Matte painting done all is CS2

This is a matte painting I did for mattepainting.org I used stock photos and photoshop and a little imagination. No 3D software used.

http://www.noelbentley.com/images/kingdom8.jpg

it is easy to say that no 3d software was used in your work.

Thanks for the useful comment or criticism bet you racked your brain for hours on that one.

Great job!
I bet it took quite some time to work this one out.
One thing I don't quite like is the small waterfall in the middle, it looks a bit plain and maybe lacks some contrast or something? Especially since you have that big grey block on the mountain behind it. And maybe composition wise the tree on the right could've been a bit higher.

Good job!

[QUOTE=*NL*]Great job!
I bet it took quite some time to work this one out.
One thing I don't quite like is the small waterfall in the middle, it looks a bit plain and maybe lacks some contrast or something? Especially since you have that big grey block on the mountain behind it. And maybe composition wise the tree on the right could've been a bit higher.

Good job![/QUOTE]

Thanks for the tips....... it was one of my first serious PS mattepaintings it took 3 1/2 weeks to do.

Fantastic work, Noel!

The composition is excellent, the detail and stonework (cliff and castle) is ingenious--especially in the left foreground.

The only constructive critique, and an issue that I'm not looking forward to struggling through on the cover I'm working on, is the lighting, especially in regard to perspective. Detail obviously gets more blurred the further back you go into your composition. But lighting composition also changes... typically you get darker and 'greyer' the further back you go. Yours actually gets brighter and is creating an 'illusion' in my eye. This might well be your intent--for dramatic affect.

Irregardless of lighting, it is a fantastic piece. (We should have recruited you for the book cover ;) )

Thanks guys...

Malibu- I left the perspective like it was to give it a faux fantasy feel. Sorta like a mix between animation and real life.

Pretty cool. The only thing bothering me is that the middle rock is lighted from the front - and yet it casts a shadow to the right. Or at least it looks like it. In any case.. most stuff is lighted from the left...except the middle boulder. Other than that I think it's neat.

[QUOTE=mihai]Pretty cool. The only thing bothering me is that the middle rock is lighted from the front - and yet it casts a shadow to the right. Or at least it looks like it. In any case.. most stuff is lighted from the left...except the middle boulder. Other than that I think it's neat.[/QUOTE]


This version is scaled down from 3300pixels wide so you lose the effect that the castle on the perch is actualy castin a shadow on part of the middle mound... The orig picture shows a bit better the color variance this smaller version doesn't.......

Great job on this. I have recently picked up a book on matte painting, you have given me some inspiration. :D