March/April 2012 Lite Challenge Entry: Lostwater Caves

[octopod]

I thought I saw some karstic caves in those inkblots.

(So what does that say about my psyche?)

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caveblots.jpg

[Joshua]

Whatever it says, it's something positive. I dig it! I love the plant life around the openings. I think it works really well. The interior looks great and the placement of the stalagmites look naturally placed. I only saw one that was without a counterpart above it, but it works because it's below a low point on that part of the cave ceiling. Well done.

[Bogie]

Very cool, Great idea!

[octopod]

Thanks for the nice comments!

Here's a newer version. I was happy with the cave outlines, but I messed with the colors a lot and added some text. That's always the part where I get hung up because it involves creating some kind of culture to have named the things, but at least this one should be fairly ecologically coherent, and I got to stick a Classic Maya style date on there.

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caveblots.jpg

[Lukc]

Great idea with the caves! Nice use of the z axis

I almost prefer the one with the black "rock" - it just looks more balanced somehow, it's immediately clear what the focus is: the caverns. I'd maybe try a less obvious rock texture for the solid ground.

[octopod]

You know, I think you're right. This is easier to look at, despite the fact that the other one looks more like limestone.
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caveblots.jpg

[Inriconus]

I like it. It is similar way that I approached this challenge. The ink blots are huge voids. I enjoy the layout of it. The black rock looks better, but I would add some light and dark values to give a rough feel. Not a lot, just very subtle. Like this type of thing: http://bit.ly/HcQdL1

[Jaxilon]

This is great. I really dig the trees you have on top too. Did you paint them yourself?

[Lukc]

I like it a lot, but perhaps a low-opacity screen layer of actual limestone or a limestone texture would look good on the rocks. I can grab you a few photos when I go walk my dogge.

Unfortunately I have trouble reading the text at bottom left, it just doesn't contrast enough with the black on my monitor.

Finally, a good idea might be to think about adding a bit of a soil layer at the top. Sort of like in this image: http://igs.indiana.edu/images/bedroc...onFeatures.jpg

And I came a pretty good article on karst here.

I'll be keeping my eye on this!

[octopod]

Inriconus: I have been fooling with different possibiliities for the rock texture but nothing has looked quite right yet. That one's too cracked and volcanic-looking to come out right, I think, and I haven't found any really good "eroded limestone" images that work as a texture either.

Jaxilon: I used this free tree brush set, actually...they're pretty amazing, distinguished by species and everything. Good stuff. Highly recommended.

Lukc: Good point about the soil horizon; I'll add some in where appropriate. Karstic terrain is cool stuff. Also, painting stalactites is seriously fun.


Do you think it'd be better without the cave names etc.?