Andarene's 'art'

Hey guys,

Im trying to get an Abra from this.

Spoiler

I know that I need to provide some sort of proof that I made this so I have some progression screen shots.

Spoiler

Cave Progess shots


Abra Progress Shots

 

Hm, I sense Andrew's "How to make a cave" tutorial...

 

is that a claim?

 

...Yes, it is now!

 

I wasn't aware that we were not allowed to use tutorials to create pieces for this section, I still put hours of work into both the cave and the Abra model.
This is also why I posted the images of me creating it so that you know that I didn't just download his final one.

 

Hey, never said working off tutorials was against the rules, you are fine. Was merely pointing out that I recognized the basis right off the bat. Andrew's stuff is awesome.

 

Phew. I just read it in a negative way. My bad.

I've been going through heeps of his tutorials because he actually explains what he is doing and isn't boring to listen to XD.

 

His stuff is good for new and old users, Ive been on Blender for 8 years and I still watch his stuff for tips and tricks.

I'll probably get this curated in the next few days depending on mood.

 

@Andarene
Abra

Spoiler

Form/Detail
Theres a few parts i want to hit on here. FOr one, I like that the image isn't the common idea of line and shape, you didn't use edges or features to specifically focus the viewers attention in the traditional respect. Instead you used something almost akin to a bullseye it seems, using concentric (yet wholly irregular) round shapes to aid in zooming in towards the center of the image. THe only downside is that Abra isn't really at the focal point as much as off to the side. Its placement makes it look like part of the scenery instead of a major component. Also, the balance of the image seems off, since a lot of the action is happening at the lower third of the image. The upper portion, being a cave and hot a generic sky, offer another whole canvas to play with and add a few eye catching-details.

Color and Shading
Good variety of lighting to create multiple levels of shading here, its a good combination of sun, magical, and ‘natural’ underground lighting. We get the reddish orange hue of sunset to highlight the cave entrance, then the low level blues and purple to accentuate the pokemon at the forefront. For color we get this nice contrast as we travel along the cave’s length, and some good blending between the mushrooms and cave floor. The purple and yellow allow Abra to be more easily seen amongst some of the muted tones surrounding him, helping him stand out.

Something minor yet should be watched out for is how the colors will affect the focus of the viewer. Since the reddish tones are near the middle, and contrast well against the rest of the darker blues that surround Abra, the eye could be persuaded to focus on the cave mouth instead of the pokemon. The only thing I could think of to fix this would be to change Abra’s position slightly to be a little closer to the entrance, but its not a huge deal here.

Texture
A lot of good textures in here, primarily the walls of the cave. It definitely gives it a dark, not quite menacing but intimidating feel with the cracks and jagged edges dotted around the central cave area. The crystals also have the worn, scratched appearance of age that ties in nicely with the rough worn location.

The abra I think could use a little more work in this area. While we don’t exactly know what the body textures would look like in a more realistic setting, The very shiny, smooth plastic feel that is currently shown here makes him lose out on some of the great lighting that exists in the cave.

Pokemon Anatomy
overall, I’ll give you some credit. I always hate doing organic forms, and stuff like the head and such are well done and flow together nicely. The armor is a bit squarer than I could see it being, but really it still conveys the principles of the pokemon’s anatomy. Color and such seems correct, except for the brown on the arms and legs that should be yellow.

The one thing that really threw me for a curve was the absolute stiffness of the arms and legs. The legs especially seem like sticks, whereas the pokemon is usually shown with a segmented leg with a spike at the knee joint. The eye will notice the unnatural straightness and start to question it, so in all organic forms make sure that nothing is perfect like that.

Environment/Perspective
The environment is likely what I think your mind wanted to showcase here - its obviously where most of the effort went. You have these rough cave walls, the glowing mushroom field, the crystals sprouting from the ground, the cave entrance, all kinds of stuff going on here. And all of them work together, you would definitely expect to see them in a cave. THe environment can always help set the tone, and here I see a picture saying “leave me alone” just as Abra is focusing on himself. THe one thing that bugs me is the human in the very background, if thats what it is. It looks disproportionate or lumpy, and when the viewer's eye sees it they try to force this idea of a human form onto it, its just a tad wonky. Its not overly earth shattering or a deal breaker by any means, but it seems out of place if you just see it in passing.


Creativity/Effort
Despite using something for a jumping off point, you did a fair amount of work, and you actually had an interesting idea for how to include the pokemon in this image. Just expand your creativity beyond what the tutorial says and you’ll be a master artist in no time.

Improvements
More than anything else, I would say composition is what you seem to need to work on a bit more. You have a lot of cool elements here in the scene, but make it more obvious as to how they are connected. Let things like the mushrooms show up sporadically elsewhere along the walls instead of just the one fairly concentrated patch, stuff like that. Make Abra interact more with the scene. All kinds of stuff here.

Look up fireflies in Blender cycles, I see a few. They can be a pain to get rid of, but its something to watch out for. here, they look like little white/oddly colored pixels scattered around. I doubt most people would even notice them, but I’m gonna point it out since I've had enough experience with them to know that they can be annoying.

Since I actually recognized the source of part of your inspiration off the bat, I’d like to suggest that you do what I do with a lot of the info Andrew provides - use the tutorials and tips to make your own images! I obviously won’t count it against you, but don’t let tutorials be the limit of your creativity. A lot of people fall into that hole, and they lose out on some great inspiration. For example, could the mushrooms have been green? purple? Maybe they are crystals instead of mushrooms, or little insects. Let the imagination soar, and you’ll never know where you could end up.

Score
55/100

Its not a perfect image, but it is enough to get yourself an Abra.

 

@Axion;

Thanks heeps for the feedback.

I agree that abra was definatly textured badly compared to the rest of the scene but I couldnt find a good mix for him so I left it alone. The one thing about his placement that I am proud of is that you can see his tail through the crystal. When I tried to bend the legs everything went badly lol, hence why I left them straight.

I am currently working on my next scene that will be all my own now that I have a lot of good fundamentals down so we will see how that goes.

Thanks again for taking the time to curate this.