Lykos Learns

Lykos

Hello all.

I'm an aspiring artist. I started to dabble with digital painting a couple of years ago, but only over the past year or so I've started to take it more seriously. I've been struggling to make the time for it and it takes me far too long to paint currently but I think I'm slowly getting there. I'm in the process of building up a body of work and trying to complete pieces instead of always moving on and starting something new.

Not knowing any artists in the real world I'd like to get involved with some online communities. I find that the lack of any interaction with fellow aspirants and artists alike leaves a tiny void in my life. I also lack any output for my art and I need some structure to push me further.

...But above all of this my most pressing matter is a need for critiques!

I'll start with posting a work in progress of a Dark Angels Space Marine. Having a complete lack of lighting resources I've found it very challenging. This is also my first foray into lighting. (I've just noticed my upload appears a lot more saturated than my original piece, apologies).



So essentially there should be a sickly yellowy glow from the ground infront of this Space Marine. There are a few other light sources dotted around, chiefly a blue light from behind to the right.

I would really appreciate it if anyone could please point out any errors and set me on the right route!

I'll post a few other pieces over the next few days, mostly almost finished.

Thanks for reading.

Avanthera

Hey Lykos,

Painting is a really rough thing to pick up, there are a lot of things to get used to and work on. For your painting, I'd suggest doing a study on a sphere, as it's easy to adjust and fix things.

I looked up this old iron ball, as that seems to be the closest to what you're making:
https://a.1stdibscdn.com/archivesE/upload/9714/27_15/andironssm_ball_topb0092/Andironssm_ball_topb0092_l.jpeg
And I came up with this example here which be similar to what you're looking for?

This is lit by the yellowish light, but is tinged towards red a slight bit, I basically wanted this to be a daaaark red ball.

Perfectly reflective metal would look more like this:

Basically acting like chrome. I think yours has this kinda vibe, reflecting so much and being so dark. Anything around the character would also be reflected in the material instead of it just lighting it, which is why I have a blue square reflected instead of a rim.

But if you wanted something glossy and reflective but not chrome, it would look more like this:

Having either bounce lighting or reflections of the floor/surroundings can help a ton with trying to get metal to work.

Oh, and I'd stay away from pure black. Even if the armor is so dark, it could have a slight color tinge (like red, what I have) and it would be affected by the environments color, being cooler or warmer, but definitely not pure black.

Hope this helps!

Mehran Khan

my only critique is to NOT draw robots or clunky-armored-dudes at the stage you are at. Do human anatomy and than get back to this. IF robots and hard body IS what you want to do (like feng zhu/scott robertson) than study perspective and 3d surfaces practices to under how those are drawn. your Photoshop skills are nice for a beginner but where you are hurting is the basic principles of perspective/anatomy/Form and functionality are missing.
I really hope that you don't take this negatively, I am not trying to put you down, it's just that i think you are better off getting the fundamentals right
scott robertson's book really help alot at making fantastical machines
https://www.amazon.com/How-Draw-sketching-environments-imagination/dp/1933492732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479889705&sr=8-1&keywords=scott+robertson

cheers.
-best

Lykos

Thank you guys for your replies.

Avanthera thanks for your tips on materials and reflections. I should probably paint a few of those material studies out to nail down what I'm trying to achieve.
I should have mentioned that the armour is painted black and has a fairly dull sheen, not quite glossy and not quite matte - neutral. I've been trying to lift the black up but whenever I paint the darkest areas it always ends up pitch I'll need to address that next. It doesn't help that my example there is super saturated.

Maybe I should probably just focus on the basics on this one and lose the coloured/moody lighting. I could still throw in the blue rim light, just lose the yellow/orange. Below you'll see the same figure with a neutral coloured light. I think this better purveys the material properties of his armour - fairly glossy metal trim and more a matt finish to the armour. I think this would make it easier for me to lose the pitch black levels too.

Is there something I'm not doing right with my colour settings before I upload images on here? I've noticed they're of a higher contrast and saturation than on my PC. What's the best way of sharing images on here? I'd rather not resort to pasting pictureless links you see. I tried various links via my imgur but to no avail.



Mehran Khan thanks for the wise words and don't worry I'm not taking it negatively in the slightest. I'm probably jumping into things too soon as I'm anxious to get some sort of portfolio or just a body of work uploaded somewhere. I work long weeks and I tend to freak out in my spare time. Many thanks for the recommendation, I'll add that on my Christmas list it's something I've come across before.
Please tell me if this Space Marines proportions are off or if the perspective is naff! He does look pretty static, but I do want to try to convey that he is iron of will and body, immovable and as stubborn as the next Dark Angel.

I have done some studies, mainly portraits however. I realise that I really should do full anatomy studies over anything else and before I start any future projects.

I'll post up some studies. There are also two of my first finished paintings that I'll upload here.

Lykos

Here are some studies - I promise my next studies will be anatomical and full of gesture!

Happy Chappy:


Tesco Mum:

Lykos

Another study, a much bigger piece:

American Airman:

Lykos

Here's my first original painting finished earlier in the year:



Again I welcome critique and advice so please let me know what you think.

I'll post another piece later, something I finished this week. This will be something I'd really like some critique and feedback on!

Thanks

Lykos

Here's the second painting I've finished to date as of last week.

Inspired by this chap, BardicBroadcasts : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE3BFAXAXTw

Another Cracking Unboxing:

I had a lot of fun with this and is actually my first piece that started off with a drawing, as opposed to a blank canvas in Photoshop. I found the metal greaves particularly challenging. Probably rushed it a bit in the end.

Please critique this and anything else you can, I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for looking.

Flay

You're progressing a lot, glad to see you putting in work! A few pointers on that last image:

The image feels a little low contrast. You can see what I mean if you desaturate it in photoshop



At the moment it's mostly hovering around the midtones. There isn't really a clear distinction between light side or dark side, although that's fine if you're intending for him to be standing under diffuse/overcast light, but in that case there woulld still be some quite dark occlusion shadows.

The fact that neither he nor the chest are casting a shadow on the ground leaves the viewer without a reference point to understand the perspective that they're viewing from. Establishing a simple background, even if it's only a few abstract strokes, will help to ground the image a lot.

The chainmail near his waist is quite distracting at the moment, because it's the highest contrast and most detailed part of your image. Ideally, the most contrasted, detailed part of your image would be your focal point, in this case either his face or the chest, or both if you're careful.

His left foot also feels like it isn't really connecting with the chest. Better would be to have it planted firmly on top of the chest, which would both help to establish the perspective and give your character a sense of weight.

Hope that helps!