Hello, all:
Just posting my tweaked final version of my entry to Weekend Challenge #43. There was a problem with a “checkerboard” pattern appearing in the sand, which Stefano and basse helped me identify as a lighting problem with ShadowBias turned down too low on my main lighting rig.
Anyway, here it is! Comments & suggestions welcomed,
-Bischofftep
Thats very cool dude…only the sand…sand needs some more work…make it more sandier 
Great pic! I agree with @ce about that sand and maybe that column right behind the vase is too specular -stones usualy dont have such high specularity.
But it is beatiful piece of wor anyway. 
i generally agree with @ce and tol. however, you should also make the vase, say, cracked or something, and make the sand curve in as it gets closer to the vase (like an inverted meniscus). [!]
I saw this on cgtalk and it said it took 10 hours? is that correct?
10 hours to model & texture, yes.
I’m still new at this.
(That plus they changed all the controls in Photoshop while I wasn’t paying attention… grin)
-Bischofftep
love the jug dude 
my only comment would be to make the sand a bit darker / more gritty
well done
lilo