The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: Kan Muftic

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141310104_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141310104_large.jpg)

The idea is to make a scene of a polar bear, who starts his long journey to find some food. It's deep winter and he is very hungry. The scenery should be a bit scary but at the same time also beautifull. I'm starting right in Photoshop. Brushing the canvas till it bleeds the colors i need. I guess, this is the right direction.
Comments are most welcome.
Best regards,
Khan

[rkeith0275]

The mood is great and from what I have seen on TV, for a Polar Bear to get food is one great journey so the idea is great. I can't wait to see how it ends up. Good luck.

[Cyberone]

i agree...this one struck me straight out...

dem bears are know to go for walks...

its beautiful ad it already is...

cYB

[iamawizard]

nice idea pal

waiting 2 c more

[Chupacabra]

Thanks! I was watching National Geographics yesterday and got inspired by a documentary about those amazing creatures. They can travel for weeks(!) to find prey and even then, there is no guarantee of succesful hunt. Their life is brutal and hard and mostly, they walk the path of loneliness. I will try to reflect that in my image.

Cheers,

Khan

[KrotArt]

Bear and food ... I love it :)

[mford]

I love the mood of you picture. Good luck!

[burpy]

I love the bleak, muted colour scheme you're using on this! The place really looks "dead", which is great.

Looking forward to updates on this.

[Samanthie]

This is going to be great! Love it so far.:thumbsup:

[umbrellasky]

wow! Beautiful! I feel emotion in this already!

My best wishes to you!

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141319527_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141319527_large.jpg)

Forming the Bear's body.

[Chupacabra]

Hi guys!

Thanks for paying attention to my work. Here's an update of the bear's body. In the previous version, he looked much like a dog, didn't he?

Cheers,

Khan

[Squibbit]

hey u got a polarbear too! Looks great!

(no worries, my bear's just for show :D :rolleyes: )


.

[walrus]

That is just gorgeous!
I love the way you conveyed snow and wind and yet did it all with warm colors instead of the traditional light blues... Very nice so far! Looking forward to the updates...

-mike

[Chupacabra]

Hey there,
Squibitt: Where are your polar bears? Can't find the link... I'm sorry if it's similar, i hope it's not. Anyway, thanks for comment.

Walrus: Wage Slave rocks, bro! I feel that way way too often..

Cheers,

Khan

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141324288_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141324288_large.jpg)

Blocking the ice surface.

[Chupacabra]

New updates coming up tomorrow, i'm finished for today. Check in and have a look tomorrow.

Best regards,

Khan alias Chupacabra

[Squibbit]

there :

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=3285276&postcount=49 (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=3285276&postcount=49)

but no worries, it's not like anything like yours and i posted it just for fun,
like most of my concepts :P


.

[Chupacabra]

Hehe, this is probably exactely what's going to happen with my bear when he finally finds some food, eh?

Cheers,

Khan

[Squibbit]

heh yea for all we know it could be the same bear a few momnets earlier


.

[MVDB]

Impressive, to get such an image with so much atmosphere/mood with just so little paint..

This is gonna be big, I'm getting cold just by looking at it.. and then at the same time is has some kind of warmth over it....

Yep! You got my attention! :)

[makaron]

this is just :thumbsup: ... wonderful light...

[bao]

Beautiful atmosphere!! Best of luck to ya!

[yoitisi]

Nice work, I like the polar bear :) you did a great job with just a few strokes of the brush.

[Matellis]

love the idea so far , great mood :)

keep it up!

[rblitz7]

Wow! this is looking really good! Excellent idea too.:thumbsup:

[LIOI]

hey Kan! nice job!!! amazing colors... wonderful atmosphere...
keep it going man! it is coming out pretty well!

[erilaz]

Wow.. the lighting in this one is looking amazing. Very well done. A nice sense of space.

[ragdoll]

Very nice! You could give some hint as to where he/she is headed. Maybe towards a pack of seals on the horizon for a huge meal? Maybe towards other polar bears for mating season? tho I don't think they do that, or you could have his/her den within the picture and footprints leading to him/her to show he/she just left for a journey. Just some ideas. :thumbsup: Lovely start tho! Good luck!

-rj

[Zycho]

I love the colors and atmosphere!! I'm almost getting frostbite just looking at it!!!

Amazing coloration!!

But since the title of the challenge is The Journey Begins, it would maybe be cool to have some sence of a goal og starting point...

[Nigio]

Hey, I love this bear! Keep it up.

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141749861_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1141749861_large.jpg)

Redifining Aspect Ratio, playing with colors.

[walrus]

I like that you moved the polar bear up a little to break the horizon a bit.
But nothing else to say just yet... keep it coming!
(and thanks, glad you liked Wage Slave! :) )

-mike

[Chupacabra]

Hi there,

Thank you all for such a feedback.
It's so hard to get away from my daily job in post production and work on this painting...

I was thinking a lot about the starting and ending point, but to be honest - there is none in such a situation. Those bears live in a wildest part of the earth, made of endless ice fields, frost and wind. There is almost no orientation at all. After the long summer, when they don't eat up to four(!) months, these predators go out and seek. For weeks. Sometimes even longer. That's why they are so dangerous if you happen to meet one. They'll make anything that moves to their prey, including smaller whales.

So, this situation describes a beginning of a desperate, unknown journey for the most important thing in life: surviving!

Feel free to insult me & my work.

'Hope to get some updates this week again.

Best regards,

Khan

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1142339483_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1142339483_large.jpg)

Redefining anatomy and color corrections.

[Chupacabra]

Hi everyone,

I finally had a chance to spend some more time on my dear polar beast. As you see, i turned the mood to something more threatening. No cheesy poster!
I also made some tiny anatomy corrections. My goal is to make it realistic but stylized the same time.
Comments are most welcome.

Best regards,

Khan

[BaronImpossible]

You have a good concept, good execution too. The bear is very convincing. Two things, though - firstly, I'd be careful not to get your shadows too dark; reflected light from the snow provides a good deal of fill-in light, even when the sun's not out. Also, the terrain is just a tad boring. Maybe try something like an ice-sheet that's breaking up, a bit of danger going on. Just a thought.

[TheFightingGoddess]

Great job 'till now!
I quote BaronImpossible for the shadows (just a little brighter could be enough ;) )

Maybe in the distance there could be some hint of the seacoast (don't know exactly how)
'cause sometimes the journey you're depicting takes place from a hole on the ice to another or along the icy shore...give just a thought to it!
Good luck...even if I think I need it more than you ('cause you draw so amazingly!!) :blush:

[calisto-lynn]

beautifull work!!the bear looks amazing..i love the way you caught the movement it looks so natural.:thumbsup:

[Cyberone]

two things that i liked about your eary sketches..

1) the bluer clours were really nice...alot colder and wintery...the newer ones almost seem warm...some more blue in the shodows might help a little...

2) i likes the fog alot more than the clearer picture...

i think the two above points made you first sketches of the bear my most liked...it looked like a cold and freezing wind blow task that the bear had ahead...

but dont get me wrong...its comming along very nice...i just didnt agree that the newer ones were more threatening...i thought they were a little tamer...hehe

anyways....still a long way to go...

CYB

[kidster]

Very cool ! great painting ! keep it this way !

Good luck ! I'll keep an eye on ya !:scream:

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1142629635_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1142629635_large.jpg)

Defining the ground, aspect ratio and light.

[Chupacabra]

Hi folks,

First of all: you all really give me awesome inspiration! So many different styles, backgrounds and nationalities. I thought i would be a bit jealous and mean to the other competitors but in this case, i'm really positively inspired. Thanks!

So, for my newest update: as you can see, it's ground is now detailed, the frosty wind is more obvious and there's also a tiny little difused sunlight.

Hope you like it and keep pushing me hard.

Best regards and big respect

Khan alias Chupacabra

My Journey Begins (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=323929&page=1&pp=15)

CG Portfolio (http://chupacabra.cgsociety.org/gallery/)

[beelow]

Nice Painting dude!:thumbsup: I think it needs something extra, not sure, but it needs something to punch the scene up. Have fun dude!:thumbsup:

[bagonasart]

At firs I want to say thanks for your coment in my entry of challenge "The Journey begins". Now I can say that your arctic concept with bear, that is ready for a long journey to search some food, is awsome. The color pallete and overall mood is great, I like It very much. Keep working, I just can`t wait to see your final painting... "keep walking" :thumbsup:

[umbrellasky]

Absolutely gorgeous work! I adore the lighting and colours.

I agree with some of the others about making the scene a little more interesting but other than that, truly wonderful! :thumbsup:

[penartist26]

impressive! gudluck for the challenge man

[Koekebakker]

Hi! Great color palette and very convincing anatomy + volume of the bear. I have to agree with the others though; although you're trying to get across a feeling of desolation and emptiness (right?) it also tends to make the image - literally - quite empty. I have to say the sun is already a great improvement, balance-wise. I'd consider adding another (subtle) element besides the frost/icewind...don't really know what that element should be though, so I'm sorry if this isn't a helpful comment. :P

Thumbs up for your latest update anyway, it really looks fantastic!

[elgrozni]

Realy promising painting :thumbsup: . I suggest adding another character however, some kind of companion... like a little birdie or (I'm nuts, I know :bounce: ) a little butterfly :D .

[Chupacabra]

Hi there,

Calisto: Thanks a lot. I'm giving my best.

Kid: Hey, merci! I love compliments. Don't stop with it(smile)!

Vaidas_B: Lithuania rocks! Wanna go there sometime.

Nards26: I saw some of your works already . Inspiring, mate.

Cyberone: Yeah, i know what you mean. But i like this look of National Geographics from 70's, so i'll stick to that. Thanks anyway.

BaronImpossible & FightingCalliope & Beelow & Enialadam & Koekebakker & Elgrozni:Thanks for feedback, folks. I get your point. The flat scape was my main consideration before i even began sketching this image. I knew it could appear a bit boring. Finally, most of the images posted on CGS are fantasy-based, so my idea could get kind of flat, compared to all the dragons, aliens, explosions and stuff that is to find in these forums. Not that i don't like those things, i actually love them. If you check my CG Portfolio (http://chupacabra.cgsociety.org/gallery/), you'll see it's full of it.
But i have this thing for snow and frost. Since i was a kid.
I used to skip the school sometimes and go to snow-covered mountains around Sarajewo. And i walked. For hours. Just listening the whispers of the wind that blew over trees and fields.
I loved being completely alone, breathing that sharp frosty air and walk for hours without a certain point to go to.
This fascination is still inside of me. No matter how hard and boring a winter can get, i'm probably the only one around who really enjoys it.
So, looking back at my early days, this image of a bear reflects something very personal, very deep in me. It's the warmest memory of my beloved home that i left as war in Bosnia started. And the bear is probably mirror of myself: just as he starts his journey into uncertainty, so did i left my snowy scapes leaving everything behind me and heading into a unknown future.
Despite the fact that i was obviously a weird kid, i really want to stick to this first idea. I will use an iceberg or something but it'll stay a long journey over cold, frozen scape.

I know, all of us here are people of great spirit. That's why i trust you this image.

Best regards and big respect

Khan alias Chupacabra

My Journey Begins (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=323929&page=1&pp=15)

CG Portfolio (http://chupacabra.cgsociety.org/gallery/)

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1142933673_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1142933673_large.jpg)

Detailing

[Chupacabra]

Hi there,

I made some improvements here. First of all, i gave my bear this certain facial expression. His face looks now more suffering and desperate. Then, i spent too many hours playing with brush tips to get his fur look nasty and partially frozen, like the one you see on the real bear.
After almost going berserk for not finding the solution, i took a piece of a fur from the photo of a bear, desaturated it, pushed the Brightness/Contrast to the limit and made it to a texture, which could be used as a brush tip (Edit/Define Pattern).
Here is the brush tip i used:

http://www.streamatica.ch/frost_scape_10.jpg


I also was really thinking about what many people told me about this missing elements. So i made couple of icebergs and placed them on the vanishing point, which is good thing to do if you want to point the viewer into certain direction.


http://www.streamatica.ch/frost_scape_07.jpg


Close up:
http://www.streamatica.ch/frost_scape_08.jpg
So, i guess i'm not going to make any drastic changes anymore, in terms of design.
It's probably gonna take a while till everything reads the way i want it to.

Hope you like it and would like to get some harsh feedback.

Best regards and big respect

Khan alias Chupacabra

My Journey Begins (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=323929&page=1&pp=15)

CG Portfolio (http://chupacabra.cgsociety.org/gallery/)

[TheFirstAngel]

Hi Khan

nice details, also the bear is painted great. as for the pov, som already mentioned the lack of elements, wich probably make 2 things. first, the values of the icescape are sure hard to get to a full range, besides its a snowfilled atmosphere wich causes strong atmospheric overlays.
a way to gain highspecular nearrange elements could be working in some particles of snow that are visable. things like whirling snow also help the feeling for movement.
as for mid range elements in general i think ice, in nature is sharp and broken, here and there, has lots of different shapes and coloraccents ich i miss a bit in your piece yet. lets say the wilderness IS rough and to give the bear a reason to look struggling, make the environment ruffer:twisted: .

ice always produces superhigh specular highlights. as for the sun is low, to help dephg could be adding a complementaty lightset, means, form behind the camposition, the natural fall of runs usually into blue spectrims in such a situation. some more colder accents in the near range falling off to zeo in midrange could work like a color fall off to accentuate the zaxis vanishing as well.
here'2 2 refs of such a situation:
http://www.aspenmyst.com/Frozen%20beach%20at%20Brackley.jpg


http://www.coolantarctica.com/Travel/ice-mountains_med.jpg


as for the sun and ice, ice as i said earlier is very high specular, and to illustrate it and gain a bit a wider range of values, you could work in some sunreflection on it here's a ref of such a situation
http://www.essencesonline.com/Polar-Ice.jpg

I hope one ort the other gives u a usefull thought or an inspiration, of course, all mentioned points are my own personal point of view. you got plenty of time, use it well, have fun and keep up the great work
greets from zurich

[MasonRoberts]

So simple yet so beautifull... This image is really simple yet it evokes many feelings for the environment... One thing I think needs to be worked on is that when you look at the image you KNOW the bear hunting for food, because when I looked at the image forst I focused on the enviroment more than the bear... Is taht what you were trying to achieve?

Either way it looks fantastic and I wish you all the best!

Good luck!

[marcom]

great work!

i think TheFirstAngel made some good points about the colours.
nice portfolio btw.

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1143621860_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1143621860_large.jpg)

Hello there,

First of all, thank you so much for such a constructive feedback. It is very helpful to build an image together with you guys. I also realised that i never wrote my main comments here in this window but i still hope that doesn't matter as long as i communicate with you on a regular thread basis, right?
Anyway, i though much about this specular reflections that 1st Angel and the rest of the crew told me about. I actually didn't want it from the start but i realise it is necessary. So, here's the newest update on my beloved beast.
P.S.- Does anyone know what should i do about the "Line Art" submission? I started off right in Photoshop blocking colors...

Your feedback is still most welcome.

Best regards,

Khan aka Chupacabra

[werepumpkin]

I'm loving the progress on this one. Beautiful job!

As to the Line Art submission, I've seen people submit their early paitings as line art. In your case your image has been so clear fromthe beggining, even submitting the concept I think would suffice.

Me being selfish, I would rather you post the NEXT updated file as Line Art, so we can see the progress as opposed to seeing an earlier image again. Does that make sense?

[TheFirstAngel]

i 100% agree, besides, i mever really make line arts except the base is pencils and that has to do it, besides many artists work in fields and define shapes on the fly so i wouldnt bother with linearts too much, send what you have and make sure that milestone is complete - but keep on stickin straight forwards.
as for the painting progress, your actual update is fantastic, the piece gaind a nice amount of aditional dephg, and as for specular highlights, i thin the help the feel for the cold hard environment quiet well. keep on goin, looking forward to your next update :)

[Samanthie]

You are doing a wonderful job with this. The detail work on the bear and the snow blowing in the wind are excellent:thumbsup: .

[TheFightingGoddess]

Every update shows your greater and greater! :eek: :applause:
May I give you a suggestion? Perhaps you should "three-dimensionate" a couple of ice protrusions ...to be more precise....
I'm suggesting to create some other face to few protuberances to break that sort of repetition of blue silhouettes you can find in the image....
I keep following... :thumbsup:

P.S. If I've been not clear enough,tell me it!

[Glosep]

Hi Kan, I really like your image. The bear details looks great and also the color.
Maybe now you can work more in the background and horizon.
Great progress!

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1143877145_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1143877145_large.jpg)

The very first begining of this painting, made actually in Photoshop right from the start.

[Chupacabra]

Hi,

It's just that necessery line art submission, which i didn't do @ the beginning.
Cheers,

Khan

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1143877636_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1143877636_large.jpg)

I consider this as final coloring. I think, if i put more details into it, i'll loose that certain style i tried to keep from beginning on.

I will also make a break and will not look at this painting for a week or two before i really submit the final image. I think that's necessary, to get a distance from my work and then get back to see what's working and what's not.

Best regards,

Khan aka Chupacabra

[Nigio]

Hi, so you´re done, aren´t you? Very lucky, man :)
I like very much your final image. My only crit is that in your first colour sketch, you had the sky in cold tones, and now it´s a little warm, which in a momment had me tought in a desert instead of a polar zone.

[Chupacabra]

Hi,

Thanks. But that's exactely the point: to work with warm/cool. Finally, sun is setting down and under those conditions, you do actually see much of red. I didn't want to make an image that would be typical: cold, bluish, low contrast.
And by the way, your hunter is REALLY AWESOME! I think, when this whole thing is done, i'll be asking you for some hi-res of it; there is a big empty space on my wall and could use some serious inspiration:)

Cheers,

Khan
aka
Chupacabra

[MechaHateChimp]

Hi Kan,

Such a nice looking image you have going right now. I like the warmness added by the colors you chose, especially for an artic scene. The bear looks great and your progression so far has been excellent. I too like the idea of a nonsci-fi theme. Im not sure if youre like me but I find it hard sometimes to do scifi correctly, especially if its been done before and done better than anything I could pull off.

[Chupacabra]

Same sh*t here sometimes. But what i've seen in your previous work, i must say that your "Time Machine" is some of the finest sci-fi scenes around here.

You know Half-Life 2? Of course you do. The best thing about it is that they made every character, every building, every corner of environment totaly believable. Especially the people: eastern europeans being exhausted from the suppressure, loosing hair & looking realisticly bad. And still, it's one of the best Sci-Fi stories ever told in a game...

That is my goal in the future, probably for the next challenge. To make something realistic-looking, totaly off this whole elvish, star wars, heroic bling-blingsm and still try to challenge the viewers fantasy.

Keep up,

Khan

[arcfire]

Hi Chupacabra, I like the image very much, kind of a calm fealing to it.

Good luck with the challenge.


arcfire

[makaron]

hallo Kan.

I really like this image, just because it it not much stuff in it, just the polarbear and the weather... it have a really nice mood, if I can call cold weater nice... :rolleyes: not so sure I would, but a good weather for this it is...

[Chupacabra]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1145445988_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/10220/10220_1145445988_large.jpg)

The idea is to make a scene of a polar bear, who starts his long journey to find some food. It's deep winter and he is very hungry. The scenery should be a bit scary but at the same time also beautifull.
I watched National Geographics lately and got inspired by a documentary about those amazing creatures. They can travel for weeks(!) to find prey and even then, there is no guarantee of succesful hunt. Their life is brutal and hard and mostly, they walk the path of loneliness. That was my goal; to try to reflect the emptiness of surviving in my image.

I have this thing for snow and frost. Since i was a kid.
I used to skip the school sometimes and go to snow-covered mountains around Sarajewo. And i walked. For hours. Just listening the whispers of the wind that blew over trees and fields.
I loved being completely alone, breathing that sharp frosty air and walk for hours without a certain point to go to.
This fascination is still inside of me. No matter how hard and boring a winter can get, i'm probably the only one around who really enjoys it.
So, looking back at my early days, this image of a bear reflects something very personal, very deep in me. It's the warmest memory of my beloved home that i left as war in Bosnia started. And the bear is probably mirror of myself: just as he starts his journey into uncertainty, so did i left my snowy scapes leaving everything behind me and heading into a unknown future.
Despite the fact that i was obviously a weird kid, i really wanted to stick to this idea. Now, looking back to this challenge, the process of making this image became a long journey itself: i met incredible people and had a chance to build my work together with others, listening very carefully what they said. I also had the chance to share my own knowledge and help others improve their work.

Bottomline, it was an amazing experience that inspired and motivated me a lot. I put my best into it.

I know, all of us here are people of great spirit. That's why i trust you this image.

Best regards and big respect,

Kan Muftic
aka
Chupacabra

[MDN67]

I really like this pic, perhaps simple but very emotional; good work

[walrus]

Nicely done, Kan. You've conveyed the barren landscape, the hope and the despair, and the loneliness really well. And it looks great. Congrats for finishing! :)

-mike

[Slav]

and so i keep comming back to view this work. great work.

[Cyberone]

HEY!

your final image looks sooooo cool!! GREAT job :)
i really like the glare that you have put onto the ground...it make it look alot better :)
and even tho i liked the bluer sketches more i am happy with the warmer colors...its give it a much more interesting feel...

great job!
its been fun following it allong as it was made...thanks!

[Chupacabra]

Hello there,

Thank You all for support and kind words.
I hope, it'll turn to something good.

By the way, does anyone know how to upload the final tiff image?

Cheers,

[Segvoia]

Beautiful. It takes a lot of skill to successful convey tone and depth in a white on white image. I can "feel" the weight of the bear. The patches of ice shining through the drifting snow are an excellent touch.

Good luck with this great image...

[penartist26]

this is also one of my fav.what happen man? i like ur art specially if your going to put more supporting elements on it like others do.they make creatures,animals robots then they add some character on it,like sitting behind on those creatures with lots of gudgets weapons,bagpacks etc. c'mon man u can still make it, only 3days left.:thumbsup:

[iamawizard]

the isolation really shows in the picture
really a nice piece

nice palette as well

good luck mate

My Journey Begins (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=322659)

[Art2]

Lovely image Kan. Kind of powerful too. Congratulations!

[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.