Epic painting in the making.

[eddysage]

Hey guys I’m Eddy. New to SVS and brand new to the forums. I am on the ground level of a new painting I want to do. Before I move to the good paper I wanted y’alls input on composition and balance.

These are draft sketches of a whimsical observatory/lab built atop a floating island. The painting itself will have a different perspective I’m just trying to get the the essence right of a make shift house built from an eccentric inventor. The style is steam punk and there will be a floating airship docked as well.

Any feedback is welcome. I want to pack this with fun details. Iron work on the large green house, the mechanics getting power from the hydroelectric wheel etc.

Thanks!

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[Jonas Zavacky]

@eddysage love stuff like this. It is looking good and I don`t have much to say about it in terms of drawing. Just some suggestion - Every building has its own story (atleast the old ones) and I love when I discover hints of what happaned in the house or around it. I am speaking of composing elements from daily life into design of the house. Not to overtake the overall design - just some hints, eastereggs lets say. Who is this eccentric inventor? What are his daily task to do around the house? Does he smoke from the highest window or from the lowest? Maybe something was running on the pipes down there and it did some demage to it, causing steam release from the pipes. Few missing rooftiles and why is that? Stuff like that.

Sorry i got kinda carried out But your design got me thinking in this way so thats good i guess

anyway good luck with that

[eddysage]

@Jonas-Zavacky thanks for the input! So the character is a hermit, he expands on the house as he pleases using scrap pieces he steals from the pirate mining operation on another larger floating island.

Missing shingles is great, a burst pipe with steam coming out I never thought about but LOVE! To me the glass green house seems too clean. I think that’s the last area of the house that needs to be more run down? But yes this painting is part of a book my wife and I are developing so I will have more Easter eggs that are part of the story.

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@eddysage i like what you’re going for but i don’t think it sells the eccentric vibe well though. Maybe add more out of the box elements.

[eddysage]

@nyrrylcadiz I agree. I guess eccentric isn’t the right word so much as make shift? He’s more worried with function over form. There are more details I am listing out to pepper in as it pertains to the story, but I’m wondering what composition elements should take place with the bulk of the structure. Should I add more towers? More mechanical elements? I’m finishing another painting once that’s done I’ll upload a revised version of this and a more 3D perspective approach. Thanks for the input.

[andersoncarman]

This is a really fun design. Here are my thoughts

-The windmill looks out of place. I think it should be connected to the house as a power source instead of just off to the side.
-You said that the final will have a different perspective. Because of that I really can't offer much critique except to say that this perspective is pretty boring because its perfectly from the side. it feels more like a schematic as opposed to an illustration.
-What is powering the wheel on the bottom left? if It is a body of water it would be nice to see the body of water to know that there is plenty still left to keep the wheel turning for years to come, or else maybe attach it to the windmill for power, or have a waterfall?
-Play around with textures to showcase the different parts of the house. you have a great brick texture on the bottom of the house. but I can't tell what the foundation is. rock? glass? a thin black line? You can have a lot of fun with textures on the roof tiles and bridge.
-I would encourage you to steer clear of just using parallel lines to say "This is glass" on the back half of the house. I do read it as glass, but because all the lines are perfectly parallel it makes that gazebo look flat like a fine sticking out of the back of the house.
-I'm iffy on the composition. I'm not sure if the edge of the paper is your frame? I think you should do some simpler thumbnail sketches inside a 2x3" frame to arrange it in space better.

Overall I would suggest you do more exploration before moving onto the final. but I think you have a good idea here and should keep up the good work!

[eddysage]

@andersoncarman wow so much great insight here! Although whimsical I do want some real world practicalities behind the home. Since the home takes up the majority of the floating island there would not be a large body of water To power the wheel. The windmill will serve as a redundancy when rain is slow. I’ll play around with linking the two mechanically. I’ll have thumb nails up ASAP with the two point perspective. I look forward to sharing with this community the evolution of these initial concept sketches!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@eddysage i can’t give you much feedback on the composition side of things without you showing a composition sketch. Right now all I can comment on is based on your design. Perhaps show us a thumbnail composition first and we can work from there.

[eddysage]

Here is the updated quick sketch with the right composition. As it stands the ship that was quickly drawn will have a more 3/4 look with the nose pointing to the left.

Still not satisfied with the glass green house (I have some glass patters in mind but the overall shape seems stale) and the windmill.

I will be cranking up the detail in the final design with all the mechanics just want to make sure before moving to that point the design as it stands seems balanced. Also for reference on who built this place I’ve provided a previous painting.

Thoughts?

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[eddysage]

This post is deleted!

[eddysage]

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