May / June 2015 Lite Challenge: Ambush of the Teutoburg Forest

[Jaxilon]

This is nicely done. Its late and I don't have time to comment more but if I can get back to it I'll try.

[Deadshade]

Excellent idea Chick !
I always found history inspiring and the Teutoburg Forest is one of the most important points for the Roman Empire.
Note that after the disaster of Varus, Germanicus came back and at Idistaviso repaid with interest to Arminius and his tribes the humiliation of Teutoburger Wald.
Perhaps you can make a map of Idistaviso one day

Besides below is joined a picture of the real place where the Teuotoburger Wald battle took place.
When one sees that wild, broken and forested region, one really wonders what Varus was doing in such a horrible place where the legions had no chance to deploy and assert their tactical superiority.
He probably underestimated the ennemy what is always a fatal error.

Teutoburger wald.jpg

[J.Edward]

Hey chick - I had some time finally so I came by.
You know, for a first attempt at top down shaded hill forests this is pretty good.
There are some areas that were a bit off on the lighting/shadow but it was pretty much right.
I marked up a pic with some areas that should probably be a bit more shadowed.
There were some back sides of forest that had lighter green that seemed wrong given the probable direction of the sunlight.
And a suggestion for where a tree covered hill would likely cast a longer shadow on the ground beyond the hill.
But you're on the right path for top down stuff.
TeutoburgForest CorneliaYoder 04.jpg
Some of it is just time and practice which brings a certain familiarity.

I can't help much with the bog. Haven't done a bog.
Might have to try one just to see how I would try to render it.
Hope that is helpful.

[Chick]

@deadshade: That picture is great for showing the hilltops where the monument is, but the valley below is farmland. The Great Bog is gone (after all, it has been 2000 years), there is a canal running through the area now, surrounded by farmland. Here is a picture of the battlesite today, from http://www.mikeanderson.biz/2011/06/...forest_09.html

teut prez 2.jpg


@chickpea, Abu Lafia and Bogie (re the wetland):
The ancient wetland is consistently described today as "The Great Bog", and a bog is fairly clean freshwater with a lot of healthy vegetation. Bog vegetation often floats in a thick mat on top of a very clean lake. So that is how I drew it originally, clean water and green vegetation.

However, it has been 2000 years, and wetlands simply don't last that long -- the vegetation fills them in eventually -- and as far as I can find out, no one has done any analysis on the underlying peat to figure out what kind of wetland it was. It would probably not be possible to date it precisely enough to know what kind of wetland it was in 7 CE anyway.

Translation from the Latin description to English may well have used the word bog incorrectly, and that area was actually a swamp. Swamps are quite different from bogs in many ways, and what you all seem to be picturing, muddy water and poor vegetation, would be a swamp. A swamp is what the artist depicted in the picture I linked to.

So I will modify my pretty bog to a more messy swamp in the map. I hope it will look more like how you envision the wetlands to have been.

@j.Edward: Thank you so much for the excellent suggestion to add more shadows of the hills. I'll be posting an update soon. I'm not sure exactly what the large triangle you drew in the narrows is meant to be, though.


To everyone, thanks so much for all the good ideas!! I really appreciate good critique!
Cheers,
Cornelia

[Chick]

### Latest WIP ###
TeutoburgForest CorneliaYoder 06.jpg

Critique always welcome!

[ChickPea]

That's interesting about the differences between bogs vs swamps, and I think you're right that I certainly jumped to conclusion of a decaying vegetation type of landscape. It rains a lot in my part of the world and, whilst we get some lovely lush greens, I tend to associate a more yellowish-green tone with any wetland area, though that is undoubtedly not a correct assumption for everywhere. The water colour in your latest WIP is probably more what I had in mind though it's still relatively blue. I like that you have mossy bits (to use the technical term!) floating on top because that's also something I associate strongly with stagnant wetlands.

[J.Edward]

Sorry that wasn't very clear chick.
It was supposed to be the line of sunlight hitting a hill and casting a shadow.

[Chick]

Sorry that wasn't very clear chick.
It was supposed to be the line of sunlight hitting a hill and casting a shadow.

Got it, thanks I just did the umbra, I figured the penumbra would be overkill Does it look better now?

[J.Edward]

Yes.
Sometimes my quick thumbnail sketches are only understandable by me I guess.

[Chick]

A few minor updates, and some shading added.

### Latest WIP ###
TeutoburgForestCorneliaYoder07.jpg