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

[Fozzybar]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/cow/cow.jpg

For more infos and details about the rules go here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110879


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Round #122

Topic:
Catapult Creature

Deadline (extended):
Monday, 01 September 2008



note: The deadline won't be EXACTLY after a week...it can last up to 24 hours more, i am human and have to work also, you know ;)
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How to post

In this thread you can post all wips, questions, comments etc
However if you are done with your entry, post the final image in the following thread.

THREAD FOR FINAL ENTRIES (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=134935)

READ THE INFO IN THE 1ST POST OF THE FINALS THREAD TO SEE HOW TO POST YOUR FINAL IMAGE!!!

[Fozzybar]

Thanx to Tyrus for the topic idea ;)

ADDITIONAL INFO

1. The creature must use the catapult mechanism - in an active or passive way, it's up to you. Be creative. At the end the concept must be about a Catapult Creature. That's what we need.

2. No human-made tools or machines.

3. No individual/character!!! Make a concept of a species!

[PhilipArts]

Like a catapult, trebuche, launching of objects sort of thing?

[Fozzybar]

yep ;)

[Timmy the Turtle]

Oooooh, nice one, Fozz. The shit slinger LIVES!

[Rosser389]

Im thinking something along the lines of a click beetle, or maybe some sort of scorpion with flat tail.

[Paul Kang]

can it be a species that can catapult through time?
or is that stretching it too much?

[Fozzybar]

Too much stretching...really, please stick to the mechanism of catapult no transferring to a different level ;)

[Mr Man]

Hmm what about launching itself? or does it have to be other objects?

This is going to be really fun!

[JakkaS]

My ideas....and quick sketches.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/JakkaS/COW122-sk1.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/JakkaS/COW122-sk2.jpg

Btw, cool topic :)

Cheers
Kuba

[Fozzybar]

Hmm what about launching itself? or does it have to be other objects?Up to you...;)

[flatliner]

Nice topic, this sounds like a fun one

[Dan!]

heres my first go at it- probably wont stick with it as the poor guy would be more of a beast of burden turned into a catapult creature as well as it looks just like jakkas' sketch- which makes me wonder how many other people had the same idea heh-
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/DECYPL/catap.jpg

[Rabid]

Can we have a human influence to make this creature fling? For example, maybe Jakkas's first creature uses the crest as a weapon when it is pissed. So maybe a few military soldiers play chicken with it to get it to attempt to swat them, thereby ejecting the propelled object? I have a few ideas but the creature that I though of would not be doing this under normal circumstances. This could really add another dimension.

Ex. What if peacocks had armored feathers. Therefore for the soldiers to use it effectively would constantly have to have a female around to present something for him to strut his wide shield for...

[Arthur 'Two Sheds']

Wow DECYPL, that is uncannily similar to JakkaS'.

I'm not implying anything... Just remarking upon how similar initial ideas can be. I must admit my first thoughts resulted in something like this too.

Looks like it's thumbnails ahoy for this one. Just for the record, i'm thinking of something along the lines of a Jai-Alai glove shaped tail - shotgun! :teeth:

[Rizza]

Very cool idea JakkaS, I really like the first drawing you did with the reindeer kind of look to it since I feel the second one has been done already. Nice pose on the right.
Also have to agree that Decypl's drawing looks almost exactly like JakkaS' concept.
Anyways here's my idea. Wanted to just have fun with this one since I'm not sure if I'll have to time finish this week. Wanted my guy to be a digger with huge curved paws that would also catapult rocks and dirt at enemies to escape.
http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp309/RizzaCA/catapultanimalsketch.jpg

[JakkaS]

Hey everyone...

I think in this topic there could be more entries with the same base idea, and still they could be completely different. Creatures can be different shapes, colors, details etc. For me it not a big deal. However the final decision has our Big Red Shaggy Guru :D

Cheers
Kuba

Ps. Always when I see DECYPL's nick I think he is from Poland. It's because of the "PL" part in his nick.... hehe...but finally I have check this on his site. No mistakes anymore :)

[retter]

after an hour or so of doodling i came up with this;
it uses its tail-like appendage to hurl its sticky, gooey eggs into large bodies of water past all the nasties that lurk along the coast, kind of like the opposite of what a turtle does.. i guess.
although i'm worried it might not be catapulty enough.. what do you guys reckon?

[ImRazil]

Catapult

1. A military machine for hurling missiles, such as large stones or spears, used in ancient and medieval times.
2. A mechanism for launching aircraft at a speed sufficient for flight, as from the deck of a carrier.
3. A slingshot. (a Y-shaped device with a loop of elastic fastened to the ends of the prongs, used by children for firing stones)

I was quite suprised that the dictionairy gave 'slingshot' as one of the possible meanings of 'catapult'. I'm not sure if this is just me, but see this as information that could present you with some new options.

I've also found some sites that could be useful. I won't list 'Wikipedia' but I will quote some information from it.

Catapult: Wikipedia: A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines.

You can also think about some other catapult like ideas beside the slingshot:
- Ballista
- Onager
- Trebuchet
- Mangonel

These could open up some pretty interesting creature ideas.

I've also listed an amount of sites with some useful information about the catapult:
- http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/sling.html
- http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/build_a_catapult.html
- http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/treb_animated.html
- http://www.redstoneprojects.com/trebuchetstore/how_a_trebuchet_catapult_works.html
- http://www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/medieval-catapults.html
- http://www.trebuchet.com/
- http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/catapults.htm

Well, I hope this was useful.

The redstoneprojects site is extremely useful, I'd suggest you take a look if you are going to partake. Probably won't be doing so myself, practicing with some things Moai told me last COW.

Good luck!

[Paul Kang]

mine so far

[GoatFetus]

I think I might try to get in on this, if I have the time. I'll be starting on initial sketches soon.

[Funkyskull]

made a sketch.
its a thing that hangs from a branch and catapults its victim into the air.

http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs35/f/2008/239/b/c/cow__by_Funkyskull.jpg

[Stryyf]

Insect,
I got an idea it is not nearly as creative as I see allot of others but
it is a bug that is close to a grass hopper but In stead of Jumping it Grips the ground with its front legs and Springs its rear into the air to fling poison
It is a Big bug, normally about the size of a human hand.

Quick sketch,
I just hope that some how I can figure out how to paint and Render this to be as cool as my idea.

[Keenir]

heres my first go at it- probably wont stick with it as the poor guy would be more of a beast of burden turned into a catapult creature as well as it looks just like jakkas' sketch- which makes me wonder how many other people had the same idea heh-
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/DECYPL/catap.jpg

very neat. since it doesn't seem to have a neck, I'm guessing it drops to its elbows really fast, to fire.

[tex tin star]

quick sketch, just a beginning idea, i like the overall of it, but i'm not sure about the eyes, i'm thinking of eye stalks


http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq207/tex_tin_star/Untitled-1copy.jpg

[VirtualSurreality]

after seeing jakas and decypl, had to go back and come up with something different. decided to go with a sort of hinged lower teeth design. got a lot left to go to finish this one, I hate fur.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1433/catapultcreaturenv4.jpg

[Tyrus]

My creature is different in its own way. It walks like its doing a handstand and catapults with its feet and tail, which have fused together. Here's the first sketch.

[Kasen Kato]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2802125848_f34fdaecb9_o.jpg

I want to do somthing diffrent lol

Instead of going with the bandwagon and drawing a catapulter

Im gonna draw a catapultee

and maybe make a catapulter with a huge arm and a teeny arm lol but im afraid he is too human influanced.

Oh and someone once said texturing my creatures would help, does anyone have a tutorial or some advice on this?

[nairda]

here is a quick sketch, is a creature that is being catapulted jeje, but at the same time this is it's transport, they are one meaning bastard. thats it's MO.

me like it

[nairda]

sorry for size size, it's my first post...

Nairda (male)

[fury03]

nairda: I don't think there is supposed to be any man made objects... like a catapult made out of wood n metal.

Here's my quick idea... Wanted to do a smaller critter that maybe flips/catapults small stones or pebbles to make its shelter. I was thinking that the large abdomen (butt) area would be the center of gravity and use the large back legs as anchors. While the front head area is more a wedge shape to slip under the rocks and the thinner but longer front legs would be used like a springs. I was thinking more like a sucker fish for the food... where its mouth would be under its head and feeds off the algae and plants along the floor.

447994

[tex tin star]

here's mine updated and changed some decided to not go with the eye stalks but now its just more of a mass of body that is used to catapult kind of like a see saw

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

[Pierce9]

Quick rough sketch.

[Thalion]

here is my sketch:)
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z139/thalion_art/catapultkopiakopia.jpg

[retter]

fury03 really cool-looking initial design. definitely like the reason for it to be catapulting things. one thing is that its front legs may be too spindly to support the weight of a rock and then launch it. i really like it though.

[smuli]

Here's a wip of my catapult bear:

448138

[Fozzybar]

nairda
Go to my second post and read the "Additional Info" part again ;)

[nairda]

sorry for this...

2. No human-made tools or machines.

i´ll fix it.

[Leosdel]

hi there...well this one looks like fun...ill try it...i hope i can find some time..

[Lander]

Time flies :)

I can see there is plenty cool stuff in progress

Here is my initial concept.
To keep the eggs safe they use their own body to catapult their eggs so that they stick to the cave ceiling. Well out of reach from egg stealing scavengers.

[bigzax]

crazy!! absolutely CRAZY. i love it.

[Kasen Kato]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/2804157315_ed3904f825_o.jpg

Just a little Xray of my creature for the information on it.

lol once finished i realized when in an xray my crature looks uncaningly like a from even though it is of turtle origin.

[gnahz]

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s288/gnahzCA/catapultcreature2.jpg

my concept - a creature that launches itself through the canopy....
my friends did told me it look like alien facehugger though :(

[njoo]

Hey guys~! it's been like a year since I last Cowed, hopefully I can join this one ;P Just thought to say hi so I can force myself to post something ! :D

[nairda]

Here is my new sketch...

the finally is for this creature to smash it's food or self defense.

[nairda]

it catapults itself, for travelling, chase it´s pray, but the main function is self defense...

[gnahz]

Hey guys~! it's been like a year since I last Cowed, hopefully I can join this one ;P Just thought to say hi so I can force myself to post something ! :D

of cause u must join!! i missed your creatures man! haha
welcome back!!

[Arthur 'Two Sheds']

Awesome Idea Lander.

[fury03]

retter- ya, i noticed that the legs were kinda thin... So i tried to define some of the anatomy and thicken it up a little. Hopefully it doesn't destroy the concept. Thanks for the comments!

update... still needs alot of work

448794

edit: another update...

448837

[tex tin star]

my updated creature, still trying to get a good design for the catapult/horn piece but it's coming along


http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq207/tex_tin_star/thing3.jpg

[Fozzybar]

Nice to see Lander and njoo back again here. One time every COWie comes back for his dose :D :perv:

[Lander]

Fozz: You know you're the sugar.

[daveneale]

:P loving the wip thalion...realy nice lighting and very cure lil creature-hope you can keep the lovely feeling it has right now:)

A few thing's that I would look at though:

the catapult device is off to the side, but the creature is coming at us head-on, which doesn't quite fit, I would possibly be inclined to place the catapult directly below it, have the creature a little furthur from the ground, with the catapult a little more in the distance, which would make the shadow on the ground a lit smaller, but if you didnt mind that for me the image would work better

[Thalion]

Thanks daveneale for your opinion! Currently I'm finishing my entry, so I will be not able to make all of your suggestions :[, but I'll try to do the best. ;) I hope that you will still like final version. Big thanks again!

fury03 - your creature looks very nice!

[Paul Kang]

drastically changed mine

say hello to the bulgarian sperm slinger

[Lander]

Paul Kang: ha ha That is madness of nature calling the desperate solution. Lot's of cool elements . I love the wing.:)

Arthur 'Two Sheds': Thanks

[smuli]

Paul Kang - I really like the look of the drawing... Lots of little details but still nothing steals the attention or distracts.

Tex tin star - Cool idea with the horn vest but unless those grooves are hinges, it looks stiff. My two cents: try make it clear to the viewer where the movement happens.


Here's what's become of my entry.

449322

[JakkaS]

Hey everyone.... it's late night over here, so I will just post my WIP:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/JakkaS/COW122-sk1_c.jpg



Will drop some comments tomorrow.

Cheers
Kuba

Ps. Hey Andrew... Nice to see you back :)

[Lege1]

=]:mittenbop:

Jakkas: Sweatin yours big time bro. I am lovin the vibrant green, the concept, all that good stuff. Great work!

Lander: Very cool stuff you got brewing there. Can't wait to see you lay in some color. Looking good.

[Michael Jaecks]

LOL, Jakkas. Please tell me the concept involves mom hurling the baby once it's time to leave the 'nest.' (Or spoon shaped horns)

Thats hilarious.

[Paul Kang]

yeah...jakkas is gonna win

[CKLamb]

Damn...Jakkas is holding it down in COW and CHOW....I love/hate you.

[Call0ps]

Paul Kang only if u allow it :P

[Rizza]

So far... forgot to make the sketch layer visible.
http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp309/RizzaCA/catansketch.jpg

[Kasen Kato]

Jakkas I love your style, you definitaly know how to bring those vivid colors that catch peoples eyes. Very tropical!

Jakkas always has that senoirity lead with his impressive skills but i always see great work pop out of nowere in the polls. lol but remember dont always vote on the that is just best visually. Always look into the general concept too. Who has the best idea.

[tex tin star]

this is mine so far i still have a ways to go but i'm getting close to finally finishing this thing up. Jakkas is looking damn good

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq207/tex_tin_star/thing4copy.jpg

[Fozzybar]

lol but remember dont always vote on the that is just best visually. Always look into the general concept too. Who has the best idea.That's true...but then again, JakkaS even has the best ideas most time :D :perv:

[Kasen Kato]

Fozzybar SHhhhhh maybe he lost his touch. lol we need hope!

[Rizza]

Update
http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp309/RizzaCA/mrpufflebutt.jpg
Going to have something like the father takes care of the babies and catapults them to safety if he is fighting something dangerous.

edit:

http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp309/RizzaCA/animalcatapault4.jpg

[njoo]

http://www.weewung.com/poo/cow122_ahou_catapultcreature.jpg

Just doodled a quickie scene ;P

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

Hey guys, I've been super busy the past year ever since moving to a new company, I missed COW alot!! It's nice to see some of the old-timers still participating, especially Jakkas! Haha still going strong. Thanks as always for Fozzy organizing this badass weeklies ;P Anyways there's my entry this round, took a tiny bit humorous approach. C/C always welcome~!

122 - 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)

[Thalion]

njoo- that's fantastic!:D Marvelous concept... JakkaS has got strong rival!

[IIKII]

mime.

450493

[Paul Kang]

njoo makes me feel like a child

[Lander]

yea I can feel it too. Now we really have to focus to get back in the game.

Here is a update. I stardet with a background but I suck at environments and reference material so I made it white for now. This time I'll upres to 3k to get some details in there.

[Lege1]

Njoo: I am feeling like you took the art out of this one, not that it's bad, but your concept is outrageous! I definitely got a good laugh from it =] Your concept lives up to the term that big things can come in small packages, something I've always believed in myself. Especially when considering schools of piranha, army ants, and explosives =] Awesome work!

[JakkaS]

Woot! You were worry so much that I will win.....and now you can take a deep breath. No worry..Andrew is gonna win this one :D hehehe Awesome Andrew...they are simple awesome! If I may suggest something I would paint other huge animal instead of an Elephant.

MJ - I had the same idea as Rizza, but if you agree I will add your suggestion to the description too. Can I?

Thank you guys for all comments :)
Cheers
Kuba

[Michael Jaecks]

Jakkas: of course you can! Toss those babies out of the nest! They need to get on with their lives. ;)

[JakkaS]

Cool....thanks MJ :)

[njoo]

Thanks guys for the comment~! and Jakkas, I have no idea why I chose elephant lol... O_O I'm not sure if I have any time for revision, it's funny because it started off that I just wanted to do one small creature just to say hi to ppl at COW, then I got carried away and started changing and tweaking the concept, then I suddenly wanted to do a quick sketch of a scene, but the scene took longer then I thought and I told myself I better stop lol... this COW thing is too addictive T_T

can't wait to see everyone's piece!! I'll save the comment all the once at the voting hehe, ttyl!

[JakkaS]

LOL...Andrew...you just described the first symptoms of the disease called COW ADDICTION! After that.. is only getting worse!!

[Fozzybar]

:inject:

[tex tin star]

I finally got mine finished it feels good to be done with it. i'm proud of how it turned out, and i see that there is quite a bit of competition already. lots of good work

[Cloister]

CURE: Get a house, a full time job, some freelance work, and a baby...

(Well, it is actually no cure, but it certainly keeps you away from Cow-ing... damn it!)

[RevoLverZ]

I`m new to cow. Crit please.
little update

[Lander]

Cloister: I hear you :)
RevoLverZ: welcome :) Maybe some colors would be nice. And a silhuette since it's a bit har to read the anatomy. (for me anyways)

[RevoLverZ]

thx for the reply lander , I`m trying to put some detail on the anatomy.
I am thinking also , what colours would match the sketch. Maybe some action would be nice...

[Moai]

JakkaS, Rizza, nJoo, fantastic work.
JakkaS, every time you enter this activity you make something good, but sometimes you make something that just blows everything that came before out of the water. This is one such time. Excellent work!
nJoo- Also, fantastic design and rendering. It took me a second to figure out the sequence of the first image, though. Showing the "launchee" being hurled through the air in the last step might clear things up.
Rizza- This has a nice, textured, naturalistic look to it, and I like it. The problem with this image, though, is flatness. The saturated, contrasting background, the crisp edges of the creature, and the lack of a cast shadow are causing flatness. The equal lighting on all areas of the creature is causing flatness. This can be helped, I think, by putting its lower body and limbs in deeper shadow. Its front right limb, in particular, is somewhat too brightly lit, and that makes it want to jump in front of its front left limb, which is actually closer to us. Its horns are looking a little wobbly and unconfident, as well. Just some thoughts on how to improve a creature design that I am enjoying.:rendered:

[JakkaS]

Moai - Thank you, I am glade you like it :)

My final (I will add the text later).
I would like to make few changes but I don't have time for this :(

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

Cheers
Kuba

[Hopsy]

Hello, It's my creature:

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s118/Hopsypeti/COW122_Catapult_Hopsy.jpg

The Catapult is living under very hot circumstances, where the dry lands are separated by the deep breaches filled with lava. It fires its nicked bulletin with eggs with the catapult-like movement of its long tail, wich bursts before landing. So its eggs can get over the poisoning steam and hot fissures
without any injury.

[Lander]

This is where I'm at. Time is runing out. Anything that hurts your eyes? Please tell me. Great work everyone. Moai: It's been to long. I'm slowly making my way back into the saddle :)

[tex tin star]

lander- its looking great, like to see background with it, the cave looked awesome in the beginning, the only thing that looks weird about it is the lines under the head from it hitting the ground idk, it's just me but my eyes keeping getting drawn to it

[GoatFetus]

Still workin on mine, gonna try to get one in here.

[Rizza]

Thanks for the advice Moai took it and not sure which one to submit since for some reason I still like the original despite everything being flat, anyone help me out?

http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp309/RizzaCA/animalcatapault4.jpg
^ Original

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

[tsabu]

hi people :) i wanted to teak part on these cow but unlucky i read the topic and started work to late - so i decide to put at last my unfinished work here
Rizza i think the problem of your work is that the creature and the background are two different worlds - try to unite them somehow maybe some blue shadows on the creature could be god idea :)

[Nightblue]

I like njoo's elephant though! It makes the image quite a bit funnier for me. Fantastic work njoo and JakkaS! Mad rendering skills aside, I really like your takes on the subject.

[Lander]

tex tin star: Thanks for the input. I spent my entire day yesterday on a brig (http://www.klockseth.com/home/Site/My_Albums/Pages/Tre_Kronor.html) sailing in the archipelago outside of stockholm. So I only spent some time cleaning up and posted my entry in the final thread. I can tell I've been away to long from practice I'm stepping in my old footprints more ofr less repeating myself both in design and style. I'll work on that. Lot's of cool entries. Thanks for this time around.

tsabu: Welcome. Once in you can't get out :) Why don't you finish it anyways. There is all the time in the world and I want to see it.

Nightblue: Where is your creature. It must have been misplaced cos I couldn't see it. :)

[Fozzybar]

poll is on:

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=134935