my first attempt at a bird with gimp....

molly · **Joined:** Apr 07, 2010 **Posts:** 14182

I really like that rdgracer71, the colors are so nice and soft, and so are the feathers. good job

rdgracer71 · **Joined:** Dec 11, 2011 **Posts:** 532

thank you, its not the best i could do,,but im sure i will get better

2-ton · **Posted:** Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:18 pm **(#4)**

great job on the beak and eye...very lifelike lighting

Deblk · **Joined:** Dec 22, 2011 **Posts:** 385

Awesome....wish I could paint!

Lianam · **Joined:** Feb 06, 2011 **Posts:** 342

I love the little bird its really great. The birds I have done so far have been vector drawn images first and I colored them in. It was fun really.

I made a few brushes with my finished images.

rdgracer71 · **Joined:** Dec 11, 2011 **Posts:** 532

Erisian · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:59 am **(#8)**

Excellent job rdgracer71. Very realistic.

he4rty · **Joined:** Aug 30, 2012 **Posts:** 2174

Good Job

Oregonian · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:51 am **(#10)**

Very nicely done, regracer!

2-ton · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:04 am **(#11)**

rd...I would like to see you go back and try to make the feathers a little less blurry and a bit more detailed. The shape and proportions are really good!

mariawendt · **Joined:** Sep 03, 2012 **Posts:** 171

WOW! I am very very impressed. I have always wanted to be able to paint in Gimp! Do you have any tutorials you could point me to?

GnuTux · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 1:49 pm **(#13)**

Yes, very well done. Nearly, photo-realistic.

Kudos!! :clap

rdgracer71 · **Joined:** Dec 11, 2011 **Posts:** 532

2-ton wrote:

rd...I would like to see you go back and try to make the feathers a little less blurry and a bit more detailed. The shape and proportions are really good!

i made some changes. not sure if i made it any better...

Erisian · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:13 pm **(#15)**

mariawendt wrote:

WOW! I am very very impressed. I have always wanted to be able to paint in Gimp! Do you have any tutorials you could point me to?

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4308

2-Ton - that level of detail isn't easy even for somebody who has been painting as long as I have.

rdgracer71 - you've done a great job and I'm not sure which version I prefer. I think the original is slightly better.

rdgracer71 · **Joined:** Dec 11, 2011 **Posts:** 532

Erisian wrote:

mariawendt wrote:

WOW! I am very very impressed. I have always wanted to be able to paint in Gimp! Do you have any tutorials you could point me to?

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4308

2-Ton - that level of detail isn't easy even for somebody who has been painting as long as I have.

rdgracer71 - you've done a great job and I'm not sure which version I prefer. I think the original is slightly better.

thanks Erisian. I have been drawing for years, but i could never paint....and still can't paint...i drew this picture first with pencil, and loaded the picture on to my computer and used it to work of off in gimp...i like them both, but i still haven't figured a way to blend colors with gimp and not have my picture come out blurry....and your right that kind of detail is not easy....

AnMal · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:36 pm **(#17)**

it looks really good, rdgracer! one of the problems is that when you add more detail and definition to one part of the picture you will start to feel the rest of the picture looks less good - at least that often happens to me

.

Erisian · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 5:08 pm **(#18)**

AnMal wrote:

it looks really good, rdgracer! one of the problems is that when you add more detail and definition to one part of the picture you will start to feel the rest of the picture looks less good - at least that often happens to me

.

Yeah, that's normal. One way to avoid that is to resist the temptation to zoom in too much otherwise you'll overwork one piece then the rest will look unfinished.

Erisian · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 6:07 pm **(#19)**

Simplification is the key to painting as well as drawing. Commonly, I work in grayscale, keeping my values simple then add colour on overlay layers. In the sketch below, apart from the sketch layer which contains some of the darkest values I have only used three values, starting with the mid value then adding the main darks and lights on separate layers. The layers are merged together before the colour layers are added.

The image is flattened and colour and value are picked from the image and used to refine shapes. (Ctrl-click) This gives me a start onto which I can add more subtle colours and values and blend them. I usually use layers for this and I have the colour picker set to sample merged so that I can sample through layers. Each layer is merged down immediately once I am satisfied. I hope
this is of use to you.

http://www.gimpchat.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4519

http://www.gimpchat.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3931

2-ton · **Posted:** Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:05 pm **(#20)**

oh those black and white feathers and the tail feathers are nice and crisp and sharp! I wish I could draw.