Eon (Illustration) Entry: Adam L. Richards

[CodeNothing]

WOOT! who knows if ill create anything finished enough to win, but im realy looking forward to all the groundwork. This is my what my portfolio has been waiting for! :scream:

[MichaelZHsee]

i can tell this is gonna rock:Dgood luck mate:thumbsup:

[Overchord]

Hey good luck codenothing. I like your stuff on the DSG, so i'll look forward to see what you turn out for this one :thumbsup:

[JTD]

Hey fellow DSFer (who has a really awesome style)! I like that portfolio building idea of yours. I need a kick in the arse myself! Good luck!

[TheFirstAngel]

yay! great to see ya here too! best of luck, have tonsa fun and rock this! :beer::buttrock::scream:

[DeeVad]

Hi Master CodeNothing,
This gonna be a very sympatic challenge; I'm happy you are in.

[EhsanD]

I cant wait for you ... :bounce:
come on ... :thumbsup:
cheers ...

[Golpe]

Go for it, buddy!:scream:

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167678577_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167678577_large.jpg)

UGH! finaly finished the book. With a full time job, freelance, and life getting in the way i am getting a very late start on this. But im excited!

I did a series of black and white roughs. Just playing with shots from the street, or from outside the city. I used the plasma tube as i imagined it to be through the center of the chamber, being the only light source.

I ended up not going with the street level view because i thought a grand panoramic of the skyline would be a lot more impressive. I wanted to also get some good 'industrial' grunge up front. I played with the idea of a train yard, but ended up going with the run off river instead. I stitched together several Images of LA for the forground. Had to paint out all the graffiti and cars. I also got rid of some trains that were in the shot. Although i know Alexandria had trains, they just didnt seem to fit.

Ill probably do more to the forground later, but its not high priority. I also want to re-enter the plasma tube in the small color comp. I think the warmer sky is too earthlike.

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167679937_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167679937_large.jpg)

so i am using the original forground of my rough. Im going to have to deal with the edge of the trees later. I,ll be looking at my previous roughs for building compositions.

Threw the plasma tube in there as well. Hope to get some interesting clouds around it eventualy.

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167682004_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167682004_large.jpg)

I kinda like this composition of buildings. I did some quick perspective reference. Though a lot of the shapes will be angled and ambiguous anyway i think.

[Slav]

w00t another alexandria gogo! :D

[leving]

Eeek! Perspective grids give me a headache. I know they're a necessary evil but I guess I've just gotten used to modeling stuff in 3d and painting it over that I haven't brought them out in a while :)

[CodeNothing]

TRUE! I generaly model things in 3D as well first, but i decided to go with the grids for a few reasons. One, Im short on time. So everything may not end up perfect, but i just dont have time to model out even a rough city. Two, Alexandria is often described as looking like LA but 10X bigger, so I'm just using a ton of reference shots i took of LA for the buildings anyway. All i realy need to do is fix the perspective and fix the lighting. Also kind of copy paste some frankenstein buildings so they dont look so familiar.


But, in all honesty i do have a secret passion for perspective drawing. I just dont get much oportunity to do it traditionaly anymore due to deadlines. :shrug:

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167687371_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1167687371_large.jpg)

Ive done some big shifts in light from the rough. Started puting in the forground buildings, and now just trying to make it all work. I had a building in the forground where that big empty space is, but i hated it, so i destroyed it. :oP

Looking forward to adding tube light reflections in windows eventualy.

[LightSovereign]

yea, thats a unique ambience, as if a storm has whipped up. love the way the city blocks are hanging from the roof.that is really effective, the foreground is working a treat aswell!.

great!!

Marley

[aurora]

Nice I love the subtle stormy look to the scene. It gives it the look of a place that was once great but now is ancient history while still looking liveable.

[leving]

Gotcha :) It's funny how the things we like to do and the things we have to do don't always get to overlap nicely. Keep up the good work.

[angel]

That's looking great man. Love the mood. I would consider removing the train tracks and signs on the bottom right corner, it just seems a bit too "Earthy" to me.

[ginoshu]

Nice rendering, I like the mood, about the bridge I think it would have been better if you tried to make it bigger and more impressive architecture( the story tells "A suspension bridge with TALL, slender, curved towers crossed the water, set between MASSIVE CONCRETE ANCHORS")

::)) Anyway it's just my idea, very nice till now, keep up the good work:))

[Golpe]

Hi there Adam, your work is looking very cool. Perhaps the bridge is a bit weird talking about perspective, but I´m sure you´ll do a wonderful piece!:scream:

[MarkyG]

Cool, nice fisheye effect in the foreground. I like the smoggy oppressiveness feel. Hanging buildings are great!

[CodeNothing]

Lightsoveign: Thanks! the mood is actualy a bit of a happy accident. I was thinking about the city, and knew the plasma tube is the only source of light. So this cool almost stale pallete just kind of came forward.


Aurora: Thanks! Yea the cold ghost town is deffinitely what i was going for.
Leving: seriously! this contest has been pulling at me in the back of my mind for months. I'm glad i finaly found some time to work on it.
Snows: I kind of liked the tracks because it made the place seem more believable as a city, rather than just a big cluster of sci fi buildings that dont realy seem they would function. There were trains in the book. But i may re-visit the forground anyway just to see what i can come up with.
Ginoshu: I didnt intend this bridge to be one of the mega bridges. The waterway is too small to require such a massive structure. This is just one of the many smaller bridges in town.
GonzaloGolpe: I think the perspective is ok, it was from a photo reference. Unless you mean the contrast of the size between it and the buildings seem off. I could see how scale may be a bit ambiguous.
MarkyG: Actualy they wont look like hanging buildings when im done. I originaly had a building in the forground that i got rid of, and there was nothing behind it. so a few of them are left looking like they are floating. I dont believe Alexandria had any buildings hanging from the ceiling did they? I thought it was more the "old school" city.
thanks for the comments everyone! :)

[Golpe]

Well I didn´t say the perspective was wrong. It´s about the arches. We can see 3 little arches on the left of the first big one. On the next big arch is almost impossible to distinguish those little 3 arches ( if there are 3 of them again there:) ). Maybe this fact confused me, talking about the perspective of the bridge ( what a tongue twister I made haha )

Anyway, don´t pay attention to me haha:scream:

Love the atmosphere of your compostion =)

[MarkyG]

MarkyG: Actualy they wont look like hanging buildings when im done. I originaly had a building in the forground that i got rid of, and there was nothing behind it. so a few of them are left looking like they are floating. I dont believe Alexandria had any buildings hanging from the ceiling did they? I thought it was more the "old school" city.
thanks for the comments everyone! :)


You're absolutley correct there. Still great image! I'm looking forward to the finished piece.

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168250287_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168250287_large.jpg)

Nothing final yet, Needs to break up the repedative shapes in the mega buildings, need to think about clouds a bit more, need to populate the farthest distance a bit....

but im liking it so far.

[LightSovereign]

holy heck, you have that incredible looming threat that i feel when next to sky scrapers, this has come along remarkably. feels very real!!

Marley

[Golpe]

beautiful sky :)

[Norberg]

Impressing!
This is the kind of atmosphere I wasn´t able to achive matte-style. Glad someone succeed.
Like the buildings you have composed.

[Nomad]

This is niiiiiiice :applause:


I like alot :thumbsup:

Looking for next updates, go go go :bounce:

[icedeyes]

Very nice atmosphere... Love the river and bridge too... good luck with the challenge...

[walrus]

This is looking really nice! You've managed in a very short amount of time to depict a really nice city and atmostphere. It feels perfectly abandoned - you can almost hear the wind whistling through the abandoned streets! :)

This is just my opinion and interpretation of the book, but the thing that doesn't work for me is just how terrestrial the scene looks. With the exception of the plasma tube in the sky, it looks like it could be just a semi-futuristic city on earth. I know Alexandria is patterned after more earthly cities to be "quaint," but this feels maybe so much so that it no longer really reads as science fiction or at all otherworldly. The part that bugs me the most is the far foreground on the right, the train-tracks that look like the standard, contemporary tracks, complete with contemporary signals. In the book, even Alexandria was hooked up to a futuristic train line (the one Patricia takes right before she's "kidnapped" by Olmy and the Frant) that spans the length of the stone. It would be also nice to see some of the building silhouettes pushed even futher away from the conventional box-shape as well.

Sorry to be a downer, I really like what you've done, and the rendering is fantastic! Just think it could possibly recall the book more Anyhow, great work!

-mike

[CodeNothing]

Thanks for all the supportive comments everyone! :)

Walrus: I totaly agree. I think I set out with the intent to capture that 'quaint' LA look, and to make sure that the environment looked 'functional' and not just a collection of sci fi buildings with streets empty of all signage and utilities. I hate seeing sci fi like Star Trek where the environments just seem so empty and non-functional. I LOVE seeing sci fi like Blade Runner and The Fifth Element where there is some industrial grit and 'guts' in the city.

That being said, I think I agree with you that I've got that vibe going, but a bit too much so. I probably wont change the flavor of the buildings tooo much from what they are currently, I think the fact there are several that well over 100 stories keep them in the 'quaint' looking but 'sci fi super size' style of Alexandria. I deffinitely want to change the forground, Partly because I agree with you that the tracks look too terrestrial, and partly because i feel guilty that the forground are just 3 photos stitched together and painted over. I'd like to change it to a more sci fi looking track as you said, or possibly some kind of observation deck or boardwalk area... you know, photo op platform. maybe a restrant to eat lunch overlooking the city. :)

Thanks for the great feedback! :thumbsup:

[OKMER]

Although I agree you should bring in some more futuristic elements I realy love this pic, great,great atmosphere!!!

[prabath]

Well I too have to agree with Mike here.It does look a tad too terrestrial.However you have done a bang-up job with the sense of dereliction in this image.Everything looks just perfect.i believe you can fiddle around in the next few days & try something new with it just to add some more flavour.

Cheers!

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168690498_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168690498_large.jpg)

did a lot of work here and there, Much happyer with the sky i think,

everything is looking a bit flat at the moment, Going to make some things pop tomorrow. Also need to decide what to do with the forground. I flipped the canvas and saw my composition was was off balance, so i need to insert something here. Not sure what yet...

[walrus]

Like the new changes! The sky was good before, but this is even better. And I like where you're going with the lower right, even if you don't yet know where you're going with the lower right. :) Good luck with it!

-mike

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168721273_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168721273_large.jpg)

bumped the sky, darkened the sides and bloomed the center like the tube was going through a cloud, Kind of like how lightning looks in a cloud, but prmanent.

I may stick with this sky, gotta fix everything in the background now.


Thanks for the comments walrus! ^_^

[LightSovereign]

Well, underway eeh?. this has come about beautifully, truly realistic.... Would be a nice touch to see some of that mammatus cloud from earlier grace the left hand side, that would look sweet. not a crit really just an observation..

fantastic work!

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168847873_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1168847873_large.jpg)

mm.... still fussing with it. need to make a decision on the forground too...

[Ranath]

I really love those skycrapers emerging from clouds. Best of luck mate, though you don't need it.

[nwiz25]

amazing realism mate! :applause: :eek: honestly i dont kno wat to crit on, theres so much to like here! :D:scream:

me waits for all the ingredients to be added .. :drool:


good luck mate! :thumbsup:

cheers! :beer:

[OZ]

Fantastic painting! an icredible detailed environment!

[bandro]

amazing work!! I like it more with less clouds but its nothing, everything looks beautiful

[JeffZugale]

This looks fabulous! I got no crits on this one. Rock on!

I dunno, maybe a little light bloom in the final stages, to really blow out some contrast? This one is killer!

Nice use of the 4th St. Bridge (i think) and LA River, btw! Or is that someplace up by the Zoo?

[beelow]

I am impressed with this entry! Really well painted! I am interested in your process of how you did your buildings and clouds if you don't mind sharing. Tops!:thumbsup:

[CodeNothing]

Thanks for the comments everyone! I appreciate it.

Beelow: The buildings are taken from reference photos, cut up, stitched together, and copy/pasted about ten times their actual size. I also combined buildings, and had to mask out the glass to get the reflections of light on some windows. The clouds are mostly just copy paste images into the scene, then i masked out the areas i didnt want and adjusted the levels and color balance of what was left. I used several photos of clouds in lightning storms for the areas around the plasma tube.

Most of the tecniques i use i learned from the Dylan Cole Gnomon DVD's. I highly recomend them!

So ive been dealing with monitor issues. what i thought was a well balanced image turned out to look realy flat and washed out on another monitor. So Ive been trying to find out which was lieing to me and making balance changes back and forth so it hopefully will look good on most monitors.

I think im pretty much done with it. I had played with the idea of making a structure on the right side of the image, but honestly i like the train tracks. They do look 'terrestrial'.... but I think Alexandrians wanted things to look that way. It was an ordinary asthetic on an extra ordinary sized city. I may tweek this a tiny bit before submitting my final tomorrow, But i think I'm calling it done.

:)

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1170137056_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1170137056_large.jpg)

Final color i believe, will upload the big file tomorrow.

[CodeNothing]

MAN it looks dark now.... Deffinitely gona need to adjust something...

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1170140201_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1170140201_large.jpg)

Hopefully this is better..... monitors driving me nuts.

[JeffZugale]

Looks kickass on my monitor, which I just calibrated last week to a 1.8 gamma, 5500K setting. See if my image looks dark on your monitor - if so you're probably all good.

It's got a great photographic overcast feel to it. I think it's a winner! :)

[CodeNothing]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1170199191_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11679/11679_1170199191_large.jpg)

This is my vison of Alexandria. The book describes a city much like LA on a massive scale. I used many reference images of buildings in LA, and skyscrapers from all over the world. I tried to construct the buildings so they seemed to have the massive size of a sci fi environment, but the 'quaint' style Alexandria was all about.

To push the 'terrestrial' asthetic The alexandrians were going for I wanted to include some 'industrial' elements to the image. I used modern day train tracks and a run-off basin in the forground. In the more advanced areas of the stone, There would be no exposed waterways or traditional rail tracks, but I think in this town they would have wanted them to feel more at 'Home'.

The mood I wanted to capture was of awe for the scale of this massive city while also feeling a great sadness for this long abandoned ghost town.

[nwiz25]

congratulations dude! :scream::bounce::applause: very massive & dark composition!

I LOVE IT! :D in fact .. again .... pretty real too! :eek:

good luck to u mate! :thumbsup: cheers! :beer:

[Golpe]

What a beautiful atmosphere. Good luck Adam!:thumbsup:

[CodeNothing]

Thanks for all the support guys! :)

I appreciate your help!

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