More Non-photorealisitic Renders (NPR II)

mmitchell_houston

Updated the Arton character a little bit more. This time I softened the face and worked on the hair a little more. I'm going to try a few more tests with this version of the character, but I think I'm pretty close to sending this back to the editor.

plasma_ring said:

Some stuff I've been doing over the past few months! In chronological order of creation. I did a lot wrong in the first one, but it also taught me what I wanted to be able to do consistently. 

One of the biggest challenges I kept running into is that I'd come up with what I thought was a really decent lighting scheme, then bring the render into Photoshop and find that no matter what I did to it, in the end it pretty much looked like a processed stock photo. The raw render matters a lot, mainly because a faithfully realistic render might contain a bunch of incidental details an illustrator wouldn't bother to include. So it's forced me to be more careful with materials, props, and especially lighting. I'm very up front about these being 3D models, but the style I'm using can easily strain credibility in the sense that it feels wrong or off if shadows and highlights don't look like they were deliberately chosen and shaped.

Wow, you have definitely spent your time well. The finished work in the three samples you provided have definitely bridged the gap between 3D render and painted/illustrated art. I highlighted a few key phrases above because you really hit on something I've been thinking about this weekend, and that is one of the most important skills of any artist/illustrator: Mindfulness.

"Traditional" artists start with something blank (be it a lump of clay, canvas or a page) and must fill it, being mindful of what to add. As artists who build on the output of a 3D render engine we have an additional step – we need to think about what to take out of the scene. I suppose this is similar to what photographs go through, but considering how much more control we have in generating the raw image, I do think that there is a difference between a photographer editing his work and us editing ours.

As I said above, you did a great job with this work. You've achieved a very strong "painterly" feel to your work. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

Not sure what's going on here, but someone needs to shout, "Look out behind you!" Wow, this would make an amazing book cover!

If they ever decide to create a character called "Mama Joker," this would be the illustration on which they would base it! Such a sense of evil! And I love your decision to keep the lips white. Much more effective than red would have been.

 

I'm entranced by your use of red highlights in this image. Quite striking.

Artini

Rakuda said:

Like this one. Muted colors remind me of Hokusai. Great effect.

:)

Thanks a lot for the comment.

mmitchell_houston

Another look at the new face for Arton. I'm still working with the hair, but I'm having issues so it probably won't make it to production (it's not staying properly anchored to his head – I'm going to try parenting it (rather than conforming it) and see if that solves the issue). It could be a DAZ/DSON issue of some sort.

Anyway, i decided to play around with a color wash this time. 

Truthfully, I'm not sure this face is "heroic" enough to make the cut. I'm going to try a few more tweaks and tests before deciding.

Artini

You made a good point. What makes the face look "heroic"? Have not thought about it, yet.

 

mmitchell_houston

Artini said:

You made a good point. What makes the face look "heroic"? Have not thought about it, yet.

That's an odd question, isn't it? One I've been asking myself with this character's appearance for awhile. Yes, any guy can be a hero (Harry Potter certainly didn't have a "heroic" look, nor does the kid playing Peter Parker in the new Marvel movies) and it can be great fun playing against type and expectations (Neville Longbottom comes to mind). But in comics, where things are really based on visual cues and archetypes, there are certain things we look for in a heroic character, such as a stronger jaw, strength of character showing in the eyes (maybe just open them more?), lips that aren't too thin or too thick. 

In regards to the face above, I think he's a good character and would make a great secondary character or even villain. But the classic, square-jawed muscular woodsman hero? Not quite there in the close up, although I think I'm closer to it in the long shot.

Artini

Thanks for the explanation.

 

Artini

Just upgraded Paint Shop Ultimate and bought the Dragan Effect script.

Below is an iray render of Kala 8 processed with it.

jepsonpeteCMT

mmitchell_houston said:

Another look at the new face for Arton. I'm still working with the hair, but I'm having issues so it probably won't make it to production (it's not staying properly anchored to his head – I'm going to try parenting it (rather than conforming it) and see if that solves the issue). It could be a DAZ/DSON issue of some sort.

Anyway, i decided to play around with a color wash this time. 

Truthfully, I'm not sure this face is "heroic" enough to make the cut. I'm going to try a few more tweaks and tests before deciding.

The hair looks great, however, I am a bit distracted by the nose, it appears a bit too thin. It could just be the shading. Perhaps try expanding the width of the tip of the nose, or nostrils. He does have a very strong chin. It's looking good so far.

mmitchell_houston

jepsonpete_63996f7ec6 said:

mmitchell_houston said:

Another look at the new face for Arton. I'm still working with the hair, but I'm having issues so it probably won't make it to production (it's not staying properly anchored to his head – I'm going to try parenting it (rather than conforming it) and see if that solves the issue). It could be a DAZ/DSON issue of some sort.

Anyway, i decided to play around with a color wash this time. 

Truthfully, I'm not sure this face is "heroic" enough to make the cut. I'm going to try a few more tweaks and tests before deciding.

The hair looks great, however, I am a bit distracted by the nose, it appears a bit too thin. It could just be the shading. Perhaps try expanding the width of the tip of the nose, or nostrils. He does have a very strong chin. It's looking good so far.

Thanks for the observation. I also noticed something wrong with the thinness of the light-side of his nose. However, I think it's just the shading and angle (and possibly the camera's focal length). I think I messed up the blue shading on his face which is making the nose look super thin. When looking at it from other angles I see that the nose is a normal width. However, it is definitely something I will look at when I go back and work on the face.

mmitchell_houston

Artini said:

Just upgraded Paint Shop Ultimate and bought the Dragan Effect script.

Below is an iray render of Kala 8 processed with it.

I like what the script did the edges of the hair (love the color choice, btw). But I'm not sure I like what it does to the skin. The backs of her hands look almost hairy and those are some weird wrinkles on her elbow. Nevertheless, it's definitely an interesting effect.

Headwax

mmitchell_houston said:

jepsonpete_63996f7ec6 said:

mmitchell_houston said:

Another look at the new face for Arton. I'm still working with the hair, but I'm having issues so it probably won't make it to production (it's not staying properly anchored to his head – I'm going to try parenting it (rather than conforming it) and see if that solves the issue). It could be a DAZ/DSON issue of some sort.

Anyway, i decided to play around with a color wash this time. 

Truthfully, I'm not sure this face is "heroic" enough to make the cut. I'm going to try a few more tweaks and tests before deciding.

The hair looks great, however, I am a bit distracted by the nose, it appears a bit too thin. It could just be the shading. Perhaps try expanding the width of the tip of the nose, or nostrils. He does have a very strong chin. It's looking good so far.

Thanks for the observation. I also noticed something wrong with the thinness of the light-side of his nose. However, I think it's just the shading and angle (and possibly the camera's focal length). I think I messed up the blue shading on his face which is making the nose look super thin. When looking at it from other angles I see that the nose is a normal width. However, it is definitely something I will look at when I go back and work on the face.

 

terrific to watch you work through this piece / character - I don't know anything about this process - I see it's four tones (including white)? But one is blue/grey rather than neutral grey?

are you rendering out the shadow passes separately? assuming you can then that would give a lot more control.

the ear/neck, jacket/hair works terrifically - the face is kind of struggling in places in that the large black area of th e face (on our left) is not always describing the contours - it could be a flat plane in some ways.

@Artini - nice effect - verging on tone mapping

 

 

Headwax

Carrara job, 2000 pixels wide here if you want a closeup..

 

'Níðhöggr, the Dragon Who Gnaws at the Roots of The World Tree.' 2019, Digital ink, dimensions variable.

According to Norse Mythology the names of the serpents are legend. Dragon, Fafnir, Jormungand, adder, Nidhogg, snake, viper, Goin, Moin, Grafvitnir, Grabak, Ofnir, Svafnir, Masked One... among them.

From the pre 12th Century Norse poem Grímnismál.

A hall I saw,
far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands,
and the doors face north,
Venom drops
through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls
do serpents wind.
I there saw wading
through rivers wild
treacherous men
and murderers too,
And workers of ill
with the wives of men;
There Nithhogg sucked
the blood of the slain,
And the wolf tore men;
would you know yet more?

 

I've left traces of the three d mesh for a bit of self reflexive fun.

Too much Nikolai Gogol. 

 

Plus an oldie for @mmitchell_houston  :)

 

 

 

Artini

Thanks for the comments, mmitchell_houston. I also noticed, that this script is not suitable for all renders.

 

mmitchell_houston

Headwax_Carrara said:

terrific to watch you work through this piece / character - I don't know anything about this process - I see it's four tones (including white)? But one is blue/grey rather than neutral grey?

are you rendering out the shadow passes separately? assuming you can then that would give a lot more control.

the ear/neck, jacket/hair works terrifically - the face is kind of struggling in places in that the large black area of th e face (on our left) is not always describing the contours - it could be a flat plane in some ways.

Thanks. I feel that I don't know much about this process either. Or at least not on how to get faster results. If I were doing a portrait that was a final image, I would definitely not leave that big flat black on his face. i would go for more nuanced lighting. But this is a character design for a comic book, so I'm trying all sorts of different lightings to see how he might look from different angles and with different lights. I must admit, the blue wash was just for fun, as the final comic will be printed in black & white. 

As for the tones, there really should be just: black, white and blue.

When rendering, I have two images:

1. The Base render includes the black areas (these shadows are tighter/smaller).
2. The Tone render has bigger shadows and is supposed to provide the details for the contrours of the shape. In reality, this render also comes out in just black & white, but when I take it into Clip Studio Paint I set its opacity to 33% and overlay it on top of the Base render.
3. I then add a third layer in Clip Studio Paint and touch things up, particularly the hair (I fill in missing lines and expand the tone area fill in gaps in the hair, and there are usually a lot of them)

Although I do have a tutorial on how to do this (see my signature), I'm about to make a quick video to demonstrate the process. Hope to have it done in a month or so. But in the meantime, maybe I'll post the unedited renders along with my next attempt at this character's face.

jepsonpeteCMT

Headwax_Carrara said:

 

 

 

Wow! That dragon is amazing. I certainly wouldn't have thought that was a 3D model. Great job!

 

@mmitchell_houston Congrats on the book/cover on Amazon. Looks great.

I also sometimes put a blue wash over my images to make them more comic like, usually works best on colour images. I use a gradient fill of very light blue to a shade darker. I set the blend mode to vivid light and reduce opacity to 20%. It's surprising how it can really change the look of any image.

Looking forward to seeing your video demonstration of your process.

mmitchell_houston

Headwax_Carrara said:

Carrara job, 2000 pixels wide here if you want a closeup..

 

'Níðhöggr, the Dragon Who Gnaws at the Roots of The World Tree.' 2019, Digital ink, dimensions variable.

According to Norse Mythology the names of the serpents are legend. Dragon, Fafnir, Jormungand, adder, Nidhogg, snake, viper, Goin, Moin, Grafvitnir, Grabak, Ofnir, Svafnir, Masked One... among them.

From the pre 12th Century Norse poem Grímnismál.

A hall I saw,
far from the sun,
On Nastrond it stands,
and the doors face north,
Venom drops
through the smoke-vent down,
For around the walls
do serpents wind.
I there saw wading
through rivers wild
treacherous men
and murderers too,
And workers of ill
with the wives of men;
There Nithhogg sucked
the blood of the slain,
And the wolf tore men;
would you know yet more?

 

I've left traces of the three d mesh for a bit of self reflexive fun.

Too much Nikolai Gogol. 

 

Plus an oldie for @mmitchell_houston  :)

 

 

Thanks for the old text. I think I may have read (i.e. skimmed) it in college. Hard to recall. In grad school we went through so many books in a month that I lost track of them. I love both illustrations. The top one does NOT look like it has CGI roots and I would never guess that it did and I still cannot see any signs of the mesh hiding in it. As for the b&w image, I really love the noir look and am thrilled by the noose as a framing element. Nice touch of menace all around! I also like the subtle texture on the floor. That really works well to add some depth to the scene. I really do like the setting you chose for this one. It has a nice steampunk vibe.

mmitchell_houston

I seldom do this, but even though I knew this face is a dead end I decided to do another render. The pose and camera are exactly the same, but I changed the lighting only and did a few different things when I cleaned it up.

This experience confirmed that this face is absolutely a dead-end. The cheek bones do not catch enough shadows or highlights to make this easy to use. I'm heading back to the drawing board and will see what I can come up with next.

OLD on the left/top – – – – – – NEW on the right/bottom

 

EDIT: What the heck was I thinking with the blue shadow on his right eye? It looks like bad mascara! 

waxfin_c9ea3eab69

@jepsonpete_63996f7ec6  thanks Pete :)

and thank you mmitchell_houston  for your insightful comments !

 

wsterdan

Headwax_Carrara said:

Carrara job, 2000 pixels wide here if you want a closeup..

Absolutely gorgeous, I get a strong “Brothers Hildebrandt” vibe from it. Very impressive (as always).

— Walt Sterdan
 

waxfin_c9ea3eab69

mmitchell_houston said:

I seldom do this, but even though I knew this face is a dead end I decided to do another render. The pose and camera are exactly the same, but I changed the lighting only and did a few different things when I cleaned it up.

This experience confirmed that this face is absolutely a dead-end. The cheek bones do not catch enough shadows or highlights to make this easy to use. I'm heading back to the drawing board and will see what I can come up with next.

OLD on the left – – – – – – NEW on the right

 

EDIT: What the heck was I thinking with the blue shadow on his right eye? It looks like bad mascara! 

Hey this looks much better!! I wouldn't abandon him just yet

Character on the left looks like he would seduce your wife if he had a chance, you wouldn't leave him with the till full of $

one on the right looks like a well meaning football player who has been whacked just a little

have you researched facial attributes 

I used to think an attractive kid (ie a kid that people would like)  had wide eyes (good for throwing spears using base trigonometry)and a wide strong jaw

of course I wa totally wrong as these characteristice are threatening

so for a cute kid you need eyes halfway down the head , a domed head and a soft jaw, and eyes that are just about avverage 0 what ever that is ;)

not that your chap is a kid,

but people will always read characters differentally , eg depending on their life experience, or eg women find different types of men attractive depending on the aspect of their cycle and what they intend doing with him in the short/long run

interesting page https://www.thelist.com/151118/the-most-attractive-facial-traits-according-to-science/

 

edit sorry logged in wrongly - it's headwax-carrara 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mmitchell_houston

waxfin_c9ea3eab69 said:

mmitchell_houston said:

I seldom do this, but even though I knew this face is a dead end I decided to do another render. The pose and camera are exactly the same, but I changed the lighting only and did a few different things when I cleaned it up.

This experience confirmed that this face is absolutely a dead-end. The cheek bones do not catch enough shadows or highlights to make this easy to use. I'm heading back to the drawing board and will see what I can come up with next.

OLD on the left – – – – – – NEW on the right

 

EDIT: What the heck was I thinking with the blue shadow on his right eye? It looks like bad mascara! 

Hey this looks much better!! I wouldn't abandon him just yet

Character on the left looks like he would seduce your wife if he had a chance, you wouldn't leave him with the till full of $

one on the right looks like a well meaning football player who has been whacked just a little

have you researched facial attributes 

I used to think an attractive kid (ie a kid that people would like)  had wide eyes (good for throwing spears using base trigonometry)and a wide strong jaw of course I wa totally wrong as these characteristic are threatening so for a cute kid you need eyes halfway down the head , a domed head and a soft jaw, and eyes that are just about avverage 0 what ever that is ;) Not that your chap is a kid, but people will always read characters differently, eg depending on their life experience, or eg women find different types of men attractive depending on the aspect of their cycle and what they intend doing with him in the short/long run. Interesting page https://www.thelist.com/151118/the-most-attractive-facial-traits-according-to-science/

edit sorry logged in wrongly - it's headwax-carrara 

That was an interesting article. Thanks for sharing it with us. It told me a few things I hadn't heard before.

I really liked your descriptions of these two renders – especially about not trusting him with money in the till! HAH.

I will probably keep this character for use in some other story at some other time (possibly some sort of smarmy character or second-banana), but for now I'm tossing him because the cheek bones aren't working with my standard lighting. He's just not catching shadows in the right places. This guy would just take too much effort to work with throughout an entire comic.

Artini

Paint Shop Pro 2019 has a free plugin "Pic to Painting" and below is one of its presets applied to Heidi:

https://www.daz3d.com/de-heidi-for-genesis-8-female

Artini

... and the same render with Dragan Effect applied.

Artini

This Retro Pop effect from "Pic to Painting" is a bit weird, but I like it.

Below, it is applied to the render with Gustave

https://www.daz3d.com/gustave-hd-for-genesis-8-male

mmitchell_houston

Artini said:

This Retro Pop effect from "Pic to Painting" is a bit weird, but I like it.

Below, it is applied to the render with Gustave

https://www.daz3d.com/gustave-hd-for-genesis-8-male

I really LIKE this effect here. I'm definitely seeing a little touch of early Picasso in the shapes and lines. Especially on his foot. And the bright colors are just a blas!

mmitchell_houston

Artini said:

... and the same render with Dragan Effect applied.

I like what this effect does to the hair, but I'm not at all a fan of anything else it is doing here. The skin just looks dirty and the leather looks odd. I guess I do like that it introudces effects without excessive distortion or noise (such as the details on the front of her clothing). But for me, this isn't that interesting, sorry to say.

mmitchell_houston

Just got my comp copies of the Epic Anthology of Galaxy Prime published by my buddy, James Shade. I did the cover art, logo and typography.

I'm pleased with the overall look, but I do think it's a little dark. I'm going to ask him if he could easily swap out the cover with a JPEG with slightly brighter colors to bring out the yellows and blues more (and I would move up the company logo on the back cover just a little to be more in line with the barcode). If not, I can definitely live with this and will just be mindful of it for the next time. The book is available from Amazon.

tkdrobert

mmitchell_houston said:

Just got my comp copies of the Epic Anthology of Galaxy Prime published by my buddy, James Shade. I did the cover art, logo and typography.

I'm pleased with the overall look, but I do think it's a little dark. I'm going to ask him if he could easily swap out the cover with a JPEG with slightly brighter colors to bring out the yellows and blues more (and I would move up the company logo on the back cover just a little to be more in line with the barcode). If not, I can definitely live with this and will just be mindful of it for the next time. The book is available from Amazon.

Sweet awesome-sause

tkdrobert

Amazing Spiderman

mmitchell_houston

tkdrobert said:

Amazing Spiderman

You're doing a pretty good job of getting a consistent comic look to your illustrations. The webbing is pretty good. Is it a brush of some kind?