Color exercise Using some Alex Ross art

heckler · 02-20-2011, 02:34 PM

This Ross Pinup I thought was pretty rough to look at, I appreciate what he's trying to do and I'm a fan but i thought the palette was unbearable and ruined what could've been a cool image.. anyway i felt compelled to screw with it and it made for an interesting push/pull exercise, which is something I need to work on anyway. I just worked off a low rez, its quick and messy but it was fun.
Btw heres the project its from http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=30782

heckler · 02-20-2011, 02:55 PM

What i did was try to bring out the 3 characters in the middle (which is what i figured should be the main focus)..to do that I washed out the characters in the background and darken the ones in the extreme foreground. Since i dont know anyone's colors anyway i made them pretty monotone, then painted in some real color onto the main characters in the middle.. Basically all i did was colorize some things and add some shadows since its all already rendered.
If I were to do it for money plus had the time and the hi rez.. I'd probably want to adjust each character before I'd play with the composition..but the general outcome would be the same.

Eric Rabbitsmasher · 02-20-2011, 03:55 PM

Definite improvement, that top image induced an epileptic fit.

FatBoy73 · 02-20-2011, 08:54 PM

Alex Ross...did that...Mess? All I can deduce is he was tripping on acid because I've never seen such a chaotic mess before...EVER!
Oh and your version is quite nice,good separation and palette.
Great job

robtlsnyder · 02-21-2011, 12:51 AM

Looks like DC needs to give you another book to work on. You have too much time on your hands.

Looks great though. Way better than Alex's hot mess up there.

heckler · 02-21-2011, 04:57 PM

thanx guys! Im glad im not the only one that thought that Ross image didnt work. He was goin for the old 4 color palette that was used in everything back in the 60s and 70s, it works sometimes to give stuff a retro feel..it gets lost here though, i think.

Rob- I know right? lol.. actually this just took me an hour or so, it was low rez..and you can see my haphazard lasso'n... I want to find more crap like that to play with when I get more free time.. weird i know haha

omega sentry · 02-25-2011, 12:03 AM

I don't like either...while ross rainbowed colored everything you just saturated it. I don't see the balance of color or light. Not enough is the same as to much.

heckler · 02-25-2011, 01:06 PM

Ya i just colorized and separated some things, all the painting and rendering is still Ross...the purpose was just to create some composition from the painting he already had. While i agree what i did wasn't enough (i cant say i necessarily "Like" what i did either) I'd argue that my adjustments found some logic in the composition when before there was none. Ross didn't necessarily have more colors going on either, its just louder. He painted the whole thing with a very limited palette (which is quite a feat even though i don't like it.) All i really did, or try to do, was subdue a lot of the characters and bring out the characters in the middle to create a focal point, and if we're talking about focus points then less is far better than too much.

02-20-2011, 02:34 PM	#1
heckler deboweller of worlds Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 106	Color exercise Using some Alex Ross art This Ross Pinup I thought was pretty rough to look at, I appreciate what he's trying to do and I'm a fan but i thought the palette was unbearable and ruined what could've been a cool image.. anyway i felt compelled to screw with it and it made for an interesting push/pull exercise, which is something I need to work on anyway. I just worked off a low rez, its quick and messy but it was fun. Btw heres the project its from http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=30782

02-25-2011, 01:06 PM	#8
heckler deboweller of worlds Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 106	Ya i just colorized and separated some things, all the painting and rendering is still Ross...the purpose was just to create some composition from the painting he already had. While i agree what i did wasn't enough (i cant say i necessarily "Like" what i did either) I'd argue that my adjustments found some logic in the composition when before there was none. Ross didn't necessarily have more colors going on either, its just louder. He painted the whole thing with a very limited palette (which is quite a feat even though i don't like it.) All i really did, or try to do, was subdue a lot of the characters and bring out the characters in the middle to create a focal point, and if we're talking about focus points then less is far better than too much. Last edited by heckler; 02-25-2011 at 01:39 PM. Reason: grammar

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02-20-2011, 02:55 PM	#2
heckler deboweller of worlds Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 106	What i did was try to bring out the 3 characters in the middle (which is what i figured should be the main focus)..to do that I washed out the characters in the background and darken the ones in the extreme foreground. Since i dont know anyone's colors anyway i made them pretty monotone, then painted in some real color onto the main characters in the middle.. Basically all i did was colorize some things and add some shadows since its all already rendered. If I were to do it for money plus had the time and the hi rez.. I'd probably want to adjust each character before I'd play with the composition..but the general outcome would be the same.

02-20-2011, 03:55 PM	#3
Eric Rabbitsmasher Call me Rabbit Fighter Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The Ballrooms of Mars Posts: 1,678	Definite improvement, that top image induced an epileptic fit.

02-20-2011, 08:54 PM	#4
FatBoy73 The other jolly fat guy Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 362	Alex Ross...did that...Mess? All I can deduce is he was tripping on acid because I've never seen such a chaotic mess before...EVER! Oh and your version is quite nice,good separation and palette. Great job

02-21-2011, 12:51 AM	#5
robtlsnyder Color Hack Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 236	Looks like DC needs to give you another book to work on. You have too much time on your hands. Looks great though. Way better than Alex's hot mess up there.

02-21-2011, 04:57 PM	#6
heckler deboweller of worlds Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 106	thanx guys! Im glad im not the only one that thought that Ross image didnt work. He was goin for the old 4 color palette that was used in everything back in the 60s and 70s, it works sometimes to give stuff a retro feel..it gets lost here though, i think. Rob- I know right? lol.. actually this just took me an hour or so, it was low rez..and you can see my haphazard lasso'n... I want to find more crap like that to play with when I get more free time.. weird i know haha

02-25-2011, 12:03 AM	#7
omega sentry Hero posing as Civilian Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Sin city Posts: 2,928	I don't like either...while ross rainbowed colored everything you just saturated it. I don't see the balance of color or light. Not enough is the same as to much.