Sijun Forums :: View topic - nude... no wait. they're wearing power armour

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:33 pm

couldn't resist.
i'm going to post a bunch of iterations here starting with this sketch:

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:34 pm

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:34 pm

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:35 pm

at this point i did a color comp.

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:36 pm

then refined the sketch a bit, changing the angle of the exarch's head.

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:45 pm

then lopped off the bottom half of the image so i could work almost efficiently in photoshop. spider refinement.

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:46 pm

pretty much final on the head and generator

did a bunch of quickmasks around the generator (backpack) and head... started working with bigger brushes laying in flatter areas of color... it's workin'.

[ July 11, 2002: Message edited by: jerO ]

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:47 pm

put it back with the rest of the image

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:48 pm

similar thing on the bottom... lop/clean/scale sarge up and move him a bit higher... fix his arm, stick it back on the main canvas:

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 3:49 pm

... and realize that i've got the Dark Angels insignia on the WRONG SHOULDERPAD on the guy in the background... it should be on his left.

so... a 3-second digital cheat later:

and i dont have to repaint it.

I'm thinking it's at about 50% completion right now, so i'll have at least 3 or 4 more iterations to post as it progresses further.

jerO

[ July 11, 2002: Message edited by: jerO ]

Gimbal8 · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 4:15 pm

I love posts with progress shots.

Man, you almost have to feel ashamed of such a cheat if it wasn't such a good remedy. lol

Like I said, that good looks mighty good. Your improvements are showing. Wait..that kinda sounds dirty...

jerO · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 11:24 pm

keep your hands off my improvements!!!

popping back and forth between top and bottom, hoping i don't screw up the background.

It's funny because i keep flattening the image... why am i doing this in photoshop again?

zak · Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2002 11:42 pm

the top half of the pic seems to have a different lighting setup from the bottom, i dont know if its just me, but thats what screamed out in my face most. i like the action in the scene, very nice.

jerO · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 12:34 am

no, you're completely right.
i need to bring 'em together.

the spider's leg's a bit flat rignt now lighting-wise... blaming it on fatigue and going to bed

jerO · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 9:17 am

spent 20 minutes on the sarge's head and torso area.

Solitaire · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 10:25 am

nice...well the warp spiders have also been my favourite aspect

jerO · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 12:48 pm

very valid crits man.
the perils of posting stuff in-progress

I'm doing a lot of bouncing around right now, perhaps i should go dude by dude and tighten them up completely before i move on.

I'm not going to make any excuses, i'll look things over and see if i can't address those issues in the next rev. Solidifying shapes shouldn't be much of an issue, fixing design, bigger problem.

Still tryin' to "get it".

any other specific stuff you can point out solutions too, i'd be very grateful.
-jerO

neff · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 1:30 pm

1 dimensional ???

jerO · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 2:32 pm

i took it to mean that it looks like all the figures are pretty much on the same plane, not that the image looked flat.

Mangled Alecto · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 3:58 pm

jero i like the fact that you post all of your steps...its great seeing how someone else works. keep it up, can't wait to see it finished up.

Psionic · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 5:56 pm

Love the progress...but

swapping him to the left makes him left handed and I prefer marines to be right handed

(no offense to lefties') its looking good tho, nice action shots are sorely missing from a lot of 40k pics!!!!

[ July 12, 2002: Message edited by: Psionic ]

jerO · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 10:26 pm

I can't wait to see it finished either, guys.

Psionic... well when you consider the fact that it allows him more freedom with his chainsword...

hehe thanks.

umm... time? dunno. half hour? on armor. and stuff.

Sumaleth · Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2002 11:42 pm

It's developing well, but the design isn't as strong as it might be. It's bit messy, with no clear contrast between shapes and it feels a little 1-dimensional (depth isn't clear).

Just my thoughts.

jerO · Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2002 9:59 am

skipping a step or two.

[ July 13, 2002: Message edited by: jerO ]

jerO · Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2002 4:46 pm

my checklist of things to do:

resolve the whole stairs thing
and tighten up the BG in general.

Spider:
put energy and better lighting back on teh deathspinners (guns)
polish the arms
consider putting crackling energy back on the powerblades.
Marines:
tighten up the kicked figure,
add more dark/contrast to the marines maybe

spot anything else?

[ July 13, 2002: Message edited by: jerO ]

jerO · Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2002 10:03 pm

i'm fine with BG and spinners pretty much at this point. still more to do...

B0b · Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2002 10:42 am

your not by change a wayne england fan are u?

Gimbal8 · Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2002 4:04 pm

I think the stairs would be better if they matched to vanishing point that the other floors in the background indicate.

The front Marine is turning out really nicely. I think to give the image a better look you might want to consider (gulp) another reflected light source coming from the left of a different color. I don't know what color would work well but you could use it (sparingly) to catch the edges of the left side of the forms of the marines and it would help separate them from one another in the large area of green down there.

mitch · Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2002 11:47 pm

its lookin good but i think your overworkin it. try to think of simpler solutions faster. i wanna see speed in your marks. dont be meticulous, be expressive. hesitation is the mind killer. FASTER FASTER!

jerO · Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2002 11:59 pm

bob: yeah, i really like his style. I don't know if i could pull it off that well, but i'm definately trying to think in more flat-areas-of-color. Still haven't really found my style yet.
there are pieces of this that are wayne, some are Kev Walker, some are trying to be Dave Gallagher

Mitch: WOAH, SLOW DOWN!

i think you kinda hit the nail on the head though. it's SO HARD tyring to get the loose, painterly feel and still get the hard, clean edges i need.
or maybe i'm trying to bee all things to all men. dunno. Are those mutually exclusive?
jerO