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WIP enviro - Wardy - 05-16-2014
Hey guys,
I realise i dont post many of my environs for feedback, so i thought i would submit this one at the stage of about 1h.
Its by no means the finished piece or anywhere near it, but the idea is there.
Essentially floating boulders leading down to these swamps/lakes. Thats pretty much it. Will have a dude in the foreground and build that up a bit more, but was just wondering if you guys thought that the composition was working etc at this point?
Will be working on it in a couple hours so would love feedback asap if anything is startlingly wrong.
Thanks!
RE: WIP enviro - Alchimi - 05-16-2014
Hey Wardy,
Nice mood and colors, really! There's a nice sense of atmosphere here. Looks like a sandy scotland.
As for the story part, the "floating boulder" concept, it's not very clear. There's only the one on the right, but it's very big, partly hidden, (so you don't see that it is floating without anything else holding it), it doesn't really have any shadows, there is no other boulders smaller or farther in the image to help the viewer understand that this very big rock floats... At least that's how I read the image when first looking at it. To be honest, if I hadn't read the brief, I'm not sure I would have understood the "flying boulder" concept.
So yeah maybe adding more floating rocks, clearing the foreground rock that overlaps the boulder on the top right of the image, making the principal boulder a little more visible and clearly detached from anythung else could help.
That's my 2 cents. It's a completely personal opinion right after looking at the image.
On a second read, are the little blacks rocks on the bottom left supposed to float?
They don't read well at all imho.
Keep on posting the wip, it's a nice moody image and I would love to see the end result. :)
RE: WIP enviro - Wardy - 05-16-2014
ah yeh that bit on the top left in the distance was meant to be another, but obviously thats not clear, will re do it.
true, its become quite jumbled and im not selling the concept that well at all, still thinking about how im gonna pull focus to the rock without making it look weird and ruin the mood... i was thinking maybe some kind of civilisation with banners or something but i have no clue if im honest, ideas?
Oh yeh, i need to fix them, they were just a quick lasso job, no floatiness!
Thanks will keep working with your suggestions :D
RE: WIP enviro - Amit Dutta - 05-16-2014
Great atmosphere and colours. I totally got the floating rock thing tbh...how many rock masses of that size could stay upright with such a small base?
I'm kinda bored by floating anything-that-shouldn't-float concepts but it's good enough practice.
The comp is a good start, but how about adding a technological foreground element on the left side of the canvas, like a tower mast or antenna or some tech station or something, and have cables leading of from that up into the distance and attach to the rock? Would help drive compositional focus to the rock and use a diagonal to boot.. Maybe make the cables f*in huge pipes, larger than a two story house in diameter, to add even more scale? Have you specifically mapped out where your 3 focal points are going by splitting up the canvas yet?
Maybe try to add a design twist or interest narrative wise to give the concept itself more uniqueness. What is the place, what mythos does it inhabit, who lives there, why should I as a viewer bother to look at this, if it is just another knockoff. I know that's a bit harsh, but no time like the present to ask why and not just what and how.
RE: WIP enviro - Wardy - 05-16-2014
oh hell yes this is possibly the most generic concept in existance but its just a for-fun apres work doodle really. being deliberately original can be too tiring if im honest, i just feel like paintings sometimes as meditation...
Yeah i was thinking about that, i really want to avoid the same composition i always have though- look at my dA gallery and you'll see what I mean, its all just rule of thirds, foreground tech, mid ground focal point, background rocks. I also thought about cables, because they draw the eye nicely, but that exact thing has been done so many times (as has the whole idea i guess). I may still add them in. I experimented with having some sort of lava or blue substance coming from the tip of the rock to make glowing pools, but it just looked too bright unless i made the whole piece super dark and apocalyptic, which im trying to avoid. Too much dark stuff in my gallery.
I always struggle with narrative if im honest, i think it adds a huge amount so i need to get better at it. I think in some ways, to have narrative you have to have a clear concept in mind from the start, which i rarely do. Usually im just doing the Feng 'chaos to control' method, which is the most fun imo. but it means im missing out on any kind of intereseting story to grab the viewers interest.
No, dont worry I dont think thats harsh at all, its very much the truth, this is extremely generic and looking at it as a viewer i would simply think 'meh its kinda colourful but nothing grabbing my attention'. I was thinking about pushing the 3 point perspective a bit more with a lower angle, was sketching in lessons today and that seemed like a better solution.
Do you have any more ideas for narrative/foreground elements?
RE: WIP enviro - Wardy - 05-16-2014
update. darker. blue...
dont like it as much as i did the one before....
RE: WIP enviro - Wardy - 05-17-2014
decided that im gonna go back to an earlier point where i liked where it was going, no point polishing a turd so to speak. gonna try to come up with something original and something with a bit of design now the palette etc is worked out, will keep you guys posted
RE: WIP enviro - ManoRGM - 05-17-2014
I like the way how you create a mood. Great use of colours btw !
RE: WIP enviro - Wardy - 05-17-2014
thanks very much :) awesome new technique i discovered for quick palette generation is using some amazing abstract coloured textures on dA and photobashing until something jumps out at me, then refine from there. Gives you a harmonic palette, shapes, and texture in one, you cant lose :)