Grand Space Opera 2D Entry: Mark Komorowski

[Markski]

Hi everyone!

This is my first CG challenge entry, or actual contest for that matter. Good luck to everyone! I hope to have a WIP up within a few hours.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098629249_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098629249_large.jpg)

This is my very first concept. It's mostly an environmental concept so far. I'm imagining an enormous underground volcanic area with eruptions and spewing lava, lava rivers, lava ponds, and huge clouds of smoke. All the while, an advanced race is invading a subterranian colony of mutated lava creatures. Or something like that.



For this image, I want red lighting to play a big part. As well as the white light from above. Lots of bright highlights and dark areas for this one. Thanks for looking!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098636487_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098636487_large.jpg)

My second sketch. A large scale stand-off between two forces equal in power. Each fires off their most destructive weapon at the same time.

[Shadow Seraph]

Looks really great so far, great underpainting, soft, allows for a lot of detailing enhancement. Good feel of shape and composition. Laster stages will tell a lot.:bounce:

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098653915_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098653915_large.jpg)

Ok, I think I've got it now. It's going to be a large scale elemental battle between air and earth.

My little story: The forces of air (flying spirit-types) have invaded to domain of the earth elements (lava guys).

Like I mentioned, there's going to be erupting volcanos, etc... As well as lava monsters hurling massive chunks of molten rock at the incoming air spirits. There will also be air guys casting tornadoes all over the places and many more things (when I think of them). Why are the air spirits invading? Umm... because of bouncing cheques. Yes.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098802006_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098802006_large.jpg)

Here's a close-up shot of the detail work that I have done so far. I actually believe that I am way ahead of schedule so far. I'm quite glad I didn't spend too much time on the sketches and dove right in. I know exactly where I'm going with this thing, and I'm now a painting locomotive.

I'm pretty confident about the environmental aspect of it, however, I think that the characters that I have decided on will be very difficult for me. Once I have the entire background finalized, I will then add the characters, effects (flying rocks, fire spitting, lighting spells and other things.)

And thanks for taking the time to respond to my project, Shadow Seraph! I'm glad to see that you like it so far.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098847986_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098847986_large.jpg)

This is a full view of my environment. Size reduced to smearyness of course.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098848530_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1098848530_large.jpg)

This is a little montage of the closeups of my environment. These details are unnoticable in the previous image, so I felt it was necessary to add this pic.

I've got my plan all laid out: 40 more days for the environment, and another 40 for the characters and action.
I really took advantage of my day off work and got in a good 8 hours of painting today. For the past six months, I've been painting nothing but rocks, so I think I've got most types down. But I think I'll need to find a better reference for flowing lava...

One thing that still concerns me is that I may be off topic a little. Elemental entities can be considered a civilization, right? "Grand Space..." = "Large Area" too? Maybe.. I hope.

[coCoKNIght]

that's starting to look very good, great use of colors!

[Markski]

Thanks for replying to my thread! I really appreciate it. I plan on having a more diverse array of colors (more than just shades of grey and orange) by the time I'm done, though. I just hope someone can help clarify my off-topic concern.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099278753_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099278753_large.jpg)

Hello.

This is another detail shot of stuff I've been working on as of late (another productive day off).

I guess I'm not going to get the advice I was looking for, so I'll just forget about it and keep going. I was never really into space ships and space stations, so I wanted to go in a different direction. Even if my image doesn't even qualify, it will still be a personal achievement and all of these things.

Anyway, about the progress so far: I detailed more rocks (surprise). There are a little inconsistent in style, but I work on that later. I also made a huge mistake in the process: I did the overlay colors before all the rocks were done, so I ended up having many different colors which was strange. I also started on one of the volcano smoke clouds. Later on, I'm going to add volumetric lighting coming through the smoke and things of that nature. So there.

[V_Shane]

very nice , has an early Roger Dean feel. can't wait to see the rest.

[Tinselsnips]

It would look very cool if you formatted the image to be considerably taller than wide (the remaining space could be filled with text/a border, etc. - Is that allowed?), with the sky spirits in the clouds above, the earth spirits below, and the battle being raged vertically from the ground to the sky. You could have the sky filled with clouds, lightning, planets, etc. and the ground with the volcanoes, etc., with a lot of room in between for transition.

Edit: As for your off-topic concern, you would probably be better off asking in the FAQ thread.

[Markski]

V_Shane: I just looked up Roger Dean on the net, because I hadn't heard of him before. Thanks for introducing me to his work. I really like his style! Thanks for commenting!

Tinselsnips: That's is a very cool idea. If there's anything I like drawing more than rocks, it's clouds. It could be like two entirely seperate drawings (one cool, one warm) with that mid transition point full of action (with action leaking into each extreme too). Thanks! You're amazing. I'm going to sketch another soon.!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099542711_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099542711_large.jpg)

Hello!

This is the reconfigured full view of my environment. More updates soon! I'm looking forward to adding volume fog, better clouds, and all that stuff. Good night.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099543045_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099543045_large.jpg)

Another shot of fine detailing I've been a workin' on, y'all. Now imagine it with lava flowing and dripping down the cliffs. Have a nice day.

[element5]

You got my attention with your technique, some really cool effects happening...will be definately checking in again to see more :thumbsup:

[Peddy]

just curious, what technique are you using for the clouds? it looks like you could be using either Steven Stahlberg's or Katherine Dinger's techniques for this kind of cloud (if those names and there associating tutorials mean anything to you) ie, the clouds look good, you should be happy with the amount of time i can only assume (according to apparent detail) you are spending on them
just watch those harsh edges on the top of the clouds

the tutorials i made reference to:

Painting clouds - Steven Stahlberg (http://www.androidblues.com/cloudtut.html)
Cloud/Smoke Tutorial - Katherine Dinger (http://div.dyndns.org/EK/tutorial/cloud/)

[Markski]

Peddy: Hah! I can thank mister Stahlberg for those clouds (and you know he's a pretty smart guy because he has his own office). I have never heard of Katherine Dinger before, but her technique is one that I really will draw inspiriation from (thanks for the link!). I have been spending a lot of time on this project, and I hope to keep pushing until the very end.

element5: I'm very glad you like what I've done so far! And thanks for wanting to check back too!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099858040_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099858040_large.jpg)

Here's a slightly modified version, with a few clouds added. Now my cloud technique of choice should be blatantly obvious.

The glows and other color work is just for illustrative purposes.

[NOOB!]

man looks really great so far,loving ur smoke effects the most.

[annisahmad]

wow mark. this is great. reminds me of LOTR. it almost seems like ur rendering this in a friggin 3d program. keep going. great job :)

[Markski]

Thanks for replying! Dylan Cole is one of my favourite artists. I spent a lot of time just staring at his work. I think I'm at that stage where I'm trying to mimic the work of my favorite artists. But I've never even seen Return of the King though.. yet.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099885030_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099885030_large.jpg)

Here's a little discovery that I made, that I'd like to share with you all. It's a pretty basic concept but I havn't seen it on the net anywhere (so far), so I here it goes.

It's just a simple fog tutorial. Most would probably think it's very simplistic and amateurish, but maybe someone can still benefit from it.

Step 1: Simple sky gradient.
Step 2: Non- fogged ground color (I guess you can use a gradient here too and avoid step 3).
Step 3: I used a large soft brush to put in the progressive fog (with just the ground area selected in a rectangle).
Step 4: Take sample colors of different areas/planes of the ground area, then use that color to draw in your objects on that 'plane'. The object and ground colors should blend together, making a nice foggy scene effect.

This particluar application is really lame. The concept is what I think is pretty cool. Just a little something I wanted to share! See ya!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099934242_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099934242_large.jpg)

Hello!

I refined the clouds a little this morning. I also added a huge planet. I used a gradiant to make the planet better blend in with the background sky. Then I used a 2500 size dodge tool to give it a slight highlight to add a more spherical appearance. I then used a gaussian blur filter too smooth the edged of the dodge, and to my surprise, it also added a nice glow effect around the planet: a positive accident. yay.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099938280_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099938280_large.jpg)

I updated the image with an improved horizon. This is just indicative of the final product. I'm still planning on adding more mountains and clouds and stuff. The last image looked too horrible to leave alone.

[elmasfeo]

good work! looks very promising, I'm quite curious about how the characters are going to be... don't you have even a small concept? a quick doodle or something...

I think it fits the Space Opera theme, at least I've seen other entries more offtopic than yours, don't worry about that

btw, I love the sun in your thursday post, lol:scream:

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099942673_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099942673_large.jpg)

I think this planet looks a little better. I had my shading all wrong. Next step: lots of craters. And maybe tons of miniature light specs representing a far away city.

[NOOB!]

.....jelousy

[Markski]

Hmmm... characters, you say? Well, I've never drawn or designed a character before (besides that sun), so I'm going to keep it very simple.

The lava monsters will probably resemble your run-of-the-mill, typical, everyday earth golem-type creature. They will have lava for joints for extra mobility and dexterity. Remeber the earth golems from Diablo? That's pretty much what I plan on ending up with. Very basic and easy to draw.

As for the air spirits, I can't decide on wether to have actual flying ghost-type creatures, or maybe have air elements that materialize out of the clouds. And I think they should be female. Just because.

At this point, I don't really have a lot of faith in my character abilities, so I'm trying to compensate by having a solid environment to fall back on just in case things take a wrong turn somewhere.

Thanks for commenting!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099979798_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1099979798_large.jpg)

Here's my last update of the night. Just added more clouds and stars. ....eyes.....burning....

[Miker]

love your work. you have a very unique style. keep it up.

[element5]

Hiya Markski, What you have done since I last checked in is cool. Love the sky and the colours. Thanx for the fog lesson I may have to try that in my piece :)

[Markski]

Thanks for commenting! But now, I must take a few days off this project to work on my Halo 2. I will update soon!!!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1100494271_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1100494271_large.jpg)

HEllo! I started on some planet cloud details. So much for the craters. I guess it will be just landmasses and maybe lights too. Thats it! Crits welcome!!!

[Tinselsnips]

Hey, coming along nicely! One thing that bothers me, though, is the colour transition...
The bottom of the image is volcanoes and lava flows, so it seems to me that the bottom of the image should feature an orange glow, rather than the top. The greyish fog seems out of place with the rest of the image.

[Markski]

I'm planning on doing all the overlay colors when I get my line art and shading finished in the rocky areas. At the very bottom of the image, you can see a rocky/stalagmite area with the overlays already added. That should give an idea of the big picture.

[walrus]

The rendering detail on the clouds and rocks so far is looking great! Great job, can't wait to see more. The top of the fogbank feels somewhat abrupt to me... but then, living in the San Francisco area, I'm used to seeing fog from below, down in it, not from so far a distance away and above! :-)
Anyhow best of luck with the rest of it!

-mike

[Markski]

Thanks for replying!!! For a kid like me, it truly is an honor to have a member of the development team of one of my all time favorite games comment on my work.

I'm surely going to tweak the atmopshere effects quite a bit. When the entire environment is complete, I'm going to give the entire scene a full atmospheric make-over: more progressive fog on the clouds, glows on the rocks and in the sky (similiar to one of my previous entries), and more. And then there the whole action sequence thing......

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1101098156_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1101098156_large.jpg)

This is a concept I made in a few minutes. I just used a large round soft brush on a new layer to add some fog and highlights here and there. The final will be more precise. This effect also makes the background less distracting.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1101674694_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1101674694_large.jpg)

This is a little update of my detail work. A slightly different perspective for the lower image.

[bolchover]

hey, I can see this is going to end up being very realistic. I look forward to it! The mountains look almost chinese or japanese at the moment. It sort of lacks a focus for me, but maybe that's the point eg what if epic events begin not between charcters or peoples but in the middle of nowhere? It's like the calm before the storm or like following back the trail of a series of events, and finding that it was the tiniest insignificant thing that was the unexpected root or cause of all to come. Well, anyway, that may not be what you meant - but interesting idea perhaps...:)

[Markski]

For now, the image in it's entirety is supposed to lack a focus point. The characters and battle scene stuff is going to be to focus of the image. As for all that other stuff you said, I havn't really put a lot of thought into an interesting story or such. I just like to draw rocks. Come to think of it, I don't even know if I can finish it in time. I'm spending too much time trying to draw in as much detail as possible. However, when the image is reduced to a normal viewing size, those details aren't even noticable. blech. I'd better get moving.

[adonihs]

Lava is a pain to draw!! But it looks like youre holding yourself up! =) Awesome job!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102276432_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102276432_large.jpg)

Hello! Here's the lastest fullview update of my image.

Things I've worked on: more clouds, more smoke, more rocks. I also ditched that dumb fog idea from a few weeks ago. It might be good for sketches, but it just doesn't work with this particular image.

I've also decided to use a massive mountain range to bring the background into the foreground. Should look cool, I hope.

I would especially like crits on the overall perspective of the image. It may be tough to tell at this point, but any advice would be helpful! Thanks !

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102295814_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102295814_large.jpg)

Here's another quick mock-up of the special effects I would like to use. (maybe a little overboard. some areas are a little washed out.).

I also just discovered that I could use my ruler on the tablet! I'm a genious! (insert eye-roll smiley).

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102473770_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102473770_large.jpg)

Here's a slightly different version of the volume light and fog.

I added some white volume fog between the mountains in the back. Much better than the last technique I was using.

[adonihs]

As for a lava, it's obviously going to be a time consumer. Id just start going crazy, throwing reds and oranges in there, then start to detail it, get those colors down, or you'll get swamped with other meshes. The fog, you should do once the piece is complete, so you have an overall color theme, then you can go in with a low opacity/fade brush and just work the streams. Looks good so far!

[Markski]

Thanks for writing a second time! Yes, the lava will be a pain (double that amount for the other side of the mountain range). This last image was just an atmospheric concept. I will surely wait until the very end for all of those little additions. I guess I just wanted something a little better looking to show up here. Thanks for thinking it looks good!

[Tranchefeux]

Hi,
I discover your work difficult all to see there is much
participant, the sky of your last post is pleasant and the colors are
good,
good road for the continuation of your project.

[AirbORn]

Interesting concepts. Hard to tell what it will look like in the end, but I really like the atmosphere you have established.

[Markski]

Trachefeux: Merci beaucoup pour vos commentaires! C'est vrai qu'il est un peu difficile de voir la directoin de cette image. Dans quelques semaines, j'espère avoir assez de progression pour donner une bien meilleur idee.

Airborn: Thanks a lot for your comments! It is true that it's difficult to see the direction of this image. In a few weeks, I hope to have made enough progress to give a much better idea.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102888986_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1102888986_large.jpg)

This is a close-up at 33%. It just shows some of the background mountains I've been working on today. My biggest concern with this area of the image is getting the perspective right the first time. Crits on that would be appreciated (again, I know it's difficult to tell).

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1103057488_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1103057488_large.jpg)

Another detail update. I also started work on a little 'pit of doom'. It will undoubtedly feature volume light.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1103088703_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1103088703_large.jpg)

Here's a full view of the progress so far. Hopefully, I have maintained a convincing perspective in the middle areas. Coloring on the smoke may be subject to change. Thanks for looking and replying!

[element5]

Wow thats alot of work you are doing....:applause:

Just one suggestion, The plumes from the 3 volcanos in the distance could be drifting to the right along the horizon. Just a thought seeing the weather there looks very turbulant...:)

[Markski]

It's been a while since I've last updated. At this point, I am quite confident that I will not finish in time. I don't intend on rushing it just for the sake of submiting it. I'll just continue on and post it later on in February.... 2007.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1104621583_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1104621583_large.jpg)

I decided that I will rush it after all. I cropped the bottom quarter of the image. Drawing rocks can get tiring.

For the other incomplete areas, I just covered it up with some volume fog. I was also wondering about the smoke coloring. It may be too distracting. Besides that, I think i'll be able to starting adding the action stuff pretty soon.

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1104698329_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1104698329_large.jpg)

This is very close to my final environment. Still, colors are a little oversaturated, and there is some tweaking to do. Oh, and happy 2005!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1104869764_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1104869764_large.jpg)

Added a couple of explosions. What would a Grand space opera be without explosions? Thats right.

I also started drawing in a little tornado (air spirit stuff). Flying debris and such still to be added. Thanks for crits!

[Markski]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1105072385_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/4719/4719_1105072385_large.jpg)

Another little update. Added lighting bolts. Added proper lighting on clouds. Added 2nd little tornado far far away. That's aboot it. Deadline making me sweaty.

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