Jan '17

It depends on how you want to present his powers, but to lightning effects I almost always use the method from this Daarken tutorial , maybe you will find it useful.

The values are much better now, it's looking great so far.

Jan '17

@alykam Thanks for the tutorial! Ill be updating this picture in around a week's time.

Jan '17

This update was primarily about lighting. My lighting was pale and not as dynamic or emotive as I think it should be. It took a lot of curve balancing, colour adjustments, and gradient maps etc. I also used @alykam 's great tutorial link to really strengthen the effects in Rhallin's magical powers.

Let me know what you think guys, and suggestions to improve it. :smile:

RhallinFinalstages 3.jpg3456x4608 2.92 MB

Jan '17

hey, great progress! One thing I would suggest is about color.

I'm starting to see that you're actually using black to darken areas of your image to improve lighting. I like how you've improved your lighting, but I think you can improve this by not using black (you may not have directly used pure black, but what i mean is - in terms of photoshop rgb colors, that the darkened areas of your painting are becoming "hueless", or the value is too dark or light).

I don't know if you've ever heard of this, but black and white technically don't exist to the human eye, because color is affected by EVERYTHING. for example if you bring out a "white" table outside during daylight, it won't be "white" but will have a blue-ish cool tint because the sky fill light will bounce into the "white" table, where as it will be more yellowish when placed in your room under a yellow lightsource.

If you have the time, try to get your hands on "Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter" by James Gurney, it will explain the theory behind color, you can also find what I mean by looking at old painters.

Anyhow, since the setting for your character is outdoors where nature will determine the color, etc, it'll be easier to fix, there are plenty of color outdoors :smile: Also you can try walking outside and try to find "black" and "white", you'll realize they only appear black or white!

I've done a quick paintover to try to show you what i meant, hopefully this isnt too terrible haha anyways good job!! definitely check out james gurney's book if you can!!!

Feb '17

@Steve_Kim Hey man, thanks for the critique! I'll play around with the colours some more to really bring it to the next level.

I was using a very dark mid saturated blue, but it may have gotten lost in some of my edits. Ill attempt to add more of the colours back into it :).

I really appreciate the time you took to edit my stuff. Thank man!

Feb '17

@Khulim hey, no problem! glad I was able to help ^^ by the way your progress is very impressive, keep it up :smile: Cheers!

Feb '17

Okay, here is the final image. My major adjustments were colour changes and the reintroduction of the background elements, putting more colour into the godrays and improving the reflected light on Rhallin's arm. I'm glad at where it is now. Thanks for all the help guys!

RhallinFinalstages8.jpg1770x2359 2.54 MB

Feb '17

Reply to

Khulim

Damn Khulim, the rendering of your work is frikin insane! Look at that face, them shoulders and those skins, so insane details! Amazing work man so professional! :smile:

Feb '17

Thanks Kreyhardt! It was a fun project and i learned a lot :smile:

Feb '17
1

Reply to

Khulim

Hey Samuel ... congrats on finishing!

Hope it's ok .. I did a little experimentation .... i somehow felt it could've been pushed some more.

You still have time ... It's got potential.

check this out.

fixes.jpg3200x2359 1.33 MB

Used "CURVES" for a murkier . .warmer tone...

crvs.jpg1770x2359 1.07 MB

Here's the psd. Use the curves first ... Just drag the adjustment layer right on top of your work and then the fixes underneath that layer. That way you'll see how the effects will behave.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ztgvi7yrhigurmu/use%20crvs.zip?dl=0

Feb '17

Thanks for the time you spent editing the piece!

But I have experimented with the curves quite a bit. I don't like the way that it makes the green overpowering and takes away the blues that I put into the fog.
The reason why my glow in the hand of the character isn't larger is because I don't want his face to be hidden in the intense lighting of the magic (I still want the sun to be the primary light source, and increasing the glow would mean completely shaping the reflected light to encompass virtually his whole face).
I think I'll add more reflected light on his headpiece. I liked the lost edge, but I suppose it isn't realistic considering the light source right under it.
I will do some more experiments with the reflected light on the environment.
I like the suggestions for the snake region. I'll play around with it more.

Thanks again @nevs36 for the time you put into this! I appreciate it :smile:

Feb '17

hey no prob samuel!
Wishing you all the best! \m/
Can't wait to see the final piece!

Feb '17

Reply to

Khulim

hi, i really like your design and your love in detail
i noticed a bit of a problem with your background perspective.
I did a quick overpaint to show you what i mean
basically i think you should set the horizon line a bit lower

paintover.png1774x1185 2.69 MB

8 days later

Feb '17

Reply to

readock

hey @readock, thanks for the suggestion! But that perspective actually does not make sense. We are looking down on the figure when you observe the angle of the face, the elipse of the waist and the space between the shoulder and the head. With your horizon line, it would be showing that we are actually looking up at his face and torso. I'm sorry for the late reply. I haven't been on the site for a while. I appreciate the time taken in the edit!