Thursday, February 4, 2010

Rust



This is a redo featuring some of the suggestions made by Drew- well pretty much all of them really. The image isn't exactly the same dimensions now but overall it works much better- thank you Drew.
I am gradually becoming more intuitive with digital paint- yay.



"A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust"
~ James Stephens
Irish poet and storyteller, 1882-1950

My interpretation of the above quote sees a young King or Emperor being taken out to a forgotten edge of the kingdom by his tutor to show him why this must be.

Digital paint.

5 comments:

  1. Hey Tom,

    I got some quick ideas down, with the layered .psd at http://www.drewbaker.com/nm/step+13+Rust+comp+72+rgb-drew.psd

    I think the strong lighting on the figures' left sides isn't working -- I don't see it applied consistently, either to them or the scene. If you reduce that, and darken the foreground, they'll be better grounded in the foreground.

    I also think we're seeing too much of the buildings' faces. That's a problem I have pretty often myself.

    I would knock the mountains to brown, so they fit with the landscape rather than sticking to the advisor, and punch up the red on the young emperor, so he stands out more.

    A bit of cropping might help too. In Photoshop I see the image as 12.5"x16.67". I did a quick crop to 9.83"x14.33" from the lower left corner, and I think it tightens the focus on the group in the foreground. Makes the piece more about them seeing the place, rather than them being in the place? Or I'm making stuff up again, who knows.

    Later,

    --Drew

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Drew - I fear you are right about the lighting; I did it to try and lend a warm late afternoon sort of atmosphere but as you say, the internal consistency isn't there (a problem with lack of reference!)
    Looking at your quick overpaint, it really draws the whole thing together.. I have a tendency at the moment to be too precious with layers which creates a kind of disjointed effect... something only a digital noob would do I fear.
    I'm afraid I won't be able to get the changes done in time for the Challenge deadline, but I may do them anyway for my own edification.
    Thanks again for taking the time to have a look at this piece,
    Cheers Tom

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hiya. I found your blog through Art Order. Very nice image. I like your other work too. Too bad about the email screwup on the Rust challenge. Better luck next time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I saw all of the entries up at ArtOrder! Very nice, awesome work!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks everybody for your comments- I'll be in on the next challenge!

    ReplyDelete