Had some inspiration for once and decided to make it very different to all the usual covers with there "Pretty ladies" (he said in a false Russian accent like the meercat)

Latest version:

WIP's:

tut, i hate seeing threads with no replies, come on folks lol :P

Liking the concept ed, I does like a good airship landscape. *nod* and I agree, it's about time one made it on to the front cover. The female human form is pretty and all, but there's beauty elsewhere too. Keep it coming, maybe if we flood the forums with landscapes in the IFX front cover  template we might tempt them away from the ladies >.>"

No replies are not so conducive to working out ideas and compositions lol.

Sorry to disappoint you with the airship but it sort of transmogrified into something a little more streamlined and modern, though this being an early stage the airship may yet reappear in another guise?  

Maybe I could paint a Lady on the side of the ship like those old B52's? that would satisfy some!

Anyways I've put a couple of hours more into the pic:

The polar bear is looking very nice! 

The ships design is somewhat confusing though... also have you tried other colours for the ship? Mainly the reflected light on the ship from the sky and the ocean would be swallowed up by the ships red .... 

Its coming along though...the water effect is good too :) 

I think even I am confused by my own ship design, possibly I'll try making it in a 3D program (maybe  Zbrush?)

I do see what your saying about the red, hopefully once I've sorted the design I can work with the color. Then again if I do the color first...? I want to have the ship contrasting with it's surrondings and highly reflective so that you get to see the clouds/waves in the surface.

Thanks for your input, made me think about things I had not fully visualized. 

Meh details, details, it's still nice to have encouraging comments even if the pic isn't very far along I think.

Not upset though lol, this ship does seem to sit better in the composition. I think it might be intersting to have it made of a very reflective metal and not having it too contrasting at all. Like queen amidala's silvery ship in the newer star wars movies if you've seen them. So you don't neccessarily spot it straight away but when you do it has a big impact and you think "ah so that's what that cuddly bear is looking at!". I dunno, could be fun, just an idea. ^^; The polar bear and water is looking very nice though and I espeacially like where you've placed the eye line. Keep it it up ed :D

Ok, I'll have to have a say in this.

First; How close to your ref photo are woring with the icebear? Becourse it's really realistic so far (note; not that I don't think you are able, I'm just wondering)

So. The reflection from the sky looks great. Refine that, and do not let the red swallow it up. The underside of the ship should be darker though. If you want the reflection from the water to show, remember how water reflects on another surface. But it will depend on how near to the water the ship is. I would keep the ship red though. It makes up a good contrast to the cold icy water and.. well.. ice. The way you have the waterline is just perfect.

But you do have a small light direction problem. On the bear it looks like it's coming from the left, and on the ship it comes from the right. My advise is to let it come from the right. That way the ship "dissolves" just enough in the sky to not be a distraction or a main focus, and it leads the eye towards the bear. Which will have his light specs on the front of his head and face giving the two a good communication.

One other thing. What's the brief  on this cover comp (haven't gotten the mag yet.)? And when is it due?

I agree with Geir on both the light direction and the colour of the ship. Making it silvery might make the whole image too cold and uniform colourwise. It looks like the ship's pretty close to the water, almost skimming the surface, so that'd give a fair bit of reflection both ways.

I'm wondering if they're hunting polar bears or just visiting? Might be good to add a clue, but then again one can let the viewers make up their own story... I like that I find myself wondering about what's going on.

to Geir, about the contest: The only brief is to make a cover image, no theme or other such info. A template for where text goes and all is included on the DVD but you can see it in clairbears entry image as well, if you wanna start before you get the issue. It's not too different from the Xmas one, except there's more are covered by text...

Contest entries need to be in by Jan 10th and you can win, besides cover spot, a wacom cintiq and a year's subscription. I wish I stood a chance :P

Edit: silly me, you can see it right HERE lol (the template)

Geir:

HOLY CRAP!!!!!! A CINTIQ!!!!!! Dangdiddely dang. I'm in. The link doesn't work Voluspa.

what link? *confused*

oooh the "here" wasn't a link. I meant, the polar bear image shows how it looks. uhm wasn't that perfectly clear?

Firstly thanks for your comments and suggestions.

I'm working quite close but not that close to the bear ref but don't want to get too close as it might bite! (and yes I am able, though I do get days where if I mix blue and yellow I'd get red lol) I'm working at more than double the size so it looks more detailed when reduced!

Second your right! I'll have a play around with the lighting see how it develops!

Still a couple of months to work on this so plenty of time to add uber detail!

Hope i've not messed the lighting? Not to worry though as I must have about 20 psd's already for this lol.