Tran Ngoc Nguyen Khoa’s
HEAVEN GATE ARTWORK
HEAVEN GATE is the name of this project. The story follows, Alice Tran, a teenage genius, whoes parents were both died during the events of the explotion of the moon and created multiple natural disasters in the late 21st century that killed 1/3 world’s population and change everything we ever know of on earth, new continents were created, changes in sea level, goverments were replaced by international corporations to dealing with the consequences, keeping orders and rebuild the society. The story begin in 15 years later, Alice is already 18 years old, a wild child of the Heaven Gate city, the city were build and run by an anonymous tycoon. Being an orphan, Alice have been through all the rough child-hood living in the street, during that time, she found her best friend, an out-dated civil.bot that being abandoned in the scrapyard, the brilliant girl set up her home near the giant robot and spend years trying to bring civil.bot back to work with updated system, giving it the name, MAX. Alice begin working as mechanic for hired, with her friend MAX, solving the mechanical problems in the city when people couldn’t afford to purchase new ones since the corporation has stop selling the accessaries for outdated produces. As she began to overcome her parents death, Alice found out a clue indicated that her parents were not killed by the disasters, from there, she set out an adventure with MAX, travel through the land outside of the city for the first time, finding the true about her parents, her past, and where does she belong. This project is mainly focus into my art, showing what I can do, what I love to do, and why. Although this portfoliio might not be as professional as trained concept artist, but it present what I want to be in the future, I’ll never stop learning and develop myself to become a greater artist,not just creating visual, but worlds and how it going to works. During the process of developing the project, it not easy at all since I was alone doing all the works that supose to have a whole team. In the begining, the story is a little bit dark, violent, drug, guns related... After a while, I have to rethink about it, and make it brighter, more adventure and realize, the story shaping my mind as I shaping it, and I learned from this project that “you are what you made”, you have the rights to chose how to live your life, positive or negative, and it will shape everything around you, from your work to the people you care about. We all have that choice to live a boring safety life or risk for some think we care about eventhough WE CAN’T FINISHED IT. Everyone around is doing typical subject, I want to do somethink that I could telling peoples about what I’m truly good at. Eventhough I may not win any prize, but I will continute to work on this project, I WILL NEVER QUIT. If you’re still reading this, it’s my pleasure to having your attentions, nothing better than someone aware of the differents in my works, for me is as good as a prize. I hope you enjoy this “unfinished works”. Thanks you. Sinceraely,
Table of Content
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HEAVEN GATE ALICE & MAX THE JOURNEY SECRET SKETCHES The ideas and early art of the Heaven Gate city
Concept, design and develop process of main character.
Eviroment arts, that all.
SSSShhhhhh!!!! Don’t tell anyone about it.
Sketches SketchesSketches Sketches Sketches. All Day ‘Er Day!!!
Welcome to the...
HEAVEN
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GATE 07
A quick sketch of Heaven Gate for the first portfolio presentation in DPI.
T
he idea of Heaven Gate is based on Ho Chi Minh city (aka Sai Gon), the city that inspire everyone who come to find themself, oppotunities, the city which never sleep, but no matter how much you earn, it’ll never be enough. Heaven Gate originally is the name of an international corporation in contruction field, after the incident of natural disasters in South East Asia, comunication had been cut off, everything is in chaos, Heaven Gate begin to sending in their aids, then came their private military, social order then quickly return to normal, refugee camp has been set up. Dual to the fall of most goverment over the world, the corporation claim their rights to the region, building their operation HQ and an orbital lift. Developed in just 15 years, Heaven Gate has become one of the most powerful specialize city in the South East Asia.
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Dispite living in a powerful city, peoples still devided into rich and poor area, and since the energy, gas, water, security etc. has become exclusiveness by the corporation, the citizen have no choice to defending on them because they believe they have nowhere to go outside the city except the ruin of the old world.
The Orbital Lift V.2
City’s Hall
Security’s HQ
There are the security HQ for every district in the city as a hover aircraft and capable of deploying imidiately by droping down civilguard by drop-ship
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ALICE & MAX
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ALIcE B
eing an orphan since 3 years old, Alice Tran been through it all. After her parents death, she been living in the refugee camp, beging for food everday, in the time of chaos, everyone tense to take care of themself rather than spare some of the own benefit. When the corporation step in and change the city, she spend her time in the orphan house which for her is terible, and she runing away from it, end up she found the scrapyard where the contructor dump their scrap in the process building the city, and lying there, an out-dated Civil.Bot being abandoned. Set up a hut near the giant robot, she decided to find a way to fix it. Runing around, offer peoples around let her help doing chorse, delivery... just to find money and books, after years of non-stop trying to bring the robot back to work, she finally did it. The 16 years old girl gaining trust in the comunity after she success fixing the robot which she give it the name MAX, they begin to asking her to fix their stuffs, from invidual to companies, with the help of Alice’s new friend, she finally could fully take care of her own. 2 years later, right when she though she would foget about the past, she found out a clue about her parents death leading her and MAX to the land outside the city where peoples believe it’s still unable to live there. Dispite the fact, Alice decided she want to know about her past, where does she belong, and with MAX’s help, the journey should be no difficult, as she think.
R=37 ; G=40 ; B=43
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R=219 ; G=85 ; B=104
R=15; G=16; B=17
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MAX T
he Civil.Bot was developed by Heaven Gate corporation to helping in the contruction of the orbital lift and the city, MAX was one of it, during an operation, MAX got damage bad, and unable to work so he being turned off and throwed away in the scrapyard. Alice found him in a terrible condition and decided to fix him and succeed, the girl named him MAX and treat him as a real friend ever since, although he operating on the system developed by Alice. Helping Alice in her job as engineer for hired, the secrity of the city doesn’t mind for him to walk around since they need Alice’s help too. Upgraded by Alice, MAX have no problem caring out task that need heavy lifting, difficult terrain, height... During the journey, Alice find some difficult and strange behavior of MAX, she realize, MAX is able to overwrite on her operation system that she installed for him, MAX is acctually “learning” and developing itself.
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R=247 G=190 B=65
R=167 G=174 B=179
R=32 G=35 B=35
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Heaven Gate corporation only maintain the eviroment inside the city, the rest of the outside, a part is the sea, and a part is the Wasteland where peoples believe is unable to live. Most of the wasteland is desert, canyons, rocks and the unforgiveness temperture.
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the JOURNEY
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T
he Journey of Alice and MAX, begin when Alice found out an old tape record of Heaven Gate corporation about a research of the orbital lift prototype. In the tape she heard them mentioned her parents name who were working as engineer and physicist at the contruction of the prototype orbital lift, the conversation in the tape also mentioned a mysterious protocal and it just recorded the da before the incident of massive multiple natural disaster. Comfusing and eager to know what was acctually
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happened, and the true behind her parents death, Alice decieded to wander out of Heaven Gate city, where peoples still believe you can’t survive dual to the geography change, radiation, and lack of pure water. But as long as MAX still beside her, Alice will continues the journey to find out the true, and her past.   The earth then is breaking down, rocks, mountains, cliffs everywhere, radiantion contaminated area, make it difficult to travel, Alice and MAX travel
This might be the very first enviroment art-work I ever made in the project, this is the piece that encourage me to doing this concept art portfolio.
through the ruin of the old world which reclaimed by morther nature. Despite those condition, the wild-life grown strong and fast, and it not completely unable for human to live since village, settlement is scattered through out the land, so why is the Heaven Gate keeping peoples from getting out there? What make them trying to make peoples believe that they can’t survive out there? What secrets they’re hiding? When it come to designing the enviroment the hardest part is perspective drawing to layout my
ideas, also when painting the texture, I must spend time trying many brushes for the best effect possible. I’m mainly focus on the change in geography as you could see some of the art-work has the pointy rock, change in the asmostphere, or lighting. The next thing is showing how the nature get back and grown strong despite the ruin of the old world.
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The trading center located in the middle of the wasteland, carved in to the canyon, is a place for local settlement trading. The trading center is the prove of human society is still exist outside of Heaven Gate city...
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But despite society having signs of recovery, the wasteland still unable to support for agriculture, human kind still having a long time ahead to be able to fully-recovered
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-SECRETFinally, Alice and MAX arrived the place, the prototype of the orbital lift, building in a secret place high up in the mountain for height adventage. In this place, Alice will find out the true behind all the disasters that happened 15 years ago, and what make her parents a part of it? But there is one thingfor sure that Alice will have to confront again Heaven Gate corporation to reveal their true intention.
To be Continues
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SKETCHES Here are some sketches that does not make it to the painting section.
The Heaven Gate’s Security is heavily rely on droid, that also the reason why they need Alice skill to maintain the funtion for the droid but it make Alice easily know their weakness when the story expand further she will be fighting again them
Since the world is in ruin, droid that could walk on multiple terrains is the best option, equiped with heavy machine gun and anti-personel missle for fire support mission.
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For the personel of Heaven Gate’s Security I sketched out the suit they would wear during operation, but then I have an idea of the droid that could control from far away or close range self-propelled operation center by a real person since the VR technologies might achive many major breakthrough in the future and it could reduce casulties to the minimum dual to the lack of population to be able to conduct a full grown militarize in the region.
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These are the first sketches I did for Alice and MAX, they didn’t have name back then. I designed MAX to be simple but easy to noicted by his silhouette, also with the main color of yellow and black indicating him was a robot using for contruction activities. After fixed, Alice erase his old logo of Heaven Gate corporation and give him some of her own style of decoration.
With Alice, at first I just draw her sexy with gun and bullets, like the type of person who doesn’t give a crap, but when I going deeper into the design, I though there’re too many type of girl and guns in video games or movies, anime, manga etc... and I don’t want to follow that stereotype which already done by many orther peoples. Then I begin to combine movies, games that have huge impact to me like Mirror’s Edge, The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, etc.... giving her more adventuristic look, but the “Not giving a Crap” characteristic is still look cool so I decided to keep it. 28
Thank you for checking my works!!
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If you’re interested, please feel free to CONTACT ME:
Tran Ngoc Nguyen Khoa (Dean Tran) ArtStation: trankhoa.artstation.com Email: khoadean.vn@gmail.com
Copyright © 2016 Tran Ngoc Nguyen Khoa
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