EOW #48 The Library of the lost sea scrolls

[chaosrocks]

EOW#48 The Library of the lost sea scrolls
I saw Andrew Ley's topic for the currently running CHOW and I had to think what an incredible cool EOW this would make. Dark or undersea, underground or salvaged to dry land when Atlantis sank. Required elements
Hidden, Scrolls,



http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=90999
...for inspiration

"Chief Librarian of the Lost Sea Scrolls

The Chief Librarian was once a lord of Atlantis. Foreseeing the city’s demise he gathered the most sacred and powerful texts and took them to a place where no mortal could find them. He now lives in solitude, the sole guardian of the secrets that allow one to control the most powerful forces in the oceans. "
Now... concept!


Due March 12 MOnday

[Zhiwang]

REally nice idea! :)

can t wait to see what will be post in here!

sad, i can t do anything hard like that, hehe....

[chaosrocks]

sure you can, try it!

c

[Moai]

sad, i can t do anything hard like that, hehe....

sure you can, try it!

Yeah, try it! I've never drawn anything like this before, and I'm intimidated, but I'm gonna go for it. I've decided that March is my month of environments, so I'm going to do all of these that I can, comfortable or not.:wink:

[chaosrocks]

YAY!!!
chaos

[Corrick]

"In"... naturally...

[jeff_tremblay]

hi im new on this normally i draw character, or monster or object. So dont be to hard with me when i post lol
i think its important for my carreer to draw everything so..

[Zhiwang]

So...:dur:

I tried, i don t know if i will try again, or re-work this one.
just wait for violent crits, i need it!

Tell me what work and don t work at all plz.

http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/5627/libpetitue3.jpg

edit: Damn... after posting it i see how bad it is...shaaaaame :( but i need crits so...

[chaosrocks]

good start....it could work. ......render render.....
make sure you know where your light sources are

chaos

[Vincoid]

This one is going to be awesome :D

Here is my sketch:

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/1627/librarysketchxu4.jpg

[Longxiang]

I like the idea of a library, but the concept of Atlantis isn't doing anything for me. Can I just do any library I like?

[kingkidd]

vincoid - i really like the scrolls in the 'buble-tubes' (is there an official name for those things?)

maybe ill enter if i can come up with a cool concept...so far im drawing blanks

[InFlux]

can you submit 3d renders?

[vances22]

influx - I am not a mod, but I would like to give my opinion on this. As concept artists (proffesional or aspiring) the end result is usually what matters to a company. That I know is up for debate but in a portfolio all they see is what is finished, and not the proccess. Anyway in talking to a few art directors and bouncing around on here and other places a conquerence amongst artists has been that if you rely on a certain tool as your crutch and cannot do something with just the pencil and your brain you are hindered artistically. Case in point modeling something (basic blocks or complex scenes) with no prior concepts is a little backwards, even with referance you will loose a bit of creativity beacuse problems were not solved on paper. What i am leading up to is this. I would rather see a worse piece and see you trying to flex those artistic muscles than use a tool as a crutch just to get something done. I feel you don't learn as much this way. This place, this website is a place for learning. You can't be critiqued on your artistic level or grow if we can't see your knowledge and use of fundementals. I myself 3D Model and as far as were I am at now would not dream of using a render to get something done. I am still in the learning state, like most of us and would not want anything to hinder that. There is my two cents on the matter. Just concept man, keep it pure, keep it simple, and just push for greatness. If you do that heck, you could be the next andrew jones who knows!

[xgabo]

I'm in on this one. Gonna do something to match the character I did for the latest Chow.

[robmorfin]

Hey, Chaos, how come Corrick didn't get any EOW winner icon next to the avatar (from Alien Music Store)?, I see some COW winners have a weird rabbit next to them.

[Vincoid]

That weird rabbit is the head of the cow mascotte (it was a tie, the other winner is used in the description of the rules for COW). I guess he hasn't got a thingy next to his name because there is no EOW kind of mascotte (makes sense to me).

Still working on this one :) it will be awesome :D

[Lohan]

to my knowledge, weren't the dead sea scrolls just found in a cave on the dead sea?

[Corrick]

Why, yes they were Lohan, but these are the Lost Sea Scrolls. I'm assuming it's different for the purposes of the Atlantean slant... but they're not Dead... just Lost.

Vances22, you can't comp something up in 3D to get a good start? Filmmakers do it every day... sure I wouldn't suggest submitting it as a final, but it's a tool. You might as well say anyone who uses a computer to paint is cheating. :)

Longxiang, are you kidding? Atlantis? I'm assuming you can do any library you want, but would it fit the topic? Or does that even matter...

[rafaeljm]

i think that 3d / 2d subject is a very complicated conversation... i´ve seen it before and it always leads nowhere, but here´s my opinion. this place is about "concept art" so what should really matter is how original the idea is, and of course good execution. I don´t think the process should matter. Personally I do 3D too, but when it comes to this kind of work i prefer to do it in 2d, but if someone prefers 3d, why not? as long as it´s good...

[chaosrocks]

I dunno how to do winners icons ..its apparently a big deal to program it. I am working on getting the winners posted in the winners thread though. Give me time. The bunny heads are COW winners. There is muttering about ways to do Chow aand EOW winners too

Its Atlantean Lost LIbrary.... not just any library will do. but one resued from sinking or sunken atlaintis..or maybe still down there.... preserved

and as far as Im concerned you can do it as a 3d render, a matte paint interpretive dance.....any way you want to express your self. being aware That I personally hate the look of some of those choices unless done really really well.

[Corrick]

rafaeljm, well spoke. Personally, I think if you do it right, then it'll be just fine. Crappy 3D has no way to hide itself, it just "is", and isn't anything else, so it's up to the artist.

However, if digital painting is the "easy" way, 3D is the "easier" way...

[xgabo]

I agree that a concept artist has to be able to use any tools he/she wants to convey the idea, and usually in the professional concept art world is common to use 3D programs to block the scene and paint on top of it. It is an effective way to get a professional-looking final product, especially when you have a tight deadline. That's not the problem in my view. The problem is to SKETCH in 3D, and as much as some people say they can sketch in 3D as fast and efficiently as they would with pencil and paper (or equivalent digital technique), somebody has yet to convince me it is the same thing creatively.

3D programs, exactly because they are so powerful and exact in shaping reality with their light/shade and volumetric nuances, shifts the focus of the brainstorming/sketching process, from a mostly intelectual exercise that is not concerned (yet) with esthetical details into a sluggish creation, in which multiple interactions are not as swift to create as it would be in simple 2D. The artist usually becomes slave of the tool, and not the opposite, paralyzing the idea. Sketching has to be quick and dirty and as iconic as possible, and from that the good ideas arise. If start shading my pencil sketches or start worrying about perspective or anatomy too early, I start crystalizing in my head what the concept should be instead of keeping it open and fluid. In my opinion 3D tools cause the same crystalizing effect over the concept creation. That's why I think if they are used in concept art, should be introduced much later in the process, after the idea is strong and iconic.

My 2 cents.

[chaosrocks]

In this arena I am perfectly willing to let any material and method stand, for presentation of the idea. The people I know who work in the field (and there are several) say the use of 3d to portray environments is common.

and if an environment is well described (visually) by whatever method then it is a successfull concept. This goes up to public poll. Although I will reject unfinished unrendered sketchy crap.... :P

chaos

[Corrick]

Just to get us back in the swing of things, a coworker of mine found this link the other day. Might get some creative juices flowing. I've been so snowed under work-wise I feel like a ball about to be shot out of a cannon on this one. I wanna PAINT!

A hole in the Earth's crust (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070301103112.htm)

[chaosrocks]

yep lets stop nattering about how to make a concept and ...duh... actually make some!!!!!

ggogogogoggGOGOGO GO GO GO!!!!!
chaos

[cgoz]

here's mine.
http://www.cgoz.com/images/sketch/seascrolls.jpg

[xgabo]

My point was made as a general comment about concept art based on what I have learned working in the field, and not intended as a suggestion for this forum specifically. Of course here what matters is the final result, regardless of what tools have been used. If you can pull off a great concept in a week using whatever tools you have, great.

[Moai]

cgoz- Texture, man, texture! We need something more than a neat concept and a nice atmosphere. Add some nice cracks and crevices on those rocks.

[chaosrocks]

yep yep
use coffee grounds and used condoms as a medium if you like... but convince us it is a Environment and totall y awesome !!!

Im waiting....
c

[Corrick]

Had to at least do something for the time being, don't even know if I'll finish it. Playing off of the character of the week's tentacled repositories, scaled out to an entire sea bed full of them with the crumbling remains of the Atlantean continent in the background... we'll see...

COW Entry (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b51/Corrick/Corrick_CHOW61_Lib.jpg)

Sketch (http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b51/Corrick/atlantis2.jpg)

The story goes that when Atlantis fell into the sea and scattered in pieces to ruin on the abyssal plain, a coral reef sprung up around the devastation. Said to have grown from the souls of atlantean historians, the mammoth encrustations bear the burden of Atlantean history inside carefully nested scrolls. Those daring enough to tread on such hallowed ground far beneath the atlantic can still find their way by the illumination of the "Ancients", giant stone monoliths standing as light-crested sentinels around their sacred charge.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b51/Corrick/atlantis3.jpg

[chaosrocks]

go corrick go!
chaos

[Main Loop]

http://www.remtek.net/0/mainloop/default/images/25/155.jpg

some thumbs for the environment.. dont know where I want to go with this... Which one do you think has the most potential?

[chaosrocks]

oddly i like the whole array
c

[yanimator]

I'm totally new here. Recommended to me by a friend who is participating over at C.O.W.

I'll be in on this one. Should be fun!

Xgabo and corrick. i'm really digging your past entries!

[CeeJay]

It's got some value issues but here is my enviroment. About 40 min worth.

C&C Appreciated

http://community.conceptart.org/gallery/I/2005/01/01/23108.jpg

[dragon4lunch]

Main Loop those are very very good thumbnails! dig the texture and the colors and compositions! All except bottom right are ready to be turned into big pieces!

[chaosrocks]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/layer1.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/eow-library2.jpg

see Im working on it.....:P

When the learned Dr. concluded that the waters were about to inevitably advance on ill fated atlantis.. he excelerated his plan to code the entire library in to the DNA of the Giant seascroll. His experiments wer so successfull that thougsands of years late when the lost city was found the gaint fanlike plumes towered over the city... it took the genius of another scientist to realize that the incredibly strange genitic code in thesse beautiful plants was in fact a readable language. The secret s of the lost city revealed.

[Vincoid]

I won't be makng this deadline :(

I'm really busy with school right now, was hoping to make it, but it's all to much to be able to finish this. Maybe next time :)

[Longxiang]

Its Atlantean Lost LIbrary.... not just any library will do. but one resued from sinking or sunken atlaintis..or maybe still down there.... preserved



Oh well, I'm disqualified. over 20 hours into it too :( :( :(

WTF does an Atlantean library look like?

Edit:
Eh, maybe I'll just fill mine up with water and call it good.

[life on the sofa]

my first EOW entry :) this was fun. this isnt that great tho:S hehe this is final


here is the only documented image of the library of the coveted dead sea scrolls, the famous bamboo doors are the ominous entrance to the oldest and most important scrolls knowen to man. the library is located in a deep under water cave under the south pacific ocean formed by volcanic action at the start of the earths creation, the original creators and owners of the dead sea scroll somehow managed to burrow 10ft high and 9 foot wide cave systems into the deepest parts of the earts crust allowing them, and them alone acces to the famous scrolls!


smaller verison





http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1510/librarbyatlantisqa7.png

[Corrick]

You're asking us what it looks like? That's the point... make it up. :)

Update above – sat in front of a color correction monitor all week with nothing to do but wait for hi-rez images to load... decided to flex my traditional muscles for a bit. Honestly, I can't tell if I totally screwed it up... or if it turned out exactly like I wanted it to...

[Longxiang]

Drat, out of time.

Sorry for wide, I cropped it down as much as I could (originally 1000x2350.)

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1540/progress5wf4xj4.jpg
Edit: fixed a couple things

Here lies the sunken Libralis Digitalis, the world's greatest repository of knowledge about the deadly digitalis, or foxglove.

Where it has gone to, no one can say. And where is the night watchman who should have been here at 5:30? And who will dispense coffee at the corner Starbucks? (Every library has a Starbucks.)

And what become of my late aunt's new straw hat that should have come to me? Somebody pinched it; and what I say is, them as pinched it done her in.

These and other mysteries may never be answered, as the whole facility has been lost, perhaps forever.

[dragon4lunch]

Corrick that is one excellent pen drawing! Very pro, my bro, very pro :) I've never written "bro" before, I don't even know you, but it rhymed with pro, so it's all good. Hehehe.

[vances22]

I apologize my response has taken so long, I was at the game developers conference all week and spent my time networking rather than checking the internet. Xgabo I think broke it down that best at what I was trying to get at but did not state well enough. I do agree any tool and artist has should be used. But not at the sacrifice of slavery to it. An artist should be able to create or be willing to create on all available media out there. This topic is one of the most debated out there. Especially in the fine art communities. It almost comes down to some philosophy (and I don't mean this next sentence literally and I hope no one takes it as such) maybe we art cheating creating things on the computer as opposed to traditional media. Or maybe we are just getting closer and closer to expressing art in such a way that can't be described yet that everyone (including myself) is afraid of accepting these new ways completely. I don't really know, I think that is one of those things that we are still waiting to see, cause while we all have one prediction or another, time will only tell. great discussion though. Where do I stand? I still believe that If one is still in those early years of learning up through college and all that or has just decided now that they want to be a concept artist. 3D tools are a hindrance. Because drawing and painting digitally has already taken a true brush and pencil from your hands and replaced with a mimicking stylus, and I don't know how comfortable one should be with having the media mimicking device taken away as well and replacing it with a program that is very powerful but might also be hindering the creative process at this stage in the game.

[Main Loop]

ok I really need to decide which one of these I want to finish, and fast... I think the top one has the clearest path of direction for finish..

http://www.remtek.net/0/mainloop/default/images/25/156.jpg

I just wanna say something about this discussion that found its way here:
A good artist is a good artist no matter what... Tools are just tools, i dont think there's such a thing as cheating anymore.. whatever gets the job done, dont worry about whether your approach is artistic enough... from the beginning of illustration there has been a problem to solve, and artists are expected to find the best, fastest solution... Know what you have to do, and be satisfied with accomplishing the task. Dont worry about morals and standards so much, havefun, find new ways to create and be creative... go to a massive black workshop, almost no one is using traditional mediums, but watchng them work, you cant possibly say that they're cheating...

[Corrick]

Main Loop, amen to that...

P.S., the bottom one is by far the more dramatic. Don't necessarily know what it is yet, but it's good.

[Orifice]

thats exceptional Corrick!

[Longxiang]

ok I really need to decide which one of these I want to finish, and fast... I think the top one has the clearest path of direction for finish..


They're both good. The second one is almost exactly the same as your EOW #47 entry though, don't you think?

[Main Loop]

They're both good. The second one is almost exactly the same as your EOW #47 entry though, don't you think?

If you can show me a link to a non-existant entry, I'll be amazed... You must be confused with someone else...

[Corrick]

Hmh... Can't remember it either, actually. I still say the second one's a sure thing.

Orifice, dragon4lunch, thank you! Have to brush up on my Pogany, though. I'm not 100% satisfied with it. It's been a while. Something like this deserves 14x17 Bristol with about 6 more hours and better planning. Next time...

[Main Loop]

http://remtek.net/0/mainloop/default/images/25/157.jpg

could use some more polish, but in case i cant get back to it, here's my finish

[Longxiang]

If you can show me a link to a non-existant entry, I'll be amazed... You must be confused with someone else...

Haha, my bad. I was thinking of Stokes. The style and composition were so similar I thought you must me the same person :P

I mean that in a good way, you're both very talented.

[robmorfin]

My Library.

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u292/robmorfin/scrollslatestW-TITLE.jpg

Atlantis laid underground below the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, the descendants of the survivors have over time mutated and just 8 years ago they have found the library of the Lost Sea Scrolls as part of an underground underwater cave, all their wisdom, all their power, all their magic and all their knowledge has been found, so vast is that power that Atlantis will soon come back to the surface and they will control the Earth once more.

[yanimator]

Here's my entry.

http://www.yanimator.com/ConceptArt/yanimator_EOW48_TheLibraryOfLostSeaScrolls.jpg

An expedition to the Antarctic was made in an attempt to recover the lost scrolls from the advanced civilization which was thought to be destroyed by the angry Gods. A civilization that had documented all of it's technological advances onto these scrolls. Once discovered, the crew placed all the scrolls inside empty wine bottles to prevent any further damage to the already aging scrolls. Along the way back, pirates which had tailed the expedition laid in ambush waiting to attack.

The expedition's crew not wanting the lost technology to fall in the wrong hands decided they must rid the ship of all knowledge of the scrolls. All the wine bottles which held the precious scrolls were tossed into the ocean. Most ended up in the bottom of the ocean to be completely forgotten. However, there were still some that were left floating, scattered along the water's surface. These were the bottles which could not be uncorked in last moments remaining. These corked bottles protecting the precious secrets of the scrolls inside may still yet be left to be found.

The remaining library of the lost sea scrolls.

[Longxiang]

Contest over.

[chaosrocks]

all right! I'll waive the description requirement this time. I see a fair number of un-finished works get em done folks..(especially you chaosrocks you are a putz). But If the Idea is presented, I'll take it to poll...I'll close this and post it tomorrow....so get em in folks

and New round starting! I'll open the thread fo rit tomorrow morning as well Updating the winners thread.... thanks to Grooveholmes for reinventing the template for me..... check it out!

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56501

[Moai]

Corrick, Yanimator, Main Loop, and everyone else, very well done. I didn't get a chance to do this one, but I'm liking the sound of the next round.

[yanimator]

chaosrocks, I agree. let's keep it open for another day. Seems like everyone had a busy weekend. I really would like to see everyone's ideas rendered out. Let's do it! One evening is all it takes ;) I'm really liking the topic for the next EOW round. My mind is swimming with ideas!

Moai: Thanks. I'd like to see you in on the next round! It should be loads of fun.

CeeJay: I'm liking your concept and the idea of having the transluscent scrolls w/ glowing text circulate around that centerpiece. Those seacreatures add a lot too. It'd be great to see some more details and a brief description.

Main Loop: well done! When I was first sketching out my concepts, I had an idea very similar to your's. Not as good however ;)

Corrick: I'm really digging what you have so far!!

[[t0rc]]

I figured I'd better post this. It's a work in progress right now and hopefully I'll be able to finish it by midnight but haven't had the time I anticipated I would to dedicate to it hence it's unfortunate rough state. Anyways, enough gab, here's the story and my library:
http://images.moditory.com/misc/Works/Atlantean_LostScroll_Library.jpg
The city of Atlantis was about to become the Lost city of Atlantis yet only one person paid attention to the signs: a former lord of Atlantis demoted to a position in the Imperial Library. The Chief Librarian had no scorn for his position because he knew the true power of what he guarded: scrolls that held the secrets of Atlantean life and technology - the very foundation upon which Atlantis grew.

His foresight lead him to commit a felonious act (not that anyone would be around prosecute him), he stole the scrolls and fled to hide the Scrolls written by General Karnus ef Nimeau Magii away from all. Somewhere in the frigid depths of the northern hemisphere he bore the scrolls. A secret cavern, from his long past reign, was built for his pet (Lerumokai) - a supposedly extinct ferocious and ill-tempered creature with a salamander-like build that was rumored to have such fierce loyalty it would even sacrifice itself knowingly to allow their masters to escape - is where the scrolls were suspended. It is said that the suspension, similar to the propulsion system used in Atlantis, utilizes a special type of rare crystal (referenced in slang as crysalid however the real name and makeup remain unknown).

In this cavern where blood moves like molasses, the solitude of the once great chieftain and his lone pet has driven them both into bitter spirits. Only two have ever found this place, two young Atlanteans. The straggler was severely injured, missing several appendages, but survived long enough to recount part of their expedition to the medical staff between seizures and screams of terror (thought to be due to the extreme trauma induced by encountering a Lerumokai, the patient gave hours of bloody shouts about mystical blue glowing horns and piercing white eyes before passing. Lerumokai are suspected to have luminous horns however the optical description is new). It seems the librarian keeps watch from a balcony above the single entrance, his eyes glowing with an icy evil, holding his staff as a statue.

All accounts of this place are under extreme debate as many believe all evidence should be destroyed to keep others from a similar fate. As the city of Atlantis vanished in the deep blue the Chief Librarian knew he has a dismal future ahead of himself. He could not let the scrolls be destroyed and yet no one was worthy to read them and due to the concentration of crysalid structures in the cavern his life span would verge on immortality.

[D-Holme]

EOW 48 - Library of the Lost Sea Scrolls - D-Holme
http://www.milecastle.com/EOW48_Dholme.jpg
At the centre of the raging maelstrom a single tower stands, all that’s left of the great city of Atlantis, lost to the waves so many centuries ago. Home only to a myriad of gulls and the solitary remaining Lord of Atlantis on his lonely vigil. The tower serves one purpose, to preserve the vaulted lore of the Atlantian nobility and the secrets of their power – the Lost Scrolls of the Sea.

[chaosrocks]

cool new faces new pics! yay
now you got maybe 8-9 hours p oeplez
get em in!!!

chaos

[chaosrocks]

ok.... Thread locking thread now..... On to the next one peeps

chaos