Aaaargh!

[hwango]

I'm on version 3 of my swamp, and I still hate it.

Comments

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

I could take you some pictures of a swamp, but at this time of year, its ridiculously green, rather than the black and dismal that Magic favors.

Magic seems to favor calling flooded forests swamps... which look very little like actual swamps.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I thought trees were sort of what made swamps actually swamps. What's the difference between a flooded forest and a swamp, then? There are a few areas near me that I think of as swamps, and most of them seem to be full of dead trees.

I'm not sure I'm going to fully embrace the "swamps are evil" propaganda from Magic. I thought I'd do a landscape for each land type they have, but I'm not planning to send them to Wizards as a portfolio or anything, so they don't need to perfectly match their take on land types. I'm hoping to get better at this sort of thing so I can make nicer backgrounds, but I think I'll have a long way to go before I can crank out landscapes that are interesting enough to stand on their own. The current version does feature all of the dead trees, greys, and browns so commonly found in Magic's swamps, but I thought I'd brighten it up a bit and put in more living plants than they tend to feature.

If it's not a lot of trouble, I would be curious to see what the swamps near you look like, green or not.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

This is the current version, by the way. The reflections in the water are placeholders - most of the reflections aren't in the right places. I'm planning to put more details on the nearer trees, and need to figure out what to do to the sky to make it match the bright patch on the water. That's all assuming I don't scrap this completely and start over again, of course.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/35597674/

[magnetophyte.livejournal.com]

Indeed; a swamp is a wetland where trees dominate, with areas of dry land scattered throughout.

An ordinary forest that's been flooded does look like the Magic swamps, with most of the trees having died due to the saturated, oxygen-poor soil. Only tolerant species such as ash, willow, silver/red maple, and sycamore will survive in such an environment.

Here's a picture I took a couple weeks ago at a wetland reserve down the road. It's a true swamp, of the sort typical to the midwest. Far from being dead, it has exceptionally diverse flora and fauna. Hope it's helpful.

http://tinyurl.com/fpxje

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'm always grateful for more photo references. I'm still going to draw a relatively green-less swamp, just to be sure it's distinct from the eventual forest, but I do hope to squeeze in a few living things here and there.

[octophobic.livejournal.com]

Nice and creepy. I think the tree on the right looks a little disconnected. When I look at the ones on the left there is a consistency to their bases that is not matched on the right. (Are comments like this even helpful?)

There are some nice swampy looking places along rt 27 going toward Mike's. Butter Brook in particular has the flooded forest look going on.

This is probably more of a pond than a swamp but from certain angles it's pretty cool. Especially with the tilted damaged sign that isn't pictured here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/octophobic/93824794/ This is right down the street from Great Brook Farm in Carlisle. :)

[hwango.livejournal.com]

This far from the end of a piece, comments are tricky - if you happen to comment on something that I was planning to change anyway, then obviously they're less useful. On other hand, it's always possible you'll catch something that I didn't notice or was going to leave in.

As to the trees on the right, I'm currently working on some exposed roots and whatnot for them, and the tree furthest to the right has been replaced by a whole new tree. Hopefully they'll both look like they're atached to the ground when I'm done.

[octophobic.livejournal.com]

So I'll comment anyway in the hopes that I'm being helpful and not rude. (^_^)

[fenris-lorsrai.livejournal.com]

That looks better. I'll take you some pictures of the swamps here, post 'em in a couple days.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

...better than what?

Thanks for taking some swamp photos. Regardless of whether or not they end up helping with this picture, I'm sure it will be handy to have them for future pieces.