Uplift Universe - Image Entry: Mats Minnhagen

#6

REally nice layout and composition: I like your premise so far, Mats. To push it further, I think you should work on your alien robot design to make it seem more alien. Right now, all of the robots seem like they could easily be human-made robots: They’ve got heads, they’re bilaterally symmetrical. Even the 4-legs look like something a human would come up with.) It thus feels not like a piece about human/alien interaction but about all of the robots mourning their late, lamented creators. To really achieve what you’re shooting for, really try to push the design further, go for something that really screams “not from this planet.” Good luck!

#7

Beautiful atmosphere and colors. I’m looking forward to the final work too :thumbsup:

#8

Wonderful story, great atmosphere and composition. Very interesting!

#9

very powerful image here! the last update screams with success! keep posting!

#10

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it a lot, especially when dealing with “deep” subjects like this; you can never quite tell if you’re way off track or not:)

Michael: That’s a very good point! Thank you. It’s very important that you don’t mistake the aliens for other man-made robots, then the whole story is lost. I’ll try out some other designs. They’re not supposed to be robots at all, but “real” aliens in some kind of space suits.

#11

I’m looking for a new alien design that looks more alien, and can’t be mistaken for another robot. It’s important that it somehow looks intelligent.

#12

New colour sketch, closer to the first thumbnail. I’m looking for something more gloomy and low-intensity.

#13

I dunno what thay thing is, but it’s certainly alien! Nice work. It might be nice to pull the “hands” up a bit so we can see the silouette of teh “fingers,” they’re really interesting… maybe even have one hand gesturing? (Or maybe that’s not low-key enough for what you’re aiming for.)

Here’s another idea: What if you flipped the top hald of the image - the half with the alien in it - so that all of the motion read left to right? Right now robon and human motion is left-to-right but the alien is moving right-to-left. I’m just wondering whether the whole thing might flow better if all the motion was in a similar direction?

Anyhow, looking good! Keep working away at it.:thumbsup:

#14

That’s another really good idea, Michael! Thank you! I’ll definitely experiment with that.

#15

Lovely colours and a very well thought concept. I kinda liked the gloomier and atmospheric feel of the first sketch, try not to loose that in the process. The human is a bit too dark at the moment and its not as readable as in previous submisions, maybe adding secondary light sources (candle-like thingies) could help.
Keep the creative juices flowing, you’re doing great.

#16

i like the tunnel formation of the rocks. the shapes and composition have a good draw in quality.

#17

Great sketches and concepts! Can’t wait to see more.

Looked through your portfolio - great work :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Dimitrij.

#18

I’m playing around with Michael’s idea of flipping the upper part of the painting. It’s true that the overall sense of direction becomes more harmonious, and also the grave statue gets some empty space around it, and thus feels more solemn.
Gaesherald: Thanks for the feedback! I want the only secondary light to be the robot’s weak red diode, but I added some reflections from the sky on the tomb. The tomb gets more focus in this composition, so I definitely need the statue to come out of the shadows.
Cornelius&Dimitrij: Thanks, guys!

#19

I’ve done the masking and begun the rendering, starting out with the background and the ruined chamber. I don’t think I’ll have the fossilized corals covering as much as I originally envisioned, but maybe some more than this. Especially in the city; it looks too clean (I’m not too happy with the design of the buildings either). Also having some problems with the tomb, I need to add something around the statue, some pattern or sculpted cloth.

#20

Cool progress. Try not to loose the warm and sweet pinkish-orangish hues in the background, beacuse the add a lot to the image.:slight_smile:

#21

I’ve painted the characters as well and added some detail on the tomb. I’m not very happy with this painting but I’ll have to wrap it up soon. Maybe it would be better without the aliens, but then it wouldn’t work at all with the theme.

#22

I think you can be happy with this piece :slight_smile: It looks good.

Though it is not clear to me, what the alien is actually doing in there, without knowing the story behind it.

#23

I like the changes you’ve made to the aliens. The don’t look hostile or monster-like now.

#24

Some drastic changes. I thought I didn’t actually need the aliens walking up to the scene, they’re already represented by the ships. So I removed them altogether. The robot is just watching them land. I also changed the composition a bit so it fits better with these changes.
Martin and Nick: Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments!

#25

Here’s the final image. The story goes like this:
In a distant future explorers from outer space reach earth. As they approach the surface to land they discover the ruined remnants of a civilization. Where are the beings who built it? They all died millions of years ago. But deep in the shadows of this silent tomb something is still alive. Someone was left behind, long ago, to pass on the tale to whoever came next…
I know it’s pretentious, and slightly out of the Challenge theme, but it’s an entry. At least I participated:)
Many thanks to everybody who gave feedback on this piece - it was much appreciated!