my first attempt

[tWeye]

I'm a compositor, recently enamored by matte painting. This is a first try. I like the idea of actually painting elements, so these clouds are painted. I guess its more of a sketch really, but I'm not sure how to improve the realism. I've made a lot of artwork in my life, but haven't ever striven for realism very much. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
http://kineopti.com/images/valley_02_matte.jpg
http://kineopti.com/images/valley_02.jpg

[B. Kachel]

Start with a photo or use the color picker to sample color from a photo.

-Brandon Kachel

[tWeye]

obviously I did start with a photo here, and I'm a very experienced photoshop user, so the ol' eyedropper tool isn't exactly revelatory. Thanks, though. Anyone else?

[rrische]

Get some photo reference. Not enough people get how important that is.

[B. Kachel]

I'm sorry I meant your sky it is obvious that it is painted, and as Rick said get some photo reference. And to improve the realism would to use photo reference beacause they are real.

-Brandon Kachel

[tWeye]

thanks for the replies, I will post an update and/or more paintings when I have the chance. The skill that I would most like to develop is painting mattes or elements realistically, as opposed to just photoshopping existing images together. So what I need to improve on, is taking a painted element (like those clouds) and going from 'it looks painted' to 'it looks real'. The photo reference suggestion is well taken, but what about when there are no photos (ie. something fantastic that doesn't exist)? I suppose using similar subjects, and texture reference would work pretty well. Thanks again everyone, this is a fantastic, and really inspirational site, and I love that it has the range from beginners to pros.

[RayLaVeau]

Hey tWeye, Im not exactly experienced in "Professional" Matte painting but try this it does help, obviously find some cloud pic that you think is cool ... Try this guy he has alot of cool stuff...
http://www.mayang.com/textures/Nature/h ... index.html (http://www.mayang.com/textures/Nature/html/Clouds/index.html)
and sample the colors from one of them onto your painting as you are painting.

And as far as achieving this look that you are striving for I usually use a hard brush and draw the shapes..remember to play around with the opacity (alot!) change your brush settings ie: shape dynamics and opacity jitter..Use whatever you think will look best then use a soft round brush and do the above again..Walla! Clouds! Remember to always do this first on a seperate layer and use a gradient close to what you are trying to get first! then Have fun.
I hope this helps a little more and as far as inspiration try listening to music from soundtracks as you are going along (personally I like to listen to lord of the rings stuff as well as other majestic sounding music, kinda gets you in the mood. just little extrat tid bit for ya)
Rayl

[tWeye]

thats a really amazing resource, thank you. will put those tips to work soon, thanks a lot.

[mdwsr]

That's a striking image, and I think a good start. That place looks alot like a place I visit in CO.