Art, Photography, Urbex and Visuals by Francesco Perratone and DoPe
Category Archives: Digital Art
Celestial 00
Hello!
Here’s this month multiresolution wallpaper for my patrons, you can find the original article on Patreon here.
You can see part of the ceiling from the basilica, from the Sanctuary of Oropa. The Ancient Basilica is where the statue of the Black Virgin is kept.
The Sanctuary itself is a beautiful place, many of my pictures come from there or from its surroundings, you can see it depicted in some of my works. Plus, many nice hiking trails and walks start right from the Sanctuary, it’s situated on the Alps, near where I live.
You can see more images and find more informations on the Sanctuary here.
The church ceiling itself is interesting because of the decorations and the white “stars”. The painted plaster is dotted (I think it was “hammered”, small parts were removed to produce the starred effect). That, combined with the different hue paints and the lights creates a very nice effect.
As a wallpaper it’s nice because of the black space for icons and stuff, and because of the framing that suggests a window “peeking” on another place.
I’ve been absent for some time, mainly researching and testing in the fields of Virtual Reality (VR) and 360° photography… I’m now ready to share the first (decent) art experiment….
I took a 360 degrees picture of a nice sanctuary here in Italy (more images of the place here), from one of the top floor’s windows. I then applied some quick painting-like effects…. I had to modulate the type of strokes to retain more details where needed, mainly around the top church and its cupola.
In the image below it’s possible to look around by clicking+scrolling on a computer or by rotating your phone/tablet. The accelerometer permits to use the phone/tablet as a “window” through the portrayed place by reading its movements. The size of the image makes the file larger, it will take some time for it to load.
On the bottom right there should be an icon to switch to fullscreen mode, to better experience the view ;-).
Of course the best immersive result it’s obtained by using a (very cheap) VR viewer and your smartphone. A bit like being “right there” in the portrayed place. If you’re on a compatible device there should be a cardboard icon to switch to VR mode (also on bottom right)
The image and technique, something on VR and 360°
360° images, also called photospheres, have a high resolution because you must be able to “look around”, as if you’re inside the picture.
Each possible viewpoint has to be presented in a decent resolution. They’re also saved in a way that permits to retain all relevant information using standard image formats. It’s possible to do that thanks to a projection, that “deforms” the image and adapts it to a 2d space. Currently the main type of projection used is equirectangular.
This is what the saved image looks like (in very low resolution):
This is a monoscopic image (no real “3D” effect, at least for now), but it shows the potential and possibilities in that direction (VR and 360°).
All these aspects must be taken into account during the elaboration and painting of the image.
Until now the software and hardware are limited, especially if you’re an experimenter on a tight budget. I’m partially working with DIY tools and using complicated workflows.
I’ll create some more similar content, using both photography and 3d graphics….. let me know what do you think!
The picture was taken a few days ago, on a cold 31st of December 😉
While the Sun was disappearing, those beautiful colors faded in…. the view is from the main bridge crossing Donauinsle , an island on the Danube. The area is mainly recreational, restaurant, bars, and nice places to take a walk or a run.
The church silhouette is from St. Francis of Assisi church, also known as Mexico Church or Kaiserjubiläumskirche. Unfortunately it was closed at the time, so I couldn’t take a look inside.
Looking in the opposite direction there was an equally magnificient view. A glass skyscraper was reflecting the light and colors, blending with the background.
Apart from the colors and contrast, I like the geometry and composition, with that nice slice of Moon peeking through the sky…
Enjoy!
My eligible patrons have access to different high resolution versions of the above image, to be used as wallpapers. you can check the Patreon campaign post here.
As (almost) all my works, this is available as a print on large canvas (limited to 10) or cotton paper (signed). If interested you can take a look at the shop. If it’s not available yet, you can contact me directly.
Here are some free works for download as wallpapers, as well as some animations to watch.
If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month, or donate something through Paypal:
From Freiburg (Germany), Martin’s Gate or Martinstor, one of the ancient city gates.
Hello everyone! I’ve just completed a few jobs that were absorbing me during the last weeks (mainly 3d animations and some electronic assembly for video recording and wireless transmission).
So…. I’m finally able to get back to MatericLook and some (art)works! Months ago I sent out a survey to my subscribers… During the next days I will implement some of the precious suggestions I received back, thanks!
Germany, Freiburg: Martinstor
-The Place
A few months back I visited a dear friend during a weekend… he lives in Alsace, so we had the opportunity to visit Freiburg im Breisgau, a beautiful city in the Southwest part of Germany, close to France and Switzerland. Freiburg is very nice, with a beautiful historical center. It’s the ideal place where to take a walk and have a look at the stunning squares, a merchant’s hall and various gothic buildings, and the cathedral.
-The Work
The shot I used for this work has Martin’s Gate (Martinstor) as a main subject, surrounded by beautiful historical buildings. The lovely geometries of the roofs and top floors give a nice perspective and direct the eye toward the open sky…
I started from an HDR photography (single shot), so I created a few variants, each one optimized to better present a specific part of the image, in terms of lights and shadows. I then used the various parts to assemble more (and nicer) variations.
Then I experimented on each one with some filters and digital painting. This time I used a lot of different digital painting techniques, fully manual but also automated. The latter are almost always unexciting because you have basically no control on the type of strokes and direction… generating, in my opinion, patterns too “uniform” and uninteresting.
I wanted some specific effects I created during the painting. For example the lower parts of the buildings are “streaked”, following each building’s facade direction, to give a more dynamic shape. The sky at this point has a almost uniform “wormy” pattern. I wanted the clock face to look fragmented and a bit fluid, like if seen through a textured glass.
Here’s a detail of the final image (a bit less than half the final resolution). You can see different patterns and strokes all around:
I then identified all the parts I would like to have in my final image, proceeding to put them together (mostly through masking, to control how they overlap and dissolve into each other).
At this point I proceeded with the final steps… After some minor color and light corrections here and there, the lower part of the buildings needed some more darkening. I used a black painting “creeping” on them, following the painting patterns. Also the sky needed some movement through the dark/light “waves” in the middle-right. Plus some more chaotic patterns around the top and right border.
Last steps: some highlights/reflections accents on the gate rooftop. And slight modifications to all roofs’ tops to give them a twisted, more gothic and less perfect look. These also disrupt the shapes geometry and perspective alignment. I think it makes the work more interesting to look at.
And that’s all for now, I hope you’re enjoying the images and the description has been somewhat inspiring 😉
As (almost) all my works, this is available as a print on large canvas (limited to 10) or cotton paper (signed). If interested you can take a look at the shop. If it’s not available yet, you can contact me directly.
Here are some free works for download as wallpapers, as well as some animations to watch.
If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month, or donate something through Paypal:
A shapeless metal creature that saw us. It’s experimenting, changing, taking on a form, something more similar to us. This serves a sole purpose: it’s trying to communicate… but for now the message it’s still far, far away…
But first, to all my subscribers and patrons that participated to the survey: the “thank you” prints are on their way, your help is very important to me!
Initially I created the 3d figure only. I was thinking about shapes and sculpting, a form similar to what you see… So I illustrated it through digital sculpting. There’s a contrast between planes and curves, smooth joints and angles. I tried to give some harmony to the object, but I didn’t followed a true “rhythm”. During the process I “anthropomorphized” it a bit though, widening the top part and giving it the “Eye” (or “Mouth”).
I liked the work, so I decided to go on and show it. A worn metal look seemed to me the most appropriate, a nice contrast to the shape. In a way a kind of unexpected material.
I worked on it for a bit, because I had a pretty precise idea in mind about that… so I elaborated some pictures to reach the results I was willing to show, in terms of scratches and color. I used them to setup the shader, a technical term for the elements controlling the final “material” displayed by the rendered object.
That’s also the material I would like to use if I’ll ever have the possibility to realize the work in the physical space -that is, by casting it! I was thinking of having it 50cm (20″) tall or more (ideally a 75cm-25″ “home version” and a 2,5m-8′ “outdoor version”).
Finally I rendered an animation with realistic lighting and setup to show the shape and, more important, from a certain point of view, to present the viewer with a pleasant and interesting transformation of shapes, reflections and shadows.
A work from the Armenia Photography series, a sunset view of the beautiful Amaghu Valley, where Noravank Monastery sits.
The valley is named after the river Amaghu, in some places it’s narrow, becoming a real canyon. Located in the Vayots Dzor region, is not far from the city of Yeghegdnazor.
The valley’s peculiar features (apart from the fascinating Noravank Monastery) are its cliffs, whose bright red rocks emerge on their sides. The drive to the monastery is nice and pleasant. This particular view comes from the bottom of the valley, before starting the short climb to the religious building.
For this image I used first of all the usual techniques, like HDR, multiple exposures and a small bit of digital painting. Then I started experimenting a bit…
I intensified the light/shadow contrast by using harmonious curves, with a “rhythm” similar to those extrapolated from classic sculpture. Finally I combined the dark and light areas with the existing luminance details, before applying them to the work.
I would say the results aren’t bad. In this particular image I followed the pre-existing land profiles. As a result the influenced areas are fitting nicely without a strong distinction.
I’d like to do more experiments in this direction, probably with other kind of images, more abstract, where the contrast can be stronger.
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As (almost) all my works, this is available as a print on large canvas (limited) or cotton paper (signed). If interested you can take a look at the shop. If it’s not available yet you can contact me directly.
Here are some free works for download as wallpapers and some animations to watch.
If you like this or other of my works, please consider supporting me on Patreon with 1$/month. You will receive exclusive works and participate to the creative process!
I layered some effects and toned some areas to give a paint-like feel to the pic… It should convey calmness when put on your office screens, now that the holidays are gone! (At least here in Italy!) 😉
Also a forthcoming change could be perceived now that, after some work, the top of the trees look naked, with no leaves left…
The image is available in hi-res to my Patreon supporters pledging from $3, resolutions are the same as free wallpapers (4:3, 3:2, 16:9).
