Return to Underwater City

[Eric UNSL]

Hi,

Hope everyone is well. This is one of a large number of digital illustrations and Mattes I'll be sending off to various film fx companies this fall. Really focusing on Rhythm & Hues but there's a bunch so... Hope they like it. Hope you like it. Professional insight /critiques welcome.


http://www.starleagueart.com/images/personal/Aliens.jpg

[bfaubion]

detail is great. the figures are looking very clean. how much reference do you use? and how long do you spend on something like this? one thing i noticed, his right hand looks really great with the shadows, but her left hand doesnt look like its resting on him...its sort of out of place, maybe some more shadow in that area would help.

[NOOSE]

:eek: that freaken robe blows my small fragile mind!, you must show us some close up detail! if there are any flaws I cant see them,(was there any photo ref? can we see?) the only crit but based on your ability is probably intentional is that his lower arm from the elbow down is a slightly darker skin shade then his upper body and face,..could be he likes to hang his arm out the window on hot summer days though.
and could you tell us how much the Devil gave you for your soul?

[the good war]

your work is brilliant but one mistake i found, maybe it's just my inferior mind messing with me but the perspective on the yellow lights next to the girls head (an embedded room in the rock) in the background seems a bit off it reads as tilted more downward than it should be

[daG-ELLO]

Utterly outstanding.

[Carnifex]

sweet jesus h. crist!:eek:that blows me away!:eek:so...real!:eek:
moooore!:cool: :cool:

[badoli]

True, the hand of hers resting on his chest isn't really creating any shadow where you would expect...

but well... this is just a microscopic dust particle of critic on the ferrari that is my admiration for it... woohoo... (translation: wonderful art!)

and YES, i also wanna see any refs... =D

[chukw]

Very pretty! Is that a screen, or a porthole? If it's the latter, the perspective doesn't match up. If we're looking down on the background, we'd be looking down on the characters, too. I'd also like to see some structure to that aperture- the bulkhead looks to be pretty darn thin for a deep-sea vessel, and the randomly-placed retro-guages and shapes aren't very convincing. When it comes to design I'm a real f*kker, it's true! ;)

[Joachim]

very well executed. Your style reminds me of Donato Giancola's...
The underwater city and animal reminds me a lot of star wars underwater in the movies, did you use that as inspiration ? Though, "underwater city and big animal" would easily turn out this way no matter what sort of inspiration was used I guess ;) Anyway, Nice work !

[WildSpruceMoose]

Very realistic and beautifully rendered. It is surreal, like it is a fantasy scene, but with the work done on the pic, I would not be surprised if it was a portrait of those 2 or something and was real. Nice man, nice.

[DRESDEN]

SIMPLY AMAZING!!

:drool:

:bigeyes:

[viag]

really nice

[Loga4]

Awesome and excellent!
Congrats for details,and atmosphere!

[brokencow]

Her foot is wrong. Or looks akward. And the hand is floating.

But i like it, it's good.

[cucaracha]

amazing etc. :D almost everything was said before.

the window frame looks flat ._.

cu

[jilted_one]

mind blowing man, I hope you get the job.:chug:

[rv8rv]

Sick painting man!! I love the textures and colour contrasts and the detail and just about everything about it. Although the perspective is kinda wonky. it looks like the underwater scene should be its own painting. or vice versa.

i would like to see a close up detail shot of the robe/ hand... + much more of your work. good luck with the job hunt.

[rv8rv]

Sick painting man!! I love the textures and colour contrasts and the detail and just about everything about it. Although the perspective is kinda wonky. it looks like the underwater scene should be its own painting. or vice versa.

i would like to see a close up detail shot of the robe/ hand... + much more of your work. good luck with the job hunt.

[Ailah]

DEATH!! My brain is having a meltdown...!! GAH!

In other, more sane words... Wow. Just... Fucking wow.

[Yaseck]

This is really awesome! I love the city behind the window. I'd like to see some closeups.

[heiesuke]

this is so awesome...do u take ur own picture reference? and also what resolution did u work @ on this? i'd love to see the original picture of that robe.

[Eric UNSL]

Wow,

Ok Now I know my email notification must be turned off.
Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts on my work. To answer some of your questions...

bfaubion: I built the foreground environment in 3DS max .
The 3d elements in the scene are the stingray tow ship and one side of the foreground that I duplicated and textured in Photoshop.

Yeah I know the BG perspective is a bit wacky but I wanted something a bit more dynamic than a eye level shot. I updated the image. I put the woman's reflection back into the piece and added a slightly darker shadow around her hand. In the original photo ref it doesn't show a shadow either. I know " don't be a slave to your reference," so I adjusted it.

chukw: Yes it's a porthole. Your right about the design flaws. I went with what was visually pleasing. Focusing more on the circular pattern throughout the image rather than a more realistic environment design. I wanted to convey a sense of movement in the scene. I liked playing with the BG perspective. I think it makes it more interesting that a eye level shot. Oh and the porthole glass is made from Transparent Aluminum. See Star Trek4 for further details

:D

Joachim: Thanks, I studied with Donato in college. Best class I ever took. TWICE!! Nah, I try not to look at anything done in star wars for inspiration. The imagery is permanently burned into the subconscious of millions of people. I think it's better to create something that won't make people instantly go " Oh this reminds me of that scene in Episode..."
That's why I love Sparth's work. Can't compare it to anything I've seen.

heiesuke: Thanks Bro, Yeah I do sometimes, but often when I do samples I'll just raid the old photo ref boxes of a illustrator friend of mine. He's got hundreds of romance, western, young adult etc. just collecting dust in his studio. Check out his stuff Garin Baker (http://www.carriageart.com/index.html)

The original res was 7800x 4696 @ 400 DPI

Thanks again to everyone who stopped in to share. I truly appreciate it. Now let me go get some close up shots for those who asked.

[Eric UNSL]

http://www.starleagueart.com/images/personal/reflect.jpg


City Close up
http://www.starleagueart.com/images/personal/CUcity.jpg

[Atmospheria]

GOD DAMN!
so real...
respect man!

[Solidarnosi]

my gawd how did you get the robe so lifelike??

I also love the take on Harlequin Romance cover art! heheh!

Awesome work, Good Luck to you!

[Phalanx3D]

Hey great work.

I am an animator at Rhythm and Hues right now. I think your style and technique really is top notch. Good luck getting in here, and if you do send me a msg!

-p3d

[dns2k]

awesome!

-dns

[Kress]

Hey - this is beautiful and the details are essentially perfect. Although, I do have some critiques... Without trying to sound pompous, here they are :)
The whole thing satisfies my eye, but honestly, it's kinda' SeaQuest meets StarWars meets Romance Novel cover. While everything is rendered prefectly and the foreground/background mix convincingly, what is the point? I don't want to sound like I'm coming down on it, cuz I love it, but what's happening here? Two aliens are kissing = romance novel in space/underwater?
As far as the technical stuff goes; I think the foreground plating/windowframe is flattened somehow, as if it's a metal pancake between the foreground/background.
Everything else looks gorgeous, honestly, and I'm really appreciating how the giant stingray is being lit by the blue glows. Like I said, it's convincing - but the rust-colored separation has me looking twice.
Uhm, I guess that's it. This is powerful and awesome, I guess I would simply advise (of course my humble opinion only) experiment with staying away from "romance-novel-in-space".
Cheers, and best of luck. :)

[daG-ELLO]

this really is an awesome piece.

He looks so in love, and she looks like she's going to have him for diner. heh

[ummo]

Haha yea!
He's totally been away at sea for months. Hes like, "hey babeh, gimme some loving"
but shes totally "Oh you naughty boy! So how was your trip?"
thats great!

amazing image :clapping1

[Ron]

awesome work. love it. the background behind the glass is very cool.

[DragonGX]

are the close ups the size you worked at, or do you have shots taht are even more close up?

Can you lend us any tips or how tos on how to paint human skin? that looks REALLY good, Id really like to know your process of painting the skin...

[Eric UNSL]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your responses to my stuff. There's definitely more. Working on the site as fast as I can while pumping out new paintings. I'll answer your questions the best I can.

Phalanx3D: Wow a response from an actual employee!! Thanks man, I hope somebody there will like what I have to offer. What division are you working with? If I do get in you'll be the first to know.. well right after my mom!

Kress: I understand, no need to explain yourself. I asked for critiques too, not just sugar coated lovin'. Let's see..

Well I was more inspired by the film "The Abyss" and James Gurney's Dinotopia than either of the two you mentioned. I'm directing samples like this at NY publishing companies too. If it didn't have a romance cover feel to it then I failed.

It takes place underwater. It's a generic static image of the two lead characters embracing set against a dark,dirty, rusted environment which is being pulled along by a giant fish. The how's and why's of the scene at this point are left up to the viewer to work out in their imagination. If it were a cover, your questions would best be answered by buying the book. :)

As far as the technical stuff goes, I know I could have researched submarine portholes better or designed something more believable, but you're right it is just a metal pancake between the FG/BG. I'll work more on my environment design in the future.

Thanks for your comments. It sometimes helps me understand why I did something by explaining it to others.
I've actually got two more sci-fi romance pieces lined up. I enjoy doing them. I put way more effort into this than what is currently selling though. Guess I'll have to sell out and start pasting full color photos over sloppy painter BG's instead.

daG-ELLO: LOL, I can totally see that happening. Just as he starts to unrobe her and glide his rough masculine paw across her wet scaly bossom, she lunges at him and rips a chunk of flesh from his neck. Oh Yeah!:D sorry.. no sleep.

DragonGX: Actually the CU with figures is at 33% from the original. The City CU is 50%
You're not the first to want to see a tutorial for this piece. I'm working on typing up one now that will explain everything.
Before I started doing this digitally I worked in oils with a controlled palette. All my colors were premixed from light to dark before I ever laid brush to board. The only way I could understand how to maintain that control digitally was to convert the process over into photoshop. Hard to explain without pics of my PS7 workspace. Yes I've tried painter but I just don't like it.

I'll have a full step by step on my site. If you want, you can send me a PM with your email. I'll definitely let you know when it's finished.:chug:

[Jane Radstrom]

Holy cow! This is amazing, I am so glad I didn't miss it. How long did you say it took you? I am stunned.

After looking at it for awhile more I very timidly have a question... I wonder why her hair is hardly touched by the blue light which is so strong on her back, and even in his hair somewhat?

[Phalanx3D]

Animation. Scooby Doo 2. Any more and I'll have to kill everyone on this forum :)

I totally hope you get in. Its the best company on the goddamn planet.

-p3d

[trenoops]

wow. just wow...keep up the good work amigo

[Christian C.]

Man.... it's really good!! I love to see more of your work.

[DanSTC]

The only thing that really bugs me is the "LANCE STERLING" cheesy romance novel cover look of the two figures.

[nikia]

A very beautiful piece of work. Love all the colors and details. The only crit I have is the man's chest looks caved in by his right shoulder. I really like the angle looking down on the city below. It gives it a sense of great depth.

[Golanhall]

:ep:

This is really amazing stuff */me gives a standing ovation*

Can you give some more pointers eg. how you did the clothing, paintjobs etc HELL gives us a complete tutorial!

Looks really amazing