Grand Space Opera 2D Entry: Teenuja Dahari

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1103995896_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1103995896_large.jpg)

Concept:
My idea of the Grand Space Opera is to illustrate an event which is being celebrated on a planet in another galaxy. The scene shows the wedding day for Negma (female) and Sparta(male). They are creatures that have no legs but they have wings. Sparta is making his way to join his beloved Negma so that the ceremony may begin. In the background there are their families and friends. In the foreground (though not very visible at this stage) there is a lake.

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1103996611_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1103996611_large.jpg)

I have refined the female character - Negma. Any comments about the concept, scene etc are most welcomed.

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104006604_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104006604_large.jpg)

I have worked on the colour scheme a bit to have a feel of the scene...

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104014131_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104014131_large.jpg)

I have tried to work out another colour scheme.

[tlggungor]

more detail pls.

[Lovliebutterfly]

Well this is only the colour scheme. This is not the way I intend to colour the image. I haven't started on the colouring itself. I just wanted to see which colours would convey the idea of a wedding taking place on another planet. I'm still working on the drawings. I'm still working on some sketches...

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104074368_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104074368_large.jpg)

Here are some studies I had made for the temple in the background. It started from a study of a tree...

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104075571_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104075571_large.jpg)

Ok...what I'm doing now is that I'm drawing each of the elements sperately, adding all the details etc. Then I'm going to mount them all on a fresh canvas. This will give me more flexibility in adjusting size etc. Here's Sparta, the male cahracter. I've added some designs on his body and added details in the wings.

[Lovliebutterfly]

Well I know that mounting the elements separately might cause some perspective problems but before drawing the characters separately I drew guides according to the perspective and scale as that of the final composition to avoid this problem.

I know my concept is not the usual war and destruction type, but I just thought of illustrating something completely different that is a scene in everyday life on another planet...

I'm waiting for your comments and critics. :buttrock:

[xeNusion]

the second version of the colouring tests looks promising.
using a light blue palette seems to be the best choice

[Lovliebutterfly]

Thank you xeNusion :thumbsup: . I really appreciate your comment. I am actually going to use that second colour scheme, I also find it more appealing.

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104107078_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104107078_large.jpg)

Alright...I think that's my final composition. I'll now start on the colouring. I welcome any comments at this stage.

[KevinJM]

A marriage scene on another planet? This is a very imaginative idea,Far different from the usual battle and war stuff. I really like originality of this vision of the grand space opera. You have an original idea and i dont understand how you got only a few replies .Keep up the good work.:thumbsup:

[Lovliebutterfly]

Thanx dean080580 for your encouragement! :)

I am currently working on the coloring. I'll be posting something soon...

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104270700_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104270700_large.jpg)

I have started coloring the sky. It is not complete, I still have to work more on the moon and colors. I think that's pretty much the effect and mood I was looking for.

[KevinJM]

Dear Loveliebutterfly ,
this is really a fantastic sky and i mean it. I really copes with the idea of the marriage.what i can`t understand is that how can that nobody has comment on this awesome sky yet.It is really very diferrent from the others..keep up with that awesome painting dear.:thumbsup:

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104446909_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104446909_large.jpg)

I've started coloring the water. There's still quite some work to be done on the reflections, highlights and shadows...
I welcome all your comments and suggestions.

Thank you again dean080580! It's nice to know you liked the sky. I still have to work on the moon/planets though.

[llllllll]

nice fantacy theme,getting very abstractive

[ElFuego]

Looks really serene, and thats a good thing :)

The ocean feels really peacefull and pleasant (I wouldn't mind if I was sent on vacation in that planet) though it has some big waves in it :)

I would consentrate on those butterflyish characters and make them "dance" more so they fit more to that scene it you get what i mean, try some really wild moves like Arabicstule dancing or something :>

Anyhow It's one of the most imaginative works here...good job :>

[Lovliebutterfly]

Looks really serene, and thats a good thing :)

The ocean feels really peacefull and pleasant (I wouldn't mind if I was sent on vacation in that planet) though it has some big waves in it :)

I would consentrate on those butterflyish characters and make them "dance" more so they fit more to that scene it you get what i mean, try some really wild moves like Arabicstule dancing or something :>

Anyhow It's one of the most imaginative works here...good job :>


Thank you ElFuego for your nice and encouraging comments! I really appreciate it. I did not think of the Arabicstyle dancing as I thought of giving the impression that their wings are moving because the female character is actually hovering while she waits for her "Groom" to come towards her. So I actually thought about some wing movements...:)

[Lovliebutterfly]

nice fantacy theme,getting very abstractive

Thanx Boalid! Well, indeed I wanted a fantasy feel without forgetting the space aspect.

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104626668_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104626668_large.jpg)

I'm coloring the female character right now. I want to have your opinion...

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104711130_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104711130_large.jpg)

This is a close-up of Negma with details. Still got some details to add in the wings.

[GaeasHerald]

It's really refreshing to see a style and concept so radically different from the rest. You may want to accentuate the inking, I think it would fit your image (the sort of fairytail feel).
As long as you stick to your original idea, everything will be fine :).

[KevinJM]

Hey Butterfly, that`s very nice colors and paintings, I like the glows of the jewels on the face of the bride and the refreshing colors as well,It really suits the situation.:thumbsup:

[Cicinimo]

This is looking great. Your color scheme is perfect, specifically for the content of the image. Its very condusive to the eatheral quality I see in your alien design. I think pulling in some darker values would increase the drama and add to the mood you've established. Keep it up.

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104797599_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104797599_large.jpg)

I am not too sure about the "guys" in the back. They seem to crowd the scene...What do you think?
I'm thinking of moving them on either side so that they don't obstruct the wings.

[Lovliebutterfly]

This is looking great. Your color scheme is perfect, specifically for the content of the image. Its very condusive to the eatheral quality I see in your alien design. I think pulling in some darker values would increase the drama and add to the mood you've established. Keep it up.
Thank you Cicinimo for your suggestion, I've added some darker shades on the female character. It's not finalised yet. I'll see on the final coloring stage when I'll add some darker tones.

[Lovliebutterfly]

It's really refreshing to see a style and concept so radically different from the rest. You may want to accentuate the inking, I think it would fit your image (the sort of fairytail feel).
As long as you stick to your original idea, everything will be fine :).

Thank you Gaia's Herald for you comments! I really appreciate it. There's one thing that I don't understand about your suggestion is to accentuate the inking. What do you exactly mean by that?

[GaeasHerald]

Cool colors! What I meant was that you could use a sort of black ink round your characters (using the scketch itself as a guideline), like the outlines used in comics and fairytale illustrations. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth the try.:shrug:

[walrus]

Butterfly - It's looking good so far. I like a lot of the textures you're using, especially in the sky and water. You wanted to know what poeple thought of the additional figures in the back. i think they make the image, especially the bride, harder to read. You could take them out, but one thing that you could also try is to "fog them out" a bit, make it look as though they're hazy from the distance a bit by pulling in one of the background colors, maybe a blue or lavender. It could possibly take care of your worries about how readible it is. Good luck with it!

-mike

[Nikolay]

Good work, very bright!)))

[KevinJM]

Keep up the good work Buterfly!

[Lovliebutterfly]

Gaia's Herald : Cool colors! What I meant was that you could use a sort of black ink round your characters (using the scketch itself as a guideline), like the outlines used in comics and fairytale illustrations. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth the try.:shrug:

I will try the inking (but I'll finish the main coloring first). It might emphasize some shapes and colors... Thanx for your suggestions, I really appreciate it! :)

walrus : Butterfly - It's looking good so far. I like a lot of the textures you're using, especially in the sky and water. You wanted to know what poeple thought of the additional figures in the back. i think they make the image, especially the bride, harder to read. You could take them out, but one thing that you could also try is to "fog them out" a bit, make it look as though they're hazy from the distance a bit by pulling in one of the background colors, maybe a blue or lavender. It could possibly take care of your worries about how readible it is. Good luck with it!

-mike


I've tried your suggestion about fogging them out and making them lavender...I think it works better this way. I mean I really did not want them to stand out in the scene. Thanks for that Mike! :wavey:


Nikolay : Good work, very bright!)))

Thanx for your encouragement mate! :)


And Thanx again Dean080580!

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104887964_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104887964_large.jpg)

Here are some updates. I still got the ground to add details to. Then I'll do final touches like darkening or lightening here and there...

[walrus]

Ah, those folks in the background are a lot less intrusive now!

I like the reflections in the water, too!

-mike

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104970807_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1104970807_large.jpg)

I've added some details here and there. Worked on the ground and added some flowers in the air...Not much to do now. Any suggestions are most welcomed.
Thanx Walrus for your nice comments!

[KevinJM]

Really nice colors,It fit the event. keep up the good work.:thumbsup:

[ElFuego]

It's coming together rather nicely LovlieB! :)

I have to agree with Walrus that those reflections are good.

This picture contains really pure/clinic feel and therefore its really Ambient (I hope you understand cause I cant find the right word in english :)

It's all the things that fairytalers are made from.

[camtheman]

It's nice to see this kind of imagery in the challange. You have a very delicate and sensitive piece here. So much of what is out there is very harsh, disruptive and brutal. This is a very refreshing change of pace.

good luck!

:)

[supremo]

^^^ I agree with the above.

Plus, I must say you have a great feel for translucent and reflective imagery! The transparency in the wings and the reflection in the water is very good.

One suggestion I might have for you is to bump the contrast a little bit. Just enough to get some good blacks in the sky.

Good luck!

[GaeasHerald]

Lovliebutterfly try darkening the moon a bit. It's kind of overpowering atm, and you could focus a little bit more on the couple. The male could have some greenish tones to make him stand out from the rest of the picture. Otherwise, this is coming along nicely :).

[llllllll]

very electronic colours

[Lovliebutterfly]

I am trying to fix certain things right now, I can see that the two characters are a bit "lost" in the scene. I am not sure how to resolve this, whether to darken the background and leave them pale or do the contrary... In either case, I don't want to end up with dirty colors...:sad:

Thank you for the suggestion about the moon Gaia's Herald. I've actually made it smaller and with less glow.

Thank you Supremo for your comments. I've tried adding some darker tones and it's working better! :thumbsup:

Thanks Elfuego, Cameron Gardner and Boalid for your support! I appreciate it a lot. :)

I'll be posting something tonight if I finish what I'm working on.

[daadaa]

hey nice pic and great colours, about ur characters getting lost in the scene... i thought it might be cool if you made the wings glow, though that might make it look tacky and ruin it... but i dunno... try it and see if u like it

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105140109_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105140109_large.jpg)

Well, i've tried to darken the background, I think it works better. The moon is less dominent now. Please tell me what you think. I've been looking too much at this now, I can't see anything!

Thank you daadaa for your suggestion. I had actually tried the glow effect on the wings before, but it was too much I think, as I also wanted to simulate a slight movement of the wings with some motion blur all around.

[GaeasHerald]

Much better! The moon doesn't bother any more, and the darker sky give it more character.:thumbsup: As for the characters being "lost" in the scene, you could use the leaves to draw the eye to them, draw them as if they were coming from the camera to the characters, and then circling them. That way you don't have to work on the contrast, and can do that as a final touch. Best of luck!

[AirbORn]

Interesting composition. The colours are very nice, and the overall mood is pleasing. :) Good luck!

[KevinJM]

The overall image is very refreshing and rich in a perfectly matched palette of colors but i think that you should try making the characters stand out a bit more from the whole scene.Anyway hope for an update from you very quickly:thumbsup:

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105306738_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105306738_large.jpg)

Hi guys! The submit entry link is not working I think.
Thank you all for you comments and suggestions.
I'm trying to adjust the color in grayscale to make the two characters stand out.
I'll colorize them in RGB afterwards.

[Aethyrprime]

Very surreal imaginative concept you are working on here. I can't wait to see it finished. Great job! Keep at it...

[Lovliebutterfly]

Thank you ||) |V| |^| for your encouragement. I'm almost finished apart from these adjustmens to make the two stand out. I'm trying different colors like orange or a brighter purple. I'll post something soon and hope that it would be the final final one! :)

[KevinJM]

Hmmm, the characters definitely seems to overpower in the grayscale version . Keep it up as i`m eagerly waiting for you final colorised version.:thumbsup:

[GaeasHerald]

Lovliebutterfly: in the grayscale version the characters reads much better. I wouldn't change the color scheme, it works just fine as it is. I'll probably won't have another change to intervene in your thread, so I wanted to tell you that it's been a pleasure seeing your progress and comments.

Good luck and see you!:)

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105482744_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105482744_large.jpg)

I have added some darker tones on the two characters. I think they stand out more now. I thank you all for your comments and suggestions that have greatly helped me and encouraged me. I still welcome them. If there are no other comments or adjustments you think might enhance this new version, then this would be my final image.

[KevinJM]

Butterfly, your image is definitely better than the last time now.The Characters seems to stand out.I think that it`s fine like that.Anyway, i wish you the very best of luck.:thumbsup:

[Raï's]

Your image is quite good, but you should contrast it a lot. Some parts of decoration should be darken : this will add a touch of "mystere".
Good luck.

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105573730_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105573730_large.jpg)

Well at second thoughts I think it was a bit too dark. The characters only needed a little darker tones but not so much. I feel I was losing the sense of fantasy on the characters in the previous version. So I've just added a bit of darker blue.

[Lovliebutterfly]

Thank you for your suggestion Rai's. However I don't want to add any darker tones at this stage as I have been playing around with the darker tones and it's only spoiling the crispness and lightness in the atmosphere. They tend to add dullness in the image. I want to create a nice calm, fantasy feel as the creatures are very delicate and sensitive. Their environment is also a very pleasant one. I feel there's enough dark tones at this point.

[spacesnail]

Hello, I finally take time to have a look at your work.
It's very refreshing:thumbsup:, especially when you see many and many battles in this contest... Whereas I belong to this category ;-)
I've noticed a little problem in the upper left of your picture. The moon looks like it's touching the alien's wing. It seems to be too shiny. Maybe you can add some thin purple cloud to have the wing detached from the background.:)

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105656144_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105656144_large.jpg)

I've added some purple on the moon as suggested by Spacesnail! Thank you for this little tip! I think it has greatly improved this area making the moon look more distant.
Well, this is the final image then. I've named this piece The Wedding.

[supremo]

Looks great! The added contrast and the purple veil over the moon made a difference for sure! The whole piece has good depth and holds together very well. It's been fun watching this progress.

Good luck with your entry!

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105727169_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105727169_large.jpg)

I'm uploading a close up of the female character Negma.

[MDN67]

Hi, i like the ambiance of the pic it's a strange and originaly ambiance, the choice of pastel color is very good, good luck for the end:)

[Aethyrprime]

Keep with it Teenuja! You have a nice vision here! Finish it up soon! Good job and good luck!

[KevinJM]

Butterfly i really like those painted scales on your character it really gives a nice aspect to the character itself.Those glows as well does pretty well.I`m very pleased that you finished your work in time.Lets wait for the results now.By the way i wish you good luck.:bounce:

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105813338_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105813338_large.jpg)

Here's another close up of the image...

[GaeasHerald]

Hi Lovliebutterfly: I totally agree with dean080580, the scales give a lot of personallity to the characters and look excellent. Good luck and see you next time!

[Lovliebutterfly]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105975610_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/6/5535/5535_1105975610_large.jpg)

The Challenge is nearly over now and I would like to thank you all - those who have posted on my thread and encouraged and advised me, namely Gaia's Herald, dean080580, ||) |V| |^|, MDN67, supremo, walrus, spacesnail, daadaa, ElFuego, Cameron Gardner, boalid, AirbORn, Raï's, Nikolay, Cicinimo, -tolga-, xeNusion as well as those who have viewed my work.
I have enjoyed participating in this Challenge and learnt a lot through you all. I hope I have made my contribution to you too! I hope to see you all in the next Challenge! Please keep in touch!

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.