How do I learn to paint details?

GenericGoodGuy

Hello, so I've gotten my modeling skills to a reasonable level but I'm constantly let down by my inability to create details, I checked the wiki and I looked at all of them but I just don't understand the workings behind it, on one tutorial it goes from 'add a few highlights' to 'now add in a million lines that detail the model' So I'm asking how do I learn the workings behind details?

Here's an example of a piece of work I created but just had no idea how to texture - I just used an ambient map and did some work on the eyes, but I just don't know how to detail it.

Thanks for any advice.

ZacD

Learn how to paint in 2d first.

You want to paint the details from large to small. Are the clothes going to have any large folds? Is there going to be seams and stitching on the clothes? What planes of the face do you want to push on the charater? Do you want strong cheek bones, sunken in cheeks, strong brow line, accent the temples? Start off with big forms, then add the medium sized ones, and then the small details.

Xelioth

The best way to learn any skill is to start from the ground up. Begin learning 2D painting before you try to apply that to 3D. Even better, learn traditional painting before you try digital painting.

Learning 2D will teach you how and where to apply light to an object to emphasize the parts of the object you want to appear most important, as well as teaching you which parts need that emphasis. Learning traditional painting will teach you to understand how to mix colors and shapes so that they look the way you want.

Either way, look up some tutorials on painting, and you'll see the techniques they use for going from basic color shapes to fully-rendered image. You can apply the same techniques to your work whether that work is digital, traditional, 2D or 3D.

ZASkaggs

As in everything else in life, you learn through repeated failure.

Just start putting down pixels. Each time you try it'll look slightly less terrible than the last time you tried it. Eventually it'll even start looking good.

Just pick a model (this one for example) and texture it over and over again until you're happy with the results.

PredatorGSR

Reference, start by copying photos and other art you see. Narrow it down to the technical aspect of reproducing the look you want before you try creating from your imagination.

Wendy de Boer

Use reference, that's the main thing. It allows you to see what details are present on any given object, how light hits it, where shadows are created.

Detailing a model like this will be very hard, because the shape is very simple and it doesn't represent anything you see in real life. I suggest you try making something much closer to life, so you can use real-world references to help you.

Once you get the hang of that, you'll have the necessary tools to come up with detail on non-realistic, stylized stuff as well.

joe gracey

Lot's of good advice here!

GenericGoodGuy

Thanks for all the replies, I will take on board everything that has been said.

peanut™

Don't worry GenericGoodGuy, whatever you did in the first image is far superior than what some of us were doing back in 1999.

:poly114b: