Beyond Event Horizon

[ShawnYe]

Game art cover for Beyond Event Horizon done for nexgenstudio. This is a little different from my usual and my first few attempts at doing sci-fi scene.
I think I was having trouble with the lighting and figures most of the time. c/c appreciated.

http://shawnye.com/images/BeyondEventHorizon_big.jpg

[daarken]

where are all the comments people?! this is really awesome. i love the architecture on the right that leads off into the horizon and the light coming from behind them. very nice movement throughout the piece. i think the colors are great, i always have problems with that. hmm...for some reason im wanting more dimension to the large ship. the bottom plane seems to be the same value as the side. maybe if you pushed one or the other darker it would turn the form more and really give you the 3 planes. not very important, but im just trying to be really picky since i cant see anything else, haha. maybe the placement of the girls arms gets a little confusing with the guys arms infront of her, but again im reaching for nit picks! awesome stuff.

[bwkeough]

i agree, very nice piece, for all of the reasons daarken said.

two suggestions: the guy on the left, I think his leg is too thick, it doesn't match the rest of him. The ship would benefit from some atmospheric prespective, reduce the intensity of the colors and value contrast and it will move further back in space and appear more massive.

[JoshuaTheJames]

Hey ShawnYe,

I like the overall composition, mood lighting and I really like the design of the foreground figure's pose.

One thing that I think it is lacking are large massing of shapes(in an abstract sense). I feel your shapes are there in one sense but they are hidden by surrounding similar values.

Check this like to N.C. Wyeth's work. You will see that with large massing of shapes you can easily create great space and make the composition easier to run the eye through. Also if you find a book on him you will see because his compositions were so well thought out in that sense that it lent itself to a very efficient painting technique.

here is a link
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9922

I hope that wasn't too vage,
-Joshua

[magira]

Thats one wonderful piece :°)

I just can echo joshua's and bwkeough's comments... The picture would benefit from a better definition of background foreground and such.

[alex_86]

Don't get me wrong here, I love the colors and the composition, but the faces on the characters are kinda off, and the ship's details are thrown around and as a result aren't very well defined.

But still good job, how long did that take you?

[Atmospheria]

good job shawn...i saw your process on this pic and it's done perfectly...loved you last tiny touches...that little orange things example...cool work!

[Sok N. Wett]

That's $#@&ing AWESOME, i love the way you color that.

[ShawnYe]

Thanks! You guys have given lots of valuable feedbacks.

daarken, glad to hear from you, you are quite right about the ship, I had so much difficulty trying to get the lighting for it and it still stands out to me. I'll take this in mind. Thanks so much.

bwkeough, the leg bothers me a little too. I take it as his got a thick leg padding but I think it could be better if its a little slimmer, glad you point that out. Some atmospheric to the ship would have helped too like what daarken had suggested.

Joshua, I think that is something I've been trying to strive for using shapes in the composition but always proved difficult to pull off and sometimes I just resolve to other means like adding details or other elements to cover up which I always have a habit for...so glad you point this out. I'll try to be bolder next time.

magira, I believe what has said been earlier too, thanks for mentioning :-)

meDrawUC, don’t worry, drawing faces still isn't my best trade, they are some of the parts that still stands out to me on this. I believe it could been improved a lot more. I think working on it maybe a month (on and off) and slightly more for refinements. Thanks

Atmospheria, thanks for all the good paint overs you given me while working on this, they have helped a lot and given me ideas of other ways to do this. :chug:

Sok N. Wett, Thanks!

Heres the preliminary sketch I did after the discussion and some of the Wips. I wasn't able to handle the colours and I work on it in greyscale and guadually add in the colour.

http://www.shawnye.com/images/Cover_BEH_Ye_sketch.jpg

http://www.shawnye.com/images/Cover_BEH_Ye_wip.jpg

[Boom]

mmm.. tasty.. like this one very much. Vibrant and cool. :)

One thing though, I think the overall feeling of the painting is abit flat. And I think it has something to do with the big spaceship not being located properly in 'space'. You should try to fade it more into the background just like you did with the trainrailing on the right. The hardcontrast combined with the small ships hovering around the large ship makes it hard for the brain to understand where you wanted to place it within the paintingspace.

I actually like the version (compositional wise) on the lower left where the big ship is still rendered mostly as a silhouette against the sky. It feels much stronger, and the chars get room to live and breethe instead of having to fight for the viewers eye against the behemoeth mothership...

supercool piece. Just a few thoughts.. :)

[JoshuaTheJames]

ShawnYe,

I like your work. I hope you don't think I am just calling you out for no good reason.

:chug:

-Joshua

[Kress]

I get a Red X :( Sucks cuz I'd REALLY like to see it!

[liquidwerx]

Originally posted by Kress
I get a Red X :( Sucks cuz I'd REALLY like to see it!

Dito...

[Fozzybar]

ShawnYe

Sorry to hijack your thread, but it's your turn on the storyboard!!! I pm'ed you, but your inbox is full...

Go! :)

--->

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17234&pagenumber=4

[Fozzybar]

Oh...and i saw this thread for the first time...i played in ps a little with your image to get the composition clearer...i hope you don't mind...



http://www.beyce.com/ca/pover/BeyondEventHorizon_big_shawnye_po_fozzybar.jpg

[ShawnYe]

Boom, big thanks for mentioning, that one in the corner was actually what I was trying to work towards keeping the ship in lower profile. I seem to prefer that too. I'll keep your points in mind.

Joshua, not at all! It's always great to hear your opinions. :chug:

haha Fozzy, thanks so much, somehow yours seems more harmonious and the character does read a lot better.

liquidwerx, Kress, sorry you guys can't see it, it would be great to get comments from the both of you.

[N D Hill]

Awesome work! I love the lighting and color scheme! I especially love the grand scale of it that you achieve with that space ship in the background, the alien world and the three characters huddled together in the middle of it all. There's a real sense of danger.