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General Chat => Creative Common => Topic started by: mightybren on 14 May, 2018, 05:10:35 PM

Title: New to painting, request for feedback.
Post by: mightybren on 14 May, 2018, 05:10:35 PM
I got some useful advice from Steven Denton and Crazy Fox Machine for getting feedback on my art, so I thought I'd act on it.

2 months ago I started experimenting with digital painting. Painting is something I've been meaning to explore for sometime but I've always been very nervous about it. It always seemed like something I couldn't do. I took a leap of faith.
I'm very much focussing my studies on figure drawing and anatomy right now. I've been painting as a warm up before I go into the challenging stuff.

Below are three recent paintings I've completed. I'd appreciate any feedback, particularly on tone and colour. Any feedback on structure and form would be great too, but tone and colour is my priority here. I think I need to use lighter tones, and add more contrast.
Please don't shy from criticism. Be brutal if you want, just keep it constructive please. A year ago someone absolutely destroyed a drawing I put on Facebook, and it turned out to be the most useful advice I ever had.

(https://pre00.deviantart.net/9db0/th/pre/i/2018/134/1/4/blue_by_mightybren-dcbifts.jpg)
(https://pre00.deviantart.net/05b7/th/pre/i/2018/134/d/3/neon_by_mightybren-dcbifr6.jpg)
(https://pre00.deviantart.net/c6fe/th/pre/i/2018/134/a/a/man_with_no_name__by_mightybren-dcbifp0.jpg)

Process videos are scattered on Instagram for anyone who wants to / is willing to find them.
https://www.instagram.com/brenm/

I deliberately don't do any blending, as I think it's too easy to get distracted by finishing something, and it's not really a style I like. That's very much an opinion though and also fair game for criticism.

Apologies these aren't strictly 2000ad related, but there's a lot of very talented folks on this forum and I thought it would be a good place to start. Plus Steven suggested it 🙂

In the meantime i'll have a search for other forums / communities / blogs to request feedback.
Title: Re: New to painting, request for feedback.
Post by: Steven Denton on 15 May, 2018, 09:36:28 AM
Blending or not is very much personal choice. Wither you want to be able to see the strokes or the blends to super smooth, or a mixture of the two is an astatic choice. Your strokes are perfectly good, chunky for the most part brush stroked that describe the shapes pretty well.  Your proportioning seems good, lighting looks consistent, I'm assuming photo referenced?

Colour: there isn't really a lot to say about colour as for the most part the pictures are monotone (you have added some cool to the shadows and warmth to the highlights. Which always works well, but you've not really pushed it)

Contrast: you have plenty of contrast.

There isn't really a lot to say except these are perfectly good, if simple, monotone digital paintings of heads. You could try adding detail and colour. Maybe spend an hour or two working one up into something more finished? The advantage of working something up is where you get away with the blocky nose on the red one at this loose stage you would not if you rendered it further.
Title: Re: New to painting, request for feedback.
Post by: mightybren on 16 May, 2018, 08:28:37 AM
Thanks for taking the time to look at these Steven. These are all photo referenced but I took some creative liberties. I'm very much working on putting the mileage into figure drawing and anatomy before focussing too much on drawing from imagination.
I spent several months studying skulls and asaro heads before moving onto these, so good to know my proportions are good... although I can see some areas where it's not quite right myself.

This is good feedback though, you've given me some good direction for pushing myself further. I'll work on it and post the results here... maybe I'll try something that's actually 2000ad themed too.

Out of curiosity... I've noticed a lot of the art forums used for feedback are paid subscription services, eg conceptart.org and pencilkings. I'm on a tight budget, but recognise feedback is valuable. Does anyone have experience with these services?
Title: Re: New to painting, request for feedback.
Post by: Dandontdare on 16 May, 2018, 06:55:40 PM
Can't offer any useful advice as I know nothing about digital painting, but if encouragement counts as feedback, keep going, they look great! - I particularly like the top one in blue.
Title: Re: New to painting, request for feedback.
Post by: mightybren on 21 May, 2018, 03:33:57 PM
Thanks Dandontdare, this has all been very encouraging  :D