AuthorTopic: [WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects  (Read 2180 times)

Offline Smolder

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[WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects

on: April 01, 2016, 11:27:17 pm
Yesterday I asked about how Dawnbringer does his wonderful colour conjunction
example:

after looking at what Gil showed me
This thread goes into detail about it, but some of the images are dead unfortunately:

http://pixelation.org/index.php?topic=1025.0
I've tried to do a base for a fire crystal for now, that I want to work on.

I'm using the Dawnbringer Fun16 palette
« Last Edit: April 01, 2016, 11:34:42 pm by Smolder »
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Offline rocifier

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Re: [WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects

Reply #1 on: April 02, 2016, 06:52:54 am
I can relate to how dawnbringer does that style, because I often do that sort of thing myself (but probably not as good as him). It' simpler that the big analysis on the pixel brothers thread makes out. My process when working like that is:

1) Start with a limited palette or form the palette very quickly initially and tweak it as I go, always trying first to not add more colours. The key with the style is to use a limited range of colours from a variety of hues. (so far you have done this step)


2) Block out the shapes accurately and use generally realistic colours without getting too picky. In the example you posted the vial of glass and liquid is blue-ish and the other trinket is orange. Below is your example cleaned up a bit and bulked out slightly.


3) Now proceed to shade the objects keeping in mind their intended base colour. Because the pallete is limited you won't have 10 different blues to use, for example, so you need to make use of other colours WITH APPROXIMATELY THE VALUE THAT YOU WANT. That statement is key - by far the most important thing when shading forms and doing artwork in general is value (brightness/darkness) because it's what your eye can read even when you wake up in the middle of the night and everything is just vaguely blue tinted. It's what typically determines form on objects. So if you want a darker shade, use a darker value without worrying massively about which colour it is. If you want a specific colour of the same value, blend two different ones together usually with dithering.

(now, I'm not quite sure what this is, but I went for something that pretty extremely breaks the norm since I rekon this is what you want to get out of this process the most). I imagined the crystal with a dark magical sky above it hovering above dirt, with a this gold sleeve around it which extends to the top and bottom points asymetrically. I was also kind of intrigued by how fire if really hot like from a burner can go blue, and that no one tries to capture that kind of intense energy in art. So I tried, lol.


4) When shading, you can think to use either a colour that blends/dithers to product a similar colour with possible regular hue shifting. Common examples would be green with blue or a desaturated grey with orange. OR alternatively if there just isn't anything close, but there is the correct value in a complementary colour, use that. It's a bonus and makes the piece look interesting. Shadows often contain complementary colours or are just very neutral and our eye IMAGINES the complementary when viewing the piece. This is exemplified by many of the great masters. eg. Bierstadt. Finally, if there is no useful colour, but there is the correct value (roughly greyscale equivalent) use it anyway. UNLESS it just looks really bad and you can't make it work, in that case you need to extend or modify your palette. Or change the light colour or something else equally as extreme. Usually extending the palette.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2016, 07:27:28 am by rocifier »

Offline Smolder

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Re: [WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects

Reply #2 on: April 02, 2016, 11:32:34 pm

Tried to follow your guidelines, Like it so far...
Going to try to make a bag full of crystals next
Working with my failure should bring success, right?

Offline rocifier

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Re: [WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects

Reply #3 on: April 03, 2016, 09:23:22 am
Cool, I like the glow on it. Can't wait to see more. I just wonder about the blue at the top though, it looks a bit like hair or something , it's not reading very well? What is that supposed to be? Energy vaporizing?

Offline Smolder

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Re: [WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects

Reply #4 on: April 04, 2016, 03:20:17 am
It's supposed to be blue flame  :yell:
Guess the readability isn't that great.
An update right now.
I've got school on the weekdays and that takes up most of the day.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2016, 07:19:18 pm by Smolder »
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Offline rocifier

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Re: [WIP][C&C]Crystals and other earthly objects

Reply #5 on: April 04, 2016, 03:50:12 am
You might need to extend the canvas size a bit, I think it's limiting you. Have a look at a reference for the fire as well. You don't have 30 minutes after school free?