[Lunatique]

I know what you're thinking. This isn't something you'd normally expect from me. Anyway, it's a concept piece, but I got a bit carried away with it.



It's a command base out in the middle of nowhere--just mountains all around. I went for a fairly minimalistic design, keeping the feel utilitarian yet still futuristic. One of the most important aspects I wanted to depict was a mixture of indoor and outdoor in equal amounts. It was important to me because I was thinking about the design as a corner of a game level--one that would be fun to play in. I could imagine myself in the game, flipping over a mountain and seeing this command base sitting right there, waiting for me to explore. There's an entrance to the underground levels, which make me wonder what I'll run into if I do down there, and there's a connecting bridge to a dome-shaped structure--more mysteries to explore. I love connecting bridges between buildings--whenever I get to cross them I always savor the expereince. I think it's because they are so specific--designed for the sole purpose of taking you to another building--one that's important enough to warrant a walkway up high in the sky. I gave some parts of the command base enough wear and tear so that it looks lived in, but I also wanted it to look like it's fully powered and functioning, so I had all the lights on, the energy tubes flowing, and the control consoles monitoring system activities. You might notice that in one of the close-ups, the control labels are reversed. I flip the image horizontally so much when I paint that I must've done those letters while I had the image flipped. You musicians out there could probably tell that the control consoles bear some similarities to music production gear--yes, it was intentional, just for the hell of it.

Some close-ups:

[frantic]

Whoa!!! Thats hell of a work man. Really impressive! How much did it take to complete? What program did you use? Just curious...

Great!!!



PS: That would be a lovely style for an adventure game. Or even for a fps. But more likely for an adventure, it would kick ass!!!
_________________
Emir YARDIMCI
www.emirart.com

The Frayed Ends Of Sanity...I Hear them calling me...

[Tomasis]

very cool! I see a lot Eyewoo inspiration and style there.

refreshing!

[Affected]

I don't think this is exactly your best work... I don't know what this is for exactly, but the style seems very reminiscent of children's tv shows to me. I think it's the high-saturation colours, and that you have a bit of every colour in there. The structure isn't presented in the most interesting manner either. You have very uniform lighting throughout the space, which doesn't make for a very interesting image. The light sources don't really glow, and generally the image lacks dynamics. Just having a higher contrast would help a lot.

Also the general design seems a bit uninspired. I know you meant for minimalism, but some details would help sell it better: should there be some railings in place? should the pillars have small bases to them? Is the scale of the elements optimal? What goes down that hatch in the ground? If people, isn't the opening too small in comparison to the other elements? Do you want it to be an impressive or imposing structure, or more of a homely thing? if the former, should the space be higher?

I hope I don't come across as being too harsh, but I honestly think you could do better with a bit more time spent on designing the general visual vocabulary of this place. If I'm being unfair, well, I've posted a few things recently you can rip to shreds in return...

[helltaxi]

Id have to agree, im seeing a lack of architectual theme. It looks like alot of blocky tech stuff placed arbitrarily. Id like to see some kind of element of inspiration in the design, or at least some sort of repeating themes

edit: also, natural sunlight doesnt cause shadows to radiate like that, its far enough away that shadows would be pretty much parallel
_________________
http://www.whitehallstudios.com
http://www.whitehallstudios.blogspot.com

[Lunatique]

Thanks for the C&C--very helpful!

frantic - This one's pretty much all Photoshop. This type of image requires more surgical type of accuracy when painting, and less spontaneous artsy mentality, and Photoshop is better IMO for this kind of work.

I worked on it on and off for quite a while. I tend to get bored working on one piece for too long, so I jump around to other pieces.

Tomasis - That's an interesting observation. I guess I could maybe see what you mean, but in reality, I don't think eyewoo's stuff crossed my mind even once while painting/designing the piece. My influences are mostly from real life/anime/manga/films/games/sci-fi-fantasy illustrations. But I do like eyewoo's stuff though--he's been doing some cool stuff that's very different from what we usually associate with his work.

Affected - Awesome comments. This is definitely not my best. I think it's pretty obvious my passion lies in characters and storytelling, but since we're all commercial artists, we need to broaden our horizon as much as needed. I used to do a lot more environments when I worked in comics, but it's been a while since I concentrated on it, so I'm pretty rusty.

The colors are vibrant because I wanted to do something different from the stereotypical look that's become a standard. I also remember that the last Tribes game had some vibrant colors to differentiate the different factions--and I thought that worked quite well.

The lighting is uniform because I thought about how I would want to light a control station like that if I had to work in it. I would want even lighting so that nothing can hide in the shadows, and everything that needs to be observed would be even and clear. I always remember in movies, something/someone always hides in the nooks and crannies or in the shadows--which could be avoided with design/lighting. But you're right in that it makes a less interesting image. However, the design is the main purpose, and how it looks as an image is secondary.

I did think about railings at one point, but I guess I forgot all about it as time went on. I should put it back in. I also wondered if I should give the pillars bases of some sort, but I thought maybe it would start to take away from the minimalist look. Maybe a dark grey-colored base would be a good idea. Now that you pointed it out, the hatch does seem too low--the problem is that the control panel to the right ended up a lot bigger than the original design, and I was supposed to scale it back down but forgot all about it. Oops...

You're not being unfair at all. This is precisely the kind of C&C that helps others grow. Thanks!

helltaxi - I'll think about what else I can do to it to liven thing up bit. It'll probably take away from the untilitatian feel a bit, but we'll see. Good point about the sunlight. Is there a guideline as to how far it must be to cause shadows to be totally parallel? Maybe a chart of different positions of the sun as it crosses the sky, and the kind of shadow it throws.

[Affected]

actually, if you're facing the sun, then objects between you and the sun will cast (seemingly) non-parallel shadows due to perspective. I think your shadows are fine in this one.

[Immortal_Souls]

I think the shadows are fine too. If the sun has just hit the middle of the horizon, they should be still strong. Hehe, either that or Im playing too much Elder Scrolls: Oblivion on 360
_________________
Why dont you clone yourself!
-- Why's that?--
So you can go and F*** yourself!!!
*Quote from Arnold Schwartzeneggars movie The 6th Day*