Hmm. I'm not an expert on the "hand painted" look, that being said I think the biggest weakness of these rocks you've painted is that they're just not really responding to what appears to be your light source very well. You've got some highlighted edges that appear to be located at intersecting "planes", but they're not really painted with those planes in mind. The cracks seem to be in weird places/have weird shapes, I also think the range of colors and values present makes them look a little metallic.
To summarize, the main things at the moment would be that I'd dial back your highlights and try to focus on rendering the rocks based on their shapes/noticeable planes.
i can see a real difference in your technique, good job on the improvements.the second image almost got it right, but it's missing a few things. there is a sort of lack of organic feel, and a hand-painting look has to feel imperfect. it feels as if there's too much white that has been added for highlights. perhaps try using luminous colours for highlights ..as an example study this painting's use of luminous colour for highlights. it's added by using layers of different lighter hues of colour blended together to create the illusion of 'white' or 'light'
also, try playing around with the type of brush you are using. is the brush a textured brush? currently it looks a little too airbrushed and it's not giving off enough texture. oil paintings are very texturised so you'll want to try and emulate that. i normally go with a square or angled brush. you should be able to find plenty by searching google. something like this below.
change up your brush texture, angle or scatter. depending on the type of texture you are trying to emulate. try doing studies of different types of texture, eg tree bark, rocks, wooden furniture, hair, even freckled skin. for me personally metal is easy to create a hand painted look, it depends on the blending since metal is usually a smooth surface.
okay sorry for the long post! i spent more time writing this than painting that rock below you're getting some of the points, adding texture, playing with color. heres more tips. this is how i approach on getting a hand painted look, there are many other ways to do it but i feel like when i learnt this it benefited me the most.
first, i always try to grasp on the overall atmosphere the art has to have. atmosphere reacts to certain things like depth of image, the size, the color choices you make, light reflections, etc. these all need to be balanced carefully and there needs to be some thought on how you'd like to make this happen.i'm still struggling with these concepts myself( so don't worry if you don't get the hang of it even after a long time, it's a milestone!)
heres a speed paint of a rock i did in 10 mins.
always choose a color you think fits well with a general atmosphere.remember color theory here. the color of an object is actually a reflection of the color that is not absorbed when light shines on it.(what is red is actually not red)...i always go with 3 main colors, as this seems to be easier to work with.
from there, use solid brushes to help make the shapes you need.remember to make dynamic looking shapes! after this, try and visualize the lighting in that atmosphere.
where is it coming from? how does texture affect this? how bright is it? what kind of shadows will it cast? where will it cast? always remember light is very lively, and shadow helps depict this. some of the shadows are painted by using crudely drawn lines, some are by a scattered square brush, some with jittered size, and some of them are solid color shapes. but never just paint with a perfect brush. when you paint with a paintbrush on a canvas, note how paintbrushes don't behave this way. paintbrushes leave a trail of paint, or it dries at the end of a stroke, and sometimes one part will have more paint. to emulate the imperfections a paintbrush digitally, you need to add traits to your brush like that. you can find many tutorials on youtube on how to play around with this.
for me personally, i think rocks in general are a bitch to learn to paint with a handpainted style. try doing some wood planks( you dont need to worry about the shape). just focus on the texture, get some random references. remember your technique but also trust your instincts and don't overthink and spend too much time fixing it.
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I'm not sure if it's any help to you, but I actually did a painting a while ago that's got some big chunky, planeish type rocks in it. I feel like they turned out "ok", I remember having to do several passes at them. I'm certain there are many other, probably better examples online as well.
To summarize, the main things at the moment would be that I'd dial back your highlights and try to focus on rendering the rocks based on their shapes/noticeable planes.
I think this is better.
Drew some swords but I don't know much about swords.
also, try playing around with the type of brush you are using. is the brush a textured brush? currently it looks a little too airbrushed and it's not giving off enough texture. oil paintings are very texturised so you'll want to try and emulate that. i normally go with a square or angled brush. you should be able to find plenty by searching google. something like this below.
change up your brush texture, angle or scatter. depending on the type of texture you are trying to emulate. try doing studies of different types of texture, eg tree bark, rocks, wooden furniture, hair, even freckled skin. for me personally metal is easy to create a hand painted look, it depends on the blending since metal is usually a smooth surface.
Not quite good with environments still but I guess this is what you meant.
first, i always try to grasp on the overall atmosphere the art has to have. atmosphere reacts to certain things like depth of image, the size, the color choices you make, light reflections, etc. these all need to be balanced carefully and there needs to be some thought on how you'd like to make this happen.i'm still struggling with these concepts myself( so don't worry if you don't get the hang of it even after a long time, it's a milestone!)
heres a speed paint of a rock i did in 10 mins.
always choose a color you think fits well with a general atmosphere.remember color theory here. the color of an object is actually a reflection of the color that is not absorbed when light shines on it.(what is red is actually not red)...i always go with 3 main colors, as this seems to be easier to work with.
for a really great tutorial on how to choose colors, try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kQllLy_X4I
(it really helped me!)
from there, use solid brushes to help make the shapes you need.remember to make dynamic looking shapes! after this, try and visualize the lighting in that atmosphere.
where is it coming from? how does texture affect this? how bright is it? what kind of shadows will it cast? where will it cast? always remember light is very lively, and shadow helps depict this. some of the shadows are painted by using crudely drawn lines, some are by a scattered square brush, some with jittered size, and some of them are solid color shapes. but never just paint with a perfect brush. when you paint with a paintbrush on a canvas, note how paintbrushes don't behave this way. paintbrushes leave a trail of paint, or it dries at the end of a stroke, and sometimes one part will have more paint. to emulate the imperfections a paintbrush digitally, you need to add traits to your brush like that. you can find many tutorials on youtube on how to play around with this.
for me personally, i think rocks in general are a bitch to learn to paint with a handpainted style. try doing some wood planks( you dont need to worry about the shape). just focus on the texture, get some random references. remember your technique but also trust your instincts and don't overthink and spend too much time fixing it.
I think I'm starting to get it. Just added in the gem for extra color and fun.