Originally called Sextilis in Latin, the month of August was renamed in honour of Augustus in 8 BC. It’s great to see you have been getting your creative juices flowing this month, as we received an unprecedented amount of drawings and paintings. It is getting increasingly hard to pick a winner - which is testament to the number of skilled artists in the Total War community!

If you are particularly fond of any piece of artwork featured here, or indeed any other month of our Calendar Competition, we invite you to nominate the artist and work for consideration in our Total Community Awards.

Getting back to business, Neset Kaya from Bulgaria returns this month with an image entitled ‘Lets Go To The Beach’. It looks to me like they are already there…

Pawel Derejczyk from Poland sent in this dramatic drawing, set in the grips of a powerful thunderstorm.

Chris Powell from England combined photography with illustration to create this image of a lone soldier in the woods.

“I Saw the competition on your website so I went down to the wood and took a picture and then I drew a figure of a lone legionary standing in the wood from a victorious battle. I drew him in using Photo Impack 10 SE.”

Many aspects of a soldier’s life have been represented in our Calendar Competition since it’s inception last January, but Daniel Whitfield’s depicts an entirely new point of view…

“As can be seen the text states “Perspective of a drunken crusader.” The picture itself was meant to impose this image by way of the blurred effect around the edges of center of the picture (where the crusader would be directly focusing).”

Ian Douglas sent in this vivid image of bloodied soldiers standing victorious in battle.

“I actually made this picture a while back (with a few others) since I was so impressed with the game. It’s standard black pen and Indian inks with bright watercolour paint for the colour. Then I scanned it into the computer and used Photoshop to add the title lettering. It doesn’t really have anything to do with August at all except I felt the orangey warm colours might suit a warm month.

The battle at Agincourt in MTW2 was what inspired me. I simply wanted to show the exhausted King and his men after the titanic battle, say, a minute or so after the win. I tend to spontaneously draw / paint anything that I really like anyway! :)”

James Young from England returns this month with another fantastic drawing. In his own words, he kindly sets the scene for his image:

“August 1274, the coronation of Edward I of England takes place. Edward became King two years previously, but was in Sicily when news reached him of the death of his father, Henry III. This illustration is Edward taking a moment of introspection. His father’s reign left a divided nation and the worst international situation facing England in centuries. Alternatively, Henry III made England a far more cultured place, with several magnificent cathedrals built during his reign. Already a seasoned warrior at 35, what path would Edward take? The image is a pencil drawing with layers of paint and ink / bleach added and manipulated using Photoshop”.

Keep up the great work James!

Miguel Angelo Freitas dos Santos from Portugal sent in this battle scene, which wouldn’t look out of place in a history textbook!

“I used Photoshop painting over pencils. I had the idea to depict the Battle of Jaffa, in 5 August 1192 in which King Richard I jumped in to the sea followed by his knights to release the city of Jaffa from the hands of Saladin. I took inspiration from some Dore illustrations and medieval illuminations.”

Our winning entry comes all the way from James Picton in Queensland, Australia. he sent in this wonderfully detailed drawing depicting an 18th century Samurai.

“My entry for the August Total War calendar revolves around an aging Samurai looking back at his turbulent life, changed forever after the Meiji Restoration. August 2, 1869 was when “Japan’s samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system (Shinokosho) [was] abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms.” (Quote from Wikipedia)

Thanks for considering my entry! It was drawn with a WACOM tablet using Corel Painter IX and Adobe Photoshop CS.”

August 2007’s Create A Calendar wallpaper is available to download in two sizes here.

Many congratulations James, and thanks to everyone who took the time to send in artwork this month.

All that remains is to announce the start of September’s Create A Calendar Competition, which has now officially started. You have until Friday 31st August to get your entries in, and this month’s prizes include a copy of the eagerly anticipated expansion pack Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms, plus signed Total War artwork, Rome and Medieval II Soundtracks. For full entry details, please click here.

Take care,

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)