Heres the current version of Menewa looking at the fore field on Kepler. Still not liking it but I cant spend any more time on it.

This is the final version of the Pronaxians goin up against this huge silicon spider in the caves..i also might get in there and touch up a few details, but I like the overall image

Here is the finished Key scene of the Pronaxians investigating the mysterious caves of Kepler, I might get in there and refine the characters a bit more

And finally the extremely sketchy piece which I find myself hating haha..
This one definitely needs more work but I like the way its heading.

This is the last official Key scene, and its meant to show Menewa on Kepler wearing the Catori skin to endure the hot temperatures of Kepler. Menewa is checking out the force field surrounding Kepler which enables the planets low tech zone.

The concept is that the Trions placed this field as a way to prevent any sentient beings from developing a level of technology to like space flight or high powered equipment to escape this prison.

Anyway this piece still has a lot of work to do so im gonna get to it. Im currently working on all three images at the same time which I think has helped me gain speed and confidence..hopefully more to come!

This is the other painting I'm working on, it shows the cave in which Menewa and the Pronaxians take refuge and investigate.

Still very sketchy but I like the overall tone and lighting, still needs some work though

Here is the latest work I've been doing, it shows the poor Pronaxians encountering one of the most deadly aliens inside the caves of Kepler.

With my workflow I've been working on three paintings at the same time to speed up my process, this is one of them and in my opinion the one that I'm enjoying the most. hope you like

Here is a quick concept for the inhabitants of the planet Kepler. They are going to be a primitive race of aliens who team up with the marooned Tryons. I based a lot of its anatomy on a gorilla, and was thinking they could also use their powerful for climbing trees and rocks etc.

I like the concept of them being tribal almost warrior-like, I added some basic tattoo designs and based the colour on the aboriginal paintings.

I sketched this thinking it was cold blooded like most amphibians and uses the power of the sun for energy. Its skin has like a hardened shell covering the chest and back for absorbing sunlight

I'm also thinking this creature to be a herbivore and feeds off mainly the special liquid produced by the trees on Kepler. Its quite an easy food source which means they don't waste too much energy.

I'm still unsure where they could live, I was thinking either in the jungles of Kepler or in these caves away from the sun in order to make it easier for their bodies to shut down.

Anyway The Anoki have an important role in the story, they are the ones who save the Menewa and the Pronaxians on Kepler and lead them to their hidden community where they hide the marooned prisoners from the guardians of Kepler.

Still got some exploring to do but I like where this idea is going.  hope you likes

Here is the colour version of the sketch with background. I still have some exploration to do for Kepler but the basic concept is that its a hot humid sump planet filled with gasoline lakes. This painting shows the creature(which I still have to name) going to fill up...hope u like

This is the same sketch, just playing around with colour. The planet this beast lives on has a heavy yellow atmosphere, so it didn't take long to choose the colour for it.

This is a sketch of a Kepler animal I've been working on. The idea for this life form is that they are adapted to drink methane through their straw like tongues and combust it within its shell to produce energy.

The shell on its back has these fins which help it absorb heat from the sun. It also has these pipes which expel excess smoke from the internal combustion.

The thing is with the life forms on Kepler is that they have adapted to behave like machines, their biology behaves similar to that of an engine running on gasoline. I guess overall im trying to make Kepler a place where nature resemble machines, and machines resemble nature.

Here is the first update for the colour version. Im pretty happy with it, but I might take out the fins of the Catori in the forground later, just seems like its blocking the view too much. wel see, hope you like

Heres is the latest key shot for my story. This shows Menewa outrunning the Catori on a thin pool of liquid nitrogen. Hopefully finish it up with colour by tomorrow!

Heres an update of the current painting. Much more light and atmosphere added to the piece, just trying to sell the idea of the pronaxians being sucked into a vortex of some kind in the background.

Heres is an update on the 6th key shot of my story. In this piece the Pronaxians are trying to escape from a vortex in the background. Sorry about the low resolution but im working at 72 dpi just cos its a little easier on my computer, for the final I up the resolution to 300. enjoy!

This is an update of the bio armour render. I want to show the armour powering up, looking like its powered from within.

Here is am update on the Catori sketch, iv ipdated the Catori to look faster and more menacing. I've also experimented with colour, the previous sketch was looking very monochromatic.
I've also added the forest of Kreth in the background to give me a better idea of how the creature would look on Kreth.

This a full armour render iv been working on today. For this image I'm trying to make it look like a biological armour with energy running through it. Wil post more updates soon

Another update on the Catori, worked on the details a bit and took down the lighting from the previous version.

This is the latest update for the Menewa image. I added more snow and more atmosphere giving more interest to the piece, hope you like it...

Heres an update for the Catori image, just added some snow and touched up the contrast.

This is another image I've been working on, this is the Catori a predator on the ice planet of Kreth who is used to hunt in packs.

I was thinking the Catori with its powerful legs runs at an impressive speed and attacks using its lower jaw to jab at its prey.

The Catori to survive in this ice planet filled with liquid nitrogen has developed a blue aerogel-like tissue to counter the freezing temperatures of Kreth. The blue bubbles you see on the Catori's back is the aerogel peeking through the exterior layer of the skin.

I imagine this creature to dwell mostly on flat plains of Kreth living in packs like lions and preying on antelope type creatures who venture nearby.

As promised here is an update for the Menewa full body render. Just playing around with colour and adding snow to the image.

Im liking the colour in this image as it more resembles the freezing temperatures of Kreth. For the next update I want to finalise this image by tightening up the details as well as add a few bits and pieces to Menewa's costume.

This is a full body render of Menewa, the main character of my story, after talking to my teacher I decided to fix the pose and some of the left arm. Il post the previous version so you can see the differences made with this one.

For this image I want to add abit more to the character maybe a knife or some equipment. Also I want to play around with the colour just to see if I get something more interesting happening. Will post updates soon

This is another key shot, showing Menewa turning to find a Trion soldier coming straight at him. This shot takes place after the Trion invasion and its when all citizens of the ice planet Kreth are being taken prisoner including Menewa and the mountain people.

For this image I again used a lot of reference from James Gurney section on night time rendering to get the dark snowy atmosphere. This painting really opened my eyes to see colour

The ice planet I wanted show has an abundance of liquid nitrogen. For this painting I imagine theres a liquid nitrogen lake of river near by releasing all the fog seen in the image.

Also I painted in these spheres on the trees, Im thinking that the trees over time have developed these bubble like "blisters" on its surface indicating a large amount of nitrogen being accumulated in that particular area. I also took that idea further and placed these plants with these chimney looking things spewing nitrogen gas into the atmosphere adding to the heavy fog.

I want to add further details like some snow falling and even some rocks and things to break up the ground a little bit, but for now hope you enjoy!

Here is a full body render of the bio armour Menewa puts on. It turn out to be the key to Kepler and the only way to escape.

This armour has enough energy to open up wormholes and travel large distances, it also isn't affected by Kepler's low tech zone.

Here is an update of one of the paintings iv been working on. Iv added a few details to the Trion and a force field protecting it from the surrounding environment. As well warping the arm of the Pronaxian as soon as it passes through.

Here is a key scene for my story. In this painting I wanted to show an invasion of highly advanced aliens spreading destruction to a lesser civilisation. The figures in the centre(the Trions) use a space warping force field to cause the weapons of the Pronanxians to malfunction and misfire, while at the same time using it as a shield.

Here is an update of the bio armour render post from a few weeks ago.

Just a few subtle changes nothing major, I made the face more symmetrical as well as sharpen a few small details.

This is a close up of The Warden, the ruler of Kepler. In the story The Warden is enhanced with nano technology provided by Sovereign in order to find the Grand Master. However over countless years he has failed to locate him and has grown frustrated and desperate to find him.

All painted in Photoshop took me about a day to finish.

This is the final render for Menewas (main character) face. Inspired by a giant turtle.
I used mudbox to sculpt the basic form and then used photoshop to paint over the model.

Here is another piece I'm currently working on. In this painting iv shown a Pronaxian soldier advancing towards the Trion invader using some kind of high powered melee weapon. During the invasion the Pronaxians discovered that their guns were no use and this painting shows a soldier try and attack the Trion using a sword in a last minute attempt to save their city from being destroyed.

I still want to add a snow texture and detail the background a little more, will post updates soon!

This is a detail close up of the bio armour of my main character, Menewa. This took me about a day to model and a day to paint.

In the story these bio armours are used by the Trions to open wormholes to travel the stars. They contain a large amount of energy to do this which make them the ultimate technological weapon the Trions possess.

This is a new painting I've been working on, took me about 2 days to finish. It shows the main bad guy of my story the leader of the Trions called Sovereign, holding a bright lighting energy ball in his hand, about to reign chaos on the Pronaxians.

In the story this invasion is to clear the Pronaxians from their home planet of Kreth in order to absorb their sun and enslave the Pronaxians. Unfortunately for the warriors you see in the painting, the ones who survive are sent to Kepler to live out their lives as prisoners stuck on a planet where no advanced tech can exist 

Kepler

 

Heres a concept painting of the main planet of my story, Kepler. I referenced a lot from Saturn's moon titan for the colour.

 

Here is a painting showing the villains in my story.

This image shows three sci fi warriors, the central character is the leader which I named Kronos ordering an attack on the planet Kepler. Behind them is the home Ice planet of the Pronaxians.

 

This is a another environment sketch I worked on a few weeks ago. This was mainly to practice using different textured brushes to create a more dynamic image, as well as to create a windy atmospheric effect.

 

 

Here is a painting of a snowy landscape I've been working on. It was a great opportunity to practice my rendering skills on an environment painting.

 

 

Menewa armour

Here are some design ideas for my characters armour, in the story when the team reach into Kepler and investigate the planet at the core, they find that all their high end technology doesn't work properly.

My character ends up finding this armour which seems to be highly technological and isn't affected by the technology limit set on the planet. It is later explained that this armour is also part of the tryon technology and was used to battle the god inside the prison without it being affected by the planet's technological limit, giving whoever wielded this power an advantage in the fight.

Strategically, there were several users of these bio suits and they would distract and battle the god distracting it long enough for the other Tryon's to finish building the prison.

Menewa finds this armour and as soon as he puts it on he is enhanced in various ways, his sight his speed, his strength, his endurance, and his height. His body is now reacting to the flow of power the suit posseses, the armour itself is a living thing forming part of Menewa like a symbiotic lifeform.

It is the epitome of Tryon warfare which is why it resembles the Tryon anatomy with the tree like tentacles growing out of his shoulders and hands, and its black skin. The armour is meant to withstand an enourmous amout of force and radiation, specifically to deal with the alien gods power.

Like all Tryon technology it is an artificial lifeform with self sustaining energy flowing through it, so when Menewa decides to attack he can produce a large amount of energy without exhausting himself.  

Catori Silhouettes

Here are some silhouette exercises I've been working on for my creature called the Catori. In my story the Catori are a race a of raptor like creatures who are at war with the Pronaxians, and since they are better evolved to deal with the conditions they are winning and are constant threat to the Pronaxians.

Individually the Catori aren't the brightest of animals with the intelligence of a dog or a cat, however together when they form packs of 5, they acquire a unified consciousness, act as one being of great intelligence.

I started my process with silhouettes focusing on making this creature look fast and menacing, below are a more detailed version of the silhouettes. I tried a variety of different looks, but I'm still not too happy with the look. 

This is a painting I've been working on for the past week, it shows my main character Menewa on his home planet.

For this painting I wanted to see how my characters design would look as well as the colours of his outfit and armour.

I also focused on the environment, The Pronaxian home planet is a cold mars size planet close to the axis of evil, but their planet is very old and is basically evaporating because of its weakened gravity.

The planet also is heated from a volcanic core, explaining the mini volcano you can see on the lower left of frame.

I have begun studying the effects of light and snow through James Gurney colour and light book which was a great help for the rendering of the snow. I wanted to show the snow as having been there for a while, not fresh, as well as melting on the trees.

For the lighting I placed my main light source on the upper left, however lighting this setting was tricky as I have read snow is extremely reflective so I didn't place as much shadow in this piece as I normally would.

Overall I'm happy with the painting and the rendering of my main character, I wanted him to have a less clean futuristic look and make him feel as though he belongs to that environment while looking like an alien from an advanced civilisation.

I wanted him to look more customised than futuristic, I was influenced a lot by the Sioux Indians and I wanted him to be able to blend in for his hunting trip than standing out with too many intricate glowing pieces.

"Tryons"

These are my designs for the famous Tryon race, for these small silhouettes I wanted to get across a feeling of cybernetics and organics moulded into one species.

The Tryons are the creators of Kepler, they were the ones who fought against the monster, and with their technology they managed to contain it on their home planet while the artificial outer shell of the prison was constructed.

Unfortunately the ones who fought bravely weren't allowed access to freedom and were left inside the prison with the creature. However they managed to form a civilisation and survive while trapped inside Kepler.

The Tryons before they built their prison for the monster were actually similar in appearance to the Pronaxians, however as their resources were running low and they were desperate for a new source of energy they invested all their resources and efforts into developing super bio engineered life forms which produce energy, artificial plants if you will.

This lead to a successful new self sustaining "tree life form", producing vast amounts of energy for their civilisation, soon enough they had solved their energy crisis and were a thriving race. They decided to push their new found science to try and discover immortality and invented these bio suits made of the same energy producing tree life forms, and ultimately fusing their consciousness into them.

Below you see their immortality suit of self sustaining energy, with their immortality and endless energy they became the most powerful race in the galaxy, able to build on an imaginable scale and fast pace.    

Main character Menewa

Here are a few thumbnails I did in Photoshop for the design of my main character. For my process I found it helpful to begin with small rough thumbnails to get my ideas down fast, as I wasn't quite sure what I wanted my main character to look like.

I finally decided on a snowy warrior design, Menewa is a Pronaxian a race of humanoid aliens living near the axis of evil, his planet is a cold mars sized planet with a heavy atmosphere. The planet is covered in snow however the planets core is heated enough for plantation and vegetation to thrive on the surface.

The characters name came from the Native American word for "great warrior", it seemed fitting as I am wanting the Pronaxians to have a Native American influence.

These aliens are technologically advanced, they have achieved interstellar flight however they have strong ties to their planet seeing as their planet is more hostile making it harder to industrialise than others, they have a deep respect for the freezing temperatures. Its not just the snowy environment which makes this planet a danger its also the fact its quite an old planet and its gravity has been weakened by millions of years of cosmic wear and tear. Asteroids, radiation from their nearest sun and several other phenomenon have caused their home to be weakened, making it one of the most dangerous places to live in the galaxy.

Menewa is a warrior in the Pronaxian military, but not just any foot soldier, he is part of the "special forces" in charge of the most dangerous missions taking place in the most dangerous regions of the planet. They are known throughout the galaxy as one of the most talented and feared warriors, with this reputation and the fact they're race has incredible endurance of the harsh cold conditions Menewa is taken along with several others in his group to protect the expedition to Kepler.

Ultimately Menewa discovers their peoples true ancestry to the Tryons, explaining why they are the oldest race in the galaxy. Being a descendant of the Tryons, Menewa is able to activate their technology and the use the bio suit on Kepler.



                                  

Sketches

 Here are a couple of sketches I've done for the Tarnak race. These are the warriors who are set to free the monster hidden beneath Kepler, as they believe the monster to be the embodiment of evolution itself.

I started using silhouettes for their design to try and come up with interesting shapes and forms. I placed these masks on their faces as a strong feature in all of the designs, my idea was for it to be a mask dedicated to this monster of death they worship.

They all have a tribal look to them, My idea was for the Tarnaks to be an advanced alien race but who prefer to fight like the indigenous warriors of their past. They see fighting at range with long range anti matter rifles as boring and unchallenging and prefer to engage up close as much as possible. 

Ultimately their motives are to free the monster beneath Kepler and gain revenge on the Tryons, who it turns out have built a prison around the galaxy itself with technological limit. The Tarnaks despise the Tryons for this and want to be free of this limited galaxy, and they see the monster as the only way to escape.

This is a painting I did of my main characters face, I used several cold blue tones to show that he's from a cold planet.

Major Project entry 2

Major Project Research

For the past few weeks I have been working on a synopsis for the story I want to work on for the major project. From the beginning I was set on working on a science fiction story, I wanted to work on something which interests me, and would keep me motivated for the whole year. For inspiration I have been researching several books in both science fiction and fantasy for ideas. Some of authors are Gene Wolfe, Robert Reed, Nancy Kress, Dan Simmons, and Christopher Paolini. Also a major part of influence is reading the New Scientist magazines, focusing on the articles of physics and astronomy. Lately, I have been watching several documentaries on alien life and technology featuring Stephen hawking, Michio Kaku and Albert Einstein

World

The story is set in a future where humans and various other aliens species have made contact and established complex craft civilisations, most species have achieved interstellar space travel throughout the galaxy, the colonisation of most of the galaxy, advanced military weaponry, and advanced Nano technology.

The galaxy for the most part is similar to our own milky way galaxy except for one massive difference, the galaxy is divided between the habitable zone and the non habitable zone. The habitable zone contains the "normal planets", that's is habitable planets orbiting some sort of star. The uninhabitable zone contains mostly pieces of rock, ice and lifeless desolate planets wandering space, and most importantly no stars, and no life.

These two areas of the galaxy are separated quite sharply forming an invisible line separating the cold planets from the warm ones. This line is known throughout the galaxy as the "axis of evil", which is the most famous anomaly in the galaxy. As the name suggests many have fallen victim trying to conquer it, and many civilisations have tried to colonise some of its planets but have failed, there's no life to be found only death.

Brief Synopsis

It was previously thought that one of the pre requisites for life was the sun, that for life to survive the planet had to be orbiting a sun of some sort, but a recent discovery by some of the colonies closest to the axis of evil discovered a new wandering planet which they named Kepler, roughly 300 times the mass of earth, and seems to have an atmosphere supporting plant life.

Once this discovery was made, they send a team to investigate this mysterious finding, my main character Menewa is sent as part of the military to protect the scientists and geologists on this dangerous mission.

When they arrive on Kepler they find a dark mysterious land seemingly abundant in strange plant life(imagine black artificial plants). They soon discover the planet is actually an artificial space ship seemingly powering itself by these organic life forms producing energy for the ship. Soon enough the biggest discovery is made, the space ship is actually hollow and within lies a hovering small earth-sized planet.

With this new discovery they send Menewa and the best of the best to investigate this planet, however they discover this planet has its own set of rules and seemingly any high tech devices don't work here. One night, Menewa discovers a special bio armour which gels to him once he touches it, enhancing him physically and mentally. This suit seems to be the most advanced technological device on the planet, which appears to work perfectly despite the rest of the high tech gear malfunctioning.

While on this planet they encounter the creators of Kepler, a race of super intelligent aliens known as the Tryons, who explain that this space station is actually a prison for an evil ancient god like creature and that the race of warriors who worship it are in pursuit to free it from this prison.

Major Project Proposal

I realise this is quite an ambitious story, which is why for my paintings I would like to pick a small section of it, and produce maybe 5 highly rendered pieces showing key moments in my story. I would like to focus on the last part of my story where Menewa and the Tryons engage with the worshipers of the imprisoned creature on the inner planet of Kepler.

Introduction to Major Project part 1

For my major project I want to do a series of digital paintings and possibly an art book based on a story I created. I want to tell a story through a number of concept paintings showing action, character designs and environment designs.

Aim

My aim is to get my skill level up in character design, environment design, rendering different materials, improve my lighting and shading. By the end I want to produce 5 highly rendered paintings as well as the process I took to render them.

The paintings I want to be moody, with a lot of atmosphere and contrast. I want these paintings to show my particular style of painting as well as show what I am capable of.

My ultimate aim is for this to be a portfolio piece, something I can take with me to a job interview. I am ultimately looking for job as a working artist in the field of games and film.