June 2020 - Portraits from beyond - WIPs

Thanks Atto - and yes they're meant to be huge floating structures - I don't intend to add engines or such but they will have a bit of techie look to them if they get to stay. Previously the bases were under the horizon line (eye level) which meant they seemed smaller and lower. So, they'll need a bit of work before they look big and floaty like I want

I decided to try to use the ArtRage perspective grid to help me get those pyramid shapes down.... And the perspective grids can be edited BUT...I can't seem to change the height of the horizon line???? What the hell? And the manual is SO helpful. "You can use the perspective tool. It can be edited with the perspective editor."
No shit Sherlock, as they say...

I guess I can use it for the shapes and then move them to the right height but this BUGS ME.

It works for me. In the menu I go to View>Perspective>Edit Perspective and that brings up a panel with loads of options. Then if I just move the cursor over the horizon it turns into some vertical arrows and I can then grab it and move it up and down. I find that it's easier to do things like that with the mouse rather than the pen but it still works?

Great colouring on yours. The blue/yellow combination on the neck piece really stands out.

I sat down today to start on an idea about Nikola Tesla being a time traveller but then I realised that I've seen photos of that guy before so that probably doesn't fit the brief.
So instead I had a quick scribble of...

"Special Agent Isaac Newton, Master of The Mint and Officer of the Crown. You, fine sir, are under my arrest for the wilful fraud and gross counterfeiting of Her Majesty's coin and not even the dreadful Leibniz can help you now!"

Valence wrote: Then if I just move the cursor over the horizon it turns into some vertical arrows and I can then grab it and move it up and down.

Duh...

and to think I'm ready to start crying after trying the built in perspective, my own perspective * 3 or so, scribbling on an envelope and considering building a 3D model only to realise I don't have that old 3D viewer installed on the laptop... Well, actually... this all probably means that I still can't get it right even if I DO manage to get the horizon line where I want it. [[]]

and now there's a cat on everything.

After a few more tries with ArtRage's perspective and new sketches and trying to make it all look right (failing, obviously), I decided to bring up my old VRML files. I couldn't find the viewer but when I clicked on a file (in the hope that the computer might find the viewer for me) it gave me the option to open in 3DBuilder (or some such). Of course that didn't actually work.... but since I didn't need that particular file, I proceeded to build my hanging gardens (well, place my pyramid shapes) in the 3D builder. Piece of cake. Until I was done and accidentally opened some ready made object upon which my scene vanished without a trace... no "don't you want to save first?" or anything. So now I'm frustrated and tired enough to start crying any second AGAIN. It was easy enough to do, of course. I can just try again tomorrow. But I'm starting to feel like there's a higher power that realllllly doesn't want me to make pyramidal hanging gardens...

I stay away from all things 3D but that’s my aversion to autocad back in the day when you had to enter every coordinate and angle in some mathematical mumbo jumbo that I just refused to learn.
I hope you get it sorted Charlotte.

Nice one Val, look, two hands! I’ve always liked that brown/electric blue/grey combination too.

Here’s the rough line drawing and first colours on mine. I’m hoping I can get the two main elements done pretty quickly so I can figure out how to fill this edge spaces in with scenery, secondary character etc kinda like a movie poster.

One last quick update before bed.
G’night all.

Atto: Love the movie poster composition. That facial structure kicks butt.
Valence: I like it when objects in a scene come at me like their are going to break the plane. That gun looks great--it's hard to pull off (which is why I never try it). Agent Isaac Newton looks ready for action.
Charlotte: The comic look is always a favorite of mine. It requires more discipline that most people realize. Don't mess with it too much. It's nice and clean--just a bit of shading and you should be good to go. You just have to tame your back ground (that's what I was struggling with).

I stopped working on the character and tried different approaches with the background. After several failed attempts, I think I got a space nebula with colors that I think will work behind his head (a spaceship window will eventually be behind him). Just posting a detail of the process, because that's all I've got.

Atto: So that's why she was so pale! Now we know Loving it!
As for the coordinates and such, that's how I always preferred doing 3D. I like to know exactly where things end up and what size they are.

Hans: Loving the background so far. I guess it will look more unequivocally* as a window as you get further, but now it also reminds me of a big metal shield behind him which also seems to suit the character.

*Can't believe I managed to spell that correctly on my first try?!

Thanks both!
Hans that looks awesome. I love that warm light, cold light contrast that you often see overused on movie posters of the 90s. You’ve managed to use it really effectively and realistically here and the view in the window is creating some really nice contrast against the tones in his face.