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darkspeeds — A New Venture 2.0
Published: 2014-01-11 13:56:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 9671; Favourites: 562; Downloads: 53
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Surprisingly this was alot of fun to colour!
Once again major props to Michelle Goodwin, who's a lovely instructor from the Academy of Art University (FINE ARTS/FOUNDATIONS department) for passing on very important lessons on atmospheric perspective and how light affects color.
Alot goes through my mind than ever before when I fully render an illustration. I decided to go for an analogous scheme that limited from violet-pink to turquoise-navy blue. This was also the colour pallete used on SU #56 by on the very first page. His colouring work on the three issues after the first (the first issue was coloured by the talented Thomas Mason) really captivated that feel and smell of a nautical adventure setting; lush jungles, sandy beaches, stormy seas etc... It was some of the best colouring work I've seen of the SONIC UNIVERSE series.
Anyways I thoroughly enjoyed colouring this and certainely gained alot from the experience.
Time to move on to my third cover - featuring Blaze the Cat, Captain Metal, Swash and Buckle! Oh but first - SLEEP! It's already six in the morning! Ha ha!
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Comments: 44
That's awesome! With so many characters, you pulled off the composition pretty well! C: They all look so lively and animated 
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Another wonderful piece i see!^u^b I love your color schemes you use for your drawings so much! The cool colors really work for this one! And something about the water is so cool to me! I love the way you drew and colored it!^^ I always look forward to seeing what new skills you apply to your new drawings! I learn a little something every time you submit something! And of course, you know how i love your lighting! Awesome job on that! Love how the closer characters are darker than the further ones, showing that light!
Awesome job on the characters like as well!
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I have no words for how stellar this is. Awesome job on this piece! I love the fact that you have Bean and Bark in there, the forgotten characters need more love, especially Ray and Mighty.
Hey, you mind if I share this on a Sonic fan page I help manage on FB? I'll credit you of course and link the post to the source here. It's a bit too early by me right now (almost 10am at the moment) but later in the afternoon I wanted to.
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Sure thing! Go for it and thanks for the feedback Chris!
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Yeah, I posted it up. =]
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi…
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Whoa, awesome! I really love the poses in this one, especially Bean and Bark. Looks like Bean did some serious interplanetary travelling to get there, too.
The stuff that Steve Downer has been doing with Sonic is the best coloring I've ever seen from the comic, hands down. I think even Matt Herms' work, amazing as it is, doesn't really hold a candle to Steve's, I think mostly because of his depth perception and lighting effects.
Also wanted to say, it's great that you're learning all these color techniques, because you can now explain the process behind the coloring in a simple way, so that others can benefit from the knowledge. Thanks for that!
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Your most welcome! Over the years Matt's coloring work has evolved and it's good to see him being consistent with his work. = )
Nevertheless I hope to see more of Steve's coloring work too in future issues!
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Oh, yeah, Matt's improved so much over his run on the comics.
But, Steve definitely deserves more time on colors as well, there's just something so vibrant about the way they just pop out of the page.
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Wow, there's still so much stuff that I'm really not sure if I have a grasp on or not. xD; It's difficult when I'm trying to teach myself this stuff just from the internet and from a few art books. But I know I have to crack down and keep learning! I think I understand this now -- atmospheric perspective is creating the illusion that objects fade and the color appears cooler the farther the objects appear from the eye. And of course the color of the light source making the effect on other colors. Color Theory with reduced pallets, though.... @_@;
I was really looking forward to seeing this colored and I'm glad to see it now. I love how Sonic has all the richest colors on him since he's in the front, and it brings my attention to him. The highlights on the Wave Cyclone look really cool -- the splashes of water, too. (This may be because I love blue, but it looks cool! XD) The characters all look good. You really did well with all of the character's faces -- you nailed Sonic's!
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"Atmospheric perspective is creating the illusion that objects fade and the color appears cooler the farther the objects appear from the eye"
And that my friend is spot on.
Let me pass you three simple rules:
FOREGROUND = Darker in value + higher in saturation + warm colors
MIDDLEGROUND = mute colors + mid/neutral tones
BACKGROUND = Lighter in value + lower in saturation + cool colors
Follow those three basic principles and you're half way there.
Originally Sonic and his boat were covered in turquoise-blue light but that pushed them further away than it would with a warm color. So I introduced the pinks from the sky and colored it over using the OVERLAY layer and Sonic's brought forward again - highlighting him as focal point.
Keep practicing and get a grasp on this theory and you'll do wonders with your future rendered works! *thumbs up*
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Okay then! I am glad to hear that I know what I'm learning here somewhat, haha.
Ahh, the sweet uses of the overlay layer. XD I see, that makes sense as Sonic clearly stands out more than the others. Thanks for giving me these tips -- I appreciate it! I think I pretty much understand it now. It's just a matter of me figuring out how to put it to use and learn it. Hopefully, I should be able to find some tutorials to help out.
Thanks for the encouraging words!
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Your most welcome! Glad you learnt something!
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Amy... I love my OTP... SonAmy... Anyways, amazing!
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WoW! I love all the glowish effects and lighting! 
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Your color transitions are absolutely beautiful, Elson. You make the change from pink to blue just seem so effortless and fluid! I envy you...your instructor is clearly teaching some extremely amazing stuff!
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And in this pic, you just skipped like 2 years of solo-learning of color theory! I love this! Great progress!
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And it feels GREAT!
With the foundations down I can move on to more advance techniques with confidence! *thumbs up*
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Heh! Don't you worry! I will catch you up! .... Eventually! XD
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Are you sure you don't work for sega? Because it defiantly shows
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Ha ha, thanks for the flattering comment. Ah we'll see, perhaps I should check out what their graphic design department have to offer!
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^^ yup well good luck ^^
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I love how you did this and limited the color palette to emphasize they're having fun on the water!Neat how you threw in Sonic and Cream on top of everybody else and I love the cheerful and vibrant expressions!Well done!
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A neat analysis! That was definitely something I considering while I was colouring away!
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I love the colors,the background and the style...
I LOVE EVERYTHING.
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truly amazing and spectacular 
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wow this looks amazing.
Your coloring is fantastic.
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The shadeing itself is very basic, but the lighting has alot of atmosphere. I have not tried that, in my drawings, contrast always stays the same.
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Yeah man, once you learn and apply the theory at school it really helps! I mean I could have learnt this on my own but with some guidance it saved me probably several more years of trying to understand what the hell is going on - i.e. how to make the colors work and make your illustration look amazing.
Give it a go! Try looking up on ATMOSPHERIC PERSEPCTIVE and COLOR tutorials - there should be a ton of them!
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I will try to remember to do just that. I will just have to come up with something I would want to experiment with while doing it.
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