World War 2 Plane Crash

[krikkit13]

I posted these pencils a while ago, and got some good critiques from Justice41. Based on that I tried to fix up the nose of the plane while I was inking this. I've colored it on and off for a few weeks, and finally wrapped it up. It's probably too dark for those of you not on laptops, but I'll find out at work tomorrow... Aside from that - any critiques, comments, or suggestions?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/krikkit13/PlaneCrashcolors.jpg

Pencils, inks, colors all by me...

[tekende]

Just a few things. It's a good start, but I have some suggestions, though I'm not a coloring genius myself.

First, I think there is too much use of gradients here. Those can be helpful but I would attempt to avoid using them as much as you have here. The biggest gradient problem, in my opinion, is the grass. It becomes solid black at the bottom of the picture, and makes it look like a border or frame rather than more grass.

I don't understand the light in the plane. I assume that's fire, but is it behind or in the plane? Because if it's behind, it probably shouldn't be that bright. And if it's in the plane, why is it not lighting anything outside the plane? I would think the propellors on the left would have some light on them.

Also, the orange patch on the soldier on the right is too bright, unless it's glow-in-the-dark.

Oh, one other thing: this is purely a stylistic choice, but I would consider eliminating the outline around the smoke. You don't have to, but it might look better.

That all being said, I do think this is a good piece, and the soldier on the right, except for the arm patch, looks really good. Nice work.

[krikkit13]

Yeah, the colors are a bit muddier on a monitor...

Thanks for the crits.

I agree that I may have used gradients a bit much (the plane for instance), but I wasn't too happy with my other approaches, and got to the point where I just wanted to wrap it up - not a very good excuse...

I read something where Brian Stelfreeze was talking about creating mood like a cinematographer - not concentrating on local color, and instead using a color theme. He also talked about using colors to create focal points. That's what I was going for with the bright colors here. I left the armband bright orange, instead of making it blue so that it would draw attention to the character and prevent her from being lost in the picture. The fire in the plane creates the second focal point. I did add some yellow to the wing and to the engine, but it seemed to move the focus away from where I wanted it, so I got rid of it...

That's what I was trying to do anyway, whether I was successful or not is up to you guys...

Keep 'em coming! :D