Thread

NightDragon

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Visti

You should do what I saw Massive Black do some time back. Use a random story generator and then illustrate it. It was sweet.

Anyway! Is the thumbnail part of this?

NightDragon

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D-Robe

That thumbnail doesn't look that different from your regular work or even that interesting imho. (Of course it is just a thumbnail and maybe I should wait before judging..)

Anyway, I thought your cave environment was.. how do you say... more crazy.

NightDragon

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D-Robe

:oops: I totally missed that.
I believe the official term is thumbfail.

PROX

It's a nice thumbnail. I like how you layered things and illustrated the lighting.
ND is good at pencils.

earthwormadam

Great idea!

McGibs

Lets see whatcha' got!

F87

Yes! Sorry I just realized you made the thread.

I am very excited about this, I think it will be a great exercise, especially if everyone helps us out with critique!

I'm going to start on my thumbs!

Here are some environment sketches that I have reduced to thumbnail size. This is mainly to show what my environmental comfort zone might be. I will be trying to stray from this area.



Just stay out of my way, McGibs!

Mustang

Ooo, I like those Franky my boy.

I find it nigh impossible to critque thumbnails though.....because afterall, they're thumbnails. The whole point of them is quick concept. However lighting wise, I can't fauly them.

e: I can't fault them either.

rts

So what does the winner get? A career or something? Lame.

PROX

Mustang wrote: »

Ooo, I like those Franky my boy.

I find it nigh impossible to critque thumbnails though.....because afterall, they're thumbnails. The whole point of them is quick concept. However lighting wise, I can't fauly them.

e: I can't fault them either.

Speak for yourself.

1, 3 and 4 are acceptable as environment thumbnails.

1 and 4 are the clearest.

You have not defined architecture or indoor spaces yet.

F87

Alright, here are my first 5. I feel it would be helpful for critique along the way, because this is very difficult for me. These are taking far too long and most of them don't read well, or follow the guidelines of a large-scale interior. Maybe the 5th one does, so I think they are getting better.

I'm going to have to pick up the pace on the remaining thumbnails, I need to be faster. I really hate the 3rd one, it really isn't a large interior.

NightDragon

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winter_combat_knight

can i just say, those environment thumbnails look so freaking awesome. I particularly like where 2 and 4 are going

Wassermelone

Do more thumbnails based on # 5. Its not the most interesting thumbnail, but none of the other ones really are as "GRANDIOSE ARCHITECTURAL INTERIOR" as that one. And thats what you wanted to learn, yes?

PROX

F87: Pretty good stuff.

Make sure you correct any sort of glaring perspective errors.

Also more variance with thick and thins.

NightDragon

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rts

What is this crap..it shouldn't take you more than an hour to crank out 20 thumbs.

NightDragon

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PROX

Just go with it. ND, let it fly. So some are bad, that's not the point. The point is to get a bunch of ideas and learn to quickly conceptualize compositions and exercise your imagination. That's why you gave yourself a time limit right? Good or bad crank em out so that later on you can work under that pressure.

You know your goose? You gotta let it loose.

Loomdun

damn that goose to hell

F87

NightDragon wrote: »

cakemikz wrote: »

What is this crap..it shouldn't take you more than an hour to crank out 20 thumbs.

I realize this, right? But I'm pretty bad at doing perspective things quickly, it turns out. Also, conceptualizing spaces that aren't a basic shape with a bunch of random crap thrown in. I've sat down like 5 times and each time I get so angry with myself, I have to walk away for awhile. I'm not feeling good about it.

ND, I have been doing the same fucking thing! ARHGARHGR!!

Can we extend the deadline until tomorrow?

NightDragon

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Scosglen

You guys need to get over your fear of making a bad drawing. Not every thumbnail needs to be a miniature masterpiece executed with technical flourish. The point of the thumbnail is to rapidly brainstorm compositional and design ideas. Some of them will be bad. It's going to happen. That's why you make a lot so that you explore as many ideas as possible and have the best chance of happening upon something good.

I would suggest for both of you to worry even less about the details of your thumbs and focus on big shapes and composition (value and spatial). Perspective and lighting and specific design can be fleshed out in later stages.

NightDragon

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Scosglen

So you're frustrated that you can't meet the same level of technical execution and rapid delivery that a grizzled, seasoned, professional that eats and shits thumbnails for snacks can?

You gotta start somewhere.

earthwormadam

Yeah the stuff you guys have posted so far is more well rendered than any finished piece of artwork I've done in the last 3 months. I thought thumbnails were quick and dirty so you could develop the good ones better at a later time.

I forget which director it was, maybe Kubrick or something, but he had the absolute ugliest thumbnail drawings. It was wobbly and crappy, but the composition was defined and that's all he needed to communicate the visual he was trying to achieve. Maybe it wasn't Kubrick, but he's awesome so I'm just going to say that it was him.

NightDragon

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Loomdun

those thumbnails are pretty fine in my opinion, I dont see what your so upset about them. I mean, if you want even prettier thumbnails it would be from practice but I can see the point and easily see it being transferred into a larger project with that

edit: maybe all a tad large

Mustang

What the fuck are you worrying about? For pencil thumbnails that's about as good as they generally get.

EDIT: I'll grant you that the sewer is a little bland, but sewers are generally not known for awesome architechture considering that they're generally designed to move peoples shit from here to there.

F87

Whaaat! ?

Those are awesome.

FUCK. Now I'm going to have to try even harder.

Seriously though, you are doing great. You win, for now!

earthwormadam

Library and cryogenic chambers have good potential!

PROX

loooking good.

Keep going.

NightDragon

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PROX

NightDragon wrote: »

okay. I want to go faster on them, and I keep defaulting to the same:

1. Take a shape
2. Make a tube out of this shape, like a hallway
3. ???
4. [strike]Profit[/strike] Fail

I'll push through, though. I've learned that this method is just so ingrained in my head that I start editing everything to emulate the "hallway" look. Ick.

Loomdun wrote: »

edit: maybe all a tad large

They're larger here than they are IRL. They're about 1.5" tall and 2.5" wide.

You need to begin with high contrast abstract shapes, or else you settle on your defaults. Then you use your imagination to bring out things sort of like a rorsach.

Loomdun

NightDragon wrote: »

Loomdun wrote: »

edit: maybe all a tad large

They're larger here than they are IRL. They're about 1.5" tall and 2.5" wide.

Well I meant, in perspective to the people, everythings very very ant size people, even the sewers are ant size people, thats a lot of poop

NightDragon

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Angel_of_Bacon

earthwormadam wrote: »

I forget which director it was, maybe Kubrick or something, but he had the absolute ugliest thumbnail drawings. It was wobbly and crappy, but the composition was defined and that's all he needed to communicate the visual he was trying to achieve. Maybe it wasn't Kubrick, but he's awesome so I'm just going to say that it was him.

Scorsese? His storyboards are atrocious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvQV21hkMjI
Though thumbnails for an illustration are a little different than storyboards for a movie.

Visti

Yeah, these are actually pretty good. All it needs to do is to allow one to quickly see if a composition, perspective or idea works, everything else is for later.

I mean, apropos Feng discussion in the chat thread, check these out:

He's just checking if a perspective works, dot in some quick detail and then he's done. Communication-wise, these don't look that different from your last batch, ND - Except, of course, Feng loves angular, square stuff and that reads easily and looks tight in small pictures, but that's a style thing.