[Skeezer]

Hello,

I'm trying to get a job as an environment/vehicle designer and this was done as a test. I like this okay, but the value/color seems off to me, and an hours worth of color correction did no good. I think It might have been screwed up to begin with.




-Isaac

[0mega]

I think it looks Great!
I'm just alittle confused as to whats casting the shadow under the nose of the airship or if its a person thats yet to be finished.

[Skeezer]

Omega, thanks...I forgot about the scale reference, I must have over looked it =)

[Sumaleth]

Thats nice, but I think you're lacking some interest in the surfaces department. Everything is like a dull plastic. Check out Spooge's catalogue for an examination of different surface types. Make metal look like metal.
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Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials

[Loxley]

Fantastic detail, though Id second the texture issue.

[n8]

looks cool..but a tad washed out..get photoshop to auto contrast it ... but then again im crap..so you dont have to listen..
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its the simple things that make a great artwork
cheers

[Enayla]

I'm looking at this, and finding myself very impressed.

It looks -so- different from all the designs/backgrounds I'm used to seeing, you know? It's not the same old textures and highlights and sharp shadows that I've seen all over the place.

It's all new, and soft, and lovely =D
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furiae.com

[AndyT]

I too think the colors and not-so-hard-shadows are lovely.

Something bothers me about the overall image, though. First i thought that the perspective might be off. Then i thought maybe it needs more contrast. Right now i think it's the composition rather than the colors and shadows.

It's very busy ... there are too many positive elements I guess (Some link about composition).
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http://www.conceptworld.org

[Jabo]

Yes! That's nice. Haven't seen such a nice environment-concept for a while. I think your colors are great (not that colorful, makes it more realistic), but the tones miss some contrast. The lightsource is upper left. but the details (cannons etc) on the top of the building don't draw a proper shadow. For the concept itself: GREAT!
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CA SB|Flickr

[Skeezer]

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback... I just got back from an interview at Volition....everything seems on the up and up...Great bunch of guys. Hopefully something will come of it.


I'm going to definitely concentrate on the texture issue. Any suggestions or techniques for achieving that would be great.

-Isaac

[SolarC]

I agree with Sumaleths crits. Values look good, but I'd like to see some stronger highlights and reflections, specially in the metallic surfaces. And maybe some material details like rust, dirt etc aswell.
Otherwise picture looks very nice.

[themagicpen]

Volition seems like a good company !! I hope you get to work on something cool like Freespace 3 !!! Or maybe Freespace online

The art looks good , I dunno this is my own express opinion . If I was going for that kind of job I would probebly make my work look like D chaings . I mean the way he uses flat greys . I would also do what spoogy did when they made final fantasy and work over a laid out 3d block . So that everything is very lined up . Then if you need color add it with marker or use painter for the marker affect ... somehting about the industrial design look that just makes people do a double take and I think thats is why Feng is working on SW ..besides just being an amazing artist .

[nova]

hey issac,

wow, it's been a while.. we need to catch up! did you just say 'up and up'? lol.. glad to hear things are going so well. you're at it again, this looks great

sorry, i think i went overboard on this critique. an i don't mean to sound like a know-it-all.. just what happens when you have a lot of time.

since you set yourself up like a concept illustrator, i'm going to attack the illustration part because that's all i can offer. it just occured to me, i imagine working within that title is tough, because it's is kind of an oxymoron.. concept seems more literal, illustration an impression. my point in this critique is, illustrate the design so it shows off its potential. i don't know what they told you when they gave you this test, so i'm talking all over the place.

specifically..
i think the thing here isn't so much just value, but more value composition, (remember?) your design should be laid out so it shows itself off. right now there's a lot of stuff going on that is covering up the potential of the neat, strong big forms. one way to keep a good composition and still allow little shape work (like you're great at) is to keep the basic value, like painting in details in the large shadowed/lit areas. here are some examples of design+good value composition:



come to think of it, since a lot of this composition/design relies on a strong silhouette considering the subject, that could be something to improve. for example, the dome shape on our left just ends, and the L-shape on the right doesn't have a strong enough silhouette to make up for the rest of the forms.

i hope you don't mind, here's a paintover.


stuff that was worked on..

- overall composition, made a background and attempted a foreground
- tried pushing stuff back and forth in space
- simplified values
- got rid of some lines.. the line thickness/foreground background rule applies to illustration too. there were a lot of unnecessary thick lines, so i made em thinner. there were a lot of the same looking seams, in the building, on the ship and on the pathway, so i got rid of some of them. consequently, this seemed to solve some of the texture problem.
- a lot of the seams/edges were the same in the overall image, so i variated them from structure to structure. just as each material has a certain specular value, it has a certain edge quality.. metal edges/seams are different than plastic edges/seams and are different from rock edges/seams, and should be highlighted that way.
- added a gritty texture in some areas

i'm going to end it here, it's just stupid rambling now.

take care of yourself and don't forget us when you fly off,

- l

[spooge demon]

oh geez, I did not see all these replies. I did this a bit ago and never got around to posting because I felt mine was pretty weak. Shaved a little too close on the time.

Everyone seems to have pretty helpful suggestions

My thoughts-

When designing something, think about the function first, research what actually exists that is similar in function, and start from there. Design it in your head, build the whole scenario just in your brain, and then start drawing logical conclusions about what something should look like. Only then, and only then, look at other games, designers, movies. IMHO, there is too much incest, and I am guilty of it myself, deadlines being what they are, and the screaming for PRODUCT. And also, what is really sad is when the client demands what was in last years hit game, just a little different.

Do me a favor, and I will follow it to, banish yellow warning stripes from the earth:)

Painting wise, it is in between the line and painting world- go one way or the other.

If line is the way to go, make your values secondary to it, so the result is a higher key image overall.

If painting, keep what is in light and shadow clear. This doesn't mean a high contrast image, just make sure that the lightest area of shadow is clearly different from the darkest area of what is in light. The problem is "halftones too dark." This applies to only areas of similar local value, though. The lit side of a black cube is darker than the shaded side of a white cube.

Uh I could go on, but... one more thing. If it is outdoors, there is the point source of the sun, and the diffuse fill of the sky. They are your friends and use them.

This is all really just the clich�s of industrial rendering, so add a little art in there if you can, different lighting sit. etc.

yes, variety of materials is good. This object is very complex and is probably made out of hundreds of materials. And if the exterior is all stucco or whatever, you are seeing each surface under different lighting conditions and different angles and each is subject to different wear and weathering. Use all this to escape the dreaded gray primer monster.

[themagicpen]

Craig nice paint over and excellent advise !!

Craig Question : Do you find that using more dramatic lighting in your concept work helps to sell someone on the idea... what I mean is when you look at Erik Tiemens work in starwars he uses lots of dramatic lighting in his digital paintings I relize some of those pieces were color keys but it seems he likes to use over the top almost surreal lighting ..maybe eye candy for the sakes of eye candy is not a bad thing . I notice you used a little brighter and flashy work in your concepts for game companies .. like for instance the EA bond game and Wolfenstein the you do normally in say your speed paintings . Ohh and Personally i like your yellow warning strips ...your the only person I know who can get away with using Canary yellow ..well maybe one other guy ..