Chow 125 :: Tláloc's Sacrifice

[daestwen]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/CHOW-LINES-MEDUSA.jpg

ROUND #125 :: Tláloc's Sacrifice

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DESCRIPTION

Aztec Child Sacrifice to the Rain God Tláloc

A young child is preparing for the sacrifice to the Rain God. Between 5-10, boy or girl, and BEFORE the sacrifice, not during or after! (We don't want to see any gore, thank you very much!)

This is a bit of an open topic, but it IS a historic round. Feel free to play around with whatever ideas come to mind, but KEEP TO THE TIME PERIOD and the idea.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_sacrifice

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:right: FOLLOW THE TOPIC.

:right: POST YOUR FINAL IN THE FINALS THREAD.


:right: SAVE YOUR FILES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT. Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oblio.jpg" ;)

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

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

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DEADLINE
SUNDAY, September 7th, 2008
The way the deadline works: if deadline is on a Sunday and your image is posted on that Sunday 23:59 your local time it's a good entry.
In fact - as long there is Sunday somewhere on the planet your entry is ok. I will make the poll sometimes Monday evening my time (GMT - 8 ) yet I'll have a look at the last entries.
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POST YOUR FINALS IN THE FINALS THREAD!

Remember to include your nickname in the filename.

About quality - as general rule: if your shapes and values are not decent - you are out. Watch proportions, perspective etc. we need perfectly readable shapes and coherent, consistent values.

_____________

BE PROFESSIONAL - only finished and good quality entries will be taken to the poll. Oregano and Daestwen (yay!) will make the selection.

[daestwen]

I will be posting this at the beginning of each round for the next few rounds until I am convinced that it has sunk in and that everyone understands this. The original posting is located in the CHOW DISCUSSION thread (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123393). Please direct your comments (both snide and supportive) there. Thank you.


-----------------------------------
As of August 24, we're tightening the reigns on the CHOW Poll. What this means in practical terms is that not everyone is going to get a cookie anymore.

Admission to poll will be based on the artists' skill and their ability to handle their subject matter: meaning we will keep a wide spread of work from beginners to professionals in the poll based on that particular week's submissions, but we will be far more picky on who actually ends up in poll.

EXPECT TO GET CUT. If you come into this with guns blazing expecting to get to poll and win, you're coming at it backwards.

There will be generalized reasons on why an entry has been eliminated from poll. When we're dealing with the numbers that we often do in CHOW, it's the best we can do and still hope to have a life for ourselves, not to mention hold down day jobs (no, we don't get paid for this, what were you thinking?).

Other points to keep in mind:

The poll is subjective. Surprise. The entries that go to poll are the ones that either I like, or Deastwen likes, or that we both like. We did not ask your opinion.
Poll is not the end all be all of CHOW, CA, my life or yours, so get over it. Enjoy the entries, and the process and keep in mind that we bust our butts for you so you can have an enjoyable experience, but ultimately in the great lay of things, it's meaningless.
We make mistakes. We leave people out, we put people in who probably should not be in. We do our best, but at the end of the day, we're human. Deal with with it.
We also on occasion take someone to poll who otherwise wouldn't be there. This is done purposefully to help someone get some extra attention for their work and to get them some decent crits. It's not done so you can have a hissy fit about it. Get with the program and help people instead of bitching about the poll.


More as I think about it.

All the best,
~Oreg.


------------------

NEW ROUND RULE: WIPS PLEASE!

When you submit your final in the finals thread, you must EITHER submit 2-3 wips as well, OR link us to your Wips in this thread. Thank you!!

~Daes

WIPS REQUIRED, CHAINS OPTIONAL
We're very interested in your process - not just how you progress from one element from another in the course of your illustration, but why did you choose those elements to begin with? What were you trying to do? Why did it work, or not? Show us what you used for inspiration - be it a photograph, or someone else's work that you admire, or something you have - or did you just shoot from the hip after reading the Brief?

So, in the Finals thread, this is your chance to consolidate all of your ideas and talk about them. Review your own work - look at it critically and analyze it from an objective standpoint, and talk to us about it.

You can go as indepth as you want - this can be simply just the wips, or you can include the chains as well :geekg:

All the best,
~Oreg.

[S.C. Watson]

Sweet topic :)

I just became a member here on CA so this will be my first CHOW.

Thanks for joining and welcome!

All the best,
~Oreg.

[dollfaced_joker]

shweetness. im up for it. sorry i didnt finish the last one :(

[daestwen]

Round rules updated. Please read!

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

First thing that came to mind: Apocalypto....

http://www.newsgroper.com/files/post_images/apocalypto-7.jpg

I know those guys are Mayan's but I guess it's pretty similar....

[WTFsteph]

the kid is the sacrifice right?
::slowpoke::

[Spooky Roller Disco!]

i...might have an idea...
or not....
im going to try to start early this time, instead of during the last few hours of it like the last chow ;D

[Blueman]

a quickie sketch before bedtime. How much before the sacrifice are we talking? like, right before the knife sticks in, or some kind of dressing room.

[Beelow]

Damn another cool topic! All right I'm in.

[ex_machina]

Here's one I whipped up. The only thing I'm really happy with so far is the expression. Anyway, it's a start. Feedback is much appreciated.

http://i34.tinypic.com/6qk0vq.jpg

[petitemistress]

I'm in. been practicing drawing children, let's see if it paid off ><

[Wiggers]

Mesoamerican stuff very cool, priest, warriors, kings, gods ect ect many many things you could choose from but child sacrifice, really not sure about that. Maybe just me being an old fart!!

[UCT]

Mesoamerican stuff very cool, priest, warriors, kings, gods ect ect many many things you could choose from but child sacrifice, really not sure about that. Maybe just me being an old fart!!

... yep

[Wiggers]

thanks.....

[Windsrock]

oh crap! Will be away of my computer for a week. Don't think that I can do this.

[iuvo]

Yeah, I'm not really comfortable with this either. You could always make it open ended - The Aztec didn't only sacrifice humans. You could make it an option to draw a child getting ready to face her Gods and make a sacrifice of bread or something of your choice.
Otherwise, I'll just see you all next week.

[JakkaS]

Quick sketch. Probably I will not have time for this one :(


"Tláloc gives the sign....He accepts the sacrifice."

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/JakkaS/sketches/CHOW125sk.jpg

Cheers
Kuba

[Saturns Gate]

I was thinking of having the boy have some kind of disease or maybe a missing leg. On a programme about the Aztecs it said that only the most beautiful children were sacrificed. Could I still have the child as diseased or missing a limb or would that be bending the rules a bit?

[Chate Noire]

JakkaS, that's beautiful. I love how the tones and composition work together to make the boy so small and alone. I really hope you'll find the time to finish this.

ex machina, right now my biggest advice would be to work on the tones. Everything is almost exactly the same grey, and the character gets lost. Use some contrast to make him stand out from the background and to create a more interesting tonal composition for the boy himself.

[ex_machina]

Thanks for the tip, Chate Noire. I don't know why I can't seem to see the problems in my own work until someone points them out.

[dierat]

First thing that came to mind: Apocalypto....

http://www.newsgroper.com/files/post_images/apocalypto-7.jpg

I know those guys are Mayan's but I guess it's pretty similar....Well actually the sacrafices portrayed in the movie were based on Aztec rituals, which the film's technical adviser says the Mayan (may have) picked up on towards the end of their civilization. (just fyi ^^)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypto#Human_Sacrifice

[S.C. Watson]

the kid is the sacrifice right?
yes.

How much before the sacrifice are we talking? like, right before the knife sticks in, or some kind of dressing room.
It's in the Brief.

I was thinking of having the boy have some kind of disease or maybe a missing leg. On a programme about the Aztecs it said that only the most beautiful children were sacrificed. Could I still have the child as diseased or missing a limb or would that be bending the rules a bit?

I wouldn't say it was "breaking the rules" so much as going against what the Brief calls for.

~Oreg.

[daestwen]

iuvo:

For this particular god, they also sacrificed children's tears.

The sacrifice itself isn't meant to be part of the image, so if you'd rather sacrifice tears, it's all good. Mostly we're looking for ideas around the ritual that comes *before*, rather than the ritual that comes after.

[Slash]

I'm IN like a quarterback on prom night!

[MJ_Alcazar]

Ohhh, I LOVE researching cultures. I have to start school on Wednesday, so no more CA for me right now. BUT, I still have time to do some WIPS. :)

[sheetghost]

This is going to be my first CHOW as well. Yea for newbies Jay-Zee!

[Spooky Roller Disco!]

Can i ask, what canvas size and resolution do most people start their pics with? Im still rubbish with photoshop you see...i need to know more stuff :)

[Xaya]

Can i ask, what canvas size and resolution do most people start their pics with? Im still rubbish with photoshop you see...i need to know more stuff :)

I start with a low res canvas, something like about 1200pixel at the long side.
Here i start my sketch doing some color experiments / composition / gestures etc. (because of the low res, PS doesn´t slow down if you do a "color-wash" or similar things.
I scale it up when i really know what i wanna paint / go to detail work.
My final work has about 3500pixel at the long side and 300dpi (so that you can actually print it afterwards)

[agnostes]

Can i ask, what canvas size and resolution do most people start their pics with? Im still rubbish with photoshop you see...i need to know more stuff :)

FWIW I usually start painting over/under a sketchbook page scanned at A4, at 300dpi. This gives me a res of ~2478x3498. I'll then crop the sketch and continue working at the resultant res. I used to get a lot of lag in PS on my old PC, but my new one is much better. I rarely mess with the size after this, except for sometimes reducing to 72dpi for monitor and reducing resolution for posting finals on here.

Also, I always scan in colour, even if it's a graphite pencil sketch, cos often this yields some useful hues and textures created by the sweaty heal of my hand on the cartridge paper while drawing [but I won't go into that ;P]

I'm gonna sit this one out...mental block on this topic. Have fun everyone.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0001-4.jpg

Hmmmm....really really rough sketches. Trying to get an idea. :)
oh, ignore my messy weird handwriting, thinking out loud on that one.

[edujante]

Jelou!!
Nice threath. at first i didnt feel it but later i thought that it was a good reason to paint some azteca props and mood.
I post the paincil version, usefull to insert the mains elements, details and all the rest i prefer to choose them in the colour version!
See you
http://edujante.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/aztecalapiz.jpg
http://edujante.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/azteca-copia.jpg

Final version is coming

[agnostes]

Distinctive style, you have sir.

[S.C. Watson]

I know there hasn't been much discussion yet regarding the new Wips policy for the finals thread (mentioned in post #2 (http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1906668&postcount=2)), but I wanted to go over some of what this is about and why we decided to include it.

We're very interested in your process - not just how you progress from one element from another in the course of your illustration, but why did you choose those elements to begin with? What were you trying to do? Why did it work, or not? Show us what you used for inspiration - be it a photograph, or someone else's work that you admire, or something you have - or did you just shoot from the hip after reading the Brief?

So, in the Finals thread, this is your chance to consolidate all of your ideas and talk about them. Review your own work - look at it critically and analyze it from an objective standpoint, and talk to us about it.

You can go as indepth as you want - this can be simply just the wips, or you can include the chains as well :geekg:

All the best,
~Oreg.

[Daray]

Really nice so far edujante but the glowing eyes on the altar really bug me. they seem to sit on the childs head and distract. Would like to see how this is resolved :)

Edit: I'll try make time for this. I went to the Yucatan Penninsula for the Millenium. Best place I have ever seen! *digs out photos*

[Saturns Gate]

Well said Oregano. Would a WIP in the form of a video speed through be ok? Along with some voice narration? Cheers, no worry's if not.

S

[Ceyface]

So, Im going to guess sacrificing little brother in the back yard for reference purpose is off limits?

Doh....

[daestwen]

Well said Oregano. Would a WIP in the form of a video speed through be ok? Along with some voice narration? Cheers, no worry's if not.

S

Sounds perfectly fine to me, and would probably make for an interesting time to watch them all. :)

Not only that, but this is a chance for us to all learn even more from each other, no?

[S.C. Watson]

So, Im going to guess sacrificing little brother in the back yard for reference purpose is off limits.
*TOTALLY* off limits :P

If anyone goes to jail in the course of doing "research" for any chow, needless to say, you're banned from Poll :P

Saturn, as Daes said, that's perfectly fine - I think it actually be really awesome!

~Oreg.

[UCT]

thanks.....

dude, I agree with you totally.

I might draw some pregnant woman looking totally pissed/resigned to the fact that her first born is going to be murdered because of some rightious ideology all in the name of entertainment.

[UCT]

totally inappropriate.

-Daestwen

[daestwen]

Okay, UCT, look.

I understand if you're uncomfortable with the topic matter. As I stated above, I have offered an outlet that leads away from that sense of the topic, and you're welcome to take that if you choose.

Using your discomfort to make jokes that aren't particularily funny, and totally against the spirit of this contest, is not acceptable.

If you are uncomfortable, either read what I said about the 'sacrifice of tears', or don't participate this week. That's up to you. Please don't fill the thread with comments like that.

Thank you.

[S.C. Watson]

UCT - this is warning One.

There won't be a second.

If you, or ANYONE else is not comfortable with the topic, sit this round out.

I will not put up with petty bullshit in CHOW. If you wish to discuss the topic choices, or anything else about chow - please post in the Discussion Thread (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=123393) and keep it civil.

[UCT]

1st, ok I understand. I reacted in what i percieved to be the tone of the topic.
2nd, I have actually started on my last idea, oh well.

[haroldfay]

Won't have time to finish this...

good luck to all, nice sketches!

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2596/img051wr1.jpg

[Aly Fell]

This IS a tricky one... one might even say... a challenge! I think I might be in! Although I never got time to finish the Smuggly wuggler, perhaps I can at least get a sketch done.

Cool starts from peeps!

JakkaS - you start in greyscale and then colour up later... are you using Photoshop? If so, what layer mode do you use. I've been playing around with this process and just can't seem to get it right! Almost... just... not... quite...

Edit: Some sketches for this gruesome topic! Not really very sure about either of these...

Edit 2: Thanks for the image of our nasty god Oregano. A mask!

I know they were Incas, but Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun springs into my mind... And also Royal Hunt of the Sun with Robert Shaw.

Edit 3: Truncated the three roughs into one image, and I've decided to work up the last one. I'm happier with this composition, and can do some up-lighting for dramatic effect.

Edit 4: Some really blobby colour to get things kicked off. Trying with colour mode over a rough greyscale.

[Ceyface]

WIP, Wings are going to be, hopefully, aztec-y-geometric-y awesomeness.

Ceyface

Damn. He looks too old, more teenagery than the ten year old i was going for... not really sure how to fix that.

[Saturns Gate]

This IS a tricky one... one might even say... a challenge! I think I might be in! Although I never got time to finish the Smuggly wuggler, perhaps I can at least get a sketch done.

Cool starts from peeps!

JakkaS - you start in greyscale and then colour up later... are you using Photoshop? If so, what layer mode do you use. I've been playing around with this process and just can't seem to get it right! Almost... just... not... quite...

Yeah I know what you mean posh, I find it takes longer to do than just hitting at it with color straight off the bat, but It certainly helps in evaluating your values spot on. The way I do it is do the gray scale image, than add a color layer on top, add in some general color and just re paint some of the finer highlights and what not. Probably an easier more pleasing way to do it, so if there is, let us know please! :)

[haroldfay]

well, guess what, i could finish it after all!

I know i won't make it to the poll, 3/4 rules and all, but hey, this is about having fun and learning skills!

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/6914/tlalocff6.jpg

[Saturns Gate]

Harold, illd spend a lot more time getting the eyes to read more and add more of his soul to the piece. I like the sketchy style though, maybe keep the detailed part of the painting or the focus point to a high degree of realism, ie, the face. Sort of blend it off into the more rugged sketchy look. Up to you though. :)

S

[haroldfay]

You're totally right, saturns gate... i added a little light in his eyes.

I won't push it further cuz i have work to do...

Hope you like it guys!

http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/9646/tlalocyi4.jpg

[mimer]

prolly wont have time to finish this week, afk all weekend, but heres the image that popped into my head. researched a bit and read that the tears were a prerequisite before the sacrifice when it came to the rain god.

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

JakkaS - you start in greyscale and then colour up later... are you using Photoshop? If so, what layer mode do you use. I've been playing around with this process and just can't seem to get it right! Almost... just... not... quite...

As with Saturn's Gate, I'd also like to second (or third) this. I've tried to color up b+w's many times before and it just seems so difficult to find layer modes that look natural... I find that in order to eliminate the metallic look i pretty much have to paint the whole picture over the top again anyway...:frustrated:

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0002-3.jpg
Ok, I took a nap and got back to this, I was amazed how many ideas came at me just because I stepped back a little. I found a Kid's Discover magazine about Aztecs. Oddly, I found it just last Saturday digging through things from my past, weird how that works out.
Anyway, found out a lot of cool info. And then I found a story on the web about a archaeological dig that uncovered a mass burial of children clutching dolls of Tlaloc. I thought that was a pretty good idea. I got rid of the thing on her back. I've seen it in a lot of Tlaloc drawings, but I couldn't figure out a way to strap it there. :) I really need to work on child anatomy, she looks to old to me right now, and i need to figure out how to draw tears effectively.
Anyway, I hope this is what Oreg and Daestwen was talking about when they told us to talk about the process behind it all. :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

eduante - love your style. The pic is amazing. I agree with some of the others though, the glowing eyes are a little close to the head. :)

mimer - cool take on the subject. Are those leaves falling? That's kinda cool, considering the water for crops and everything. :)

haroldfay - love the drawing, i'm liking the style.

Jakkas - I love the feel of your drawing, he seems so small and alone. :)

[dollfaced_joker]

after thinking for a day i realized something, i cant draw kids!!! lol.

mimer: really like the idea you having going on there :)

haroldfay: dude!!!! thats awesome!!!

edujante: thats cute!!!

[Nightblue]

rough sketch.

[Ceyface]

retry; imagining semi cartoony with color.

[Larriva Art]

This was my quick first impression of the brief. Still need reference and all that good stuff.
452952

Edit:
figuring out the scene.
455429

Almost there...
455430

[Vorace]

some concept ideas

sorry for the bad cropping, scanner too small :(

[Ceyface]

Vorace that one on the right is very cool. I like his sorta.. covered-eyed look

[Tonic]

Nice. Being unable to see what's going and getting suddenly a knife stab in your chest :P

[dirkvandulmen]

Sketch I made last night for this CHOW#125. Now it's time for colour.
Didn't make the vote or the poll last time, so better try a little bit harder this time... enjoy.

[Nightblue]

blocked in colors, trying out air brushes for a change.

I've always hated air brush, but actually having fun with it today.

[zenichi]

i can see another black and white entry, hope i get some WIP done... this idea visual is so foreign to me that my mind vision is all blurred up!!! i've not seen apocalypso or indiana jones...

[Jska]

here's my initial sketch that came from reading the brief - digging the new rules :)

453100

looking forward to finishing this one, didn't get to fully tackle the last one because of work :(

[tomwaits4noman]

great work so far in relation to black and white to colour?

has anyone had any success with the image - adjustments - replace colour option .

I am pretty much a novice with successful colouring but have found using a general tone on the colour layer and then creating an overlay layer with low opacity and picking out tones to work best
as the colour layer seems to bleach colours so I have no idea what colour to use to create the tone I want.

maybe we could start a thread in art discussion or see if any one has any tips on the matter.

=============

my fevered brain storm session for this chow. sorry its a mess but had no time to clean it up also have some hand drawn sketches I'll add later.


ok the image so far. thinking two priests to either side going to keep the details limited on them as the focus is the child. need to do more research on aztec jewelery and costumes, from images I have seen the sacrifices wore fabric wrapped around their waist no jewelery but were painted with markings

also found this about the aztec rain god http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/07/caa/ho_1978.412.24.htm

[iuvo]

iuvo:

For this particular god, they also sacrificed children's tears.

The sacrifice itself isn't meant to be part of the image, so if you'd rather sacrifice tears, it's all good. Mostly we're looking for ideas around the ritual that comes *before*, rather than the ritual that comes after.

Thanks for the reply daestwen! That I can definitely work with.

[Shard]

for those going from BW to color this is how I generally do it:
first I do a color balance and separate the color for shadows and highlights. then do the coloring using the color layer mode, it'll keep your values intact but it'll also give you that washed out painterly look, which you might like or not..if you dont and want to get rid of it, merge down and carefully paint opaquely with the right color/value. (this is most evident with reds..to have a nice intense red for example you need to scale the value down quite a bit..otherwise you'll get a pinky color instead)

some people use the multiply mode to get the colors going..gives a different feel,but i dont like it cause its easy to screw up values.

for characters one last pass with soft or hard light mode can give a bit of richness in tones/saturation, kinda depends how far you pushed the original values but might be worth playing with it..

another trick is to also put some colored noise in there so when you pick a color you get tiny variations that are always nice.

hope this helps!

[Xaya]

I am in again!!!

Ok my idea is the boy is at one of the last steps of the tempel, from right and left there are people with torches / fire

In the forground i will put a blured figure (priest), seeing just the bottom part.

First sketch...

453467

[DSAzeppelin]

I'm defiantely in on this one too...


I'll do some sketches and get them posted up. I'm defiantely going to try to learn from my 1st go at CHOW....work on my values, shading...line weight, etc.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to comment on my work, I apprecaite the insight. I'll try to put it all to good use :)

[Daray]

Managed a quick sketch whilst at work today. When I went to Mexico I went to A virgin sacrifical pit. So I am going to revolve about that. Going for a little cartooney appeal this time. Hopefully I'll get this one finished too!


453490


Edit: Just realised I've thrown myself away from the breif with this idea. Doh! Will learn to read better... honest *shifty eyes* now... back to redraw! :D

[Edriss]

I've only been on CA (actively) for a short time but I love the idea of CHOW and so I've decided to have a go.

I've actually read a couple of books by Simon Levack about pre-Columbian Mexico (the very first chapter deals with Aztec sacrifices, albeit to a different god). They've been a great inspiration and help on this one :). One of the things he mentions is how important hair was to the Aztecs as a sign of social status and my origional idea went with that but after a while that was scrapped.

So here's my second sketch, I apologise before hand for the quality but the original lines are faint and my scanner is very ill and on its last legs.


453500

[arttorney]

About the topic- I like it. I wish I had more time and didn't suck so bad at characters.

About whether the Mayans picked up Aztec influences- Yes. They learned a form of warfare involving spear throwers known as Tlaloc-Venus War from the Aztecs, but they had their own rain god called something different than Tlaloc.

About whether it is safe to draw a Mayan kid- well, the brief specifically says Aztec. In the end, I bet they care more about the character than about which specific kind of jewelry and feathers the kid is wearing.

About not seeing this or that movie- movies stem from the work of other concept artists. No matter how good you get at copying that guy, he will get the jobs instead of you unless you have something to offer of your own. Google images of Aztecs and Tlaloc, and make something up for yourself. That's why this is called a challenge.

Best of luck to everybody.

[JakkaS]

JakkaS - you start in greyscale and then colour up later... are you using Photoshop? If so, what layer mode do you use. I've been playing around with this process and just can't seem to get it right! Almost... just... not... quite...

Hey Posh ...I am afraid, I don't have any simple answer on your question. I am also experimenting with this. usually I use few layers set on Soft Light or Overburn (is this the correct name? This is the option below the Soft Light.. sorry I have polish version of Photoshop :)) with different colors and opacity. When I am content from the effects, I am flatting the picture. Then I paint on the color sketch. Nothing brilliant, I am afraid.

------
Btw, Thank you guys for the comments. :)

Cheers
Kuba

Ps. Sorry for my bad English

[Aly Fell]

Thanks Kuba. It's fun experimenting anyway. Some people seem to use the brush set to 'colour' on the flattened image. I'll have a go with the way you suggest and the other ways people have described.

TTFN

[JakkaS]

Hey Aly,

I agree. Photoshops seems to be a simple tool, but it can be use on many ways. That is why I like this program so much :)
Btw, I didn't know that you have to experiment..or look for something new. Your CHOWs (and other works I know from CGTak) are always inspiring and so good. :)

Cheers
Kuba

[DecayingLolita]

Just made several quick sketches of composition so far, this is the one I liked most but I still hate it, it's hard to get something different with such a specific historical idea... also the last time i tried an actual scene it didn't go too well, so I might cut it right down to the kid.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/sacrifice.jpg

[benkashmir]

primary sketch for now, i could use some tips on improvment from all the pro's here :)

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/benkashmir/sacrificesketch.jpg

update:
ok, taking it to the higher resulotion from now.
the shadow will become the shape of the snake as matching the carpet drawing, the two torches on the higher plate will become two shamans waving their hands.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/benkashmir/sacrificesketch2.jpg

[Dan!]

well, I'm not entirely happy with where this piece is going

but my process ---i start off sketching using a dark color on a normal or multiply layer. I dont use white though I use the color and eraser to define values. I then try and set a mood with some color behind the sketch. I usually work in about 3 layers to start with then merge when happy and rinse repeat. I like using some of the lines from my sketch so I try and run the eraser over the sketch with some texture brushes to see what happens.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/DECYPL/process.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/DECYPL/sacreificewip.jpg

[MJ_Alcazar]

Wow, really great sketches guys. I found this site about Tlaloc, it has some good info. Everyone has probably already found it. I hope it's okay to post it here. Maybe it'll help someone.

http://pagan.wikia.com/wiki/Tlaloc

http://www.allabouthistory.org/tlaloc-faq.htm

[Saturns Gate]

Ok I have started recording mine. One question though, was the kid actually sacrificed to this rain God or are the tears enough? Had a look through wikipedia but it was a bit confusing. Right now I have the kid struggling but then my dad goes and tells me they were drugged before hand or something. Hmm, any one with good clues?

[MJ_Alcazar]

Saturn's Gate, that link I posted goes into a little more detail on what children were chosen and what happened. I think basically they were put into a state of near hysteria, so that they would cry more and thus they would have more rain. At least that's the drift I was getting, hope it helps!

[DefiledVisions]

Wooow.. so many awesome works going on here! I want to join in aswell.. but I also want to do this weeks cow.. crap.. cant decide!

Man so many great sketches I like.. allthough Vorace's a favorite. I like the symbolic diety behind the child. Very strong tension. Also like Daray's stylised alot!

and thanks Shardana for the insight on colouring.. I've only tried multiply / overlay stuff on blacks before.. gonna go try colorlayers now :)

and don't forget. It's about having fun! so looking forward to this final's thread. cheers.

[Dan!]

"the people shared in a specially-prepared stew made from the bodies of slaves who had been sacrificed to Tlaloc"

...holy crap

[Xaya]

Update.

One question: Should there be a obvious hint of the sacrifice, such as a altar or a priest with a sword or whatever? Or to ask it different: Does my painting work in case of storytelling?

The boy in the middle and two priest or similar next to him, follow him to the altar.

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[Aly Fell]

Wow, really great sketches guys. I found this site about Tlaloc, it has some good info. Everyone has probably already found it. I hope it's okay to post it here. Maybe it'll help someone.

http://pagan.wikia.com/wiki/Tlaloc

http://www.allabouthistory.org/tlaloc-faq.htm

Cheers for those links. I wish I'd seen them earlier or not! Eeeww... living as an Aztec sure was rough! Or should I say: pre-Aztec?

[MJ_Alcazar]

Oh, I know, this chow has made me very happy I live in a small little town in the middle of america where no one will come and kidnap me and sacrifice me. :)

[southilbily]

this is my rough start. I feel the urge to make the boy happy(like he is proud of what he is doing for the village) but facial expressions is not one of my strong points and he turns out looking like Bobby Hill. but anyways here it is.

[Nightblue]

Wip updated.

[Vorace]

Xaya : I really like the mood of the piece. The expression of the boy is nicely done!

[Saturns Gate]

Cheers for those links. I wish I'd seen them earlier or not! Eeeww... living as an Aztec sure was rough! Or should I say: pre-Aztec?

Damn right, and kids think they have it easy these days...off to the Aztec boot camp you go! :D Anyway, fed up of my concept and that's never a good sign so early on, back to the drawing board. :P

[cowboy surfer]

Here's where I am:

Does she read as Aztek or a bit too navaho? I might have to take away some muscle tone it might be making her look older and less vulnerable...?

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l319/cowboy-surfer/chow125ver1.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

By the way... (http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day)

Not quite the same thing. But I thought it might be of interest.

Also, I give you Tláloc (http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/a/aztec-rain-god-everton-751550-sw.jpg).

All the best,
~Oreg.

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

Hey Posh ...I am afraid, I don't have any simple answer on your question. I am also experimenting with this. usually I use few layers set on Soft Light or Overburn (is this the correct name? This is the option below the Soft Light.. sorry I have polish version of Photoshop :)) with different colors and opacity. When I am content from the effects, I am flatting the picture.

Thanks for sharing the love, JakkaS. Much appreciated! :hugsmile:

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0003-3.jpg
Ok, I'm going to push this piece as far as I'm able. I THINK it's improved from the last image, but I'm blind to it's flaws at the moment. :)

[CarolineBradley]

Sketchiness... (Kept trying to post yesterday but my puter hates me at the moment.. and wow 2 pages have sprung up since then!)

With my photography and working in trad media means I'll probably not finish this (still working on ms Bad Bones from last week).. but after the second suggestion of sacrificing tears made me feel more comfortable with the subject an idea popped...

The girl crawled out of my head and the costume inspired by google images :D the idea sprung after reading this line "Everything —earth, crops, moon, stars and people— springs from the severed or buried bodies, fingers, blood or the heads of the sacrificed gods." So why not the tears...

Will use my sun conure or the feather references as I'm sure his ancestors would have adorned a head dress or two :(

Will redo the head after flipping it in photoshop she looks very wonkey!

*DEEP BREATH*

Mimer- Love the sketchy loose feeling of the image!

MJ- great start this week! Her stance looks a tad twisted, maybe if you brought her legs facing the viewer a tad more she would look more balanced.

haroldfay: What are you using to do this? it looks like pencils/pastels on tinted surface (which I love)...

edujante: love your style and it certainly looks like a scary prelude to a gruesome happening!! You work so fast!

JakkaS: wow!!! great tonal value! the mood really comes through with the dark figure in the background!

Nightblue: Great sketch and the shadow adds so much atmosphere.

Ceyface: LOL (in a bad bad way), Love the idea of the teddy bear (with matching headdress)

Vampirehunterstrike: You definitely have the ethnic look in the child's face.

Vorace: WOW great costumes designs! Great dramatic greytscale sketch!

dirkvandulmen: Difficult perspective your handling there, I really like the inked look to the sketch! Very dark and foreboding.

Jska: Very Bright colours, such a great contrast to the subject (yet the red still brings you back to the scary element!)... he looks so willing!

tomwaits4noman: Definitely got that atmosphere down pat! When I seen the final greyscale paint I (really i swear) took a sharp inhalation.. poor lil thing :(

Xaya: Wow the face in that sketch is amazing..I really look forward to seeing it progress.

Daray: Love the stylised look, looks like the Inca images I trailed through when having a quick costume search. Look forward to seeing colour on it!

Edriss: Great sketch! That forlorn look in the child's face is so appropriate.. like hes accepted his fate!

benkashmir: Unfortunately I can't give any tips but I do like the style and the figure honing down upon the child is a great effect!

Hope I didn't miss anyone, I'll have another look later and make sure!!

I'm having trouble posting images so hopefully this will show...

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y101/carolinebradley/chow125sketch1lil.jpg

[MJ_Alcazar]

CarolineBrady- thank you! I knew something was off, I couldn't find a child in the pose i wanted, so I used one for the torso, one for the right hand, one for the face, and another for the feet. Didn't even realize they weren't in the same direction! lol

I like the direction, maybe have a more anguished look?

cowboy surfer - like the pose, but she does look a little old for me. To much like a teenager, maybe make her body a little chubbier and less muscled like u said. :)

Nightblue - coming along very nicely. I like that airbrush effect. The shadows give it a very nice look. His right leg looks a little off to me, as if maybe it's not connected to the rest of him.

southilbilly - umm, did u start out making him look sad? Because he looks really sad right now, just type in "happy child" or "smiling child" into search and you'll probably get a good reference in there somewhere

Vorace - wow, that's awesome. That shadowed version is amazing. I love the sketches too. :)

VampireHungerStrike - like the sketch, looks good.

dirkvandulman - nice! I like the dramatic look. It looks a little off kilter, but that could be my screen playing trick on me.

Jska - like the colors, check the arm lengths though, they look to be differents sizes.

Xaya - like the feel of it, looks good.

DECYPL - like the colors, and design. :) but he looks too old.

benkashmir - he blends into the carpet too much. Almost like he's painted on it. Like the shadow descending on him though. :)

[PhilipArts]

ok here is a quick sketch up to see if I can catch the right flow. I might have time to go further but I wanted to toss something up here to see what can be seen. Also, I wish I could really get rid of my completely sketchy style but alas, even with much effort I still have a very rough opening to my images. Child being led to the immolation. What a bizzarre ritual.

[chaosrocks]

"In the 1st and 3rd months of the calendar and also during the festival of Hueytozoztli, "great watch," ( festival to encourage the growth of corn) children were sacrificed to Tlaloc by drowning; orphaned children were especially sought after. Tlaloc had a major temple at Tenochtitlan which, with Huitzilopochtli's, made the Hueteocalli, "Great Temple," a double pyramid which was the focus of Aztec religious ritual. Huitzilopochtli's was red for war; Tlaloc's was blue & white for water."

in reading the wiki site I noticed that many of the forms of sacrifice to this god were in the form of ritual drownings... you want rain.. drown somebody..makes sense to me. So I drugged the child, set it afloat and weighted the boat with stones and gold
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update
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/aztec-girl6w.jpg

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http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/aztec-gir7w.jpg

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

Hey All.. Nice work so far. Here's a quick lunchbreak sketch. Early stages obviously but you get the idea. God-rays! hooray! :wip:

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk198/Arthur_Two_Sheds/aztec.jpg
http://brendandeboy.com/aztec-1.jpg


Also, a quick tip for you MJ :^^:.... You've got the overall shape of the face working well, but i think by eliminating some of the wrinkle info and overall face details it helps sell the whole 'young' thing alot better. Less is more when it comes to kids! Alot of the time (with linework) its better to imply this sort of detail rather than drawing it straight in. Hope that helps :D. Keep up the good work.

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk198/Arthur_Two_Sheds/scan0003-31.jpg

[Aly Fell]

...Hope I didn't miss anyone, I'll have another look later and make sure!!

You missed me, but it's OK, I'm not offended... much... sniff...! ;)

[zenichi]

WIP... will probably focus on the child's facial expression, thought about the tugged-in-a-corner pose, explore a bit and finally got to a pose that i feel comfortable with...

just trying to learn the child's proportion and anatomy...
but i think this is more like 4-6 yrs old... so need to grow up a bit...
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based on a photo ref, wanted to placed a tear inducing smoke producing urn in front....
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wants to focus on the "solemn" moment, where he's trying to comprehend this "god of rain" that everyone has been talking about and how his parents were so pleased about him being the chosen one..., scrapped the tear-inducing/ burning weed urns thing, distracting from the solemn concept... ( he'll probably be given some weed equivalent later just before the sacrificial ceremony :P)
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keep telling myself stay away from CHOW and weeklies so can spend more time on me studies on anatomy and stuff.... am i developing some sort of addiction?!!!

[Scraw]

Here's where I got today, this is at about 3.5/4 hours right now, mostly Painter. Fairly basic pose/composition, this is my first CA post in about four years. Used to post in high school, Just graduated from college. Trevor recommended I come back here instead of being a DevianTart, and I can see why. I've never done one of the weeklies before, though I used to be a DSG regular.

If anyone is willing to critique at this early stage, I'm particularly working on anatomy and lighting/form,with a secondary focus being use of detail to focus the eye. Any critiques in other areas are more than welcome (though I am already aware that the composition is not very exciting. I wanted to take on something I could actually finish for my first weekly)

Edit: I forgot to post my more detailed concept/story:

"Yannol could not see the crowd chanting at the base of the temple's thousand steps, nor could he see the shaman who stood before the roaring fire before him. But as the first cool drops of rain struck his freshly shaven head, he could see in his head his father's face, proud at last of his son. The son born with milky, unseeing eyes. Unfit for the field of battle, or even harvest. He felt the stone of the altar beneath his fingers, washed clean of blood by the quickening rain. Tlaloc favored him this day, his sacrifice would not be in vain. Yannol faced into the now pouring rain as the shaman finished his chant, and smiled, for he saw that which was hidden from those around him. He saw the gods, and they smiled back."

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/sacrifice-1.jpg

Some um, lighting.

[CarolineBradley]

You missed me, but it's OK, I'm not offended... much... sniff...! ;)

How could I have missed you Aly.. its your own fault, you and your post editing ways! ;)

Love all of the sketches, but (for me) the first and third really speak to me better, the atmosphere is still foreboding without the drama in the other sketch.
And of those two I personally prefer the first, the composition lines draw the eye down to the instruments of the sacrifice. The faces of the adults also seem solemn, they don't like what they are doing but it mus be done...

There, happy now :teeth:

[tomwaits4noman]

Blueman I like it so far I think maybe the priest with the knife if his arm is streched out so the knife is hovering over the boys body it would make a stronger impact.

ex machina nice expression on the character a little muddy try using a hard brush 50% flow and low opacity and bring out some of the destail

JakkaS again nice work the only suggestion I would make we seem too further away from the boy, I would zoom in and maybe show the priest holding a knife. it might add to the drama imo

MJ I like the second one need to show us some sketches with the background so we can see the over all picture

edujante very nice agreed the glowing eyes on the altar are ott they take from those of the atzecs

haroldfay nice start would have liked to see this progress.

Posh the first one for me definately it builds the drama you know whats coming next
The expressions on the aztecs so blank - as opposed to giving them evil grins is a nice touch

Ceyface looking forward to seeing this develop

Mimer side views are by themselves boring unless you bring in dramatic elements to spice them up i.e shadows, dramatic light other characters a graphic background.
for me a side view shows a character disconnecting from the audience it shows solidute I think to make it work you may need to push the pose more, make a priest behind him with the knife or between two priests been guided to the altar.


Nightblue would suggest making the shadow more dramatic more imposing also the colours seem a little warm imo suggest a blue or red tint

Vamp looking forward to seeing where this is going.

Vorace nice sketches like the take on the brief

dirk pretty cool do you have a larger version of this you could post?

Jska like the pose and colour choices looking forward to seeing this develop

Xaya nice looking forward to seeing the updates on this

Daray I really like the design think you have captured the Aztec thing but she seems too relaxed for someone about to be a sacrafice

Edriss nice sketch

DecayingLolita nice start think you need to work on the composition maybe push the fact that child is trapped between these two aztecs... I would guess that by their size and custom they would appear frightening to a child

benkashmir I like the idea
a few suggestions I would zoom in more on the child and have a circle of shadows around him

DECYPL I like the pose so far, the inside knee seems abit far down in position I liked the progress pics you provided.

southilbily I think you need to make the background more graphic, its a pyramid with an altar where that child is going to die.... focal point boy and altar, like the character sketch

cowboy surfer a few anatomy issues her knees seem a little long and the 3/4 on her face think the nose needs to be moved over more also that is one well developed 10 yr old I am thinking bad thoughts looking at her.

CarolineBradley is she shedding her own blood and making her self cry if so great take on the brief

Philip think you have the aztec on too much of the same level as the boy he should towering over the boy adds more to the power struggle between them, also cleaner lines or forms would help, hard to make out the sketch

Chaos looking forward to seeing this develop, she looks a little peaceful more like Moses on the river than Issac on the altar, it seems more like a funeral than a sarcafice

Arthur a suggesstion maybe put the child higher in the frame put shadows of aztecs around
him

zenichi the third one very nice pose, think you should develop this one

Scraw I would watch the length of the limbs particularly the arms he seems to be smiling..
other than that nice image looking forward to seeing more

[cowboy surfer]

cowboy surfer a few anatomy issues her knees seem a little long and the 3/4 on her face think the nose needs to be moved over more also that is one well developed 10 yr old I am thinking bad thoughts looking at her.

Thanks, yeh I think you are right I am gonna re-draw her far younger.

The links that Oregano posted have inspired me in a different direction.

[Aly Fell]

Thanks guys, good crits!

[Hideyoshi]

little style-mixup this time...
I call it done.

/ev: looking grand already!

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

Interesting topic.
I still struggle much eith the clothes/apparel for my, er, sacrifice. :(
Doesn't really spell Aztec. Or sacrifice.
I like the idea very much to post WIPs and get more insight on the process of others.
SaturnsGate: Thanks for recording your process! This will sure be helpful. :)

Ok, just a few quick crits, a lot has been pointed out already, but, eh.

Poshspice: I like the second one the best. :)

Harodfay: Just wanted t say I like this a lot. Very subtle expression.

Mimer: Love the atmosphere.

Nightblue: Looking good. The expression is so believable and childlike.
Decpyl: Is this your child or a prist? I like the design but he sure looks older than ten. :)

Southilbily: I think you can make the face more defined, maybe eyes larger and cheeks less round. I think you were heading for round, soft, babyface like, but he actually looks a little like an old man :3. Probably google for some reference.

Mj:Her right leg looks a lot longer than her left. Maybe try drawing her legs underneath the clothes. I think you can fix this by crooking her hips. Hope this makes sense.

CarolineBradley: Very sweet and iconic.
But I don't know for sure, is she pushing a knife through her hand or is it some kind of needle? The thumb seems to be attached too far in the back of the hand.. er, or something like that.

Chaosrocks: Very nice approach, I think. Looks very peaceful. But I'm having trouble with identifying if the purple object and where it's attached to.

ev: Very nice and moody. Though he looks more like he's going to kick the priests butts. ;)


Okay. So here goes. My kid is being led through the jungle towards the ritual place by a priest. There is a pic here: http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41465000/jpg/_41465128_ap_aztec416.jpg
wich inspired the whole green thing.
I'll have a hell of a time with the feathers. Blech. Hmm, I guess I should shift the childs head a little to the left or change something about the shoulders? >_< Dunno.


Ok. Changed the composition and everything. Hope it makes more sense now.

[benkashmir]

updated mine on 3rd page :)

ex machina - nice drawing, kinda look like a duenden.
jakkas - cant wait to see it colored!
edujante - so far you are my fav'. very nice colors, i also agree on the green glow being too distracting..
haroldfay - very nice painting.. i think you should add the sacrficing element.
poshspice - great sketches. maybe try to make one with the same style only with the camera being below to kid looking up, could add very much to the drama.
mj alcazar - good sketch.
vorace - a very cool design! and the idea protraited is also very good.
dirkvandulmen - i like that detailed inking, very nice composition and camera point of view.
tomwaits4noman - i like the sketch were he holds the child more then the bottom one, it add drama to the painting when the elements overlap each other.
daray - crazy inking! i like it alot!
decypl - very intreseting, tks for the progress shots!
/ev - thats just realisticly beatifull.. i can almost feel being there.

[cowboy surfer]

Ok new direction.

Oreg's link about the oversized robe and slippers to grow into in the afterlife inspired this one.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l319/cowboy-surfer/chow125ver2.jpg

[daestwen]

Hideyoshi: Don't forget the new wip rule! Check the first page if you don't know what I mean.

[DecayingLolita]

/ev, that's such a great start, so emotive already... I'm really enjoying this topic, have learned a ton about aztec and similar cultures whiel researching *endgeekage*

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/sacrifice-2.jpg

[Ameno]

I will try this week for the first time, the character week challenge, so if you got somes comments throughout my process, feel free to do it. :P please! :D

[Hideyoshi]

Hideyoshi: Don't forget the new wip rule! Check the first page if you don't know what I mean.

Oh, hm...well, I see. Guess I am not gonna post my entry in the finals for the poll then. I consider it a good practice for the most part. :)
Will keep it in mind next round!

[Xaya]

I just experiment with the color palette... not sure about the masked dudes behind the boy....

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[meeatu]

The night before the sacrifice or the last meal.
Another Update:lifedrawing:

[Slash]

This is the thumbnail that made it. Gonna play with some hot streaks of sun on a cold image here, or at least try.

[Edriss]

CarolineBrady: Thanks! That’s what I was hoping for, hopefully the expression won’t be lost in the final pic.

Tomwaits4noman: Thank you

And here’s the final pencil bit of the sketch done :), next step will be colour.

[Ahnem Mee]

FIRST CHOW!

Let's hope I can finish something in time...

I've been thinking of a two main directions I could take with this one, and can't seem to make up my mind.

First would be 'the child would not cry' - I read in the wikipedia article about tears being a good omen, but what if the child actually wasn't affraid at all, but rather happy with the fancy clothes and festivities and attention? Plus, human sacrifice lets you stay up late.
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The other direction would be, a vision of Tlàloc.

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The last one, though I would have loved to do the glow of the flames in the rain, and the translucent figure of the raingod, is out - no use doing character art if you only get to see the character from the back...

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[Slash]

Nice sketch edriss! If i were to give a crit i'd say that the face has some adult features, but i can't put my finger on exactly what.

Btw, when i first saw your sketch i was thinking "OH SNAP HE STOLED MAH HAND HOLDING IDEA!" then i read back a couple of pages and see you posted it ages ago.. So i guess i look like the copycat now. :P

[hurricane]

great sketches people!

really nice ideas!

Here's something i've doodled on tonight. Atleast it's a start. Playing around with different designs.

[Edriss]

Slash: Thanks for the crit, someone else has just helped on that point saying that maybe it's the small eyes, big nose and not too round face that make it more adult than it should be. I love what you have on your face so far, by the way.

On the pics being alike thing I don't think its too far a stretch to think of the sacrifice being led, nor is it unheard of for two artists to have the same idea without knowing it. So overall no harm's been done.

[Daray]

Weeeeeell I did another inked sketch today. Made her look a little more weepy. Only thing I think is now a) Does she look too old and b) If the child was that young, would they understand what was happening, therefore should they look worried/scared? At 5/6 years old Im not 100% convinced they would understand it was a bad thing. I mean... in those days it was an honour, right? Hmm confusions.

Anyway heres the doodle. Changed the headdress a little, need to fix the arm and sort out those bloody feet. :(


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[MJ_Alcazar]

Arthur "Two-sheds" - Thank you so much! I'll keep that in mind. I was wondering why my friends that I showed the pic to kept saying that less is more with facial features. I guess I can be a bit too much of a visual person sometimes. :)
Thanks for the crits everyone! I'll go back and apply the things like with her hips, and add a little background detail. :)

[airrunkle]

http://airrunkle.com/other%20stuff/airrunkleCHOW125.jpg
gettin' dressed up. background and detail to come...

[jpedro]

great sketches people.
here's what i came up with tonight....not 100% happy with her expression yet, i want a bit more worry than anger....i was looking at this image (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/59/217078948_d5fc0b24a5.jpg?v=0) quite a bit when i drew her face in more detail, which i really like...

pencil sketch in my sketchbook and cleaned up some lines on her in CS2, as well as start on some grayscale blockins...hope you like so far, and that i will find some time after work to push this one further....comments welcome :)

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

No worries MJ :^^:. Foolishly, I chose to illustrate a kids book for my final year uni assignment (it was about a boy who imagined things and it was horrible :nohope:) so i've spent many late nights being driven insane by children and thier strangely-difficult-to-get-right-facial-features :p.

It was my uni lecturer who taught me the 'less is more' thing. Works every time :).

[Larriva Art]

I'm starting to get a feel for this one.
I imagine throngs of people in celebration mode. Still the child is skeptical. He is given a burden to carry as a distraction.

edit: consolidated into my first post on pg. 3.

[JIVA*SOUL]

Great stuff everybody!

Here's some black & white stuff just to get loose.
I get too wrapped up in the story and forget to focus on the specific character design...i'll have to work on that next.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f304/jivasoul/Picture1-1.png

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0004-2.jpg

i'm trying to get used to drawing things in the background and out of focus. I drew too light though. I was trying to draw the priest holding the bowl of tears. At first, I was going to draw her in a throng of people, but then, I thought that would make it too busy and draw away from her. So, I put the throng below her as she makes her way up the stairs. At least, that was the idea. :)
Wow, some great stuff on here, I'm enjoying reading about some of the thought processes.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Poshspice - wow, great stuff. Always love your work. One thing with that last image, the priest's? get a little bit tangled up with the little girl. It makes it a little hard to sort out. :)

VampireHungerStrike - I like it. Great expression. It look's like, "ummm, you're sure about this, right?" :) The man's bottom torso is bothering me, but as this is just a sketch, u probably knew that. Great job on it!
jpedro - nice start, love ur ref. image. Maybe tip the head up a little and fix the eyebrows so they don't slant down so much. I love how you were able to bring him into focus with just the use of different lines, nice.

Daray - looking good! here's a good ref. for the feet. http://www.posemaniacs.com/tools/handviewer/ i hope it helps!
And, about the thoughts, I think a child understands a lot. Children are very perceptive, and the priest would make sure to frighten the child to tears beforehand. I've noticed that, young or old, when a mob of people are so pumped up around you and completely focused on you, it's really scary, and children are easy to cry when they are scared. At least I think so, prob too deep of thought!

More later, just finished my first day of nursing school, I'm completely drained! Very rewarding, but a lot of work!!! Just like art. :)

[Antne]

Crits are NEEDED. I am stuck and feel like I'm shining a turd. Where do you guys think I can go from here or improve.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Antne - that's really awesome looking! Hmmm, well, the things that stick out to me, is the back ground people are a little dark to me. I think the one closest would have the flash of lightning illuminating him and the guy further back would be lighter. Also, his fingers look a little like animal paws. Look up some reference for them. Looking great though.

airrunkle - looking good so far.

Ahnem Mee - personally, i think the top two have more character. The other ones have the little guy out of focus. At least to me they do. Nice sketches.

edriss - love ur style, it's looking pretty good. the only thing i can see is that the face looks really old to me.

I'm so sorry, I thought I had enough energy to do the rest! I'm going to go and sleep for several hours and tackle it in the morning.

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

Righty-O then, Here's where i'm at so far. I usually don't draw in my break on Fridays, so this will probably be my last WIP until finals. Crits are most welcome. Thanks all :)

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk198/Arthur_Two_Sheds/aztec-1.jpg

[HFix]

sketch.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s286/HFix/sacrificesketch.jpg

[chaosrocks]

update page4

[Nadiamoon]

http://i35.tinypic.com/14j2b86.jpg

[Ramariel]

Great thread guys! This is my first time to participate, so heres my first contribution:

A VERY wippy WIP. Im planning on adding color once I flesh out the values, but Im kinda lost on the bottom half of the figure, so crits are very welcome!

[Sequential76]

First sketch

2nd sketch still too sketchy for me, I'm have difficulties with reference and lighting. Looked up campfire images and such for clues to figure out value of color with bright foreground flames effecting depth in the backgound.

[RevoLverZ]

back to pencils... first fast sketches. no cloth study, just the shape and pose...

[Saldim'78]

Hello to everyone. This will be my first chow.
These are my initial colored sketches. I have chosen the last one for a more proper presentation. I will post the final's rough once I get it started.

[Hashshashin]

hi everyone this is my 1st time attempting the CHOW. Here's what I have so far. I was going for a water chamber/death shrine looking setting and a very harden expression on the child. Im still not sold on the head peace it might be 2 repetitive for the Aztec theme. Im still working on it but if you have any sudjestions feel free 2 share.

[Hashshashin]

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/xx00doom00xx/aztekcopy.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/xx00doom00xx/aztekcopy.jpg

(edited so we can see the picture in the thread. - Daestwen)

[Ahnem Mee]

Hashhsashin - I like the color - are you going with a lightsource shining up from the bottom? ... I imagine a light like one in a swimming pool or hot tub would look really cool, when it's that kind of green. Nice job so far!
MJ_Alcazar - thanks for the critique, I really needed someone to help me make a choice there.
Here's what I'll be going with:

454873

I will need to put the darkest part of the cloud directly behind the butterfly to make it 'pop' more, which I'm looking forward to paint.

Using a photograph from my own stash for background reference:

454876

I love my stash...

I'll need to document more on latin girls though, the picture I'm using to get the expression and angle of the face right is an asian kid.

[Wiggers]

very nice saldim'78 some really nice concepts.

[Beelow]

Nice stuff happening! Another round of good stuff everyone. Here's my sketches.

[Ahnem Mee]

Second, third and ninth are most appealing to me...

Very interesting to see so much regalia piled on so small a person, maybe that's what I like best in this round so far... But WHY did the aztecs use feathers so much? That 'll be one pain to render!

[tomwaits4noman]

OK as WIP and progress was mentioned I grouped the images together,
generally I work over the same file so I don't have detailed progress available

I try different things with each picture sometimes starting on a black canvas building up tones and form in black and white or in colour the midtones using soft low opacity brush flow less than 50% spacing at 10%

use hardbrush for details, I have tried the replace colour option, used to use overlay and colour layers but as recommended soft light layer seems better for colour, I use a few textured brushes.

Add a noise and grain layer that I have created put it on overlay and low opacity

also have a light source file create in one project use this as well,

I use black brush rough a background and smudge tool to form shapes and then a hard brush to give it space.

I used this method for the Aztec as I wanted a different feel for that character.

Clothes textures weapons I build on separate layers

Will post the rest of my progress images here as well
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

update need to find reference for far off arm will try fix a few things hope to get some more time before sunday on this.

++++++++++++

ok still need to fix that right arm got a reference photo but still seems a bit off need to add skin tones to the child maybe aztec head band. away tomorrow so will try finish it Sunday.

another great Chow from everyone.

Oreg is it ok to post wip and reference here or are they to be posted in Finals thread?

[S.C. Watson]

quick digital sketch before work this morning. no ref.

455023

~Oreg.

[Carnifex]

might participate...in the meantime here's something that might help you with the children...i notice quite alot simply draw normal heads on child bodies,even if not intentionally. (forgot where i got this)
btw jakkas,you have done one hell of a job already...it hurts to look at this picture...esp.when you (like me) have checked alittle further on wikipedia :$
beelow and hurri,awesome design variations.

edit: wip. hopefully i'll get done on time.
edit2: additional sketches.

[chaosrocks]

update and posted process here

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1909740&postcount=102

durn I hate posting my sketches and stuff...they are so ugly

[magichappens]

everyones stuff looks really good this time! anyway heres what i have so far...my initial sketchs http://images41.fotki.com/v1309/photos/1/1361438/6427072/sketch001-vi.jpg that's the gestures i did to figure out a pose. and then i did this. http://images39.fotki.com/v1292/photos/1/1361438/6427072/sketch002-vi.jpg i wanted to make her being led away by the hand but i can't get the angle of the grown up right. so because i needed it to put it somewhere her arm is nicely drawn around her waist and the sketchy one i never finished because i couldn't figure it out.any suggestions?

[Ahnem Mee]

any suggestions?At this stage? Maybe make the adult figure really big and looming somewhat over her?

[tomwaits4noman]

update and posted process here

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1909740&postcount=102

durn I hate posting my sketches and stuff...they are so ugly

I think you need to imply some danger here, maybe an arm over head with a knife does not matter if we know she has been drugged or if the audience thinks she is asleep, what might be interesting is one hand stroking her hair and the other with a knife, it will make a nice twist on the image.

going backwards

magichappens watch the length of the arms they are bit too stretchy also think you need to thumb out the image don't worry about details at first just give us an idea of what the over all image will be.

Carnifex like the sketch but the child seems way to happy sacrifice human or tears, maybe if you a priest or Aztec behind the child with a knife so it looks like she is being distracted. I know I am mentioning knifes hovering over kids a lot in this thread, but it is part of the brief.

Oregano nice, is it going to be a sacrifice of tears?

Beelow like the end one on the first row

Ahnem Mee I like the idea nice sketch but too much empty space on the left side unless you are putting something there crop the image, maybe show more of the arms of the guy holding the knife.

Hashshashin drowning interesting take on this I think maybe if you show some sense of panic in the characters emotion he seems too calm, especially as he is tied down which would mean he is not willingly sacrificing himself

Saldim'78 the last one seems strongest to me love the design and colours

RevoLverZ need more detail maybe a few thumbs of over all image.

Sequential76 think the image is somewhat unbalanced.priest to right, boy in middle nothing to the left
you could do something interesting compositionally with the circle
maybe a pov from inside the pot looking up as the boy is about to be thrown in or looking down, make the threat more apparent and dramatic

Ramariel google aztec and aztec costumes, you 'll get some ideas there

Nadiamoon cool character design love the facial expression

ok thats all have time for at moment.

[Claudio Grassi]

Poshspice: thats looking amazing!
Jakkas: cant wait to see it finished, you guys rule!

My concept, which I am late in starting as usual is of various aztec women/priestesses or vestal virgins or whatever they had (I gotta look into it) preparing the child for the sacrifice. The child himself does not wholly comprehend the event and infact is wrapped up with curious interest at the unusual amount of attention he's receiving.
Im trying to give it a silent and somber mood, much of which will probably be easier to convey with color and lighting. The final read of the woman hiding her face and crying at the child's feet is not meant to be his mother but just the dawning of conscience of what's to come....bah, I probably wont have time to finish it, but I'll try...

Great work all around tho, some awesome Aztecky costumes in the posts :)

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb304/TenGuKu/chow125s-1.jpg

Crits from ye gods of CA are most welcome and requested!

[Slash]

had some major wacom issues today, it took a while before i remembered i have release candidate drivers.. so i downloaded older stable drivers and it worked like a charm, AFTER i unplugged, uninstalled, reinstalled rinse repeat for a small eternity...

I think i have fixed the perspective now, and i can't see anything jarringly wrong with the pose.. so i'm gonna upscale and start painting for real now.

(the bottle is just a joke.. i'm gonna have him holding something, but i'm not exactly sure what yet.)

//edit: Any comments are welcome, if you see something wrong please let me know! thanks.

[petitemistress]

excuse the poor quality of the scan!

my progress so far... she's supposed to be drugged up, i'll have to fix her expression T_T I also incorporated elements relative to the god Tlaloc in her ceremonial outift: headress is the lightning serpent, and in her hand is Tlaloc's Jade tomahawk (these 2 basically serve the same purpose, to call forth lightning i think).

crits are welcome, as im about to start painting this in greyscale... :D

Edit: Grayscale painting update
thx Meatsworthy- thanks! im loving yours tbh! :D
I'm pooped fer now so i'll come back and crit 2moro ^.^

Edit2: finally got rid of the lineart! changed things around following the advice of the lovely ppl in IRC :heart: detailing begins now i think, unless you guys pick out things that need tending to first :D then... color! *dreads* ;-;

[Meatsworthy]

That's a great drawing petite.

Good topic, I was curious if I could paint a child. And very aztech-y ideas from everyone... mine not so much.

EDIT: Couldn't finish, but it was good fun nonetheless. :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

EDIT : [deleted first image] I hope that was ok, trying to save space. :)

I never tried anything in colored pencil before. I think I just wrecked my drawing, BUT I do like the feel of the colored pencils, even though it doesn't look very good. Umm, that probably doesn't make much sense....
Well, I think I still have time to do it all over.

Wow, some more great stuff on here guys.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0006-1.jpg

EDIT: ok, calling this one my color test. I figured I could at least get some practice in and work out which colors I wanted to use. I'm still running into the problem of the background, not too sure yet how i make it STAY the background and don't take away from her.

[Slash]

Quick color layer before scaling up.. found something i'm relatively happy with, the floor still needs to change tho.. I wanted to paint the walls blue and white, since i read thats how tlaloc's temples were painted.

[Beelow]

Another update.

[MJ_Alcazar]

tomwaits4noman - looking really good. I like the progression.

Beelow - 2nd, 9th, and 10th look the best to me. Great concepts with all though. :) wait, just saw the update, wow. It's looking great.

Slash - I'm liking the colors and lighting. Thanks for the info on the color of the temples, may come in handy. :)

petitemistress - love the use of symbols. You're sketching style is really great.

Kugu - nice take! :) I'm reading annoyance at the fussying over him, and not so much interest. Also, I think the crying woman's head may be bent just a tad too much

Carnifex - good direction, I'm liking the colors and the composition. Thanks for the info on drawing children.

Oregano - wow, looking good. May be just me, but I'm reading it as very Hawaiian. Could be the flowers? though.

Xaya - looking good so far. Maybe when you start to do the club? behind his head, you might want to move it down and to the right of the drawing. looks a bit disconnected.

Ahnem Mee - glad I could help! Hmm, right now I think it maybe too long, it doesn't draw the eye right. Cropping, as I believe someone else mentioned should fix that. :)

Hashshashin - hope I spelled that right, I really dig the direction, but I think you need to push the expression on his face.

Nadiamoon - beautiful!

Hfix - she looks a little too much like a teenager to me. Her face especially. :)

Arthur "Two Sheds" - I like the composition, and the colors are great, but I'd love to see the face, maybe you could do a close up of the face and put it out to the side?

[Spooky Roller Disco!]

nice stuff beelow, atmospheric. i like it. beauty in the colours.

MJ - i find it amazing how much youve developed in a short space of time, like i remember a few weeks ago in a chow you hadnt grasped proportion quite right, and seeing your work getting better every week is sort of inspiring to me! :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

Spooky Roller Disco! - wow, that's a HUGE compliment. Thank you.

[Scraw]

Here's an updated version of my earlier post, added some color this time and some tighter rendering, fixed up some of the wonky anatomy from before. (Stretch armstrong arms anyone?)

Here I'm going with the concept of the child who is proud to be sacrificed, and who isn't upset about it. (the fact the he is smiling is intentional)

In the final version rain will be falling, showing that his sacrifice has been accepted already, and giving him something to be proud of. The child was originally going to be blind as part of his story, but it doesn't seem to be very important, so I will likely drop it.

[HFix]

sketch update. :lifedrawing:

[Carnifex]

thanks for the comments so far.
tomwaits4noman, i had planned on simply implying the knife, as in,you can see the shadow,and the reflected sunlight somewhere on the picture. doesn't state in the brief there needs to be one btw. while we're at it...
chaos,very beautiful sketch,very original. only crit is you need to work it more,of course, and to get that beautiful face from the sketch back. i disagree on having any more figures or actions in that pic.
slash - the stretched foot is kinda wrong,it doesnt't go with the perspective in the rest of the pic. beautiful lighting and mood though. face could be more childlike,i'm not sure.

[Claudio Grassi]

MJ_Alcazar: thanks for the crit..yeah, that woman was giving me trouble, so I changed her out...and the concept a bit... >_>
Also Im trying to relax the kid's face to give him less of an annoyed look :)
Incidentally, what type of colored pencils are you using? they seem a bit pastel-ly, almost like crayons...or did it get that effect after the scan..I like you color choices, but the colors are just mushing into each other..oh well, first try is always like that, try again and show us :)

Slash: I love your pic..at first I missed the comment that the bottle is a joke and I was like..what the hell?!? but anyhow the only thing I would point out, and I may be wrong, is that the sunlight is being cast at a perpendicular angle from the wall, but the kid's shadow is falling diagonally behind him..it's a bit odd..nut again I could be wrong. cant wait to see what you DO put in his hand :D

Meatsworthy: awesome..love the designs and the feel of your illo..very nice "ascention" look...

Ok here's a revised (slightly) version with a bit of GS...I figured the kid is being coated in EVOO for the roasting..oh wait..whrong thread..XD no no he's being sort of annointed with oils and eventually petals and such to prepare him for the sacrifice..I changeds the cryin woman out with one holding the bowl to show also a sense of reverence, after all, THEY thought this was all good...anyhow, let me know wht you all think..is this better or the crying woman? thanks :)

Oh yeah, so far no reference except for the hairstyles which I peeped on some aaancient parchment depicting aztec daily life...hard to make out, but Im working on them..I figured the feathered headdresses were reserverd for warriors kings and priests...hmmmmm


http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb304/TenGuKu/chow125s-2.jpg

[Ahnem Mee]

Pfew, I really hope I'm going to be able to finish this...

Leaving away the hands from the priest improved the picture significantly, but I realised I needed the dagger to bring across the story. Talking of which, even though the butterfly was a thing I added on a whim, I afterwards read butterflies were connected with Quetzalcoatl, who was also a god of rain and weather, receiving animal sacrifices and may have been opposed to human sacrifice... and even considered an equal and adversairy to Tláloc later. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron-god of priests.
So... is this a sign from the heavens we're looking at?

Sometimes I feel I'm not incharge of my own brain.

Anyway, here's my attempts at improving composition - thanks to the bubs who helped me with advise - I could use some more of it though!

[Pixeltuner]

great round everyone, I might be able to sneak an image in somewhere this weekend. One thing that I notice: I see a lot of old heads, that look at least as a teenager and some even as an adult.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Kugu - thanks for the crit, I'm using some old crayola colored pencils that I had lying around. Which, may or may not cause a crayon effect. I've never used them so I really don't know! lol. But, yeah, the scanner gave it a really different look. At first all the colors were actually glowing! so I tried to darken it so that it wouldn't look so weird, and this effect happened. :)
I like the new concept btw. looks better!

[vineris]

Hi there! This is my first CHOW. There are a lot of really great entries in this thread and it's kinda intimidating. :)

Here's what I've got so far. I went with the horrified look because it seemed stronger, even though it's more cartoony. Do the angled blocks work? Should I straighten them out? I'm also thinking of a reddish overlay at the end to make the light look more like firelight.

[Carnifex]

oh yeah,and slash,i think some sort of medallion might be a good thing to fit in his hand? maybe something with the god's face on it?

[petitemistress]

Alrite, crits tiem! :D

Tomwaits4noman - i like the mood in your pic but there's too much blacked out for my taste... also the shaman's head appears to be floating, im not sure if this is bcz its a WIP but the torso should show at least a little to ground your character...

Oregano - as someone else mentioned, your sketch has too much of a hawaiin feel and not enough Aztec... also her mouth makes her look alittle bit old, not sure how this would be fixed tho..

Carnifex - your child appeared to be standing to me at first glance, then i realized he was kneeling? maybe clarify that little... and thank you for the children proportions help :D

Magichappens - reference that pose, you'll see your mistakes instantly ^^

KuGu - im liking the overall concept ^.^ and the composition/placing of the characters works well together, altho i found the lady crying in despair in the bottom right corner a bit overkill tbh, so im glad you changed that :D

Slash - legs need a little extra attention... ;)

Meatsworthy - still love it, altho maybe a little "Aztec" colors would enhance the period feel? green, red, yellow, the like... that light on her face is awsm!

MJ - i like that youve incorporated blue in the skin! some anatomical mistakes, but i like the little details in your piece (the doll in her/his hand, the patterns..) a lot!

Beelow - nice so far... but im waiting to see the kid ;) he is the main subject after all :D

Scraw - head is WAAY too big for the body, and there are some anatomical erors both in face and body you could tend to :) im loving the guy in the back tho!

Jay-Zee - proportions are good, watch the face! and personally id make the hands bigger, to echo the big feet

HFix - nice color choice, cant wait to see more ^.^

Ahnem Mee - the colors are a bit muddy... i like the irony of it but the render needs cleanup! :D also cant comment on the kid since its boody is still a silhouette so far! :D

Vineris - overall too flat... id say get a ref and get that pose right before starting to even consider coloring it! altho i do like the render on the face... and watch that perspective! :D

phew! thts all i can do fornow... hope i was useful in some way! :heart:

[Saldim'78]

Wiggers - Thank you for your comment.
tomwaits4noman - Thanks! I liked the pencils of #1 better but the colored result of #5 was more appealing. I like the idea of the jaguar faced priest and I think your image would be stonger with some vivid color on the child to set it on contrast with the murky-toned background.

[vineris]

Thanks for the crit, petitemistress! Back to the drawing board, I guess.

[MJ_Alcazar]

UPDATE on page 6! :)

Thank you petitemistress for the crit. In the next one, maybe I can work out some of those anatomy problems. :) I'm so glad the blue at least worked out. I was so scared to put down such an opposite color down, but I think it looks a lot better than the black I usually put in paintings and stuff. :)

[Saturns Gate]

Excellent stuff guys, ill crit soonish. :)

Heres that video I was talking about making, its no massive black download but its something. ;) Next part(s) coming this weekend.

Y7P3S-y4EZs

Oh and below is the line drawing where it ends in the video.

Crits very much welcome!

(EDIT: Sorry about that last part where it goes black, will sort that next time. Things im gong to change to the line work: Sort out the perspective of the ground plane with the boys feet.)

S

[MJ_Alcazar]

Saturn's Gate - Wow, that was awesome! I loved seeing the entire process and the ideas that went into it. I like the sketch so far, very imaginative.

[Ahnem Mee]

Update... lots of small things really - at this rate, sunday's gonna cost me...

[airrunkle]

Its very fun watching everyone's wips! some amazing stuff here!

Gots to jump into details now... might add a bit more flair to her to give her more character. Reminds me too much of jungle book right now
http://airrunkle.com/other%20stuff/airrunkleCHOW125WIP02.jpg

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/sacrifice4.jpg

Have been quite ill the past few days and don't know if I'll finish it.

[timothee]

Great stuff everyone, nice variety of characters for sure. Here's my WIP. The child is in shadow to represent his impending doom, gotta play around with the BG a bit.
http://img28.picoodle.com/data/img28/3/9/5/f_aztec3m_f5f9036.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/3/9/5/f_aztec3m_f5f9036.jpg&srv=img28)

[WTFsteph]

finally got around to doing a sketch.
i didnt realize how hard it is for me to draw kids man.

[Orion9282]

Ok, due to the new requirements, here's my WIP stuff, final, and some thoughts.

I've not included my WIP's in the past because I have very little time to do these weekly contests. I'll often do some quick tiny thumbz in my work notebook and jump right to painting. It's not an ideal situation, but in order to hit the deadlines with a more "finished" piece, I typically have to work this way.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e16/Orion9282/Orion9282_CHOW125_WIP.jpg

This started with some brief internet research... I usually find images that have bits and pieces of elements that I want to include (a headpiece, a bracelet, etc.) These sketches represent a few approaches: minimal adornment on the left, clothed, and a mixture between the two on the right.

I decided to move forward with the half clothed/half bare skinned concept with more regal elements added. Experimented with a headdress, and tried to make him look like he was overloaded with stuff as a symbol of wealth to the gods: feathers, gold, medallions, body-paint. Also, I tried to make his expression reflect acceptance of what's about to come. Painted it up, and here's the final.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e16/Orion9282/Orion9282_CHOW125.jpg

I'm somewhat satisfied with it. After not going to the poll with the Monk, I decided that I wanted to spend a bit more time on my renderings to up their quality level... their level of detail. I think my Harley Quinn had a bit more detail (as someone pointed out in my sketchbook), so that's what I tried to do. I think some of that is working for me.

What's not working is that his costume kinda looks like a costume. There's something that's not believable about it... might be the colors, might be the over-the-top-ness. Might be the way that I rendered some of the "fabric" portions. Oh well... onto the next...

BTW: C&C welcome...

[ye_oldskool]

Ok, so I figured I'd give this one a go! I've had this image in my head since this topic began so here is my starting point for it.

I wanted the pic to have a lot of depth and also thought this would be a good opportunity to play with a different style as well as some cool lighting. Hopefully I can finish this one off! :\

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk142/ye_oldskool/Tlaloc_wip1.jpg

Update on progress. Still plenty to go!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk142/ye_oldskool/Tlaloc_wip2.jpg

[Saturns Gate]

Orion: If you find some more time I would like to see his face with more sharp edges, especially around his eyes. Toes could use a little work detail wise also. The bottom half seems to draw my eye before the top half, think its cause the dark contrast parts are around there and only on the feathers on the top half, maybe add some more contrast around his face? Just a suggestion, really like ya rough sketches.

timothee: Cool character, like the simple color scheme, though not sure about the glarish yellow at the bottom for his shadow...would probably just keep that as a proper shadow color wise? Kinda distracting.

Decaying Lolita: work more into those faces, probably a good half hour or so trying to make them look as good as you can. Right now they appear a little mushy, particularly on the woman behind the girl. The actual scene look sweet though and I like the subtle colors. :)

Kuga: Lovely layout! :) one thing that troubles me is Im not exactly sure what the woman is reaching up for? Is she going to take him off the podium? The kid seems to not be liking whats going on. It also seems like this part is during the sacrifice of his tears? Woman holding the bowl for them? Maybe add some kind of metallic grippers in the womans hand. They used them for pulling off the child's fingernails to make them cry (or so wikipedia says). might indicate more reason why the kid is more reluctant.

MJ Alcazar: I like the clothes design, but as you said, not sure about the coloring. Though pencils are damn hard to color in so good one for trying. You could just throw this in photoshop and make changes in there?

[Saldim'78]

Here is the workflow for my final image so far. I need to finish her headdress and maybe add some highlights and shadows. I was wondering if this step-by-step presentation (accompanied by some footnotes) qualifies for the final's WIP requirements.

[petitemistress]

my progress is here:

http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1912522&postcount=163

:D

[benkashmir]

awsome work from everyone so far!

a little update, i really hope i could make it to the poll

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n229/benkashmir/indianscenesmall.jpg

[chaosrocks]

up datered p 4

[MJ_Alcazar]

Saturn's Gate - Thank you! Oh, that would be lovely, considering I'm running out of time and I actually kinda liked how she turned out, minus a few changes I would have made. Alas, I have no photoshop. I plan on buying that or Painter when I get some money in, but that won't be for a few months. I might try some things on Photobucket like I did with my other colored drawings and see if I can fix a few things. :) Thanks again for planting that idea! :)

[KidApe]

Count me in, so it's fine if I post my progression in the final burning then right>?

[Ameno]

I updated my topics, with a new pic, any comments will be appeciate, also I always got somes problem to create good face, any tips will be also appeciate, but any others comments on anatomy or tips... don't know yet if I will do black and white image at the end or maybe try color.

http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1910560&postcount=119

[DefiledVisions]

thought I'd join .. though didn't realize deadline is tommorow :( gotta do my best.
I'm still trying to figure out how to use all different type of layer modes together for effect .. instead of just having that acrylic non-textured feeling to it :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0009-2-1-1.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0006-1-1.jpg

Thanks everyone for the tips on the colors! I tried to correct my first one, and I think it looks better, although I maybe too close to it and need to come back in another few hours to see. Also, redid the whole picture, tried to fix the anatomy problems and different other things. Also threw it in to correct the colors. Re-did the background composition. I figured the first one could be constued as 'during the sacrifice' too much, so I put her on a pedestal thing while she's being prepared for the tear sacrifice before the main one. I really hope I have a chance to come back to this tomorrow before finals. I have a bunch of school things though, so may not even be able to come back on to post on finals. Great stuff everyone, sorry for the long post!

[gunnarsson]

good entries!

hurried thisone together today
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u256/pettergunnarsson/CHOW125_gunnarsson.jpg

[vineris]

Here's the re-work. I have trouble with values, so I decided to take the advice and work in grayscale for now. Those feet on the people in the back don't look properly grounded to me and trying to fix them is driving me insane.

[vineris]

Also, I might as well make myself useful:

Saturns Gate - cool video! I love the headdress design and the idol. The pose looks somewhat awkward to me. Although I guess getting sacrificed doesn't make for easy movement.

Ahrem Mee - I like the shading on the robes. Is it just me or does the child's ear seem too low?

airrunkle - the leg with the pointed foot seems awkward. It would make more sense if that part of the platform were raised, but the platform looks like a flat surface. I like the design of the women's clothes!

timothee - I love the blue colour. It works really well.

ye oldskool - I like the colour scheme. I'm not sure the slope works well with the way he's standing, though. I think having one leg forward and bent at the knee would look a bit better.

petitemistress - Cool design! I think the eyes need sharpening up.

MJ Alcazar - it looks much better with the blue guy in the background. I'm not sure that purple is working out -- but it's hard to get a good colour mix out of a set of Crayolas. You might want to layer very gradually next time.

gunnarsson - very cool! Great lighting!

[Hashshashin]

working on it some morehttp://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/xx00doom00xx/aztek2copy.jpg

[ye_oldskool]

Thanks for the feedback Vineris - unfortunately I'd already posted the final by the time I checked this thread again!

Anyway, I ended up hiding the position of the feet etc with shadow and smoke, so I hope that helps the pic.

Also, i've sent you a message with some feedback for your pic in it.

cheers!

[mr. m]

my week was totally full-on, so I had to skip this round...

really nice entries and wips so far, cant wait to see the final section!
congrats for everyone!

SaturnsGate: What kind of screen recorder you used? Could you drop me a PM as I am trying to find a cool one for ages... cheers!

[Daray]

I am going to have to pull out of this round. Had some bad news over the weekend so I've fallen behind and now I won't really get it finished without rushing. Shame really as I was absoloutely loving this one! I'll make more of an effort next round.

Best of luck to all entrants, they all look super so far.

[Claudio Grassi]

Ah crap! this is as far as I could get...Didn't have time to finish it, but I will and eventually upload it somewhere on the site for crits on the final...Umm, Im such a n00b, how do you "thank" other user's posts?

Petitemistress: thank you, Im glad you like the edit...I too felt the crying woman was overkill after I came back to the drawing the next day :)
As far as your illo goes, I like that you took out the tommahawk thingie..armed sacrifices would probably have fought back XD cant wait to see it colored!

Ye Oldskool: Very nice concept so far..only thing that's a bit off for me is that the kid looks like he's a little bad-ass-hero, rather than a sacrificial offering..in that his attitude is "tough"..very cool looking overall tho.

Saturns Gate: Thanks! the boy seems to be taking on a life of his own, and he may have gotten an idea of what's going on, his fussy attitude sits well with me...I think, you know kids..they never wanna do as they're told ^_^ As far as the woman standing on the left, she's supposed to be oiling him up with the stuff that's in the bowl >_> but I was hoping to make that clearer with detailing...oh well. This whole concept was fof the "ritual" before the ritual...I hoped.

MJ Alcazar: looking a lot better, now that youre getting some control on the medium..I really like crayons, but find they work best on newsprint... :)

Gunnarsson: Wow! gorgeous piece...love the lighting and overall mood of it, but I dont htink it looks nearly azteky enough..The architecture looks..I dunno, maroccan..and the figures gimme an atlantean feel, some sort of lost-never-really-existed-cool-ass-civilization look..great work tho :)

Vineris: loving the grayscale version...very smooth..almost looks 3-d :D Watch the perspective on the legs in the BG and add a drop shadow below them to try to anchor them down...hope it helps :)

Hashshashin: Great expression, the colors do pop out a bit, but I feel it works, want to see it finished :)

Anyhow here's as far as I got...boooooooooooooooooooo! The BG is referenced from the wikipedia img of tlaloc...

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb304/TenGuKu/chow125s-3.jpg

[Hashshashin]

almost done...lol i used the same wiki photo.http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/xx00doom00xx/aztekcopy.jpghttp://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/xx00doom00xx/aztek2copy.jpghttp://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e137/xx00doom00xx/aztek3copy.jpg

[chaosrocks]

ok I am officially humbled
anyway I posted
my final, and the ugly process shots
and I wanted to thank the folks in IRC for putting up with me
and especially the help from Texahol, Slash and yoitisi and Emma ...who listens to me whine and kicks my ass when nessisary
thanks ya'll

[daestwen]

Just letting you guys know that you have around 20 hours to complete and post in the finals thread.

Putting up the new round in a few minutes! :)

[Ameno]

I updated with my final version, I ask again if anyone have tips or comments that will be very appreciate because I'm do this only for learn so... will post ..this picture to the final thread but, any tips or comments will be useful for my learning process thanks!

http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1910560&postcount=119

[xgabo]

My entry:

http://homepage.mac.com/gabrielfrizzera/chow125_xgabo.jpg

[Carnifex]

posted final in final's thread. hopefully it's okay.

[Timmy the Turtle]

some WIPs... don't think I'll have the time to finish... but it's fun anyway :)

[Slash]

soo.. yeah.. i feel i'm over my head on this one.. It's getting really frustrating.. My roomie just pointed out some of my blatant perspective errors. i tried salvaging some of it with a perspective skewing.. can't decide if it got better or worse.. and after repainting the light strips a thousand times i don't know if i wanna continue salvaging this pos.. I know the deadline has passed, but i wanted to finish it anyways.. any advice?

[Aly Fell]

Slash, you've got me really cool things going on in this image, but maybe you've just got too close to it. Stop fiddling, tidy up the hands and feet a bit and post it. The lighting works really well, and yes there are a few perspective issues but you ain't going to sort it now, and they're not that bad! :) Post it!

[Saturns Gate]

Well, if the poll dont go up for another 3 hours I should be cool. Gotta voice over and finish off the painting a bit more. :D No worries if not, its been fun. :)

[Slash]

Thanks for the kick in the ass aly! I'll keep working on it and see if i can squeeze it in before the polling starts. ;)