Welcome!

[endeavor]

Le Assignment:

Using STOCK, ideally not the picture you used last time, cut out a horse. I want to see a full body smudge this time, though--- This includes the mane & the tail.

Some tips:
For the body use a wider soft edged brush with no greater than 40% strength.
For the mane and tail, I suggest cutting them out and making seperate layers to smudge seperatly. This way you are not smudging the colors of the mane into the body. For hair, remember to look at the original picture; avoid bushiness and avoid over hairy hair (sha know?!) For this smudging i suggest using a 1-3px hard brush with anywhere from 65-85% strength.
Some people find it easier to smudge the horse before cutting, some don't. Try both and see which you think looks better for your own style!

-------------------
Another lesson with prof. endy. (lawl.) MORE COMING ASAP..working on this as I find time. x_x;

Stage 1:
The Neck/Face/Jaw

For this we'll use a picture of my lovely man, Lucas.
Firstly I removed his halter (poorly. :F ). But you get the jist of it. So now we have a halterless Lucas to work with--like so:


Here is the guidelines I use for facial smudging. By zooming in 400%, you can easily find the muscle/bone lines on the horse's face and neck. Use these as a map as to which direction to smudge. Never smudge only in one long streak (ie; the face and cheeck bone) Littler arrows indicate smaller brush sizes.:


The final product is this:

This was done in less than two minutes, so its not like these things have to take ages to do, you just have to pay attention to the details so you don't lose any muscle or bone definition. For this smudge I used soft brush sizes 21 and 17 and strength 38%

Stage 2:
The body

For this we'll use a picture of my school's horse Spud. (yes its totally necessary for me to introduce them xD )


Much like the technique for the facial area; for the body make sure to carefully look out for your muscle/bone lines. Here are the guidelines I use!


This is my final product:

Again, a 38% strength, and about a size 19 soft brush for the smudge, zoomed in about 400%. This one isn't that great of an example, but you can see how the guidelines kept the muscle tone. Try using varied (but not erratic) smudging on the belly, using mainly up strokes for the belly and down strokes on the back. As you get towards the middle and the meeting point, you can start to blend the two together.

Stage 3:
The legs

This is the simplest step, again all I can say is to follow your muscle lines. There are quite a few large muscles/tendons that run through the legs (parts, anyway) and if you lose those then you lose the legs. Don't forget to smudge the hooves too! Again, we'll use Spudly.


The guidelines:


The finished product:


Stage 4:
The mane and tail

I can't so much help you out with this, due to every horse having varied manes and tails (thickness, length, etc...) Just remember to do it in a different layer, and to use a stronger strength of brush and to use a HARD brush. If you use a soft brush it will come out streaky and blurry. Keep the original picture on hand so you have that to base your smudge off of. Awesome? Awesome.


This post has been edited by endeavor on Apr 24 2008, 06:44 PM

[lynx]

I did a tack removal on the face, and the bosy smudging light, as it was a grey dapple whatever.

[lynx]

ok o.o that didn't work.

click.

[Furore !]

Everything is explained on the pic XD

CLICKY HERE

[endeavor]

lynx: overall it's not bad, but it needs some work. did you use the same sized brush for the whole horse? it seems that way because you lost a lot of definition on the neck and jaw area. the bottom of the cheek doesn't look 100% smudged out, and its all going on one direction. that horse looks like an arabian stud, and i know that they are extremely expressive and muscular- so try and follow the structure of the horse's face. it's time consuming but the end result is well worth it. the rest of the body just looks a bit blurred over, so i'd reccomend a stronger strength of brush for next time, and try using different brush sizes-- especially for the face, neck, and legs. as for the mane and tail, they are very nice. you managed to avoid the bushy look that many people run into. the only thing is that it looks very smudged and sharp as compared to the body, so work on trying to get the two to mesh a bit more. the tack removal looks great too, nice job lynxie!

furore: we have some things we need to work on for this one. i'll start with the mane and tail; its cool you didnt smudge the mane, but for next time try doing them in seperate layers because you can see where parts of the tail are smudged into the bum. the tail smudge isn't bad, but i think a few longer stray hairs would definitely boost the overall look. as for the body, it looks like you didnt follow many guidelines, or if you did you did it too strongly. i reccomend trying to follow the muscles of the horse. you too should try using various brush sizes, but the strength you're using seems good. the face doesn't look like it was smudged, or if it was then it was rushed. don't forget to give the hooves a light smudge from right to left so they don't stick out. your tack removal looks lovely as well, nicely done fuzzyfurryeverything! xD


errybody: you're both awesome for doing tack removals ontop of the original assignment, and you both did them nicely. we're going to stick on smudging until you guys get awesome at it, so keep working at it. like i said, if you want me to make a tutorial i can, but if not keep trying to find a technique that works out. remember, smudging isnt to make the horse look blurry-- it's to make the horse's coat seem soft and smooth.
let's see a repeat of this assignment. you guys can use the same horses again or different ones.
i look forward to seeing what you guys can do!

This post has been edited by endeavor on Apr 20 2008, 01:09 PM

[Furore !]

hmm tryed again..

CLICKY HERE!

[endeavor]

You're improving furry, everything seems a lot better on this one.
Though it seems like when it comes to the body the smudging gets sort of erratic, so I'll make a bit of a tutorial and post it with the assignment up top so you'll have a bit more guidance.

[Furore !]

Ohkay lol, that horse though is so hard to smudge! its fur is all realy fluffy and stuff.. and i was gonna find a different horse but my internet spazzed out on me but anyway thats great! I could realy help with a tutorial *dances*

[endeavor]

Okay, tutorial posted. Sorry for the delay, but lets seeeeee some smudges you guys!

[Furore !]

waw! *looks at tutorial mystifyed* thats a groovy tutorial!

i will get it done as soon as possible.. i got a pic order though which i gotta do like.. errm now

[endeavor]

suhhhweeetttt, i hope the tutorial helps!

[Furore !]

it shure does

[Furore !]

Done!

Click.

[lynx]

*has exams*

Be done shortly.

[endeavor]

Sorry it's taken so long! *_*
Furryfuzzbum, that's definitely better. It seems like you're getting the overall feel for it. Want to try it on a different horse now? This way i'll be sure you're ready for #3