EOW 165 :: Home of the Trolls

[Vulgar`]

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


Topic = Home of the Trolls
topic suggested by Braintree

Brief:

Deep, dark and foreboding or warm, fluffy and cozy? Either way, beware. Trolls dwell here...



- Please specify which image is final in this thread!


Deadline: Sunday, June 4th

[Dile_]

D; don't ask me, serious entry is comin' laterz!

http://i1132.photobucket.com/albums/m572/will_bjork/trollroom.jpg

[Spideriser]

haha ill also do a seriouse one soon :P

[Vulgar`]

Haha..

[coool_brain]

Interior or Exterior?
Do we have to show what the inside of home looks like, or how it looks from the outside?

[Vulgar`]

^The choice is yours.

[Ragnj]

Doin an exterior, pretty heavily influenced by John Bauer. Check him out, master of troll environments (the classic ones).

Rofl at Dile btw.

[bullitbikini]

Damnit Dile that was the idea i had too hahahaha. i actually would like to see you do that one as your serious concept. What if Troll trolls trolled on the internet. PErhaps make his room under a bridge haha I will be doing mine soon too!

[Adevila]

Speeedpaint.

Let me know if you see any mistakes.

[coool_brain]

k Vulgar`. I am in. Doing an exterior.

[dragon4lunch]

Vulgar: You have a cool slogan "When I'm on the skytrain headed for the centersphere."
Care to let us know where that's from or what it's about?

[Nickodemus]

Here is my foundation so far. Lot's of lasso tool, chisel brush, rock brushes and some photo textures.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Du5dWwb72U/Td08MnCthYI/AAAAAAAAAWw/pP_fyyUkv_4/s1600/Home_of_the_Trolls.jpg

[Vulgar`]

Vulgar: You have a cool slogan "When I'm on the skytrain headed for the centersphere."
Care to let us know where that's from or what it's about?

That quote was inspired by sci fi speedpaintings from an open mic piece (a written rhyming verse) titled 'the weather project.' I later used the basis of the idea of a "centersphere" - the place you go when you die. The center of all life, death, and whatever else. It was adapted into this verse from 2009:


"My theory is, everybody dies at 11:11
Whether or not we're sent to the heavens for being true to the eleventh commendment -
is another matter, what about the death of any other matter?
Under microscopes, why do some cells multiply and others scatter?
After we die, do our eyes still see beneath the under caverns?
The cold world vaporizes as my body leaves this ruined Earth
LIFE AFTER DEATH IS THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE
These are the questions that bind us, define us as human beings
Life is the silent trickle of fluids streaming -
Death is the vilest truth concealing leviathan, rootless, fleeting
It brings demise to the youthful seedlings -
Dead babies, still irises, pupils seeping
Death is the end of everything, a tranquilized leopard
In the mere range of language where vanquish lies tethered
Death is the wingless pigeon, the diminish of Earth
Our maker will probably strike down before I finish this verse
Egyptians believed that within dragon hoards they'd be reborn into the valley of kings
In my afterlife, there would be my soul mate, my children, valleys and springs
Yet it doesn't matter what we think when death comes calling
One father raised his arms to the sky at the sight of his dead son falling
To understand, one must begin living with the scent
The end of the beginning is the beginning of the end
of the beginning
of the end
of what we've come to know as life."

[Rob Powell]

I might try for this, since I just finished COW for this past week. what time on Sunday is the deadline?

[Erick Willand]

Ok, I'm in. Hope I can make it. Here's the first rough thumb.

[Erick Willand]

The idea is good but this one isn't working all that well, posting just to show the idea flow, trolls have taken over some ancient ruins and are cooking something... or someone.

[Rob Powell]

Here's a rough piece, going long the line of something like Shrek (I know he's an ogre, but they're very similar to trolls). Man I really need to work on my environments more.

[Blankstate]

Think i might give an enviro a shot. Need to work on them. Not sure about these. I mean if this is the direction i want to take it.
1240080

Rob Powell I'm no expert at perspective but i find that just picking a suitable vanishing point and drawing lines from it can really help with giving your picture the right look to it. Maybe this is helpful.
1240081

[Rob Powell]

@Blankstate: Thnx a lot man! It looks better, but I may have to change it up a bit, cuz the idea was the persective is coming from somebody walking on the path, towards the treehouse, thingy...
I'm very much a rookie when it comes to environments and backrounds, because I've done so little, so I gotta push myself to do some. The same with mehanical things, and pretty much anything with straight lines or uniform curves.

[Nickodemus]

Blankstate - Loving those thumbs. I think the composition is feeling pretty good.

Here's where I ended up for today. I haven't added any trolls to it yet, but the idea is that they reside in a massive cave, encrusted with a rare, precious blue rock, and prey on any who wander inside. I kind of want to hide a single troll somewhere, waiting for the cave divers to get close enough before they attack & eat them.

Please let me know any gripes you have with this or critiques.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rF7FDhBG8wc/Td3nJZys4pI/AAAAAAAAAW0/KKgoTUyctaI/s1600/Home_of_the_Trolls.jpg

[coool_brain]

here we go... hope this is making sense.

1240334

[themonet]

@ Rob Powell,

After reading your description of the path in the foreground, I think I am reading your thumb correctly now. That kind of a sharp drop off in the picture plane and with how far above (and still relatively close) the view of the tree is makes that path practically a cliff.
Either change the vantage point on the tree so the viewer is not so far above it, or make it further away from the viewer.

I drew this quick diagram to illustrate my point. The one on the top is what you have right now, I think the one below is what you're trying to accomplish. Try and think about your composition of elements based on a flat picture plane inside of the guys "point of view" area.

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc446/themonet/quickdiagram.jpg

[Rano]

this topics is very interesting. I think i'm gonna start something :p

Great stuffs here :)

[Rob Powell]

@themonet: yeah thanks I understand what your saying as I've stated i'm most likely going to change it seeing as it was still very rough just me basically sketching out really a reply quick idea.

[Vulgar`]

I might try for this, since I just finished COW for this past week. what time on Sunday is the deadline?

I usually don't post polls until Monday or early Tuesday so you'll have extra time. An exact time would be around 5 o'clock in the morning, London time.

[Dile_]

Nice stuff guys!

wiippp :D

http://i.imgur.com/TiAsk.jpg

[Nickodemus]

Wow, Dile. That composition is sick. So awesome.

[Rob Powell]

Thnx for the tips guys!
Here's another quickie I made, it looks a bit better but still needs a decent makeover. I really don't know if I'll be able to finish on time, but I'll give it a shot.
@Nickodemus: Looking pretty neat so far, I think you should put a troll in the foreground on the right looking out at the travellors

[Blankstate]

Started messing around with this a little more.
1240843

I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm just kinda 'Bob Ross'-ing it.
1240842

[KleeWyck]

I'm kind of new to environments and whatnot, so I'm hoping to get better at them by doing these challenges in the future.

First WIP.

[coool_brain]

i hated my other option. so here we go again... the concept is a tree burrow. please give some suggestions on how to improve this.

1240978

@Dile_: Nice composition dude. 'guiding eye with value' demonstrated

@KleeWyck: I am definitely improving by trying these challenges. Hope you will too. I already started liking those skeletons in the environment.

[Rano]

@coool_brain The atmosphere and the mood of your composition is super cool :) The green/warm tone works cool together. I think maybe a foreground elements like a plants or a trunks (or something else) will be a great way to had some depth and balance to your composition.

[coool_brain]

@Rano: thanks. agreed... will add some foreground element.

[Blankstate]

I know it might be a bit late to give out crits/suggestions but maybe someone might find useful.

Adevila It seems too early to tell if there are any mistakes. Perspective seems ok to me but I'm not sure exactly what's going on in this picture yet.

Erick Willand I like the second idea. Completely square images rarely work very well composition wise though.

Nickodemus Really cool looking pic so far. Seems the lasso tool method has left a lot of jagged ends that would look better if they were cleaned up. By that I mean the little areas in the rocks of the cave walls where there are some little jagged danglies.

Dile Really good composition on this. Nothing really to critique being such an early wip.

Rob Powell That perspective is working a lot better. Definitely on the right track.

KleeWyck I like it. Careful though, with such a long composition it can be challenging to make the full length of the picture interesting enough for the viewer and to keep your on interest.

coool_brain I like both options. Both have a good working mood to them. The first had a more interesting view point but was a little overdone with the leaf brush. The new one seems a bit too dark in areas.

Blankstate Your pic Sucks! You drew an Orc Camp not a Troll Home! Oh wait that's me. I know what I'll do to fix it. I'll put a big hole in the ground and call it a Troll Hole. Haha. But seriously, I just did this for practice. Hope to get better at environments. Having the hardest time trying to get the mood and atmosphere right and still not satisfied with it so I think I'll call this one done.

1242525

[Dile_]

Thanks for the comments guys! Crits and feedback is coming soon :)

here is a wip

http://i.imgur.com/4bE7G.jpg

[millz]

nickodemus - would like to see some spans connecting the foreground/midground/background rock formations (atm it just seems it seems like 3 flat layers of rock). Would just bolster the sense of depth and atmosphere. I would love to be able to paint rocks like you do though. I suck at painting rocks.

cool brain - i like your idea and even though i immediately understand it as a giant hollowed out tree, i am not sure whether it will be immediately apparent for others, maybe some bark showing through and background shadows of a forest. Also would love to see some vines and tangly plants dangling from the fallen log.

blankslate - the foreground of your image seems odd in composition while the thick rock column on the left with the fence around it seems flat (i think you need to make the base more rounded because of the perspective) the same applies to your bridges in the midground .
I also have an idea you can try if you feel like. In the foreground, lose the man and rocks, flip the cliff to the other side and put a wooden bridge connecting the foreground to that rock column on the left.

Dile - Cool perspective. The tower in the centre though seems a little off balance to me, i feel like it needs to either be rotated a couple degrees anti-clockwise could be just me.

[coool_brain]

@Blankstate: thank you for the comments. i know. both of my option have potential but i played around with my first option so long that the natural flow is gone, if you know what i mean. so, i am planning to go ahead with this second option.

@millz: i agree. that was a very rough idea. i will definitely try to add some stuff in to show scale and add more interest to the piece. thanks for the comments

[Verehin]

final

[merl1n]

Nice images guys!
Verehin's and Dile's concepts are looking great already.

Here is my wip

[+oas+]

Sweet stuff on the last 3 pieces posted. I still have to finish mine up, although I'm having a tough time with inspiration, I keep getting stuck with all my images falling into the same "comfort zone" it seems. I rely too much on silhouettes.

verehin: towards the middle of the image where the formation tails off into the back, the part where it fades off should be better presented. It is hard ot determine where the back of the formation is. Or darken up the back of it.

[Streetz]

Hey Everyone,

This is my first time participating in the EOW. I did some rough sketches before moving on to a final. Please feel free to give comments and suggestions.

Thanks

[Urötskidoji]

Nice work everyone so far!

Here´s my WIP and chosen pic:

[Dile_]

wiip :) almost done.

http://i.imgur.com/iHz5o.jpg

[smuli]

Dile - Wow, you rock! Awesome composition, values and brushwork!

Urötskidoji - I like the idea! On the face, I prefer the simplified characteristics on the thumbnail though.

Streetz - I like their depth and I guess all could be a good start with a good idea to take them further but my favorite's the middle one by intuition (but I guess I'm a fan of symmetry).


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/smml/home-of-the-goblins-thumbs.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/smml/home-of-the-goblins4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/smml/home-of-the-goblins-b2-1.jpg

[Gadbury]

Quick sketch

[Jugival]

streetz - first one works the best for me
smuli - I kinda prefer n. 4 or 6 but the blue one is also ok

here is my work in progress...
1) quick sketch to establish main perspective and scene elements
2) drawn over sketch

[Dile_]

Smuli: Thanks man! And nice thumbs! I really like the first and the one you're working on!

Mr.Gadbury: Great edgework! :) I really like it!

Verehin: Nice painting! I think the topic is a bit hard to translate through it though, really awesome non-the-less.

Merl1n: Nice start! You got great things in your sb man, i hope you finish it!

Jugival: Keep working man, i really like the sketch!


Anywayyyy, i'm done! Final:

Description:
Once a thriving place of joy and happiness and a kingdom from which most happy tales originates. For years the happiness of people and King's men that ruled was able to keep the evil away. At last the King was overthrown and the place that used to be a place of welcome has since been a home of trolls.
Now only the most brave of humans dare to get close to the area, and things that were are now left in ruins. One tale says that in the top of the highest tower lies a secret kept there by the most evil trolls. A secret kept there because of its importance to them and their survival. Because of this supposedly important item, a competition with great awards are kept yearly for brave men and women, where the goal is go and retrieve the item. So far there hasn't been a single one to come back once the gates of the castle has been opened...
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5773005019_c080966a07_b.jpg

[Benjaminba]

So many good entries this week! Tough competition haha.

Dile_ - great work! The concept reminded me a little of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' when I first saw it, with the castle high up in the sky. Fantastic composition.

smuli - nice colour thumbs. 2 and 4 are nice, as well as the larger blue one - the red lights are a good touch. The blue one is a bit bare still, though - maybe add a closer bridge as well?

Mr. Gadbury - interesting start, hope you are able to finish it.

And a wip from me. It might be too character focused, so perhaps it wont go to poll at all. Still wanted to do it like this, though. :)

1242831

[Oatestwder]

looked like a cool topic so i thought I'd have a go. heres my first thumbnail, goin to try and add more prespective

[coool_brain]

i am getting a feeling of messing this up. please let me know

1243235

[coool_brain]

Nice work everyone, poll goes up tomorrow evening so still lots of time to get your final entries in. New topic coming soon!

i believe the deadline is 4th June . That's what was mentioned in the briefing post

[Temperowka]

very nice concepts here. My first entry to the EOW. I have thought of a cave with a tree growing its roots in it.
I'm not sure if its going in right direction, it doesn't look like a troll house much yet i think.
Any suggestions?

[Orion9282]

Some really inspiring submissions, all.

My WIP...

[Orion9282]

My final... I think something went wrong the first time I tried to upload?

[+oas+]

Yea, not to beat a dead horse, but the deadline is June 4th correct. Becasuse that's a Saturday.

[Wholewheat_keyboard]

Wow, these are looking really cool so far - I only have time to write a few comments..!

Blankstate: I love your painting! It's cool you kept the lineart in, it's got style and stands out because of that :) I like how you were able to make the image feel it has a lot of depth (I really struggle getting the feeling of "distance" in my environments). I like the line art a lot, although you might want to make the lines thinner as objects get smaller in the background, so the foreground objects pop out more? Anyway, nice work!

Verehin: I really like your composition - I like the sinewy design of the rock formations you painted - I think it'd be cool if there was more sign of the trolls in your image since you have several human figures around. Nice pic :)

Mr. Gadbury: That is gonna rock when it's finished! I liked your chow entries a lot(magi=badass) so I'm curious to see your environments too.

Smuli: My favorite is the blue one with the impaled guy. It's a nice composition I think :)

Benjaminba: I really like what you got so far. The colors and style are pretty and it looks like it has a story to it which I love to see in people's work. I hope you go forward with it man.

Dile: I like your composition too. I like the skewed perspective and all the detail you put in - nice :)

Temperowka: I like the direction your's is heading. Like to see colors and I think it might help to try and separate forground-midground-background more - midground is a little lost to me? Yeah more "troll sign" would be nice (footprints,weapons, bones, blood, eyes, etc etc)

Sorry for people who I didn't comment on - I have to run, but I'll try to give more feedback - many good entries!!

I hope I can get one finished in time. I started with a couple thumbnails, might do a few more till I decide which'll be my final.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h147/Wholewheat_keyboard/5_27_11_EOW165_thumbnail_1.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h147/Wholewheat_keyboard/5_29_11_EOW165_thumbnail_2.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h147/Wholewheat_keyboard/5_29_11_EOW165_thumbnail_3.jpg

[emerging]

dile - great perspective! nice to see someone not scared to pull off a trickier perspective. I love everything but in my honest opinion some other works here have a much deeper and more fitting atmosphere. When i think of trolls home i think of some misty place with a strange feeling to it - some kind of cold place that sends chills down your spine! but in any case great work mate!

[coool_brain]

Here's my final.

Description: These forest trolls, around 10 feet tall and strong, but low on wit, take away construction material from villagers nearby by force, but don't know how to use them. Though not great builders, they managed to do some customizations to this huge tree cave.

1244019

[Gorromog]

Hey everyone,

This is the first time I'm entering the EOW. I really want to learn to do environments, there are so many epic ones in this thread, hopefully something will rub off on me!

[merl1n]

Thanks Dile_, your entry is looking very cool, composition works perfectly. I must check your sb too.

My progres, possibly final:

[Vulgar`]

i believe the deadline is 4th June . That's what was mentioned in the briefing post

Oops, sorry about that.. I've been getting my dates mixed up horribly this week.

:oneye:

[snippet]

Wow! There are a lot of inspiring works here. This is my first EOW that I'm committing myself to. I think I might change the color scheme in the cave room on the right. This is my first time using Photoshop, so any tips are appreciated.

[Pan]

Here's my wip so far. I lost my last save, but I want to add a bit more depth, and more details to show the caves as more of residence.

[Jugival]

This is probably my final... or maybe I will cut a little on the left side.

[GEB]

Jugival: I like it. Though it feels like what you have would be great foreground and if you were to have a large vista of some caverous expance instead of a wall at the end, it wouls be a lot more exciting. Like walkways and pillars with maybe a light seeping in from above

[artbyahm]

Hi All,

First time contributing to some of all the cool stuff going on in here, first sketches. Next up is color as i've tried just to nail the mood with values. all crits appriciated, now i'll try and catch up in the thread.

Cheers,

http://www.artbyahm.dk/CA/sp01.jpg

http://www.artbyahm.dk/CA/sp02.jpg

[Adevila]

This is my final.

Jugival- I really like the simplicity and texture to your piece!

[Jugival]

Jugival: I like it. Though it feels like what you have would be great foreground and if you were to have a large vista of some caverous expance instead of a wall at the end, it wouls be a lot more exciting. Like walkways and pillars with maybe a light seeping in from above


Yes, background is too simple... maybe I will rework it if time permits.

[Urötskidoji]

Here´s my FINAL, great work all! Really nice pictures!

And really nice thumbs there, artbyahm! I´d go with the first or the fourth.

[Emokun]

My final! ;)

[Uohm]

rough first pass- needs work.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29980189/speedpaints/1.jpg

[ismo]

Long time no post.

Here's my wip. I'll continue it tomorrow.

[ismo]

Final.

[smuli]

Here's mine:

1246126

1246127

[Nickodemus]

So many good entries so far, I won't try to name them, but great job all!

Here's an update to mine...still finding my way on this one. I tried to address many of the things that were mentioned, while also trying to figure out what kind of tale I want to tell. It still feels super wide open story-wise, I feel like.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3929/homeofthetrolls.jpg

[Ros1]

A lot of great works already :)

Dile - hahah, your first idea was really great :) But second is cool as well ;)

Nickodemus - I think your first sketch was much better than the last one, it was way more mysterious and fascinating. The last one has to much action, to many lights etc. I guess you should find balance between them - but of course it's just my opinion ;)

smuli - Very nice sketches, i like the space in the blue one.

artbyahm - Cool sketches, there is some great space in the 4th, but 5th is more intriguing. I'm looking forward for next steps :P

ismo - Nice colors :) I just think that maybe blue light should has bigger influence on the exit from the hole and surroundings...


And here's my wip, although I'm not sure about many elements and colors yet:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd449/ros__1/troll_house_wip.jpg

[Temperowka]

My final. I hope I'm not too late.
Wholewheat_keyboard: Thanks for the tips

[xinranliu]

Final

1247006

nice round :D

[SilentCruise]

I always imagined them to live on mountaintops rather than caves o_o

Final
1247079


Process
1247080

[jsn]

Awesome topic!
Nice work everyone!

[vikrant56]

Guys this is my WIP .......Pls dont close this without my final version :)

[Pan]

My final, and the remainder of my wips. I like the the trolls that are afraid of sunlight and turn to stone if they are exposed (An awesome book is D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls).

Therefore, I think they'd live in caves protected by dense vegetation. Because they fear turning to stone, they have an obsession with graven images.

[vovosunt]

My Trollhaus and a WIP:

[Wholewheat_keyboard]

Final.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h147/Wholewheat_keyboard/EOW165_WholewheatKeyboard.jpg

[Ros1]

My final. Hope it's not to late...

[Vulgar`]

Sexy work everybody. Poll goes up soon! Last call for entries.