drawing thumbnails on the tablenapkin while your significant other is in the restroom? Close.
Sketchbooks? Closer...
I know!
Drawing thumbnails on the tablenapkin while your significant other is in the restroom? Close.
Sketchbooks? Closer...
I know!
Bravo! You got it! A daily sketch group is a fairly popular activity done on the net, and the most popular of which is found in (suprise) Conceptart.org. Like I said, this lil' time killer is for folks who want to hone their art and design skills.
I myself lack all of that because I yammer on and on about weird stuff I see on the net. But it was either I spend my time typing this useless entry, or I waste on a sketch group. I can't be in two places at once.
But these guys. Damn! They got no fear, man. I salute these folks. They come up there and start drawing the topic of the month - whether it be "Killer Butterflies Raping Flower" or "Mechanized Zombie Taking a Dump" They'll do it.
Take a look at this. At least this! The art subject for the day is - BEFORE THE DUSK-LIT CASTLE RAMPARTS, A SPACECRAFT HOVERS - Artists have to take heed, as they have to follow certain guidelines:
- Are the aesthetics of the one in stark contrast to those of the other, or are they in harmony?
- Is it a meeting of two differently advanced civilizations?
- Is the mood one of astonishment, or confidence, or foreboding, or excitement?
- Is the spacecraft come from the skilled technological artisans of this very kingdom?
- Invader, defender, or passer-by?
- Some very different ways this topic could be interpreted, as usual...
Now, lets take a look at the entries! The first is from Goran. As a first entry, it's not bad. It's got that whole black and white thing going on, so at first site, it looks "nice". "Nice" being what folks would say when they see something, then upon closer inspection they go... "wait a minute". That means... there is something not believable about the image, which sort of spoils the meaning the artist might be trying to convey. Doh! I think I just rambled again - I forget the fact that this is a daily sketch group, where people would usually not spend a lot of time double checking their paintings to see if it perfect. Ah well.... Is that ship trying to life the fort?? Seriously now...
Vanvalen, as you can see here, did something a little more traditional, with a gothic spired fortress being patrolled by what appears to be evil space invaders. What is cool about this painting, despite frustration in the artist for not having a hard time getting this concept right, is that your mind sort of fills in the gaps. Look at those "space ships" on the sky (I suppose they're skyshi-- shutting up). My mind is sorta... imagining what the look like. But again, they're really just a bunch of silly shapes! Interesting entry.
Now this piece above is by Lennybird. As you can see, its not... technically amazing. But the person who did this had guts. He spent more than two hours using GIMP to paint this. That... that dedication, to bring this concept and have it thrown to the endless Void of the internet, is a brave, brave thing to do. As you can see, the work itself shows promise. It adheres quite literally to the topic, with a visible sun indicating the time, with the ship ready to either land or board troops. Give this person a few years and we'll see.
Racasdorph. Yet another brave talent. The basics of understanding perspective are here, the basics of complimentary colors too perhaps. Techniques such as how atmosphere is desaturating colors as well can be seen in the city. Again, an interesting experiment.
Here, Gretchen presents to us a concept. The nicely detailed 'high' coliseum-ish fort, and above it, a strange uh... thing. Everything is black and white, yet the ship is colored and the flags are red. Is the concept half-baked, or the work itself?
Jagehsto, made this in his sketchbook, with a marker and water color. Absolutely no "undo" key here folks! Interestingly enough, he kinda pulls it off, with a ship that reminds me of a cockroach heading towards the silhouette of what either a beach or a fort. And the cockroach robot is painting a new hole or touching water... or is it touching the sky?? Gah! Watercolors! There's gotta be a way for us digital whores to use dry media!
As time wears on, the sketches get better. Tommoy doesn't sketch though - the bastard paints! And its good! I think. There's something about that ship I'm having problems with. or is it the symmetry of this painting? Who knows. I'm a pretty lousy painter too.
Naastika now gives us a dark twist to this concept. The robot is launching its robotic appendages and raping the castle. A very good interpretation. It is here that the artist unleashes his creative subconscious and gave us this disturbing portrait of his psyche. And also shows his frustrations in trying to get the perspective right...
Here's another one. Looks good, with a War of the Worlds feel. This again presents the problem - just how many artists are struggling to master perspective??!
aBiliTy gives us a... blimp. I guess that's the central forest, and the fort itself is now somewhere... lost in the background. Good enough I guess.
Oofnish comes up with this... He finally couldn't execute the concept or get the art right, so he just came up with this. Not bad I have to say! Technically, if I want to be cruel, its got loads of problems, but since they're only given a day to paint these, what the hell! It's okay. The overgrown camera-ship is okay, although I do worry about that medieval knight. I wish the artist could have added something otherworldy to make him match the odd surroundings. 
Finally, Apocalpyse Rex. The final entry sometimes isn't the best, but in this case, it is! When I say best - I mean at least in the technical aspect of it all. It looks pretty sweet.Now. Now you see what a daily sketch group looks like. Not bad, eh? It's pretty cool to see how people would interpret a singular topic like this. I would certainly like to feature more here, so that at least I feel like I am learning something as I type these crazy posts only a few dozen read. Until then, stay away from septic tanks. They smell.
I bring this up because working on these design projects requires that I be able to translate what you see on your mind to a canvas. The process sorta reminds me of an article by Jehan Choo’s:
“How to extract an image in your mind onto a digital canvas” from ImagineFX.com
I have the idea - but how do I get it on canvas?
Jehan Choo:
“Transferring a stunning fantastical image from our minds through our hands and on to our canvas can be frustratingly hard to do. Its always fun to let a piece evolve into something completely different than what was planned, but what if we want to get that image from our head down as faithfully as possible?
Sometimes an image so vivid will pop into our heads, one so amazing that we want to put it down exactly as we imagine it.
The discussion will discuss ways to manipulate layers, create visual hints about what to do next, and how to salvage a disastrous looking face. I will introduce an unconventional way to quickly begin painting that may help in blocking out an imaginary scene before it fades from memory.
Sketch out a couple of thumbnails.
Jehan Choo:
Ryan Church's concept work - quick thumnails can lead to serendipity??
Jehan Choo:
Remember, thumbnails can be sued to quickly try out wildly different composition and ideas. Sketching out a couple of different views or takes on your subject can light a new, unexpected path. If you still end up loving your initial composition, you haven’t wasted any time: you know you’ve made the right choice.
2. Creating notes to self
I chose a pencil thumbail to bring into Photoshop along with a handful of value thumbnails done with marker (checking on black and white tones). I then place the pencil and markers on individual layers. Next I add a gradient that seems to fit very abstractly with the color scheme I see on my head. Arranging these pieces like a puzzle, I adjust the contrast, clour and saturation and position of penci and marer layers until the results reflect closely the composition I’m after. I am slo changing the blend modes of each layer, picking from defaults based on what feels best, but I mostly used the multiply layers.
More of Ryan Church's concept work. He must have photographic
memory or something...
memory or something...
Jehan Choo:
The process results in a digital collage, a quick snapshot of the painting I see in my head. The collage serves a pictorial note to self, a map of what I plan to do. This technique also helps to eliminate any scary blank canvas. Try to keep lse with this step, as the goal here is not to loc into a perfect composition right away, but rather to create an abstract image that reminds and hints to you what ot do next. Right now, the image is telling me “the character group on the left”, “greenish area on the bottom right,” and “empty space above that.”
My thoughts:
Anywho, that's all the advice I can get off that article. Pretty neat. Oh, go and watch this film while you are at it. It's... creepy, to say the least. How does this film relates to anything is beyond me. Special thanks to Evan, Justy and Kain, the only two real people who might actually visit this place DESPITE what the view counter says. Damn bot!
My thoughts:
Anywho, that's all the advice I can get off that article. Pretty neat. Oh, go and watch this film while you are at it. It's... creepy, to say the least. How does this film relates to anything is beyond me. Special thanks to Evan, Justy and Kain, the only two real people who might actually visit this place DESPITE what the view counter says. Damn bot!
