Chow 126 :: Scheherazade

[daestwen]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/CHOW-LINES-MEDUSA.jpg

ROUND #126 :: Scheherazade

-------------
DESCRIPTION

Heroine and teller of the 1001 tales in the "One Thousand and One Arabian Nights".

Read the attached for details on her story.

The basics:

- Her character and the stories that she tells have been traced all over the ancient world - Persia/Arabia/Egypt/India - so feel free to experiment within the time period, but this IS in the ancient world. No Alien Arabian Nights, please!

- A strong woman, and an awesome story teller. Please keep in mind that she uses stories over seduction - your character should reflect that, and not just show off a skimpy outfit! ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheherazade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights

http://www.bartleby.com/16/1002.html

________________________________


:right: FOLLOW THE TOPIC.

:right: POST YOUR FINAL IN THE FINALS THREAD.


:right: SAVE YOUR FILES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT. Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oblio.jpg" ;)

:right: PLACE THE IMAGE IN A FRAME WITH YOUR NAME/TOPIC

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/ChowPics/frame.jpg
(you can add CA logo, etc).

-------------------------
DEADLINE
SUNDAY, September 14th, 2008
The way the deadline works: if deadline is on a Sunday and your image is posted on that Sunday 23:59 your local time it's a good entry.
In fact - as long there is Sunday somewhere on the planet your entry is ok. I will make the poll sometimes Monday evening my time (GMT - 8 ) yet I'll have a look at the last entries.
---------------------------------------------------------


POST YOUR FINALS IN THE FINALS THREAD!

Remember to include your nickname in the filename.

About quality - as general rule: if your shapes and values are not decent - you are out. Watch proportions, perspective etc. we need perfectly readable shapes and coherent, consistent values.

_____________

BE PROFESSIONAL - only finished and good quality entries will be taken to the poll. Oregano and Daestwen (yay!) will make the selection.

[daestwen]

Please review these helpful reminders if you have not done so already.

:right:ON GETTING TO POLL (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1891823&postcount=15)
-------------------------
:right:NEW ROUND RULE: WIPS PLEASE! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1910999&postcount=27)
-------------------------
:right:SUBMISSION FORMAT REMINDER (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1911002&postcount=28)

[Aly Fell]

Sigh... I'm in! I've a feeling this might be quite popular... :)

Edit: First sketchies. I thought of an Odalisque type pose, although with clothes! Might go different yet...

Edit02: Worked on the first a bit more. But I don't which one to do! The perspective's gone a bit squiffy on the big one... Grrr... :\ Might start again...

Edit03: Did a bit on the second one. I dunno... not sure where to go really. To close right now...

Edit04: The colours are going to be quite dark and rich. I'll pick out details with gold and reds. Hopefully going for a sort of 1940's vibe, with a Robert McGinnis feel... I really doubt I'll get this done for Monday though.

[ikuru]

Yeay! Im gonne draw a futuristic Arabian Nights Mecha Robot with braids in a skimpy outfit! :P

[Hexokinase]

Sounds interesting. I just might give this a try:)

[Pixeltuner]

lunchbreak first idea. Kind of inspired by Aladdin's Jasmine.

[bitethefrog]

Hey, me again... ^.^

I'm in for this one, and already found a great research for some of the period wear. I've read most of the Arabian Nights, and most of them are...shall we say... risque at the most? ^.^''' I won't go into too much detail, but I will share a funky resource I found here...

I think that this is a Russian/ Northern European belly-dancing site (:wtf: ), but there's lots of yummy Persian artwork and costume reference.
http://www.bellydance.ru/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8197&start=0

[chaosrocks]

I own a 12 volume 1880s edition of the Sir richard Burton Translation. Risque? down right pornographic. in a good way. in most versions of the tales She pleased Shariyar sexually then told the stories to her little sister before sleep. distracting the king from having her killed in the morning.
and in an odd piece of synchrinicity, my most recent job is building turbans and head gear for a theater Production of Scheherezade. weird how the world turns isn't it?

[alesoun]

I'm in definitely and absolutely this time! No excuses.....:yayca:
http://images.google.co.uk/images?sourceid=navclient&hl=en-GB&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGIH_en-GBGB211GB211&q=persian%20designs&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
just look at these designs!



more refs
http://www.rememberingpersia.com/old/pages/indexpages/index2.htm
Doll's house furniture; but reference, none the less.

Update; messing about with the arms
459276

Useful link for colours
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/colours.html
460016

Arms fixed, I hope. Messing with the environment now, trying to find shapes that will cast the shadows I want. My original idea was to have Sheherezade and the king in front of a huge fireplace and tell the stories in the flames. Then I realised they'd be in silhouette. Maybe not the cleverest idea for a CHOW? So, cast shadows it is.....

[bitethefrog]

Chaosrocks: :wink: I was only understating for comical effect. ^.^'''

*is currently looking at some Gauguin and secretly, Jaime Murray's character Stacie Monroe in Hustle S3, ep4.* I :heart: Hustle...but not these shots...

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tvsquad.com/media/2006/07/hustle20.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/jayfrog_photos/Jaime_1.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/jayfrog_photos/Jaime_2.jpg

[MJ_Alcazar]

Sounds fun, I already have an idea, but I'm going to look up some reference first. :)

[JessiBean]

Oh noes... I'ma have to REALLY try and finish this week :teeth:

[bitethefrog]

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/jayfrog_photos/artwork/chow_quicksketch_sheheradaz.jpg

Fairly quick concept doodle of Scheherazade and her little sister Derizade...tried to avoid making her too sexualised but still attractive... will go into more detail into the design later...

Sorry for the little pic... will try and get a nicer, larger one...

[smugbug]

There was a Arabian Nights (2000) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181199/) 2-prt mini series. Highly recommend.

This actor who played the role of Scheherezade, was Mili Avital.



458341

[MJ_Alcazar]

PatriciaS, THANK YOU, I've kept racking my brain trying to think of what that was called. I remember watching it. Wow, was that eight years ago, I was eleven at the time so I don't remember it in great detail. :)

[trevor]

oh crap
i REEEEEAAAALLLY want to do this
and i know i cant make time
crap crap crap!
good luck everyone

[daestwen]

trevor: That's what the Chow Revisit/Revision thread is for! ;)

[ArtFish]

i have not been around much lately but i think im going to have to participate if i can find the time...
*scurries off to find a pencil*

[petitemistress]

I'm in. this one im starting right now and FINISHING DAMMIT! D:

[smugbug]

PatriciaS, THANK YOU, I've kept racking my brain trying to think of what that was called. I remember watching it. Wow, was that eight years ago, I was eleven at the time so I don't remember it in great detail. :)

Much oblige!

I caught this on the Sci Fi Channel this past year. They do show it occasionally. I have to admit, I really like it. Thought the art direction (costume, set designs, etc) were spot-on (had both historical, fantasy and whimsical elements).

[Aly Fell]

Remember Scheherazade is an incredibly strong woman. She cheats death and a powerful man, and has an enormous knowledge and intellect. One of the reasons she's one of my favourite literary characters.

I thought that recent dramatisation of The Arabian Nights was great, but I wanted more than the few stories they chose! But there are sooo many! Scheherazade was pretty gorgeous!

Anyway, here's a nice big pic of Edmund Dulac's Scheherazade:

[Foofea]

Very nervous about giving this ago - just hope with work and Uni i'll have time to do LOTS more to it.
This is my initial thought and sketch- she's sultry and seductive but no skimpy bikinis or ought

[serhc]

Topic, I Love You

edit: aw, there seems to be something that kills off all-caps in posts

[ArtbyWard]

Very nice topic! Heres my wip, tell me what you think :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

Here's a sketch. Trying to go with persian influences but away from the belly dancer look, hope it works! Tell me what you guys think!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0010-2.jpg

Pixeltuner - I like her, good work so far.

Icemoon - I like the feel of the piece.

Foofea - good ideas, nees some work on the anatomy though, keep it up!

EDIT :sorry about the size, as soon as photobucket let's me, I'll get it shrunk down a little bit!

EDIT2: Ok, did some more on it. I hope her face looks better.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0011-3.jpg

[Martheart]

Yay very nice topic!! Here's a first sketch. The idea is she "weaves" the stories :) I want to draw some scenes from one of the 1001 tales in the open area, or something like that... not sure.

[Antne]

Sooo... no Super computer/ sexbot from the year 20 million that has underlying code in her stories that hypnotizes her captive into not killing her for one more night?... damn. ;)

Good work everyone so far. Hopefully this time I will make the time to bust one out I'm happy with.

[smugbug]

Le WIP

458638

[Pixeltuner]

ok, even if I was the first one with the 'on the bench' pose, well knowing that it wasn't quite an original idea for starters, I've already seen two or three more now with Posh's actually being better than mine as well :p So I'll probably pick another pose that gets the idea across. Even so, great work y'all :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://www.orientalist-art.org.uk/fabridgeman.html

Some really beautiful artwork with an oriental feel. Hope this is okay. I thought it might give someone some ideas for clothing and such.

[HFix]

working it...

[DIMAGYAN]

great topic. the latest topic/brief were really interesting. so thanks daestwen and oregano.

some comments:

Poshspice: great sketches! i like the first the most, she seems quite daring(brave?) and the gesture works very well.love her face

Pixeltuner:he, i think that type of posture is the first thing that pop up in our heads when we read about this topic.is a good thing that you want to try something diferent,thou. i like the clothes and the colours, and she looks quite strong. i like how you draw your female characters.

alesoun:i like the posture, im not quite sure about the profile angle. in my opinion frontal or 3/4 are the best to show a design...but then again is my opinion. waiting to see the costume!

bitethefrog:i like the direction you are going and their exprexxions.

Foofea:nice feel about the subject. just be careful about the clothes, rigth now is not very clear what is underneath. the face also could have more expression. waiting to see the progress.

IceMoon:nice mood and posture, it seems however to 20s to me...i think it need something not so modern for the clothes(in my opinion of course)

MJ_Alcazar:nice work.the clothes and decorations are very nice. keep an eye on form and proportions. the jaw seems a bit off for instance. keep it up.

Arthemis IX: very good. i like th ecolours and mood. the clothes are very nice. the only thing:i would like to see her face...but that is a personal opinion.

PatriciaS:i like the wip so far. the face is very nice and the initial clothing looks interesting.

HFix: to be honest looks like a warrior....but, is still a wip so perhaps im missing something. nise posture.


so, some sketches to feel the character. nothing good but is just preliminar work. going traditional this time. as for references, only the brief links to the moment i have to find somenthig once i develope the character.
cheers

458757
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 1

not sure about the shot. maybe i have to crop until the knee or above, or add the rest of the legs?
not sure about the size of the head...i need to see it in the morning.

458901

458895
cropped to the knees

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 2

added the rest of the legs and starting to work with shadows. probably im going to ink and add some colors digital because the paper of the drawing is very bad...so no traditional inking as i original planned.

458941

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 3

colouring and ink. i wanted to try domething diferent(for me at least, nothing too original, thou). i need to solve the background issue(rigth now is too decorative, nothing wrong with that but more experiments don't hurt)
i have to refine some details and check proportions of the arms...something don't look quite well. need to work the folds better...

the colours are a mess, especialy the head. in the laptop i was using it wasn't so dark...agghh!!! bad lcd screen!

459728

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 4

more refine, working a bit more on the background and colours.
still to do:check some edges, proportion of the left arm and probably some colour balance.

460681

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 5

ok, final version(i think)

462445

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit extra

just for fun and because i wasn't too sure about my initial aproach i made a secondary entrie...i used the links posted by chaosrocks for the clothes references.

462447

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 6

the rigth hand was very akward, so i change that a bit.probably this would be the final image i think.

463195

i don't know if this size is too big, if so please tell me and i will resize

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
edit 7

final image. some corrections on the saturation and brightness.

464077

[chaosrocks]

Hfix.. is she really wearing a camelskin hat? :P

[MJ_Alcazar]

Updated mine on pg. 1

DIMAGYAN - love the sketches. The woman on top center looks really good to me.

Poshspice - wow, beautiful work. I'm liking the top pose the best.

ArthemisIX - I like the idea behind it and the design is really cool.

[HFix]

Hfix.. is she really wearing a camelskin hat? :P


lol. yeah. :) it seemed funny at the time,,,

[S.C. Watson]

Posh, #2 is WIN.

total.

and complete :teeth:

[kiwigarbage]

The direction I'm taking...

Many anatomical errors that I didn't notice before the scan!

And my damn cat is going nuts...I'm going to bed.

[Bushido]

Greate topic, i will try to finish one for this! :D

Hey DIMAGYAN greate sketches dude!!!! :)

[JessiBean]

Wheeee!

So, I am obsessed with Posh's pieces... this type of topic was MADE for you, my dear. I must get my fangirling out of the way...
DIGYAMAN - I say no crop, show the whole figure - she feels kinda truncated and rushed around where she cuts off right now, which is a disservice to how lovely the rest of the drawing is.
More crits & comments as we go along...

Aaaaaand... my sketch process so far. I eliminated a couple other poses, and decided on this one with Sheherazade and the Sultan, as I feel the whole point of this story is her seduction of him via the stories (mmm, smexy).
We'll see where this all leads... The last one is where I am moving at the moment.

458814 458815 458816


Edit - 12:27 a.m.
One more before bed... refining some... color next, prolly.

458909

[daestwen]

damn you jessi! I was doing a smoke-theme too :P

oh well

i'll just do it anyway...

[chialupa]

Great crits and advice from the chat! I totally recommend it.

Everyone's sketches look so good! I'm going to finish it this time! *shakes fist* :muscle:

EDIT: Started tweaking the face to make her look less asian and got a little carried away. Its like its not even the same person! I like it though.

[Adele]

i guess i have to scrap this concept....ill keep trying

[Aly Fell]

ok, even if I was the first one with the 'on the bench' pose, well knowing that it wasn't quite an original idea for starters, I've already seen two or three more now with Posh's actually being better than mine as well :p So I'll probably pick another pose that gets the idea across. Even so, great work y'all :)
That one you've done is great Pixeltuner. The 'on the bench' pose is really common in Orientalist art, and is kind of rooted in the 'Odalisque' style, who was usually a concubine of the Sultan. I recently went to an orientalist exhibition in London, and there were a few there.

ODALISQUES (http://www.orientalist-art.org.uk/odalisque.html)


Alesoun – Great start. You’ve already got a story telling feel going on with the hand gesture.

Bitthefrog – A lovely little sketch, and I could see this developing into a children’s book illustration of the Arabian Nights. But bear in mind that if you are going for the reality of Scheherazade, she is actually a very sexual character.

Foofea – This sketch is great. I love the attitude in the pose. You could do a bit more with the expression I reckon. More ‘knowing’ perhaps.

Icemoon – The colours on this are really atmospheric. It has a retro illustration feel to it, and I look forward to seeing it develop. :)

MJ Alcazar – Every week I enjoy watching you develop. You have a strong awareness of what you are designing, and attention to detail. I do think you struggle with anatomy, particularly proportion, but hell, we all do!

Arthemis IX – Sweet work, and feel to it. The tilt on the head is perhaps slightly too much, but that’s probably just me!

PatriciaS – love yours! Her face is wonderful. And I think the purples and golds will look great!

HFix – This is very interesting. You’ve got some real accuracy in some of the outfit, but the sheep’s (?)head looks a bit incongruous.

DIMAGYAN - Fabulous sketches! I adore your experiments with the eyes. She has real personality.

Kiwigarbage – It’s a really nice sketch, but you’re right, there are some anatomy issues. Mainly the relationship of her head to her body. Try sketching out the whole pose before working up detail on one area.

JessiBean – Yours is totally like an illustration for the book. I really like the relationship between the two of them. I wish I had your design sense...

Chialupa – What linework! Digging the design work and the pose alot!

Adele – Uh huh... ;)

[Pixeltuner]

Poshspice: Thank you and thanks for the Odalisque link :) But a good night's sleep just gave me a new idea. I wanna try to turn things upside down and pose Scheherezade as a seductive mankiller. Lurer, temptress but with a dark goal. Let's see where that takes me.

[HapaxLegomenon]

I'm working on a project that's based on 1001 nights, so this is perfect.

Still working on it (decided to keep the headdress off), so tips would be great.

And IceMoon and PatriciaS, I love the the colors and your styles.

[Cookiedough]

Jessibean, darling, i'm gonna steal your brains one of these days when you're not looking.

Chialupa: i'm really liking what you have so far, but i kinda miss the oriental link atm. I feel she looks asian rather than persian, and that her accessoires could be more.... flashy/ have a li'l more attention. It's too subtle for me atm.

HapaxLegomenon:Looking good so far, very unconventional pose. When polishing things, watch the foot. We usually relax the joints in the big toe, but the other toes do get curled up. I kinda miss the other leg, cos i don't understand where it went. Maybe add what she's sitting on?

I've got an idea, but i'm not sure if i wanna continue this. I'm getting cranky while doing this and that usually isn't the way it should go. Maybe i'll redo things, but i need some time to think about it. In the mean time, here's what i got so far. She's supposed to be lying on pillows, the sketch isn't exactly a lot clearer than this. I was going for oriental hoochie outfit though... Oh, and i just forgot to select and resize her mouth, but it's in the proper place in the workfile. :P
http://home.casema.nl/dabjai/art/chow/126sche1.gif

Update:
So, since i got cranky from the colors, i decided first to do inks. I have a vague idea of the bg, and that shows. I'm gonna remove what i added in here cos perspective stinks too much to get away with, redo other parts, but overall i'm a bit more pleased with how she looks now. Bg isn't even important, cos i'm gonna cover it with other things anyways :/ .Pants might seem confusing now, but it will be resolved once i'll add some colors. Good thing i didn't throw away all the colors, as my first blue is still a good guide as horizonline.
http://home.casema.nl/dabjai/art/chow/126sche2.jpg

[The Whistler]

Woot! nice topic!

I'll see if I can do this one, dimagyan, that's a really lovely sketch!

[tomwaits4noman]

will try and make this one, as I will be away most of next week - can't miss two chows in a row.

Posh - I like the top one better second one is very vampish she seems to be seduction mode.
a suggestion - Maybe with the top one you could add the king sitting at her feet listening intensely to her story so you see that she has entranced him with her stories -



Pixeltuner I like the pose, the sketch she does seem a bit passive or bored maybe plat around with the emotion

alesoun nice sketch I would watch the arm, the porportions are slightly off on it

bitethefrog would love to see a larger version of this nice style, feel her sister is too far behind her, it might help if you moved her sister slightly over and showed her sisters legs you create a break between the two characters. and strengthen the silhouutte

Foofea really like the pose think you might have extended the arms and legs a bit too far

IceMoon very nice love the colours for some reason I see a roaring 20's vibe about it

MJ_Alcazar

really like it, think the nose on the second one is too pronouced more of a boxers nose think you need to make it more femine but love your style.

Arthemis IX nice start but its a bit unbalanced, she should be in the centre seems too much open space unless you put the king in the centre but that would make the king the focal point. Really like the design

PatriciaS she has me seduced....I like the shape of the eyes - sexy eyes - and the pose as well. Can't wait to see this one develop

HFix nice, love the pose the expression but I think you need to define her body more make it more femine.

DIMAGYAN really like it, can't wait for the colours.

Chaos - everyone needs strange and wacky hats

kiwigarbage - keep the face cool design

JessiBean very cool..... love the sketches

chialupa really like it I'd watch the shape and length of the arms though.
btw is the avatar you.... reminds me of Carrie Brownstein from Sleater Kinney.

Adele your missing something ..ummm think its the persian element maybe put her in a "I dream of Jeannie" outfit.

HapaxLegomenon very cool,

Cookie looking forward to seeing more detail

[DecayingLolita]

Don't think I'll get anywhere good but I thought I'd try anyway, I haven't got any compositional ideas that haven't been used already so I'm just getting on with the costume atm I guess...

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/scheherazhad.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/scheherazhad2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/scheherazhad3.jpg

Just quick scribbles.

[Pixeltuner]

decayinglolita: I like the costume-idea, but even if you don't go for a nice composition you could at least give her a pose which suggests some weight or some kind of action/stance.


here's another lunchbreak paint from me, without the 'on the bench' ;)

[Carnifex]

harghh,i hate being stuck at work when this presents itself.
posh - that second sketch is pure brainsex.
pixeltuner - her back is arched alittle too much. otherwise very good,like she's just revealing herself.
hapaxlegomenon - yes! perspective for the win. just work that foot properly. big toe needs to be a big toe,and as already mentioned,is rather going to be stretched. very sexy in her own way too.
jessi - sexy,sexy. i think he could lean even more towards her,almost hanging onto her,or respectively,her lips.
dimagyan - very nice. i just think giving her back the smile might work better,cause it shows that she really is confident.
i'll see if i can come up with something...very nice topics lately.

[Foofea]

thanks for Feedback guys -
its looking long and elogated but it was done from reference - she did look quite scary to be fari - working on the expression - my damn graphics tablet has decided to fail so its all jittery etc poo - so Im not expecting grreatness - but i will try with the tools i have

[kasblue]

really nice concepts every one. here mine wip... still have to work up on her costume and a bit of background.

[zenichi]

my damn graphics tablet has decided to fail so its all jittery etc poo - so Im not expecting grreatness - but i will try with the tools i have

at least you got a tablet.... i have to work with a mouse...a logitech scroll mouse :davi: if the tablet is giving you a hard time, suggest traditional medium like pencil, ink, pen etc. to sketch out ideas?

[Foofea]

eep - mouse work - I end up looking like I've drawn it with my feet! I'll have a play - I did the colouring - I'll post the WIPs at some point but its disappointing i feel - but then again - I'm a hobbyist and self taught ( those tutorials are tough when you are dyslexic)

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/schcostumewip.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/shposewip.jpg

Pixeltuner: I, got a pose! Thanks for even noticing my attempt. :) I think your pose looks a little too um, scary - like she's about to kill someone. But very dramatic.

I'm going for a more relaxed idea I think.

[Hideyoshi]

taking a stab...
very nice work so far!

[tomwaits4noman]

quick lunch time paint

I have some sketches but they are just squiggles,

here is two quick semi fleshed out images

want to get a bit cartoony and bright on this one.

need to get some reference for Persian things,

what I am going for here is to have the king listening intensely to her story,
he is facing away from her to push the idea that he is being seduced by her words and not her body.

had two poses in mind for the king. one he looks asleep so i'll probably go for the other.

[DSAzeppelin]

loveley sketches Posh....especially the 2nd one. Love it


Very nice Jessi! Love the drawing and I really like how you're setting up the image, nice workflow, etc. I don't really have work flow...I just wing it...and it usually doesn't work, haha.


Hapax...I'm diggin your second image...the painting. Excited to see where you're going with it...great pose/perspective, liking the colors so far etc....keep it up!

[The Whistler]

Here's my sketch, neck is too long, I'm in a hurry so didn't have time to fix, I'll add more detail to her in the process.

Edit> Fixed the neck and added what the BG is supposed to look like. She's still missing details...

Edit2> Basic colors...

[skorpi]

Another nice topic, I started even if I should do so many other things

first steps:

[Pixeltuner]

Pixeltuner: I, got a pose! Thanks for even noticing my attempt. :) I think your pose looks a little too um, scary - like she's about to kill someone. But very dramatic.



Well, that's exactly what I intended to show. I wanted her to be some sort of seductive manslayer :p

[S.C. Watson]

Some fantastic work through here, folks :)

Here's my rough. Not working with any real reference at this point, just playing around with ideas and concepts - I really want to visually include the story telling element somehow, so I decided to illustrate it using her hair to frame in a scene - at this point rather generic. I'm looking to convey not only the night, but a sense of somewhere else, and the creativity involved. The moon will (at this point) frame her face, and also works in this case as a feminine symbol, and also indirectly as a symbol for creativity - the cityscape will spread from her hair into a another scene that she is weaving.

That's my thought process anyway :P

At this point, need to enlarge the canvas some so to properly frame her in, and need to rework her face some - I'm not pleased with it, though the expression is close to what I want - somewhat calculating.

Oh, and I'm thinking of having her holding a cup or goblet of some sort in her right hand, so.
459301

[alesoun]

Updated some more on page one. Still having trouble with the arms....
Short on time this week, though, so I'll need to start painting soon.
Love the story-telling idea, Oregano. I'm going to try to use shadows to convey that, if I can.

So much eye candy here.... yum!

[Glenter]

quick painting of an Arabien girl I know. I would like to use the expression somehow.

[Ahnem Mee]

I'm going to try to use shadows to convey that, if I can.Wait, wut?

Nooooooo!

[cowboy surfer]

Some awesome ideas everyone.
Here's my first colour sketch. It is feeling a bit boring and static now so I think some refinement is in order.
I want to get a tent feel - lots of drapery and desert-like living areas.

Anyway any feedback appreciated, will try to give you all some crits later.

[daestwen]

cowboy surfer:

I like the face a lot! I think that brown thing (pole?) is really distracting, though, and at a really non-complimentary angle to the figure. if it's behind her, it shouldn't be that much darker than she is (and where is the top?).

I would move it/take it out altogether, as it isn't lending anything to the image. She's already a very straight line which works nicely with the circular shapes in the background - i think the secondary line kind of takes away from that.

Am I making sense?

[Bushido]

I have a question, its necesary to post the wip?

Poshspice: gorgeous wip!

[Hexokinase]

First time CHOWer. Here's a really quick thumbnail. I envisioned the character having a golden trail of sand flowing from her hand with horsemen over the sand to give her storytelling a more magical quality.

459529

[cowboy surfer]

Thanks a lot Daestwen, I can see what you mean with the pole. Consider it gone!

Really want to get a shaded retreat from the heat of the desert without loosing the character details.
I see the tent as the quiet time where her stories are woven from dreams.
A sanctuary where Scherharazade is in control of the atmosphere/situation instead of the King.

[Aly Fell]

I have a question, its necesary to post the wip?

Poshspice: gorgeous wip!
Thank you! And yes it is. New rules, as people want to see your working process, how you think and what changes you make as you go. :)

[Adele]

after looking at Posh's wips and site...i think i already know who id like to vote for. unfair i know...but i am just really looking forward to seeing one done.

PLUS! its so awesome you worked on Duckula and Dangermouse! i trained in 2d animation at uni in 2004-06...now im an illustrator and flash animator....i love your stuff man...well done on your career journey :D

[daestwen]

Here's my wip.

I know other people are running with the same themes... Sorry for stepping on your toes! This was the image i had in mind coming up with the round and I just can't shake it. :)

edit: a little more work...

459701
459721

[JessiBean]

Skorpi - I like this beginning, and there isn't much t crit at this point, except I would like to see the hand folded over her stomach look less passive. If she is telling exotic stories to entertain the sultan, perhaps that hand should be more... expressive? Just a thought...

Oregano - I dig the sublime expression, and I think the hair framing the piece could be win. Only thing I see right now is perhaps the head being a little too large for the rest of her frame/narrowness of her shoulders. Also, hello :teeth:

Glenter - I like the beginnings of this portrait, though I think the expression may be a little passive for the conveyance of character, especially with someone crafty and courageous like Scheherazade. But then, maybe you can make it work... do the rest! :)

Ahnem Mee - I know this is a rough sketch, but be sure you get some reference for your pose, you've got some anatomy issues with proportions and positioning. I dunno about the lantern on her hip, I don't think it would shine light at the correct angle to make those shadoes... perhaps have one standing or hanging?

Havoc-DM - dig the idea you described, and I can sort of see it in the sketch, though it is too rough to really say at the moment. And watch your composition, with a heavy figure/back turned in that bottom corner, image is weighted there, and it makes that back space feel very empty and not weighted enough to the left side. Maybe block your scene in before you go too much futher to make sure this is your best solution.

Cowboy Surfer - removing the pole is a good plan, though maybe some small poles set back in space, like at the edges of the tent, will continue the setting you are aiming for.

Aaaaaand...
Progress from me on coloring...

459709

[MJ_Alcazar]

Jessibean - WOW, that's amazing.

Oregano - I love the expression. And the storytelling going on.

Skorpi - I'm liking the pose, looking really good. I agree with Jessi though, hand could use some more expression. Maybe draw it away from the body and up a little into the air. You can draw the eye out then and with a twist of her hand or fingers, bring it back up to her face.

Daestwen - Love the idea! :) Her pose is really good, love your lines. Her right hand looks a little bit too much like me after a seizure though. Let her fingers fly out a little bit maybe?

More later.

Here's mine, I've really worked hard on the face. I hope this one looks better. Also, her left hand looked really stiff to me, so I tried to make it look more relaxed.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0012-3.jpg

[Redfrog]

I'm in, better late than never.
Here's the start of mine. Just some really rough sketching to start...

Some great designs really coming along nicely folks!

[Ceyface]

Here's mine, I've really worked hard on the face. I hope this one looks better. Also, her left hand looked really stiff to me, so I tried to make it look more relaxed.



MJ, that looks very good. Only thing i would suggest is that the eyes seem too far up onto her forehead - look again at Loomis on dividing the face and where to set the features, the eyes are supposed to be at the halfway point with eyebrows @ 3/4

Sorry for the crappy quality of the lines, cant find my tablet pen and mouse is for fail. But something along there ish.

Hope that helps, and if I'm dead wrong someone please correct me, still new to this myself.

[DIMAGYAN]

more comments:

Poshspice: i don't see a perspective problem in your last wip, perhaps the jar in the foreground but nothing serious(at least to me, maybe im missing something)
love the feel of the entire sketch.

alesoun:its coming very nice.good pose.

kiwigarbage:nice face.the body need some work(symmetrical and proportions issues)

JessiBean:lovely face. i like how you keep she as the center of attraction even with the king in the composition. very clever resolution.nice frame also.
thanks for the advice.

chialupa:very good. i like the clothes and the pose.

HapaxLegomenon:very nice. i like the painting and colours. the pose and situation is very good. the only thing is that her design is blocked by her leg, wich don't add to much to the narration and the design of the character in my opinion.

Cookiedough:very nice. i like the pose and how she looks.

DecayingLolita:interesting designs.love the lasta one, very good pose and feeling.

Pixeltuner:love the colours and the face. some proportions problems on the arms and legs.(the forearm is too short in my opinion)

kasblue:good idea. keep an eye on the anatomy and the forms.

tomwaits4noman:very nice idea. i like the situation. the first one is the best in my opinion(he is laughing,no?)

The Whistler:nice work. good pose.

skorpi:i like it. nice situation with her sister.

Oregano:i like your ideas. good process. the only thing that seems a bit big is her head. waiting to see your resolution.

Ahnem Mee:the action is not too clear.nice lines.

cowboy surfer:nice expression.nice figure.i like the backgound. the brown wood(?) is a bit distracting as daestwen said before.

Havoc-DM:interesting idea, waiting to see how you develope the sketch.

daestwen:really nice. i like the situation.very narrative.

MJ_Alcazar:very nice work.is turning very good, keep working.you put a lot of attention to details and historical/cultural elements in your designs(like in the aztec child) very good.

Redfrog:very nice.she looks a bit mad, thou. a more friendly attitude could help in my opinion.

i think those are all the entries...

cheers

[Adele]

hey here is my WIP...late in but give it a go.

by the way...i am surprised at the number of entries that were knocked back in the previous round, some great ones were missing...dang!

anyway, i did the sketch in a meeting after I read the brief and then thought, hey...why not!

Her mystical hair is telling the tales! ooooh fancy shampoo!

[dirkvandulmen]

Black & white sketch I did last night. Didn't finish CHOW 125, couldn't find the time for it. Gonna try the entire character tonight... enjoy.

[petitemistress]

here's my progress! she's holding a sketchbook in which she writes her stories (i know its not in the original 1001 nights but i cdnt help but make her an artist :P) I'm struggling with the pose and yes, i too went with the smoke theme and people from her stories appearing in it, but ive had this idea since i read the brief and before i saw anyone's work so there it is! :P im thinking of putting a passed out sultan in the back, very blurred, which was the original reason for her "shhh" motion hm

crits are welcome, i'll come back and do some of that myself when ive progressed a little with this... great work everyone! :D

[The Whistler]

Ok, I'll try this criting everyone business too :)

Poshspice - really awesome sketches as usual, I like the third one the most

Pixelturner - 1st sketch - something odd is going on with the torso and the shoulders, watch that, 2nd sketch - I like it more but the back is a bit too arched as someone already said

alesoun - it's a pretty neat pose but it looks like her fists are different sizes, the right one (her right) seems bigger and a bit swollen in the joint

bitethefrog - it's kinda tiny but from what I see it seems cool, reminds me of princess Yasmin from Disney's Aladdin for some reason and that's not a bad thing :)

Foofea - first thing that jumps out to me is that her face seems to be placed more on the right (her right) side of the skull, maybe try making that a bit more symmetrical, that aside the sketch looks like you drew the cloth first and then the figure because that leg seems a bit randomly placed, I like the pose though

IceMoon - I like it, like the colors and the placement, only thing - her lower legs seem really long (from the knee down)

MJ Alcazar - like the pose, you're really improving as CHOWS go along, your sketches seem to get better and better. Keep up the good work! :)

Arthemis IX - really nice, I like it :)

PatriciaS - can't really tell anything, what you did up till now looks good, I thing it's gonna be a nice looking picture

HFix - LOL the camel hat is a nice touch :) The only thing that bothers me is that her right thigh seems a bit long when compared to her lower leg, maybe make the lower leg longer?

Dimagyan - I already commented on yours, really nice sketch, especially the B&W one, has nice flow to it. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

kiwigarbage - at this stage her head looks really big, her forehead is almost as wide as her waist, I suggest broadening the body a bit since it is a really nice looking face

JessiBean - great work as always :)

chialupa - one of my favorites so far, I simply love her, great expression, great hands. She rocks! :)

Adele - :) I like your real sketch much better ;) It's pretty cool, nothing to crit really

HapaxLegomenon - so far so good, watch the size of her right fist compared to the rest of the arm

Cookiedough - I'm kinda having problems with the strong blue color going on in the BG, takes attention away from the character

DecayingLolita - I like the character, her neck seems a bit short though. I'd probably also give her some movement because she looks like she's bored right now
EDIT - I've just seen the second sketch, much better, legs seem a bit short compared to the torso though. Lovely face!

kasblue - I like the idea, her fists turned out really nice but her facial expression looks kinda like she's disgusted about something, mostly because of the mouth, maybe try giving her a smile?

tomwaits4noman - I like the second one better, he looks more amazed which fits the story better IMO

skorpi - I liked the first sketch better but the second one is also nice, the girl in the back is a really nice touch

Oregano - her head is too big right now but otherwise I love it, that BG seems to give it a really fairytale mood which is great :)

Glenter - not much to crit right now, watch the mouth because it's about the same size as her eye

Ahnem Mee - I can't really read the sketch, can't make out what is in the BG. Looks kinda like she's carrying a bazooka right now ;)

cowboy surfer - nice colors, she has a kind of a roman feel to her. I'd make her head a bit wider though

Havoc DM - not much to crit right now, i like the idea about the horses though :)

Daestwen - I love what you did with the hair, a really promising sketch :)

Redfrog - LOL she reminds me of an evil mage holding a spellbook :) watch those thighs, they look like balloons right now

dirkvandulmen - awesome head! She looks a bit cross eyed though, might want to watch out about that

Woah, this took long, hope I didn't miss anyone and if i misspelled someone's name I'm sorry :)

EDIT> petitemistress - just missed you there, nice pose, watch the neck though, seems a bit too short

[Glory666]

Hey everyone, awsum work there is goin on here. First time doin CHOW so here does nothin:)

[Aly Fell]

more comments:

Poshspice: i don't see a perspective problem in your last wip, perhaps the jar in the foreground but nothing serious(at least to me, maybe im missing something)
love the feel of the entire sketch.


Cheers! It's the pot, you're right. And the stripes on the material to the left that throw it.

Ta!

Will try and do some more crits when I'm not at work.

[Glory666]

Just wanted to get the main lighting and colours down before I go to bed. I think thats all ill do tonight:) Will start touching it up tommoz

[Pixeltuner]

update. fixed posture, proportions, arched back added a shadow of dagger and ruined her face which lost a bit of character, so I'll probably repaint that. There's still stuff bugging me but I'm getting there :)

[daestwen]

pixeltuner: just curious, but why the dagger shadow?

[Pixeltuner]

daestwen: Well, instead of her escaping her death by her stories and 'seductive' qualities, I wanted to add a twist an make her more of a seductive manslayer. It's not exactly clear that she's actually holding the dagger behind the curtain, but that's something I'll address.

[daestwen]

Hmm. I see.

It's a little odd, to be honest. Since after 1001 nights of telling these stories they end up very happily married. So I'm not sure if it's giving the tone you're looking for?

I kind of see her more as risking her own life to protect the other women in the city/country/etc, rather than being predatory. Does that make sense?

edit: Keep in mind you can do whatever you want. I'm just warning you that by changing her character that much, you miiiight be straying a little far from the brief. ;)

[Cookiedough]

Woah, lots of good entries already. I updated my piece on page 2. I'll try to crit more in the future as well.

Skorpi: Very nice, how you added the sister into the bg. I"m liking the dramatic lightning, but what's the source? Adding a small foreground element, like a small lamp, could help.

Oregano: Some of your proportions seem odd. The head is a li'l too big. Overall it doesn't seem intentionally stylized or just sorta. Waiting for your update.

Glenter: Nice portrait. She seems a bit young for Scheherazade, but the expression is intense.

Ahnem Mee: Is she armed? And why? I don't understand the most rendered part of this page.

Daestwen: I'm loving this piece so far, very nice. Watch her right/ our left leg, has a bit amputee going.

Jessibean: Grrr, it's looking too good, but be careful with the colors that they don't blend together too much.

MJ Alcazar: I have a problem with her right leg/our left. The thigh seems to suggest that the leg is supposed to go another way, making the calf look odd. Problem is more in the hip/pelvic area. She needs a li'l more hair on top of her skull, cranium seems a bit small.

Red Frog: Because this was discussed on irc before; books didn't exist in Scheherazades era. For me, it's ok being an 'classic' element of storyteller, but Oregano has to decide on how 'historical accurate' he wants. Good costume though.

Adele: I love your flow and the funny way you combined storytelling to her.

Dirk van Dulmen: Great start. As a fan of this type of work, i can't wait to see what you'll do with a complete piece. It's insane amounts of work though.

PetiteMistress: Chaos already critted your book. I also mentioned what bugged me on irc, so i'm just waiting for your update.

Glory666: Good pose, but watch your proportions, some parts of her seem unintentionally bigger than others. Make sure she's not cramped up, bed seems kinda small for her.

Pixeltuner:watch the feet, i'm not sure they're in correct sync with the rest of the body. Seem a bit small, and the pants around the knee make it a bit hard to understand what's going on with the lower leg. Careful that you don't make her too washed out against those curtains, the pinks and skin are kinda close together, while the gold doesn't really stand out.

[S.C. Watson]

Okay, here's mine to date. There were a lot of sketches that I didn't keep because they were crap from the onset.

At this point, I'm ditching the digital and going old school analog. I'm just not getting the results I want with this here new fangled techno-knoledgey stuff :ore:

So, as I have time, it will be pencil from here on out, dambit *shakes cane at y'all*

Anyway, the travesty:
459996

~Oreg.

[edit] Why, hello Jessica! :teeth:

[lunarman]

Hi all. My 1st try at CHOW and here's my wip. I'm really outside my comfort zone here. I've never done any female character before :[
I started this yesterday. Hope to get some good feedback.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f271/RaynersTablet/chowwips.jpg

[Pixeltuner]

Hmm. I see.

It's a little odd, to be honest. Since after 1001 nights of telling these stories they end up very happily married. So I'm not sure if it's giving the tone you're looking for?

I kind of see her more as risking her own life to protect the other women in the city/country/etc, rather than being predatory. Does that make sense?

edit: Keep in mind you can do whatever you want. I'm just warning you that by changing her character that much, you miiiight be straying a little far from the brief. ;)

Yeah that makes sense, I wasn't thinking of ultra-bloodthirsty or something like that but I wanted to do something different with it, that's all. So I might end up straying too far yes ;)

[chaosrocks]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/schthumbsw.jpg
sketchysketchy sketchy
they said they wanted to see the ugly phases

iono Dae... their marriage was happy according to whom? maybe she was just incredibly ambitious. adn saw this as a way to get power as well as save her country. maybe she spent the rest of her life married and trying to control the murderous old bastard, you actually never get her point of view.
was she happy? was the sex good?

or maybe she truly reformed him. but i think above all, you don't get to be a good story teller, if you don't love telling stories. that part is totallyin her, not just the desperate situation.
dunno maybe Im thinking about this too much..:P

lunar man, you migth want to check th eproportiond of her facial features atm her eyes are at an odd angle, her mouth is tiny and her chin is rather large.

[bitethefrog]

GOOD GOD! I missed so much!
Thanks for the crits, everyone! Means a great deal... thought I'd toss in some critique too since there's some VERY pretty stuff emerging here.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Poshspice –
I adore this idea of her… very 1920s… which is always good… she seems to relish the environment she’s in, but she can really be feisty when she wants to be, like an empress. ^.^

Pixeltuner –
There’s a gorgeous ‘lushness’ in this piece… my only concern is the bright blue of her silken clothes…

Alesoun –
Hrm… she appears to be around the teenage mark here. The idea of Scheherazade being this age is particularly inspired, in my opinion…I’m looking forward to this being finished.

Foofea –
She reminds me very much of the actress who plays Trinity in The Matrix (struggles to find the name): tough yet beautiful. I agree with some of the anatomy issues, but the idea is great. Really speaks out her character.

Icemoon -
Audrey Hepburn (http://www.journal.lv/media/audrey_hepburn_3.jpg), by any chance??? ^.^ The red and gold work really well here… gives a really opulent feel to her…

MJ_Alcazar –
Nice idea… like ominous use of Shariyar in the mirror! Maybe she could be a little older, but otherwise nice so far. Just a little tightening up as far as anatomy is concerned.

Arthemis IX -
This reminds me a lot of Aubrey Beardsley (http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=aubrey+beardsley&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title) but it’s in colour. Maybe it’s the spirals, but that’s a good thing of course. ^.^ There’s a lovely intricate feel to it. There’s something beautifully unusual about this woman…

PatriciaS –
This is going to feel VERY exotic when it’s finished. YUM.

HFix -
I love the idea of Scheherazade actually ‘playing’ even ‘acting’ the stories out; really theatrical… this’ll be a really fun piece when it’s finished.

DIMAGYAN –
The painting style you have is really retro in my opinion. Reminds me of one of my favourite artists, Barclay Shaw. (http://www.barclayshaw.com) Your version of Scheherazade exudes intelligence…

Kiwigarbage –
(best nickname ever by the way) She seems a very modern woman, very unusual.

Jessibean –
*faints*

Chialupa –
She seems Chinese/North Asian. Still, the costume design is really nice.

HapaxLegomenon –
Oooh…. The sketches are awesome and beautiful. Looking forward to seeing a finished version of that quite Arabian style painting.

CookieDough –
A nice translation of the traditional Arabian Nights illustration. REALLY yummy so far.

DecayingLolita –
She seems very much like a traveller; seems that she does have many a tale to tell, and can really defend herself.

Kasblue / Havoc-DM –
I’m liking the idea of her forming the stories in the air…

Tomwaits4noman –
I’m liking sketch 2 the most here. There’s almost something cat-like about her…

The Whistler –
She glows Grecian or Roman. Curious…

Redfrog -
Agree with DIMAGYAN – she looks more like a sorceress than a storyteller.

Adele –
LOVING your work; this’ll be fun!

PetiteMistress –
There’s something very mysterious but alluring about this Scheheradaze….

Oregano –
Reminds me of scene in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon… there’s a touch of orientalism in there. Nice.

Lunarman –
Her chin appears to bug me slightly, but the rest of it looks great. Loving the shadow of Shariyar.
------------------------------------------------------

New WIP, based on some of the critiques...Gonna be colouring this up soon.

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/jayfrog_photos/artwork/scheherazade.jpg

[iuvo]

Came up with this after tossing a few ideas around..

[mmfidler]

alright, I'm in...I was having trouble coming up with a concept (how to encompass "her" - that 's the point right? He he)

She's cunning, and very intelligent, but I also picture her as light and ethereal, as if her stories lift her away from the world and all danger.

Lets see if I can whip up a rough in the next 10 min before lunch is over. EDIT: yeah, right, that was ambitious - I'll have some WIPs tonight

[bitethefrog]

Latest progress: BTW, I'm colouring on a laptop. ^.^''

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/jayfrog_photos/scheherazade_wip.jpg

[Pixeltuner]

big re-paint. face, hair, more leg, clothes, lost the dagger, subdued background a bit, changed skintone, been pushin' and pulling all sides at once I guess. I think I've taken all your critiques in account, and it looks like I've got a better base to finish the illu from. thx all!

[alesoun]

Link that might be useful for colour choices
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/colours.html

[Carnifex]

some exploration sketches. (more in my sketchbook)
after some thinking,i decided to go a different route and make her a quirky girl who's possibly reenacting the stories while she tells 'em. i took this from the assumption that because she's supposedly a virgin,she can't be very old,i'm thinking 16-ish. the biggest problem will be to chose a pose for the final picture,i could go with so many...
p.s.: posh,cursed be you for owerpowering sexy- and sketchiness. so much life in there!

[polipol]

nice topic, cant help but get that character from prince of persia out of head....great progress everyone...im pretty sleepy, will try and make some c&c soon...
heres my wip, just some thumbs that were developed a bit....

[ccsears]

who knows if i'll finish or not...

trying to show (oral) storytelling visually sounded interesting. don't know if i'll pull it off or not, but my idea was to show the story peeking out from behind a veil, maybe also show it like a shadow-puppet play on the veil as she dances.

basically the figure is going to disappear behind a veil and the story will come out. right now it's drawn pretty literally just so i get the drawing right and then i'll paint semi-transparently over it. (at least that's what i hope to do.) i want to keep her hidden because the story should be the focus as per the brief.


460290

460289

460288

[MJ_Alcazar]

Wow, thanks for all the crits guys! I really appreciate it. I will really try to do likewise later. Just got out of school and I've been dying to come home and do some more work on my sketch :) So, I'll be back on later to crit!

[chaosrocks]

a sligthly differnt thumbnail
im trying to convey that she's just "been " withthe king, he's dozing. shes messed up and trying to go on with the plan, after all she was a virgin and he was a murderous bastard.. mighta been kinda difficult. anywya shes sitting on the edge of the bed telling the story to her little sis, who has to witness all this
it says this in the text. sort ofthe part about her little sis is, and that the plan is that when the king is quite satisfied Sherry asks him if she can tell her little sis a story\, as she does everynight, and he's all sure whatever I'll probably have you killed in the morning,.....
so Sherry starts the tales....

I need ref..I know I do

[kiwigarbage]

For some reason, I kept flubbing pretty seriously with the pencil. I decided to drop the sketch, and jump to the tablet, which helped me because it gave me a different approach. As you can see, I used the lasso tool to select, move, and skew different parts of the original sketch to try to get it a bit more in proportion. I lost the original mouth beccause I tried a few different things with it, and gave up to make it similar to the original again.

Trying a new approach with the painting, more blocking in, and obliterating the original line instead of trying to preserve it which gave my pieces more of a grossly rough look!

Sooo, under the pretense of staying home from an insect allergic reaction, I've decided I should at least do something productive.

Gah! I've typed too much. On to the work!

((by the way, thanks to everyone who gave me crits! I'm so appreciative :D))

[ValkyriesBard]

Here's an idea, will be updating soon with some anatomy XD Sorry I've been lurking ya'll...

[Redfrog]

Some great progressions here folks. I'm hoping as soon as I get the chance to comment on everyone's pieces. There's some fantastic variety in here.

Thanks very much for the feedback too folks. General consensus was that my last WIP made her look too much like a sorceress and I tend to agree. Have readdressed, removed the book (oops, didn't realise the historical inaccuracy there :) ) and have given her a more seductive dancer look. I want to try and go with an angle that she would tell her stories somewhat in a dance. I also want to backlight her so that she is somewhat mysterious, being more a vessel for the story rather than just a mere narrator.

Dimagyan - nice call. she looks way too mad. Have softened a little and will definitely refine more as i work in more facial detail. I think the pupil-less eyes don't help that cause at the moment. I certainly don't want her scary - more mysterious and a lil seductive.

The Whistler - Ha! I've put her on the treadmill to try and work off those balloon thighs you mentioned. I still want her to be somewhat voluptuous like a belly dancer but you're right in the fact she needed to put in a few hours on the cross-trainer. :)

Cookiedough - Her non historically correct book has vanished into the vapours and she is left to pry her trade through words and dance.

Bitethefrog - Agree as well. Hopefully this more dancer oriented direction loses the previous sorceress feel. I still want some air of magic and mystery about her but definitely don't want to end up with some female Gandalf. Making sure she waxes her upper lip on a regular basis - don't want that moustache growing in there! :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0013-2.jpg

Fixed her face, I'm hoping by lowering her eyes to a more natural position it also fixes the look of having no forehead and too little hair. I tried to fix both leg, I'm hoping this one looks better. I'm not really sure how to make her look older, I hope she doesn't look to young.

Anyway, on to the crits!

Redfrog - nice direction. Watch the arms, right now her lower arms are a lot longer than the upper arms.

ValkriesBard - I really love the expression on Shariyar's face. However, I think you're losing her in the picture. My eyes are drawn to him instead of her. :)

kiwigarbage - I love her eyes. The design of the outfit is nice, make sure that bracelet on her right arm doesn't blend into the outfit.

Pixeltuner - very good job, marked improvement from the first one and second one. She looks very strong.

iuvo - I love her expression, she looks wistful, and a bit sad.

bitethfrog - I love you're style, I like how you incorporated her sister, without taking the focus off of her. :) She looks protective.

lunarman - the anatomy is a bit off, and she looks as if she's floating in front of the couch instead of sitting on it. In large part because of the shadow I believe. However, I love the colors and the design.

Oregano - the legs look a bit twisted to me. But, again, I love that expression. And I like you you made the "couch" a mountain range and the stars behind, as if she's becoming part of the story. NICE! :)

adele - I like you're style. Watch the right hand, it's getting a little lost in the other lines around it. :)

petitemistress - loving the pose. neck is a little short, and watch the height of the hand, it connects to her nose a little too much. :)

Poshspice - almost forgot, I love the rendering of that second pose. The more I look at it, the better I like it. :)

DIMAGYAN - oh wow! I feel like I could reach out and touch her. I love the walking in the clouds idea. amazing work. :)

[alesoun]

MJ, I've always liked your work, but the placement of your eyes has always bothered me a bit because the rest of your anatomy is just so good. Now they look alive. I love watching the way you're constantly improving!

[kasblue]

sheherzade is a persian name and i really want to keep her as persian as possible. i always have trouble coloring... aarrgghh... im really trailing behind everyone here...

[alesoun]

Not sure how much help this is, kasblue; but I'm a professional storyteller. To make it work, you either look your audience right in the eyes, or you follow a gesture you make (and so does your audience)

[daestwen]

here's my update!

sorry i don't have time for comments - will try to get some in during the next couple days.

460457

[Cam Sykes]

wip sketches

[ccsears]

daestwen another classic idea--the storytelling showing up in smoke. thinking about it halfway seriously for a second, if i was read 1001 bedtime stories, i'd probably fall halfway into a trance--the same way people stare at campfires, lavalamps, etc.

**********************

a little progress... just threw the veil on another layer as a test to see what it would look like. the fun (and tricky) stuff will be the shadows and stuff.

460579

[Redfrog]

MJ Alcazar - Thanks for the spot on the arms!

Made a lil more progress. Hoping to knock some over late tonite!

[dirkvandulmen]

Full sketch I did last night. Thanks for the comments on my head sketch. I hope you enjoy this one. I'm gonna start a color version this weekend, hopefully I find the time to finish it... enjoy.
(Otherwise there's always the nice CHOW revise & revisit)

[The Whistler]

Redfrog and Pixelturner -both of these look much better IMO, nice progress :)

update pg.2

[cowboy surfer]

Here's where I am now:

The post is gone and I have started to (as read in a book recently) 'carve out the light and shade from my original image'.

I really need to research turbans some more as I feel hers is less than convincing at the moment!

I have also added the king in the background - he is an homage to an artist called Sparth who did some concept art for the prince of persia game and one of his pieces has a character like this very loosely painted in it. For the purposes of learning I have tried to somewhat recreate him in my scene (I hope that's OK and within the rules Oreg/Daest?)

[kasblue]

Not sure how much help this is, kasblue; but I'm a professional storyteller. To make it work, you either look your audience right in the eyes, or you follow a gesture you make (and so does your audience)

thank you alesoun. yeah, you are right... i do have that gesture thingy in my mind. and my idea is to sort of make a "dreamy happening of events" glowy smoke rising from her gestures which has captivated the sultan into a trance. i think her eyes are not fulfiling my purpose. i'll just tweak them a bit. thanks for the crit.

[Chronoperates]

So I ended up with a bout of insomnia after finishing off my grad portfolio and decided since I have the free time finally that this one sounded fun and I'd give it a go. This is the lineart progress so far, will probably be starting color later on in the day. Still debating on whether to have the text carved into the frame or not...meh, too tired to make decisions...

[Jason Strutz]

she also illustrates with dust.
pencil sketch , painting starts tonite!

[daestwen]

I have also added the king in the background - he is an homage to an artist called Sparth who did some concept art for the prince of persia game and one of his pieces has a character like this very loosely painted in it. For the purposes of learning I have tried to somewhat recreate him in my scene (I hope that's OK and within the rules Oreg/Daest?)

I don't know the painting you're referencing, so showing it to me might help. :)

That being said, though, I don't think it's a problem unless you're borrowing *heavily* from it. An homage is fine. Thanks for the head's up!

[Glory666]

Here's a bit more on my piece, threw down better colour and fixed up the leg which I didnt realize before until someone told me!:) I think I really need some objects and a better background in this piece.

[flashrabbit]

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/DkJunior/wip_scheherazade_flashrabbit.jpg

WIP. She is walking towards the library.

[daestwen]

flashrabbit: Careful, there! The anatomy on her arms is very off - Her upper arm is waaaay too short. Drop the elbow down and adjust the angle of the lower arm accordingly and you should be okay.

[Carnifex]

or enchance the feeling of perspective.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Does anyone have any idea how pen looks with colored pencil? I normally would be all for trying out new things. But I was just in an accident, truck nearly plowed right into me, luckily we paused. But the woman and her baby in the car in front of us were hit. Shook me up quite a bit, I want to work on this to calm myself down, but my brain's a little scattered.

[daestwen]

MJ: Sorry to hear about your day, though I'm glad that you're okay.

As for pen and pencil crayon... I find that they work okay, as long as you lay the pen down first. The waxy texture of the pencil crayon makes it hard to work pen on top of it, but it works okay as long as then pen is first. (At least that's my experience!)

[S.C. Watson]

MJ - glad to hear that you're okay!

[Saturns Gate]

Does anyone have any idea how pen looks with colored pencil? I normally would be all for trying out new things. But I was just in an accident, truck nearly plowed right into me, luckily we paused. But the woman and her baby in the car in front of us were hit. Shook me up quite a bit, I want to work on this to calm myself down, but my brain's a little scattered.

Damn, sorry to hear that man, glad your ok! Must have been scary.

Ill be posting my line work soonish, still figuring stuff out.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Thank you guys! Ok, pen first. I'll try that.

[Saturns Gate]

Ok heres what I got so far...

Not completely finished with the details but will probably start the painting process now and sort out any details and ideas along the way. Not sure about the beheaded previous wives peeking in at the top (which will be quite dark). This will show the king at the moment he starts to understand what a dick hes been over the years and so, is a victory for her.

[ccsears]

a little more work on it.

460997

[meeatu]

Lots of wowness here :yum:

[petitemistress]

not much progress from me as ive been sick as a fucking dog these past two days... im gonna hope i feel better tomorrow morning so i can plug away at this... yeah...

Thx Dile and Jessi :heart: for the paintovers and crits, and to cookie, chaos, and the folks of IRC and here in chow for their invaluable help too, i :heart: you guys! havent been able to tackle all the issues yet but ive written every crit down (including the book issue chaos ;p) and will tend to them one by one!

[JessiBean]

So... if Houston is washed away in Hurricane Ike, can I have an extension?
:teeth:

[Pixeltuner]

you can still draw while in a rubber boat, no? And then take a picture with your phone and upload it ;) There wil be no excuse young lady.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0014-1.jpg

Ok here's the pen version of it. I'm almost afraid to add the color pencils. Especially, when my a couple people I showed it to told me I'd ruin it if I colored it. :(

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0015-1-1-1.jpg

edit: added color. hope it looks okay.

Wow, some amazing stuff on here.

Cowboy surfer - looks a lot better without the pole and I like the sultan in the background. It's probably too late now, but I actually think it would look pretty cool if she were gazing up at us from under her eyelashes. Kinda have a, "I got him" expression. Esp. since it looks like your going for an entranced look from the sultan. :)

dirkvandulum - that looks awesome!

Whistler - I'm liking it so far. :)

[DSAzeppelin]

DAESTWEN one thing that I am kind of noticing with your piece that seems a bit off....is her leg that is back and underneath her. The way she's sitting...it is kind of more casual and off to the side, on her hip. If she was sitting like that, her leg would be twisted just slightly to the side, not directly underneath her. The way her leg is now just looks a little bit too extreme.

If you just rotate her shin outward a bit...from like 30-45 degrees I think it would look a lot more natural. So she would still be sitting on her foot, it's still under her, just a more natural position. Not to mention that it would be a lot more comfortable too ;) kind of more like she's sitting side-saddle.

I'm not sure how to fully explain it so I hope that makes sense.

Really good drawing though, excited to see how your work turns out! :)

[Chronoperates]

Edited from the previous version, I completely agree about the foot, when I drew it in my sketchbook I was able to draw all of that foot, alas it was on the border of the page and got left behind when I tore it out. :/ So I recropped it to include that one. I think I'm going to leave the arm as is, with her pose I wasn't quite going for being relaxed and in place just yet,more so like she was just sitting down and positioning herself before taking the weight off that arm, could just be that I'm going to be a bit pressed for time as well later this weekend and it sounds like a hassle :P Also switched out the text to an arabic font that still reads in english to test out that kind of feel.

[ccsears]

I'm not too experienced coloring something i've done in b/w like this... using overlay layers in painter to get started... i've noticed that the colors usually turn out better if i start in color earlier rather than go too far in b/w.

whatever. need to fix one of the hands too. i've got her pinky and thumb pinching something awkwardly right now.

461149

[Redfrog]

wow ccsears, yours is coming along a treat. Love the images in the light.

Here's my latest WIP. Didn't get a lot of time on it so its gonna have to be full throttle tonite.

[ccsears]

one more quick idea... arabic calligraphy is f'ing
beautiful... it would help just about everyone's work, in my humble opinion. would help convey the idea of "story-telling"

(removed the image because the calligraphy was religious.)

thanks redfrog don't know if i'll finish because i have to leave town tomorrow without computer access for a few days... maybe a lsat minute thing.

[Saturns Gate]

ccsears: I like that pose man! I think the silk see through material looks a bit filtered to me. I would go in there and probably paint the thing on another layer and mess about with the opacity and eraser. Colors could do with some more saturated areas, as right now the background seems to stand out more than the woman in that respect.

RedFrog: I like those colors, illd stick with em. Try and make her clothing really intricate and make it really stand out, as right now the focus is on her, put all your effort into those clothes and her body. :)

Chronoperates: Nice composition, illd like to see her right foot though, maybe crop it out a little there to include her whole body? Up to you, probably just my personnel taste on that. Her left arm looks a bit rigid right now, and she seems to be putting some weight on her fingers there which could be awkward. Maybe do the arm more curved and bent , leaning against something? Up to you.

MJ Alcazar: I really like your intricacy with her clothing designs, her left hand, the middle finger needs to be lengthened more. Keep at it man! :)

Petitemistress: Love the idea! Adds a bit of fantasy to it nicely. Illd smooth out that shadow on her nose, makes it look a bit too flat? Boobs could be bigger to go better with her body (Oh I know, thats just personnel taste :P) hehe. Should look cool in the end!

Meeatu: head looks a bit too big (though I guess she could just have a large head) Nice clean lines overall, illd work on making her clothing more 'out there' and add something new to it. Keep it up.

Saturns Gate: Fuckin Hack!

Flash Rabbit: Really pleasing colors, love em! Forearms too long though. Widen it a bit more at the joint if your going for perspective.

[RevoLverZ]

nice chow... very very high level drawings until now. some crit tomorrow.
My progress.

[timothee]

Sweet entries so far. Here's a WIP. Wondering if I should put a character in foreground.
http://img29.picoodle.com/data/img29/3/9/11/f_persian4m_3c54009.jpg (http://www.picoodle.com/view.php?img=/3/9/11/f_persian4m_3c54009.jpg&srv=img29)

[HFix]

progress update.
great work everyone and thanks for the crits they are helpful :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

timothee - is there any way you can move the moon, I really like it, but right now it frames the hand and takes away from the wonderful job you did on her face. :)

RevolverZ - it actually looks pretty good, but her right arm is a little long.

ccsears - its beautiful! However, my eyes don't draw to her very well. That pose is amazing.

Chronoperates - wow, she looks amazing. Is there any way to extend your canvas to incorporate that other foot. It seems like a little bit awkward cut off place. Love the design. :)

Redfrog - looking better. :) As someone suggested, really start working on those clothes, put some neat little details in there. I think on the first page Alesoun had a link for some persian designs. They really came in handy on mine. :) Maybe you could add a headpiece, draw your eyes to her face a little. :) Or, do something with the lighting to draw your eyes to her face a little more.

petitemistress - I'm LOVING your composition so far and that expression! The smoke tendrils coming from the pages look awesome also. Good improvement on that hand. :) No more picking noses! :)

meattu - the design looks good. I'd go for some more expression in her pose.

Saturn's Gate - that looks awesome, love the idea. I like the little cat. :)

flashrabbit - what the other's said about her arms. But, I'm liking the rest of it, her skin is really nice.

Glory66 - Hey, she looks good, but right now I'm not seeing too much personality. It might be the plainness of her clothing or something, or maybe her expression could be pushed just a little?

Jasonstrutz - I'm liking that pose! However, I think that right leg looks a little off. I think it might be the size.

[purb36]

ccsears - 2 things: 1 (and most important), try putting your arm across your body. without pulling your arm, your elbow will only go to approximately the middle of your chest, so her left upper arm (right side of the page) needs to come more straight towards the viewer instead of across her body so much; 2nd, try picking up something with just your thumb and index...almost always, your ring finger and your pinky will go up by themselves. it may add a little more life and expression to her. g'luck, and take care.

g'luck to everybody else, too!

[Adele]

daestwen I dont have internet on the weekends at the moment, so I can only enter either before 5 today (friday Australia) but there is no finals post....or 9am Monday morning Australia time....which is still your Sunday really....whats the solution?

meanwhile...my progress, and ignore the hands not there....im not working on that area yet :D :

[morbidhumor]

I thought I'd de-lurk and try participating this week. I doubt I'll finish but I'll make the effort. Honest.
461437

461438

ETA:
Poshspice - Wonderful as always. Love the outfit. I'm not feeling the McGinnis vibe; she's just not skinny and booby enough (I kid but I adore McGinnis). I think his palette would look wonderful here. The lion heads remind me of Mucha's book of style. <3

Arthemis IX -I want to draw some scenes from one of the 1001 tales in the open area Heh! I had a similar thought on mine but am settling for smoke just to speed things along. I like yours so far but I'm not crazy about the veil. I'd rather see her face.

Dimagyan - Good so far but The shadows are too solid black. Remember that her environment will be reflecting back at her so there should be some blues and pinks in the shadows.

HapaxLegomenon - Love the extreme perspective one the second one. Go with it.

Cookiedough - Holy crap that's cute. Strangely I like the first one better. I'll have to wait for color on the second one. The composition is a little awkward. Maybe if you moved her up in front of the doors instead of below them.

DecayingLolita - The second one is a huge improvement. Well done.

JessiBean - Digging this so far.

Adele - Love, love, love. My favorite so far. I'm a sucker for someone who can make good cartooning look so effortless.

Chronoperates - It's amusing how may people basically went the same route for setting (myself included). Great face and I love your use of light sources.

timothee - Good so far though her front knee and lower leg are a bit out of whack. A foreground shape might help bring the composition together.

ccsears - Great pose and interesting comp. I'd love to see it finished. The front arm is off a bit.

Glory666 - Wow! Great face.

Apologies to anyone not commented on. I'm probably waiting to see it further along.

[Carnifex]

ok guys,i'm gonna withdraw. sorry,but there's no way i'll be able to finish anything,and i don't like my idea that much anyway, having trouble putting it down.
see you in another round.

[Evil_Sloth]

Wip for mine, beautiful images all round.
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6765/chowupdatezu0.jpg

[DIMAGYAN]

Cheers! It's the pot, you're right. And the stripes on the material to the left that throw it.

Ta!

Will try and do some more crits when I'm not at work.

i see your update, i like the colours direction. i think that the mouth of the pot could be more wide(not sure how to say it...sorry, english is a bit elusive to me sometimes) waiting to see the final result!


morbidhumor:thanks for the feedback. i was trying to make the shadows more "graphical", hard edges not integrated with the colours, but i guess that the colouring was too much developed for that kind of treatment? perhaps integrating the background more. i agree with your point, reflections should be there in a more "nalturalistic" aproach. im not arguing with you, just reviewing my process i guess. thanks again for the crit, much apreciatted!

nice entrie btw, very good figure.

very good works and updates, if i have time i will make more comments.

[♦♦Jackdaw♦♦]

Really nice work so far everybody.

A quick question if I may Posh; are your initial sketches natural media or textured brushes? They look really nice btw.

[RevoLverZ]

tnx MJ_ALKAZAR.
I think I fixed her arm. Rendering in progress . . .

[DecayingLolita]

Due to having a horrible eye infection I haven't been able to do much so I don't know if I'll finish or not :( There are such beautiful ones that I can't really add anything good anyway but I'm still going to try and get something done over the weekend despite my mostly blindness (can't wear contacts atm either.)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/sh4.jpg

Evil Sloth: Yours is so beautiful! I noticed you've gone for the patterned idea also - I was planning to use a lot but in a different way, not sure if I should change now after seeing yours... I'm in awe though.

Poshspice: Yours are always too good to try and compete with! So much experience is good to take notes from though. :p

[Aly Fell]

Really nice work so far everybody.

A quick question if I may Posh; are your initial sketches natural media or textured brushes? They look really nice btw.

These one’s are Photoshop. No great secret to them. I use the ‘conte’ brush in Dry Media Brushes, with shape dynamics on. It’s basically the Pastel Brush, but I just tweak the settings a bit. Sometimes I sketch with a pencil, but my scanner has gone poo shaped and I need a new one. :)

[Cam Sykes]

really love how it's comin along Evil_Sloth.
edit: I take it back after Oregano revealed it's pretty much ripped off someone elses work.

[chaosrocks]

has any one actually done any costume research?
I know Dae said that you could experimant with timelines, but the gathering of teh tales is generally placed in persia
around 800 to 1000 AD
although many of the tales are older than that.
the modern interprtation belli dance costume is probably a product of hootch shows in this century

http://www.costumes.org/history/greece/heuzey/3.jpg

http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE2DX.HTML

http://www.costumes.org/history/stibbert/4.jpg
http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Costume_and_Textile/sogdian_costume.htm

time periods are a bit off here
the article is best but a bit of a stiff read
Im looking at Persian circa 800-900 AD
byzantine is probably closest
anyway I thought I'd throw that out there just to be irritating

the other isue is, Of course, the existance of bound boooks in that area, and that era. there were virtually none. bound codeces were rare and usually small bound psaltries if they existed at all....if Scheherezade could read, why would she have a book? she's a story teller, and she's supposed to be making it up, and nesting the tales to make the serial....

just a few thoughts in general. feel free to ignore them
crx

[edujante]

adele: Nice dinamism, it works very good, but try to think in the background while youre doing the carachter, it will inspire you to find colors and a moody ambient!
I want to see the finish piece!

[Glory666]

A little more..... Great work everyone, I see so much talent here, you should all pat your self's on the back! This is my first CHOW and i have enjoyed it so much, I just wanna say a big thanks to the leaders!*and no im not sucking up:)

[S.C. Watson]

You KNOW I take a dim view to plagerism, so please don't do it. It's virtually a garauntee that you will be banned from CHOW if you try to pull something like this off, and a better than a good chance that I will ban you from CA as well for ripping someone else's artwork.

Wip for mine, beautiful images all round.
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6765/chowupdatezu0.jpg

461692

~Oreg.

[Redfrog]

Man...this lil lady is starting to frustrate me a bit but must push on and finish it. Hate leaving stuff unfinished. Here is my latest WIP.

[daestwen]

daestwen I dont have internet on the weekends at the moment, so I can only enter either before 5 today (friday Australia) but there is no finals post....or 9am Monday morning Australia time....which is still your Sunday really....whats the solution?

The final burning thread is up, now!

But feel free to post on Monday if that is easier for you. Poll generally gets done monday night, my time (GMT -5)

[ikuru]

Adele, love ur work on that so far, keep pushing! :mod:

[Evil_Sloth]

Sorry Oregano, I did reference that I bit too blantantly. Won't happen again I promise.

[timothee]

MJ Alazar- I think i'm gonna add more real estate to the right of the piece, and place the moon there.
MorbidHumor- I know what you mean about the front leg, I noticed it yesterday after posting. That's the first thing i'm gonna rework when I have time. Thanks for the head's up anyways.

[Saturns Gate]

Damn, probably wont get mine done in time. Too much catching up to do with freelance...ahh well, there's always the re visit thread! :)

[Ramariel]

Hey guys, great thread so far. Here is my WIP so far. I wanted to use the stories-in-smoke idea, but now i see thats a bit cliche for this CHOW :p I need to focus on creating an environment for this character, but it is such a weak area for me, I usually just cut corners and slap a generic background on at the last minute =/

anyways, heres my WIP, crits most welcome!

edit: does the use of the dodge tool on those glowy highlights look too cheap? Am I focusing too much on line work and not enough on color content? All questions I ask myself lol.

update: added legs and pants. I think the fabric of the pants looks really weak. any suggestions?

update2: changed the pants a little, trying to make them lighter and more..balloony. better or worse?

[RyerOrdStar]

ARGH! I don't have the internet currently so I just saw this now, this sucks cause I love this topic and really want to do one now, but there's just not enough time :(

[Martheart]

Wow I love the drawings and wips so far. This topic is so cool! Okay, I made a new one because I didn't like my old idea anymore. I want to draw Scheherezade a bit sad and nervous as the evening falls. She has to come up with a good story every day to stay alive, that must make her a little bit nervous...

[Chronoperates]

Pretty much a final version, though since I have extra time i'm up for some tweaks if need be.

Edit: Fixed the spacing between the letters and with the extra room added "the story" onto the end so the question was less ambiguous heh.

[petitemistress]

Chronoperates - just a heads up, the arabic in that header isn't attaching properly (the letters are standalone and aren't forming actual words, im not talking about meaning im talking about form) I'd blur that out or make it some sort of ornament because to me, it really breaks the atmosphere of your picture :< the etxt looks too copy pasted, but since this isnt the final you were probably gonna tweak that later? great piece :D

[Chronoperates]

They don't flow together form wise because the font that I used is meant to make english words just look somewhat like arabic writing heh, it was just something i was trying out and dabbling with anyways. If you look close the text spells out "Would you like me to continue?" as I was kind of going more with showing the question that she kind of uses to save herself rather than the storytelling thing. I can switch it out with some painted ornamentation if you think that would keep the flow of the piece better, or maybe i can try some kerning to make them collide together and connect better.

[petitemistress]

yeah def make them collide, it'd smooth it out well! sorry about the nitpicking, it's just that my eye keeps coming back to it and it kinda ruins an otherwise great illustration for me :>

[cowboy surfer]

A bit of an update for me, added a turban (from reference this time) and her 'notes' on a scroll.

I just cant seem to get that left hand quite right though!

[skorpi]

I don't know, if I get the color in time. I hope so.

So, the outlines:

[ArtbyWard]

Wow everyone is doing so great! Thx for the feedback guys! I hope later on I also can do some feedback for you people.

O and Posh, I must say yours has the potential to be my fav posh painting ever. I reaallly love it!

Here is my second wip, any thoughts?

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/shpose5.jpg

does it look ok? I've just been scribbling so far and it's hard to tell with 1 eye :D, I feel like I'm falling back into my old style here and I don't even care if it's unrealistic.

[wiltekirra]

Sketch and WIP. Don't know if I'll have time to finish, I'm still really slow in PS. Good stuff this round, especially like Adele's and Poshspice's.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scheherazade-1.jpg

This may be my final. I have some study things and other stuff I need to catch up on. Really great work guys!

[ccsears]

had to back up a few steps to un-fuck some stuff and reorganize my layers. got impatient since i was heading out of town briefly. still working on it. thanks for the crits.

462367

(replaced the image with a non-religious quote.)

[ccsears]

ummm something was pointed out to me... that arabic i was using was a religious phrase and using it in conjunction with a belly dancer was kinda inappropriate. didn't realize it. i have no idea what this arabic here says either, but if anyone does find it offensive, please let me know. i just grabbed what I could find off of google images.

shoulda figured that if it was from a mosque it was probably religious. duh.

[ccsears]

i know, i know... plagiarism of arabic calligraphy, but i guess this is the only practical way to get any. here are some proverbs with translations if you want to do the right thing and avoid offending anyone's religion...

http://joshberer.wordpress.com/

[mr. m]

first of all - great round again everyone!
I finally managed to have some sparetime, so I thought I give it a go...
heres my wip - hopefully I could finish in time...

[edujante]

Hi! In my piece I try to translate the texturized and the elegant ornamantation of the indian folklore. So i work in this way I trying to represent the texture all around and find a rich moody ambient.
wip!

http://edujante.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/sheherezademaking.gif

FINAL!

http://edujante.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/sheherezadedeflow.jpg

[bitethefrog]

Hello. Lots of gorgeous stuff coming along nicely. Here's the current stage of completion with my piece... struggling to find a decent colour for Sche's skirt/ hip-thing. Otherwise really enjoying this.

[The Whistler]

ARGH! I'm out. My piece is really starting to annoy me and I dislike it so much right now that I can't make myself finish. :( :upset: :xpld:

[bitethefrog]

Still working... Now onto Derizade...

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/shpose6.jpg

eye is a bit better but still no contacts *squint* Interesting rendering incoming...

[townes]

hi fellas,
I tried to portray the moment of the sunrise after the first night.
Here are my Wips, I am sorry that I could not add them one by one, but the next Internet Cafe is about 50 minutes away. :(

http://www.kaneho.de/Bilder/wipk.jpg

I am aware, that this is real newbie stuff I present here...which disappoints me a bit, because I am struggling with 2d since 2 years! :(
If someone has any useful critic to share, please feel free to do so!!

[bitethefrog]

Phew! Started painting this at about 10.00 this morning. Now it's done at 5.37pm . Really proud of this. ^.^

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g48/jayfrog_photos/scheherazade.jpg

[Jason Strutz]

work needed just about everywhere as well as general atmosphere

update:
after dinner break to do list
more work on face and backgrond
fix knee that got fat
face is a bit large

[ccsears]

needs more work on the feet and legs. lots of touch up, etc. blah blah blah

i know the focus isn't on the character, but i deliberately wanted the viewer to be distracted by the stories she's telling.

462818

[daestwen]

PLEASE REMEMBER TO INCLUDE YOUR WIPS (OR LINK TO THEM) IN THE FINAL BURNING THREAD, OR YOU WON'T BE TAKEN TO POLL.

Thanks!

[DecayingLolita]

how I spent my afternoon:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/shface.jpg

Made her face more like my original sketch

[BludHund]

Okay, so I know I'm really late in the game, but I guess I'll give this round a try.

I'm going for a classical/historical Persian look with he costume. Not sure how to resolve the puddling of her robe on the floor...

Anything look glaringly off? Anatomy? Foreshortening?

I'm pretty sure I'll have this layout done by tonight and have it rendered and everything by noon Sunday.

462886

PS, it looks like the attachment button doesn't work in Chrome yet :D

[daestwen]

Update... :P

Sorry I haven't been able to crit much, way too busy. :(

462896

[tmyohlaing]

wow..good works, everyone.
I have just finished final image. Here's my initial thought process on Scheherazade. I did those three like three days ago.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/tmyohlaing/CHOW%20126/wipstmyohlaing.jpg
After I picked one this morning and then I colored it this afternoon.
Here's the coloring process.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/tmyohlaing/CHOW%20126/Coloringprocesstmyohlaing.jpg

My final image on high resolution is now at the CHOW final thread.

[Greeneyed girl]

edit----
ok here's one of my wips, I aparently only made 2 different save files (this one and the final)
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo133/sketchpocket/1000nightscopy.jpg
http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo133/sketchpocket/1000nights3.jpg

[mmfidler]

Alright, so I'm finally in, better late than never, lets see how this goes:

Quoting myself earlier this week:
alright, I'm in...I was having trouble coming up with a concept (how to encompass "her" - that 's the point right? He he)

She's cunning, and very intelligent, but I also picture her as light and ethereal, as if her stories lift her away from the world and all danger. [/B]

with that in mind...WIPS:

[DIMAGYAN]

sorry to bring such basic question but, what would be a good size to post the entrie in the final thread? thanks in advance.

[BludHund]

Eyes crossing...got to sleep...

couldn't figure out the stripes on her pants, sorry if anyone likes the striped/pleated look. Took me a while to feel like this had the 'Persian' I was looking for...or at least Mughal...heh. Kept looking just like a drunk bohemian / pirate wench.

I'll render this tomorrow, now I gotta rest my eyes...

463284

[Johannes]

Heres my creature, hum, I mean character of the week ;)

http://www.panzerkunst.se/tempimages/chow_126_scheherazade_johannes_1f.jpg

[flashrabbit]

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/DkJunior/CHOW126_flashrabbit.jpg
http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/DkJunior/CHOW126_flashrabbit_close.jpg

[BludHund]

Still have a a ton of highlights to add, but I need to stop for a bit. Pretty sure I can get this finished up by tonight.

463926

[daestwen]

IF YOU ARE PARTICIPATING IN THIS ROUND, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING. CHANCES ARE THAT IF YOU DON'T, YOU'RE GOING TO GET CUT.

Seriously, guys, read the rules. The three I would like to point out right now:

1.) Include your Wips in the Finals Thread! This is absolutely your last warning. I will cut you without mercy, even if this is your first Chow. ESPECIALLY if this is your first Chow - Prove to me that you read the rules!

2.)Only Finals in the Finals Thread! Please please please no chatter in the Finals Thread until the Poll goes up. This makes my job much more difficult and time consuming, and none of you want to do that, right? ;)

3.) REMEMBER TO NAME YOUR FILE PROPERLY! We know we've let you guys slide on this issue before, but we're being absolutely awful about it this time round. If your file isn't named right, it's cut. Period. This is how you'll want to name it:

Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oregano.jpg"


Thanks!

[skorpi]

Quick? Colo. Don't Know, if I find the time to work it out more.

[zenichi]

a bit too late, but would be great to get some c&c... heading to the CHOW revisit thread...
sketches...
464490

mysteriously alluring is what i was trying to achieve, been fiddling (erasing and re-drawing) the hands for ages, still cant get it right, especially her right hand...
464491

some inspiration & ref grab from web
464493

464494

464495

464496