EOW128 A Game of Chess

[chaosrocks]

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

EOW 128: A game of chess

Brief
The second section of T.S. Eliots' poem "The waste land" The imagery is incredibly evokative. I am asking , not for the incredible detail and specifics, but for the feeling of the scene.

II. A GAME OF CHESS

THE Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne, Glowed on the marble, where the glass Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines From which a golden Cupidon peeped out80 (Another hid his eyes behind his wing) Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra Reflecting light upon the table as The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it, From satin cases poured in rich profusion;85 In vials of ivory and coloured glass Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes, Unguent, powdered, or liquid—troubled, confused And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air That freshened from the window, these ascended90 In fattening the prolonged candle-flames, Flung their smoke into the laquearia, Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling. Huge sea-wood fed with copper Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,95 In which sad light a carvèd dolphin swam. Above the antique mantel was displayed As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale100 Filled all the desert with inviolable voice And still she cried, and still the world pursues, 'Jug Jug' to dirty ears. And other withered stumps of time Were told upon the walls; staring forms105 Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed. Footsteps shuffled on the stair. Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair Spread out in fiery points Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.

Required
connection to the poem, in visual reality and evocative power.
good luck

here is a link to the rest of the poem if you are curious... fair warning, more of it may appear on these pages
http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html


DUE December13th 2009
Go!!

NO description required, say what you need to say visually. the words are already there.


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[Cyberman]

so This is kinda a preraphaelite theme, how waterhouse and those guys paintings where inspired by poems, thats some of my favorite stuff, lady of shallot particularly...I might not have time for this, but I would love to do it. we will see.:)
Thanx Chaos!

[gmblfdz]

I'm not trying to undermine you Chaos; I just thought I should layout the poem in the original form as I was having trouble reading it. Hope you don't mind.

The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne,
Glowed on the marble, where the glass
Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines
From which a golden Cupidon peeped out
(Another hid his eyes behind his wing)
Doubled the flames of sevenbranched candelabra
Reflecting light upon the table as
The glitter of her jewels rose to meet it
From satin cases poured in rich profusion;
In vials of ivory and coloured glass
Unstoppered, lurked her strange synthetic perfumes,
Unguent, powdered, or liquid - troubled, confused
And drowned the sense in odours; stirred by the air
That freshened from the window, these ascended
In fattening the prolonged candle-flames,
Flung their smoke into the laquearia,
Stirring the pattern on the coffered ceiling.
Huge sea-wood fed with copper
Burned green and orange, framed by the coloured stone,
In which sad light a carved dolphin swam.
Above the antique mantel was displayed
As though a window gave upon the sylvan scene
The change of Philomel, by the barbarous king
So rudely forced; yet there the nightingale
Filled all the desert with inviolable voice
And still she cried, and still the world pursues,
"Jug Jug" to dirty ears.
And other withered stumps of time
Were told upon the walls; staring forms
Leaned out, leaning, hushing the room enclosed.
Footsteps shuffled on the stair.
Under the firelight, under the brush, her hair
Spread out in fiery points
Glowed into words, then would be savagely still.

[gmblfdz]

Oops, didn't see that link on the first post.

[chaosrocks]

I was trying to accentuate the sense of description of the actual Environment being described. without the mannered pretention of the poetic form. A type of verbal to visual deconstruction , if you will. because I do think that "a poem" is a bit more indimidating the a verbal brief.... but then I know you are all brave and can totlly rock this one, if you are up for the challenge

But I'll leave it if you think it helps

by the way, it has been said of me...that I have more education , than sense.... I have to let it out some times. and you all get to bear the burden of it.
thankyou for doing so with creativity and grace!

[mpaquin]

"The feeling of the scene"... An environment that evokes the feeling of the scene... Hmmm... This will be interesting.

[oren90]

this will be quite the challange to face, it's definitly gonna be a lot of fun to do :)

[Freddy Scribbles]

Great topic. What a nifty challenge.
PS. thanks for layout in poetic form.
Hadn't gone to the link yet and never realized how ODD poetry was if not laid out as was intended. Still, nice to have both layouts as they do read differently. Hmm. Curioser and curioser.

[Ian Barker]

Gonna try and get on this one... we'll have to see how my final treat me though. :)

[artiphats]

I am not as educated in literature as our dear Chaos, as such I had never read this poem. If time permits, I would like to give this one a try.

I also was doing some research, and found this interesting bit on the Wiki:

"At the request of Eliot's wife, Vivien, a line in the A Game of Chess section was removed from the poem: "And we shall play a game of chess/The ivory men make company between us/Pressing lidless eyes and waiting for a knock upon the door". This section is apparently based on their marital life, and she may have felt these lines too revealing. The "ivory men" line must have meant something to Eliot though; in 1960, thirteen years after Vivien's death, he inserted the line in a copy made for sale to aid the London Library."

[gmblfdz]

I have been mulling this one over. Its gonna be tough. For me, at least.

[chaosrocks]

thanks artie.. I always wondered why there was so little chess in this section, although I always had a vision of a chessboard scattered on the hearth a-la throguh the looking glass for adults... but that's just me.

andyou've never read "The Wasteland"? get to work!!!!

[artiphats]

lol, no problem Chaos. Well you will be glad to know that since you have brought this jewel to my attention, I am loving the complexity of the whole thing. I looked up a summary to get a better idea of some of the references in the poem that I didn't understand, and I found out how deep this work really is. I have a much clearer vision of what my environment would look like, now just to get it done!

[chaosrocks]

ok now you folks are scaring me. two days without a peep
sigh

Im sorry
how can I help

[Cyberman]

I am going to take a break from eow to get prepared for Team Chow 3, I just did 4 eow in row, maybe you can throw some crazy prize in to make it more apealing;). it sounds fun though.:).

[chaosrocks]

its not about the incentives..its about the acquisition of mad skillz.
can't do it if you doon't play

besides eow is great prep. and the topics hasn't even been posted yet

[Cyberman]

I didnt mean crazy like expensive, I was thinking more literally crazy, like maybe whoever wins, all the people that participated send that guy a drawing in the mail. 5 min 20min drawing whatever. do you get me?:)

yeah well Character design is kinda more anatomy and small detail, I am doing a 12 hour study of rembrandt's self portrait with gorget, and loads more 2-3 hour studies in b&w, I am not doing chow either.

[ArtZealot]

this seems like more of an illustration type topic than an environment concept type thing. i always interpreted EOW as being the kind of thing that might be concepted to be in a game or movie, i'm not quite sure what category this poem thing falls under. Its just such a far fetched "topic". Count me out again.

[chaosrocks]

excuse me?
how does the imagery not describe an environment? did you read the rest of the poem. ?
could be a seen straight out of a Merchant-Ivory Film. or something you come apon in on of the more elegant mystery games.
I think you are gutting a rather diced line between Environment and Illustration.

Environment is the setting
adn Illustration shows a specific moment in a narrative. (usaually)
this is over simplified, but then so isyou rejection of the topic as "more of an illustration type topic"
If you choose not to do it because it confuses you or doesn't appeal to you, that's fine, but please don't condemn the topic just because you don't want to do it.

we can go back to space stations and fairytale castles next week.. thoguht you all might like something to actually think about.. something for which there are no trite or obvious solutions. There are solutions. I can think of several....

[Vaghauk]

pitty there are no wips yet - unfortunatly i got no time to do something .... think this topic is a real challenge.I read the poem twice and got no certain idea whats it all about .... maybe cause i´m non english and need to research some of the terms.I can understand that some people might get frightened to do this.To catch the feeling of this in an environment isn´t obvious at all for people without any experience in illustrating - and it is a bit difficult to digest the poem for somebody non english.But hey this is not a bad thingat all since it helps to learn.... :)

[chaosrocks]

ok In simple terms
its an ornate womens dressing room or lounge
with a fireplace
and a profusion of ornamentation. clutter and rich bric brac



start with the fireplace, chair and chess set..... the chair in particular is well described
just grab a descriptive passage and start from there.

in a Combination of elaborate and cluttered
as if the person living in it just really didn't care. jewels scattered candles half burned out.....

a chess set stands somewhere in the room, game in progress, or perhaps disrupted

preraphaelite would work, so would Baroque. or even art nouveau. possiblly rennaisance... It's not really that hard.

[Reymus]

This was my wip, I totally missed the mark, adamant on not doing anything literal about the poem.

If it's possible can you extend the deadline to tomorrow? I think I can do better going more literal than so far.

[chaosrocks]

any one else want an extension?
anyone else even trying?

I have no problem with non literal interpretation. It just needs to read as an environment, could even be surrealist... dali's interpretation.....

[artiphats]

yo Chaos I'm getting ready to start cooking my piece up now. If the deadline is tonight or extended to tomorrow, it doesnt matter I'll have something either way.

I think it's a great topic, although I do admit I had to research summaries of the poem and get more background on it before I really understood what was going on, what was being described, and what I wanted to portray. It is an admittedly complex poem, even in the complex world of literature. But on any given assignment in the real world, are the topics and subjects given to us artists always easy to understand? Are other people's ideas easy to give visual life to? Of course not.

I'm going to go and work, but first let me say a bit about what I have gotten from the poem, at least the section given, in my own words.

The first part of the poem is about death, and the second section "A Game of Chess" is also about sex. The room is described as that of a rich woman. Beautiful objects fill it, and wonderful scents. The furniture, decor, and probably the architecture are to be in awe of. The walls are filled with depictions of great figures in history and mythology, even a dipiction of either a woman or a story in which a woman was raped by a king. But something is wrong here. There is a sadness in the air. Perhaps a loneliness. The poem goes on beyond the quote given by here by Chaos to tell of an exchange between the rich woman and a man, her lover. After words are exchanged that give us hints of the emotions here, the "game of chess" is literally played between the two. (Although I did read that the "game of chess" also references an older piece from literature or maybe theatre, in which the game of chess was symbolic of the act of sex.)

Now what Chaos wants us to do is take whatever imagery you have evoked from this, and render it out. The ideas you have can easily be inserted into any sci-fi, fantasy, classical, or setting from any period of time. That's why she said she was looking for the "feeling of the scene".

Now as she would say "get to work!"

[chaosrocks]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2554691#post2554691

there's The Final burning thread, you know what to do.

outside host icon please

you got about 24 hours from now
then we'll move on

thanksyou to those of you who even tried
this one was difficult
on the other hand if you ever wanted practice making things shiny and glow in wwarm candle and firelight this is a prime oppportunity

[ArtZealot]

excuse me?
how does the imagery not describe an environment? did you read the rest of the poem. ?
could be a seen straight out of a Merchant-Ivory Film. or something you come apon in on of the more elegant mystery games.
I think you are gutting a rather diced line between Environment and Illustration.

Environment is the setting
adn Illustration shows a specific moment in a narrative. (usaually)
this is over simplified, but then so isyou rejection of the topic as "more of an illustration type topic"
If you choose not to do it because it confuses you or doesn't appeal to you, that's fine, but please don't condemn the topic just because you don't want to do it.

we can go back to space stations and fairytale castles next week.. thoguht you all might like something to actually think about.. something for which there are no trite or obvious solutions. There are solutions. I can think of several....

I read the poem, i wouldn't have commented on it if i hadn't read it. I'm just trying to be honest, and speak something that is probably on the minds of many people who don't participate on a weekly basis. People have said it before, not all, but this topic and many topics for the last year or two have been incredibly boring, and bland and not really the kind that lend themselves to inspired designs.

I know i'm sounding like a total jerk and am just one opinion, but maybe more topics or areas that might actually be concepted for a game would get better responses. There have been a few great ones pass through here, im not saying there havent been, but im gonna go out on a limb and say most of them arent the type of descriptions or areas that really evoke to the masses that pass through here a powerful idea or imaginative place.

The topics feel dated and bland as i previously mentioned and are not really what one might see in say, a modern video game or movie; and since most of the people that frequent the forums here aspiring video game concept artists which is where most of the jobs are, im surprised the topics dont even meander slightly in that area.

I think something could be learned from the CoW forums which have really great, really inspiring, interesting topics every week. yeah, they're a little more cliche than the topics here, but cliches are there for a reason - because everyone likes them, because they're interesting and lend themselves well to cool designs, unlike the topics here.

So yea, sorry to be blunt and a jerk, but i feel it needs to be said and dont doubt many who pop in and look at the topic but dont post feel similar (though probably would say it nicer than me). I miss seeing cool topics in here but really havent seen some in quite some time.

[Cyberman]

artzealot


I think you might have missed the fact that she didnt state time period, culture, planet or even if this is real or fiction, ...

Cheers

[revenebo]

The same story again and again (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1902811&postcount=11)...

ArtZealot whiner, do you tell the same to a client who asks you to make concepts for TheSims, a Wii game or any other "modern video game or movie" with no spaceships or temples of the Blood God? "Dear client I'm sorry, your idea is boring and not modern enough, I'm not going to work for you"??
You don't like the topic? You will like the next one better I hope. But don't blame others for choosing it.



P.S. The topic is interesting IMO and requires much concepting work and details. Last week I had some spare time to dedicate to EoW, this week I have none sadly.

[oren90]

The same story again and again (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1902811&postcount=11)...

ArtZealot whiner, do you tell the same to a client who asks you to make concepts for TheSims, a Wii game or any other "modern video game or movie" with no spaceships or temples of the Blood God? "Dear client I'm sorry, your idea is boring and not modern enough, I'm not going to work for you"??
You don't like the topic? You will like the next one better I hope. But don't blame others for choosing it.



P.S. The topic is interesting IMO and requires much concepting work and details. Last week I had some spare time to dedicate to EoW, this week I have none sadly.

i agree with what revenebo said, you don't tell the client what he wants the client tells what he wants and you suggest to him what will work the best with what he wants and there is no one genre out there for games there is a very wide range of genres and the weekly activities are meant to help tackle different theme you might get in the industery

on another note unfortunatly did not had time to give on this one :( which is a shame because I really wanted to do this one, oh well there'll be others to come :)
hopefully I'll have time for the next one

[chaosrocks]

firstly, thank you for the support, those of you who did speak up.

I would like to point out that there are a nearly infinite variesty of games out there in nearly an infinite variety of genres. Which is to say, If I grant the premise that all lthe people on this site are aiming at game design ( which I think is fallacious)
there are RPGs MMO FPS Childrens games and educational games and things like Second life. They range through history and the universe in a myriad of designs. some are new ideas, some are based on history or pseudo history, some a based on works of fiction., you could end up working for any one of those .. If you are good enough. and have enough creative flexibility to tackle any premise.

As far as I'm concerned an important part of EOW is training yourself to come up with creative solutions to a prompt

what follows is a list of the EOW topics for this past year, with the exception of 2 out of 28 of them which were specifiacally designed for other media, I could come up with a computer game scenario for each and every one of them as a possible solution to the prompt.
Eow 100
Epic

Eow101
Mountain castle in the Snow

Eow 102
Space Demntia

Eow 103
Tombraider new level

Eow 104
Two Roads

Eow105
Atlantis

Eow 106
The great Wall

Eow 107
Your Island paradise

Eow 108
Planet of the Space Vixens

Eow 109
Emerald city Of Oz

Eow 110
The Bad side Of the City

Eow 111
The night of the celebration of the Cherry Blossom MOon

Eow112
Dracula's Castle

Eow 113
Cyberspace

Eow 114
The bridge between Two very different Cities

Eow 115
Den Of Theives

Eow 116
Not Quite Heaven

Eow 117
Napoleonic Naval Battle

Eow 118]
NYC 3000 AD

EOW 119
The Magic Flute

Eow 120
Capitol City Gas Planet

Eow 121
It's In the Book

Eow 122The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon

EOW123 \
Blasted heath: Witches Sabbath

EOW 124
Krystallyss Prison, Ice planet

EOW 125
Sailing in to Harbour

EOW126
The Caravan

EOW 127
Solstice temple

EOW128
A game of chess


If you can't or can't find some interesting way to interpret them I would posit that you do not have enough creativity to survive in an industry where novelty is king. Sure I could ask you to draw environments for known games (except for the copy right issues) but those already exist. so why create something that already exists. When an AD give you an assignment , he/she is really not goign to care whether you think it's fun. Personally I think they are all fun, because fun is stretching your brain.

On a side note, I am a volunteer and Artzealot you are incredibly rude. I have the power to ban you. I won't because A. that would be petty. and B. I actually do believe in free speech. you are certainly entitled to your opinion. but I would request that if you find EOW so tedious and uninspiring that you take your lack of imagination elsewhere where you won't have to think so hard.

As for the rest of you
Thankyou for sticking around. I know these topics are not the easiest to handle some times. I do try to throw you an easy one now and then.

draw well and new round will be posted shortly

[chaosrocks]

new topic is posted
make something of it, it has the pontential of appeareing in nearly every FPS out there. show me something new.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2555720#post2555720

[tsujni]

May we have an extension? Day or two?

[Cyberman]

I did a couple speedpaints for it, now this thread has a bit more art in it:)

[chaosrocks]

thanks DK , Sorry Tsjuni, I closed it. there was only one entry. Moving on. I am deeply disappointed that so few decided this was a challenge worth taking. Im sure you would have had very interesting interpretations. Your work is always challenging and new and I do appreciate it.

[artiphats]

ugh! well my intention was to get mine submitted but alas it's closed. I think I will finish it up just for myself!

Semester is over so i should be around for the next several challenges :)