[arttorney]

New Worlds #19- Supermax Prison World

<> Follow the brief. Of course there's always room for your interpretation of the brief.
<> Color or black and white are both OK
<> Digital or traditional media are both OK
<> All skill levels are welcome here. We can all stand to get better but we only improve if we try.
<> We accept only finished artwork that was made for this activity.
<> Please only one entry per episode per participant.
<> If possible prepare a voting thumb like they do in the other activities.
<> This is an Environment drawing activity, not characters.
<> NO tracings! For further information see: http://cghub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4882
<> Have fun, above all else!

The Brief: Prison Planet GNBx-2234:19 is rather inhospitable with its below freezing temperatures and Methane/Ammonia atmosphere, but we mad dogs call it home (not that we have any choice in the matter). It is a future tech supermax prison planet. You may do interiors or exteriors. This place is grim. I wouldn't expect to see any flowers, but the ice crystals are really nice this time of year.

Deadline: Midnight PST on April 17, 2011

[arttorney]

yyyyy

[CrowCandy]

I've always loved the look of ice-worlds. The inhospitable environment is a perfect last line of defense in case prisoners escape >:3

Here is my thumbnail so far. I'm going for a looming structure with narrow openings for a confining visual effect. The walkway that leads to the prison gates is cramped but highly exposed to sniper turrets surrounding the gates (that I need to add in). One false move, and those itchy trigger fingers will take you out.

So far I'm diggin on the strong vertical and diagonal aspects of the composition and that little pocket of night sky just taunts the viewer on their way to a prison they'll never get out of.

I welcome critique if you have any thoughts on my image so far, plz don't hesitate to speak up

[arttorney]

Well that's nice. Its got a jagged feel to go along with the feeling of walls. Do you think you could get the point of view even lower down between the walls, to make the viewer feel small and insignificant below the loom of the guard towers? Well, it already kind of has that feel.

[CrowCandy]

Thanks for your input, Arttorney! I'm definitely going to play around with it a bit more in the foreground and see what I can do to maximize the looming aspect.

Here's my second WIP. Hopefully I'll have enough time to finish by the deadline between shifts at work C:

[jacobanderson]

Here's a WIP. The thing in the foreground is a security bot. The haze is the settling of the methane and ammonia, and I'm wondering if I should add more Sentry towers.


Having difficulty going from Grayscale to color...argh.

[jacobanderson]

I'm wondering whether it is finished or needs more work...

[arttorney]

It's nice. Based on life experience, I recommend the following: let it go for a couple of days and look at it with new eyes. You have five more days for this challenge and so you can spare the two days.

Very often I get engrossed in a project and I work until I call it finished (and I think it is brilliant because I have an incredible ego). After a couple of days I look back at it and I can see all kinds of stuff I would rather fix. Stepping back for a break can give you the eyes of your own best critic.

(and about the sentry towers, maybe you could compromise with some concertinas of ribbon wire around the perimeter of that plateau? I sure wouldn't want to rip my space suit on that stuff.)

[jacobanderson]

Thanks for your input, *arttorney. I've moved on to a different project, so I'll put some work into that for a little bit and then come back to this one.

~jake.

[jacobanderson]

This is what I have...not really too sure about it... May come up with a new idea.

[arttorney]

The Finals thread is here: http://cghub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6014

[tyno]

This is a great topic! I think Dominance War might be stealing most participants.

I thought I'd take a break and do a couple thumbs for this, even if the chances of me finishing before deadline are slim



Left is supposed to be a prison in a cave on a frigid planet, they always keep the door open so that prisoners can see how terrible the weather is and constantly demoralize them.

Right is prison in a cave, where snow is constantly falling in through openings. The snow/waterfall on the right is actually what locks prisoners into their cells, because if they walk into the water to try and escape, they'll freeze to death.

Lemme know whatcha think!

[arttorney]

Yeah. There is a dominance war effect but a couple of the regular activities also have very competitive topics. We take what we can get this month. Just be sure to put it in the finals thread. I think I like the left one best because I can see most clearly what I am looking at.

[tyno]

I'm working like crazy to get this thing done!

Also, I completely agree with you about the stronger readability of the cave prison. I started fleshing it out last night, got any critiques?



I think I'm going to get rid of the blurriness outside. My main issue is that it's looking a bit barren. I'm adding scale reference with some guards. Is it a bit heavy on the right side? Might need a counter-balance.

[jacobanderson]

I would definitely reduce the blur outside. If you want the view to be obstructed, have you thought about making the outside windy? there could be ice particles whipping across the barren plains.