The Journey Begins Challenge (2D) Entry: jonny duddle

#201

And here’s the whole image with the base colours blocked in…

More to come later…?

#202

Beelow: Cheers Bryce! And nope… i decided that i’ve got too much on to get into the Thunderdome! Although i’ve been pretty close a few times over the last couple of days… i even typed a reply tyoday and then changed my mind again!

posh: A tesco!? It’s gonna have to be a diddy one, innit? Speak soon about da beer…

artvandeley: Thanks! I’m still in and hoping that i get time to get it finished!

#203

Looks great already! I really hope you can get it finished…

Don’t feel too bad about Painter - I’ve been using IX since about October, and I’m still getting to grips with it! In fact, I switched from acrilic brushes to oil brushes a few hours ago, and I feel more comfy with those… Those are the standard oils by the way - not the artists oils (cool though the are…).

Keep going! :thumbsup:

#204

I know what you mean about the brushes… I really want to work in the oils and artists’ oils but it’s just so weird and different to my normal working practices in Photoshop. Most of this was done with a wet round gouache which seems to blend and mix nicely…

#205

Haha, I was planning to use digital watercolor for my entry, but I chickened out :smiley:
I use my beloved oils instead :slight_smile:

Great start! Looking lovely already.
Don’t forget to put a (huge) hammer and sickle (or some other Soviet landmark) on one of those buildings :slight_smile:

#206

Glad to see it moving along, Jonny.

He’s giving mini Chimpski a goodbye hug before trotting off to that rocket in the background, yes? I think everyone will assume that, but I also think it would be possible to see this as Chimpski’s triumphant return ( ‘the journey ends’ if you like ) as there’s nothing to confirm that the rocket’s about to launch, or that our simian pioneer is about to travel towards it.

A big timer with COUNTDOWN written on it on top of one of the buildings might be a bit crude, but have you got any plans to add anything like that to reinforce that this is a beginning rather than an end? The only things that pop into my head - having Chimpski with his foot on a ladder leading up the side of the rocket or reversing the viewpoint so he’s facing the rocket, showing it’s presence with a giant cast shadow on the buildings behind - are still a bit ambiguous and would mean fiddling about with your composition.

Hmm. Maybe a little too much analysis going on in my head. Is it a nice piccy? Yes. Job done, then - probably best not to pay much attention to the random wafflings of bored blokes starting their afternoon by poking around on art forums.

Looking forward to the finish! :smiley:

#207

Hi Matt! Surely you can’t be too bored?? There must be plenty to do… And i see you’ve bitten the bullet on the Last Man Standing sequel… maybe you’ll come up against Aly at some point! :eek:

HmmMm… I’d never really thought about the possibility of it being a return. I might include a counter somewhere, but it might just look like a clock unless, like you say, it says ‘countdown’, or ‘launch’, in a nice russian-esque typeface perhaps? Or i could take the really easy route and call the image ‘Farewell Chimpski: Hero of the Soviet Union’…? I have thought about adding a small case alongside him, but that doesn’t help either way i 'spose. I’m also hoping that having all the radar and most other point bits in the composition pointing at the moon will suggest that he’s heading moonwards. And there’s a little Mrs.Chimpski bottom right who’s gonna be blubbing into her hankie.

Give Aly a cuddle from me… :slight_smile:

Art2: The hammer and sickle’s a good idea… cheers! And i’ve not tried the digital watercolour yet. There’s just too many things to play with in Painter!

#208

Nice work Jonny - and good to see you back in the challenge…

Love the new composition…

I’m still using Painter 8 but the brushes are something else - I wish I had discovered it earlier, but after trying Painter Classic I stuck with Photoshop / quantel paintbox for last 10 years…

Oils and Blenders are best, though still prefer the airbrush in Photoshop which is cleaner…ooops rambling now…sorry… too much red wine at lunch

Hope it doesn’t / didn’t rain too much in Wales :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

#209

nice composition. i hope you finish this cos i love that character. I’ve also been getting to grips to painter. i still do my basic colouring in photoshop but i use the course oil blender in painter for blending my colors. i love that brush!
good luck with your painting.

#210

I’ve done a bit of fiddling with the proportions of Chimpski…

The arm supporting Chimpski Jnr was bothering me and i’ve made Chimpski’s head bigger. Hopefully his pose reads as a little more dynamic…?

And i’m still a little concerned about getting this done on time with my workload and my camping trip.

Ho hum.

#211

Careful, baby’s getting lost in there! I think you should make the sky a tiny bit more desaturated, to really play off that orange. This is coming along fantastically!

#212

I haven’t been here in a while. It is looking nice.
I agree with the earlier comment about inswerting some moe story elements if at all possible. the countdown timer is a good one. A crowd with signs would be another. I am sure you could figure it out.
OK for a quick crit. If it is supposed to be at night then the reds would be less saturated.
If they are lit by artificial light then the sky would be darker. a underlit lighting solution would be perfect for this I bet. It would also bring the focus down to the character. You could have the light fade vertically to make the rockets and stuff mostly sillouetted in the sky. I could imaginie being pretty cool lighting. like green fluorecent to make his ornge suit pop.

And finally for the Painter thing. I enjot oil pastels it’s like painting and drawing at the same time. with a simple digital watercolor wash from time to time. and when I am crazy, a modified fuzzy bristle brush to soften edges.

Good luck!

#213

Nice and touching scene, Jonny! I know how baby chimps can be so adorable! Like Paperclip said, the baby sort of blends into the astronaut suit. Perhaps a white cloth wrapping it up into a bundle will bring it to attention better, no?

I hope you can finish it in time because it is a very cute piece! All the best, duddlebug!

#214

We’ll, if we’re all going to over-analyzye everything, doesn’t the mere fact that there’s a rocket in the picture indicate that it’s the beginning of the journey? After all, those things are all one-use thruster-rockets. If it were the end of the journey, he’d be in a splash-down capsule, just the lander.

So just keep moving forward, stress over the finicky details later, and worry about your own countdown timer in the mean-time! :slight_smile:

-mike

#215

I like the idea, much better than your other sketchs.
I’m agree with paperclip about the monkey baby.
Until now all looks great, hope you finish. Keep going.

#216

I pick up beginning of journey with this entry, so I have no problem the way it is looking, work on, johnny!:thumbsup: You may change your mind again haha, on TD, peace dude will be back to leave a few words, on the final entry!:thumbsup:

#217

Very nice image and idea! The space between his “low” head and the helmet is great!

#218

Well Duddle. We’ve tried everything else.
Text’s don’t work, phone calls, e-mail, all a no go.
Guessed maybe the only way to get a response from you these days was on a CG talk forum.

Your picture is lovely, now call your friends in the real world occaisionally!
And don’t make me have to embarace you infront of your computer generated friends again!

#219

i’ve been watching your thread almost every day during last two weeks waiting for your final image! it could be one of the most favourable works to get the prize! i suppose you made a lot of people disapoinded not finishing this work. :sad:

#220

Oh man…, I aggree with Ozoz… Its sad to see a piece with so much pontential unfinished.:frowning:
Chippinsky was one of my favorytes ones.