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I'm trying Heroic Fantasy ... ^^'

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  • SapphireBlueSapphireBlue Posts: 963
    edited December 2023

    Thank you for your comments MaloneXI! You're totally right. The lighting technique is what really sets it apart. And I really appreciate your approach in lighting and post work. I flit between lots of styles, and like everything from crisp and clean to really like dark gritty textured imagery. Your post work definitely brings that latter out and it just adds to the feel so much.

    I was perusing Frazetta's work the last few days here and there (focusing on the epic color cover imagery), and realized the work I was most familiar with was from his work on the 1983 Fire and Ice film. I watched that one several times growing up, which explains that nagging familiarity.

    I tried out a render with post work quickly this week, and am enjoying it a lot. Irritatingly I only meant to try some stuff out so I might apply it to a couple of old fantasy-style stories I had, but the render itself has led to some new story ideas. Haha. Thank you for the inspiration. smiley

    Your new images look amazing, especially that second one! For your problem with rendering scenes with multiple characters, maybe some of the following might help, if you haven't considered it yet:

    • Because of your level of postwork, you can use other genesis generations that are less demanding to create secondary characters. I do that at times, and Genesis and Genesis 2 characters work great for that. If my post work is going to be very extensive, I even just work with the old generations for the main characters at times.
    • With armies and hordes, instancing makes a differences. For an army, you might use 5-10 characters in specific poses, then create the rest in instances. (Again this would be even easier in combination with older genesis generations.)
    • Use something like Scene Optimizer or other method to reduce your texture sizes. Again since you do heavy postwork and are not aiming for a high-realism render, you can reduce the textures quite a bit and make things fit on your card.
    • You can set up all your characters but render your image in layers using canvases, then pull all the layers together in Photoshop or GIMP etc. Here are a couple of video links from the new user contest threads for canvases: 
    Post edited by SapphireBlue on
  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145

    I'm glad I'm inspiring you hahaah , it's a kind of team work , otherwise , we would not be there :) 

    Thanx a lot again for your appreciations :) Fire and Ice , yep , was a master piece , but in my opinion, , should have been created in oil painting , that is to say soooo much work than produced. The final artistic direction is cool , but too much near of animated production. Of course , because of time saving. Some artists made animated production with their own styles. It demands a lot of work , but the final result is a part of their souls. Really interesting. 

    Bout your advices , for epic sceneries with a lot of chartacters , yep , I did not think about using old genesis figures , maybe because I was afraid about how to fit the new outfits on old figures. But it's a really dam'good idea, dear. 

    And of course,  I did not think about instancing...sooo bad....Ihow idiot I am ... In the case I'll have characters in same poses , of course, I'll think about. But in the second pic , my orcs had differents poses , I didn' dare , and think , to use instances. And for the Otpimiser , yep this time I've used it. And for the final point , using canevas to render each characters independantly , you're just my guardian angel :) I'll start an epic scenery in the next weekd , I just have to think about the composition. But , thanks to you , I know it's possible :)

    Thanx again , and happy new year :)

  • HylasHylas Posts: 4,989

    Really impressive work!

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    Thank you, Hylas!
  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145

    It's clearly a wip. I have to find the good balance for the fire and the green flame of the sword. 

  • David RDavid R Posts: 294

    MaloneXI, these are marvelous.  Do you have a gallery?

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 1

    Not yet for these kind of works , but I'll working on it soon :)

    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 2

     

    Rah the flaming sword by Pyromantix is a really dam good asset , I have to work a bit with it. For those who know , it reminds me of the Black Moon Chronicles , by Froideval. 

    In that case , it's a bit difficult to allow the first character detaching from the rest of the composition. I was obliged to add à noise filtering for the render,and it ate a lot of détails. 

    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • csaacsaa Posts: 824

    MaloneXI said:

    Hey there. 

    I hope your xmas night was really great :) Mine was cool. My father gave me a part of his artbooks about Frazetta , Segrelles , Lehr , Foss ,etc. 
    So I'm starting my deep analysis of all these oil painting works :)

    MaloneXI,

    Happy New Year! 

    I drop by your thread to check out your work. While I can't remark on every single image you share, I applaud the direction your art is taking. It's enjoyable because it speaks to the heart, eliciting strong emotions from the viewer.

    As far as techniques are concerned, I also employ post-editing steps. If I had to guess, there's 50-50 effort now between my 3D renders and post-editing. If in your case you "borrow" from the masters, so much the better! Nobody was born knowing how to do all of this. We all learned by rote or by mimicking other people's handiwork. I'm sure one day you'll synthesize all your ideas and all your influences and come up with your own style.

    My only question is: what software do you use for post-edit?

    Cheers!

     

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 2
    Thanx you lot Csaa!! You are totally right about that. I have the first style, trying to mod it 'till I' m happy with it :) but the composition is Another story. These days, I have absorbed what I could of Frazetta and others. Now I'll deal with my own vision. The soft I'm using is simply Photoshop, and my Wacom. I have scripted some actions, created some brushes, and most of the work is handmade. Like I've said, renders are a kind of base of work. Once I'm OK with light, space composition, I'm starting a kind of matte painting on a layer. Mask some zone, etc. The idea of scripting is to obtain a kind of constancy in the art direction. So, to start creating a style, in fact. Even if I modify it, when you'll see one of my pics, the goal is you tell yourself "oh, it's a work of Malone". That the only thing I want :)
    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 9

    Here is a new shot. I really like too much the fire sword of Pyromantix , I'll certainly use it , or them , in my next works. For those who know the comic bool "Black Moon Chronicles", it makes me remember one of the elfic character with his two swords. Firing the swords is clearly a tribute to Wismerhill , the main character of this amazing comic; 

    I've found that the fire is giving a powerful atmosphere in the scene composition. I have hesitated about giving the warrior a source of light , but considering my different tests , the fact that he is only lighted up by his two swards looks really cool, no ? 

    Cheers. 

     

    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • David RDavid R Posts: 294

    MaloneXI said:

    Here is a new shot. I really like too much the fire sword of Pyromantix , I'll certainly use it , or them , in my next works. For those who now the comic bool "Black Moon Chronicles", i makes me remember one of the elfic character with his two swords. Firing the swords is clearly a tribute to Wismerhill , the main character of this amazing comic; 

    I've found that the fire is giving a powerful atmosphere in the scene composition. I have hesitated about giving the warrior a source of light , but considering my different tests , the fact that he is only lighting up by his two swards looks really cool, no ? 

    Cheers. 

     

    Awesome.  POV adds some much drama. 

  • NinefoldNinefold Posts: 256

    That is absurdly cool, MaloneXI. Love the silhouetted dragon (are its innards glowing? SO cool) and the reflections in the water. It is wild how skillful your compositions have gotten in, like ... what, a couple of weeks? I've liked pretty much everything you've posted, but I was also absolutely gobsmacked by your second-to-last piece. Incredible use of color.

  • HylasHylas Posts: 4,989

    MaloneXI said:

    It's clearly a wip. I have to find the good balance for the fire and the green flame of the sword. 

    Very cool! Sword needs to be longer. I mean, I understand perspective and all... but composition wise, I think longer would make sense.

     

    MaloneXI said:

    Awesome! Truly, 10/10, no notes yes

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    Thanks, friends!! Always pleasure to think that someone finds my work cool :D Yep, you're totally right, the perspective killed the length of the sword, in order that people could imagine it's transpercing the death. Maybe it's a lens focal fail, i'll take a look on what I can do.
  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 9

    I had this idea of composition in my mind , a sort of "high ground" situation. But I didn't want the weak to be surpassed by the barbarian in full armor mode. Well, I made him win thanks to one of his firing swords. He has the high ground. 

    One of my regret is that we can't totally see the expression of the hero, due to the opted lens. I wanted this format, on portrait , but I did want to see all of the two characters being cut because of not enough space inside the format. 

    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • David RDavid R Posts: 294

    MaloneXI said:

    I had this idea of composition in my mind , a sort of "high ground" situation. But I didn't want the weak to be surpassed by the barbarian in full armor mode. Well, I made him win thanks to one of his firing swords. He has the high ground. 

    One of my regret is that we can't totally see the expression of the hero, due to the opted lens. I wanted this format, on portrait , but I did want to see all of the two characters being cut because of not enough space inside the format. 

     

    Dude, you really need to put your stuff in the gallery.  It is absolutely top-notch. laugh 

  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,693

    MaloneXI: The images are spectacular. I bought all the 'Paper Tiger' fantasy art books I could afford in the early '80's and '90's, and yours are up with those in quality, lighting, subject and imagination. Really amazing. They strongly remind me of both Boris Vallejo and a somewhat darker artist who only signed himself as 'Bruno' IIRC (if I ever knew the surname, it didn't sink in). 

    With my engineer's hat on (one I find impossible to remove as it's part of me), the flaming swords bother me. It's highly likely the flames would destroy the temper in the steel, and the swords would be completely annealed after a while, and as a result they'd be totally useless at holding an edge. wink

    Regards,

    Richard

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145

    richardandtracy said:

    MaloneXI: The images are spectacular. I bought all the 'Paper Tiger' fantasy art books I could afford in the early '80's and '90's, and yours are up with those in quality, lighting, subject and imagination. Really amazing. They strongly remind me of both Boris Vallejo and a somewhat darker artist who only signed himself as 'Bruno' IIRC (if I ever knew the surname, it didn't sink in). 

    With my engineer's hat on (one I find impossible to remove as it's part of me), the flaming swords bother me. It's highly likely the flames would destroy the temper in the steel, and the swords would be completely annealed after a while, and as a result they'd be totally useless at holding an edge. wink

    Regards,

    Richard

    Thanx a lot Richard !! 
    huhu , you got your eye right !! The sword couldn't support such a flame , but hey , thanx to the gods of the hidden worlds , it's heroic fantasy :D

    I'm glad you have noticed somes references to this art , like Vallejo's or Frasetta's and others. Them are my masters , without any doubt. For now , I'm trying to enhance my learning curve, adapting the codes to my own vision , and more , what 3D could help me through a software like DAZ. In a first time , I'm learning the light composition , how to detach a subject , or focus the importance on one subject or an other. And in a second time , I'll try to "bold the line" , like we say in france "forcer le trait" , using muscled barbarians , extrem warriors poses , etc. But for that , I need to gain confidence in my compos. But it's cool that my start point is giving feelings to you , I can consider I'm on the right way !!

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145

    David R said:

    MaloneXI said:

    I had this idea of composition in my mind , a sort of "high ground" situation. But I didn't want the weak to be surpassed by the barbarian in full armor mode. Well, I made him win thanks to one of his firing swords. He has the high ground. 

    One of my regret is that we can't totally see the expression of the hero, due to the opted lens. I wanted this format, on portrait , but I did want to see all of the two characters being cut because of not enough space inside the format. 

     

    Dude, you really need to put your stuff in the gallery.  It is absolutely top-notch. laugh 

    I don't know how to do that, and  what it implies, I'll take a look , why not :D

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 10

    Once again , a tribute , done tonight lol. I didn't want to sleep ^^'

    I wanted to try a kind of portrait , like a movie frame, half way from comics and cinema. But I'm not convinced about that for now. I have to work on it. But I'm a bit more about a complete scenery instead of a focus on a single character. 

     

    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • richardandtracyrichardandtracy Posts: 5,693
    edited January 10

    I was mis-remembering, the artist was not 'Bruno', but Gerald 'Brom'. An example is this:

     (https://www.bromart.com/)

    Regards,

    Richard

    Post edited by richardandtracy on
  • David RDavid R Posts: 294

    MaloneXI said:

    David R said:

    MaloneXI said:

    I had this idea of composition in my mind , a sort of "high ground" situation. But I didn't want the weak to be surpassed by the barbarian in full armor mode. Well, I made him win thanks to one of his firing swords. He has the high ground. 

    One of my regret is that we can't totally see the expression of the hero, due to the opted lens. I wanted this format, on portrait , but I did want to see all of the two characters being cut because of not enough space inside the format. 

     

    Dude, you really need to put your stuff in the gallery.  It is absolutely top-notch. laugh 

    I don't know how to do that, and  what it implies, I'll take a look , why not :D

    It's easy.  All DAZ members automatically get a gallery so that you can share your art with others.  You post your work in "My Gallery" and it appears in the main Gallery for others to enjoy. laugh

     

  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    richardandtracy said:

    I was mis-remembering, the artist was not 'Bruno', but Gerald 'Brom'. An example is this:

     (https://www.bromart.com/)

    Regards,

    Richard

    I didn't know him, thanx a lot!
  • FirstBastionFirstBastion Posts: 7,764
    edited January 10

    I'm really liking your painterly F/X aand postwork on these. Any hints on the programs used and/or filter techniques?  

     

    And the classic world old school composition is so appropriate to the subject.

    Post edited by FirstBastion on
  • MaloneXIMaloneXI Posts: 145
    edited January 11
    Hi FirstBastion, well, I can't totally explain how I'm doing that, it's a kind of feelings. I've scripted some actions in photoshop, for the first material impression, and after that there is more or less work to rework the picture in some zones with the tablet. There is not really a "method" to do this. It's just a hierarchy of actions in order to matérialize a kind of graphic style. Sometimes it's working, sometimes not lol, like in the last one. Tired, too much brushes, or not enough, and the feeling is not here. The most important is to find a way to dirty the render. Like a base material you have as a first step.
    Post edited by MaloneXI on
  • FirstBastionFirstBastion Posts: 7,764

    Certainly looks like a lot of passion and dedication goes into the works of art. Very compelling results.

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