June Proko Challenge - Sketching Light and Color with Marco Bucci

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June Proko Challenge - Sketching Light and Color with Marco Bucci

assignments 19

I want to ask for feedback while the major attributes of the piece are still malleable. These WIP images are attempts to "study" the painting before diving hard into it. These images should show where I am at in terms of composition, values, and colors. I will begin refining (i.e., redrawing) the sketch over the work week: mapping the 3-point perspective, nailing proportions, and indicating mechanical details. I hope to complete the refined sketch by next Sunday at the latest. So, feedback regarding composition is the most time critical. Though, in the long view, I believe I will need the most help with color and light. ____________ I think I like where the composition is currently; however, there could be danger in falling too in love with one's first draft. My starting idea was that I wanted to show a pilot's viewpoint while banking through a turn, with a companion craft leading the turn. Then I remembered that I have been meaning to do a tribute piece for an esports team I flew with last year in a Star Wars flight simulator. A super group of guys! Each rebel starfighter in the image will represent one of the remaining team members. (Note: I am not fully done with the background scene. Need 2 Y-Wings to fill out the team, and generally more battlefield chaos.) I grabbed the base reference by going into the sim and trying to replicate the scene I had in mind, screenshoting my view from the VR headset. From a storytelling perspective, I want to convey the maneuver being performed, that an attack on the Star Destroyer is underway, and that the bridge/superstructure is the focal point of the attack (particularly, the Shield Generators, which are the orb-like structures). Another objective I had was to practice cropping closely for sake of immersion. I wanted to avoid the temptation to pull back and show the full Star Destroyer or push the X-Wing away, so its wings were no longer clipped by the cockpit frame. Potential problems I see with the composition have to do with rule-of-3rds, big-medium-small, and my decision thus far not to crop the cockpit more. So, the bridge/superstructure, which is the focal point, is vertically centered. And, even if I treat the window as a "frame-within-a-frame", the bridge/superstructure is still vertically centered. Counterpoint!? Maybe I am the Wes Anderson of the vertical axis? In terms of big-medium-small, the foreground X-Wing is similar in size to the bridge/superstructure. I may be able to minimize these first 2 issues if I push the perspective slightly. The bridge/superstructure shrinks and gets pushed farther into the corner of the windscreen. The X-Wing grows slightly bigger. Lastly, in terms of the cropping, the image could be claustrophobic. We are immersed in cockpit more so than in scene going on outside it. But I think there are some visual and storytelling benefits to being pulled back like this, too. I like this composition. But these are potential shortcomings, as I see them. If someone with more experience is like, "Yeah, you should really fix these (or some other things) to take it to the next level," then that is what I got to do. ____________ I think the value study came out well. This battle is taking place in a sort of nebula called "The Zavian Abyss." In game, the colors of the Abyss look unpleasant, in my opinion. So, I want to reimagine the colors and lighting scenario to be more evocative of an underwater scene. I found an underwater photograph I liked, grayscaled it, and used its values as a guide. ____________ I have the least amount of practice with color. My objective with this color study was to make sure that there was some sort of hue shift in the shadows. I aimed for a shift toward turquoise. Although, physically speaking, there isn't anything in this environment that is scattering turquoise fill light. The nebula color implies merely a deeper shade of blue for the fill light. This was a small aesthetic experiment on my part, but I am not committed to it. In the light, I tried for a very small hue shift towards cyan. But I wanted to keep the source light relatively white, so that I am not completely washing everything out with blue. The most awkward area in the color study, I think, is the X-Wing. The paint scheme is supposed to be yellow and black. It looks army-toy green. I may have done the hue shift in the shadows incorrectly. Or I did it just fine, but there are not enough lit areas from this angle to give the shadows context. If the latter is the case, I can shift the overhead light slightly to the left to light more surfaces of the starfighter. ____________ Later in the process, there will be many color and lighting effects I will be eager to explore, especially with various local sources of light, such as the explosion, blaster bolts, and indicator lights. However, these studies have not attempted to account for these effects.

LESSON NOTES

Create sensational sketches filled with light and color!

Prompt

Get ready to play with light and color like never before! In this challenge, we’re teaming up with Marco Bucci to encourage you to present a strong and convincing sense of light and color, while maintaining a loose finish. You may submit a thumbnail-size color rough, or a larger canvas - they will be evaluated equally. Marco will be judging based on the believability of the light source, the colors the light causes to occur in the scene, and how well you’re able to preserve the sense of looseness, or sketchiness in the process. You may keep the light and color on the realistic/natural side, or caricature it for effect. (See art below for examples of both.) You may work from life, from photo reference, or from imagination.

Medium: Any medium is acceptable, as is any subject.

Challenge is open to all participants 13 and older.

Prizes

Winners will be contacted via the email on their Proko.com account.

Marco will pick 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place based on believability of the light source, the colors the light causes to occur in the scene, and how well artists are able to preserve the sense of looseness, or sketchiness in the process.

1st Place

Wacom One Creative Pen Display
1 year Canvy subscription
Proko Figure, Portrait, and Anatomy courses

2nd Place

Wacom Intuos Small Bluetooth
2 Proko courses of your choice

3rd Place

One by Wacom Pen Tablet
1 Proko course of your choice

Community Choice

$250 Proko Gift Card - YOU get to choose a winner by upvoting your favorite submissions!

Proko Team Choice

$250 Proko Gift Card - The Proko team will vote on their favorite.

Skelly's Choice

Proko Skull - Skelly will choose his favorite.

Proko Impromptu Awards

10 impromptu winners will receive:

1 Proko Course of your choice

Wacom Random Winner

To give students a higher chance of winning, Wacom is awarding a random participant a Wacom Intuos small tablet.

Shipping Restrictions

Free shipping of Wacom prizes to US, Canada, Latin America (except Venezuela), EU, UK, Japan, and Australia. Participants in all other countries would pay shipping costs to claim a tablet.

Participants in all other countries would pay shipping costs to claim prizes.

COVID-19 Alert Shipping to certain countries will not be possible right now because of the pandemic. Please be aware of an indefinite delay for shipping prizes to winners outside of the United States.

ASSIGNMENTS

Works in Progress

Post your process sketches and works in progress for the challenge here if you want feedback from the community.

This challenge is closed for new submissions. Congrats to all the winners!

View all submissions

View judging video and all winners

@moringretribution

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3yr

I'm a beginner when it comes to color but the minute I saw this challenge I knew I had to try. Aquariums have such a nice atmosphere and soft light and the variety of fish are rent interesting to look at. However it feels a bit flat so I'm open to criticism on how to fix that