Workshop: Vector Critique #13
tuts workshop

Workshop: Vector Critique #13

on May 11th 2012 with 11 comments

Vectortuts+ is all about helping people turbo charge their skills, and today we have another special community post that will help our readers take their images to the next level. The best thing is, you can be part of it too! Find out more at the jump.

How to Participate:

  • This workshop contributor has offered a piece of work that they would like help with, please keep this in mind when you share your thoughts. The images are not perfect, but they can be with the right advice and some friendly encouragement. (Vectortuts+ reserves the right to delete any rude comments)
  • If you’re better with pictures (let’s face it, most of us are) feel free to take a screenshot of the image using Little Snapper, Skitch or a similar program and paste a link to the annotated image in the comments section with an explanation of the tweaks.

If you want to take part in the next Vectortuts+ Workshop:

Add your work to our facebook photo gallery or submit it via the Tuts+ Workshop form, with a description about the piece and the help/advice you’re looking for. We will chose one to be published on our site as part of the next Vectortuts+ Workshop, if you’re not chosen straight away – don’t worry – your work will be chosen for a future session.

Image Category: Realistic Still Life

Details:

Designer: Luis Eduardo

Details: "Hi everyone. I’m a Graphic Designer and I find any kind of illustration very interesting and I want to improve my skills on how to create cool illustrations. I would like to get some useful advice about how to improve and make this illustration, more realistic, because the image reference was not so good, I mean, I´d like to know how to make metallic effects, etc."

Feedback

What are your thoughts on the work above? Critiquing work helps the artist see new possibilities, and it also helps you learn to evaluate art, which will help you take that same analysis and apply it to your own work. Participate in the comments below with your opinions on how to improve the work above.

 
Enjoyed this Post?

Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!

By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Kate McInnes specializes in Communication Design and Digital Illustration. Based in Melbourne Australia, she is the Associate Editor of Vectortuts+ and one half of the creative duo McKelly. Find her on Twitter as @bittenbypixels and Blood Sweat Vector.  

Plus Premium
 
 
  • Jesus Bejarano

    Deberías ser un poco mas detallista cuando trabajas con ilustraciones de objetos metílicos, ya que los reflejos del auto esta un poco descuidados y pienso, que deberías en enfocarte en eso para hacer un poco mas realista la ilustración

  • sulu762

    Way better than I could possibly imagine doing at my current skill level. Congrats.

    One thing that caught my eye was the shadow under the vehicle appeared too strong and the color of the tires didn’t appear consistent with the hard shadows under the vehicle. The tread of the tires appeared shallow while the depth of field of rear tire was not consistent with the DOF in the rest of the image.

    I hope one day to be at the level of work you are at now. But for now, back to watching more tuts+ and practicing.

    Cheers.

  • Tim

    I come from more of a photoshop background, I’m trying to get more comfortable with illustrator. But If you’re looking for realism with metal you have to remember that the only thing that separates a metallic color from a flat color is that it reflects. You may want to consider placing the car in a more natural backdrop like outside and then trying to replicate the colored light reflections on the car. Also You have to remember that realism isn’t in perfection, it’s in imperfection. Crisp hard lines make things look too perfect. You could try blurring some of the reflected light edges a little bit or adding some “wobble” to the path.

    • Tim

      Also, I just thought about it, you could try adding some subtle textures to the light or maybe some layered lights; adding some highlights to your reflections.

  • http://www.gutobastos.com Luis Augusto Bastos

    Luis,
    I have the same issue… I noticed that you’re not taking much advance of your gradiences. I guess you could achieve better results if you start to explore more of the Gradient Mesh tool and similar effects. Throw some colors to build them… observe print photos of cars and metalic surfaces… note the color pigments through out the gradience… then, try to create the same pattern of colors. Good work man!

  • http://www.ilieciorba.com Ilie

    Well, this looks like a good start to me, if you’re looking for a more realistic image you have to keep drawing, add details, add shadows and highlights and so on until you’re happy with the result. I would consider using gradient meshes for this kind of illustration especially if you want more realistic.

  • http://jblankenship.com Jason

    Hello Luis – I would echo Ilie’s comments – I have to say right upfront this is a nice illustration, and like what you’ve done, but here are the things that I notice. I agree w/ Ilie that you need to pull out more details: make us notice things that are unique to this vehicle / image (that will make the image look less generic) – you’ve done some of that in the grill, headlights and rim areas, but I think you can scrutinize the original and find some other details to pull out, to make it even more photo-realistic.

    One thing I notice is that a few of your gradients are set at 90 degree angles – which in some places, looks artificial to the eye. Have you considered using radial gradients in some of these, where the center’s offset or simply changing the angle of your gradients?

    I also notice many of those gradients only seem to use two color points, adding one or two more color points, with warmer or cooler tones, can create a greater sense of depth – look very closely at the original image, and you’ll probably see hints of other colors that you can incorporate.

    If you stick with linear gradients, I recommend really tweaking those settings, by trying different angles, adding color points, and pushing those sliders around a bit more – experiment and see what looks best.

    Lastly, don’t know what the original image shows, but in this illustration, the vehicle’s shadow appears a bit boxy, hard-edged and regular – which looks unnatural for some reason.

    Areas I like: the side body panels – entire front end – lights – rim shading.

    Hope all that feed back is helpful – great work.

  • Stephane Paris

    Great work buddy!

    I agee with some advices given here:

    Shadow under de truck is too heavy.

    Some gradients issues… my advice to you is try to go more subtle… you can use opacity to reduce the effect. sometimes a more subtle shade will look more realistic than a big bold gradient.
    I agree with Jason for the 90 degree gradient, try radial or different angles.

    One thing that I noticed, is that the background and car blur together on the upper left…
    I would try another background color or changing the color of the truck to make it pop a bit more.

    Good job!

  • http://www.amirhameed.com/ Amir Hameed

    You have don a very good job. Your work looks fabulous. Although few things to note.

    1.

  • http://www.amirhameed.com/ Amir Hameed

    You have don a very good job. Your work looks fabulous. Although few things to note.

    1. Shadow is too heavy. and looks like you have use some rectangle to make it. You should shadow under the wheels. And Shadows from the body of vehicle is not being cast upon the wheels. It is like there are only wheels in the space.

    2. Roof at the very top is being mixed up with the background. Hard to see the edge of vehicle over this background.

    Over all things are much better.

  • http://creativeduck@blogspot.com Mikey

    Nice Dodge, very few things I can say other than great :)

    • Wheels – the rear one is on the same perspective as the front, where it should be tighter, DOF doesn’t come into this, Depth of field refers to what’s in focus etc.
    • Shadow – it’s not too heavy. it’s just the wrong shape (rectangle with a blur!) Have a look at images of vehicles with natural shadows, study how they relate with the environment. Here’s a good example of a nice natural shadow: http://www.chinacarfans.com/wp-content/gallery/misc/audi_q5.jpg

    You will notice that it’s 100% black and has sharp lines and soft lines further away from the light. Also, it’s never a square/rectangle. Follow the shape of the car, try to imagine what the shadow might look like.

    • Windows/Panels – Try using the gradient mesh tool instead of a flat gradient. It’s easier than you think and you get more realistic results.
    • Background – again try using gradient mesh, add a bit of depth. How about something like this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/72960432/Background.jpg

    Good luck :)