Really nice Sorry I can't offer advanced critique; i know nothing about space art except that your "first nebula" looks AWESOME!! Might as well be a freakin' professional!
Great great job!

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*~..It is not having been in the dark house, but having left it, that counts..~*

What can I say? Great piece for a first one!

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Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray The Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray The Lord my soul to take...

"Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that matter.." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Very good start my friend, you are on your way to being one of the greats. Keep the good stuff rolling in!

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yay

I can only second what ~absolutehalo said, he nails pretty much every aspect of things to think about concerning someone thats fresh and just started this wonderful path of art .

I think you'v done extremley well using my tutorial, If I may say one of the best result someone has shown me of a direct usage on my tut for real. You'v made the important thing and made a personal touch to it.

For a first scene this is a really good start man, seems like you'v stumbled upon something you can be quite good at I recckin .

I'ma keep my eye on you for further postings and things, cya around dude

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[Homepage] [RedBubble]

Absolutehalo is spot on with his advice.

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......artistic flair and style are things that must be explored, not learnt.

I'll second Tigaer and say this is a nice start. You've got a lot of complex shape to work with and thats key when working with brushes in the method and approach you've taken. Lots of shape will definately help in refining and detailing.

Keep dabbling and get a good grasp of lighting. That will aid you're mechanic process a lot more and help you put the "pieces" together with a more refined perception. Some good references of great work from artists who have a very sound grasp of light would be *SamODJ and ~AP123

For me personally I'm totally opposite of Tigaer on the point of "next step". Take your time and focus on the aspect that inspires you the most. Planets are all good and fun but if nebula work has your attention right now then build that understanding first and basically tinker like a mad man.

For the first 6 months of my time learning the art in this genre I built nothing but planets. Blank black canvas with a sphere on it. No full pieces with starfields and nebulas. Just a planet on a blank black canvas. If it didn't work I trashed it and started over. Planet after planet. Then I worked a bit with adding starfields to build the depth. I focused on starfields for a bit then once I'd gotten a good grasp of the process of those aspects I switched my aim to nebula work and spent the entire later year of my work in this genre focusing on nebula.

Work what is driving you then as you get a grasp of the dynamics and a good hold on your own personal techniques then move onto other areas of experimentation to aid what you already know. That will help a lot. Don't overwhelm yourself this early on. Being patient with the ideals and letting them build and flow naturally... is what makes this genre and your time in it... art... instead of fad.

Good luck.

-absolute halo-