Ice Dragon Art A Glimpse Into My World

Mollytabby

Fabulous postwork @IceDragonArt, really stunning work. The really love your renders, but your postwork always changes them into such beautiful art.

IceDragonArt

Mollytabby said:

Fabulous postwork @IceDragonArt, really stunning work. The really love your renders, but your postwork always changes them into such beautiful art.

Thank you very much!  Honestly, I have been so excited to be able to combine the two of them an really get to work on the type of art I have always wanted to do but wasn't quite sure how to get thereI can sketch and draw and paint, and could probably get to a point where I was happy with what I was producing (my skills are very very rusty as I did very little of it while my kids were growing up) and it would certainly take me a lot longer to produce the kind of art that I want to make.  So finding photoshop and 3d and being able to combine the two? It has truly been an amazing experience for me.

IceDragonArt

Sun Flirt Outfit

Hivewire Lion

Arki's Teardrop hair

Arches of the past

Ron's Bird Brushes

Daz Studio 4.10 Iray

Photoshop CC

Paintbox

Winter castle turned out really great, good to imagine stories around it...

IceDragonArt

Paintbox said:

Winter castle turned out really great, good to imagine stories around it...

Thank you very much!

IceDragonArt

Dz Studio 4.11 beta Iray

Photoshop CC

Elf Armour G3F

Can't remember the character for the life of me but if I remember to look tonight when I get home I will post the name and also the base render I started with. She is G3F just not sure which one lol.

Mollytabby

I love what you’ve done with her, whoever she is :-)

IceDragonArt

Lol Thank you!

Noswen

The postwork on some of these is amazing, though pretty much all of your renders are.

IceDragonArt

Noswen said:

The postwork on some of these is amazing, though pretty much all of your renders are.

Thank you very much.  Its not as hard as I think people sometimes think it is.  Really a lot of trial and error, and thinking things like "hmm wonder what THIS would look like, and what happens if I try this filter, or mode, and literally just throwing things in that I think may look good and seeing where it goes.  I rarely have a plan, although I tend to start with color.

Noswen

IceDragonArt said:

Noswen said:

The postwork on some of these is amazing, though pretty much all of your renders are.

Thank you very much.  Its not as hard as I think people sometimes think it is.  Really a lot of trial and error, and thinking things like "hmm wonder what THIS would look like, and what happens if I try this filter, or mode, and literally just throwing things in that I think may look good and seeing where it goes.  I rarely have a plan, although I tend to start with color.

I'm still at the stage of doing that in Daz itself, my experiments in GIMP have been few and far between so far, and only really started because I can't do motion blur in iray. I've managed to make some VERY bad looking renders by changing random surface settings

IceDragonArt

Noswen said:

IceDragonArt said:

Noswen said:

The postwork on some of these is amazing, though pretty much all of your renders are.

Thank you very much.  Its not as hard as I think people sometimes think it is.  Really a lot of trial and error, and thinking things like "hmm wonder what THIS would look like, and what happens if I try this filter, or mode, and literally just throwing things in that I think may look good and seeing where it goes.  I rarely have a plan, although I tend to start with color.

I'm still at the stage of doing that in Daz itself, my experiments in GIMP have been few and far between so far, and only really started because I can't do motion blur in iray. I've managed to make some VERY bad looking renders by changing random surface settings

Haha that's half the fun!  

Knittingmommy

IceDragonArt said:

Finally got  chance to render one of my @DarwinsMishaps boys.  This is Lorenzo. 

This absolutely takes my breath away. You did good, girl! :)

 

IceDragonArt said:

So this is a promo for the backgrounds by Makena (Misty Woods if you are curious).  I want to say something about premade backgrounds, I know that for some there is a bit of a prejudice against using these.  I'm not sure why, many of them are gorgeous, they can set the mood, they can help tie a render together, they can influence color choices, and for many renders are just a starting point.  And, I often find inspiration for the actual render from some of these backgrounds.  Many times, I will start with a background and I will add so many layers and textures to it that the original may almost not be recognizable but without that in the background, the image would not be as good or convey the same feeling or mood.  Plus, you can always chop them up and use just the parts you need.  This particular image is pretty much straight up the background since that's the product we were working with, but its beautiful on its own and I think the unicorns are a fitting choice for this image.

 

Love this. I'm always using premade backgrounds, either some I purchased or some I made myslelf. Sometimes, it's just really hard to get the foreground and the background right with all the same lighting so you need to do it separately. It seems a little short sighted if someone has a problem with using background images. They have their uses.

 

IceDragonArt said:

Dannette - by Anagord

Winter Castle by Stonemason

Postwork by me. You can see I changed the tone to a cooler overall color and lighitng and brightend her hair and some other minor details.  I also adde the shrubs and trees into the scene and used Ron's winter brushes for the snow. I also fixed the poke through on the cloak/skirt and added a bit of mist to the ground.

I love the postwork on this one. It's always so nice to see other's before and after images. Such a huge difference between the two here. Nice work. :)

IceDragonArt

Thank you very much KM!

IceDragonArt

I used an oil paint action at the end of this particular piece. I didn't do a huge amount of post work I did some dodge and burn and changed the intensity of the color of the dress and made it justa bit more saturated. I also added several textures to the background to help ground her and also to help frame her in the picture.

Saphirewild

IceDragonArt said:

I used an oil paint action at the end of this particular piece. I didn't do a huge amount of post work I did some dodge and burn and changed the intensity of the color of the dress and made it justa bit more saturated. I also added several textures to the background to help ground her and also to help frame her in the picture.

Ok I am going to be honest with you Sonja, I do not like the postworked image of this render.

It is too over exposed for my liking and the colors too saturated out for my taste, plus the oil paint seems to wash out her face too much.

But the rendered version of it is great, she is a great charcter!!

IceDragonArt

Saphirewild said:

IceDragonArt said:

I used an oil paint action at the end of this particular piece. I didn't do a huge amount of post work I did some dodge and burn and changed the intensity of the color of the dress and made it justa bit more saturated. I also added several textures to the background to help ground her and also to help frame her in the picture.

Ok I am going to be honest with you Sonja, I do not like the postworked image of this render.

It is too over exposed for my liking and the colors too saturated out for my taste, plus the oil paint seems to wash out her face too much.

But the rendered version of it is great, she is a great charcter!!

Honesty is always appreciated!  You aren't going to hurt my feelings I promise!  The oil painting filter can definitely cause the image to lose some details.  I wasn't going to for realistic (which obviously worked lol).  Sometimes, I just like to do something different.  I am glad that you like the original render though!

IceDragonArt

Personal artwork.  Before and after.  Surprisingly little post.

IceDragonArt

This was a really tough one ligting wise and I am still not 100% happy with it.  I wanted that just as the day slips into deeper night and she has stopped to set up camp.  Tired and grubby, that moment when you finally stop moving and know that the travelling is over with.  A quick check of the compass to verify you are where you should be.  That moment right before you have to haul your tired butt up and set up that tent and bedroll lol.

IceDragonArt

Bit of fun with magic.  This blue magic shield and the pose is from the Surge  prop and pose pack.   Quite handy to have some poses that use the magical props. The fire is from Jepe's dragonfire iray (I think its the dragon fire. I own all but one or two of his sets and they are all grouped together but, if you want fantastic magic effects in addtion to the Surge props, you can't go wrong with Jepe's stuff)  The mage is Amaya by Anagord.  If you want female characters that have strong but beautiful faces, her characters are a good choice. 

Edited to add, I did not do a whole lot of postwork on this one, I added the background and the smoke around the edges and the ground and adjusted the tone a tiny bit and that was it.

mori_mann

Can't go wrong with a bit of magic. She looks like she means business. Glad I'm not on the receiving end of that spell :D

Knittingmommy

IceDragonArt said:

This was a really tough one ligting wise and I am still not 100% happy with it.  I wanted that just as the day slips into deeper night and she has stopped to set up camp.  Tired and grubby, that moment when you finally stop moving and know that the travelling is over with.  A quick check of the compass to verify you are where you should be.  That moment right before you have to haul your tired butt up and set up that tent and bedroll lol.

Lighting-wise, that's a hard time of day to do. There is something really griping about the character and how she looks though. It reminds me of images I've seen of warriors who are on their last wind and aren't sure if they can carry on. I think you captured the figure quite well.

Your magic one is quite good. I like the post work.

Mollytabby

I've been away on holiday for a few days and now I'm in catch up mode. I'm loving the way your artwork is moving @IceDragonArt. I parlicarly like the woman with her compass. I know you think you haven't nailed the lighting, but I love the way the last rays of the sun catch her body. 

IceDragonArt

mori_mann said:

Can't go wrong with a bit of magic. She looks like she means business. Glad I'm not on the receiving end of that spell :D

Me too!

 

Knittingmommy said:

IceDragonArt said:

This was a really tough one ligting wise and I am still not 100% happy with it.  I wanted that just as the day slips into deeper night and she has stopped to set up camp.  Tired and grubby, that moment when you finally stop moving and know that the travelling is over with.  A quick check of the compass to verify you are where you should be.  That moment right before you have to haul your tired butt up and set up that tent and bedroll lol.

Lighting-wise, that's a hard time of day to do. There is something really griping about the character and how she looks though. It reminds me of images I've seen of warriors who are on their last wind and aren't sure if they can carry on. I think you captured the figure quite well.

Your magic one is quite good. I like the post work.

Thank you!  That is exactly what I was going for, that end of the day, can't walk another step kind of feeling.

 

Mollytabby said:

I've been away on holiday for a few days and now I'm in catch up mode. I'm loving the way your artwork is moving @IceDragonArt. I parlicarly like the woman with her compass. I know you think you haven't nailed the lighting, but I love the way the last rays of the sun catch her body. 

Thank you!  No worries, I feel like I am constantly playing catch up lol.  Even if I don't go anywhere.  I hope you had an enjoyable holiday!

IceDragonArt

Xeloria for Zelara

Mollytabby

Ooooh, that is lovely . I'm wondering what the secret is with the lady walking by.

Noswen

You might say not a lot of postwork on that crouching demon woman, but it makes a surprising difference :-)

Also liking the magic caster and Xeloria.

IceDragonArt

Mollytabby said:

I've been away on holiday for a few days and now I'm in catch up mode. I'm loving the way your artwork is moving @IceDragonArt. I parlicarly like the woman with her compass. I know you think you haven't nailed the lighting, but I love the way the last rays of the sun catch her body. 

Well, she could just be sensitive to whatever suns shine on this planet, or she scould be a spy from another planet, but in reality, she is a gun runner from another galaxy on her way to arrange transfer of weapons and funds...

Noswen said:

You might say not a lot of postwork on that crouching demon woman, but it makes a surprising difference :-)

Also liking the magic caster and Xeloria.

Thank you very much!

Novica

IceDragonArt said:

Bit of fun with magic.  This blue magic shield and the pose is from the Surge  prop and pose pack. 

This one really gives the illusion of the magical disc (whatever you want to call it) curving toward the viewer. Really 3d!  

Also, of course you know I love the unicorns! 

IceDragonArt

Novica said:

IceDragonArt said:

Bit of fun with magic.  This blue magic shield and the pose is from the Surge  prop and pose pack. 

This one really gives the illusion of the magical disc (whatever you want to call it) curving toward the viewer. Really 3d!  

Also, of course you know I love the unicorns! 

Thank you!  The blue disk is a prop from the Surge pack for G8F.  A really well done set and includes poses and expressions.

And I love the unicorns too...May revisit that one with a bit of postwork at some point.  If i am doing promos for backgrounds I don't want to take away from the background.