Master and Servant 2D Entry: Paul Davidson

[paulwdavidson]

Hi Jezzarts: nice idea, at the beginning it was going to be digging through the earth or an industrial looking submarine coming up out of an underwater lagoon or something.....i chose the latter. It's all a little confusing at the moment (with a lot of issues) but that stuff has'nt been painted in yet, I've been leaving the water till last, and also the lava afeect on the interior of the cave.....plus many more things.


I'm hoping by this weekend, all of those little niggles will be out of the way and people can see my illustration how i originally intended it to be.........not long now.

Thanks for the comments.

Always welcome

Paul

[camtheman]

Hey Paul,

just popping in to check your thread before they announce you as the winner. One thought I had while looking at your work: Forgive me if you, or someone else has thought of this...maybe a secondary light source of blue or blue-green off to the bottom left outside the pic, to give some more dimension to the pod, rocks and the master...might be very cool.

Anyway, great fun watching you develop your work. Best of luck in the challenge!

My M&S thread:

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?p=2270288#post2270288

[Fish-KAart]

welcome and goOd luck :)Very interesting work!

[duddlebug]

Hi Paul... sorry i've not posted for a while...

I can't believe the detail in this!! It's insane!! How have you got the patience!!? I think it's looking great... the detail, the lava and the lighting are all spot on.

My only little crits are with the 'flame' trail and it's route. I think it comes too close to the rocks on the right of the image. It looks like it should overlap... or be a bit further away. I dunno why, but that's probably just me. And i'm wondering whether it'd work better if it passed in front of the stalagmite behind the boy...?

You know what you're doing so you can probably ignore those crits... but that's what struck me at first glance (having not looked in a while)

It's lookinf fab... good luck getting it finished...

[Jezzarts]

Water sounds cool! It's a strange process having other people's input throughout the painting... I've always been used to the old 'dont look till it's finished' way of doing things...you know, covering your work with your arm, he he. I love these forums though... cant wait to see this done!

[nebezial]

ggeee u think ull make it, lol, good luck man:thumbsup:

[TheFirstAngel]

Great work Paul! Goro's suggestion would work for me so far, whatever, fantastic work on your caracters, keep on rocking Paul!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[xric7]

wonderful piece!!:bounce:
love u contrast a lot.very impressive.
keep going,mate.
cheers.:buttrock:

[AdrielaSakamoto]

I LOVE this.. Much good luck with the challenge.

Adri

[NinjaA55N]

Good progressing, but I see that u still have much to do.. I know u'll make so I cant wait the wednesday to see ut finished piece! good luck on this great entry!

[i-popba]

AMAZING...!! cool composition and light,.

[Squibbit]

yep , looks like u gonna make it, congrats, dude, the
pic already looks like a jewel :thumbsup:

[paulwdavidson]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116173515_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116173515_large.jpg)

Well, nearly there.........few things still to do: water, bits on the pod and boy (mouth) I'm going to do that in the next couple of hours, or tomorrow.

I'm pleased with where it is now. I'll not list what i've done, you can see the changes, as they're quite obvious.

There was a time where i started to panic, but hey.....i'll finish with a few days to spare. Time management has been good with this one.

If anyone remembers, from start to finish i completed the Machineflesh challenge in two weeks....stress.

I hope you like this.

Thanks to everyone for the welcome encouragement over the last few months, and the pearls of wisdom.

Respect, and good luck.

Paul

[Speaky]

Paul - Wow, coming along really nicely! I'd suggest working some really dark, low saturation greens into the background to round out the scenery and balance the colour a bit. For me one of the really effective areas is the blue lit side of the submersible, where there is a transition from blue/green to red light picking out the forms. The leftmost cave structure is a bit distracting from the centre of interest, I'm not too fond of the lines there, but I know you haven't gone to work on it yet.

Yeah, I remember you coming in during Machineflesh and whipping up an excellent pic in very little time, so I have no doubts you'll polish this one up really well. Great stuff!

[TeemuR]

Great work, Mr. Davidson! :cool: Love the extreme contrast. Should read nicely as a poster. :)

[walrus]

Paul, when I saw this, I literally uttered the words, "Oh, WOW!" And I think that pretty much sums it up, too!

What you've done with the lava trail is so exciting, so dynamic...! And the lighting, too: I thought Goro was on the right track when he added so much warmth to the lighting, but you've taken that much further, and it looks great!

But still, I'm going to point out a few things that have caught my eyes:

The water looks really still. Of course, there's no reason that it shouldn't be, and there's nothing wrong with it... it's just with how incredibly dynamic the lava-trail is, and thus the whole image, the calm water seems almost a mismatch.

There's a blue/blue-green light illuminating the left of the pod, and it looks great. But that light isn't touching the boy at all. A bit more of that light on him might help define his shape and make it stand out from the pod a bit, along with just fitting the light you've established there.

the rocs that are the frame in the whole upper half of the image are feeling a bit like they haven't received the love that the rest of the piece has. I wish I could be more specific about what's bugging me, because it's a less helpful comment than it could be if I can't offer any suggstions. But I'll just toss that out anyhow.

That's got to be one really powerful and strong anchor to be plunged that deep into solid rock!

Anyhow, hope you don't mind the long laundry list! Just pointing out things that I see, but hey, it's all subjective. No matter what, it's still an excellent piece... so much so that I just thought of one final suggestion to make: Add some more room at the top so they can put the title logo "CGTalk Master and Servant Challenge Book" without going over the genie's head. :)

-mike

[JasonChan]

Looks great, Paul! This is definitely going to place! Great job!

[arLutiK]

Paul, wow amazing job you did the Genie is amazing, it's the first thing we see but then when you start you notice how the rest is as amazing as the gin.

Wonderful work, it's simply stunning

[camtheman]

Hey Paul, great work! This is one of the most detailed and stunning pieces I've seen. I still feel it could use a tad more green-blue light coming in from the lower left, just to give the pod and boy a little more punch...OMO.

Outstanding creation overall...and you just nailed the concept for the challenge. I'm sure we'll be seeing this one in the book...Good Luck!

My M&S:

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.ph...Cameron+Gardner (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=227140&highlight=Cameron+Gardner)

[NOOB!]

thats amazing work paul,background cudda used more detail but i guess we can all blame the shorter time we had for the challenge for that.

[flyingP]

really rather like the effect around the lanterns spout :thumbsup:

[tilite]

i agree with NOOB. and would love to see this place up real high but i do think u need to work on the bg. is nothing against u its great work and u definely have the skills.. so i would love to see it all role together.

best of luck

[crowley]

That's great. Something I really like about your picture is how it's telling a story.
The overall and the genius are really impressive. And I absolutely love the Jues Vernes look and feel of the boy and the pod.
Two thumbs up :)

[Goro]

that's what I'm talking about!!
congrats to this masterpiece
and good luck!

[Mordalles]

wow, absolutely stunning! i like the fire! brilliant!

[mack72]

A bloody good evening to you! My, haven't we been a busy little art beaver! This had leapt forward amazingly. The lava 'jets' coming out of the lamp are crazy! Love what you've done to warm up the whole are around the genie.

This definately deserves a place in the magic top ten. Congratulations on a very fine piece indeed!

Cheers
Mack

[spacesnail]

Just said this to my wife : "Look how a winner works !"
That's all
Congratulations Paul "Rocking" Davidson:drool:

Manu

[werezoo]

I love the lava-e splatters coming out of the lamp, very well done. The only area that is still concerning me is the boys right leg, maybe I'm not seeing it correctly, but where is it bellow the knee? Just curious. Awsome work tho, one of the best in this challenge.

[polybuilder]

werezoo, I think the pod and his leg are in a pool, pond or puddle. It seems that way to me, we'll have to wait and see.:)

This is just Brilliant, well done Paul:thumbsup:

It definitly follows the theme of the challenge.

James.

[paulwdavidson]

Thanks, guys....much appreciated....really. I'll take on board all of the suggestions for my last push. I will be working on the background a bit more, creating more depth to the area in question. Since I have a few days, I should be able to see it with fresh eyes tomorrow, and add the important issues that have been raised.

It shouldn't take that much effort (hopefully) to fully realise the concept I had in mind when I entered this challenge.

It's nearly there.

Thanks you!

Paul

[Enayla]

Wow! Bright and lively and electric! Definitely a piece that grabs you and forces you to remember it. I love this!

Can't wait to see the final result (though it looks pretty much done to me already! :D ). Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

[Agent-Orange]

It s looking super tight, a bit on the darkside but not to much.


Love your detail

[SEL]

Nice update Paul!

I really love the effects you did. It really helped bring out everything. Cant wait to see your final. Ill come back then! Great job!

SEL

[Belhaven]

really cool piece, i like the technical skill involved. an original genie! youre pretty much done and it might be late to suggest anything, but just a tiny tiny thing... i am having trouble reading the form of the genie because of too many red lines... but its just a minor thing. really cool!

[demonicoz]

And the Grand Prize goes to.....
Well Paul congratulations mate, at least in being in the top 5. Linda and you for def bro.
Well done on a stunning piece of work mate, its should be a well deserved prize. Oh and by the way my mate was asking how my chances were for being a winner....so I showed her yours and Linda's work....She didn't look so optimistic after that...I wonder why :)

Well done mate, Good Luck! (trust me you don't really need it)

[Squibbit]

Our Judgement Panel Supreme has come to the
conclusion that the blurredness needs immediately to be
removed from the rock faces, especially the edges, for
the picture to rise to new, higher levels and thus
reaching the awesome altitude, that everything seeks and
where our acceptance lies.

[FIDUCIOSE]

The fire is very powerful man! womderful work, waiting for the final one

Be the luck gone with you.

[paulwdavidson]

Thanks, most appreciated. I'm making a note of all the latest suggestions ( I agree about the rockface) amongst other niggles I know about........and I'm going to tackle them tonight, and tomorrow.


Bloody rocks! To be honest, I've been avoiding them, and trying to do as little as possible, and therefore they've fallen behind....si i'm going to have to step up and paint them properly.

Thanks again

Paul

[Zephyri]

Wow. Fantastic! That lighting and all those little touches have really brought this image together so well, Paul. Once the rock face is sorted, you've got one of those prizes in the bag, I'm sure.

[kerembeyit]

Insane rendering! I really like your genie. Good luck Paul:)

[paulwdavidson]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116268749_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116268749_large.jpg)

Just a quick update before i go onto the water and odds n' sods, like the boy's and some extra lava effects etc

I've worked on the cave textures........you guy's were right, it did need much more attention than i was giving it credit for...........thanks for the kick up the backside!

Thank a lot.

Paul

[Squibbit]

:bowdown:


yea you know how much that did now :)

[MDN67]

always a great pic, i see now the work on the texture's rock, good work

[Miyagu]

WOW! this picture is really HOT!!!

*still deeply in love with that genie* :love:

your entry is one of my absolute favorites! keep going!!! :bounce:

[goktugg]

Nice Work!..with good coloring progress*good details!
Good luck!:)

[arkinet]

really HOT bro!! Looks like a final one, but I know you have lots of cool stuff to finish it up, one thng I'd suggest is: HURRY!!:thumbsup: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[paulwdavidson]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116365988_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116365988_large.jpg)

Well, here it is. I'm quite happy with it. There comes a point when you have to tell yourself, that's it. You could go on forever playing around with an image.

'AT YOUR COMMAND'

Not all servants can be mastered. This boy has bitten off more than he can chew (as he'll find out) What do they say?! "you shouldn't play with fire!"
The Genie is pleased someone has been brave enough to engage him. The boy is so obsessed with his hunger for power, his greed has blinded him towards the danger that everyone can see.................apart from him........poor boy!

Thanks for helping along in this journey, folks....the road ends here.

Much appreciated

Good luck to everyone.

Paul

[Squibbit]

doooood

i said dude

ddOOOD

maybe give the pillar yet a minor sharpening ?

[paulwdavidson]

Before I upload final image, I may take it to work, and give it one more fresh eye, and upload then. Make any last minute changes......i can hardly see a thing, because my eyes are sore.

Cheers

Paul

[Squibbit]

no worries, it's an excellent piece already

i kinda like these restless last contest days, working days and nights ,
seems like u been up and painting for a while too, heh

[Mythmaker]

Hey! You finished!

Congratulations - I'm sure you'll do well in the finals - this definitely ranks amongst the best entries in my mind!

[flyingP]

Paul it's good, best wishes mate :)

[mack72]

Congratumalizations!!! YOU'VE FINISHED! It looks absolutely stunning! (As I knew it would!)

Truly an awesome piece of work. This definately HAS to be up there in the top ten entries in this contest.:applause:

Well done mate. Amazing work.

Congratulations!
Cheers
Mack

p.s. Now that you have some spare time...do you fancy finishing mine?:D

[BlacKeri]

Amazing entry, no crits. One of my favourites definitely :)

[paulwdavidson]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116370405_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5827/5827_1116370405_large.jpg)

Squibbit: that's it, here's the change you demanded....chuckle! No more, please. I've only slightly worked into it, there's so much detail allover that it's starting to become a labour for the eye.

That's it....thank you, and good night!

Paul :)

[Jezzarts]

Fantastic work Paul, I know how you feel.. there comes a point where you've just got to say... this pic aint gona get any prettier! Congrats, its been great watching your process. Man I love that FIRE!!! :bounce:

[Squibbit]

"DEMANDED" ?? riiight! lol, ok , um , thanks, sir , u may go now :D

[polybuilder]

WoW!!..... that sure is the BEST Image I,ve seen in this comp.
Well done Paul. BRILLIANT!!

James.

[joshcaez]

Paul it looks sweet man, the detail is insane! I wish I was that kid http://www.cgtalk.com/images/icons/icon7.gif It's definitely a winner!

Good luck! http://www.cgtalk.com/images/icons/icon13.gif

[sablebrush]

Congratulations! super work, good luck :applause:

[MattDixon]

This looks great, Paul. I was a bit shocked by the incredible amount of detail you put into the genie at first, but I must say it all hangs together very nicely indeed and the whole image has bags of punch.

All the best in the judging, mate!

[3dmiao]

I love your style! and good idea and effect. good luck!

[tuck]

Hey, I really love your style and technics, so... it awsome!!!
You have such a very good skills!!!:eek: :thumbsup: good luck.

[MDN67]

it's a great pic, good luck for the end

[Tremoside]

Hi Paul,

Congrats for this image and thanks for your shared knowledge! It's an etalon for me! Good luck at voting, although you will finish high am sure! Painted firepath is on the most expressive way i've ever seen. :bowdown:

Tremo

[paulwdavidson]

Thanks, this means a lot.


This has been a very supportive experience, especially when you're slightly dissilusioned during the labourious production period.

Much respect to CG Talk and their members....very cool.

Good luck to everyone

Paul

[PeterPuppet]

Mr. Genie, congrats! This turned out absolutely amazingly:thumbsup:
I wish you luck with it. May the force of the genies be with you:D



peace, pete

[JasonChan]

Great job, Paul! The image looks amazing! Best of luck in the judging, not that you'll need it :)

[Vectorius]

WHAT A VERY GOOD PICTURE!! i love it:love: ..the fire effects are simply AWESOME!! very good work man and congratulations!!:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

GOOD LUCK!

[arkinet]

sweet!... & you have a sweet dream bro, you have a great piece here & now you can relax...:wise:

[W-I-L]

well done paul.. a very succesful image. good luck

[NinjaA55N]

yex, its brilliant! good luck! :)

[xric7]

excellentx3!!
congratsx3
best wishx3
:applause: :applause: :applause:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Velinov]

Congrats on your final image Paul! I wish you good luck in judge judgements. :thumbsup:



Cheers

[tAstyBITs]

Awsome! Looks great.

[feeb]

If I ever need someone to paint lava for me, or a being made of lava, you'll be the person I call first. Heheh... seriously, this is really insanely cool. I'm not surprised that it came out so well, judging from your previous pieces. I'll definitely be looking forward to future projects you do.

[andreasrocha]

Wonderful work, Paul. Congratulations on finishing with such style! You've got my vote!

[artjunkie]

Wow. You're definately a master of light and texture. I am amazed. Brilliant bit of art!

Good luck in the judging.

Cheers!

[Matt-Bortolino]

Damn, if I looked around the 2d entries sooner I could've ripped-off your glowing veins technique for my 3d entry ;) Brilliant work.

[Riddick]

I was really a fan of the first sketch but the final rendering is really a strong piece!!

Good luck Paul!

[SEL]

Great final PAUL! wonderful to see this type of illustration from pencil get turned into something great! Wonderful final piece!

SEL

[JMcWilliams]

ahhh.. so another guy who likes painting flame and the like ;) Well, it's come out very well. Congrats! :D

[jddog]

impressive :applause: bravo...
jdd

[beelow]

Stunning Piece!:eek: Completly awsome...Good Luck you probably won't need it...see next contest.:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

And you deserve a bow too.:bowdown:

and a drool.:drool:

Holla!

[grf]

Excellent finish, Paul! Great piece!! :thumbsup: :applause:

[bowditch]

WHew, wow, thats one fine painting. A revision of the old theme master and genie. Where to begin. The characters are great, especially the lava-genie. That is rendering and imagination at work! It seems that you can put down anything that comes to your mind! And what an imagination. The colors are perfect, the play with light and dark, making the fire coming out of the lamp very successful. The soft blues in the background and the blue up above helps the red lava of the genie. There is the perfect amount of detail in the setting to give the context without distracting from the characters. The composition and its vertical ascent finishes perfectly with the blue grotto hole that goes upward too. I didn't see the water, and thus didn't understand the vehicle, till I looked at your sketches. Too bad, it helps me ptu the story together better since I couldn't quite get what the sub was at first and how it got there - I suppose it is better late to get it than never. That also makes your human character clearer to me, a voyager, an intrepid explorer. Took some looking till I got it, but I might be slow. The leg stilol in the water helps a lot of things in the story! The splash gives a sense of the surprise of the moment (which is seen a little less on the face of the explorer - there is more an expression of awe, that's good too) and it also gives an idea of timing. I mean, the guy has just arrived, decended from the craft, and rubbed the lamp, and BOOM! This is great for the sense of discovery! that an explorer would have in the suddeness of the moment! His pose is good, taken aback and falling against the craft by the surprise. I would have put more shock or surprise into the face - but thats me - to give more emotional tension in the painting. Your genie says with his face, "ok I'm here and I am you master, now what do you want?" He looks wicked, but his personality seems gentle, is that what you wanted? His attacking pose changed from the original expresion of attacking meanness, that is probably better for the theme of MAster and servant in the end, so in the end I am convinced ... look I gotto stop writing, I am probably boring you, I just wanted to push and image further that is already so damn great!

Good luck to you,

bowditch

[Squibbit]

seems u becoming something of a big bad monster specialist, Paul ,
like u was meant not to finish space opera cause u didn't have one in it :)

[paulwdavidson]

Squibbit: chuckle...maybe! Knowing me, I probably would have changed my concept so I could have put some sort of bad-ass alien in there.


We'll never know, now.

It just makes it cooler to have some fantastic creature in there. I've never really grown up!


cheers

Paul

[Squibbit]

I've never really grown up!
l

not so uncommon here, that. It would sadden my heart if you would have :D

:bounce:

[TheFirstAngel]

congrats again on your fantastic final piece! your work is so freakin awesome, always loved it! best of luck on the finals and thanks again for your kind words in my tread! keep on rocking paul!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[maurodelia]

this servant are very beatiful !
just the bg that are a litlle to "foggy"

but exelent work!

[korayarts]

your final image is really good.Good like in voting...

[jugeras]

congrats on the end piece. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Nigel-Q]

awesome finish, paul. this piece has so much mood, the lighting and colours bring out all the detail very well and still maintain the overall composition nicely. and of course, the genie is just phenomenal!
excellent storytelling quality to your stlye too. nice work!

[adijin]

Amazing! I really like the way you render the flame

[paulwdavidson]

Thanks to everyone for the great support over the last few months.


It's been a great challenge with lots of great artwork to show for it. Big pat on the back for everyone!!

I just want the judging to be done and dusted, now, so that we can move on to the next challenge. I believe because of the standard of this one, that from here on, these challenges will be very competitive......In a friendly way, though.

Good luck to everyone.

Paul

[ms@zx]

very welldone paul and congrates to u:thumbsup: .the result is more than i've expected.thunderous applause to u mate!!:applause: :applause:

[ilusiondigital]

Your lava genius is a winner for me, congratulations for this great pic, and good luck

[Squibbit]

Dude, i don't get it, this piece is great, I would have hope it to do way
better. No way I woulda excluded this from the top 15, no way , dude.


.

[Zephyri]

I utterly, utterly second Squibbit... baffling.

[NinjaA55N]

There r several pieces in this challenge, that shouldnt be missed on final judgment (including urs)... I dont get it... really dont.. :/ Congratulations anyway, ur piece is awesome, once again..

[DimitrisLiatsos]

Nevertheless, i hope it counts...u kicked butt...hope to see more of your work :bounce:

[Fahrija]

Hi Paul,

great artwork without any consideration...what a misery. I agree to the others - I don´t get it, too.


best regards
fahrija

[walrus]

Same here! I always expected you to be the top #1, or maybe the top 3... but NOT the top 15? Go figure. :sad: Well, you're still on top in my book, Paul! Great work and hope you'll be 'round for the next one too.

-mike

[Jezzarts]

I agree, this one rocks Paul. See you in the next one!!??

[flyingP]

'tis indeed sad....is, was and will remain great work all the same, really hope to see more from you Paul

Cheers

Brian

[arkinet]

thats life, the best doesnt always tops the heap... theres always next time bro!:thumbsup:

[Climax]

Hi Paul!
You made a great job and you know that :thumbsup:
If u didn't win with this image, I can't imagine what you'll do in the next challenge
Congratulations Paul and Keep doing your outstanding work!
:beer:

[paulwdavidson]

Thanks, guys. Judging is a very subjective affair. Some like your art....some don't.

That's life, i'm afraid, don't take it personally.

There's been a lot being written in the forum regarding the choices, and people looking to their art because of the placings. Like I wrote above, It's not always a problem with you're own work, so don't be too critical of one's self.

Keep doing what you do...if you're happy with it, then you'll enjoy yourself as an artist for the long haul. Don't change to suit someone else's tastes......unless you respect their view, of course!

I'll carry on doing what i do................congratulations to the artist's that got the nod from the panel.

Thanks

Paul

[cgkrusty]

I echo EVERYONE'S sentiments thus far... I had you pegged for a prize from the get go. I REALLY don't understand how some images are picked over others... just on depth of skill alone your image should have been mentioned somewhere.

Oh well... what can you do.

Love the piece and your work ethic!

[Tranchefeux]

Just to say you, that you was among the best for me, Which damage, I
wanted to see among the elected officials,

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