C.O.W. - #128: Four Seasons Glory

[Fozzybar]

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

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


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Round #128

Topic:
Four Seasons Glory

Deadline (extended):
Saturday, 20 December 2008



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

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

THREAD FOR FINAL ENTRIES (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=139678)

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

[Fozzybar]

ADDITIONAL INFO

1. Design a creature which is changing its shape significantly for each of the 4 seasons.

2. Draw an image of the creature for each season: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. This means we need 4 images at the end.

3. On each image the creature needs to be seen with its full body, so we can see the anatomy and design.

4. The changes between the shapes must be significantly. Changing only colors is not enough. Adding and removing only fur is also too less. We don't talk about a creature which changes its appearance between seasons like animals we know (eg animals which become white fur in winter). This creature is unique, because it changes its SHAPE for each season.

5. The different shapes must have a connection between each. Don't throw in random creatures (eg elephant, fly, crocodile, bear). The viewer must be able to spot the same species in all different shapes.

6. Add a description WHY the creature looks like it does for each season and HOW it changes its shape.

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

8. This round will last 1 month (1 week for each season).


I think we will need to define some points better or maybe change them with better descriptions. Just shoot away, currently i am too tired to come up with plausible rules i guess ;)

[yoitisi]

This is going to be interesting to watch :}

[meganite]

Wow, sounds neat... I'm already thinking of an idea ... :madchef: :painting:

[Sundance]

Nice idea fuzzy

[realitychek]

Awesome topic!! I have to get this one done for sure....
Are we starting with a specific season each week, or is everyone going off in their own direction starting with whatever season they want?

[Windfalcon]

Wow, this sounds like it's going to be so much fun. I love the seasons! I can't wait to start sketching.

[Xenier]

hmmm, sounds like a challenge, should be fun.

[OTTA]

Very interested idea man.. It's must be fantastic

[Moai]

Schweet.

[REAPERaKaALLBetter]

i was going to ask the same thing as realitychek. is ther going to be a post were it tells the order in the seasons, or is it any order the artist chooses. i dont know if im just speaking for me or other artists aswell, but i think it would be better if all four art peices were submitted at the end of 4weeks. therfore all 4 pictures would be posted and displayed togather and would be easier to see the different stages for the 4 seasons.
REAPER.

[CavyWolfe]

This'll be fun...I'm already getting some sketches in. :D

[kinonato]

freaking cool , in till the last season, :P

[Lander]

Great topic

[ArtAdonis]

Exciting stuff. Sounds like this could be more of an endurance test than what has gone before. Is there anyway to play catchup. For example if the first week goes good for a bunch of people but then on the next week life gets in the way and they miss that weeks deadline. Can they try and fit two in the next week?

[JakkaS]

Cool topic Fozz :perv:

[Fozzybar]

TIMELINE
I have the feeling that some people think you are supposed to post a creature each week. That's not right!

Post all 4 creatures before th deadline. You can post all of them at once on the last day or before, depends on you. I always think it's much more fun to let the bomb explode at the end instead of seeing all the goodies before. But that's your decision, you can post wips as before in this thread.

Concerning the presentation. I think it would be nice to have the seasons in the chronological order of the seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter), but maybe someones concept works better with a different season as the starting one.

[DefiledVisions]

Great topic.. and I'm allready imagining all the great entries ! damn this is epic!

[Delmar]

Too Cool to pass on!:drinkup:

[Ipnorospo]

this time i'm totally in :D

[Ipnorospo]

TIMELINE
I have the feeling that some people think you are supposed to post a creature each week. That's not right!

Post all 4 creatures before th deadline. You can post all of them at once on the last day or before, depends on you. I always think it's much more fun to let the bomb explode at the end instead of seeing all the goodies before. But that's your decision, you can post wips as before in this thread.

Concerning the presentation. I think it would be nice to have the seasons in the chronological order of the seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter), but maybe someones concept works better with a different season as the starting one.

thanks for the last information, my concept works better with Winter for the starting one

[corspufo]

freeeeeeeaking cool. I'm in.

Here are some thumbs for me to pick from. Woot.

[rushwolf]

I think I got a base design to stem from... now to figure out what it is and how to make it more unique and why, why oh why will it change each season.

[Adele]

rushwolf, nice beast!

SOOOOO wish I could do this but there is just no time atm :(

[Natzuur-JK]

I'm def in, sounds fun! this will be my first COW

[Rizza]

Wow rushwolf, amazing. Did you start out with black and add lights or white and add darks?

[remmy]

Mmm... cool idea, a yearly 4 stage metamorphosis. No butterfly's! >:{
I must come up with something sweet as.
>:| *goes away entranced in thought*

[JellevdVegt]

difficult one...

[shiNIN]

tempting... especially that we have so much time. I'm a slow one... and a beginner. I hope I can post at least some wips before cowardly run away :D I don't want to present low quality stuff for the big weeklies. I did many dsg entries, some saw and spartan camp ones till now. my dream is making CHOWs and COWs also, but I'm not big enough for them.
I think I will learn a lot even if I only try...

[Rabid]

Wow rushwolf, amazing. Did you start out with black and add lights or white and add darks?

Seconded, what style did you use Rush, PM or post!

[Xenier]

Here's an initial idea for the summer form of my creature, still working on the others.
http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp190/Xenier/summerCOWrunner.jpg

[Pixeltuner]

this is gonna be sweeeet. My first brainfart is some sort of padded armadillo-esque creature in which the pads close in winter so the creature essentially turns into a dormant rock for that season. Not sure what to do with spring and autumn then, but it's a starting point.

[rushwolf]

Uhm. I think I started with a black blob and added greys and whites. Used one of the standard photoslop blocky brushes.

[patr1ot]

Rushwolfloving your work
dunno where im going with this here are some wips

[rushwolf]

Question -- lets say my creature is a work animal. Domesticated and such. Can I show the rig/harness or saddle it would be fashioned with for each season?

[Max Martelli]

This could be interesting. I might try this.

[rushwolf]

Starting to look like some weird warthog or something. The fur is being a pain in the ass so for.

[OTTA]

Good desgin man! I like your fur looking great. I think you can do more on this warhog :D. Nice work man!

[skinny]

My creature plants itself and changes during each season.
498114

[OTTA]

skinny : Be careful on "no plant" rule. :)

[Fozzybar]

skinny : Be careful on "no plant" rule. :):grandpa: that's right...indeed...yes.


Question -- lets say my creature is a work animal. Domesticated and such. Can I show the rig/harness or saddle it would be fashioned with for each season?You can do this, but avoid covering too much of the creatures design and anatomy ;)

[MoHog]

Scweet, luving this new brand of C.O.W challenges. awesome work Rushwolf - interestingly the feral pig is supposed to be one of the most adaptable animals. I'm goin with the 'hyper-survival worm'.
(still workin on the name)

[Angel Intheuk]

Think I'm in on this one...got an idea...actually similar to Pixeltuners, was a bit gutted when I realised I wasn't an original genius :P lol...be interesting to see how we both tackle it.
;)

[MoHog]

WIP

http://i350.photobucket.com/albums/q429/LouAy/wwwworm.jpg

this lil' geezer is the basis for the transformations, this version may be autumn or summer. hopefully i'll be adding definition tomorrow. Then its morphin' time!

[meganite]

As I'm working on my creature concepts, I'm encountering one major question. One type of creature I can think of changing form significantly on a seasonal basis is the butterfly, but the question is, can we have a creature which has a lifespan of one year only, or does it need to have a multiple year lifespan? If it's up to us, I want to do a creature that undergoes a metamorphosis corresponding to the season, and perhaps dies after a year. I just can't figure out any other way a significant change in form could be economic for a creature to undergo, unless the environment also changes significantly... I'm thinking of that aspect as well =)

I'm glad this is lasting a while, it'll be good to have time to come up with my concept and still have enough time to flesh it out. I guess my problem is I always try to make everything make sense before I even start :^^;: but, without that, what is the fun of creature design? :)

[Fozzybar]

I guess my problem is I always try to make everything make sense before I even startWelcome to conceptart :perv:

[Ipnorospo]

quick crappy sketches of various stages of metamorphing

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3202/scansionekn9.jpg


basically it feeds with the cold wind, storing the..... "coolness" in is special internal organs, then it morph itself into a walking iceberg to survive in the warmer climate... yeah he's cool :D

[meganite]

Welcome to conceptart :perv:

LOL it's not a problem then? :P But you still haven't answered my question!!

[remmy]

I really like your creature rushwolf, looking mad.

My Nagual in its base form.

[Fozzybar]

LOL it's not a problem then? :P But you still haven't answered my question!!
If your question was the one about the life span of your creature...i don't care how old it gets, as long as it changes its shape for each season while it is alive it's fine ;)

[Max Martelli]

Fozzybar: When the time for the final pieces comes, do we have to present them seperately or can the illustrations fit together to form a single coherent presentation of our creature changing over the seasons? (can I frame them all together?)

[Fozzybar]

Fozzybar: When the time for the final pieces comes, do we have to present them seperately or can the illustrations fit together to form a single coherent presentation of our creature changing over the seasons? (can I frame them all together?)

4 images, separately or in 1 frame, both are fine ;)

[tsabu]

i got a idea of creatures with wings - here's my quick sketch (summer or spring version probably) i just wander is that creature not a bit too "dragon" like? should i stay with it or seek for some other solution :^^;: ?

[jhagen22]

Fozzy: Quick question - Would it be allowable to have in-between shots of the creature changing from one stage to the next (besides the main 4 drawings I mean)? Maybe smaller pictures?

[Rizza]

Question -- lets say my creature is a work animal. Domesticated and such. Can I show the rig/harness or saddle it would be fashioned with for each season?

Maybe you can have him pulling something like a chariot or wagon so you don't have to cover too much of the animal with things.

[Fozzybar]

Fozzy: Quick question - Would it be allowable to have in-between shots of the creature changing from one stage to the next (besides the main 4 drawings I mean)? Maybe smaller pictures?Yeah, why not...but really focus on the final design of each season ;)

[Wolfentir]

Hi all, this is my first time doing a creature of the week, or really a decent looking creature at all, would love to hear all critiques or suggestions.

Started with winter, big bulky, doesn't move as much
500498

then to spring, which is faster and has a sort of shadow of the colossus like grassy hair start to grow.
500499

and then to summer, which is more giraffe-like and more hair
500500

I have some ideas for fall but i haven't sketched them out yet.

[Carbono]

would love to hear all critiques or suggestions.

Started with winter, big bulky, doesn't move as much

then to spring, which is faster and has a sort of shadow of the colossus like grassy hair start to grow.

and then to summer, which is more giraffe-like and more hair

Shouldn't it be "Inverse"? On Winter more hair, to protect the creature from the cold, and, on summer almost no hair, to protect the creature from "Over-heating"?

Anyway, good luck man! :)

[Windfalcon]

Ok, here are some ideas for the Four Seasons creature. This is the Leaf Harvester, a creature who uses leaves for insulation and food throughout the winter.

In spring, it has eaten most of its leaves, which is fine since the weather is now getting warm. It spends each day finding the best leaves to attach to its body. Its spindly toes and sticky tongue catch the leaves. The tendrilish things you see on its mouth secrete a very sticky kind of saliva that seal the leaves to its body. When summer comes around, it finds even more leaves, which it layers on top of the spring leaves. In autumn, it layers those leaves on top of the summer leaves, giving it a massive appearance. It also attaches acorns, berries, and other sources of nutrition. Come winter, it settles down and uses the mass of leaves on its tail as a shield from the snow. Slowly, it eats the leaves until spring, and the cycle begins again...

I'm almost a bit worried about the winter creature, since I don't know if that breaks the rule of 'no blob-like masses'? It's essentially a big mass of leaves with a head, front feet, and a tail that shields it. I think a really fun part of this creature will be all the colors. For spring, it will be mostly skin (I haven't decided which color yet. Maybe a pale peach/dull purple) with a few light green leaves attached. For summer, it will be covered in vibrant green leaves, and for autumn it will be covered in green, red, yellow, all different colors. In winter, as those leaves start to lose their color, it will be covered in mostly brown leaves, and snow.


I would love some critiques and suggestions! :D

[Ipnorospo]

mmh be aware of the PLANT CREATURE rule...

[Ipnorospo]

the basic sketch of the winter form

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/6093/wintercopyur6.jpg

[OTTA]

Windfalcon : I like your concept of collecting leaves to be part of its body, Nice work man!

[Windfalcon]

Thanks OTTA!

Ipnorospo: Ah, I hadn't even thought of that! Is that rule associated with making a plant rather than an animal-based creature, or can the creature have plants attached to it (which the Leaf Harvester essentially does)?

In any case, I thought about it, and I may have a better idea, that would also avoid any 'plant problems.' What if the creature had expandable, transparent pouches that filled with the leaves it ate? And each season, they grow bigger and bigger, and with different colors due to the color of leaves it eats? And then it uses these huge pouches as insulation/food during the winter?

Does this sound like a better idea?

[Ipnorospo]

well i love the former idea too, but you should ask to admins... I love the leaf creature anyway :D

[Fozzybar]

Windfalcon
If you do not draw plant, it's ok. You can use leaves or flowers for your concept, as long as it is a creature at the end...

[Windfalcon]

Thanks, Fozzybar! It looks like I'm not breaking any rules, then. I might actually combine parts of both ideas, though. I'll work on some more sketches.

[shiNIN]

and what about the "not blob-like masses" rule? my creature is a bit shapeless too during the cold winter (it doesn't move at that form, it doesn't need legs - there are thick snow out there and the creature has its longest transformation period anyway). I can put decorative little legs if I should... maybe it would be better. I have great difficulties with that form :( I have pathetic sketches.
the other 3 forms will be shapely, of course :)

[corspufo]

Here's what I've got so far. I'm imagining a insectoid-plant thing. We'll see where it goes.

[The_Macedonian]

Corspufo thats awesome

[Lemmingwing]

hey, this is my first image and after Ive seen how many pics have been pulle I wonder if mine is good enough to stay. So check this out. My creature has a beak that grows or shrinks in every season. In spring its collecting seeds from flowers and grows em in its beak. In summer the flowers grow and developes a thick brushwood for protection from the sun. In Autumn the flowers fade and the creature eats them to get fat for the winter. And I think the winter is pretty clear.

Now, you have to help me, do you think this Image (after beeing coloured) is gonna get pulled?

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq36/Lemmingwing/COW.jpg

*sry for the bad english*

[Kristen Whitaker]

these are an idea i randomly drew up, most likely will change

[Skrunchey]

Windfalcon~ I like the concept but my concern is that the creature doesn't actually change shape. It is just adding to its' body ie. leaves/plants instead of fur.

[B]ADDITIONAL INFO

4. The changes between the shapes must be significantly. Changing only colors is not enough. Adding and removing only fur is also too less. We don't talk about a creature which changes its appearance between seasons like animals we know (eg animals which become white fur in winter). This creature is unique, because it changes its SHAPE for each season


Just a thought :D

[Mr.Wittmann]

wip for spring :P

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/809/cow128be1.jpg

[Ipnorospo]

I painted the sketch for the winter... but I'm really doubtful about the colour scheme.... It looks way too monochromatic for me... What do you think?

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/1728/wintercopyeh8.jpg

[Wolfentir]

Winterbeast update, took the suggestion of having it all fuzzball in the winter.
502760

[meganite]

Beautiful work, everyone! Time to post some of my own.

Like I said, I like to think about things way too much before making anything significant =P This competition format has been a blessing to me! Normally I don't get so much time to fully design the creatures. I don't know for some reason I approach it almost more from the industrial design perspective... but I know that whether by evolution or design, the morphology of each creature in nature has a specific and well-honed purpose.

So, enjoy! I am basing my design off of dragonflies, mantises, and moths. The lifecycle of a dragonfly was most interesting to research, since they are aquatic for most of their lives, and are one of the top predators in their underwater food chains.

503273

[mairuku]

Why is that "no plant-creature" rule implemented? Plants I can understand, but can we not add vegetational elements to a creature?
Edit: Ah, I think I clarified it myself. Nevermind.

[¿Dubious?]

Whipped up a few sketches for basic composition's sake mostly. Used them to lay down some basic anatomical structure and color palettes as well. Let me know what you think. Order goes Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. I focused a lot on making the changes dramatic but still practical. Let me know if you want an explanation of any season.

[¿Dubious?]

Corspufo: Im a little confused but mostly in awe. That thing is seriously cool.
Windfalcon: The only thing I would look out for is that you dont so much have four distinct forms as you do two forms (spring and winter) and two seasons of transition in between. Cool stuff though. The transparent leaf sacs sound sweet.
Kristen: I would say your changes need to be much more dramatic. I cant actually really detect a difference between spring and summer. Something to keep in mind as your concept develops.
Great work everyone. Keep it up.

[Shod]

Hey guys and girls. Always wanted to have a bash at one of these...
The gist of it is - summer/hibernate, autumn/lean, winter/hunter, spring/excess
Looking at other peeps comments, I'm a bit worried about the form changes - whether they're distinct enough. I'm trying my best to give each a rhythm and reason to accentuate each season and lifestyle change.

[sketchgoatee]

No better time for a first post. Noticed a few refernces to C.O.W. on some random sites I stumbled upon and lo and behold here I land, my dream website. I';ve been randomly sketching fantastical animals, plants and machines as far back as I can remember. I only have a couple of weeks left, but I think I can come up with something before the end.

That said, there have been some awesome ideas so far. I wish I'd heard of this site earlier, there's some real talent here.

[Kristen Whitaker]

I worked more on my concepts, tried to make more dramatic changes.. more will probably be added

[CavyWolfe]

Kristen: Better, but spring and summer still look a little to similar. Both your first and second posts, with spring and summer, looks only like the creature is moving its head and neck. Maybe having the horns or tail change more dramatically.
Lemmingwing: I really like the concept, and the idea of gathering seeds and growing plants is very interesting, but maybe having the creature grow the plants on its back as well or changed shape.
Great job to everyone though, I had made some sketches, but eh. :)

[infinitemonkey]

Hmm, I think I'll get in on this CO(4)W.

[Wolfentir]

Spring form. It is less hairy, more fit (for running and what have you) the mountain on its back has formed a crater type thing, which it splashes color in to attract mates as well as newly formed rocky horns with long colorful hair also for finding a mate.

504405

[sketchgoatee]

A little praise before my own contribution.

Rushwolf: Loving the creature so far. Great texture in the hair, and I'm liking the contrasting colour of the head.

Ipnorospo: Very comical quotes. But seroiusly, like the generating ice design. really neat idea. That's our solution to global warming right there. Now all we need is a genetic engineer....

Remmy: Are all of it's "feet" actually hands? I can't tell from your sketch. looks good though. very strong use of muscle tone.

Wolfentir: It looks like a walking mountain. that on it's own is damn cool. I like the use of colour for the spring form, and the sheer power in it's stance.

Windfalcon: Really like your Leaf Harvester, nice idea about it collecting leaves through the seasons, thus changing it's coat constantly.

Corspufo: I Like your forms, and they're all different, but they all look a little too different to me, in the same way as a dog, a cat, and a wombat are all four legged creatures and can all have the same brown coat, but not the same species. That's just me though, and they do look amazing.

Meganite: Loving the sketches, I'll be very interested to see where it leads. A friend of mine did her PHD on Damselflies, their Lifecycles, and how human activity is affecting them. interesting stuff.

Dubious: Very colourful, and is it being worshipped as a God during the summer? If so, nice touch. Not sure about the transition from the almost wing-like form of autumn to the flipper-like form of winter, seems a bit of a dramatic change. Good design overall though.

Shod: liking the sketches, if you're worried about the creature not having enough visible change, work on muscle tone and fat reserves as well as the spikes/spines. Muscles in the legs would lose tone during hibernation so might appear more spindly afterwards (autumn).

Kristen: I think your later sketches are looking better than your first as far as differentiating the seasons is concerned. don't forget posture can work quite well, your winter one looks as if it's purposefully standing high off the ground, which says to me that it's keeping it's body far from the snow to preserve body heat, as opposed to spring/summer, where it hugs the ground more closely.

As for mine, I'm still working on the name. But as it's effectively a type of flying tiger/lion, I figure Felinavian works well enough for the moment.

The idea behind it is that in summer it has a summer coat, and as such the creature's six limbs are covered in very short hair. Being a nesting creature that prefers trees, the Felinavian would move around the treetops quite easily with it's four longer limbs (each with two fingers that look like elongated toes from a tiger's paw), before falling onto it's prey from above and grasping the poor creature with it's strong hind legs while going for the jugular with it's powerful jaws.

In Autumn the coat is slightly longer and as such makes moving gracefully through trees at higher speeds somewhat more dangerous. So using it's chestnut brown coat as camouflage amidst the fallen leaves, it sneaks up on it's prey, the two sets of forelimbs moving together as one. The Hair grows rather fast on the Felinavian, which helps with camouflage as it rolls the hair into a dreadlock style. The creature then hunts for almost the entire season, so it does not have to feed during winter.

In winter it survives solely off it's fat and water stores, while "braiding" the hair on it's forelimbs together to create a form of wing. This is effectively done much the same way as autumn, by making a kind of massive flat dreadlock. The same is done with the hair between the hind leg knees and toes, which will eventualy become a kind of stabilizer, and in winter can serve as a form of snowshoe. To preserve body heat, when not preening, the Felinavian's limbs are tucked away and the hair folded over the creature, making it look like a large white-brown ball of fur with teeth.

In spring it loses a great deal of it's winter coat, but retains the hair between it's forelimbs (the wings), the thick hair on it's chest, the hair between it's knee and toes, and a large puff of fur on the end of the tail. Most of these are used in mating rituals, but the "wings" and the hair between the knees and toes are used for flight. Flight being somewhat more of an exaggeration, as the Felinavian's body lacks the lightweight bones and muscel structure of a true flyer, and so it can spend only a few minutes in the air at a time. This is also used in mating rituals, as the one to stay up the longest has a higher chance of getting a mate.

Ahem. Sorry, I could write an essay on this creature. I won't for the sake of peoples boredom-retention and sanity (Though I've spun quite a yarn so far). Questions? Constructive Criticism? The sketch is just that, a sketch, and was the culmination of the only five minutes I had to myself during my work break, so sorry for the poor quality. working on winter now as I think it's somewhat more cute than the others.

[¿Dubious?]

Wolfentir I'm really loving what you've got so far. What are you using to color these? Oh and just for critique's sake Im not sure what's going on with the feet.

[Black Sun]

Ooh, this sounds fun. Count me in!

Edit: Is it ok if we have different forms for each sex? I was thinking of having the males and females change in to slightly different forms for mating rituals and such. Or would that be too much?

[HareTrinity]

Ooh, this sounds fun. Count me in!

Edit: Is it ok if we have different forms for each sex? I was thinking of having the males and females change in to slightly different forms for mating rituals and such. Or would that be too much?

Personally I love that idea, especially since it means the species can optimise it's camouflage/other seasonal adaptations when attracting the opposite gender isn't at the height of its to-do list!

Haha, I imagine (female) supermodels putting on pounds and growing beards for the winter!

The only problem I could see with that is an info-overload; if the pictures aren't clear about male-female in the 4 seasons so people looking are a bit "uh - are those all ONE species?" but otherwise I expect it'd be fine.

Windfalcon; liking your idea so far! Only issue I really see is defence; perhaps the saliva should be generally toxic to other animals so as to stop them stealing the leaves or eating the critter? That or it could collect spiked branches too... Just my thoughts, it's looking good!

Wolfentir; wow, looks like a giant elemental species! The Spring one especially. Wasn't expecting anyone to do that... And also looking good!

And here I was expecting more deer-like ideas based on using the antlers like trees to show when it's at.

[Lemmingwing]

Hey, Ive done some work and finnaly finished the summer form for my creature.
Its my first COW and usually only use traditional art so its not that great. But here it is

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq36/Lemmingwing/CowSommer.jpg

[meganite]

Personally I love that idea, especially since it means the species can optimise it's camouflage/other seasonal adaptations when attracting the opposite gender isn't at the height of its to-do list!

Haha, I imagine (female) supermodels putting on pounds and growing beards for the winter!

The only problem I could see with that is an info-overload; if the pictures aren't clear about male-female in the 4 seasons so people looking are a bit "uh - are those all ONE species?" but otherwise I expect it'd be fine.


I am thinking of the idea of male/female differentiation in my creature too, but only in mating season. I think I'll tackle that one last, since it's more complicated and I need practice XD

So, here's my progress pic. I'm starting on the spring form, which is a nymph that lives underwater in stagnant pools and hunts for insects, and worms, and even small fish.

505835

Feedback please!! :O

But first, some feedback of my own:
Lemmingwing: Good, vibrant colors! Though, I'm not sure what it's doing. Is it eating from the leaves of the tree using its trunk? It looks almost like the leaves are sprouting from its trunk instead. You may want to put more leaves in there farther away from its trunk, or some branches connecting it to the tree.
Wolfentir: Wow, your work is coming along nicely! I'm a big fan of your watercolory style, and such great colors there! On your winter guy... well those trees on the ground need work, maybe make them less black so we can see the detail on the nose of the creature more.
Ipnorospo: I like it! He looks kinda small though. Maybe it's the size of his limbs and the huge mountain in the background that does it... Maybe add a couple of trees in there for scale? Make his limbs bigger?
Kristen: I like the form of the creature! It looks really graceful. However, I'm having a bit of trouble seeing how it gets from Winter to Spring. They're also pretty similar, so it looks like more of a gradual change. Maybe think about how you could change the pose very differently based on what it's doing each season? So like maybe there's some fruit that grows in one of the seasons up high so it has a different form for that season so it can collect the fruit... longer neck, claws, horns to bash the tree and knock the fruit down?
SketchGoatee: Thanks for all the crits! :D As for your creature, I think it could be pretty cool. I'm wondering what happens to those 4 limbs in the other seasons? I don't see them... or is it that its forelimbs are split apart? That'd be kinda crazy cool. Also, I don't think it could use simply fur to either fly or glide, it would have to have some membrane between the limbs. Fur, when it's more dense, turns into something more like a rhino's horn, so it wouldn't have the flexibility to fly well.

Hope this helps y'all!

[Aram]

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj193/Aram_ZV/COW128_Arma-Sketch1.jpg

My creature lives in a valley. The valley is dry during Summer and Fall dut gets floated in the winter.
That's why the Dasypodidae Auquaticus builds himself a Shelter during the Fall and leaves his cocoon
ass an Amphibic during Spring, only to change back to landcreature. This Cyclus repeats it self every Year.

[Lemmingwing]

Meganite: no the leaves are growing out of its trunk to protect it from the sun. But youre right i should ad more leaves.

I love your creature, great idea, an underwater creature :D

[Shod]

Wow everyone, I'm inspired by all your great ideas. Thanks for the comments.
Here a couple of anatomy studies for mine and a try at the winter form.

[meganite]

Wow, those are some really great drawings Shod! Those eyes are really strange. What is the purpose of there being many eyes all in one socket? Definitely alien =)

Aram, That's a neat set of designs too! Lots of character, he looks like a punk.

[CUBICcube]

I got this so far... lookin good now to make like 3 more and fixum up haha.

[deerinheadlights]

Everybody has such great entries, the end result to this one is going to be so exciting! Here's my little sketches and musings:

http://i33.tinypic.com/2dkjmfd.jpg
My creature is like an amphibian, except it doesn't go in the water, but it constantly needs it, so it's whole existance is based on gathering and storing water. All of it's skin is suction cups that open depending on the season. I'm not sure if it's going to eat anything alse yet. It also mixes the water with a toxin, so it's brightly colored to show off it's poison status. In the above spring form, it has suctioncups on it's back to catch spring rain, along the ones on it's sides.

http://i33.tinypic.com/sn2q1j.jpg

The summer form is rounded to keep water from heating up too quickly. All the pores are closed so the water doesn't evaporate. I decided to make the side suction cup into a leg (it filles with water or something) so that the summer form can walk better since it's so heavy.

http://i38.tinypic.com/zwdgux.jpg

The fall form picks up dew from fallen leaves and skims up water using stomach suction cups. I'm trying to differentiate this from the spring one by making it more newt like, while spirng will hop more like a frog and have longer hind legs.

http://i37.tinypic.com/2vb6hi9.jpg

The winter form basically lays in the snow all winter. It uses it's entire body as a storage unit, so the sixth pair of legs make a return. I'm trying to make it look less like the summer form too.

This challenge is really gonna help me with amphibian anatomy, I can't wait to start.

[meganite]

My "Final" Spring form, any crits?

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For summer, which I will be doing next, it will crawl out of the water and its legs will become more prominent and more leg-like. I'm trying to decide if I want it to be more mantis-like, standing up, or more locust-like, clinging to branches. In any case, I hope to make it camouflaged with its environment... I just need to watch that it doesn't blend into the background too much!

Great work, everyone! Neat concepts for storing water, deerinheadlights.

[HareTrinity]

Meganite,

It's face looks a little lacking in definition? But that could be to put emphasis on the water quality, so this isn't really a criticism so much as a question.

More so I'd say the background could do with a little bit of aquatic plantlife to give a feeling of size and realism? It reminds me of a dragonfly nymph, and a lot of wildlife photography of them shows them with (and usually holding on to) pond weed or the like.

But this would be nitpicking, the creature's the important bit and it looks good!

As for mantis v grasshopper, I think you could get either to work and look forward to seeing the next stage!

[meganite]

Thanks, Haretrinity! Great ideas. I can't figure it out somehow people say the faces of insects I draw lack definition... that's what they said on one of my pics from a couple of competitions ago. I'll see what I can do to add some more definition. Insect mouthparts are hard to draw >_<

[Wolfentir]

Hey all, got my summer form up. In the summer the Arangdyr's neck elongates and it grows a sail on its back to protect its body from heat. It spends most of its summer in the local woodlands trying to keep cool.

Aram Looking good, can't wait to see the finals.
Shod Your stuff is very inspirational, the idea of coming up with a skull first and designing around that is very cool, looking very good.
CUBIcube Very interesting looking creature, it kinda actually reminds me of the ghost creature things from that Final Fantasy movie, lol.
Deerinheadlights I really like how your creatures look, I think its great how the colors change throughout the seasons.
Meganite Looking great, I looked in your sketchbook at your studies and whatnot that you have been doing for this, and its coming along very nicely. I agree with Hare that the head could use more definition, but very good!

Anyway here it is

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[DefiledVisions]

I've been thinking about this for a while.. And finnaly nailed an idea.. won't tell everything yet, I'll share the cake for the finals - but it's a creature inspired by nordic mythology and keltic/ druidistic stuff.

I guess you can call it a, in times - benevolent, other times - chaotic, symbiotic spirit creature... as Fozz suggested, I'll wait with the rest til the finals ;)

Wolfentir I like the thing you've got going so far. I'm just a bit confused about the size of this creature. The first winter piece it's huge, second, I get the feeling it's as big as a horse, and this latest piece I get a feeling it's small like a roe deer or something similar, wild hog. Just pointing it, probably you've got some idea behind it :)

[Delmar]

Great stuff so far and great topic!

Throwin in something, don't know if i'm able to finish all seasons. (no ref used)

[HareTrinity]

Great stuff so far and great topic!

Throwin in something, don't know if i'm able to finish all seasons. (no ref used)

Bug-chameleon-thing!

I'd like to see it finished (it's a nice idea, it'd be a shame not to display it with the other entries), so perhaps do the other forms as a diagram?

E.g.
http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/cycle.html
[Warning; amphibian pornographic content]

You have 1 picture in detail to show the creature, probably in its most recogniseable/significant form (depending on the focus of the description) and just have a basic diagram to show its other life stages.

I've seen this with various multi-stage creatures (many parasite-information posters have the 1-photo+diagram routine) and... Yeah, I'm babbling.

Just a thought.

[Mo Crow]

I probably won't have time to finish my entry, it would've been my first COW. I had a great idea too.

It's a doglike thing, kind of a bear, living in a forest type climate almost a tundra, but less, a place maybe in a South Canadian forest. It loops pretty nicely too.

Spring-
Still a little furry from Winter, bulky, sluggish, it's omnivorous so most of this time it'll feed on the vegetation and spend most of it's time on or near a meadow.

Summer-
It moves into the denser parts of the forest to stay cool and it's extra fur from Winter is completely gone by now. He/She begins to lose weight and will now continue eating smaller mammals as it's primary food sources, but will have to occasionally rely on plants and berries.

Fall-
With a lot of the leaves being stripped from the trees the animal will be unable to get much food using it's hunting habits from the Summer. So the animal will usually lie under leaves and spring at passing prey, but it will be in a sort of half awake state, somewhat similar to hibernation.

Winter-
He grows fur to keep from freezing to death. It's lost a lot of weight since the beginning of Fall and due to it's small amount of movement it's claws have grown and hardened without having the slow wearing away from walking around on the rough forest floor. It uses it's new claws to dig, squeeze and sneak into the hibernating places of slumbering of other animals. The creature will kill and eat a large number of animals gaining back it's weight, where it loops into Spring.

[Mr--Jack]

Aha! Okay, so this is the second time I've said 'hi, this is my first cow' but last time never went anywhere. So. Without further ado; an interesting topic here indeed.

Some pretty nice ideas coming along too!
Particularly liking yours Wolfentir, though I'll agree with DefiledVisions in that it's size is a bit all over the place at the moment. (Which isn't necessarily bad but you've not mentioned it so far); and deerinheadlights I like the consistency you've got in your designs while keeping them differentiated. Looking forwards to seeing some more progress!

Alright.
I'm going for something antarctic here, since there are quite dramatic differences in the seasons there, though I might have to push the differences between my stages a bit more than they are at the moment.
I've got a whale-sized (maybe needs a bit of reduction, not sure yet) arthropod creature which is marine for winter and spring and terrestrial for the other half of the year.
In spring the creature gorges itself enormously on krill blooms in order to keep it going for its terrestrial phase, during which it doesn't eat (mostly)—at the start of summer it leaves the ocean in full 'breeding plumage' (so to speak) which consists of an enormous number of brightly coloured fins spreading out from its body, which are just the webbing it uses to propel itself while swimming greatly enlarged, which it uses for ponderous but nonetheless highly dramatic courtship displays. During early summer it doesn't move much, as it is quite clumsy and heavy and too much movement may damage their displays, and it is up to the females (who are less display-oriented) to choose their mates. After this process has concluded the creatures migrate overland for months, and by spring time they have lost their 'plumage' due to a combination of moulting and simple wear from traveling over rough ground for such a long time. They're also much thinner, not having eaten this whole time, and thus as smaller nimbler creatures they are able to fulfill their autumn niche, which is as a hunter among the many penguin colonies around the antarctic coasts. (Here's mainly why the size is a bit of a problem, since a large number of these enormous hunters would theoretically shortly wipe out any penguin population. . perhaps there should be a more dramatic shrinking during it's summer-autumn change).
After stocking up on food they return to the ocean, where they first give birth to enormous numbers of young, before folding themselves into a more efficient streamlined shape to make the undersea journey back to their spring feeding grounds.
The reason they make this journey (instead of just feeding on closer penguin colonies) is to prevent themselves from inadvertently eating their own young, who for a large portion of their development are not much larger than krill and might otherwise be wiped out.

There are of course a number of groups of these creatures (I don't have an appropriate name yet) traveling in varying directions across the antarctic continent so eating of each others' young happens, but enough (though a very small percentage) survive to adulthood to rejoin the adults to keep the population stable.

[Nexus]

Hrmm, some good ideas here thus far. I might try to find some time for this. Thus far Mr--Jack has the most interesting idea in my opinion and the furthest thing for the whole changing of the leaves idea that people seem to be leaning towards. Good work all around though. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

[deerinheadlights]

Thanks, Wolfentir and Mr--Jack! Nice concepts both of you, especially like that they're both almost mythical; one's like a dragon and the other's almost like a leviathan. Anyway, this is my almost final version for Spring, and as far as I got for Summer I'm trying to show that my is basically the size of your average gecko or newt. Also, summer is at about 25% zoom, it's not actually that much smaller.


http://i37.tinypic.com/mm7bx4.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/1zzidrr.jpg

[Nexus]

Starting later than I'd like but I have commission work in addition to the day job now so time is tight. Anyways, I thought Id try some copy/reflect thumbs courtesy of Mike Corriero's technique. Just trying to find some overall interesting shapes. A creature without a basic interesting shape is a dull creature indeed. So I'm starting out from here. Anyhow, throw me a few words on which silhouettes you find to be the most intriguing, you can pick more than one since we need multiple designs this round. The numbers indicate which row the creature is on, so you can say something along the lines of " Row 3, number 4". I'll be ruminating on the decision myself for a bit and I'll take people's advice into my decision process. Thanks.

[Mr--Jack]

Nexus; thankye!
And . . . Some nice silhouettes you've got there, very insectlike.
I'm assuming these are chronologically ordered so I'll say you got into the swing of it, I prefer the later ones to the top rows.
Lets see; 4, perhaps, for the 4 seasons, so - (going alphabetically left to right)
3B + 4A are a bit crablike and cool looking, which gives you a nice sort of way of transitioning what with shedding of exoskeleton sort of idea, and that comes up with 4C as well looking a bit cicada-like, with 3C making up a possible wingéd airborne stage...
Of course those could be a bit obvious perhaps, but as silhouettes I like those ones. Hope you can manage to pull it off!

[theHaggard]

this is the summer form of my creature. dont know if ill have time for the resthttp://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p272/t-lark/4seasons_01.jpg

[gunnarsson]

quick thing today. the seasons are backwards (right to left)

got them all in one picture and it leaves other gaps in the requirements but I'm not here for the price. In the winter this thing lies asleep half burried, getting some oxygen and sunlight from the flowerlike tongue, and slowly eating away on stored bodeyfats.

In the spring it comes out of its onio.. shell. Its thin from loosing all that fat, and preys on smaller beasts by lureing them with the mock flower. the shell becomes armor.

In the summer its eyes closes, it turns around 180 degrees and the second head comes to use. Now it eats fruit and vegetables to get the whole spectrum of nutrition.

In the fall it has already become pretty fat, it has once again the beaked head in use and builds up the last bit of fat for the winter sleep.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u256/pettergunnarsson/gunnarsson_cow128-1.jpg

[theHaggard]

This is the winter form. To keep warm in the winter the tail wraps around the underside of the creature and fuses to the body, while the creature gains massive body mass and muscle from its autumn feasting. the tail spikes form the lower jaw.
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p272/t-lark/4seasonsw_01.jpg

[Mr--Jack]

theHaggard; looking pretty good, the lighting's nice in the second one, though the background in both of them is a bit scrumbly (better in the winter phase) which draws attention away from the creature.
Curious though, does that mean it doesn't have a lower jaw during summer? and What does it use the tail for in summer?
Gunnarson, I like the look of yours, especially the winter + spring two, but the spring one isn't reading very well headwise—it's difficult to imagine it given the petals make it so completely unstreamlined that way; perhaps you just need to give the eyes a little more emphasis in that form, I didn't notice them for quite a while.
Of course, having a camouflaged head is not a bad thing for a creature so it's not necessarily a drawback.

So since it's the first (and probably simpler to show, given background is easier to get away with) the spring form has been pushed a bit further now. I might put it under some pack-ice to make the final shot a bit more interesting but for now just working with the details.

[meganite]

Everyone, great work so far!! O_O Man, how can I compete with all the awesome work here??

Here's my summer form WIP.
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Is there anything horribly wrong with the pose or design, before I add details? ... I may post a fall WIP before I finish everything up. And of course, I need to come up with a cool winter "cocoon" which exists in frozen water...I haven't decided yet whether they're going to be able to come back in the spring, or if they just lay their eggs and die in the fall. In which case, the eggs would be the winter form. Gotta make it interesting....

[Kristen Whitaker]

I worked on my concepts more and switched some stuff around and made spring and summer more different from each other. These sketchs weren't drawn in proportion with each other so don't bother about their size for now ;D
added color

[Mr--Jack]

Meganite; looking pretty good, I have to say, very believable. I would suggest not having them die, since despite it sort of fitting the brief I think it works better if it's a repetitively cyclical thing instead of just a life cycle.
Kristen Whitaker, the addition of colour and the detailing really helps differentiate between the seasons now, but it'd be good to hear what these changes are for; a longer neck is presumably to assist feeding, but without context it appears a little random at the moment. Coming along nicely.

So, here's a pretty-much-finished summer version of my beast (still unsure on a name); I've kept to a gargantuan scale, just because it feels more interesting. I was planning to add another one on the ice to the right, but for now I'll move on and come back to it if I've time.

[Angel Intheuk]

Looking good Mr--Jack...loving the technique :) I like the gargantuan aspect of it, tis interesting

[deerinheadlights]

Nice work everybody!
Gunnarsson- I really like the two head idea, I really like the summer and fall versions.
Meganite- Really great insect, those studies you've been doing have really paid off! I like the idea of eggs being the winter form, but I think a cocoon would make more sense "shapeshifter"-wise.
Mr--Jack- Nice to see an aquatic creature! I like how the sails are so colorful, must things in the Anarctic are so drab.

Here's a WIP of my fall version. It looks a lot more like the spring one than it does the summer, so I'm thinking of redoing my summer one.
http://i36.tinypic.com/30u5mqc.jpg
I think the legs look really messed up, but I can't figure out how to fix them. Any crits?

[Danuh]

What a colorful concept, I love all the entries so far *A* Especially theHaggard's winter beast~
Good luck to you all in the finals

[Moai]

That creature is awesome, Mr. Jack. Fantastic design, and great sense of movement and weight.

[aberrant85]

What is it? It's like a pod that sleeps in the earth in winter. In spring it crawls to the surface to recharge its batteries under the sun. Then in summer it starts a-walking to spread its territory, then in fall it produces and spreads its seeds. http://nathanheigert.com/images/0_fullsize/fourseasons1.jpg
http://nathanheigert.com/images/0_fullsize/fourseasons2.jpghttp://nathanheigert.com/images/0_fullsize/fourseasons3.jpghttp://nathanheigert.com/images/0_fullsize/fourseasons4.jpg

[deerinheadlights]

Those are some great pictures aberrant85, I especially like spring, but don't forget about the plant creature rule! It might not even be breaking it but it's safe to check.

I had to respeckle my whole guy yesterday because I accidently saved it too small, but I did it. I might make the backgound better though:
http://i34.tinypic.com/2nr0ox2.jpg

Also, I redid the creature in the summer picture, since it was looking so different from the spring and fall ones:
http://i33.tinypic.com/2e3bcww.jpg
I'm thinking I should puch the shadows and highlights more, any tips?

[¿Dubious?]

aberrant85: really cool stuff just definitely watch for the plant animal rule.
deerinheadlights: definitely good work. I really like the sleepy summer creature. Your fall guy looks like he is in some sort of bizarre river of lava rather than a carpet of leaves though. Grab some reference. I don think you need more detail, you're just working with the wrong shapes.

[Nexus]

Deerinheadlights, I agree with Dubious. Something I noticed also. It looks in a few places like you are painting around previously painted objects. It's evident by your stroke direction. You'll have a much easier time if you separate main part off into layers. I could be off base here but thats the way it looks. Theres alot to be said for developing courageous mark making by using very few or just one layer but then again layers can cut time spent in half. Additionally if you manually drew in all those speckles on the creatures skin then I commend you on the dedication. But once again that is oh so tedious. Make a few speckles of differing sizes and create a custom brush for that speckle work. Or multiple custom brushes. Alot of times you can set the brush settings so that the brush pattern randomizes. As it stands the the speckles look a bit too uniform. With a good custom speckle brush you could rework those speckles in a matter of minutes instead of the hour plus it must have taken the other way. On the positive side, I am really enjoying the bold color schemes and the creatures' designs.

[deerinheadlights]

Thank Dubious and Nexus!
I never would have noticed that lava thing. Also, yes Nexus, I paint around previous objects becuase I like that better than just using the eraser, but with beig things like this it probably is wiser to use layers. As for the speckles, it feels really relaxing to me to just paint little dots, but that was because these guys were narrower. The Winter one is a fal bulge, so I'll use some custom brushes on that one.
Again, thanks for the advice!

[meganite]

Beautiful work, Deer. I really like your color use. It's so pretty! Anyway, I'd say maybe use a few spots that are bigger than others? Or for fall, consider giving him a leafy pattern, so he blends in? Or, you know how some salamanders have spots and such, maybe something like that. He looks like he might fit in more in the jungle in this case.

Haggard, I like where your creature is going. Very strange how parts of it fuse together or come apart. How does he feed in the summer? Anyhow, very interesting, very cool drawings also. The pose is a bit the same, though. Easier to see the changes, I guess.

Mr. Jack, your work is simply AMAZING. I don't know how you capture light on the surface of your creature so well, I am trying to figure it out, but I can't. I like how he doesn't have to be camouflaged because he's just this huge leviathan. Beautiful summer colors. He looks very 3D.

Also, thanks for the advice. I think giving my creature a winter form/cocoon would be more interesting anyway. I'm imagining these creatures would be rather rare, so they wouldn't breed and then die off in huge numbers.

So, here's a super-WIP drawing for my fall form. I'm really not sure about the leaves in the background. I guess the idea is that he has brilliant colors that actually do blend into the background if you are far enough away. The "Fall Fairy" it is called, going mostly unnoticed in the other seasons. I still need to shorten the first set of limbs. And probably lengthen the last, so they're more like trailing colorful pendants.
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[rosatron]

yay, first entry. I tried to get my creature to change the way it moves and gets around each season, besides dropping its horn and tail. I figure it needs a horn to break ice in winter, and a tail for swimming, but doesn't really need it any other time. Its diet would change depending on the season - fish during winter, grasses/seeds/berries during the rest of the year. when I paint it up, I think I'll have to think about how it's fur changes or if it covers itself in mud or whatnot to stay cool.

[DefiledVisions]

Mr.Jack loveley composition! Very powerful.. the piece really got to me.

[Kristen Whitaker]

Here's a description of my creature(still need to come up with a name..) It lives in a forest (temperate-broadleaf-Deciduous type of forest)
The double-rows of crests on it's neck are attached to it's vertebrae and are filled with blood vessels; so it can control it's body temperature.

Spring- It has a really long neck so it can reach all the fresh leaves, flowers and fruit in the trees; it's horns help shake/knock down fruit. It's body is colored several bright shades of green(with some brown) to blend in with the flush scenery. It's crests are large to really warm up it's body after the cold. The body is skinny after the long winter.

Summer- It's neck shortens and lowers and the legs shorten so it can easily eat bush berries and ferns and other plants in the brush. It's horns come together to make one horn and lays back on the head since there's no use for it in the summer. The crests shrink and flatten close to the neck and it's ears enlarge to avoid overheating. It's color deepens to match the forest.

Fall- It's fur starts to grow and it's color changes to orange, yellow, red and brown. The horn splits back into 2 and curve backward for sparring. The crests get raise up again and are completely filled with blood for show. The body starts to fatten up with all the eating.

Winter- The horns become one again and the crests shrivel up and loose the blood to prevent heat loss. It's fur lengthens and the color becomes white, light-blue, some purple and stripes of brown. The stripes represent the bare trees in the forests. The legs stretch to their full extent and they stand on tiptoes to keep the body as far away from the snow. The body is fat so it can fast when there is no food available.

[Wolfentir]

Hails all, took everyone's comments about the size of my creature into consideration and redid the winter form. The size of the creature now is about a bit larger than a horse.

Mr.Jack Your creature is amazing. Really has a sense of weight in the winter, the colors are great also.
aberrant85 Awesome concepts, as opposed to my creature which seems to change too drastically to be real, yours definitely seems like it could be a real creature of sorts.
deerinheadlights Like how your creatures are coming along, their expressions are great, and again the colors are awesome, very vibrant.
meganite I like the whole insect feel of your creature, and how it seems like its a close up photograph of the creature with the background blurred as it is.
rosatron Again, compared to my creature yours seems like it could actually exist with the ways it transforms.

Anyway heres the new winter form

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[crabbyclem]

I think I'm a little late discovering this COW. I started some sketches but jeez, work up here is amazing, shod, defiled visions, mrjack and delmar really stuck out. I'll give it a shot. Worse case scenario I might have something to throw in the portfolio if I can't finish in time.

[meganite]

rosatron, your creature is so cute!! We need more cute creatures here =)

wolfentir, are you making your creature smaller? I liked the epic feel of the previous winter one, but this one is fluffier-looking, and less mountain-like. Well, it looks pretty cool anyway. Also, thanks for the comments!

crabbyclem, you're off to a great start. Hope you can finish in time too.

Hope I can finish in time too 0_o. Every final project in my entire semester is due like, next week.

[Mr.Wittmann]

wip for the c.o.m :P

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1229/sketch1de7.jpg

[Mr--Jack]

Thanks all for the positive support :D Much appreciated.

Some very nice work coming along here, too!

Meganite, I really like that autumn pic, looking very nice indeed, got a good consistency in your design but it's nicely different as well. :)

Aberrant85 Looking cool, I particularly like the feel of the third pic, you get a great sense of scale with it striding across the landscape.

Rosatron; Liking the style, though I'm seeing very little difference with the non-aquatic seasons here... Looking cool though.

Wolfentir; Cool pic indeed there, though in my head if you were going to adjust the scale for consistency I was thinking more making summer bigger, not the other way around—the original winter beast was highly impressive, and I could easily imagine the spring form being pretty massive as well... Lovely work!

Crabbyclem; some cool stuff here! Hope you get time to get it done.


Alright, here's the pretty-much-finalised autumn version; after the mating season's over the creatures shed the casing across most of their body to relieve themselves of the weight of their display fins and whatnot, and as such the form they take for the overland migration is a much slimmer one,which enables them to become swift hunters and refuel for their winter migration. Their antennae also develop a coating of a highly potent neurotoxin, which makes them scarily efficient in their attacks on the coastal penguin colonies.

EDIT!
And here's the winter form (was a much quicker pic, what with being a lot more simpler actionwise + with not so much background) as well; having sated their appetite on penguin the creatures return to the sea, and fold themselves up into a much more streamlined form to conserve energy while they make the journey back to their original feeding grounds.

So, these are pretty much done, if there are any crits and such go ahead :) ; as to whether these are suitably 'finished' enough, also, since there's still a bit of roughness to them.
Enjoy!

[Nexus]

Mr Jack, these are both very nice. Very good since of scale and great color pallets. The winter one is great it needs very little tweaking. You might want to add some of those water reflections that occur from the light filtering through the waters surface. Also maybe add some bubbles since Im assuming it breathes somehow. In addition, I did a paintover of the fall creature. I pushed the background back with an overlay and also some gaussian blur. I also sharpened certain parts of the foreground and added more snow clouds to indicate more movement. Hope this helps.

[Mr.Juicy]

Nice creatures guys, i will try to create my own for the first time at CoW.

So if i understood correctly there is 5 more days for 4 images?
If it's so then it will be very difficult to finish, but i'll try. Here is a base:

[Wolfentir]

Hails all. Got the fall version done, very proud of how it turned out, I knew this one was gonna be the best in terms of color, in my opinion, but i wasn't sure of the design.

Mr.Jack Looking amazing as always. I like both of your winter pieces quite a lot, very hard to choose which I like more, but I would have to go with your first one.
Mr.Juicy Looks pretty awesome so far, can't wait to see how it turns out, if you get around to it :P.

Anyway here goes.

Oh, and if anyone here uses a Cintiq, the colors seem more saturated on the Cintiq screen and less so on my laptop, if anyone can tell me how to get similar colors on my laptop that would be great.

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[deerinheadlights]

I decided to take Nexus's advice and try to use a custom brush to make spots. I'm worried it looks too different from the other creatures, but I still really like it and don't want to go back to manual spotting. Does anyone else think the difference is too drastic? Plus I think I have to redo those suction cups, they look way to small and narrow to me.
http://i33.tinypic.com/s26r0y.jpg

[Mr.Juicy]

So think i decided final conception of my creature. This is sketch and lucky ones who will see here something :)

[DefiledVisions]

stress... the creature looks too much like a horse :( hopefully when I start adding the seasonal variations it'll turn out quite different.

[Leosdel]

hi everyone....wow this is a good and really mind-working topic...oh my god i hope i can have some time to participate....

lets work our minds....

[anibawl]

Mr--Jack. Your creature owns major balls. I don't think you have the other two seasons posted yet, but I can't wait for them :D

[meganite]

deer, your pic is looking great! It looks pretty consistent with the others, too =) Nice job at integrating the spots. Um and ... fix the sky =P But I bet you already knew that. You might try getting rid of those dark edges around your winter creature's ear for example.

So, I figured I should really finish these up. Here's my summer pic. I paid more attention to the mouthparts in this one =P

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Also, check this out... supergreat reference for my fall creature!! http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2006-06/insect-photo.jpg

[crabbyclem]

only a few days left!

Mr. Jack's paintings are making my balls shrink. But dammit, I'm going to finish at least one season by the deadline.

the pregnant-thing is a WIP... some beast with a bunch of undigested food in the stomach and a giant parasitic embryo growing out of it's esophagus (which will later crawl into the stomach and eat the contents)

I'm still trying to figure out the details on the back and limbs. These plate-things look too funky.

DEFILED VISIONS: yeah, it looks like a horse, but A really well drawn horse. Those horns look awesome.

[deerinheadlights]

Thanks Meganite! Yeah, i knew the sky was messed up, I hadn't really done anything to it then :)
Fixed up my winter one more, now I don't hate the suction cups.
http://i38.tinypic.com/dvszsx.jpg

[meganite]

good improvements, Deer! Though, the area around the arms might need some work fitting in to the background. Is he holding some snow? You should put some snow in front in that case, like a little snowdrift or something. I guess the edges just look a little too edgy still.

Crabbyclem, your creature is looking really cool. The parasitic embryo is one of another species? Are they symbiotes? Sounds like an interesting system.

I probably don't have a chance against the likes of Mr. Jack, but this is for my own improvement =) May the best artist win!!

[DefiledVisions]

aaarh more stress! school + work tommorow.. free thursday though.. gonna be a helluva marathon on thursday :D

the beginning of the end... probably wont have time to post anything before I finnish.

.. and as usual I wont even finnish me thinks.. haha. SHoutouts to everyone who's been posting in the thread and giving feedback - it's been great watching your progress, and I'm looking forward to see everyone in the finals.

sry if the image is big.

[Mr.Juicy]

DefiledVisions -> u got to finish, even if you woun't be able to do it in time. Your creature is really awesome, and it can't be left unfinished!

[DefiledVisions]

thanks a lot mr. juicy! I will.

still have some trouble with the variation.. there's hardly any significant.. not the one in the description.

[¿Dubious?]

so finals intervened. Looks like I wont be finishing this one. Sorry guys. Good luck everyone.

[meganite]

Aww, sorry to see so many people didn't get the chance to finish :( Some of those works were really great too! Y'all should finish them eventually, even if not for the competition =)

And it looks like there's still time, folks! I don't know why, but the competition hasn't been officially closed yet!

[Wolfentir]

when is the voting starting?

[Lemmingwing]

sry didnt make it either, but all of your entries are great!

[Moai]

Fozzy Wozzy was a bear.
Fozzy Wozzy...are you there?

[mvocet]

it`s pity that is overtime. Really nice task :)
I would try this but is too late.

[zimfin]

I am itching to try my first Cow, and I will probably do it every week thereafter but when is the next one due? I never noticed any further extension on this one but it does seem to be overdue for polling.

[Leaftail]

This one still open? Polling? What's up? I totally want to try a COW...

[meganite]

Yeah, why isn't the poll up yet? It's been almost like... a week since the due date! Did we not get enough contestants or something? Did fozzy forget about us? Did a giant iceberg crash into the ship, causing the server to go down? Will the world ever know?

[¿Dubious?]

haha this mysterious delay keeps up I might actually finish mine.

[Fozzybar]

Sorry, guys! I am getting raped over here at work...5 big projects at the same time. Monday 2 will be finished hopefully, i have no time atm to care about COW, but this will give you some days more to care about your favorite hobby :D

Just polish your entries, also a chance for others to hop in...just looked into the Finished Entries thread, only 10 entries??? So, one reason more to extend the deadline...i say another 3 weeks....there ya go!

New deadline 20th December...sorry again.

[zimfin]

Sorry, guys! I am getting raped over here at work...5 big projects at the same time. Monday 2 will be finished hopefully, i have no time atm to care about COW, but this will give you some days more to care about your favorite hobby :D

Just polish your entries, also a chance for others to hop in...just looked into the Finished Entries thread, only 10 entries??? So, one reason more to extend the deadline...i say another 3 weeks....there ya go!

New deadline 20th December...sorry again.
New deadline huh? Looks like I get to jump in on this one then!

[meganite]

Hooray! I hope to see some more entries. I will probably not be polishing up mine, as I have so many other projects to work on. But, best of luck to all of you! ... and unless I find something glaringly wrong or see that everyone is completely more awesome than me =P (always a good reason for self-improvement)

[daveneale]

I decided to try claw back some time from work and give this a go-it's been really nice working on these so far, though they've made me confront some of my shortcomings...need to spend more time on rendering, especially textures and colours! Any help on moving them forward would be nice :)

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[corspufo]

AWESOME!! I had started on this project in it's infancy, but got wrapped up in Real Life stuff. Stoopid real life stuff...... anyways, thanks for the extension Foz, I'm going to get my stuff in for this one! WoOT! BTW, here's where I am presently with my spring thing.

BTW, Daveneale, I really like yours, adorable and gross, sweet.

http://fluffalo.com/content/00_Creatures/01_4Seasons-Spring.jpg

[meganite]

Daveneale, I really like your texture and color in those. Did you do all that with simply photoshop brushes, or by hand? Beautiful! Especially the ... I'm assuming winter and spring ones. I think I'm missing a sense of what it does to complete the cycle, i.e. go from fall to winter, or whatever the end season is, to the beginning season.

corspufo, glad you could make it =)

[MEMPER]

My wip..
It has a skin growth problem

[iansnyder]

I've got a couple of sketches, I'll see if I can put them up tonight; just found out about this a few days ago :)

[redehlert]

this topic is sick! lookin' forward to seein' the final vote round. ;)

[DauDau]

Okay, with the extended deadline, I might have time to add this little bean, that I made. My lovable blob. I am learning a lot from trying to keep up with you guys, so I hope it's okay.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z240/Avalily_album/Concept%20Art/4season2SKETCH.jpg

Living on an alien planet, in a rather barren sea, this little blob is only free to swim around in spring. That's when he eats the pollen and stuff that falls into the water. He finds a place under a berry tree and fastens himself to a rock. During summer he eats a ton of berries. Then, in autumn, there's nothing more to eat, so he starts digesting, swells up and preserves energy by letting his arms dry and fall off. In winter, the water is cold and empty, but he sleeps from it all, in his little water-bubble, that acts like a kind of womb. There, he renews himself, preparing for the coming spring.

[ikuru]

what a cool theme. :)

[DauDau]

what a cool theme. :)

:tihi: :dur: Yes, it is, isn't it. lol.

I'm going to go back over the thread to make sure I haven't subconsciously been inspired.... I'm not trying to copy.

[IVIATT]

Okay so this is my first time doing COW, and I've got some lineart ready, but I have no clue when it comes to digital coloring (one of the main reasons I'm getting involved on CA). Here's the first two, Winter and Spring respectively. The only coloring I can do is cell/gradient shading in PS. Advice would be appreciated.

[DauDau]

Your art is awesome. I really like those two.

I'm here to learn coloring too (among other things), so I can't give any advice what so ever. I'm still trying to learn the whole light/shadow thing. lol.

[Mr. Perfect]

Had to get in on this!
Traditional Piece, done in HB2 pencil, sharpened with Photoshop CS3.

Sorry no WIPs available :P

Haha, final entry http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2050287&postcount=13

[Mr--Jack]

IVIATT, aside from this (http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm) no specific advice, but I have to say I like the simplicity in it currently; because you've got such clean lines it almost works. (not saying I wouldn't love to see it fully rendered!). Really beautiful linework, I have to say. I'm now glad the extension was added! (since aside from that I've just been sitting around waiting :) )

[Lander]

Not sure if this is the right track so if you have any thoughts... don't be silent.
No it will not stay green it's just the flavour of the day :)

[Mr. Perfect]

Lander can't wait to see your description on that one!

[CrowCandy]

http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/6854/fourseasonscreaturesubveg6.jpg (http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fourseasonscreaturesubveg6.jpg)

Artist: CrowCandy

Concept: "Shutza" Four Seasons Glory
It was only recently discovered that these four shapes belonged to the same animal. The Shutza was originally known as a "Crab Jelly" in spring, "Parasol Jelly" in summer, "Arrowhead Eel" in fall and "Stellar's Marble" in Winter. In the spring it breaks out of the outer shell of its dormant winter form with freshly grown jointed legs and crawls out of the ocean and on to sandy beaches to lay its small, round, yellow eggs. The eggs mature and take the same form as the Shutza's winter shape. They remain dormant until the tides carry them into the water and then emerge the next time spring comes around. In the summer the jointed legs of the Shutza stiffen and straiten while a webbing grows between them. The Shutza's main body resembles a jellyfish especially because of the long tentacles hanging below but is in fact much harder and heavier. The webbed 'parasol' helps keep the animal afloat while it gorges on plankton and small fish all summer. In the fall the tentacles fuse together to form a streamlined muscular tail. The dome becomes a cone and the membrane between the legs deteriorates. This shape is exceptionally effective for migrating to sheltered reefs and shallows in time for winter, when the Shutza takes its dormant form. In winter, the Shutza's body hardens and closes around it in a sphere, cutting off the leftover legs and tail. It sinks to the seafloor to wait out the stormy winter season and emerge once again in spring.



Hooray I finally joined COW!!

[daveneale]

corspufo, meganite thanks for the kind words

meganite: The last one still has the biro lines I doodled it with (the origional sketch is in my sketchbook if your at all interested)....the rest were biro sketched I used to get the feel with and then took out once the photoshop work was done :)

[Fozzybar]

poll is up:
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=139678