A Murder - WIP/Color Started

[W i z a r d Swears]

hello there. this is a halloween poster i'm currently working on for myself. <= maybe some others that want to buy it, when i'm finished. but anyways, right now it's just in lineart mode. it still needs to be painted, and a background still needs to be finished. i'm just wondering if everything looks in proportion right now? i used techniques i learned recently from reading one of loomis' books. ^^ using perspective on figures - everything is scaled from the bird on the far left, seated on the branch. horizon line is right above his head.

it's on a huge canvas, so i'm sorry if details are lost. >= blame photobucket.

EDIT: finished the tree and the rest of the birds. i'm still going to be painting over everything once i'm satisfied with the base paint, but this is what i have so far. ^^ 14-15 hours of work? man, that tree was a test.



EDIT 2: i think i'm done? i've put around 24 hours into this. xP i'm not very good at backgrounds, buildings, or lighting, but hopefully it worked out. i was going for a haunted twilight type of setting, with an eerie green moon light versus the pinkish, oddly bright sky. it's supposed to be surreal. ^^

[Jellicle Moon]

Very lovely! I can't wait to see the finished product!

I can definitely tell you've put effort into keeping all of these guys to scale - it looks great!

The only thing I would suggest changing is the crow coming in for a landing right in the middle of the picture. At least, I'm assuming that he's coming in for a landing. I've just never seen a bird land on anything without flaring their wings. There is _always_ a wing flare as they approach their landing spot.

Here are some references of crows coming in for a landing:

If you're wanting to keep the wings together (for composition's sake and all) I would suggest planting both feet firmly on the branch, or perhaps lowering the body of the bird so it looks like he's peering down at the branch below him.

I really do love this image though. I hope you'll be updating this thread with your progress, I really want to see the final product.

[W i z a r d Swears]

Jellicle Moon

Very lovely! I can't wait to see the finished product!

I can definitely tell you've put effort into keeping all of these guys to scale - it looks great!

The only thing I would suggest changing is the crow coming in for a landing right in the middle of the picture. At least, I'm assuming that he's coming in for a landing. I've just never seen a bird land on anything without flaring their wings. There is _always_ a wing flare as they approach their landing spot.

Here are some references of crows coming in for a landing:

If you're wanting to keep the wings together (for composition's sake and all) I would suggest planting both feet firmly on the branch, or perhaps lowering the body of the bird so it looks like he's peering down at the branch below him.

I really do love this image though. I hope you'll be updating this thread with your progress, I really want to see the final product.

thank you. ^^ the said thing is, when i first started this ( the initial sketch, that is ), his wings WERE flared. i ended up changing it because his wings were overlaying with the branch above him, and it sort of gave an odd feeling to the perspective, because it was cutting that bird off in a bad place. it kind of looked like his wing was merging with the branch. xD i may end up changing it, if i feel like it looks really unnatural, and i could always move him down using the lasso tool so he doesn't overlap.

if i don't change it, i'll just be lazy and say he's flapping his wings back, lol. =3=; i'm sooo lazy. but i absolutely see your point, and now i wish i had left his wings alone.

hopefully i'll post the finished piece, and maybe some progress. <=

[StellaChii]

you are so good at drawing birds!!

[W i z a r d Swears]

completed? c=

[Lythial]

Even though I don't like crows, I really love your picture smile I can almost hear them cawing

[W i z a r d Swears]

Lythial

Even though I don't like crows, I really love your picture smile I can almost hear them cawing

wow, thanks. ^^ it's nice when the picture ends up making a person's senses come to life.

[Creamy Tea]

Wow, this is amazing. q u q Do you use Photoshop? Paint Tool SAI?

[Creamy Tea]

By the way, now I have feels too. j n j /kicks signature
IshipNaruSasu/SasuNarusohardtoololomgOTP

[W i z a r d Swears]

tea: this was all done in photoshop cs6. <=
theyareminetoolol!

[Escherichia coli]

I like the birds but the shading on the tree makes it look like it has a completely different light source. If you look at the branch near the bottom right, the smaller branch coming off of it isn't casting a shadow and the larger branch on the bottom left of the tree doesn't have any shading on it back side. All of the branches seem to be just slightly off in little ways like that and it feels inharmonious with the rest of the picture. And The way that all of the bark texture is vertical even on the horizontal growing branches is making the effect worse.

[W i z a r d Swears]

Escherichia coli

I like the birds but the shading on the tree makes it look like it has a completely different light source. If you look at the branch near the bottom right, the smaller branch coming off of it isn't casting a shadow and the larger branch on the bottom left of the tree doesn't have any shading on it back side. All of the branches seem to be just slightly off in little ways like that and it feels inharmonious with the rest of the picture. And The way that all of the bark texture is vertical even on the horizontal growing branches is making the effect worse.

i see the one on the left, but not the branch on the right? maybe it's my monitor, but it all just seems very dark all over right there. i could add more shadows though, just to try and fix it. and the texture is easy to fix. ^^ yay for layers! thanks for the tips.

[garlic dead]

PLZ TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!!!! gonk

[W i z a r d Swears]

earthiswherewelive

PLZ TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!!!! gonk

practice, practice, practice, tutorials, and studying. xD