New Paintings by Ken Marschall

[Brian Robert Rose]

This topic has probably floated about before, but I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any new Marschall paintings of Titanic extant (i.e. the last few years), or in the works? I can't recall seeing anything new since his excellent and invaluable "Art of Titanic" was published back in the late 90's. Anyone know what he's been up to these days? I see that he frequents the board every now and then (or someone is registered under his name!). Would appreciate any info.
Best,
BR

 

[Brandon Whited]

He's used computer technology to "update" several of his paintings to show what the wreckage of the Titanic looks like today, but as far as I know he hasn't released any all-new paintings in awhile.

As to what he's been up to, he was invovled in Jim Cameron's return expedition to the Titanic in 2001, but as far as recent projects, perhaps he can update us himself!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>> I see that he frequents the board every now and then (or someone is registered under his name!). <<

Not to worry on this score, it is Ken himself who's posting from time to time. Given that he doesn't post or even log in every single day, I'd say it's a fair bet that the gent is a fairly busy man. Whatever he's up to now, I'll certainly look forward to the end result.

 

[Mark Robert Hopkins]

One thing that I would like to see him do (if he can extrapolate from any existing pictures) is paint a series of paintings depicting the inside of the ship: the front half of the first-class dining saloon, the Marconi room, the elevators, various suites, etc. That would be very illuminating...and no doubt a challenge for him. He's already done countless pics of the outside and a few of the grand staircase landings, so I figured that's the next step, unless he's already ahead of me and has done a few. I haven't seen any as of yet, but I sure would like to. I am curious as to what the first-class dining saloon looks like.

Also: close-up shots, such as the exposed third-class staircase, the reciprocating engines, what's left of the first-class smoking room, the Cafe Parisien, an inside view of the stern from the starboard side... I realize that some shots would have been dangerous to get close enough to get on film, but I would be interested in seeing other parts in more detail.

 

[Brandon Whited]

I could also seem him doing that. With his skill, I have no doubt he could pull it off. I hope he is way ahead of us on this one!

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Mark,

In response to your request above, you might have noticed by Daniel Klistoner's postings to this site that he is working along those same lines. Perhaps Daniel can accommodate your requests.

Parks

 

[Mark Draper]

What's the name of the thread with his artwork?

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Mark,

Are you talking about Daniel, I assume? I don't know of any specific thread dedicated to the CG renders that he has consulted on, but he has used excerpts from renders to illustrate points in various threads that he has wanted to make. Most recently, he used a portion of his render of the GSC dome in a thread discussing that topic. I don't if Daniel has used any of his CGI on TRMA or not...you might want to check there, too. I wish that Daniel would showcase more of his renders...his CG artist, Mike McMillan, is extremely talented. I am in awe of what little I have seen of his work, and am hungry for more.

By the way, I just noticed that I made an error in my post of yesterday...I inadventantly misspelled Daniel's last name, Klistorner. My fault entirely, and I apologise.

Parks

 

[Mark Draper]

Ok.

I've made a sketch of Titanic this year based off the 2004 mosaic. Check it out at

M4U Gallery :: Onigojira Art :: 2

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

All,

Just to clarify things, I have NO idea how to use any of the 3D modeling programs, and boy do I wish I knew how! However I have worked on a few models with Mike McMillain. Because of the length of time it takes to make a model and the concentration required, Mike and I haven't actually finished a single model, although we have attempted the private promenade and adjoining B deck embarkation foyer, the Cafe Parisien, Aft grand staircase and the Boat Deck corridor and cabin T.

Mike does all the 3D work, and I supply him with all the information and photos he may need to work with. I think he's still away on his long business trip, and prior to that I was traveling as well, so there's been no work done for a long time. Mike did post some of his pictures on the TRMA, and a few others may be found here on ET as well.

Here's one of the latest aft staircase renderings that Mike sent me before I went away. I hope you guys like it:

Regards,

Daniel.

 

[Daniel Klistorner]

Here's a quick look at some of the other models we attempted. By the way, I just chose the best looking view of a certain model out of a few captures Mike sent me. They're not necessarily finished (of course) and some colors may have been changed as well as some details.

Below is a capture of the private promenade, the first model we attempted:

Then we added the B deck entrance foyer (Mike was also working on the Cafe Parisien at the same time, but I don't have any images of that):

Then we tried the aft staircase, and then the boat deck corridor. Here's a view of the junction of corridors. This is the port corridor on the boat deck, leading off from the grand staircase. That door on the left belongs to cabin Z, and the wall down the hall, in the middle of the image is from the silent room:

And finally we attempted a cabin, Mike did a few things for the room as well such as the heater (Parks you would have seen some images of this), a wardrobe, lamp, luggage rack, wall frames and tiddies:

I think that should be enough to whet an appetite. I wish we had the time and patience to finish those models and do others.

Daniel.

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Daniel,

You and Mike make a good team. I am looking forward to what you two will eventually bring together. Like I said, I am in awe of Mike's CGI artistry, both Titanic-related and not. I have learned much from him in our talks back and forth.

I fully understand the bit about working a lot in a room, but not finishing it. I have been working on my CG Marconi rooms for 2 years now and they're still not complete. Since the CG models will provide the illustrations for my book on the Marconi apparatus, I had to ask for an extension from my publisher to give me the time I needed to make those final decisions that would finish the room. Working in a 3D space, you can't hide anything, and it's difficult to make decisions on what should go in those "hidden corners"...the portions of the room that no photograph or builder's plan covers in enough detail. There's also the problem of all the polygons involved in building every rivet, every detail that goes into a room. I always have to worry about my computer crashing whenever I run a render.

It is so refreshing to see brightly-lit interiors...I have always been critical of the dim lighting used in the Cyberflix game. The ship looked haunted, even in the public areas. Your renders make the ship look like someplace I would actually want to be.

Parks

 

[Mark Draper]

What about some images of those areas inside the wreck?

 

[Parks Stephenson]

Mark,

I still think that hand-drawn paintings are still the way to go with inside-the-wreck depictions. I was involved with the CG artists who rendered the then-and-now views of the Marconi Room for "Ghosts of the Abyss," and because of that, I know that inside-the-wreck renders are well beyond my capacity to make.

Basically, in order to make a CG model of a wreck interior, you have to start with a good topographical map of the area. Every lump of silt, every object, every hole in the wall, has to be built in a basic form for texturing. The texture itself is a stretched grab from the ROV video that is applied to your topographical model. Because the entire wreck interior is not lit evenly (the texture map is usually a composite of several screen grabs taken as the ROV moves around the space), the artist has to smooth out the lighting and the way light plays across the object's texture. This is a very complicated process that I have oversimplified here for purposes of this discussion.

After that is done to the artist's/director's satisfaction, then details must be added, like all those rusticles, wires, etc. hanging down. Even after all that work, all that attention to detail, etc., I have yet to see a wreck interior CG model that would stand up to close inspection. There's just no way to capture all the detail needed to make it look realistic without spending thousands of hours on each model.

The teams of animators working for GotA didn't have the luxury of spending that much time on it. People like myself and Mike McMillan certainly don't, especially since we are working in our spare time.

Ken's paintings of the wreck interior are far more realistic-looking than any of the CG renders that I have seen. The CGI was good enough for the motion sequences that Cameron wanted in GotA, but for single-frame images, hand-drawn painting is still the best way of depicting wreck interiors, in my opinion.

Parks

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Spectacular work there, Daniel! Really amazingly realistic stuff. Very powerful. As always, I’m impressed with your diligence and attention to detail in your research. You are SO "The Cabin Man."