TIGAER-DESIGN.COM_.v5 – Digital Art by Christian Hecker

digital matte painting – 10hrs – intuos3 – photoshop – terragen – 3200px wide

Here the tg render i started with: [link] (the original had 3000×2000)

Ok i admit… this shot was an accident and not planned. But hell… i captured an ALIEN! lol ok you need a little bit of imagination… but look how that alien tries to catch me with those claaaaws!!! Luckily i got away and am still alive! But be assured… they’re out there!!!!

PS: Actually it’s the photographed inside of a flower. I placed two waterdrops and they fortunately did not move off the plant and now look like eyes. Then, in front, is a shadow from another flower… that gives the ‘claw’. That’s the secret.

Regards

D³SCR!PTION

Here we see something that is intended to be a vision of heaven. Green lands. Mountains. Mixed… with a bit fantasy. That was the goal. I think i reached it nicely. Not perfect from my pov… but i leave the final decision to you. I kinda like the final version.

TECHN!CAL DETA!LS

Once again a lot of time went into this pic. I started with concept sketches. Tried a lot of things and invested some time into that stage. So i soon had a bunch of psds in my project folder. Which had 1,2gb in the end. Too much for my taste. However. Once i had a fitting idea and the client gave his ok, i started to work out the details. Added various elements and textures. My biggest problem were the buildings. The client wanted them clean… perfect. I’m one of those guys that likes to add a weathered look because that makes it look more realistic. Nonetheless the client wanted them to be shiny and bright. I tried my best. The result is pretty ok i think.

40hrs – intuos3 – 6000px high – 300dpi – basics psd: 150mb / adv. elements psd: 250mb

PRINT DETAIL: (ca 2.6mb): [link]

D³SCR!PTION

Another one of my big ideas done. I wanted to do that kind of image for years! Now i finally could do it. Since i saw the fellowship of the ring on the big screen i had this kind of pic in mind. When the first part of the lotr trilogy hit the big screen i barely started my journey through scenery art. back then i did not know that i would come that far with my work. today i think… it was a long way! and there is still so much to learn. special thanks to gary tonge for some composition hints! helped a lot!

TECHN!CAL DETA!LS

not much to say this time. this time i worked with photo and painting only. manips included. no terragen or c4d. please check this link [link] for more info about how the pic was done. i worked with two psd files. the first psd to establish the basic background elements. the second psd to build in the details.

25hrs – intuos3 – 6000px wide – 300dpi – basics psd: 304mb/adv. elements psd: 451mb

inspired by: dylan cole & yanick dusseault (their lotr matte work)

check the print details here: [link]

D³SCR!PTION

Lets imagine we’re on a distant planet. Where some fighters train an air combat situation. Or is it no training? We’re on a very vulcanic active planet here and the environment is not the lifeform friendliest. Smoke and dust everywhere, which makes it hard for the crews to keep the fighters clean. The harsh environment is quite a challenge to the pilots too. Sudden engine deaths and other malfunctions require top pilots to survive there. A futuristic top gun scene.

TECHN!CAL DETA!LS

This pic is basically a digital painting. Created with an intuos3 tablet. After i blocked in the shapes i added some rock textures to the mountains and surface to gain a glimpse of realism. I really like how the landscape turned out. Not too happy with other parts. But it’s all something that helps in the learning process.

35hrs – intuos3 – 5000px wide – 290mb psd

inspired by: ryan church

Isn’t she adorable? She grew up since then… a true feline lady!

CHECK OUT THE PRINT DETAIL: CHECK OUT THE PRINT DETAIL: [link]

CHECK OUT THE PHOTO I STARTED WITH: [link] by `freezejeans (i have full permission to use the image)

D³SCR!PTION

The meaning of the pic is to show the kind of path we’re all going. On the left side we have the oldish, familiar looking environments. While on the right we have the monstrous huge futuristic city that seems to literally eat the people, their lives and lets them appear soooo small that they almost don’t count anymore. The old bridge is a kinda symbole to show that both parts are still connected and that only you alone decide to take that walk into the future or not.

On the other hand… it’s just a cool sci-fi based artwork.

TECHN!CAL DETA!LS

First of all i want to tell those super critique folks that this pic is far from perfect, i know that. There’s, once again, lots of experimental stuff in it. It’s very different to the stuff i ever did before. Basically it’s a very big huge mo0onster photo manipulation. You ask yourself why it’s call matte ‘painting’ then. That’s what i ask myself too sometimes lol. But it’s true. In some ways it is a painting. In others not. Since you work with a tablet and pen… you first block in all the stuff you want to have in your pic. That’s the painting part. Once you nailed down the composition and main elements, you move into the manip part and the painting work takes a step back. Once the manip part is done, you move into painting again to add detail where it’s necessary. Todays digital matte painting is a variety of mediums. From usual photos to high detail 3d to excellent paintings… all combined in a single pic.

digital matte painting, wacom, photoshop, 40hrs, 3500px wide, 300dpi, 110mb psd

development animation: [link]

2nd development visualization: [link]

Doesn’t it look a little bit like a galaxy? With stars and a sun…
Colors edited in photoshop to make it look more interesting. A photo made with a similar technique can be found here: [link]

D³SCR!PTION

elysia is one of the planets everyone knows when you’re talking about it. there’s no person that has not seen one of the amazing sunsets, at least on a photo. the ‘paradise of the universe’ was it called once in a news article. people living and working there mostly to serve the tourists. you can do everything there! enjoy the forests. enjoy mountain climbing. take a trip down the golden rivers that swirl over the planets surface like veins of blood. i wished i could visit this place for only one time. but all i have is a photo… and my wish.

TECHN!CAL DETA!LS

once again is tried some matte painting techniques for this piece. i worked with a lot of photography to texture the elements in my terragen render. my goal is always to let it look like it’s not done with help of terragen. i guess i got that pretty good in this piece. the big building in front was completely painted. with help of a few manip techniques. i thank god for my wacom. to create such stuff with mouse would take ages. generally i always tried to keep an eye on the overall composition. i had talks with friends about what else i could add. there even was a flyer for the right side in planning. i decided against is because of the huge cloud front that is balancing the pic good enough. a flyer would have distracted from the general composition.

digital painting, wacom, photoshop, 30hrs, 5000px wide, 250mb psd

the unedited/unaltered terragen pic: [link]

CHECK OUT THE PRINT DETAIL: [link]

D³SCR!PTION

One of mankinds colonies on a distant planet in a future not too far away. The organisation chose this planet because of the friendly environment. Forests, fresh and clean air… paradise. The people that decided to live there spend their time to investigate the planet. Flora and fauna. How does the eco-system work. What minerals does the planet offer. The colony is growing fast and soon needs to expand into other regions of that planet. Be sure to save your ticket soon… there are not many places left.

TECHN!CAL DETA!LS

Basically i used matte painting techniques i learned from the gnomon workshop dvds. I managed to create this piece in merely two weeks in print quality. So i’m quite happy with the efficiency this time. Techniques i used range from photo manipulation to painting and 3d rendering. 3d rendering because the base landscape to that pic was made in terragen.

created with a wacom intuos3.

print detail: [link]

STATS

rendered with // terragen ver. 9.43
rendered resolution // 5000×3333
rendering time // 1 rendered pic – ca. 12 hours
render without post process // [link]
post process done in // photoshop
post process time // over a period of 2 weeks
total time invested // 3 weeks
total filesize // *.psd with a res. of 5000×2750 -> 123mb
total layers // ca. 100 layers
inspired by // dylan cole, gary tonge, chris stoski

special thx to ~POverdrive

Happy Viewing!