MerMAY challenge WIP Critiques wanted...
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@Johanna-Kim I do see what you mean. I was trying to emulate a comic book style. Often they have painted backgrounds and inked foregrounds. I may add some ink to the background since I don't want to lose the line work. to see if that works. As far as the eye goes, I was thinking deep black.
Thanks for the input!
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@Johanna-Kim Good call! I added just a touch of inking and I think it helps define the space a little more. I also added a sparkle of reflected light and that too increases the angst of the piece. Thanks! What do you think?
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Well, I thought it looked better. Now I am having second thoughts. The lines look like an afterthought. Argh. I may need to just come back to this...
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@chrisaakins Yes, I think that if you're going to go with the line work style, you'll need to develop the background more intentionally in that style. I can empathize as this has happened to me before and it took a lot of work, time and experimentation to resolve.
It might help to take a small section of your illustration that includes the merman and the background and experiment on that. For inspiration, you could also Google underwater comic book/graphic novel images and see how the line work is treated there. Here's one from DC Comics that shows how the line work in the background is defined, though simpler than in the figures, and the line is a color lighter than black. Also the overall color of the background is more subdued and more monotone.
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@Johanna-Kim Yeah I was thinking the black ink looked too much. I think the color is otherwise okay. I have looked at pix of Kelp forests before and it seems okay to me but I will play around with it. Thanks for your help.
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@Johanna-Kim And now that I have the other pic you posted, mine looks especially messy on the line work. I was going for a more Karl Kopinski look.
Picture credit: Karl Kopinski -
Okay. I tool all your suggestions and made some subtle changes to the line work. I think I am happy with it. So how about some affirmation? Woohoo!Haha! It has been a great learning process. Thank you everyone who has helped me!
BTW I am a complete newbie to Photoshop and in this process, I have learned:-
how to mask,
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how to convert my ink drawing into a masked layer so I can color under it.
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I have learned how to transpose and move objects.
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I have experimented with a variety of paintbrushes.
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And I have learned what to do when I accidentally delete a layer.
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I have learned how to change the opacity of layers and also how to change the light on them.
Whew!!!
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@chrisaakins I like your solution a lot! The merman feels much more integrated into his space. Sending you a high five:)
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@chrisaakins- Sorry I’m so late getting back on here. Did you figure out the layer merging? The new image looks great! It really has a sense of foreboding & it feels like he’s fleeing whatever the shadow is.
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@alicia haha. No worries. I figured something out. Thanks for the affirmation!
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This is a great thread and really cool to see your progress.
I think the sea creature in the background could be a lot clearer and maybe feature or two highlighted on it - maybe an eye peering around the seaweed, or maybe it could be slightly bigger? Great work!!! -
@lovetherobot Thanks for the input. I was going for ominous shadow rather than detail. It is murky water and all.
