TD-Vice on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/td-vice/art/Razor-nights-and-bitter-days-382155048TD-Vice

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Razor nights and bitter days

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Description

This work is something that was kicked off by my feelings of revitalization in the bestest sci-fi genre ever, cyberpunk. Man, once you go cyberpunk, you're forever a cyberpunk.

It's also my first foray in somewhat matte-painting thing, as it's the only means by which I think I can create a believable cityscape backdrop.

I went for something classic, old-school - Asia, neon, clunky guns, implants and cybernetics galore, flu masks and organ shops. It's the most correct stuff that I now can do to translate my vision of a true cyberpunk setting, and I feel that this picture - which I present in original and filtered colors, since I see them both valid - is a major artistic breakthrough of mine, in terms of technical skill.

It's my tribute to a genre and vision that pretty much shaped a lot of what I am today - a work of love and dedication, if you will.

So I invite you to enjoy some good-old cyberpunk as well.
Image size
2000x1333px 3.29 MB
© 2013 - 2024 TD-Vice
Comments104
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OEVRLORD's avatar
:star::star::star::star-empty: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star-empty: Vision
:star::star::star::star-empty::star-empty: Originality
:star::star::star::star-half::star-empty: Technique
:star::star::star::star-empty::star-empty: Impact

Apparently normal users can give critiques now, so I thought this might be a good opportunity to use that feature. I am also a big fan of modern cyberpunk, so it is good to see art that celebrates and seeks to fuel the genre.

Well, first of all, I have to say that the image on the left (your original colours, if I am not mistaken), has a far lesser impact on my eyes, than the one on the right. The main reason being is that the right-hand image has a far more apparent atmospheric depth than the other, and this not only separates the foremost characters from the extras, but also helps to give a feeling of completeness as a whole to the image, as well as adding a greater coherency within the colour palette.

Generally speaking, I like the designs you have come up with, and they fit the modern cyberpunk interpretation fairly well. But, while I know it's probably just an aesthetic choice, neither the throwing knives on the male character's waist, nor the great cables leading to the gun of the female strike me as being functionally sound (though it could be argued that cyberpunk is not necessarily about practicality), and I can only suggest that it would seem more suitable to consider this when conceptualising these things. Otherwise, of course we have these characters in the background in their armour and unusual clothing, which I think fits pretty well. For such civilian items, I would put less emphasis on practicality (or even an emphasis on impracticality), but I think it should be maintained for military types.

The left is a day scene, yes? If so, I do not think it really looks like one at all. Perhaps it is the black sky which makes me feel this way, but it still looks like a night scene, to me. I think another reason for this is that the lighting appears to be dominated by 'local lighting,' such as the signs and small lights in the scene, and not by sunlight.

The other thing I had considered, was what is happening in the scene. The characters seem engaged in something dramatic. Very serious faces and poses. Yet these people in the background - they are doing nothing. They seem largely unconcerned by whatever has the attention of the main characters. It seems rather whimsical, even; as though the characters are posing because somebody is taking their photo.

Some parts of the background seem a little unorthodox. Oftentimes, as you'd be no-doubt aware, an artist will deliberately suppress detail in background elements to further enhance the perspective and give attention to whatever is foremost in their artwork. The bit that sticks out the most to me is the pink woman in the sky, up there. The colours are so gaudy, and the lines are sharp enough that it strikes me as an important part of the picture. Again, this is less-so on the right-hand side, though still, I think it could stand to have been blurred slightly, so as to take attention away from itself. It is common to weaken contrast and saturation in background elements, but I suppose you don't want to condescend the need for bright, neon colours in a cyberpunk themed artwork. You take the good with the bad, I suppose.

Otherwise, I can only encourage further artworks of this type, because I always enjoy seeing them.