The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: Jonathan Ridley

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1144509227_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1144509227_large.jpg)

And so theRobot, his father's legacy to his son, guided the boy across the blasted wasteland in search of his mother...
And so my first attempt at the cg challenge begins, belatedly, with the gas-masked child looking to the robot to protect him on the long journey ahead...wish me luck!

[ralphmanning]

Sounds like a great idea. I'm interested to see how this develops. Good luck with the challenge. :beer:

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1144599843_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1144599843_large.jpg)

The idea continues to develop...its still at sketching stage, ive developed the background a bit more now...still miles to go!

[ralphmanning]

Hmm, I prefer it flipped the other way. :)

[Vitreous]

yeah, i do too, i was just playing around to try and make up my mind, it is better from a compositional standpoint to start with the tall robot and then follow the diagonal line downwards rather than start off with the tiny robot and go up...but thanks for the feedback anyway!

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1144706425_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1144706425_large.jpg)

well, its starting to come together a bit now, it's still got ages to go but i feel its sort of starting to come together a little bit. This whole digital art thing is still very new to me but i'm trying to remain faithful to the same techniques i use when doing something using traditional media. The concept sketching, line art and colour parts are kind of interchangable as far as stages go as i have a technique that involves bringing the piece together and then colouring and then smudging and then lineart and then repeating for as many layers as is neccesary...anyway, enough waffle, i'll probably do something totally different knowing me!
All crits are welcome.

[Vitreous]

mistake made-double posting.

[ralphmanning]

This is coming on, I like the colours. Areas where you have rendered in more detail, the boys gas-mask for example, are looking great. :thumbsup:

Do you use Adobe Photoshop or Corel Painter? I'm guessing, with your traditional background, Painter would be better suited perhaps.

Keep it up! :D

[Vladius]

Interesting idea. I like how the work progresses.
I think You should not match sky and boy's helmet colors.

[paperclip]

I really like this concept- maybe you should try a higher viewpoint and have the father carrying his son, walking carefully to avoid the rubble and dismembered limbs.....you might want to leave the limbs out though..

I think the composition is a bit predictable so far. Try playing around with it some more?

[Vitreous]

i toyed with the idea of a higher vierwpoint but i think it is critical that the viewer identifes with the child, to pull the camera out and/or above would emotionally distance the viewer from the scene.
I may look at other compositions though, or different types of storytelling techniques...however nothing is coming to me ATM, i shall think for a few days before i move on any further with this.

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1146243306_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1146243306_large.jpg)

Its taken me a while to reach an idea and composition that i'm happy with, and the clock is ticking. I think i've got it right finally so will be using this rough as my basis for the final piece.
All comments and crits are welcome.

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1146438368_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1146438368_large.jpg)

I'm starting to lay down the line art now before getting into the tonal values, i can feel it coming on a bit now. All comments and crits are welcome.

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1146919668_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1146919668_large.jpg)

The lineart is finished now, there's still a long way to go and only 3 weeks-gulp!
next step, getting some tonal values down...

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147040808_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147040808_large.jpg)

The piece is now getting a few tonal additions, i've also redrawn the crowd and put a bit of colour on the robot just as a taster of what he'll look like when he's complete.
I also made his eyes kind of crazy looking, not sure if i'll keep that or not, just playing around atm. Please make a comment someone cos' i'm starting to feel like a leper!

[jevinart]

very cool composition and character creation. the depth in the piece is fantastic, as is the sense of motion and mood. nice work!

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147210171_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147210171_large.jpg)

Jeez, only 18 days to go, i'm starting to feel the time pressure now!
Well, in this update ive done most of the tonal and light things i need to do for now so the next stage is to start painting this sucker!(thanks for you comment Jevinart, i appreciate it)

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147630823_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147630823_large.jpg)

Started to lay down a few base colours and a sky, also played about with blur a bit to recede things into the background, although that can be changed. Theres only 2 weeks to go yet I still feel there is a long way to go.
This piece has really been a learning process, and i still have a lot to learn. Does anyopne have any tips where i should go with this now/what they think might work well(i am using painter and photoshop, mainly photoshop so far), i always appreciate feedback.

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147638932_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147638932_large.jpg)

One last update before stopping work for today, added a few more highlights and shadows, a bit of mist etc. its been a busy day today but the piece is one small step closer to completion.

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147817377_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1147817377_large.jpg)

A bit more work done to develop the colour and blending along with a bit more work on the lake...

[Quills]

Hey - Great fun design and nice sky. Perhaps the mountains in the distance could be a little more 'faded' to give a more far away feel and give the piece more depth..?

Enjoy!

Q

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1148147449_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1148147449_large.jpg)

laying down some texturs and trying to increase the depth a bit. It's starting to near completion but i know im going to be adjusting this right up to the last minute.
I've never spent this long on a digital art piece, its only my 2nd 'proper' piece of digital art so it has been a learning experience to get this far.
Hopefully next time i do a piece such as this i'll have a bit more experience and will be able to work a little bit quicker...
Sadly my computer has been crashing a bit becasue the filesize was creeping up and up as i added more layers and i lost about an hours worth of work today...two steps forward one step back.

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1148147525_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1148147525_large.jpg)

laying down some texturs and trying to increase the depth a bit. It's starting to near completion but i know im going to be adjusting this right up to the last minute.
I've never spent this long on a digital art piece, its only my 2nd 'proper' piece of digital art so it has been a learning experience to get this far.
Hopefully next time i do a piece such as this i'll have a bit more experience and will be able to work a little bit quicker...
Sadly my computer has been crashing a bit becasue the filesize was creeping up and up as i added more layers and i lost about an hours worth of work today...two steps forward one step back.

[paperclip]

I think you should rework the main characters- something about them doesn't really fit into the landscape- they look rather simplified compared to the background. I know it's at a late stage, but try out a few different concepts and see how they fit in?

[Vitreous]

I think you should rework the main characters- something about them doesn't really fit into the landscape- they look rather simplified compared to the background. I know it's at a late stage, but try out a few different concepts and see how they fit in?
Thanks for your thoughts.
I certainly will be re-working the main characters but not to change the basic look of them, i like the compositon and the characters, however, they will have more detail and things added to them though to increase their detail.
The actual process is really hitting the point now where i stop colouring and start trying to imagine it as a painting, its really about playing with the image and experimenting now.
As I said in my previous post it's only my 2nd proper digital piece and im still learning about the best way to replicate my approach when i use traditional media and really this is where i am now, at the stage where rip apart and repaint but keeping the integrity of the original design.
I'm cutting it very fine but im 20-30 hours in and still maybe 10 hours away(hopefully no more that that!) from completion and i never thought it would take this long when i started so i just have to see what i can do in the next 7 days...

[Tyranx]

something seems to be missing in the persperctive, there seems to be no depth to this piece, maybe add some more atmospheric fog to the background, and rework that cliff in front of the two main characters.

[Vitreous]

this is a duplicate entry, whoops!

[Vitreous]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1148600567_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/12/11362/11362_1148600567_large.jpg)

'And so they walked out of the wastes, following the procession.
Although the boy knew that the robot was the only thing that was left of his father, his legacy to him, he still resented the robot for not being his father.
The boy knew that this was where they could find the trains, the arteries of this shambling kingdom, and maybe the trains would take them both to his mother.'
This is my first competition entry and has been a very steep learning curve for me as I am pretty new to digital art. I feel I've learnt a great deal and wish everyone luck.

[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.