Hi New Here! Pls take a look?

[Clint Mitchell]

Hi guys

I am new here, I have for the past few months been posting on Luftwaffe Experten message board some of my profiles. I am very new to this but because of this particular site being such a great resource to this art form and for the people who post there truly inspiring looking profiles here I thought I had better sign up and stop lurking in the background and become part of the community. Thanks for inspiring me to get into it. Please take a look at my latest profile (3rd one to date) and let me know what you think? I use Illustrator to draw the line art/markings etc from available photos and then use Photoshop to paint/shade. This one took on off about 40 hrs to complete.


Below are some close up shots of certain areas. I found the Rear gun position a bit of a pig to shade your comments/crit are all welcome.





Thanks

Clint

[JMSmith]

hi clint,

let me be the first, and probably your worst nightmare for a beginner your work is not half bad, biggest problem that stands out is your rivet detail, it needs reducing, are you using a seperate layer for the rivets, if so then make them more opaque, now your shadows, please keep them all consistant ie, all from the same angle, my personal taste is Not to curve the shadow but to keep it staight on a curved surface, but hey i am on my own here technically my way is correct, but artistically a gentle curve looks nice, so make your own choice.

to understand the shadow in the rear gun cupola i suggest you study as many photos as you can and learn how the light and shade play in that area.

now the important stuff, i will be checking the drawing for accuracy so i hope it is right

by the way, i forgive you for being a Illustrator nerd long live PSP7

[JMSmith]

ok another go,

work on your shadow/highlight, the whole airframe seems too flat, you need to bring it out more, and get rid of the outline, do the drawing, use this as a guide then remove the linedrawing layer completely

please understand we help you on here with our advice, we do not try to make you feel bad about your work, unless your name is GM so take these and any other comments as constructive advice.

[Clint Mitchell]

Hi John
p
Thanks for your reply. All Edits are OK as everything is on a separate layer. I have studied a hell of a lot of photos, I have all of the main known photos of the Rear gunner position, but sadly all are either not great quality or there happens to be a crew member operating the gun which throws different shadows and highlights to when it is an empty aircraft. I even contemplated not posting this profile until I had learnt a 3D modelling program so I could model this area of the aircraft and see how the program artificially lit the area? As for your PSP7 preference I suppose every man has to have his down sides.

Thanks

Clint

[Clint Mitchell]

Ok, I missed your last post as I tend to take far to long typing a reply.

Rivets : I will take a look

Shadows etc: I will check this out also

Outline: I know what you are saying about the outline, I was wondering to include it or not but actually after much thought I prefer it there. I just feel that it helps the details stand out Also the glazing looks cool with it. I know that an actual photo of this aircraft would not include an outline I believe that for the purposes of an aircraft illustration it seems ok, just my preference I suppose.

Thanks John, A bit of constructive criticism and debate on techniques is very interesting and welcomed.

Clint

[Otterkins2]

First of all Clint, welcome to the community. You will find many people here willing and eager to provide a helping hand in order to accelerate the learning curve for you. Many of them are most generous with their help. This is the first place I come when I need help with my work, which incidentally is all Illustrator work.

Now, as to your profile, each person has their own unique style which is why it is so much fun to look at different interpretations of the same aircraft here. In your particular case it is an excellent third job and well worth posting. My only comment is similar to John's. The rivets at the moment appear to be dome fasteners. These were used very sparingly on German aircraft. Most of them are flush rivets which makes then exceedingly hard to see in photos....especially if the aircraft has been painted several times. So, as John says, they need to be toned down....but I also think you need to play with the lighting a bit. Flush rivets would appear as a tiny sliver crescent highlight on the bottom edge depending upon where the light is coming from. Browse through the work shown here and you'll see what I mean.

Best of luck with future profiles. I hope to see more of them soon!!!

[Clint Mitchell]

Thanks Otterkins

Sounds cool, thanks for the pointer on the type of rivets, I shall amend them soonish and post an update.


Ta

Clint

[Kakukk]

Very nice mate!
More highlight needed ,i think

[Clint Mitchell]

Thank Kakukk

Will sort the highlights. I think the problem could be my monitor as I have been monitoring this topic on my girlfriends PC and the images I have posted look quite dark, but now back on me Mac they look fine. I think some monitor calibration is in order. Anyone know any good sites that explain the process?

Also, Otterkins I don't suppose you would have a close up image of the type of Luftwaffe flush rivets that you was talking about earlier?

Thanks in advance

Clint

[ratfugel]

Hi Clint, Nice third effort. Much better than my third effort when I was starting. A gentle piece of advice, chuck out your thoughts about outlines. Get rid of them and shade correctly, otherwise your pics will look as though they are paper cut-outs. Your detailing is good so far and you are already on the way to being a useful member of this little community.

rat.