DBO Forums - Behind the Scenes https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/ Bungie.Org talks Destiny en Behind the Scenes (reply) Great read, thanks for the commentary, Levi!

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5901 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5901 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:38:42 +0000 Beorn
"Brothers in Arms" refinement & walkthrough *IMGs* (reply) I've gone ahead and tweaked the original artwork a bit - the original post at the start of the thread now reflects the updated files.

[image]

And below is a some commentary on creating the piece if you're interested (I originally posted this on my blog a few minutes ago).

---------------------"Brothers in Arms" Walkthrough--------------------

Tasked with creating a background for the DBO Twitter feeds the staff was readying, my first step was: procrastinate and work on other things.

... After that, though, I sat down and got my butt into gear. I was going to be out of town in a few days and I wanted the piece done by then so that the Twitter-addicted Mr. Errera could have his account as soon as everything else was prepared.

1.
[image]

I started sketching, obviously inspired by the amazing concept art Bungie has posted, especially this piece and this piece. I was also trying to think in terms of a Twitter background; since the center would be obscured, I would need the best parts of the picture on the left and right.

2.
[image]

Originally, I was just going to do this piece in black and white and match the news sketches I've been doing for the front page. "Fast and easy" and then I could get onto other things. But then, logically, I made it a hundred times harder and started playing around with colors.

I got rid of the good-guy in the middle and replaced him with more incoming Vex robots. I also moved away from the ship graveyard I was imagining in the original sketch's background and towards a Martian volcano (not sure if it really ended up in Mars...).

One thing I stressed upon myself was to work more (and more unexpected) colors into my landscape that would still look natural - and thus make the piece more interesting to look at in the end. You'll notice blues and purples in the dark side of the mountains as evidence of this attempt.

3.
[image]

I continued solely on the background for a while. I find it relaxing to paint happy mountains, rivers and waterfalls and it's one thing I consider myself decent enough to the point where I'm not constantly criticizing every move I make.

I smudged the clouds with my custom brush, added cracks and highlights to the nearby rocks, and enjoyed playing around with where the lava-falls would carve into the mountainside.

4.
[image]

I switched back to the characters and had a lot of fun fleshing out the Vex on the right. The action and posture from the initial sketch yelled 'drama' so I tried hard to not kill that as I laid the digital paint atop it (I also don't always capture that kind of action in my non-comic art so I'm trying to get more of that dynamic movement in my concept pieces these days).

Some laser blasts were added on the left for more diagonals to draw your eye in. I started experimenting with colors and new designs for our left hero. He started to look a little like a Carter/Jun hybrid! :)

5.
[image]

Continued to design-as-I-painted this attacking (fleeing?) soldier as well as carve out the background Vex. The soldier's gun started to pick up some of Halo's assault rifle but I thought the bayonet and extended barrel would pull it away from that.

6.
[image]

More work on the left soldier. Hard to see in this format, but I also shrunk him down a bit.

7.
[image]

Here I made the middle Vex bigger, trying to create a better rhythm for your eyes (I went back and forth a lot on this - I eventually made him smaller in the latest version).

The left soldier also received a nice heap of texture and scratches on his armor at this point. His weapon grew a number of crooked wires which at first seemed strange in my mind's eye but as they were implemented I fell in love with them. I'm going to be using them on more of my artwork, I can guarantee you!

I also tried to bring his cape to life at this point and got distracted for a while by trying to melt the rocks directly behind him on the left. I think it might have worked...

A moon was dropped in above and I added a few spaceship/missile trails to help it feel like more of a battle.

8.
[image]

By this stage, it was late into the night before my trip and in a few short hours I needed to drive to St. Louis. After a few more refinements, I spent an hour or more tweaking the levels and colors of the entire image (I can get stuck in this stage for way too long). The main thing I settled on was an orange filter to 'heat' up the piece. I uploaded the piece to DBO_tweets and fell asleep.

9.
[image]

The artwork had been posted for a week, but I was looking at it again the other day and found myself dissatisfied. It felt too washed out in some areas and too dominated by the orange filter in others (although I did like the 'heat' of it).

Hesitantly, I worked more purple into the background and covered our closest soldier with a rough coat of blue paint. I also shortened his gun's barrel and elongated the bayonet to please some guy named after poor-tasting soda.

I also refined a number of little things here and there across the piece that I probably didn't need it and were completely impossible to see by the viewer... I have a problem with doing that!:)

Then, today I looked at the piece again. I was happy with the changes...

But it needed more damnit!

10.
[image]

Here's the final piece (At least, that's what I'm saying right now).

I kept the heat of the orange but tempered it with lighter and cooler colors at the top (I especially liked how the blue drifted in on the top-right). I also redrew some of the cliffs in the middle as well as our hero on the right (almost completely).

I pushed the middle Vex further back and changed the posture of his arm a bit to make him seem like he was reacting to the scene instead of motionless. I also motion-blurred the right Vex's flying, dismembered arm as well as the rocks he was knocking off the sinking boulder.

The hero on the left received more contrast to make sure he was the first thing you see and to make sure he appeared closest to you. I blurred the entirety of the background just a hint as well.

Happy for a few brief moments, I quickly saved and ran away to something else!

Thanks for reading all the way down. :)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5871 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5871 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:26:21 +0000 Leviathan
"Brothers in Arms" - DBO Twitter background art (reply) I don't like the wires, personally. The aesthetic is good, I hope you don't get me wrong on that, but somehow I doubt pretty much anyone would use a weapon that can be disabled by a comb. That is, unless those wires aren't important, but then it's putting form over function, and not even in an in-universe way, which also bugs me.

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5442 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5442 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:47:20 +0000 General Vagueness
Actually... (reply) I thought those were JAMMA cables!

(Arcade roots, yay!)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5400 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5400 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:11:19 +0000 Dagoonite
This (reply) Not only does it come with beautiful artwork from Ralph (what other kind there is?), it comes with "documentaries" on each planet in the book. Pretty damn good read, IMO.

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5398 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5398 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:28:55 +0000 ZackDark
Actually... (reply) I thought the gun was doubling as a bomb. Cut the red wire. NO, I MEANT THE BLUE ONE!

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5391 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5391 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:16:55 +0000 Ragashingo
Actually... (reply)

...it's an electric turkey slicer.

Ah, multi-purpose. Those future-people are smart.

But I'm more worried about the fact that the gun is powered by jumper cables...

I thought that was battle damage?

;)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5390 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5390 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:06:18 +0000 RC
LotR references are always appreciated. (reply) Recently, I have been updating a bunch of my computer builds fresh and needed some rotating wallpapers to keep them interesting. The desktop got Destiny concept art (including Levi's twitter background), My laptop got Halo concept art, and I was debating what to do for my new work laptop... well, Ralph helps me get through the work week now :)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5373 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5373 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:31:57 +0000 MrPadraig08
LotR references are always appreciated. (reply)


I've got an Art of Empire Strikes Back from 79 (that I found in a used book store last year) sitting next to me for inspiration for my Mayflower comic. If you want another book of only-McQuarrie art, there's this that I've been looking to buy soon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Illustrated-Star-Wars-Universe/dp/0553374842/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1UJ7E...

Heh, I ordered that one about a half-hour ago. More in my price range.

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5371 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5371 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:09:00 +0000 Kermit
I was actually looking cont. (reply) I was actually looking at that the other day and just thinking - man, I'd really like to have that as a wallpaper. That's awesome, great work!

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5368 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5368 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:33:54 +0000 Spawn
LotR references are always appreciated. (reply)

Ralph McQuarrie was one of my heros growing up, back when I wanted to be an artist. I had a book of his Star Wars concept art that I looked at so much the pages started coming out.

Just thought about getting another book like what I had, and went to Amazon, and lo, I can buy a new copy of The Art of Ralph McQuarrie for only $8,000.

:(

I've got an Art of Empire Strikes Back from 79 (that I found in a used book store last year) sitting next to me for inspiration for my Mayflower comic. If you want another book of only-McQuarrie art, there's this that I've been looking to buy soon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Illustrated-Star-Wars-Universe/dp/0553374842/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1UJ7E...

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5367 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5367 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:26:15 +0000 Leviathan
LotR references are always appreciated. (reply) Ralph McQuarrie was one of my heros growing up, back when I wanted to be an artist. I had a book of his Star Wars concept art that I looked at so much the pages started coming out.

Just thought about getting another book like what I had, and went to Amazon, and lo, I can buy a new copy of The Art of Ralph McQuarrie for only $8,000.

:(

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5366 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5366 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:09:33 +0000 Kermit
Can I use this in my video? (reply)

Awesome piece of art dude! I make Destiny news videos, and love to show off fan art in them, would I be allowed to use this?

I'll link your post in the video description, and bring up some text in the video saying to check it out.

Please let me know :)


Also, in case you want to see it, here's my channel: Destiny Updates


Presented like that, certainly. :)


Thank you! :)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5365 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5365 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:48:26 +0000 Destiny Updates
Can I use this in my video? (reply)

Awesome piece of art dude! I make Destiny news videos, and love to show off fan art in them, would I be allowed to use this?

I'll link your post in the video description, and bring up some text in the video saying to check it out.

Please let me know :)


Also, in case you want to see it, here's my channel: Destiny Updates

Presented like that, certainly. :)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5364 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5364 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:31:43 +0000 Leviathan
Can I use this in my video? (reply) Awesome piece of art dude! I make Destiny news videos, and love to show off fan art in them, would I be allowed to use this?

I'll link your post in the video description, and bring up some text in the video saying to check it out.

Please let me know :)


Also, in case you want to see it, here's my channel: Destiny Updates

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5363 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5363 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:29:31 +0000 Destiny Updates
LotR references are always appreciated. (reply)

Awesome as always Levi. I'm really digging the golden-era sci-fi feel I'm getting.

I've been creeping into the golden-era/retro styles these last few years for my own work, so it's exciting to see Bungie dabble in it too! :)

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5362 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5362 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:24:59 +0000 Leviathan
Actually... (reply)

The guardian in the foreground, bottom left, appears to have some sort of blade attached to his weapon, splattered in purple liquid. If it is indeed a blade, it seems impractical for stabbing (due to the overlap with the end of the muzzle) and also impractical for slashing (due to is comparatively short length).

...it's an electric turkey slicer.


But I'm more worried about the fact that the gun is powered by jumper cables...

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5361 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5361 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 01:16:00 +0000 Leviathan
"And I smote his ruin upon the mountainside." (reply) Awesome as always Levi. I'm really digging the golden-era sci-fi feel I'm getting.

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5360 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5360 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:56:29 +0000 Chewbaccawakka
Dat gun... (reply) The guardian in the foreground, bottom left, appears to have some sort of blade attached to his weapon, splattered in purple liquid. If it is indeed a blade, it seems impractical for stabbing (due to the overlap with the end of the muzzle) and also impractical for slashing (due to is comparatively short length).


But uh, yeah. It's a pretty cool art 'n stuff. I liek the lava, and the robo-dismemberment. Guy on the left better be going for a more advantageous firing position. Otherwise he is a total dick for leaving the other one to fight 3 robots on his own.

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5358 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5358 Sun, 17 Mar 2013 22:06:58 +0000 RC
"Brothers in Arms" - DBO Twitter background art (reply)

And if for some reason you'd like the file as it was when I finished it, at a ridiculous 3840x2400, here's that (4.52 MB).

It looks great! And I definitely appreciate the huge original because I have a screen with higher resolution than 1920x1200 :-D

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https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5357 https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=5357 Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:53:46 +0000 Xenos