Crankshaft's Sketchbook

Some nice design work here Crank and those sketches are getting so much clearer and defined. Watch those elipses though (elipses? elipsi? meh you know what I mean).

Thanks Atto! I was well aware of some perspective issues here as these are just rough design iterations but I should still take greater care. Anatomy study. More stuff coming.

More design iterations. Too many ideas, the hard part is knowing when to stop rather than generating ideas. Everything is a process, I'm now going to clean things up in ps and add line weights. Need to work on that, I think I go too bold/thick with the silhouette.

Update on my engine room. Tell me what you think.

Haven't seen the engine room for a while. I feel like I'm seeing it with fresh eyes.
I like the silhouettes of the dangling cables/pipes in front of the shafts of light. I would soften that light a little though to smooth out the gradients and not obscure too much of the far background behind, you're right to emphasize the foreground but you still want a suggestion of the space and structure around.
I've said before that I like those plates around the central wheel but be careful with those highlights. Picking out one side AND the top of each plate creates a zigzag pattern that is very dominant, especially as a thumbnail, and this fights against the actual geometry of the shape we're looking at.

Thanks Val! You're right about the zig zag, it really cancels the cylinder underneath. Didn't realize that until you said so. I've implemented all the changes based on your advice. Now I'm working on color. Thanks for the critique!

Studies.

More anatomy studies and ellipse studies.

Quick rough color in for my engine room. Really struggling here as I can't get the mood I want. I'm going for a dark grungy hot boiler room feel. Something feels way off but I can't figure anything out. The piece looks more like a decal/graphic then an environment. Maybe the piece feels too clean/smooth? Add more grunge/bolts? I don't know. Any help would be appreciated!

Very nice to see you still working on this Crank, you have a dedication that is very impressive.

I'm liking the colours you have down at the moment, my only suggestion at this stage is to find a reference image for the type of mood you are striving for. When I was producing visuals of schemes for architectural companies I often threw together a number of images just to pin down the exact lighting effect I was trying to depict. They don't even have to be related to your subject matter, (I once used a Jack Daniels advert to illustrate how I wanted to light a visual of a clients barn conversion - only to find out later he was a recovering alcoholic).

You have a very nice sense of the ambient light going on right now - I think it's the other light sources that need more clarification.
The pits at the front and left side of your image where you have the arcs of power would benefit from uplighting with a seperate light source from below highlighting the bottom of the handrail and the edge of the floor structure.
The foreground elements would benefit from rim lighting and the machinery near the two bright constructions either side of the main element should be lit from these sources instead of the ambient light as it appears now.
All that being said I know its still early on in the process and from your studies I have no doubt you've probably considered this. I must admit that I have never (successfully) completed an image as complex as this so good luck and keep up the good work.

Edit: I notice you also mention you want a grungy looking aspect to the image. For me (and I may be misunderstanding your intention here) 'grunge' is all about texture. If you search for grunge design on google it may give you a few ideas. Rust,flakey paint, hand drawn iconography and dirty stains all give that individual or 'authentic' look that in my mind sums up grunge.

Agree with Atto.

Yes to some more layering of texture.

And yes to using reference for more subtle inspiration and style.

Also the picture currently looks very monochrome. Some complementary colour touches here and there around the image will make an enormous difference and will help you progress further.
Are you working on a Colour blending mode at the moment or are you painting on a Normal layer?