Painting snow mountains

MainManiac · Nov 2011

No matter what I try, I cannot get a good rocky look at all on any mountain I paint. It just looks so carelessly done in concept art but it comes out so well, while mine looks like I laid down rock color and then scribbled white over it...

I just have a hard time believing people can do all of this with just a round brush, getting those rocky shapes in the back with a round brush takes quite a while.

Im referring to the rocks in the background, not the foreground

While it looks quickly done, how long do you think someone would spend on a background like that? It just seems like a few well placed strokes and it all comes together

lloyd · Nov 2011

some strokes look like they are rocks painted on white. to give the poping out look

MainManiac · Nov 2011

This is my best attempt so far, any help would be greatly appreciated!

lloyd, whats the difference between laying the rocks on gradually or laying the snow onto the rocks gradually? I did the main light/shadow of the mountain and then put in rock colors and then went in and added bits of light and snow

My shadows need to be more saturated but yea

MainManiac · Nov 2011

heres where I get stuck

Swizzle · Nov 2011

If you look at the strokes on the mountains in the background, it's pretty plain that the artist used a square or flat brush. That said, it's really just a matter of actually putting in the time and effort to get it looking right. Examine the strokes and shapes, try to imagine how they build up shapes and how they sort of carve out shapes with large flat areas, and don't be afraid of using high opacity when you're painting.

Getting a ton of reference images (as in, actual photographs) always helps, too.

MainManiac · Nov 2011

Everyrock I make feels out of place

same with strokes if I try and paint without opac

Adam L. Gray · Nov 2011

Hmm, first thing that comes to mind is that his rock/snow areas seem more localized. Also, if you look at the silhouettes, you'll find that his is a bit more spikey, otherwise, it's looking quite good. Don't worry too much about the details so far, just paint out a few blotchy shapes and refine them

Oh, and don't be afraid of throwing some ref images, and generally just some textures in there to help you out. Some might say it's cheating, but in that case a majority of all artists who ever texture something cheat as well

/edit: and as swizzle said, lots of refs.

That's what I think anyway, I have 0 experience with concept art, though I did once take a class in sketching (forcibly) ^^

Stromberg90 · Nov 2011

Like Swizzle said, it's pretty obvious that the artist used a square brush, try the one of the square chalk brushes in photoshop.
I have one tip for a tutorial from gnomon where the artist paints a lot of snow.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/710/Matte-Painting-for-Production-with-Jared-Simeth

Since this is a matte painting it involves photo's so he don't start completely from scratch, but much to learn none the less.

Here is a few more
http://st.free-lance.ru/users/shamanik/upload/f_4a9b8a53e3f12.jpg
http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/makingof_kadath/kadath_01.php

I am not a good painter or drawer myself, I have just started to try and learn it, and the way I see it practice is the key, not a shock right, but it's like you wont get good over one day or by watching one tutorial, you have do it over and over again until you start to get the hang on it, try to draw a snowy mountain each day, and ever time you will see you have gotten better than the day before, cause you always learn.

Hope this helps some

Harford · Nov 2011

Hey there. I think you are on the right track.
What strikes me from the original image is that each rock does feel like its placed with care , even though it's scrappy. The shadows all align to make a feeling of place and form in the mountain. The marks and edges of the rocks are hard and forced, like real rocks, in comparison to your soft and overlayed opacity marks. This could either be from using hard square or shaped brushes, or simply from carefully zooming in and painting them like that once the initial shadow and light marks are there.
After that there is a lot of snow painted over the top that adds to the detail and complexity. I believe he also uses different blending modes in the brush options to get good color variation. I find using soft light and linear burn can produce nice results if used sparingly.

There is a great video on ca from Whit Brachna who shows his method for painting mountains. It's worth a look

Mark Dygert · Nov 2011

I think you're getting it.

To me it looks like the biggest hurdle you're running into is how the snow would logically pile up and blow around? But to get there, you might need to lay down a more detailed foundation for the rocks. Trying to visualize the larger shapes as well as the pits and peaks and how the snow would interact as it's swept across the surface.

Mountain tops are normally very very windy places. Wind can be a huge factor in shaping the snow, pushing it into cracks and piling it up in protected areas. So instead of a heavy snow bank shielding some bare rocks it would be the other way around?

Ref:
http://www.wallcoo.net/nature/snow_mountain/images/%5Bwallcoo%5D_snow_mountain_Image_AP29082.jpg
http://images.paraorkut.com/img/wallpapers/1024x768/s/snowy_mountain-1620.jpg
http://ibackpackcanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/rocky-mountain-things-to-do.jpg
http://ipadfiends.com/wallpaper/download/104-snowy-mountaintops.jpg
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2010/307/1/8/snowy_mountains_by_artek92-d323u5a.jpg
http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~bodo/images/snowy_mountains_Sanglam_4.jpg
http://www.informationcentres.com.au/sharedFiles/regions/australia/act/canberra/8201_l52sk87jid.jpg

I think you've got a great start and mostly just need to keep at it.

Painting snow mountains

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