Calming Concepts

Posted Jun 14, 2020, 7:18:38 PM UTC

I called this place the "Calming Forest" when I first created it. It's a bit broken at the moment, but maybe it can fulfill its purpose again someday.

Trying to find a more efficient way to do backgrounds. I have a world to build, and though I think my usual painting style is pretty, it takes too long to be practical, especially for concept art and comic pages.

Art and characters belong to Areetala

Comments

SheepMomther
Jun 16, 2020, 12:10:17 AM UTC
Aaaa this looks so gorgeous!!!
Definitely appealing for world-building! If this style takes you less time and stress then I'd 10/10 support you using this style! The textures are amazing and truly build a calming atmosphere for the place 💛
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- Areetala
  Jun 20, 2020, 12:31:31 AM UTC
  omg thank you! I'm still messing around with a style for comic backgrounds, trying to find the quickest way without sacrificing too much quality. It means a lot that I'm at least headed in the right direction
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  SheepMomther
  Jun 21, 2020, 10:25:28 PM UTC
  My pleasure!!! I'm glad the comment helps! 💛💛
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MaskedLin
Jun 15, 2020, 2:02:07 AM UTC
This style is really pretty too, the less polished look would be awesome for comic pages especially. It doesn't deter from the character but lets the area speak for itself, the distinctive strokes (especially along the bank) are charming. One issue I'm seeing is that all the trees look the same age- this might be intentional from what I've gleaned about the world, but if not, a solid way to vary it would to show trees at different heights and thicknesses. They look to be of the same species, so the max height will be pretty close, but showing smaller trees shows growth occurring. The distinctiveness of the rocks is done great, they have varied shapes but they hold the same wear-language (if that makes sense?)

Really though, this is a great background. I still struggle with making backgrounds myself- they either feel forced, ill-put together, or overall uninteresting, so I'm glad when I see people getting past their issues with them
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- Areetala
  Jun 20, 2020, 12:43:13 AM UTC
  Thank you! The only thing about the trees that was intentional is the kind. I'm not horribly used to drawing evergreen trees despite living around so many. Looking back on it, I agree with you that some variation in age/size would add a lot. I'm really glad the rocks look nice; I still kinda struggle with them, so I feel the result tends to be hit or miss.
  
  I used to struggle with backgrounds a lot too (in ways I still do haha). Then I got into the dracostryx arpg and was more motivated to at least try since so many prompts required them. I'm more comfortable with it now, though I'm still working on the details.
  
  Personally, I think you're backgrounds are really good. Your style makes me think of the kind of art one might see in a high fantasy type story. The contrast between the lineart and softer colors is really nice, and you have an eye for detail.
  
  And thank you for all your feedback! I really appreciate it.
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  MaskedLin
  Jun 22, 2020, 5:34:07 PM UTC
  I feel like with all that's going on in the piece (as far as experimenting with style) that a small detail about the trees isn't a big deal, certainly nothing that can't go into the next one And I can completely relate about the rocks! I love geology stuff but including them into a piece is something else haha. Practicing (with good research) is the best way to go about fixing problem areas, but that means you have to do the problematic thing over and over, so it for sure can be hard to finally sit down and get to it, I'm glad dracostryx helped you in that way.
  
  For my background stuff, I feel that while I do put a lot of detail, it doesn't capture... something? Not to sure how to phrase what that something is, its sort of a feeling. I enjoy my style a good bit, but figuring out a balance in how much I line things is difficult. It looks good on characters, but putting lines on everything in the background clutters the piece with unneeded lines and makes it much harder for me to get through the piece. I'm hoping to experiment with how I go about them pretty dramatically in the next piece I do with a detailed bg, so hopefully it goes well!
  
  My pleasure, you have lovely work so it makes it easy, haha! Comments are my favorite kind of feedback, so that's how I try to express how much I like a piece when I like it.
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