CHOW 128 :: THE CLOCKWORK HEART - an IDW/CHOW cross-over event

[S.C. Watson]

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

ROUND #128 :: THE CLOCKWORK HEART
an IDW/CHOW cross-over event

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DESCRIPTION
"The creaking of floorboards and the sound of heavy footsteps in the hall dragged the boys mind back into the damp and dark living room he had been playing in. Someone was at the door. The boy glanced at the clock to check the time, but the clock had stopped working ever since his dad had thrown it against the wall years ago. The doorknob squeaked. The boy dragged the wooden locomotive, which missed a wheel since he could remember having it, back with him into the shade as he hastily crept back to his corner, a hiding spot behind the desk. A tin soldier was left behind in the middle of the bare floor but the boy did not dare leave his hiding place to go back and retrieve it. The door creaked and then slammed shut. The footsteps came closer, then suddenly stopped. The boy peeked around the desk and caught sight of a large silhouette of a man in the doorway, framed by the light coming from the hall. The figure turned its head towards the boy. Not daring to move, the boy stared wide-eyed back at the man. Daddy was home.

Without showing any sign of acknowledging his son, the man grunted and slowly took another step. With every step the man took, he seemed to slow down and become more and more unsteady. Finally he reached a flimsy wooden chair and sank down on it with a deep sigh, making it almost collapse under a weight is was never build for. The man’s breathing had become louder and heavier all the way towards the chair. With a tired sweep of his arm he took off his hat. Slowly he started to unbutton his heavy coat, and what at first was a faint ticking at the edge of hearing since he had entered now became the steady tick-tock like a clock. It seemed to come from inside the man’s clothes. The boy knew what was coming, but he remained hidden still.

The father kept unbuttoning several layers of clothes, until he came to a leather chest piece held together by several belts. The ticking became louder. The boy dreaded this moment worse than any other time of the day, even worse than facing the other kids at school. With each belt that was unbuckled, the ticking seemed to become more aggressive and present. Finally, the leather chest piece came loose. The boy closed his eyes, but his mind could picture every detail of what he did not want to see. Roughly where the man’s heart should have been, a metal contraption was buried in his chest that ticked with the deafening punctuality of a clock. Moving parts where visible inside it, gears and flywheels and springs, all moving to the same beat. The boy opened his eyes, preparing for what was to come.

The man fumbled with the clamps that kept the contraption in place, then grabbed the clockwork heart with both hands and with a grunt of effort he pulled it out and slammed it on the table next to him. It kept on ticking, but now the table acted like an amplifier. The boy wanted to clasp his hands over his ears to keep the sound out, but knew it would only make his father angrier. Slowly he got up on his feet, dropping the toy train. With an impatient gesture his daddy motioned him to come closer. This movement seemed to cost him a lot of willpower, as his eyes rolled up to show only white for a moment and he gasped for breath. A hoarse whisper came out of his mouth: “rewind it, son…before mom comes home...”

NOTES:
The main character is the father. You may illustrate the son and the mother if you wish, but they are not necessary.

If you plan on participating in IDW as well, the Clockwork Heart must be included in a sidebar and be fully illustrated.

It may be easier to do an Ortho view of the Father for this round.
________________________________


: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
MONDAY, September 29th, 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.
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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.

[S.C. Watson]

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

[Senira]

When you say fully illustrated for the heart, do you mean show it independently of the father, or attached to him?

[S.C. Watson]

When you say fully illustrated for the heart, do you mean show it independently of the father, or attached to him?

I would say independently, as it is removable. It should fit IDW's formats for their submissions, so you may want to check some of their threads to get an idea of what is expected if you've not participated in an IDW before.

All the best,
~Oreg.

[TheJester]

Hell yeah! Clockwork heart! Smells like a steampunk round to me!!! Or at least I hope so!!! YAY!!!

-runs to find reff- :ninja:

[MJ_Alcazar]

Cool! Sounds awesome. What's an ortho view though?

[Cam Sykes]

initial sketch. I keep thinking of lurch from addams family.and also ironman because he has the mechanical heart.

a little update, I'm still finishing scheherazade.

[MM Howard]

Cool! Sounds awesome. What's an ortho view though?

I think its an x-ray-type view if I'm not wrong.

This is definitely something I need to enter. Sounds like a great challenge.

[KleeWyck]

sounds great! i feel a caravagesque mood for this one with lots of purple... or something.

anyways off to drawing.

[Dan!]

ortho is short for orthographic- ortho views- in our context usually describe ------front view- back view and side view.

[MJ_Alcazar]

x-ray view huh? well....hmmm.....definitely be a learning experience!

EDIT: oops! You snuck in there DECYPL. Thank you!

[yoitisi]

The IDW round is up too: IDW #79: The Clockwork Heart - an IDW/CHOW cross-over event (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=137502)

[The Whistler]

Wow, this is awesome! I hope I have time for it since I have another drawing I promised to do a long time ago...

[matjosh]

Very very interesting topic o_o" totally in.

[Aly Fell]

I didn't have time for 'The Little Mermaid' in the end (some amazing entries there!), so I'll try for this one. I'll also try and do a bit more feedback this time.

Probably completely misinterpreting this, but morning and lunchtime sketching...

Looking at it from the kids viewpoint. I kind of see heavy shadow and what light there is picking out the heart area on the chest. Also thinly lit from a window behind with curtains across it. I get a real Edgar Allan Poe vibe from this little tale, probably because of the 'heart' thing. I'll do a 'turnaround' as well.

[daestwen]

Sorry guys, I'm not going to be here to help with the poll/final entries/wips/anything, really.

Forgive me! I'll be half way across the world in a week. :)

That being said, check out IDW if you can! Yoi posted the link just up there, and I recommend you all check it out and help make this contest awesome!

[Pixeltuner]

posh: getting a bit of dr. Jekyll vibe from yours :)

I want mine to be the towering man his son sees him as, with slightly exaggerated features. Not planning anything special on the pose really, so I might actually finish this one for once...

[Aly Fell]

posh: getting a bit of dr. Jekyll vibe from yours :)



It's the muttonchop sideburns! They always do that! ;) Might give him a 'tache instead.

Nice work oh 'tuner of pixels' esq.

[DSAzeppelin]

wow....this is an awesome topic and great write-up. Is this an actual story or did you/someone just write it for this??? Whoever wrote it...damn good.



I'm doing some freelance animation stuff right now that is keeping me busy so I reeeallly hope I can find the time to put a lot of myself into this piece.

[Claudio Grassi]

Here's my wip..love the topic :)

Poshspice: I love your roughs..they look better than my finished stuff :P but I do agree that without seeing more of the heart thingie I think the character is lost in a mishmash of pedriod dudes... cant wait to see it finished :)

Pixeltuner: Dang! you work faast! @_@ looking very nice, the clockwork work is looking very nice.

As for my piece, Im going a bit less conventional than the mermaid pieces, I think the style hurt me in the end :) this is all experimental, would love some crits...still a very early wip:

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb304/TenGuKu/chow128wip-s01.jpg

[Slash]

This topic literally SCREAMS "syberia", fans of the games know what i'm talking about. ;) I really wanna do this, but i'm not sure i'm gonna have the time, i'll be in paris in about a week's time, and i have work and preparations that needs to be done. At the very least i'm gonna throw some sketches in here.

Good luck everyone!

[Aly Fell]

Poshspice: I love your roughs..they look better than my finished stuff :P but I do agree that without seeing more of the heart thingie I think the character is lost in a mishmash of pedriod dudes... cant wait to see it finished :)



Absolutely right. I'll put the heart in! Thankyou!

[The Whistler]

Here's my sketch, I planned to put the heart on the end table but maybe I'll put it in his hand, not sure yet, I'll work on the details of his clothing tomorrow.

CamSyko - can't say much right now since it's still at a very early stage, reminds me a bit of Moriarty ;)

Poshspice - great as usual, maybe do give him a mustache because right now he looks like his lip is split

Pixelturner - great work up til now :)

KuGu - he kinda has a 28-days-later zombie-ish look right now, I know it's really early to tell but maybe watch that a bit...

EDIT> heart wip

EDIT> basic colors

[Pixeltuner]

whistler, kugu, posh: thank you :) Here's hoping I'll actually get this to a finished state.

[Giorge]

"The door creaked and then slammed shut [...] man in the doorway, framed by the light coming from the hall" now i thought the door was slammed shut how come the light comes in ... who the hell wrote this?... anyway the idea is good lets see what becomes of it

[S.C. Watson]

"The door creaked and then slammed shut [...] man in the doorway, framed by the light coming from the hall" now i thought the door was slammed shut how come the light comes in ... who the hell wrote this?... anyway the idea is good lets see what becomes of it

Yoitisi wrote it. English is not his first language, so cut the guy some slack - focus on the character, not editing :) Besides, isn't it obvious that the door swung back open after it hit the door jam? Sheesh :P

~Oreg.

[DSAzeppelin]

maybe it's a front door....with a hallway that leads to the doorway entering the living room....a foyer or whatever. That seems to work ;)

[yoitisi]

Flamable: hehe actually, I thought of that. See, many old european houses have a pretty high ceiling, and the space above the front door is usually occupied by a window. That's where the light comes from, but I forgot to put it in I guess. Anyway, as Oreg said it's not that important for the character itself.

[DSAzeppelin]

great job setting up the character Yoitisi! Definately allows me to see a vivid image of the character...I think it's very creative and fun to boot. Job well done.

[tomwaits4noman]

SWEET CHOW IDEA

hope i've time this week

CamSyko really like the design not sure its in the right place to be the heart
If you are going for a static pose might be nice to have the child wind the clock

POsh amazing sketch I argee with the others about needing to see the heart
I like the victorian design of the character.we don't have enough lamp chops on CA

Pixeltuner very nice start is an x ray view of the character or is his shirt torn seems to tidy if his shirt is torn

KuGu very nice I like the touch of the wallet with the heart shape

The Whistler be care ful of such a static pose when the character is facing side ways
maybe have him holding the heart, keeping it subtle so at first the pose looks normal and then you notice the clockwork heart

____________

added image need to work on hand holding the belt... and find clock work reference.

updated image... not sure if i'll get time to finish this...

the idea is he has just unwrapped the belt and his son is watching him, he is in slight pain as the heart is slowing down and needs to be wound.
heart based on a image of the inner workings of a watch may need to make it clearer.

__________________________

Is it necessary to include the design for the heart?
I know its not very clear in my version, probably have enough time to do a quick pencil sketch of it.

[Pixeltuner]

well, it's supposed to be partially unbuttoned and hanging open, but I guess that doesn't read to well at the moment :p

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0021.jpg

I'm not going to participate in IDW, sorta intimidating. But, well, I was in my Nursing course and I couldn't be seen sketching. BUT, if I'm caught sketching a heart as we're going over vital signs. WELL, viola! :) And, it was a good thing anyway because I needed to know what I wanted the heart to look like to decide how to draw the guy too. I have some poses done and everything, I just need to do some more referencing and study on victorian era clothes and things.
Great short story by the way, I love it! I immediately had a picture of the guy. :) It'll be up shortly. Sorry for the long post.

[Jazz]

yoitisi, I really love the story!! It freaked me out when I read it!! And I imagined the father and son so well!!

Wish I could work on THIS ChOW, too. Wah!! :( These latest ones have been so interesting!!

[Eric Young]

if anyones ever seen the anime miniseries Blue Submarine 6, The bad guy at the end had his heart removes and all the machines and tubes in place to keep him alive. thats all i could think of after reading the Chow breif. I think it be a good refrence for everyone. i tryed to google search for a refrence pic but couldn't find any :/

[MJ_Alcazar]

I'm sorry, I tried to put an edit on that last post I did, but for some reason it wasn't going through.

here's my initial sketches. I STILL can't figure out how to do the clothes where you can still see the heart, but I'm sure it'll come.

Posh - love your sketch! I'm sure you'll find a good way to show the heart.
Pixeltuner -I like the disporportioned body, that's actually how I imagined the boy would see him. :)
The Whistler - I'm liking him, as someone else said, maybe have him holding the heart or something.
Kugu - very zombie looking, but I do like how you did the heart and the leather chest piece. :)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0022-1-1.jpghttp://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0023-1-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0026-2.jpg


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0027-1.jpg


EDIT: updated image. Tried the whole unbuttoned thing. Sorry about the size. I'm going to shrink them down in a bit.
EDIT 2: added an updated image of both poses. Not really sure which one I'll go for at this point. I liked the bowler hat, :( but as someone pointed out it didn't really make sense for him to wear one at that point of undress soooo, I took it out.
EDIT 3: the other two poses just weren't doing it for me, so I changed it up, and I like this one better already.

[Max Martelli]

Poshspice: very nice sketch, I'm definitely feeling an Edgar Allen Poe vibe as well. It just seems like it belongs in a dark and gothic world. I can't wait to see where the sketch goes from here.

Pixeltuner: I like the sketch so far. I like that you are making him very exxagerated like the kid must see him. I would definitely make it clearer that his shirt is open, it's looking just ripped right now.

KuGu: I like the sunken look of your figure. he looks like he really needs a clockwork heart to live. keep with it. the only thing I'm hazy about is the shading on his lip (or is it a mustache?) also you might want to give him the rest of his legs. It helps ground the figure, especially when there is no background.

Cool.

Here's my prelim sketch. I haven't thought about shading or anything but the pose so far. I still need to design a heart. Im thinking a blend of organic and mechanical. I have a rough idea for it. Pretty much a human heart attached to a clockwork engine (sort of like an over complicated pacemaker) with a clear window in the front so you can see the gears and springs from the outside. It still needs some work and I need to figure out how the clockwork engine will look and work. I was also thinking that the machine could attach to his real heart and thus when he takes it out he isn't physically taking out his actual heart.

Tell me what you think, I've got some drawing to do.

Enjoy

[MJ_Alcazar]

Max Martelli - I'm loving it so far, but ummm, just in case you didn't know, the heart is located on the left side of the chest. :)

[laterDays]

Everybody's stuff looks great. Looking good so far MJ Alcazar. Anyways, this is the closest thing to what I want so far... I'll keep punching out them faces though...

[chaosrocks]

artificial heart
minus clockwork
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/JARVIK_7_artificial_heart.jpg

[Max Martelli]

MJ_Alcazar: Thanks, your partly right about the heart being in the left side of the chest. The larger part of the heart does tilt slightly to the left but it is mainly located in the center of the chest. As far as your piece goes, I think the unbuttoned cloth needs to somehow pop forward from the buckles and cloth. This can be done with either thicker line weight or some shading in the right spots. I like how you are giving him other prosthetics as well.


I think I'm going to go with the idea that there is a clockwork engine that he plugs into his chest in order to keep his heart pumping. I still have yet to fully design it but the idea is there.

I'm still testing and probing when it comes to digital painting and I haven't found a comfortable place yet. I'm essentially just experimenting with this one so bear with me and I hope it comes out the way I want it to.

Let me know what you think and what you think I should do next painting wise, I'm completely open to suggestions.

Here's me fooling with the shading and color a bit. too tired to continue, school in the morning.

I need to beef up his arms a little bit towards the elbow and forearm and work on the hands some more before I continue on with the piece. I f you see anything else or have any suggestions let me know. Thanks.

Enjoy.

[amaliax]

hi all...hope you don't mind if I play too...

I'm not too mechanically inclined, so the "clockwork" bit sent me to the library. It was fun! I have some ideas sketched out for how a clockwork heart would work, but I have really gotten that far in the actual picture yet. Mostly, I loved the image of trails of tubes and cords spilling out of his chest, connecting him to this clockwork machine. I'd appreciate any criticism anybody can give me on anything.

Ahem. So, yeah. I don't mean to interrupt anybody, so I hope no one minds me dropping out of nowhere. ...sorry.

[dirkvandulmen]

sketch I made yesterday. Tried the grayscale setup approach. Not quite happy, but it is a start. Enjoy. Great sketch poshspice.

[Wiggers]

Not sure if i'll time to do this one.

[RosemaryDarling]

I doodled this a week ago.
472846
Weird coincidence.

[The Whistler]

Thanks tomwaits4noman and MJ Alcazar, I'm definitely putting the heart in his hand if I don't change the pose :)

[Claudio Grassi]

Slash: Yaaaay..syberia!

The Whistler: Yeah, I like the whole 28 days later thing..that's kinds the idea...a man that's "living" with the assistance of this mechanical thingie..I like your sketch, your character shows fatigue like in the brief, I wanna see your take on the heart too :)

TomWaits4NoMan: Hehe thank you, but it's not a wallet :/ it's his chest piece..I gotta work ion it more tho :D Very nice action in your piece but watch those legs..they seem a bit wierd :)

MJAlcazar: The heart is looking good, and the character too, only thing is the bowler looks kinds funny, especially with him without his shirt, otherwise I like the way its coming along ^_^

MaxMartelli: Thank you sir, you get me :D that is indeed the idea, and yeah, thats his mustache XD hopefully Ill make it more evident, but im trying for stronger contrast in this piece...I dont mid that you got the heart right in the center of the chest, the figure's pose is good, but you need to check the shoulders and arms..look at some pictures of guys with suits on couches and notice how the shoulder doesnt fall right under the seam of the jacket seeing as how ofter they are padded..hope thats helpful :)

Amaliax: Looks very forefatherish, I like it..its still early so no other crits other than the chair seems a bit small..lengthen the legs of it maybe?

dirkvandulmen:Very cool angle, but I think the head is much too big...try resizing it in ps or painter and see how it looks, the rest looks good...

Wiggers: Kick ass! very cool expression of impatience towards the boy who is resistat to the idea of winding the heart..I like a lot! tho, that white shock of hair in his beard makes it look like hes drooling at first glance ahahah :D just playin..

RosemaryDarling:Not coincidence...clairvoyance! o.o

Here's an updated wip...

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb304/TenGuKu/chow128wip-s02.jpg

[yoitisi]

Great to see so many sketches already.

Just a little heads up as I've read some people say that they're scared of doing the IDW part as well: the hearts as sketched in many of the WIPs posted in here can be used for the IDW part of this topic. The only requirement for the ID part is that you spend a little more time on the actual heart itself than you'd normally do for an illustration of the character :)

[Claudio Grassi]

Yoitisi: I think I'll work on that too, but do we post the images here in chow or over at idw? or both?

[DSAzeppelin]

looking good everyone!


Here is my 2nd CHOW attempt. I am a super newbie to painting in photoshop....so bear with me!

[Guffman]

this will be the first one I actually post for, sound great! :)

[yoitisi]

Yoitisi: I think I'll work on that too, but do we post the images here in chow or over at idw? or both?

Both would be best I think, makes it easier to give more specific crits. Also, just posting your final for CHOW in the IDW thread might not get you to poll as the focus for IDW is obviously on the heart (unless you balance both aspects well in your final presentation of the design of course).

[DSAzeppelin]

Poshspice you've heard it a million times by now, but I'm loving your sketch so far. Sad when your sketching is better than my final pieces. Making me work my butt off to change that ;)

Pixeltuner Very cool start. How are you combining the mechanical to the organic? It appears that the skin is kind of ripped or dangling. You planning on having them completely independent of eachother, or more intertwined and working with eachother? You already have some cool mechanical work going on!

KuGu You are getting extra points with me just due to the fact that you are going a completely different route with this one. I don't really get the same imagry comparing your piece to the writing, but once it's developed I bet you can pull it off, so keep it up! Liking your character so far...I like how he's holding the breast plate as well.

The Whistler I am saying this only due to experience....but becareful with the side shot. I personally like the side shot, but for CHOW126 I did one and kept getting criticized that it lacked depth and looked flat. This has to do more with my personal skills...but just mentioning it so you can keep that in mind. I like side shots, so I'm looking forward to seeing yours further developed....just make sure it has depth :)

Tomwaits Definately a cool start to the character...nice dramatic pose. But what emotion/story are you going for? Everyone interprets things differently, but I'm nto seeing the short story in your posing right now. Mind setting us outside viewers (or atleast me) on the right track? ;)

MJ I hope I am seeing your drawing correctly...but to me it appears you're combining organic & mechanical for the heart...thats a cool way to go. I personally saw it as a full mechanical heart, and am going that route...but it's cool to see another person's take on it. Keep up the good work!

One suggestion from me would be to work on your outline a little bit. You have very nice and smooth outlines around the entire character. Cloth is going to bend and fold and give you a fairly erratic outline due to the folds. It doesn't need to be extreme by any means, but giving some nice wrinkles & folds in the outline with help break up the smoothness and provide a nicer/more realistic silhouette IMO.

Max Cool to hear you're going with the organic/mechanical as well. I like your ideas of how you're incorporating those mechanical pieces and making them very plausible....look forward to seeing them developed. You might want to check with the CHOW leaders...but are you showing enough of his body? Is down to the knees enough to be accepted?

Laterdays Cool bust!

Amaliax Welcome aboard! Nice start to your piece...I like how he's in a different pose compared to most of us, and how the heart is still connected to his body. Just be careful about his back arm...looking a little awkward/stiff...I know it's just your start so you'll be good in the end ;) Good work, keep it up.

Dirk Cool start man...diggin it so far. Gonna have a nice fight with you though, we have some pretty similar pose/camera angle. So we gotta step it up and really develop out characters ;)

Wiggers Awesome sketch so far man! Really diggin it already...so I'll hold off on any critiques until you get a bit further into it. Excited to see your finished product.


GJ everyone!

[RevoLverZ]

CamSyko Well done. The silhouette looks nice. Now , try to go deep into his anatomy , correct a little bit his legs , put them in perspective. Will watch your updates.

Poshspice As always... very accurate sketches , expressive. The pose and the perspective are looking really nice. Looks like the final piece will have lots of details. Can`t wait to see it.

Pixeltuner woaw you work fast man. nice colors. I like also the clothes. Can`t wait to see more detail.

The Whistler , mate , I think Poshspice made those lips like that because he wanted to create a strong facial expression. Your sketch is good but in an early stage. Will keep an eye on it.

KuGu wow , last update is showing a really really nice character . The drawing is speaking with the viewer . My fav. until now , because I can imagine more of how it will be finished.

MJ_Alcazar I like the second pose. But I`ll suggest you to push further the first one. Proportions are good but you have some anatomy issues . Try to build under the clothes the skeleton from reference. And then correct the issues. Than you can study from reference some nice clothes and go in detail with them. Your character will be improved and you`ll be happy with it.

Max Martelli looks nice. I like the pencil sketch. The colored one is also nice but the outlines are a little bit too strong. In fact , outlines are shadows. :)

amaliax I like it. I will wait to see more details for further feedback.

dirkvandulmen nice pose man. The character looks good. The object on the chair(I don`t know the english for it) has some little perspective mistakes (don`t forget this round is chow+idw). Also try to use much more gray tones because the image has a little bit too much contrast.

Wiggers Aw , again one of my favorites. The face looks awesome. No crits.

RosemaryDarling maybe this means you have a special chance for this chow :)

DSAzeppelin nice sketch. The pose looks nice.

Hope I`ll have the time to try my luck with this topic.

and for all .. sorry for my awful english .

[flashrabbit]

Nice topic :painting: Wip stuff.
Did an ortho view first ;/ but I think I'll just do the front.
Looking forward to see everyones stuff.

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

[The Whistler]

DSAZeppelin - thanks for the tip, I'll be careful with that. Gotta start doing sideviews at some point ;)

RevolverZ - LOL yeah, I know, it was just a thought :) Thanks :)

[DSAzeppelin]

Flashrabbit Sweet character development so far man. I love how it looks like his shoulders carrying a ton of weight ...all hunched and looks kind of stiff....looks good man.

[Demo]

Flashrabbit looks great so far i think id put one more lether strap over the heart though idk

[MarkWinters]

Gonna try to squeeze in this week. Here are a my wips so far. I plan on doing an inset of a close-up of the heart near the bottom. I'll try to come back later this afternoon to leave some C&C's. Best of luck everyone!

http://markwintersart.com/images/posts/clockheartwip01.jpg

[Pixeltuner]

Dsazepp: Thanks, I'm sort of thinking about giving him an all-mechanical chest, with a more bolted on approach, it now indeed looks like his flesh is ripped open.

RevolverZ: I always work fast in the beginning and start to lose my patience when it comes to detailing :( Let's see if I can stay focused this time.

[UCT]

Well I think everyones dont a great job at creating the scene here.

Wiggers and MarkWinters, both your works are great, but the chairs look too grand for the text.

Ive gone in the wrong direction I think, bit gore.

[Pixeltuner]

updaaaaate.

[Foofea]

Done some sketches - quite proud of them - I have difficulty drawing masculine figures but when the scanner is reloaded so I can use it ill post but not sure I can make this either as Im away for a long weekend :)

All looking very Victorian steam punk, I had a similar feel for the tale that described the story

[cowboy surfer]

One of my freinds and I used to set each other random illustration topics and I was challenged to do a 'clockwork lung'.
This topic reminded me of that, thought it might amuse you to see what I came up with (bit of a photo montage):

[Claudio Grassi]

DSAzeppelin:Thanks a cool ooking pose, but watch that right arm (our left) it seems a bit small :)

RevoLverZ: Wow! Thanks!!!! yeah Im gonna fix the breast plate in his hand to make it more stylish/readable..but I hope not to let anyone down in the end after such nice compliments :)

flashrabbit:awesome, dont know why but my first reaction was "commissioner gordon" ehehe no but really..stunning work, and it's just a sketch!

MarkWinters:Very Shakesperean :) but I think his pose is a bit too stoic for someone who just ripped out their own mechanical heart..just in my opinion tho, cuz otherwise it looks sweet!

UCT: O_O where's his noggin? the anatomy around the crotch is a little confusing, maybe elongate the abdomen a bit more? very cool in a gory way XD

Pixeltuner: Very cool update..the colors are really coming together nicely..but, and this seems like a style choice, his hands are huge, and his feet are smallish :) anyhow, great job so far!

CowboySurfer:Thats pretty sweet..now just lasso around a heart shape marquee and make a heart out of it XD

anyhow here's a brief jump ahead in my wip...Im going balls to the wall steampunk on this XD

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb304/TenGuKu/chow128wip-s03.jpg

[MarkWinters]

KuGu - I read it as though he removed his mechanical heart with a heavy burden, not 'ripping' it out. Seemed to me that this is a daily occurrence that sucked, like a diabetic taking a daily insulin shot. Mind you, I don't think I got the 'burden' thing in there either! haha! I'll work up the emotional part of the scene tonight. Thanks!

UCT - You're right about the chair! I'll fix it! Thanks!

cowboy surfer - That's pretty damn cool!

C&C:

Pixeltuner - Nice costuming. The chest is cool. Not a fan of the white highlights. Nice textures going on!

UCT - I don't mind the gore - as long as we see the clock heart! Some nice brushwork.

flashrabbit - So far so good! Nicely done. Keep going!

DSAzeppelin - Good start. Parts of the anatomy aren't jiving though. Try out that pose in front of a mirror or photograph it. If his left arm is coming towards us and his right arm is away from us I want to say there should be more twist in his torso.

KuGu - I dig it. His pose is awkward. My eyeballs want to see more contrapposto. Right now he comes off zombie-like, which maybe what you're going for. Looking forward to seeing this worked up more!

Wiggers - Great start, man! The guys face has tons of personality! Go go go!

dirkvandulmen - Very dramatic! Reads very well. Nice angle. Make sure your cast shadows jive with the light source. Good luck!

amaliax - Welcome! I think some reference would help you here. Keep an eye on composition. Work up the comp so that it's pleasing first and then move on to detailing. Right now its really right side heavy. Keep going! Best of luck!

Max Martelli - I don't mind where you placed the heart area. Consider grabbing some quick reference and check your proportions.

laterDays - Awesome sketch! MOAR! pleeez!

MJ_Alcazar - Nice start. I wish I woulda thought of the prosthetic finger, that's KEWL!

tomwaits4noman - Looking cool. Very dynamic. Keep it coming!

The Whistler - So far so good! The image is right heavy but it's too soon to tell about the composition as a whole. Keep going!

Poshspice - I hate me some Aly. You're full of awesome. i agree with the others about wanting to see the heart.

CamSyko - I like some of the textures in there. The cast shadow is very mechanical in execution.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Thank you guys for all the awesome crits. :)

Pixeltuner - the shirt is looking a lot better.

Max Martelli - thank you for the crit! And I think I owe you and apology, I should have thought of that more. You are right of course. :)

Markwinters - looking cool so far, I'd like to see his face more, but I'm sure that will come with more detailing. I love his pose. :)

flashrabbit - I like his face. He looks so tired.

amaliax - I'm liking it so far.

[Max Martelli]

DSAzeppelin: Thank you, I hope I get the chance to fully design and illustrate the heart. By the way you have a good point about my pose.

Oregano and/or daestwen! Is my pose ok for this. Is my character only going to the knees acceptable or does there need to be more?

Thank you

crits later as well as an update. I'm working on the clothes now and I hope to get farther but we'll see where the night takes me.

[S.C. Watson]

Oregano and/or daestwen! Is my pose ok for this. Is my character only going to the knees acceptable or does there need to be more?

You're fine :)

[Max Martelli]

Thanks Oregano

Update

Sorry, I couldn't get to the crits like I wanted to, things are looking pretty good though.

I'll try for tomorrow.

Here's some more of my fooling with the painting style. I know, he looks really funny right now givin that he has almost no chin and his head is a completely different color than the rest of him. I just haven't got to that part yet but you could have guessed that. I'm starting to like the feeling around the stomach.

Let me know what you think.

Enjoy.

[zenichi]

sketches....
giving it a crank to rewind the clockwork... spring coils, gear, bar code screw dents etc... hmmm... what else
473620

[Pixeltuner]

thx all :) On the comments: The white highlights look pretty crappy indeed now that I see them, gotta fix that.

And while his hands are huge and that is a style choice, his feet are still a bit underdeveloped indeed, should be more in line without becoming skis. ;)

[The Whistler]

UPDATE (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1938137&postcount=23) on the heart, decided to maybe take the IDW too, never did that before...

I'll see if I have some time for crits later on, it's still kinda early :)

[DSAzeppelin]

Thanks for all the compliments and crits everyone! A lot of stuff came up and haven't been able to work on him more...but thankfully I should be able to get a few good solid hours done on him tonight as long as nothing comes up again.

Excited to work on this piece. I'll keep all the crits in mind :)

[Adi.]

Heya all :)

just some early ideas.. was thinkin along the lines of robots.. not sure if this fits the brief though..

[Pixeltuner]

almost there. I don't wanna overdo it or make it too clean, but there's still room for more touch-ups.

[DSAzeppelin]

looking really good Pixel!

one thing that is bothering me a little bit is his left hand. I am horrible at hands, so I'm not sure I can give a suggestion...but his back hand looks great, but his front left one kind of looks blocky/flat. I think it may be a bit too straight on....his back hand is nice and relaxed, laying at a natural angle to the body...where as the front left hand looks unnaturally facing the camera view.

If you look...his hands aren't the same angle....and to me personally...it isn't feeling right.


*shrug*

and definately don't make it too clean...clean is bad ;)

lookin good man

[Pixeltuner]

hmmm, looks like you're right. A colleague of mine suggested I'd give him a mechanical steam-punkish hand as some sort of tool to 'interact' with his chest so maybe I'll try that as well. Thx for pointing it out. A pair of fresh eyes is always a big help :)

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

Eh, I wanted to do this traditionally and didn't remember the at least 3/4 rule. >:|
This is already a3 and there's no chance I can puzzle this together with different pics. Or is there?
I tried to focus on the emotional side and how the father would be a loving person but alas, just a tad scary.
Dunno if the deformation thing is even ok.
It's not really in the brief. That arm is off too. Will fix.
Meh. I'll try doing as much as I can traditionally and then... uhm, yeah, well, I don't know yet.

Cowboysurfer: That lung is looking awesome!

Will do crits some point later.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Updated on page 2, post 35 http://conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1938776&postcount=35

Pixeltuner - love the boots, I say go for it with the hand, it sounds awesome.

Adi. - awesome direction, I couldn't tell you if it fits the brief or not, but that's cool that you thought of it.

Max Martelli - looking good so far!

Cowboy Surfer - I love the lung!

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0028-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0029-1.jpg

Update! I think this is the one I'll stick with, need to fix a few things and tweak it a bit, well, a lot. Also, I can't decide whether to go with b&w or go with a dramatic lighting effect with casting blue shadows with red highlights type thing.
EDIT : ok, fixed the composition, I think. I hoped to kind of frame the guy better and put more focus on him without distracting too much.

[Max Martelli]

some crits, forgive me if I missed anyone and if my sentences aren't coherent, it's late at night and I need sleep.

tomwaits4noman: looking good so far, I like the animation of the pose, I know the waist is supposed to be small but it might have gotten too small, I also feel the hand that is ripping the belt got a little too small when you worked on it more. I like the dark feeling of the piece so far.

laterdays: I like the head so far, I'd love to see more.

amaliax: I like how you have the heart still attached via tubes and such. The perspective on the arms could be done out a little better, the arm closest to us gets a little lost and looks a bit flat (specifically the hand). perhaps you could look at a friend in this position or get a reference photo from somewhere and do some quick sketchs to get a sense of how the arm looks with that kind of forshortening.

wiggers: looking good. I like the figure. I do think that things like the couch he is on and even the plant in the background might be a little too "rich" for the vibe that I get from the story. I like the idea you have going with the spherical heart.

DSAzeppelin: I like it so far. you have a nice pose going so far. I think that his right (our left) arm and hand are a little too small. he needs more upper arm. I have the sense that you wanted his arm to be going back in space. If I were you I would find some photos or study an arm in this position. I think that this would make the sketch look more complete. Other than this the pose seems to look pretty good.

flashrabbit: I really like how it's coming out so far. I really like the face. I even like the unfinished face beside the one with facial hair. It looks like he has a few days of growth and that could add to the haggard look. If you wanted to or had the time it would be cool to explore. otherwise you've got a good thing going so far. I can't wait to see more.

MarkWinters: I really like this piece so far. The only thing I would change is the man's environment. It seems too "rich". When I read this story I imagine more of a dark, dingy, dirty apartment setting. I mean, I really like the setting and feeling to this piece but it might fit in better with the original description with a more broken down setting. This could be done with dead plants and broken windows in the back? just an idea, it might be neat to experiment with. I can't wait to see more.

UCT: I like the gore.

KuGu: I love your piece. Home from a hard days work of building people parts, time to wind up the ole ticker. It's great. I would love to see more of the figure (feet perhaps...) Him holding the leather plate is really nice too. Are you going to go for color or stick to greyscale? It works very nicely in the grey. I cant wait to see more.

zenichi: I like the heart so far. It's coming out of the body sort of like a jack in the box right? thats what I'm getting from your sketches. cool. I want to see more.

Adi.: robots. very different, interesting, I like it.

Pixeltuner: Very nice so far. I agree with DSAzeppelin, the hand does look alittle awkward at the angle that it's at. other than that you have a good piece going.

DigitallyDumbfounded: I like the face, The hand looks a little wierd, maybe too small? or perhaps the arm is too short. maybe if there was more negative space in that corner it would let the arm breath a little more. I can't wiat to see what comes next.

MJ_Alcazar: I like the worn out pose. I think the toy soldier on the floor might be a little distracting from the central figure. Perhaps make it smaller or take it out all together? another idea could be to put the clock on the other side of the doorway and cut off some of the negative space on the right side of the room. It would help centralize the figure even more and make him more of the focus. it seems there is too much open space on the right side whereas the shoe is almost right to the edge. If you cropped it it would make this look more evenly distributed as a composition.

Here's alittle more work. I did some more work on the hands (still needs some work), face, hair, and jacket. the background is turned off right now to make it easier for me to see just the figure for right now.

let me know what you think

Enjoy.

[amaliax]

Hi again. I'm sorry I didn't respond right away, I was without internet. I did get more done, but I didn't get the chance to read all this awesome feedback before I did it. :D (I will incorporate it, as soon as I'm awake).

KuGu: Thank you! I have started to fix the chair, at least.
DSAzeppelin: Thanks. I was having trouble with the arm, I'll fix it.
RevoLverZ: :)
MarkWinters: I noticed it was right-heavy, and I may yet change it. I'm kind of thinking about having a nice dark background to ground it and leaving it, though. It looks heavy and awkward, and the more I think about it, the more I like it... What do you think?
MJ_Alcazar: Thank you!
Max Martelli: Very good advice. I will try to get a reference photo, and bring out the hand, too.

I apologize also for not giving feedback to you folks, but I guess I feel like it would be kind of pointless. I'm getting blown out of the water by how good you all are--there's nothing I can say that you haven't done, you know? I have looked at every picture so far, and I am awed. And...and... This place is just awesome. I'll be more coherent when it's not three in the morning, I promise.

[skinny]

Im new here,just trying to see if im doing this right:ore:

[The Whistler]

UPDATE (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1938137&postcount=23)

tomwaits4noman - I like it so far, love the facial expression but be careful on the waist, I think you went too thin

KuGu - ah ok if that's the way you want to go. Nice progress, love the belt :)

Pixelturner - love it, love the jacket sleeves. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the floor is really different from the character, I'm guessing you just madean overlay but it seems too polished IMHO :)
The character is awesome though

Max Martelli - so far so good, needs eyes though :)

zenichi - can't really tell from the sketches, from what I can see I like the outfit on the first one in the first page

MJ Alcazar - second pic, guy sitting, my favorite, I love the rugged look, really looks tired. In your last WIP, he's good so far, a little to heavy on the cheeks but that's just me. You're really getting better with each chow :)

amaliax - I like it so far, I kinda imagine him younger because he's supposed to have a small child bit that's just me :)

dirkvandulmen - his legs look a bit short to me right now, I like the rest

Wiggers - nice start, I can't see anything wrong with it

DSAZeppelin - his right arm seems a bit short but that may be due to perspective, I can't really tell cause you've got a really strong BG going on

Flashrabbit - love it so far

MarkWinters - *gasp* my fav so far

UCT - it needs a head. I can't really crit until I see the head, from what I see now his chest is a bit asymmetrical, like it's moved to the left (our left)

Adi - nice robots you've got there :) Don't think they'd fit the brief though since he has to have a child, and a robot family... Mmmh. They're nice either way :)

Sorry if I missed or misspelled someone, it wasn't intentional :)

[ArtAdonis]

My first CHOW and I'm coming in late. It's my understanding that this has to be complete by sunday? Gona be tight for me. Some awesome entries but too many to comments on right now considering I'm pushed for time.

When I done my piece I was thinking of a character from way back. My inital thought was victorian England but I wanted to push the idea a bit more so I went for American Civil war times. Had to go for the south as from reading the story I imagined a battle hardened Rebel weary from fighting. I hope putting that flag in there is cool, I aint from the U.S but I think some people get offended by it. Anyway I needed it to push the concept.

Pants and Chair are the same colour because I wanted them both to pop out as they're closest, however I should probably try a different hue on one area. Also gotta clean this painting up and try and get some heart design done!

Early WIP!
http://www.artadonis.com/Uploads/CHOW/Clockwork_Heart_01.jpg

Painted up!
http://www.artadonis.com/Uploads/CHOW/Clockwork_Heart_06.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

Some really great work people!

Finals round is posted. (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=137783)

All the best,
~Oreg.

[DSAzeppelin]

That's awesome Adonis! Loving it so far.


****
DSAzeppelin:Thanks a cool ooking pose, but watch that right arm (our left) it seems a bit small :)


DSAzeppelin: I like it so far. you have a nice pose going so far. I think that his right (our left) arm and hand are a little too small. he needs more upper arm. I have the sense that you wanted his arm to be going back in space. If I were you I would find some photos or study an arm in this position. I think that this would make the sketch look more complete. Other than this the pose seems to look pretty good.



DSAZeppelin - his right arm seems a bit short but that may be due to perspective, I can't really tell cause you've got a really strong BG going on



Yeah you guys are right about the arms, they are an attempt at perspective/foreshortening. His right arm is supposed to be back and hooked over the back of the chair, while his left arm is more straight on holding his heart. I took a picture of myself in that pose and used that for reference...but I'll take another look at it and check my porportions so I can get it looking a bit better.

I use the dark BG for when I start painting...guess I didn't really need it at this stage of just doing the sketch....mybad :P

Sadly didn't get to work on it the last few night....going to try to get some today though....hopefully *fingers crossed*

[Claudio Grassi]

Yay! more people joining in, Im sure we'll see some more at the finals post! XD

MarkWinters:Thanks, yeh, the sense of imbalance is also intentional..kinda like when your heart skips a beat and you feel wierd..well imagin this guy! @_@

Zenichi: love the heart sketches.. :)

Pixeltuner:Those feet are looking mighty fine now XD great work!

DigitallyDumbfounded:Awesome sketch, but he seems a bit healthy and young for this maybe? :)

Max Martelli: Thanks! yeah, I think Im gonna give it a bit of color, not much tho, we'll see what comes out..hmm can anyone say "polished turd"?
----as far as the colors you are using, I think they are working out very nicely, and the new head looks much better both in placement and in definition..:)

Amaliax: Looking much better (the chair I mean) the character looked good to begin with.are you gonna go for color?

The Whistler: :) thanks, yeah, Im having fun with this guy!! :D

ArtAdonis: Wonderful lighting and mood..her really looks intimidating, no wonder his son hates to wind up his ticker..btw, smoking?!?!? no wonder he had to install the machine XD

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

So. I had to go digital here anyway so I changed his face. I already thought he would come of too much as a hot babe. ;)
Hope it's better now? I don't know if I'm completely off with the whole loving father thing here, I read the brief again and the first time around I rather thought the father to be burdened and, well, a little robotic but still considerate.
And now I read a little more differently...
Hrmm. Still really want to do this. I love everything about this topic!!

Well, anyhow,crits! In reversed order ;P:

ArtAdonis: Sweet! I like the colors but he doesn't have a neck and his legs seem to be very far apart.
Probably you can change the erm, like parts ehere his pants are stitched together in his crotch to show that his pelvis is crooked and make the perspective clearer,... does that make sense?

Amaliax: Good start! I think the chair could have a little longer legs and could be bigger in whole. And as you progress I'd crop the empty side in some more.
I'm also wondering if it worked better if you flipped it horizontally.

Max martelli: I think he needs more crotch if he's sitting like this and we see him pretty much from the front. :)

MjAlcazar: Maaan, you are improving :cheerleader: I like the update much. Has this Baron Harkonnen feeling and him, alone on the chair has HUGE impact. Very nice design and I think you caught the urgency of the situation (well, way better than I did anyway, haha. :))
Actually don't find much to crit except for his neck being too long.

Pixeltuner: Sweet design. I don't really catch the dramatic atmosphere from the brief but the style and rendering is awesome.
Oh god, and another crotch comment. :S (Freud anyone :^^:) But I think the black of his coat is too strong there, especially with the white of the tiles right below it.

Adi.: I like your designs. You know, first thing I thought was:"Why not make the boy their human adoptive son."
I mean, if he's a robot himself I don't see why he'd be so creeped out.
But if he was human, it'd get a really odd vibe, I think.

Zenichi: Interesting...ok, I wont lie, I can't yet recognize what you're going for on the right side. Some skeleton? If yes, awesome idea. Heart is looking good already. :)

KuGu: Oh I love love LOVE this. That captures the whole steampunk feel I was getting from the topic quite perfectly for me.
I'm not 100% sure, but I ... hm, nope, ok. Anatomy looks fine. Was trying to crit how his upper body is turned towards us but seems fine. :)
Bleh, sorry. ;p

UCT: Gore? What? Nooo. Haha. Nah, not really a character design yet though.

Markwinters: Beautiful! Very Shakespeare somehow. :D
Hope to see this bigger soon. :)

Flashrabbit: That's great, I like his body language a lot.

DsaZeppelin: Hey, good pose, can't really see too much of the heart yet, but eh. Just keep in mind with PS to fiddle with the settings (shape dynamics) if you're using a tablet and haven't yet made any custom brushes.

Wiggers: Like the sketch! I think his heart is still a little plain right now.

Dirkvandulmen: Great atmosphere. His lower half seems a little short/small.

Laterdays: I'm really glad to see you on this one too! :^^: Hope you update soon.

Tomwaits4noman: WOW! Super dynamic, wich is cool, because nobody else pulled this of so far. I immediately loved it. He does however look really slim in the waist. But I would change that just a wee bit or make sure to add proper edges to clarify this area, because it actually works in this character/atmosphere.

TheWhistler: Good expression. I'm not sure if we have to show the hole in the chest, but you could just shift the jacket some more then.

Posh: I love it. :O Much!
I love the expression of the hands and the indication of the light you have set up so far. He looks impressive.

CamSyko: Looking good so far. Moar!

Ok, here's the update. Now his hand is too big. Oh well. Free transform to the rescue. >.<

[timothee]

Nice work in this thread. Decided to give this one a try, still have to play around with the clockwork inside body.I don't know if i'll have time to finish this weekend cuz I have a wedding to go to tomorrow.
WIP

[TheJester]

ArtAdonis I really get what you're doing with perspective here! It's set up really well. The "no neck" effect ain't a misjudjment on your behalf, since you're watching from a lower level and the chest curve hides it. One thing makes it look like the chest is huge and in front of the head I'm affraid, but it's easy to fix! It's the beard mate! Make it a bit longer, even if it covers a small part of the chest, I think it'll sit exactly in place!!!!

[Max Martelli]

Crits a little later. Looking good so far.

A little more work done.

I'll keep working and post some more later tonight.

[AlotAbitAlittle]

I think I may have to try this one - last minute inspiration!

[MJ_Alcazar]

I'm loving how there's so many different interpretations on how this guy looks.

Kugu -really coming along, I'm liking how it's turning out. He looks the way I imagined him walking, kinda imbalanced. And he looks sick enough to need the heart. One crit, and this might just be personal, but with his hair, it doesn't seem to go along, this might be because you haven't really got to that yet either. If you weren't going to do this already, maybe add a few more strands in there, so it doesn't look so blocky. :)

Max Martelli - coming along nicely, I like the colors! The arm of the chair on his left side, our right, needs to come over more I think.

Artadonis - I love your interpretation! He looks awesome to my eyes so far. Keep it up!

amaliax - I'm liking it, keep it up. I like how you encorporated the motioning hand. Something looks off on the perspective though and I think it's either the chair or the table.

timothee - I'm liking him so far, he looks very sad. However, I think the chestpiece part that goes into him is going at a different angle then he is. Turn it to the right, his left a little.

The Whistler - looking good, you put the heart in. yay! :) He looks like he's having difficulty breathing, good job with that!

Digitallydumbfounded - I'm like him better now, i think his cheeks could look a little more sunken, but that's just me. I like the pose you have him in. :)

[Max Martelli]

A few crits, more tomorrow

MJ_Alcazar: It's looking better with the smaller soldier and the moved doorway. I think that the candles might be too much. It could get a little distracting, specifically the one right next to the head. I think it might be mainly because it looks so detailed. It wants to jump forward and be on the same plane as the head. If, when you paint or color the piece, you make it less detailed and looser than the figure it will help to push it back in space.

ArtAdonis: I like it so far, confederate veteran? I agree with TheJester about the beard. otherwise I think it's coming along nicely. One thing I might watch is that the color of his pants and the color of the seat are rather close. If you make them just a little farther apart form each other it might seperate them better.

Another stage. Getting close to something I like. Needs a bunch of touching up. Mostly in shadows I think. Maybe some more work on face? The chair looks a little wierd to me. Tell me what you think.

Good luck everyone.

[amaliax]

(Three in the morning again...Gotta quit this.)

Thank you to everyone who said hello and commented! You've no idea how much it helps me. I did dig up some reference, and about time. I think the far arm is working a little better, but it's still isn't quite there yet.

Not sure if I like the spot coloring yet. I might take it out.

Pixeltuner: Excellent colour in the chest. Love the bulky jacket.
KuGu: He looks like he's gasping for air, or about to fall over. It matches the story very well.
Zenichi: Your heart design is amazing. Period.
Adi: Cool robots. Are you going to work them into something?
Digitally Dumbfounded: The detail in your lines is lovely. I like the damaged eye, too.
MJ Alcazar: I like the tri-belted eyepatch, and the finger.
Max Martelli: It's cool that you gave him such saturated red hair--the story was so dark that I couldn't ever have thought of that.
Art Adonis: Intimidating! The chest is so good, but the expression trumps it. He looks so determined.
Timothee: The stance is good. Expressive. The facial design stands out as well, especially the chin.

'pologies for not being able to give decent critiques, but I thought I could at least mention some positive points. (I only did the last two pages because I'm going to go fall over now. I'm sorry!)

[DSAzeppelin]

update...


having a horrible time with the hands :\

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

Update. I need help with the lighting on his face. :(
Also, I originally planned for a green red/brownish color scheme but went more for blue yellow now, hope that works. The heart area is so unreadable, blargh I just don't really now how to fix it.

Good updates everyone!

DSAZepelin: Maybe you can let him have the heart dangle on a finger from a chain, like this it's not so obvious where he's holding it at. :) Just a thought.

[Max Martelli]

more crits... updates later on.

amaliax: the arms are looking much better. I would watch the bottom of the pant legs though. The fold look like they might be too much. I'm not sure how the fabric should look in this position but I have a feeling that it might be less than what is there. also the position of the table is a little wonky. If you look at the base of the table it looks like the table should be off to his side. If you look at the tabletop i looks like the base should be right in front of him. I think that if you had one of the table base supports going between his legs perhaps it might make the table sit better in space.

DSAzeppelin: The arm looks better with the back of the chair coming between it and the body. Watch the hand, it still looks small. His chin looks a little misshapen. It has a lump going down to the heart that looks unnatural. Also the position of his hand holding the heart is a little awkward. I think if his hand was more in the position of the hand in DigitallyDumbfounded's piece it would look more natural. Holding the clock from the bottom in his palm instead of from the top. Another thing I recommend doing is to center your figure more. It is distracting that his foot goes off the page ever so slightly. If I were you I would move him over and put an equal distance in the margin between him and both of the borders. Other than that I think the slouching pose is working quite nicely. There is a weight to his body and that grounds him even though you don't have the rest of the chair yet.

DigitallyDumbfounded: Its looking good so far. As far as the face goes, I would determine a light source (so far it looks like it is coming from the upper left) and then maybe take some pictures of your own face with light coming from that same angle. When you say that the heart area is unreadable, do you mean the heart itself, the area behind it, or both? I think that if you distanced them (maybe by moving his hand down a little more towards the middle of his abdomen) they might seperate better and become more distinguishable. For your final, I think that you should do something with the empty space to our right, you may have something planned for it but as of right now it could be cropped out which would help disburse the information in your piece better. It seems a little weighted towards the left as of right now.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0030-2.jpg

Nearing a finished product. I hope the candle things aren't too distracting anymore. Thank you for all your help with how to place things Max Martelli. And thanks everyone who have given me crits.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/clckwrk.jpg

Ok, I cropped it, and I think I like the cropped version a little better. I also tried to bring more focus to the chestpiece....by adding color. If this just looks utterly ridiculous, please tell me. I wanted it to be black and white, but I also wanted your eyes to go to the chest piece too.

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

Eh, edited my old post but this gets too confusing with the comments.
So.

Update. Zombie dad...
But I'm getting somewhere with the face.

475917


MaxMartelli: I cropped around in the begining to see where the composition was going and will ditch some part of the right side I think, I was just worried about making him too centered so I procrastinated the decision. :bashful: Thanks for pointing it out. It obviously can't just stay this way.
I should probably make that decision sometimes soon, before I work out the Bg some more (although there won't be that much goin on... ) You are so right about the reference. I just crouched under a lamp in front of the mirror and although it's not totally accurate, I'm getting the "dark eyes" effect I was aiming for. Really didn't think of that! :D
By readable I meant that the heart gets lost, valuewise, but I think I fixed that mostly now. The problem was/is that the hole was dark and his hand bright so either way the heart would have been too similar in value to one of them.
But I added a "halo" around the heart and made it darker and detailed it moar.
Hur, yes.
And, will you be adding the actual heart as well? Also, I just noticed that the cropping so closely above his head paired with the crouching makes him look like he's pushed down. Probably some more space would help. :)

MjAlcazar: I'd actually think it would look better with the floor dark and not showing the ceiling. I don't think it needs to me so high up.


Ok. last update for tonight.
Heh, feels so intimate in here after last weeks round. :)

475968

[Claudio Grassi]

Hi guys, posted my final of the character just now, but I also posted a wip for IDW:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1942694&postcount=9
Would love some crits :)

now:

MJ_Alcazar:Thanks! now the hair is a style thing, lie Phil hale..I love how dynamic and out of place it looks..just trying new things :) --- Your piece is really coming along, I think that it's the most accurate insofar as the brief goes..lots of detail..make sure you get the viewer's attention onto the heart in your final :)

Max Martelli: Im really enjoying the warm colors of your piece, the red in the background is a great tie-in to the blood that flows in his veins :)

Amaliax: Looking good! Are you planning to keep just the heart in color? it does draw attention rather nicely...cant wait to see it finished.

DigitallyDumbfounded: I love your drawings, they remind me of kent williams a bit, but better structured :).. I was gonna suggest you back light the guy so that you could rim light the heart and have an excuse to darken the chest...but you know what youre doing :)

Well..thanks for all your help everyone, this was fun..and dont forget to crit my idw, I could use some help...TY!!!! ^_^

[Max Martelli]

MJ_Alcazar: Thanks, no problem, just trying to help any way I can. I think the piece reads better without the color in the heart. It is true that the color draws you to the heart more but it looks out of place with the rest of the piece.

DigitallyDumbfounded: I'm liking it. It's coming along nicely. Yeah I'm definitely putting in the heart, I just haven't gotten to it. I was holding off until I had more of a design. I think I'm gonna work on the heart mostly tonight and get it into the chest. I hope I have the chance to get it into the IDW as well. I wanted my figure to be slouching in his chair, almost sitting on his tailbone and lower back, being seen slightly above eye level. I hope it looks that way. I can't wait to see more of yours.

KuGu: Thanks. I checked out the final. I really like it. What was the quote that you posted with it. It fits right in to the piece. I'll try to stop by the IDW later on tonight if I get a chance to critique. I've seen it though and it's looking pretty good.

[Max Martelli]

Oregano!

So I just want to make sure I'm getting this straight. If we do the IDW as well we need to include both entries in both threads right? Could we post the final CHOW in the CHOW finals thread without the IDW and the final IDW in the IDW finals thread with out the CHOW or do they both have to be together in the same frame?

thanks

[Max Martelli]

Yet another update. working the heart into the figure. let me know what you think.

[S.C. Watson]

Oregano!

So I just want to make sure I'm getting this straight. If we do the IDW as well we need to include both entries in both threads right? Could we post the final CHOW in the CHOW finals thread without the IDW and the final IDW in the IDW finals thread with out the CHOW or do they both have to be together in the same frame?

thanks

you only need to post the CHOW entry in the CHOW Finals thread, and same with IDW (unless Yoitisi wants the CHOW entry for his). So, the detail piece is not necessary for the CHOW entry. However, if you want to include it, by all means please do so.

All the best,
~Oreg.

[Max Martelli]

Thanks Oregano

I figured I might as well post the latest WIP of the heart here. I haven't been very clear as to how my idea of it works and so now that I've actually got it down on paper here it is.

My take on it is that it is essentially a clockwork pacemaker. The clockwork motor (the detachable bit) plugs into the chest receptor which is implanted in the breast bone. This connects the motor to two leads that go directly into the heart via the Superior Vena Cava into the right atrium and the right ventricle. The clockwork engine feeds a small electrical charge through a small generator located in the chest receptor to stimulate the muscles of the heart thus causing it to beat and keep the subject alive without a naturally working heart. The design is sleek and rounded so as to not to snag on any living tissue.

Let me know what you think either here or over in the IDW thread.

[The Whistler]

A quick UPDATE (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1938137&postcount=23)

Oregano, deadline is about 5pm your time, right?

(last time I'm asking, I promise)

[Claudio Grassi]

Max Martelli: The figure is looking good, I can feel the weight of the fatigue thats crushing him...Im a bit confused on the lightsource..the body seems to have a top/frontal light(mostly) but the heart has a lateral light source...also, I think that maybe moving the heart piece up a bit to a relative inch and a half from his chin..as it stands, IMHO mind you, it seems a bit low, like it's on his solar plexus..but otherwise I really like how it's coming out.
Im gonna comment on your heart over at IDW :)

MJ_Alcazar: The color on the heart loks good, and it does obviously focus the attention there..not the only other thing that I would suggest is that you work on your tonal transitions a bit, smooth out your chiaroscuro so that textures pop out where they have to poip out (chair, wall, etc) but on things like his clothing they are a bit distracting. hope that helps :)

[Claudio Grassi]

Doh!

The Whistler: You snuck in :)...I like the way your piece is progressing, the colors are muted and his expression is sullen..very nice..love the vest and suit...altho watch the shirt collar on his right hand side, even tho his right shoulder is sticking forward I think the collar looks a little too big..just a nit pick :)

[flashrabbit]

Thanks for the comments :)

Demo: Yeah, I had some trouble with that part. Didn't want to hide the heart.
So I did some straps that were open. Which I hope works.

KuGu: Haha, I think it's the coat and glasses. Should have put batman in the background ;P

Finished this today, even with my painfully annoying back ;/ seems I did something to it yesterday.
Sorry for not commenting that much, will try to get to that in the following days.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/DkJunior/CHOW128_flashrabbit.jpg

[The Whistler]

KuGu - Thanks! Didn't even notice that :)

[DigitallyDumbfounded]

So. More update.
There's some rendering to do and I will make the belt in front of his belly some brighter again. Overall I think I have to push the vakues, I lost a bit of contrast in the rendering. :/
Dunno if the clock is too distracting now, might tone that down.

476434


And KuGU: Thank you so much!:x Backlight was my first idea too, but I wanted some more light on the whole chest area. But I did rimlight the heart a bit. Might do that with his face as well some more.
Love your final! :^^:

TheWhistler: Looking good so far. Your skintone looks good, real warm. But isn't the hand a little small?

MjAlcazar: I'd ditch the color or try coloring everything. Looks better now with the cropping.

Timothee: Nice! I like the pose a lot. But I'm not sure if you need to show his legs too (3/4 rule) would be sad to not see this in poll because of that.

MaxMartelli: The opening seems to be a little too much in the middle. But nice idea for the heart, you're going for electrical impulses?

Flashrabbit: Oh! Very cool. I'm looking forward to your explanation how the heart works, that looks super interesting!

And... I'm approaching my final.476473

[MJ_Alcazar]

Photobucket isn't letting me on for some weird reason. Just in case this is an all day thing, I'll still be able to turn this in tomorrow right? I won't be near a computer tomorrow until about five, but if I get it up then, will the Final's thread still be up?

[ArtAdonis]

dsazeppelin - Thanks! Hows yours coming along. Nice slump to the body of your entry. hope you crack the hands.

Kugu - Thanks, and glad someone spotted the smoking/heart imagery! I love your final. The detail in the heart is insane and I dig the paper texture throughout that page.

Digitallydumbfounded - The upshot angle I went for dictates the lack of a neck as it is hidden by his chest. Good call on the legs far apart. I attempted to fix this but was really rushing to get my entry in. I'll have to go to bed and look at again tomorrow to see how successful I was. Your entry is really coming along, the poor guy looks like he is in bad shape! I suggest maybe some darker shading in places as it is a little flat in areas.

TheJester - Cool I am glad you we were reading off the same hym sheet! :) Tried to use your suggestion with the beard. I think it helped. Will look again tomorrow with fresher eyes and brain!

MJAlcazar - Thanks a lot! Hope you solve your photobucket issue. good entry and i like the addition of the toy soldier. nice touch.

max martelli - Glad you like it. Yeah I was meaning to get around to changing the colour similarities of pants and chair. Done that now. You mentioned "confederate veteran", don't know what you mean. I've little knowledge about this war/timeperiod! Lol Your entry is great, a very moody piece. I actually prefer the empty dark hole version in his chect because it is quite disturbing in a good way! Its freaking me out.

amaliax - Cheers. I think a bit of background in your piece might help a lot. I like the greyscale character and coloured heart! Are you going with this for final? It works well.

so tired.(hope I didn't miss replying to anyone)


Here's my finals. Posted them first on the final thread as I went right to the wire for my timezone! Good luck everyone!

http://www.artadonis.com/Uploads/CHOW/CHOW128_ArtAdonis_Character.jpg


http://www.artadonis.com/Uploads/CHOW/CHOW128_ArtAdonis_Heart.jpg

[amaliax]

Max Martelli: Thank you for the tip, I worked on the pants and the table. You were right, the table was really wonky.

I like the idea of a pacemaker. How would it work?

KuGu: I did keep the heart in color, but I'm still not entirely sure about it. I got some deeper color in it, and I like that better. Thanks. ^^

ArtAdonis: Cheers. :) Sorry, I read your comment too late to change the background. Anyway, I was afraid that if I put a lot in, it would take away from the heart. I'm so glad you think it works! I've been kind of up in the air about it.

I love your tones. Great final.

[MJ_Alcazar]

PHOTOBUCKET WORKS AGAIN!!!!!!! :)


http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/chow128_MJ_Alcazar.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/IDW79_MJ_Alcazar.jpg

[Stephan_R]

WIP

... going for a Professor Leyton style.

[Max Martelli]

Great work everyone. I'll get some more personal responses up in a bit. I'm busy putting the finishing touches on my pieces. Here is what I got so far. This is probably close to what the final will be.

Let me know soon if you find anything that I need to change. Also I want to know if the Heart text reads well and is clear.

Good luck

[MJ_Alcazar]

Max Martelli - reads just great!

Stephan R - looking good. I like the style. :)

[Max Martelli]

Here are the finals, all nice and framed. I put both up.

Let me know what I did wrong, anything I could improve. It doesn't matter that I'm sending them in already. I just want to improve.

Good luck everyone

[AlotAbitAlittle]

Cool Wip!

Awesome topic - the brief really paints a great image. I am looking forward to finishing this one.

:0) I know it is a little late for CC's - they are always welcome

[Dan!]

fun topic- just made it-barely

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/DECYPL/chow128_decypl.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/DECYPL/chow128_decyplProcess.jpg

[Stephan_R]

Well... I thought we had until midnight tonight to turn in a final :(

Guess I'm out.

[S.C. Watson]

Stephen - post it in the Finals thread NOW and I'll get you in.
~Oreg.

[PuppyKitten]

Aw, how sad. I would have finished mine within the next hour. I spent forever on it and I still show two and a half hours til midnight.

:(

[Stephan_R]

Yeah I suppose Sunday should be the safe day to be garaunteed in. THere's always the revisited chow thread.

[PuppyKitten]

Yeah I suppose Sunday should be the safe day to be garaunteed in. THere's always the revisited chow thread.

Why not just make Sunday the deadline then? Or Monday at 5pm or something (I noticed that's the deadline for the next round coming up)

I know they both work hard in their free time to do this and have to squeeze in the poll whenever they can. I understand that, really.

But that doesn't take the sting out of it though :sadcheerleader:

[yoitisi]

Hey I noticed there are some entries in here which had a nicely worked out design for the heart, but I couldn't find those in the IDW thread :(. If you've worked on the heart and would like to post it somewhere (in the current IDW thread!), I'm not going to close it for the next couple of hours.

[S.C. Watson]

Okay, there seems to have been some legitimate confusion on when the deadline actually was (thank you Oregano for being as clear as mud :er: )

If you've pm'd me, or if your piece is done, shoot me a pm with a link to it and I'll post it in the poll.

I'll keep this option open until noon today (Tuesday).

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: YOUR FINAL DROP DEAD DEADLINE IS ALWAYS 5PM PACIFIC, ON MONDAY.
That part didn't change. What I did was to make it official, since we've always had the deadline at Midnight, Sunday, but have allowed a "grace period" until 5 pm on Monday. You still have the "Grace Period" if you just mentally keep the deadline on Sunday night. Nothing really changed, other than me confusing the hell out of everyone :/ My apologies on that.

~Oreg.