Note To Artists: Heat-mapping by Stigmata -- Fur Affinity [dot] net

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Note To Artists: Heat-mapping

by Stigmata Carelord + Organizer

Posted 14 years ago

Sometimes an image just doesn't look right. In those cases, zoom out to a thumbnail sized version and create some alternatives.

Consider how compositional elements are going to affect movement in the movement of the viewer's eye. Create a mark to show how your eye moved around the image. Note the path that aligns with your goals (the far left, in my case) and decide what little things you can change (edge sharpness, contrast, detail) to make the eye move as smoothly as possible between all elements.

I saw a blog post that showed this concept better than I could, and with a more thoughtful digital painting.

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Category Theme Species Resolution File Size Resources Tutorials Unspecified / Any 790 x 659 139 kB

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heat mapping composition tutorial eye movement u_stigmata c_resources t_tutorials s_unspecified_any

Latte ~latte

Watcher

14 years ago

This is so obscure, but hovering over the icon of whatever program you're using in Windows 7 makes a little thumbnail of the window pop up, and it's a good way to "squint" without actually squinting :)
Just something I found out by accident!

ira ~zhirvolk

Musician

14 years ago

Personally, I think the center one works the best. It shows the most detail while still being dynamic; the left shows the most of the horse guy, but not enough of the locust, and the far right has the locust too close to the face, which makes that area a bit awkward to look at. The center shows enough of the horse to keep interest in the center, and enough of the locusts in the fore and background to get a feel of the movement.

That's probably totally missing the point. XD

Stigmata ~stigmata

Carelord + Organizer

14 years ago

I am choosing to use the far left option because it allows for a circular rhythm that I want to accentuate in the form of a locust storm. Blocking in a corner entirely also creates a tangent that can trap the viewer's eye in the corner, so I wouldn't opt for the middle option.

Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion.

Lazydez ~lazydez

Comic Artist

14 years ago

Very very nice. Glad to see such tips. I never got serious with my art but have been wanting to pursue a more capturing look when I do more serious piece and not just commissions or things like that. So thankyou very much

Martlie ~martlie

Digital Artist

14 years ago

Very cool. This is a neat trick for getting a nice composition :) I'll definitely try it out.

ponyguy ~ponyguy

Art Vandal

14 years ago

Excellent topic, and a revelation to me that there's a "resources" category.

I agree with the far left one, for a couple of reasons. When you have something moving (like the locust) it needs space to move into (lesson from photography). In the middle image, it's moving off the frame (the eye tends to track where things are heading, also, and leading the eye off the page is not generally ideal). The lighter collar also draws the eye and breaks up the black space, keeping the figure from being an amorphous black blob (forming a different sort of negative space and breaking up a strong vertical). Looking at them in thumbnail, I think personally I might have still opted for the lighter pants of the middle one (looking at it bigger, they're not, but the small version reads that way, probably because of the locust). The strong black vertical drags the eye off the bottom of the page, which the lighter break would prevent. It's all subjective and personal, though.