Hang gliding on Manta 5 & Other Adventures

[Neev]

Hey there! I'm new here and I'm just going to jump right in and throw myself to the wolves.

Man, nothin' makes you spot your own mistakes like scanning your picture in and getting ready to post it on a new forum. Gah, I can already see a bunch of things that need fixing.

ANYwho...these are some attempts of mine at working on dynamic scenes, as I have a horrible, horrible habit of just drawing pin-up art. Good for amusing myself, bad for getting other people to buy my art or hire me. Sooo...practice practice practice.

These images were meant to play with common themes in sci-fi illustration. The first is an alien world and the next two are two versions of the same scene, in this case a sorta pulp-style shoot-out in a curiously retro bar of the future.

Comments, constructive crit, and all that all welcomed with open arms.

http://www.piratemonkeys.net/art/sketches/hanggliding.jpg

Our first scene comes to us from the amazingly gaseous planet of Manta 5. Life on this planet evolved first in the air rather than water and creatures on this planet fly with the greatest of ease. The clouds seen in this picture, for example, are not mere water vapor, but rather swarms of plankton-like creatures that float about on air currents. They posesses limited mobility on their own, but by and large they just kind of float. These in turn are eaten by the manta-ray lookin' thing in the picture, which filters them through those tubes you can see on the top of it. The rays are semi-sentient and produce a lighter-than-air gas in their bodies, allowing them to float when they so desire. Movement is achieved by floating up a suitable distance and then expelling the gas, causing them to fall. Their wings catch the air currents and allowing these creatures to glide for many miles. They can communicate with humans on a basic level, but have no real civilization to speak of. However, they're quite happy to let humans hitch a ride on them from time to time and this has become a popular pastime for the humans inhabiting the planet. Down below the flying duo, forests of tube trees (anemone-like organisms) and floating pods do...whatever it is they do. Heh, as you can see, I haven't gotten that far with my entirely irrelevant alien biology. Um...but the floating pod things look like raviolli to me. Mmmm, delicious!



http://www.piratemonkeys.net/art/sketches/retrosketch.jpg

The first draft for this image, complete with REALLY BAD POSING and NO DYNAMIC ELEMENTS AT ALL. Because I suck. Although, I do like the way her face came out. And yes, she IS supposed to be bigger than the guy she's holding, she's a crazy space amazon mercenary lady. Because....why not?

http://www.piratemonkeys.net/art/sketches/retrobar.jpg

A more betterer version of the above picture. Yeah, you heard me, BETTERER. On the downside, it's also more sketchy and OH GOD, I hate drawing scenery that isn't organic. I dig the way the amazon lady and her frightened boy-toy military guy came out, as well as the lizard thing she's shooting, but everything else is just...blegh. (Although the bartender looks a little bit cool. Maybe.) This one may be too sketchy to really critique, I dunno. Feel free to try, I suppose.



SO. There's some sketches. Rip 'em apart, ladies and gents. It's the only way I'll ever learn.

[JAG.]

man, whatever you're smokin.. just keep smokin it and draw some more stuff cuz it sure works for you :D the first pick is cool, the whole idea of it is really creative. but the story underneath about the alien world evolution tops it all perfectly, gave me a good laugh.

the 2nd pic is a bit crappy, but you know that so its cool ;)

then you come back and totally kick alien ass wit hthe 3rd pic and its done very nicely as a sketch. develop it more, id like to see where this is going.

another alien planet pic wouldnt hurt either.. now go smoke, then draw - JAG

[Neev]

Haha, believe it or not, I've not touched the ol' peace pipe in many, many moons. I'm just in a really good mood because I think I've been progressing really well with my art and I feel like I'm finally able to start doing something productive with it. (Getting paid? To do something I love? Hmmm....what a curious concept.) So I'm kind of in a bouncy and quirky mood. Heh.

Anyhow, thanks for your comments! Back to the drawing board for me. I hope to get started inking the alien planet picture in the next couple of days.

[killerpenguin]

That alien planet is really dynamic, I love how you frame it.

In the first pic, it's kinda wierd how the guy has his knees tie together though. It might give the guy more balance and comfortable pose if you move wrap thing up to his hip. :)

[Neev]

Hmmm....you speak the truth, killerpenguin. I was thinking of how hang gliders here work with the sorta sleeping bag contraption that you put your legs in (I think...I seem to recall watching something that had them like that...it would make sense at any rate, to support the legs like that). But at the same time, I didn't want to compltely obscure the legs because it would make the human figure less imediately "human" looking if you just glance at it, if that makes sense? And I didn't want it to get lost in the alien landscape. Hmm...I'll have to modify the leg strap though, I think, because it really doesn't make sense. Maybe just a wider strap?

[killerpenguin]

Haha, sorry but I kinda lost in your words. Just looks up some of the hang glider ref on google if you need help.

My point is, human pelvis is higher up, so no matter how you change it, it won't looks natural unless you have something pulling the guy at the body/hip.
Not that it's bad though, since your image is about futuristic alien environment. :)

[Neev]

Heh, I'm too bouncy today...I need to speak more clearly.

See, this is why I draw things. Because I can visualize exactly what I'm saying in my head, but pictures don't translate well into words sometimes. Er. Anyhow...hang gliding reference pictures = good plan.