[JoseVega]

VERY VERY GREAT SKETCHES GUYS...
@Patrick - nicely done... first one is coming out great.... would like to see some scale reference in there to see how big this thing is! great job

@jan - very nice thumbs.... all of them look great, i do like probably the most all the bottom ones.... great angles... and probably the very middle one as a poortrait shot... looking great!

[Tsayar]

Hey, great work everyone! I'll have a try at this one too, so here's my WIP.

[GriffGraph]

Procrastinated a bit too long on this one, after working with some thumbs i regret that because its really a fun topic. Hopefully i can whip up a final before tomorrow.... Guess i need to put off carving that pumpkin again haha.

[GriffGraph]

It's comin together, thoughts?
Attachment 99914

Time to sleep.

[JANJAGER]

Tsayar
Very nice. Looks like an interesting adventure. At this point you have vert soft eges and shadows. Perhaps go for a harder brush and make some of the edges and shadows a bit harder.

GriffinGraph
Great. I like the composition and values. The thumbs look already like finished pictures.
On the full size I think you can render out more.

[arttorney]

Here is how to make images full size. http://cghub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2248
I'll be out of town for two days starting tomorrow. Extension anyone?

[GriffGraph]

@Janjager
I'm liking the one on the left for the reason that it leaves the immensity of the waterfall as a bit of an unknown. Also, the background cliff walls help point to the subject.

That being said, the one on the right is more believable because the cliff stairs connect to the bridge which connects to the castle, whereas the left one you cant really tell where the cliff stairs go and you don't know where the bridge goes. I think there are many solutions to that if you choose to address it. Nice work.

[JoseVega]

@Tsayar - very cool.... i see adventure in the first glance at this... u got nice colors in ur palette but as jan said play with ur edges and also with your values... create space between areas of interest. keep it up!
@griff - very cool thumbs - just keep rocking those details and those dark areas to know whats going on around... and also an element of scale to know how big this cave is!!!
@jan - lovely colors man! not really sure whats my favorite. on the second one would be cool to see maybe a flying dragon with a raider going into the scene from the foreground or something.. cant wait for final!

[GriffGraph]

To crop or not to crop?
I'm a noob to details too... when is enough enough for a concept environment?
I have no problem going back and putting another few hours of detailing in if it will help the piece but I feel like you get to a point and it starts to detract or make it look too cluttered.

[arttorney]

My experience has been that you need to put in more detail than the human eye actually can see in a scene. I think it is because these are still images, while your average video game dude has a lot of opportunity (over time) to look at all the nails in all the boards that make up the shack about three hundred yards out in the distance over there that you wouldn't actually be able to see with your eyes if you were running around with a shotgun trying to stay alive.

But that's just me.

Extension to November 15, 2012 at midnight California time because I am too busy to make a poll right now.

I am also too busy to make a Finals Thread. Keep working JanJager. It looks good. It is competitive. Click on that link I gave to know how to make the images big.

TSayar; GriffGraf looking good. Not ignoring your effort.

[Tsayar]

@attorney: thank you thank you for the extension! Now I have plenty of time to work on my piece, 'cause I wasn't completely satisfied with what it was going to be.
@Janjager: thanks for the advice, I'll work on that one. I've noticed that soft edges are usually one of my biggest problems in painting. Your paintings are great in every way.
@ JoseVega: Thank you!
@GriffGraph: I personally like the non-cropped version better, 'cause it has a greater sense of scale. I like the mysterious feel in your image, it's looking very good.

This is a really cool challenge

[Street]

Great work everyone !

GriffGraph - I hope you dont mind i did a quick curves adjustment on your piece. You have some nice things going on in your painting but it gets too dark to see anything. Try to stay away from pure blacks and pure whites. Try painting in the 11-89 value range.

Tsayar - Cool image. Nice work adding a foreground figure for scale. Try to use aerial perspective to push things in the distance back. Contrast and saturation decreases as you go further back in the distance. Also try to incorporate perspective and determine a light source so that you can define the forms.

JanJager - Cool stuff man. Nice viewpoints.

[GriffGraph]

Street I'm glad you mention that, It's been a never ending source of frustration for me trying to get levels right when i save for web. When in photoshop my image is much more readable, but when I save for web and post it on this forum, I notice that the lights get lighter and the darks get washed out. I dont like the way this looks so I go back into photoshop and throw a bunch more black on to get that contrast back.

Is this a monitor issue? compression issue? or just me and my levels.


Ok, I did a curve adjustment of my own, added some more detail and I think I'm just about ready to call it done. Any more pointers?

[Patrik_P]

@GriffGraph - There's no need to save for web, just do a normal save as jpg and keep file below 500kb, that way you won't lose any color or value. save for web is pretty out dated these days.

[Street]

Originally Posted by GriffGraph

Street I'm glad you mention that, It's been a never ending source of frustration for me trying to get levels right when i save for web. When in photoshop my image is much more readable, but when I save for web and post it on this forum, I notice that the lights get lighter and the darks get washed out. I dont like the way this looks so I go back into photoshop and throw a bunch more black on to get that contrast back.

Is this a monitor issue? compression issue? or just me and my levels.

Well it will probably read slightly different on each person's monitor. Most ppl dont have their monitors calibrated. Trying not to go pure black or white generally helps to bracket your range. Plus That way you can keep those pures should you want an accent in your focal point.

Hope that helps.