CHOW 132 :: St. Alia of the Knife

[S.C. Watson]

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

ROUND #132 :: ST. ALIA OF THE KNIFE

DESCRIPTION

St. Alia of the Knife (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alia_Atreides)
Keep her to the first book.
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DEADLINE
MONDAY, October 27th, 2008
Deadline is Monday, at 5pm Pacific Standard Time.
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: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).


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)

[Vorace]

yaaay Dune thematic :):)

can we do Shai-Hulud next week!?

[daestwen]

Another dune one ey? Just wondering... Are we going to have two similarly themed CHOWS in a row from now on or is this last month just coincidence?

=)

Just making sure we leave both books equally. ;)

Next week we'll be on to something different! And no, two-week-themes won't be the regular from now on, it just happened to turn out like that this last month.

[Relic]

May I ask:we suppose to do the childhood Alia or the adult one?

[Max Martelli]

Nice, Dune again.

I'm sad I didn't get a chance to do Stilgar. I might revisit that one in the future.

Right now I must draw!

This is a really rough prelim sketch, the first thing that came into my head. I'm definitely finishing this one.

And to answer your question Relic, it says to keep her to the first book so I'm going to assume the child Alia.

[S.C. Watson]

May I ask:we suppose to do the children Alia or the adult one?
Well - it says to keep her to the first book - so that would be the child version.

All the best,
~Oreg.

[chaosrocks]

shahalud would be a critter

[MJ_Alcazar]

Cool! Hopefully I can participate this week. Clinicals are starting, so I'll be very busy. Here's a couple really quick sketches.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0021-1.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0024-2.jpg
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0025-2.jpg

[Max Martelli]

This probably belongs in the suggestion thread but we should do a guild steersman, unless that too would be classified as critter. If so than we could do the guild steersman Edric from Dune Messiah.

[gtgauvin]

I had a feeling we'd have another Dune-related CHOW, but I kind of hoped it'd be Gurney. Ah well, this is good, too.

[UCT]

Excellent, going to see If i can push my idea to completion this week.

[ArtAdonis]

Great! A lot of Dune fans out there, I wonder if there will be as many entries as the Stilgar CHOW. Looking forward to trying this one out!

[Foofea]

cool! I'm tempted to do a creepy in the womb picture - Would this be an ok image??
- I may do some sketches but I am looking forward to this one :)

[Pseudocognition]

I have to read these books o_o

[Pixeltuner]

is gonna be nice again I think, but I'll skip this one and do the four seasons cow instead the coming weeks for a change :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

I'm SO computer illiterate. Ummm....is there a delete button on this? It looks like the above post fixed itself, so now I have two posts with the exact same thing.

EDIT : Oops! I feel silly. It was right in front of me.

[Foofea]

MJ is there something you can do when you edit it? - I don't know

well heres my first WIP ..... I know her right hand is wrong - anything else be critical but be gentle :[ it looks like I have big head issues but toddlers tend to have big heads ...
The face is a scetch of my son looking rather pee'd off with me making him stand still hahaha

Alia here is 4, just before she pokes Baron Harkkonan with the Gom Jabbar; a specific poison tipped needle with meta-cyanide.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Foofea - Yeah, when you press edit, there's a delete button, which I didn't see. :(
Nice start on your sketch.

[Larriva Art]

Taking some liberties here...maybe. Trying to be inspired by those crazy great Moebius designs.

[Max Martelli]

updated sketch.

I'm thinking of incorporating some egyptian conventions into her reverend mother outfit such as the nemes head dress.

I'll try and get some crits in a bit.

[duckyfeets1]

Midterm madness is over (yay!) so I have time to actually finish one for once (double yay!!)

MJ: I like the sitting one the best. She looks the most natural.

Foofea: Careful. That looks alot like one of the movie stills of her. Try to make it your own someway.

Max and Vampire: Im going to wait to comment until its a little farther along, save to say I could easily love or hate it depending on how you take the sketch from here.


Wipage

[Dreoilin]

Wow great topic! Love Dune :)

In my take I'm trying to represent the idea of all these ancestors, former Reverend Mothers etc. that are inside Alia from birth. Need to work more on adding some more people around her I think (also need to work more on her clothes) Kind of disappointed in the lack of dynamic feeling and energy, thats something I really struggle with. Hopefully I'll finish this time!

[Max Martelli]

f o x: Before you get too far along with the people in the background, I would suggest putting specific people from her families past sucj as the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and Duke leto Atreides. That would be interesting. I would specifically encourage the Baron given that he is a big influence on her as she gets older.

Also a general note. I'm not positive as it has been a while since I have read the books, but I believe that in the Fremen culture, someone as young as Alia was at this time wouldn't be allowed to own a crysknife. I'm pretty sure she didn't have one at least in the first book. Just something I thought of that would make it more faithful to the book.

In my opinion a Gom Jabbar (poison tipped neede worn on the tip of the finger) would be more appropriate and more faithful to the book.

More crits later on

[DecayingLolita]

quick scribbles

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/alia2.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/alia3.jpg

[alice_]

Oh man, i'm reading the wikipedia article and I am thinking of a particular xkcd (http://xkcd.com/483/)...

I am going to try and participate this week, even if it means I have to read the whole damn book

[ArtAdonis]

Oh man, i'm reading the wikipedia article and I am thinking of a particular xkcd (http://xkcd.com/483/)...

I am going to try and participate this week, even if it means I have to read the whole damn book

Lol, Hilarious!

[gtgauvin]

DecayingLolita: Love the sketches. If I were to suggest anything, it's be to watch those proportions. Remember, Alia wasn't even three years old at the end of the first novel. Otherwise, supercool!

[Dreoilin]

I've got a little time before work, so I'll try to offer up some crits (I know I always love getting them!)

Max Martelli: Thanks for the crit! I am in fact planning to add the Baron in, although he'll probably be more of an ominous shadowy figure in the corner since he was never really mentioned as being in her mind in the first book. I think you're right about the knife :( I really wanted to include it because of her title- St. Alia of the knife. I know she had a knife at the end because she was killing enemy wounded in the end fight, but when I looked back it said she had to go find it, so it probably wasn't a crys knife. I may still make it one though through artistic license, just because it was important to me to have that symbol in there.

Your picture looks like it's got a good start. I think the idea of including some egyptian influence is very cool, it's not something I normally think of when I think of Dune. The arms are maybe looking a little long though?

MJ Alcazar: having seen you throughout various chows here and there I have to say that your progress has been really impressive!! It's so cool to see you improving so much every time I look at the chows. I really like your costuming here. There's a few anatomy issues, particularly with the first and third I think, but the second one where she's seated is my favorite. I like the expression in particular :)

Foofea: The head is looking a little large maybe, even for a toddler. It might be also because her hands seem very small in comparison to her head? The one with the gom jabbar seems really small anyway. I'm liking the face.

VampireHungerStrike: This is a very cool picture so far. Very inventive, and it reminds me a lot of the crazy movie designs (not that it actually looks like any of them, just that it has that same sort of insane design sense :) ) But she doesn't really look like a four year old?

duckyfeets1: I think something seems a little off about the face? Something about the angles... the eyes make it look like her face is very turned away but not enough of the side of the head is showing. I think because of that it seems like her eyes are too close together when I look at her. Also, it seems like there's too much of her lower face showing, but that could be the face mask throwing me off. I wish I was better at criting so I could describe these things better.

DecayingLolita: you have such a great style! I really like this pic so far, I guess the only thing would be she looks a little older than the first book. I think it's the body, it almost seems like you could just shrink her body a bit and she'd look a lot younger. Her face is very lovely.

Well I'm gonna be late if I don't leave, so that's all I got for now. :)

[gtgauvin]

Some sketches I did on the bus this evening. Toying with the idea of an adjustable stillsuit designed to be easily taken out for growing Fremen youths.
Not sure how that'll work yet.
498211

[Sforza]

I did a few small costume sketches yesterday and today - those are the three I like best. I'm still undecided...
http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq92/lra_b/sketches/alia_sketches.jpg

I'm very tempted to draw her flipping off Harkonnen with a gom-jabbar'ed finger. Somebody please restrain me! ;)


VampireHungerStrike: I love the costume design so far!
f o x: I think the strongest part is the headdress and clothing of the background person in the middle. I'm not entirely convinced by Alia's dress, though, I'd like to see some of the strong design in her, too.
foofea: I'm really fond of the face and the "hush"-pose, very intense.

[Foofea]

f o x:

Also a general note. I'm not positive as it has been a while since I have read the books, but I believe that in the Fremen culture, someone as young as Alia was at this time wouldn't be allowed to own a crysknife. I'm pretty sure she didn't have one at least in the first book. Just something I thought of that would make it more faithful to the book.

In my opinion a Gom Jabbar (poison tipped neede worn on the tip of the finger) would be more appropriate and more faithful to the book.

More crits later on


A CrysKnife is carried by every Fremen - and you must remember Alia - although 3 in the book had the conciousness of a 40 yr old and the knowledge of her bloodline - she also went around
"Jessica : Where is Alia?
Paul: Out doing what any good Freman child should be doing in such times. She's killing the wounded and marking their bodies for the water recovery team"

In the end of the book Alia kills the Baron Harkkonan with a Gom Jabbar. faithfu or no - its how it happened .


can some one help - its looking too cartoony - I wanted to go for the soft colours for the face - adding to the child like look - but its looking comical ... any advice greatly recieved



btw - I'm in no way an authority on the topic - my partner is correcting all my little errors and reading the forums and getting the books to see what things are like so I thought it fair to pass it on

[vandalfish]

The title of this Chow is "St. Alia of the Knife", which suggests we'd be depicting her as such, but you also say to keep her to the first book. She doesn't really become St. Alia of the Knife until Children of Dune, does she? I haven't read the books for a while, so I could be wrong, but this seems kind of misleading.

[MJ_Alcazar]

VampireHungerStrike - nice start, I'm liking the direction. Can't wait to see how this develops.

fox - I love how your incorporating the ancestors. The costuming on the middle one in particular is stealing the attention away from Alia. This could be just because it's a sketch.

Decaying Lolita - wonderful face, and design is coming along nicely. As someone suggested, I think all you would have to do is shrink the body.

duckysfeet - like the direction. I believe her eyes are slanting just a tad too far down. Also, I know it's just a WIP, but I would like to see some kind of difference between the foot furthest and closest to us. Right now, both seem to be on the same plane and it's difficult to tell whether it's her right or left foot that is lifted. At least to me it is.

MaxMartelli - I think the egyptian elements are going to make for a very interesting piece.

foofea - sorry, can't help with the colors, i'm not very good at them myself. I think though, and this is just me, that if you used complimentary colors for the shadows. (i.e. not light brown/dark brown for the cloak) it would look less cartoony. I'm not really sure though. So you should probably wait for more experienced people to crit.

Sforza - I like the middle one. The one on the right seems pretty good too.

gtgauvin - I like the idea of the expandable stillsuit. I would never have thought of that, but it makes so much sense! :)

[S.C. Watson]

The title of this Chow is "St. Alia of the Knife", which suggests we'd be depicting her as such, but you also say to keep her to the first book. She doesn't really become St. Alia of the Knife until Children of Dune, does she? I haven't read the books for a while, so I could be wrong, but this seems kind of misleading.

It's been something like 10 years since I read Dune. I recalled her being referred to as St. Alia of the Knife in that book, but I may have been mistaken - it may have been Paul or Princess Irulan talking about who Alia would become.

For our purposes here, I'm not going to be too strict on whether she has a gom jabbar or a Crisknife - my main aim was to focus on the young Alia of Dune.

She did kill her Uncle, the Baron Harkonnen with the Gom Jabbar, however, I got the distinct impression that she was offing the Harkonnen troops with a Crisknife.

So, that said, have fun with this and don't get too caught up in strict interpretations this time around. Let's try to keep her to the first book, but we can fudge a little - if you want to take her a little older that's fine - but not too much older, please. And if a Crisknife works better for you than the Gom Jabbar, that's fine as well.

All the best,
~Oreg.

[Max Martelli]

Knife or not, as long as it looks cool.

sorry if I came off as wanting to be strictly to the book, just a thought I was rolling around for my own piece.

These concepts are looking really good so far.

Foofea: I see what you mean about the cartoon look. My opinion would be to play around with different brushes. I had a similar problem a little while ago, I didn't know what brushes to use to get the feel to the piece that I wanted and in all honesty I still have no idea. I'm still playing. So I guess if I were you I would play around with a few brushes to see what kind of feelings they add to your image. Keep it up.

More crits later when I have more time.

[zenichi]

am intoxicated with giger's images of species etc, st. alia, an "abomination" ... hope can whip up something soon!!

[DecayingLolita]

Foofea: you have a good drawing to start with. You can use a very transparent brush with a slightly red tone on the areas where blood would be closer to the surface of the skin. I'd set it to multiply on the same colour for shadows also. Her eyes need a little more shadow, and some highlights help with skin texture.

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

Just brushed over it quicky.


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/alia6.jpg

I already realised she was too tall so I made her shorter.

[Foofea]

Thank you DL - very useful - just need to find the time now! one of the issues I have is that my tablet is odd - its very jittery, I've fiddled with the settings and that the best it can do - so fine lines are difficult to dow ithout drawing it in pixel by pixel.

Your's looking very cute though I feel she's looking about 6/7 in the image.

[DecayingLolita]

Well I have to admit using my 5 y/o daughter as a bit of a model, have to keep in mind that she would carry herself in an older sort of way and seem a lot older than 3, but maybe I'll just shrink her a bit more.

[ASVogel]

Decaying Lolita: It's looking good. I like the pose/costume.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0026-3.jpg

Ok, I'm going to go with this one, I've tried to correct the anatomy mistakes. If anyone sees something please point it out. I'm always trying to improve on that.

EDIT: added some color. I think I may have gone too pale and too purple with her skin. So, I may have to start again using brown or something. Not really sure, not good with color, but I'm trying! Her clothing colors is going to be based off of Tuareg and Pharoah Owl colors.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/aliawip2.jpg

[~Faust~]

I really like that creepy brat. Started out as a Fromentin Masterstudy but I thought what the hell, why not make a ChoW out of it? so here's the first scetch,

[Bolo]

Don't know if I will have time to finish, but wanted to give it a quick sketch.

Crits are very welcome. Always willing to learn :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

Bolo - perhaps shrink the image down a little bit? It's a little hard to see, because I have to keep moving around to look at it. :)

[Bolo]

Sorry I thought I scaled it down. Haven't used photoshop in a while.

[Dham]

Figured I would join in. Hello everyone. :lifedrawing:

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq350/dhpbucket/alia1.jpg

[Nutter]

Here are my wips. Trying to get back into the chow circle after almost a year of neglect.:^^:

[Pound]

Worrying how I will shed the black lines...

Get to that bridge when we need to, and if needs be, I'll keep the lines. Strange new style to me, that I am enjoying.

Anyway, clearly tones more tonal work need to be done on it :D

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/820/chow132wip3copywz4.jpg

Nutter, very creepy, awesome.

Bolo, I look forward to seeing yours a bit more developed, becuase I love the concept.

[Kan Muftić]

Hey guys,
Any suggestions which of these designs I should take to finish?
Thanks a lot,
Khan

[Vorace]

last one!! (right corner), because of the interesting headgear

nice stuff guys!

[~Faust~]

Hey guys,
Any suggestions which of these designs I should take to finish?
Thanks a lot,
Khan

I'd say one of the third 3 or #8. The others are either too adolescent or too physical in their fighting-stances. As see Alia not as an Amazon-queen but more of a posessed with-kid, a bit like Omen in space

[Simon Boxer]

Chupa: I'm diggin the 9th and the last one.

I'm not really familiar with Dune so mine is probably off-target, but hey.. Good practise. Plus I gave her a non-Dune-specific pet...

WIP2

[masque]

Just to clarify things, Alia is referred to in Dune as St. Alia of the Knife at least twice -- once at the end of Book 1 where Paul reveals his visionary abilities ( and Harkonnen ancestry) to his mother, and then again in Appendix IV.

EDIT: Re: owning a crysknife -- Alia was known to be a very special young child because of her exposure to the Water of Life in her mother's womb, giving her knowledge well beyond her actual years. I doubt she would have been content to not use a tooth of shai-hulud, and is described as killing Sardaukar wounded after the battle of Arakeen when she was (iirc) only three.

[John Bridges]

Here's my first sketch for a take on Alia, doing what she does best: finishing off Harkonnen and Sardaukar. This is my first CHOW, and I hope I can find time to finish this before the deadline.

[edujante]

Hy!!

This is my approach. Something weird. An Aria who became an strange woman due to the highest level of specie in her body. Also im working in textures to create a rich environment half fremen but also half harkonen esthetic...
In the composition ive tried to isolate Alia using two guard soldiers and keep her alone with her minds

[masque]

That's very stylish and I like it a lot, edujante, but at the end of the first book, Alia was still a very small child.

[c4l3b]

I've never entered a chow. I don't know if I'll have enough time this weekend to flesh this out and actually enter this one, but I figure posting a sketch is the first step right?

She's supposed to looks scared/cold. I think I'll need to work on fattening up those cheeks to make her look younger. The tip of a knife will be sticking out from under her left arm, but I want her eyes to be the focus of the picture. We'll see if I can render this thing at all.

[edujante]

Masque: Yeah I know but i prefer to do an Alia little old than the book.I only read the first one, may she grow or something!Thanks!!!

[Pound]

I like the interpretation edujante, and I agree the age wasn't specified so go for it, becuase you have a superb style!

Updated my own.

[masque]

...the age wasn't specified...From the brief: "Keep her to the first book." But, do as your Muse demands! :bow: :)

[c4l3b]

I'm taking it really slow. I keep finding anatomy issues with my faces well after I've started rendering them.

[AUG]

I would actually like to finish a CHOW for once. This is my fourth attempt. The plan is to complete this as a watercolor. Now that I see all of the other entries, I'm thinking my version is a bit too old. The original idea was to depict the subject as an adolescent.


Chupacabra: I'm favoring the 3rd design, top row. I like that pose.

[Pound]

From the brief: "Keep her to the first book." But, do as your Muse demands! :bow: :)


:(

My muse is clearly too strong for any clever judgement, for example reading.

[c4l3b]

Well, I'm clearly failing at making her look younger. Oh well. I'm continuing anyway.

[MJ_Alcazar]

c4l3b - Hey, I think if you brought her features closer together and made her face more round, she would look younger. I think, I'm not so good at this myself though.

[Pound]

^^^ Agreed!

[c4l3b]

thanks guys, you're absolutely right. She's looking like a sulking teenager!

I don't know if I like the breathing apparatus, I may ditch it, might even try to redraw the face, but her whole body is too tall and slender looking I think.

[Pound]

I like it a lot.

But since you clearly did aim to do an adolescent, it looks great and works perfectly.

I love the lighting on the underside of her flapping cape/hood. What is that coming from? Is it light shining through the cape/hood or is it reflecting from the ground?

Or have you not even though about it and I've gone into much uneeded detail? I'd like to know whatever the answer.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/aliawip6.jpg

Did some more work on this, I had this grand plan that I was going to work on this all day today because I didn't have to go anywhere, but of course, I ended up sleeping for most of the day.

[c4l3b]

still fighting with it.

[MJ_Alcazar]

masque - it looks great, but CHOWs have a 3/4s rule, and I'm not too sure that yours will meet it. Just a head's up. :)

[masque]

Yup, got that covered, MJ, but thanks for the friendly nudge. I'll be expanding on this sketch, but I got intrigued by the lighting & expression I was trying to get, so I focused on that at first.

[Dham]

hello c4l3b- I like how it looks like her hair is actually bunched up underneath her hood, its a nice touch. Her hand seems small, it might be interesting have it clenching her arm behind the elbow for more tension.



I'm not sure how I feel about this girl yet... I'll give it one more pass tomorrow.

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq350/dhpbucket/alia2.jpg

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq350/dhpbucket/alia2b.jpg

[Bolo]

Found time to do a little work on Alia. Don't know how to finish it. Any suggestions would be awesome. Thanx. Everyone's sketches are looking amazing can't wait to see the finals.

[Pound]

So there's soemthign wrong with her forehead, and her cheekbone on the left side is very very masculine.

Can't decide if I like it for that though, I wanted her to look a bit alternative.

Defintely will sort out the forehead a bit atleast though.

Anything I've missed?

[Jska]

Couldn't resist a jab at this topic. I'm still working on the details of her clothing, but here's the jist of it so far:

500585

(edit)

added the final (so far anyway!) I may toy with this a bit more though.

500665

[Pound]

Holy shit. Brush details please...

[daestwen]

Please remember the 3/4th's rule. This means that we HAVE to see at least 3/4ths of the entire character - right now we can only see her shoulders and head.

As it stands, this won't go to poll, so you'll want to extend the image a bit!


OK, been shootin' my mouf off, figger it's time to throw down, put up or shut up, show ya th' money, all that jazz...

500518

Trying for the look of a child who was never young, with maybe some foreshadowing of the madness that finally overwhelms her as an adult.

[masque]

Thanks, daestwen, but please see post #75 :)

[S.C. Watson]

Masque - it's good to see you in Chow again! It's been a long, long time my friend! [edit] is that a quote from Red Dwarf in your tagline? :teeth:

FINALS THREAD IS POSTED (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140178)

All the best,
~Oreg.

[daestwen]

Thanks, daestwen, but please see post #75 :)

Ah, forgive me. :)

I'm so busy these days I just skim over the images! I just figured you were finished since you had the border on it. No worries, then!

[masque]

Howdy, spice-man! Yeah, I been a truant, but had to play the prodigal for this Chow. I'm really sorry I missed Stilgar, though. And yep, "shipwrecked & comatose" and the pic is a ref to the Dwarf, but, nope, the quote is from Psychonauts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychonauts), a twistedly fun and funny video game by Tim Schafer.

@ daestwen -- no hooha, I just slapped the border on for no partic'lar reason, but I did put "WIP" in the title, does that count? ;) I'll definitely mark the final as such. I 'preciate the helpful hint, though!

[bluefooted]

Jska - that's fabulous! I love the colors.

Mine is done. With a little tribute to Manu in the background.

[Jska]

thanks blue!

pound - not sure whom you are referring to, but i used a couple of M@'s brushes that can be found in his SB thread!

just updated my previous post with my "final" so far... I think I may add a bit more to her clothing though :)

[masque]

Jska & blue, you girls got good game -- beautiful work, both!

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/alia11-1.jpg

It haves... colour(s?) nau. *Twitch*

Jska: So pretty! I like that so much. Especially the face.

[Buckster]

There are some truly beautiful concepts here, and nice colours. Keep pushing it.

I wanted to try my hand in this one
...enjoy

[chaosrocks]

masque my dear , good to see you back in the game. MInd your composition. but im sure you know that :P

[edujante]

I think its done!

http://edujante.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/dunearialow.jpg

ive finished the wall textures, the guards details and the finally mood!Good work i see in this threat!

[masque]

masque my dear , good to see you back in the game. MInd your composition. but im sure you know that :PYes, ma'am, roxie! (She has my parole for now, so I gotta be polite) :asskisser: :P ;)

That reminds me of when I was a young apprentice, ol' Ben (no, not Kenobi) used t' tell me to "mind my p's and q's" and I used to mix 'em up on purpose and it really qissed him off.

Anyway, near finished now (hope the compo meets your approval, roxie dear), still saying it's WIP until I have a chance to go away from it for a while and maybe get fresh eyes on it before saying "done!"

501224

And a working size detail just for the helluvit:

501225

UPDATE_______________________________

Still considering this WIP prob'ly will up until the last hour or so for submission.

501543

Lots of tweaks and a few major changes due to goofy stuff I put in because I was too tired :bashful:

ATTENTION Oregano or daestwen! I am currently experiencing one helluva windstorm and my lights keep blinking and browning out on me. Not good. So, if, due to the storm, I cannot log on (the only reason short of the grim reaper why I wouldn't), please consider this latest post as my final submission and take it to the polls? Pretty please? Sugar on top? :asskisser:?

Danke.

UPDATE_________________

Storm was not a prob after all, thank Athene, so I got my final up:

502134

Revisited the face and features.

[c4l3b]

another update, probably done. Not amazing, but a personal accomplishment for sure.

[Max Martelli]

Here's an update. Gotta get moving if I want to finish. Sorry I haven't come up with very many crits, I swear I'll try to get some by tonight.

Let me know what you think.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/aliawip10.jpg

I really have to step back from this for a little while, been working on this for the most part of the day.

[Max Martelli]

Still plugging away. I'll have those crits I promised up soon.

I'm just wondering if she looks young enough.

Let me know what you think.

[ValkyriesBard]

Hehe... the last CHOW I attempted I wasn't able to finish, so I feel like I'm coming into this one a little behind everyone else. I'm seeing this one through, and here is an IP jpeg for ya'll. I think it's about 50 to 60% complete. Looking forward too seeing everyone's finished pieces!

[MJ_Alcazar]

masque - really great work, the moon kind of bothers me, because it seems like it should be giving off more light. But that's just a nitpick.

Valkriesbard - creepy! I like it! Watch the green glow, to me, it seems like the way it is now, the glow is coming from beneath her chin. Her hand however looks pulled away from her body towards us, so I think the glowing needs to be a little more up on her face. (although I'm in no way good at this, so always take my crits with a HUGE cup full of salt) :)

Max Martelli - hands look better, and I don't think she looks too old at all. Hope yo get to finish!

c4l3b - really like the colors, and the look on her face really resonates. Good job.

Jska - beautiful work!

Buckster - wonderful design, looking good.

Sorry I didn't get everyone, I'll try to maybe get some tomorrow.

[Max Martelli]

Crits. Sorry if I missed anyone.

MJ_Alcazar: It's looking good. You have definitely improved over the past few weeks. I like the face so far. I'm a little shady on the respirator. It almost looks like a mustache, but that is a design decision and is completely up too you. Something that is good to think about when you are working on a piece is to work on the background at the same time you are working on the figure instead of working on and finishing the figure first and then working on the background after. I still don't do this as much as I should when working from imagination but I think that it can help. Sometimes, if you can't get something on the figure right, its good to work around that area because once you get the negative space around it filled out the positive shape will look more resolved I suppose. If none of this makes sense it is because I'm tired and can no longer type out coherent thoughts. I think that this is more relevent when working from life but I can't see how it could hurt when working from imagination. Keep it up.

c4l3b: It looks good. I reall like the way the face came out as well as the sense of a breeze you have with the flapping cloth. The only thing I would watch out for is her arms. It seems like her shoulder should be lower and that her hand should be holding her other arm closer to the elbow. I like the muted colors as well.

masque: I like it so far. Your technique is nice, I like the stroke marks. My only concern is that she looks a little too old. I know we have some leeway with her age but even still, I don't get child from her at all. This could just be a personal thing. Also, something about the knife looks off to me. I'm not sure if its the angle of her hand or what but something seems off to me. Otherwise its looking really good.

edujante: Looks good. Very intricate. Interesting composition.

Buckster: Very nice blue in the background. I like it but I think it could be stronger if she didn't have the sculpt on her shoulder.

DecayingLolita: I like it alot. The costume looks great. Very worm like. The colors are great as well. Great job.

Pound: Looks good. I think that the hand with the knife should look more like she is holding the knife, right now it loks alittle awkward.

Dham: I think it looks a little too much like a little boy rather than a girl. Interesting composition though.

AUG: I don't think she is looking too old. Definitely older than she is supposed to be but it works. She still has rather young features. I can't wait to see what it looks like finished.

John Bridges: I really like it so far. I can't wait to see what it looks like finished.

~Faust~: Its somehow very very creepy and unsettling and I love it. I really want to see it finished.

Sforza: I really like how she is looking so small and frail.

gtgauvin: Great idea for the stillsuits.

I think that would be another cool CHOW and IDW tie in. Fremen and stillsuits.

VampireHungerStrike: I love it so far. I want to see it finished. Very nice outfit.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Thanks Max! I actually should erase those lines, I was going to put a background in at first, but I was trying to take suggestions from the last CHOW, so I decided against the background. Although, it would probably help to place her into an environment, I probably should focus on character more, as evidenced by my last CHOW.
And, oh no! Now all I see is a mustache! Maybe if I change colors on it, it won't look so bad. :(

[c4l3b]

OK,
Compliments up front, they all look great. I'm going to try to offer at least some criticism for all of them. Even if I have to make something up.

ValkyriesBard
The top of the head, where the cloth is draped over looks strange. It took me a minute to realize what was going on. Not really sure how to fix it, but that's what I noticed.

Max Martelli
Some little chubby dangling feet would be nice. curious to see what you'll do about her head/headress/hair whatever.

MJ_Alcazar
The top hand seems swollen. some large area shadows down the entire darker side of her body would help. make an overlay layer and use a giant brush to darken that half of her body and see what you think. I think it would add some more depth to her.

ME
age, 3/4 rule, knife is almost not noticeable.

masque
very disturbing face, not sure why. That's good. Her facing and projecting towards that close edge catch my eye, I don't know much about composition but it seems to make it claustrophobic.

edujante
very easy on the eyes, but hard to make out. It took me quite a while to figure out what was going on. Pretty though.

Buckster
She must have a really long neck. Looks like you did it that way on purpose though.

DecayingLolita
The eyes could be easier to see.

Jska
maybe a little bit more information in her robes.

Pound
The hat doesn't seem to fit with her style.

Bolo
Not really sure what is going on with the side of her face. Kind of hard to decipher there.

Dham
My eye keeps getting pulled off behind her. especially when the hands are there as there is a point of super high contrast. I have no idea what that means or what should be done.

AUG
um, color it?

John Bridges
her breathing tube looks like one of her dreadlocks.

cognition.sb
having a little trouble reading the light source. The body reads well, but the face seems different.

Chupacabra
Lets see that head dress on the last one.

Nutter
definitely creepy, reminds me of a hobbit. The outlining on the top lip keeps catching my eye. dunno if that's good or bad.

~Faust~
Give us more info, flesh out that robe. Is she in a sand storm? make her leaning against the wind or something.

Sforza
Middle pose reads best for me. put some color on it!

gtgauvin Slick idea with the suit, but I keep focusing on it instead of her.

VampireHungerStrike
proportions could be more childlike

duckyfeets1
block out some shadow on the stuff further back, her back leg needs some depth.

f o x
Almost looks like a little boy. Maybe the coloring will remedy that. Some jewelry might help as well.


As I said, fantastic job guys.

[gtgauvin]

Not sure if this'll get done in time, but I like where it's going? I realize the throne is kind of obscuring the character; do you figure that would be a disqualifying factor?

501496

[Max Martelli]

MJ_Alcazar: Don't fret about the mustache. It's not a very big deal and it doesn't look bad per se. If you did feel inclined to change it, the only thing I can think of besides changing the color would be to have it come in from only one side of the face.

c4l3b: I never thought of feet. I figured the dress would just cover them, but now that you said it I just might do that, thanks.

Heres the latest on that creepy little bugger.

[Pound]

Max Martelli, thanks for the crit, I have been reqorking that hand all evening, before you mentioned it, so I totally agree.

And also noted crit about the 'hat' it's supposed to be her hair, but I ahven't done much with it yet. I specifically wanted her bald or with a tsrange style like that. Undermining the 'hoodedness' everyone has here. I'll see what I can do.

[masque]

Thanks for the C&C, folks, very astute and useful. I made quite few changes (updated in my previous post), many of which were right along with what you noted.

RE: her age -- I tweaked the figure's proportions some which should help, but because of what Alia was, and how I wanted to portray her (a child that was never young), it's probably inevitable that she'd look older than the 3 or 4 she was as Dune ended. In fact it was her look (and actions) of adult awareness that made the women of the sietch suspect her as a witch until Harrah put an end to that.

The fat lady still ain't sung yet, but I hear her warmin' up in the wings, so the latest is awful close to final, and may be actually final if the storm blowin' outside kills my 'tricity!

[zenichi]

initial sketch... 11th hour...

not happy with skirt... will probably swap with robe... stilsuit taking ques from me stilgar entry earlier...

hesitating to include her orange red hair... at the moment its showing thru her veil... crysknife almost a sword to her... some sort of scale.... her stands, demeanor reflect an older age than her frame.

501645

[Kan Muftić]

Ok, I've listened to what you said guys and made this. I want to go loose and sketchy with this one..
Any thoughts on this, fellows?
Thanks a lot,
Khan

[c4l3b]

Chupacabra
Fantastic, very well balanced, even with the giant head dress(which is awesome, I almost stole that idea from your thumbnails). Maybe a hint of a background would give a better sense of scale.


gtgauvin
the size of the chair makes her look big. I know it could be a small chair, but its the only thing to compare her to.

[WunderDark]

Hi all, some great work here! this is my first post outside the 3d section, and my first try on CHOW.
It's only my third digital painting ever so it isn't spectacular (rather flat, stiff, and boring i think) but I realy tried to push my skills as far as i could.
Im not sure about the fire and metal Its my first try on those to, anyway feel free to crit and i will try to finish this little bastard.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Wonderful stuff on here guys.

Ok, c4l3b, thank you! I always am hesitant to add too many shadows for some reason, so I'm thankful for the push. :) So, this is it with added shadows. Also tried to play with that hand and see what I could do with it and played around with the nose thing.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/aliawip12-1.jpg

And this one is just because I'm insane...it's ok, I have coffee now. I'm good to go.

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

[Flipnastywebby]

wip time

Chupacabra :: im really loving your WIP excited to see the finish

DecayingLolita: I have noticed in just about all your work you focus mostly on the face and the see-through drapery. Pay more attentions to the hands and feet. They look broken to me. Its great that you focus on the face, dont get me wrong but, if the hands dont fit the pose then all they do is take away from your work.

[Foofea]

hmm, seems like I'm out of time :( I've been away larping all weekend - I shall keep working on this though - I love the subject

Loving ALL the entries- some are looking older than the first book, the brief was to keep her to the age in the book ....

[AlotAbitAlittle]

As usual...last minute wip entry...I really need to start these mid week...

Going to the reserved strength idea - strong mind = balanced and reserved body...

[ValkyriesBard]

Alrighty then, I'm pretty much finished. Think I should add a more involved background? Last minute crits welcome...

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/Chow132_MJ_Alcazar.jpg

Here's my final. I finally had to add a background, when I erased the sketchy lines from my piece, she just didn't look right floating there. I wanted to ground her somehow.

[Pound]

Almost done. I am on details.

Any crits, in terms of.. Well anything. I just don't want to post something in the fianls thread, and then realise something later when the artistic bias I have from 6 hours work on it wears off.

Anything will be welcomed!

[ws.iono]

W.I.P...

Constructive Criticisms much appreciated :)...

[Max Martelli]

Here's another update. I'm satisfied with Alia herself but am unsure about the fetus.

Let me know what you think.

[S.C. Watson]

Alia.

502658

Wip.
502923

Ref.
502664

~Oreg.

[Max Martelli]

MJ_Alcazar: No more mustache. I like what you did with the respirator. Something about the color and the shadowing. It's rather good, specifically on the shadowed side of the face. Definite improvement. I think something to play around with is to think about backgrounds to the same degree you think about the figure. Try and develop them simultaneously. It will help bring the piece together.

Heres my final.

[edujante]

pound:

Like very much the skin tone of your pic!GREAT ONE!

[Kan Muftić]

thanks for the help guys, i posted my final.
good luck,
Khan

[Pound]

Thanks edujante

MJ_Alcazar I quite like it. The colour really pop and you have a very nice illustartive style.

MaxMartelli The work you've done on her hands is very very nice. They look completely comfortable and natural.

Decaying Lolita Having seen the final, I think it's superbly dark and you have a very nice style. Great job on her face.

Dham It's very creepy. She looks like an old woman who is a child... Which is pretty much St Alia, right?

Nutter Beautiful rendering, can't wait to see the final. And the dark feel is soemthing I regret I missed out on.

cognition.sb One of my favourites. Very colourful and a great sketch to start with, plus you have rendered it wonderfully.

edujante I am certainly very envious of your style. I wish I ahd an eye for design and colour like you. Such amazing detail and a wispy figure of St Alia, I really really dig it.

c4l3b That name is almost as complicated as when mine used to be lb003g0676. Nevermind, your piece has wonderful contemplative quality with that pastel palette and the drawing itself is very nice too, digital from the ground up like I ahve only recently learnt to do!

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/Chow132_MJ_Alcazarf.jpg

Max, I definitely will take your suggestion up next time! It would make it so much easier and would probably look better.

Oregano! Daestwen! I kind of liked this one better, I had some time this morning and played around with it some more. I know we aren't supposed to use the final thread for place holders, but I was wondering if I could switch my final image?

[hungryan]

I will try to crit the finals, sorry for making it this late, but I'm a lazy bastard. My english is quite bad, it's not my primary (primal hehe) language. And maybe I will sound rude because of that.

Bluefooted: Your style is amazing, something different, bit remainds me of Art Noveu with these patterns and such. I like your entry the best, did you have to take it off? It's a shame, but at least you have another nice painting.

Jska: Also really nice and different, moody piece, like it.
Bolo: The whole composition is too wide and empty for me, the use of brushes is ad-hoc, the figure doesn't have volumes. Also I don't understand expression on the face. Is she wondering about something?

Benjamen Christ: Same goes for the face expression, she looks like wondering, which I don't get if she is fighting with someone. The movement is interesting, but I think your pencil drawing was better than the actual painting, the face looked better, an I liked the belt flying around also.

Orim: Flat style, looks like a japanese woodcut or something, but it's not consistent. I like the clothes and headpiece better than the background and the head. Alia doesn't look like she is a small child, which was I think in the description.

cognition.sb: nice, painterly style, but doesn't have much to do with Dune (which you already said). For me it seems you used a bit too many different colors, they don't come together, but I'm not sure about that.
relic: The background is too flat you could have leave that out, and make something more abstract.

Artofinca: interesting composition, looks a bit empty for me. The hand could be a bit better.

c4l3b: nice loose style, she looks a bit older than the description, maybe you could've work on it a bit more? The face could have used a bit more contrast and shadows, the robe's wrinkles a bit more work.My problem is also that I abandon the paintings if I work on them too much, they get on my nerves.

Ashton: hm. I just cannot imagine this figure in the world of Dune. Theres some anatomical problems with the shoulders of her. The background figure is also problematic and just takes away too much attention from the main theme.

Masque: I don't know if how you placed the figure is good or bad. It's just touching the border of the picture, which seems a bit weird to me. I like how ou work with your brush, with small scribbling moves, which doesn't brake the plasticity of the objects. The face is the nicest on this picture, hm, the more I look at it the more I like it.

Vorace: You do your stuff like a professional concept artist (which I'm not hehe). Really nice piece, just the girl is much older than she should be.

My stuff is crap.

Mj Alcazar: I don't know where you started, but everybody says, you are advancing a lot, which is a good thing! The background is a bit distracting for me, and the thing on her right elbow looks like it's a hole or something, you should make the bright part on it darker. But not bad, not bad. Maybe the eyes could be less on a flat surface, they don't turn around the head if you know what I mean.

Valkyriesbard: She looks creepy. Nice that you didn't use much color, and I like the pose and the composition quite much. The hand with the Gom jabbar is a bit strange though, especially the Gom jabbar finger.

Pound: nice loose piece. Her head was red in the book I think (I'm not sure). I like the pose and the patterns you use, not overdoing it. The anatomical stuff looks quite correct to me.

Vampirehungerstrike: It's great that you actually tried nondigital media for this. Not much to say, I don't get what happens to her clothes :) but the face and such is okay anatomically (the hair is red yoohoo), and you are not afraid to use a lot of color.

Maxmartelli: I think you should loosen up a bit, I've checked your previous stuff also and you use brushwork which is a bit too strict in my opinion. Also the background looks a bit cheap with that blur effect. Her left hand looks like copypasted from her right hand, although her right arm is a bit longer, so it looks weird for me.

Adi: nice, but I somehow don't get a Dune feel from this picture. More like victorian killerqueen or something. She is also a bit more older than 4 or something. But otherwise no big problems.

Gtgauvin: yeah, that looks like something abandoned :) it's a shame

Chupacabra: like it, nice design, nice weird motions.

DecayingLolita: don't decay! :) nice stuff, baroqueish dress, nice face.

Trevor: You also paint like a professional. Not much to say, I like it.

Eh, this was tough.

[hungryan]

ugh, more was coming while I was typing my bullshit.

Oregano: nice use of reference, the eyes look a bit too asian to me. Why did you put that border with those brushthingies around the picture? I think it would have been better without that. But maybe it's just me.

Edujante: I liked your previous CHOWs better, maybe because this seems too 'serious' . But your style is nice as always.

Alice: nice graphical style! Looks like an etching or something. how did you do it? :)

[masque]

Masque: I don't know if how you placed the figure is good or bad. It's just touching the border of the picture, which seems a bit weird to me. Thanks for takin' the time to write up the write up the C&C, it's good to get feedback.

I wanted to use all elements of the image to allude to Alia's burgeoning madness without being really obvious about it, so using a stable but unusual composition was in support of that, as if she's just starting to leave the realm of mental stability and head "out of the frame" into a land of mental demons. It's supposed to raise a little ambiguous discomfort in the viewer. Guess it worked ;)

[hungryan]

Masque: Yes, it was working, I was discomforted :) I've only read your description how to 'solve your picture' after I've posted my comments.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Thanks hungryan!
I love getting feedback.
I'm saddened the background didn't work out, and thank you so much for putting the comment the way you did about the eyes. I've had so many people say that the feature look flat, and the way you put that made me see it! Thank you! Now that I know what it is, I can start to correct that on future works. :)

[hungryan]

MJ: This background that I see now is much better, much more uniform! I only saw the previous one. You are welcome by the by.

[artiphats]

Here is my cleaned-up drawing, will add color tonight after work.

Comments welcome, thanks.

[zenichi]

shxt... its 3:30am in the morning here.... need a few more hours/ minutes more to get it sorted to posting in finals...

503129

poor form making, not happy with values.... generally shikes

[Pound]

@hungryan

Thanks very very much, had time to change her hair to red!

[artiphats]

crap I just saw that the deadline is supposed to be at 5pm PST. wasn't it always midnight? must have been a rule change I didn't catch.

well I guess I'll finish her for my own pleasure, and have to try and catch a future round...

[S.C. Watson]

ROUND 133 IS UP (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=140411)

~Oreg.