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Crilix's Painting Thread


Crilix

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Seeing how we now have a dedicated 'Artwork' board, I thought I'd throw my shoe in. I've been thinkin' about whether or not to do this, but I figure all y'all might be interested in knowing what I've been wasting my time on recently. I really have nothing to lose by doing it anyway, and if you guys could critique me me it'd be a great help.

 

I started painting about a month ago or so, after reading this speedpainting thread. I was blown away at some of these people's work, and how appealing they were. Furthermore, they all managed to make these pictures in about an hour or so. I've been told that I have somewhat of an artistic talent by some people (Although I don't see where they get this from), so I thought I'd give this whole thing a shot. I heard about a program called 'Open Canvas', which is a water-colour based painting program for the computer. I downloaded it, and started off...

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash1.final.jpg

This is the first one I ever did. I sat down one Friday afternoon for about 3hrs and this is what came out. This is my first experience ever creating my own artwork (Besides graphic editing). I'd never before taken an art class or anything, so this was all new to me. I'd contribute about an hour so of this time to learning the program. I hadn't read the manual or anything, I was just learning as I went. The picture from a reference of 'Vash the Stampede' from the anime series 'Trigun'. You'll get used to his face as the post goes on. Overall, this pic turned out good, considering it was my first. It looks awkward along the left side of his face, and some of the colours and textures are weakly done.

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash2.final.jpg

This was my next one, and turned out pretty good as well. My biggest problems with this are the crappy gun he's holding, the black outline on his hair, and the background. This one is stunningly like the reference, as my friend even thought it was some Photoshop effects applied to the origional.

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash3.final.jpg

The problem with this one is the dark areas of his trench-coat. I just drew right over the black background, but should have used a very dark red, for texture or something. I do like how the hair turned out though. (Referenced)

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash4.final.jpg

This one went well. I should have made it bigger, but at the moment I was still focusing on understanding basic shapes and shadows (This is why I've used an anime show for all my references. It's very basic, with simple lines and contours, as well as colours and shading easy to imitate). Another problem is the 'sun' in the top-right. I dunno how, but I should've done it better. (Referenced)

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash5.jpg

This one is alright. Here is where I got the concept of blurring certain layers to acheive a certain aspect of focus. It isn't very noticable, but it makes a differance. The sun in this one is also pathetic, and I should have made it larger. Vash himself didn't turn out too well, as he was kind of plain, and his face looks weird. (Referenced)

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash6.jpg

Hmmm... This one was really simple. The colours kind of clash in places, and the terrain and characters clothes aren't very interesting. It did look pretty true to the reference I used, but is missing something. I can't quite put my finger on it. (Referenced)

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/vash7.3.final.jpg

This is the last reference of Vash I've used. I like the colours, and the way his coat ended up (Although the brown lines don't look right in some areas). The sun and sky turned out surprisingly well (But simple, I know). If you look closely, you can see noticible strokes around the character, which I did to go over any errors I made. After about a half-hour of working on the face, I just couldn't get it to look right. His hair is supposed to cover his upper-face, so all you could see was the shadows around his eyes. I just could not get this to look right, so I scrapped the idea of a face, and kept it blank. Surprisingly, though, I think it turned out well. By now I picked up on the fact that my pictures needed to be larger, so it was about 2x the size of the origional. (Referenced)

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/easier%20to%20run%20-%20may%203%202004.jpg

Ahh, this one. It took me a while, maybe 2hrs or so, but I am very pleased with what came out. The colours worked out nicely, and I like the strokes used on the bricks. The puddle could have used cleaner lines, but it still looks good. The splashed from rain were a new thing to me, and turned out surprisingly well. The origional had a few rain drops coming down, but I couldn't find a way to add them properly so they were omitted. The rose took a bit of work, and A LOT of trial and error, but it yeilded some nice visuals. This is my first pic on 640x480, so in theory it could be used as a background for someone with a crappy monitor http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_tongue.png Overall, it's my favourite thus far. (Referenced, but this time from another anime, 'Cowboy Bebop')

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/sunset%20on%20the%20ocean%20-%20may%2014%202004.jpg

Okay, I know that this one looks like a far step down from anything I've done thusfar, but was actually my first work without a reference http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.png (Which I actually did today http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_ohmy.png ).The colours are simple, and kinda ugly. The water is very basic, as well as the sky. There really arn't any shapes or contours in this, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. It took me about a half-hour or so, and I don't like it. It IS a start though, as I've got to learn how to do my own work eventually.

 

The ones I have not mentioned a time for probably took me about an hour, or hour and a half to do. I sit down at my computer, open up the picture I want to use as a reference as well as a blank canvas. I usually try and copy from the other, but I DON'T just paint over an existing picture. I'll estimate how it should look, and give it a shot. I've spent an hour on some just drawing the outlines, making sure it will look right. I don't understand contours, shapes, etc. for myself yet, but hopefully I'll pick it up eventually. This takes quite a bit of time and patience (For a beginner, I assume), as you'll be staring at a monitor and using a mouse (Which is a bit of a clumsy tool at times) to peice together a picture. After a while it feels like your eyes are bleeding, paying such close attention to what's going on can be a strain.

 

Anyhoo, I'll continue to post more pics as they come. Please feel free to tell me where I need to improve, how to do it, any tips you know, etc. I hope you guys like 'em http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.png

-Cril

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Oops, I forgot one. It should be before the rose or something.

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/eriks1.2.final.jpg

This one is okay. It's another using a Trigun reference. The sky and stars look pretty good, but I don't like that light bue-ish wisp in the air. The air brush doesn't make it look right... Almost as if the colour was scaled down or something. Also, the guy's leg looks kinda funny...

-Cril

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Here's one I made today.

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/rose1.final%20-%20may%2015%202004.jpg

It's not very good at all. The foot (Yes, that's what it is) is kinda boring and stupid-looking. The rose is kinda gibbled, and all the colours are washed out. It actually looked worse when I origionally made it at 700x700, so I shrunk it to about 70%. My only excuse is that this is my first pic using a real picture as a reference.

-Cril

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Still good http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.png i like the foot it reminds my of a big black boot squashing something out. http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_banana.gif
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Wow Cril, those are pretty damn good man... Keep it up and I will be bitching at you to make me something to put up in my room http://www.fnfclan.com/uploads/uploads/emoticons/default_tongue.png
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New one...

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/crilix/paintings/take%20away%20my%20pain%20-%20may%2021%202004.jpg

It's okay, I did it without reference. The flower looks like crap, and I shoulda added a shadow or something to compliment the sun. I think the sky, clouds, and sun turned out pretty good, it gives the dark & dreary effect while yeilding some light. I like the concept of this pic though, the flower in the middle of a wastleland. Oh well, maybe I'll have better luck next time...

-Cril

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  • 2 weeks later...

Did this one today.

 

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/Crilix/Paintings/Vash8.Final.jpg

Definitly not one of my better ones. Parts of the character look too out of proportion to the rest of him. The biggest example is probably his head, which is kinda small. His hair should've been done better as well, but I think it turned out alright in the aspect of being a tilted frame. The only improvement with this one is that I managed to do the outlines on my first try. On a differant layer I sketch the contours and such of my picture so I know where to paint around. Normally it takes me 2-3 tries to get the outlines to look correct. (Referenced)

-Cril

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I like the skewed perspective a lot. You ever try to do any of this with natural media, by the way?

 

Try getting corel painter 8, dude. It's got a lot of natural media selections.

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What is natural media? I've been thinking of porting over to a better program for my paintings, is Corel Painter 8 fairly simple? I use Corel 8 & 10 at school, and I hate it. I only like using it for layout and arrangments.

-Cril

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