PieXags' ...showcase?

[PieXags]

Hmm. Right then.

First, let it be known, that for some reason I'm extremely tired (and I'm not quite sure why) and so if I either A: Don't make much sense, or B: Seem as if my attention and/or priorities are located elsewhere, this...may very well be the case. Usually, though, I'm very well spoken and interact in a much more organized fashion.

I am not quite sure if I..."want in", really, I just feel as if I might. I don't know enough about this as a whole, the obligation/level of professionalism involved, how frequently or in what manner communication would happen, or even if I will have the time, ability, or energy for something like this.

...but, it interested me. I'll first say a bit about myself.

I'm PieXags. I'm presently 18 years old, been out of high school for a year now - haven't attended any college and I'm not quite sure if I plan to. I am at this point in time, without a job (with the exception of some freelance artwork here and there, practically unemployed though), and my only priority in life is my wonderful girl whom I never intend on leaving, if you get my meaning.

I doodle a bit, though. Concept art, I suppose you could say. I've never had any classes, nor have I been actively practicing and studying for years and years. But I do enjoy drawing, and for the past couple years have, off and on, been doing some digital painting. I've never been involved in anything more than a few hundred dollar, very low level freelance illustration for a book looking to get published or a company's logo - but I do think I could have a future in this, and since money is tight right now, I could use some practice to make art and things of this nature a more prevelant part of my life.

I acknowledge that this is volunteer work (...at least, I thought so, anyway) - I'm not looking to get payed or at this point, even to sign on and get going so quickly. I'd like to know a bit more about it before I made that commitment, but I acknowledge that I do think I have the time and the means to be of some help.

If I were to join up, I could potentially provide some concept artwork. I've learned what little I do know about things like this by myself, just trying whatever comes to mind and thinking about how to achieve the outcome. I'm nowhere near as good as some of the people out there, but I suppose it might be worth looking at for some people here.

Here are some examples of my "work", and a link to my sketchbook at conceptart.org

(For the record, it's worth noting that some of these were done and payed for "professionally", and so could be considered the property of someone other than myself. Please you know...no...stealing. Not that I expected it.)

[img]http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/recordshowingcopy.jpg[/img]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/wallpaper_v4.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/progress.jpg

[img]http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/butchforsarah.jpg[/img]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/Sketches/clownsplodyshaded.jpg

[img]http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/Sketches/flamebirdpaint3.jpg[/img]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/Sketches/sack.jpg

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c192/PieXags/hopeprogress4.jpg

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=111977

The first is a record cover I recently painted for a family member, the second is the first painting I ever actually finished, done in November. The fourth is a sketch of something that came out of my noggin, and...so on and so forth. The second to last is a character for a children's book I'm currently in the process of illustrating. The last link is the link to my sketchbook at conceptart.org, and has all of the above plus quite a bit more.

Again, PieXags is not sure what exactly would be involved with all of this, but there is a large part of me that thinks it would be beneficial not only for myself but possibly, to some others, if I had something like this to work on more consistantly. I think I could really use the more consistant practice and creative thought going on.

Anyway, all this being said, I'd really appreciate it if someone could get back to me with answers to some of my questions and a bit more information about all this, so I have more to take into consideration when pondering about joining up.

Many thanks and cheers to you all,

-PieXags

Edit: I gave some of them image tags, because I thought it would be neat. Don't know why. Looks more fancy though 'eh? That's always fun. And uh, I just found the "Concept Art" standalone section of the forums, if this should instead be moved over there then by all means.

[Haplo]

Your art is really nice

TR is indeed volunteer work; it's a hobby for everyone here in all aspects, including concept art. A little bit about what we do: We're creating a whole new province for TES: IV (and TES:III) Oblivion, to add onto the existing one that comes with the game. You've come at a very key time; we're in the beginning stages, where functional art and the vision of the province is being created.

As a concept artist you would have a huge influence on the vision of Hammerfell (the name of our province). Since we're still creating the vision, there is definitely plenty of things to keep your skills sharp and your fingers busy, just ask Gez (the head of our concept art department) any questions you have (or post them here, you'll get more answers that way ).

Also, check out the FSG threads in the concept art forum which you've just recently discovered. Those are the top priority on sketches.

Member Promoted for Concept Art. I hope to see you enjoy creating art here, and hopefully improve as well.

[Morden]

*Haplo beat me to it

Welcome to the forums. I like your art. You have a really unique style. I especially like the wallpaper link you posted. We could use some sweeping atmospheric drawings for our daedric realm of Quagmire.

As for everything else, we're all hobby modders. We do what we enjoy, and we contribute based on how busy we are in real life

Concept Art is a really important aspect of our project. With the Oblivion engine we have a lot of models to create, and the CA department is where they all start. Our current Concept Art moderator is Gez. The department has had a bit of downtime recently, and is just starting to roll again, so bare with us if it seems unorganized. Keep an eye out new Focused Sketch Group (FSG) topics appears in the CA forum. Take a look around and contribute in any topics that interest you. I hope you find something you like and stick around for a bit. Here's a link to current/recently finished [FSG]:
http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=20171&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[PieXags]

Hmm, well that's awfully neat. Thanks for the words and welcome.

Hmm, right then. Well, I've taken a look through the concept art stickies and let me just...clarify, a few things.

I am, for one reason or another, very enthused about all this. I'd like to start churning out work for the project very soon over the next few days, it actually lines up perfectly with some real life plans I've made for myself that give me a studio to work in each day for a fair while. But I do NOT want to half-arse anything I do for this, as that would forego the point of quality and, for me, improvement. It would really help if there was one person I could speak to in order to better understand the feeling of both Hammerfell and what else the team is looking for. Questions like this:

-It would seem as if Hammerfell, the project at hand, is a pretty...how to say...outdoorsy sort of place, desert, rainforest. How would you describe it, do you think? A mixture of...Egyptian/Middle Eastern...South American, sort of environment?

-This "Focused Concept Group" -- it is essentially...a thread, posted as a focused and direct call for concept art of a certain type, to request from concept artists things like "flora", or weapons for the other modders to pick up and run with. Is it more than this, or essentially a publically displayed "assignment"?

-I know nothing of Hammerfell. Was it in a previous Elder Scrolls game? I am extremely, extremely familiar with Oblivion and play it near every day, but if Hammerfell did exist in a previous game - will we be trying to stick to it as much as possible, simply "revamping" it, or creating new?

Should I speak with Gez if I want to jump on this and start churning out useful projects, or would it be better for me to watch and learn...so to speak?

Regardless, I look forward to working with you all and hopefully becoming a somewhat valuable member of the community. Also hoping I don't forget about it and get interested in something else like has been a trend in the past...real disappointing it is when that happens.

Will try to get some rest for now, check in again tomorrow. Cheers to you.

Edit: HOLY FREAKING CRAP! Quagmire is EVIL? NIGHTMARISH?

This I can do! Should be really fun.

[Gez]

Hmm, well that's awfully neat. Thanks for the words and welcome.

They're well-deserved. This wallpaper painting is a real beauty.

-It would seem as if Hammerfell, the project at hand, is a pretty...how to say...outdoorsy sort of place, desert, rainforest. How would you describe it, do you think? A mixture of...Egyptian/Middle Eastern...South American, sort of environment?

Hammerfell is its own thing, but the real-world influences for it include the Maghreb, the Sahara, Arabia, Turkey, Persia and India, African savanna and jungles, and other things.

-This "Focused Concept Group" -- it is essentially...a thread, posted as a focused and direct call for concept art of a certain type, to request from concept artists things like "flora", or weapons for the other modders to pick up and run with. Is it more than this, or essentially a publically displayed "assignment"?

Well, it's an invitation to all concept artists to create art of a certain type. It's not an assignment. All work done by our modders is voluntary, the core is not saying "you, you do this." If the subject of an FCG doesn't inspire you, you don't have to participate.

-I know nothing of Hammerfell. Was it in a previous Elder Scrolls game? I am extremely, extremely familiar with Oblivion and play it near every day, but if Hammerfell did exist in a previous game - will we be trying to stick to it as much as possible, simply "revamping" it, or creating new?

Hammerfell is the province of the Redguards, and it is one of the six neighbors of Cyrodiil. As you know, there are ten races acknowledged as citizen of the Septim Empire, and except for the orcs each of them has a home province. In fact, in Arena and Daggerfall, your race selection screen was this one:
[url=http://imageshack.us][img]http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6926/arenaprovincechooserdm7.png[/img][/url]
You clicked on one of the province, and after confirming this was indeed your choice, you hailed from it. Simple.
Going clockwise from Hammerfell, you have:

• High Rock, home of the Bretons;
• Skyrim, home of the Nords;
• Morrowind, home of the Dark Elves;
• Black Marsh, home of the Argonians;
• Elsweyr, home of the Khajiit;
• Valenwood, home of the Wood Elves;
• And finally the Summerset Isles, home of the High Elves.

Until TES3: Morrowind, these eight provinces and eight races were all you could choose to play. It's in Morrowind that the Orcs were introduced as a playable race (they were just monsters before, but this promotion was justified by what you had done to help them in TES2: Daggerfall) and that the Imperial Province was retconned into having its own race, the Imperials (aka Cyrodiils -- this name can refer to the Imperial City, the Imperial Province, or the Imperial race...).

Hammerfell was visited in most of the old games. TES1: Arena (which you can download for free [url=http://www.elderscrolls.com/downloads/downloads_games.htm]here[/url] if you're interested in old-school games with primitive graphics) featured all the provinces of the game, but they were so undetailed and and graphics were so limited that Hammerfell did not really have a character of its own.

In TES2: Daggerfall, the graphic engine used 3D models for architecture and some furniture, and this allowed the visited places to have a visual identity of their own. The action took place around the Iliac Bay, which is that bay between Hammerfell and High Rock. Therefore, the places you visited in Daggerfall were northern Hammerfell and southern High Rock. (It's also where you had what remained of the former Orc homeland, Orsinium. In the distant past, the Orcs occupied most of the Dragontail and Wrothgarian mountains as well as most of Hammerfell. When the Yoku Ra'Gada invaded Hammerfell in their exile from their doomed continent, Yokuda, they drove the Orcs out and acquired their reputation as Tamriel's best warriors. The Ra'Gada, "warrior wave" in Yoku, became known as the Redguards. Orsinium itself is in High Rock, near the city of Wayrest.)

In TESA: Redguard, a spin-off adventure game that sold poorly, you were transported four centuries in the past, at the end of the Second Era, back when Tiber Septim was building his empire through conquest (in Oblivion, everyone is angsting that it's the end of the Third Era). You played the role of a Redguard nationalist, Cyrus, fighting against the Cyrodiilic Empire. (In fact this game, published before Morrowind, is the first that gave a cultural identity to the Cyrodiils.) But Redguard fleshed out mostly the cultural identity of the Redguards themselves, of course. Notably it introduced the Crown/Forebear antagonism. When the Yoku invaded Hammerfell, the highest nobility first stopped on a series of islands while the lowlier warriors, commoners and little nobles, continued to sail in search of a land large enough for their population. The former would become the Crowns, elitist rulers of Hammerfell, keeping the same hierarchy as they had in Yokuda; while the latter would become the Forebears, taking this name because it is they who conquered Hammerfell and allowed the Yoku to become the Redguards. The antagonism ("the Crowns are pansy lazy-asses while we the Forebears did all the hard work"; "the Forebears are rough upstarts who do not respect the glorious past and the traditions of their ancestors which we protect and maintain") was exacerbated by the conquest of Hammerfell by Tiber Septim, because the Forebears ended up deciding to sue for peace with the Empire and accept the annexation, while this was absolutely out of question for the Crowns. Redguard did not take place on continental Hammerfell, though, but on a little island far off the coast, Stros M'kai, which was a fallback base for the Crowns, where the royal family had built their palace waiting for the continent to be in Ra'Gada hands. And Cyrus, the hero, was of course a Crown. While he did not succeed in obtaining independence for Hammerfell, at least his actions allowed the Redguards as a whole to obtain more favorable terms by forcing Tiber Septim to renegociate the annexation treaty.

Finally, one of the mobile phone games developed by Bethesda's sister company Vir2L Studios, Shadowkey, took place on the continental border between Hammerfell, High Rock and Skyrim. It speaks about the War of Bend'r-Makh when the Nords invaded their neighbors to steal land from High Rock and Hammerfell, going as far as the city of Dragonstar in Hammerfell. Chronologically, that game takes place about at the same time as TES1: Arena.

If you want more background and some screenshots, I will refer you to these two excellent sites: [url=http://www.imperial-library.info/]The Imperial Library[/url] (commonly called TIL) and the [url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page]Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages[/url] (commonly called UESP). Of particular interest are those pages:
[url=http://www.imperial-library.info/realms_iliac/]Major Realms of the Iliac Bay[/url] (Daggerfall-related)
[url=http://www.imperial-library.info/tsorg/]Redguard Storyline[/url] (in several parts, with screenshots and annotations)
[url=http://www.imperial-library.info/tsosk/]Shadowkey Storyline[/url] (keeping in mind the N-Gage's limitations for graphics and stuff)
[url=http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/maps_hammerfell.shtml]Maps of Hammerfell[/url] (from various games)
[url=http://www.imperial-library.info/dfbooks/b105_alt_redguard.shtml]Redguards, their History and their Heroes[/url], an in-game book about Redguard lore at the time of Daggerfall's development. If you've managed to read this whole post, you can read that book as well.

[kyletamarane]

I love your artwork PieXags. Especially the first graphic, that really abstract style and seemingly random collection of objects is really neat.

Fantastic work mate. Welcome.

[PieXags]

Thank you Gez for the information, and you for the welcome, kyletamarane.

Gez - I read through all the links you gave me, thanks for all the information, I do think it helped me figure out what it is we're dealing with. Exactly how much of the information I retained I'm not quite sure, but I think enough of it to at least get started on my part for this project.

I will do my best to get a couple pieces sketched out here within the next couple days, basic enviornments, a creature or two perhaps to try and get a feel for what I'm doing and the projects at hand. Get a thread going in the concept art section. See if I hit the mark or if I'm way off, and build from that.

The only thing it's worth noting, is that I am not sure if I'll be able to very well do many paintings or sketches on the same color background as the front page, if any of them were to wind up there. For any characters or creatures it should be easy enough, and I can try to do it with some environments, but as you can see --- I can get pretty...atmospheric with them.

I'll sketch some things out today, I'm very much inspired, which is good because I was in need of it. Here's to working with you all.

...I totally haven't gotten any sleep yet.

[Elfane]

First of all welcome to TR
The best advice I can give you is to lurk the CA threads a bit to get the feel of what we are trying to create, look especialy in Lutemoth's thread.

Then if you feel you have the time you could look in the Lore forum searching for tags like Ra'gada, Yoku, Hammerfell, Rihad , Alik'r etc. It can be a pain in the ass to get the info since it is spread out over many threads and pages but eventually you will find some useful info.

And nice art, like it.

[Gez]

The "sketches on the same color as the front page" thing is for black & white stuff without clear borders; and the easiest thing is to simply work in black and white, as always, then once it's finished make it transparent by adding an alpha channel if there weren't one to begin with and use layer->transparency->color to alpha, white. (May be slightly different in Photoshop but I trust you know far more than me about all that! )

For paintings with color, it's unecessary. See the concept for [url=http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/files/vulnim_gate_359.jpg]Vulnim Gate[/url] for example.

[blackbird]

Nice drawings and nice avatar.

[Lighter Than Some]

I love your line art. Very detailed. Welcome to the team