Critique/Feedback needed: Venus temple environment
polycounter lvl 2
Hi everyone! I'm currently working on my first environment drawing from imagination (still work in progress). I wanted to follow the theme of ancient greek/roman architecture.
Any critique and feedback to improve composition/details/color and lighting is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Initial thumbnail
Current version (wip)
Any critique and feedback to improve composition/details/color and lighting is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Initial thumbnail
Current version (wip)
Replies
Paint Over:
Hello there.
I think your thumbnail plan for the environment works very well. You've good blocking and composition. However unfortunately, as often happens, you seem to have got wrapped up in the details and rendering of your painting and have lost control of your values. Your "dark" foreground frame has become almost a mid tone. And the dramatic dark framing of the statue has become the lightest part of the painting which completely goes against the plan you set out for yourself. I think you need to fix these blocking problems to get the painting working again: part of this issue seems to have happened because you've placed your light source in the painting off to the right up and high up and made it a bright sunny day. However, in your thumbnail the light source is implied to be coming from above and to the left and is much more diffuse and dramatic. Overcast or cloudy perhaps.
Another big issue is tangents. I've marked the tangents on the pillars in red lines. Similarly you can see that the blocking of the windows you can see through to as you've done in your thumbnail are much for effective than the more "correct" perspective turning arches.
The perspective on the top of the shrine works much better in the thumbnail compared to the painting as well.
Anyway, I tried to fix up the tangents and values in a quick paint over. Don't be afraid to abuse atmospheric perspective and desaturate the crap out of stuff as it moves away from the camera. Also, you haven't maintained any temperature variation between your shadows and your lights. Everything is a bit brown. Remember! Warm lights! Cool shadows.
I guess in sumarry: Don't be scared to lose detail in aid of pushing values, really watch your tangents and composition carefully and reassess how your light source makes your plan work.
Good luck! Looks like its going well!
I tried to follow the suggestions to improve the painting. I'm still not 100% convinced, tomorrow I'll try to all more atmospheric perspective, fix the reflection that got a bit muddy with all those fixes and adjust a couple of other things.