The Egg is Hers!
This digital work is inspired by Neopets.com, and the concept behind this entry is that I wanted to make an illustration that would tell a story, and maybe be translated into a film one day as the first Neopets movie!
A Hissi slithers around the nighttime jungle, and she comes across a mysterious blue egg. All alone, she decides to take the egg under her wings. The egg is now hers.
Here you can see the process of me working on this work. I consider this digital painting concept art in the sense that I would love nothing more in life than to some day work on a Neopets movie, so this digital work is like a concept for a possible movie plot if I ever got the chance to present in front of a major animation studio.
Here are some quick, simple character studies of this winged snake. I tossed around ideas of what her personality could be like in the illustration, but in the end I went for something really simple. I wanted to show her subtle happiness when she discovers the egg in the jungle.
Here is the first process shot for this piece, I started simple and tried to capture some of that Neopets style, and made really funky looking trees. I learned that adaptability in style is key when drawing characters you're not really familiar with. After doing a bit of research on Neopets.com myself, I ultimately decided that the kid friendly site has a lot of pleasing to the eye shapes and compositions. So I did my best to arrange some wonky shapes in a cinematic scene.
Here is the second process shot! A problem I came across was figuring out how to set up all these fun trees and shapes in a way that was still clear to my viewers that the scene is in a thick jungle. As you can tell, there are a lot of scribbles here and there that need a more concise depiction. Playing around with colors in this stage was also a bit tricky because Neopets.com uses all the colors of the rainbow, so it was hard to settle for just one palette.
3rd process shot! I solidified the snake and egg, but the jungle appears to be in some visual distress...
4th shot! The jungle has been cleaned up and colored in a little, but now the issue here was where to put the light source. Also, I attempted to create a reflective light source for the egg to appear on her body, but I think I over did it (as you will see later on I cut that bit out).
5th shot! Here I developed the environment more, as well as a potential light source. The jungle setting is apparently next to a calm ocean.
6th shot! The piece is nearly completed, but I was not happy with how the lighting was going on this snakes skin, the glow was far too much above her head. The jungle around her has better shading and more defined features. At this point, I felt as though the art work was starting to reflect the Neopets style a little bit better. I also decided to remove the little crescent moon in the distant background because it felt too cliche and out of place.
7th shot! I eased up on the glow around her head, and added some lighting on the egg to show that it has a somewhat reflective property. Some foreground shading was also added to help develop some contrast within the piece itself.
Here is the final look! I edited the pupils, and added highlights to her giant eyes as well a tiny reflection of the blue egg bouncing back into her eyes. After those adjustments, I shipped it through photoshop, and adjusted the contrast and saturation until I was happy with the final result!
After the piece was done, I let the concept of a Neopets movie forming from this digital painting rattle on in brain, and thought of a whole plot.
"A white Hissi is without a family to call her own, until one night she slithers through her jungle and comes across a mysterious, radiant,blue egg. She promises to search all across Neopia to find the egg's true parents! Along the way, she meets Neopets of all different kinds and makes friends while she explores the colorful world around her. Will she ever find the egg's real family? And will she ever have a family of her own?"
Neopets: The Big Quest! Coming to theatres near you maybe?
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