Hand painting improvement

Torch

Hey all, just trying to revamp an old character I worked on today. I reduced the AO on it so it wasn't so harsh as the original - you can see in the new version there's a lot more color variation. However, I can't help feel it could be loads better, the values could be improved or my technique is completely wrong, so I wanted to ask for some advice

Currently, I take the AO I baked from Zbrush and have that on Multiply that with 30% opacity, then have the same AO on Overlay at 30%, all above the diffuse texture.



I'm still fairly new to the hand painted style but really want to try and master it. If anyone could help with tips or advice I'd be really grateful! Thanks a lot

Jessica Dinh

I sorta like the dead-looking skin tone of the old one, but perhaps it would look better anyway if you paint that in yourself instead of using lighting information. You could try painting in the thickness of the trims, as well as painting in more apparently where the shirt seams butt up against each other. You could paint in some cloth folds. I saw you did it on the belt but it is very subtle, and oftentimes handpainting works better with bolder strokes! The eye area could use a lot of definition through handpainting - you can paint in the creases of skin, where parts are highlighted or darkened etc.

The challenge here is that it looks like you began with using 'photosource' type of textures. The pattern on the dress, and the hair, already have a realistic kind of feel. IMO it would be easier for you to handpaint everything first, then you could lay in photo detail afterward to spruce up the texture a bit if you want, but if you lay it in first it will be hard to blend the handpainting in. My thoughts anyway

Torch

Hey Jess, thanks a lot for the feedback. Hand painting textures is never something I've been solid at but I want to get a lot better at it Will give your points a try and see how it goes!

DWalker

I have to agree with Jessica about the original colors appearing more corpse-like. The eyes, especially, seemed more threatening as a milky-white than a glowing green.

The kimono looks too clean for a ravaging undead. Try adding stains, especially around the hem and cuffs. You might also want to add some stains to the front, as though she dripped a rather appalling mouthful of food. Try playing with the alpha channel to give the hem and cuffs more of a frayed appearance as opposed to the current sharp cuts. You might also be able to use the alpha to give the robe a thread bare appearance, especially around the elbows and knees, but I don't know how well this will look...

I'm not getting the blackened finger tips; gangrenous, I suppose? Blackened fingernails, I could see, especially if she's been doing a bit of digging (gardening, or rummaging through her neighbors for tasty morsels...)

You might have gone a bit overboard with the blood around the mouth; again, I prefer the more subtle original version.