E.O.W Round 23: Strategic Choke Point

[Red_Rook]

E.O.W. - #023: Strategic Choke Point

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/EOW.jpg



Round #023

Topic:
Strategic Choke Point

You MUST include a description or backstory this round, or your image wont be taken to poll. Good luck!


Deadline:
Saturday, 6th May 2006 6PM GMT

[Red_Rook]

So a strategic geographic location that a force has to move through to get to a specific location, so lets say like the only crossing of a river is over this single bridge. Thats a choke point because there are no other options to cross the river. I guess its a millitary term in this sense, but dont let it limit you, it could be everything from a huge gateway in a wall that an army needs to pass through which is heavily fortified to a valley that tanks need to roll through, or like a corridor on a spaceship, that the crew can easily trap the alien infestation at. ;) enjoy and be creative.

[artiphats]

hmmm, so many ideas are forming. This should be interesting.

[Zeitwolf]

thanks for the blurb, Redrook. I looked the word up in LEO (english-german) dictionary but choke point is something in plant mechanic...

maybe strait is a better word...

But the topic is great. I exspect a lot of fine entries this time

[young paddy1]

I take it you mean a bottleneck, this could be interesting might have to give it a go.

[speculart]

Sounds good Ill have a wack at it.

[Kian]

Sounds very fun. I'll give it a go

[chaosrocks]

not sure if I'll have time...depends on how COW goes...
Have ideas though

Chaos Rocks

[misledtomisery]

here's my rough. had other ideas, but will probably take this further before deciding..and c&c is appreciated.

http://misledtomisery.com/conceptart/eowchokepoint.jpg

[Mitze]

I would do this one, and still might, but i don't know if i will have the time as doing the C.O.W. Wish you could line up all the drawoffs so they start and finish at the same time.

[speculart]

Here is my entry.
A photoshop crash means I have done this twice! SAVESAVESAVESAVE!!!
http://www.dudleybirch.com/sijun/bottleneck.jpg
Narrowdell.
The Yarinian mountains are a band of peaks dividing the great rolling lands of the Trolldyke. The people of Littleton use its cavernous ravines as a bolt hole when enemies threaten thier peaceful contemplation, as they often do as they are a prosperous people, blessed with fine lands and finer women.
Narrowdell is one such bolt hole. It nestles within a ravine, the entrance of which is narrow and easily defended. With caverns running through the surrounding cliffs complete with thier water stills and fungus farms, the folk of Littleton have made a home away from home at Narrowdell.

[chaosrocks]

speculart-- weird integration of photo and drawing.. Im not sure it's totally making sense. Initially it looks cool and then it kinda dissolves into not-sense. I dunno.. something about the perspective is making me un-comfortable... can't quite put my finger on it... take another good hard look at this in an analytical mode,, maybe you can solve it.
good luck
chaos

[speculart]

Think I got it. Thanks Chaos for kickin my butt into action!

[rushtoy]

misledtomisery - looks good so far, nice composition.

speculart - haha photoshop crashing is a nightmare, ive actually made an easy to access hotkey for save as. Cool image, the combination of photo, painting, and graphic elements is quite interesting. I think the values and lighting are working overall, but some areas get quite confusing. The montage of photos is just too busy.

Anyway, I started reading some historical military tactics and was inspired, very interesting stuff to read.
http://www.rushtoy.com/images/eow23strategicpoint.jpg
Its the Battle of Lake Trasimene, where hannibal ambushes a Roman army in 217BC. Basicly, the Roman army was on their way back to Rome and on the way back, they must pass Lake Trasimene. The road ran along the edge of lake and on the other side was forested land. Hannibal found this to be the perfect ambush point, and setup his army in the hills. When the romans marched down the road, hannibal's army surrounded them with nowhere to run. Much of the roman forces were killed or drowned in the lake. Hannibal's army only suffered minimal casualties.
you can read more about it here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Trasimene.

c&c always welcome. So where is everyone, come do some environments! :)

[speculart]

edited my last post so yours has confused me Chaos

[Form]

http://www.paquette.com.au/eowip3.jpg

During the war, the longest light rail in Ardenne was the Alpine Snake Rail. Twisting its way through the forested peaks, it was virtually impossible to sabotage using ordinary means. There were only 4 points at which the railway was exposed to the open. At such places (as shown here), small guard posts were built to guard the choke point from saboteurs.

[Form]

rush, i like your compo and colour choices. Only crits id offer are that the arrows look at first glance like they are going to go sailing into the lake, and also that the hills dont look at all forrested... but perhaps that decision was more intentional.

nice paint.

[Kian]

Really love the composition you got there form.

[chaosrocks]

I have one in the works... We'll see how much I can get done today
Beautiful stuff so far.. we don't get a lot of EOW entries, but they are some of the most amazing stuff..
Chaos

[Beelow]

Been away for a bit sorry guys, I'm in!:yayca:

[WARHEAD]

I'm in........... :P nice stuff so far

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

Strike Leader: "Target has been confirmed.... a hyper steam supply-train"

Strike 2: "Copy Leader"

Strike Leader: "We've only got one place to take it out - the T'Kaalu Gorge bridge, it's the only place they come out of the rocks. Take out the bridge and the train, it's our only chance"

Strike 2: "Copy"

Strike 3: "Copy. Entering the gorge now"

Strike 4: "Copy Strike Leader......Damn !!! I have target in sight, I repeat I have target in sight"

Strike Leader: "Copy that Strike 4. I have a sight.....let's lock and load boys.......Firing one....Firing two..........



http://www.war-studio.com/HostedImages/EOW004.jpg

[Kian]

Ok, heres me :)
First off, this image is dedicated to our very own Quicksilver. I almost gave up being unable to find a good thumbnail. But Naomi made me carry on, which I did and found the thumbnail I wanted. Cheers babe!

Ok, the concept: This is my slant on the story of Moses parting the water. Instead here, I've gone ultra biblical. In this scene, he's not in Egypt, but in Hell, rescuing souls that should not be there. Souls who commited sin not knowingly (i.e. posessed). This is the river seperating Hell from Purgatory, and with the power of God he is able to part the river of fire and lava, and let the redeemed be free.

http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/9967/eow23final20ex.jpg

[Kian]

Warhead: Class image man. Its got a real sense of action!

[rawwad]

kian3001: WoW! Powerful scene! That atmosphere is really cool. good job man!:yayca:

[Eskay]

kian, great picture! love the shape of the valley and the light and clouds in the distance!

[Infinitum]

Really nice Kain3001. Great concept.

Here is mine.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y153/Infinitum1/InfinitumGapinmountainscopyMedium.jpg

The crusaders charged into the valley, all death or glory, but it would not be enough. To them the valley was the last obstacle before defeating thier enemy. Little did they know that just out of sight the cliff was lined with archers...

[Quicksilver]

Ok, heres me :)
First off, this image is dedicated to our very own Quicksilver. I almost gave up being unable to find a good thumbnail. But Naomi made me carry on, which I did and found the thumbnail I wanted. Cheers babe!...
Awww, you're welcome, hun!! Great progress too - you're defo heading the right way to conveying what you wanted.

[saves image]

;) x

speculart: Intense stuff, mate. Hope your compy stays alive throughout next time...

misledtomisery, WARHEAD: I'm liking the colours and compositions you both have here. They should be strong pieces when finished~

Have fun, everyone :cheerleader:

[Form]

well done kian, i like it. i think the landbridge in the middle didnt stand out to me for quite a while, because there is no real compositional leaders, or elements to introduce scale there.

my immediate focus went to the horizon because its such a high contrast in colour temperature to the rest of the image, PLUS it has a value contrast. I think, while important, this area should be a secondary point of contrast. Maybe make the aureola a bit smaller, more subtle, and lead the viewers eye to it in a more narrative way instead of it being such a focus point.

My eye then went to moses, because of the value contrast (him against the fire, the cross against his back). That sold me - he has great rendering and an expressive pose. But again, i felt like i wasnt being led from him to anything else, so my eye wandered... to the people walking, to the buildings and fire.... Maybe you could have positioned and lit moses' staff more down and to the rigth, to lead the eye from the character, down through the staff to the people crossing the bridge....

Also, i think you could have structured the compo better to bring out the bridge. Having it pretty much visually vertical tricks my eye into thinking its part of the fire.... to compensate from that, maybe you should have painted the flames licking out away from the edges, like the water in the traditional moses story... atm it feels more like fire on each side, more than it feels like the fire is being separated. some variation in the path's shape wouldnt go awry either.

The rendering on everything but the buildings (which look a bit unfinished) is great. The cliffs work in a very controlled and simple way... i like that. The figures all have great expression in their poses.

All in all, i think youve produced a great image with a few minor tweaks needed. Good work man :)

[Form]

cool shit warhead, similar idea to mine :)

[chaosrocks]

Warhead--- just like shooting womprats in beggars canyon back home.....!"

ok ... nnice work
I have untill some time tomorow..right?
chaos

[Form]

id get it in today if possible. hopefully rook will give you an eta closer to the time

[Form]

wait... my today... uh... lets say you hav 12ish hrs left?

[Kian]

Form: Now thats what I call a crit bro. Thankyou soo much! You are right on all accounts I'd say. I did have trouble with the composition. As you saw, I tried sorting it out with the staff pointing down to the horizon, but your right, its maybe too high in the piece. I'm gonna give it some minor tweaks, esp the buildings. And maybe the slightest touch to try show the shape of the bridge more.

[Kian]

Ok, I did the slightest of tweaks and just replace the old one with the new'n. I dont have any time at all today. But I took down the horizon value quite abit, so hopefully Moses will read first. Also touched up some buildings and slightly defined the bridge more.

[yAdam]

very nice round everyone!! Here's mine:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6140/chokepoint34ou.jpg

The H.E.H.P-Tower (high efficieny hydro-electric plant) was planned and then built in record time between the years 2502 and 2503. The company who commissioned the building then went bankrupt 3 years later, after the discovery of a new source of renewable energy that was found near the core of the planet neptune. The Tower is now run by 5 high up world government officials, who are in a joint business venture to develop highly controversial nano eradicators. These so called eradicators will enable the government to totally wipe out a mysterious new disease that has been a side effect of augmentation. The nano eradicators therefore act as an equivalent to white blood cells and attack the infected cells that have spread from the augmentations to other parts of the body. Although this kind of research and development should be applauded, the lack of respect for testing has become a concern, and so these 5 officials have now been labelled as outcasts and renegades.

The tower was picked because of its solitary location and self sufficient power supply. The bridge beween the tower and the main elevator shaft helps to provide a choke point that can be guarded easily. There are often 3 defense ships on call to remove protestors or any other unauthorised individuals that could cause concern.

[speculart]

yAdam. Love it
Kian3001. That looks fantastic well done, I really love the slant you have taken with the description, the whole concept is right up my alley. Top Job
Quicksilver. Thanks, I think. Intense can make you heave but if you dont mind I will sooth my ego and take it as a compliment. Working on a iMac core duo and its doing my head in as some programs crash and what not. AAGGH
Infinitum. Love the crusades but is that an environment?
Warhead. Definate star wars feel. As soon as I saw your piece I slapped myself on the forehead (I do that alot) that is a good choke point.
Form. Good mood, feels like we are high in the mountains.
Rushtoy. I really like this piece and I was just talking about Hannible the other day and how he took elephants across the alps to attack Rome and then you drew it! Cool.
misledtoisery. Cant really give a crit on a rough but make sure that castle is weaker in tone than the forground elements for aerial perspective. But you are probably going to do that anyway.

[chaosrocks]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/eor23-chokepoint2.jpg

they thought they had found the Gateway into the mountains, as they came up the lush valley they realized it was a box canyon and the only way through was to travel on the river.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.



I kept thinking of this poem

chaos rocks

[Hideyoshi]

yAdam: good one! Here's a tip: try to get some atmospheric depth in there. I think it would also pay off if you render out those clouds a lil more.
speculart: interesting photo-painting combo!
rushtoy: very nice palette, composition and angle!
Form: same here!
Kian: Sweet foreground-background relationship! Nice render technique as well!
Chaosrocks: hey, you are defnitely making big progress!

[chaosrocks]

Hideyoshi thanks... I try... If Mr rook leaves this open I may get a chance to work on this this evening, I might sneak one more revision in there, But its pretty much done
This is a great round.... I will do a complete everybody crit when it goes to poll
wonderful work everyone

[yAdam]

Speculart, hideyoshi, cheers..I updated it...

[Mitze]

The last castle. The last stronghold of the kingdom still lays intact due to the difficulty in attacking it. The gain access one first of all needs boats and if you make it successfully to the island a Strategic Choke Point lies ahead. With a narrow climb to a wall which slowly circles the castle with only room for two abreast.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f162/mekese2000/landscape2.jpg

[Zeitwolf]

My humble entry:

Thin Spine
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/odinsregen/sketches/eow23.jpg
"This is the way the rebels take every spring and autumn to change between their summer quarter in the mountains and the warmer regions in the dales... it's - incautiously enough, hehe - an eye of a needle, a strategic choke point, where we can raid them sudden and quick."

[Beelow]

I need a bit more time hehe, I am almost finished!:x

Nice entries people!:teeth:

[Oddo]

Greetings :)

I'll comment on my personal favourites :). I appologise for my English and typos :).

speculart: I love the colors, and textures, though things do seem to get a bit "fuzzy" and thus not geting along well with the rest of the picture at the end of the path down below, and the light direction seems a bit inconsistent with the sky and mountain in the background.

rushtoy: Nice work, I like the beach approach :).
Beside what has already been said, the attackers seem a bit like taking a stroll on the beach and not be in a war; personal thought I would feel the need of seeing more of a fleet :). Oh, maybe they came on the ground ?

Form: Not much to critique except maybe too much solid black? Love it overall :).


kian3001: Nice work :). You made them strong colors to work really good together.

yAdam: Good ideea, but it seems to lack a strong perspective that would give it solid structure. Colorwise the purple in the background and the green in the foreground sort of argue with each other :). Also a nice trick is to avoid placing the horizon line at the middle of the illustration, as middle-illustration horizons are often boring..


Nice effort everyone else :).


First I want to appologise if my work seems closer to sketch then to illustration, I don't know exactly where the "detail" bar is set for the EOW.

I am coming back into the art domain after a somewhat long break of doing only "tehnicalities", and since my coming back is just a few hours away from the EOW deadline, my work lacks fine details.

Edit: Correction, this is Sunday, the deadline was Saturday, seems I missed it after all :).

My work:

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/oddotheweird2/chokepoint.jpg

"The scout frowned... the only way for his batallion to arrive in time at the temple was a stealth run through the Groundhog's Trench. They had tried their best to keep their path secret but somehow the temple guards knew. They had already begun massing rocks and assembling war machines by the Crone Cliff.... that would be fully functional by the next morning. This was going to hurt."



Taking a long look at it now i realise that maybe needed more color accents and the rocks on the Crone Cliff are too.. "noisy", Maybe a few clearer shapes, more realistic ones, would have worked better. Seems I tend to draw cartoony when I skip referencing :/.

[Beelow]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v611/beelow/Strategicchokesite12copy.jpg

"The only corrodor to go down through, the only way in to the fortress. What do I do? There are no guards on duty, WTF? this is way to easy! I need to keep my guards up, stay aware, man these drugs are starting to wear off!"

Sorry for the late entry, here it is, got some time on it. Peace!:yayca:

[yAdam]

Hey, oddo, cheers for the crits... I added in some distant mountains, which is all I could think of to reinforce the perspective as well as trying to add a little more atmosphere in between. There isnt much purple in the background on my monitor... so i dont know what to say about that.. :)

As for submitting a more sketchy piece it doesnt matter as long as its not really obviously unfinished...But in the end rook will decide what goes to poll and what doesnt!!!! :x

Also really like your piece.. But The head of the horse looks like its turning 180 degrees, Maybe give it more of a 3/4 perspective or turn fully back round...?

[chaosrocks]

the deadline is at what ever point Mr Rook decides it is...usually there's some leaway but you can't count on it

I like your entry, it has a nice foggy quality
I have to admit i thought he was riding a wolf. but maybe thats just me... I kind like the idea

Chaos rocks

[Mr.Blonde]

oddo, speculart... nice pieces! Here is mine that I whipped up...

"The only way to access the ruins...."
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~wbrach20/may3/SQUEEZE.JPG