Neolight's Days of Thunder

[Neolight]

Hey everyone. I stumbled upon this forum looking around for some texturing advice and was impressed by the community going on here.

I'm 19, currently a sophomore in school. Recently, I did alot of conceptart for my first TC mod project for Quakewars Enemy territory. The project's name is Tribal Wars and we're nearing beta. You can actually check out our progress at www.twars.org

Here's some stuff I've done related to the project, and some other illustrations as well. Even though I'm currently breaking into some texturing I'd love some heavy critique from you guys!

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs36/f/2008/285/3/c/Tribal_Wars____Snow_Map___by_Neolight.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/331075972-Tribal_Wars__Chthonic_by_Neolight.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/81632442-The_Border_Walker_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs37/f/2008/271/e/e/Tribalwars__Barracks_Main_Hall_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs36/f/2008/266/4/0/TribalWars_Mod_Building_Assets_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs37/f/2008/271/6/1/Tribalwars__Barracks_Armory_by_Neolight.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/339250810-skytexture.jpg

[Centrifuge]

hey Neolight, welcome to GA. cool enviros you got going. so young and already getting into big things, lol. I didnt even know what concept art was til a few years ago. gl with ur project, it seems pretty interesting...

[David79]

welcome dude :D !!intersting project !!
some environment have some perspective probleme, try a perspective grid to correct some problemes ^^
one question the structure are from the same race ?
the last pic with the moon are very nice mood! u can always play a little bite with the lvl in photoshop, to make it pop out moar (i meen the clouds)
keep up

[Neolight]

http://fc09.deviantart.com/fs35/f/2008/300/f/1/Sonic__Catacombs_of_Mobius_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs41/f/2009/005/a/d/Veemon__s_Stash_by_Neolight.jpg

[wim]

whats he smoking? He's got some red eye dude? Nice drawings dude

[Neolight]

whats he smoking? He's got some red eye dude? Nice drawings dude

Yup, straight up hash.

http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs41/f/2009/040/d/7/Patachu_Strikes_Back_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs40/f/2009/026/1/f/Forgetting_the_Red_Commanders_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs40/f/2009/034/9/2/The_Soul_Fisher_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc07.deviantart.com/fs40/f/2009/041/0/3/Fasner_Alleys_by_Neolight.jpg

[coldkodiak]

your art is a bit rough, but shows potential. That mod is pretty sick though dude. I used to play Tribes pretty hardcore back i nthe day, and it seems like you're getting it right.

[Neolight]

your art is a bit rough, but shows potential. That mod is pretty sick though dude. I used to play Tribes pretty hardcore back i nthe day, and it seems like you're getting it right.

Thanks dude. I was so crazy about tribes that I faked a stomach virus for two weeks in elementary school.
It was a cool ride until my family stuck the hospital on me, then I had to tell the truth.

It sucked.

Anyhow,
I heard the same crit at a Wizards of the Coast portfolio review. The guy said that i've gotta always use the largest brush for the job, and strive to be a little more painterly.

So that's my goal now. I think the problem is that I always get stuck on using small round brushes to do my thinking. It's an extremely hard habit to break, but by Odin I will prevail.

The painting on your showcase is lovely by the way.

[loudchai]

Wow! Younger than me and already tackling big environments! You've got a real talent and it really shows through.

The only critques I have is that some of your textures feel very scribbly and just tacked on. An example is the one in the cave. A cave is well, bumpy and concurved and has lots of edges and ridges and little rocky bits, but it doesn't FEEL like that on some of the parts in your picture.

I see that you use some overlay textures, but I think you should experiment a little MORE with them. And cite sources, as well. Google is pretty much a goldmine when it comes to references. Just pushing yourself a little more each time will greatly improve your work.

I really like what I see, though! Amazing talent. :)

[Rayph]

First off, major props for contributing to what looks like an amazing mod. Starsiege tribes is without a doubt my fav fps to this very day.

For 19 I think you are at a pretty impressive point and show ALOT of potential. You have the imagination so now I think its merely a matter of getting back to the basics, perspective, anatomy, form and lighting,color. Study the principles as much as possible and observe/draw from life and you will see vast improvement in your work in a short amount of time.

For someone looking to get into concept art always remember its about balancing practicality/time. I see alot of 'concept art' that is just a pretty speed painting but not neccessarily useful for a production pipeline. As a concept artist you need to fascinate yourself with how sh!t works as much as possible and be able to convey clearly and quickly the idea you are attempting to get across.

I think you are certainly well on your way and look forward to seeing your progression in the future :)

[walrus]

This is really nice stuff. You already have a good sense of color and there are some nice layouts here. Impressive! In addition to the above points about the basics, one thing that would help for you to keep in mind is how light interacts with different objects. In your images, everything appears to be amde out of the same matte material, while in the real worlds, everything reflects light differently. Metal is shinier, cloth can be duller, bone, dirt, snow, fur, they all interact with light in a different way. Study the world around you so that you can strive for making your materials look more realistic. If you're into training DVDs, I would highly recommend one from Gnomon, Jeremy Vickery's 'Practical Light and Color.' I watched is a few months ago, and learned a lot of new stuff (...and i've been painting for a lot longer than you. Wish I'd had that when I was a teenager!)

Anyhow, good luck and keep plugging away at it!

[Neolight]

Wow! Look at all these responses, thanks guys!

Loudchai >>

I was hiding from trying to apply that rock/cavern-esc texture to that cave. I didnt really know how to get it right, and found myself pushing paint around. Perhaps a few studies are in order?

Thanks for the huge compliment btw.

Rayph >>

Your art rocks, so I'm really glad you dropped by. The mod should turn out pretty well, i'm currently stuck doing some boring bare textures for them and I just gotta force it out of me.

I'm currently taking an anatomy class, and I really ought to share what I've been doing in that regard. I'll have to find a scanner and some time to get them posted. It's a good point you raise about getting to know how things work, though i'm sure it's a subject I could research to Shazbot.

By the way, did you hear Instant Action bought the Tribes 1 IP? There's going to be a new master server and you can play the game right in your browser! Time to relive 1998, dude.

Walrus >>

So I just bought the DVD and will be giving it a good look. You are absolutely right about the way I treat surfaces, they are all the same. In my next batch of paintings I will absolutely go nazi on myself correcting this problem.

As for some updates, I had an extremely busy couple of weeks. Did some 3D, had papers and exams to get out of the way, and just couldn't paint as much as I would have liked to.

Here's some illustration stuff I managed to squeeze out during that time. The last one I will continue to work on until I've learned something new.

http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs45/f/2009/078/c/5/Tribal_Wars__RA_interior_by_Neolight.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/2009-74-6-52-15-1-strabimon.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/landstudy3.jpg

[wim]

Love the last one dude! Looks like you start applying the crits.
Lots of motion in an enviroment. 19 huh sure a lot of gowth in the future!

[Neolight]

Thanks dood.

Here's an update http://fc00.deviantart.com/fs44/f/2009/079/e/e/Summoning_the_Miracle_by_Neolight.jpg

[Neolight]

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/Inter3Dboards2.jpg

[Atomicpiggy]

Storyboards for animation?

Might need a few arrows or indicators that a character stays onscreen or goes offscreen or a panel or two.

[Neolight]

Storyboards for animation?

Might need a few arrows or indicators that a character stays onscreen or goes offscreen or a panel or two.

Good point. It's just a little thing for a 3D class. I'll remember for next time.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/aafewfwea.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/faewfawefeaf.jpg

[wim]

Nice studies, You might want to try to blend your dark shading towards the white. I've the feeling it's in steps.

[Destructica]

i don't understand characters with animal or bird faces,but your technological stuff is good.

[Neolight]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Continuing

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/brebbweea.jpg

[Neolight]

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/aafewfe.jpg

[Neolight]

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/297/f/5/Heeding_the_Call_by_Neolight.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/2009-140-5-30-4-1-superbuildings5.jpg

[DeAtH_SmiLeS]

Hey Neolight,
This picture is great and just refreshing to look at, keep it up!!

[Neolight]

I've been interning at Garage Games this summer so I can't share any work I've done until NDA closes >:|

Official shirt graphic for www.playtribes.com

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/307/3/0/Starsiege_Tribes_by_Neolight.jpg

hope everyone's having a good summer!

[Tatarigamy]

You have some great here!!! :D
My favorite is the short Storyboard, You must continue ... :excite:

Good job :thumb:

[Amethyst]

Your art is very personal and interesting and I hope you will participate in the Unearthly Challenge which just started.:) :thumb:

[Neolight]

Your art is very personal and interesting and I hope you will participate in the Unearthly Challenge which just started.:) :thumb:

I am such an idiot for completely missing that.

Anyway, it's time to go draw like fucking crazy

Rough Animation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTOhGlT_SZU

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/asdfasd.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/2009-310-4-59-33-1-airship2.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/297/3/1/TEXTURE_LISCIOUS_by_Neolight.jpg

[Neolight]

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/032/f/c/Love_Buckets_by_Neolight.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-3/679183/2009-357-20-53-4-1-ow_twtver7.jpg

[Neolight]

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/095/0/6/Vanaheim_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/042/2/f/I_have_the_Enemy_Flag_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/030/f/b/Fish_Concepts_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/099/d/a/Shale_Bassalt_by_Neolight.png

[Vatsel]

Impressive volume of work
I'd suggest more still lifes!
some of the colors seem a bit off here and there.

Alos some composition quick thumbs can help

[^Á^]

Amazing work here. Love the "bad" fishes. Few little things to correct, aside of that, your an inspiration like everyone here, Keep with those amazing concepts.
Btw, you draw or model, that veemon on your avatar?. I wanna see it in good res; do you have a link for that?.
Greetings,..

[Neolight]

^A^ > it's a digital painting, he's in this thread but the direct link is here: http://neolight.deviantart.com/art/Veemon-s-Stash-108530384

Vatsel > thanks!

[Neolight]

Hey everyone, it's been about a year since I last updated. Alot's happened and I'm thrilled to say that I'm heading to:

http://playstationlifestyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/insomniac1.jpg

this summer to be their art intern.

I was deterimined to reach out to them since august, and what ensued was a year full of art making.

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/001/2/a/hero_business_by_neolight-d3666f3.jpg

The following is an environment put together in UDK.
The goal was to make a small game-spec level and explore art pipelines for current-gen games.
The design was meant to reflect the deisng elements of Ratchet and Clank. I was working on this on and off from late october -> december.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgIyi9-YgeA

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/024/5/b/ichor_refieneries_udk_by_neolight-d37zjp0.jpg

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/353/7/e/ichor_refieneries_by_neolight-d356j65.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/353/1/2/building_thumbs__flora_thumbs_by_neolight-d356ixa.jpg

This is from Grav, a game I was developing with three other guys for a game production class in Unity last semester. I did all the art and contributed to the game design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erlyJ0Kd7UE&playnext=1&list=PLFC8EA9108CC032E0

http://www.deviantart.com/download/190278083/grav__production_screenshots_by_neolight-d35abib.jpg

http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2010/353/8/d/grav__ships_by_neolight-d3578m8.jpg

The rest is miscellaneous stuff

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/353/1/6/meds__wrath__and_beyond_by_neolight-d356jnm.jpg

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/234/9/9/Attack_Jeep_Concept_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/219/c/5/Vehicles_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/137/c/2/How_to_train_your_Sandworm_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/219/c/5/Amon_by_Neolight.jpg

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/038/c/3/rust__the_slums_by_neolight-d390azk.jpg

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/054/f/d/party_quest_by_neolight-d3a9p7a.jpg