Cars and Clouds - a gift for a loved one [WIP]

[TVboyCanti]

So I've been working on this on and off again for 2 weeks. I've finally made some headway and now I'm steamrolling my way to the finish so I can finally give this away.

This is my first time doing both clouds and dithering on this scale. Both were done based on photographic references. The clouds are from here http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:z2TX4pXWteE5sM:http://www.hobbyistsoftware.com/Initiate-backgrounds/Clouds_320.jpg
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:x3_yqCnGbpVzhM:http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/uploaded_images/SkyCloudsBlueScatted1832-706827.jpg
and the car is from photos I took of my own car on my phone.

The clouds on the top right were my first attempt, and I like how they came out, very wispy. The clouds on the bottom are where I tried to reproduce my technique on a larger scale. Honestly I think it looks way better than anything I thought I was capable of, but I think the shapes are kind of off, so please help without referring to more references. The cloud on the top left is just an undithered WIP in progress that I think looks nice anyway for like a more cel-shaded style piece, but I will be dithering that SOB once I get to work on this again tomorrow.

I'm considering the car to be done  (in my mind), except for the outlines, I'll fix those.

The letters are just place holders right now, I haven't decided if they're going to be paint or mud or soap or what (probably mud) but they are the center piece of the picture so they stay.

PLS C+C, especially the clouds and dithering.

[Mathias]

Don't sell yourself short in thinking you're not capable of something before you even try. Clouds look complex to draw, but they just take a certain technique.

I lean towards more of a cell-shaded style, with little to no dither, but despite, you're making it work alright. At 1:1 view, the clouds looks well blended. The car not so much.

I don't really "get" the piece. The way it's cropped is odd, I guess it has significance somehow. Shouldn't it be "H ♥'s K"? (with the apostrophe + s)

[Manupix]

Clouds are not far from good.
I'm not sure they need dithering, but if they do, reduce it and break it in really very small patches. As soon as you have 3 checkerboard lines, you end up with the opposite of what you tried to achieve: a new flat obvious cluster.
And I'm sure the car needs no dithering! Shiny curved surface will have neat linear reflections, you might try that.

I like the colors, the cropping too. H<3K could use some AA (that grey might work fine) but you're probably not there yet.

You need to check the metal/glass transition: I like simple line as on the left side, but it gets lost on the more realistic other side with the heavy dark line.


Not too late I hope!