Spectacular 2D Entry: Gary Downing

[gardogg]

I feel like I'm completely impulsive and foolish and ignorant and irresponsible and crazy and irrational......... but I've decided to go 5d. I just can't get this 2d concept idea out of my mind and I want to grow as an artist and I saw so many incredible artists (pixelworker, monsit) doing 5d entries (meaning a 3d and a 2d entry) that I just couldn't resist any longer. I know it seems impossible but I'm just so pumped up right now. I've rarely been this motivated and inspired in my life. I want to grow as an artist and this is the only way - go all out and don't look back or think too much. Go with the gut and instinct and just fly away with the artwork. That is what I want to do. So with no furthur avail...

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1127785012_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1127785012_large.jpg)

Here is a VERY rough concept sketch (1 of 2)

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1127785093_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1127785093_large.jpg)

Here is my second sketch (VERY ROUGH)

[gardogg]

My goal with these sketches was simply to get my visualization onto paper. When I visualized this scene, I was there... in my mind, I was floating right in front of this and I could turn my head up and down and left and right. My goal in this piece will be able to convey this dynamic point of view. I want the image to allow the viewer to be able to look up, down, left, and right. I want the viewer to feel as though they are inside this scene and can look around in it. I was unable to convey this in my quick sketch but that is what is exciting. I am stretching myself to achieve something beyond what I am now capable of doing offhand. I want to create a truly spectacular image that grasps the viewer. It will be spectacular in its execution, viewpoint, attention to detail, the content of what is going on, and the motion and dynamism that is portrayed.

I don't know what I am capable of in this world of art and I'm here to push myself to the extreme to find out. I haven't been an artist for these 21 years of my life (hints here and there of potential) but I never gave myself to it. I've always been a jock - playing a minimum of 3 sports every year. It is now time for me to play catch up. I believe that in order to make up for lost time... I have to completely dedicate my life here and now to this new passion. That means no mediocre attempts at this thing or that here and there. It means all out craziness. So here is the beginning of my 2d entry. I hope you will like it!

[gardogg]

Ah yes, the story, duh! A secret agent was assigned to set up an explosive in a building to destroy evidence of some illegal business deals that had been going on. There was a big operation under the table and many files and evidence were inside this floor of the building. The agent and his company had planned to do this very quietly one evening. They were to have the agent - their best man - enter the building with a suitcase full of powerful explosives and set it to detonate, climb out of a window and get onto a helicopter that would be waiting for him. Unfortunately, the FBI, police, and several SWAT teams showed up (they had been anticipating something of this nature happening and had some leads on this business deal that was going on) with their guns trained on him. He quickly made a run for it, setting up the explosive as he ran into the room where he would escape. He called in as he ran into the room and told the helicopter "GO GO GO Leave me! It's gonna BLOW NOW!" and the pilot and his assistant had no choice but to take off. The agent was highly trained in anticipation and timing. He knew that between the time he called and the time it would take him to make it to the window, he would have a chance at just barely reaching the helicopter with a leap for his life. He didn't want to endanger his team so he told them to go (playing it safe). It would all depend on the timing... So he set up the detonator for like 1 second and sprinted with all of his might for the helicopter and jumped head first throught the window witht the FBI agents and SWAT team right on his back. Will he reach out and grab the leg of the helicopter in time? Or fall to his death. Just another day for this agent! He did this type of thing all of the time. I'm guessing this idea was inspired in part by Arnold Swarzenneger movies, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, maybe DieHard, Mission Impossible, a bunch of different movies really. Now I just have to bring all of this to life! It will be a blast! Hehe. ;) I have NO clue how I will manage to pull off a 2d drawing where one can look up, down, left, and right... but I'm going for it. (Well... I have a bit of a clue of how I will pull this off ;) )

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1127787193_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1127787193_large.jpg)

Here's a shot of the face of the agent and the FBI / SWAT team on his tail with guns getting blown up. There will be glass flying everywhere of course :)

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128200183_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128200183_large.jpg)

I spent a long time the past few days figuring out how perspective shifts as one moves their head from a stationary position and used this research to create an image that is sort of like a panoramic except it is a 360 degree panoramic (not just horizontal but vertical). This has been fun. It has an interesting "distortion" but when you focus on certain areas, it looks normal. It is impossible to see this much with our eyes...and their limited visual plane. Maybe cows see like this?

I wanted to capture the helicopter, man jumping, window, sky, and ground. This wasn't possible in one camera shot... unless the camera was zoomed WAY back. However, I wanted to have a closeup for details and facial expressions. Fortunately, I managed to pull it all off... in a very weird way ;)

[Korline]

wow dude, lay off the coffeine
first you need to loosen up ur sketches, think about the whole thing rather than just one spot on the paper
idea is good
but don't forget you are the one that drives, you drag the viewer eye, make sure it sees what you want to show,
peace :twisted:

[gardogg]

Thanks Korline. I actually don't drink coffee ever ;)

I appreciate your tips. I will try to bear those things in mind.

More C&C is NEEDED!

[beelow]

Think of it in terms of color, select a color palette that will hint action maybe superhot colors against the cold background, this may help good luck to ya, will drop by lata, holla!:thumbsup:

[gardogg]

That's a good idea Beelow. I did intend this to be a night scene so that will definitely work out. The cool colors on the buildings and sky (since its nighttime) and warm colors on the characters (particularly since they will be lit by the explosion.

Anyone see some way I can improve the composition or linework?

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128263044_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128263044_large.jpg)

I took out some of the helicopter blades, tightened up the base of some of the buildings, and kind of jumped around changing and cleaning things up. I'm trying to keep my eye on the whole thing rather than focus on certain areas!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128274247_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128274247_large.jpg)

I reworked a lot of the buildings to make things work together more and have better flow. I also tightened the angles and whatnot of the lines even more. I'm trying to get this looking good! C&C wanted! Don't hold back.

[Atris]

Hi! Your idea is very promising! The effect of distortion of the space ("fish's eye") is very interesting! But it seems to me you should do some work on it! Good luck! :)

[Koekebakker]

Nice idea, though I think the viewer could be more 'part of the image' by getting a bit closer with the camera (somehow ... don't ask me how). ;)
Reminds me a bit of a similar scene of The Matrix. Anyway, good luck, with your 3d entry too.:thumbsup:

[gardogg]

Atris - thanks for the reply! I do plan to develop it more, but it would be nice if you could be a little bit more specific... Suggestions help!

Koekebakker - Thanks. I agree. I plan to "zoom in" and I have an idea of how. I'll do so in my next update!

[Lync]

I love the fish-eye view, but my eye is drawn more to the street level than to the action. Don't get discouraged. Each sketch you post improves the image each time. Its great!

[TheFirstAngel]

great optic, cool scene. as otheres mentioned, a bit matriculated, but cool executed. looking forward to what you make out of this :) keep on rocking!:buttrock::beer:

[gardogg]

Lync - Thanks for the reply! I hope that the eye will be led around and around the image and the focus will be the main action. This focus I want to support by use of warm colors against the cool colored background.

the1st_angel - Yeah, it was inspired in part by the matrix. But many other action movies have taken part in the inspiration... Thanks for the reply!

Update up next!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128488689_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128488689_large.jpg)

Once again, another line art update. I think its important for me to get this looking the best I can (within reason) before I start messing around with color, value, and detail. A major part of this scene rests on the perspective and line work because it is based on so much geometry. This makes line work even more crucial.

Please keep the C&C coming! It is helping me greatly.

[Atris]

Atris - thanks for the reply! I do plan to develop it more, but it would be nice if you could be a little bit more specific... Suggestions help!

Hi! OK! I'll try. I'd try to make this difficult perspective with help 3D. At first, I'd do a very simply 3D model of the scene, then I'd assign a material with vertical lines to buildings. Then I'd set a camera with very wide angle and render. And finally, I'd apply a distort filter (for example, Spherize or like this photoshop's filter) to the image. I hope it helps to you! Excuse me for my English! :)

[gardogg]

Atris - Very funny that you would suggest this. I actually did do this scene in 3d first. After making the scene in 3d, I chose a place where I envisioned myself in this scene watching it all. Then I did a panoramic by multiple screenshots. Then I decided I wanted to see the sky above and ground below. This was impossible though from where my camera was positioned (at least I thought so). So I added to my horizontal panoramic a vertical panoramic. When I did this, the scene unexpectedly began to form these curves. Curves created by the changing perpective as I rotated the camera and looked around from that central position in the scene. So I decided to incorporate these natural distortion curves. I don't know if this experience was educational for me or not... here's some shots of what I did...

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9555/vis13og.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7430/vis23be.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/196/vis32ub.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/2075/vis48om.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7295/vis56oy.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9097/vis69sr.jpg

The shots began to not make sense and I had to start manipulating them because I found out that it is impossible to be able to look around in 3d on a 2d drawing! However, by distorting it in the fishbowl type of perspective, you almost can see in 3d, which is what I hoped to achieve... Some people think it looks cool. Some think it looks like I don't have a clue of how to create accurate perspective. I hope you all will enjoy the end result. That's what counts!

[gardogg]

Here I have shown a little illustration of the dilemna that I ran into. After deciding that I wanted not only a horizontal panoramic, but also a vertical panoramic so that I could capture the sky and ground, I realized that this is impossible. You cant create a horizontal and vertical panoramic seemlessly in one shot. The reason for this is because they can't connect on a 2d plane (my drawing). However, I decided that in order to get around this, I could simply distort and average the different angles that were created by the two different panoramics. Unknowingly, I came out with a fishbowl perspective! I actually created a phenomenon that is already widely known! So the entire process was interesting for me. Sorry that I didn't pull it off with more mathematical precision. At this point, I'm toying with the distortion to get it to work for my scene better... I hope to get this all worked out EVENTUALLY! What a confusing mess! :banghead:
http://img332.imageshack.us/img332/6770/explanation1ty.jpg

[Lync]

It was quite interesting how you arrived at your particular fisheye perspective. It's good to know other 2D artists use 3D as a guide in their work.

The detail of the buildings behind the action of the main guy may reduce the focus a bit. It could be just the sketch and you may be able to fix it once you start colouring, but it is something to think about.

great work! :)

[gardogg]

Lync - Thanks for the reply. I'm not concerned at all about the background being distracting. The main action will be lit with fiery colors and the background will be using cool colors. This will make it very clear where the focus is.

[Lync]

You should be fine then... Ignoring the background, I find my eye travels from the main dude, to the chopper, to the window and back again. All good.

I am looking forward to seeing you start to colour this piece.

[gardogg]

Thanks lync. I'm looking forward to adding color to it but I'm not sure if I should do a black and white value study? Then color overlay? My other option would be to color it then dodge and burn to create the value changes. Decisions decisions! I guess I'll do the latter...

[TheFirstAngel]

smart way to achieve the result. :) go go go! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[gardogg]

Thanks 1st angel! I am speeding as fast as I can. It is just a matter of trying to juggle things that I have to get done all at once... You are doing a 5d too so you know it can be tough to do!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128916607_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1128916607_large.jpg)

FINALLY, I am getting back to this 2d entry! I've been waiting patiently through two art history papers, a drawing assignment, etc. Art school is good for me, but it sucks up my time!

Anyways, here is the start of the coloring for my background sky.

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1129426949_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1129426949_large.jpg)

I'm going for a night scene. The central figures (helicopter, man, and agents) will be lit by the explosion. Colors are no where near being done (helicopter and people are see through still!) Crits welcome!

[ActionHank]

Good luck with this one too (besides 3D), Gary!

p.s. I'm also doing 5D; just about to start seriously working on my 2D image :)

[gardogg]

Thanks man. I can't wait to start this one again... but I'm behind schedule on my 3d entry so gotta focus on that first... Hope you do well!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130459109_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130459109_large.jpg)

I am starting on a new detail after not working on this forever! Its turning out to be pretty difficult to do this but hey, I'm here to learn so its all good right? I'll post again when I develop this moreso...

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130473608_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130473608_large.jpg)

You won't believe this but my mom was on my computer while I wasn't home and she said she saw the last post I made for the explosion beginning colors. She told me that she was shocked that I would post such a thing because she felt that it looked like a 2 year old did it! LOL! I explained to her that some people wait until they have gotten to a impressive stepping stone before posting. I feel the opposite... I am always so eager to post that I can't wait till it looks decent! I would rather post crap because then the final product will look better based on comparison to the crap. Does that make sense? In addition, when artists who are developing artists only see amazing stepping stones in a wip, they might think that they are incapable of doing that level of work. I think it would be cool if more people post their work when it is in the initial stages of shambles because it shows that the experienced artist is still human and starts off crappily just like the next guy. I want to show that it is not a magic hand that makes work look "good" but it is effort and time spent. Even Carlos Huante starts off with a "rough" (= crappy) sketch before he begins to refine and define and boom, suddenly he ends up with something out of this world good. If no one saw that initial sketch on his videos, they would think that he pulls this stuff out of nowhere and that his work level is something that is not attainable for someone without AMAZING skills. I wish more people would show us their crappy beginning stages so that we can see that much more how much they have progressed...

Sorry for such a long post but I wanted to get that off my chest!

[Slav]

cool stuff... although i think you would of gotten a better result using the camera attr. but good stuff keep going !

[gardogg]

Hey Slav, thanks for the reply! Camera attribute? I don't know what that is... can you explain this?

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130475701_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130475701_large.jpg)

Here is some more fine tuning. I'm telling you, I'm gonna stay up all night on this if I have to. Its got to look photoreal! Besides, I think fire is one of the most beautiful things to look at so now I have an excuse to stare at a photo of fire for hours on end! :)

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130479110_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130479110_large.jpg)

Well, I have come to the point with this explosion where I can't see any more fine tuning that needs to be done (any more and I will be getting nit picky). I am pretty happy with this. I've never painted fire before and I think this is satisfactory for my first time. Crits welcome.

By the way, it dawned on me after looking for "camera tool" in the photoshop help index that maybe Slav was being sarcastic? Maybe he was telling me that I should have used a photo instead of trying to paint using a photoreference? Further, I induced that Slav is suggesting that attempting to faithfully reproduce the effect of something seen in a photo is a bad thing. I love photorealism in art. I have to go with what I love first. I respect Slav's opinion (assuming all this is true) and I will even ask... if carefully studying a photo of fire and painting my own version is the wrong way to make a digital explosion painting, what way is the right way? Should I just make up something with no reference? Do you honestly think that the effect of such a method would be as cool looking or impressive?

[TheFirstAngel]

lol, that little story of your mom gave me a great laugh. it would help the fire if you smove a few parts of it, a nice trick is to use the lassotool and select single flames and then use the gaussian blur. to get a cool glow, select the whole explosioncloud, copy on a new layer, use a blur on the copied layer and screen it on a low opacity amount on the layer under it, so it works like an aditive lightmix and ads a decent glow on your fire :)

keep it up mate, 5d rocker! cheers and rock on! :buttrock::beer:

[Steve-h]

Amazing looking fire! Looks pretty darn real to me. Looking forward to more.

:thumbsup:

[authentic]

Wow that's a great fire impressive.
For your debate about reference. I think you can use reference as many as you can (if it's not an original design but reality) it is not what makes someone a great artist. Because even you do realism, you'll then should be able to mix different element and colors to make something great. I personnaly prefer when people make their own designs but it's can be just a modification o freference; Question of style.

[FrozZT]

Feels good to see someone really pushing himself, its a challenge, isnt this something we should all do? Its boring to see someone who just sets out to do something they know they can do with ease.. I set out on something that i didnt know how to do.. But i learned on the way, hopefully ill finish with satisfaction! :p

I dont have any experience on 5d so i cant help u much.. The explosion will look much better when you are finished with the lighting on the environment around it i think.

Great job so far! Good luck!

[gardogg]

1st angel - You know what, I just may try that. Sounds like a great method. Thanks alot! I'm glad you enjoyed the story about my mom's comment ;)

SteveH - hey thanks! I appreciate that. I was a little worried about how it would turn out at first but I guess things worked out eh?

Authentic - thanks for the reply. I'm glad someone agrees that it is okay to use reference. I agree that it is important to make ones own design and come up with one's color schemes. Thanks for the encouragement!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130515753_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130515753_large.jpg)

Here is the scene so far with the explosion added in. I may have to scale down the explosion so that I can encorporate the two fbi agents in the window and the glass flying everywhere. Right now, it looks like the explosion will reach and burn the hero! That would be bad!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130567735_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1130567735_large.jpg)

Here's just a quick test of how the light will affect the characters and helicopter. I have yet to develop the character's and helicopter's colors though. This is just a warm versus cool test. I am looking forward to bringing in more detail and possibly more ambient light so that we can see the main character's expression as he leaps for his life.

One other thing: I think it would be best if I extended the explosion across the length of this floor of the building. Its gonna be fun to put in all of the debri and particles flying through the air, each of which will have this bright highlight and great contrast against the cool, dark background. I have hope. Just wish I had more time (maybe I should just stop doing homework and fail all my classes so I can work on the cg challenges ;) hehe!)

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131398932_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131398932_large.jpg)

Here I'm trying to block out the silhouette and get the scale and proportions down on the diving man. I was very fortunate to have found a picture that not only portrays the pose I want, but also has the exact lighting direction and intensity that I'm going for. This will be a major help as I begin the tonal modeling and detail work on this central figure. I'm excited to start working on my 2d entry again!

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131404958_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131404958_large.jpg)

I'm pretty happy with this silhouette now. I spent a while trying to get the proportions worked out. Now I suppose I will make a black and white tonal version... And I can add color afterwards. To try to add color and tone at once may be kindof tricky... Why not do them separate?

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131408095_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131408095_large.jpg)

This is not something I find very easy at all. I am basically trying to imagine forms and how the light would hit them using a mental idea of how much light would be coming from the explosion and how much of that light would be reflected off of the helicopter. This is a rough start... I hope I can figure out how to encorporate color and detail into this mess! I feel like such a noob! Its much easier to have a great reference and just go by that. In this case, I'm having to freehand most of this. The baseball player's lighting isn't as accurate for my situation as I originally though...

[gardogg]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131415149_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9115/9115_1131415149_large.jpg)

I'm slowly cracking away at this task. I'm really not the best at drawing. I'm better at... copying? I can look at something and render it accurately... but to try to draw something imaginatively is something that I have never excelled in. I guess that fact makes this a good exercise for me :)

[TheFirstAngel]

nice start on the blocking. keep up your speed mate, 6 final days, and i cross fingers and wish you all the best on the final run! Go Gary Go!!!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[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.