(Thunderdome) Road Warior, Berzerker!!

[Lono]

so heres my thunderdome contribution.

So its pretty much done i guess.. id still like to hear some feedback before i post it in the final thunderdome thread.
if theres something about it that really bothers you let me know. maby i can give it the fixaroo.

i started with a pencil sketch, then i painted it in Painter completely greyscale,, then i colored it and tweaked it in Protoslop. i know, i know.. i went a little overboard with the overlays.. ive got the overlay madness. is it obnoxious?

i wanted to draw the eye to the center of the piece starting at "his" right arm and then on to his head. maby the front corner of the car aswell. this was also an attempt to try and make it look more 3d since the focal points are the objects coming towards us. this is why the arm is richer in color and the closer parts are generally more crisp. success??? eh? failure??

also,, does the solid tan background add to the dynamics or subtract?

lets say i ate an entire jar of Carmex,, including the jar.... should i be worried?
http://www.joshmartel.net/forum/Thunderdome.jpg
BERZERKER!!! :rock:

-Lono

[JoshuaTheJames]

aw shit dude!

this is funny ...i like it.

-Joshua

[Hudnut]

Lono-

Great work! Your rendering looks really good and I like the design a lot. I like the choices you've made with your anatomy. My only comment about the rendering is that the car looks warm and the guy looks cool, in terms of color temperature. If it were me, I'd throw a quick adjustment layer on one or the other in Photoshop to equalize the color temperatures of the car and guy.

I also like the background color. If you adjust the car colors to a cooler temperature, to match to the guy, it would help the whole car/guy contrast off the background. Or make the guy warmer to match the car and change the background to a cooler shade of brown/gray. Also, you could add some simple abstract elements to the background to further enhance your composition. Any kind of gestural strokes or simple shapes that are close in value to the background will help direct the eye where you want it to go without calling too much attention away from your design.

Great work!

-Dave

[Batteram]

The rendering of this beast is very impressive. I like your use of overlays too, I say you can never have too many overlays!
Anywayz, although you haven't got any sort of background to compliment the main focal point of the pic which is your half-man-half-car creature, maybe you can add a sandy coloured sky or something. I ask this because the back of the car is quite blurred out which kind of suggests like it is coming out of a sandstorm or something. Neverthelss the pic is impressive even without the background, but since you have time maybe give the dustorm background and try and see how it pans out.
I really like the idea of this beast and it is definately a contender for high stakes in Thunderdome.

[Sketch]

This is awesome!!!
Very original!

[usagi yojimbo]

thats awesome!

i dunno about the chain saw though, it looks too small, and too clean

it think it should be rusty and more beat up and, bigger compared to those arms it doesnt look like it would do that much more damage, unlike those cinder blocks

[Jason Manley]

yer freakin amazing!

well done.

j

[Lono]

JOSHUATHEJAMES: thanks dawg! im glad you identify with the humor side of this.

Hudnut: Thanks! what a helpful response. i totally agree with you on the Cold/Warm continuity issues.
its been bothering me all along but the problem was never identafied until now. ill see what i can do... question,,, say if i wanted to attempt to cool off the car. would you suggest maby applying a subtle bluish tint? thats all i can think of.

i agree about the background details.. i attempted a couple times and was unsuccesfull. everything i did was too distracting.. maby ill try something more subtle.
Thanks a lot for your help man!

Batteram: hah! i totally tried the sandstorm and botched it good. this simplistic version was my compromise. i had him on a cracked and sandy two land road running through the desert in a sandstorm. faint skyline in the background. it was a homage to mad max. BUT,, my attempts were weak so i backed out. maby i can find a more subtle medium.
Thanks!

Sketch: thanks! im glad you are pleased.
not as origional as i was hoping it would be though. i just looked in the thunderdome section and to my supprise Loga4 recently posted his monster mounted to the roof of a car. hah! i guess were all diping from the same well.

usagi yojimbo: thankyou thankyou. yah, the chainsaw does look weak but i wanted to keep it consistant with the "unexhaggerated" parts of the character. for example his head is regular human size and if you compare the chainsaw to his head its actually proportionet. you could also compare it to the bumper of the car.
its a little beat up.. i chipped the paint on it.. :p
i purposly tried to tone the chainsaw down so that it wouldnt distract the eye.
thanks for the suggestions duder..

Jason Manley: Well garsh!.. thanks man. that means a lot.
seriously.


-Lono

[Fozzybar]

Coolono!

Hehe...imagine the sounds of a fight with this guy...motor uproar, berzerker bawl, chainsaw crackle...not to forget the cryings of his victims...

Lono, how about making the part of the berzerk's shadow smoother? It would make the composition clearer...

I love the idea with the concrete-bricks. It matches perfect to the whole idea of this road-warrior.

Your image is: :thumbsup:

My English is: :barf:

[mcotie]

Good Night Irene!!!

that is baddass.

Mitch

[MessFX]

Awesome job.

My only Crit would be to add some color to the character. He seems a little too lackluster. Maybe throw some war paint on him or something. Your anatomy is great, he just needs a little color.

Also maybe play with adding some subtle texturing to the tan background. I think the color is nice but I like seeing something in the background -even if that means putting just a little bit of grit. A Subtle environment can really pull the viewer into your character's world. I think some sort of muddy streaks or oil splashes could look really cool.

These are just my preferences. Again, Great job.
-Steve

[bOne]

I don't think it will be a good Idea to add a background, it is not needed for a concept art, and usually it will break your picture, because it was not fhought like like one all thing.

My second critique is for the head wich is a bit small I think and more detailed than the neck it gives the impression, that it is not a part of the body.

Finally why not add mechanical stuff on the guy ?

By the way the coloring is very impressive, by its high definition, very great work and very effective design !

[BoBo_the_seal]

Great work Zack!

The style feels like a mixture of K Scott and Dale Keown.

I’m looking forward to seeing your work on Duke.

BoBo

[TJ Verhagen]

hey, thats really cool! nice work, gj!

[Loga4]

WoW!This is really great piece Lono,
I was also surprised when I saw your
work,and I must admit that you did
better work...but mine is not jet finished:))
Anyway,as I sad this is awesome!
Congratulations!

[Android]

You are my new Hero.!


thank you,

[Lono]

Fozzybar: Thanks fozz. those smileys always crack me up.
yah, your probably right about the berzerkers shadow needing to be blury since it is at a distance,,, but the reason i kept it as one solid comic style silhouette is to give the right side of the page some weight since there is nothing else there. im glad you like the cinderblocks.

mcotie: Thanks alot M.C.cotie!
please cotie dont hurt em. :p


MessFX: yah man.. i guess more color could always help.
word on the background.. its got to be something subtle.
hmmmmm..... Thanks!

bOne: yep,, sofar all of the backgrounds ive tried have broken the continuity of the piece and were distracting as all hell. its not that it cant be done,, its just gonna be a bit dificult since it IS an afterthought.
i didnt add mechanical stuff on the guy because i just kinda liked the idea of this giant hunk of meat n flesh mounted to the hood of the car. and i just like painting muscles. :)
honestly though, i wanted the dude to be like some funkey Gene experiment gone wrong. kinda like a carnie. there were lots of carnies in madmax.
thanks for the suggestions man!

BoBo_the_seal: What up Bobo?!? yah man, youve got a good eye. kens work is a Huge influence on me... but Dale Keown? Hah! i guess i can see that. i havnt heard that name in a while. is he still in prison?
i want to show you the duke stuff man.. badly. but they got me on the NDA.
thanks brudda!
hope i see you at Carmacks party this weekend.

TJ Verhagen: thanks a lot!

Loga4: thanks brudda. finish yours man! its looking really good.

Android: Thanks partner! your self portraits always create a warm spot in the cushion of my chair,, so the feeling is mutual! :D

thanks guys!

[davi]

how much does it cost for you to say that you are my friend?

this is the coolest thing i've ever seen... AND I HAVE SEEN ALOT OF COOL THINGS I WILL TELL YOU!

[Lono]

i need about Three fitty..... :D

for three fitty,, id even let you roll wit me in my hooride.
hell,, id even let you flick my hydro switches!

Thanks a lot Davi. im flattered. your deffinately one of the OG's of the message boards. playa fuh real..
your work has been getting a LOT better lately.

-Lono

[Loga4]

Thanks,Lono!
No doubt,I will try to finish my piece,glad
that you like it...I also try to do variant
backgrounds,but that didn`t work(I did my
sketch without background)
Anyway thanks for support,hope that we can
say now we got a CAR UNIT:D
And your piece is incentive for me to do better
work.
Thanks,again

[Sunraven]

Cool pic, though I think the car might tip forward with all that weight on the front XD

[Don Wilkinson]

sweet.....i never say sweet..i only reserve the word for special occasions where I feel there is no other way possible to describe the situation. This piece is simply fantastic. It really conveys the sense of focus that you were trying to imbue into it and it kicks my friggen ass right out of my chair...simply awesome....

[Molin]

HAHAHA sorry its just me but i keep thinkig that he would tip over. HAHA sorry....;)

no serious its a great picture but i think that it could use a little more contrast. Its a little to washed out?... Or perhaps its just my perception of things. It might be though that the car and beast differ so much in texture detail.,... hmm...

Anyways, like the the number plate....:P
/Molin | Media Artist | Studio77 (http://www.danielmolin.com)

[mcotie]

Sunraven,

The trunk probably has Eatpoo corpses in it to weigh it down!

[Lono]

Damn straight! Its jam packed wit poo chompin chumps!
mcotie knows whats up!
maby they were standing in front of him when he fell over.
Bodysplash! :D

thanks a lot guys. i appreciate your crits as well as the compliments.

-Lono

[eggbeater]

Haha, this looks so incredible. Great imagination!

Do you have a website, or more work online ANYWHERE? I CRAVE!

[Hudnut]

Lono-

The simplest way to cool off the car in Photoshop is to create an adjustment layer (I prefer curves but you could use levels, hue/saturation, etc. to get what you want). Mask off everything other than the car, then slightly increase the level of the blue channel (if you're working in RGB) or reduce the level of the green and red channel to your liking. It doesn't have to be much of a change to cool down the car so it's in the right temperature as the guy.

As for background, it doesn't have to be something that actually evokes an actual environment. It could be just simple shapes. Check out the image on the front page of my website to see an example of what I mean.

www.hudnutart.com (http://www.hudnutart.com)

That's just one way to do it. It's a background that has no relation to the object of interest, but at least the background shapes help compliment the object and direct the eye around the page. I do this sort of thing whenever I don't have time to create an environment to go with my concept, but want something to spruce up the overall image.

Good luck!

-Dave

[brokencow]

werk on dat der tire...

man you got your self a nice drawling der!

[Lono]

eggbeater: thanks hombre. yah, i got a page but its not public due to the NDA junk thats up there. im putting together a public page. ill post it when its presentable.

Hudnut: thanks man. thats a great idea. im going to do just that. your very yoda like with your wisdom.. :D
and by the way,,, thats a kickin train cannon.
thanks for the help man!

brokencow: the tire does suck.. but your not supposed to notice that! your supposed to be entranced by the rippling biceps and ignore the wiggy tire with the rim thats too small.
it used to be even worse. this is the fixed version.
thanks.

[cyclonaut]

HEY!

What happened to the pretty picture?!!!!!!

:mad:

[Lono]

oh,, i thought this thread was gone.

when i updated the new one to my page i took the old one down. i forgot about this thread.

ill put the new one up for shitz.

-Lono

[BoBo_the_seal]

Zack,
The addition of those hoses really helps solidify his connection to the car. It had previously felt a little like two separate compositions stuck together.

Great work again!

BoBo

[JoshuaTheJames]

lol


ahh...this thing is still funny!

-Joshua


...love this piece.

[egerie]

the james went digging ! :)
I'm glad to see such old (?) threads still have their images linked :)

[Hardcore]

Very skillful render !