Working on the shading of the tree. How is the shadow coming? I'm not sure how it should look, but I gave it a shot anyways.

Good start! But remember that pine trees are made up of branches, some of which face forward and slightly to the left, which will catch the sun. Also note the reflected light on the edge of the shadow side of the tree.

lol Yea you would think after the 5th flickr picture I would realize just to go there, but you know you have to be smart to figure that one out. lol

@Jeremy Which dark green are you talking about? The back of the hill closest to us? In what places do you think I should saturate?

Radical improves!

3 things:

Sharp cast shadow = clear sky = strong sunlight = dark shadow. (usually)
Not so dark shadow = something to diffuse sunlight = (usually) blurry shadow.
So you've got 2 options!

Colors: much better, but I have a feeling all are mid-saturated (except mountains). Nothing keeps you from saturated foreground colors, as long as it's not all-100% sat, nor those greens-out-of-your-brain.

(speaking of colors: Jeremy, that edit! <3)

And it's time someone asked: what about that frame? :S

Ok, update. I attempted to texture the river. Key word "Attempted". Anyways, going to work on the picture frame some if I can. Also need to add the tree shadows. I can't believe I have accomplished what I have. Thanks to all that have helped me.
Edit: what is with me and forgetting the picture?!?!



Edited by kenpokis - 02 February 2010 at 12:01pm

Haha, thank you. I never would have imagined I could accomplish this. Luckily I have great peers pushing me to my full potential. Thanks to all that are helping me. A little update. I scrapped the water, and am doing it over. I also saturated some of the foreground a tad. Gotta get the shadows down, and I think i'll be close to finished. You know actually think i'm going to play around with the colors a bit more before I update. Gimme a few.
Edit: I tried to give the colors more of a sunset feel. Slightly adjusted the hue to a reddish color. Anyways here it is.



Edited by kenpokis - 03 February 2010 at 2:03pm

Link your reference?

I think this one looks better than the latest update

Alright I recolored the river to the newest edit, but kept the white from the older version. I believe it still needs some more but tell me what you think.
 

>

Improved much huh xD just like when i spent time working on my mock up
Keep going,

Update:
Added a shadow to the mid tree, and also added grass on the bank. Not sure if they look right or not though. Tried to add a shadow to fg tree, but it looked terrible. Having trouble on it, hope to update again soon. Any tips on the shadow are appreciated.

Thank you jalonso for that kind compliment. I think i'm working on this so hard, is because I never imagined I could accomplish something like this, even if it isn't that great. Ah the birds. I'm not sure what it is, but I have an attachment to them. I think it balances out the fg tree nicely and adds a bit of wildlife. I did make them a bit unaligned now, but tell me if you think even more. I'm not sure what you mean about the mountains. Are you wanting me to take the back color and put it on the front snowcap? I will try this and see. Thanks again to all helping me with this.

Ok a little bit of an update. Still working on some of the things manupix pointed out. Edited birds, and worked on river color. Added a little grass on the bank if you can even tell.

Edit: omg jalanso just now saw your post. *runs to read*


Edited by kenpokis - 06 February 2010 at 10:58am

Thank you so much jalonso. I re-edited a lot of my colors to at least be used in 2 spots. I like the river a lot more now, and I believe the birds look better too.

Jalonso when you die may i hve some of your organs?
God that edit is so perfect LOL
keep going Kenkopis, i think you could work more on the sky as well

I actually prefer the edges of the grass to be rounder (like a scallop shape, just not regular or repeating of course!) rather than jagged.  But if you keep the jagged, you need to tilt the 'spikes' of brown on the right bank toward the right - not up or to the left.

I also noticed that the mountain base isn't flat anymore, but the ground appears to dip a bit, which makes it weird that the water right next to it hasn't flowed into the depression.  Want to try making the ground climb up (like foothills) rather than dip down?

All the grass spikes on the right bank appear to be perfectly vertical, rather than a diagonal on the same 'plane' as the green (which the little tree with the shadow is sitting on).

Eh, assuming that's the part I didn't make clear....

New update. Ninja I was going for a overhanging grass apparence with that. I'm not sure if you knew that already, but probably did.
It seems like i'm having trouble with color. Fixed the birds some. Thanks guys.

EDIT: I messed with the grass color a little more. I think it looks better.



Edited by kenpokis - 08 February 2010 at 7:54pm

Such a wonderful thread - it's great to see the progression of this piece.
We can all learn something or other from this thread.

What you have on the far bank's overhang is banding, where the 2 tones of grass are hugging each other like a staircase. I think now you can start to AA the trees and everything.

Yes, banding = bad.



Sorry, I just had to change that straight river! Introduced rocks, a sandy beach, kept a little brown earth between rock and grass.
Changed shadow directions, they do a lot to convey the angle of the slope.
Broke the borders between different grass colors.
Gave a little detail to that faraway plain, and just began joining it to the mountain.
Distant river: short white dots do better to make it look shiny, than a continuous line. I didn't make a very good job of it though, I probably surrounded it in too light tones.
Shifted mountain hues: > pinks for the lightest, > purple for the medium. You had 3 similar hues, made it look just grey.
Shifted darkest green > blues, added another bluish green. The other greens still have similar hues, difficult to change at this point without affecting the whole color balance.

AA: check the differences between the 2 versions.
Most important: AA (like dithering, and more generally refining) must be checked every few pixels at 100 or 200%. There's no way you can do it quickly and mechanically. One single pixel can very much ruin a whole part of the piece! It's a long and tedious job, but it's so cool to actually watch progress going on.
For this reason, it must also be done last on a piece, when you are firmly sure about your coloring and shading. However, it is also the occasion to refine line details. You might see local defects unseen before, or some line might look wrong when AAed or dithered around: don't hesitate making local changes as necessary.
Also ask yourself before starting a new zone: what do I want to aa this border for? just smoothing a jaggy line, or super-smoothing a transition (forest edge)?
Always try picking existing colors first, create a new one if really necessary. Most important is a good choice of value (light/dark); a dissimilar hue is usually not that bad unless too saturated. Generally greys, browns and the most desat colors can be used almost everywhere.

Hey that Looks Good..... It Looks Like You Have Improved Alot in Here Congratzz  =) I think if you add some kind of deer herd on that far right side or near the river it would kinda look more environmental kind..... but  that was just my Opinion.... keep up the great work

Edited by wenruto - 10 February 2010 at 2:26pm

Ok, new color edit on the frame. I've been trying to give the frame a wood texture and am getting no where. Tried to give it a grainy appearance but just doesn't seem to work. Maybe I just need to work with it some more. Anyways, just a color change. Oh yea removed banding too.




Edited by kenpokis - 11 February 2010 at 8:08pm

Looking great (removing the banding really helps).
Can we see a yellow-green highlight on the rightside tree next?

You don't have to show the highlight on the point of the tree, since it would blend with the grass (this can be a cool effect) just on the lower part - therefore not needing a new shade, and also making the forms fuse together so they look like they belong together.

Also, can you roughen up where the trunk of the big tree on the left enters the ground?

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I like the textured shadow edges you have all over the hills!