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***ADVANCED CRITIQUE*** - Read Rules First


david.atwell

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It's nice, clean, and simple. A small problem with the shading towards the bottom of the R3ASZ, but otherwise good. For the diamond shard effect, paste the picture in, and then use rotate/zoom to scale/rotate it as you need. The angle option is critical for the diamond effect.

'Civil disobedience is still disobedience.'

 

'↑ And that is how you confuse an atomic computer. ↑'

 

▬ Xžε⌐¡z○╖

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  • 2 months later...

First of all I'm color-blind. Yes I am. I did draw this pictures yesterday. Why? just for fun before bed. The text needs to get fixed as well. But I hope you can give me some hints about the color!

z3zRsX1l.png

 

Thank you!

Edited by AmadeusX
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U2l6xrt.png

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  • 2 years later...

Hej / Hey / Hi,

 

I do appologies in advance if I'm making a huge mistake in posting something on this almost "dead" thread. (Newbee's clumsiness might be forgiven :grin: )

When I saw this thread, I thought it would be a good way to introduce the kind of stuffs I'm doing with Paint.net, and I wanted to know what, you guys, think about it.  BTW, I've been using Paint.net for 2 years now. 

 

I started from these 3 images:

 

932562trial.jpg

 

And I made this :

 

495503hungergames.png

 

Do not hesitate to comment and give me some pieces of advice,

if you want to see some other ones I made, I put some of them on my FB page (link below my signature)

 

Thanks in advance,

Nils

;):):D

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185766BannirePaintnetNils001.jpg


 


To see my Paint.net creations  Youtube  click here  Facebook  there

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Bondenson! I love the photomanipulations. Beautiful images. Thank you.  :cake:

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Gandhi

 

mae3426x.png

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  • 7 months later...

@AmadeusX

 

Its pretty boring to me. The Grammar is very wrong. But I guess the colors are fine.

 

@Bondenson

 

I see no errors in what you did. I can't really compliment you on any of the art because its not yours, and I don't think what you did made any of the pre-existing images better.

 

 

Angel%20of%20Pestilence_1.png

 

This was done completely in paint.net and I want to be criticized. Forewarning I am likely to respond to your criticisms with questions however do not mistake them for excuses or defensiveness. I just want to fully understand your opinions so I know what and how to apply them to improving.

Edited by Humility
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  • 4 months later...

@Bondenson You need to use AA's Assistant, lightly smudge, or use some other tool to smooth the jagged edges. I think if you cropped out the blurred background around the center square, it would be better. That whitish area between the two people needs to be removed so the fire & background can show through. Even though the circle at the top was transparent to begin with, I think it would look better if it was opaque. Similarly, the characters' bodies could be better if they were more opaque (but for this image, I wouldn't make them totally opaque). The white line on the suit of the female that goes to the bottom is red outside of the centered image. Coincidence with fire or otherwise, I think it should be removed. I don't rate images, so I won't assign a rating.

 

@Humility You have already submitted your images to the Image Hospital area, so I won't be reviewing them myself. Also, please read the rules here; you're supposed to wait for at least 3 comments to the previous art before responding. Thanks.

Edited by AnthonyScoffler
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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

@AmadeusX (I don't know if you will visit this thread. :/ )

 

Tip: Since you mentioned that you're color-blind, I would suggest having a list of colors with their respective names and codes (hex color code since it's Paint.NET).

  • Example: Red - FF0000

Just do it with the ones already in the program. Also, use the HSV sliders in the Colors window. (H = hue; S = saturation; V = value) Finally, use a color wheel (an RGB/Red-Green-Blue color wheel since that's what Paint.NET is using.) Observe where each color is located within the wheel. I hope this helps.

 

And now, for the image:

 

  • The colors of the logo are desaturated. It doesn't catch the viewer's attention. You could use any option from 'Adjustments', like Hue/Saturation. But, since there are gradients involved, the logo might be started from scratch using saturated colors, slightly darker. Remember: the background has dark and light colors. The logo needs to 'pop'. It could need some resizing as well.
  • The background seems fine. You can leave it like that.
  • I like the choice of the font. It's simple.
  • While I can read the name of the product, it might be too thin and small for others to read. And, also, it's gray. It's located were the gradient from white to transparency begins (the top.) You could make it darker and set it in the middle of the ad/banner. In advertisements, words need to be legible.
  • For the slogan, I think one is enough. Using User friendly level: Easy and  at the same time seems redundant. As for the color, it could be more brighter. In addition, you could move the slogan below since it's darker.
  • Someone commented about the grammar; I think it's about More easier to use. It's either Easier to use or More easy to use. Always check your 'writing' (in this case, typing) before using typography in an image. It's worth it.
  • If you want, you could rearrange the composition. I saw it with a mirror I have in my room (because I don't want to download the image.) It seems unbalanced. Move the logo and the Get it NOW! closer to the center Flipping (mirroring) the image horizontally helps you see if the composition is balanced or not.

 

 

@Humility (I'll be commenting on the first image you posted on the thread.)

  • The colors hurt my eyes, literally. They're too bright and/or saturated. They're all fighting for attention, and...I don't know what's the focal point in the image. Since I manage to read the title, I'll assume it's the angel. (Also, keep in mind that someone with a brighter screen might be seeing that image.) Use a main color (choose a dominant color for the whole picture.)
  • The contrast is low. If you duplicate the image and turn it into grayscale (black and white), you'll see it'll be mostly gray and white. The angel would be almost unrecognizable because of the low contrast. I'd suggest making the rest of the image a bit more dark since the angel is the focal point. You could select the angel, invert the selection and use either Levels, Curves or Hue/Saturation to darken it. Or, you could use a layer set in overlay, burn or multiply, fill it with color, erase the area where the angel is and play with the opacity. Also, you could use the light coming from the angel and the sky as a guide to shade the characters. For shading, I suggest using the brush. A soft one would help.
  • While textures are good, there's no need to go overboard with them. Try to keep the texture subtle. Use layers with low opacity and different blending modes.
  • I see you're having a bit of trouble with the grass. You could go to any of these tutorials: Complex Grass and  Textures/Patterns: Make hair/fur/grass.(Easy). This is to make the characters seem like they're on grass.

 

 

(And that's it. Sorry if I seemed too harsh or too talkative in this reply. :/ )

Edited by Beta0

(Please, be careful. Some of the sites I'm on might not be family-friendly. 😱 )

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you, I

On 3/30/2017 at 3:01 AM, Beta0 said:

@AmadeusX (I don't know if you will visit this thread. :/ )

 

Tip: Since you mentioned that you're color-blind, I would suggest having a list of colors with their respective names and codes (hex color code since it's Paint.NET).

  • Example: Red - FF0000

Just do it with the ones already in the program. Also, use the HSV sliders in the Colors window. (H = hue; S = saturation; V = value) Finally, use a color wheel (an RGB/Red-Green-Blue color wheel since that's what Paint.NET is using.) Observe where each color is located within the wheel. I hope this helps.

 

And now, for the image:

 

  • The colors of the logo are desaturated. It doesn't catch the viewer's attention. You could use any option from 'Adjustments', like Hue/Saturation. But, since there are gradients involved, the logo might be started from scratch using saturated colors, slightly darker. Remember: the background has dark and light colors. The logo needs to 'pop'. It could need some resizing as well.
  • The background seems fine. You can leave it like that.
  • I like the choice of the font. It's simple.
  • While I can read the name of the product, it might be too thin and small for others to read. And, also, it's gray. It's located were the gradient from white to transparency begins (the top.) You could make it darker and set it in the middle of the ad/banner. In advertisements, words need to be legible.
  • For the slogan, I think one is enough. Using User friendly level: Easy and  at the same time seems redundant. As for the color, it could be more brighter. In addition, you could move the slogan below since it's darker.
  • Someone commented about the grammar; I think it's about More easier to use. It's either Easier to use or More easy to use. Always check your 'writing' (in this case, typing) before using typography in an image. It's worth it.
  • If you want, you could rearrange the composition. I saw it with a mirror I have in my room (because I don't want to download the image.) It seems unbalanced. Move the logo and the Get it NOW! closer to the center Flipping (mirroring) the image horizontally helps you see if the composition is balanced or not.

 

 

@Humility (I'll be commenting on the first image you posted on the thread.)

  • The colors hurt my eyes, literally. They're too bright and/or saturated. They're all fighting for attention, and...I don't know what's the focal point in the image. Since I manage to read the title, I'll assume it's the angel. (Also, keep in mind that someone with a brighter screen might be seeing that image.) Use a main color (choose a dominant color for the whole picture.)
  • The contrast is low. If you duplicate the image and turn it into grayscale (black and white), you'll see it'll be mostly gray and white. The angel would be almost unrecognizable because of the low contrast. I'd suggest making the rest of the image a bit more dark since the angel is the focal point. You could select the angel, invert the selection and use either Levels, Curves or Hue/Saturation to darken it. Or, you could use a layer set in overlay, burn or multiply, fill it with color, erase the area where the angel is and play with the opacity. Also, you could use the light coming from the angel and the sky as a guide to shade the characters. For shading, I suggest using the brush. A soft one would help.
  • While textures are good, there's no need to go overboard with them. Try to keep the texture subtle. Use layers with low opacity and different blending modes.
  • I see you're having a bit of trouble with the grass. You could go to any of these tutorials: Complex Grass and  Textures/Patterns: Make hair/fur/grass.(Easy). This is to make the characters seem like they're on grass.

 

 

(And that's it. Sorry if I seemed too harsh or too talkative in this reply. :/ )

Thank you, I'll try to use your advice, though I'm not sure how to apply it.

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On 4/10/2017 at 3:20 AM, Humility said:

Thank you, I'll try to use your advice, though I'm not sure how to apply it.

I didn't know which part you had trouble with, but I'll respond. :)

 

Colors: Use tints, tones and shades. Tints are colors mixed with white. Tones are colors mixed with neutral gray. Shades are colors mixed with black. Curiously, I've read a lot of tutorials with this advice: Don't use white/gray/black for lighting/shading. I admit that these three don't help making the picture look great if you're aiming for a colored image. However, I've observed that 'mixing' them with colors and making sure the color doesn't reach white/gray/black can help.

 

Contrast: In the Adjustments menu (as far as I know), there are two options for turning your colored images into grayscale (or black and white): Black and White and Hue/Saturation. The first gives you a quick result by clicking it or pressing Ctrl + Shift + G. The second one has a slide bar called Saturation. True to its namesake, it allows your image to gain or lose the color saturation. If you move it to this (<<) direction, the picture will turn into grayscale. As for the use of layers, let me tell you this: blending modes (even the normal one) can help with contrast, especially if you're working with colors. The ones that, by far, helped me in creating contrast are:

  • Normal: It's more about color theory...aaand following my gut. :]
  • Multiply, Burn and Darken: These allow you to make some parts dark. But I've found that tints and pure, saturated colors work well with the first two since the darkening effect is too powerful with dark colors. The latter (Darken) works better with dark colors, and the effect is more subtle.
  • Addition, Screen, Dodge and Lighten: These can help you lighten certain parts of the drawing. I see them more as a tool for setting places were the light/s hit the subject. Addition and Dodge should be used sparingly as the effect is way too strong. By the way, Burn and Dodge are opposites. Screen can be used with moderation (I've considered this one as Multiply's opposite, though I may be wrong. XD ) These three, as far as I've seen, can work with pure colors and dark colors (so the effect creates a colored light and not white.) Lighten can be used with light colors; it's the opposite of Darken.
  • Overlay: This one helps creating more contrast and saturating the colors. It's like a Multiply/Screen combo in one mode. Using dark colors (as long as they're not too close to black) with this blending mode can darken and change colors. Using pure colors can help with creating light.

Keep in mind that blending modes should be used sparingly. Also, they seemed to work better if the opacity is low, combined with other blending modes (for example, overlay + multiply), and set in a certain order (for example, a multiply layer placed on top of an overlay one.) Finally, I suggested a soft brush because, after a lot of observation, soft brushes help creating shadows (at least, shadows that one can follow and refine later when painting.)

 

Textures:  Overlay is, by far, the best blending mode for textures (in a low opacity and if the texture is in grayscale/B&W.) You can combine it with other blending modes, like Burn, to intensify the texture.

 

Grass: There's one more thing I'd like to recommend: pyrochild's pack. In it, there's a plugin called Smudge. Recently, I was making a picture with grass. And that plugin helped me out. (If you already have it, don't listen to this last tip. XD )

(Please, be careful. Some of the sites I'm on might not be family-friendly. 😱 )

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I do experiment with different blendning modes, sometimes one blending mode on top of the other.

 

I like adjusting the layers to various opacities so the overall effect they have becomes more subtle and not too imposing (for example, some blending modes can make the image too saturated).

 

For the work that I have done, I think Multiply and Overlay with various opacities have done a great deal for me.

 

I'm also quite dependent on the Curves/Curves+ and Levels tools to get the tone, shadows, midtones and highlights adjusted till my eye like them.

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On 4/13/2017 at 7:54 PM, Beta0 said:

I didn't know which part you had trouble with, but I'll respond. :)

 

Colors: Use tints, tones and shades. Tints are colors mixed with white. Tones are colors mixed with neutral gray. Shades are colors mixed with black. Curiously, I've read a lot of tutorials with this advice: Don't use white/gray/black for lighting/shading. I admit that these three don't help making the picture look great if you're aiming for a colored image. However, I've observed that 'mixing' them with colors and making sure the color doesn't reach white/gray/black can help.

 

Contrast: In the Adjustments menu (as far as I know), there are two options for turning your colored images into grayscale (or black and white): Black and White and Hue/Saturation. The first gives you a quick result by clicking it or pressing Ctrl + Shift + G. The second one has a slide bar called Saturation. True to its namesake, it allows your image to gain or lose the color saturation. If you move it to this (<<) direction, the picture will turn into grayscale. As for the use of layers, let me tell you this: blending modes (even the normal one) can help with contrast, especially if you're working with colors. The ones that, by far, helped me in creating contrast are:

  • Normal: It's more about color theory...aaand following my gut. :]
  • Multiply, Burn and Darken: These allow you to make some parts dark. But I've found that tints and pure, saturated colors work well with the first two since the darkening effect is too powerful with dark colors. The latter (Darken) works better with dark colors, and the effect is more subtle.
  • Addition, Screen, Dodge and Lighten: These can help you lighten certain parts of the drawing. I see them more as a tool for setting places were the light/s hit the subject. Addition and Dodge should be used sparingly as the effect is way too strong. By the way, Burn and Dodge are opposites. Screen can be used with moderation (I've considered this one as Multiply's opposite, though I may be wrong. XD ) These three, as far as I've seen, can work with pure colors and dark colors (so the effect creates a colored light and not white.) Lighten can be used with light colors; it's the opposite of Darken.
  • Overlay: This one helps creating more contrast and saturating the colors. It's like a Multiply/Screen combo in one mode. Using dark colors (as long as they're not too close to black) with this blending mode can darken and change colors. Using pure colors can help with creating light.

Keep in mind that blending modes should be used sparingly. Also, they seemed to work better if the opacity is low, combined with other blending modes (for example, overlay + multiply), and set in a certain order (for example, a multiply layer placed on top of an overlay one.) Finally, I suggested a soft brush because, after a lot of observation, soft brushes help creating shadows (at least, shadows that one can follow and refine later when painting.)

 

Textures:  Overlay is, by far, the best blending mode for textures (in a low opacity and if the texture is in grayscale/B&W.) You can combine it with other blending modes, like Burn, to intensify the texture.

 

Grass: There's one more thing I'd like to recommend: pyrochild's pack. In it, there's a plugin called Smudge. Recently, I was making a picture with grass. And that plugin helped me out. (If you already have it, don't listen to this last tip. XD )

I actually just found a good easy way to do grass today. Anyway thank you. Im kind of a just, randomly do stuff until sonething looks right person. Like button mashing in street fighter 2. But Ill try messing with those features more.

 

I just made another picture, could you critique that one? I think I got the contrast better.

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@Ishi Thumbs up for blending modes and adjustments! And making sure not to go overboard with them. X]

 

@Humility You're welcome. :)

 

Note: You mean 'trial and error'? I've been doing that with PDN for some time. XD Also, I better go to your gallery for the critique. :)

(Please, be careful. Some of the sites I'm on might not be family-friendly. 😱 )

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Just now, Beta0 said:

@Ishi Thumbs up for blending modes and adjustments! And making sure not to go overboard with them. X]

 

@Humility You're welcome. :)

 

Note: You mean 'trial and error'? I've been doing that with PDN for some time. XD Also, I better go to your gallery for the critique. :)

Maybe trial and error? It feels way more extreme than that. Like when I achieve some effect I like. I am literally never able to repeat it. Like there was this one time I did this fire effect I felt was amazing. I have never been able to fully replicate it. 

 

 

It really just feels like button mashing. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm aware that someone still needs another critique. It's May 2nd, and I wish to post one or two of my previous works for this thread. :/

(Please, be careful. Some of the sites I'm on might not be family-friendly. 😱 )

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Go ahead and post them. Two weeks silence is enough.

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@Ego Eram Reputo Thank you. :)

 

These two images were done a long time ago. I was very proud of them. So...I'm aware that there will be no mercy for them. 8]

 

Note: Direct links. Also, I've been planning to do a remake of the second. But I want to hear your thoughts first. :arrow-down:

 

Spoiler

BIRD_PAINTING.pngFEELINGS_RESIZE.png

 

 

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(Please, be careful. Some of the sites I'm on might not be family-friendly. 😱 )

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I'm the wrong person to ask BetaO. It's not my style! I could give you some ideas but I don't think they would improve upon what you've done.

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@Beta0, they're wonderful! Speaking as a bird-mom though, I would like to see a slightly more defined beak on the first. I assume it's a psittacine (parrot), right?

 

 

1496930299_DraconicSig.png.8e49d04e5ce393bdcdf9f0dfb54bf1c8.png

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@Woodsy That's okay. :)

 

@LionsDragon Thanks. :) I didn't use reference images. So, I didn't have in mind what kind of bird it was.

Also, I was trying to get a smooth look. It ended up blurry. My bad... :doh: I guess Bird needs a remake, too. :)

(Please, be careful. Some of the sites I'm on might not be family-friendly. 😱 )

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@Beta0 - You did well with both, though I'm particularly drawn to the girl. I like the style. As far as critique goes, I find myself distracted by the white blurring centered over her hands. I understand it's supposed to be a glow coming from her heart, but the washed out circle seems a bit off. Like maybe it should be rays of golden glowing light coming out from between her fingers or something. The only other thought would be to tilt the heart slightly, so that the point of it is more aimed at the girl, like it's coming from her. 

 

The bird is a bit too blurry for my tastes, but that's a matter of preference of style rather than a need to correct something within the image. I did want to say I love the colors and how they're blended. It's very eye-catching.

Edited by hippiechos

LoniTownsendSig.jpg

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