Steampunk Myths and Legends Entry: Mélanie Delon

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1228066447_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1228066447_large.jpg)

Hi there !
I choose The lady of Shalott for the myth/legend, I found it rather fantastic and could be funny to do in a steampunk style (which is not mine but I’ll try my best :) ).
So! This famous lady is trapped in a tower by a magical spell, she can only watch the real world through a magic mirror, and she’s condemned to weave what she sees in a tapestry.
Now, my “steampunk” version will take place in the tower’s room, while she’s weaving some zeppelin war scene , the room will be quite dark and with a lot of objects/details in a 19th century style.
I don’t want to do something too much mechanical, I prefer to keep the whole thing “believable”.
There will be some kind of tiny clowny robots on the floor, destroying the tapestry. Also in the aquarium I would like to put a reproduction of the famous Nautilus, as I plan to add a lot of Jules Verne references, which is probably one of the main inspirational sources of the steampunk movement.
The whole piece will be full of symbols of freedom and imprisonment.
I’ll try to detail as much as I can the painting process :)

[MichaelZHsee]

wow,great to see you here melanie,thats a nice concept uve got for a start,lets see more progress:)good luck mate

[LORDvesalius]

wow, it's really great to have you in this challenge! i'm subscribing right now.
I like your concept a lot!

Just one suggestion... maybe the mirror itself can be the "steampunkish" machine... it may have some crazy clockwork mechanism, or something like that, and it should be enough, i think. Just an idea.

Good luck!

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1228128904_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1228128904_large.jpg)

More details. I'm trying to find the good composition.
I've resized the illustration, added few objects like the piano and the clock.

Her dress will be quite simple, black with some golden embroideries.

[Eskarina]

Ooops, thank you guys!

For the mirror, yes your idea is pretty good, I've not decided what I'm going to do for this element but I'll try to add some mechanical things in it ;)

[PMD]

Melanie it's great to see you here! I love the composition and pallette - good luck with it, I know it's going to be a beauty!

Phil

[natzuur]

You work quick, like this idea, can't wait to see what else you have in store. :D

[Intervain]

oooh this will be excellent, I'm sure! Looking forward to more Melanie:wip:

[vmulligan]

I had been toying with doing the Lady of Shallot myself. I think you're off to a great start, here. As for the ideas with the mirror, there's a lot you could do just making it look like an ornate Victorian brass-framed mirror without actually making it mechanical in any way. I really like your style, and I think it certainly counts as "steampunk" without gratuitous mechanical details.

If you do want to put in something more mechanical, you could do something with the Lady of Shallot's loom... "There she weaves by night and day/A magic web with colours gay..."

[Mercuralis]

Oh I like this a lot. The only thing I can think of as a critique is that she seems a little dwarfed in all that space. I wish she was just a little bit bigger... but perspective wise it works, so... *shrug*

[nwiz25]

it's a pleasure to see you here Melanie! :bounce:
love all your works! this is going to be a masterpiece! :buttrock:
i wish you good luck! :thumbsup:

[Eskarina]

PMD, thank you very much! :)

natzuur, yes I can work pretty fast at this stage, this will be different for the details, I'm usually very slow for the detailling, refining part :p

Intervain, Thank you! I'll post another wip and the robots concept tomorrow ;)

vmulligan, thanks, I do like a lot the story too, it's very sad but so romantic. For the mechanical part, you're right, I'll try to do something believable so I don't want to put mechanical parts everywhere :)

Mercuralis, true, maybe when she will be more finished the size won't be a problem anymore, but I'll keep an eye on that ;)

nwiz25, Thanks a lot :blush:

[Micro26]

Excellent concept and i love your paintings.
I like the theme and it is really enjoyable , i think the suroundings have a retro feel :thumbsup:
I m waiting for updates on this.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1228404611_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1228404611_large.jpg)

Added few details, like the design on the floor (as you can see, I made it on another file), the plant and another painting on the wall.

I?m pretty satisfied with the composition, I?ll now start working on her face :)

[Zapan]

Hi Melanie !

Been really pleased to see you in , I love your work , and it should be priceless to see the painting in progress ! looks great already !

cheers , et bonne chance :)

-Zapan

[domoarigato]

Ah Mel! It's about time we see your presence here. It's good to have you in the competition!

I like the mood and palette you've chosen for your piece so far.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231156707_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231156707_large.jpg)

A bit late, but I didn't find the time to update the entry before today :/

Anyway, here is the concept for the little robots.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231157043_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231157043_large.jpg)

Another update, for the face this time. Not very sure about the red lipstick, but I'll leave it that way for the moment, because I want her to have a very pale skin, and red lips could make a great contrast.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231157591_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231157591_large.jpg)

I've fixed the dress design, there will not be a lot of pattern just some golden embroideries here and there, as the background will be very detailled I prefer to keep her very simple.
I've also added a tree, I want to play with the fact she is trapped in her small world and so the tree is a kind of reference to the small japanese garden with bonsai and such.

[Womball]

I love how this is developing. The early photos look like they are out of focus, yet the main elements are there. And than they sort of refocus as you progress. You could probably animate your progress! Where do the little sad clown robots go in the image? The red lipstick works, it matches with the fabric that is drapped over the chair. And if you changed the color of the red yarn on the floor to a hue closer to that of her lips, I think that would tie in the reds better.

[walrus]

Lovely work. Melanie! The Lady is coming along quite nicely, no surprise there! :) It feels to me like the rest of the background has less of a unified palette than I'm used to seeing in your work. There are so many details, my eyes are skipping around all over the place and not resting on any one thing. It might be effective to bring the colors closer together to settle the piece down a bit. Or perhaps a subtle vignetting effect with the values could help, if you don't think that's too cheesy! Anyhow, good luck with the rest! :thumbsup:

[Eskarina]

Womball, yes you're right with the focus, it's a bit messy at the moment, I'll fix that ;)
The little robots will be on the floor, on the left, they will destroy the fabric to make new reel wires :)

walrus, yep I'll keep that in mind, that's the main problem when you want to do a lot of details :p


I'll post other steps quite soon :)

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231245379_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231245379_large.jpg)

Well, here is the decorative detail on the piano, the painting is highly inspired by "The Lady of Shalott
" of John Atkinson Grimshaw. It is a kind of tribute to all those great masters, and a way to symbolize her dark future.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231246093_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231246093_large.jpg)

I'm starting to work the details, I've added more space on the left, not really sure if it's good or not...
I think, I need to refine the whole thing to see exactly what I want.

[threedsquid]

wow, the girl is really beautiful, i already loved her :) nice touch on the painting and robot!
maybe you can darken the room and give it more focused light from the lamp..its just a suggestion though, coz im sure this image will be very beautiful like your other artwork :)

[abourabe]

great work Melanie . i think it will be a great piece .
and what about this details ? wow :applause:
good luck for u !

[vmulligan]

I really love this piece, and look forward to seeing it completed. My one suggestion would be to work on the lighting a bit, perhaps enhancing the shadows in the room and putting a little more light on the Lady. I'd be inclined to finish all the details first, then to play around in Photoshop with subtle gradient overlays to draw the eye to the Lady.

Great work, though, and best of luck in the contest!

[domoarigato]

haha...clearly he hasn't seen Melanie's work. :) Looks great Mel!

[stridiggio]

Hello Melanie, is amazing that you are here. Hope you find the correct composition, I'm just waiting to see the progress of your amazing and subtle work, BTW to learn. Forniture is all Victorian Style, isn't? :love:

[cabertevon]

Impressive piece as usual!

[visionmaster2]

Superbe !
there is something of Odilon Redon in the mood of your work.

:applause:

[Eskarina]

m4rxti4n, thank you :) For the light yes, the final lighting is not finished ;)

abourabe, thanks a lot! The whole piece will be detailled this level.

vmulligan, yep, you're right, I need to push the details a bit more before working on the light :)

domoarigato, haha, thanks! =)

davidreyes, well I guess I found it, I'll post the next steps and the new composition today ;) The "square format" is not easy to work with, but I'll try my best :) And yes, it is all Victorian, my favorite style =D Thanks a lot!

davidreyes, thank you so much :blush:

visionmaster2, Merci :) Regarding Odilon Redon, I don't know very well that painter (a shame I know), I'll do some research about him ;)

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231331660_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231331660_large.jpg)

I've added more elements (again...), texture here and there, and worked on the aquarium.
The doll symbolize her own life, she's a kind of puppet in a golden cage.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231332169_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231332169_large.jpg)

Close up of the doll (which is not finished yet) and the aquarium. I've worked it on another file, it was too small to be done on the main one.
As I said, I wanted inside the aquarium the Nautilus, so here it is!

This element is a world inside her world, the nautilus is also trapped in a cage...and we can imagine small people inside the nautilus trapped aswell in a iron cage...

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231332593_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231332593_large.jpg)

Some posters that will be on the wall. They are about 2 Jules Verne's books.
The first is "De la terre ? la lune" (From the Earth to the Moon) and the second one is "Cinq semaines en ballon" (Five Weeks in a Balloon)

The whole piece will be full of little details like those.

[DougFerreira]

Hi Melanie!this is so impressive,it's going to be a masterpiece,other than that,I have nothing to add to this beatifull work,best of luck for you!

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231583641_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231583641_large.jpg)

Adding more light, and details.

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231673383_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1231673383_large.jpg)

I've resized the whole thing, added the little robots and the zeppelins in the background.

[abourabe]

amazing work Melanie . i like that little robots
and i cant wait to see the final . keep going :scream:

[beelow]

Damn, this a nice piece Melly Mel! I love the detail and the design of the room. Needs a bit of perspective in my opinion. Still a beatiful image nonetheless. I hope to see you finish as well.

[Intervain]

I love the way you paint faces - very captivating!

[madshooter]

Wow this looks beautiful:). Very nice colors

[jpedro]

your attention to detail is just mindblowing :thumbsup:

[llama-d]

I am so glad that you are doing this competition. I admire all of you work and this piece is really shaping out. It has so many elements and you really detailing them all. The faces are so beautiful and her dress is also amazing. I can't think of anything I could critique so I hope that you can finish!

[Eskarina]

abourabe, thank you :)

beelow, yes, in the next wip (i'll post it today) I've corrected a bit the perspective ;)

Intervain, thanks a lot =)

madshooter, Thank you, colors are very important here, I want to give an old painting feeling to this piece, that's why I choose this color scheme :)

jpedro, thank you! it is also time-consuming :p

Lah, thanks a lot! Actually, I have finished, but because of the server problem last week I wasn't able to post my last steps :/

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1232016985_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1232016985_medium.jpg)

Some details of the illustration.
The first is an astrolab, those objects are so mysterious and I think it suits perfectly the theme.
The second could be the cousin of the octopus in 20000 Leagues Under the Sea. I love cabinets of curiosities, and I needed to put something in that style in the image.
The third is a kind of small making of the golden embroideries.
And the last part, it's the 3 little images on the fabric.

[Intervain]

wow the octopus looks so cool! :arteest:

[joolz]

That's stunning detail! I look forward to seeing the whole piece.

my steampunk (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?threadid=703331)

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1232362622_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1232362622_medium.jpg)

Adding the last elements and textures. I?ve modified also the ground, I think it?s better this way.

[Eskarina]

Edit: double post sorry :)

[AUMAKUA]

wow!!! amazing update, really your own style, enormous amounts of detailed work to dig into!

[Eskarina]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1232376121_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17077/17077_1232376121_medium.jpg)

Software: Painter,Photoshop

This is the story of the Lady of Shallot, trapped in a tower by a magical spell, she can only see the real world through a magical mirror. She’s also condemned to weave what she sees in a tapestry.
My version is quite the close to the story except the little robots who are destroying the tapestry to make new thread bobbins.
This piece is about imprisonment, dreams and freedom. Her life is an endless circle(there is a lot of circles in the picture, I can’t tell you how many exactly). She’s trapped in this little room, which is a part of a bigger one, and in her own world there are some others, like the aquarium and the Nautilus. World within worlds… I decided to not add her reflect in the mirror, because she’s not a part of the real world so this magic window can’t reflect her image.
Also this is a huge tribute to Jules Verne. There is a lot of details here about some of his books, like 20000 leagues under the sea, Five weeks in a balloon…All of those stories/references are not considered here as fictions but as real events.
I did not wanted to make something too much mechanical, I choose to keep the concept and the objects believable, the room is mainly inspired by the Victorian style and cabinet of curiosities.

[Gyorkland]

Beautiful piece of art just amazing, great story by the way I´ve never heard it before :bowdown:

[Kerem]

Beautiful interpretation of the Lady Of Shallot! Stunning work in every detail :bounce::applause:

[Intervain]

beautiful finish! the face and leg feel a bit too white, considering there's a yellow light shining on her but I still love the whole thing!

[MartinNielsen]

I agree, that the lighting on her is too bright. But still this is very beautiful work! :)

[rebelakemi]

I love all the details you put in your piece. All the dolls (especially the Toy Story ones that are half spider!) I actually considered doing the Lady of Shalott story (Lorena McKennit has a lovely song and there are a lot of Pre-Raphaelite paintings devoted to the subject), I'm glad I didn't, because yours is so wonderful! 5 Stars!

[IdeasWithBadBreath]

Yours is so beautiful.

[Jakyll]

Wonderful picture!
:love:

[suitepeas]

Your final piece is absolutely stunning. I am in envy!

[Laurore]

This is really a great piece of art,amazing detail.:love:

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