C.O.W. - #122: Catapult Creature - VOTING!

[Fozzybar]

ROUND #122 VOTING

Topic: Catapult Creature


Deadline for the voting: Tuesday, 09 September 2008

Posting thread (closed):
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=134936


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OK - before voting/posting read this!!!

1. Please give c&c or a reason why you voted for the image!

2. Feel free to comment on any or all entries, the artists will appreciate it!

3. No voting for your own entry!!! If a participants votes for his own entry, every member has the right to call him a stupid lame moron in this thread! And i will delete his/her vote anyway...

4. The poll is public. Your vote will be seen.

[fury03]

449728

Artist: Fury03

Concept: South American Black Stone Ant
Located throughout the forest floors of South America, the Black Stone Ant catapults small stones or pebbles to make its shelter. These shelters usually take several years to possibly the life span of the insect to finish. The large abdomen area and rear legs have been due to ages of evolution and have become an anchor for the catapulting procedure. The front head is more a wedge shape to slip under the rocks and thinner but longer legs are used as springs. The black stone ant feeds off the algae and moss that grows on the damp wet forest floor.

[Thalion]

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z139/thalion_art/yamayamma_finishedkopia.jpg

Artist: Thalion

Concept: Yamayamma
Yamayamma is a very rare animal. It lives only on a one desert in Africa. Creature hunts for insects using its tail, which was transformed into a tool similar to catapult. Local inhabitants say, that two times in a year Yamayamma has got its mating. At night it calls females by throaty sounds: "yama-yama-yama-yama".

[Paul Kang]

http://fc02.deviantart.com/fs37/i/2008/243/0/8/bss_by_warmll.jpg

Artist: warmll

Concept: the bulgarian sperm slinger
in ancient bulgarian times, these formerly handsome dragonlike creatures were renouned for their raunchiness. all day long they would spend the hours in their barbaric copulation that is too hideous and time consuming to describe. their sodom and gomorrahism was so downright ghastly(especially when the dragons stumbled upon a kama sutra manuel 5th edition:yoga style.), that it greatly angered the gods. they decided to punish the males with de-qualities that made copulation impossible. the gods first gave them bad breath, bad breath that makes a stroll through the deepest sewer, seem like a stroll through a freshly mown park. however the gods thought that was too weak. they then shrunk their wings to laughable proportions(the dragon with the biggest wings gets the hottest she-dragons). they then, out of sheer humor and cruelty, gave them unsightly pot bellies, pot bellies that would make homer simpson feel sexy as hell. the gods then (just to see how unsightly they can make a creature) shrunk their strong legs, to toothpick like extensions that were virtually useless. the gods then situated their reproductive organs onto their tails, just because. the she-dragons were not turned on at all, and the dequalified males lost all confidence. however their hornieness still resided in them. every once in a while a female, out of sheer hornieness and pity, lets a male mate with her.....distantly. the male tries the best he can, however because of his "situation", he has to..you know....
and thats why they call them the bulgarian sperm slinger
(im sorry if i pissed off any bulgarians.i have nothing against that country, just picked it randomly.)

[gmblfdz]

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/2844/catapultcreatureiy1.jpg

Artist: Gmblfdz

Concept: Cetapheld
The amphibious Cetapheld is found mostly in the oases and marshlands located within vast wastelands and deserts. During the seven month long summer season, these aquatic havens dry up and force the Cetaphleds to find new bodies of water in which to dwell. They are able to cover large distances by using a built-in catapult system. They begin by unfurling their long tails and plunging the spade-like end into the ground. They then scuttle into position behind the tail with their claws dug far into the soil. Once aligned, they are able to tense the tail up in order to provide maximum tension. They then let go and are sent flying through the air. A largely selfish creature, the Cetapheld will often race another of the same species to an oasis in order to claim it for it's own rather than share it.

[tex tin star]

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq207/tex_tin_star/FinishedCreaturecopy.jpg

Artist: Tex Tin Star

Concept: Arctic Pelzfrind
Living in the Northern Tundra the Arctic Pelzfrind is able to withstand temperatures as low as –70ºF. They live in herds and use their long horns to dig up moss, lichen and many other grasses, which makes up most of their diet, from the frozen ground. The horn is also used to fend off predators by tossing them high into the air, normally resulting in broken legs for the would be attackers. During mating season their horn is used in battles to fight for the right to breed. To use the horn they would use the muscles in their neck and their weight to toss things in a seesaw catapult like manner. They are very powerful creatures with large plated bones, both on their underbelly and top, keeping them well protected.

[smuli]

http://www.geocities.com/smuli1/Catapult-creature-final.jpg

Artist: Smuli

Concept: Catapult Bear
Article on the BS Daily:
"The Grey Mountains have for long had a reputation of being dangerous for the few hang-gliders who venture above its beautiful terrain. Every now and then, there are enigmatic incidents of gliders being knocked out while on air, sometimes ending up in fatal falls. A spectacular sighting by Professor Oakes who was doing research of the green yeti has shed some light on the mystery. He was stalking a cave when he was distracted by an eagle flying above. It's beautiful glide came to an abrupt halt when a rain of rocks hit it, causing it to fall on a cliff below. Before the professor's eyes, a dark, bear-like animal with a reverse upper body and huge bony tail caught and ate the avian before returning to the safety of its cave."

[JakkaS]

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/JakkaS/COW122-sk1_d.jpg

Artist: JakkaS

Concept: What name?
What description?...

[njoo]

http://www.weewung.com/poo/cow122_ahou_catapult_final_small.jpg

Artist: nJoo

Concept: Twin-Baller
This creature also travel minimum in pair, often seen gathering in dozens, however it's not only for mating and companionship, but it is needed for survival. These quick moving creature are carnivores however have no mean of killing a prey alone, its hard outer shell provides basic defense against small predators as it hides cuddle into a ball.

When hunting for food, it travels in pair or group and catapult its partner to attack the prey, knocking the victim unconscious via multiple knock-out attacks. It then hurry to devour the victim while it's in the unconscious state. The creature only need to feast once or twice a month to survive. Each hunt for food often result in quite a number of casualty but because they always travel at least in pairs, the colony population multiply at extremely fast rate.

nJoo
nJoo Deviantart (http://njoo.deviantart.com)

[Relic]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/Reliczhi/122.jpg

Artist: Relic

Concept: Arrow Dragon
For delicious birds,arrow dragons grow a pair of hydraulic pressure spring like thighs.They make sure arrow dragons can get a 30 feet vertical leap.Arrow dragons climb on top of trees,compress their thighs for that good leap.On the midway of the leap,some air chambers in arrow dragons' thorax will explode,arrow dragons' body can be split into two parts and get no harm.The explosion inside arrow dragons' thorax will launch the front part of the body forward,the launch power plus the powerful leap make sure the arrow dragon catch the quarry.Elastic Muscles connect the front part and the rear,make sure they can joint well and truly after the hunt.Tough world. :batgirl:

[Vorace]

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/2299/catapult3voraceuz1.jpg

Artist: Vorace

Concept: Swamp Prowler
The city council needs you! You are strong and powerful and want to gain some experience ?
Deep into the Dark Swamp of Sorrow, lurks the Swamp prowlers. These terrible beasts have been causing fear for to long ! We have to stop them, YOU have to stop them. With their powerful tongues, they are able to shoot mucus balls far away with high precision. They normally feeds on swamp birds, but when attacked they will fight even the mightiest paladin. Be aware, this mucus will paralyze you, penetrate your armor and cause a lot of damage. These monsters are fast, and always attack first because of their initiative ; hopefully, they are not well armored on their belly and legs : this is the place were you have to call the shot.
Any adventurer willing to fight them for the City Council will receive 100 gold pieces, and a magic item, in addition to the Swamp Prowlers’ loot.

[daveneale]

452323

Artist: daveneale

Concept: Red-footed Spiker
The Spiker hunts like a living, all-in-one bow and arrow. It positions itself on conveniently shaped branches and uses its improbably elastic limbs to pull itself taut and ready to pounce. When launched, spikes lining it's front are deployed and the Spiker flies into it's prey, impaling it and rendering it a little less alive than it was before.

[FredF]

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w84/fmfsdg/KatapultKrabcolor.jpg

Artist: FredF

Concept: Katapult Krab
It's a krab and it throws shit. Thats it.

[Lander]

http://www.planet11.com/3d/2d/122_catapult_creature_lander.jpg

Artist: Lander

Concept: Tailauncher
In attempt to save it's offspring the Tailauncher catapults it's eggs so that they stick to the cave ceiling. There they stick until the fetus has matured. Then the eggs membrane like shell softens and dispatches the newborn to the world beneath.

[SPipes]

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s210/MasterColl/CatapultWeb.jpg

Artist: BitterBusiness

Concept: Trebuchet Bug

The smallest and most widely-spread of the lizardlike insects indiginous to the planet, the Trebuchet Bug (Named by early colonists) has entrenched itself in every conceivable ecosystem. Evolution has given the creature the ability to produce a thick, effervescent vomit, gobs of which it flings with remarkable range and accuracy through the use of its specialised tail. Coupled with its highly territorial nature, this insect has almost single-handedly halted the expansion of human settlements.

Predators on the planet, as well as the colonists, have learned to give the Trebuchet Bug a wide berth. The local pets, on the other hand, are slower learners.

[HareTrinity]

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/0eef1f0548.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

Artist: HareTrinity

Concept: Iylax


The iylax is a relative of the rodent family, and has adapted a unique bone structure that aids it in getting food and defending itself. Using what most animals have as leg muscles, it pulls back its "basket" and rolls on the ground to gain ammo (the "baskets" are 2 pads of prehensile muscle that aid in picking up small hard objects). After righting itself the iylax relaxes its muscles, resulting in the strong, stringy, flesh connecting its "basket" to its shoulder blades snapping back into place, launching the ammo at its target.

The iylax live in small colonies and breed all year round due to their short life spans, which probably are a result of how quickly the wear and tear on their "catapult" device renders it useless, and though some elderly or damaged iylax may be fed by other colony members it is more likely they will die or be killed and eaten by an expectant mother.

[I know I'm not about to win with this standard of picture, but I figured it added variety to the concept ideas at least.]

[Rizza]

http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp309/RizzaCA/catapulatanimal3.jpg

Artist: Angela Rizza Rizza

Concept: The Fluffy Pufflebutt
Fluffly Pufflebutts were a popular exotic pet until their species was almost wiped out by poaching. Although they appear to be cute and gentle they are actually quite hostile and easily frightened, attacking with a combination of tiny scratches and goring with his horns.
The males of the species take care of the young and allow them to ride in their spoon shaped tails. When faced with a dangerous situation the father would catapult his young into the safety of trees or bushes while he fends off a predator. When without children the males have been known to catapult small objects ranging from rocks to nuts but it is not common throughout the species.

[Giax]

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o85/tkraky/Arachnomunk4copy.jpg

Artist: Giax

Concept: Catamunk
The Catamunk is a gliding hunter, climbing the flexible Pershon Pine trees to the very top, it wraps its enormous bungie like tail around the trunk-top. Then spreads its legs open and dives off floating to the ground. It then uses its arachnid-like legs to dig into the dirt and reel its massive tail in bending the tree to an explosive amount of potential energy. Releasing its legs it launches into the air and glides up to several miles; latching onto large birds and causing them to nose-dive into the ground...generally killing them.

Hey guys this is my first post, just wanted to let you guys know I've been dying to participate in COW and you are all seriously inspiring, and I'm already learning alot just from your posts. It's nice to finally have something up =)

[Fozzybar]

Will open the next round later, don't have much time, so i didn't read the concepts, but seems that everything is ok so far ;)

[SPipes]

Njoo: I love the image of dozens of these things attacking all at once. Seeing this in real life would be horrifying and hilarious at the same time :P

[Lander]

Great round everyone. Njoo: I was a bit confused about the order you display the critters.

[tex tin star]

everybodies looks awesome a lot of great ideas, but it was between njoo and spipes for me and i chose spipes, i liked the layout and the reaction of the dog to getting an eyeful.

[Fozzybar]

njoo
Amazing color scheme and rendering. Beautiful. Clean. Inspiring. Welcome back and thank you very much ;)

JakkaS
The young guns are reaching for the creature masters crown. But the master is an outstanding one. Lovely colors and creature design. Again. Applause. Again. :)

[Fozzybar]

new round is up btw:

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=135816

[tsabu]

not easy choice - 3 entry here are my favor Jakkas,njoo,and daveneale for me with is better depends of the context - Jakkas one is the best as a ilustration, njoo one would be the best as a creature design for some game, and the daveneale for a cartoon movie :)

[UCT]

njoo
sweet concept and really engaging rendering style.

Jakkas
Im really impressed with your new painting style, its working brilliantly, great colour scheme.

I echo Fozzy's notion, I too get alot from looking at both your works.

[fury03]

My vote was between Jakkas, njoo, and FredF...

I would have voted for FredF, but I felt like the idea wasn't out there as much for me compared to the other ones. But i really liked the rendering, colors, and detail!

Absolutely loved Jakkas's piece, got my vote. I think it was the colors that did it for me. Definately popped!

[Moai]

Since I usually don't look at the "final entries only" thread during these activities, it's always a nice surprise to see works from people who didn't post anything in the discussion thread. It's like a bonus.:rendered:
So, my choice of who to vote for has been complicated, now that I've seen Vorace's swamp-prowler, daveneale's cute but creepy jungle fetus, and FredF's hairy krab that throws shit. I was expecting just to have to decide between JakkaS and nJoo. Thanks a lot for making the choice even harder, guys.:P

[JakkaS]

LOL.. njoo you already won this one. Congrats man!

fury03 - I like the concept and the catapult mechanism.
Thalion - Cut and funny creature. I like it, especially that small drawing in the right corner
Paul Kang- Interesting concept. The creature looks a bit flat, but it reminds me one of the Mike Corriero's creature...beside that, everything with a sperm in the description needs attention :D hehe ..anyway..nice work
gmblfdz- Interesting.....in this picture the creature looks like an exotic flower :)
tex tin star's - Cool..but shadows and the colors on the fur are too strong and dark.
smuli - strange and ...twisted creature...I like it :)
njoo - Great job Andrew... I like it! First I thought I will vote for you but at the and I had to choose another entry.
Relic - Sick idea...If the painting would be a bit stronger I would vote for you. I like the body splitting idea.
Vorace - I think your creature is the most unique and convincing one. I don't understand why you don't have more votes...this is really a cool entry, You got my vote!
daveneale - beautiful entry...dig the mood of your painting
FredF - Nice drawing...the creature looks like from the science movie. I like how it is balancing the trowing arm by sticking one of his legs in the sand.
Lander - I like the catapult mechanism...the whole body is working...
SPipes - I don't know what to write... I like the creature design but IMO colors looks flat. Look at these:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://kedarphotography.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/heuschrecke1web.jpg&imgrefurl=http://kedarphotography.wordpress.com/category/animals/&h=652&w=932&sz=41&hl=pl&start=42&sig2=nl8hLxUTs6gqgiQ20Yv2Aw&um=1&usg=__H-GqVbYyWvGeMfqEwjLaP__zKHQ=&tbnid=MNB3J4KxyuAOpM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=147&ei=oJG9SO72B4K60gX_qsWvDA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgreen%2Banimal%26start%3D36%26ndsp%3D 18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dpl%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_PLPL244%26sa %3DN
http://www.turtletrack.org/Issues03/Co05172003/Art/Green_Frog.jpg
http://grampyshouse.net/fotoshop/dec06/greenbird_o.jpg
http://www.parrotchronicles.com/2005/yourbirds/julyaugust/chico_yourbirds.jpg
http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/reptiles/europeangreenlizard-lacertaviridis.jpg
They all are green but there is more then a one shade of green. Also you can make it more interesting by adding small dots/patterns of other colors...blue or yellow etc.
HareTrinity - this creature is also strange..but somehow it doesn't look too convincing
Rizza - check what I have write to SPipes. I have same crits for you :) Btw, your creature is cute :)
Giax - hehe..funny idea.

Cheers
Kuba

Ps. Sorry for my bad English

[FredF]

fury03, thanks for the compliment. It's my first post on CA and was finishing it with Hurricane Gustav on my back porch. This was fun. My personal faves were njoo and JakkaS'. Great stuff.

[Bakubaku]

I voted for Thalion because Yamayamma is in my opinion orginal, well made and in some way cute. I like really much the idea, and shape of this little buddy. Little brown Yamayamma in the corner is great comparison to the main creature.

JakkaSs and njoos creatures are as good as the Thalions but they didnt charmed me so much. But if I have two votes the second one would go to the FredF because this crab is so realistic and real.

[Rizza]

JakkaS Yeah http://grampyshouse.net/fotoshop/dec06/greenbird_o.jpg I think that would have been great reference for me and the images I were using had poor lighting. Ok, must work on that the next round and btw your is amazing, great vivid colors and concept.

[Paul Kang]

njoo owns!
go my fellow korean

[Relic]

My vote goes to jakkas ...again. njoo's piece is great for me too,but personally I like jakkas' work most. plus ,thanks for the advice on your post,jakkas.Even the advice for SPipes is really suit me ,cause my creature's green too.

[njoo]

W00t! Lots of cool entries!!! Gonna slack off at work to sneak some comments in :devil:

:av::ao::ar::aa::ac::ae: (Sorry got carried away playing with the Smilies) - Got my vote! As I scroll down the page, urs caught my attention right away, in terms of rendering, silhouette, design,etc. It's just too cool and badass :)

fury03 - Nice solid concept/idea ;P I keep staring at the right side and it looks like he's doing push-ups haha
Thalion - I'm not sure if this method would work since the power that the catapult launches him into the air would be probably less then the force use to jump back to the catapult haha. Maybe the creature just likes to do things with style, but honestly I love the planting the tail into the ground to make the catapult idea! Nice rendering and layout too!
Paul Kang- Nice solid drawing, I think because you decided to draw it straight-on side view, it took me a bit to understand the concept, wasn't sure if the catapult part's a tail or wing or something else. But it's nice simple and clean!
Gmblfdz- I think the angle you choose is cool, like a dynamic movie shot :D but it made the concept a little bit hard to understand, especially since it's somewhat like a camo-flower shape.
smuli - I can't stop thinking of that elephant from sesame street with armor haha, interesting concept :D
Jakkas - Haha what can I say ur stuff rock as always, the part I loved about it most is how believable the creature is, the curve of the horn and everything I can totally picture it like a rare species that is running around in the wild.
Relic - Exploding body! Now that's some serious catapult, like those missles that split mid-flight. It's a cool concept
Daveneale - Love the style, looks like a creature from a film that Pixar would make. Definately one of my fav this round
FredF - Another creature that is totally believable, the one side hellboy
arm is awesome, and the style/rendering is gives it that extra believability. Nice!
Lander - I like the design of the creature, somehow the image here isn't loading so I'm just looking at the one in the other thread. The design's really cool, if only I can see the creature even bigger with all the cool details,etc!
SPipes - I like the concept, and the layout you choose, really dynamic. I think Jakkas mentioned already, imo a bit more color variation would give it even more shine!
HareTrinity - Alien squirrel!! That anatomy's so crazy and strange, I dunno how to crit, but crazy is good haha, I like how you made it all scientific with the explanation of the joints,etc
Rizza - I think your creature's cute and the drawing's solid, but one comment maybe is that I THINK you used the black and white with overlay/color method? It's easy to make everything just one shade. I think you got the right direction going with the cold bg and warm color char,etc but stuff like shadow color,etc might be slightly blue tint,etc. Anyways, this is after all a concept design activity, and the concept's solid! :D
Giax - Haha that's a LONG tail, with the power to pull a tree down, I'm sure it's deadly to just use it as a whip and kick some ass~

Thanks for the comment guys, I'll try to drop by in COW whenever I have time, it's way too addictive!

nJoo
Deviantart (http://njoo.deviantart.com/gallery)

[daveneale]

Cool round...thanks for the kind comments:)...would love to comment on them all but reaaally should be doing work right now:

njoo: had to vote for yours, really cool concept and great execution. I think I preferred the version on the plain white background but meh, it rocks!

Thalion: Turned out nice dude, not 100% on the hexagonal texture on the face, but really nice colours and love the little corner thumb too, real cure creature.

JakkaS: Those are some real pretty colours, nice render as ever...not to sure about the cropping and the b&w action shot for me could have been a little smaller but minor niggles, love the face.

Vorace: A very close second for me, love the colours and the design, real tight stuff.

FredF: Was really nice to pop by when it was time for voting and see another really cool creature....love the hairyness and texture of the thing....quality

[Michael Jaecks]

I voted for Vorace. I like the quality of the paint and the color and the nice stringy gross-ness (if I'm allowed to make up words)... very appropriate for flinging...

I also really liked Fred F's entry... the buried claw to steady himself while he tosses the poo is a nice touch.

Of course, Jakkas, njoo, Lander and Daveneale did nice jobs as well....Thalion too...

[DefiledVisions]

So many great entires.. at first when I saw Jakkas post some days back I was like holy..!

but then Njoo came along, and those small catapult devils made me sell my soul to them.. and a vote.

Also like Vorace's, great rendering and colouring, and Daveneal... kickass!

[Darasen]

I HAD to vote for SPipes. Not only was the rendering nice but, conceptually excellent as well. One look at the image told me exactly what the creature was and what it did. I looks cool as well.

[FredF]

it was a tough one but njoo got my vote. On the illo that shows how it works, I could hear in my head the sound of the stoning scene in Monty Python's "Life of Brian" Whenever John Cleese said "Jehovah". Hilarious!

[benu]

Favourites:
Paul Kang- The rendering looks a bit flat, but the concept made me laugh :D
JakkaS- I like these vibrant colors and the face is cute.
njoo- good concept and awesome rendering with beautiful colors. The elephant hunting picture made me vote for it.
Vorace- Thats a very unique, bizarre creature. Would be my 2nd choice.
Lander- Also very nice rendering, and the body design really makes sense.

[chrislomaka]

just a few quick thoughts:

Thalion - it seems impractical, but it's sooo cute!

Paul Kang - eeewwwwwww!

gmblfdz - cool concept and colors. I think maybe a more dynamic composition would help, especially with the nice lines the body's arch can make. And some cracks in teh ground where the shovel-tip is would be a good touch, too:)

smuli - hee. I like the upsidedown head. I think it gives the animal a weird balance that really helps w. the catapult theme (either that or it's just from me tilting my head side to side as my mind tryis to come to grips w. the head)

JakkaS - i like the colors. possibly my #2 pick.

njoo - you got my vote. excellent rendering, and i like how the head shield is both catapult and offensive weapon.

Vorace - also a close second. i like the design and everything, it's just that the catapult action wasn't nearly as obvious as njoo's.

Lander - i can almost hear it catapulting now!

[davi]

Hey fredf,
great to see you posting in here :)

representing ruston, la..
..sigh


Anyways. Cant wait to see more posts from you in the future!

[Bakubaku]

Thalions creature is as long "impractical" as long there are no muscles in this tail. You know catapult is from wood so it have to be practical but tail can unbend [from bend position to streight position] witch power of its own muscles. But I dont know much about that :D

[Lege1]

Njoo: Mad props for real. You destroyed the poll. You should stop by here more often, or maybe not, you might be too good for this,lol. Naw, never that, forever stay learning right?

Jakkas: Awesome entree and loved the colors. I always have struggled with saturated colors and it was finally have a good example of how to pull it off in which you did. Awesome work!