Steampunk Myths and Legends Entry: Midhat Mido Kapetanovic

[midoka5]

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The inspiration for these illustrations came from H. C. Andersen’s story “The Little Mermaid” in combination with a turn-of-the-century, late 1800’s steam-punk cyborg design.
The Little Steammaid tells a sad tale of a girl whose life took unthought-of turns after her parents were brutally murdered and she was left to die by a group of pirates and mercenaries. With the help of a mechanical suit designed by a pioneering surgeon and an insatiable thirst for revenge, she roams the seas seeking her parent’s murderers and the criminal master-mind behind her unfortunate condition. Unable even to breathe oxygen that has not been extracted through her machine-gills, she maintains constant vigil over the harbors, seeding tales of horror among superstitious sailors that somewhere under the water’s surface punishment awaits all evil men...

[midoka5]

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Here is another one from the Little Steammaid saga. This one was done to get a sense of her facial features and the breathing apparatus on her chest.

[OZ]

WOW:.. i can say only WOW...

[walrus]

Neat concepts! I love the effect you got with the underside of the water. How did you do that? It looks like it might be just the sharp smudge tool or liquify? Anyhow, looks really great. As for your layouts, I think the first one shows off the character better: Too much detail gets lost in the foreshortening in the latest one, imho. But anyhow, good luck with the rest!

[Womball]

I like the first one as well. However be careful about that hand that is reaching in the water. People with dirty minds might think he isn't there to help her out of the water! Also does she have one arm? The other arm I think should be reaching for that outstretched arm.

[midoka5]

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This rendition of the Little Steammaid was done to show the Quasi-steam turbine on her back. It is the source of power for her mechanical appendage as well as the breathing apparatus on her chest.

[midoka5]

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"She used to play among these big guns when she was a child...When her daddy, the Captain, was alive...When she was human..."

[midoka5]

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I just LOVE painting figures in aquatic environment! The Proportions are always different, lines are a little askew, and there is an omnipresent feeling of mystery.
The only downside is that, because of all that water I constantly have to visit the LIttle Artists Room... ;-)

[adrephil]

hey midhat...see you just updated....i love you concept and the story behind it:thumbsup: ...can't wait to see more.....by the way... WELCOME to Cg society!!:wavey: :scream:

Karisa:)

[midoka5]

Thank You all for the kind words of encouragement and creative critics. Every opinion is most appreciated so, I'll keep on drawing and you keep commenting!

Rots of rove! ;)

P.S. I'm not exactly a newcomer to CG Society; my coleague Kenan Tuzi and I won the Team Entry first prize for the ArtSPACE competitiom for our illustration "Tumbleweed Town". He did the 3D models, while I created the entire concept and also did the textures and background matte in Photoshop and Painter.

[Womball]

Now #4 is your strongest! Love the background. Maybe a zoom of the mermaid from that one, while retaining some background.

[walrus]

I agree, I love #4 also - although it's more of an action/exploration piece and doesn't say much about the character and her situation. Thanks for the message you sent me about your ripples, but you didn't need to PM just me: The whole point of having your work-in-progress in a public forum like this is sharing your techniques and process with everyone, not just the one person who asked! :)

Anyhow, lovely work, keep going!

[SpetsK]

Got to love how you visualize water, it really feels wet. I feel the taste in my mouth :)
Good work and keep going - would like to see what's your final.
Cheers,
Kerti

[llama-d]

This is looking really good, you do beautiful water effects. The first concept is my favorite composition.

[midoka5]

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I have always felt a little uncomfortable (not to say SCARED) watching submarine movies, especially scenes where the crew of a ship sees a bubbly wake, knowing that a torpedo is coming and there's nothing they can do about it.
Little Steammaid is a weapon of revenge; fueled by anger and steered by a singular purpose she is an ultimate aquatic killer.
As far as those pirates are concerned, death has NEVER been more imminent...

[midoka5]

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This shows the somewhat radical procedure that saved Steammaid's life. I don't know about you, but waking up beneath the surface of water with a huge glowing eyeball poking and prodding you is what nightmares are made of...

[W-I-L]

strong concept mate... like the last idea best but not the compsition... i feel removed from the emotion of the piece if you know what i mean. maybe showing her face would be better.

[djamadj]

WOW,
i like it.

really impress me,

but i agree with last post,
i want to see her suffering face!

[bgda]

lovely drawings and concept! I'm also using the mermaid myth (:
keep it up, dude!

see ya

[M477]

Hey, really nice concepts, you'll have enough to illustrate the comic at this rate! I personally like the images of her in the sea, but understand it's not so easy to tell the story. Perhaps have her in the act of desroying the pirate ship? That could be cool, lots of bubbles and very dramatic.

:buttrock:

[midoka5]

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I think this is what freedom tastes like...

[midoka5]

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A touch of memory long lost...

[Kerem]

all are beautiful concepts! I'd wish it's a movie! :D

[authentic]

great amount of concept with really strength mood. congrats.

[midoka5]

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I guess that being able to balet your way out of being chased by a squadron of steam-powered frog submersibles at the deapth of 100m, truly defines the phrase "GRACE UDNER PRESSURE"...

[midoka5]

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I think that I?ve experimented with EVERY conceivable creature to create an ultimate scary steam-powered submersible. And after all the sharks, octopi and sea mammals, I think it?s safe to say that the stuff of nightmares is definitely a frog. Granted, this one is mostly skeletal and has three hind legs, but I was anxious to incorporate in its design an ultimate amphibian?s weapon; a retractable and lightning-fast harpoon tongue which is used to snatch prey and drag it in range of the pincer-claws. The pilot sits in a glass (270 degree) transparent bubble on his stomach in the fashion of Wright brothers? FLYER. The extra leg is there for two reasons: firstly, to provide a 120 degrees steering system to handle pitch and yaw maneuvers and secondly, to satisfy my own sense of macabre. I hate frogs. I understand their role in every ecosystem, but why would people keep them as pets is beyond me...

[midoka5]

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This is a thumbnail sketch which I used to experiment with composition and lighting. I basically did a variation on a pose of the statue of the Little Mermaid watching over the harbor of Copenhagen. I like the simple physical longing that the artist captured and it truly represents not just the quest for the unreachable in all of us, but also pure genius that was Hans Christian Andersen.

[midoka5]

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I used heavy backlighting when it came to the portrait of the Little Steammaid because it seemed to me that the best time of day in which the action of the illustration would transpire would be the sunset. The way in which the sun erases the clear line between the clear sky and polluted metropolis is just right, and since the light source is placed beneath her chin there is a big emphasis on her eyes.

[midoka5]

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OK, by popular demand from my girlfriend, colleagues, neighbors (and a strange man from a marketplace that sells beets and other root vegetables) I decided to render one more concept illustration before I submitted the final entry.
It depicts our beloved Steammaid locked in mortal combat with her arch rival and it paves the way for the ultimate depiction.
Some may say that I have submitted a couple pieces of conceptual artwork too many, but I felt that the story of the Little Steammaid is spread over a vast universe. Not just of locations, but also of her emotional states.
If you have enjoyed viewing my illustrations half as much as I have doing them, then it has been worth it.

All the best and rots of rove from your friend from the boiler room,

Mido

[midoka5]

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Since there's something wrong with the "upload final entry" option on the CGSociety server, I decided to submit (yet another) conceptual sketch.
It's the top and side view of our favorite aquatic heroine.

[lucar]

Hi Mido, fantastic work.. You told us a story, not a simply illustration.. good luck!


Luca
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?threadid=696220

[midoka5]

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Software: Photoshop

“Not every Evil is evil in itself; to turn the mirror around and realize one’s greatness is hardest when you are small and helpless…”-he whispered, hunched over, not noticing the shadows that the ships’ oil lamp drew across his face. He didn’t feel the rocking of the waves nor did he hear the howl of the wind. The salty air tasted stale in his mouth.
But, I had only those things.
My senses.
The waves laid me down in an old cradle where I saw the eyes of one old and sad teddy-bear. The last glimpse of lucidity remembered only that and the thin rays of sunlight that cut the deep water.
Freedom within nothingness is strange. God’s wisdom is not revealed to everyone. While I cut the waves to the place where no one is waiting for me, it hurts me but then I go wild with sudden freedom and unchained release! The surface glimmers and folds beneath me while dolphins, silvery fish and seagulls teach me my first steps just like a mother.
I cried bitter tears when I first met him. I was in the sea and he was on the shore, the good old Doctor; my friend, my second father. He said: “I did what I could to wrench your life from the hands of fate. You are where you are.”My new body was in spasm and the tears mixed with seawater, while a desperate cry of pain gathered on my voiceless lips. He saw that and said: “All of my memories of your parents are now in you. I helped you even though I could not do anything for them. The thing that I now place in water is my revenge. Your Enemy does not sail anymore; he has retired to land and pulls his wicked strings from there. There is nothing more I can give you but a chance to get even. Take it if you wish.”
As I swam to the deep, I heard him whisper:”Swim, my little Steammaid. I will pray to the Almighty that we meet again on the waves…”
Now I only have my cradle and my teddy, a sad reminder of someone else’s joy in which I drowned my own sorrow and my failed dreams. I don’t know how long I’ve slept…
I am a warrior now, an avenger that prays on the ships and their crews. The sea has shown me the way to kill an evil octopus that is my Enemy, how to pluck one by one of its tentacles. While I hunt down his men, I dream of a day when his silhouette will be submerged in front of me. That will be the day of reckoning. The ocean in which I swim carries the memories of loved ones.
I swim, feared by some, unseen by all others.
After all the battles, there is just the sea and my cradle in which I laid all my memories. Two stories merged into one. Let them dream, let them rest…until another shadow appears on the ocean’s surface.

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