Icon Contest #13 - Icons for Director's Cut Models

Just choose a different model that you think you are comfortable with.

 

@ardenian: post what you've currently done, and we can give feedback on how to fix your lighting

 

That's very kind of you.

Basic Version

Advanced

As you can see, I cannot get make the step between drawing the base and going advanced. It is not only the lighting, but also the perspective.

I think it is too advanced for me.

 

*o* whoaa!!! peope just advance a lot!!! amazing stuff, i will try to finish my work fast, i've been abscent this days 7_7, will try to catch up.

 

Forget about the green sword ability one, this is my replacement for it.

 

Ok Ardenian, first start with lineart. For some artists it is easier this way, don't know about you, but it's worth a try. It will help you establish the shapes of what you want to draw, perspective and so on. Then paint in the base colors, then try to divide the icon in black and white. That's right, use only black and white, see where your shadows are and where your highlights are. Then of course remake this and try to blend it all, using more values and colors. I think the main problem right now is lighting, so focus on that.

 

Thank you very much, morbent.

The progress of drawing black and white to see shadows and highlights sounds very interesting, I am going to try it out and give it a another shot.

 

Start with grey and just keep adding lighter and lighter grey for the highlights and darker grey for the shadows.
Just remember to not go straight for black or white too early.

 

In case the light source is coloured yellow/orange ( I intend to make explosions in the background), do I change the highlight colours to yellow/orange, too ?

I use GIMP ( for everything) glow brush to add glows and shadows, not the highlights of them tho. Is it recommended to use a 'glow' brush with a small opacity, that's how I learned to draw glows ?

I made a few edits and I think it looks much better now. I didn't expect that the lighting ( not even finished) makes it look that much better.

Thank you very much, guys! Now I am motivated again!

 

Yes, the highlights will look more orange / yellow.
I've personally never used GIMP myself but you should use what tool you feel is confortable.

I'd also want to give advice on choosing brushes as well. I assume that the glow tool in GIMP probably are using a pretty soft edged brush but if you can find a sharp brush to erase edges or if you are going to draw a flat surface. Soft brushes are really great to draw values (shadows & lights) on round surfaces, like pipes.

example

(Excuse me how poorly this looks, I'm not so used to draw with mouse :>)

 

Yes, these two brushes has GIMP too.
I usually use a sharp brush to draw solid things and the glow brush for light and non-material stuff.
Using a eraser with a sharp brush is great then to give the shape a good form, as you describe.

I didn't know this concrete difference, thank you for your effort and the example!

 

There are several ways you can go for it, now I am no light expert just gonna give you methods I've seen used by others:
- Start with black and white to get the main idea of where the darks and lights are, 2 values only.
- Start with the darkest value on the certain part of the painting you are drawing (for example you have some cloth and the darkest value is Dark Blue) and lighten it up as you go.
- Start from the middle range value and darken and lighten, what Mad suggested.
- Start from lights to dark (method 2 but the other way around).
You can also try to imagine where your light source is and draw some lines to see where it would fall, it's easier to follow it this way. Also, mind that in darker areas the colors get desaturated. Always remember to use more than 1 colors - if you have a red cloth do not only paint with red, add a little bit of purple, maybe orange, etc. It makes it look more real. But uhm.. that's offside advice, not really the biggest problem right now. I'd say you should first focus on the shapes, then the light. Cuz right now it is unclear what exactly is going on when the image is resized. Try to draw it only with lineart first or silhouettes, whatever suits you. If you're drawing with a mouse it would be harder to get the shapes correct, but I do know a few who can do it without a problem (NFWar, just unbelievable..), so you just gotta get used to it I guess.

 

Thank you again, morbent!
I pay attention to it, it is a great advice, and I am going to work on the things you mentioned.

 

Man!!!!

 

@ardenian: i see that morbent and mad have basically said all that needs to be said, but i'll try to offer some new insight and not repeat their words

firstly, it's best to follow the aforementioned process: line art > greyscale lighting > basic colours > shading the colours (i'm doing this myself; i'll attach my .psd to let you see how i've layered the line art and greyscale lighting)

onto lighting, the biggest factor in giving an artwork form. there's no simple 'trick' to learn lighting unfortunately, the only way is to look at tons of references on how light bounces off different surfaces, and then practice. it's best that you make a greyscale (black and white) lighting mock-up before shading the actual colours, because it's much easier to experiment & adjust mistakes when the image is monotone

i also suggest you move the light source from the back to kinda above and in front of the icon, if that makes sense. if you take a look at most blizzard unit icons, most of them have a front-above light source. the most obvious icon i can think of is the rifleman; it looks like someone is shining a flashlight on his face from above his forehead

lastly, you honestly should be using hard-edge brushes almost exclusively. it just looks much more blizzard-y and has a more rich & crisp look than if you were to shade with soft-edge. see this tutorial if you have troubles shading with hard-edge

 

Thank you very much, GhostThruster!

Did you use the 'sketch' layer in the psd to select an area, so you cannot draw over the lines ( I am not sure what's the exact expression for the process, I hope you know what I mean) ?

Hm, I understand. Maybe I can add 'front explosions', explosions that add light to the front part of the tank. Tho, wouldn't this erase every shadow, as the light comes as well from the back and the front ? Or could I limit to little explosion reflections, so the effect wouldn't be room consuming ? I think I take a look on some fire/ explosion reflections and try to adapt them.

For the exclusive use of hard-edge brushes, I cannot speak of great experience, but wouldn't using a smooth brush with the use of the smudge tool create exactly the same as using hard shaped ? This does not apply to the outline, of course, but for the 'interior', doesn't it ? I try it out, let's see.

Thank you very much, guys!
I am gladly surprised and I appreciate that you take care of me!

 

Suggestions?

 

Mainly shape. The left part is weirdly distorted. Also, imagine the whole helmet as one big cylinder (like the Templar helmets) - it has to be shaded accordingly. If the light is coming from the front then the left and right part should slowly go into darkness. But before moving to lighting and all that, lay down all your shapes on the picture - some atmosphere effect behind the helmet, his body (if you intend to draw it under the helm) the crown part with the spikes, etc.

 

nope i didn't. you don't really need to, it's not very hard to keep the colour inside the lines

i think you're thinking of the term 'light source' too concretely. a light source doesn't need to be visible in the frame of the icon/artwork, nor does it need to be something physical like an explosion.

no, smooth + smudge = messy, ugly, non-blizzard-like blur. it doesn't hurt to experiment, but trust me you should be shading with hard brushes most of the time.


edit: colourrrr

 

u___u i made the best i could, so this is my icon :