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Risachantag โ The Esteemed Steambot
Published: 2010-06-10 14:08:35 +0000 UTC; Views: 36221; Favourites: 1981; Downloads: 603
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Description
For an exhibition at Swancon next year, featuring works with a retro-futurist theme (the future as people from the past might imagine it).To be fair though, I'd been looking for an excuse to paint this one anyway.
Time: Lost count, probably 15-20 hours.
Tools: Photoshop CS4 & Wacom Intuous Tablet
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Comments: 131
it's so captivating. the setting reminds me of an old european novel yet the steampunk element sets it completely off the norm. i love it
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amazing !
Your art just grows and gets so much better soooo fast !
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I'm not premium, so I can't officially write a critique, but I'll put my proletarian fingers to work and write an unofficial one anyway.
Thug life, etc.
Compositionally, I have no issues. This may be, partly, because I'm not too experienced with compositional theory, but also because it doesn't look too unbalanced. While the main scene's colours are very soft and pastel, they still contrast enough (the gold and blues) to draw us in. The deepened, more vibrant blue of the woman's dress establishes her as a central figure, while the obvious dominance through size and intense contrast establishes the foremost man as the other.
I do have issues with the lighting, however. The cat, in particular, seems very two-dimensional, the light playing out differently on it's head and back, despite the fact that, given it's small size and position, it should be receiving, more or less, uniform lighting across it's entirety. On the subject of the cat, I noticed that the tail looks very stiff. I would have added more flowing motion to it, to mirror the cat's inherent curviness.
The man's right arm looks rather strange. Maybe it's just an odd angle, maybe it's some issue with scale, but it seems to me that it has a lack of depth.
The lighting on the woman's dress is amazing, although given the rim-lighting around her butt I and the proximity off the rest of her dress to the machine, I would have extended the warm rim-lighting to the lower regions of the dress as well.
The vehicle is great, although to give it a more 'Steampunk' feel I would have exposed more of the functional parts, working them in as decorative as well as functional. This is just my view however; I'm not going to dictate how you should engage with the Steampunk subculture, partly because (despite a fascination with it all) I don't know the 'rules' of the style (if any), and also because I think you should be free to express or develop the style as you see fit.
One issue with the vehicle is that it took me a little while to figure out the purpose of the foremost 'arms'. This issue with recognising their purpose may have been due to the exhaust funnel behind the arm closest to the right side of the image. Maybe try masking this in Photoshop and seeing if it makes things clearer?
There is also a clipping issue where the rightmost handrail (the line of rings running down the side of the vehicle from the seat) comes in front of the 'head' of the vehicle. Is this a layer issue? It's not noticeable unless you're looking closely and it's not going to kill the work - it's a very minor thing. But it's something to watch out for next time. It actually gives a nice Escher-esque feel to that part of the image, an allusion only noticeable to those who look closely - a very nice example of hidden meaning and using the viewer's proximity to the work to dictate the readings they have of it.
This is all just my opinion. I'm no art historian or curator - I'm in my second year of art school and it's probable that the issues I have with the work (especially with understanding the arm-function) are affected by factors such as a lack of sleep and the general human tendency to be inconsistent in views and opinions. My words should not be gospel to you - read them and form your own opinions about your work. Take some time away and come back with fresh eyes. Ask others to look at it.
All in all it's an amazing work, convincing and showing skill and I hope to see MUCH more of your work. I'm very excited about looking through your gallery.
Keep it up.
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THe kitty looks a little flat, but the car-thing and the women with the umbrella are AMAZING!
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I want a rid on that thing. No, I want to drive that thing to school every morning.
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Love the kitty running across the street!!
Amazing work!!
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This is such a great painting, looking at this I feel like watch Howl's Moving castle.
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Anyone know how to add stuff to your wishlist? ^_~
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Yep, you just click the 'buy print' button, and instead of purchasing, click the 'add to wishlist' link on the left hand side.
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Awesome! thanks. I added this picture! it's beautiful. ^_^
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Hi I would like to make a list of amazing steampunk digital art works and I would love add your beautiful work to the list if you accept. I will be published on my blog [link] with a link to your work and your deviant art profile.
is it ok? thank you
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Very nice work! Which intuous tablet do you use?
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It looks wonderful, and very original. Compliments, for ability and fantasy.
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Very well done, I love how the pillars of steam blend into the clouds. Kind of reminds me of Bioshock Infinite.
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It's a really beautiful Steampunk picture. I think it's also really well coloured, but i'm not too expert about painting to make a critique.
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This for some reason reminds of the anime Emma.....I don't know exactly why.
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The face on the Steambot looks like Boxbot from Gunnerkrigg Court... he also looks happy
Nice to see that men in the future will still tip their hats to the ladies
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I love the way you interpreted the theme, and there are so many details that really make this come to life.
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marry me! jk youre just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good when it comes anything art lol. very amazing picture, i would have loved to live in that time era
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That's pretty good. Steampunk can be a lot of fun
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wow, it's very expressive...
well done...
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Such a gorgeous, almost steampunk, picture! We always think it funny what past generations thought the future would be like, but this is brilliant, wondering how people farther back would think the high tech future would be like! Beautiful!
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*sleepy*
at first glance i thought this was a cool photo or something
but now a close up look and i am way more blown away than before
this fricken rules the day Risa!
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I really love it! Kind of reminds me of the 3rd Professor Layton game :3
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