Some Art

[Crash]

This chap has two nice renders of X-Bomber.http://chrisofedf.deviantart.com/galler ... Presumably they are of his own model? Either way, they're nicely lit.I also upped my recent drawing of the WingBlade ship.http://www.xbomber.co.uk/iv/There are also some old photos of the current lappy's unboxing.The picture woulda looked better if I'd had my actual camera lying about.I wonder what Panasonic's minions are doing to it.

[Shane]

Very impressed with your sketch, Crash!I love the dynamic perspective you've used; have you had any formal art training? It's certainly a really professionally rendered design sheet either way.The Wing Blade itself, looks very much at home in the Star Fleet universe. If they ever made a season 2 it would be the logical nest step along with *cough* The Delta-Z *cough*

[Crash]

The angle worked OK. I saw some beautiful pics on conceptships blog but they had the perspectives of the wings of these aircraft all wrong. It really spoiled what was an amazing watercolour image (I don't know if it was done on the PC or on actual canvas). Your eye went straight to the tailplanes etc and you knew right away that if it was done right it would have been very different.I took art at GCSE but didn't stick with it to A-level. It was actually a very difficult GCSE. I don't know what they do at some schools but all our GCSE work was all done on A1 canvas mostly and we had tonnes of space to work in. You could go as far as A0 but I don't think anyone did at GCSE. It's a big space to fill.I could tell you a lot of stories about our headmaster at the time I was there. His full name was James Francis Xavier Miller. He was disliked by most of the staff and students and the Head of Art would sometimes say how Miller had told him "It must be really nice to float about up here and not have to do any *real* work". I think that illustrated a major flaw with Miller because he had no appreciation for anything beyond Classics, Rugby and getting people into Oxbridge/Medical School because it meant more points for his league tables.Art was just a good thing to be able to show-off for parents evenings. But Art GCSE was, by a mile, the hardest one I did because the several 3-hour painting 'exams' that you had to go through were really gruelling, whereas with all the other subjects, it was just reading and pencil-pushing.I had a good friend in the Head of Art at RGS and he expected me to go on to A-Level. I guess you shouldn't let your parents tell you what to do but ... I was quite pleased in a way because the Art exams themselves were very depleting and it was nice not to have to worry about them.You see, you had to develop your grand idea by a certain deadline (ie. the exam) and it obviously had to fall into a certain brief and then you hoped that it would somehow turn out OK on canvas in the end. I know now that if you stick at it, usually it works out OK but I didn't have that knowledge then.Anyway, you should see what I'm working on now though. It started out as a doodle or a rough version cos it's on pretty terrible scrap paper but I'm busy seeing it through to the end.I don't normally draw people and finding good, full-body images of termoids is difficult in the series.I also uploaded a bunch of photos from my Year Abroad in 2008. They're all downsized and auto-levelled. I finished submitting my application for the BPTC yesterday, finally then cycled to the beach just to have a change of setting and started thumbing through the photos on my tablet-phone thing and kinda realised I should have uploaded these ages ago. Probably not very interesting but anyway...http://www.xbomber.co.uk/iv/#/content/C ... %20Abroad/

[Shane]

I always find the way GCSE and to a certain degree A level art courses are taught are fairly limiting and not representative of how art and design 'works' in the real world, particularly the examination process which seems to be based on how other subjects are judged, which is often against the clock. Sure, graphic designers need to be adept at knocking out work to a deadline, but a fine artist often needs inspiration. Sometimes it's there sometimes it isn't.I did an Art GCSE, but found it very limiting, largely due to the above points. I could so easily have given up.After that I did a full time (8 hours a day 5 days a week) Design course for a year and then a further two years studying General Art & Design. These courses were fantastic and because of their full time nature, the work could be judged much more fairly.The mantra at art college was to produce as much work as possible and not spend too long on any one piece. My art tutor was dead against the idea of a 'masterpiece' and wanted students to instead be adept at as many mediums and materials as possible. He was a very good teacher.Have to say again, considering you've only studied to GCSE level, that's a very strong piece of work. Some people can never get perspective right, like you say, particularly with aircraft illustrations.

[Crash]

Well, I don't believe in spending too much time on things either. Once they're finished you never go back to them to improve.Overcomplication is always a danger as well but I think you can make everything a masterpiece with a concerted effort, especially if it does something new.I don't think it matters if it's a masterpiece as long as you're proud of it.I've been looking at the termoids that storm the ship in Episode 16. 4 go up on the raised platform and only four are seen at any given time although many get shot down so presumably the other vehicles lift their troops up to the ship.The Termoids have some neat equipment; all are equipped with a large grenade on their waist and a kind of bandolier with a metal disc. It isn't cabled to their weapons so perhaps it's a personal shield. (Both gadgets only seem to appear here, when storming the ship).The bandolier seems to contain the explosive charges for the pyrotechnic effects for when the termoids are shot.Two termoids have identical pistols but one of those has a large backpack with three tanks that supplies the gun with enough power for a continuous beam to cut through the ship's hull. This guy is shot down at an early stage and is not seen again until toward the end. (Perhaps an identical one is platformed up). That one then seems to ditch the backpack, retaining the pistol.The termoid bodies are all very identical down to their paintjob and they are the same as those that appear elsewhere on the show. Their heads and tails have a smart design when seen from behind.The other two weapons are a very long rifle and a chunky submachinegun/assault rifle with a large, silver magazine, cables and an ungainly, vaguely SPAS-12-like stock. The one carrying the long rifle is shot down pretty quickly but reappears later.Interestingly, the termoid next to him turns to look at him after he is hit and then turns back to fire.

[Shane]

Heh, that makes me think back to my art tutor again who hated the term 'masterpiece'. He'd get really annoyed when students threw that word around. The term masterpiece in times of old, was just that! A piece of work that an apprentice had to undertake (after years of study) and present to his master. The master would then judge whether his apprentice was worthy to be called a true artist. It's kind of like Jedi really, but with paint brushes.   Anyway, I agree with your viewpoint - If you put your heart and soul into every piece of work you undertake you hugely improve the ratio of great work over average work.

[Crash]

Yes, when I think of the word like that, I completely agree.I suppose, you could still have a great work that you could bring to completeness without going overboard. Yeah, the masterpiece word is probably much abused when you put it that way. It's not often I use it myself.I replaced most of the cooling fans to my desktop today and rewired the SATA hard drives.I think that machine will have to be relegated to the secondary league as it were because it's kinda run out of SATA ports and I'm not buying it a SATA expansion card when I could probably get a new motherboard for the same amount.Anyway, at least it's less deafening than it was. I think all the old fan bearings were shot and even brushing down and vacuuming the heatsink on turbo made little-to-no impact.The cleaning fluid that takes the conductive gel off the CPU has a really strong, artificial, orangey smell. My room is full of it.

[Vanessa]

Those X-Bomber renders you've found are really great Crash, and so is your Wingblade ship artwork and design.Very impressive, well done!I did Art at GCSE level, and although I wasn't very good, I did get a pass, and I really enjoyed the lessons as they were a blessed release from the endless dryness of the sciences and maths subjects that I was otherwise engaged with.I'd have loved to have taken A-level Art but my school didn't offer it, and my art teacher didn't think I'd do well at it either, so alas, it was not to be.I remember the art classrooms were lovely big airy bright rooms on the top of the craft block, whereas most of the stuffy crampt rooms we studied sciences and maths in were quite claustrophobic.I had to work very hard to get a pass in GCSE Art, so I really admire anyone who can pen a good picture.

[Crash]

A little more supposed art.I had this crappy sketch sitting on the floor and now I'm on holiday I decided to colour it up and elaborate on it a bit.http://www.xbomber.co.uk/iv/#/content/b ... small.jpgI dunno how it is that I've only just read your message, Vanessa, sorry.Thanks for the kind input. My camera is back and Panasonic have done a really nice job on it. So I'll try and get a clearer image of that but the memory card is on loan to someone.You need proper space to do art in otherwise it just doesn't work does it?

[Vanessa]

Pretty cool add-on back pack for the Dai-X there Crash!I certainly wouldn't call it crappy.You are right though, space really helps when doing bold original artwork pieces.Wish I could draw like that...