best handpainted char I've seen for a long time one more question if you don't mind (I'm curious about your workflow since your art is so good hehe). Do you flatten your layers as you paint on (kinda like traditional painting) or do you use a more constructed workflow from start to finish with a list of layers having specific usage (like for instance gold light 1, gold shadow, metal shadow, metal light, layers for dents & cracks, layers for ornaments etc.)? Thanks
@Cremuss No worries always happy to answer questions. I came from a traditional background where I painted a lot of Warhammer figurines and model kit-sets so I tend to have a more painterly approach to maps.
For the bulk of my painting I generally flatten down my layers where I can after I'm happy that it looks cool, this keeps it nice and easy for me to try ideas out too, where as if everything has its own layer its harder to make changes and takes a lot longer if you want to explore something. For my workflow I feel too locked in with a super structured layer setup and I like to have freedom to integrate new ideas quickly.
In saying that there are a few layers I try to keep separate, basically anything where I want to have control to change without effecting the overall diffuse. So any popped hotspots/glows (color dodge) and my occlusion bakes at the end for obvious reasons. I also add in some overall tweak layers at the end which have masked saturation boosts, curves tweaks or whatever, all that I keep separate too.
Thanks a lot for the thorough answer! Definitely helpful I too am way more at ease painting with a more traditional approach so it's good to know this technique has such potential.
This has to be one of my favorite hand painted character models ever. Nice job! Everything is perfect except one thing... The reflection of the eyes is mirrored, you should mirror the geo on the one eye so the reflection is consistent. Anyway, super nitpicky, cause this is totally awesome!
Thanks for all the kind words guys really appreciate your input and thanks for stopping by to take a look!
@Nicorepe dive in man its a lot of fun I'm working on a character I'm currently modeling out for a new personal piece that I'll post up in here shortly for another wip. If there's anything particular that would be helpful for anyone let me know and I'll try my best to include it in the breakdowns.
Ok so I was slack not doing a wip for my last character >.> Heres how he turned out, more shots over here with flats, 3D viewer etc.
I've just finished painting up a concept for my next character, most likely some stuff will change as I translate it into 3D. I generally find my creative mind works better in 3D space than 2D but this time around I thought Id try to paint up a more fleshed out concept before hitting it in 3D to try something different.
I'll be making her a large shield and one hand weapon (not too sure what type yet). I'll keep updating with some progress shots as I go, thanks for taking a look!
Oh man, that is some juicy progress! I'm looking forward to seeing how those pauldrons turn out. Are you keeping those gems hand-painted only...or are you going to throw a little bit of an emissive in there too.
Thanks man! I'll definitely hit them up with some emissive . I was thinking about having a play with getting that subtle holy mist effect coming off them too.
Cool, you're making a girl next! Looking forward to it.
So far, the face feels a little bit flat. I would expect the nostrils to sit a bit further back, and the lips to curve around the barrel of the teeth more. I also think you could work on the subtle overlapping masses of the lips. In particular, the lip corners seem a bit sharp and don't quite have that tucking quality you see in real-life. I would also double-check the contours of the lips from a low angle. Maybe this will help: http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/07/draw-lips/
Hey, I really love your stuff! I was wondering if you could explain the general breakdown or process you have while painting? :0 I have a really hard time making stuff pop, my metals especially and yours look really shiny!
@GuanAndOnly Thankyou! Sorry for the delayed reply things are crazy busy at the moment, hence no updates here, I'll soon be able to resume this and I'll try to post a painting breakdown for the metal, hopefully that will be helpful
@GuanAndOnly Thankyou! Sorry for the delayed reply things are crazy busy at the moment, hence no updates here, I'll soon be able to resume this and I'll try to post a painting breakdown for the metal, hopefully that will be helpful
That would be great if it's not too much trouble. c: Looking forward to it!
I had some extra time this week so I got to painting up the armor for my templar character (so for the delay!). I will be making some further adjustments once I get the rest of the character painted up and combined. I've had some good overall crits from some work colleagues for the over all concept design too which will result in some other changes from the original concept.
I think it feels a bit monochrome in the color scheme. Perhaps you could incorporate some of the silver color you have on the sword in the armor, as well. And maybe a different hair color too, so it's not all gold. A fiery orange could work?
Thanks for the great feedback @Wendy de Boer I totally hear you on the silver, I was really trying to push to get away with as much gold as I could to sell the ceremonial/angelic vibe, but I did a paint-over to experiment with what you were saying, its kind of tricky to find a combination of the gold and silver that I'm happy with, while keeping the gold the clear dominant material. In saying that it is kind of cool, I'd be interested to hear what people think, I'll keep playing around with it too, thanks again!
I think the silver colored patches are an improvement. I would also consider cooling down the skin tone a lot, and only keeping the peachy saturation on the very edge between the light and the shadow, to fake a subsurface scattering effect.
Thanks guys! I'm also gonna play with keeping the gold solid, but introducing cooler hues through bounce and reflections on the gold, and see if that helps make it a bit more dynamic.
Replies
one more question if you don't mind (I'm curious about your workflow since your art is so good hehe). Do you flatten your layers as you paint on (kinda like traditional painting) or do you use a more constructed workflow from start to finish with a list of layers having specific usage (like for instance gold light 1, gold shadow, metal shadow, metal light, layers for dents & cracks, layers for ornaments etc.)?
Thanks
@Cremuss No worries always happy to answer questions. I came from a traditional background where I painted a lot of Warhammer figurines and model kit-sets so I tend to have a more painterly approach to maps.
For the bulk of my painting I generally flatten down my layers where I can after I'm happy that it looks cool, this keeps it nice and easy for me to try ideas out too, where as if everything has its own layer its harder to make changes and takes a lot longer if you want to explore something. For my workflow I feel too locked in with a super structured layer setup and I like to have freedom to integrate new ideas quickly.
In saying that there are a few layers I try to keep separate, basically anything where I want to have control to change without effecting the overall diffuse. So any popped hotspots/glows (color dodge) and my occlusion bakes at the end for obvious reasons. I also add in some overall tweak layers at the end which have masked saturation boosts, curves tweaks or whatever, all that I keep separate too.
Hope that helps!
@Nicorepe dive in man its a lot of fun
I'm working on a character I'm currently modeling out for a new personal piece that I'll post up in here shortly for another wip. If there's anything particular that would be helpful for anyone let me know and I'll try my best to include it in the breakdowns.
I've just finished painting up a concept for my next character, most likely some stuff will change as I translate it into 3D. I generally find my creative mind works better in 3D space than 2D but this time around I thought Id try to paint up a more fleshed out concept before hitting it in 3D to try something different.
I'll be making her a large shield and one hand weapon (not too sure what type yet). I'll keep updating with some progress shots as I go, thanks for taking a look!
So far, the face feels a little bit flat. I would expect the nostrils to sit a bit further back, and the lips to curve around the barrel of the teeth more. I also think you could work on the subtle overlapping masses of the lips. In particular, the lip corners seem a bit sharp and don't quite have that tucking quality you see in real-life. I would also double-check the contours of the lips from a low angle. Maybe this will help: http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/07/draw-lips/
I have a really hard time making stuff pop, my metals especially and yours look really shiny!
Looking forward to it!
Looking forward to see some breakdown if you have time!
Here's some new wips, getting close to finishing her! Gotta get her posed still and make a base for presentation shots.
I think it feels a bit monochrome in the color scheme. Perhaps you could incorporate some of the silver color you have on the sword in the armor, as well. And maybe a different hair color too, so it's not all gold. A fiery orange could work?