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Smolin — The Sleeper Awakens
Published: 2010-07-31 05:50:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 10018; Favourites: 181; Downloads: 0
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Here's a new one I did for the monthly challenge at ImagineFX. I originally had a totally different idea, but switched gears halfway through and am glad I did.I was trying for an airy palette in this one and attempted to enhance the sense of scale with color and atmospheric perspective. I also did something new for me, which was to create a palette of basic colors beforehand. I had to modify the palette halfway through to increase the saturation, and eventually began to use the color picker late in the painting, but using a pre-determined palette deal helped keep the colors clearer than usual.
As always, comments & critique are encouraged. I got a lot of suggestions from people along the way, and it really helped.
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Comments: 51
Thanks very much. I'm actually working on a new version of the idea, which should be done pretty soon.
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You're welcome, good friend!
Keep it up and cheers!
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Wow, simply amazing! Love the painting style!
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Nice, I like him! I hope that guy is there to bargin, I don't that spear is going to do much.
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No worries. He's +3 to hit the eye.
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Wonderful job !
A real quality and so much details in the deviation !
You succeed to give it a real atmosphere with a unique palette
Keep it on
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awesome scene you have created.
i love the design of the giant
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I'd love a critique. I'm sure there are several things that could be improved, or could have been approached better from the get-go, and having them pointed out definitely helps me make the next picture better.
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Overall it's well-executed, but there are a couple of places where the mark-making could be tightened up a little. The rocks in the foreground, for example. Using more hard edges for those breaks between light and shadow would have added some contrast between them and the more airy atmospheric approach elsewhere in the picture. Also, the shadow of the dust and falling rocks coming from his right shoulder would be more diffused over his forearm.
The rest are sort of nit-picky things, like the anatomy on that forearm (something just seems a bit off about it), and the band around his upper arm.
Nice work.
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Thanks very much for the insights. If I go back into this piece I'll definitely give them a go!
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Thanks! It was one of those sudden "Oh yeah, I should do this" kind of things.
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Really like this one! The soft colors are amazing, and the sense of motion, size, breadth just so... so very well done. Thanks for putting it up.
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Yes. Notice he doesn't have any coffee.
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Hahahahahahhaahhaha
He would have to drink some kegs of coffee
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Its difficult to maintain good perspective in pictures like this but you did it flawless. Good job with the debris and dust also. And where is the guy that was in the right side in the wip's? Fell over the cliff?
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LOL! Yeah, that other guy lost his footing.
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Really nice work indeed! I think you could define the first plan more, add some tiny lines on the soil and rock, and maybe an "airy " mist before the giant to look more distant and bigger.
Did you ever try to use the gradient tool (if you use photoshop of course) ?
I also learn from people here !
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I think you're right about the foreground. It went through a lot of last-minute changes (particularly making it about 50% bigger than initially planned) and I may have thereby lost sight of the level of detail there. I did try putting a gradient of bluish haze in front of the giant, but that seemed to weaken the focus of the piece. I ended up rotating it so it overlaid the dust clouds, making them cooler and creating another layer of depth: a happy accident!
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Nice! Accidents like that are most welcome. 
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This is truly amazing. I love the detail with everything. Great work! Something that just adds to the piece is the man in the foreground and the birds in the back. It really gives the viewers a sense of how big the giant actually is. Love it!
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Thanks very much. Having a clear sense of fore-, middle- and background seemed to help.
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Epic work Smolin! Great sense of scale.
Also, congrats on getting your other pieces printed in IFX.
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Thanks! I'd been observing a lot of atmospheric perspective lately, and I think that helped. (I live near the Catskills, and it's been really hot & hazy lately!)
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