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+---- Thread: smrr's CC I: House Negrea (/thread-7378.html)
smrr's CC I: House Negrea - smrr - 03-17-2016
Hey guys, I'm finally joining the partyarty!
Alright, so, I'm lame af and haven't seen much of GoT at all, however I do remember someone explaining all the different Houses to me, which at the time was super cool and inspired the hell outta me (House Greyjoy's sigil and motto of "We Do Not Sow" is just... ah! So bloody good!). Thus, I couldn't resist picking option 1, giving me the chance to get real detective for the challenge and build House Negrea from the ground up ahah.
I've been researching plenty in the GoT Wikia - mostly about House sigils and how members/bastards wear their heraldry; basically, I've pulled most of my inspiration for this project from looking×reading about the meaning behind House mottos, emblems etc.
I won't bother with creating a legit back story for my Illustration, due to almost complete lack of knowledge. So instead, I'll just include my thought processes. Might be all over the place, because it's mostly idea dumping for myself to see all my ideas laid out in one place. You have been warned.
A little background thought process for the beetle sigil × about inspiration:
I remember reading about how the Ancient Egyptians revered the dung beetle (aka the scarab beetle). Something along the lines of how the slaves who built the pyramids often observed the beetle and it's raw determination of poop ball rolling :D (legit, a ball of dung weight 250x the weight of the beetle, really cool stuff!)
Also, the Egyptians compared the beetle to one of their gods, Khepri, a God that "came into being via nothingness", because they believed the beetle to be of only the male gender lol (no need to go into details here, but it's also über en fuego) other than that, they considered the poop balls which the insect rolled around to be symbolic of the sun... and yknow how Ancient Egyptians worshipped the sun ;) so I've noted that and am trying to incorporate this idea into my rough designs and final illus in some way.
I also pulled inspiration from the Dothraki. I liked the idea that they're nomads and aren't really seen by the other Houses. They sorta just do their own thing. They're like the Spartans of Westeros; teaching their young to become a proficient marskmen from the age of 4; able to fire a bow and arrow from horseback like lil bosses. Crazy stuff @_@. Also, warpaint.
But yeah! I know that for option 1, I've gotta stay in the limitations of Medieval Europe... however, there's nothing wrong in pulling inspiration from an ancient civilisation! lel I'll make it subtle, I swer.
I just wanna get the sigil, motto and ethos to work in unison in the final illus, even if I'm not including say the motto in the final piece... I still want there to be an indication of the motto. Because I reckon it's hella cool if the Negreans were like polar opposites of the uh "Winter Is Coming" folk ... the Starks?
So I researched and found out that the (oh dagz forgive me if I have this wrong lmao) Starks don't use "Winter is Coming" on their banners, etc. as it's more of a word of warning that is uttered in conversation and all that, as opposed to other House mottos like Tyrell's "Growing Strong", which can be seen on embroidery and banners, etc.
So then, I like to think the Negreans would use "Spring is Coming" as a counteract to the Winterfell saying. Perhaps as trolls ahaha. Like, imagine if everyone was all serious with the "Winter..." saying, but then an unsuspecting Negrean, came on over, refilled someone's flagon with some wine, and with a smile, said "Spring is coming :)". lmao
Anyways, I like the idea of an unassuming enemy. Yknow, like how Buddhist monks look pleasant and whatnot... nek minnit, one finger push ups!
So perhaps noone in Westeros knows of the true power that lies within the peaceful Negreans...
For this reason, I'm planning to situate House Negrea on soil that no other House member has been/seen... and if anyone does happen to "stumble " upon the Negreans turf... well, it'll be a visit to remember... or not AHAHA
Alriiiiight yas yas, I'm getting carried away ~
But my imagination is running on all fours. I can't help it.
I imagine the Negreans to be grateful for the land they inhabit. They give back what they take. (like what the Nile River was to the Ancient Egyptians. They worshipped the river for its everlasting sustenance)
But ya, the idea that they're chill, they're Zen, when they're on their land and out in nature... but when crossed... the Negrean are some of the most knowledgable, fierce and unrelenting fighters in all of Westeros.
... I mean, if I were a lowly peon in Westeros... I'd respect the land tenfold, just to be safe and avoid getting on a Negrean's bad-side O_O
Anyway, here's a couple of sketches. Really just tryna flesh out who's gonna be in the final illustration. Think of these as studies and getting ideas out.
sigil. wanted to keep similar to other House designs, hence the front on design. 3rd design = yas,
then moved onto to colour schemes for banner (+ overall look of illustration) - I dig the final 2:
testing to see if sigil design + colour scheme worked in unison with other Houses in GoT by adding my banners to this premade banner thing I found on the Googs:
exploring last two with mood sketches.
trying to figure out the characters more while doing this... I'm visualising what I want more and more as I flesh these out
more thinking blep blop
and some heraldry ideas
More to come! This is just a little of the research stage.
I didn't want to just rush into the thumbnailing stage/illustration without fleshing my ideas out.
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - kopper - 03-17-2016
Wow, you're in it to win it! No crits here, really liking your lose lines and tight design on beetle banners.
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - slash razor - 03-17-2016
Holy Kamolie!!!! just imagine if you had watch the show lol, great start, cant wait to see more...
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - BrushNoir - 03-17-2016
Looks really promising already!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - Amit Dutta - 03-17-2016
Holy hell. That's not a wip, that's an entire IP half completed :) Love the sigils with the dung ball rolling incorporated, nice. One thing with the chars, I would say going towards final, if that's what you will focus on, is show more of the figures, but I think you already know that.
#Littleknownfact, the first contender for the Negrea motto was "rolling dung all day" haha. I shot it down. Bad me.
And of course I love that you are doing your own stylistic thing with this.
Carry on crucibilian!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - BjorkJT - 03-17-2016
Niiiiice! Your process is so good, I don't really have much to critique. Can't wait to see more from you!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - Piotr Jasielski - 03-18-2016
Such an amazing exploration! The dung ball in the sigil made me lol. I really want to see more.
My only crit is, as Amit said, if you're going with the character focused piece, we need to see a bit more (it doesn't have to be 100% of the character visibale, but at least more than a half).
Keep this up!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - John - 03-18-2016
I love the blue-green purple violet color scheme. I totally dig it because it stands out from the rest of the houses.
Which, in turn, could be a problem.
From what I've seen, the Game of Thrones universe love muted, earthy colors. I love that you ran the other way, but I hope it doesn't run too far as to detach itself from the Game of Thrones world. I'm rooting for this to work just because it's a high-risk tightrope act to accomplish.
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - smrr - 03-18-2016
Holy smokes thanks for checking out my poop designs, dagz ( literally ) <3 <3
> Will be sure to check out all your wips tomorrow morning o/
John - Hey thanks a lot, John! Yes, I have to agree with what you said... it's exactly how I feel about the scheme tbh. I've been thinking about how to solve this problem and roughing out some thumbs to work my way to a solution. Thanks for the feedback <3 spot on!
Piotr Jasielski - Ahahaha because poop n_n thanks, Piotr, I'll keep going! Yeah haha, dw I'm on to it
BjorkJT - Too kind, Bjork, too kind! I'll be checking your thread out first thing tomorrow <3 keep pushing, lady!
Amit Dutta - Yousa toosa kind-a (idk why I just went Jar Jar on ya, ._. sorry not sorry lmao) but srsly, cheers Amit! Oh yeah I'm moving onto fleshing out a character that sticks and that I'm proud of before heading into the final illus. Also, WHAT!!?
Bad you indeed...
And yeah, I enjoy everything more when I just let the pen free flow and let it make whatever mark it wants. #deep
BrushNoir - Cheers, Brush! So long as I kick my own ass, I'm happy <3
slash razor - HA! Tbh, researching GoT for this has enticed me greatly to watch it after this challenge lmao. Thanks slash!
kopper - So long as I beat myself, my job is done ~ thank you kindly, kopper <3
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Quick update before tomorrow
With the limited time I had today, I fleshed out a few designs. Again, just trying to chip away at a protagonist and overall feel for my illus.
The extensive thinking and ideation before getting into a finished illustration helps me to visualise comps a lot better; also helps solves even more problems before getting into the trenches.
Just gotta stick to my schedule time-wise to make sure I'm able to finish the illustration before the deadline lmao
Onwards, dagz o/
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - Jan Kloidt - 03-18-2016
Heeeey, good to finally see things again! wasn't sure if i should get worried or not :D but looks like you've been working hard, cool! Glad to see you've recovered from your bad week, so have I! I'll save my crits for the meeting :D tomorrow, same time as always?
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - crackedskull - 03-18-2016
I love everything in here!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - JadeSky - 03-18-2016
I really like your workflow. Its very easy to follow and seems like you have no issues organizing your ideas into very effective designs. Really inspiring.
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - EduardoGaray - 03-18-2016
awesome xD are you sure this isnt a whole new ip you are developing here?
No critiques just waiting to see more. :D
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - Hobitt - 03-18-2016
Looks good so far, keep it up!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - Legion Brewer - 03-18-2016
Awesome work so far! That's a great idea to track the work with a schedule. I was planning to type one up for myself tomorrow.
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - smrr - 03-19-2016
You guys <3 thanks for dropping in!
Legion Brewer - Schedules are great n_n cheers, Legion!
Hobitt - Thanks man, will do *salutes*!
EduardoGaray - lmao xD I'm sure man! Haha, thank ya kindly, Eddy!
JadeSky - Hey Jade, haha thanks, that's cool of you to say because I consider myself really unorganised in any other aspect of my life lol
crackedskull - Bruh! You too kind! Ta <3
Jan Kloidt - Woah woah woah woahawoiha hi you! Guess who I'm about to talk to!? ahahaha <3 talk to you soon :D
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Quick thumbs, I have a fave, but going to make sure I exhaust every other option before I settle. Like. Forreal.
Gotta start soon, so I'll just continue making thumbs tonight and mmm....
Tricky, tricky.
'til next time! Let's keep pushing dagz <3
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - Amit Dutta - 03-19-2016
your thumbnails are so short hand, they make Tyrrian's hands seem like the mountain's (haha stupid GoT joke) Hey as long as you can read them :P Lotsa work....keep that ethic up!!!
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - JyonnyNovice - 03-19-2016
Amazing! You're truly an inspiration to us all Smrr.
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - smrr - 03-19-2016
Y'all too cool 4 pools!
JyonnyNovice - If I inspire at least one person in my life I'll be overjoyed <3 such kind words! Thanks for making me smile, Jon <3!
Amit Dutta - Haha prolly cause I did the thumbs in Autodesk Sketchbook on my mobile lmao > but yas, I can read them <3 Also, I do know who Tyrrian is, so many glorious lulz were had
! Cheers man, will do! It's crunch time_____________________________________________________________________
Couple-a things
More thumbs >
and a thumbs I took a bit further to get a basic idea of where it could go. I like it, but I'm not 100% set on , so I'll try to expand on a couple more thumbs to see my options before I get into it.
P.s. colours are just a placeholder. Not 100% set on them either ~ bleep bloop
RE: smrr's CC I: House Negrea - BjorkJT - 03-20-2016
You're process looks like such a blast! I love how you're not afraid to stay rough when exploring