The idea for this image came quickly. I knew that I wanted to play
around with a visual of a foetus that included some 'quirk' or
technological element to make the image implausible or surreal.
I located a free model by Darwin Giordano, which I imported into
Bryce. I played around with the atmosphere and lighting and gave
the model a plain, pale skin colour. I realized then, that I needed
a definite surface texture. I found a seamless leather tile which I
applied randomly to give a mottled feel to the skin. I added bump
to bring out the grain and detail. I also tweaked the ambience to
increase the 'glow' of the skin. I spent some time adding a
womb-like surrounding, but wasn't happy with the results. I decided
on the deep black vacuum with no ambient light. I also toyed with
camera angles and perspectives, looking for the right 'quirk' to
focus on. One of the first ideas was to show the little human
magically looking at a Renderosity gallery screen through his
mother's skin, like an X-ray. I moved on to having the foetus
holding a light pen and graphics tablet, but the fixed positioning
of this particular mesh didn't allow for that possibility.
(Poser-ready foetus anyone?) Feeling a little defeated, I
duplicated the model, shrunk it and enclosed it in an air bubble
placed near the hands of the other and did a test render. At this
stage, I found the image to be quite evocative, despite the absence
of that certain 'something' I needed to 'make' the image.
I left Bryce to complete the high-resolution render whilst I had a
coffee. OK, maybe it was two... I imported the render into
Photoshop. I wasn't happy with the eye-area -- the way the light
caught it made it look incorrect. I started smoothing and painting
over it on a new layer. Shortly after that, the idea for the VR
headset hit me -- I had the digital/technological/futuristic
element I was after, as well as being an effective mask for the
problems around the eye! I drew the outline of the VR visor with
the path tool, and converted the active path to a selection,
enabling me to paint within its boundaries. I started by filling
the selected area with black, then added various degrees of grey
using the airbrush tool.
Slowly but surely the headpiece began to take shape -- to appear
3-dimensional. Once I was happy with it, I flattened the layers and
inverted the selection, which allowed me to paint around the
outside of the visor. Using the colour picker tool to sample some
of the darkest tones on the foetus, I airbrushed the shadows that
the mask would create on its face. I added the 'System X VR' text,
merged all the layers again and applied a small amount of noise to
dirty the image and add to the "photographic" effect. For the
finishing touches, I duplicated the flattened layer and applied
some gaussian blur at about 2-3 pixels spread, and switched the
layer apply mode to 'screen'. By lowering the opacity of this new
layer, I had both lightened it and created a subtle glow across the
whole image. There you have it, an honest rendition from concept to
near defeat and back!
About Adam Benton
(kromekat): Adam is a jobbing freelance illustrator and
designer, based from home in the UK. He has been pouring out images
since as far back as he can remember, and worked his way through
every kind of traditional medium going. He settled on Acrylics and
an airbrush/brush combo for a long time, and often worked with
watercolour pencils for fast colour visuals. After a period as a
senior designer/illustrator at a publishing company, Adam once
again went freelance, armed with a new digital toolset, a new
computer, and sheer determination. In late 1999 he stumbled upon
Renderosity, and inspired by much of the quality work being
displayed there, began unravelling the possibilities of 3D as his
new medium of choice. Adam has a passion for realism, and
subsequently collects and creates as many of his own textures and
props as possible, many of which have been made available to the
community via his Renderosity store, and is always looking for new
ideas to enable the realisation of 'reality with a twist of
improbability'. He is also currently involved with a large-scale
fan film project, based in the popular Star Wars universe, and is
generating imagery, CG modelling, digital matte backgrounds and
animation to aid with the production. He was thrilled to have had
his 'Dreamer of Dreams' image accepted for the cover of the
premiere Renderosity magazine, and equally enjoyed the mixed
community reaction and controversy it generated! - "Positive or
negative, high emotional reaction is always a bonus - at least it
'said' something to some people!"
The Magazine Interact Forum's Back Room is the
place to
go for editorials, magazine excerpts, discussions, and plenty of
surprises. Also, if you haven't done so yet, you can subscribe
to the magazine or buy single
issues. To find your way there, go to the Magazine
Interact Forum, and click on the link to the Back
Room at the top. Every couple of weeks, we'll be highlighting
an article, review, or editorial from past issues of the magazine.
Our third feature is an article from Issue #1, "Dreamer of Dreams."
You can view this article in all of its
original pdf glory by going to the Magazine Interact Forum Back
Room and going to Special Features.
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