Chaos Axe and The Cosmic Serpent
Okay Fellow Artists and Appreciators,
Here is my contribution to the Visionary Art Contest. Because I am hosting the contest, obviously this will not be considered for any prizes but I definitely wanted to join the fun.
Recently a client of mine approached me to design a piece to represent him and his music. He gave me some loose guidelines and set me free to create (unfortunately I totally missed the mark and have to design a whole new piece but such is life). Because this was timed perfectly with our contest I chose to use all 3 categories (Alien Plant, Hyperdimensional Object, Divine Weapon) as a foundation for my composition. All three categories are represented here in some form and you might choose to have a bit of fun identifying them.
Note- I microdosed over the course of 5 days to tap into the true authenticity of the piece.
So let's begin
Process
1
As usual, I start extremely loose. This stage is just about getting the initial movement down and blocking in shapes.
2
In Corel Painter, I lay in some pre-created, tesselating designs with my Pattern Pen. I am focusing on intuition and movement primarily. I want something dynamic and flowy. This will allow me the most freedom to incorporate the widest range of shapes and ideas and provide for plenty of happy accidents.
3
More Pattern Pen overlays. Here I am working to weave multiple patterns together to create nice rhythm and balance of color usage.
4
I continue to beef up the composition with some 3D shapes created in Zbrush and turned into tesselating patterns to be used with my Pattern Pens. This adds some real substance to the flow and provides a substrate for some enjoyable details later.
5
Back in Photoshop, I add some contrast and bring out some of the vibrant colors you see in the final. At this point the undeniable serpent forms take on more of a concrete shape as a snake.
6
I'm really liking the egg form behind the main figure. This resembles something like a bulb or a seed and will become the prime representation of the Alien Plant. It serves as a fountain of textures and kind of governs the use of the textures in the rest of the piece. The snake is now turning into a solid representation of a Cosmic Serpent and brings tension into the mix. There must be some type of Divine Weapon here that can tame Apophis... Hmmm... what could it be?
7
The piece is really taking shape at this point, though there are several wonky elements that will inspire the "final solution" :).
Final
And here we have the final. I created some impossible objects in the vein of M.C. Escher and they worked into the piece kindly. More 3D renders are incorporated and everything is painted together. The piece is unified in movement and color, the composition is dynamic and refined and though our Contest Categories have blended into the overall composition they are still represented in a reasonably sophisticated way.
Details
Alien Plant
A seed, a pod, an idea generator?
Hyperdimensional Objects
Twisting, impossible objects intertwine with the body of the celestial snake.
Divine Weapon
The Axe Itself
Random Shots of Neat Stuff
And that wraps it up. I do hope you've enjoyed. Please have a look at all of the incredible entries below. They are posted in the comments:)
Here:
https://steemit.com/art/@elohprojects/visionary-art-contest-advanced-competition-call-for-entries
And Here:
https://steemit.com/art/@elohprojects/visionary-art-contest-call-for-entries-week-2-of-2
Thank You So Much
