Lost's Vectored Wallpaper(s)

[Lost]

Hi all, I decided to start this thread to showcase some (as yet, one) of my works because I just got into the beauty that is Photoshop and Vectoring. I hope to get constructive criticism and tips that will help me improve such skills.

First up, my very first vectoring, Mae Hughes from FMA.

Some history: He was my favourite character in FMA, and I was devastated when they mercilessly killed him. Haruhiko asked me to vector this particular screen of him, and I thought I would do it as practice. Okay sorry for ranting.


png format, 1600 x 1201, 441KB


png format, 1600 x 1201, 466KB ~~ version with words, specifically the last words of Mae to a "dying" Envy.


Please give constructive comments, anything that will help me to improve, thank you!

p.s. I found that the hardest part to do were his eyes, and IMO, I don't think I did such a good job of them. If you could give me personal tips on how they vector/colour eyes and what tools you use, or point me to relevant tutorials on eyes, I would appreciate it very much.

[Daniel E.]

Nice wallpaper you have there.

Now, lets see.....

I suggest you use a little bit of the Blur tool around all the edges of the shadows. IMHO, it makes the shadows look better and more natural.

When you color an area, make sure there are no cracks between the color of the outline and the color you are using. (check the edge of his hair next to the skin to see what I mean)

Well, that would be all.

Looking forward to see more of your work.

[Shiryuu]

The lines are kinda blurry especially on his face (you should've used all black lines). Did you only use photoshop? Some parts look like they were drawn in and not vectored.

About the eyes, the eyedropper tool isn't really a good idea especially with the quality of the picture.

About the hair\shadows, looks like you just made random shapes. The original doesn't look that blurry to me and should have been easy to do since the edges of the shadows are just following the outline of his hair.

[solwyvern]

Nice job. =)

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

When you color an area, make sure there are no cracks between the color of the outline and the color you are using. (check the edge of his hair next to the skin to see what I mean)

Yes, I agree w/ Daniel E. Color under layers to fill in gaps of color.
..and it looks like you used stroke-path method, ...

For the eyes, of course it would be difficult to make, because you're vectoring from a screencap and the eyes are really small. >_<;

Try practicing on a bigger/clearer pic first w, bigger eyes.

ah.. that's all I can think of right now.. gotta get to school. I'll comment more when I return. so for now, good luck!

[Lost]

Thanks for the great comments, I've keep them in mind for my next vector.

Originally Posted by Shiryuu

The lines are kinda blurry especially on his face (you should've used all black lines). Did you only use photoshop? Some parts look like they were drawn in and not vectored.

About the eyes, the eyedropper tool isn't really a good idea especially with the quality of the picture.

About the hair\shadows, looks like you just made random shapes. The original doesn't look that blurry to me and should have been easy to do since the edges of the shadows are just following the outline of his hair.

Yep, I used only Photoshop (tho I was tempted to use Fireworks for the text, but I didnt). I made some lines look blurry (especially the brown ones, and the ones on his ears) because I was trying to completely imitate sceenshot. Hmm.. maybe I shouldn't have..

Nope I didnt make random shapes, I was trying as best to follow the shadows, which were quite hard to differentiate from the black of the hair. I never thought to follow just the outline of the hair.. is that what you do?

And thanks for commenting dude!

Yep sol, I did use the stroke-path method. I still suck at shape-paths, and I still don't see how they make the picture better

[Daniel E.]

Another thing I always do is to create new layers for pretty much everything, even if the object at hand is very small.

Kinda like:

Layer : Hair lights
Layer : Hair shadows
Layer : Hair base color
Layer : Hair ornaments lights
Layer : Hair ornaments shadow
Layer : Hair ornaments base color and so on and on......

This may look complicated at first, but I do this to focus on one part of the picture (the hair in this example) before doing anything else.

This requires some extra time, but that's the way I like to do things.

This is of course, a suggestion on how to handle layers.

[solwyvern]

Rena ..err.. I mean, Daniel, I suggest you try out the second method.

With the second method, you won't have the need for individual layers of each part.

Look at this, I made it using the shape-layers method.



I only have ONE layer for ALL the outlines.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by solwyvern

Rena ..err.. I mean, Daniel, I suggest you try out the second method.

With the second method, you won't have the need for individual layers of each part.

Look at this, I made it using the shape-layers method.



I only have ONE layer for ALL the outlines.

Sorry, it would appear I did not explain myself too well. I obviously use only one layer for the outlines. I was talking about the colors with the post above.

-->

It may not be the best way to handle coloring. But it sure helps me avoid mistakes with the Blur tool.

Then again, I haven't really tried the second method. So your comment most likely applies to coloring as well.

[Shiryuu]

Originally Posted by Lost

Nope I didnt make random shapes, I was trying as best to follow the shadows, which were quite hard to differentiate from the black of the hair. I never thought to follow just the outline of the hair.. is that what you do?

Yes. It's like a common sense kind of thing.

I usually do vectors on illustrator, so I really don't know what else to suggest.

[haruhiko]

You know how I feel about this, thank you! I really appreciate it. <3


lalalaconstructive comments?lalalala~

[Lost]

Deciding to act on the tips I've received thus far; here is the final version of Mae Hughes.


png format, 1600 x 1201, 463KB

Not many changes, just the blurring of shadow outlines as suggested, and filling in the cracks of the hairline, and one other colour change.


edit: oops, missed a spot of shadow. edit2: Dang, another one.