E.m.: I want to work for Blizzard- so yea trying to mimic WoW. Shifting between different hand painted style can be a pain at times. Thanks for the viewer.
Still Need to fix the roof texture, polish the needed and light up! Also Haven't decided whether I want to keep the roof piece or not- so far No textures on it.
Textures are also a bit lighter than what they naturally are because of Lighttracer, it will all be fixed for the final render. Too bad you cannot see much of the detail compare to if you were running around the building. Sigh ><
Update W.I.P. (execuse the blurry/crappy imageshack images)
awesome work man, great color palette the only crit that stands out is that the clock needs to pop a little bit more, it blends into the wall too much. also the top windows could use a frame on the sides
This is coming along great Mazvix. Really great work with the hand painting. The only thing I'd like to see is a little more contrast in the shingles to help them pop a bit.
I'm finding the difference in texture contrast a bit clashy. On one hand, you have a very light pastel feel to the roofing/clock/stone. On the other, you have much more dark crisp contrast on the wood/windows.
I'm liking both styles, but I think they aren't working together at all. As well, I think the details on the stone (specifically around the door) are too abstract and aren't really reading. Why are there lighter chunks seemingly floating on top?
Anyway, it is really coming along. I like the look(s), but I think you need to converge the styles a bit.
PS: Blizzard doesn't care if you don't work in their style exactly. They generally look for excellent conceptual ability and painting skills. This is what I gleaned from their artists at GDC this year (I don't want to sound too sure).
Dippndots: Thanks. I agree on the things you mentioned, I will keep ya posted
Rhinokey: Thank you. You are right I need to start implementing that, will help it feel more natural.
Brandoom: Gonna have that right in the next update for u sir
Cycloverid: I got what you are saying to a certain extent. I have to say the render for some reason doesnot transfer all the information of the walls, but I will try my best to polish it up, thanks.
As for Blizz comment: I heard so many things man lol. First it was just that I can handpaint, next it was it has to be their style exactly, then it is their artsy style with my own concepts/ideas. Too much confussion and not enough direction imo, and I would hate to waste my time and effort running towards the wrong direction
here is what I mean with the walls- after looking at it I think I am getting what you are saying.
Looking at these textures up close, I get the feeling I'm traveling through a thick storm; a small mountain range is visible through the mist, as lightning cracks down upon the earth.
lol. No, but seriously, this composition is just too abstract and random. Why has one side of the texture been designated as the crack ridden one, and the other just has some very under-worked brushwork?
Think about your texture in terms of layers. When a portion has a splotch of highlight, surround it with a small outline of dark value - as to imply that it is jutting towards you. (this isn't really a rule of thumb, but rather just to get you thinking about the topology of the surface). When you have these layers cleanly conveyed, you can begin to add cracks where they would logically make sense to be. When you work your way up like this, things begin to visually make sense, and it won't feel as random for you either!
Keep going man, and I would keep Blizzard as your ultimate goal. Don't feel like this is where you need to be next. Don't work in their style because you want a job there, but rather just to expand your artistic skills. Once you have your own style that is awesome, Blizzard will love your work and thought process. Learning isn't wasting time!
Thanks man. Ya the only reason it looks like that is just to create a bit of color variations- was actually trying a new brush >< and I agree that failed horribly haha. Reason only part of it has cracks it is because rest you will not see since meshes are covering that area, no point in waisting time if you will not see it. Thanks for your honesty, I will fix it that new brush is horrible obviously.
As for the blizz comment, thanks for the support. Hence now I feel my shackles are loosened I shall unleash new art with new creativity!
I appologize that it was not a video, did not really have time. Did something modest to give back as the community has given me tons! Enjoy, tell me what you think.
Yep! The tutorial was already posted, so here you go! About the tri-count i don't know!
Thanks for all your support and positive crits. I am glad you enjoyed the tutorial, I promise you next time it will be better. It was after all my first tutorial hehe.
As for the polycount- The whole thing is 1820 Tris
I will you posted by tonight after I polish it up!
Looks great man! Thanks for the tutorial as well. If only I'd have had that when I first started painting textures! Looking forward to the next update.
Nice work. I know WoW has alot of really bright colors, but the green tiles seem to be the only thing really over saturated and the other colors seem a bit dull in comparision (I actually like the more dull colors, but that bright green just really stands out imo.)
I also think the top windows look to clean in comparison to the bottom ones. And the wall on the side of it is too plain compared to the bottom walls.
While I'm nitpicking I guess the top roof looks to clean too. The wood beams below have lots of character, the wood on the roof is really plain. And the trim next to it is too clean. The large roof has all kinds of shape and detail and the top one is too clean/perfect.
Maybe more woodgrain and make the trim jaggy instead of straight.
Really dig the textures and the tut. Would love to see more info in the tut about which brush types you use. I used photoshop for years and never got outside 2-3 brushes. Now that I try more I get better results, but still working on that.
Just started working on torchlight stuff and they have a similar tex style so it's a new venture for me.
Thanks everybody for the crits, you truly showed me how much I suck and I need more practice
I am fortunate and thankful to have your support /cheer.
Baddcog: Thank you for your honesty, it takes guts. As for the tutorial- I only use one brush, basic round one with offcourse different oppacities. I know that I need to start building a library of brushes for bigger areas/dirt. Because it takes longer with normal brush to get random strokes, so I painted over my crappy old wall texture with a round brush and I went from there.
I will have to look into it more, depending on what my needs will be. I learned from someone else that I should not limit my media with for example just charcoal for life drawing, but that it is ok to practice using pencil even if it is much harder. So what I am trying to say is experiment and create depending on your needs. Basic round brush does wonders.
Edit: Sorry I posted the update but forgot to update that roof even though I fixed it so give me 5 minutes and I will repost!
Yeah, that looks more cohesive to me now. It's easy to critique, hard to actually do the work
Suprised you get that much out of a round but if it works. I think the thing that made me look into brush shapes was working on a forklift for TF2. They specifically use square brushes for 'patchwork' on all that stuff. Made some cool effects.
I will play around with the purple and see how it turns out, I wish I can show the true quality of the image without it being compressed in photobucket or imageshack- anyone know a high quality res image uploader?
Baddcog: you mind showing me an example? From there I will make brush sets and give them out free to the public.
Create a folder on your desktop for dropbox. Go into your public folder and put your images in there. Drag and drop you images to that folder whenever you want to 'share' them. Right click on them in windows, select Dropbox>Copy Public link. Paste into here!
I think it just uses whatever quality you save out of photoshop at.
Same principle as an ftp server but much more simplified. And cool!
I have both, just pretty much use what it is free of them. As to the public link, I had no idea you can use it for forums- I did use that public folder though.
Thanks a bunch guys. Next update you will see a huge difference, compression kills art.
I changed the chimney texture, did not like the one I copied from WoW- too busy.
I am done! I like number 1, 2, and maybe 4. The thing is these will not look right at the moment because I have not changed color palletes for 3 and 4. But it serves the purpose, did it for you guys. Tell me what you think:
looking good, but have you considered making a shingle trim for the roof,, those tiles just ending at the corners really rub me the wrong way. especialy where the roof is suposed to be damaged,, it just does not work . you could cut those polys where the roof is jagged, and make some trim sheets goin down the side then for damage area pull out a few polys on th trim
Thanks Rhino. You both are right, I do dig the color but I honestly do not wanna spend more time on this project. So I will darken the roof a bit and definately do the trim. I learned a hard lesson- never focus too much on the concept, it is something I am trying to fix because I have an eye for the smallest details but not everything in the concept can make sense.
So I thank you guys again for helping me and pushing me to a greater level. I will keep you posted, thanks for your patience.
Mazvix this is looking good. My main crit with this piece lies in value. You can see in my paintover below what I mean by this. Your piece currently lacks value in the darks especially. I did a few things to modify yours to what I've got, some are probably cheating given that yours is a render and mine is a photo manip. If you want I can give you the psd so that you can see everything I did and click between the layers.
But basically, I fudged with the values by using levels, brightness and contrast, and I also adjusted colors of the roof. The 3rd image to the right is liquified a little bit because I think right now your piece has too many parrallel lines. All horizontal lines are pretty much the same angle right now.
Keep up the good work man. I can't wait to see what you do next!
I dunno not really distinguished as an artist yet but I like the higher contrast one better than any of the other paint-overs or variations it makes it pop.
Guys and Gals. I grew SOOO much from this project and it is truly thanks to your willingness to help and positive support + amazing crits
I have a very busy week ahead so I am calling this done. I tried to involve everybody's crits in my final image to the best of my ability. Thanks again fellas.
Final: Image is STILL blurry even after I used drop box. That is probably because it stretches out in polycount. Check my website out tommorow and you will see it as it was meant to be.
Your end product is pretty sweet. My only critique is it feels a little more like Kingdom Hearts than WoW to me, and that's a hard thing to differentiate.
Well executed and good job on taking crits and working off of them
aww millah dont let mean ole pea hurt your feelings , i see what you were doing with that and i agree he could use a bit more contrast, but maybe not so extreme,
maz this came out nice, i like the trim pieces, turned out nice. the thing is you mentioned folowing concept,, the concept artist does not have to deal with limited tiling textures, he can make the tiles meet evenly at the corners, but you could also but it would be a bit more hassle and prob take more texture space an what not, sometimes you need to make adjustments.
Thank you. I liked the old version better, but I realized that the lighting flattens and dims the contrast of the textures so I had to find a way to combine both. Since I started this thread I was not aiming for wow color palette, told myself try something new. In the end I know I will do a better job on the next one, thanks offcourse to your crits
I have an art test to finish this week so after Christmas I will create something new. I learned a lot that is for sure. Stay in touch and have a marvelous Christmas!
Replies
Still Need to fix the roof texture, polish the needed and light up! Also Haven't decided whether I want to keep the roof piece or not- so far No textures on it.
Textures are also a bit lighter than what they naturally are because of Lighttracer, it will all be fixed for the final render. Too bad you cannot see much of the detail compare to if you were running around the building. Sigh ><
Update W.I.P. (execuse the blurry/crappy imageshack images)
I'm liking both styles, but I think they aren't working together at all. As well, I think the details on the stone (specifically around the door) are too abstract and aren't really reading. Why are there lighter chunks seemingly floating on top?
Anyway, it is really coming along. I like the look(s), but I think you need to converge the styles a bit.
PS: Blizzard doesn't care if you don't work in their style exactly. They generally look for excellent conceptual ability and painting skills. This is what I gleaned from their artists at GDC this year (I don't want to sound too sure).
Rhinokey: Thank you. You are right I need to start implementing that, will help it feel more natural.
Brandoom: Gonna have that right in the next update for u sir
Cycloverid: I got what you are saying to a certain extent. I have to say the render for some reason doesnot transfer all the information of the walls, but I will try my best to polish it up, thanks.
As for Blizz comment: I heard so many things man lol. First it was just that I can handpaint, next it was it has to be their style exactly, then it is their artsy style with my own concepts/ideas. Too much confussion and not enough direction imo, and I would hate to waste my time and effort running towards the wrong direction
here is what I mean with the walls- after looking at it I think I am getting what you are saying.
lol. No, but seriously, this composition is just too abstract and random. Why has one side of the texture been designated as the crack ridden one, and the other just has some very under-worked brushwork?
Think about your texture in terms of layers. When a portion has a splotch of highlight, surround it with a small outline of dark value - as to imply that it is jutting towards you. (this isn't really a rule of thumb, but rather just to get you thinking about the topology of the surface). When you have these layers cleanly conveyed, you can begin to add cracks where they would logically make sense to be. When you work your way up like this, things begin to visually make sense, and it won't feel as random for you either!
Keep going man, and I would keep Blizzard as your ultimate goal. Don't feel like this is where you need to be next. Don't work in their style because you want a job there, but rather just to expand your artistic skills. Once you have your own style that is awesome, Blizzard will love your work and thought process. Learning isn't wasting time!
As for the blizz comment, thanks for the support. Hence now I feel my shackles are loosened I shall unleash new art with new creativity!
Yep! The tutorial was already posted, so here you go! About the tri-count i don't know!
How the hell did I miss that LOL Sorry, must be new to the intrawebs...
My excuse is I was busy looking at the pics!
Thanks for all your support and positive crits. I am glad you enjoyed the tutorial, I promise you next time it will be better. It was after all my first tutorial hehe.
As for the polycount- The whole thing is 1820 Tris
I will you posted by tonight after I polish it up!
I am happy with the results, but I cannot call it finished unless I hear from you guys. Thanks again for the positive crits and support, enjoy!
Update: Again execuse imageshack lol. On my website God willing it will be crispier.
I also think the top windows look to clean in comparison to the bottom ones. And the wall on the side of it is too plain compared to the bottom walls.
While I'm nitpicking I guess the top roof looks to clean too. The wood beams below have lots of character, the wood on the roof is really plain. And the trim next to it is too clean. The large roof has all kinds of shape and detail and the top one is too clean/perfect.
Maybe more woodgrain and make the trim jaggy instead of straight.
Really dig the textures and the tut. Would love to see more info in the tut about which brush types you use. I used photoshop for years and never got outside 2-3 brushes. Now that I try more I get better results, but still working on that.
Just started working on torchlight stuff and they have a similar tex style so it's a new venture for me.
I am fortunate and thankful to have your support /cheer.
Baddcog: Thank you for your honesty, it takes guts. As for the tutorial- I only use one brush, basic round one with offcourse different oppacities. I know that I need to start building a library of brushes for bigger areas/dirt. Because it takes longer with normal brush to get random strokes, so I painted over my crappy old wall texture with a round brush and I went from there.
I will have to look into it more, depending on what my needs will be. I learned from someone else that I should not limit my media with for example just charcoal for life drawing, but that it is ok to practice using pencil even if it is much harder. So what I am trying to say is experiment and create depending on your needs. Basic round brush does wonders.
Edit: Sorry I posted the update but forgot to update that roof even though I fixed it so give me 5 minutes and I will repost!
Suprised you get that much out of a round but if it works. I think the thing that made me look into brush shapes was working on a forklift for TF2. They specifically use square brushes for 'patchwork' on all that stuff. Made some cool effects.
Nice update.
I will play around with the purple and see how it turns out, I wish I can show the true quality of the image without it being compressed in photobucket or imageshack- anyone know a high quality res image uploader?
Baddcog: you mind showing me an example? From there I will make brush sets and give them out free to the public.
I will keep you posted
Create a folder on your desktop for dropbox. Go into your public folder and put your images in there. Drag and drop you images to that folder whenever you want to 'share' them. Right click on them in windows, select Dropbox>Copy Public link. Paste into here!
I think it just uses whatever quality you save out of photoshop at.
Same principle as an ftp server but much more simplified. And cool!
Thanks a bunch guys. Next update you will see a huge difference, compression kills art.
I am done! I like number 1, 2, and maybe 4. The thing is these will not look right at the moment because I have not changed color palletes for 3 and 4. But it serves the purpose, did it for you guys. Tell me what you think:
infact no 2 is probably better than below.... so do whaatever you want man. it looks great
this one is with camera!
So I thank you guys again for helping me and pushing me to a greater level. I will keep you posted, thanks for your patience.
But basically, I fudged with the values by using levels, brightness and contrast, and I also adjusted colors of the roof. The 3rd image to the right is liquified a little bit because I think right now your piece has too many parrallel lines. All horizontal lines are pretty much the same angle right now.
Keep up the good work man. I can't wait to see what you do next!
Some amount of extra contrast could work, but that is just terrible
I have a very busy week ahead so I am calling this done. I tried to involve everybody's crits in my final image to the best of my ability. Thanks again fellas.
Final: Image is STILL blurry even after I used drop box. That is probably because it stretches out in polycount. Check my website out tommorow and you will see it as it was meant to be.
Well executed and good job on taking crits and working off of them
maz this came out nice, i like the trim pieces, turned out nice. the thing is you mentioned folowing concept,, the concept artist does not have to deal with limited tiling textures, he can make the tiles meet evenly at the corners, but you could also but it would be a bit more hassle and prob take more texture space an what not, sometimes you need to make adjustments.
Maybe it's just me, but I prefer the untinted version best. Some of the nice color vibes have been lost. Is it just the lighting?
Can't wait to see what's next!
Thank you. I liked the old version better, but I realized that the lighting flattens and dims the contrast of the textures so I had to find a way to combine both. Since I started this thread I was not aiming for wow color palette, told myself try something new. In the end I know I will do a better job on the next one, thanks offcourse to your crits
I have an art test to finish this week so after Christmas I will create something new. I learned a lot that is for sure. Stay in touch and have a marvelous Christmas!