Welcome to the fifth week of the Connect-the-dot and Coloring event lasting 12 weeks with each week 2 new connect-the-dot challenges!

Previous Weeks: Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Sagrada Familia, St Marks Square, Bridge of Sighs, St.Peter's Basilica, Neuschwanstein, Parthenon
Voting and Leaderboard Thread is HERE

This week the landmark for this thread is:

The Taj-Mahal in JPG format

The Taj-Mahal in PDF format

Simply print the jpg or pdf (or use paint programs) and complete the connect-the-dots and submit your finished picture in this thread! For participating you will be invited to a special Steam group for GA rewards!

Here is an example:
Example of completed Dot-to-dot -St. Basil's Cathedral in Russia
Example of COLORED Dot-to-dot -used colored pencil, adding some detail

If you want to accept the ultimate challenge then add some coloring to your picture for next week voting will be done on colored submissions for winners and special GA entry!

Check HERE for details on your submissions and the event!

And don't miss out on the other challenge this week of the Kizhi Pogost!

The Taj-Mahal Challenge!

Where: Agra, India
What: The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river
in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan,
to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653
at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million rupees,
which in 2015 would be approximately 52.8 billion rupees (US$827 million)

The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance
of a board of architects led by the court architect to the emperor, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture.
While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone,
Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones.
Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb.
The dome is nearly 35 metres (115 ft) high which is close in measurement to the length of the base,
and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on which is approximately 7 metres (23 ft) high.
The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani
decorative elements.The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of
gilded bronze in the early 19th century.
The minarets, which are each more than 40 metres (130 ft) tall,
were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse,
the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.

Interesting facts:

  • According to legend it is believed that Emperor Shah Jahan had planned to construct another Taj Mahal in black marble on the other side of the river but the war with his sons interrupted his plans.

  • The Taj Mahal takes on different colouring at different times of the day, from a pinkish hue in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden at night when lit by the moon. They say the changing colour resembles the changing mood of females - in particular, the Emperor's queen.

  • In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force

  • The full height of the Taj Mahal is 171 metres (561 feet).

  • More than 1,000 elephants were employed to transport the construction materials used to build the Taj.

GOOD LUCK on the challenge! Create for us some breath-taking Taj-Mahals for some awesome GA wins!

Special giveaway here

Cool pics of landmark:

View attached image.
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8 years ago*

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Gah. Not really happy with this, but lost patience trying to fix it... Not really what I was going for at all, but here it is...

EDIT: I am a dolt. Just wondered why this looked so different now I threw it onto the second monitor, and realised the brightness on my primary is still turned way down from working into the night! Duh. Well, that partly excuses the rubbishness!

View attached image.
8 years ago
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Someone I know that was working on movie/commercial effects as a colour grader noticed his products were a bit red on other monitors. It was because he had hung a red drape behind the computer, and since his eyes adjusted to reduce the redness of the room, he bumped it up in the film because it looked like it was lacking red.

It can be quite funny how your eyes, monitor and surroundings can deceive you. :)

8 years ago
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I don't now what you intended, but I think the result is really cool.

8 years ago
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Thanks very much, I really appreciate that :)

EDIT: as for my intention, maybe the problem was I had several ideas!

I wanted a slightly unreal feel, to reflect the mysticality of the site, perhaps with a subtle "mirage" sense to suit the arid climate, together with a sandblasted feel to the lines and edges. And, I wanted blazing light effects on the textured marble surface, to portray the heat of the sun.

On reflection now, it's not half as bad as I felt it was when I gave up on it :D

8 years ago*
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Very nice! Don't see this as needing any fixing! It's fantastic!

8 years ago
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Thanks Jeff, you're very kind :)

8 years ago
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8 years ago
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Just in time...

8 years ago
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You made it! =D

8 years ago
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ENDED!

Will collect images shortly, but won't accept any after this post.

8 years ago
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Closed 8 years ago by Phoxy.