Preserved Topic: Optimus Prime big, so watch it

a friend said to post these here
http://thectrlz.com/images/newwork/Optimus.jpg http://thectrlz.com/images/newwork/Optimus1.jpg

artist http://www.joemadureira.com/

http://thectrlz.com

[This message has been edited by Ctrl+Z (edited 09-21-2001).]

ummmm, well, ok ...

Would help if you told us why you posted those links here, other than because a friend told you to.
Are you the artist looking for critique? Are you looking for help of some type? Fill us in, eh!

The artwork is nice, just need to know some reason for the post, ok?

BeeKay
Murphy's 50 Laws of Combat Operations
15. Teamwork is essential -- it gives the enemy other people to shoot at.
19. Make it too tough for the enemy to get in and you can't get out.

uhh just a critique.
what yall think of the work



http://thectrlz.com

Gee, you think he might want a critique on it?

Looks good. I've seen some of your stuff around DBM before and have always liked your coloring. You ought to try your hand at creating your own images. You've got the shadowing down pretty good, why not go straight from scratch.

There are lots of great artists around here that could share their experience with you. Keep it up.

(edit)Damnit! Nabbed in the middle of a post...



[This message has been edited by kretsminky (edited 09-21-2001).]

Whats up Z. I like the first one better. The shading seems a bit abrupt. Mabye more painting at a lower opacity. I didnt look at Joemad's site to see what he did with it but yours looks good. Noticed you havent been in supreem's room on IRC lately. Nice to see you leave your own board for a change.

I believe optumus prime was the first thing I attempted to draw when I was very very younge (before first grade) I had all the toys, except the big semi, parents didn't have much money. all I can suggest is trying out the smudge tool, should help you smooth some things out. I love the worn out look on his arms though.

Welcome Ctrl+Z . you`re my favorite short cut.

Nice work. Not sure how much(if not all ) of it you did, but it looks good.



Why, yes. I was raised by Apes. How did you know ?

Colouring...the bane of comic book existence. I keep telling people to leave it all to Christian Lichtner, let Liquid! do what's done best....heh.

Nonetheless, some good starting work, Ctrl+Z.

Mainly what I see right now are colour blocks expressed over the pencils, with little dynamic shading and highlights. Your light source seems a bit weak, but the basis for the colour direction is nice. I think your best focus right now will be on making a consistent light source. Remember that comic colouring is always about extreme lighting, but the sources have to be consistent (highlighting each section as though they're coming from the same place in the scene). When dealing with odd angles and 3 dimensional figures, you have to work very hard at understanding how light will interact in the scene.

It's nice in comic colours, as you can cheat at times, and have the light fall in semi-unbelievable ways. However a good sense of direction with it is still necessary.

Understanding your textures and how they will react and reflect is also important. You seem to have good colour base choices so far, so keep building on that, introducing tones and shades that compliment the colours, and also serve to show how your light and shadow are formed. Stay away from black, as black is only for line work on print pages, instead aim for deep shades of blues, and such to give dynamic shadows. Contrast is a must for comics, and is nice in that some subtle things can be played up, yet stay believable as well

I did a fast paint over the original Madureira sketch, and wanted to post it just so you might get a couple ideas of what direction you want to go.

Full Size

Looking at the work of the aforementioned "Liquid!" is always helpful, and studying how light interacts with objects around you. Bringing in things like ambient light colours etc. will really help you with your colouring down the line

Keep working on these, I'd really like to see what steps your pieces go through next, and watch the progression. Great work.

Peter



ICQ:# 10237808

[This message has been edited by DarkGarden (edited 09-22-2001).]

how do you do that stuff quick DG?

docilebob hehehe same here that's how i got the name

DarkGarden thanks for the tips and yes liquid does kick some butt.

moaiz yeah i'm sooo busy it's not even funny
this is the 1st thing i've done in months.

http://thectrlz.com

Gix: Do what, fast? Colouring?
Well, the long answer is that I make a channel of the line art and set it to visible, then I change the Channel options to make it black, at 100% opacity, and either make a selection of it, and then fill a Layer with black so it's always over top of the colours I'm going to use, or I just keep the channel visble until I'm done, then do this step for flattening. Then, block in the main colours to be used, and paint in the shadows, then deeper shadows, then highlights...and brighter highlights..details...flatten, and then any glows or details that go over everything (including the line art).

The short answer?

Practice, practice, practice.
I want the answer to be less cliche than that..but it isn't. Just keep looking around at everything, take it all in, and keep painting, colouring, sketching, rendering....whatever. More practice, less time.

Or, more practice, more detail....and more time..but..uh..shhh..I didn't say that

Peter

For a quick review of all posts in which someone asks DG or Wead how to do what they do:

1.) Look at things
2.) Try to paint them
3.) Go to and Play Frame 1

Damn, been studyin ActionScript too much lately.

hehehe

Yeah, but don't discourage anyone, Matt, there are times when tools can be mentioned, or certain techniques for good texturing, perspectives, light sources, ambience etc.

I know, I feel that "just go look, then paint" rut now and then too, but occasionally beeg huge threads can be made from the little tips, especially from Monsieur Weadah.

Working on that as we speak...

So..yeah....go look and paint.




[This message has been edited by DarkGarden (edited 09-22-2001).]

yes I have to be a pain in the ass and weed little clues out of everyone, just taking the time to acually post that is really cool, and I do apreciate it a lot. But, the original point of the post was that the painting DG did must of took some time to do

Hmm, not really, Gix.

I think start to finish, there's probably just a bit more than an hour with touchups. Strangely, the longest process for me is setting the base colours in place...too damned picky about shades

As said..prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrractisimo.

Peter

Hey - I knocked these up y'day, then opened Flash for the first time ever and forgot to post them. =)



This is basically just taking the cleaning/defining edges and texture process one step further. More of a paint/detail approach than comic style, but showing is easier than trying to explain it.

Looking at your second image, there are strong comic style shadows but no strong light source to match, and no interaction with texture (what at this stage you?re missing most).

Light and colour intensity is what comic sketch/colouring techniques seem to be about. You've got the colour. Concentrate on setting a mood with the most important elements. Play around with lighting styles, if only to get some ideas.

Not sure of your technique but it looks as tho you're blocking in over the top? Its hard to tell, but setting your sketch layer to multiply and blocking in hues underneath is the go.

Random thinkages -
The light/shade should be more extreme. Edges should be hard and dark but not thick, and shadows shouldn?t be full black ever (imo!).

Also - he is a bit small to work a decent detail into =O. You want your base sketch about 3 times that size or more, so you can go silly with variance, then shrink down.

Lastly - Look at *why* Peters image reads so well =)

Hop dat helps =)

Damnit Wead, I already told you once...

Optimus' head is BLUE! The goddamn thing is blue!

Ease up their krets. At least he's stopped colouring his torso green.

As always, awesome stuff weedz.

It's good to see you and DG back in here struting your stuff....

I sure hope someone remembers to archive this thred.

WOW is all i have to say

Weadah so if i want to do a painting style i should take that approach?
cause that's really awesome but i see soooo much that you did to it and added so much detail.

man i have to start studying again...geeeeezz


http://thectrlz.com

Speaking of which, has anyone seen the new Transformers cartoon on Fox Kids? It's a decent effort, but a far cry from the past prestige of original series.

For one thing, Optimus will never sound like Optimus without the original voice actor. Period.

For another, the show is Pokemon-ized and makes me gag at times. Oh well, let's hope someone puts the old show on DVD.