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skittlefuck β Penelope's Garden (wip)
#forest #path #shrine #greyscale
Published: 2015-03-28 00:34:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 3239; Favourites: 199; Downloads: 38
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Something I've been working on, on and off for awhile. There's a lot of mistakes I made with this piece (over AA-ing resulting in banding is just one of them), and it's gotten to the point that everytime I try to work on it, not a lot gets done. So I'm posting it now, maybe I'll come back to it in the future. Really regret using greyscale, makes it look a little bit boring, still was a nice learning experience though. Feel a teensy bit down since I spent a lot of time on it, but it happens I guess (I'll try to make up for it : P)Related content
Comments: 20
Amazing!
I read somewhere on PJ that there are some artists who start their work in greyscale and add color when they're finished. I'm sure you could add color to this if you think the greyscale is boring. :- )
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Thank a lot man : )Β
I was debating adding colour to it when I was working on it, but I think I'm more comfortable with making a whole new piece altogether with better composition, lighting and colour.
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This looks great, and there is NO reason grayscale should make it boring. I love the execution, but a bit of extra compositional work could work wonders - a bit more in the top left corner, perhaps, to enforce the diagonal, or maybe a bit of extra contrast here and there. What you have here is already amazing, but try not to get too caught up on details. Sometimes you just need a broad swoop or a clear line to add drama... Anyway, think about it a bit. I'm sure there's a lot you can do with this one.
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Yeah, the composition in the left corner was funny, at one point I took out the big branch but reverted back since it looked so bare (probably should've just filled it with leaves). As for contrast, that's kind of a running problem with the whole piece where the forest is just wayy to bright.
It's so hard to not get caught up on the details though, specially when on a pixel level (or it's just more of a bad habit). Thanks a lot though man, you've definitely given me some things to consider.
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EDIT: Wall of text alert. Don't get the idea I'm criticizing the work you've done so far on this one, but I really like what you have so far and I'm wondering if maybe giving you some ideas might help you. You seemed a bit stumped about what to do, what with the "every time I try to work on it, not a lot gets done". Personally, I hate when that happens, so in an ongoing effort to repay you for all of the awesome advice and criticism you've given me I decided I might put in my two cents. If you've abandoned this piece entirely and don't even want to hear about it anymore, please ignore this comment.
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Just looked at this piece again, reread your comment about the details at a pixel level. Recently I saw a little trick on gimp and photoshop that lets you have a little side window of the full-sized (or in this case, zoomed out) project. It's not a separate window that goes away as soon as you click on the piece itself, it's just a little viewing thing... It's hard to explain, but it sounds like it might be just the thing for pixels like these. I'll try to find a link for you as soon as I can.
I also looked at the top left branch again, and I was thinking about whether or not tilting the whole tree more to the left (or, for that matter, to the right) would help the composition. All in all, I get the feeling that the whole piece is a bit too 'round', when it's clear you're trying to draw the attention to the stone. It might be a drastic overhaul, but just changing the perspective of the trees a bit could work wonders.
If you're completely and utterly sick of this piece it's perfectly understandable (one month, holy cow!), but between the trees, the branch, the details and the foreground (or lack thereof?) there's a lot you can do to turn this one into a right museum piece. Maybe taking away a bit of the top blackness would help? I dunno, I'm just trying to give you some ideas. Hope some of this has helped.
Cheers!
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Ach, no need to worry about that, always love to hear people's c&c about a piece!
Ahh, I actually think I know about the trick you're referring to. It's called "New-View" in GIMP, but the only reason why I don't use it is because you can't be in single-window mode while using new view. The problem with not being in single window mode and having the second, zoomed out canvas that updates in real-time laying on the side is that I would end up with a huge wasted spaceΒ i.imgur.com/mGfWRIE.png . Having the huge space there that's not being used makes me uncomfortable :/ (first world problems). I do know that a lot of the pro-pixelartists use that trick though. Maybe it's just a matter of getting used to a new setup like that since I'm too familiar with my current one.
I do really appreciate you offering some tips on what I could change to improve the piece, but I don't think I'm ready to come back and revise the whole thing yet. I feel as if now, I might be able to start a whole new piece and make it much better in terms of technique and composition, which is just a matter of me taking the time to actually do it and not end up chucking it into my 'Eternal Wip Folder of Tears and Broken Dreams'. Also, I think the time to personal reward ratio for finishing this piece is worth it, since I have put so much time into the piece but still don't really like it; I don't think I would still be personally satisfied even if I bring it to a complete finish (not sure if I'm making any sense or not).Β
Though I don't want to shoot down your critique, and I really hope I don't sound like I'm trying to be lazy or anything of that sort, just on a personal level this piece just doesn't feel right to me (even though I consider it the best I have in my gallery). I really do appreciate you writing all that up though, it definitely gives me some things to think about for this, and future pieces.
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That's no problem at all! I totally understand. I'm just trying to give you some ideas of what might have been possible for future things. Hope it helped somehow.
But yeah, I have noticed that most (if not all) of your pieces use a head-on perspective or an isometric perspective. I think it might be a great exercise to try a different 'camera angle', as I feel it would have worked wonders on pieces such as these. Not trying to be condescending (i couldn't do this for the life of me my word), just giving some ideas.
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Oh nono not condescending at all! I totally agree with you about trying out some new perspectives. I've been mostly doodling while trying out new things like that, but perhaps it's time to start taking that to a pixel level. As of late I've been watching a lot of videos of Feng Zhu who works with some cool perspectives -it's just so scary once you actually try to do it yourself ;~; (which is what a big portion of learning is about I suppose)
Thanks a lot for your thoughts though! I'll definitely be pushing myself to try out new perspectives and such.
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I have to say, this looks fantastic. I'm in a similar space. I'm working on one piece I really want to be amazing... but it just doesn't change no matter how much I put into it! This is proof that it's okay to slump sometimes, though. Great work and I hope inspiration flows easier for you in the future!
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Yeah, it's sort of horrible whenever a piece gets to a point like that : ( Sometimes I think that maybe trying to make every single piece your best isn't the best way to learn -because when stuff like this happens it's a huge blow to moral. Thanks a lot though man, I'm looking forward to seeing your newest piece : )Β
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This is looking great so far. The tree roots, the grass puffs , the leaves and the overall lighting are impressive!
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Thanks a whole lot Pavanz! Means a ton coming from you : )Β
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Thanks yuew! Well, this + procrastinating + other projects, it took about 1 month, on and off : ( Kind of gets to the point where the piece starts to look boring after you've been staring at it for so long
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this looks great! a lot better than the tree i'm working on (though i haven't worked on it for ages because of the leaves ;; )
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Ooo, can't wait to see it when your piece when it's done! Yea, leaves can be a huge pain thoughΒ
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Haha, I ended up giving up-- I was going to continue it but I've been unmotivated recently ;;
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