I am going to be remaking a classic. King's Quest 4! This is a big project for me. I will be programming my own engine, and hopefully doing the art. I did my best to recreate a screen. Here's a screenshot of the original game: I redrew it on a standard piece of paper and came up with this: Then I did some coloring, and some shading, etc to come up with this: Then I did some more coloring, nearly finished it and decided it wasn't turning out right: Next, I started from where I left off on the third one down again and started again. Finally, I finished this one to come up with this: Basically, it looks too cartoony. I would like it to look more like KQ5, or the new King's Quest I vga. Look those up in google to see what I'm talking about. What do you think? What should I do? BTW- I'm using Photoshop [edited by - Muzlack on December 1, 2002 11:21:06 PM]

Well, first off, I would try to avoid outlining. That adds a lot to the cartooniness(spelling/word?) factor. Second, try adding some realistic shadows. Shading is an interesting art. You can''t just shade individual portions (ex: a branch), you also have to consider the object and how the light falls as a whole. It appears the light is coming from the forward-right of the scene, so you should greatly darken the left side of the tree and house, with stronger shading under the overhangs. You were heading in the right direction with your first attempt, but your shading was placed semi-randomly, instead of logically based on how the light would fall. The tree in your first attempt actually looks pretty good. You just needed to order your light, clean up the white edges, and apply shading to the rest of your scene, instead of just the tree.
You also might want to add some distance cues, such as gradually washing out the colors with distance.
When considering your waterwheel, it appears to be a flat disc. You forgot to add depth to the outer edge. Also, you may want to clean up the lines.
Oh, and one other point. Your picture seems a bit too wide-open. It appears you lost the ''homely'' look of the original.

I think this is much better, but still no cigar. Take a look at this:

I think you should probably work on your hand drawing skills a bit more. Utilizing techniques like two point perspective (or perhaps even three point for this tree) can help to give scenes like this a more realistic feel. Don''t be afraid to use aids, such as rulers, compasses, etc. Spend time drawing all the different elements from this picture, and practice each of them until you get good at all the individual elements. Then do a plan drawing, where you outline the basics of the scene using primitives, like cylinders, spheres, cubes, pyramids, etc. Then slowly work the scene over adding detail to different areas slowly. Never spend alot of time working on one small area, always add your detail in phases.

Some reccomendations:

Build your trees out of spheres and cones, and concentrate on the "3D" effect, building in leaves and shading. Look at the original trees: There''s a ton of detail in them, and they''re only made using 3 colors, and an early pixel pusher!

Build the house out of cubes, in correct perspective before adding the large tree. It will help you more accurately place the roots/branches.

Draw the water wheel at first as a cylinder in perspective, then add details such as spokes.

Some other general tips:

-Always use an ever-sharp mechanical pencil. It allows you to draw fine details.

-Keep a kneaded eraser and a vinyl eraser on hand, it''s easier to fix mistakes on paper then it is to fix mistakes once it''s scanned.

-View EVERYTHING as a basic shape, or as being comprised of many basic shapes. Fine details come later.

-When drawing full scenes such as these, be mindful of the three main elements: Foreground, subject, and background. By distinguishing between the parts, you create a multi layered "deeper" composition.

-When drawing things to scan, always draw bigger then you think you need to. If you color a huge picture, and then resample it down, it looks far better. It also has the side effect of maing the lines thinner, allowing finer details.

Hope this helps.

Pic don't show up for me

Anyway, if you want something like KQ5 and KQ6, try using Painter. You can do the same with Photoshop, but its easier done with Painter.

But KQ5 and KQ6 background aren't drawn in computer though, I think its just hand painted and scanned in.

Also, if you can't paint on canvas, its pretty hard to be able to paint on computer. But with practice and tablet, its doable.



Edit: Ok managed to load the pic. I think instead of redrawing the original pic, just color/paint over the original pic. And when you're drawing perspective, use lines for guide.

[edited by - Monochrome on December 2, 2002 6:29:04 PM]

Thanks for the advice everyone. But I''m pretty intent on using photoshop, I love it! I think after each drawing I''ll get better, so I just need to a few of these practice drawings.