Steampunk Myths and Legends Entry: Michael Smith

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1230115026_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1230115026_large.jpg)

Hi there,

I've been reading the Babylonian myths and legends of creation and chose to illustrate the bit of the legend where the champion of the gods and light "Marduk" goes of to do battle with the dragon "Tiamat", one of the dark gods of chaos and night but nevertheless the mother of everything.

The scene will show Marduk travelling towards Tiamat in his chariot, weapons in hand with Tiamats chaotic demon armies to either side if the main characters.

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1230116207_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1230116207_large.jpg)

This is what Tiamat the dragon will look like in my image, she has many forms, a dragon, a snake or animal etc.

From what I can gather from the legend she is the mother of everything as well as being a dark god of chaos. So I chose to combine both of those thoughts into the character design, so here she is half snake and half woman. The snake half being the mechanical half, comprised of furnaces, bellows, pipes and gears. She'll have some sort of lightning bolt or spell forming around her hands in the final image, also thought I would throw in a little bit of Medusa there.

Any comments are welcome,

Regards,
Michael

[mouhannad-qsemi]

I lik like the illustraition tooooooooooooooo mouch ....
but u have to work heardly..Its tooooooooooooooo late man
gooooooooooooooooooood luck

[themightym]

Yup, got a lot to do, fortunently I'm on holiday with not much else to do! Thanks man, glad you like it!

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1230589236_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1230589236_large.jpg)

Here is the first of my work in progress pics, I'll be doing the piece in black and white before adding colour on top, I find it easier to do it this way because it helps getting the right contrast and if it works in black and white, chances are it'll work in colour to. As long as I dont decide neon pink is the way to go!

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231238167_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231238167_large.jpg)

Heres a jpeg of my latest wip, I'm almost finished the main characters, they just need a few more details and touchups, still have to add some sky in the white spot at the top of the image and demonic armies in the stormclouds before I start adding colour and textures over the whole thing.

Any comments are welcome!

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231443067_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231443067_large.jpg)

I've completed all the black and white stuff. The Babylonian legend says that in the beginning there were two bodies of dark, hellish water full of demons and devils. I used that line for the inspiration in creating Tiamats armies, they are ghosts in the clouds.

I wanted them as more of a background element, not interfering with the main characters.

Any comments are more than welcome!

[themightym]

Is anybody out there?

I must have the saddest thread in the whole competition with almost no comments/critiques at all!

[cabertevon]

Hey Michael.

Love the circular motion of the smoke in your sketch; looks more dynamic.

Nice sketches btw.

[Versiden]

hey Michael

this is coming along nicely man

I think the foreground character needs to be slightly bigger. They almost look the same size, I think you'll get more depth in the illustration if u scale him up a bit

cool, hope that helps

`M

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231762657_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231762657_medium.jpg)

Software: Photoshop

In the beginning of time, there was nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, filled with demons and devils, after awhile the Babylonian gods came into being and order followed soon after. The dark god Apsu (the personification of chaos and disorder) held councel with his female counterpart Tiamat (a vicious dragon also symbolising chaos and disorder but nevertheless the mother of everything) and they devised a plan to destroy order and light.

War raged on and on between the gods of light and the demons of darkness wreaking havoc on both sides, eventually Apsu was killed and Tiamat swore revenge for her husband. Tiamat spawned an even bigger army of devils and demons, taking the forms of destructive elemental forces. Overwhelmed by Tiamats rage and ever-growing army, the gods of light sought to make peace with Tiamat and sent a messenger. Just one look at Tiamat and the messenger turned and fled in fear.

With no other recourse but war, the gods of light held council and a young god called Marduk stepped forward. He offered to defeat Tiamat and in exchange he asked to become the king of the gods. Marduk was annointed their king and given special powers by the rest of the gods, arming himself, he rode forth on a mighty chariot to battle Tiamat. It is said that upon his arrival, Tiamats army of fiends were smitten with fear and paralysed, leaving Tiamat to fight Marduk alone.

Tiamat flew into a rage and started to incant a vicious spell as Marduk prepared to drive his spear straight through her...

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231763002_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231763002_medium.jpg)

Hi, Here is my final image, I've added colour and texture and enlarged Marduk, here is the story that goes with it...

In the beginning of time, there was nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, filled with demons and devils, after awhile the Babylonian gods came into being and order followed soon after. The dark god Apsu (the personification of chaos and disorder) held councel with his female counterpart Tiamat (a vicious dragon also symbolising chaos and disorder but nevertheless the mother of everything) and they devised a plan to destroy order and light.

War raged on and on between the gods of light and the demons of darkness wreaking havoc on both sides, eventually Apsu was killed and Tiamat swore revenge for her husband. Tiamat spawned an even bigger army of devils and demons, taking the forms of destructive elemental forces. Overwhelmed by Tiamats rage and ever-growing army, the gods of light sought to make peace with Tiamat and sent a messenger. Just one look at Tiamat and the messenger turned and fled in fear.

With no other recourse but war, the gods of light held council and a young god called Marduk stepped forward. He offered to defeat Tiamat and in exchange he asked to become the king of the gods. Marduk was annointed their king and given special powers by the rest of the gods, arming himself, he rode forth on a mighty chariot to battle Tiamat. It is said that upon his arrival, Tiamats army of fiends were smitten with fear and paralysed, leaving Tiamat to fight Marduk alone.

Tiamat flew into a rage and started to incant a vicious spell as Marduk prepared to drive his spear straight through her...

[themightym]

Thanks for the input, yup Marduk does look better scaled up!

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231763797_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231763797_medium.jpg)

Software: Photoshop

In the beginning of time, there was nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, filled with demons and devils, after awhile the Babylonian gods came into being and order followed soon after. The dark god Apsu (the personification of chaos and disorder) held councel with his female counterpart Tiamat (a vicious dragon also symbolising chaos and disorder but nevertheless the mother of everything) and they devised a plan to destroy order and light.

War raged on and on between the gods of light and the demons of darkness wreaking havoc on both sides, eventually Apsu was killed and Tiamat swore revenge for her husband. Tiamat spawned an even bigger army of devils and demons, taking the forms of destructive elemental forces. Overwhelmed by Tiamats rage and ever-growing army, the gods of light sought to make peace with Tiamat and sent a messenger. Just one look at Tiamat and the messenger turned and fled in fear.

With no other recourse but war, the gods of light held council and a young god called Marduk stepped forward. He offered to defeat Tiamat and in exchange he asked to become the king of the gods. Marduk was annointed their king and given special powers by the rest of the gods, arming himself, he rode forth on a mighty chariot to battle Tiamat. It is said that upon his arrival, Tiamats army of fiends were smitten with fear and paralysed, leaving Tiamat to fight Marduk alone.

Tiamat flew into a rage and started to incant a vicious spell as Marduk prepared to drive his spear straight through her...

[themightym]

http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231764638_medium.jpg (http://assets.cgsociety.org/challenge/entries/22/17338/17338_1231764638_medium.jpg)

Software: Photoshop

In the beginning of time, there was nothing but darkness and an abyss of waters, filled with demons and devils, after awhile the Babylonian gods came into being and order followed soon after. The dark god Apsu (the personification of chaos and disorder) held councel with his female counterpart Tiamat (a vicious dragon also symbolising chaos and disorder but nevertheless the mother of everything) and they devised a plan to destroy order and light.

War raged on and on between the gods of light and the demons of darkness wreaking havoc on both sides, eventually Apsu was killed and Tiamat swore revenge for her husband. Tiamat spawned an even bigger army of devils and demons, taking the forms of destructive elemental forces. Overwhelmed by Tiamats rage and ever-growing army, the gods of light sought to make peace with Tiamat and sent a messenger. Just one look at Tiamat and the messenger turned and fled in fear.

With no other recourse but war, the gods of light held council and a young god called Marduk stepped forward. He offered to defeat Tiamat and in exchange he asked to become the king of the gods. Marduk was annointed their king and given special powers by the rest of the gods, arming himself, he rode forth on a mighty chariot to battle Tiamat. It is said that upon his arrival, Tiamats army of fiends were smitten with fear and paralysed, leaving Tiamat to fight Marduk alone.

Tiamat flew into a rage and started to incant a vicious spell as Marduk prepared to drive his spear straight through her...

[themightym]

Sorry about the confusion and uploading the same pic a few times, I sat the whole night trying to upload this thing, unawares of the deadline extention, with no success!

YAY, its working today tho! Didnt expect it to update my thread as well (the wonders of technology!!) tho, so after I had uploaded a high rez one, I went and updated the thread with a low rez one, now just to be sure, I've updated it again with my final final, high rez image! Really sorry about that, I was just getting a little paranoid, its the first time I've ever submitted a high rez image like this, I usually just dump it on a server!

[mouhannad-qsemi]

;)

Cmon man, when u joined, I thought u wouldn't have time to finish! Well u r done!

It'll be a real shame if you don't WIN,



your entry is Professional.



am not joking U R Winner.



regards

[themightym]

Thanks for the comment man, glad you like it! Not gonna win tho, have you seen some of the other entries? There is some really good stuff!


Just wish I couldve gotten more feedback from other artists, one of my goals besides doing a piece I was proud of was to get some critique and improve my skills! I hope the next challenge is as cool a topic as this one!

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