Reflections

The outcome of the cubeworld project is something I am quite happy with, the outcome matches the original concept I planned out, I also was able to experiment with layer effects and how the colour affected the way the scene felt overall.

One thing I think ended up working out really well was the way I used shape language in the scene to indicate the overall feeling of the area. The bottom sections that I had to represent life were full of soft and rounded shapes making it look more friendly and non imposing, on the other hand the higher level that I had to represent death has much sharper shapes which makes it seem more intimidating and cold. These contrasted each other and brought those impressions out more than if they were just stand alone pieces.

Something I think I’d go back and improve on is the lack of smaller props that could help to flesh out the scene more. This scene currently relies on larger features such as a large statue and grave but smaller details such as a unlit candle sat at the base of the statue or more smaller flowers to populate the edges of the river would have been a good way to further feed the narrative of the piece .

My favourite part of this piece was the way I painted the rocks and water as they turned out really well. The streaks in the painting of the waterfalls mimics the way that a waterfall looks like in real life where the translucency of the water causes an almost stripy pattern in the falling water. I tried to keep the rocks rather rounded and smooth and this came across well in the final image and I managed to achieve this whilst still giving it the features most rocks have such as divots and cracks to make the shape look more natural.

I think that overall the outcome of this project was successful and met not only the original brief but also the imagery I set out right at the start. There is always room ofr improvement such as the introduction of smaller contextual props to complement and add to the larger ones I already have in the scene .

Adding the details

 Once I had done the colouring of the scene I started to work on the little details that help to breath a bit of life into the piece. this includes particals, sun-rays and colour dodge for a glowing highlight effect.

So starting with using colour dodge, this is a great tool for giving a piece dramatic and glowy highlights and I personally really like the effect it can give a piece, however it is very easy to go too far. One minute your highlighting one spec of water and the next thing you know the entire lake looks radioactive. To avoid this I stuck to only using it on very specific areas which I knew it would work well on, I also zoomed out regularly to check that I wasn't overdoing it and getting carried away. I think the colour dodge really helped to bring out the highlights in the bushes and the water, it especially worked nicely in the water as it gave it a sparkling fantasy feel which was very nice. This was also enhanced by the use of particles which I placed around the base of the waterfalls to represent the drops of water being flung about by the force of colliding with the water below as normally with a waterfall you will have a misty cloud of water that has splashed back up .

I then went on to adjust the lighting to make it more dramatic and to do this I used overlayed washes of contrasting colours. This worked nicely but I do think it could have been improved if I had put more detail into how the lighting played upon the leaves in the tree as it could have added more depth which would improve the overall scene. I used a blue tone for the shadows as it complemented the green and blue tones already in the bottom level and contrasted the top tier were most of the sunlight was hitting .  I was perticually  happy with the way The shadow worked on the hedges as it it really helped to push the depth in the pushes that little bit further as it did fall a bit flat beforehand as the tones in the colouring were all the same which isnt accurate to what it like in real life.

Colour variations

 I tried out some different colour variations though the use of gradient maps, I did this so I could explore the different options and how they effect the atmosphere of the piece. By doing this I can choose which one is best for the narrative of my concept.

Variation  1

This variation is a little bit darker than the rest but provides a nice contrast for the bright bushes and water. This darkness suits the graveyard level as it gives a feeling of  grimace and its a displeasure atmosphere which is fitting for a graveyard. I do think however it is a bit too dark and the details get lost in the meshing of the colours and this needs to be avoided for things to stand out.

Variation 2

This one was more saturated with the green bushes and blue water really standing out against the grim and dark looking graveyard which suits the narrative I have for the scene. But I do feel that the graveyard is falling a bit flat and needs more contrast in the bushes and trees perhaps to bring it to fruition.

The water is much the same as the last option but the way it plays with the colour of the bushes well and they complement each other. 

Variation 3

This variation was my favourite as it balanced the vibrancy in the area that represents life and the contrast in the graveyard area is nicely balanced overall. But I do think putting the gradient from the first variation overtop with a decreased opacity and a blending adjustment may help give those undertones some more bass.

Variation 4

This colour variation  has some really nice elements but it is a bit loud. The green tone that runs throughout the piece works really nicely with the greenery and the soil but not so much with the stone, metal benches and water. Think it would work well if I merged the colours here with another  variation to keep the bright greens and natural tones whilst finding more fitting colours for the area's it does not work as well.

Conclusion

Out of the four options the one I liked the most was the third variation as it had a nice balance but it could benefit from smaller elements from the first variation and the green tint on the foliage from the four variation.To create a ideal mesh of the first, third and fourth variations I will use the third variation as a base which will be the main influence and then overlay the other  two options overtop with reuced opacity .

Tonal Shading

 

  

Adding shading to the blocked out tonal sections was the most tedious part of the process, but is easly broken down into three stages.

Stage 1

To start of I painted in some general shapes and getting their very rough values in so compositions and tone can be check so we can make sure everything works well with each other. The reason I do this over the entire piece and not a focusing on smaller parts is because you can get lost in one part and then zoom out and find out its in the wrong place or that its just not working even though you have sunk a hefty chunk of time into making it look so detailed.

Stage 2

In this stage I started working further into rendering the scene, the key part of this process being to check  the overall image constantly. Two good ways to do this is firstly to zoom out and secondly to flip the canvas every now and then. Flipping the canvas forces the brain to reprocess the image again and this means the little things that go overlooked because you become used to seeing them and kicked back up into view. 

Stage 3

In this final stage I added the small details such as the trails in the bark of the tree and the edge shadows of the grass as it meets the dirt path , this is the bow on top of the piece and although these changes are not the most easy to see they build and support the detail around it and make a piece seem more fully developed overall.

Reflection 

I think that  the tonal shading went quite well in this piece, the strengths in my own opinion being the hedges and the rocks as they are rendered nicely. The hedges have variation so show the layers within the bush which is true to how it would look in person without having to spend ages over each individual leaf cluster. The rocks were a strength of the piece as I managed to keep a even balance of having them being rounded and smooth whist still having those more natural features such as cracks and uneven surfaces. I think the most underdeveloped part was the two benches as they seem quite boring in comparison to the rest of the piece and I think adding some detailing on the metal arm rests and the top of the back board would have helped to push it and develop this part further. 

Shape langauge in design

 Shape language is very important to getting across a message in your design. They can help to frame a narrative in a scene or can be key to atmosphere in a painting. During the making of the cubeworld piece I checked my shape language and silohettes to make sure I was on the right track and the design was effective.

Silhouette

silhouettes need to be readable, this makes the work more recognisable as a unique object or in this case landscape to the viewer. A great example of this is the London skyline, this is a popluar thing to be put on tourism gifts as it is an instantly recognisable image because of the variety in the shapes making it so distinct . With my worlds silhouette I wanted the levels to be able to be seen and not obscure each other to much which I think I managed to achieve.

After that I blocked in the tones more so the levels were clearer to check how the outline of each section worked against or with each-other.Here I could see that the way the top section overlaid the bottom section was correct and was not blocking too much of the other areas which would make it too overpowering and would out weigh the others too much .

Shape language

Since the concept for this piece was the contrast of life and death I made sure the shapes contrast each other, in the graveyard area I used sharper and harsh shapes and elsewhere I used rounded and softer shapes such as in the rocks where I tried to round them off more and the dirt is also shaded to look soft and without any harsh lines. This juxtaposition of shapes complements each other and gives more to the narrative of the piece than using random shapes across the entire piece

In the section with the benches I tried to use a mix of both because that area is more of a equal stage between the two and has both signs of life and growth and harsher elements of death. The graveyard level’s underneath area is much rockier and has pointed edges which is very much purposeful , this contrasts the rounded soil of the other levels and is a framing part for the level so has a big effect on the feeling the entire section has, making it more sinister than its peaceful counterpart below

Cube world sketches

 

Concepts and moodboards

 

Cubeworld reference investigation

This collection of images are my main inspiration for the style of the cubeworld piece. The green outdoorsy scene with layers that overlap and guide the eye of the viewer around the images, this is best seen in the top middle image where everything is linked in some way but they all sort of spiral your eye up to the highest level in the image. I also really liked the idea of having a waterfall that continues off the edge of the land which is seen in the bottom middle image, this makes it seem more like the land is floating. As for colour style I think I will lean more towards what you see in the top right image with dramatic contrast between the darker areas and the areas lit up by the sunlight, I also quite like the way the water is coloured with so much vibrancy and that is something I want to take on board myself and try and recreate in my own work. I picked these images not only for the already mentioned reasons but also the style, the semi-realistic style is what I want to aim for so it isn't a cartoon like image but also not a renaissance painting, a nice in between that looks inspired by fantasy paintings.