[Steven Stahlberg]

Yes, this is the intellectual part of the forum... Sorry...
But I thought the swat-bot design is kinda cool - it can 'hunker down', lowering the barrel shaped carapace and holding the heavy forearms like shields, thus becoming safe from small arms fire. From 1990, recently scanned and touched up a bit.

[dr . bang]

Very very very nice! It's really hard to find any error in this picture. Some suggestion though, would it be better if the red light comes from the robot instead of some offpicture source?

[Morbid Guy]

This is pretty cool. I really like the girls face, looks very nice. The bit that bothers me the most about it is her arm on the left. The shadow on the join doesn't look right to me, I think it is to strong, and is confusing the arm structure. I think if you subtly define the line of the bicept a little, it may help. Nice work.

[topeira]

hey, this is really good. like it a lot. i wonder why so few comments on that one.

how did u make this? what prog? hat technique? looks unique.

well done, lad

[exo13]

looks great. Something about the hands though. They seem a little off or just in need of a little cleaning up. Nothing too drastic.

[Tiger Eaten]

I'm not crazy about her face but I really like her legs. (but then I'm a legs man myself.)

The robots head could be a little more sinister maybe? Very nice work all. Nice metal working as well.

[Steven Stahlberg]

Thanks guys. dr.bang: red light from robot, good idea. Morbid: yes something funny with left armpit, funny how you don't really see stuff until someone else says it... topeira: it's oil color and Berol pencil on grainy heavy paper (I think you call them Prismacolor pencils?). exo13: yes the hands got kinda left out at the detailing stage I guess. Tiger: sinister? Ok... maybe smaller eyes, and more of them, like a spider?

[Frost]

Cool stuff Steven. I like the hand in the foreground, looks like something out of a movie frame or something. =)

[Basement bound]

I have been sifting around here and everyone has great ideas. I find alot when I sit down to draw 'I got nothin'. Where does everyones ideas all come from? Steven this is your thead ... what inspires you?

[Steven Stahlberg]

Hm, one of those really difficult questions, how do people get ideas, where do they 'come from' so to speak?

I think our subconscious does something like an internet Search through our stored memories when we're trying to come up with an idea. It sifts, and chooses, brings something, someimes a bunch of things, up to the higher levels and we become aware of it. The choosing should be guided by criteria we consciously provide, but sometimes the lower levels play tricks with the higher levels of our minds and give us things we didn't quite 'ask' for. So we do another Search.

What can we do to improve the results of this process?
1. We can make the amount of stored facts larger. There's nothing like experiences to make you creative. Books, movies, travel... from this point of view, any change in status quo is a good change.
2. Train our subconscious to respond with wider searches, and choose better - the only way to do this of course is to practise being creative. It's a muscle, that grows with use, just like any other.
3. Discipline ourselves not to accept the very first search results, but go again, and again... and maybe again...

Other things that are good: I've noticed increasing the oxygen flow to the brain helps - jogging or walking (alone!) is excellent, even a hot shower helps, for me at least.
No distractions! No phone, no conversation, no annoying outside noises. I've noticed that being very bored at airports sometimes gets the brain going - for 2 reasons I think: 1. I'm travelling and so getting lots of new impressions. 2. Those impressions have temporarily ceased and I'm almost in sensory deprivation from boredom, so the brain starts sorting through those impressions, and sometimes makes a startling connection.
Lying down on the floor, or pacing the apartment, sometimes gets something going. Remember the subconscious is not a machine like a car, where you press a button and it responds immediately, sometimes it will respond hours or days later to a conscious request. So relax, and don't force it.
Learn to notice things around you: take notes, make sketches, then turn things around: what if? is the best question you can ask. What if I reverse this situation? Or what if instead of x, this was y? Follow absurd thoughts through, to their logical conclusion.
Hope some of this rambling makes sense.

[Jucas]

I really like this, except I think there is a major problem; the colors of the background (green/red) and the foreground (girl/knife/robot) compete for attension. The background really takes away from the image, makes it hard to look at because there is no real focal point.

Perhaps if there is less color contrast and more light and dark contrast it would clear things up a bit, also if the background was darker this would allow the glare on the knife to be much more prominant making it stick out and bringing it closer to the viewer.

Perhaps incorporating a dynamic light source from down or in front would be nice, espically if the girls front was lit up. This could really bring out the expression in the girls face.

Enough outta me,
jono

[Basement bound]

Thanks Steve. I used u as an example in 'flock to the females' thread hope you don't mind.

[catnip]

Hey Steven,
I have a question. Why do "boys" love to "see"
women in "forced"or dominated positions? Why didn't you make this a man instead of a woman?
That aside, the art work is great. But I'm really annoyed at the "little boy" mentality.
Hunor me, make the same illustration...but put a man in his underware being held by the robot and include the knife...I bet you just "whinced".
I doubt all the "boys" who just commented on how "cool" the illustration is, would not have the same "response".

[Steven Stahlberg]

Hi, gotta rush out the door - quick reply before I go - yes I agree, this is a basic difference between boys and girls, or men and women if you prefer. It's not a 'little boy' mentality either, anybody who has this preference as a teen will have it just as much as an adult, it's just that they will better be able to control it and hide it. And - most men have it, even if they won't admit it. Refer to all the movies about pretty young women getting killed or stalked or something, almost never is it a beautiful young man alone in a dark street that suddenly hears footsteps behind him, and the reason of course is men and women function a bit differently in this regard, something that IMO can't be changed by an act of will or 'indoctrination' at an early age...

I agree it's unfortunate, and I wasn't sure if I should post this old thing. But I thought the hardware was cool enough to warrant it. Oops, sorry, got to go! (I'll be back in 3 days)

[Martita]

Wow, nice work.
The only thing that seems a bit odd to me is the bikini of the girl. Seems to be "painted" over her skin, instead of a cloth.
But I love the pic. I wish situations like this appeared in Unreal.

[William H. Daniels]

I love this pulp fiction style. I have a really nice book on pulp covers that you would love! I'll try to find the author's name.

On the subject of "girl bondage" art, this has been around for a long time. Even in Greek mythology, you have girls tied to rocks and left for sea monsters. I think it comes from every guy's subconcious dream of being a hero that saves the girl. Looking at that image, I can imagine myself swooping in to save the day.


Or maybe not.

EDIT: Pulp Art by Robert Lesser
Gramercy Books
ISBN 0-517-20058-9


Amazon Listing

[ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: William H. Daniels ]

[A.Buttle]

I think Jucas has got it right. The brightness of the blues and greens in the background are distracting. In this example, I quickly desaturated those areas and left the red so it would make sense. I think this one is a little less distracting.



Otherwise, this picture rocks. Way to portray a woman with natural looking breasts.

[Anthony]

Men are less likely, historically, to be raped or sexually assaulted. The main reason is that men are stronger, and also that men are more proactively sexual in nature. That's why chick flicks involve romance, and sensative men, as opposed to muscular men in underwear, whereas guy flicks invariably involve dames in little or no clothing. There's no point in hiding that or trying to change it-it's part of human nature, and as humans, it's our lot to play our part. Personally I don't like seeing a picture like this, I don't find it alluring or seductive or interesting. But I'm in the minority, as I'd rather a film had some romance than unabashed sexual intonations.

Sorry I didn't comment on the pic itself Steve!

[Akolyte]

-Guy from "The Waterboy"

"Cut her fucking head off!"

[Collosimo]

Jucas and A.buttle...

I agree with their point.

Nice illustration. I really like it.

[Steven Stahlberg]

Just want to add a last quick reply (been away a few days).

The new background rocks, thanks guys! Now that I see it this way I'd go even farther and make it much darker too.

Steven

[Ben Barker]

I don't know, I like the old backgroud better. Pulp art was meant to attract your attention on the news stand.

[Gordillo]

Wow,cool pic!! , reminds me the old "Weird Tales" cover art.

[Perplexer]

very nice work. i like the texture it has to it. the composition lacks a bit imho since the entire action seems to shift a little to the middle and lower right side of the frame. however, nicely rendered, very cool image.