DRAGON WIP

[s o u t h e r n]

I have been working on a Dragon image on and off for a year. I never seem to be happy with the way it goes. This is a work in progess and this version has been finshed in photoshop (the thread fall etc.)

I based the image around a Dragon (without rider at this stage) fighting Thread in the skys above Pern. Anyone familiar with the Dragon books by Anne McCaffery will be familiar with the scene I would think.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021707515myw.jpg

The scale effect is achieved by using the Spherical Blend Material. I saved out a copy of the material and reloaded 4 versions of it and progressivly increased the HVScale for each one. For example, the model below (A 3DRing with less that 36o degrees) uses 4 versions of the material with different settings.

http://www2.zbrushcentral.com/zbc_uploads/user_image-1021707596awb.gif

http://www.southerngfx.co.uk/uploads/sig.jpg

[MrBraun]

Cool image Glen !!! Perfect !!! U are a King of zBrush !!!!
___________________________________________
:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

[kaz-g]

Marvellous!!!
Is this WIP??? :eek:
I cannot believe!

By the way,
I'm reading your tutorial now (Smokin orc).
It includes quite many useful things.
Thank you!

kaz-g

[drjjwow]

i cant beleive that this is a wip..wowzer southern..id say you put all of our wips to shame...

[Bobono]

Wow, amazing work southern.
greeetings
BoBoNo

[juandel]

the scales look awesome and so does the "WIP". primo exquisite dragon, a masterpiece for sure!!!

- juandel

[Grub]

Wow Glen :eek: , great modelling and dramatic colour use, its a wip??, It looks finished to me! :cool: :tu: :cool:

[picsas]

Excellent tip, thanks for that. I must say that I haven't seen a dragon like that before. The amount of detail is outstanding and the expression in its pose is 10/10. I have noticed that you work extreamly well with reds and blacks, they just seem to stand out to me. i was teel ing someone the other day about your images, and I kind just went on and on...
picsas

[Nemo]

Gosh im in awe....

I LOVE this dragon Glen - It got a very sleek body which i personally prefer, and the colors look very good on it (the scales are wonderful).

If you are still not happy with it - think of inflating the upper chest a bit and making the rear legs more musculous would give it a much fiercer expression.

Lovely Glen

[Ron Harris]

good morning Glen, your art is the first thing my eyes get to see this morning...and my weary eyes are extremely happy at the moment....This is a very kewl looking dragon...Though I like images of dragons the thing that always troubled me was the fact they they were winged and that they flew about ...regardless of how tiny the wings were or how bloated and fat the bodies were....I know they arent real ... :) but I find your slimmer sleaker model of the dragon more believeable just for aeuronautical reasons....I have even done a sketch of one with wings, because i thought it would look kewl, but I knew it, like me, would never get its fat butt offa the ground... :) so great job on your version Glen...and I too renjoy your use of oranges and reds and greens in your works....
ron... ;)

[Frenchy Pilou]

Hi Southern
It's seem to me that the position of this great dragon is the racing cyclist position without bicycle :)
He pedals in empty space : except meteorits :)
Why there is no direct link to your site on your Southern Graphic banner ?
Pilou

[jibberish]

WIP??? what else do you have to add, besides your signature. looks pretty freakin' perfect to me. amazing detail and thanks for the tip on the material stuff. great piece, glen. thanks for sharing it with us.

josh

[JOHNVQ3]

:)This dragon is extremly well done :tu: :tu: :tu: The fireballs are very cool to,the dragons tryin to evade them.
great wip :cool:

[rhom]

WOW!I like this dragon.And that skin....

[Neoz]

That my friend is a GREAT looking Dragon! The wings and overall colors are perfect. Very nice... If its a WIP what direction are going next or adding? :tu: :tu: :tu:

[Digits]

Some of my favorite books of all time and your vision of the Pern dragons are awesome, you have definitely made it your own.

I am anxious to see the finale!

[ztevie-rae]

[Ken B]

Spectacular!

[Tammy]

This is fantastic the dragon looks excellent.

[Stonecutter]

That's a fine image Glen, but I appreciate the insight into the material design even more...Thanx for the tip...!
:tu: :tu: :tu: :cool:

[Sarum]

i am impressed :tu: :tu: :tu:

[benhog]

There are a few artists, on this forum, who
can truely tap into the power of Zbrush ,
in my eyes,You ,Adman,Ztevie-rae and Le discot.Never fail to amaze with your consistancy and artistry and talent!.

[hitch]

brilliant work as always,
One question are there any tutorials around on creating the illustrated style that you have become master of.
I checked the quicklinks and came up blank
the style is is atechnique that I really like to be able to produce,
thanks

[Mik]

The detail on that object is just beyond belief. Tremendous work Glen. :eek: :eek: :eek:

[s o u t h e r n]

Hi Hitch,

Tought question. I can't really help you to adopt my style as I am trying to improve and develop it all the time. I go through stages of wanting my work to look more like Kens, then Oliviers (Le Discot), then Mentat posts and I want to try a bit of his style and so on and so on...

My only advice is to wokr on a Style of your own and keep evolving. One persons work that I really admire (and probably don't so so enough) is Robo. He has a style and a way of picking colours for his work that I would love to get a bit of. I always struggle with my colours and end up with dark m,uddy tones when I started out aiming for a bright effect.

I'm happy to help you develop but I'm not sure which parts of me/mine you would want :)

G

[Mentat7]

Hey Hitch...just like Southern said. Let me add that everyone sees things differently. Combine that with varying levels of illustrative skill, motor skill, and work environment and it becomes one tough cookie to teach a style of art without boxing it up and calling it "The Joy of Painting" (no insult meant...I love that show). The most difficult thing to do is step out of yourself and try to approach your illustrations in a different manner. It is difficult to do because your mindseye will often times stop you and say "Hey that doesn't look right" I try break myself of my habit from time to time (sometimes successfully sometimes not) and tell myself to go wild on the color or get nasty with the texture or to just plain old slop up the modeling. I know I want to draw like Southern, Olivier, Ken, Picsas, The Saint....but I am me (sigh) and despite trying to mimic their style I will always be me. My suggestion would be to just be who you are and when you are comfortable with that then tweak your "drawing personality" a little bit at a time. It's a difficult thing to do but the rewards in learning new methods can be huge.

[Nikko]

This is a truly incredible image, and it's not yet done? :eek:

Glen, you've done a fantastic job capturing the emotion and terror of threadfall. The Pern series is my absolute favorite reading material and I really appreciate the visual realization of it. I can't wait to see your vision of the rider.

You should contact Anne when this image is done. It just might make a spectacular book cover. One thing, though. It's been a while since I read any of her books, but I don't remember any of her dragons being red. Greens, browns, bronzes, golds, and of course that wonderful white dragon, but reds? Maybe it could be another anomaly like the white one. If I'm wrong, please let me know!

:tu: :tu: :cool: :tu: :tu:

[mizzthangg]

absolutely STUNNING image!!!! :eek:

[cneofotistos]

the scene certainly is familiar.
and, strangely, I immediately identified it with my own mental impression of the battle.

it is very interesting how you can concentrate so much expression around the face and eyes.

I would add some details on the body, if you don't mind spoiling the nice illustrative effect. I mean to say, the head and joints are gnarly whereas the rest is a tad bit too smooth.

I think this might make you satisfied of the piece

great job