Eon (Illustration) Entry: Ramy Badie

[Zephyri]

Hey Ramy, good to see you here, best of luck with the contest!

[TheFirstAngel]

Hi Ramy, great to see you joined this too :) best of luck and have fun! let it rock!:buttrock::beer:

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160256343_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160256343_large.jpg)

Well I'm getting started, these colors will most likely not stay, it's just the first thing I chose. I am still unsure about composition too, but this is just my first concept sketch so we'll call this one practice. I'll see how far this one goes, hope you can give me advice about where to take this one if you have any ideas :D

[MartinNielsen]

Hey, not bad - not bad at all. I really think you should continue with this sketch.

[ramy badie]

Sam and Sacha, good luck to you too, can't wait to see what you come up with! :D

Martin: Thanks for the comment, hopefully it'll progress in a positive direction, I guess we'll all have to wait and see (myself included)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160282710_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160282710_large.jpg)

These colors are still a little off, but I think I'm going to go forward with a variation of this, maybe a little softer (and not so green-tinted) with the sky. I might go back to a bluish theme though, not so sure. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

[nwiz25]

sensational dude! its taking effect! :O .. love ur colour combination man!
the planets r just amazing! they fit the scene right away, dont change it ... keep it that way >:D< ...

there can be a lot of things that can be added here .. an explosion of sorts ... blazing sun ... shockwave or smthin ... wow! wanna this come alive more n more!

good luck dude! :P

cheers! >:D<

[ukitel]

Great color palette! I'm trying to find something similar for my entry... Our images are both set during the dusk. Your're is sensual, I think... I'm trying to build a depressive atmosphere.
Good luck!

[MartinNielsen]

Much more drama in the colors now. I like those planets too.

[MVDB]

Lovely colorchoice!

[ramy badie]

Hey everyone, thanks for the feedback!

nwiz: I jotted down your ideas and am definitely going to try to implement something like what you were saying, if it works out I think it'll look awesome! Thanks :)

ukitel: thanks :D I love this color palette because it's so dynamic, it can convey a huge set of emotions and impressions.

Martin: Thanks a lot, I thought the blue was a little bit dull and I wanted to give it more of background-foreground contrast

MVDB: Thanks so much :)

[Nomad]

Nice color palette, it gives to the image a great mood :arteest:


Exellent work so far :thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks Nomad, hopefully I can maintain the mood when I start detailing and defining the concept more :)

[Korline]

hello, nice sketch with the warm mood, :thumbsup:
good luck :)

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much Korline, good luck to you too :)

[MichaelZHsee]

love the 2nd pallette,a very calm and peaceful setting u've got there mate.:)

[adonihs]

very beautiful, youve definetly improved from the last challenge. im very impressed bud :)

[ramy badie]

Michael: Thanks so much, hopefully I'll be able to maintain that mood throughout the process of the image :)

Daniel: It's really great to hear you say that, I hope that I'll be able to pull this one together well :)

Good luck to both of you in the challenge :)

[michael-olszak]

Looks cool man. i like the colors and the overall look.

keep it up!

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much michael :)

right now I'm doing some "last edits" to my concept, and hopefully that'll shed light on the direction I'll take this, that's the point at which I'm either going to scrap the image or go forward full force :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160417672_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160417672_large.jpg)

Ok, I think this is a little bit further away from what I was planning on than what I had before. My original intention was to have a clear contrast between technology in the foreground, against a "primitive" natural background. Now, I kind of feel like maybe it'll be more of nature taking over technology? I don't really know. Anyway, I like the new curved structures better than the one I had before, but I'm not sure about the idea of adding greenery in the foreground. The plan is to make those curved black objects into rusted metal structures, let me know what you think of all these ideas, I'd really appreciate any feedback you can give right now, this is a critical point in this image I'd say.

[Golpe]

Your concept is looking cool. Let´s see the progress:thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much, there are actually going to be a LOT of changes in the next update in terms of composition and overall structure (and concept a bit too), hopefully I can keep the overall mood of this original one though :)

[TheFirstAngel]

love how you worked with the mood, the piece glows awesomely and has a great beautiful somehow melancholic mood n depht, great work mate :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
keep on rocking! :buttrock::beer:

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much sacha, I'm trying to rework the composition now, and it's giving me some problems, hopefully I'll settle the issues I'm having with it soon, if all else fails I can always come back to this structure.

[anostudio]

Very good consept the colors too ... good luck:thumbsup:

[EhsanD]

hmm like the mood of this work ... great job man ... good luck :thumbsup:
cheers ...

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much anostudio and ehsan, I'm working out the issues with the pic now and hopefully will have a new update later today :)

[beelow]

Colors are sexy Ramy! good luck with your entry!:thumbsup:

[OKMER]

Yap,just like said beelow,supersexy colors!!!
Would like to take a break down there!!
he,he, nice warm sketch!

Good luck and loads of fun 2 you!

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160535333_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160535333_large.jpg)

I cleaned up the concept a bit, I'm happier with the elevated people, but I feel like this looks so incredibly....boring. I don't know where to go with it, and it's so difficult because I don't even know if this fits the theme of the book xD Help at this point would be much appreciated, especially if it will address either of those 2 issues mentioned. Thanks so much :)

[adib]

This is look very good!:thumbsup:

[michael-olszak]

i like where your going with this one. very nice man.

[thelostcucumber]

I love the color palette here, Ramy. the only thing that catches my eye is that the planet and moon seems to be lit from top right, while the light source seems like it's on the lower/middle right side of the frame. Might just be me though, and it might be on purpose. I know nothing about space lighting.

Oh, and as for the theme of the book. If the planet on the top of the frame is the earth, I assume this is the Stone. There's no sun on the Stone, and therefore no sunset, but for one I think we're allowed a bit of artistic space to try new things, and much of the book goes on on the earth.

(spoiler alert)

At one point (early 21st century), the russians destroy most of the surface of the world using nukes, and this would make a really good illustration of two people watching the destruction in the horison, with the Stone and the moon being the two planets in the top of the frame.

Anyway, this is really heading in the right direction. Good work!

-Espen

[ramy badie]

beelow- thanks so much, that's what I was trying to go for, I just love these colors

Okmer- thanks, and I'd gladly join you down there too!

adib- thanks so much :) Hopefully I'll be able to pull it together well

michael- thanks, I don't know if I'm going to change the concept too much from here (unless I scrap it completely), so it's good to hear that :)

espen- thanks so much, that really helps a lot (and clears up some issues I was having with the concept). I think I'm going to have the theme as this piece being on earth, and I'm trying to figure out how relatively close/large the stone would be. There are a bunch of issues that I have to work out, but your comment about the lighting is definitely right, I painted the planets before I thought about the lighting I was going to do and just never bothered to go back and change them :)

[yanbing]

the Picture is With story! And best Color ~:eek:

[faultymoose]

I know pretty much everyone has said this so far, but I wanted to add my voice: exceptional use of colour. Very lovely atmosphere, very dreamy and peaceful and calm.

You asked for suggestions, so I'd like to offer my own personal preference in regards to this kind of art, but with the acknowledgement that this is YOUR art and certainly beyond my talents, so take it as a grain of salt...

...from what I understand of the theme, there is an overwhelming sense of eeriness and quiet, loneliness, solitude.... it's hard to describe, but the sense that something once great and powerful is gone, and all that remains is silence. Your image is amazing, but I don't think it really seeks to explore this idea - this is not a 'bad' thing, as I said this is just my personal preference, and I'd hate to think that someone as unqualified to comment as myself would force you to follow a different route.

Once again, beautiful work.

[TheFirstAngel]

lookig great, nice work on the mood.

At one point (early 21st century), the russians destroy most of the surface of the world using nukes, and this would make a really good illustration of two people watching the destruction in the horison, with the Stone and the moon being the two planets in the top of the frame.

agree

or:
this could be continuing where the book stops, this could be cleopatra and Particia and in the sky the ateroid next to the moon, so that would make it a great showdown piece :)

either way, the piece rox, keep on going! :beer::buttrock:

[ramy badie]

Yanbing- thanks so much, I'm glad you like it :)

faultymoose- thanks so much, I really get what you are saying and I'm trying to work that out now, I have a few ideas that include skewing my perspective a bit and tweaking the colors a little, hopefully give it a bit of an eerie solitary feel. If it doesn't work out, I have 3 months to change it back! so I'm not worried about it. Thanks for the feedback :)

Sacha- I really like that idea, and now I'm getting the creative juices flowing (hopefully) so hopefully it'll come together well :D I sometimes go in many different directions at once that don't go together so well, so I'm going to try to keep it under control (and will hopefully continue to get comments for guidance :D) Thanks so much

[warpy]

looking good, will visit later on too.

[ramy badie]

Thanks warpy, I'll be seeing you here later then :) Hopefully I'll have some good updating going on before then.

[mark123]

Wow if thats just a concept sketch i cant wait to see your finished piece, keep up the good work!

[ReinaldoRomero]

Nice, it looks good so far, the colors are awesome and it is a very peacefull composition but i agreed whit thelostcucumber the moon and the planet are not in the best place... keep it up

[nandlaskar]

good luck for the challenge.:thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

mark- I'm really glad you like it, hopefully I won't disappoint!

reinaldo- thanks, I am currently trying to work out that problem, so hopefully when I post my lineart, my composition will be closer to what the final version will look like :)

cubisis- thanks so much :)

[nwiz25]

FREAKIN AWESOME MAN! i love it more n more n more ! >:D< :P :)

damn! impressive to the core!

cheers to u mate! good luck! :) :) :) :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160675812_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160675812_large.jpg)

I wanted to test my values (and fix them), so I put this together as my lineart to define my main structures and grayscale the rest. The top is a bit dark here, but that'll change once I get to the actual coloring. I'm debating now where I want to start, I'm thinking I'll just start from the back and move my way forward.

[ReinaldoRomero]

ramy I like this composition more than the other one, i think the only thing is the values are a bit dark in some places, if you separate a bit the midle ground background and foreground you will get an awesome image for sure, keep it up!

[ramy badie]

Thanks for the feedback, I definitely do need to separate them out, I just wanted to work for now on defining my main features and building the contrast in the middle :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160723349_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160723349_large.jpg)

Here comes one of my favorite parts of working on any image (although if you asked me after several hours of blocking in clouds how I felt I'd probably think differently). I'm finally ready to accept my concept, although I'll probably tweak it a lot during the coloring process. So it's time to start the coloring and detailing, and I wanted to work out the flow of my clouds and sky as the first step. I also pushed my resolution up to 6000x3600 (300 dpi) before I started coloring. I'll probably go back and redetail my clouds at a later time, but for now, here they are :)

I'd love to hear any insight you have (about the clouds, or my concept, or both, or really whatever you want). Thanks so much :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160765404_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160765404_large.jpg)

Bah, I feel that this is looking rather dull and boring now. I can't seem go create the sense of danger that I want, and I can't seem to create the depth I want either. If you have any suggestions, please let me know, Thanks.

[ReinaldoRomero]

wow ramy, another stuning image... now u are in the right path, very good, waiting to see more...keep it up

[mitchelhunt]

this is so...beautiful. i just love it :D

[ramy badie]

reinaldo- thanks so much, I hope you will continue to like the direction I am headed with this piece. As I work I keep coming up with new ideas, and they don't always work, so hopefully I'll be able to control myself and keep heading in a positive direction and not stray too far from my concept :)

mitchel- thanks so much, hopefully I won't disappoint with my progress :D

[SweD]

:eek: definitly love it ! warm color and great skill ! the illustration forum seems to reach awesome level with this kind of composition !
don't know why, i'm happy to be in another section.... lol

[MartinNielsen]

I don't see any serious problems with this piece. My advice is just to continue.

[mv]

this is definitely boring, and way too contemplative for the action and sense of danger you seem to want.

I did a sketch to show a point of view that I think is more dynamic, it can give you some ideas for a direction to take.

[TheFirstAngel]

if that is heading towards you m@ its quiet needless to try to run off cuz you won't make it to getaway except you can fly :p lol

the meteor heading towards the cam is a great idea.
here's an idea to powerup: to add more movement an idea could be to massively increase the impact/shockwave and also the water splashing up the cliffs andnearbywaves already should help to illustrate the power of that armageddon, an idea could be the small pieces of the comet cause unleash a huge destruction already but the big thig is on its way and...
hope the lil overpaint helps :)

http://www.angel3d.ch/content/challenge/xtra/ramy_ovp.jpg

keep on rocking :beer::buttrock:
cheers

[ramy badie]

sweD- thanks so much, I'm glad you like how it's coming out :)

martin- thanks, hopefully I'll continue in the right direction :)

m@- I really like the attachment you added, but I don't know that I want to do an extremely active, panic-ridden scene. I sort of wanted to go for more of a theme of beautiful destruction, while still maintaining an element of danger in the atmosphere. I really love the idea of the meteor coming towards the people though, I definitely want to try to integrate something like that into my next progress shot. Hopefully it will be less boring once I do some changes to add a bit of chaos to the overall piece.

sacha- I really love how that looks, and I'm definitely going to try to integrate a lot of that into my piece. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it all together without looking like I was just adding things pointlessly, I think I can pull it off though. Thanks so much :)

I wanted to explain the idea that I was going for here before I go any further. The type of picture I wanted was like people sitting on their front porch watching a hurricane. It is absolutely destructive, but the people are helplessly submissive, and just take the opportunity to enjoy the twisted beauty of the scene before their inevitable doom. I wanted to create that same type of mood, with a dangerous and destructive feeling, but at the same time, I wanted to keep an almost ominous peaceful sense for the overall image. Does that make any sense? And more importantly, do you think I'm achieving that goal?

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160794160_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160794160_large.jpg)

It's time to make some decisions regarding the presence/lack of a fireball in the sky, and some color ideas. What do you think, 1 2 or 3? Or, if you have some completely other suggestion, let me know.

[PBCastle]

looking pretty good,
personally i like 1, but i tend to like deep colours anyways
and it's
i do kinda feel like that left arch is seperating the edge and the end of the
frame alittle early ( granted you probably already have a plan for that )
love how the water is coming out.
out of curiosity, are you working in painter or photoshop?

[DanBird]

I would go for number 3, because it looks more natural, also the detail in the sky is not lost and with the third image I get more of a feel of the scene from the colour tones being more natural.

Hope that helps. :)

[ramy badie]

paul- I also like the deep colors in the first one, which is leading me to be very confused. I wish I could say I have a plan for the arch on the side, but I'm not sure yet. It's sort of a place holder for now, but I have a general idea for it. I think I am going to use the space on the left, but I may just end up moving it. And to answer your question, I'm working in photoshop. So far everything I've done is just with the standard round brushes, no texturing work or anything yet.

dan- Although I think that some of the tones may be more natural in #3, I'm afraid to commit to that one. It's much easier to work with more saturated colors and desaturate later than to have to saturate later if I change my mind. Bah, this is why I'm so confused right now. Thanks for your input though :)

[OKMER]

I'm hesitating between 1 & 2.

I Like the fact that N°2 has one more meteor as 1, it brings in a bit more balance i think.
Maybe it could be interresting to open up your canvas a bit more in the upper part of the image, so you get more sky,could bring in some more dramatic feeling maybe.
You're right about going on in the satured colorscheme, you can always desature a bit later on if you wish.

Keep on rocking mate!!!

[ReinaldoRomero]

ramy about the 3 color palettes, imo i wont take i final desition for now, all 3 sure looks good, someone better than the other but they are almost the same just some tones changing, at this point you should test them with a more advanced composition closer to the final image, maybe one looks better now but is not the best in your nex steps so it is very hard to tell... anyway you can pic almost anyone and then rematch the colors with your 3 ref if you are not satisfied and for sure wouldnt be a problem.

btw, i prefer 1 or 2, the have more epic and fantastic feeling

[ramy badie]

okmer- I think I'll definitely try expanding upwards a bit with the sky and see how that looks, I think it could work well. I'm still a bit confused about the extra meteor, on one side it brings balance and action, but on the other side I feel that it makes the scene look a little cluttered. I don't need to make a decision about it yet though.

reinaldo- I definitely agree with your advice, I think I'm just going to work with #1 for now, because the meteor is very easy to bring back, and 1 is probably the easiest to use in terms of progressing the rest of the image. In my coming updates, you might see a lot of the meteor jumping in then disappearing, I'll probably be indecisive about it for a while.

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160866636_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160866636_large.jpg)

While I'm debating other parts of the picture, I thought that I would start laying in the basic shape and flow of my water. Too bad I completely failed this time, I'm going to have to work on it a bit more before I can even think of detailing the water.

[mv]

I'm sorry but I honestly think you'd better be off trying 5-6 new compositional thumbs (wider shot for instance, different POVs , etc), rather than starting worrying about details like flow of the water or debating about subtle colorimetric variations... I think this composition is not very good, while you have a lot of potential though. Would be bad to work long hours of rendering on a piece which did start the optimal way.

Doesn't need much to become great : one thing it needs is a better perspective, for now it all feels small and framed, not epic at all... with those characters stuck on the side, it feels like you really didn't know where to put them , so you put them somewhere where they won't obstruct your landscape too much.

[Yamo]

Hate to be a broken record but your color scheme is wonderfully dramatic. I wish you would go back to that cold blue version you did because it made me feel cold looking at it!

[ramy badie]

m@- I have to admit that I was a bit stubborn, but the more I think about it, the more I know that you are absolutely right. Right now I'm in the process of trying some new things with the picture, changing some stuff to see if I can make it more dramatic or dynamic. If it doesn't work out, I might end up scrapping the whole thing and starting over, I'm not really sure yet. I don't think I'm ready to scrap it yet, I think that there is still a lot I can do to make it more interesting, so I'm still going to try.

yamo- to be honest, I'm very confused about what I want to do with this picture, and the color scheme is one of the things that worries me. I might end up going back to the blue, or I might end up doing something completely different. I just don't really know yet.

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160967137_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1160967137_large.jpg)

Woo, major changes were made (finally), but I don't know if they were all positive. I've been staring at this for such a long time now, it's difficult to tell anymore. I want to sort of convey the idea that these people have given up on life sort of, and so they are just enjoying the view one last time. I redid the whole composition, and put the explosion on (what will be) the building in the foreground, hopefully it is more dramatic and exciting. I would really appreciate some feedback/suggestions regarding this most recent change.

Oh, and I feel that the people are way too calm considering there is an explosion so close to them. I don't want to take out the people, but I don't want to make them running in a panic either. I almost want to make it seem like they have given up on life and are just going to watch the view during their last moments, but as it is now it conveys more a sense of they don't really see any of whats going on. Any suggestions of how to make it seem more realistic in that sense?

[ReinaldoRomero]

Hey ramy, how about trying a litle camera tilt, also you can try to make those people taking cover (not behind any object, just cover with there own arms and bodies)... hehe hard to explain for me my english is not good... well try another position with those people, i though there were in that position just for reference... hope this help you
remember there is a lot of time :wip:

[NathanielWest]

This is coming along nicely, but from reading recent posts, you've been staring at this image for so long that maybe it's time to take a break and work on additional compositions and ideas for a different chamber. You will undoubtedly come back to this image with a new perspective and the answers will be easier to see.

It looks great so far though! Just step back from it for awhile and come back refreshed! It will be stronger in the end.

[nwiz25]

holy moly dude! :eek:

its taking shape! cant wait to c da final draw! :eek::bounce::)

very best of luck to u buddy! cheeeeeeeeeers! :beer:

[ramy badie]

reinaldo- I definitely feel like a camera tilt might be helpful, or maybe a warping of the horizon. I'm tired of looking at my straight, flat horizon line. As for the people, I'm definitely going to have to work that out. Thanks for the comment.

nathaniel- I have to take a break from it anyway because I have so much schoolwork right now, so I'm going to have fresh eyes hopefully in a few days when I have time to come back to it :)

nwiz- thanks so much, so glad to hear you are liking it :D

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161045149_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161045149_large.jpg)

Working more on the composition and colors, trying to make the image more effective overall before I get into the nitty gritty details. What do you think?

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161057028_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161057028_large.jpg)

Ok, last one for the night, I widened the composition even more and made a lot of changes overall

[mv]

Definitely looking better this way :)

[OKMER]

Agree, really looking better,buddy!More depth.
i'll stil increase a bit the canvas for even more epic feeling.
Keep m coming,he,he:thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

m@- thanks so much, I'm really glad that you convinced me to make these changes, I am much happier with the piece now myself. Still tweaking it a bit but I think it has a lot more potential now :)

okmer- thanks :D I am still trying to get more of the epic feel, I will probably stretch a little more, and probably do some more stuff with the distance and such to make it more epic. I tried tilting/warping the horizon line, but it didn't really seem to fit, so I'm trying some new things and will hopefully have some epic updates soon :)

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I finally feel like this picture is headed in a direction that I like :D

[mv]

cool, glad you're feeling good about your pic. If I was you, I think I would lower the horizon, to give more importance to the sky and the falling stones (not as much as my first sketch, but still - that really works to give depth and danger) , and work more on the perspective of the stones to give depth.

[mv]

paintover.

[ramy badie]

Wow thanks so much m@, that sketch looks really awesome and I'm definitely going to try to get that in my pic. (I also like the pose of your people a lot more). Hopefully I'll be able to update with the change soon :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161119562_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161119562_large.jpg)

Finally I have the composition put together the way I want it (thanks so much m@!) Hopefully it'll come together a lot better from this point :)

[mv]

ah cool , looking nice :) I'd just suggest you don't keep your verticals parallel to the borders of your canvas, but use a 3rd vanishing point in the sky, it usually is more dramatic, and deeper (like I did in my P.O.)

[OKMER]

Whooo, this getting better each time,really nice evolution mate!!
Agree with MV for the vanishing point, gives it more dynamics.
Should work that some more out also by the way,ha,ha!!!
Big up Ramy!!!

[ramy badie]

thanks m@ and okmer, I'll definitely get on that :) I feel that the more I work on this, the more work I have to do in the long run because it just keeps getting more ambitious. I really hope I'll have time to do this along with all my schoolwork.

[faultymoose]

Wow Ramy congratulations this is really evolving into a powerful work!

[ramy badie]

Wow thanks so much, I'm so glad to hear that :) Hopefully it will continue in the right direction.

[ChewyPixels]

Hey Ramy, great progression. :thumbsup: I think with the amount of time that we have left, you should be able to finish on time. You are much farther ahead than a lot of us. :) C'mon, I want to see this one finished.

[ramy badie]

Thanks man, I think I will be able to finish it, but I thought the same thing last time and I was forced to rush it in the end. I (fortunately) have vacation the last 2 weeks of the contest, so I'll have to pull it together at that time :)

[beelow]

Mood is great in this. I agree with M@ paintover with getting the perspective going up in the sky. get the verticals to skew towards that center, can also better frame elements that you have going in the center of your piece. Good luck!:thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks bryce :) I'm definitely going to change the perspective of the buildings to incorporate that, good luck on your entry too :D

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161189684_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161189684_large.jpg)

I played a bit with the perspective of the buildings, and decided to flip the image to get fresh eyes on the composition and overall structure of the piece. I feel that this has opened my eyes to some compositional problems, but theres some element of this flip that I like, it just seems to me to go back farther. I'm not really sure, I'll most likely flip it back, but I feel that it might be a good idea to work on it at this angle for a while. Any thoughts?

[nwiz25]

wow! buddy! ur concept has taken a mighty turn! very cool indeed! so much difference when its flipped! :eek: awesome man!

i think either way it looks good ... :) ... depends on wat elements u add later on ...

u can try a couple of things tho .. :

>> add more foam for the waves .. umm .. meaning like ... crash them more ... making it very strong n intense ...( its being hit .. so make that more fierce ) in other words ... more splash .... u get the picture :D

>> also ... try experimenting with dust .. smoke .. particles n all ...

>> show some parts of the mountains breaking into pieces wen hit...(the ones at far end)

i hope this will help ya buddy ... really waiting to c more :P :P :P :P

cheers man!:beer: n good luck! :thumbsup:

[mv]

hey, that's taking some good shape.

I think you're starting to have a strong base, and flipped it looks cool too. My crits would be:

- I don't like that "explosion" on the left at all, it makes a strong focal point way too bear from the corner (leads the eye out of the pic). It also doesn't make sense given the direction the other "meteors" are falling.

-be careful not to oversaturate all the colors, it makes the pic lose richness. It's great to use overall lower saturation colors and use the very high sat only to a few important points to lead the eye.

- the foam suggestion is great, but be careful with the foam value and color, don't make it too bright (it already is too bright), and too white / cold . It is lit only by warm light sources, so there's not reason for it to appear cold.

Keep it up!

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much nwiz and m@, you guys are definitely giving me some really great insight, I obviously have a lot of work ahead of me and I am going to try to incorporate all of what you have been suggesting. I definitely agree with all of it, and hopefully I'll be able to bring it together and pull it off :)

[nwiz25]

hey buddy! always glad to help! >:D< :love:

[ramy badie]

I really appreciate it man, and I feel that my image is definitely benefitting as a result. I feel that it's much better to fix problems now instead of later when it will be much more difficult to change the composition/structure. I think I'm going to invest some time in doing a few more concept sketches, just to get more into the mood of the book, and I'll ultimately come back to this one. I'll probably do a few building and missle/meteor/asteroid concepts. I'll figure it all out soon :)

[OZ]

powerfull colours..and...cool use of the prospective!:bounce:

[OKMER]

really like the flip, with the new 3D vanishpoint etc,etc, its getting bigger and bigger.Really nice to see how your image evolutes!!Whooohooo keep m coming mate!:beer:

[ramy badie]

oz- thanks so much, I'm glad you like how it's turning out :)

okmer- I think I like the flip too, it just looks a little bit like "tunnel vision" to me right now. I definitely need to leave this image alone for a few though, come back to it later. I feel like I want to do just a bunch of other sketches, partly to get more into the mood of the book, and partly to be sure that this is in fact the concept I want to go forward with. I know I have a fairly solid base now that I like though, so I can come back to it and move forward at any time :)

[faultymoose]

I've been following your work with interest Ramy and I have to say you've done an excellent job of identifying the strengths of your original concept, and enhancing them.

I agree with MV though in regards to the explosion on the left - I don't think it adds to your composition. It's too harsh and distracting, and it adds a bit too much 'action' to an otherwise wonderfully understated, sinister and imposing work.

Just my 2 cents :D

[ramy badie]

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this piece yet, I've left it for alone for a few days, but now I feel like I'm not seeing it clearly anymore. My vision is sort of gone, and I have some new ideas for it, which sort of scares me. I think I can find some sort of compromise between what I wanted originally and what I'm seeing now, we'll just have to wait and see :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161471115_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161471115_large.jpg)

I said I wanted to do some random sketches, and I decided that I want to try to paint the "essense" of some chambers, etc. from the book, as well as make a few character sketches and some building concepts. Anyway, this isn't exactly accurate, but it's the first image that came to mind when I was reading chapter 3, and so it embodies the essense of it to me. I decided that being extremely accurate right now is not my goal, especially because most of these sketches won't add anything to the final image I'm going for, just wanted to put some ideas together :)

[OKMER]

Yap,yap Ramy!!Difficult to comment here, Ramy.
But it's a nice idea to do some other layouts in the meanwhile.This will bring you back in your pic in a whole other way and maybe even want you change it totally later on,who know's.

Have fun mate!!!

[TheFirstAngel]

sounds like a plan. well the latest sketch has a nice mood. would be great if you develop it a bit more looking forward to your next update then, :) keep on rocking!:beer::wip::buttrock:

[nwiz25]

oh wow! :eek: this is fascinating! extremely curious to c what u gonna come with!
massive U turn!
i really have to hand it to u buddy! :love: very mysterious concept! :eek:

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

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much guys :)

okmer- I really hope I can bring a new perspective to the piece, right now it is looking like a dead end to me, or maybe just a temporary road block, so I'm taking some detours and maybe getting some ideas along the way :)

sacha- I'm not sure I want to develop this one any more, I might develop a few of them more than others. We'll see, I really don't know where I'm gonna go with this :)

nwiz- thanks, I am also curious to see what I come up with, haha. Not really sure where I'm going right now.

[Samanthie]

Hey Ramy! Looks great so far. Don't know if the people should be afraid of the explosions or not since I've only read a little of the story, but I like what you have there. I wanted to wish you good luck!:)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161669858_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161669858_large.jpg)

Here is my sketch of lanier based on descriptions found throughout the first few chapters of the book. If I understood correctly, he is indian? is that right? and also, he is supposed to look tired I think. Regardless, here is the concept sketch of what I imagined him to look like. It's been a while since I did an unreferenced portrait, so it isn't as natural as I would've liked. Took more time than it probably should've too.

[Thaldir]

Beautiful sketch! Although personally I see Lanier a bit older and with somewhat more angular features (but that might be just me).

If I understood correctly, he is indian? is that right?

Not quite, as I read it. Mr. Bear says in the first chapter:

"Tall, with close-cut dense, black hair, Lanier resembled a pale-skinned Amerindian, though he had no Indian blood".

So I'd say he looks American Indian but with pale skin.

[ramy badie]

Samanthie- thanks so much :) I'm glad you like what I have, I am also in the process of reading the book right now so I may end up changing the idea to fit better.

Thaldir- what I meant to say is that he is supposed to look indian, though I forgot that he is supposed to have pale skin (thanks for catching that one for me!) Anyway, this sketch was more of practice at portrait drawing, because I haven't done any portraits in a while now, so I'm a bit rusty.

[Thaldir]

You're very much welcome, sorry I misunderstood the question (English trips me every now and then...).

this sketch was more of practice at portrait drawing, because I haven't done any portraits in a while now, so I'm a bit rusty.

Believe me, you may *feel* rusty but it definitely doesn't show... :)

[OZ]

cool stuff! aGAIN!:thumbsup: ...MMMH....LANIER is cool but i dont know why i imagine it older.

[ramy badie]

Thaldir- sorry it was my fault, I worded the question poorly. Thanks so much though :) Hopefully I'll be able to get my portraiture to be a bit better within the next few weeks as I work on some of these characters :) I'm doing a few edits to lanier now, will post an update a bit later probably :) Thanks for the help

oz- thanks :) I think he is supposed to be older, but he lost a lot of the fine lines that I had put on his face when I was messing around with the skintone and blending, so I'll try to bring that back in my next update :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161715350_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1161715350_large.jpg)

Adjusted skintone, haircut, and somewhat his age. I didn't want him to look too old, don't know if I hit the target age though. I think I'm ready to move on to other characters though.

[TheFirstAngel]

kick ass work of a portrait, he has wonderfull alive deep eyes and a strong calm expression, simply a great work! keep it up my friend, rock on!:beer::buttrock::wip:

[ramy badie]

Thanks sacha :D its definitely time to do some more portraits though, I feel that this one looks so boring and I want to get some more lively characters full of personality. I guess he is supposed to be stoned though.

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162083955_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162083955_large.jpg)

New sketch, this time it's chamber 2. I think I like this more than my original concept, but it may be more ambitious than I can handle. I still haven't worked out the color scheme, so for now it's just a basic sketch, I'll try some color patterns and maybe continue with this one a bit. We'll see how it goes :) I have a midterm on wednesday though, so I should probably put this aside and go back to studying for now :/ Should I go forward with this though, or should I go back to what I started with?

[Slav]

hellsyea!. cool stuff man.

[ramy badie]

Thanks slav :) I'm putting together some colors for this concept, then it might be easier for me to make some decisions on which concept to go with (or if I should just scrap both and go with something completely new)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162138642_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162138642_large.jpg)

After testing out some things, I decided that this sketch is a failure. I might try to redo the 2nd chamber in a wide composition, but probably not. I'm really not sure what I'll do at this point, maybe a few new concept sketches are in order.

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162247607_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162247607_large.jpg)

Here's a new perspective on the previous concept, I like this more. Doesn't look at all cylindrical inside, but I am not sure if that's a huge issue, I feel like this is more of a poster look, and it's from a completely different perspective, what do you think?

[nwiz25]

hey buddy! very good concept! i like it a lot! :love:
u really have broadened ur horizon with all these concepts ... very cool indeed!

cheers! :beer: n good luck dude! :thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks nwiz :D If only I could decide which concept to move forward with :P

[Wualforvalle]

loved the sketch, u picked a great spot, keep it up man! :thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much :) I'm not done with the concept sketching phase, I have one more idea right now that I'll hopefully be able to illustrate soon, I think that it will end up being my final concept too. We'll see :D

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162878781_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1162878781_large.jpg)

Some more concept art, I'm once again confused XD We'll see if this one goes anywhere.

[nwiz25]

woohoo man! :eek: now this is smthin really different! :eek: its got that cold .. mysterious .. look! very well played! :p

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

[ramy badie]

Thanks nwiz, I think I'm going to work a bit more with this concept, I wanted to establish my overall colors first this time, then think about the details and composition later.

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1163200539_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1163200539_large.jpg)

I decided to go back to my first concept, and just change the layout to make it more of a movie poster. I considered putting character closeups at the top, but I don't think I will, I am not sure what I'll end up doing with the top section. I sort of like it semi-blank for now, it's nice and simple, in contrast with the more detailed bottom. How does this look?

[nwiz25]

yikes O rama! :eek: i love love love :love: this layout dude!
u kno its like flames lighting up the text at the bottom! very cool adding the planet and star field! :eek:

cheers bro! :beer:

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much :D Thats really what I wanted to achieve with the text, but I was afraid that the text is too low. I'm also unsure about the 3 ships (or well, what will be 3 ships) with the blue tails. What do you think? And also, should I add more to the top (characters, more ships, planets, etc), or should I keep it simple?

[nwiz25]

hey buddy! ... lets go step by step .. :p


but I was afraid that the text is too low.

i think the text is ok .. but if ur unsure of it .. try putting up different layouts and get everyones opinion ... majority wins :p


I'm also unsure about the 3 ships (or well, what will be 3 ships) with the blue tails. What do you think?

it all depends on how u visualized them ... u can try out one trick ... add dummy pictures of ships with the required colour wash, add lil details here n there ... and c how it works ...
if ur satisfied ... create ur own new ships .. and c the difference ...


And also, should I add more to the top (characters, more ships, planets, etc), or should I keep it simple?

this is a very tough call .. it can be highly detailed or just the most important elements ... make sure to keep ur imagery well balanced ... again ... post layouts of all this and c which ones get the most attention / crits :p

all in all ... i really like the latest concept of urs .. even the thumbnail caught my attention :p love ur work buddy!

GOOD LUCK! :thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much for the advice, it really helps a lot. I'm going to try to work out a few layouts with the text and the top and see what comes out of it :)

[beelow]

You should stick with this concept! Looks the best to me visually!:thumbsup:

[TheFirstAngel]

absolutely beatifull. colors and mood work well. i'd give it a go. great work mate! keep on rocking! :buttrock::beer:

[ramy badie]

bryce- thanks, I am pretty happy with this concept (finally) so I think I will stick with it :)

sacha- thanks :D I think I'm going to come up with a few different concepts for the top half of the image, but I'm fairly happy with the sort of empty look. I think I'll have a better idea of the direction that this is headed once I correct my perspective and get back into the actual lineart/coloring phase.

[naetronic]

hey ramy great concepts so far! I do like the one your sticking with best i think, which is the 1st one that has that traditional movie poster look. the dark silhouette of the figures against the warm background is very strong and dramatic. I think the three blue ships blasting across the sky is cool as long as it doesnt distract and dont forget about perspective and depth of field.
I think it has great potential bro, keep it up!:thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks Nathan, I'm glad you (and others) like this one the most, makes me think I'm making the right choice :) I'm actually working on the perspective right now in grayscale, so look out for that update soon :) I'll try to make the blue ships work, but I don't want them to distract from the overall feeling of the piece like you said.

I'm also trying to mess around with some text layouts, but I think I'll ask for an opinion on that in a few days, I have some ideas of what I can do but want to get a solid foundation for the perspective, etc. first :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1163471912_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1163471912_large.jpg)

I finally started putting together the actual perspective of this piece, and I also adjusted the scale of the piece (changed the sizes of some of the buildings and made the people smaller), so I'm calling this the official lineart step. I am still debating what I want to do with text layout, but I can make decisions about that later. I'm also planning on making most of the straight up buildings more interesting looking and not just plain rectanglular prism., Hopefully this looks good so far though, any suggestions?

[TheFirstAngel]

lookig very very nice. only thing i still miss is the plasmatubelight ^^ nice 3 point perspective so far :) shouldnt be a big problem to place the text i this big sky :) nice work, keep on rocking! :beer::buttrock::wip:

[ramy badie]

Thanks sacha, I'm definitely going to try to put this together with the lighting and text layouts soon, and you'll be able to see if it's heading in the direction you think it will :D

[nwiz25]

i agree with Sacha! :p cool perspective treatment! .. plus the space for the text! :p very well thought of! me very curious about the colourisation :bounce:

good luck buddy! :thumbsup:

god bless!

[ramy badie]

Thanks a lot :D I really appreciate it, and hopefully you won't be disappointed by the colorization :)

[ramy badie]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1163791875_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/11801/11801_1163791875_large.jpg)

I was getting tired of looking at the gray so I overlayed some color. This isn't what the colors are going to be, but I'm just concerned with some text layouts for now. What do you think?

[walrus]

I worry that you're getting further away from making an illustration and closer to making a design-piece with how much room your text is taking up. So I don't happen to like any of them... But of what's there I like the #4 best: The text is easier to read horizontally, as we're used to seeing text, it doesn't take up so much of the space as in #1 and #2, and the subtext is easier to read too. But that's just my thoughts on it. Good luck...!

-mike

[ramy badie]

Thanks mike, I hadn't really thought about that before you said it, but now I definitely see what you are saying. I am going to scrap the words for now and just work on the image itself, and then I'll work the text into it once everything is a bit closer to being finalized. That way I'll know what the composition and color structure will really look like, and I can place the text in an unobstructive space. Thanks for the comment, hopefully I'll be able to fix the problem satisfactorily :)

[naetronic]

Hey Ramy love the updates, I agree with mike though, I dont think you even need the text, looks just as good or better without it! great progress, I like the recently added depth and lighting, keep it up:thumbsup:

[ramy badie]

Thanks so much Nathan, I'm definitely going to work a lot more on it before thinking about the text again. I think that the changed lighting will hopefully make it a lot easier to make the image work without text at the top. I'll see how it goes from here though :) I probably have to start doing some building concept sketches, but I might put that off for another week or so.

[brrrhmmm]

Side by Side comparisons So that you know who is doing

what in the illustration category of the eon challenge only.

Classifier followed by artists.

: Strong/Beautiful Foreground Potraits with EON elements in the background.

Movie Posters theme.

Characters in dramatic poses.

Characters have detailed skin,muscle and skeletal structures.

Very Detailed Vehicle showed prominently

Michael See(Based on Sacha Word Of Mouth)

Justin Kellis

Da Feng

Giuliano Brocani

Roderic Rodriguez

Marek Okon

Edward Cicka

Tuan Nguyen

Linda Luksic(Based on Sacha Word Of Mouth)

Linda Smith

William Leafe

Raffy Encarnacion Dermawan

Marco Alejandro Castelan Morales

John Streider

Radu Bogdan Boeru

Tiberius Viris

Sacha angel diener

Niklas Frostgard

Michael van den bosch

sandra bott

michael dashow

nabil hamadi

alwyn talbot

timur kiryashov

damir g martin

Nathan L Bachelder

Daniel lu visi

Maurizio Manzieri

dale thomas

ego lataire

rune rask

guo jian

hugo araujo

: massive architectures,detailed cityscapes,plasma tubes,huge eon elements viewed in the distance in the style of grand space opera with miniscule,faceless,diminutive men ,women and all terrain machines reacting and responding to the environment.



Ramy Badie

Tuan Nguyen

Jesse Speak

Timur Kiryashov

Mark Goldsworthy

Roman Bernhard Eppstein

Raffy Encarnacion Dermawan

Tiberius Virius

remko troost

tolgahan gungor

torsten wolber

nathaniel west

ramy badie

bryce smith

martin nielsen

emrah elmasli

mauricio alvarado kladt

prabath wijayantha

maciej frolow

nilesh ambekar

constantinos krystallis

greg kaperski

adrian fekete

reinaldoromero

marcin j. nikiforuk

james nelms

maurizio manzieri

jarek sznytzer

Derek wilson

Nazirull Safry Paijo

Daniel justin bird

dale thomas

erik linden

rune rask

david freeman

ori arad

markus graf

ali jalali

raffy encarnacion

alex kelly

jennifer Kathleen Phillips

: air ,sea atmosperics featuring natural elements of islands,skies blend into a grand sense of scale.Includes Tree elements.Gaia oriented.Mountain views and Spectacular chamber vistas. Sky atmospherics

lei huang

adrian baluta

gonzalo golpe

gunilla elam

jonathan colvin

guo jian

oscar jostedt

brian Slayton

yann tisseron

yaroslav kravchenko

dusten s. sonnon

: party scene with the character interacting and gossiping

Parties gathered at gate opening

Radu Bogdan Boeru

nekomouse

Phillip Buchanan

: wonderful sense of humor even black humor and caricature

Torsten Wolber

per trystad

mark david

: action packed conflict with eon elements in the backdrop and lots of machines,ships,cities and soldiers

thierry schiel

paul hume

: entire cities,planetary bodies,asteroids,weather systems,gates,singularities,flawships and space vehicles in awe inspiring perspectives with large scale explosions.Ships have beautiful designs.Space Atmospherics.



Phillip Buchanan

Dmitri G Michniouk

Mark Alford

sacha angel

neville de souza

prabath wijayantha

greg kaperski

mona eriksson

attilla kurt

vladimir davidenko

paul b castillo

juha kamarainen

mauricio alvarado kladt

joel carlo

shawn andrews

matt benya

Derek Wilson

blaz porenta

oscar jostedt

pavel elagin

yann tisseron

blaz porenta

: detailed explanatory tutorials

sacha angel

matt benya

[ramy badie]

What I like most about this list is that, although you have all these classified into categories, all of the images are so different. I guess I don't really know what the purpose of it was, because I'm aware that a lot of people are going in the same general direction with their images, but this is a themed contest after all, so the individual detailing and effort that goes into these images and the individual interpretations of the theme are what separate the entries.

[TheFirstAngel]

i actually like 4 the best of what you posted, either way i hope to see an update soon, keep on rocking mate, the gate is closing soon and i hope you will put in this piece as much power as you did in your first attemp. i miss that painterly feel and the raw power the first one had a lot, its actually almost too clean, wich makes it look static.
bring back the updates mate! go go go!!!

[HFix]

nice work ... i like the color scheme...good luck! :)





-Eon Link-
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?postid=4109615

[nwiz25]

bro! where r ya mate??? :( i hope u didnt give up or nething :cry:


thanx a million for all ur encouraging comments in my thread! :love: it was great help to me :love:

missing ur updates ... :cry:


take care man!

god bless!

[TheFirstAngel]

what happened? :( i thought you were that close :( see ya next challenge with more luck hopefully! cheers

[OKMER]

YAp,sad indeed,I'm sorry you didn't make it.Hope all is allright for you bro!!!Hope to see you next time!

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