Correction: A Princess of Mars

I had to rectify few things, Most notably my value placement wasn't correct.
the 3 layers are now much more distinctive, far background, middleground, and foreground.

A Princess of Mars: Entry

So here is my entry, I will show traces of my process later this week. From the story what I wanted to show is the landscape, and a guy entering that no man land, leaving green pasture(prosperity) behind.

Let start this year with a BANG!

Hi All, 

I want to wish a happy new year to all of you, a year filled with opportunity to grow and plenty of motivation to work laboriously.

To begin this year, I want to throw a little challenge... :)

You may have read this classic from Edgar Rice Burroughs-A Princess of Mars. Your challenge if you accept it, is to create a movie frame with a 2:35 ratio. with only material the following text.

"As Powell was familiar with the country, as well as with the mechanical requirements of mining we determined that it would be best for him to make the trip. It was agreed that I was to hold down our claim against the remote possibility of its being jumped by some wandering prospector.
On March 3, 1866, Powell and I packed his provisions on two of our burros, and bidding me good-bye he mounted his horse, and started down the mountainside toward the valley, across which led the first stage of his journey.
The morning of Powell's departure was, like nearly all Arizona mornings, clear and beautiful; I could see him and his little pack animals picking their way down the mountainside toward the valley, and all during the morning I would catch occasional glimpses of them as they topped a hog back or came out upon a level plateau. My last sight of Powell was about three in the afternoon as he entered the shadows of the range on the opposite side of the valley."

To add some precision, the characters are gold prospector in the wilderness of Arizona(they actually found something but need bigger tool to extract). Both ex-military, the guy leaving is Powell, and the guy staying, the narrator, is John Carter. All you know about him at this point is, he is certain to be immortal. He doesn't age, don't have childhood memories. As far as he is concerned he always been in his thirties.

You may do it in color or black & white. Story, value & composition should be your main focus here. It's your mantra for this challenge. The due date is January 12th, 21:00.

Cheers!
Audran

Tom Buchanan

Here is my entry, roughly took 2hours of studies. I actually started this one as an anatomy study, then found it cool... added the clothes.. and then ended up putting colors. I was on cheap 90lbs paper, not really meant for watercolor.

Brief: Character Design

Ok, so I want to try something, with some constraints. Below is a small passage of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Its describe one of the character, Tom Buchanan. Your challenge, if you accept it, is to design this character following the author's vision. The style & render is entirely yours to decide. Pay special attention to character traits, both visual or psychological.

The setting is in a rich suburb of New York, 1922. On the porch of a cheerful red-and-white georgian colonial house with bright vines. The time is a golden warm windy afternoon.

"...Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.

He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body--he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage--a cruel body.

His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked--and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.

"Now, don't think my opinion on these matters is final," he seemed to say, "just because I'm stronger and more of a man than you are." We were in the same senior society, and while we were never intimate I always had the impression that he approved of me and wanted me to like him with some harsh, defiant wistfulness of his own.

We talked for a few minutes on the sunny porch."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Deadline is next friday 14th Oct, 9:00pm.

Cute Sleeping Beauty

Woohoo, Hi all! it sure feel good to be among you again guys(I mean virtually, hehe). So following Will's gorgeous quickie, here is mine. Finally countless hours or drawing naked women finally helped me on this one(and parenthood of course). Sorry Will I couldn't pick up colors from your wheel, my screen was keep getting wet.. huhuhu... So I used Phtalocyanine Green and Quinacridone Red, not really opposite, the red is cooler than the real complimentary of this green, resulting in a slightly purplish grey when mix. Cheers!