Any and all comments, objections and so on ... I've got a problem with the light under the keyboard. Before I changed the model a bit in other places, the light lit the keyboard more evenly. Now it's in the middle. The light behind the little screens above the keyboard also have problems with the lighting. Cannot get the light to shine through.

the keyboard thing isn't that noticeable, actually, i'd work on the overall lighting a bit. if you want the light to shine through the image panel, then show it on the guy's left side as well. drac (nice composition and interesting idea though :)

you can stretch lights, heaven knows I do..;) looks good so far, has that Star Trek TOS feel to it..

Um, whaddaya mean? the big screen? Actually, both of the bigger screens are lit from behind by ranged lights. Otherwise they would be too dark. Yeah, the overall lighting is bothering me. I'd tone down the ambient light much more, but people who asked for the image wanted something from Star Trek, and I came with this as a compromise. This is supposed to be the illustration for Vernor Vinge's Deepness in the Sky. The only one that shows an arachnid, as far as I know. :-) Everybody else made spaceships.

Ah, crossposted. :-) As I said, I'd like to avoid too much Star Trek feel.

All the empty space on the right side of the image is a little bothersome. You might crop more off the right side of the image or add a bit more visual detail to this portion of the image. You could crop the image so that the right edge of the large monitor above the keyboard is just outside of the viewing area. Or, you could add visual detail by making the whole workstation look like it is set back in the wall as a shallow alcove, with the edge of the alcove visible in the empty area on the right side of the image. I would think about adding an extra level of detail to the over-all image... simple paneling on the walls (parting lines), markings or accessories on the clothes, etc.

Lighting... You could add some drama to the image by making the lighting less uniform. You already have a start in this direction by focusing a light on the Oriental Gentleman at the keyboard (keep this). Try something like changing the room lighting to spots that focus on the workstation and which produce light and dark areas on the wall where their light cones intersect with it. The idea is to focus the light more on areas where you want the viewer's eyes to go to and not on areas of less importance. I think right now the lighting is a bit too uniform in the image, but it is heading in the right direction. Just continue to focus the lights and create more contrast as you already have started to do. (You could also focus the lights more on the characters and the keyboard, away from the walls, and keep trying to make the screens glow more in contrast to lower lighting on the walls.)

Just my 2 cents worth.

"The only one that shows an arachnid, as far as I know. :-) Everybody else made spaceships." Is there a challenge or contest going on right now to produce an illustration for Vinge's 'Deepness in the Sky'? Yah, I'm out of touch with things. :)

Good work.

Oh... another thought... Instead of having the Oriental gentleman looking directly at the viewer you might have him looking at a hand-held device or something in his hand(s) but still have him facing in the same general direction. This would be another way of adding visual interest to the image and makking the characters look more active and a part of the scene. shouldn't the characters look more interested and worried about the arachnid at the door as shown on the monitor? I'd be worried. ;)

i think the light is ok only theres no emotion on the mans face. as theres is something terrible nocking on his door he might show some fear or else make him more robot like. further i think this image is great

Alan, no, there's no challenge. This is the cover. The monitor will be on the front and the pair on the back. That's why the area above the monitors is empty - for the title. The image is also a bit too big, to allow for cropping during the printing, something like 1-2 centimetres. And the image is intentionally misleading. The arachnid is not opening their doors. They are observing it from a planetoid in the orbit above the arachnids' planet. :-) But I do agree that the face is too bland, so beside working on an expression, I'm going to use the handheld idea, too. I owe you a beer. Of course, I'm going to further work on the lights. BTW, her hair is killing me - I put Blend transparency on it and the render time soars from 5 minutes to an hour and a half, even without antialiasing, like this. The current image is 1240 by 950. I dread the final render which has to be four times as big.

Ohhhh... That explains the layout and the empty areas. :) I didn't realize it was a wrap-around, front and back cover, that needed empty area for the title. Makes sense now. BTW, congrats on being chosen to do the cover. When you wrote "Everybody else made spaceships" in your third post it made it sound like you were competing against other people for cover ideas. My misunderstanding. ;) Glad you like the hand-held idea and sorry I don't have any advice to offer for the female's hair.

Couple thoughts...add something more to the display wall to the right of the monitor and something to the counter top under it, maybe raise the rims on the monitors a bit more...give it a less sterile feel. I also agree about the "main character" guy and his expression...he looks like s aco-worker came by, called his name, and then snapped a photo. Cool image, just feels like it needs a tad more detailing.