Creepy Dead Tree

[amerup]

I am making the backgrounds/tiles for some game.
I made a silhouette of a creepy tree for a graveyard, and it turned out pretty cool looking.

I decided to try shading it.
My Result:

How can I improve the texture?

The colors need work, I know.
Any tips?

[Cure]

Volume is much more of an issue than texture at this point.  The gradient lighting you've given the tree (light in the center, darker at the top and bottom) makes it look extremely flat.  Shade it so that we know the edges recede, or at least have a more intelligible lightsource.  Also, the cluster of limbs on the left looks odd, like a growth, probably because so much weight is on that side rather than the trunk area.

[amerup]

Color edit:

Alright, so I should give it more of a 3D look?

And I understand the cluster part, I'll try to fix it.

[TomF]

Hey amerup, I'm enjoying the tree as a silhouette as its pretty interesting in terms of shape. However, what you need to focus on at this point is volume, as Cure stated. Think about where your light is coming from, the angle of the branches and where the light would hit them. A rough edit addressing volume only:



Oh and never work on a white canvas, it's an eye-sore.

[AdamAtomic]

Actually, working on a black canvas has the same detrimental effects as working on white for the most part.  The idea is to work on a neutral canvas, that way your color selections are not biased because of really extreme, intense colors surrounding the work.

[Zombiechao]

Well actually the best background color depends on how the tree is used in the game. If the tree is being used in a graveyard then presumably the back ground is going to be very dark. So I'd recommenend a dark grey.
Edit: Now that I think about it the background for the game would also be a bit purplish.

[TomF]

Actually, working on a black canvas has the same detrimental effects as working on white for the most part.  The idea is to work on a neutral canvas, that way your color selections are not biased because of really extreme, intense colors surrounding the work.

I was mainly talking about the effects of a large bright screen area on the eyes, but yes you are right. Just to clarify, the canvas is dark purple and not black. I presumed it would be set on a very dark background and turned it dark after the edit, probably shouldn't have though as it set a bad example.

While we're on the subject, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Henk used to work from black. Perhaps thats why the art works in Ghost Battle and Flink were so dark?

[amerup]

Very nice edit.

I now see how I can improve this.

Thanks. =)