BLUE SUN ROOM IMAGES

ASARIAN

Noah's Ark
Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Another piece in River's "vision" series. The central figure is River, reading the story of Noah's Ark. The foreground River, from OiS, is the visualization of River at the table, trying to picture the story. Since River is, as it were, projecting the scene, notice the absence of water behind her! (because she only sees extra 'props', so to speak, where her focus is). The Bible page on the right I scanned is actually of the story of Noah's Ark, and is meant to remind the viewer that everything River 'sees', she sees while reading Book's Bible. Composition-wise, instead of painstakingly trying to edit out the original upward branch from her hair, I found what I thought was an elegant solution: I removed part of side of her hair, and had it merge with the hair, also hanging down, from the River at the table. And I think it works surprisingly well. All-in-all, at least I feel I succeeded in taking this well-known River pose from OiS, and doing something completely different with it.


CATEGORY: GRAPHICS    TIMES READ: 3791    RATING: 10    SERIES: FIREFLY

COMMENTS

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 2:47 AM

ASARIAN


Again, my profuse apologies for the re-edit. I went over it a dozen times, only to find a disruptive transparency gap (near where the cupboard door knob met River's dress), not long after I posted it.

Again, out of respect for the gentle folks who replied, I copied their comments below.


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CantonHeroine Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 00:16,

You're right. The hair does work really well.

I also like how the wood-grain of the table blends with the water around the ark, and how she appears to be walking on the water itself.

The passage from the Bible leading up the stairs is also a nice bit of imagery.

Lovely.
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shinytalent Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - 02:14,

The hair works wonderfully. The image and the concept has me completely stunned. I'm amazed at how wonderful this is. It's absolutely beautiful Asarian, as always.
I especially like what you've done with the miniature noah's ark and I love the font as well. Your attention to detail is incredible. I hope to see more of your work on here

Also, thank you for your kind words before, it is wonderful to know that people actually pay attention to my comments, I'm always honest with what I say and I'm glad I can brighten someone's day. So many coats have been so wonderfulto me, yourself included I like knowing I can pass that on.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 3:00 AM

NUCLEARDAY


I'm really liking that water effect. not sure how you got the reflection of River's feet in there, but it works brilliantly.

and yeah, the blending of the two Rivers' hair works great.

nice attention to detail, and always shiny to see someone doing something different with a well-known screencap. also like the frame, really ties it all together. excellent work, as always ;p

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 3:01 AM

ASARIAN


Hey shinytalent, :)

Now you leave me all aglow again! :) Not that I post these graphics to elicit such beautiful comments, of course; but when they come, O man, sets my heart ablaze, every time. :) Thank you so very much!

You like the detail, uh? Did you also notice the tiny, faintly visible Blue Sun logo I slapped on the side of the boat? :) LOL. A little humor never hurt anyone.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 3:42 AM

BINGKEWL


well done, well done

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 4:09 AM

BOOKADDICT


Wonderful work. I love the actual page from the bible, and the Ark model.

This is particularly wonderful to me, who can't even make a simple banner!

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 4:22 AM

ASARIAN


Hey nuclearday,

Thank you for your wonderful comment. :)

Speaking of detail, did you notice River is actually reading from Genesis? In any other series, they would have just picked a random page. Joss is really brilliant that way.

The water is just a fancy filter. Though it gave me plenty of headaches, because I had to render it in several stages, each with a different horizon depth. That resulted in a different overall lighting on the respective areas (not to mention, wave-misalignment). The 'deeper' part, horizon wise, where the boat is in, originally came out a lot darker. Fortunately, I was able to correct/match the lighting when I did another rendition on the boat layer. The water area of her feet and that of the boat segment now seamlessly integrate, even wave-wise. Nothing a little transparency and a lot of sweat can't solve. :)

One last water comment, lol. She's not supposed to stand entirely in (or on) the water. The toes of her right foot are half-way in, but her left foot is still on the solid cargo-bay floor (I thought it would make for a cute metaphor: one foot still in reality). And, like I said, there's no water behind her. The idea is really to have her make up extra 'reality' where it's needed for her vision. And that actually IS an OiS theme! So, the whole thing is OiS like, but not OiS.

Okay, I really shouldn't be talking about my own work this way, because it makes me look, well, vain. :) But, as you can tell, I'm really happy with the way it all came out, in the end.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 10:40 AM

KAYNA


That last one was me. It logged me off for some reason

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 1:42 PM

ASARIAN


Hey CantonHeroine,

Thank you for your kind words. :)

Yeah, the wood-grain of the dark spots on the table blend really well with the darker colored water behind the Ark (qua color and ripples). It gives you the illusion that the table just extends further, to the right. Only, it doesn't. :) I thought it would make for a nice kinda "out of the box" type of transition, instead of doing just another dull transparency dissolve. As for the Bible page going up the stairs, so cute you noticed. :) Yeah, at first I wanted to lay the page literally on the stairs; but I soon found that idea lacking in subtlety. The way it's now, only the top-left corner of the page tries to keep alignment with the orientation of the chairs. Obviously, the idea is still expressed well enough for you to pick up on! :)

Wednesday, March 8, 2006 2:43 PM

RIVERGODDESS


Oh, wow! I love this so much! The water effect and the tiny Noah's ark makes this so beautiful and surreal at the same time. Great blending, and the
Bible page on the right is a nice touch! And I just noticed the Blue Sun logo on the ark. Wow. The attention to detail and symbolism here is excellent!

Thursday, March 9, 2006 1:50 AM

ASARIAN


Hey Kayna, :)

You make me all *blush*. Thank you!

Yeah, this really seems to be how River sees the world. But also how she feels it. That's why I had just her right foot touch the water: she not only visualizes reality, she kinda becomes a part of it, too. She looks at the boat, and at the same time has the sensation of standing in the water. She can't not feel.

Oops, there I go again! :) It's just really rare for me that things all work out so well.


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