Really cool to see you rolling on your pumpkin contest project! As you said I don’t want to be unfair and give you a pointed critique, but I will say that your current previews are pretty dark. Too much hard work is going to waste by not being visible.
Keep up the good work, Aaron! Can’t wait to see how it turns out. It’s a B from me in terms of lighting and shading, A+ for effort though, no question.
I like your light match choice. It’s a very bold stylized render. An interesting one to emulate. The overwhelming impression I get from your match is “too blown out”. But then when I look at the source I totally see where you were getting that from. However in the source it feels like less an issue and more of an aesthestic. With yours it feels like a “just tone the lights down a bit” kind of issue. Here’s a couple thoughts:
- Pikachu’s color feels like a deeper yellow (a touch darker and a touch toward orange) than yours. That could help with less blow out.
- In your render, the giant white blow out spot on the floor feels much too strong. The goblin’s feet disappear a bit as a result. I’m wondering if the source image treats the floor less like a lamp blow out and more like a color gradient texture.
- Another option would be to light your scene with less energy to avoid blowout then adjust the levels to emphasize the stark white highlights in post.
Anyway, it’s still a solid effort. Another B+ in my gradebook 👍
