Chow 134 :: VOTING :: The Eclectic, Eccentric Singer

[S.C. Watson]

FINALS ONLY
-=ROUND 134=-
-=THE ECLECTIC, ECCENTRIC SINGER=-

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http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/CHOW-LINES-MEDUSA.jpg
NOT SURE ABOUT THE GUIDELINES? CLICK HERE! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=117390)
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ROUND #133 :: THE ECLECTIC, ECCENTRIC SINGER

DESCRIPTION

Inspiration: Tom Waits "Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards"

Description: A man or woman who has been around for a long time, their age disguised by wrinkles and scars that the times have written on their face. A person of faith, but not necessarily of a religion, just a power of greater than their own. No man tells them what to do with their life, they are guided by winds and season. A drifter by day and a power of soul by night. They travel from town to town, playing in low-lit bars, drinking to drown out a regretful past. They sleeps when they can, eats what people give them. Their clothes are dated to a time before modern day technology i.e. a tattered suit with old snakeskin boots.

Their only goal in their memorable life is to sing about their life story, full of tragedy and despair. They has a good heart but life and appearance shows different.

In short, a vagabond.
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ACCEPTANCE TO POLL WILL BE BASED ON THREE CRITERIA:
1: DID THE ARTIST FOLLOW THE BRIEF? (allowance for creative takes will be made).
2: IS THE PIECE ARTISTICALLY SOUND? (Is the illustration "finished?" - did the artist pay attention to anatomy, perspective, other fundamentals?).
3: IS THIS ILLUSTRATION THE BEST ONE?

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SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY:
1: You must submit ONE full sized image.
2: Make sure your name and CHOW # are EASILY READABLE on your entry.
3: Use the Standard format (Below);

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/ChowPics/frame.jpg
:right: PLACE THE IMAGE IN A FRAME WITH YOUR NAME/TOPIC
:right: SAVE YOUR FILE IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT:
Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oregano.jpg"

THE REST IS EASY:
1: No comments before poll is set. They WILL be deleted with utmost malice and petty grumbling. >:{
2: Sit back and enjoy the show. BYOPC (Bring your own popcorn)
3: Good luck to all.

[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)

[Artofinca]

THE ECLECTIC, ECCENTRIC SINGER - wips and final.

[invinciblewombat]

hooah

[Equality72521]

gouache on paper, edited in Photoshop

[Aeronik]

Here we go:

http://www.users.on.net/~aeronik/chow/chow%23134_aeronik.jpg

and some progress pics:
http://www.users.on.net/~aeronik/chow/chow134_progress.jpg
links to full size images 1 (http://www.users.on.net/~aeronik/chow/chow134_sketches01.jpg), 2 (http://www.users.on.net/~aeronik/chow/chow134_sketches03.jpg), 3 (http://www.users.on.net/~aeronik/chow/chow134_colruffs01.jpg) ,4 (http://www.users.on.net/~aeronik/chow/chow134_colruffs02.jpg)

been fun!

[Pixeltuner]

Final + wips. Nice work so far. :)

[rodriguez]

FInal

514589514590
514591
514592

[MJ_Alcazar]

Final. Good luck everyone!

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/chow134_mj_alcazar.jpg

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0012-5-1.jpghttp://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0013-4-1.jpghttp://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0014-2-1.jpg

[YIIT]

21 st Century Siren

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/3011731763_ebb26800c4.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/3012717660_b105bbd46e.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/3015787640_fe93a10256.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/3018873868_345335e51e_b.jpg

[Edriss]

Here's my final. Would like to have done more but life calls.

514856
514857

[Simon Boxer]

Ran out of time :/ Thought I'd better stop in favour of sleep.

I wanted to contrast a hardened, country rocker, hoarse from years of smoking, singing songs to the off-beat tune of a toy xypholone.

Here she is... *Ting ting*

[hungryan]

515122
515124
I post this before my net starts to act up on me again.

[Vorace]

.....

[anatheme]

My first entry in the forums : )

[amaliax]

Well, that was fun. :teeth: I wish I had had time to get more crits, but I didn't have the time to be online this week. :( Great stuff, everyone!

[Relic]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/Reliczhi/ca/chow134_Relic.jpg

wips
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/Reliczhi/ca/134wips.jpg

[Buckster]

I enjoyed this one...

[Fenster]

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/bobslider/wip-bassist.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a47/bobslider/bassguybg.jpg
So many great characters here, I liked this assignment, and it's great looking at all your sketches. Added my WIP -

[pepps]

cheers =)

[S.C. Watson]

No entries past this mark.

~Oreg.

[S.C. Watson]

Poll is up!

[Simon Boxer]

Voted for

Vorace: Great char and posing with a lot of thought put into the detailing. The instrument alone has so much character!

Aeronik: Solid character, rings true to life and a well-executed piece in general. Part of me lusts for characters I haven't seen before, but I voted for yours because it captures that breed of lonesome, badass singer so well. As a sidenote I could totally see this as art for Guitar Hero. heh

[MJ_Alcazar]

Wonderful round everyone!

Artofinca - loved the mood in this and his face is wonderful.

Buckster - I loved the character in this. She looks world weary and as if she is still clinging to her youth although she is obviously older, good job. Only, small nitpicky thing, I can tell in earlier sketches that she's holding a cigarette and in the final I can still see it, but it doesn't have any smoke or look like it was even lit to where it could burn down that far.

Edriss - loved your take on it. I wish you would have shown a little more of the donkey, it's cut off at a little bit of an awkward angle. And, his left leg bothers me a little. It doesn't seem like it's actually hanging off the donkey or maybe it's the perspective that off. I don't really know. Loved the colors!

Hungryan - I liked your guy, and I like the overall look of the piece. I think, that maybe the little smiley face distracts just a little. It's just so bright that your eye is immediately drawn to it, maybe if it was smudged up a little bit, or if he had another pin on his lapel, it would've drawn your eye down better. Good work on it though

Pepps - He doesn't really say "singer" to me. When I first looked at your piece, it looked a little like he was holding one of those radiation wand things and that he was floating, I had this whole story going about a spaceship picking him up. :) But that's neither here nor there. Once I looked closer, I think your piece is really good, and if he had a less floating stance and a more clarification on the mic you would've been golden. :)

Pixeltuner - I liked your guy, he looks like my uncle, who ironicaly is a struggling singer/ truckdriver. :) I think his back could be less arched, but it looks really good. You just keep getting better every time I see your pieces. :)

Amaliax - there's some anatomy issues. At first I couldn't tell if it was a guy or a gal. And the guitar looks like it's floating, I think it would be difficult to play in that position. I like the harmonica, I thought it was a nice touch. Keep at it!

anatheme - this guy didn't say "singer" to me either. He looks like a goth playactor. I think it's the pose. If you had moved at least the hand on his waist, I think it would've done wonders. I liked the outfit though.

cognition.sb - I really liked the whole mood of your piece. The left hand could have had a little more rendering and so could her left foot. But, overall, I think you nailed it.

invinciblewombat - I think a lot of his character wasn't there. I just didn't feel like I knew this person. It may have been better if his eyes were open, or if he had more of an expression on his face or something. Great rendering and I liked the little details.

Fenster - I know it's a stylistic choice. But, it seems like the idea would've worked better if his hands were exaggerated more on the large side than the small. Because that's what is involved with making the music. But, I respect that it was a stylistic choice and other than that I thought it looked good.

Vorace - I loved the taped up instrument. I bet that sounds horrible, but the way he looks, that's probably exactly what fits him best. I loved the mood in this, great work.

Equality72521 - I really liked this piece, he looks soulful and he connected to the music, which in turn connects the audience. My inner band geek coming out as I go along, sorry.

aeronik - I MISSED it! NOOOO!!! I was so going to vote too. :( I'm sorry. Anyway, I thought this really fit the brief perfectly. When I look at it, I can here him telling some little snippet about his life before he launches into the song. Great job!

YIIT - wonderful piece, beautifully rendered. However, I didn't vote because she didn't seem to be the correct age. Loved the paper boat sailing towards its doom.

Relic - loved your take on this. She looked a little young, no wrinkles written into her face. But, she looks great, wonderful work on it.

Rodriguez - His right leg looks a little shorter than his left. Loved his outfit and the banjo. I think his jacket could've been a little more worn. Even with the torn sleeve it still looks more new than the rest of his clothing.


I hope I got everyone!

[Adele]

aeronik is a stand out for me...great character...colour and pose, tattoo detail, concept and research, and the guitar is awesome. well done...my winner

[YIIT]

voted for :

Artofinca: Do think the char is eccentric,I got this "Mory Kante - yeke yeke" feeling...

Edriss: "clean me" and "smiley" added a very comic feeling to the character with all the banjo and the scotch bottle on his belt,I think its perfectly fine that you drew the donkey half way since the main char is fully seen and the donkey mainly stands as a accessory or npc...good colorful execution.

Vorace: Very well executed and dynamic, wished you had more time to color it and maybe add some BG. I keep getting this feeling that your char looks like a clown from the "Killer clowns from outer space" (a cult horror movie ).Anyway I like it.

Aeronik: I like your style very much and think it suits this char profile very smoothly. Love the "bad-ass" guitar in his hands; not to mention my favorite "old jack no:7".Very nice expression on the face ,suggestion the viewer that this musician is a "free soul" and perhaps "hard on the knuckles and thick on the head", bravo.

Thanks to all , and thanks again for my votes...

[Pixeltuner]

some comments:
Vorace: Great piece. but looks more like a member of Apocalyptica than an old vagabond rocker.
Buckster: Awesome atmosphere, but nothing tells me I'm looking at a musician. Seems more like a mime mixed with a drag-queen.
Aeronik: Illustration-wise it's top notch. The only thing that bothers me is that it's more like all the Rolling Stones and AC/DC combined in one character than an ecclectic or eccentric character.
MJ Alcazar You keep getting better and better. The anatomy may be flawed but the rendering on this piece is pretty impressive.

[The_Macedonian]

The two I voted for are leading:steph:

[Clochette]

Voted : Vorace and Aeronik

Vorace : Great one! :D I like the expression and values, and this cello is ace!! We feel that he has been riding through the streets of many cities! :)
Aeronik : Great energy, poses and rendering! Your characters are so cool, and your final reminds me a even more wild Keith Richards! :D

[Vorace]

thanks for the comments everyone :) wish I had more time to do it in color

voted aeronik, great character, top quality !

[Buckster]

thank you kindly for the comments. This one was very interesting. Voted aeronik as well, great go man.

Cheers

[pepps]

hello,

i thought i´d write something on both the ones i voted for and didn´t vote for, hope this helps in some way =)

i didn´t vote for:

Artofinca: i like your piece, i like the technique and the mood. But i see it a bit far from the topic, i don´t really feel the idea of the vagabond, the person who eats what they give them to eat, and sleeps where he can...it looks like wearing normal tribal cloths to me...i though it was an impotant aspect of the char but i can´t find it in your piece. Otherwise i think it´s a very cool interpretation. good job!

Invincible wombat: I think you are on topic, but i don´t feel much of a character in him. I don´t feel the difficulties he went through and the story behind what he does...he don´t really have much cool in him..i think...One thing for example. If you look at cognition_sb´s piece he also has a written text, but to me that one tells much more about the character than you does, it gives more depth to it..if you understand what i mean. Technically it´s ok i think it didn´t really impact my judgment as much as the concept did. Overall i think you did a nice job anyway!

Pixeltuner: I like him, really, his character shines through, and i think it fits the topic very well. But i really have problems with the bend in the torso...i know it adds gesture...but it´s realli innatural, i´m sorry =) Also lots of line make him look too furry to me at times, maybe his figure could have used some more polishing? or maybe it adds to the character...dunno =).. anyway i think it´s a good work overall!

Rodriguez: Uhm...there are some anathomical issues, and strange things happening with the lighting. The biceps showing through the jacket that way is really unlikely to happen, and the trousers look not too much like trousers. Try to make the cloths more cloths and less body...they don´t all wrap around the body like cellophane, some do, but most don´t. Also i think his face is a bit too old for that body...? Character wise..it looks a to me like a bunch of random stuff put together honestly...there probably is a logic..but i can´t find it, i understand that there might be cloths he found here and there, but still i don´t see them desribing his character in any particular way. The cloths should be just a reflection of his personality. Why does he have does clothes, why not other clothes? Maybe you can try thinking (if you don´t do it already) about the character first, defining who he is, what does he like, what is his purpose, and then find cloths and props that can help describing him...your final goal is to describe the character to the people without words, so once you have your character in mind, gesture, expression, clothes, mood etc, become your words...hope this helps!

YIIT: i like the rendering, missing some reflection between the rocks skin and water i think, and sometimes i think the brush strokes suggest weird planes, in the knee area for example, or in the legs. But it looks good. I love the extra care on the toes =) But i think it´s not really on topic, you´re missing the vagabond part. Not because she could´t be a 21st century vagabond siren, but because there is nothing suggesting the idea of a vagabond =). Not much of the siren either actually, hadn´t you wrote it before the picture =) but i think rendering wise it´s very good, just the concept behind it is not really on target...

Hungryan: i like the touch the smiley gives him, but i think he still isn´t a strong character. Maybe the angle, or the fact that i can´t really see the face properly, there is something uncomfortable about him, but i can´t really get it, i´m sorry =§ Maybe the cloths...look a bit off to me...it´s like if an old guy, went in a bar with his old clothes and started to sing on stage...it doesn´t give me the idea of a vagabond, neither of a singer actually...uhm..but maybe it´s just me. Still i think that it´s hard to see the character, to understand him from this angle...i feel that way at-least...not much information comes across...i sense that you had a cool concept but i can´t grasp it...hope this makes sense.. =)

anatheme: apart from some anathomy issues (is he a demon? =) ), i find it hard to understand the character, it gives different ideas from the actor/storytellet, to some more classical theater thing, to a dark, punk person...not sure, but i think they don´t really work together that well as it is now. In what way is he fullfilling all these roles in his life? i don´t see and answer to this in the painting...and i think this is the important question when designing a character: imagine a character, a living person, and tell his story with his expression, clothing, gesture, and so on....in yours i don´t really understand much...=§ i know this can sound a bit abstract, if you think it could help you can pm me =) i like the rendering apart from the face...i´m not sure if he should look human.. maybe the teeth or some issues with proportions give him a more demonic look=)...apart from that is nice i think =)Welcome to ca.org btw!!

Amaliax: i like the overall feeling, i think it fits the topic, even though i don´t really find something cool in her...maybe something really particular that expressed more her personality would have helped. The rendering is a bit dirty, wich can be ok inside the shape but it gives a sense of unfinished if when the edges are not sharp. There are some issues with forshortening in the arms, and the way the guitar is held. hoe this helps =)

Relic: nice rendering and concept, but it didn´t suit the topic in my opinion. It lacks the vagabond part wich i thought was an important part of the whole concept.

i voted for:

Equality72521: wow i love the mood, and the character that just from his expression. I can feel the vibes fly through the paper, i really really like it! It well rendered (maybe some form issues on his left arm), but the gesture and the expression really tell his story...The composition also, he is inside the music, inside his soul, it´s a very powerfull image, very inspiring!!

Aeronik yes! it´s him! probalby =) well rendered, great mood, outstanding espression, it really tells everything you need to know about him, but leaves mistery and questions thus making it really interesting. Amazingly well done, probably my favourite!

MJ_Alcazar i´m loving her, really, the texture the pose, the clothing, really work together to create an amazing character, i can imagine her in a film very easily. It´s a great character i think, BUT there are some things you need to work on, because they are holding you back i think. The face is the major problem in my opinion, it´s wonky, the eyes are erased and the planes are a bit off, i presume that working with pen, you had problems working over it, so there wasn´t much to do, but maybe you could have gone over with tracing paper over a white piece of paper to hide the face, and redraw it...(the first idea that came to my mind)..i think the piece looses much of it´s potential with this face..=( The pose also becomes weird on the bottom half i think, the feet especially don´t really link her tothe ground in a stable way...Apart from that i think it is really nice, the care for hands, materials and background really pay off in my opinion, very nice, keep it up!!

Edriss: i think you gave him an interesting interpretation, fun and well thought. I like the concept and the rendering, but i think it´s lacking character, especially in the expression...it doesn´t really tell me who he is...it doesn´t say much of his personality to me...but i liked it =) i would have liked it very very much with a more expressive face though =)

Buckster: lovely illustrations, nice composition and mood, really nice. Love the colors and the unperfect face really adds to the character. I think you characterized her very well, and you managed to get that character to the viewer...to me atleast =) Love the ribbon xD i think it makes her come to life =)

Cognition_sb: ahah really nice, i love her. i think the contrast works very well and the way you used the colours to accentate it is amazing =) the written paper really adds to the character i think, even though she is quite strong by herself. yes!

vorace well done, nice characterization on both the instrument and the person. I don´t get too much of a vagabond feeling, but i guess it´s because of the lack of more clothing. i like it overall =)

Fenster: heh, yes, i like it. I like the idea and the style really adds to it. It has lots of rythm and action to it, nice pose and gesture, very well done. Design wise it could use some more characterization in my opinion, right now apart from the pose and the face there is nothing that really really makes him unique i think...most of the props don´t stand out, they add to the character a bit, but don´t characterize it really. still i like it very much =)

phew!

[Equality72521]

truly outstanding work everyone, this place always amazes me at the talent people have here. I think what has been said about everyone's piece has been said, but just to reiterate: Buckster, Edriss, cognition.sb, Fenster, Aeronik, and MJ really captured the mood of the brief, far beyond any expectations.

On a side note, Vorace's piece is wickedly awesome, more vagabond-ish than soulful singer, though

Props to everyone whp put time into this weeks CHOW, I'll be seeing you around.

[hungryan]

Thanks Pepps for writing a kinda detailed description of why you didn't choose my stuff. I think I start to understand what I'm lacking in these challenges, I should spend more time with thinking about the character and concepting it. I was more here to practice my figure drawing/digital painting so far, because it's a great way to be forced to do that. Unfortunately I'm lazy if nothing pushes me.

[RayTwicket]

i voted for aeronik too, good work!
there's lots of good pieces here, good work everyone...