Subject: The working title of this piece...
Author:
Posted on: 2019-08-26 21:04:00 UTC
... was Murder on the Dancefloor. I only changed it because I didn't want people thinking anyone was actually being killed.
Thanks for your comments!
hS
"I know," I thought, as the discussion of the PPC city in New Caledonia wound to a close, "I'll make a colour image of Club Aujourd'hui, the city's famous nightclub. How hard could it be?"
Let me put it this way: you now get to fastforward a month. I didn't have that option.
(Full size version: DeviantArt / Imgur; actually these are both still half-sized versions, good grief)
Featuring some of HQ's most prominent couples: Christianne and Eledhwen (the famous "will they/won't they" couple), Ix and Lottie (Ix striking what is probably the worst possible pose for her leg/post-surgical scars), Derik and Gall (Gall's pregnancy puts this somewhere around the beginning of this year), and Dafydd and Constance (who are constitutionally incapable of staying out of photos).
The fact that three of the four couples include one person with permanent disfigurement is entirely unintentional and hilarious.
Also appearing: the city's famous clock tower, and 'hey I should draw an accurate view of the Milky Way from New Cal!'. ... yeah.
However, if you don't mind my asking, what exactly is Club Aujourd`hui?
Club Aujourd'hui is a nightclub in the PPC's New Caledonia city. It's the city's one concession to sci-fi technology: the club consists of a fairly small building on the ground, with a floating 'spindle' overhead inside which the dancefloor is presumed to be located.
I say 'presumed', because the dancefloor itself doesn't seem to have walls, and certainly doesn't have the boring office windows seen on the outside of the spindle. It's a bit of a mystery.
hS
I don't know what to say other than these are beautiful!
I was privileged to see this as a work-in-progress. I loved it half finished, and I love it all finished. ^^
I have just now noticed the detail on Charlotte's blouse, which either wasn't there before or wasn't high enough res for me to see. Very nice! I like Christianne's dress, too.
I love all the light in this picture. The stars, the platforms, the windows of the city, all of it. It's magical.
One anatomy tip, which I apologize for not catching much sooner: male-bodied folks tend to have hips narrower than their shoulders, with more rectangular-shaped torsos. (Triangular, even, if you're ever going for the exaggerated, super-buff action hero type.) Female-bodied folks tend to have a curvier shape, which you've got down really well, and narrower shoulders than male-bodied folks; their hips may be wider than their shoulders. Ix is presenting the most masculine lines in this picture, which seems to be what they're going for with their choice of clothes, so that's good. ^^
I like the second picture, too. It was pretty much instantly recognizable for what it is. Is Connie gonna use that sash to strangle her partner, I wonder? {; P
~Neshomeh
Lottie's blouse webbing was actually the very last thing I put in. It's cribbed directly from her Wiki picture, and I always intended it to be there - I just nearly forgot about it!
More and more, I'm finding that playing around with light - and darkness - is a significant part of my drawing experience. A quick skim through my deviantArt gallery shows at least ten pictures where the lighting was a significant factor in what I was trying for. Kind of odd.
Now, the natomy: yeah, looking at it now I can see how wrong Derik looks. I think the photo I used had that person leaning somewhat away from the camera, but that didn't make it through to the shading. I might be able to tweak the arm he's holding up; the other one I think should work fine if I do that. His jacket also artificially widens his hips at a casual glance - it all adds up.
I'm glad you liked them! :)
hS
Christianne and Gall in dresses is something I never thought I'd see.
As for the second picture...XD
I think a certain amount of coercion went into most of those couples being present (Constance Doesn't Dance, though she wears a lot of dresses). Perhaps some fluke of fate means it's all their anniversaries at once?
... or it could be Valentine's Day. The timing would be about right.
-- and yeah, XD is right. The mission, which doesn't exist, also involves Dafydd flagrantly abusing PPC privileges to take Connie on a magic carpet ride. Which mostly makes up for it.
hS
(If you'll excuse the pun. =P)
As I am no art critic, all you're getting from me is praise - and I do like the color scheme of those literal-dance-squares. Were they modeled after anything in particular?
The dancefloor itself was loosely modelled on a Star Trek 3D chessboard. The colour scheme, though? I was going to do red-yellow-blue, but decided primary colours are so dull. So I decided to give the secondaries their day, or night as it were.
Glad you liked it!
hS
It's got a fantastic sense of time throughout it - the composition really draws your eye up with the central element.
Also, given the amount of veteran combatants and professional knife-wielding maniacs frequenting the place when they absolutely do not want to be disturbed, I cannot help but feel that Club Aujourd'hui has the best security in the entire city.
And also that there should be a bar over the road called Somehand, because puns are best bilingual. =]
... was Murder on the Dancefloor. I only changed it because I didn't want people thinking anyone was actually being killed.
Thanks for your comments!
hS
You know, that song was actually written by the lead singer of the New Radicals. Apparently he got a lot of work as a songwriter in the decades after his band got their one hit.
There's no earthly use for any of that info but it's at least mildly interesting. And that's what learning is all about =]
And after you pointed out the bit about three of the four couples having major disfigurements, I’m starting to think that might be a requirement to get married in the PPC.
I’m absolutely loving the color choices in both the pictures. That night sky especially is gorgeous.
(I haven’t forgotten the New Cal art, I’ve just been hit with a case of real life, I swear...)
I won't say most of the work went into the sky - I think the biggest faff was probably getting the underlit shadows right (they always seem to take longer than the highlights). But it was definitely a huge chunk of it. You never think about what the sky actually looks like until you have to make it look right.
I am pleased with it, though, so I'm glad you liked it too!
As for the maimings... out-of-universe, I guess it's just that we who've been here a while tend to do rather mean things to our favourite agents. See also: Selene's steampunk anti-crazy device, Tawaki's various Borgified agents, and the many, many regenerations of our Time Lords.
In-universe, maybe being shaken out of their delusions of immortality are what leads a lot of agents to commit to their relationships? Christianne and Eledhwen got together during the Blackout, when they both nearly got eaten by meatloaf, so they'd fit that pattern too.
hS
Not as of the present, anyway. I don't think they had any time to think about it before they were suddenly very involved and, by the way, expecting a child. {= P
Maybe in the future, with Gadrik a little older; I dunno. Derik lived in a Weyr long enough that he probably doesn't have that expectation, or need it, but he's just enough of a romantic to think about it. Gall probably doesn't care at all, but on the other hand, it's an excuse for a big party with her and her man in the spotlight. It could happen!but they might be expecting another baby by then
~Neshomeh
Does "no actual crippling injury but a metric shpxton of scars" count? Asking for Feloriel
Three exclamation marks - that's how much I love it. The colors, the poses, the couples featured... Dang, I'd love to be in that nightclub myself.