• Background walkthrough by MapleRose **
• Painting tutorials by shigemitsubaki
• Painting walkthrough by gabychan
• Painting walkthrough for “That Wonderful Miracle” by MuZ0NaZ
• Painting Sample for “Your eyes only” by abul
• Making of “Katamari in Snow” by Tama-Neko
• Custom Brushes with openCanvas by DarthTofu
• Painting sample for “Breeze” by clarings **
• Painting sample for “The Hardest Goodbye” by clarings
• Brief walkthrough by segnoj
• How to paint city lights by MapleRose
• Lineart tutorial by DarthTofu
• Clouds tutorial by kuroimisa
• Happy Music Service Walkthrough by DarthTofu
• La Boreal Walkthrough by alterlier
• using the Marker tool in ArtRage by MapleRose
• Painting Clouds Walk-through by Muz0naZ
• Water Tutorial 1 & 2 by moonescape
• Lineart Colouring + surface lighting fx by supermonchi
• Gid paints a picture by Gid
• Smudging a pixelated scan by sailorchiron **
• Painting Moolight Rays by MapleRose
• Working with Light and Stuff by alterlier
• Walkthrough : Painting Under the Sakura by Tama-Neko
• Painting a Sunset by gaara-no-shukaku
• Painting Wood by gaara-no-shukaku
• Painting over a Vector by gaara-no-shukaku
• Light Ray tutorial by DarthTofu
• Repainting a scan by Chloe-chan
• Rain tutorial by Chloe-chan
• How to Paint Wavey Water by MapleRose
• Painting Bamboo by starrliteangel **
• Painting leaves short walkthrough by supermonchi **
• Complete walkthrough for View from Above by MapleRose **
• Water in general and Water in more specifics by kuroimisa
• Painting “Mountain’s Red Leaves” (wallpaper walkthrough) by Tama-Neko
• How to incorporate a stock into your painted bg (in 5 easy steps) by candy-chan **

Here’s how it’s going to work:

- I will put up a list of 25 randomly selected theme tags (they will be more common ones, not too obscure)
- You will choose no less than 3, no more than 5 of these themes and create a wallpaper using them
- You will post your entries in the guestbook
- The entries will be featured on the group page and put in the group gallery
- This list will stay for 2 months, and then a new list will be chosen

Notes:
- Please use some kind of painting techniques in your wall
- Please make your themes noticeable in your wall. For example, if the theme was “Butterflies”, don’t just put a single tiny butterfly in the background to fulfill the theme; I want the themes to be a major part of your wallpaper

List for March/April

1. Rainbows
2. Jacket
3. Tattoos
4. Blue
5. Chair
6. Cooking
7. Cars
8. Roller Skates
9. Stairs
10. Doughnuts
11. Gym Clothes
12. Explosion
13. V Shape
14. Pointed Ears
15. Military
16. Heterochromia
17. Inflatables
18. Flowers
19. Belts
20. Swimming Pool
21. Grunge
22. Floating
23. Samurai
24. Curtains
25. Skirts

Details

Summary:
Your mission will be, if you accept it, to make an painted wallpaper of any resolution you want, from series/artists/studios that begin from each letter of the English alphabet (as categorized by MT).
The subject/theme can be anything you want, but let tea be your inspiration. Also, you may do a collab for the project if you wish.

Entries:

MiniTokyo thread on the voting process here

MiniTokyo thread on the results here

VOTING RESULTS
1st (with 5 votes): Alterlier
2nd and 3rd place tied (with 3 votes each): Segnoj and Kuroimisa

JUDGING RESULTS
1st (with a score of 15.75): Segnoj
2nd (with a score of 15.5): Kuroimisa
3rd (with a score of 15): Alterlier

Full Judging Results:

Our judges for this round were Chloe-chan and supermonchi.

===

La Boreale – alterlier
—
Respect of theme: 5
Visual content: 3.5
Technique: 3.5
Originality: 3

Great concept coming from seemingly unrelated scans.
Interesting technique, not new, but you embraced it well in your work to make it your ‘signature’ in this one. The colouring of the girl can be a bit more bold but quite well done, however I’m not convinced by
the background job as I feel it’s rather too simplistic and could use with more details. And yes you mentioned the perspective lines in your walkthrough, but the perspective for the grills in the foreground is not right.

I thought the clouds turned out quite good I thought, despite your struggles Don’t worry, it’s something that everyone has different way of doing, and you just do what you feel comfotable with.
Good work!

===

Happy Music Service – darthtofu
—
Respect of theme: 3.25
Visual content: 2.75
Technique: 2.75
Originality: 3.5

Brownie points for the original concept and the story behind the painting.
Great job with a mouse and good use of the perspective lines. I agree with you I think 2-point would work better than 1-point perspective, but you’ve done a good job of it regardless.

Your lighting is there but weak. Try to be less shy in adding shadows and highlights next time – they do wonders Nice design for the ghosts and the cellist, great work overall!

===

Decay Destroy – kuroimisa
—
Respect of theme: 5
Visual content: 3.5
Technique: 4
Originality: 3

Love the integration of the scans and the painted parts of this wall.
Nice consistent lighting throughout and well-thought background idea for the scans. I wish you did a tute on the buildings because the 3D-ness looks good, although I reckon they could use a bit more variety to make them look more believable.

There is a sense of depth which is good, however I would suggest having less details for the far objects, more details on the closer objects. The smoke/clouds look really good but they could look a bit more
consistent throughout.

Nonetheless, great job in overall!

===

Turtle City – darthtofu
—
Respect of theme: 3.5
Visual content: 3
Technique: 2.5
Originality: 4

I thought this wall despite the building-ness leans more towards the fantasy art category. Awesome concept and great brain->paper transfer process, it’s not the easiest or natural thing to do for many of us.

However, to me this is not quite completed yet, it’s only a beginning of what could potentially make an absolute total-kickass painting.

===

Colorblind – segnoj
—
Respect of theme: 3.75
Visual content: 4.25
Technique: 3.75
Originality: 4

Disappointed to find out it wasn’t zuru behind the umbrella.
Regardless, awesome concept and love the mystique feel of the abstract buildings, although I wouldn’t know they were meant to be buildings if you hadn’t mentioned it in your comments, so perhaps a room of improvement there.

Great use of textured brush to make the pastel effect, looks great!
Nice choice of vibrant colours as well. Awesome job all around, well done.

===

City Nightlife – MapleRose
—
Respect of theme: 4.5
Visual content: 3.75
Technique: 3.5
Originality: 3

I admire your boldness to push yourself to new limits and try different techniques and styles. Your painting skills have grown helluva lot and it shows in this piece.

The cityscape lights painting technique is quite effective here and good attention to details which I personally think is a key to success for all paintings. So yeah, great work on adding depth and differentiating distance and near objects, the lighting reflection on the tower and water effect.

I can only point out small things like the water should be much darker for that time of the day and the light reflections less prominent perhaps, as well as more definition on the dome.
Regardless, great work all around, well done!

the specs:
-a small place on the group’s page will be given to the scan and entries. Then,
in exactly one month there will be a vote-off by us members to decide which one
is our favorite. If we get any other entry/ies on the next month, a new vote wil
be cast. And it could last until the end of time! (im not sure it will happen
though )
The monthly winner will win…*insert suggestion here*
-all entries must feature this scan. You are free to
decide what style and technique to use.

–Original advertising banner: clicky
–Original Minitokyo announcement thread: here

The Vanishing Point

A vanishing point is a point in a perspective drawing to which parallel lines appear to converge. The number and placement of the vanishing points determines which perspective technique is being used. -Source: Wikipedia
When structuring your city, buildings or any 3D/geometrical scene, you have to start by knowing where your vanishing point is, and from there draw directional lines. If you already have a stock, you can find it by overlapping straight lines and see where they converge like on the two examples on top. It’s a very visual thing and I highly suggest you click those thumbnails XD. Those directional lines will keep your proportions real and help you build a physically possible scene. The vanishing point can be placed outside the canvas like the first image shows, or in the middle or somewhere inside your wall. Having a focal point inside your canvas will enhance the perspective’s importance and drag the eye toward the point.

Summary:

Your mission will be, if you accept it, to make an anime wallpaper of any
resolution you want, and provide a walk-through of your work afterwards.
The theme for this round will be Urban
architecture. You can wall a city of the future or the past, it’s as you
wish.
Your wall must feature one or more of these
elements:
-A cityscape
-An outside wall
-A building
-A statue
-Any other element of urban architecture you can think of
*official example: Paradise
City by candy-chan ;D
Technique and style guidelines are the
same asusual (click
for a reminder) Any type of scan will be accepted, as long as it is fine with
the MT policy.
**Nota Bene: please remember you have to paint your wall for it to be acceptable
in the contest! Vectoring is fine as long as you post-process it.

Judging:
If any member wants to judge and not participate, contact me. If you want to
start and organize a democratic revolution, it’s as you wish. There will also be
a vote for the most popular entry. The prize will again be a feature on the
group’s page.
you’ll be judged on:
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of urban architechture
/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition /5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort /5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals /5

the Aftermath:
When the contest is finished and all the entries are handed over, I would like for you to go back to your wallpaper psd, and make us a little walk-through of the techniques you used. The walk-through can be a fully lenghted tutorial or just screenshots and explanations on how you worked (on the whole wall or the painted part, you pick). Everything will be added to the group’s page as future reference. This is to encourage members to share techniques and tutorials on digital painting. Because we never stop learning, and because I think no one is really that comfortable with painting in this group. Great way to learn and help! Keep this in mind when making the wall, you might want to take screenshots

All entries must be submitted to
MiniTokyo and posted in the paint-o-rama’s guestbook before April 24, and the due date will NOT be pushed back. Shortly explain
how and where you used painting techniques in your wallpaper description. You need to be a group member to participate.
that is all! Cheers

Click here for the MiniTokyo thread and comments

contest banner:

MiniTokyo thread on the voting process here

MiniTokyo thread on the results here

VOTING RESULTS
There is actually a tie of 3 walls for the title of most popular entry. Each with 4 votes (18 votes in all); yay for alterlier, Gid and MapleRose!

JUDGING RESULTS
alterlier wins with Tama-Neko and supermonchi VERY close behind!

Full Judging Results:

mickyoko’s details on Judging

Windy Sunrise by MapleRose
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 1.75
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 1.25
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 1.25
TOTAL= 6.25

Can’t See the Shadows [W] by Chloe-chan
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1.75
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 1
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 1.75
TOTAL= 6.5

Faron by DarthTofu
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 1.5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 1.5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2
TOTAL= 6

Twilight of Hope by gaara-no-shukaku
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2.25
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2
TOTAL= 8.25

Takamichi: Under the Sakura by Tama-Neko
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 3.25
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 3
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.75
TOTAL= 11.5

-Wicked spectacle from five to six in the morning – by alterlier
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2.5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 1.75
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.25
TOTAL= 9

So She Dances by MapleRose
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1.75
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 1.75
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 1.5
TOTAL= 7

Hibiscus Sky by SailorChiron
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.75
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.5
TOTAL= 9.75

Tabako by supermonchi
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2.5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.25
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 3
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.75
TOTAL= 10.25

Future Foe Scenario by Gid
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 1.75
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 1.5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 1.5
TOTAL= 5.75

Veil of Light by moonescape
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1.75
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.25
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.25
TOTAL= 8.75

A Day in Aqua by Muz0naZ
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 3
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 3
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.5
TOTAL= 10.5

————————

candy-chan’s details on judging
*Comparative method of judging (one wall compared to the rest of the entries) for each aspect.
*Final comments: I can’t believe that after proposing blocks of information, details, links, proposed scans and gave ideas that less than half of the entries even respect the contest’s theme and restrictions. I’m pretty much disappointed, I wonder if you even bothered reading the monthly subjects. Only a handful of entries managed to really use dramatic lighting and apply it on their anime character and background. However I am happy of the participation of many to this contest. There is an interesting variety of ideas and wallpaper formats, haha.

Windy Sunrise By MapleRose
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 4.5/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 3.4/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 3.5/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.9/5
-total: 14.3
-comments: I don,t know if it was your goal but the wall really fits Friedrich’s style, I love it haha. Athmosphere is all created from the light effect, good job on understanding the theme.

Can’t See the Shadows By Chloe-chan
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 3.2/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 3.3/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 4.1/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.9/5
-total: 13.5
-comments: Nice backlight but does not affect main character, composition good but all from the scan?

Faron By DarthTofu
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 3.2/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.4/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.7/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 3.3/5
-total: 11.6
-comments: Interesting but underdeveleopped. not scenic! yay! ok simplistic, but simple in its simple-ness

Twilight of Hope By gaara-no-shukaku
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2.3/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 3.4/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.8/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.5/5
-total: 11
-comments: Could be more. not dramatic. Props for cropping face but a sunset isnt an original idea much.

Takamichi: Under the Sakura By Tama-Neko
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 2.6/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 4.6/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 4.5/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 3.2/5
-total: 14.9
-comments: Good shadows and light but not dramatic, good balance of flowers and branches, nicely placed. Your points in originality go for trying out the watercolouring style.

Wicked Spectacle from Five to six in the Morning By alterlier
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 4.8/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 4.5/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 4.5/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 3.8/5
-total: 17.6
-comments: One of the few who understood the theme of this contest. Whole room is affected and the dramatic athmosphere is all created around the importance of the light entering the room through the windows. Interesting perspective, nice yellowish tone.

So She Dances By MapleRose
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 4.1/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 3.4/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 3.3/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 3.4/5
-total: 14.2
-comments: Canvas clearly affected by light rays. The visual content is dynamic but has flaws. Good job working from lineart to full scenic.

Hibiscus Sky By sailorchiron
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1.9/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.2/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.3/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.2/5
-total: 8.6
-comments: I see the efforts of using the dodge and burn tool a bit everywhere, but your choice of scan made the result look very flat.

Tabako By supermonchi
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 4.2/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 4.3/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 4.4/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 3.1/5
-total: 16
-comments: Good study of electric lights, with urban materials reflecting and absorbing it differently. Good focus because of light bulbs, good choice of colours. I could go on and say good for another tons of things.

Future Foe Scenario By Gid
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 4.2/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 4.7/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 4.6/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 3.4/5
-total: 16.9
-comments: Clear use of shadow/light, nicely played with the contrasts. Dynamic composition and colours make an eye-candy result in this not perfect, but very good wall.

Veil of Light By moonescape
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1.2/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 2.4/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 2.4/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.5/5
-total: 8.5
-comments: Nice position of the girl and ok composition. But where is the light applied on the characters?

A Day in Aqua By MuZ0NaZ
-Respect of theme & restrictions: Importance/Use of lighting, Effects used on character and canvas 1.2/5
-Visual content: Aesthetics, Balance and Composition 3.5/5
-Technique: Painting job and look, Effort 3.9/5
-Originality: in technique, on subject and visuals 2.4/5
-total: 11
-comments: Good focal point. But the theme wasn’t focal point! Just a small gradient in the sky isn’t enough to say you’ve applied dramatic lighting. Not understanding what I wanted is what made your mark get so low.

——————-
VOTES:
alterlier’s Wicked Spectacle: 4
Gid’s Future Foes Scenario: 4
Tama’s Under the Sakura: 2
monchi’s Tabako: 1
Maple’s So She Dances: 4
Maple’s Windy Sunrise: 2
gaara’s Twilight of Hope: 1

——–

The contrast of black and white can be used powerfully when handled correctly. In this rather classic nude pose, the woman’s body is directed towards the only thing that seems to matter to her; light. Here light is as importantly used as it’s alter-ego, shadow. Without the staggering play of light and shadow to make the human curves stand out, this photograph wouldn’t have looked so special.

Backlight is probably used more often in anime wallpapers because it’s easier to apply with a nice sunset stock. But it is still a lovely dramatic effect to have. It outlines nicely the main subject, damped in sunlight.

Filtering light through blinds, tree branches, or anything you fancy can give a very lovely midday effect applied on a subject. This photo should remind you of one of the painting examples right on top

Here are some interesting explanations about how to use light in a photograph. Some of the tips can be very useful to know when creating and planning a scene in your wallpaper.

Lady writing a Letter with her Maid, Dutch Golden Age

Johannes Vermeer is known for his stunning work on the realism of light entering the room and touching the painting’s characters. His most popular painting may be Girl with a Pearl Earring, I felt as though this one was probably the best example because of it’s fierce contrast. The details are so fine and perfect you could feel as though the characters could come to life in an instant. **Places to stare at: the window’s border, the floor, the tablecloth.

Seascape in Moonlight & Fog Rising on the Mountain, German Romantism

Caspar David Firedrich was one crazy painter who always symbolised his scenic elements as Catholic signs, light being God himself.
And so his use of lighting has always a very “holy” feel to it. Notice how half of the mountain, representing human faith (usually the farthest in the horizon is paradise), is in the dark and the other is illuminated in divine light. Romantism was an artistic current aiming to overwhelm the viewer with emotions when looking at the painting, paintings from this period always achieve to leave us with a little something inside. Unfortunately I couln’t find any good resolution reproduction of those two paintings.

The Swing, French Impressionism

Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a leading painter for the impressionist movement which focused on leaving an impression on the viewer after he/she left the painting. And so the brush strokes are not as acurate, and black is never used as a darkening colour for the shadows. This painting is a masterpiece regarding the effect of the light passing through the branches, creating a genuine athmosphere. This is candie’s favorite painting

Claude Monet is very famous for making series of paintings with the same subject at different time of day, studying the effect of sunlight on the environment. Here is a flash site with the whole series of the Rouen cathedral, great ressource.

Some tips by Mickyoko:
Select a main light source first then, when you’ve done that, then that is the only time you add the other ambience lighting like the backlight or reflection of a certain surface. In Photoshop make use of the layer and brush modes most likely the multiply, color dodge, overlay, screen, soft light… etc. I’ll leave the other exploring to you guys/gals. Hope this helps. Oh another hint… effective highlights are not white. So if it is not white then what should it be then? You find that out.