Background Blitz: Seashore (Winner!)

Kastchey · Thu 14/02/2013 23:02:44

SEASHORE

The task is extremely simple: draw a seashore. Any interpretation that comes to your mind is fine, as long as it is a seashore of some kind: a sunny beach, a stormy jagged cliff, an edge of a lush jungle, a crowded resort, an industrial port.. anything! Even a more metaphorical interpretation will work (sea of garbage? sea of flowers? sea of people?) as long as it evokes the impression.

Have fun

Trophies!

Sane Co. · Mon 18/02/2013 17:38:03

Working on something, hopefully I have it done in time.

selmiak · Fri 22/02/2013 20:00:42

are there any limits to canvas size and usability? Might paint something up...

Kastchey · Sat 23/02/2013 03:23:54

AGS compatible, which is not really a limit

Go ahead!

selmiak · Sun 24/02/2013 21:29:24

[imgzoom]http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/beachscene.png[/imgzoom]

okay, pixeled something up and you can even have some characters move in the foreground with a tint of 100% black in this scene. Should do this in a game one day...

and I also experimented with a spectacular and very underused Photoshop effect:

Spoiler

[imgzoom]http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/beachscenelf.png[/imgzoom]

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Kastchey · Sun 24/02/2013 23:43:45

Love it, brilliant choice of colors! Pretty nice pixel work, either.

Quotespectacular

Quotevery underused

Creamy · Mon 25/02/2013 10:36:17

I gave it a try :

It may not be easy to use in-game, though.

Sane Co. · Mon 25/02/2013 20:55:12

My first entry! Finally done:

Entirely hand drawn and shaded.
Edit: sorry that is is so big, if necessary I can scale it down.

Anian · Mon 25/02/2013 21:01:27

Got something in the works, I'll try to finish tomorrow.

Kastchey · Mon 25/02/2013 23:28:27

Creamy, this looks incredibly atmospheric and spooky at the same time. Can't see why it wouldn't make a perfectly functional in-game background, too!

Sane Co., grats on your first entry

I like the way you shaded the bench, very delicate, but far from sketchy,

Anian, hope you can make it! If you need an extension, let me know.

Snarky · Tue 26/02/2013 10:19:32

[IMGZOOM]http://i.imgur.com/3bTlkyb.png[/IMGZOOM]
Updated: a few little fixes, also added some intriguing pillars (a ruined bridge?) to make it a bit more interesting as a game BG. Old version here.

selmiak · Tue 26/02/2013 11:20:37

nice, I really like the contrast between the water color and the rock color.

Snarky · Tue 26/02/2013 11:44:35

Thanks. This image was inspired by a dream I had, where the ocean came alive and moved like some strange creature. I gave up on trying to render that, though. It just looked goofy. Waves are enough of a pain to draw as it is.

CaptainD · Tue 26/02/2013 12:43:17

Love that background Snarky, it's got a real feeling of depth to it. Sort of reminds me of a similar backgrounds in Torin's Passage in terms of style.
Selmiak - brilliant colour palette in yours!
Creamy - real atmosphere in your pic.
Sane Co. - obviously a very different style to the rest, but nicely done. Is there something in front of the sun? I've tried scanning pencil sketches in before and to be honest they've never looked much like the original whatever I tried to do!

Anian · Tue 26/02/2013 15:34:52

OK, I think it's finished. Wished I had to willpower to animate it, but this took too much time as is.
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/rYOBLua.png[/imgzoom]

Sane Co. · Tue 26/02/2013 15:55:05

@CaptainD
I darkened the photo during scanning because the sun wasn't showing up. The sun used to be the moon until I changed my mind and erased the craters. The scanner darkened the almost erased crater lines also. So just imagine the sun as a bright moon. Also it turned out really close to the original, minus a bit of darkening and the crater lines, but that's because we recently got a new scanner.

Creamy · Tue 26/02/2013 19:39:09

@ Selmiak : Nice warm colours. The shape of the clouds is a bit strange in front of the sun but the backlighting works very well.

@ Sane Co : the craters are visible so it's STILL a moon, no matter what you say

@ Snarky : I like the sky and the reflections. Impressive depth. It reminds me of The Dig

Spoiler

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QuoteWished I had to willpower to animate it

@Anian : I can feel the rough sea and the cold wind. It could be Scotland or Britany.

We had a similar competition on the french forum, a few years ago. The theme was "the beach". The topic is
here.

waheela · Tue 26/02/2013 23:32:11

Hey everybody! Long time stalker of the forums, second time posting. This challenge seemed cool so I thought I'd do a picture too!

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/tmafeey.png[/imgzoom]

I guess it's either a beach on an alien world or a beach in a dream.

Kastchey · Wed 27/02/2013 01:30:21

Three more entries, that's awesome! Thanks guys

Snarky, very inspiring image. I have spent good ten minutes staring at the details. And oh, that's one beautifully painted sky!

Anian, love the clean, yet detailed style of this one. Makes me think of Sam & Max style, just a bit more pastel and not at all cheerful. Nice job!

waheela, I'm absolutely stunned with how you rendered the waves - brilliant. And glad to hear you enjoyed the theme

Is anyone else still working on an entry? If not, I will close the competition in a few hours to start the voting phase.

Kastchey · Wed 27/02/2013 08:02:59

Okay, voting time!

Idea: Was it an original/creative interpretation of the theme?
Atmosphere: Was an interesting world created? - Did the scene evoke a feeling?
Design: How well the individual elements are designed, from clouds to doorknobs.
Composition: How well the elements are combined to create a pleasing whole, and lead the viewer to the points of interest.
Functionality: How well it would work as a game background, with clearly defined entries and walkable areas, as well as a good viewing angle (this also includes introductionary shots of an area as long as a player character can be present in the scene).
Technique: How well it's rendered (within the chosen style!), in no way meaning the more elaborate the better.