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CarolineLaplante — Lovatt
Published: 2013-07-12 00:15:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 1800; Favourites: 37; Downloads: 0
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Description
Another character matte painting done in my spare time. I feel like I'm getting a much better grip on technique and that these are going much faster. So much so that I can foresee a time where I'll have to go back and rework the first few :SAnyhow, I'm happy to see this guy on the page, he's one of my favorite characters from the little story I'm working on. Sweet, honest and a bit of a worrier, but definitely someone you want on your side.
Keep your eyes peeled for more
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Comments: 31
Lol. Now i can't unsee it...
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lol your welcome?
Make his eyes blue and it'll be him in 10 years.
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thanks very much! nice work on your end too--watching!
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No problem and thanks! Watching you back
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Pretty cool! And still pretty freaky to see you making that type of pictures! 
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LOL. Thanks. Still surprisingly having fun making them too 
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i'm really curious about this character matte painting process, are you using photo composites as a rough base and then painting over it all or are you actually leaving bits of the original in there? in any case the results look great
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thanks
Basically what you described. Photo mashup using Match Color and Curves. Lots of warping and distortion to get the features right, then paint on top. That's the way I've figured out how to do it anyways (based on some enviro matte tutorials actually.) I know other people who will zbrush a head to get the details, then texture it then paint the final details. All depends on what you're comfy with.
I'm a painter at heart, so I still find these techniques 'cheap', but since I work concept art for games, and am forever being asked for more realism, it's really just a question of speed+good result...
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hey thanks for answering
yeah makes sense, I mean concept art isn't supposed to be a finished product on its own.
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np
Yeah it's always funny what a discrepancy there is between what people see and what is actually produced.
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hah yeah, and a little heartbreaking too 
loving all the bungie destiny art right now but i doubt they'll pull off anything so atmospheric in game. same with guild wars
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Amen to that. Guild Wars definitely broke my heart, lol. At least now there are dedicated art books, and those artists get a fair amount of recognition for what they do
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that's true, hard to see the benefit of hiding concept art if you're not even gonna put it in a book.
and those ncsoft guys have been really open with their artwork from the very first guild wars or at least factions. I remember checking out their giant dump threads on ca. Then other companies followed suit. good times
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Yeah I think companies started to realize that people love seeing behind-the-scenes work. Although some 'concept art' I've seen was made after the concept was actually done lol.
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lol do you remember which piece it was? actually might be better to say nothing.
can't say I haven't been tempted to do that a few times, usually after a throwaway sketch gathers momentum and becomes something cool.
I can never do it though, too much integrity... or fear of the inevitable shame
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lol. More than I can name, man. Rushing through projects is a scary reality, and only after, when there's time and the marketing guys show up do you get the time to polish stuff
Anyways I see nothing wrong with polishing a piece once it's done its job, or revisiting a rough to make it better. So long as the initial concept was there and it's just about tighter rendering, then no integrity lost in my book
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lol of course it would be EA, I think i saw something like that with deus ex too, they like to clean up the concept art after it's served its purpose. Though in their case they used some of it for the in game adverts/billboards etc
yeah that's not so bad, I was thinking of something more nefarious. pretending that the final piece was actually the product of a lengthy process, so I'd be drawing up fake thumbnails and fake iterations to justify a design that "just happened" >_>
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Oh heck, been there
Most of the time I plan things out, and keep track of my process. But sometimes it's fun to pick the first idea and run with it. Then I feel bad because it seems like all the super pro dudes always think everything through, get a million references from life, and work methodically...
...or maybe that's only what they show us *gasp!
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a conspiracy! lol that's exactly it.
maybe it's easier to gather resources and follow a method when you're in a studio environment, I'm guessing, since there's a collective vision to work toward you can pool your findings. And you can be fuelled by team enthusiasm, if that's a thing and not just my naive imagination.
Wish I planned more but i seem to treat it like play so experimenting with the process and going off in a completely different direction halfway through happens more than it ought to. plus a lot of times the cool stuff is discovered accidentally while the method can give you rigid/samey results. I guess the way to make that work as a pro is just to explore a lot faster.
but I definitely need to shift away from aesthetics and more toward science. It's strange I'd forgotten that until now, last few years I was under the impression that i just needed to get better at rendering.
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Hmm sounds like what I went through a few months back. Then I applied a bit of science to my process and the methodology all came flooding back. Added to the techniques and experimentation I'd been doing, it made for stronger work.
I think that's when we make out best work. When (like the planets aligning juuuuuuust right) we artists remember to use all the skills in our toolbox
That being said, it can definitely be a trap, and taking a little side trip to explore new ways of working is definitely good.
I try and alternate between more rigid stuff (like an illustration I'm working on now with a perspective grid, proper thumbnails, line art etc) and less restrictive exploratory stuff like the character mattes, which is really about mucking around until it looks right lol. Variety keeps me sane and loving art
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yar balance is key, easier said than done. I seem to get tunnel vision with everything. If I get into a particular game that can easily take up almost all my free time for a few weeks -_-
maybe i should start meditating in the mornings or something, to lay out my goals for the day.
anyway cheers for the conversation, longest I've had through a comments section (sorry for cluttering your image
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lol--I have the opposite problem. I call it magpie syndrome--I'm always attracted to the next shiny thing and can never finish or commit!
np. enjoyed the convo and always free to chat art and such so don't be shy
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Im curious too. not sure if i understand the whole matte painting thing
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