Grand Space Opera 2D Entry: Ken Henderson

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037363_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037363_large.jpg)

Some initial first concepts. I really want to show a clash of cultures, a tipping point in the era of a civilization.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037438_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037438_large.jpg)

another rough sketch

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037509_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037509_large.jpg)

another rough

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037606_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037606_large.jpg)

another sketch

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037684_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102037684_large.jpg)

Rough attacking ship concept, more to come.

[cgkrusty]

Hey everybody!

Have to say I'm pretty inspired by the work that's been done so far towards the challenge and I wanted to throw my hat in. Not sure why there is a duplicate post of the ship concept, maybe a Mod could delete it?



Anyhow, as mentioned these are rough initial ideas. I'm starting to focus my concept and should have a more polished / focused sketch online in the next few days. From there will come concepts of each different culture, their iconic imagery and their manufactured realities.



Any input is welcome though I don't expect much based on these initial, admittedly, rough concepts.




Great work so far everyone!

[cgkrusty]

Hey everybody!

Have to say I'm pretty inspired by the work that's been done so far towards the challenge and I wanted to throw my hat in. Not sure why there is a duplicate post of the ship concept, maybe a Mod could delete it?



Anyhow, as mentioned these are rough initial ideas. I'm starting to focus my concept and should have a more polished / focused sketch online in the next few days. From there will come concepts of each different culture, their iconic imagery and their manufactured realities.



Any input is welcome though I don't expect much based on these initial, admittedly, rough concepts.

[walrus]

Whenever you submit a new entry, the board automatically sticks a duplicate of it at the top of your post, as if it's the first entry. I dunno why, maybe so people can always go to page one instead of the last page? Anyhow, it does that for everyone, so no worries.

Anyhow, just wanted to also say that i really like your ship design. Can't wait to see more of stuff coming together... Good luck!

-mike

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Mike... I figured the dual post had something to do with that!

Good luck to you as well...

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102061956_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102061956_large.jpg)

A more polished sketch to show what direction I'm leaning. The foreground will be full of warriors battling the ships, celebrating some destruction and mourning the battle.

The perspective is a little skewed but it's just a rough. As well... the ship designs, iconic imagery for the civilization being attacked, temple design etc. are all roughs. Just right off the top of my head to fill space.

Marker sketch modified in Photoshop, about 4 hours.

[adonihs]

Oooo great action piece!! I only have two crits, and theyre very subtle! Now if the one ship is crashing into the rock formation, itd more then likely be caused by enemy fire, unless your pilots cant control their ships and fly mindlessly into a rock, and im being serious here, they are obviously trained to fly these things like pros! And this could be, because youre not finished yet, and havent added anything, and ifthats the case, then you have 100% the right to tell me to stfu, bc I hate when people do that!

Second! The one flying into rock, it should have some more debris flying from it, maybe little pilot parts, lol, jk, but you know what I mean, again! if this is because of what I stated above, then move on! =)

I love it though, great composition, hopefully you stick with this idea, itll go far!

:Edit: I didnt read youre last post, so excuse my ignorance. Forget what I said about the ship having to do with something going on! =) Sorry!

One more thing! Wow I didnt even notice this, but those heads in the mountains are friggen awesome! Great design =D

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Adonihs!

Yah, horrible placement of that ship hitting the rock formation. You're right... it is supposed to be exploding from enemy fire. The Ship that has flown by it will have obliterated that walkway and all the lil' guys on it... I'll carry the explosion on behind the ship as if it flew through the explosion (very dramatic) :D .

When I posted it I thought exactly what you were thinking.

My big issue with the piece, and my perspective will have to be tweaked to get this to work, is having the people in the foreground be large enough to read their emotions (joy, fear, defiance etc.).

We'll see how it plays out.


Thanks again for the encouragement and the crit!

[bonestudio]

This is just great !!! Your linework is almost perfect :) I'm not sure that it is needed to see people faces, I think your piece is working this way

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102184726_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102184726_large.jpg)

Trying to make the image more dynamic by putting the viewer closer to the action. But have I lost the scope of the battle? I think I need more sky... need to see that Armada coming in like the bombers over Berlin.

The foreground landform will have a lot of fighters on it, with some contraptions as well, trying to ward off the attack. I’ll have factions of the defending army throughout the landscape. The two key figures in the foreground will be the person holding the child and the person dying on the top of the rock holding the flag.

Does silhouetting him in front of the explosion seem to forced? I like it for the drama of it all…

Anyhow… another sketch along the way. As many of you have done I could abandon this concept all together but I like the focus I’ve gotten so far. I’m trying to capture a clash of civilizations here….

Thanks for looking!

[Squibbit]

u got some great lookin sketches there dude , can't wait to see more :thumbsup:

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102447925_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102447925_large.jpg)

Concept change, I just didn’t feel my last images hit the “think big, really big” – “grand Space Opera” feel. So… here’s the new as-yet-unrefined sketch.

Basically, massive Alien attack setting off volcanic eruptions across the world. Fleets of ships scramble to defend the planet as thousands of citizens flee. I want the Alien ships to be creating a vortex, sucking the atmosphere up into them as they start the seismic chain reaction that will destroy the planet.

Thanks for looking…

[Ganthu]

Really dig your sketches, the last one rocked my socks off... very innovative method of
world oblideration. My advice for now is go with this idea :]

[BlueEyeLizard]

I like this new idea!

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Ganthu and B.E.L!

It's a much more complex and involved image and I'll need to refine it so that I don't loose my eyesight trying to finish it. I think it's dramatic enough and compelling story-wise as well. Now I have to get some good landscape ref and work on my enemy ships and the defending planet ships, inhabitants. Should be fun... Once I nail the look of the combatants then it's off to refine the final line-art...

Thanks for the kind words!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102533008_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102533008_large.jpg)

A study of the seismic disruptor weapon that the attacking race will use. A quick marker sketch that I worked over a little in Photoshop. I wanted to get a sense of the hardware look of the ship, a sense for that race's style. Much more work to be done on the ship itself but I'm happy with the menace this portrays.

[bolchover]

lots of potential, I really like the latest concept. very good design, looking forward to more of the overall image...

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Bolchover!

I'm doing some concept montage-ing to nail down my final image set-up. It's changed a bit (mostly the foreground). I should have some images of the near-final direction later today.

[Tranchefeux]

Hi,
I discover your work difficult all to see there is much
participant, your work is interesting and the design are very good,
good road for the continuation.

[Ganthu]

Smashing! Somehow though when looking at it the word "dentist" pops in my head.
That to show how menacing it looks :]

[AirbORn]

Great start, looking forward to more updates. Do you have a story established yet?

[cgkrusty]

Tranchefeux:



Yup... it can be a little daunting to try and find peoples specific entries with all the great work going on. It's fun searching though, lots to be inspired from. Thanks for the comments!

Ganthu:

Giant Alien warships descending down on a planet to disrupt its natural seismic patterns with massive weaponry reminds you of the dentist? Yeesh... no wonder that profession has one of the highest suicide rates; they must have left some emotional scars on you Ganthu! I'd try and use that pain and suffering in your Opera Challenge piece... if you can achieve that you'll be set!

;)


AirbORn:

Thanks for the comments! As far as story goes... well, I haven't named the planet, the races or any of the ships (or titled my entry for that matter) but... The basic story line is that one race is being attacked by another in what I'm sure is the culmination of many centuries of warfare between theses worlds. This scene is a depiction of the final battle for planet (TBD) as they muster all of their forces to try to stop this new lethal threat to their existence. These Seismic disruptor weapons from (TBD) are heavily fortified, almost like aircraft carriers. Their smaller fighters will be quelling any resistance as the larger machine focuses on its task.

This image will depict that battle, with planetary defense troops jumping into their fighters to engage both the enemy squadrons and the seismic disruptor gun-ships.

My next mock-up / sketch will show this a little clearer.

Thanks for asking!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102842523_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102842523_large.jpg)

Here’s a back view of what will be my Defending fighter ship. I spent the day searching for reference and then got down to doing a doodle. I’m happy with the wing / engine area but we’ll see how it evolves. Still have to do a profile and front view.

Did the sketch with markers. Digitized and quick colour in Photoshop.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102842688_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102842688_large.jpg)

Here’s what I hope will be my final composition. Basically I searched the web for some mountain range images and found a GREAT site to rough out my composition. (see link / credit below)

http://www.clasohm.com/ (Cartsen Clasohm)

I’m a big fan of photo reference; from there I can take that real world scene and make a more dramatic illustration with the base composition I’ve created with photos as a reference. It also allows me not to get hung up on making a perfect, for instance, mountain.

Now, I’ve got a good image that I can work with and build on.

Once I got the scenic photo ref I modified the angle and comped a few of the photos together to get the scene I wanted.

Then I brought in my Seismic disruptor machine illustration and dropped it over top. Threw in a beam and found a volcano reference from one of Dylan Cole’s GREAT matte paintings for Lord of the Rings. (again… only using this as reference, will be painting my own).

http://www.dylancolestudio.com

I tweaked all the colour balances and saturations so everything seemed to fit together. That gave me my alien attack.

Then I threw in a rough planet shape using a sphere and a light fill in Photoshop.

From there I added my foreground elements (ships, landing pads). I took my defender ship illustration and dropped it in over my mocked-up landing pads. Modified the angle, sketched in some thrust for liftoff and some engine glow and was off.

From there I copied that same ship numerous times and scaled it, rotated etc. and placed those ships throughout the scene to flush out the attack composition.

Once I was happy with the placement (for now) I added exhaust, missiles etc. I also added smaller dots in the background around the Alien attacking ship to give the illusion of a massive battle. I continued on that idea by adding explosions on the surface of the Alien ship… really quick ones, just to get an idea.

Still missing is the city on the mountain top (between the two landing pads) and attacking alien ships… explosions within the city etc. Also the atmosphere vortex around the Alien ship. Massive scope is what I’m going for without losing focus of the big event. (aren't we all?)

:thumbsup:

You know that scene in Independence Day when Will Smith is getting the paper in the morning and he looks up to see a helicopter-flying overhead. He then fallows the helicopter as it flies towards downtown L.A. only to have the Alien craft revealed to him.

THAT’S the feeling I’m trying to get… we’ll see.

Thanks for looking. Hopefully the two guys whose artwork I used for ref imagery are cool. Thanks guys, your work is amazing!!!

Whew… that’s a long process explanation… hope it gave y’all some clarity!

Thanks!

[cgkrusty]

One more thing... the above compositions colour palette, time of day isn't set. I may take it a bit more towards dusk or back towards daylight.

We'll see...

As well... the landing pads are ROUGH! I know, I know... they're just sticking out their like columns for no structure...

:shrug:

I'll make them more purposeful... and will more than likely have some ground crew milling around.

Thanks for looking!

[kaparo]

Hi cgkrusty!

I like a lot your sketch stile. You have a very strenght line but in your final sketch it seem to loose some of it. I like a lot the kind of rock landscape you were working before, with those strange monoliths. It has a more alien feeling than the final one. Make me remember "Arzach" of Moebius. It will be great that you keep something of it. Perhaps the takeover platforms in foreground could be stone alien structures... I dont know.The ships designs is really cool. Very dinamic. Perhaps I am a little prejudice but I can't avoid Arzach, so I am imagining the color palette in this way, more warm. Also the blue one you are managing is more cold, and it tends to remove a little the "heat" of the battle.

[cgkrusty]

Thanks for the comments Kaparo...

Yah, great point about the monoliths... I think I will work that into my landing pads and will warm up the landscape. The photo manipulation is just for layout purposes... to get my space and composition settled... I love drawing the old statues, sculptures and stone work so I appreciate your encouragement there!

Appreciate the feedback!

[Impenetrable D]

Great Idea for the photo referencing there mate, ships are lookin snazzy to.:)

[KaleN]

Nice! I am not sure why wolud aliens shot at mountain but it looks interesting indeed ;) I think that distant cityscape could give Your composition a punch. I like Your fighter ship. I think taht changing daytime to dask is good idea. Looking forward to next update!

[ebrowning]

I just want to tell you I realy enjoyed your early drawings- photo source hides that quality, but it sounds like you're only using photos to block in the concept. Great drawings! (not that there's anything wrong with the rest, I'm just a fan of drawing :))

[cgkrusty]

KaleN;

They're shooting at it to start a seismic reaction on the planet. Why go to all that effort to build a planet-destroying weapon when you can coax the planet into doing itself in? That's the concept anyhow...

I've also slightly modified the concept as per kaparo's comments. The Mountain / Volcano is now going to be a massive ancient temple built on and around a Volcano. So not only are the Aliens targeting the core of the planet through the Volcano, they're also wiping out one of the most scared icons of this planets civilization... rotten scoundrels!

:)

ebrowning;

Thanks for the kind words. Have no fear... soon that photo ref image will be a distant memory and it'll be back to doodles!

Thanks for looking guys!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102956201_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102956201_large.jpg)

As noted, I'm creating an ancient temple around the Volcano that is being activated by the Alien attacking ship. Here's a first pass at it.

I'm happy that kaparo lamented the fact that I had got away from these ancient iconic images. I was worried when I did defending planets fighter ship that I might be getting two cultures that looked too similar. By adding back the ancient ruins I can key off those elements to create two unique cultures and that "clash of civilizations" that I was originally shooting for.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102956448_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1102956448_large.jpg)

Still using the photo (I know...) but have comped in the new temple concept. My concern with it will be apparent scale and level of detail, but I'll figure that out when I get down to painting.

Still have a lot of work to do but it's getting there. We'll see where the palette goes with this. With the addition of the temple it allows me to warm it up a bit but I don't want to go all desert... hrmmm.

I'll be playing with this all week. I hope to have the final line work done by this weekend so I can get down to doing some final painted work.

Thanks for looking!

[Eagle_e7]

Hi cgkrusty.

It looks really good! I love your ship designs. :)

I'm not much of a 2d artist so I couldn't offer many crits, but I think it looks very good so far. Keep it up!

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Eagle_e7!

[KaleN]

I'm affraid that this tample add stands from the rest of the image. It seems to be lightened in different way. I suggest changing colour balance a little bit to fit bluish bacground better.

[cgkrusty]

KaleN;

Yah, it doesn't really fit in but, it's just a composition sketch... no colours are set, not even sure if I'm going with the blue BG or not.

That being said I have modified the composition and will be posting a revised layout in a day or so. This one is just too convoluted, too much space and detail to make up... too straightforward.

The new composition is much more dynamic, more involved in the moment and I hope it's my final take on this idea.

We'll see..

Thanks for looking!

[MDN67]

Ok, it's a miscallenous between matte painting, and brush's draw, it's goog, i wait the final result

My challenge page (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=193486)

[cgkrusty]

MDN67;


You got it... it's a collage of images to feel out the composition.

A new one is coming soon... thanks for looking!

[victim335]

Your techniques are awesome, the ideas are pretty classical though. It would be nice to read a little story from the image. Or see something unusual in the classic environment, maybe something funny. Originally space opera was introduced to public as an alternative to "boring" sci-fi, to attract younger auditories. Well it's just a personal opinion though.
And... did I mention, that your techs are ultramega awesome :thumbsup: ?

[cgkrusty]

victim335;

Hrmm... I didn't know we were supposed to go for funny, never got that sense from the outline for the project. I have seen some comical takes on the concept in the competition but they all seem pretty straight-a-head classic Sci-fi.

Thanks for the kind words about my process / technique. I haven't drawn anything in about a year or so so I'm a little clumsy getting back into this. What can I say, a management type gig at a large Video Games company didn't give me any creative outlet. It feels GREAT to be back at it.

Anyhow, I have a new composition in the works that I've mentioned in a few posts. Let me know your thoughts when I get it posted... in the meantime, I think I have to re-read the directions to see if I have to "funny" this up!

:D

Thanks for looking!

[ered dium]

It looks great, I like your ship designs.
Your technique is very interesting but mabye is a little difficult the "mix" between the photo and the brush's draw.
Very cool!

[cgkrusty]

Thanks ered dium!

Yah... Have to say I'm not happy with the comp at this point either.. .new composition / illustration / colour tests / sketches will be posted tomorrow.

thanks for looking...

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103657904_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103657904_large.jpg)

New Composition... I want the emphasis to be on the temple being destroyed with lots of ships flying around and an extreame up-angle on teh attacking Alien ship.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658023_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658023_large.jpg)

Close to being final defender ship concept (in Blue). I wanted it to be lower tech than the attacking Alien ships so I went with Rotar propelled. More updates on this ship to come...

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658115_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658115_large.jpg)

The sculptures around the base of the temple. (in Blue). I still need to design the two large column sculptures and the temple.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658168_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658168_large.jpg)

Modified Alien attack ship sketches.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658263_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103658263_large.jpg)

(In Blue)

Finally settled on what the alien attack ships will look like. All of these most recent sketches were done using Verithin blue pencils over a few days.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103788914_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103788914_large.jpg)

Created this in Maya.

Grabbed primitives and quickly sculpted them into representative objects.

Messed with camera angle to get desired perspective.

Modified objects to suite camera angle.

Added grid texture to aid me when I illustrate over this image in Photoshop.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103789278_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1103789278_large.jpg)

Here's the quick colour mock-up in Photoshop using some skewed versions of earlier sketches to round out the image a bit.

I'm going to tone down the palette a lot in this image, desaturate it etc. These bright colours won't stay but you get where I'm going with it.

The red on the cliff face will be lava spouts, which will give me some nice dramatic lighting for my FG elements. That entire cliff face will be covered in ornate sculpture, as it is the base of the temple. The temple itself will be pretty ornate leading into the mountain face.

There will be plenty of ships flying around in what configuration I'm not settled on yet. I do like the idea of having an enemy fighter flying "past camera" so that I can pull the viewer in a bit more.

Planetary defense squadrons will be attacking the Alien craft and its surface will be dotted with explosions as the battle rages around it.

I cannot wait to get painting this thing...

Thanks for looking!

[Radulan]

You seem to have run though many concepts.. and I have to adimt my 2D powers are ravaged by your prowess.

It is nice to see the progress of your thought in pictures. I think you've got a lot of natural skill in this area.

One thing I thought might pose a problem for you...I would try to make sure that there is a good division between the planet's attack and the enemy ship. There seems to be the possiblity of joining them in the mind.. but then again it might not...

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Radulan!

Yup... I've beaten this thing to death and I haven't even picked a palette yet! Let me tell you, not illustrating anything for a year and a bit takes its toll! I humbly suggest that nobody should do it... keep doodling everyone!

(whew)
:eek:

I agree that enemy and defending ships could get lost together but I intend to make sure that their colour schemes set them apart. The smaller enemy fighters will have similar colours to their mother ship (which is blowin' the crap out of the temple) and the defending ships will have tones similar to the temple etc.

They also both have very distinct designs...

We'll see how it all works out.


I appreciate your thoughts on my convoluted, disjointed process… I have to admit I’ve been all over the place in my attempt to settle on a concept / POV but I’m happy with this one now.

Stay tuned…
Thanks for looking!

[mmoir]

Hey Ken,

I like what I see so far, the winged ship and earthquake device look very nice. I like the view of the last concept too. Look forward to seeing more here.
Mike

[cgkrusty]

Thanks mmoir! Always good to hear from another Canadian!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104481339_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104481339_large.jpg)

I modified my 3D ref sketch in Maya to give it a more dynamic base. Modified the colours and placement of a few objects and played around with where I wanted the attacking ships.

I’m most likely still going to be modifying the alien mother ship… I want to make it feel like a giant spider hovering over the temple.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104481807_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104481807_large.jpg)

I copied the 3D ref sketch onto a piece of large paper and began the process of sketching the final line-art. Basically I pulled the 3D rendered image into Photoshop and sized it to fit the image size I was drawing. From there I measured where each object was in Photoshop and recreated that placement on my paper (laborious isn’t the word for it… yikes).

This took me a day or so working with Verithin blue pencils. Once I was happy with it I took a few hi-rez digital photos of the image and cleaned it up a bit in Photoshop.

I’ll be drawing the attacking ships on a separate sheet of paper and comping them in on layers in Photoshop later. The Mother ship will be created using a Maya ref base and then painted from that base in Photoshop as will the planet.

Still deciding if I want defending ships… I think the image may have more impact if it is just a relentless, ruthless assault by the attacking civilization.

We’ll see… if there are to be defending ships I’m thinking very low-tech… the home world is not a warring one…

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104482054_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104482054_large.jpg)

Here’s a quick 1st pass at colours, and some detail work. The Temple area will be this base colour. The orange-lit windows are all “apartments” or transportation tubes. This is an ancient civilization that has built onto its temples to accommodate the population growth.

The details in the Volcano temple, the attacking Mother ship and the planet, clouds etc. will all be worked out in the painting, in Photoshop.

Hope y’all like it.

Any comments are appreciated!

[stefgrafx]

I like your vulcano city style and perspectice, think you will give more shadows-contrasts to the differents elements... perhaps I will put the foregorund ship most little and "more of them".

[ElFuego]

Nice "aquatic/ocean" touch with the pics, and what makes it even more interestingis the fact that it seems to be happening in dry and hazardouz place :) Nice nice nice!

The squid and other sealife designs look really good. It should come out as very impressive image at the end I think.

Have u used 3D in that big spaceship?

[cgkrusty]

stefgrafx:

Thanks for the comments! The image you're reffering to has no shadows, colour treatments to break up objects or anything of that nature. I will be focusing on keeping everything coherent and easily read (within the greater context of the image that is).

In regards to the ships... I'll have them on separate layers so scaling them to suit the composition won't be an issue. Good point though!

ElFuego:

Thanks for the comments! I became attached to the "squid" motif from one of my earlier sketches and thought I'd run with it. Everything is beginning to feel pretty "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" though... but I'm happy with it.

The Mother Ship (as seen in the above image) is purely a Maya model with a grid texture so that I can have a ref in my Photoshop scene to paint from. I will be modifying it in Maya to get it a little larger, more menacing. But the final ship will be all 2D in Photoshop.

The attacking fighter that is close to the viewer is all 2D, as will all of the fighter images be. No 3D ref used at all in that sketch. I did create some dummy fighters in the 3D composition ref in a previous post but I made that after I designed / illustrated the fighter.

Thanks for looking guys!

:thumbsup:

(wahoo... my 100th post)

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495169_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495169_large.jpg)

Just digging into the temple city a bit. Added some roughed in shadows, some textures and some colour treatments. I'll post my pallette as well...

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495247_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495247_large.jpg)

My base colour palette for the image.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495356_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495356_large.jpg)

So that you can see the detail and progress work on the temple city...

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495440_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104495440_large.jpg)

A detail of the temple city colour work in progress.

[kengi]

this reminds me moebius art.
great lineart and colors. keep it up! :thumbsup:

[cgkrusty]

Thanks kengi!

I'll try to steer away from Mobius style colouring so as to distance myself from his amazing work... but a nice compliment regardless. I didn't have him in mind when I was creating the work but a few people have commented that it does remind them... again, I'm fattered!

[SideAche]

Thanks for posting that detail image. I really like your colors and style. Good work :thumbsup:

[cgkrusty]

No worries SideAche!

I always like to see how people do their work, see it up close so I can try and deconstruct it... I'm a big fan of the process it takes to create a piece of art. CU's help me to show my process more.

Thanks for looking!

[Falcorr]

Master cgkrusty!:eek:
You have shown series of outstanding 2D artwork.
Guess you wanna get placed high in the end :deal:

Althought everybody will tighten up madly towards the last actual week.. Be prepared.
No crits since you already know everything i do.

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Falcor_ !

I'm excited about everyone tightening up their entries and look forward to seeing the culmination of everyones efforts. There are so many wonderful entries that the challenge will be tough but the work, regardless of who wins, will justify the efforts put in. I'm just happy and excited to be a part of this diverse and talented group... and even more excited to be making and talking about art again.

I just want to make sure that I put in the effort to put my best work out there because I know everyone else will be doing the same.

Thanks for the comments and Happy New Year to everyone!!!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104572318_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104572318_large.jpg)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Just got back from my party and thought I'd throw up the work I did today.

- Modified Mother ship in Maya to give it a more menacing profile. It looks lame now but the 3D object is just there for reference... I'll cool-ify (hopefully) it in Photoshop. The differences in colours on the Mother ship are just to help me see certain elements in Photoshop.

- Started working on Volcano explosion... just roughing it in and refining my overall colours to match. Will take some tweaking but I'm happy with where it's going.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

Thanks for looking!

[monsitj]

your color is great ! i like the way u put your color to image , hope to see more! good luck

[Fahrija]

Hi cgkrusty,

Your image has a very dramatic camera angle. Looks very good. The explosion impact is also very nice but I would add some more explosions in the middle part of the building to show that the laser went through the whole building and that it inerwardly is already destroyed except of the walls.
The ships in the foreground have a good style but as regards the perspective view I would show the bottom view because the current position makes the image look a bit flat and detracts the depth or your image. Just some suggestion. Anyway great work

Greetings
Fahrija

[walrus]

cg - This is looking really nice, and I'm really enjoying seeing how you work and incorporate 3D work into your 2D illo. I think Fahrija has some really good points. I too get a little disoriented looking at this image: It's almost Escheresque, in that I'm not sure whether I'm looking down at the roof of the temple and there's a volcano and alien ship on the side, or whether I'm looking up at the alien ship, and all of the fighters just happen to be flying perfectly sideways. Showing their undersides more might help alleviate tyhe sense of vertigo and clarify the direction of the camera.
Otherwise, though, I'm just content to watch you move forwards and refine. You obviously know what you're doing, so have at and have fun! Good luck with it!

-mike

[cgkrusty]

Monsitj:

Thanks for the comments! I’m just working on the colours and how they’re all playing off of each other. If you check out the palette I submitted you’ll see where I’m hoping to go but, as I said, it’s a base. The image’s needs will dictate how the colour gets used in the final analysis…

Fahrija:

Good observations! There will be more explosions, possibly even on the temple city near the bottom of the image. I like your idea of having a few more explosions coming out of the temple mountaintop and may play with that a bit… I may also add some fireballs o’ debris coming from the explosion itself.

In regards to the ship perspectives if you look at the 3D image in post #60 you’ll see that I plan to have varying dynamic angles of the attacking ships. In this image the FG most ship is close to final in its angle. The ship in the distance is just a copy and paste but I wanted to throw it in there to see how it was working with the composition. I’ll be modifying the angle and showing a bottom view is a good idea!

Walrus:

I really like using 3D to refine my angles, saves on paper! It’s just a really great way to play with camera angles, stuff you may not even have visualized… If I was a better modeler I’d have entered the 3D portion of the contest (maybe, I love to draw too much though) but I really suck at it. I’ve animated and textured in production before but they were always with models created by modelers, not an illustrator like myself.

I agree that it is tough to read right now… I really have to focus everything I’m doing (even direction of volcano explosion smoke) to feed the dramatic up angle I’ve created. If not you’ll perceive all these perspective shifts and that will kill the illusion. Lighting will help as will shadows etc. Once I get more detail in the image I’m hoping the issues you’re talking about are resolved. But I’ll keep on it to be sure…

--

Thanks for all your help everyone! 17 days and counting, the Wacom stylus will be a permanent fixture in my hand when this is all said and done!

:bounce:

Good luck everyone!

[YeeWu]

Wow, how come I haven't posted in this thread before? *scratches head*

Your concept sketches are really nice. Your lines are so clean! I like seeing how you had used the photo montage earlier to block out the composition.

I'm kinda with walrus on seeing the undersides of these ships, but I'll just have to watch what you else you come up with :) Looking forward to seeing more!

[Virtuoso]

ken..................My first visit.......it's been my loss up to now.I like the angle choice,the entire battle scene set up,and the actual execution of your art is really well done.......Real epic and intense scene.Very nice,keep this up,looking very nice.......:arteest: :cool:

[cgkrusty]

YeeWu:

Thanks for the kind words! I'll be drawing the attacking fighters soon and will comp them in to the illustration to get your thoughts.

Virtuoso:

Thanks for the kind words as well. I hope my future iterations maintain the mood that you've gotten from these initial forays.

--

Thanks for taking the time to stop by guys!

[GaeasHerald]

Good work, I love the coloring and perspective of the temple. The style is very neat and quite different from other pics I've seen. With new fighters it will look awesome!

[cgkrusty]

Gaia's Herald:

Thanks for the support and comments! This week will see a lot of updates and I'm looking forward to your thoughts on my progress.

:)

[SideAche]

I'm enjoying watching your progress. Love the style. You may consider changing one of the fighters angles to break up the repetition. really liking your work :thumbsup:

[cgkrusty]

SideAche:

Thanks for the comments. The fighter angles are temps, just to let me see how their placement works with the overall composition. The nearest one will probably remain the same but the one behind and all subsequent others will be in different dynamic angles.

Thanks for looking...

[francis001]

That's looking really nice. I like the design of the architecture, sort of Cthulhulian. The painting and colors are looking good too - the only issue I have is that at first when I looked at your most recent update, it was hard to tell if I was looking *up* at a wall or *down* at a floor plane?

Oops, I just read some of the other comments and see that this has been pointed out...

Well at any rate, it is a nice piece so far!

[Cicinimo]

The perspective is brilliant here-- it really ads to the drama of the moment. I'd like to see a little more stylistic consistancies. Certain areas, like the smoke from the blast, seem far more realistic than other areas. I'm sure this will be worked out further as the image progresses.

[cgkrusty]

francis001:

Thanks for the crit! No worries about pointing out the orientation issues with the piece. It's good to hear. What I have to do (other than what I've pointed out before in regards to this issue) is ensure that the sky looks like the sky and I think that'll mean brightening up the moon etc. Hopefully this issue will be resolved with the changes I make this week.

Cicinimo:

Thanks for your thoughts on this! I was waiting for someone to bring this up. I'll definitely be painting over the drawn lines to give the entire piece that painted consistency that you're talking about. I agree that it's very important for this image to be successful. In regards to the perspective - thanks - I really struggled at first to find the right camera for this image but I'm happy with it now, I'm glad you feel the same way.

--

I appreciate the feedback, looking forward to your thoughts on my upcoming progress!

Thanks for looking...

:D

[spacesnail]

Hello,
nice work. I especially appreciate the outlined style:love:. It makes me think about Alphons Mucha.
Maybe you can add more dynamic in your picture by drawing some "curved smoky trails" from the propellers...
And sorry for my terrible english.

[emrahelmasli]

something nice is going on here...keep it up!

[cgkrusty]

spacesnail:

Thanks for the comments. I'm a big fan of the outlined work as well... but, they'll be going away once I dive into polishing the piece. Sorry... I just don't want this to be in that graphic style. Hopefully you'll still like it when I've finished.

I'll see about modifying the thruster trails for the ships... those were just place holders.

Atmospheria:

Thanks!

---

Thanks for looking you two!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104980761_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104980761_large.jpg)

A step-by-step look at my process creating this ship:

Image (A) is the base image you've all seen in my previous sketches.

(B) Re-did the cockpit, added some depth, the interior, glass etc.

(C) Created new outlines for the ship and blocked in my base colours for the ship.

(D) Added details on a separate layer.

(E) Added an overall base texture. The Blend mode I chose in Photoshop lightened the overall colour of the ship.

- see next progression image

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104981397_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104981397_large.jpg)

- progression continued:

(I forgot to mention that I am painting this at full rez in a separate file. I will copy and paste the complete ship back into my final scene. I have the BG image of the city in these progressions so I can make sure my colours are playing well together.)

(F) Added my shadow pass. Basically I create two layers (both in multiply mode) and select the entire ship. Then I fill one of those layers in with a desaturated purple (in the shape of the ship) and begin to erase the areas not in shadow. I do this as my base shadow layer and the go into my second shadow layer (dark-shadow) and tighten up some areas that need it.

(G)This is the paint over mode. I tried to eliminate as many outline lines as possible. I did this by creating a new layer and painting over the lines with the appropriate colour for that area. I think it really helps. Granted... I have to do this process for the entire temple city (YIKES!!!)

I also added my thrusters (just a test) and some changes to the cockpit.

(H)A bunch of things done here. I added a bunch of warning labels to the ship. Also added lights, modified the cockpit glass colour, and added a reflective light bounce from the city to the underside of the ship.

(I)Final touches. Added the insignias and touched up some other areas. Added another subtle metal texture to give the hull a bit more of a metal feel.

That's the process that I'll be going through for each fighter. Granted, they'll be farther in the distance so it will be simpler.

See next few images for how it will look in scene and a CU of the ship.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104981558_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104981558_large.jpg)

Here's the ship comped into the scene. When I bring the ship in I will have to ground it in the world. You can see this as I've added highlights on the ship from the explosion and I've darkened the shadows. These tweaks will be organic as the image evolves. Having the base ship created gives me a lot of flexibility.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104981835_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1104981835_large.jpg)

Here's a closeup to check out.

[GaeasHerald]

The fighter fits the image nicely, despite having a different style from the rest of the it (how do you do it?)
Two small crits:
a) the back part of the fighter is too dark, considering the intense light blue. You said it yourself, these tweaks will evolve naturally, so it's actually a minor critique.
b) I would love to see the other fighter from a diferent angle, cause the current position can be somewhat confusing (are they flying above or besides the temple?). Maybe you could add a smoketrail (or similar) that showed that the ship's been rotating.

By the way, the process pics are great :thumbsup:.

[cgkrusty]

Gaia's Herald:

Thanks for the comments. I figured throwing in some process pics would be good for me and possibly some other people who were curious. It can be a covoluted process, especially when it comes to the polish stage as that's when you just feel the final needs. But, the initial stages are pretty standard for me in regards to working on this type of imagery.

Oh, in regards to the ship fitting in irregardless of style? Well, I like to think colour choice and light / shadow have a lot to do with it. As well... the BG of the image is only roughed in... It will be taken to a higher level of polish as well. Granted I want the ships and the temple to feel different, they're apposing cultures afterall.

Now to answer your crits:

a) It's a dilemma for me. Is it too dark or too light? Usually an object placed infront of such a bright light source would appear (or at least be percieved as being) in silouette. That being said, should the thruster glow saturate the engive cowling (lightening it as you suggest)? Not sure... we'll see how it evolves.

b) You and every other poster who's replied! :thumbsup:

No worries, it's coming. I wanted to nail down how that fighter looked before I dove in to drawing the others. It's also the object closest to the viewer so there was a LOT of detail work to be done (who teh heck needs that many rivets I ask you?). I'll have a few that are showing their bellies so that I can sell the up angle.

---

Thanks again for the feedback and for checking in!

[Nikolay]

I very much love technics... Especially such... I very much like your design and technics of painting))

[cgkrusty]

Nikolay:

Thanks! Glad you liked the process pics... hope they help or at the very least give you some insight into how I burn the hours (days) away.

Thanks for looking!

[stefgrafx]

The fighter look great, perhaps add some more reflects, for the backround "building" I think you could made the yellows lights more littles to give sensation of a bigest-buildind... I prefer a darker ambience. In general a great job, and greats explanation of your "technics" :thumbsup:

[MDN67]

Wow your ship is teeribly beautifull, i like it, good work and good luck

[JasonChan]

The piece looks like it's coming along nicely. I like your ship design. It reminds me of that old game, R-Type. There was another game it reminds me of too, but I forgot the title. Also your alien structure looks great. Can't wait to see how that looks fully rendered.

[cgkrusty]

stefgrafx:

Thanks for the crit! I'm revisiting the hull "finish" on the ship as I've had a few comments on it. I'll post a newer version later today... gotta get it knocked out as I have too much else to do to nit-pick this ship. That being said, it is a very important aspect of the image. Sigh...

In regards to the size of the buildings windows and the sense of scale you get from them. I like the size they are now, the upper temple / volcano stucture (that isn't finished yet) will have more windows which will be scale proportionate. That relationship will help to "sell" the scale and vastness of the upper temple so it's necessary for the windows in the city to be this size. As well, I like the fact that the fighters are flying this close to the buildings, shows a lack of respect and heightens the drama... I think.

:shrug:

MDN67:

Thanks for the compliment!

---

Thanks for looking everyone, good luck... only 11 days or so to go! Cripes!

[cgkrusty]

Evil Gerbil:

Thanks Mr. Gerbil! I don't recall those games, I'll have to look them up. I appreciate the positive feedback. I love your Machine Flesh entry, thought it was one of the strongest in the competition so getting a provisional thumbs up from you is a boost.

---

Heck... it's a boost getting all this feedback from everyone whose posted on this thread. Thanks again everyone.

:D

[YeeWu]

For the whole booster thing, what if you were to combine the two? I mean, have it silhouetted, but also glow from the engine? Kinda like an extreme case of sub-surface scattering (which I'm not sure would work on such a solid object, but hey, it could look cool!) I dunno, I guess what I mean is...if you put your finger up to a light bulb, it will be, for hte most part, silhouetted, but you will still see the light scatter within and kinda make the edges of your finger glow.

But yea, that ship looks really nice. The process images were very interesting to look at. I don't think I've ever seen that kind of approach before :P

[cgkrusty]

YeeWu:

Thanks for your thoughts! Yah, it's an interesting decision, one that I'll - no doubt - go various ways on until I reach a solution. It's all about selling the drama afterall... Glad you liked the process images... all I can say to encapsulate all 8 images... the multiply mode in Photoshop is your friend!

---

Thanks for stopping by!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105057859_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105057859_large.jpg)

Modified the ship as per some comments. Took off the majority of the texture on the hull, chrome-i-fied the front portion (it's so gleemy now) and added some detail to the cockpit area while fixing the cockpit glass.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105058026_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105058026_large.jpg)

Here's the same fighter in scene. In the scene I modified it's levels, added some darker shadows and the glow from the volcano eruption. This isn't a final image, just a test to see how the ship feels in the scene.

Let me know what you think!

OK... now that i've finished that I have the remaining 80% of the image to do... CRIPES!!!

Thanks for looking!

[igorstshirts]

The detail on the ship is astounding... Can't wait to see this bad boy finished.

[cgkrusty]

igorstshirts:

Thanks! I have a tonne of work ahead of me...

[Fahrija]

Hi cgcrusty,

lovely texture. The metal looks very convincing. Great work


Don´t make the ship to perfect in this stage because it´s better to have details constant in relationship to the other elements in your image. That means a lot of work and time is running. Try to develop the details equal in your whole image. Great rendering

Fahrijia

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Thanks for the comments and compliments!

I understand what you're saying about level of detail and consistency of representation throughout the piece, but I figure I have a few outs here:

a) This is an alien craft as compared to the Temple city that it is flying through. The level and type of detail (rivits, vents, paneling etc..) doesn't exist in the city, it's made of stone. There is some metal (window frames, superstructure etc.) but it's mostly stone.

b) The alien fighter is pretty well the closest object to the viewer. By giving this much detail up close it allows me to suggest that same detail in other fighters in the distance and the mothership itself.

c) I agree that I will have to bring objects on a similiar plane of existance up to the ships level of detail but the only object that falls under that criteria is one small section of the temple cities transportation tube.

d) If I do find myself in trouble in regards to detail levels I can always knock the ship back a bit as I have everything broken down into layers.

I think I'll be OK, but you never know until you dive in. Regardless... I have a tonne of work to do!

Thanks for your concerns and interest!

[MDN67]

i always fan of your ship, the reflective lignht on the fighter is very good The light of the blast's volcan will must be more strong for the correspondance with the reflective light but the composition is very very beautifull, i like, good work

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

Thanks for your crit!

I agree that the Volcano explosion will have to be massive to sell the need for that type of a reflection on the ship. It'll be interesting as I will also have the bright blast ray coming from the Alien Mother ship to (potentially) influence the surroundings with spilled light. Right now the ship in the setting with the reflection and highlights from the Volcano is just a test to see what I'll have to do to integrate the base ship into the scene. I'm sure it will change... but in theory (the latest comped image of ship and Volcano / scene) it seems to work.


Thanks again for checking back in and the kind words!

[lynch]

nice style on the painting of the ships it kinda looks like its hand painted.

don't neglect the the flare at the back of the ship the blue light should affect the ship's body
some what, it wiill really help make it like belongs there

But its great the technique looks like its out of an illusrtated comic or somthing .

[cgkrusty]

lynch:

Thanks fro the crit and the kind words!

The ship is handpainted, just... hanpainted using a computer! :)

You know you're right about the engine flare... I should have the inner part of the rightside wing being lit up by the thruster and some hints of it on the leftside wing as well. Thanks for pointing that out!

[smurph]

Your piece is looking great, can't think of anything to suggest except keep it up.

[cgkrusty]

smurph:

Thanks!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105264776_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105264776_large.jpg)

Here's the bottom view of the fighter that everyone was asking for. The next few post will show it comped into the scene. Love to hear your thoughts on if it's working on not.

Thanks!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105265108_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105265108_large.jpg)

Here's a close-up of the sky / Alien mother ship and planet that I've roughed in. The Alien mother ship is just blocked in for values. Details to come.

Not sure if I'm happy with the sky yet... not enough texture to it. The planet will have more polish. You can also see one of the bottom view Alien fighters in the scene as well.

Next post will be the whole scene with fighters and all.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105265280_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105265280_large.jpg)

Here's how it’s looking to date.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of the attacking ships, their formation etc. Do I need some native fighters?

I don't think so... I want this planet / city to be under siege. Granted, with no native peoples to be seen it may be hard to sell the scope and terror of the attack... we'll see what I can do.

Looking forward to your comments!

[cgkrusty]

Oh yah..

So, does this solve the orientation problem? Do the bottom view fighters help sell the perspective and the fact that you're looking up?

:shrug: (I hope so... I think the planet and milky-way-esque starfield helps as well)

As well, just wanted to let lynch know that I did the glow from the thrusters on the ships. Thanks again for pointing that out!

[Fahrija]

Hi cgkrusty,

Great work. very good texturing method for the fighters. Did you build-up a low polymodel to get a better feel for placing them correctly into the scene?

I´m looking forward to see the shape of the enemies-ship and the explosion.

Greetings
Fahrija

[twhiteart]

Ken your is looking great!

I like the composition and look forward to seeing the the big ship and background building being detailed. Good luck with the last few days and I look forward to seeing the next update.

[MDN67]

Hi it's always good work, the progress is very good but for the formation of the ships, i think then if the ship at the forward is in a particulary position, the four others ship must be some differentes positions, only one,... but here, the four ships are like,.. a repetition with reduction, three ships ok but the four with an other position, good work

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Thanks for the feedback! Yes I did do a low poly mock-up, see the image in post #60. That being said these ships are 2D illustrations all created in Photoshop. The final ships are not 3D models. (Man, I wish they were... I could throw them in any pose with ease...)

twhiteart:

Thanks for the thoughts and encouragement!

MDN67:

Thanks for the crit on the ships! I agree with you... it's tough to push the left most ship using that same illustration. I think it's fine to do it with the three above the closest ship in the lower righthand corner but the one furthest out to the left... the perspective isn't working at all.

If I want to keep this attack squadron composition I'll have to do another illustration of a fighter at the appropriate angle.

Do you think the three ships above the CU ship in the FG (the one where you can see inside the cockpit) are working? I think they do and am pretty happy with them. I will try to give them a bit of individual flair... we'll see.

I'm also thinking of maybe having one of the attacking fighters in flames, crashing... that would give me some leeway in it's pose, break up the repitition of the ships and give me some leeway in it's pose. I'll mock it up and see what y'all think.

---

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. 8 days left, I won't be able to see after next Saturday!

:thumbsup:

[MDN67]

If you dont want paint a other ship with the good angle, you will must be erase the ship in head (the fisrt at the left), because the perspective of this is no good (the wings are not parralelle with the plan) at the place, paint a crash ship, will be the good position for this because is the first of the squadron, but,... it's only an idea, excuse for my terrible english

[Squibbit]

u got some serious talent there, dude. those ships look great, although those
separate wings look a bit strange... I first thought they were different ships
alltogether ..
The native building design looks cool too

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

I totally agree with you. I will either do another drawing of have the ship in that position crashing... No worries about your english, I can understand constructive criticism from anyone!

:beer:

Thanks!

Squibbit:

Thanks for the comments... yah, the separate wings... what do you think? Do they need a support? I keep thinking, if Syd Mead is judging this image, will he think I copped out? For now I like them... but I may add a support.

We'll see...

---

Thanks for the feedback!



vbmenu_register("postmenu_1875203", true);

[walrus]

Ken -


I think the wings read fine, but if you're worried about them, here are some ideas: You could use some sort of distortion effect, like a heat shimmer or photoshop ripple effect to convey that there's some sort of force at work holding them together. Or maybe some electrical arc, like the coupling that held the pods of the Episode 1 Pod Racers together... Anyhow, just ideas.

I still, myself, have a little trouble with that one ship. The whole image is more clearly looking up now, and the sky and other ships helped sell that, but there's still a moment of head-scratching and wondering why one ship is flying at an exactly 90 degree angle to the ground. Maybe in part it's now because every ship but one is zooming along parallel to the assumed ground-plane. If the ships were at all different angles (I know, what a pain to draw when you don't have a 3D model!) then it might sell that one ship better. Anyhow, worry about the motehr-ship first! Good luck with it, it's looking nice.

-mike

[cgkrusty]

Mike:

Thanks for the feedback.

Yah, still not sure about the floating wings. I'm toying with the idea of some sort of energy field but the electric arc idea (which I also considered) isn't gonna work for me... to much cheese. I don't want to put a visible support on because then these fighters become pretty conventional, granted they're pretty conventional looking already. We'll see...

Yah, the fighter orientations are a bit of an issue. I do think I'll need another angle but think that I can get that from the crashing fighter that I'm going to put in. The temple city will be under attack, explosions, fire etc. so the FG fighter that you have issues with will look more dynamic in a more dynamic setting.

Hopefully I can pull it all together.

For now though, as you say, I have to get the Mother ship nailed!

Thanks again for the crit and for checking in!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105440786_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105440786_large.jpg)

Just a reminder of my 3D base for the ship. My plan was to doodle over it in Photoshop to get the details for the Mother ship.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105440886_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105440886_large.jpg)

Here's the draw-over lineart from Photoshop.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105441093_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105441093_large.jpg)

Here it is in scene. I still have a lot of work to do on the ship. The key will be to add detail without betraying the massive scale of the ship.

Once I get the lighting pretty well tweaked out (almost there), then I'll start adding textures etc to the hull. I'll also add lights and some more energy to the beam itself.

The volcano smoke is gonna need a blue rim on it now... crazy, hopefully it'll all come together.

More updates tomorrow!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105442259_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105442259_large.jpg)

Here's a low-rez mock-up of where I'm going with the final image.

Love to get your thoughts...

Thanks!

[MDN67]

Well, the figther crash is very good, the progress is very good too, perhaps you must be work more the smoke of the explosion at the right of the composition because for the moment it's so like,.. a rock, more blur it's perhaps the solution, very good work,

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

Thanks man... yah, the fightercrash, all of the flames within the temple city... that's all temp. I was just blocking it in to see how it would work. As is the blue rim on the volcano smoke and a few other elements.

With the explosion in the bottom right FG I'm going to try and have the fighter flying through it... we'll see how sucessful I am.

I'm pretty sure this is where I'm going with the piece, just wanted to get some feedback on this quick mock-up.

---

Thanks!

[MDN67]

Excuse me, an antoner thing, the begin of the mother ship is very good i like the blue light, for the crash ship, the flame is good but you must be paint more smoke of the begin of crash to the limit right of the pic, a big colum of smoke , for see the direction, like in my compo (is not a reference but it's for the idea)

[Fahrija]

Hi cgkrusty,

you really have a good feel for textures and lightning. The mothership also develops very well. the fire comes very nicely along. Great work.

Do you intend to paint the building at last? I´m looking forward to see how the stone will look like.

Fahrija

[hectic]

hi, I`m watching your work for some time, and it looks promising :)

one thing that bothers me, why did you erased those characters watching out of the building`s windows ? It`s not very realistic though that somebody would watch the destruction of theri city / world ... but I think there should be few people around

other thing ist shat stone column on the right - is it falling ? beause it looks detached, but it`s just hanging in there ...

otherwise it looks great, I`m looking forward to see your final :)

[walrus]

Ken - Man, you're getting so much done so fast! The bottom hand of the mother ship is looking great. The blue lights and the light on the clouds works really well. The top half of the ship doesn't read so clearly, though. At fist i thought there were flying saucers in the sky. It took a bit to realize that they were all attached to the same ship. Maybe some more blue lights on the bottom of them would allow them to read better? Or more mist in the sky so that the black sillhouette of the mother ship reads against a lighter color?

I like the idea and the layout of the ship crashing, though i idly wonder what would cause that to happen if this planet is apparently defenseless. Unless the fighters are a third race trying to protect the temple from the mothership...? Oh well, it's dramatic, it works, so who cares! :-)

-mike

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

Thanks! Yah, like I said… this image is just a mock-up / practice layout for what is to come. Rest assured it’ll all be polished in the end.

Fahrija:

Thanks so much for the encouragement! Yes, the temple city will be fully rendered. I haven’t touched it since the first colour update I gave. I’m trying to get the overall mood / tone down before I jump in. There is still a lot of lighting and atmosphere to come for the city; it should look MUCH better in a few days.

hectic:

Thanks for visiting and for your comments! Yah, that was a layer screw-up in Photoshop. The people will be in the windows. I agree that it would be a weird thing to watch the destruction of your world, but they’re needed for scale etc.

As far as the broken column goes, an enemy fighter will have fired some missiles at it so it will have an explosion where the “space” is.

Mike:

Do I have a choice but to do it fast? :)

Yah, the Mother ship isn’t close to being done. There will be lights and other details to bring out those silhouetted shapes that are higher out. I do want to leave the silhouette, I like the idea of something ominous, something not quite discernible looming over the planet. We’ll see how it works out. I’m also planning on having the lights from the ships (especially the “UFO” areas you pointed out) illuminating the clouds that are enveloping them… oooohhh, so mysterious!

I agree about the ship crashing and what it implies. I like the dramatic affect of it but by having it, does it beg for defensive fire / forces from the planet? I may put some missile batteries in the face of the temple city, or have some gun turrets shooting at the attacking fighters. I tried a rough mock-up of that and wasn’t too happy. We’ll see.

---

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments and crits!

:bounce:

[NathanielWest]

Awesome!! This has changed so much since I saw your beginning. Everything is working very well. If you're going to be rendering the whole thing out to the level of the ships, this is going to be killer. One thing I'd like to see is a hint of the back of that huge thing at the top of the painting. The overall shape is getting lost in the darkness. Otherwise, tremendous work. Keep it coming. :applause:

[cgkrusty]

Nathaniel West:

Thanks for the comments! I'm sure hoping to get everything as polished as I can before Monday. In regards to having some rim light on the top areas of the alien Mother Ship... I think I will do some. In thinking about the overall piece I had to ask myself how the fighters and town were being lit and I would think that the general ambience was coming from the suns reflection of the planet / moon (top right corner). Having conceded that then I realized that I had to have some of that light affect the mother ship (and modify teh colour of the reflected ambient light in the rest of the scene).

So, I'll do it coming from one side but I still want some of the Mother ship to just be an ominous black mass.

Thanks for stopping by!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105633826_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105633826_large.jpg)

Here's the latest.

Spent the last little while working on the Mother ship:

- base texture added
- added rim light from moon
- modified lighting
- added ship lights on arms

... and the Volcano:

- modified smoke / eruption (created a custom "billow" brush in Photoshop to make my life easier)

Still have a lot to do on both these areas. The ship needs more detail, better lighting and colour mods. It also needs a better sense of scale. I may have to blur or add atmosphere to ship to push it back in the distance.

For the volcano I need to finish the mountain, the volcano explosion (with chunks o' mountain) and the smoke. It's feeling a little cartoony right now so I'll rework the billows so they're softer and a little less uniform.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Thanks for stopping by!

4days, 7 hours, 36 minutes and 53 seconds to go!!

[MDN67]

Hi, The smoke of the volcano, is really very realistic, very good work. The mother ship is very nice too, many details, really good work

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

Thanks... I'm going to fix the smoke a little, I still think it feels a little cartoony. It needs more variation and dimension to it.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105722341_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105722341_large.jpg)

Subtle but progress none the less...

I've pretty well finalized the smoke. I worked on the mountain and the lava but am not happy with it so I'll modify it from here.

I've started detailing the Mothership. You can see it in the two arms closest to the Volcano.

I should be done the Mother ship and Volcano today.

Then, it's the weekend for the Temple village and any other tweaks.

3 Days, 6 hours, 57 minutes and 43 seconds.

CRIPES!!!

Thanks for looking!

[MDN67]

Hey cgkrusty, always very good work but,... YOU CAN'T SLEEP, YOU MUST WORK DAY AND NIGHT. YOU MUST BE FINISHED YOUR PROJECT. GO, GO, GO FOR THE END, :), hurry up and good luck for you

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

Thanks! Yup... I'm averaging 4 - 6 hours a night. I don't think the temple city will take as much time as the Mother ship... organic imagery is always quicker to knock-out. My concern is the time to balance and tweak the image. That polish phase is critical.

Thanks for the support!

It'll be done...

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

I´m very confident you will make it in time. No crits. Great work. Enjoy creating it. :)

Fahrija

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Thanks!!

[Aethyrprime]

great progress ken! Keep at it. You are almost there!

[cgkrusty]

||) |V| |^|:

Thanks!

"almost" is a relative term...

:eek:

:thumbsup:

[dougbot]

Man this is looking great. It's getting down to the wire, but you seem to be on track. Can't wait to see it finished.

[cgkrusty]

dougbot:

Thanks!

The wire seems close for both of us... you Squid Aliens would look good in my Temple City!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105790580_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105790580_large.jpg)

A chunk more that's off my plate...

- Modified the Volcano mountain. I'm happier with it now.
- Added some chunks o' molten rock flyin' through the air.
- About 65% of the detail work on the Mother ship is done.

I should have the Mother ship done early tommorow and have a good start on the temple city. Sweet...

2 days, 12 hours, 1 minute and 5 seconds to go!!!

Thank God I have alcohol to see me through this, and an understanding wife.

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105790691_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105790691_large.jpg)

Detail of the Mother ship work...

Love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for checking in...

[MDN67]

The detail on the mothership are very great, most realistice, always good job, at the end i think this pic will be a great piece of art, very good work... to be continued

[cgkrusty]

MDN67:

Do you ever sleep?

:D

Thanks... I hope so, again, it's the final tweaks to the overall image that will make or break it. Will I have time... we'll see. Deadline is 9:00pm Monday, Pacific time here on the west coast.

I think I will.

Thanks for your continued enthusiasm!!

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

Your render/painting skills on the surface of the ship are marevellous. Much more accurate than I could ever do it. I would love to know how you did the beautiful light pattern on the right handside. I very much struggling with those kind of things.

Maybe it could be an idea to give the laser some sort of characteristic attribute/structure. Like some straight veins or maybe some sort of impulse points or an additional transparent tube around it. That would underline the immense power of the laser.

Great work.

Fahrija

[MDN67]

Yes i sleep but is not the same hours in france, now it's 2 o'clock PM hey i appreciate you make a critic on my pic, will be importante for me because your are a good artist

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Thanks! I beg to differ with you about your ability to hit that detail level. I've seen your entry... the detail at the bottom of the FG ship is wonderful and the hull texture is gorgeous (post a tut on it!).

I'm not sure what you're asking about in regards to the light pattern? Where specifically? I'd be happy to give you a breakdown... but maybe not until the competition is over... we'll see how I'm doing on time.

:eek:

Yah, I like the pulse idea for the laser beam. That being said I do think it looks powerful right now. But you're right, it needs something. I think I'll do a similar effect to what I did for the fighter engine thrusters. A little metal texture in Photoshop on "linear light" mode to get a crackling energy feel. That should do it! Good idea... thanks!

MDN67:

Critique is done. Happy to do it for such a talented fellow illustrator! Sorry I haven't replied more to your thread.

---

Thanks agins for checking in and the support guys!

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

i meant the part below: (when there´s time enough)

http://www.studioambrozus/cgtalk/ter.jpg
http://www.studioambrozus.de/cgtalk/ter.jpg


Fahrija

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Sure... I can give you a how to, probably tommorow. Basically I created a separate texture in photoshop, selected and area on my Mother ship and pasted that texture inside that area. Then I rotated it / scaled / skewed it to fit the correct angle. After that I did some subtle layer / blending affects.

I'll post a reasonable tutorial tomorrow morning.

It's easy, you'll be able to do it no problem!

[kengi]

well, when i mention moebius it was in a good way. but its not matter any more. what you have in here is very unique style. and i like it very much. keep it up mate! :)

[cgkrusty]

kengi:

Thanks! When Moebius was mentioned I was more than flattered, he's one of the all-time greatest fantasy illustrators and has inspired so many.

Thanks for both the comparison and the compliments!

[kengi]

kengi:

Thanks! When Moebius was mentioned I was more than flattered[...]

good, that was my point :) :thumbsup:

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105849248_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105849248_large.jpg)

Finished (granted, there will probably be some tweaks during the final image polish phase).

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105849363_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105849363_large.jpg)

Here's a detail shot.

Left to do:

- Temple city (starting now)
- Fighter integration
- final lighting
- tweaks

1 day, 19 hours, 38 minutes, 49 seconds to go!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee....

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Just wanted to see what you thought of the subtle texture I added to the Mother ship beam?

[conundrum]

very nice work, i love the contrast between the explosion and the ship, its very eyecatching but not too brash. the detail is particularly good as well, nothing to crit though, looking forward to your final

[cgkrusty]

conundrum:

Thanks! I think I may have to desaturate the image (portions of it at any rate) to get a more coherent feel. We'll see what theTemple city does to bring it all together. Right now my palette is pretty primary, I would like it to be a bit more subtle. Final tweaks will tell the tale.

Thanks for stopping by!

[ecura]

This is looking good, the grand action is take place very well. Keep at it, focus on the final details. Good luck and all the best

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

Unlike MDN67 I badly needed some sleep :)

Yes! Now I think the look enforces the impression that the beam bores into the building. Nothing to crit. Great work:thumbsup:

Fahrija

[MDN67]

No, no, i sleep me to :)

The détails on the ships are great, perhaps more light in the reactor, but,... always good work

[cgkrusty]

ecura:

Thanks! Good luck to you as well!

Fahrija:

I did as well... didn't even work last night! I figured I needed to get a full nights rest so I could be sharp and work the remaining hours on the piece, crunch all the way to the end. My only concern is the upload of the Tiff image. I just hope the system isn't jammed with everyone trying to do it at once! Bad planning on my part... oh well, live an learn. I'll get it done though...

Glad you like the beam texture now...

MDN67:

Glad you got some rest!

More light in the reactor eh? I'll try it after I finish the Temple city. My concern was that I didn't want it to compete with the glow from the beam itself... I already have 2 very bright light sources (beam, eruption) adding a third would make the lighting a bit of a nightmare... so I went with a relatively contained glow.

---

Thanks for the continued feedback and support guys!

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

Mike (walrus) told me the image has to be packed into a zip-file. The amount of mb reduces very well.
So... maybe it isn´t that worst tomorrow. Wish you a good workflow.


Fahrija

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

Good news... I wish they had the TIFF requirements outlined somewhere on the site. Anyone know exactly the format they want you to save it in? I can't find it...

It's all good!

Thanks for the info...

..oh, hey, I probably won't get to that process breakdown today for the ship lights that you're curious about. If I can't do it here at the challenge I'll do it on a regular post to CGTalk... cool?

[GaeasHerald]

Cgkrusty: I see you have been quite bussy these last days. The mother ship looks fantastic, and now it al comes together. Great progress!

[cgkrusty]

Gaia's Herald:

Thanks! Just working on the Temple city now... I'll post an update later tonight.

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

You have 8hr more time than me. :) - isn´t that a good encouragement? :D
I´m really looking forward to watch the first previews of your building.

Fahrija

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

I have to have my image in by 4:00pm tomorrow.. so I have just over 24 hours to go. You're much further along than I am... but we'll both be done in time! No worries!!

I'll have an update up before midnight, San Fran time.

Good Luck!

[windowlicker]

I'd love to see a shot of the whole image, not just the mother ship - to see it all together and see how it all fits. One thing with the MS though: I think you might wanna get some of that firey red/orange to light up the bottom. Now it's just the green beam doing it.


If you haven't found out already, all the info on the tiff requirements is all on the upload page. (basicly: flattened, RGB, uncompressed, in a zip file, no alpha or other channels, no path layers...)

Good luck in these last few hours!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105953246_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105953246_large.jpg)

Detail of the work on the Main temple area... now I'm off to finish off the temple city. Still to do:

- Temple city
- Ship integration
- various damage / explosions
- final tweaks
- submit

14 hours, 48 minutes, 10 seconds to go!

Thank God for Scotch or I'd never get this donw!

[cgkrusty]

windowlicker:

You'll have to wait for the final for the whole image... sorry!

Yah, I was thinking about adding some spill from the volcano explosion on the MS, but I was figuring the MS beam would overpower that... I may add a few touches here and there.. we'll see.

Thanks for the crit and Tiff info!

---

Must paint...

:eek:

[Fahrija]

Hey ken,

all my encouragements :thumbsup:

the wip of the building is great!


Fahrija

[MDN67]

Good work on the temple, i stop to talk, you don't have the time, go, go

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105996551_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1105996551_large.jpg)

Well... here it is... all together.

I've got 2 1/2 hours so any advice would be great!

A) is it too busy?
B) Do you like the fighter crash (I'll polish it more if so... it's temp right now)
C) Is the image to saturated? Should I tone it down a bit to get out of the all-primary-world it's living in right now?

Let me know!

Thanks for your help and support everyone!

[cgkrusty]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1106002026_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5393/5393_1106002026_large.jpg)

Here it is!

Thanks to everyone that helped and supported me through all of this. Hope you like it!

I must sleep noooooooooozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

[LuisNCT]

It has a very comic-book look. I like it, the style, the composition and the designs, but maybe that style don't work well as an illustration itself.

[cgkrusty]

LuisNCT:

Thanks for your feedback... so, you think the colours are to bright (I think they are a bit, but I just didn't have time to tweak and pull it together at the end... next challenge perhaps)? I'm curious as to why you think it doesn't work as an illustration itself?

What else would you call it? A narrative? A cartoon?

Interested to hear your thoughts...

Fahrija, MDN67:

Thanks you guys for all your support and interest through all of this. It's been a great experience. I hope people will visit this competition and discover the wonderfuil work that you two have done.

---

Everyone else, thanks for visiting!

I didn't have time to polish the image as much as I wanted... poor time management on my part. Next Challenge will be better.

:buttrock:

[smurph]

you pulled it off, great detail.

[GaeasHerald]

Nice to see how it all comes together. The temple works perfectly well with the rest of the pic now. Beautiful stuff! Standing ovation.:applause:

[MDN67]

Amazing reslt, very good pic but i know than the result will be nice, good luck CGKRUSTY

[Fahrija]

Hi Ken,

Just beautiful work :thumbsup:. The designs are very well done and there can´t be enough action so don´t worry about the crowded thing. The textures are very convincing. It was fun watching this image grown.

I would have posted you before but I was pretty exhausted and couldn´t keep my eyes open. Thank you for your kind words also.

I wish you good luck and hope we see you again on this platform/comunity/next challenge

fahrija

[Tranchefeux]

Hi,
Your image is cool I like the design of architecture a
little Alien) the care brought on the execution of the vessels is very
good, good luck.

[walrus]

Great work, Ken! I tried to post a response to your second to last piece but the CGTalk servers were so busy and crowded yesterday (i can't imagine why!) that it kept rejecting my attempts to post. But no worries, I basically was saying that I don't think your image is too busy nor too saturated, and that both things are perfectly appropriate for a Grand Space Opera theme. I mean, you have to take this witrh a grain of salt, this is coming from me and you've seen how busy and saturated my piece is... but that's what i felt fit the theme. So i like those elements of your piece too. Great work, and you've also done a terrific job of sharing your steps and process with the whole gang!

-mike

[cgkrusty]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. All of us worked our butts off for this challenge and it shows! I feel very privileged to be in this Art show (OK... competition :) ) with all of you!

Smurf:

Thanks!

Gaia's Herald:

Thanks, glad you like the temple and the resulting integration!

MDN67:

Thanks, I really appreciated your feedback throughout!

Tranchefeux:

Thanks! Glad you like the image.. Those fighters were almost my downfall. As Fahrija pointed out early on, the detail I put into them set the tone for the image... which I was happy to oblige, but... I should have put more time into it. That last 30 hours was something!

walrus:

Hey! A fellow "non" illustrator!

:thumbsup:

Not to sure where that guy was coming from, hopefully an explanation will come soon. It's always interesting to hear people talk about your work. Your image is wonderful, wonder what he / she would say about it? Probably love it (as most will)!

Thanks for the kind words. This was really a great way to get back into the swing of things and I had a lot of fun interacting with everyone and sharing my process (the convoluted mess that it is...).

---

Thank you again, all of you, for the comments and encouragement these last weeks!

Good luck to everyone! I know people will come and look at the entries for the GSO and be wowed... great work!!

:applause:

[lanedaughtry]

Looks great amigo, you have my vote.

-L

[cgkrusty]

Thanks Lane... nice photo, very fetching!

[walrus]

hey, fellow "non-illustrator!" :-)

I wouldn't take it too seriously, everyone has their own subjective opinions about what does it for them and what doesn't. You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time... well, you know how it goes! But i think there were a heck of a lot of very strong entries in this challenge that relied strongly on line art - yours, Arctis, Kaparo, Airborn... enough to prove that, "cartoony" or not, people can call it whatever label they like, but it still can convey a great mood, spirit, scenario, etcetera. I expect to see all or most of them/you in the winner's circle... whatever that means, as i have no idea how judging actually works for this thing!

-mike

[cgkrusty]

I don't... I've been doing this type of work too long to let any comments bother me really. It's a subjective world we're in. I'm just glad people are interested enough to look and comment!

I agree about the strength of entries and that some or all of the images you mentioned might make it in. We'll see what happens... it'll be interesting.

I'm curious when the public voting will open up... as that'll narrow the top 15 down. Then it's up to the judging panel.

Curious...

Good luck!

[LuisNCT]

cgkrusty, I think that your final image is great but I imagine it more as a comic book cover maybe cause the line style of the background or perhaps cause of the colors.

[cgkrusty]

LuisNCT:

Cool... they were asking for book cover type images for the competition, looks like I nailed it!

:D

Hey, really... no worries. I appreciate the feedback a lot and your perspective on the image is appreciated.

I agree with you, it's a little cartoony - comic like in it's approach... maybe more so than I had hoped. But that's the way it came out and I'm happy with it.

Thanks again!

[marco03]

...very nice work Mr. Henderson....and btw congrats for the next generation in comin'...


marco

[cgkrusty]

marco03:

Hey Tremblay... thanks so much for checking in! Yup... another lil' one on the way. have you checked out the Blogs?

The image itself is a little flat, not enough depth or atmosphere... but, not bad.

We'll see how I did on the 14th.

[marco03]

...yeah man i'm explorin the blog....really like the womb thing..

..l'image est cool mec je l'aime beaucoup...you got my vote for sure...

[cgkrusty]

Yah... Robin's having fun with the Blog!

Thanks for looking, hope you're well... give Merlin a pat for me...

[Fahrija]

Hi ken,

this was a tough challenge but for all that I thought your image had a wide scope to get mentioned. Hmm....the heck with it :) See ya in march on the next one. :thumbsup:

best regards
fahrija

[cgkrusty]

Fahrija:

You know... I was hoping for a HM but really, my image just didn't have enough atmosphere and focus to win... and sadly, my lighting (which I love to do) wasn't great either. The moral of the story, get the main image done sooner so you have time to tweak... period.

Really looking forward to the next challenge...

See you then!

[Squibbit]

yea you did have great individual parts in the image tho ,
till next time :thumbsup:

[Fahrija]

Fahrija:

... The moral of the story, get the main image done sooner so you have time to tweak... period....



Same thoughts :)

[cgkrusty]

Squibbit:

Thanks... but, as we saw in the judging (and knew all along really) it's the entire image that counts. Getting it done sooner will allow me the time to pull it all together.

See you in the next go round!

[walrus]

Still, all in all, it was a strong image, and a lot of fun seeing your process. You were, in my book, one of the most meticulous in detailing your step-by-steps that you were taking to get there. It'll be great to see what you come up with next time... Let's get 'em! :-)

-mike

[cgkrusty]

mike:

Thanks, your image was strong as well, and much more polished and together than mine. Unfortunately process doesn't count for much now... but it was a great exercise to share. In regards to the competition... it was a good thing I didn't place... when cleaning up my system a week or so ago I accidentally deleted ALL my files for my entry. So, I would have had to decline any prize as I wouldn't have been able to show process images with the proper rez.

All I have now are the images I posted during the competition so it's a good thing I shared as much as I did...

:)

What an idiot...

:D

That's the first time I've done something that nuts on that scale... never clean your system up at 4:00am!

Anyhow... we'll all be ready next time. I'll have to go up to Vancouver with some duct-tape and find Blackarts. :twisted:

:love: Obviously I'm kidding. His work is amazing and he and the majority of all the winners have raised the bar which is good for the rest of us. Makes us hungrier and better...

[SideAche]

Looking forward to seeing you in the next one.

[cgkrusty]

SideAche:

As I am you... you had a really strong piece, so many great works to choose from.

I'll see you in the winners circle in April / May (whenever the next challenge ends).

:applause:

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