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Post by moninca on Sept 3, 2011 19:42:27 GMT
Well, when I joined several months ago, I said I'd post a gallery, and now I'm finally getting around to it. ;D I keep posting on the PDN forums, and I appreciate all of the help and encouragement I get there. But I think I've finally gotten to a point in my tinkering that I should start looking seriously at getting my techniques down, trying new things, and actually improving. So if no one minds, I think I'm going to use this gallery for my more involved projects. I really liked my first PDN painting (shown below). It took a long time, and it was worth it. I want to keep getting better, and I need help from all of you experts.  Any critique would be greatly appreciated. I can't say I've ever had harsh critique, so I'm not sure how I would take it, but hey. I suppose I'll have to learn to take it at some point, right?  All right, enough jabber. On to PDN! ;D I have a hard time making things realistic, which is why I'm focusing on the more cartoonish style right now. At some point I'd like to try my hand at anime, and eventually I want to work on realistic, but for now, we'll stick with this. Please see the 2nd post for WIPs in need of help, and thanks in advance for any critique! ~ Inca ~ |
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Post by moninca on Sept 3, 2011 19:42:57 GMT
Current WIPs/ideas Horse Backgrounds (We have to fit a background into a specific framework. That is the gray area you'll occasionally see around some of my WIPs. The game is horse-themed, however the backgrounds do not have to be. Basically the horse simply has to have someplace in the center or off-center to stand. There can't be any humans in the background. Other than that, almost anything goes.) - Galaxy Under Glass  - Labyrnth ideas Pirate Backgrounds - Winter ideas (none yet) - Other ideas (none yet) |
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Post by TheBad1 on Sept 3, 2011 20:59:31 GMT
I have a hard time making things realistic, which is why I'm focusing on the more cartoonish style right now. At some point I'd like to try my hand at anime, and eventually I want to work on realistic, but for now, we'll stick with this. Thanks in advance for any critique!We all develop our own styles ... that's the beauty of Fans ... we're all so different, but yet enjoy each others works and bizarrely are able to help one another improve. From looking at those last 2 images I can see why you'd like to get into anime. They're really nicely done. I know I couldn't do them. Check out Pixey's gallery for some manga gals 
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Post by venicet on Sept 4, 2011 2:54:13 GMT
Beautiful work so far Moninca. It's great to see another person posting their art here. ;D I'm looking forward to seeing more of you work.
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Post by Goonfella on Sept 4, 2011 6:19:27 GMT
Nice start to your gallery Moninca . Galactic Dawn is nice , very colourful. Can`t say it`s very realistic - but then it`s not supposed to be is it? Welshy is right - looks like you`ve got a talent for anime. I look forward to seeing more. Well done. |
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Post by barbieq25 on Sept 4, 2011 12:52:50 GMT
So true - we all have our own style & it is always a pleasure to see people progress & develop. Those eyes! Very nice works & so pleased you started your gallery here.
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Post by blackpenny on Sept 4, 2011 14:46:08 GMT
Great to see you gallery here. Nice work so far.
I don't care if things look realistic or not. But then I'm not exactly grounded in reality.
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Post by Helen on Sept 4, 2011 15:28:53 GMT
Love your gallery so far! I, personally, like both realistic styles as well as cartoonish styles--we're all different, thus the different styles.
The cat looks realistic enough. "Galactic Dawn" is breathtaking. Very beautifully done!
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Post by Leif on Sept 4, 2011 16:20:24 GMT
"Galactic Dawn" medially cough my eye. It is a terrific picture. Many nice details and a well balanced picture. It has booth something in the front, and something great in the background. Kind of makes me want to go back to spacescapes again. Well let us see. As for balancing between realistic and cartoon style; it can be quite complicated. Have in mind that there are no exact solution. YOU are the person to decide what is the right thing to do. Sometimes you think it looks strange at first attempt. But then you have to put it aside for a while, and look at it again later. The you can suddenly see what is wrong. OR maybe your mind has just gotten used to it, and you discover that this is the right thing to do. Remember that many cartoon figures actually look quite ridiculous, but we love them because wee have gotten used to them. When you try to create something yourself you don't have the advantage of being used to it. Arr. I am just babeling. Forget what i said, and make up your own mind. ;D |
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Post by venicet on Sept 5, 2011 2:11:45 GMT
great advice Leif! It's not babbling at all. It gave me stuff to think about! |
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Post by moninca on Sept 5, 2011 4:18:38 GMT
THanks all for the encouragement. ^_^ I'm glad you like Galactic Dawn. I was really proud of myself on that one, just because it was my first. Here's my two latest of Me-Yeow. I decided to try out some tiger fur. I like the way the fur turned out, but I'm not sure if it fits with the overall picture. Thoughts?   |
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Post by moninca on Sept 5, 2011 4:23:54 GMT
".... Sometimes you think it looks strange at first attempt. But then you have to put it aside for a while, and look at it again later. The you can suddenly see what is wrong. OR maybe your mind has just gotten used to it, and you discover that this is the right thing to do.... I think that's my problem at the moment. I look at something someone else did that I like, and want to do something similar, but it doesn't turn out right in my eyes, not realizing that it looks fine. I'm having a hard time keeping in mind that I can't do the same thing because I'm not that person. I have to do my own work. But am I being too hard on myself, or not hard enough? Balance is hard to find. And please, babble all you like. Then I don't feel bad babbling myself. ;D |
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Post by barbieq25 on Sept 5, 2011 5:23:30 GMT
Hmmm, second one looks better. What a great image!
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Post by moninca on Sept 5, 2011 5:41:17 GMT
Thanks barbieq25. The fur is a trip to do, lol. Okay, last version for tonight. The contest ends tomorrow, but I'll continue working on it afterward. I doubt it will be accepted, so perhaps by next month I'll have it perfect. ^_^ I added more detail to the eyes, and extended the white fur across the middle. I'm considering extending it all the way up the forehead as well, though the gray will cover most of it.  |
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Post by venicet on Sept 5, 2011 5:54:02 GMT
Loved it the first time, but it's even better now. The eyes are stunning. I love cats and would love to learn how to do the fur sometime!
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Post by blackpenny on Sept 5, 2011 17:50:35 GMT
No need to be hard on yourself at all, you said it yourself you have to do your own work. It's something I have to tell myself too.
The cat looks really good now. Love the eyes.
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Post by Sargon III on Sept 8, 2011 8:38:58 GMT
Nice gallery and good start Moninca, welcome aboard  , your first image is way better than mine when I started, I spent almost first year practicing without using any plugin at all, just the basic PDN tools and effects, but I think that helped me a lot, but looks like you are using the plugins from the fist beginning and you're doing very well with them, for space art you can depend on goonfella here, and for glossy/glassy Helen is the best, Barbie and peterpawn are both very good in jewelry and alike stuff, welshblue and AFG are great in realistic, and oma (she is now inactive and hope she is coming back again soon) she is the best in abstracts, well when I am saying someone is good in something that doesn't mean he/she is not good in other kind or subject of art, no, but here we know who is better in something and what it is, of course all our friends here are very good and in everything so far, and I am sure you will enjoy it here and get so much fun and help. I am looking forward to see more from you, just keep posting you are good . |
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Post by AFG on Sept 9, 2011 7:20:46 GMT
Great start to your gallery, art is all about finding your own style and creating work as you see it, I think your doing a great job of that.
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Post by moninca on Sept 12, 2011 23:27:06 GMT
Hi all! Sorry I haven't been around. Life. Blech. Anyway, thanks again for the encouragement and advice. I haven't been able to post, but I have been looking around at some of the galleries and tutorials. I'm hoping to take a crack at some of them soon, and to start improving. In the meantime, here's some updates: Here is my latest version of the cat's eyes. As expected, it didn't get through to voting this round. They said it was "too pixelised". I'm going to set it aside for the time being and come back to it later, as was suggested. I did that (without realizing it) with another project, and when I came back it *was* easy to see what I needed to fix. So we'll fix this one up later, too. ^_^  For the mountain Pirate background, I realized that I did something wrong. I didn't save the line art on a separate layer, but instead colored it in. Needless to say, now I'm having a terrible time figuring out the shading. So that one is also going into the "Come Back Later" category as well. lol In the meantime, I did this one as an entry instead. I like it much better. Any suggestions on what to put above the pirate's head? I've still got 2 days to make any changes:   So, with those three filed away for the time being, time to start on next month's entries. I'm guessing the Pirates will be something Winter / Christmas related. I think I'll stick with the neutral themes again, and go Winter. Any suggestions? For the horses, I think I'm going to try something out of the Labyrith (the movie with David Bowie). Is that too ambitious? I was thinking something along either of these lines:   |
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Post by Helen on Sept 13, 2011 0:53:21 GMT
I don't know, to me it all looks good. It's easier to give a suggestion when I see something right away. The fur on the Me-Yeow is more detailed and I like it a lot! The new ideas you have in mind sound great to me. I'd like to see what you come up with.
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Post by venicet on Sept 13, 2011 12:31:59 GMT
I thought they all looked great. I'm even newer at this stuff than you so have no suggestions. Just wanted to say it looks awesome and can't wait to see what you do with the next piece. |
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Post by Goonfella on Sept 13, 2011 17:15:41 GMT
Well you are better at cartoony stuff than me that`s for sure! I like Galactic Dawn but as I tend to go for realism I`m not exactly in a position to hand out advice apart from - keep up the good moninca . |
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Any critique would be greatly appreciated. I can't say I've ever had harsh critique, so I'm not sure how I would take it, but hey. I suppose I'll have to learn to take it at some point, right? 
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, your first image is way better than mine when I started, I spent almost first year practicing without using any plugin at all, just the basic PDN tools and effects, but I think that helped me a lot, but looks like you are using the plugins from the fist beginning and you're doing very well with them, for space art you can depend on goonfella here, and for glossy/glassy Helen is the best, Barbie and peterpawn are both very good in jewelry and alike stuff, welshblue and AFG are great in realistic, and oma (she is now inactive and hope she is coming back again soon) she is the best in abstracts, well when I am saying someone is good in something that doesn't mean he/she is not good in other kind or subject of art, no, but here we know who is better in something and what it is, of course all our friends here are very good and in everything so far, and I am sure you will enjoy it here and get so much fun and help.