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thundercake — Figures in Environments
Published: 2008-12-27 22:52:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 18762; Favourites: 767; Downloads: 405
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Description
Sorry for the huge file
By the way, something I forgot to mention in the tutorial. A lot of people say "why don't you just put the figures in on top of the background?" I guess this is a valid way to do it, but for me, I find that the figures end up looking like they're floating in the environment. If you're going for an animation-cel look, fine, but if you're painting both in the same style I think it's worth the extra time to paint it all on the same layer. That way they're sewn into the scene, not patched on top.
Thanks for all the support guys
This is the piece - [link]
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Comments: 153
I have never read a tutorial so interesting, seriously I just getting my focus back into drawing and trying some digital. I think I got the artist block, though reading your words and studying the image, really brought my information forward. Thanks a lot an I love the way you say 'Do's and Don't ' and you explained them with great manner.
One question, you said you start from darkest first, is that the case, when you first silhouette them for base colour or is it after that?
Again thanks ^^
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If I understand your question.. I don't silhouette the characters but I use an underpainting in the darkest color I want in the picture (but light enough to see the guidelines) and build upward
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Ahhhh this tutorial was really helpful, thank you for making it!
Instant favorite.
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Amazing, I am going to try this out on my new sketch. Mind you, I work with ArtRage mostly these days so no dodge and burn for me anyway XD.
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this is exactly what I have been looking for! thank you so much! it's amazing how much it feels like real painting
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^by real painting, i mean traditional painting of course. digital painting is most definitely real.
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Lots of blending 
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Yeah I kinda have a problem with the edges of things.
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wow! Thanks for linking me to this! Its a great way to explain it! ^___^
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This is an amazing tutorial but I'm sure what you mean by blending...
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great tutorial! Just curious, will step 3 work with any other color theme you want to work with? I always have a hard time picking a good color theme
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Yes, the only thing I did was to lay down a mid-tone base color
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ah ok thanks! uumm, one more question, after lightly putting in your mid tone and begin painting, how do you chose darker colors for shading? sorry for such a noob question, im still trying to learn
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For this painting, I just used a darker version of the base. I rarely went darker than my midtone for this painting. The value variation comes from layering on lighter colors.
I try to choose my colors based on the first color I chose for my base. If they look good with the color, they'll work. I try not to use more than three main colors.
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Thank you so much for this. I try to practice at the things that give me trouble until I get better and environments are my current focus. This tutorial is great- I love seeing other people's processes and yours has given me a few ideas on how to get better. Thank you!
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You're welcome, I'm glad it helped
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You are so right about the "burn" and "dodge" tools! I feel the same way and I am happy there are still digital artists who prefer choosing every color themselves and not use photo-manipulating tools! Great tutorial!
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What a nice tutorial. Its easy to understand for the technologically impaired (me), and it produced a beautiful painting. I will use these skills well.
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aside from your art being AMAZING, this tutorial is SO well thought out and written. Props for tackling a seriously misunderstood subject!
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Whoa, you SO speak my mind. Finally someone to think like me about environments 
Nice work there, and on the image itself, too!
I am just not sure why you think photoshop would save colours dull 
In any case, nice work on image and tutorial. Glad to have found someone who is just as annoyed as me at people referring to and treating their environments like "backgrounds" 
Daniel
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When I save for the web, the colors become duller. Actually, they just become more realistic.. my Photoshop "handles" colors by increasing their saturation and adjusting their colors slightly. It thinks it's doing me a favor.
Other people have told me they have this issue, but none of their solutions have worked for me. I've tried pretty much everything. :/
Glad you liked the tutorial! Hehe, yeah I still get comments on my environments saying "cool background" even when there's no character in the painting!
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Hm, it really sounds a bit like a colourspace issue. When saving for web, I think there is an option to save with a certin icc profile....is that switched on by any chance? I don't have access to photoshop right now, so I cannot tell you the exact name of the option, but I have had issues before with colours when I used the icc profile provided by deviantprints to view my work, and it made it look really odd, so I refrained from using them anymore
Yeah, it's a bit sad how environments get looked at sometimes. As if they were something inferior to characters. 
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My colorspace settings and my profile settings are both srgb. I've tried fiddling with this and nothing seems to work, even when embedding the color profile in the image.
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I see 
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No, it doesn't like to play fair. :< But on the plus side, it has made me focus more on value than color, since I can never be sure what the colors will look like. Every cloud has a silver lining
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I like your thinking 
And especially with prints this would be really nasty
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Yeah, it is. Uhg, I have the worst time getting prints of my work. It makes me really miss my old computer, which, despite sucking, handled colors beautifully..
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Well right now I have no computer at all 
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Yeah I know what you mean >.< I'd like one of those super-huge desktop Macs, the ones you could serve a thanksgiving dinner on... -sigh-
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Hm, wellllll I guess I would prefer a pc for myself
Well I just guess I will have to make a good investment and buy a decent comp sometime soon. It should be worth it
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I was a PC person for FOREVER, until my teacher convinced me to switch.. not a lot of difference, really, except it runs a bit faster.
It's a pain in the ass to clean though. Uhg, why can't they make one all in black? D:
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Hehe, oh that is okies, to each his own. Just saying, I will go with a pc 
On black you would probably see dust too though, not?
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Eh, dust is fine. On my mac you can see EVERYTHING. and it doesn't wipe off. :<
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D: How dare it be so annoying and DIRTY!
I for my part have problems to properly wipe the dust of my macbook's lcd
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Thank you very much! You explain things so well, this is a very useful guide
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Wow that is amazing! I always have these problems. This really helps thank you so much!
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Great tutorial, and very simple and honest - which makes it easy to follow. i'll definately ahve it close to hand when I try my next picture ^_~
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This is awesome even for traditional methods. Great tutorial, beautiful art.
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One of the best tutorials I've found on DA.
Thanks a ton for the details on this lovely work of art; step-by-step. :)
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Thank you so much! This is extremely helpful, I'll use it as a reference guide once I try to paint again!
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Just out of curiosity, how long does it usually take you to do a painting this size?
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Thanks for sharing your advice! This will be very helpful in the future
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Thank you for sharing this! I've always enjoyed that painted style of digital art and have been trying to dabble a bit in it myself, but it's clear I have a long ways to go. This tutorial has been very helpful and insightful for me and I'll prolli be referencing it and your other step-by-step guides frequently. Thank you!
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I've been touting this tutorial to my friends ever since I first saw it, and I have to compliment you on how amazingly useful we have all found it. Thank you so much for creating this, it's fantastic.
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I'm glad you found it useful
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