Background Blitz 070720-0811 Voting Closed

[loominous]

THE AFTERLIFE OF LAVERN



Turns out there is an afterlife, but it's not one of those lame Mormon summer camp on clouds
dealies, or horrid torture dungeons for that matter, but instead a specially tailored destination
based on the life and preferences/dislikes of the deceased.

Lavern, having recently passed away, has just arrived at the destination.

-

Guidelines: Depict this place.

No technical limitations other than those of AGS.

If you want to include the character, feel free to do so.

(Any lack of definitions/specifications in the above is meant as
being up for interpretation.)

Edit: Btw, please include a description of the life of Lavern that explains
the pleasant or grim eternal fate.

-

Btw, everyone is encouraged to post some work in progress pictures, partly because they're
fun and interesting to look at, and partly because it livens up the thread and provides some
continuous material, and at least something even if a background doesn't get finished.

Good luck!

Edit: Added another guideline

Edit: Extended the deadline

[Misj']

THE AFTERLIFE OF LAVERN

Lavern has recently passed away and has just arrived at the destination.

Are we talking about Laverne from Day of the Tentacle? - Or can it be the afterlife of any Lavern/Laverne/LaVern/LaVerne we can find in, on, or around Wikipedia? 

[loominous]

Are we talking about Laverne from Day of the Tentacle? - Or can it be the afterlife of any Lavern/Laverne/LaVern/LaVerne we can find in, on, or around Wikipedia? 

Any lack of definitions/specifications in the description is meant as being up for interpretation by you guys.

[mrhthepie]

What format and image size do you want?

[Privateer Puddin']

Format - Normally PNG or GIF (only if the image has less than 256 colours) Not BMP or JPG

Image size, anything possible in ags so, 320x200/240, 640x400/480 or 800x600

[Oddysseus]

First I started off with a very rough sketch, just to test out a coloring technique I wanted to try:



I quite like this sketch actually, except for the lack of a horizon and other distance cues.  It has a nice coloring book feel, I think.

Anyway, I then jumped right into the main piece, and a couple of hours in Artgem later, boom:



It probably would have turned out better if I had used some reference, but this was just for fun and practice.  There are still a few things that bug me slightly, like the emptiness of it and the lack of definition in the branches, but unless I decide to start over from scratch, this will be my entry.

Oh, and Lavern always liked jungles, hence the background.
And I am very lazy, hence the abrupt description of Lavern. 

[Creed Malay]

What Lavern got when he died was
what everyone gets when they die which
is locked in a room with no windows
and no doors.

What you do inside this room is
you think about what you done.
How you feel about what you done,
you decide.

Tried your best? Meant well?
Hitler meant well.

And after the room?
Not never no after.
Not never no after.
Just the room.

no end.

[pslim]

This is a really neat topic. Unfortunately, my only idea is a hall of mirrors, which is far beyond my ability to pixel. :/

I hope more people are planning to get entries in.

[loominous]

Extending it another week.

Not sure if people might be taking this topic too seriously. Could be anything: an opera hating Lavern who finds himself in a land where everything is a one big opera play, with only decors for objects and singing characters (not sure how well this would translate into a background) or whatnot. So anything really.

Edit: updated date

[ildu]

I dunno. I've had a few ideas, but I haven't started on anything yet. I haven't gotten an idea yet that I would be passionate about carrying out. Also, the topic to me feels serious enough that it would require quite a realistic concepty style, so that undertaking is probably holding me back as well.

Aw what the hell, I'm gonna start sketching right now .

[loominous]

Hope you'll come up with something. Perhaps some WIP pics in case it doesn't turn out as planned.

-

The topic is extremely flexible really, in that pretty much every background blitz entry in history would be a valid submission, since any environment could be either hell or heaven for at least one person, so it shouldn't really warrant any special effort or style.

Course, the more generic the environment the less exciting it will be, and won't probably get many 'idea' votes, but that's true for any other blitz topic.

[José Luiz]

An operatic afterlife would be like heaven to me!

The theme is very interesting, and I'm finishing a background for this topic - although I don't have much skill. Soon I'll post it here.



Editing (08/04):

That's my entry. (I know it's lame, but I told you I have no skill... )



Walk until you reach that cross over there, Lavern. Then, look at the other side of the hill, and you'll see a huge white City, a place you could never imagine before. That's the place you'll live from now on.

[MashPotato]

I finally have an idea, hopefully I will have some time this week

EDIT: It seems I will not have time after all

[loominous]

So, any entries in progress?

[GarageGothic]

Walk until you reach that cross over there, Lavern. Then, look at the other side of the hill, and you'll see a huge white City, a place you could never imagine before. That's the place you'll live from now on.

Reminds me of the menu screen for Cannon Fodder for some reason.

[pslim]

Walk until you reach that cross over there, Lavern. Then, look at the other side of the hill, and you'll see a huge white City, a place you could never imagine before. That's the place you'll live from now on.

Reminds me of the Power and the Glory. 

[Akatosh]

Turned out there's an afterlife for sufficiently advanced AIs, too. But it's vastly different from what we've been told.

[Brad Newsom]

Very broad competition. I kinda wish you described Lavern's personality, so we had a better idea at what he would be into.

[ildu]

Well, I had abandoned all earlier ideas, but I got one today that I got very excited about.

Here's a quick, cruddy and messy sketch of the scene:


It came out a lot more boring than I had planned, but I guess it'll have to do. Give me a few days and I'll get back to you with a painted version.

EDIT:

I won't be finishing the bg, but I might as well tell ya'll what it was about. I got the idea before I noticed loom's wikipedia reference and the name LaVern, so I think he may have anticipated this idea .

LaVern Baker was a Blues/Jazz/Pop singer who enjoyed the peak of her fame in the 1950's and 1960's. She was probably most known for her Pop songs Jim Dandy and Jim Dandy Got Married. She was even taken into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame for the former. Anyhow, she died just 10 years ago in 1997 and I'd like to think her afterlife would be something like this - a Jazz club in the heart of Chicago, where she initially started out.

Interesting vids:

Tra La La (1929)
Playing The Game Of Love (1957)
Tomorrow Night (1988)

[loominous]

Great, looks like it could turn out really good! (the foreground sections look really interesting and unforced)

Would be great if you could keep us updated on the process with some more WIP pics, as they would give an indication on how much time you need (so we don't wait a week just to find out that you've given up on the idea), and would provide an insight into how you work. Plus it would fill up the thread with some perty pictures.

Btw, if someone else is trying out some sketches, just post them here, regardless of whether you think they look like crap, or whether you think you'll end up with a finished pic. The more the merrier!