Psuedo-monochrome landscape painting. I.E. No creative name in mind.

Needed something to paint again, so here's what I did. Again, not original, but it was fun, and good practice.
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After trying to paint a venice styled canal scene, and getting bogged down with technicalities, I decided to go back to something simpler, and paint this entire scene on only one layer in PS. It ended up being mostly one layer, but things like grass, for instance, got split because I'm a scaredy cat.
This took maybe 5-6 hours over the course of several weeks. I need more practice.   

Early Wip.
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[edit] now that I'm sharing it, the self-examination kicks in. Considering the hazy environment, I should have added crepuscular rays around the castle. Would have looked cool too. One of these days...

Looks pretty neato! I'm not sure what that thing in the foreground is though. Also to me the tree looks off balance and a bit small.

There's also one without magic.
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I'm trying to balance to focal point (the castle) with the interest (the tree) without making the tree too heavy in the scene. I don't disagree that the composition could be better. Next time maybe.

I can't help but get the feeling that there's something more going on, with all these paintings. Don't get me wrong they're cool, but are you gearing up for something?

Xraygunner wrote:...Are you gearing up for something?

To be a better artist? No, I don't actually have a specific reason for doing these. I enjoy piddling around on a canvas, and it's pretty satisfying when it turns out. I've mentioned wanting to create a hand-drawn animation for one of my [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], but that scale of a project is something I'm reserving for retirement.

By the way, I love the animations put out by Bird-Box:
Be sure to check out their channel.


One more thing. I wish photoshop, at least my version of it, were better for frame animation. There are some sharp 2D animation tools, but they all lack photoshop's drawing/painting ability.

What version are you using? I just made the switch to the cloud and might be convinced to let go of CS5.

Hey Daniel,
I wanted to see it on a monitor screen rather than a phone before I commented... I like your brush work with the subtle red splots, especially the clouds (center-top). I prefer the non-magic version myself. What composition techniques are you using--you mentioned balance and focal points? (We've been talking about composition this week in class and it raised some... debate, lol)

Do you Pinterest? There is a pinner who gathers a lot of cool work: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], I find that taking Igor Stravinsky's saying "Lesser artists borrow; great artists steal" is a good way to learn some techniques (I've been building a list of works I plan on recreating once I get out of school... {what a bad idea that became}). Speaking of that quote--it seems that there is argument that Steve Jobs miscredited Picasso as the source. The world may never know.

I look forward to your retirement and the works you'll produce!

(BTW, I've been working with Photoshop CC for the past few months and I like the potential it contains hidden away, but I feel frustrated using it. Not sure if they created the interface to not intimidate newbies or if they like hiding things behind "double click the small barely noticeable sub-icon that gives no indication of what it does" tool/menu/things.)

Gunner, CS5 here.
Mike, the scene is vaguely split into thirds. The clouds aren't very eye catching, but I was afraid the tree was more than just visual interest; I think it might detract from the structure a bit. The structure is simple, but I still meant for it to be the primary focal point.

Your composition study sounds cool, by the way. My formal knowledge of composition is limited, and what I know, I have garnered from photography books for the most part. When I compose something, I just do it by feel for the most part. If you look at my photos, a good amount of them are with the interests in the lower third-intersections. (where your grid would intersect.) I also try a rough Fibonacci once in a while. It's quite a bit harder, but the results can be cool.

I don't have a pintercount... but I occasionally look things up there. On first glance, I thought your link was just a gallery of individual images, but it's a gallery... of galleries! Bookmarked, and will reference! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone!

In terms of composition, I think it might be better if the camera was moved closer to the tree so that it frames the left side of the image, with the city as the focus at the right third mark.  

Probably, but this isn't Blender where I can just transform the camera.
Thanks again for all the input. I'm unlikely to make changes to this piece itself, but you can be sure I take all this feedback and learn from it for future projects.

Off topic, but right now I have to do two or three projects for Colorado State University which might lead to long term design work for them!!    
It's not going to be a dream job, but it is design! Cross your fingers and various appendages for me!

Extremities crossed!

Sweet! Rock those designs out!!