studies and a map

hey guys,

i needed a break from the anatomy so i tackled the other big issue i suck at: composition. So I did some composition studies of old masters (mostly Bierstadt and Bougereau) and tried to simplify some landscapes.

Also I did a 15 min color sketch where I wanted to test out some of the principles I read about here: http://muddycolors.blogspot.de/2012/08/composition-basics-value-structure.html

It is the one below with the colums and the jungle theme (not the one with the arc, that was a photo-study). The main goal was to creat a simple 3 or 4 value composition and then NOT loose it while dropping in some color and light.

Another thing I studied was painting fleshtones. There was a great post about that over at muddycolors too http://muddycolors.blogspot.de/2015/10/a-reoccurring-question-about-painting.html

I also applied a method of studying I found for myself some while ago. Instead of looking at the ref while painting, I look at it for a while, then hide it and paint what I remember. This way I feel like I have to be more concious and don't just go through the motions of copying. The result can be a bit more disappointing, but I feel like it helps me. And lastly I tried to do the copy starting with blue, yellow, red, black and white and mixing my colors on the photoshop canvas. That way I had to think more in terms of temperature and primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

and I am still working on the crest for the green faction. I am not happy with it, too much of a swastika going on here :(