[Michael Clarke]

Hello again... you may remember the dryad sketch from about a week ago.. well here's the painting - and i think it's just about finished - but i'd love to hear comments and critiques on it before i call it done. The original image is huge (8x10 at 300dpi) so a lot of the minute detail is lost here. I've included a detail of the upper figure for closer scrutiny.



Detail:


Thanks in advance for any comments!

[mucha]

Looks great!!
very nice colors.

did u use pastels?

[Gothic Gerbil]

Wow, love the style you have going here, looks really great! Only two things that are bothering me here. The side lighting in her shadows, I really don't see that showing up anywhere else so it looks kind of odd, and there is this one teensy lil' bright spot next to her hair on her right, at about half-way down where two trees are overlapping. Just for some reason that one point is a huge distraction, I'd recommend toning it down just a tad. Other than that I think you've done an awesome job here! What did you use to paint it? Painter?

[Nathan Marciniak]

Holy sh*t that turned out awesome! I sort of expected a bit more brush-strokey Frank Frazetta thing (given that the sketch resembled such) but this is great too! The trees sort of look like they are made from nougat, but hey I'm not complaining. I'd buy a print of this one any day. Excellent work! Glad you painted it at a proper pixel size too!

[Magic Zero]

..........
My God
I need to draw right now.

[jr]

lol, now that's what i call a tree hugger! most of my jungle female characters wear leather made out of animal skins. neat pic though.

[Nathan Marciniak]

I was thinking it might be interesting to redraw her eyes looking directly at the viewer?

It also could possibly use some other small forest creatures foraging in the grass. Just to have some other things to look at. Maybe she should have something in her right hand - I dunno maybe a magical, er um...well she's got a lot of hair - maybe a comb? heh! A wooden staff or tree branch maybe? Just a thought.

The colors, the rendering, it's all so beautiful the only thing I can 'pick on' would be these minor compositional things.

[Artgolem]

I agree that the picture needs more living things running around. Or at least, that's how I'd do it. I suppose it all depends on your conception of a dryad, wheather they are fearsome predators of men, who take them away for seven years and enchant them, making them forget all they've done, or wheather they are benign forest guardians and protectors of all things cute and fluffy. So, if she's like a nasty dryad, you could make the trees and light a tad more sinister, but if she's a fluffy dryad you could have brighten the colors somewhat and have little bunnies or raccoons or tribbles scooting around looking cute.

In any case, nice pic! Good job!

[Michael Clarke]

Thanks for the crits and kind words everyone!

Specific replies follow:

Mucha - it was actually done in Painter.. though i'm glad that you thought it was pastels.. i'm trying to make my work look less obviously "digital".

Gothic Gerbil - that is a good point about the sidelighting.. i had meant to add some of that lighting to other objects, and i might still do that. Or i might tone it down on the figure... Also your other comment is helpful.. and i'll probably tone down that highlight. And yes it was done in Painter

Nathan - hehe.. i can see where you get the trees looking like nougat idea.. i was afraid they might look a bit too "liquid". Ah well... i'll hopefully make the texture more bark-like next time. Good ideas about the forest creatures and additional elements - i actually invisioned all kinds of small creatures in the painting.. but i started getting burned out on the painting after working on it all week. I might add some eventually though.. because it would be nice to have more "life" to her surroundings.

Artgolem - My take on this dryad is that she is benign, so yes cute fluffy critters running around would be appropriate. I also thought about having other small faery-like beings hiding here and there. I really want to add these things.. its just a matter of time and deciding how long i want to spend on this piece

[Dr. Bang]

remind of britney spears costume

[Nathan Marciniak]

Painter, eh? On a tweaky note, I'd be interested in knowing what fashion of brushes were used on this? Painter has so many controls over the brushes that I usually end up spending more time going "oh what does THIS do?" than actually drawing something worthwhile.

I know I won't like the answer - no matter how many tutorials I read, no matter if I use the exact same tools the artist used, it all comes down to the fact that the tutorial writer just simply has the gift and the tutorial reader doesn't. Still, I'd be interested to know the brush specifics if possible.

[Strawberrysauce]

very, very nice image, i love the way the trees have been painted. i would aggree with the comment about her eyes being redrawn to look at the viewer. i also think it would look cool if there was a slight haze in the forest, ive done a very quick little idea of what i mean, hope you dont mind.




i didnt really capture what i was trying to show though, just found this image...



once again, excellent work!

[Lunatique]

I think the head is a bit small proportionally. Measure it and you'll see. The rest is fine. No problems with it.

[Lomi]

well painted, but i think she is a little too long-waisted, and her face could use some more definition of shapes

[Michael Clarke]

Thanks for the continued feedback all...

Nathan - regarding brushes in Painter (version 6) - I mostly use 3 different brushes. I began with the "simple water" watercolor brush to work out all the basic colors and shapes - varying the grain and paper texture according to each surface (trees grainy / skin smooth etc..). A good chunk of time is spent with those, and then when all of the forms are worked to a moderate level of detail I go in with the opaque round brush on additional layers, using the gel layer setting to apply transparent washes for added color complexity and shadows. Also at this stage i'll add opaque layers with the same brush to help create atmosphere and depth - and i reworked a bit of the figure opaquely here too. The final brush I use is the smooth ink pen for the minute detail and to tighten up important edges. Sometimes some blending is needed after that and i use "just add water" for that. And thats about it... those are the only brushes I've been using and on mostly the default settings. Hope thats helpful!

Shamhead - i love the idea of the additional light and atmosphere coming through the trees like that - i might definitely give it try. Thanks!

Oh i'll probably turn her eyes to the viewer too...

Lunatique & Lomi - thanks for the feedback - i'll definitely look into those issues.

[Darkmoon]

mmmm cartoony.... i think it might look better with muted colors...

as for life, make some cutefairy creatures playing with strands of her long hair... thats what i see when i look...

shes quite the tailor making that with leaves very cool and very well done!

-Lisa