Painting landscapes

MainManiac · Sep 2011

So im curious about what steps I would take to get a simple grassy/hill look like this:

Should I paint all the grass individually or should I make a custom brush or what? I basically want a look like above but maybe less detailed (I want to catch the general concept but still be time efficient)

I would just 'try' myself but this is one of those cases where I can't seem to dissect a technique

Will Faucher · Sep 2011

Why not try both? Give it a shot yourself. Try and experiment to see what works and what doesn't. There's no end all, be all trick that works in every situation. Try, fail, try again, fail more, then try some more, and succeed.

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

A custom brush will save a ton of time, but should be used sparingly else you get that cloned look. You can mix it with some hand-painted "hero" grass.

Some tutorials here:
http://wiki.polycount.com/CategoryConceptEnvironment
http://wiki.polycount.com/TexturingTutorials#Vig.27s_Collection_of_Bookmarked_Tutorials

SpeCter · Sep 2011

Why is there a link to a download to the 3D Total Swordmaster Tutorial in the Texturing Section of the wiki, isn´t this paid only?

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

Oooh, good spot. Thank you! I removed it. We absolutely do not support piracy.

Noors · Sep 2011

On a off-topic side, the original pdfs for the swordmaster were free and way better, tho in corean (?).
Never really understood that one.

Computron · Sep 2011

Eric, the hard surface section has a lot of dead links in it.

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

Go for it!
http://wiki.polycount.com/HowToContribute

MainManiac · Sep 2011

So I just tried it and had such a hard time, and the wiki wasn't very helpful.

Idrawgirls paints in a more traditional look, whereas Im looking for the concepty round brush look.

I just wish I could see the steps over time they did

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

Have you checked out Ctrl+Paint? Some great tutorials, very clearly explained.
http://www.ctrlpaint.com/

Also, have you posted your work so far in P&P?

MainManiac · Sep 2011

Its the kind of work where criticism won't improve it, only technique suggestions. Mine looked like a blotch of greens with a blue background lol

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

Right, so you just have to keep at it. There's no silver bullet. Just like anything else, it takes time and iteration to get better. How are your drawing skills?

MainManiac · Sep 2011

That link was great! Lots of good stuff

MainManiac · Sep 2011

I can draw pretty well, better than average and Im an even better shader.

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

Have you done painting much?

MainManiac · Sep 2011

http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88339

Steve Schulze · Sep 2011

If you threw down some examples of your work, we'd have a better idea of how to help you improve.

MainManiac · Sep 2011

Well I'm saying all it looked like was green and that's all. Perhaps someone could help me find a basic grass painting tutorial that shows me a technique an I can post what I did? Even though I don't like his style, I'll check idrawgirls for a grass tut tonight

Steve Schulze · Sep 2011

If you wanted to do something quick, make yourself a grass blade shaped photoshop brush and play with the settings. You'll probably want angle and size jitter, and colour dynamics. Once you've got some values in those areas, pick a couple of greens for your foreground nad background and paint. that should get you at least a mildly plausible looking grassy look.

For example, just using the default photoshop grass brush and not spending a lot of time messing with the settings:

For the Warcraft look you might try using this for the base grass and then painting some "hero" grass in by hand.

Lord McMutton · Sep 2011

Question. Hero grass?

Eric Chadwick · Sep 2011

"Hero" items are objects in the scene that get the most attention, so these typically have more detail than the rest. They are individually painted. The larger areas of medium-attention grass can be painted very quickly, and the rest is just a suggestion of grass (no individual blades). Saves time, and in the end it actually looks better, because it directs your eye where the artist intends you to look, doesn't overwhelm your eyes with unimportant detail.

Painting landscapes

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