E.O.W. Round 155: Alternate History Week: Late Discovery of the Americas

[Vulgar`]

E.O.W. Round 155 - Alternate History Week: Late Discovery of the Americas




Round 155:

Topic suggested by noche:
Late Discovery of the Americas




Briefing:

Christopher Columbus never set foot on America. It was never discovered! 350 years pass from the year it should have been discovered. It is the year 1842, and a new voyage is finally successful... but what does this new world reveal?

Illustrate a fictional take of the New World at it's moment of discovery. Mayans, Native Americans, Aztecs and Incas were prolific cultures in science, astronomy, math, etc. Envison what their world could have evolved into. Vast architecture/cities, wild inventions, complex society, ancient alien visitation? Be bold and go wild since there's no need to be historically accurate in your representation!

This can be any part of America, not just North America alone. Also keep in mind that it doesnt need to be a coastal setting - they can be arriving into the heart of the continent. Backround stories are optional this week, but a captain or explorer's diary would provide an interesting outlook on your envisionment.

See Alternate History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_history_(fiction)




Deadline:
Sunday, January 16th, 2011


Hope everyone had a great new year and cheers to the EOW activity in 2011!!!

-V

[buka]

great idea noche!

[Benza]

sweet.. know what i´ll do with my day's off from work this week..

[ismo]

Great topic! Definately taking part in this one. Here's the thumbnail I'm probably going to finish, New Tenochtitlan.

[noche]

thx guys - was wondering if i can join
too? lol

[Lyno]

Sure Noche, the activities are open for everyone !

[Electricleash]

Really interesting idea! off to find refrences.

[Banvivirie]

Been lurking through these contests for awhile, I'll try to join in on this one~

[pluto]

sounds intressting

[TSonline]

Damn this sounds good!

[snatti]

sounds awsome, gonne try to get some thumbs running

[SIME]

Great Brief, think Im gunna have a go at this one

[SIME]

OK....... this is what im going for, trying to get a dynamic shot and strong colour pallet, once ive managed that ill start to add more detail to the architecture which will hopefully show a more epic scale.

[noche]

woa SIME thats looking amazing so far!!!!...
maybe a bit of contrast and a subtle overlay layer with touches of yellows will help that visual strength.. unless youre going for a more cloudy

[ajv/.]

Heres a quick sketch.

[SIME]

Thanks for the paint over noche (don't mind at all) I completely agree with your comments but the image is deliberately lacking contrast at this stage. Im guilty of using way too much contrast way too early in my images so i deliberately hold off until the image is resolved, i then slowly select where i want those contrasting areas to be, I find I have more control this way.

[noche]

yeah i completely understand you man. want me to remove it so your eyes dont tempt on contrast?, then

[ismo]

SIME: Cool perspective. Hope to see that one finished.

ajv/: Nice start.

Update. The perspective is probably still way off. Hope to get some pointers at this stage.

[SIME]

Update, palette is nearly there now but architecture really needs working out.

ismo :- Looking good, the lights add a really nice atmosphere to the image. I feel the shot could have been a bit more adventurous and dynamic.

[noche]

ajv nice start man, i love that pit down there. keep it up!

ismo i love how this is evolving! beautifully lit. i think maybe the eye wanders a bit around the open sky? again, those lights are great.

SIME like i said before, dig your concept a lot. Woa.
only crit right now is i feel maybe the pyramid looks a bit enclosed into the picture? maybe give some more canvas around it?

[Electricleash]

SIME: looking really nice to start, liking the ambience and ditto on the perspective and colours.

Ismo: Lovely colours, going for a real depiction of an expanding cityscape?

ajv/.: Nice sketch, looking forward to see where you take it.

A couple of tonal studies, going initially with the Mayan/Aztec and an ET refuelling pad theme, kind of an alien 'truck stop'...
...may run with it but feel like exploring a bit further, painting all those stairs and levels in perspective is going to be a b**ch indeed!



E

[snatti]

@ismo i think it gives a nice and calm feeling but personally i really like your intinal sketch

@sime looking good, i took a look at your blogg and you got some great stuff going on, all so sharp and clear and wait to see how this turns out

@ajv it's a good start you got, gonne go traditional or digital?

@Eletricleash i truly like the whole background story your going with, are you gonne colour all of those? or just create one big mix of all 4?


i will go the one most to the right i think

[SIME]

Hi guys,

@snatti, great looking thumbnails and agree with your choice its definitely the most dynamic composition.
@electricleash, nice design sheet I can imagine that main image as a more vertical composition showing the pyramids towering above the city and the the alien ships extending from there up into the clouds.
@noche, I might try extending the canvas later in the painting but I did want to make the structure feel like it was cramped into this tight valley. I will probably experiment abit once I have sorted the building out.

Update.......... been working on the building really and tried to give the scene a warm golden glow from the sun just coming through the mountains.

[LA²]

You guys are amazing!

[JanJager]

SIME
Very nice. Wonderful colours and light. Have no crit. Perhaps have some people on the building.
snatti
Great thumbnails. I like all of them. Most right is very nice. The piece of ground shows the perspective and size of the constructions.
Electricleash
Nice to show the whole concept. Perhaps enlarge one picture and have colour on and keep the other in black and white.
ismo
Great! very beautiful. I love the mood. I like our first entry very much to. I detail the the upper side of the handrail has a large diminution from left to right according to the perspective.
the gaps under has a bit less diminution. Perhaps that's just me. Overall its wonderful.
ajv/.
You have some nice architecture there. Keep on render it out. Also workout where the light comes from to help you with light and shadows.

[JanJager]

Great topic
It starts so much imagination.

[Electricleash]

JanJager: Liking the cable-car idea, and it would make sense too, what with their pyramids getting taller and taller, and the great and the powerful getting lazier, not wanting to walk up all those stairs!
Snatti: Going to go with just one image at some point, using lots of russets yellow/gold and blues, much as the aztecs painted onto their stonework. Possibly add a bunch of marble-esque/metallic reflections, due to the use of alien tech merging with the native architecture.
Sime: nice idea with the vertical... will have a play-test see how it might look.

Went to the British museum yesterday (stupidly forgot my camera), they have the most awesome 'turquoise mosaic' masks there, as well as statuettes and stone panel carvings. hugely inspirational, Plan to go down again tomorrow, get some sketches and photos, will likely upload them to my Flickr or photobucket gallery should anyone wish to check them out.

[hyjaxe]

some rough ideas

[android411]

great stuff everyone,

here are some thumbs from me too, wanna go with some alien kind of worlds

@ismo, very nice mood and colors, maybe some more variation in the buildings would be beneficial imo

@jan jager, great thumbs, they look all quite interesting, hard to tell which one to go

@snatty, great thumbs too, I like the first and the last most

@electricleash - nice thumbs I think the first and last have lots of potential, maybe in the first sketch, the foreground buildings on the left and right are too similiar in value and size, it´s hard to tell which one is in the front and which one not

@sime, very nice, maybe you could add some texture overlay to give it some teeth

@ajv/. - nice sketch, maybe some variation in the buildings would be good

[JanJager]

hyjaxe
Great thumbnail. I like both of them. First is a bit more interesting but second is cleaner.
android411
Nice I think first is my favorite. Second interesting to.