[AlexanderConcept]

Hello,

This is just a really quick matte I did before I went to school. It was more of a practice matte painting. Wanted to practice masking out the trees, mountains etc manually with the eraser.
It took about 3 ½ hours to finish.

Plate


Finished


Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[AlexanderConcept]

Hello everyone,

Wanted to create a snow landscape that was different from my other snow landscapes so yes, here it is. Hope you'll like it. Criticism is more than welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[AlexanderConcept]

Hello,

Haven't been able to work as much as I've wanted on my matte paintings because I've had a lot to do at school. Anyhow, here is the latest one.

Any critique is more than welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[AlexanderConcept]

Hello everyone,

Been quite some time now. Been kinda busy. Anyway, here is my latest matte painting. No plate used. Didn't really go for realism in this one. Aaaand I left the comfort zone, *yeeey*.
Hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway.
CC is more than welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[AlexanderConcept]

Hey,

Just a quick update with a brighter version.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[AlexanderConcept]

Hey everyone,

Finally all my tests are over and I will soon be able to work as much as I want on my matte paintings. Also, I try to use plates as little as possible because then I have to practice lightning etc a bit more.
Here is my latest one. CC is more than welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[AlexanderConcept]

Hi,

I don't have so much to say..
Hope you guys like this one.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I

[Alex Jenyon]

Also, I try to use plates as little as possible because then I have to practice lightning etc a bit more.

I'm not sure why you think this is true. You are producing a huge amount of work, and some really nice looking images are coming out of it (as well as some not-so-nice ones) - but I think overall you have a slightly unrealistic view of how mattepainting works.

If you are doing this as a hobby, then trying to work in a professional manner doesn't matter (and will probably make the process less enjoyable). But it seems you are trying to work towards mattepainting (or at least CG) as a vocation.

The process of mattepainting in a professional setting is NOT:

Find some cool photos > put them together > see what you can do with them > make a great image

And more like:

Start with a clear idea of what you are trying to do > work out how you are going to do it > find the relevant source photos > do the work

-------------

I know you might think you have got lots of contradictory advice from people on this forum, but most of it has been pretty good direction. The initial work you were doing was too small and obvious (and hence easy) to be particularly good practice. Your recent stuff has been very ambitious work, but without any clear goal other than to get a bunch of photos to match.

You've definitely had successes (one of your snowscapes in particular is beautiful), but it looks like it turned out beautiful by a bit accident rather than purposeful design.

You've got a great work ethic and a huge amount of dedication, both of which are very impressive. If you could direct your energies in a more focused way, I think your work would massively improve.

You don't have to do this, obviously, but here is an idea for your next painting:

Take a photo of your street, or a bunch of buildings in your hometown in bright sunlight (bright enough to have obvious shadows)

Clean up the scene - make it look like a picture postcard - the perfect street. Remove any dirt, clean up the edges of the road and any grass, paint out the weeds, maybe add a blue sky (though subtly enough that the shadows still make sense)

http://www.qstom.org/mattepainting/test/

Then do another version of exactly the same image where the street is derelict. A ghost town. The windows are smashed, there are plants growing up through the asphalt, and the doors are shuttered.

http://boingboing.net/2009/04/22/pan...hoto-of-a.html

Don't change the light direction or the length of the shadows in either painting - the challenge is to change the atmosphere WITHOUT changing the lighting.

[AlexanderConcept]

Hi Alex,

What I meant with "Also, I try to use plates as little as possible because then I have to practice lightning etc a bit more." was that I'll be forced to use different techniques to get a good result but yes, I totally understand what you mean.
I am indeed trying to work towards matte painting as a vocation and I'll hopefully be able to work as a matte painter someday. And I will start to think through the design a lot more so I get more of a clear idea.

Thanks for the feedback and I'll start working asap with your idea. It'll be challenging but fun.

Once again, thanks a lot.

[AlexanderConcept]

Hello,

This is one of the pictures I did which Alex Jenyon gave my the idea for. The reason why I do not publish both at once is because the other one won't be finished for quite some time. The reason for that is because I simply won't have time and I won't be home that much the time to come.

Here is version #1. "The perfect street- postcard" one.
The plate was shot 1 minute after it had stopped raining. We've had really bad weather for weeks in Sweden so I tried to make the plate as good as possible.

Thanks for looking,

Alexander I


Plate


Finished