Eon (Illustration) Entry: Michael Dashow

[nwiz25]

hey Mike! wishing u and ur family a very merry christmas! :bounce: :love:
http://nwiz25.cgsociety.org/gallery/444492/

cheers dude! :beer:



> outstanding colour combinations buddy! simply outstanding! :D :applause:

[NinjaA55N]

Hey Walrus! A master work on girls clothes, all those wrinkles and light are really convincing. But I have a problem with her face, it seems really flat. Like if she was pushed against a window with her cheek. I guess that the problem lies in the warm light from her right, which ends really suddenly and than the dark part makes a hard edge on her face. Keep up the great work and once again, great clothes!

[walrus]

Blaz - Thanks for the note! Hmm, you may be right about that. The forehead is looking more rounded because it's a softer transition. Guess I'll have to work on that a bit more. (I think i may also need a shadow to the left of her nose!) Back to work...!

Yoff (and Nazirull) - I abandoned it more from lack of good results. I spent about a week on it and got nothing I was happy with. At a certain point, just needed to move on. (So, yeah, I guess time factors in there too.) But if you or anyone has an idea how I can achieve the effect after I've started renderring, I'd love to hear suggestions. The 2 that came to me were photoshop's Spherize filter, or even projecting the Way and the City part of the painting onto a curved surface in 3D and outputting that.

NWiz - Thanks, and a happy holidays to you too!

[NinjaA55N]

Hi! From what I see, the shadow of nose is not necessary. I honestly hope u dont mind I quickly painted over ur image, just to show how do I see the whole thing.

http://www.3delavnica.com/@upload/Ninja_ASSN/walrus.jpg

Best regards!

[TheFirstAngel]

hi mike, hope the paintover helped, have merry xmas and wonderful holidays :)

[walrus]

Wow, not one but TWO paintovers (In case it wasn't clear in the post above, Angel sent one as well.) It's like more Christmas presents! Thanks, guys, they both look great! Between Blaz's suggestions on face shading and Sacha's advice on face andlge and head size, I think I'm going to get this one nailed. Cool!

Thanks, both of you! You rock! :thumbsup:

-mike

[leving]

Great job on the wrinkles. I find complex cloth to be one of the most difficult things to work on in both 2d and 3d. Nice work!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167240092_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167240092_large.jpg)

Taking a little time off of the character work to start put some details on Axis City. When I started, I thought this would just be a matter of doing a lot of paint-over with custom techno-brushes. However, I suspect that they work better with more straight-on kinds of shots. Here, I'm trying to wrap everything around the city's cylinder. What I've ended up doing is mapping a lot of repeating textures onto the model (mapped to either cylindrical UWV coordinates or applied as a face map to each polygon face individually.) I render them out as black and white maps, load them in as selections, and fill the selections in new Layers. Then I scribble out what I don't need with the eraser. I need to do a lot more detailing, and some handpainting as well, but it's a start...

-mike

[Ivy00]

It looks great , and very helpful for you to post how you went about the steps so far :)

[mdavid]

I need to do a lot more detailing, and some handpainting as well, but it's a start
... and a really good start too. Sorry I can't offer anything helpful here Mike, but I'm mighty impressed with what you're doing and have no crits or suggestions at all. I'm also glad you kept with the idea of being true to the book and not needing to put clothes onto the Frant. (The description of the Frant is three pages into Chapter 27)

[bonim]

this is great ... I love seeing the progress here. I would add ... I like a little more detail and express in Patricia's face. As well as bringing out the face in Olny. Just a thought.

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167297182_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167297182_large.jpg)

Thanks for the notes, folks. Glad my work-flow was helpful.
And Mark, glad you like the Frants with no Pants. Unlike the other Mark who looks at Frants with no Pants askance. Will I cover him up? No chance! He should prance and dance among the plants with no pants!

(sorry, it's really late at night and I'm a tad punchy.)

I'm also too tired to get any further with this tonight. I've been adding details for the last 6 hours, and my eyes are bugging. I'm mostly done with the city, I think, aside from the cubes and maltese cross at the front.

I can't decide how intense to make the city. Darker pops more, of course, but lighter pushes it back into the distance more. Anyone got an opinion? I'm too tired to see anything tonight... Catch you all later!

-mike

[Ivy00]

at first glance I like darker, but thinking about it.... if you can see the clouds over the city it only makes logical sense to make it look more distant.

[LightSovereign]

I like the dark blue of the plate with the star design in the darker version, but to me the lighter version reveals the lovely design surrounding the axis. so my pick is teh lighter one. that dark near navy blue around the star would look nice on the lighter version, however ^^.

Ultimately though you'll have to test it wih the characters in play aswell.


and finally i don't think i have ever had a 6 hour sitting on any one thing in a painting, let alone on detailing for a city ( i have on a painting in general). It shows your artistic stamina and patience, incredible work!.

[OKMER]

Personaly I kind a prefer the dark one, but with the inside maybe a bit clearer as the beam should lighten it up.
Incredible work Walrus!!!
love it

[Thaldir]

Another vote for the darker version, here.
Incredible work either way, Mike. :)

[Manzieri]

I vote for the darker version!

This is a very breath-taking rendering of the EOS novel. I'm sure that something epic will come out once you have assembled all the piece together and raised the curtains!:)

[Ivy00]

bleh , lol, that's what I get for posting early in the am... my post made no sense what so ever. I prefer the darker one

[mdavid]

And Mark, glad you like the Frants with no Pants. Unlike the other Mark who looks at Frants with no Pants askance. Will I cover him up? No chance! He should prance and dance among the plants with no pants!

LOL! Dr Suess couldn't have done better! A marathon painting effort and you still found time for poetry!

Lighter or darker? Like LightSovereign I'm thinking it will all be easier to judge when the characters are visible and the balance of the whole scene can be looked at. Superb work Mike.

[walrus]

Ah, I should have turned those layers on when I flattened everything to post. I'm not totally working on everything all seperately. I have a lot of layers in the file that I show or hide as need be, including the current version of the characters.

Ivy - you're quite excused, especially given how coherent I was early in the morning for my last post! :lol:

I'm still not sure which version I'm going to go with (more votes!) but I'd like to give LightSovereign's idea a try. that is, the lighter body but with the darker front. To quote from the story:

Beyond the cubes-and several times as broad-was a cylinder, rotating around its central axis, the line of the singularity. Its outer surface sparkled with thousands of lights; the side facing her was dark but for a series of five radiating arrays of beacons.

So maybe the drak front could be the way to go... Have to see how it looks. At this point, when I've got all the big points covered, artistic license trumps complete story accuracy.


Working on the front of the city was actually a lot of fun. I took a cylindrical mesh, and applied some techno-textures to it on a per-face basis. In Max, you can fool aorund with how they're applied by rotating the W axis in the material editor (W as in UVW.) So it was like a big kaleidascope. Apply a black and white texture, rotate it and move it around, render it out, and then load into Photoshop as a selection. In the end I used 4 different iterations of that on the front face.

Anyhow, thanks for the notes and opinions, all!

-mike

[max112358]

Awesome work, once again, walrus. I think the lighter version of the city gives looks better. Also, I 'm not sure how it would look, but you might consider putting shadowing along the walls of the corridor where the axis city blocks out the light from the plasma tube.

[walrus]

It's a good idea, Max... but don't comfuse the Plasma Tube with the Flaw / Singularity. The former is where all the light comes from, and it surrounds Axis City. This scene takes place inside of it so we won't see much of it, but I do need to add traces, especially where it intersects with the tips of the vanes of the city. The Flaw is the beam going down the center, which only provides light here because I exaggertated the heck out of it. But it wouldn't provide enough light for the entire Way. (But I can see why you'd point that out, it does look like that's how I drew it. Hmmm.)

Thanks for the note!

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167527363_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167527363_large.jpg)

I'm still working, bouncing around the piece and alternating between characters and tech. Today and yesterday were Frant days, and sometime in the past week I got to reworking on Patricia based on suggesstions by Angel and NinjaA55N (thanks again, guys!) Bonim suggested more work on Olmy's face, and I did that too... but no matter what I do to it and how good he loks close up, it all gets lost when you see him smaller like this. :/

The biggest challenge was working on the Frant's shawl. And here are the details on how I did that, in case someone might find it helpful...

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167527998_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167527998_large.jpg)

So in the book, Bear describes the Frant thusly:

"Its shoulders were wrapped in silvery fabric; otherwise it wore nothing."

So the task was to paint something looking a bit like silver lame. (that's as in "la-may," not "lame," which I hope this isn't.)

1) I started with some photo-reference, in this case, my wife wearing a scarf.

2) Google Image Search is your friend.

3) I painted all of the cloth details, using the pictures above it as reference. This is where most of the time was spent.

4) It's looking okay all by itself but it doesn't really fit in the picture yet. I used the Curve filter to add some more hilight detail in the middle of the darkest areas, and then added a Hue/Saturation Adjustment layer to bring in the turquoise colors from the environment.

5) Using another Hue/Sat Adj.Layer with a mask, i adjusted the middle section to be darker, bringing in blues from Patricia's jumpsuit which it would be reflecting. (You can't see it in this post, so check out it's position in the previous one: The frant is directly behind her, so it made sense for his cloth to pick up her outfit's colros.

6) In a new Layer set to multiply, I added colors from the green side-light and some other reflected shades. Also, I added a shiny glow to the left.

So there we go. It lost a bit of that silver lame chromey feeling, mostly in the last step. If anyone has any suggestions on making it better, I'd love to hear. But if not, well, here we are, it's something!

-mike

[ReinaldoRomero]

Nicely done warlus, escelent contrast. I am still waiting to see all your composition set up.

[LightSovereign]

no suggestions for the silver lining :). though i am impressed that olmy is picting, uber cool. and the new layer of cloud is really impressive, yes please show all elements together, or are you just teasing?...

sorry not very imformative..

Marley

[mdavid]

Okay now Mike, this piece is starting to look seriously good. What a cool bunch of updates. Your guidelines on how you did the cloth make good reading too. Thanks for that.

As for the lame look (said with appropriate pronunciation) I think it still looks good. Something with that metallic look to it should, I suppose, have a bit of a hard edge to its specular highlights and possibly also some almost whitish specular areas. Those bits seemed to get softened and coloured a bit along the way, but I'm not actually suggesting you change anything, I'm just offering some food for thought. Because your standard of illustration is out of my depth here and I don't want to waste your time.

As for trying to make Olmy look good at a distance I sympathise with you - what more can you do for a bloke with no nose? But personally I think Olmy is already looking excellent.

That picting stuff is really cool too.

[Nazirull]

No comments at this stage from me....just gogogo!! :D

Happy New Year, Mike! Finishing this is definitely is gonna be a good head start for the year!

Good luck!

[Greatto]

Hello Mike:) great update:) perfect cloth image:)
I wanna wish you luck , happiness, heath and alot of fun in new year:)
Happy new year:)

[Thaldir]

Great update as usual, Mike! As to the lamè cloth (Italian spelling) Mark has nailed it, IMHO (also on the fact that it looks great as it is).

I hear you on Olmy...had the same trouble with my Garry.One can only do *that* much with far characters. Although the final TIFF that will be uploaded in FTP will be way bigger than what we can see here (that's my own consolation, at least)

[musi]

So that's you I saw in ImagineFX!

Great work, all of it :thumbsup:! I am not 2D person, in fact I can't even sketch, but if my 3D will ever be half as good as your work - I will be O.K.

Best of luck!
Sasha
EON (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=423648&page=1&pp=15)

[walrus]

Well, yeah, it's true that we'll all be uploading the full-res image... but I don't expect the judges to go poring over most entries at 100% zoom. I wonder how they DO all view them? Print-outs, screen? In a forum like this where everything's been resized to screen-res? Anyhow, I'm resigned to the fact that Olmy won't get seen too much. But at least he's there and you can tell it's him: Stature, the picting, the fact that he has no nose.
(So how does he smell?)... :)

Immediately after posting the lamé work in progress...
(It's not that I didn't know the proper Italian spelling, it's just that I have no idea how to get the é in Windows. On a Mac, which is where I am now, it's easy. Easé!) :)

Anyhow, immediately after posting it, my wife Talia (aforementioned shawl model) and I looked at the post and decided it was too green. I added some more white spots to parts of it orienting upwards and it looks better already.

Marley, I don't mean to be a tease with not showing the whole thing, I just tend to work by bouncing around different spots. I have older versions of the characters in the Axis City file, and only the far left corner of the background in the Characters' file. I try to keep things distinct to save on space: Each file is a huge pile of layers, and it gets expensive keepign them all live in eavery file, so I separate things out into smaller working files. Now that the characters are pretty much done, I'll flatten them and reincorporate them into the background file and post that soon... maybe even this year!

Not too much to do left:
* Finish the detailing on the front of Axis City and decide what value to make the whole thing
* Add the little spaceships
* Add effects from the plasma tube.
* Add Olmy's ship interior (just windows and deco, nothing too compilcated
* Smore brush-work in the background and other post effects...
... and I think that's it!


Oh, hey, one funny story - So I'm at a Christmas dinner with friends last week. One friend, Laura, has been silently following most of this thread. (Hi, Laura!) We were all sitting aorund, and she commented that she thopught it was going well, except Patricia's hand seemed a bit "chubby," not enough bones. She showed me her hands as an example, and then decided to show me another hand. "Hey, Sarah," she called across the room, "hold up your hand!" Well, she'd forgotten that Sarah had been the model for those hands, by virtue of the fact that she just happened to be wearing a blue jumpsuit on Halloween. So Sarah holds up her hands... And they're not as bony as Laura's, and she realized that the hands I've painted look just like Sarah's hands! :) Anyhow, it's subtle but I've now added more details like that to Patricia's hands.

Sasha - NO, that was NOT me in the November ImagineFX!!! It was an interview with me, but that WASN'T my photo. (I don't even know whose picture it was, but I would hate for people to think that was me. I look completely different that that, no offense to whomever's photo it really is.)

That's enough text, catch you all later, and thanks for the notes. Have a great New Years!

-mike

[angel]

Making nice progress I see. I think that if you tone the green hue a bit you might get back the "silvery" look you were after, although I think you haven't lost it completely.

Looking great, one of my favorites so far.

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167596498_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167596498_large.jpg)

Thanks for the suggestion, SNoWs. I did exactly that and it came out pretty well.

Also added some detailing to the front sections of the cubes and "maltese cross" - again, using a 3D app to create a "kaleidascope-mapped" section of a sphere toadd details to that front round part. Added a few more lights... and there we go!
Way background - done!
Axis City - done!
Characters - done!

Now Olmy's ship just needs some attention, and the little ships in the background. And I don't know what I'm going to do with that reflection in the window... Is it a transparent material like glass that would have a reflection? Or is it some sort of ray shielding? Anyone have any suggestions on renderring that part of the pic?

Anyhow, on to deal with New Year's stuff. In some parts of the world, some of you are already in 2007 - Hi, Marley! - but here I got a good 12 hours left. But none of them dedicated to working on this any more. More tomorrow, I suppose... Again, have a great New Year everyone!

signing off for '06...

-mike

[Thaldir]

(It's not that I didn't know the proper Italian spelling, it's just that I have no idea how to get the é in Windows. On a Mac, which is where I am now, it's easy. Easé!) :)

Sorry, Mike, guess it came out different from what I intended, I meant it as a joke, saying that I was using a foreign spelling to avoid confusion with 'lame'... :)
A great New Year to you and yours! See you in 2007 ;-).

[Ivy00]

whew I am glad I am excused for my early morning babbling... Your updates are beautiful, have a great 2007 :)

[walrus]

Don't worry, Thaldir, your comment was taken with all the humor with which it was intended. I'm a pretty system-agnostic fellow, but I just happen to think that working with accented characters on Windows is lame... and I don't mean lamé! :)

Ivy - thanks and happy new year to you too!

-mike

[aurora]

This one has been and will be one of may fav's through the contest! Your lighting details are really starting to make it pop and look fantastic. I just hope you keep ading more and more detail to the drive units and Axis City to help create its shear HUGE size.

[mdavid]

Great to see the whole scene. It's very impressive and very true to the book

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167706270_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167706270_large.jpg)

Thanks folks. Here it is with a little more work, this time on the inside of the cockpit and the background spaceships.

Aurora, you're right, perhaps the vanes could use a little more detail...

This is all I have for now...

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167706370_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1167706370_large.jpg)

Whoooops, helps when you upload the correct file...! :)

[SEL]

I dig it,

you just have to now blend the 3d with the 2d so it all fits and maybe add some hues of color in different areas to detract from the almost completelly blue scene. Thats my only crit, but very cool perspective work none the less!

SEL

[OKMER]

Wonderful Walrus!!!
Kind a agree with SEL and I'll add that the Frant's left arm seems a bit too long compared too his right arm.
one of my fav's!!!
Love it.
Happy new year!
:beer:

[LightSovereign]

I have to admit, that i have this unique way of selecting my favourite sci-fi pieces.

If i can imagine sitting in a state of the art cinema with popcorn, and i see the image up on the big screen..if there is any potential for decent subwoofer action, I like the epiece just a little more than the rest hahaha.

Although it is likely that you have concieved axis nader to be a silent runner, i can image a deep rythmic engine sound effect, as that floats past..Ya this is playing with my imagination..I don't know if this predominant colour is a bad thing, i think it helps to kepp the image tied together..i'd still wait till you have the viewing platform for the characters finished (some form of bridge command?) before i's add anything, just yet.

amazing work mike :D

Marley

[icedeyes]

Great work Michael... The only comment i have is that the lighting of the scene would make the faces of the characters appear light blueish (due to the tubelight)... Other than that, I love it...
I wish you a happy new year, health and hapiness...

[walrus]

Ha ha ha! So some of you think the scene is too monochromatic, and others think it isn't monochromatic enough! Oh, well, no pleasing everyone! :)

I appreciate the comments and opinions everyone! I might consider adding in more colors to the scene, but not a lot. I really was shooting for a pretty simple palette this time around. Bear described the scene as feeling underwater-ish. If I can add a few colors and keep that feeling, we'll see how it looks. As for the characters' faces, it's true they tecnically should be more bluish, but then I'd lose all of my contrasting warms and I sure don't have a lot of them to spare! I need to keep the focus somewhere...

As for the sub-woofer action, that could work... but then again, some strong, upwelling John Williams score could work too, eh, the string section rising up as we move from the front view of the city to the side and see how truly immense it is...? :grin:

But I don't have too many more ideas for the command deck deck-orations... any ideas, anyone?

And yes, I'll be doing some more paintwork over the top and hopefully blending it more, especially in the back where it's looming out of the distance. But again, and suggestions on specific things I could be doing would be, as always, appreciated.
Thanks everyone!

-mike

[Istmo]

It´s coming along very cool, Michael.:thumbsup:

[aurora]

I don't know if this predominant colour is a bad thing

Thats a massive plague that comes from following the book. Patricia describes lighting in the way as being completely blue staurated as if underwater only alot brighter thanks to the size of the plasma tube in the Way. I think Walrus's use of the blue hits perfect in keeping with the story.

Now for the Frant, its not just the length that gets me its the way it almost seems to pop out of Patricia that bothers me alittle.

[LightSovereign]

a brass colour would be good for the Deck-orations...other wise if you still feel it would be empty, you could have a hoilographic schematic of nader or the shuttle pop up on the windows, but thats more artsy license than anything :).


Marley

[hectic]

Hi, very nice work ... however I have few suggestions ;)

I think you could raise the cloud layer a bit more to the center of the tube (higher) ... the tube seems to be actually wider in diameter with so little space between "ground" and clouds.

I suppose you are still working on the interior, but anyway - the screens would look nicer with some content and the supporting archs could be a little worn out - they look too perfect.

Also I find those reflections (two white stripes across the whole glass bubble) a bit disturbing - maybe more opacity or blur would do the trick.

good luck

[mdavid]

I don't agree with hectic about the cloud layer. I reckon you've got it right. When you're 25 km from the surface, and 24-and-a-bit km above the clouds too then they would look like, well like how you've done them. I think the confusion comes from the fact that it's unlikely that anyone here has ever been that high above the ground, unless there are some astronauts in this forum. I tend to agree with hectic about the glare on the 'glass' though. It looks heaps better now you've reduced its opacity and curved it, but it still distracts me a bit.

As for your deck-orations, maybe you can stick a screen grab of the profile view of your Axis city straight out of your 3D program into one of those cool oval monitors. Tweak it a bit and you'd have a nice navigation panel guiding them home. But I can't imagine too much complexity in a futuristic console. I would keep it fairly simple.

As always Mike, just my 2 cents. Cheers

[walrus]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I really haven't given much thought to the screens. I dunno about the side view of Axis City. Wheneever I see that on a screen in someone else's image or TV show, I always think, "Oh, look, they reused their 3D model for one of their screens!" I don't know if I want to be guilty of the same kind of recycling. I figure I'll whip up some form of hi-tech graphics or something.
I definately need to add more deco to the inside of the cockpit, just haven't got there yet.

Anyone have any more siggestions on the glare on the inside fo the window? I have no idea what it would looik like in real life, so I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what to do there.

Good points on the Frant, I see what I can do to fix that up, at least! :)

-mike

[LightSovereign]

i can only think to make it more transparent and soften them edges they don't need to be as sharp as they are. I think someone already mentioned bluring them. they'll look different once the small screens are up and working i think.

marley

[OKMER]

Maybe some simple and fonctional elements on the sides near the floor could be cool, for exemple, air rasteriser(air in and out systems,dont really know the right word in english),or some low tempered lights that should light up a bit the floor,(this could also permit you to bring in in a subtile way some secondary colors).Or cableholders with some cables running along the sides following the tunnel.A glassbreaker/Axe like you can find in busses in case of emergency.
a wallphone on the arcs with speakers,etc...

Maybe some kind of holographic screen following the rounded forms of the glass, lightly superposed in semi opacity on the glass with plans of the room.

Maybe the second ray of light(to the right) on the glass could be cool to make it hard edged on one side and smooth/soft edged on the other side to bring in even more maybe the feeling of reflecions on the glass.
Just my 2 cents..
Excuse me please, I'm very tired and my english must be horrible by now so I hope you understand me..Because I'm not sure I understand myself :grin:
Good night mate!
May ze forzzz be wiz you!!!

[ChuckWadey]

I vote leave the cloud layer how it is, and soften some of the window glare edges (but not all of 'em). For the screens, high tech graphics (ahem, "picts") definatelly fit in with the story but they don't have to be confined to monitors. Making any cockpit graphics glow green would be a good opportunity to justify the backlighting color on your characters.

What more do you have planned? It looks pretty close to finished to me.

[TheFirstAngel]

well since frants are much into karaoke i could picture a holographic karako machine dispaying in front of patricia i can already hear the the happy frant say: now sing along with me, "iiiin the navyyyyy...." :scream: ;) jk.

Nice progress, i agree with the crowd some elements to fill the spaces might help the piece. maybe some kinda seats, and in the front some kind of cockpit interior. since all 3 are illuminated warm, a kind of lightsource justifying that would help to get the (cold ambient litten)environment and the characters together. hope that point somehow is of help :)

keep up the great work mate
cheers

[nwiz25]

hey buddy! awesome update man! :eek: amazing details with lights .. cloth .. expression n all! :eek: ..

m dumbfounded :eek: ... very eager to c the final draw! ..

how about adding some lights in the interiors .. ?? ..


thats all i've got actually .. other than that .. AMAZING!


cheers mate! good luck for the challenge! :thumbup:

[HFix]

Really nice character designs!! and i love the cloth work of the jumpsuit!!


-Eon Link-
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?postid=4109615

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168032007_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168032007_large.jpg)

Hi, all! Thanks for the notes. I've not had a lot of time to work this week, but I plan on finishing it up mostly this weekend. But like you pointed out, very little to do now. I haven't posted it yet, but I made soem more adjustments on the Frant to try to get his arms looking the same size, and some more resuggested fixes to keep him distinct from Patricia.

Getting back to the FishEye Lens idea that Yoff been's asking about, I worked on a test for it on my lunch break today. I don't have all my most recent files here at work, so all the Axis City, character, spacehip and cockpit detailing looks like it's taken a step or 2 backwards. don't worry! This is just a test in the simplest way possible to get a fish-eye lens effect. No fancy (and frustrating) reflection or refraction this time around: I simply applied the background onto a hi-poly sphere and rendered it out!

So... opinions?

-mike

[LightSovereign]

I like it, but its neither here nor there, but what it does do is create an opprtunity to do something with the deck i like how it seems to be lighter and i can visualize being able to paint different styles of paneling in accordance with the shape of the curve. that is a slight positive ^^. Neither one stands as a clear cut descision though...

if i had a choice id just continue as is.

Marley

[mdavid]

Interesting. I've been staring at the two for a while and it wasn't until I noticed (in the fish eye one) that a lovely curve has been introduced to the lower edge of the window glass, that's when I decided that I prefer the fish eye one. I was looking for fish eye effect on Axis City but it was, as you say, subtle. But in how it affects the whole image I'm in favour

[LightSovereign]

I've forgotten about the progress made already, you've already curved the deck haven't you?..well that should be interesting, fishbowled.

[walrus]

Well, yeah, but I curved it in the opposite direction of the fish-eye lens effect. I doubt the two would go together: I'd have to redo that part of the deck, I think. But it's at this point just a flat fill without any detailing, so that isn't too much rework!

The place where the fish-eye sticks out the most to me is the front of the city, especially in teh distorted cubes and circular cross... too distorted, perhaps?

[mdavid]

Ahah! I now see what you and Marley mean about the deck line. Silly me. As for the cubes and cross, yes I think they do look a bit too distorted now

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168148344_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168148344_large.jpg)

I went ahead with the fish-eye lens render. To compensate for the distortion we talked about above, I ended up completely repainting the cubes and cross in the front - partially just a paint-over, and partially rerenderring a new dish in the front and then painting over that. Add to those the new curved cockpit floor, glare-lines on the windows, and contrails from the ships, and I think I ended up with a nice subtle curve to the entire piece that wasn't there before. I must confess, I kinda like it!

Some other new things this version: The Frant's arm anatomy improved (I made his right arm longer to match the other one) and I've added some subtle fogging on the Frant and Olmy to pull them apart from Patricia more. And I also did some paint-over work on the back of the city to emphasize certain parts and the glow and such.

But because I spent all my time today working on redoing the lens effect, no new progress to show on the viewscreens and such. Stay tuned tomorrow... :)

-mike

p.s. Sorry for all the screwy posts below. NO, I wasn't trying to artificially inflate my hit-count! I kept posting and CGTalk kept sending me an error message so I kept trying. I had no idea my submissions were actually going through!

[walrus]

removing a redundant quadruple post.

[walrus]

removing a redundant quadruple post.

[walrus]

removing a redundant quadruple post.

[LightSovereign]

you've done great!!. it has worked ,and the characters really look at home more than they ever have. is there a tad more yellowish green for the edges of the way?, I think those colours have worked big time. like the inner glare on the windows too, the rear of the axis is certainly looking comfy ^^.

i'd be pleased with this progress!

(i have commented alot here, i hope i haven't cluttered your thread with too much nonsense)

[mdavid]

It all looks excellent Mike. Those slight changes have added a lot of polish to this image

[nwiz25]

wow buddy! :eek: i see the lens effect! :eek:
so very cool! :bounce: everything is beautifully captured! :eek:
no crits from me buddy ... just waiting for da final showdown! :eek:

cheers to u mate! :beer:

n good luck as always! :thumbsup:

[angel]

This is looking real nice mate. My only concern is with the lack of volume of the glass. I liked the sharp edges better, all it needed was a slight distortion so they wouldn't be perfectly straight. Having a blurred reflection like it is now, suggests a porous surface and thus it would also affect the objects on the other side. Also, adding the reflection of the characters distorted to fit the curvature of the glass would bring it home IMHO.

[Ivy00]

looking great :) can't wait to see the final

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168237561_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168237561_large.jpg)

Well, lots more work on the cockpit... Much nicer looking walls (though I still will add a few more details.) And I upgraded its navigation systems from the old round viewscreens to holographis data-displays. No you can see part of what's cating the green light on them! (I'll post a detail in a sec...)

SNoWs, I think you've got an excellent point about the glare and reflections in the glass. I should try some hard edges again. And I've been putting the reflections off because, frankly, I have no clue what their reflections would look like! Just fun-house-mirror distorted, or smeared all the way around the circumference fo the window? Looks like I have a week to fool around with it!

Anyhow, a solid amount of work for the day...

-mike

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168237730_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168237730_large.jpg)

Here's a close-up on them datascreens. It was stated in teh book that their written language isn't the same as ours, so I made a new font for them. I just took an existing font - I forget which one - and cut and pasted letters together to make weird, half-breed, mutant children of various letters! :)

Oh, yeah, and you can also see some of what I've been doing with the tail-end of Axis City, using a chalk brush to add some interesting detail and fog effects.

[TheFirstAngel]

since you done much in 3d already you could easily make yourself a ref in 3d for the reflections, place 3 lowpoly or biped figures or whatever in a geometry that looks more or less like your cockpitglass, set that to be 100% reflective and render it - there goes "idea of reflection". very cool screens by the way :) keep on rocking mate!:beer::buttrock::wip:

[R-K]

cool work, solid rendering. Little touches to the background and you're there!

[zweiDee]

yepaaaww! so cool datascreens. and the new end of axis rocking, lovley piece. you are the master!!!

[Thaldir]

Great update, Mike! The holo-screens are a great touch and I really like the added work on Axis City. I think their reflections will be quite deformed, my guess is elongated and out of proportion, but that's just a guess, I'd say try a few distortions and go with whatever fits better in the image (artistic licence, right? ;) ).

[Ivy00]

Excellent updates Mike, the Frants arm looks to me a bit like it is growing out of Patricias hip, I think it might be because of the shadow in the fold of her jumpsuit in the exact same area where the Frants arm is.

[icedeyes]

I like it better now but i have a slight suggestion/differentiation on the displays... to give them a more tv like effect, add some glow or scanline (thin)... just my opinion but i think that would make them look more "screenish".... And maybe more greenish since we all know the future will be commodores black and green screens:scream:...

Have fun and good luck....

[OKMER]

Yap Mike,just excellent updates, no crits from me!!!Love it.
Maybe some reflections on the glass indeed.
Love to see the evolution in your thread!
Big up bro!

[walrus]

icedEyes - the funny thing is, they looked greener on my PC. Here in Mac-land (or at least on this partifular Mac) they appear very faded. But scanlines would be way too small to read at this distance. Even if they were tv-sets circa 1960 you wouldn't see the scan-lines!

Ivy - You're right - seeing the shole illustration together like this, it's obvious I put the shadow on Patricia's hip in the wrong place given the light source... but maybe the shadow is too dark too - i was trying to get the effect of the light from the Way throwong a shadow on her body from the arm. I'll work on that some more, thanks for pointing it out.

Angel - darn, and I was hoping I was done with the 3D part! :)

Thanks to everyone else, too, for dropping by. Hope yours are all coming well too. One week left! (no pressure though...!) I'm really curious to get to the end, see how many people actually finish. I'm betting it will be a record low number. But then, people always surprise me in these things, specifically all the folks who sign on with one week left, complete an entry with no feedback from anyone in the threads, and then vanish again. They miss the best part about the challenges, imho.

(And the other people I don't get are the ones who post in those threads "waaaow! How come I haven't seen this thread before?" It's because the person just posted everything from rough concept to Final Entry within 3 minutes of each other!)

Well, anyhow, to you, my real compatriots who stuck it out the whole time, I salute you! Good luck finishing up!

-mike

[Thaldir]

I'm really curious to get to the end, see how many people actually finish. I'm betting it will be a record low number. But then, people always surprise me in these things, specifically all the folks who sign on with one week left, complete an entry with no feedback from anyone in the threads, and then vanish again. They miss the best part about the challenges, imho.

Totally agree with you, interaction is by far the best part of the challenge (says the veteran... ;) ).

To indulge your curiosity, as of now I counted 17 finished entries in the illustration forum.

[Ivy00]

Just looking at your reply to IcedEyes , I work on a *coughs really old 1.3 ghz , hardly any ram windows, surprised it does not blow up kind of pc... when I work in photo shop I switch back and forth on the proof set up between Mac and Windows. I don't know anyone around me with a Mac , so wondering if that gives some idea as to what it really looks like in both , using the proof set up view on Photoshop that is.. gack did that question make sense?

on a side note, I love the interaction of this, I was so shy to even enter this and try , but really glad I did, it is something I will never regret and have met a lot of talented and extremely nice and helpful people here :)

[walrus]

Thaldir - I suspect there will be many more in the coming week! ;)

Ivy - I do know what you're asking, but don't have an answer for you. I'm doing my main work on a PC and happen to sometimes wantder through the forums on my wife's iBook. A better person to ask would be MarkDavis, who I know went through a much mroe serious color correction comparing Mac to PC. But even if just one one or the other, everyones' monitors differ, so I'd say it's hard to correct for all of them anyhow. What I'm seeing could have nothing to do with the OS, just the fact that they're 2 different monitors!

-mike

[Terro]

Many more entries Mike? Wow, it already looks out standing in my opinion. It has been a real blast follwing your progress through out the challenge. I'll be tuning in for the final mate.

Kick Ass

[walrus]

No, I meant that I think there will be many more people finishing their own Challenge entries in the coming week! :)

[LightSovereign]

Mike, thanks very much for sticking with this piece. its been an absolute education observing your progress. LOVE where this is now. the paneling looks very impressive. I do wish you had kept some of those circular panels, they provided a nice break in the uniform shape of the deck..They added variation. never the less, i bet your looking forward to the finish line now.

awesome

Marley

(agreed that interaction is the best part, good way of breaking the ice in meeting other artists)

[OKMER]

Yap, I totaly agree with you Micheal that the most exiting part of the contest is all the interacting between all these people, how like what they do and do what they like.Even if it isn't always easy for those who dont master for 100% the english language or who don't have the time to be online so much.
There is so much to learn here in these contests.
And not only drawing and painting.
Also how to interact,being constructif and learn from the critics of other artlovers, and that's, I think the most important factor in the proces of upleveling your skills.
(Sorry my english for exemple ,it quit suc*s and it isn't always easy to find the right words,ha,ha)

Anyway, me too I feel like your slowly heading towards the final of your pic and indeed it was a huge pleasure to see you working!No more crits I see, and just the final "WHOOOOO"!!!
Bow down from me!!!:beer:

[artvandeley]

Mike, i really love how this turned out. Again it´s a pleasure to see how you work.

For the picture: i think it could still use some structuring details on the axis and on the cockpit whereas the background by and large needs a lower contrast imo.
That would put the emphasis more on the group, ´cause right now those two focuses (is that even a word?) kind of struggle with each other.

But then again, maybe i just envy you about your progress and the picture.:scream:

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168323362_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168323362_large.jpg)

Woo hoo! A very productive night indeed (which is good, given how few more there are!) Let's see, what's on tonight's revision list?

I took off that strong shadow on Patricia's right side and faded the Frant arm more, so that hopefully it won't look as much like it's sticking out of her (Thanks, Ivy!)

I added more detail to the back vanes of Axis City, and faded the background of the way more... not everywhere, but more on the right hand side behind the city where there's the greatest contrast. It isn't a lot, it's subtle, but a slight improvement. (Thanks, Torsten!)

Made the data screens a bit more green on the left (thanks, icedEyes!)

And the big work: I threw together some quick models of the 3 characters and renderred out some refractions of them on a tube. (Thanks, Sacha!) I painted over those and so now I have some vaguely accurate reflections of the characters on the rounded glass. And i tightened up the reflection/sheen on the glass too. (Thanks Okmer and especially SNoWs!)

And I repositioned some of the ships in the background to not interfere with the shadows.

Not much left - still some small detailing needed in the cockpit, but after that... Well, just in time!

Love to hear you thoughts about the rteflections and other changes, either completed or ones that you think I still need to get to. Let me know... Thanks!

-mike

[Ivy00]

The updates are great, the arm looks a lot better now from what I can see without close up detail. Your Frant looks so fatherly and gentle it really nails how I felt about the Frant in the book.

[coCoKNIght]

something bugs me about the reflexions, first i thought they were not positioned correctly according to the rule: entry angle = exit angle
but now i'm not so sure...
maybe they need some more blur?

anyway, about one thing i'm pretty sure, if you add reflections you gotta do the whole programme, and that includes the floor and especially everything that shines like the data screnns and the pictos.

all other changes are kickass :thumbsup:

there's something entirely different that also bugs me a bit, and it's the colors of the near axis city, i think it would add a lot to the image if it had more color variations. i'd recomend adding some purple.

hehe, well, my own humble opinion, you're probably too busy anyway :)

:wavey:

[mdavid]

The reflections kind of bother me too. If it were me I would just make them fainter (reduce their opacity) so they are only borderline visible. Because they seem correctly drawn, but are too noticeable in my opinion. Apart from that, all the new work is superb. This looks mightly close to being finished now

[prabath]

Hey Mike the new post looks great.the new details add a lot to the finishing touches.Looks great.

Cheers!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168410343_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168410343_large.jpg)

Lots more work tonight... and a good thing, too as I don't have too many more nights to devote to this. so one way or another, it's going to be done...!

I've added more cockpit details, and done a lot more brushwork in teh back of Axis City to really bring out the glow back there. I've refined all of the glare lines. And I both added more details to the reflection in the window as well as made them less obvious. I was unhappy with the few details you could see, how sketchy they were. it's not like you can see them much now, but it works better. I also shifter around the Frant and Patricia's reflections, to better fit the angles you were talking about, coCoKNIght.

And speaking of your suggestions, I have to confess that the idea of adding purple took me by surprise. I didn't quite take it seriously at first, it seemed so out of left field. But I'll give anything a try, and as you can see, I stuck a bit in there, on the bottom version posted above. Not too intense, but it's there just enough to be noticeable. And it's different... and surprisingly good looking. I still can't decide which i like better, the original (top) scheme or new version (bottom) with purple. And it's not helping that it's pretty late here. So when in doubt: toss it out to the general masses to hopefully garner some useful insight.

Let me know what you think, folks! Not just on the colros ('though that would be a big help) but also any last touches. Only one I can see at the moment is a signature missing from the corner, which is always my last step in a painting...

-mike

[Thaldir]

Definitely go with the purple, Mike (*says the man who couldn't paint without*).And yes, time for that 'very last touch' I think. WELL DONE!! :thumbsup: :)

[LightSovereign]

The reflections look the part now mike. hmm, have you tried the purple without the colour affecting the interior?..

again i find myself favouring eitherway.

The interior is fantastic..

one thing, do you use masking?. everything looks so crisp. I very rarely use them as i haven't found a way to save them for next use (they seem to disappear when photoshop is closed)..

anyways, look forward to the final destination.

been a priviledge catching this developement.

And a big thanks for the help you've given me aswell!.

Marley

edit* hhm it seems we have an extended deadline, im not sure wether to be happy about this or not.

[OKMER]

Yap, you're right Marley, 21 days left...That will allow us to bring in some more strokes,ha,ha!
Hi micheal!Personaly I think something feels strange about the elements you've brought in on the arcs of the cockpit,something bothers the perspective now i think.
For me it's definitely the purple one.I find it gives even more a nice feeling on the fish eye.
Amazing now the backpart of the engine and the reflectoins on the window!
Personaly I think one of the strokes of light/reflection on the window could have a more hard edge.
And maybe the first arc and the metal part of the cockpit near the ground(near us)could use a bit of light falling on it from the outside as its exposed to the light of the beam normaly.
Hope my englsh is clear,:shrug:
Anyway your image is awesome always and each time I come in a bit more!!!Keep on rocking mate!!!:beer:

[element5]

Hey Michael,

Love what you have done with the place, an amazing image indeed. :thumbsup:

cheers Mark

[coCoKNIght]

Personaly I think something feels strange about the elements you've brought in on the arcs of the cockpit,something bothers the perspective now i think.

I have to agree with that. looks like those details aren't in perspective.
...and of course i'd like to see more color fluctuations and more purple :p on the fron cap sides of the axis city elements.

a price is already yours anyway :buttrock:

edit: by the way, i like what you did to the reflections.

[Ivy00]

I think the purple brings more curvature to the background and that's a good thing

[NinjaA55N]

Hi walrus! Its been quite a while since I last poped in ur thread. I see u did a great progress and it really is at the point of finishing and last touches. I see why r u confused about purple color. It looks nice, really nice. But It also makes that corner down there a bit too dark if u ask me. So what I suggest is, put purple under the fence coz it gives that depth feeling and nice atmospheric touch, but reduce it on the metal fence.
And one another thing that I just noticed and I must say it quite bothers me... those round shapes that hold that glass tube together (I hope u know what am I talking about) seems to be a bit off perspective. Actually they look like if they were rotated in the upper part, but it just doesnt make any sence. If they r flat, than the upper part doesnt work, and if they arent, than the joint part isnt ok. If I complicated too much, let me know and I'll overpaint u :)
Best regards and lots and lots of succes on finishing that piece!

[rawwad]

Looking great Mike! I like details a lot. And in that last update (I am not sure if I have problem with monitor colors) I don´t see any different. I like both, hehe:thumbsup: Finish it at time mate!

[BC1967]

Bravo! You've outdone yourself! I vote for the purple too. One thing that's bugging me though. The reflections of the characters look to me to be too far forward and, too wide. Patrica's most noteably. The reflection is butt up against that strucual support, but she's standing away's back from it.
Have you cleared space for a new boxx?

[walrus]

They extended the deadline after we've all been working to finish this week? :roll:
Well, I'm still planning on finishing this week. I'm dying to get back to drawing something funny, enough with this serious SF junk. :grin:

Marley - Good point, I'll see how it looks with less purple in the interior. I don't use masking, but then, I don't paint all on one layer either. At any given time, I'm working in 12-20 layers, occasionally merged and flattened. Once upon a time, Axis City was dozens of layers, as was the Way. They've long since been flattened down to one. And then I add paintovers (sometimes) to fuzzy up those edges, like I did in the back of the city. But all the work I did yesterday on the cocpit was another dozen layers, which is why it looks so sharp.

Okmer - thanks! I think i see what you're saying. You're likely right about more light on the arc. I may just avoid more light on the far right part of the cockpit side, because I really don't want to draw the eye to that. But let me give it a try.

cocoKnight - Sorry pal, you already got all the purple you're getting! :) (I tried but didn't like it that intense.)

Blaz - I see what you're saying about the cockpit side - the "fence" and agree that I could take the purple down some. As far as how specifically to fix the curves on the top of the cockpit, I confess I'm not quite following your suggestion. If you have any time (and we have tons more time now!) I would greatly appreciate a paint-over or a sketch or something explaining better, 'cause I'm not quite following your post. Thanks!!

And to everyone else who just stopped by to say hi or drop other comments, thanks again for your support!

-mike

[walrus]

Oops, Bill, you snuck in a good reply while I was typing my last post. Good point about the reflections. I'll have to do something about that. Thanks!

-mike

[flyingP]

yet another impressive entry from you Micheal ;)

[nwiz25]

hey buddy! :bounce: amazing update!:eek: great work on the reflections and details! :eek: :bounce:

on the other hand .. i tried a lil smthin .. i hope its ok .. surely u can make it much better .. here it is .. =)

wat do u think buddy? .. if these lights look ok .. then u can enhance them hell of a lot more :)

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/5188/trialpj5.jpg


cant wait to c the final piece man! :eek: god bless ya! n good luck! :thumbsup:

[NinjaA55N]

hehe.. sorry buddy. When it comes to explanations in english, Im quite weak :) ok.. so I made a quick ugly skethc just to show u what bothers me. It seems to me that u have an Echer effect going on in ur image. There r two ways how those curves should go over the cockpit (no.1 and no.2 sketch) but in ur case I see a mix of both. correct me if Im wrong, but thats just the way I see it.

http://www.3delavnica.com/@upload/Ninja_ASSN/walrus2.jpg

[nwiz25]

hey Mike!!

yes yes .. i agree with NinjaA55N .. i c it too .. yikes .. :eek: i totally missed that one :eek:

da sketch explains it very well indeed!

operation fix up! :wip:

[coCoKNIght]

Blaz: it's not an error, these futuristic materials/constructions are designed to hurt the eyes :scream:

[artvandeley]

coco is right, half of the book they talking about multi-dimensional materials and space-time-effects far to sophisticated for us earthlings.

So i thinks it´s a .. a....yes, a hint, an innuendo that walrus has in mind.

[NinjaA55N]

well, it seems I didnt quite get there yet where this is explained :P hehe sorry for missleading :)

[walrus]

Yay, it's paint-over city! (I love this part of the Challenge!)

Neville - neat idea, thanks for your suggestion fo the lights. They look cool. I can't decide whether they draw too much attention to the lower right. But then, I don't have to put a light there, I guess.

Blaz - Thanks for the sketch. I see where your confusion lies, I was just hoping you'd have been able to explain how to fix it! But I guess that's hard if you don't quite know where I was going with it in the first place. I had been thinking of it as sketch #1, like so:

http://www.drawingboard.org/blogs/uploads/w/walrus/1587.jpg

Now the question is what do I do to make it look more like that. Hmm, any ideas, anyone?

-mike

[yoff]

Now the question is what do I do to make it look more like that. Hmm, any ideas, anyone?
Yes let the detail define the orientation. In the desired scetch you have little lines running perpendicular to the curvature. In you picture you have some other details, and these do not define the orientation correctly...

[beelow]

Draw lines that imply that perspective. My 2 cents. I initially read it that way. Also what came to mind is to thin that curvature up a bit at the top of the arch to give it another perspective going up, a Z axis I guess. Painting is coming together nicely!:thumbsup:

[LightSovereign]

put the details into perspective aswell. have those black dots aimed at a vanishing point and the detail around them doing the same..

*edit* hi beelow :wise:

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168513716_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168513716_large.jpg)

Well, all of those details were intended to get smaller in the distance... it was just so subtle, no one but me could tell! So here's a new version. No hexes, the emphasis is all on shapes that flow down the length of the ship. I also redid some fo the lighting to show more of the sides of the arcs, and to show how the light from outside and from the datascreens are hitting them, as recommended. And I also took some of the blue tint away from the far right.

And lastly, I took Bill's advice and shifted Patricia and the Frant's reflections to the left more. Haven't got to thinking about the interior lights yet, but hey, this is enough for one night... or more specifically, one really early morning.

Better, maybe? (I hope?)
Time for bed...

-mike

[Nomad]

Just great :thumbsup:

[mdavid]

It looks fantastic Mike. No crits/suggestions from me (which is why I've been so silent around here lately). The new reflections look excellent

[walrus]

Thanks, guys! (And actually, Marley, you're doing pretty well all in all. Some folks just vanish after they've completed their entries!)

Relooking at this again this morning, I realized part of what's wrong with the arc overhead - it's too well lit. I think making it darker on the top parts will help reinforce that it's facing downwards, not outwards. It shouldn't be receiving as much light as it is. don't know why I didn't see that before. (Slaps forehead.) Well, maybe because it was 3am...! :)

[JeffZugale]

Hi Michael,

If you're talking about the lighting on the arches supporting the "glass" over the walkway, it seems to me that with the primary light source being the plasma tube, that the underside of them would be lit only by bounce light off the floor of the walkway - unless of course you've got lights in the walkway somewhere. So if you're going from the plasma tube, you'd have a bright edge light on the upper arc of the support, with greater contrast between the parts facing the walkway and the part facing up toward the city.

Heh, but then, we all gotta cheat our lights on images of this scale about this story, because if we didn't the thing would look weird to us earthbound humans. Technically the plasma tube would have to seem nearly sunlight-bright, so it would be pretty much blinding! In my image I'm totally cheating because I'm lighting ground stuff from a "low sun" angle instead of from "noon" as things in the Way would actually be lit...

This image looks fabulous, though. I think it's one of the best in the Challenge.

-Z

[Neubius]

the sense of scale is immense!


fantastic.
love your characters. You don't seem to need the extra time at all :)

[walrus]

Well, we have had 3 and a half months already to work on this, which is certainly a generous amount of time to finish a single painting! :)
Anyhow, thanks!

[black-hand-77]

It looks like you're just a step from finishing. You did an incredible piece. I like it. It's my newest desktop wallpaper (please don't copyright this :thumbsup:). Love it entirely. Good luck dude!


EON ZOOLAND (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?threadid=415554)

[NinjaA55N]

Now it looks just right. It was all about the perspective :) keep it going man, plenty of time, just watch out not to overdo it. But maybe those lights in lower right corner wasnt so bad idea. If u'll gonna make them there, be carefull to let them very subtle, just to enrich the empty part. So they wont take too much attention and pull the viewers eye off the great diagonale that u have from lower left to upper right corner. Ah, what am I saying.. u sure know all this already :) Good luck!

[mdavid]

I see others mentioning the sense of scale and I think that's a good point. Yours seems to me be one of only a small group of entries which not only has been very true to the book - it's clear that you've read it - but it also captures the impression of being inside an object of that (almost) unimaginable scale. That's got to be good when it comes to judging. Good on you Mike. Still no crits from me, just wishing you luck as take the last steps towards the finish. I can't wait to see the hi-res final

[artvandeley]

Much better. Well, i think you´re pretty done now.

Hm, i don´t know about you but i always have problems with finishing early. Far to much time to think about every little stroke in the picture again and then i most likely end up being unhappy and left with the wish to do it all over again from scratch.

What this has to do with you and your lovely picture? Well, er..nothing i guess.

Well done!!

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168714714_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168714714_large.jpg)

Hi, all! A few more changes with the cockpit. At this point I know they're all subtle: I'm now long past the point where anyone's going to notice the 2-pixel changes in my thumbnails!
I made the undersides of the cockpit arcs darker, which I really think helps a lot to make thier orientation even more clear than in the last revision. I've added some more tech details too, but they're all small.

I tried adding Neville's lights to the sides, but as Blaz pointed out, they drew too much attention to themsleves. But I kept the indentations from them - they add some nice detail to the walls.

I honestly can't think of anything else to do on this piece save for submitting it. Any last ideas?

Notes and responses:

Black-Hand - I'm flattered, thanks... but at least wait 'til I'm done with it! I hate to think of some unfinished piece I'm unhappy with sitting on someone's desktop. A friend of mine did that in the last Challenge. She had this older version, and by the time I'd finished, I'd repainted the 2 main characters! She didn't update it, so I went onto her computer when she wasn't around and uploaded the finished version!

Blaz - You are right of course. I tried it and lights ar a hard thing to make subtle, so I left them out altogetehr. They didn't add anything but distraction.

Mark - For a book cover (or similar) job like this, I tend to read through the text about one and a half times on an average. One time all the way through start to finish, and a second time, here and there and taking more detailed notes. It's the best way for me to both enjoy the book and make sure that I get all the details correct. Glad you think I've achieved that!

Torsten - Glad you think it's looking done. I'm pretty much in agreement. I don't like finishing early either... I generally try to pace myself to finish about 1 week before the end of the contest: enough time to get as much feedback as possible, but early enough to beat the final upload rush! :)


So there we go... Any last observations, last details to adjust? See what you think...

-mike

[LightSovereign]

Yea, 98 percent nailed!(as in only finishers left). I do rather like the idea that neville presented with the lighting. A very gentle orange may work i reckon. Regardless, it looks sweet! a nice 32nd congratulations :thumbsup:

[TheFirstAngel]

clean and strong work. actually cant think of much you could improve cuz it rocks already. its well ballanced and masterly built, clean and great detailing works well distributed. kick ass job my friend :D eiter way, i am 100% sure no matter what finishing touches you're up to, they will rock, as usual :) keep it up! :beer::buttrock::wip:

[mdavid]

New cockpit details look excellent. Definitely no crits from me.

[Ivy00]

no crits from me either, I think it is wonderful work , but I might look for those 2 pixel at a time changes, ha ha

[thedigitalmonkey]

looking great, man!

-alex

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168886620_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168886620_large.jpg)

Thanks, Mark, Marley, Ivy, Sacha, and Alex! (and good to see you drop by, Alex) It's been a few days and the constructive criticism has dropped off and my own nitpicks have been polished off. (Sorry, Marley, I tried the lights more, they just didn't work.)
So I think it's safe to say it's finished.

Before I post the final, I just thought folks might like to see a detail on the piece here it is!

...

[walrus]

http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168886759_medium.jpg (http://features.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/14/12245/12245_1168886759_large.jpg)

Olmy and the Frant show Patricia the view from their ship and she gets her first sight of Axis City.

I felt it was important to show something from further into the book, not just the first half which takes place in the Stone. The story arc of 'Eon' - like many of Bear's other novels - follows a long rising motion, where small ideas introduced in the beginning of the story grow in scope to an immense size by the end of the story. The Stone may be impressive, but as we move deeper into the Stone and into the story, the ante keeps being raised. What's at stake by the end of the book makes the first half seem like small change. To truly convey the scope of the novel, I needed to depict something from later in the book, the Way in all its size and majesty, not merely a single chamber. (But not so far into the book that I gave too much away!)

However, to accurately represent 'Eon,' it's not enough just to show the Way. The Way and Axis City, with their billions of inhabitants, mean nothing if not balanced with characters to whom the reader can relate. Patricia is the key character who spans both worlds, the woman who can comprehend the physics and geometry of this strange new world while still holding onto her ties from her Earth. From the first prologue in which we see Patricia, she is described as needing her connections to her home and family to anchor her, and it's a passion that drives her actions (and keeps us tied to our own Earth) for the entire novel. Thus I've depicted her holding her own anchor, the letter from her boyfriend Paul which she carries with her for the entire book. (True, she usually has it inside her jacket, but it's kind of hard to see there!)

I've tried with almost everything else to match the descriptions taken from the book. I hope all will forgive the artistic liberties that I've taken with the size and configuration of Ser Olmy's ship: I needed a much larger vessel (and windows) to accurately show the City. All in all, it's a small bit of artistic license taken for what I hope is a much greater effect.

Thanks go out to everyone who has commented on my progress, either by posting or in person, to help make this the best piece it could be. I have enjoyed and appreciated all of the encouragement, feedback, jokes, opinions, suggestions and drawovers that everyone has added. Thank you all for generously taking the time to help.

-mike

[Thaldir]

Congratulations on a very well planned and wonderfully done piece, Mike!:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
One of a small bunch of entries that show the outmost care to stay as true as possible to Eon, that, in my book is a very strong point. :)

Best of luck with the jury!

[coCoKNIght]

what a masterpiece despite the missing purple. congrats to yet another awesome challenge entry. I hope you'll enter the next challenge also, cause it's always fun and inspiring to keep an eye at your thread. all the best and peace out!

[TheFirstAngel]

congrats on finishing this kick ass piece, kick ass from the first to the last pixel! and best of luck on the finals now :)

[Istmo]

Hi there Mr.walrus!so, you´ve finished your work. I like so much the sense of depth and its originality. Good luck again!:thumbsup:

[LightSovereign]

(Sorry, Marley, I tried the lights more, they just didn't work.)

hah, hey i'm not bothered, clearly it wasn't much of a technical issue if this was all i could come up with. Unfortunately i have refreshed the image 5 times now and have been unable to view your finished product, but just wanted to say for the uptenth time that i learnt heaps watching your progress and actually interacting with you, been a journey :D.

Thanks very much. hope to compete with ya on future challenges.

Marley

[Ivy00]

Congrats on your finish Mike :) It is a fantastic work of art and I have learned a lot by watching your progress and reading your posts from start to excellent finish

[artvandeley]

Congratulations! You made it! One of the strongest entries for sure.
Good luck with the jury, i bet you win at least something again.

[zweiDee]

Congratz! Very nice piece, from the first scetch to the final image. your works rockz!
Cheerz!

[OKMER]

Yap,yap me too say 2 you,congratz!!!Agree with all the others, excellent entry!!!
It was a real pleasure to follow it from the beginning and see this final!
Good luck Micheal, may ze forzz be wizzzz you!!!

[nwiz25]

BRAVO Mike! congrats on ur completion! i enjoyed every update that u posted :eek: tho i missed some :D:argh: .. yikes! .. but still ... every element in ur entry has a smthin to say! n thats fascinating :eek: i love the details ( as usual ;)) .. especially the skin textures .. cloth folds .. lighting ... everything man! wooooooohoooooooo! :arteest:

knock out job bro! wishing u the very best for this challenge!

god bless ya!

[BlueHarp411]

Michael - this thread has been a great read. i love to see how you develop things and the great interaction you have with other artists. i adore this piece but you know i love all of your art!!

Jill

[angel]

I think that congratulations are in order. :)

Awesome final image my friend. One of my favorites! loved to see the progression of your piece and thanks again for droping by my thread and posting your comments and suggestionswhich were a great help.

Good luck!

[mdavid]

Congratulations Mike. It looks brilliant. I really think you've managed to depict how it would look in the centre of the Way. You've been very true to the novel in other ways too (no pun intended) and that has to count for a lot. Thanks for keeping us all so much up to date during this challenge. Your regular updates and commentary about your workflow have been fascinating. Also, thanks again for your suggestions/comments on my thread.

Good luck!

[icedeyes]

Congratulations on a beautiful entry Mike... Nothing to comment... just dropping by to wish you luck...

[zer05um]

Simply amazing work - There's a deep sense of wonder in Patricia's posture and the city is mind-blowing!

[DanBird]

Excellent work... :thumbsup: I can't fault your final image.. you have definitely delivered the goods.:scream:
Well done and good luck. :)

[walrus]

Whew, now I feel better! I was expecting everyone would be posting and saying, "Oops, you missed something there...!" But no, 16 posts or so (most from folks who have given me the most fix-ideas throughout the last 3 months) and no one's given me a single new fix note... Good! I guess I really am done! :D

Thanks, everyone, for the posts and kind wishes!

-mike

[coCoKNIght]

oh my god, the paintover! i knew i'd forgotten something, hope it's not too late... :scream:
http://www.fabianhernandez.ch/paintower.jpg

btw. the walrus compensates for the lack of purple/pink on the left side. I thought that'd be a nice touch :)http://www.fabianhernandez.ch/paintover.jpg

[walrus]

LOL! :thumbsup:
Yes, you're right, of course the color has to be balanced on the left hand side! :applause:

[aurora]

I knew it Walrus is a neo-morph!

[shattered-fx]

Hi Mike,

I can tell its a really well-executed wok of art!..Nice composition, nice details, what else can I say!
Congratulations Mike!:)

raffy

my EON entry

The Mercenary

[Norberg]

Another great work from you!
It´s nice to see such a high quality in every new work you present.

You could add a few details to the glass so you really knows it´s there. It´s not nessecary but that´s the only thing I can come up with.
Good work!

[yoff]

The only suggestion I can think of is to add an impression of myriads of small details to the cap of Axis City (partially hidden by big rings), as this is supposed to be enormous. But I suspect, that the detail is already there when viewed in higher resolution.

In any event, well done.

[Nomad]

Great piece of art walrus :thumbsup:

Nothing to add, just fantastic!


PS: what is behind olmy`s head? is it blue pictograms/holograms? verry small in the detail you posted...

[walrus]

Nomad - Thanks! Those are picts to the left of Olm'ys head, being projected from his torque that he is using: Three glowing blue picts behind his left shoulder. Even at full resolution, their details aren't too clear, but as it's one of his primary ways fo communicating, I wanted to include it. You can make them out a bit in post #388, and a bit better in post #274.

Yoff - In the book, the front of Axis City is actually described as being relatively free from detail and lights compared to the sides fo the city. I've added a bit ut wanted to keep it relatively simple.

Norberg - Thanks! I could add details to the glass... but I'm not really sure what else I'd add aside from the reflections and glare already there. I'm open to suggestions... but I'll confess I'm probably too lay to go back in and reupload anyhting at this late stage. :)

Raffy - Thanks!

Hope you all are doing well with yours. It's been really quiet around here lately, not the usual scramble to finish entries that we usually see in the closing week or two of a Challenge. Maybe the extension has backfired and everyone is just burned out? Anyhow, hope everyone is doing okay. Good luck...!

-mike

[Nomad]

Nomad - Thanks! Those are picts to the left of Olm'ys head, being projected from his torque that he is using: Three glowing blue picts behind his left shoulder. Even at full resolution, their details aren't too clear, but as it's one of his primary ways fo communicating, I wanted to include it. You can make them out a bit in post #388, and a bit better in post #274.


Yea, thats what I thought... I loved this elemnet in the book, I think nobody illustrated it exept you and it`s often described and used in the book :shrug:
Once again, great work :thumbsup:

[walrus]

Thanks! But I know that ChuckWadey also included a Pict in his painting... but instead of Olmy, it's Suli Ram Kikura using it... and I can't offhand think of a sinlge other entry that includes her in it. Poor Suli, not much love for her.

[yoff]

Yoff - In the book, the front of Axis City is actually described as being relatively free from detail and lights compared to the sides fo the city. I've added a bit ut wanted to keep it relatively simple.

Ah, I suspected that...just didn't want it to kill the scale...after reading Nomads post I went back and looked at the detail...man that shawl turned out nice...and the skin of the frant is excellent :thumbsup:

[makaron]

really like it :thumbsup: the light is perfect... well done Michael and Good Luck with it :)

[JeffZugale]

Spectacular finish, Michael, congratulations! This is a fabulous image. :)

[prabath]

All right,now this is what I call a finish.Absolutely stunning image,makes me so jealouse.All the best to you Mike.

Cheers!

[walrus]

Hi, everyone! Thanks for the messages. Sorry I haven't been around in many days to comment on anyone else's threads here at the end, but you know how it is with artists: Finish up with one project and it's on to another one. And I've been involved with a very exciting new project these past few days:

http://www.michaeldashow.com/zachary/Zachary_0035_sm.jpg

http://www.michaeldashow.com/zachary/Zachary_0049_sm.jpg

http://www.michaeldashow.com/zachary/Zachary_0021_sm.jpg

On January 27th, my son Zach Dashow was born!
His mother and he and I all got back from the hospital yesterday, and are very excited to be all together in our home. So I just wanted to drop in to let folks know. Sorry I haven't been able to post anything, add any C&C, or respond to anyone's messages, but you all understand. Hope the rest of you are all having an okay time finishing up your entries, good luck everyone, and catch you all much later!

-mike

[zer05um]

Walrus,

Congratulations to the both of you. It's a major project you're taking on. Good luck!

[Thaldir]

Congratulations! This is the 'real' Challenge...

Happy to hear mother and baby are doing fine, all the very best to the whole family!

[coCoKNIght]

Congratulations daddy!
You look soooooo happy :) I wish you all the best!

When I'm grown-up, I wanna be a walrus too!

:scream:

[OKMER]

Whoooo, indeed you look so happy!!all the best for you and your family and congratulations to you both with this proberly most happy thing that can happen to you!NOw that's a great final!!!
love, love, love!!!yesss,yes,yessss!!!

[artvandeley]

Now that should make clear who´s the winner in this challenge...
CONGRATULATIONS to all of you!! All the best!

[icedeyes]

Congrats... This is better than any challenge (and more difficult)....:thumbsup:

[Greatto]

Hello Mike!
First I congats you cuz U now are Most HappyMan))) I wish you and to your family a lot of Happieness, a lot of Fun and alot of Health)))
I think that is very exiting feelings))))


thats great that you did it! I was worried that u didnt finished ! I love your Image a lot) Also this great composition make this image much interesting! I wanna Congrats you cuz you did really great Job!
Your Image one of the best ) I know it !
Good Luck and Good Luck in Judgement! )))

[zweiDee]

Man, you the Winner!!! Congraz to all of you! I wish you and your family the best! cheerz

[Manzieri]

Two finished artworks in the same thread, mate! And you made it without breaking any rule! Congrats!:beer:

[Terro]

I'm not even gona comment on your entry anymore Michael, this is so much more important. Congratulations on a healthy boy. This is great news.

[musi]

Wow, these artworks are wonderful, both of them! :thumbsup: You are now participating in much greater challenge than you ever did probably. Good luck with it - you will need it!:scream:

And if you think there where too many viewers on your thread - it's because I was here very often, watching and learning from you, it was a great pleasure following your progress! Sorry, I couldn't give you any constructive critique (I am too new to this things yet).

[JeffZugale]

Congratulations, Michael! Wow, finishing two long-term projects in just a couple of days, that's amazing! :D hehehe

You and your wife are the big winners, hooray! :D

[fifty3dragons]

Just scrolling through the finished Illustration entries and thought I'd drop a note here. I actually came across your entry a couple of weeks back, and was really impressed by it. It's a beautiful painting. One of my favourites in the challenge.

I was curious about some of the earlier WIP stuff you posted, specifically the shots of the city against a wire-frame cylinder background. I was wondering how you made the wire-frame. Was it a 3D model? Or is it a feature in another painting software program? It looked like a very useful tool in setting up a scene like that.

Anyway, best of luck! (and congratulations on the baby!)

[walrus]

Hi, all! Thanks for dropping in with your kind words and congratulations... oh, and for the notes about the Challenge entry, too! :) Yes, this certainly is a big new Challenge... and it feels like I haven't slept for.... Eons!
Ha ha. No, actually, Zach's sleeping relatively well - wakes every couple of housr for feedings, of course, but the time inbetween them is quiet and restful.

Anyhow, understandably, I haven't been online as much as usual to compliment and ocngratulate everyone on finishing their entries and all that. So congrats, all! For those of you who finished, bask in the warm feeling of having completed a whole painting in 4 months (or 4 days, apparently, from some of the last-minute entries) and be happy that it's the emptiest playing field in years - so [i]everyone[/i[ has a good shot at it! :)

fifty3dragons - Everything outside the cockpit window was at least started in 3D. The Way was a simple cylinder with a geo-sattellite map applied to it, and then heavily painted over. So yeah, there's real 3-D in there. In 3DSMax, there's a one-button toggle for making any texture a wireframe instead of a regular filled texture. So I had a simple wire-frame texture I could apply to any 3D object that would make it render out its wires instead of a map. I used that for some of the full-size renders that you saw early on.

That's all for now. Back to baby...!

-mike

[OmeN2501]

Oh men! CONGRATS!!! Thats one fine boy you got there :] Just bou hem some Wacom A6 tablet and hees gone look sooooo cutte wit it :D

Seriously - no other project is like this one - best of luck... you sooo gona need it ;)

[mdavid]

Wow, Mike! You sure know how to impress! Some (late) congratulations from me too. What a hectic time it must have been for you these last months. I can't improve on the very clever and thoughtful collection of comments on your new 'work-in-progress' (okay, I couldn't resist that one) except to say that it truly is delightful news and I wish you and your family all the best.

Thanks for posting the pics.

[TheFirstAngel]

needless to say i love your work, i always did and that has never changed. more than all i want to tank you for all the support and help in my thread, and not only that you are a kick ass artist, you also are a great and dear friend to me. so best of luck on the finals, rock on and talk to you soon my friend! :beer::buttrock::arteest:
edit ^^ enjoy your daddy job and more than all congrats :)

[beelow]

Congrats! Glad to see that your child was born. Damn just 5 months ago I had mine and was talking about and now in present day I find out that you have your child. My does time fly! Is this it for walrus for future contests? Good luck with your entry by the way!:thumbsup:

[LightSovereign]

Mike, that second piece of yours rocks!!..It is so life like, i have no idea how you did it. HAHA (i am leaving myself wide open for attack for that one i'm sure)

A hearty congratulations my friend, im sure many things in life have been re arranged and prioritized, i hope we get to challenge you in future projects still!.

Awesome and thanks for sharing your photos!

Marley

[NinjaA55N]

Hi walrus! First of all, congratulations on becoming a dad :D I wish u and ur family all good and lots of joy. And secondly, congratulations on finishing ur piece! U made another great image for ur collection and Im happy to had an opportunity watching it being developed. Good luck also in the judging phase and I hope to see u in next challenges my friend!

[adib]

VERY WELL DONE! Like your others works!:buttrock:

[duddlebug]

I've not followed this contest at all, but thought i'd have a peep at the entries this morning and there's some stonking work about. This is just great, Michael! best of luck with the judging, i'm sure you'll be well and truly in the mix...

But much more important than that, a big heartfelt congratulations on the birth of Zach!

[Neubius]

congratulations, wounderful work :) it's been great watching it take shape. superb piece, your a real craftsman. This is a contender for sure!
very little contact with you on this challenge mate, sorry about that! more next time,
you rock ( as usual )
A
neubius

[shattered-fx]

Hi Mike,

Congrats on your new born baby Mike!.. Now youve just got another greater inspiration for your artworks and everything!:thumbsup:

-raffy

[walrus]

Thanks, folks! Yeah, it looks like I found something to occupy my time while we wait the long wait for the judging. And the little guy occupies ALL my time. We're up every 2-3 hours all through the night to feed Zach, both of us taking turns. (But last night - or I should say, very early this morning - Talia was nursing and so I sat up and talked with her and sketched a new idea for a painting! :) ) He's a little guy and needs all the feeding he can get at this point. Eventually we'll get to a point where we don't have to feed him quite so often (won't we?) But we'll just have to see how much time I'll have for extraneous artwork in the future. I'd like to do another Challenge, we'll just have to see how things look when the next one's announced...

Catch you all soon...!

-mike

[paperclip]

Hi!

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on little Zach! He's such a beautiful baby and you'll have a wonderful time with him in years to come-- this is such a special time for yourself and Talia!! Fatherhood is a great gift and one that I'm sure you'll take to like a walrus to water.

We need a picture of the little un with a wacom pen in his hand...come on...train 'em young...

On the other hand, congratulations on your great entry, I've actually not been on cgtalk for over a month! :o but I'm very impressed with how it's turned out, all the best for the judging!!

Now back you go to sketching the mini mike...

[Nazirull]

My god...i havent been checking this thread...but

DOUBLE CONGRATULATIONS!

First n foremost of course to u and ur wife for the beautiful baby boy! (babies can just kill me u know....:P ) Its wonderful to see ur delighted faces of u and ur wife and the baby....happy together...what a sight...no cg entry can match that fer sure... *weeping*

Secondly, is for the completion of the challenge....It has been great to follow ur progress altho i lost track to the ending of it coz i was stuck with piles and piles of chores at work. I did mine last minute too... but all came out well and we are all happy!

Congrats again man! Tell Zach i said hi! :P

[Tris3d]

Amazing work! Congrats on becoming a dad! All the best mate!

[Istmo]

Oh ,congrats for becoming a daddy!:D :thumbsup: well-done, haha!

[SideAche]

Huge congrats to you and your wife.

I dropped out of Eon early because of too much work. I'm glad I checked in on your thread to hear the good news. Congrats Mike, little ones are a great joy.

Cliff

[nwiz25]

wow! :eek: thats awesome mike! baby zach is blessed with two loving parents :love: congratulations to u both! :scream::bounce::):applause:

my best wishes to u and ur family!

good luck with the judging too! :p cheers bro! :beer:

[prabath]

Hey Mike,just came back from a long holiday & what do you know? Congrats on the little guy,he is the cutest thing.All the best to you & your family.

Cheers!

[NH]

Hey Mike, congrats to you and your wife ! Your little Zach is so cute ! Bless you all !

[walrus]

Thanks for the kind wishes, everyone! We're all doing well here - not getting the most sleep, but we're managing okay. Zach's doing great. He's 7 weeks old today! He's changing so much... He now weighs over 8 pounds, 2 more than he did 5 weeks ago. 2 pounds may not sound like much, but when you're only 6 pounds, it's a third again of your weight!

Anyhow, they should be announcing the winners sometime soon (?) so before everything around these threads here gets bustling again, I'll leave you with a more recent pic of Zach, one of my favorites:

http://michaeldashow.com/zachary/Zachary03_0018_sm.jpg

:D

-mike

[Thaldir]

Lovely indeed!:)

And once again, all the best to you three... and good luck with the jury, Walrus!

[OKMER]

Priceless Micheal, just priceless!!!
Reminds of my little Lilou-Jane when she was born, and all I can wish you and your family is loads of warm and sweet love & health!
You won!

[Istmo]

haha he´s watching to your avatar:D

so cute, good luck!!I wish Zach growes strong and healthy:thumbsup:

[Neubius]

how cute ! haha

congratulations and best wishes :)
A

[walrus]

Thanks, folks! He's just this past few days started to smile, it's really adorable... and quite amazing watching him grow. :love:Thanks for the kind wishes.

-mike

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