Advice & Critique for kitchen props scene
polygon
Hi everyone,
Made a scene from 3 props for my portfolio and decided to post it here first, maybe some more experienced guys give an advice how to improve it 
I have used to go hunting with my dad when I was a child and we had that old house literally in the middle of the forest with this kind of a kitchen set - canned meat, pan and old kerosine stove. I did not create a wall with a cooking desk, spent much time on it but it just wasn't it, so i decided to put a wooden plane and added a spotlight 90deg on top to make a smooth gradient.
There are 4 lights total - top spotlight, 2 point lights in the back and one right under the pan - I wanted to create an emission from the flame but in reality its just a soft warm light, and I am not sure if I really need to tweak it, I am pretty much satisfied with this "warm" emission.
I want to put some more character in this scene, I know that lightning is a crucial part, so yeah, any advices, critique will be greatly appreciated.
Replies
Besides that, I think the natural dirtiness of the stove and the can and the can opener looks good, but the pan is very clean. Like brand new. I am sure you are familiar with the cool ways cast iron pans show their character after years of use.
Will you add some more props? Turn it into a full diorama, like "memories of hunting with dad" with some hunting gear and other junk strewn about.
For lighting you might think about what conditions inside the cabin might be. Maybe moonlight reflected off snow is coming in through an old yellow window. Maybe some propane torch is above. Just recreate some scenario and play around with some lights until it looks nice. Lots of chance for some nice reflections with all the metal props.
For the props.. Do you mean creating an entire room? Or kitchen table behind the wall? I feel that i can add something, like a knife/fork or wooden spatula, but for the actual room my childhood memories are weak and i just cant find references for actual old hunters hut in the forest.
Thanks for advices, i will update the pan tomorrow
Looks like you are solid with the modeling and texturing. Maybe just need more attention put into nailing authenticity by studying reference and also ways other artist have told stories visually. If it's to be a portfolio scene for a game artist maybe it just needs to be more fully fleshed out -- like a cabin you might walk into in an RPG like the withcher (not fantasy, i just mean that level of effort put into making the place have some sense of history)
Salt/Pepper
And here it is in the scene:
I might need to adjust the lights to better show rust, and also move the camera a bit up, so the bumps on the handle will be visible a bit more visible
Chopping board with raw meat, canned meat will go out
Lighting also updated
I don't think you should get rid of the can and opener. It could be a can of mushrooms or something like that. Perfect for frying with the loin.
Keep it up!
I would decrease the normal intesnity on your pan to make it more realistic
You could change the roughness intensity of the material to a higher, less reflective
You could make only some parts of the texture with low roughness to make them pop, like scratched parta where the covering of the pan is splattered away
here is a ref that shows roughness variety I mean:
Those seem like good ideas, the bullets don't seem to be 'metallic', they come off more of like...painted wood. Or matte plastic. Give them shiny brass materials!
Those bullets.... do not match that shotgun
About the gun, I think the materials are on par with everything else so far but the modeling is not. The butt stock lacks theh subtle tapering on the grip portion and the joints were wood meets metal looks like it's missing some key details. Actually, regarding the material, the scratches on the buttstock seem a bit contrived. They are very random and don't look like the kind of scratches you'll see in wood. Also, throughout many years of extensive experience working with and around firearms, I've never seen a gun that looked that beat up. I know it's what you always see on artstation so maybe it's just my stupid pet peeve, but I get tired of seeing guns that look like people beat them with hammers. It's too contrived. I've seen machine guns in afghanistan that have been used in war for over sixty years that don't have the kind of overdone scratches and dents you see on artstation.
Ahem, sorry don't mind the rant. Awesome work as usual, this is coming together nicely.
What do you think about textures? I might add more wear&tear to the table & rifle, those look too clean for me. Not the kind of random dirt as it was in the previous version of the rifle, but just a tiny bit.
Will think about composition next few days
I don't think you should sell yourself short. A bit more work and I think this could stand up to the work of more experienced professionals. Just a matter of honing in the details and then really getting serious about the composition of the scene.
Of course I understand wanting to move on to something new , applying what you have learned, but if you need some strong portfolio work in the future maybe continuing on with this scene would be worth it.
you should push the scene a little further !
I agree with the details you want to change, but when I said 'push the scene' I meant something else.
To push the scene to a next level and make it a strong portfolio piece try to add some background story to your scene.
For example make it a small cabin with a window and maybe some snow flowing in the from the wind.
This could also improve your lighting, as you could introduce a very bright and cool light.
You could also then place your props a little more distributed in the scene and less clutered. For example placing the gun next to the window. This way your viewer will not be overwhelmed by all the interesting props but will slowly move through your image.
Here are some references for ideas.
ALSO:
Try to find your own ideas how you could push the scene, maybe you have something entirely different in your mind
You may watch favorite movies playing attention to camera work and scene construction and well. Learn to see and to communicate without words is the idea.
Answer the Five W's
Make and arrange props to try to answer as many as the Five W's as you can. Who, What, Where, When and Why. In your scene, we know what has happened. But the other W's aren't answered. Who did you hunt with? Perhaps there could have been a photo of you and your dad. Where was this hunt? As someone suggested, the background could be fleshed out a bit more to show the interior of a cabin and perhaps a window with some trees outside so we know its a forest. When was this hunt? Again, someone suggested it could be snowing, which can tell us that this hunt was during the winter season. Why was there a hunt? It seems like this was somewhat of a tradition with your dad, perhaps there could be props to show that this was an annual event. The Five W's can help define your overall story of the scene and can even be used on single props to add more story elements to them. For example, the rifle. Who owns this rifle? Perhaps there could be a name engraved somewhere. When was this rifle purchased? Right now it look pretty new. Perhaps it could be your dads old rifle that he's had for years and now he's handed it down to you so it'll be more scuffed up and used.
Defining the subject in your screenshots
In each of your screenshots, you need to pick a subject. Then all the composition, lighting and camera angles will be focused on presenting this subject. For example, let's say in one of our screenshots, our subject will be the meat, cleaver and cutting board. Now you tell a story with just these props. Again, we go to the Five W's. What kind of meat is this? You say its deer meat, so how can we show this? Maybe there's recipe for deer meat written on a piece of paper somewhere. Is it cook rare, medium, well done? Perhaps the meat could be sliced to show this.
Composition Techniques
- Use the rule of thirds to help place your subject and to give your screen shots more dynamics.
- Your subject should be the most lit thing, compared to the surroundings. Not saying to add a blasting spotlight on whatever subject you have. But it should be the most bright compared to everything else in the screen shot. This is because the human eye tends to looks at the brightest lit area first. The human eye is also attracted to warm colors. Example from one of your screenshots. The eye will look at the (1) white specular reflection then (2) warm fire glow. This is not so bad if we want the meat, cutting board and cleaver to be the subject. We just need to move the camera so that it's more in the frame and ideally on a rule of thirds. We also can try to dim down some of the lighting from the can in the background and maybe even try to get more of this shiny white light onto the meat.
- Depth of Field. Anything that is in focus, means it's the subject. In this shot, you have some of the bullets and the gun as the focus, but there is no story to tell or interesting details in this focal area.
- Use leading lines to guide the viewers eye to your subject. Use your props to "point" at your subject. This is an example from of my scenes where I use my props to point at the subject which is the photograph
This is an example of the props you have that "point"
Of course there are plenty of other composition techniques out there and there are many tutorials about their use in paintings and photography.
Anyways, this went on a little longer than I expected! I hope it helps