Eow 129 war zone [Archive]

chaosrocks

December 14th, 2009, 12:23 PM

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

EOW 129: WAR ZONE

Brief
There is no brief
make it up
Merry christmas, peace on earth
this is what you make of it, as it is totally wide open

DUE December21st 2009
Go!!

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

:right: FOLLOW THE TOPIC.

:right: POST YOUR FINAL HERE THREAD.

:right: SAVE YOUR FILES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT. EOW##_Nickname
example: "EOW#100_Chaosrocks.jpg" ;)

:right: PLACE THE IMAGE IN A FRAME WITH YOUR NAME/TOPIC

example from CHOW

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/ChowPics/frame.jpg
(you can add CA logo, etc).

Add an icon to you final post
150 pixels either direction
PLEASE OUTSIDE HOST THE ICON
k thx

thescala

December 14th, 2009, 04:12 PM

holy shishkabobs this is awesome

BTW, i lost my internet for the last week or so, which is why i had no opportunity to try the last EOW. I definately gonna give it a go, and try to have it a s a portfolio piece. Good job to the winner.

Natzuur-JK

December 15th, 2009, 05:41 AM

So im wondering, the brief pretty much says anything and everything but is it limited to "war zone" or can it truly be anything, i know its supposed to be non-specified, but can you specify?

chaosrocks

December 15th, 2009, 08:48 AM

Gaius

December 15th, 2009, 11:17 AM

Too many possibilities in a completely open topic, My Brain would flee in terror from the blank canvas layed out in front of me.

chaosrocks

December 15th, 2009, 12:20 PM

*headdesk*

well the last one was apparently too specific

so I figured I give you a ll the freedom to do any thing you damn well please and maybe you'd all stop complaining about the boring topics.

what other Art director would give you Carte Blanche? this is totally unrealistic.. but there you have it. Gird your loins. Un sheathe your wacoms and face that blank page with courage and creativity... show me what you're made of! Are you artists? or Are you parrots.. gabbling back the images given to you by the industry with out thought or input. Now is a chance to show that scene you've always wanted to see in a game. you want game? so make it a game....!
Make decisions , be bold! don't ask to be spoon fed ideas and then complain about the ideas you are given!....
NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO HAVE IT YOUR WAY!
in other words, Gaius.. I know you have it in you

GO GO GO!

ps (for any one who wants ideas and or specifics, I am always a font of such... just not requiring them)

grenogs

December 15th, 2009, 12:51 PM

whether it's an exctremely tight brief or even totally open, there will still be some kind of complaint. I'm sure its just part of human nature, we're happiest when we complain, whatever the reason :)
But i do agree with gaius, open topics are so much scarier, to many thoughts and ideas, all at once and it often leads to less time to creating the actual artwork itself

The Crazy Dude SRD

December 15th, 2009, 02:46 PM

Maaaan... Chaos can't catch a break.

I'll be seeing what my twisted mind may come up with.

ATAnderson

December 15th, 2009, 02:46 PM

Placeholder

War Zone = very yes.

Ardescoere

December 15th, 2009, 03:47 PM

I've been watching for a long time, and I'm still not super good at digital art, only just learning. But I'll give this a go.

Also I think the last topic was great, I just didn't have time to work on it.

Ardescoere

December 15th, 2009, 03:47 PM

zimfin

December 15th, 2009, 04:39 PM

No complaints from me so far Chaos. Sweet topic and open is just as good as specific, (IMHO) so I'm in!

SteFlack

December 15th, 2009, 06:12 PM

Been meaning to give this a try for ages, hope I can find time this week to do something. I've had a few ideas in my head since I saw the topic and I'm looking forward to blowing a few things up! Good luck all and have fun.

Zirngibism

December 15th, 2009, 08:35 PM

Cool topic, I think I want to have something to do with air battle...

Edit: Oooo, I think I'm gonna do something holiday themed. 'Tis the season!

Reymus

December 16th, 2009, 12:07 AM

Here's mine so far, hope the figure doesn't violate the rules.

thescala

December 16th, 2009, 03:53 AM

nice comp so far raymus, the soldier looks a little stretched , but im assuming its his coat. nice feel though.

Ian Barker

December 16th, 2009, 04:35 AM

Raymus: the perfectly level composition is a bit boring, and the soldier looks posed and stiff... for that kind of scene you want something in your face and dynamic :)

Gaius

December 16th, 2009, 04:40 AM

chaosrocks

December 16th, 2009, 08:22 AM

they'd be durn fine clouds

Reymus thanks for being the first to actually post work on this one. I would say look at your value composition. your figure doesn't violate the rules but it is the most dominannt shape in you composition which is making it about him and s not about the environment. also just in a compositional sense an off center dark shape leading no where in particular is not a particualrly compelling image and the llandscape being a big V right in the middle of the page is make it very static. between the dark/light contrast and the pointing of the gun barrel I can't actually look at anything in the picture but he highlight on the soldier's helmet.

since we seem to be looking at a WWIbattles zone here I would suggest a little research into what they actually looked like. Partly as a suggestion of additional elements that could actiavate your composition. possible suggestions: Move soldier farther off centera nd into a foxhole or trench..this being the era of trench war fare which his attitude would indicate anyway. concider razor wire or some other dividing type designation are those distant tanks his companions or the enemy he is fighting? sometimes when you have decided one a look or an era... then is the time to go do a little research see what it really looked like. (personally I tend to research even when Im not sure what Im looking for ... when I troll for ideas I just tyoe stuff in to google images and see what comes up.. wonder what happens when you put in "war zone"?

Duman

December 16th, 2009, 08:51 AM

Love it.
LOVE IT.
I just really really hope I can get some time to work on this one. I need to get my ass back to WORK!

Absorber

December 16th, 2009, 09:49 AM

I'm in :) The previous was a bit to difficult to understand for me. Reading/writing english is one thing, but using a complex written poem as a concept is a bit above my head ;)

I recently bought 1943 so I'll combine this eow with a kind of fan-art piece for the game :D

Ciao!

Natzuur-JK

December 16th, 2009, 11:11 AM

Haha i wasn't trying to be an ass, it was a real question =( but this will be much fun, thanks for an awesome topic! (BTW i think a free-for-all would be cool, might be hard to battle gaiuses clouds tho hahaha)

Stinger88

December 16th, 2009, 05:22 PM

OK...decided to give this a blast.

Had a play with Artrage 3's new shiny tools. They are bloody brilliant!

Trouble is I don't think i'll be entering the challenge...Booo.... as i'm away on my xmas holiday from friday...YAY!

Not sure it is entirely "Warzone", think i'd need to work on it a bit more and make it look a bit more war torn. Artillery crators and blown up tanks, etc.

Anyway. This is what I've got.

C&C welcome

Zirngibism

December 16th, 2009, 06:44 PM

Hmmm, by "war zone" I'd like to show perhaps a part of civilization (like a city) affected by war, as opposed to an actual designated "battle ground".

"an area marked by extreme violence" is part of the merriam-webster definition of "war zone", so I'm guessing I'd be safe with that interpretation...

kryoth

December 16th, 2009, 10:49 PM

Haven't had time to participate on CA much lately, but now that school is going on break I should be able to get this one done.

Awesome topic, I've already kicked around a few ideas, but here's where I'm heading so far... I still plan to add more content in the mid-background behind the overpass - things are looking too empty there. Plus, some distant fire/explosions, maybe some other action.

theechoinside

December 16th, 2009, 11:45 PM

Think I might be fast enough to try and finish one of these now, so going to try. Here's the WIP, just testing out composition and some lighting, sort of a space graveyard thing so need more than one source. Any thoughts appreciated. =) Wondering if it's maybe too busy?

And Stinger88:

It'd be too bad if you couldn't finish that. I'm a sucker for 'mechs and the desert and you have both. Enjoying the colours as well, the only thing is that something feels odd about how the rocks are sitting on the sand, might be the darker patch to the right, or the shadows, but I'm not entirely sure.

Reymus

December 17th, 2009, 12:30 AM

Update, I flipped, and moved the figure, aaaaand a smidge of color.

Zirngibism

December 17th, 2009, 01:57 AM

don't be an ass.... "war Zone" is the topic. the art should depict some aspect of some war zone somewhere and some when..... there is a topic. it's just a very open one. but now that you mention it.. maybe I should hold a Topicless -environmental free for all. See how easily you all come up with ideas. not a bad idea////

An interesting idea, and yet I suspect quite a few people (including myself *nervous chuckle*) might be a little too tempted to enter something they've already worked on. I suppose it could work better if we were required to post several WIP's during the process or something.

chaosrocks

December 17th, 2009, 11:03 AM

I am assuming a certain Honour.

there have been incidences of this in the past. I'm not going to hedge about with rules. I merely trust that you all realize that if you post old work A, you Arent going to learn anything or get anything out of this activity. and B. you are missing the point.

so the consequences are built in
not too worriedd about it

and a worn torn city is fine
war zone implies active warfare though
recent devastation.

tsujni

December 17th, 2009, 02:40 PM

Raymus, I second Chaos. You can force the eye to you environmental center by focusing detail in the area of the guns. Also, the figure's relation to the geography seems strange. You have the curves in the center terminating at the soldier's head and the flatness on the left side of the figure. I my opinion, this flattens this area. I would try continuing the slope of the curve off the left of the image and see if you like this better.

wip

Mishkin275

December 17th, 2009, 05:36 PM

Cool topic!
http://www.tgarretteaton.com/digital/CA/war-zone.jpg

zimfin

December 18th, 2009, 10:32 AM

I planned on doing a few thumbs but instead, got caught up in details! Never mind, I think I will go ahead with the 2nd one....maybe.

Mishkin: for some reason, only the top inch of your pic is loading for me, (I refreshed too) which sucks because that inch looks good1

theechoinside

December 18th, 2009, 11:15 AM

Hey zimfin,

Those look good, but I actually prefer the first one. It just seems a lot more cinematic and impacting to me, and it's on a large scale which is something I associate with a warzone. The second one is perhaps more personal, but I had a reaction to the first and didn't to the second. Just thought I'd mention that =)

Hideyoshi

December 18th, 2009, 01:57 PM

this topic is totally wicked o_O

klortho

December 18th, 2009, 06:49 PM

Here's a marker rough-just for my own practice/sketchbook.
858877

jpacer

December 19th, 2009, 01:26 AM

I had started a CHOW this week, but mucked it up, so rather than start that over, I figured I'd try to do a EOW again, since this seemed like a cool topic as well. I just hope I can finish it, with all the holiday related events I have to attend this weekend.

C&C always welcome.

Zimfin: I agree that the first one is more dramatic. I think that maybe the reason the 2nd looks more static is due to the ship being seen head-on, so it gets flattened. Maybe if you changed the viewpoint of the ship (and added some corkscrew contrails or something) so that you saw 3 sides it would be more dynamic?

859065

aiRaGe

December 19th, 2009, 07:29 AM

Mishkin275 - Nice one!

jpacer - Looking good for a start! But i think the problem is that the image is very "busy", it's hard to tell what's going on and the eye got no place to rest. You can push this a lot further with a clear composition and separation of background, middleground and foreground.

Here's some fast ideas, crits always welcome! I think i'm going with something like in the second one, having a huge building in the main focus :)

jpacer

December 19th, 2009, 04:23 PM

aiRaGe, thanks for the crit. I tried pushing it as much as I could in the time I had. Gotta go to a Christmas event now. I'm not really sure what to do right now to separate the foreground/midground/background more. Really, I'm just outta time. Hopefully, I can find time to do more. I think that maybe I overdid the lighting effects.

859394

chaosrocks

December 19th, 2009, 04:38 PM

Jpacer. remember this is about the environment. your composition is beautifully designed to pinpoint the refugees... so that it becomes about their plight, rather than about the war torn city they are fleeing from...

Biomecha_wolf

December 19th, 2009, 05:01 PM

hmmm wip . i want to make it more clear.

http://www.ephotobay.com/image/warzone-small1.jpg (http://www.ephotobay.com/share/warzone-small1.html)

.
@zimfin
can you work with both pictures, into 1? It would be interesting if you could combine giant mecha with air force vs ground targets at the same time.

@jpacer
I agree with chaosrocks
Your image by the way has a 18th century feeling! woahness! You managed to put inside the feeling of sorrow and despair!I am sure if you can focus more on the enviroment ,you can do a great job.

@aIrgace

hehe, the city-master artist :D
nice one!I like both of your pictures. Maybe if you can add some aircraft in the sky to make it more.. war?

@klortho
hmmm, nice black-white painting.It reminds me something between stencil and Engraving.Can you do something with the main fire-smoke at the center? Probably add more lines, to make it more "smoke".

@Μishkin
I like the fires and the rumbles ;)
.

heh, why we all made the warzone in a city? :D

.

JanJager

December 19th, 2009, 06:36 PM

Hi
I´ll go for the ww1. Crits are welcome.

tsujni

December 19th, 2009, 10:48 PM

wip update

ArtZealot

December 20th, 2009, 12:27 AM

Here's a wip. Still fiddling with it.

Zirngibism

December 20th, 2009, 03:23 AM

Oh man, there are some awesome entries so far!

Hoping to post a WIP tomorrow afternoon...

Zirngibism

December 20th, 2009, 04:33 AM

Ah, what the heck! I'll post what I've got so far right now...

My concept is not a war on an city, but instead a near-future economic war in which factories and chemical refineries are attacked. Sort of a war to sabotage the resources of the opposing side instead of directly going after civilians themselves.

(Yeah, yeah, a political scientist would probably be dubious of such an "industrial war" because it would raise the price of those resources for the entire world economy, [both friendly nations and enemies], for trade.

But hey, perhaps this could be an environmental war, where extremist environmentalists with a cleaner but more expensive technology resort to terroristic means by taking down major refineries in order to raise the price of their less eco-friendly competition?)

So in this scene, the opposing side/eco warriors have set up rocket launchers on the upper scaffolds (that's what that gun thing is in the relative foreground) and are aiming at storage tanks.

I view it as about 70% done or so...

Crits would be appreciated!

aiRaGe

December 20th, 2009, 08:00 AM

ArtZealot - Wow, that one is really nice! How did you do the smoke? Or is it just hard round brush? I love the look so much :)

I'd love to comment on other people's work as well later, not much time right now :/
So here's some wip, spaceships and more war- stuff to follow :D

Gaius

December 20th, 2009, 08:31 AM

I had a bit of time to have a go at this, really like the palette from the news footage and was eager to try it out.

chaosrocks

December 20th, 2009, 11:27 AM

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2564653#post2564653

final burning is posted. You all know what to do
out side host icon please. If you don't know what to do please refer to the instructions in the first post of this thread

thanks you\
crx

Zirngibism

December 20th, 2009, 01:07 PM

Hey, do you think it could be a multivote thing this time?

SoloDolo

December 20th, 2009, 01:44 PM

Hi, this is my first post on CA. This work is one of my first drawings in Photoshop, so I'd like to have much critique on it. I'm 15 years old so forgive me my typos:D http://images.orkut.com/orkut/photos/OgAAABONsnFZB7P4unV83f1tVAulq2e861L76mHBz3BrMd6SsZ nLa_eH_iCvf3CS641DE3H1LFSXK6t6LTHy-Np6HrcAm1T1UGUv-4k1kUIj1iZ4-wS4o_-TryZZ.jpg
Oh, and i will start adding stuff to this image, this is only backround.

chaosrocks

December 20th, 2009, 01:59 PM

depends on the number of entries
whiether its multivote or not

Brand_X

December 20th, 2009, 03:30 PM

No time to finish so probably wont take it to final.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/gulogulo/EOW129_Brand_X.jpg

zimfin

December 20th, 2009, 04:22 PM

Wow. There are some seriously kick-ass entries now!

I took my 2nd sketch and used it in the bottom right corner of my expanded version. Started putting colours down but still loads to do. Hopefully I can get this to the point where I actually want to post it in the final, before tomorrow.

Hideyoshi

December 20th, 2009, 04:57 PM

Amazing work here! Gaius, ArtZealot, Airage!

I think I tried too hard and killed the composition, arrangement sucks :/
Not sure if I go back and fix it...

JanJager

December 20th, 2009, 05:33 PM

Some beautiful contributions. It's so inspiringly to see.
Really fun to participate.

jpacer

December 21st, 2009, 02:07 AM

There really is some amazing work in here.

Heh. I was having the same problem I had with the CHOW, where I was making more of a narrative than an environment design. I didn't get much time for changes, but I removed the principal figures. I'm afraid it still may have too much narrative, but I figured I'd post for one last round of C&C and maybe, time allowing, I can fix it in the morning. Is there a time deadline, or can we post a final at any time on the 21st?

861439

Absorber

December 21st, 2009, 05:14 AM

Ah man, such a cool topic and I had no time to start. I had my references all fixed but been busy so got nothing more than a few sketches.

Maybe I should change my weekly schedule first before I enter this week-comp's :(

Ontopic:
Great entry's and great variation. Good luck!

chaosrocks

December 21st, 2009, 09:40 AM

there's is roughly 24 hours to finish up.

crx

Absorber

December 21st, 2009, 11:08 AM

I fixed some minutes at work and came with quite an awful sketch :\

The compo is fine, maybe the explosion-area could use a bit more space. And on the bridge on the back will be a bombardment as well, but on a closing tank.
For the people that are almost ready to yell this one is a bit to 1943'ish - It's because it's 1943 fanart :asslick:

Hopefully I can push trough some more time

Very great entry's this time! :D great to see them ;)

Zirngibism

December 21st, 2009, 02:07 PM

Well, if this isn't multivote I'm seriously going to have a hard time choosing!

Perhaps it's because all you pro's are on break right now, haha...

The Crazy Dude SRD

December 21st, 2009, 02:27 PM

A bit of a rough sketch but so far...

zimfin

December 21st, 2009, 03:28 PM

Think I'm gonna call this done before I completely ruin it! If there are some mistakes needing fixed though, let me know!

Absorber

December 21st, 2009, 06:06 PM

Mine's up. It's fugly

Peace!

ImmortalX

December 21st, 2009, 06:14 PM

Soz yea this is mine...
image kinda small...

fughi from yuggoth

December 21st, 2009, 07:25 PM

Hopefully I finish this before deadline.

This turn's work is awesome by everyone. :)

chaosrocks

December 22nd, 2009, 10:02 AM

Absorber.. your composition is totally off balance, there is nothing on the entire stage right side of the page.

ImmortalX

December 22nd, 2009, 11:13 AM

wait was i supposed to include like armies fighting or just the devastation they caused?
im so nervious lol this is my first EOW

Zirngibism

December 22nd, 2009, 03:38 PM

wait was i supposed to include like armies fighting or just the devastation they caused?
im so nervious lol this is my first EOW

That's fine! Take a deep breath, this is a casual contest. :)

Anyhow, for Environment of the Week, you are allowed to have figures in your work. It's even recommended, because figures help the viewer to understand the scale of the scene. However, figures (in this case, soldiers or civilians) can't be the main subject of the picture. Many environment artists like to include a small silhouette of a figure in their designs. But two or more soldiers fighting in the foreground in a place that happens to be war-torn is more like an "illustration" than an "environment".

So the answer to your question is that you want to show the devastation they caused, though including soldiers (or even distant armies) isn't taboo. And dead bodies scattered all over the place count as part of the landscape. :tihi: