Feedback Wanted

Here is an environment concept art piece I was working on. It feels a bit empty but I’m also not sure what kinds of elements I should add that won’t take away from the mood and vibe of the scene so far. All critiques welcome.

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mop and bucket up against the wall. :smiley: after all, someone’s gonna have to mop all those floors.

more seriously, something going further in the background. as it is, it ends rather abruptly. mebbe with the ceiling light/chandelier? repeating every so often. it should still fade into the mists, but you want to give the illusion that this goes on forever or what have you. :slight_smile:

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No janitor on duty for this place I guess :smile: I had considered placing some magical lanterns through the corridor. I Have also entertained the idea of a creature of some kind shrouded in the mist and fading into the darkness, which I think could be cool but also add a lot of extra work that I’m not sure I want to do for this piece. Thanks for the reply :pray: :pray:

Here is a creature WIP I’m currently working on but I’m not sure it really fits this scene ?

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given the engravings on the wall et al, i could see that creature being there. or something lovecraftian

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Hi, you could add some vegetation like fern fronds growing downwards or cable-like lianescent plant strands in catenary form from wall to wall. These could also react physically once that robed guy casts a bombastic spell through the hallway. :herb:

I also support mop and bucket. :joy:

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I like the idea of adding some vegetation and plant growth. I don’t really have much experience creating assets like that though :thinking: I have decided I’ll definitely be adding some lanterns and lamp posts. I’m also considering that instead of the creature I posted a WIP shot of perhaps maybe having some tentacles reaching through the darkness. I am going for a lovecraftian type of scene I’ll post updates as they come. Thanks for the advice :raised_hands:

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I would easily see some pillars/arches or rows of statues repeating along the corridor.

Nice job on what’s already there!

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While it does feel a bit empty, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You have an artistic, moody atmospheric piece that feels intentionally desolate, isolated, and foreboding. My feedback is definitely don’t change that, the austerity of the current piece is a big part of the appeal for me.

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I think the floor would look better as stone or tile. The floor with it’s current pattern looks like it would trip people up.

I also think it would be nice to have a silhouette in the background of someone trying to sneak up on that figure. Perhaps leaning around the corner on the left.

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I imagine Lovecraftian architecture to be vast, really huge and kind of empty, it evokes a feeling of insignificance, where the structures are grand and also ancient beyond human comprehension. Think about the story At the Mountains of Madness, where the abandoned stone city’s outer walls are the mountains themselves. These mind-blowingly extensive spaces, whether underground or on the surface, are defining characteristics that make Lovecraftian settings so alien and terrifying. These are places where everyone would feel utterly utterly forsaken …

Certainly Giger has influenced how Lovecraftian sceneries are visualized today, but you have much freedom to come up with your own interpretation. Emptiness takes courage. In Lovecraft’s stories the horror is often based on the contrast between an ancient and seemingly abandonned place and the realization that you are not alone there.

You could scale up and magnify the scale of the corridor and the surrounding walls, so that the viewer’s gaze gets lost in the vastness, emphasizing the overwhelming sensation of being in the presence of something far beyond all comprehension. In the storytelling of the image you may gain another contrast between the robed figure as a strong focal point, possibly someone trying to access long-forgotten powers, and their actual fragility when faced with the immense scale of the surrounding architecture.

Your work in progress already looks wonderful, and I am courious to see how you willl bring it further to an unholy life. Best of luck on your creative journey! :blush:

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while the end “chamber” of AtMoM was indeed beyond immense, i never got the feeling that the path/stairway down to it was immense. maybe tall, but not overly wide, the defining feature being the alien frescoes/murals along the descent. i can see going from the non-euclydian claustrophobic-ish space to the immence nothing would set up the tension needed for his stories impact. :slight_smile:

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In the story At the Mountains of Madness Lovecraft uses the murals as Expository Art or Exposition through Art, a narratological technique: on their discovery journey the men walk along the murals that provide them with the otherwise opaque and long-forgotten backstory of the place. But yes, since this seems to be an element in many of his stories, bas-reliefs and murals can be considered a defining feature of the Lovecraftian aesthetic.

At the Mountains of Madness is also the story with the really big spooky penguins. :sweat_smile: :penguin:

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"environment concept art " so it is about the environment, the setting, the surroundings. I would only use a few other elements to show how the environment’s mood or style can be used. You have already done that. The priest and the balls are enough to show that the environment supports this kind of story or character.

Mostly already covered by others …

  • distance: The walls and floor end abruptly and the mist is to thick. Extend or repeat the walls, floor, ceiling and adjust mist so things fade more gradually.
  • high relief: the bump or displacement is much too large. It is good for this look to have bold carvings but I would reduce the depth some. Especially flatten the floor to something you could walk on.
  • no ground: Between the wall sections is empty space. No floor. Put stairs or a floor there.
  • purpose: There is nothing special about the location of the glowing ball. It is important to the character and possibly the reason this place was built but it is just on the floor in a unimportant spot.
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Must not make Imaginary Friends challenge entry. Busy. Work. Must not. Must …

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well, meant the defining feature of the path they were following down to the shoggoth “chamber” area, not so much of the story as a whole. yes, was a great way of handling exposition/backstory. :smiley: and yes … the giant penguins. :smiley: can’t forget them. hehehe. i was so looking forward to the Del Toro / Cameron take on the movie. alas, my broken heart.

@LordxShred does have a lot of this feel in his piece already, probably why i like it so. :slight_smile:

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I’m thinking more of a mysterious vibe to fill the emptiness. Dulling it down a bit and darker.

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Thanks for the reply! I agree about the emptiness, it was my intention for it be this way but I’m left feeling like something is missing. I don’t want to take away from this vibe of this piece as I stated before because I feel like I was successful in creating a very moody desolate place. I think I have decided to create statues that are holding some lanterns or at least some additional light sources to help further the scale of the environment and hopefully add to the overall tone of the piece. Still thinking about placing a creature shrouded in the darkness behind the robed figure as well.

I was generating texture maps with midjourney and the floor pattern was one of the results that I liked. The idea is that much larger creatures/being inhabit these halls and that they’re not actually intended for humans to be wandering about. Thanks for the reply :smile:

Wow! Everything you said was spot on and there is so much to take away from that response. Thank you as well for the kind words regarding my WIP so far! As I stated in another response these dreadful halls were never meant for humans to wander. I’ll definitely consider scaling up the overall environment. I feel pretty certain I’m going to attempt to finish my creature sculpt and place that behind the robed figure just barely breaching the darkness. Here is another sculpt I did a while back but I dont think its the right choice for this piece. I want eldritch horror without being right on the nose.


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The spaces in between the walls are indeed quite empty at the moment. I intend on placing statues there holding some manner of eldritch lanterns, at least that’s my thought as of now. As far as the glowing orb at his feet there really is no rhyme or reason to this at least in initial concept. After the fact I imagined that it could be some sort of warding element capable of preventing whatever foul beasts roam these cursed halls for breaching beyond that point. I covered this in another reply but these floor aren’t designed for the traversal of humans but since it has come up more than once perhaps I should consider reducing the depth of the map. Thank you for your response. Everyone’s critique has been a valuable insight and given me plenty of things to think about moving forward with this piece.

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