[Feedback] T-34

[Fedron]

Hi, I've been working on this tank

Full tank


Hull only


How could I improve the overall texture of the tank? I tried to add some texture and some rust so that it isn't plain but I don't think it looks that good.

[eishiya]

Try to avoid adding texture that's made of single pixels, as that looks like noise. Use shapes made out of many pixels (4+) to get a camo pattern going, then add brown blobs of rust. Your camo pattern might be unrealistic large, but it's more important that these things read well to the viewer. Realism means nothing if you fail to communicate your intent to the viewer.

For the rust, use darker browns, and don't give them a grey outline, the outline makes them not look like rust, and takes up valuable space you can use for the rust (the larger a shape is, the easier it is to discern what it is).

[Fedron]

I've added more of a camo now but I think it looks too hectic with the turret. Also, I tried adding some rust but it's kind of hard to distinguish it from the camo as it blends in with the brown of the camo.

[eishiya]

Use much lower-contrast colours for the camo. The surface pattern of an object should, as a general rule, never have so much contrast that it overrides the important details and the form of the object. IRL, overriding the details and form of the object is the point of camo, but again, in art, especially game art, clarity is usually more important than realism.

Example:

I completely got rid of the sand colour from the camo, as that was causing most of the contrast problem, making it look too hectic. I also made the remaining colours all closer to green, so that they're not as busy-looking. If you want to make the rust look more apparent, you could do an all-green camo pattern with no brown in it.