IOW #7 - Alien Invasion

[Aksel Ludvigsen]

Illustration of the Week #7: Alien Invasion

This is a two week topic, make use of the extra time!

Topic
This weeks topic is Alien Invasion. The illustration has to include some form of extraterrestrial life forms invading a planet inhabited by humans.
Everything from super advanced high tech aliens to parasitic life forms are a go!
You decide what you want to focus on in your illustration, UFO over New York? Alien point of view? Whatever, go for it.



This weeks requirements are as follows:
- The picture must depict extraterrestrial life forms invading a human inhabited planet



Deadline
The deadline is Sunday 23th of October, 23:59 GMT

[Dahlia]

Love it. I'll see what I can do.

[Zombie_chinchilla]

I have a question. Do the actual aliens have to be shown, or would UFOs be enough?

[Obacmar]

I guess there is no restrictions for what time period or "any" planet? Hmmmm A race of humans living on another planet evolved in an age of "Techno Magic" Attacked by Humans from Earth. Making earthlings the aliens.
is that ok?

[Rob Powell]

I might participate in this one, a good oppurtunity to create some more creatures ;P
I'm thinking some kind of giant insectoidal bugs things with frikkin lasers on their frikkin heads, y'know something more savage as opposed to the stereotypical spaceships and blaster guns and probing....ooohh this topic has soo much potential it's not even funny...hopefully I'll finish this one, though with a two week deadline it seems more likely...

[tamirespp]

I made some thumbs thinking about the overall composition... XD
I like number 3 and 6

[Aksel Ludvigsen]

Zombie_chinchilla actual aliens need not be shown, as long as the viewer is able to discern an alien invasion, everything is fine.

Obacmar that is perfectly fine.

[Vindicanum]

Decided to go for a medieval theme with classic 50's saucer ships.

Not sure how far I can take this, but I'll see whether it's too complicated or not The alien dropping down has just fired at knight A (the one with the funky pose) with some sort of energy weapon, which will be lovingly shown with his tabard catching fire/glowing behind him whilst knight B is looking on at his burning comrade!

@tamirespp

I think I like number 3 the best, the whole looking up in awe at the aliens thing is very eye-catching.

[zinph]

Thumbnail sketch
Sci-fi is not my forte, but try

[Dayle]

tamirespp I really like the potential of 6, with the contrast between landscape and mechanical elements. Also interesting how you could show scale and drama.

Zinph All sharp, clear concepts but I think 4 is most exciting, kinda independence day, when the ship flys over Washington. Great composition and perspective.

I hope to participate this week... will try something over the weekend.

[Rhdnor]

Thumbnail sketch
Sci-fi is not my forte, but try

I love the last one, clear concept.

[zinph]

Thank Dayle & Rgeorge

Sketch focus on charater.

[Rhdnor]

Thank Dayle & Rgeorge

Sketch focus on charater.

Wow, how do you do it? The drawing is rough and yet I get a clear idea of what you have in mind. I really need to rush back practice more!

[vibhas_virwani]

Wow, how do you do it? The drawing is rough and yet I get a clear idea of what you have in mind. I really need to rush back practice more!

@rgeorge: ( If you are using photoshop ,) initially start with a lower resolution smaller image , zoom out , make a new layer called "thumbnail" , paint with larger brush sizes at first , using grayscale helps sometimes as then you clearly think about the foreground ( darker grays and whiter-whites ) , the mid-ground (medium range of grays ) and background ( usually least range ) . At this phase you should think about the composition, the perspective from the observation point , lighting and composition , maybe use the golden thirds rule etc. and think about the focus(es) of the illustration ; in attempts to try to convey a story .
Now as you get on with making it clearer in your head , you should start detailing and polishing the piece up . A usual technique is that the brush size gets smaller near the focal point(s) of the painting as more detail is usually required there . With me , as i reduce the brush size, i also tend to increase the size of the image using "image size ..." . I usually start a canvas with its original print size that i want but at a very low DPI (to begin the thumbnailing with ) , then as i want the image to grow in size , i keep increasing the DPI of the image at every step through the "image size.." option. Even the hardness of my brush becomes more as i get to smaller brush sizes , that tends to bring sharpness towards the focal point(s) . Color can be added and manipulated easily in photoshop during any phase of the painting . i usually do that after i have decided on all light sources and made basic shadows also .
I found this method really good to begin with , and then once comfortable with this , it was easier to grasp fundamentals of art and to apply those while experimenting away with various brush tweaks and filters etc. there are many people who have their own ways of using the softwares as well
Just trying to help though , please feel free to disregard this long rant or criticise my take on it ..
peace

[Rhdnor]

Thanks for taking the time Vibhas. As you can see form my earlier progs they have a tendency to be scattered and disorganized before I get where I want to be. I just wish I had smoother prog work, so I admire that sort of thing.

[sevira]

not sure if I will have enough time next week but here a quick sketch, started as a rough thumbnail but I ended up getting lost in the details, again

since there are a lot of "classic" alien invasion compositions like the one from Independence Day that has been mentioned I'm somehow excited to see some unconventional approaches

also, like your thumbs Zinph
as Dayle said, clear and sharp

Edit: update, some fixes of the value range, some more details for the street and some more bi-pods to balance the comp a bit better
the dog puppy went for a little walk around the block, I guess he'll be back later :>

Attachment 1343131Attachment 1343332

[Dahlia]

I'm liking everyones sketches so far, can't wait to see how they turn out!

Here's where I'm at now. Going to have to liven up the composition somehow, guess I'll figure that out as I go. Need to fix the perspective too.

Glad its two weeks, I might actually have a chance of finishing for once

[jagder]

[tamirespp]

Trying trying tryinnng
please, crit ><

[Dahlia]

jadger- that's super cool looking, I love it.
tamirespp- this is a good start, the colors are looking good and harmonious and I like the composition. I would check the perspective on the two buildings(?) in the front- they aren't reading well and I can't really tell what they are. Also, the shape of the flying ships is really vague, which might just be because its not done yet, but make sure to give them defined shape and form. Finally, the front ship kind of looks like its shooting at the mothership, not sure if that's what you intended. good luck and looking forward to seeing the finished painting!

[tamirespp]

I think I corrected it, the perspective is a bit tough but I'm thinking it's alright... comments and crits plz!

[Dayle]

tamirespp - Hope you don't mind but I've just overlaid some construction lines on your latest wip to show a couple of issues with the perspective, nearly right but a few off. I think because of the extreme perspective (which is ace btw) it is important to get right as it's framing the whole composition. I am assuming everything is vertical?

[tamirespp]

Thank you so much, Dayle!
I was really having a hard time working out this perspective. I had some idea on the thumbnail phase but I couldn't know how to work it out. Thanks again!! And another thing, sometimes I feel my images a little blurry. I paint all the way zoomed out and then try to work on the details... I kinda want something painterly but readable, you know, but it's tough!

[tobbA]

Here's a start from me

[NIZZY G]

Hey, this is my first attempt at any challenge on CA, just a rough sketch but i have a basic idea of what im aiming for, any crits would be much appreciated.

[tamirespp]

Corrected the perspective what now, what now.. lemme see...

[Bergy68]

Here's my initial sketch, hopefully I'll actually finish one of theses challenges for a change. Going with a back ally scene in the city with lights above searching for humans.

[Bergy68]

update

[nohoper]

Wip having trouble, color atmosphere help appreciated, have to redo the side figure, too short,

okay redid the side figure roughly

here's my final not really satisfied but i want to move on, the problems are structural

[zinph]

Final composition