Jump to content

Digital Painting Daily Challenge


stevepole

Recommended Posts

In the spirit of bettering our skills in digital painting, and getting our lazy asses to use our tablets, I present the Digital Painting Daily Challenge! Everyday I or a brave member of the community will present a subject to be draw like a flower, a box, a truck, something fairly easy that can be done in a days time that will present some sort of challenge that will hopefully make use better artist.

 

I also would like to remind people that constructive criticism is always welcome and is encourage but please be respectful to others as we all come from different skill levels.

 

 

If we feel anything should be added to this, just say something and it can be added, we all have a basic understand of how this is going to work anyways from our discussion in Dsavi's Daily Digipaint thread.

 

 

Tonights challenge is another fruit, PEAR!

 

[spoiler=Example]Pear-Fruit-Face-mask-for-Glowing-Face.jpg

 

 

*Note* Trying to keep things simple this week, I'm thinking this weekend we'll do like a three day challenge starting Friday that ends Sunday. Don't know why I added this to notes though lol.

 

 

[spoiler=Past Challenges][spoiler=First Challenge 10/03/10]The first challenge is a tulip!

 

[spoiler=example]tulip-info0.gif

 

 

*Note* Your drawing doesn't have to look like the example. It's just there as a reference.

 

[spoiler=Challenge #2 10/04/10 ]Todays challenge is a vase!

 

[spoiler=example]Glass-Vase_slideshow_image.jpg

 

 

*Note* If you want to work off yesterday's challenge (tulip + vase) thats fine or if you just want to paint a fresh new painting thats completely fine too. Just do whatever your comfortable with doing.

 

 

[spoiler=Challenge #3 10/05/10]The new challenge is an apple!

 

[spoiler=example]apple-full.jpg

 

 

*Note* If you don't want to draw an apple go ahead and choose another fruit if you wish.

 

 

tFtfA.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going to try this again tomorrow. Tried tonight and just failed miserably.

 

Just trying to figure out some basic techniques really. Read up a bit tonight on stuff. I think my biggest issue is just the idea of starting it. Like do I want to do lineart for it (which can be annoying) or do I just want to paint it? Also I think I start with too small of brush strokes, a lot of guides I read stated you want to start with big ones and less detail.

 

 

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

 

That was the thing I was reading for the most part. Kind of intense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Consider this lowering the bar. :P

 

tulipspdc.jpg

 

Besides doodling this is my first real piece using solely my tablet. I'm content with it, I need to work on adding details. As is there isn't much detail in the bulb (petals), the stem I think is alright but still needs work like the leaf thing on the side looks to connected to the actual stem and I should have made it more concave. I spent probably 20-25 mins on mine.

 

@Nadril I started with like the basic painting. Solid green stem, pink bulb, then went in afterwards and tried to add my details.

tFtfA.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess I'll try to answer some stuff for once :P

 

http://i52.tinypic.com/2say0w8.jpg

My tulip. I used this reference: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Floriade_Devmeet_25.jpg . I decided to fatten the tulip slightly.

 

C/C?

Two main things really jump out at me: the white background and the lack of refinement. But given that this was a 20 minute painting, I won't go too much into refinement (but I will address it in a minute). First of all, don't use a white background. Always pick a background colour that will serve as a base for your painting and set the mood. Backgrounds play a huge role in what colours you use for your subject, because everything reflects. So even if you're just painting a still life, spending 1-5 minutes on a non-white background will make all the difference. Pick a colour that goes well with your painting and maybe spend a few seconds briefly hinting at the direction of the light. Also, if you have a non-white background, it will make your subject more interesting. You will be able to integrate more colours. So if you're drawing a pink tulip, depending upon your background colour you could also include colours you might not expect (such as blue, green, brown, purple, etc.). One more thing that's kind of related - never use white for highlights. You can use very very light pink or yellow, etc., but never pure white. Also in this case, because you have a white background and used white highlights, parts of the tulip kind of disappears into the background.

 

As for the refinement issues, I see a lot of small, messy lines. You could have maybe spent a few more minutes blending the colours better. Also, right now I'm having a hard time distinguishing the different petals. Based on the highlights I can kind of make out three different petals, but going further with some shadows could help distinguish them a bit better.

 

Going to try this again tomorrow. Tried tonight and just failed miserably.

 

Just trying to figure out some basic techniques really. Read up a bit tonight on stuff. I think my biggest issue is just the idea of starting it. Like do I want to do lineart for it (which can be annoying) or do I just want to paint it? Also I think I start with too small of brush strokes, a lot of guides I read stated you want to start with big ones and less detail.

 

 

http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

 

That was the thing I was reading for the most part. Kind of intense.

Honestly, basic techniques will only get you so far. In the end, everyone has their own techniques and it really comes down to personal preference and what you're comfortable with. A good example is your lineart question. There is no better way to do it. Some people prefer to have really refined lineart, whereas others can't stand doing that and just jump straight into painting. Personally, when I'm working with something really detailed (usually human figures), I prefer to have really refined lineart to use as a guide. I find it easier to perfect things like anatomy with lineart rather than just with painting straight away. But for this particular painting, I didn't use lineart at all and just jumped right in. But this is a very simple subject, so I didn't feel lineart was necessary.

 

As for your other question, most artists find it easier to start with larger strokes. Lay down some large, basic colours as you're working out the composition, mood, lighting, etc. and slowly start moving in and refining. Start big, end small.

 

Consider this lowering the bar. :P

 

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1756/tulipspdc.jpg

 

Besides doodling this is my first real piece using solely my tablet. I'm content with it, I need to work on adding details. As is there isn't much detail in the bulb (petals), the stem I think is alright but still needs work like the leaf thing on the side looks to connected to the actual stem and I should have made it more concave. I spent probably 20-25 mins on mine.

 

@Nadril I started with like the basic painting. Solid green stem, pink bulb, then went in afterwards and tried to add my details.

Read what I said to Shiny about white backgrounds. I know since we're just drawing a simple subject it doesn't matter all that much, but I think it's good to break out of that habit and it will help you once/if you start doing more detailed paintings :) Putting even just 5 minutes of effort into the background will make all the difference.

 

Other than that, two main things: light source and refinement. The stem would suggest that the light source is somewhere on the right, but this is not true with the petals. The petals seem to have a bunch of random, small highlights. You used a very small brush to make these highlights and you need to work up to them a bit more. Using a larger brush and a less intense colour for the highlight, block in the lighter areas. The lightest of the highlights (close to white) should be reserved for the small details that refine the petals. That brings me into my next point. Right now it looks like you have one massive petal. You should probably be able to see at least two or three (with more suggested on the other side) from this angle. You should use shadows to distinguish the petals from one another.

 

I also agree that the leaf could use some work but you covered that yourself :)

 

----------------

 

Here's a TERRIBLE example of my process.. I say terrible because I made this GIF after the picture was made. So the only thing I was able to do was go back and hide all the layers, and then unhide 1 or 2 for each frame. There are a lot of steps missing within each layer. For example, the jump from the first to the second frame is pretty big because all that work on the tulip was on one layer.

 

tulipprocess.gif

Posted Image

 

- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hope nobody minds if I jump in.

 

[spoiler=My try:]5051879924_8526acb93a_b.jpg

 

 

My Ref, the ollioules tulip.

 

I didn't try to copy it exactly, but tried to get the general shape and then do my own thing with the small details of the petals while still keeping it in line with an ollioules. I also chose to go with a pale orange for the base of the tulip (to contrast with the blue background), but I don't I think I went dark enough with the orange and then added too many red tones and ended up washing it out. The stem and leaf really ended up an afterthought. Ah well, I spent about two and half hours on it and I'm tired of fiddling with it. Constructive criticism would very much be welcome. :)

4925608028_032fb6a619.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the tips Tripsis!

 

I just played around with a couple brushes before I really got started keep switching them to through my painting to try and get a basic feel for the ones I liked.

 

I'll post the new subject in a couple hours when I get back from my late class if I go.. Otherwise around 7 or 8PST.

tFtfA.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What kind of brush settings do you guys use? I feel like mine is never good enough.

Don't get too caught up with brushes and brush settings. Settings can be important when achieving certain effects, but in the end, brushes and brush settings alone won't improve your work that much. It's good to experiment, just don't get caught up thinking that they'll make all the difference. Basically what I'm saying is that I'm sure your brush settings are fine :) Which are you really concerned about: the brush you use and the more specific settings (roundness, hardness, spacing, etc.) or the basic settings like opacity and flow?

 

Most of my work is done with the basic, hard, round PhotoShop brush with pressure sensitivity enabled for opacity and size. For my tulip picture I decided to try something new and 95% of it was done with a custom brush composed of like 6 tiny dots (spacing set to 0, pressure sensitivity enabled for opacity and size). The other 5% was done with that basic, hard, round brush. For the first part of my painting, opacity and flow were both 100%. This was for when I was laying down all the main colours. When I started blending, opacity was lowered to 30% (flow remained at 100%).

Posted Image

 

- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can draw too, but the primary idea was to put a focus on digital painting, so just because of that I'd like to keep the title the same, but as I said you can draw too that totally fine!

 

Todays challenge is a vase!

 

[spoiler=example]Glass-Vase_slideshow_image.jpg

 

 

*Note* If you want to work off yesterday's challenge (tulip + vase) thats fine or if you just want to paint a fresh new painting thats completely fine too. Just do whatever your comfortable with doing.

tFtfA.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used GIMP, with pressure sensitivity already on. I used a hard, round brush, 6-9px wide. But thanks a lot tripsis, in a few days when the next one is posted, i'll probably draw up a simple background :P

Try Mypaint. Works great out of the box and the interface doesn't get in your way like GIMP, also has some great painting brushes. Quick shortcut list to get you started-

B - Brushes

L - Layers

f, d - Brush size

,. (Comma, period) - Zoom

V - color

C2b6gs7.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This vase made me literally claw my eyes out...

You stole my line! :lol: Nice job :)

Posted Image

 

- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

oct4.png

 

Lol. I still feel like the vase is really flat, was trying kind of hard to make it look more three dimensional. Hell the best part of the drawing is the stupid stand it's on lol.

 

Arrows are the light sources >_>. Hell if I know if it's correct lighting (prob isn't), I'm just trying to get something out there :D. So rusty lol.

 

 

Oh and finally have a brush I like. Hard brush, changes size depending on pressure.

 

e: and my first real "digi paint" lol.

 

e2: Just did a test to try and make a more "3d" looking image. I just chose a sphere. (well... an egg. Lol)

 

shadingtest.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hah, I was actually going to make a joke about the clawing of the eyes in the note.

 

5053024685_ee3d085809_z.jpg

 

With this I really wanted to work on shading with a light source. I had three points or spots I wanted my light to hit on the vase and I think I did fairly well. My roommate like it, by brother thought I should have made the vase a little more tighter and not so wide. The flower was just a last minute addition to add a like something to it.

tFtfA.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice. My only real comment is that it feels more like a fur vase than something that is made out of metal or glass. The shading looks cool either way.

 

 

I updated my last post with a shading test I sort of did :P.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since I already drew a vase in my tulip picture, I took this opportunity to do an easy experiment with colour -

 

vaseu.jpg

 

There's quite a bit that I dislike about it but I'm bored of it and ready to move on :XD:

Posted Image

 

- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice. My only real comment is that it feels more like a fur vase than something that is made out of metal or glass. The shading looks cool either way.

 

 

I updated my last post with a shading test I sort of did :P.

 

 

Yeah I didn't really think about the proper texture till the end, II think it's closer to a clay vase kinda. Your shading test looks good, hopefully you'll be able to apply it to your next drawing.

 

Of course yours looks great Tripsis, I like the colors.

tFtfA.jpg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great job, stevepole! :) The shading looks great in this piece. I think something that could help with the "fuzziness" problem would be blending a little more. Especially with the shadows on the right, you have a lot of single brush strokes and I think that's one of your biggest problems. Use the eyedropper to pick up that colour, lower the opacity of your brush to around 20% and brush over it with a hard round brush. Then use the eyedropper again to pick up your *new* colour and brush again. Slowly do this to blend that shadow with the ligher shadow/midtone to create a better, less fuzzy transition.

 

Two more things to keep in mind: brighter highlights and reflections. Things like vases are very reflective so you will have some (don't go overboard!) extra bright highlights (almost white), and the vase will have some of the background colour in it.

 

Finally, on the vase itself your lightsource is very well defined. The light is clearly coming from the left. However, your background does not reflect this. Everything in the background seems very random. Make sure that the background AND subject follow the same light source. This will help unify your picture a bit more :)

 

I applied all of the above to your picture to help show you what I mean:

 

stevepole.jpg

Posted Image

 

- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.