Eow 109 The Emerald City of OZ

[chaosrocks]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/EOW2.jpg

Eow 109 The Emerald City of OZ

Brief

the Emerald city of OZ as described in L.Frank Baum's Books.
there are 13 books and the description actually changes a bit from book to book so you have a good deal of freedom
Please do not just give u sback the movie version
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerald_City

this is a prime opportunity to study transparency and sunlight through glass.. A real challenge, but a real opportunity as well



DUE March 29th 2009
and we're off again!

NO description required, say what you need to say visually.


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k thx

[Ostrander]

hmmm...very interesting...

[chaosrocks]

oooh Glen! hi!

[chaosrocks]

CHECK THIS OUT!
EXCITING NEWS

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2181595#post2181595

[zimfin]

This should be challenging! Great.
chaos: Since I don't have access to the books, is it okay to make up any kind of city as long as it is Emerald even if it is nothing like the books descriptions? Sorry if it is a stupid question. If I ever read the books, I don't remember! Saw the films though.

[AUG]

zimfin:

Listed below are some descriptions of the Emerald City taken from a few of Baum's books. I'm sure that there are many more detailed examples noted here :http://baum.thefreelibrary.com/

"From the top of the high bridge they could see far away the magnificent spires and splendid domes of the superb city, sparkling like brilliant jewels as they towered above the emerald walls."

"...the graceful and handsome buildings were covered with plates of gold and set with emeralds so splendid and valuable that in any other part of the world any one of them would have been worth a fortune to its owner. The sidewalks were superb marble slabs polished as smooth as glass, and the curbs that separated the walks from the broad street were also set thick with clustered emeralds. There were many people on these walks--men, women and children--all dressed in handsome garments of silk or satin or velvet, with beautiful jewels."

"Dorothy and her friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful City. The streets were lined with beautiful houses all built of green marble and studded everywhere with sparkling emeralds. They walked over a pavement of the same green marble, and where the blocks were joined together were rows of emeralds, set closely, and glittering in the brightness of the sun. The window panes were of green glass; even the sky above the City had a green tint, and the rays of the sun were green."

"The Emerald City is built all of beautiful marbles in which are set a profusion of emeralds, every one exquisitely cut and of very great size. There are other jewels used in the decorations inside the houses and palaces, such as rubies, diamonds, sapphires, amethysts and turquoises. But in the streets and upon the outside of the buildings only emeralds appear, from which circumstance the place is named the Emerald City of Oz. It has nine thousand, six hundred and fifty-four buildings, in which lived fifty-seven thousand three hundred and eighteen people, up to the time my story opens. All the surrounding country, extending to the borders of the desert which enclosed it upon every side, was full of pretty and comfortable farmhouses, in which resided those inhabitants of Oz who preferred country to city life."

[Mishkin275]

This is a great topic, I'll be sure to participate this time! Thanks for those descriptions!

[ChallengeManager]

thanks Aug
gladyou guys are so good at helpping each other

[ForScience]

I am throwing my hat in

[Zakarra]

I think I'll probably go with the first description. It's interesting that Baum's descriptions of the city doesn't stay consistent throughout his many books.

For instance in the original Wizard of Oz he describes the city as being green on the outside but white on the inside (hence the green glasses the Wizard forces the inhabitants to wear). But the glasses are nowhere to be seen in the later books. He then describes Oz as being gold plated with green merely the dominant color.

Eventually the whole green thing disappears altogether, as the buildings are decorated with not just emeralds, but sapphires, diamonds, and rubies.

So much for the "Emerald" city!

[Mishkin275]

Here's some sketches. Not really faithful at all here since I haven't read the books, just experimenting with color and composition. I like the idea of doing an interior thing... And now that I hear about this gold/white interior I am reminded of the Return to OZ film. Mostly I want to get a 19th century vibe into these. Have to work more on the bottom right one- its totally jacked right now.
http://www.tgarretteaton.com/illustration/images/emerald_city_thumbs.jpg

[ccsears]

don't know if i'll finish it or not. most likely not. but i'm throwing down my composition for the hell of it. probably will rescale the whole thing and do something weird. but this is the general idea.

... and a shout-out to Chaosrocks

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[ccsears]

a little more work tonight. i like the "real variable width pen" for doodling this ornamentation.

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i've been warned about giving unsolicited advice before, but it's well-intentioned, i promise...

the human eye is trained to subdivide proportions in half (and in thirds). it also likes right angles and 45 degree angles. we also like tangents. but, it's important to realize that those subconscious tendencies to abstractly do these things tend to flatten and abstract our images when we draw. in daily reality, we almost never see anything perfectly divided in half--evenly spaced proportions recede according to the rules of perspective, not at equal picture-plane intervals. we literally have to fight this urge when we make our compositions.

mishkin notice how in your first rough the ground, the sky and the building are almost exactly the same vertical proportion? and the railing in the 2nd one is one-third the height of the image? you're off to a good start already, but just by varying these proportions, i think you can make your images much stronger.

that said, dividing things in even proportions is useful when you want to emphasize symmetry, iconic status, religious significance, etc. in my mediocre comp, i'm doing it consciously to create an overbearing, towering feeling. something like religious awe, seeing the monolith from 2001: a space odyssey, etc.

anyway, i hope this helps. it's not like i don't have to remind myself of these things over and over and over again. :)

[lkjhgfdsa]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/emeraldcity_lkjhgfdsawip1.jpg
20min
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/emeraldcity_lkjhgfdsawip2.jpg

[zimfin]

Looking good folks.
Mishkin: Loving your wips man, great stuff.
I've started with some simple greyscale wips.
I think I'm leaning toward the top right one for now. A nice park scene with the rest of the city in the background

[Cyberman]

nice topic, Ill post my wip soon,

[Tantrom Frenzy]

This is my first attempt at any CA challenge. It's actually quite fun. I had this idea in the works and saw that someone had one kinda similar to it after i had already been well into it.:carnifex:

[chaosrocks]

Yay Chris! welcome back..the mermaid is at the framers.
and here in EOW we all help each other to the best of our abilities..
there's some great stuff coming in folks

you do know that I will be closing this and setting up the poll at the WS in Dallas
It is my hope that a lot of people will see the fantastic work you are all doing.
You make me very proud.

[zimfin]

Extended my favourite wip and added a green overlay to get me in the mood.
I will fix the perspective issues, especially between the domed building and the structure, ( will be a fountain ) in the foreground next.

[zimfin]

Okay, next wip. Working on the fountain and surroundings now. I'm probably going to hate emeralds by the end of this! Lol.

[ccsears]

i hope i can finish this because it's actually kinda fun this time...

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'ssup Ms. Rocks, i'm printing out a few more for my goddaughter, etc. it got turned down from Spectrum, but at least the kids enjoy it.

[ccsears]

a little more work before bed. as long as nothing really stupid happens i think i'll be able to tweak it in for a finish.
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[ashton]

I am re inventing the city. now it's more like an open cut mine.

http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo7/ashtonsimmonds/EOW109wip.jpg

[halvarado]

http://www.halvaradoart.com/forum%20images/Emerald-City-Sketches.jpg

http://www.halvaradoart.com/forum%20images/Emerald-City-Sketch.jpg

Sketches. I am not sure which ones I like, if any. I am leaning towards the last one.

[artiphats]

been too long, have no idea if i will meet the deadline but i'll do my best to finish.

[lkjhgfdsa]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/emeraldcity_lkjhgfdsawip3.jpg
what to put in the foreground? terraces? balconies? trees?

[zimfin]

There is a nice variety of images here. Great.
Still working away on the foreground...

[halvarado]

hhmmm I think tomorrow when I am fresh and awake I will try a whole new sketch. I like this one but I am not in love with it. Feels more like practice for me. Try try again ;)

http://www.halvaradoart.com/forum%20images/Emerald-City-Sketch-2.jpg

[UnidColor]

Great stuff by everyone!

Mine is not fully green, but couldn't resist to have some red in it. Still some stuff i dont like about it, so might change some stuff and take out abit red.

[Cyberman]

mishkin: those compositions are very nice, looking foward to seeing where you
go with your final

Unidcolor: nice one!, I like the detail on the fabric is that cg? it looks great.

here is my wip
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[lkjhgfdsa]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/emeraldcity_lkjhgfdsawip4.jpg

[zimfin]

Nearing the finish line now. Still need to work more on the water, especially in the foreground and a few other things need polished up or faded out a little but this is mostly done.

lkjhgfdsa: I like those shapes you have going on in the city. At the moment, (you might be changing it later) the sky is very bright! Might just be my monitor but it hurts my eyes a little to look at.

[ccsears]

Hey Chaos, please consider this the final. i've got errands to run and won't be able to repost in


i guess you can choose which size you want to use for my final. one version more or less fits a screen and the middle version requires a bit of scrolling. doesn't matter to me. both versions are over in my SB thread if anyone feels like looking. (the original i was working on was something like 1500x4000 pixels...)


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631861

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i uploaded the files as specified, i think. just in case, they're also hosted as follows.

regular:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3393417069_3a878e9e57_o.jpg

large:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/3394229324_13f1303cc4_o.jpg

here's a link to where my icon is hosted:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3441/3394232938_23eb894ffc_o.jpg

gotta go, best of luck and regards to everyone. looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
ccs

[artiphats]

I have to work most of the day Sunday, but here is where I am at. Hope to make the deadline. I see some good ones this round.

[zimfin]

Chaos: Any idea when the voting will start on last weeks challenge?

In case I'm away when the final thread is posted, here is mine.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee272/zimfin/oz-icon-zimfin.jpg

[ashton]

http://i356.photobucket.com/albums/oo7/ashtonsimmonds/EOW-109wip14.jpg

[chaosrocks]

Final burning thread is up
please move em over. Chris and Zim I will move yours for you ...if you need me to. just this once! cause I love you....

[UnidColor]

mishkin: those compositions are very nice, looking foward to seeing where you
go with your final

Unidcolor: nice one!, I like the detail on the fabric is that cg? it looks great.


The fabric is just a simple texture overlay from some carpet I found on cgtextures.com I should probably customize it abit so it doesnt look so mutch like the original but meh, next time=)

But yeh I just painted in the carpet at first in red were I wanted it, with some simple folds. Than just took the texure and putted it in place, than used warp tool (ctrl+t than right click on the area and select warp tool) might be for newer versions of photoshop, but yeh its just to make the bend in the texture, important to make it follow the same gesture as the base painting. Simple stuff=9 but usefull.

[Lege1]

:yayca: Had a little something for this. Hope you all enjoy. A big shout out to Chaos Rocks for running a great forum.

-=Lege

[zimfin]

Final burning thread is up
please move em over. Chris and Zim I will move yours for you ...if you need me to. just this once! cause I love you....

Thanks mate but I've put mine up myself. See you all in the final.

[Angel Intheuk]

Just in time - didn't have time to post my wips as i went along. here they are and the final.

[Cyberman]

chaosrocks: how late do you think the final burning will be up do you think...
thanks really appreciate all you do.:)

[chaosrocks]

till tomorrow noonish..my time

[Cyberman]

your awesome...last thing I'm gonna say

[ccsears]

thanks, Chaos!