Spectacular 2D Entry: Craig Simmons

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1127851096_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1127851096_large.jpg)

I finally came up with a concept for the challenge. I am going with an image of a dog left alone in the midst of a destroyed town. I got the idea from watching the news and seeing all the destruction that has been caused by Hurricane Katrina and Rita. I wanted to try to capture the feeling of isolation the people and pets must be feeling. I hope this concept doesn't come off as glib or overly horrifying. I welcome all feedback.

[cyberarts]

I like the concept! it's only a sketch but it brings me some sad emotion already!:sad:
Can't wait to see it at the end!

Good luck! :thumbsup:

[CryingHorn]

The concept is really great, it looks very sad and emotional, though it's not very spectacular in my guess :shrug: maybe if you'd shown some more destructions. Then this chaos with a poor innocent dog would give more "contrast".

[Overchord]

Its a cool idea and I like the sketch, but I think you need to get something more dynamic in the picture for it to become "spectacular" (I guess thats a word people don't want to hear for a while after this challenge :D )

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1128083167_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1128083167_large.jpg)

Thanks for the feedback! I agree that the image itself doesn't have a lot of dynamic movement, but I hope to achieve the spectacular with color and texture. I did add a couple more elements to the destruction; a broken telephone pole and a floating corpse (too morbid?) I also skewed the building a little more.

I really need to get cranking away on this challenge!

[Ranath]

nice dog sketch

[MasonL]

Really, if you play the colors, atmosphere, and detailing(maybe use real buildings from an actual city?) just right the simple "action-free" content should be just fine. Right now i'd say no to the corpse just to keep the dog as the emotional focal point(unless you do many corpses). I can't wait to see you take this further; definately one of the more elegant entries so far.

[Kraggles55]

Thanks for the compliment! I agree that the corpse is a bit much. (Maybe a bit in bad taste too.) I'm still working up the line art and hopefully I'll have that up soon.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1128478525_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1128478525_large.jpg)

I got around to working on my line art finally. I kept really close to my concept sketch, since is had a certain element to it I like and prefer not to deviate too far from it. I added a few more details, but they will be more evident when i start coloring it.

[MichaelZHsee]

nicely and emotionally done~i like the concept too.focusing at the dog and having the background blured creates a great deal of depth~good stuff,mate i wish u luck here:)keep it going:thumbsup:

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1128604853_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1128604853_large.jpg)

I started adding color to the sky. I'm not quite sure if this is the colors I want to go with yet. I might end up muting them some more so i can bring more focus to the dog.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1129246637_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1129246637_large.jpg)

Here's my latest. I am currently working on the buildings. (The hardest part in my opinion.) I am working on "destroying" the one closest to the foreground, at the moment. Hope to have more soon.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1130369104_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1130369104_large.jpg)

I've been out of comission lately, what with work and everything. Here is my latest. I started working on the telephone pole. I hope to have more soon.

[wildcory1]

nice window work on the building. I always find building to be tuff

[Kraggles55]

Thanks. I find building to be incredibly difficult and i was wondering what I had gotten myself into...

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1130902052_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1130902052_large.jpg)

I just put in the texture for the telephone pole. I'm going to get working on the flood water next. It's getting there...

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1131066344_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1131066344_large.jpg)

Working on the water and foreground concrete slabs. More soon...

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1131417533_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1131417533_large.jpg)

The dog is finally in the picture. I really want to spend some time working up the textures on the dog. If anyone has advise, I'm all ears.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1131585202_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1131585202_large.jpg)

It's moving along now. I added some background fog on the water and adjusted the blur on the buildings. The dog is starting to come along too. I hope to have my final coloring next week.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132189867_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132189867_large.jpg)

Just a few more adjustments...

[MasonL]

Haven't checked this one out in a while.

Do you plan to add more detials? Right now the composition looks a little simplified and the color scheme kinda flattens it out. Also it would be nice to have the atmospheric perspective pushed a little more. If you focus on the part where the dog, pole and building overlap they all appear to be on the same "atmosphereic plane" and detract from the illusion of space(you use the same warm color scheme all over, but with out varying the intensity to give depth). I also just noticed there are some scaling/foreshortening issues with the dog and the pole. The foreshortening seems a little extreme on the dog for where we view it and its scale in the picture plane, as well as its size in relation to the background objects. Anyway not to sound completely negative about the whole thing; your buildings turned out really nice, keep going and I think it will turn out quite fine.

[Kraggles55]

Thanks for the honest feedback, MasonL. I realize there are numerous issues with my illustration that should be addressed and hopefully I can solve some of them in the time remaining. I think the biggest problem is, I divided everything up instead of working on the piece as a whole. I'll know better for next time.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132525704_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132525704_large.jpg)

Here is the latest. I took MasonL's advice and worked up more of the atmospheric perspective and the foreshortening on the dog. I still have some more adjustements, but I think this is a step in the right direction. Hopefully it'll be done soon.

[makaron]

I think that you really on to that lonely mood... :applause:
get the feeling I wanna rescue that dog...

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132620458_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132620458_large.jpg)

I desaturated the background to make the mood even more sombre. I left the dog in full color to help make it stand out more. Any comments?

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132753679_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1132753679_large.jpg)

I made a few minor tweaks. I'm going to look it over one more time before I submit my final. This has been a difficult challenge and I can't wait for the next one!

[MasonL]

I think you really improved it, smart use of the program. The only thing thats a little bothersom is the bright spot by the dogs head, its more dominate than the light from the sun and it feels like there is something bright back there producing the light but its unclear what. Other than that though, happy to see it turned out for you. The modeling and texture on the dog are very well done. Good luck with this and the next challenge.

[SquishMe]

Hi there
Th elighting in your picture is great, the shafts above the buildings give a very claustrophobic amosphere. The building the background looks unnaturally bent. Could you perhaps have it crumbling, with bits of concrete falling off and maybe the steel skeleton showing.
The fur on the dog is great too.

[TeemuR]

Interesting composition and overal feeling is very emotional. IMHO you just should make bg elements sharper. Unsharp mask could do the trick fast. :)

[Kraggles55]

MasonL: Thanks for the support, I really appreciated your honesty. Good luck to you, too!

SquishMe: Adding a few more elements to the buildings sounds like a good idea, I'll see how it works out.

TeemuR: The purpose for blurring the bg elements, was to help get a greater sense of depth and bring out the dog more. Thanks for your c&c, I'll do a little more experimentation with the background.

Good luck to everyone!

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1133184425_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1133184425_large.jpg)

I took MasonL's advice and darkened the space by the dog's head. I tried adding some crumbling elements in the background, but it made the composition sort of lopsided. The left side of the illustration had too many visual elements, so I opted to leave them out. I know the building is at an unnatural angle, but I kind of like the surreal feel it has.

[Kraggles55]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1133273188_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/10/9130/9130_1133273188_large.jpg)

Here it is, the final image. Thanks for all the C&C. It was a big help :)

I received my inspiration for this image from seeing the disaster hurricane Katrina created on the news. One the most powerful images I saw was a dog left alone on the front porch of a house. Rescuers explained that they couldn't save half the animals because many of them have been drinking contaminated water. Seeing a dog left alone in the middle of all that distruction, really pulls on the heartstrings.

My piece shows a dog who has survived a tragedy, but is ultimately alone. His family is gone and no one is coming to rescue him. He's starting to get weak from hunger. He's contemplating on swimming to freedom, but he's not sure if he'll have the strength to make it. Sooner or later he'll follow his survivor instinct to move on or die trying.

[slizgi]

the concept and colours is not bad, but the final image is so blured 4 me, :( greet & good luck :)

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