Chow 135 :: Agetha, The Victorian Automaton

[daestwen]

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

ROUND #135 :: Agetha, The Victorian Automaton


DESCRIPTION

Agetha, The Victorian Automaton

ADVERTISEMENT:
Witness the Miraculous Agetha! A realistic, full-size clock-work doll, Agetha is made of all British Empire materials, including genuine Indian Ivory, Canadian copper and bronze, and Pearls off the Australian Coast. Designed and built by master craftsmen Henry Dunnet, Agetha is fully capable of mimicking all human emotion. Wound by a secret form of steam technology, Agetha only requires one hour's wind up a day, and can do all your daily chores for you, with a happy smile and a spring in her step. You'll never want to go back to your old life, once Agetha is in it! Made to Order for a Limited Time, please contact Henry Dunnet for full details!

Scrawled at the bottom:

NO LONGER IN PRODUCTION. First Agetha failure. Set to be destroyed. Please pull ad from new week's newsletter. Henry Dunnet wanted by police for misconduct and endangering the Queen. Send all information to Col. Newcastle at Scotland Yard.

---------------------------------------------------------
DEADLINE
MONDAY, November 17th, 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! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2004607)
Linked for your convenience :)
Remember to include your nickname in the file name.

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

_____________

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

[daestwen]

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

:right:ON GETTING TO POLL (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1891823&postcount=15)
-------------------------
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:right:SUBMISSION FORMAT REMINDER (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1911002&postcount=28)

[Senira]

This prompt sounds familiar. Wasn't there one for a steam punk android sometime last year?

[daestwen]

There was an gigolo android last year? is that what you're thinking of?

edit:

We had a 1930's android back in round 34?

[Senira]

Gigolo android was it. There was a 1930's one? I guess androids are just a popular topic. :)

[daestwen]

Well android isn't quite the right word for this round anyway.

It's more like ah... um, what do they call them? Automaton? is that how you spell it?

[Asatira]

I think automaton is a better description or approach for this one. Simple tasks, not meant for complex calculations or thoughts. I could have fun with this. I'm going to try for it.

Quick search on Wikipedia for "automaton" got this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automaton. "An automaton (plural: automata or automatons) is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot."

[daestwen]

I think automaton is a better description or approach for this one. Simple tasks, not meant for complex calculations or thoughts. I could have fun with this. I'm going to try for it.

Quick search on Wikipedia for "automaton" got this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automaton. "An automaton (plural: automata or automatons) is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot."

Fixed for Clarity's sake. ;)

[S.C. Watson]

A marionette (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marionettes) is what I initially thought of when we discussed this weeks ago, Dae, but I couldn't recall the word. I kept coming up with minaret (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minaret), which is NOT what we're doing :P

[Clochette]

Sounds creepy! I'll probably join this one! :)
Marionette is a french word! I didn't know it works in english too!

[Daray]

Sounds creepy! I'll probably join this one! :)
Marionette is a french word! I didn't know it works in english too!

We use more French words than most realise ;) I study French (one day I will live there, yes! :O ) its amazing just how many are borrowed :)


And interesting topic! After playing Fallout 3, at least I have a small piece of inspiration :D

[Cup_of_Tea?]

I've been away for a month, but I am going to get back in. Nice topic. I thought of a marionette too, but in an English Victorian style.

[DecayingLolita]

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

gah! This has to be my favourite subject....

at first I thought of a story where it is actually a real girl, pretending to be an automaton. But that would not be as interesting as an automaton. Just scribbled something up fast this morning but I have too many ideas this time around :)

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

[Angel Intheuk]

Ooh ! :D

[Foofea]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5qR62WwKQDo&feature=related

hehe my sons watched this recently and its given me a few ideas

[nimbusnacho]

These past two challenges I like a lot, I might just have to actually get off my lazy ass and do this one.


A quick search brought me to this site (http://www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/diy_steampunk/) which I think might be helpful, if you're like me and not familiar with drawing victorian machinary/steampunk style things.

[Pixeltuner]

nice one! malfunctioning pieces of doll or robot are always fun :p

[Pseudocognition]

Epic. Topic. Holycrap there goes my free time this week.

[WTFsteph]

first chow for me in a while..
some thumbs. idk if i've got the hang of this robot thing yet.. haha

[UCT]

Im not going to say anything about this untill I have atleast a good starting point wip, last couple of weeks Ive talked and thought but no drawing.

DecayingLolita - looks cool. I like the big skirt as it fits in with timeline but hides alot of the figure.

WTFsteph - Very Jetsons. cool style.

[Define.]

I love what you've got going WTFsteph! You might have just scribbled those down but they're lovely and match what I had in mind, for sure.

[DecayingLolita]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/agetha2.jpg

It's tough to draw "with a smile" :D

[S.C. Watson]

This is what I have so far after about an hour or so.

516702

516701

516704

~Oreg.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Well, these aren't even sketches. I'm not really sure what you'd call them....plans? I don't know. I felt like I should get something up, haven't had time to just sit down and draw something out. :(
Sorry, Lolita, I'll get rid of the face plate, I see you had it too. :)
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0004-4.jpg

[DecayingLolita]

I think face-plate is pretty much the only way of putting a face like a doll's on a robot... all the other ideas I had were a wee bit too creepy to fit with the brief :(

[purb36]

gonna join up. here's what i got so far. just sketches. g'luck to everybody this week. :)

[madhatter106]

purb36 - great start - the dress looks like Victorian evening wear (open neckline, exposed arms).

Oregano - I think your instincts to draw from Metropolis are spot on - when you guys changed the brief's title to "automaton," the False Maria was the first image that popped into my head also. And I love the idea that she's decked out in a maid's outfit.

DecayingLolita - great start, looking forward to seeing more. Wonderful little details.

[Cup_of_Tea?]

I had a play about last night. I was trying to get her to stand with a rag-doll type stance, ie belly-out. And it looked ok when she was naked, but as soon as I added clothes she seemed to just look awkward. Her head could do with being tidied up and I need think more about clockwork details, but so far....

[Angel Intheuk]

http://www.ourwardfamily.com/victorian_servants.htm

Here's a good website I found, lots of interesting facts and old pics :)

[Relic]

I plan a lot of gear wheels or clockwork things sticked out ,and gotta figure out a charming face:)
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/Reliczhi/ca/wip1.jpg

[YIIT]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/3024010149_9c6be043bb_b.jpg

Well I dont have much time for this weeks chow (late on 5-6 pages of comic work) but I will try to finish this doodle (with a new point of view).

[rodriguez]

Hey everybody

couple of sketches don't think i'm gonna use either of them
hoping i've got something else up my sleeve

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[WTFsteph]

small quick update. just figuring out color and placement and all that jazz.

[vandalfish]

great topic! Here's what I have so far.

[Sorknes]

Gah, you guys are already throwing out great stuff.

Vandalfish, that one is bloody awsome! <3

Trying to grab an idea myself... It's... bland. Oh well. :P

[daestwen]

WTFsteph: Just a note to keep in mind, but - i think you're leaning a little 1950's sci-fi on this one. Try not to think of it as a robot so much - even though it is, victorian automatons (even fictional ones) don't have circuitry or programming we would recognize today.

Here's a couple cool example of real automatons!

[Sorknes]

The difference between those automatons and the brief is that those things usually only do one or two specific tasks though... Sometimes a small sequence.

An automaton that walks around AND does housechores must have some robotic/steampunk abilities as well, or..?

[Clochette]

Vandalfish : Wow :P Great one!

Some Victorian haistyle ref, if it could help someone. :)

http://www.hairfinder.com/haircollections2/renella-hairstyle-4.jpg
http://www.erasofelegance.com/entertainment/movies/wives/wivespub13.jpg
http://individual.utoronto.ca/beaujot/web2/images/bwhair7.jpg
http://blog.hku.nl/RTM-students/wp-content/queen%20Victoria.jpg

[Goog]

my sketch after a few thumbnails. I'll probably add a few more bells and whistles.

[Keeviin]

Funny idea! Who comes up with this stuff? :oneye:

In case anyone needs it: Victorian Fasion Pictures (http://www.fashion-era.com/victorian_pictures.htm)

vandalfish - sweet, also very... victorianesque.

Also took a shot - sorry I'm newbish at this whole thing.

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[madhatter106]

The difference between those automatons and the brief is that those things usually only do one or two specific tasks though... Sometimes a small sequence.

An automaton that walks around AND does housechores must have some robotic/steampunk abilities as well, or..?

This is a good point. If Agatha is capable of "mimicking all human emotion" and "can do all your daily chores for you, with a happy smile and a spring in her step," I'm hard pressed to not call her a robot. It would be one thing if she were the coat check girl, but it sounds like she's a one-woman army running on steam.

So, are we skewing "marionette/automaton," or do we follow the functions as listed in the brief and take her into Steampunk Robot land? Or do we blend the both of them? I'm confuzzled, can I get a clarification?

Anyhoo, here's some shit I was kicking around on paper today...I had the idea that our inventor had decided to "mold her" in the image of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, so her porcelain face and regalia has a resemblance to photos of the monarch...and which aided in his final decision to scrap the project entirely - the crown was "not amused."

[MJ_Alcazar]

Still throwing around some ideas.
Vandalfish - loving it.
Madhatter106- awesome take on it!
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0005-4.jpg

I'm hoping she looks more Victorian than Indian princess now.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0006-3.jpg

[e_vola]

Right now here's a rough sketch of what I came up with. I just wanted to put the idea of a rotating wheel with multiple faces on my screen :)

[birdsatemyface]

Just a quick sketch. Doesn't look much like an automaton or anything not-quite-human just yet, but I'll remedy that soon. What's the protocol on using stock textures in the background? Is that allowed or not?

[Desmayado]

I am new on CAO and CHOW, hi all. When i first saw weekly activities i thought it would be a great focus to force myself to work more regularly. I saw Agetha topic and i started the work with rough scketches at my work (the artistic sketch was scanned in two sheets joined with cello tape :)). Now, freshly registered and ready to post my early work i see some coincidences with Oregano and madhatter106 work. Well i suppose this is parallel thinking or evolution or something...

Ah, sorry for my english.

[Clochette]

Doodles... I am not satisfied yet..

Sorry for not take the time to comment everyone's work, I just wanted to say to MJ Alcazar : Your entry is one of your best til now! :) You are really improving!

[daestwen]

This is a good point. If Agatha is capable of "mimicking all human emotion" and "can do all your daily chores for you, with a happy smile and a spring in her step," I'm hard pressed to not call her a robot. It would be one thing if she were the coat check girl, but it sounds like she's a one-woman army running on steam.

So, are we skewing "marionette/automaton," or do we follow the functions as listed in the brief and take her into Steampunk Robot land? Or do we blend the both of them? I'm confuzzled, can I get a clarification?

Basically, the idea is based from the real automatons, but expanded from that. I was showing the real automatons to show you guys the style that I was going for, but not the actual design. Obviously Agetha is ridiculously more advanced than anything they actually had then. You are totally welcome to robot it up, but a robot that looks like it's from 1950's sci-fi is probably pulling too far from the brief - there was nothing in the Victorian period to lend to that aesthetic.


So, basically:

Feel free to go crazy as you want, but try to keep Victorian Elements so that it looks like it COULD have fit into the period.

Sound good?

[Cup_of_Tea?]

Desmayado - welcome to CHOW. looking good.

Evola - sorry, can't see it too well, but nice idea

MJ ALcazar - she looks a bit like an indian princess atm, but i think you are the only one who has obviously put in the indian jewels part....

Madhatter - She is terrifying! can you imagine her running about your house. haha, great idea and i like the steam/robotic detailing

Vandalfish - it looks epic already

WTFSteph - remind me of the Jetsons, but cuter.

so, i have done a little bit at my lunch break...feeling a bit better about her now

[Sorknes]

Thanks for the clarification Daestwen. :)

Trying to make mine a lil more Victorian... Did several other tries but keep coming back to this one for some reason...

I'll try to comment on the other WIPs later today :)

[vandalfish]

A little bit of progress. Working in painter as apposed to photoshop has done good things for me. Crits and suggestions appreciated

[Define.]

vandalfish -- I'm in love.

[fuhrenator]

Hey, im new to concept art.org, so this is my first COW competition. I've had a great time messing with this concept. Everybody else's stuff looks amazing thus far, this is certainly some great competition.

Heres what i have thus far. Just a simple PS sketch, but its based on about 5 other preliminary concepts i did yesterday.

[birdsatemyface]

vandalfish: Fantastic work so far. I really like the stylized steam and rust-like colors.

Progress so far.

[amaliax]

hi there. I just got a chance to do some sketches. What do you think?

[Partialartist]

Great work, everyone. Here's some of what I've got so far. At the moment I'm more focused on the face, trying to get it realistic, yet plausibly animated. I need to get the clothing to feel a bit more authentic, too. Hopefully, I'll get this one done on time.

BTW, sorry about the poor scans. I sketch lightly.

[Seage]

Oooo. These are prettehh. Really loving vandalfish's wip as are a lot of people i see, lol.

Ive been painting a little tonight. I was painting 2 at the same time, but im liking this one a bit more, probably change a lot of things though.
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[purb36]

hey y'all, some clothing references found on wikipedia:

Wiki-page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_fashion)
Fashion overview (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/1794-1887-Fashion-overview-Alfred-Roller.GIF)
Fashion overview 2 (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Alfred-Grevin-19th-century-fashion.png)

keep workin hard, everybody. g'luck! :cheerleader:

[tomwaits4noman]

DecayingLolita second sketch looks cool

Steph love the last maybe move the waist down more to give a more of hour glass figure


purb36 like this reminds me of the Dreshen dolls... can't wait to see it develop.


Cup_of_Tea? it does need more robotic features. maybe make some of the features more angular and add hinges etc looking good

Relic looks good can't wait to see the details

YIIT great idea, maybe make the arms and pose more feminine, the pose seems a bit stiff but like it

rodriguez like the second one, think you need to stretch the body a bit more

vandalfish very cool

will try comment on rest later.. going to try do chows again, need to make time.

[humboldt squid]

A little bit of progress. Working in painter as apposed to photoshop has done good things for me. Crits and suggestions appreciated

Pretty awesome so far, try to keep the brushstrokes in the final version, they really ad a lot to the feel of it.

[Desmayado]

First background-char color pass (yes the chararcter is not finished but my workflow is a bit chaotic). Maybe Agetha must contrast more from background...
Sorry for my english.

[DefiledVisions]

Vandalfish, really great - compostion, character, background.. all is stunning.. everything just said *click* when watching it :) now go finnish it!

[YIIT]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/3030057063_a2450ca7b9_b.jpg

WIP - But like i said I have little time.So probably I will only be submitting B&w

[fuhrenator]

Alright guys, i got a general color scheme now, and added the clothing details as well.

The white sections are suppose to be "ivory", i think that thats kinda a cool concept to toy around with.

[ryuloulou]

just beginning, and not very happy of what i've done so far...
it's certainly because I am trying a new software

or it is the composition

It's been a while though , hello everybody ;)
http://stephaniehans.free.fr/automaton3.jpg

[fuhrenator]

Wow, those colors are so amazing. The contrast is amazing too. Totally digging it ryuloulou

[madhatter106]

Just a general clothing note to you guys - watch your skirt lengths. If you're doing Victorian fashion (and that's a span from 1836ish to about 1900), there's a lot of variation but the skirt lengths are usually to the floor or just about to the floor. Remember, it was all about prudery back then. ;)

I'm seeing a lot of "leg" on some of these, and even though they're automaton/robots, keep in mind the time period they're in...the wikipedia link to Victorian fashion that's posted earlier has a great chart showing acceptable skirt length according to the girl's age, and you notice it goes lower and lower as the age goes up.

Here's some from the late 1860's and the 1880's. Not a knee or calf in sight...

[Timmy the Turtle]

Nice topic... video game Syberia insantly comes to mind... :)

[MJ_Alcazar]

Ok, changed some things based off the awesome references that are coming up. Thanks everyone for going through that extra trouble. :)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0009-4.jpg

[prepsage]

Hi everyone. been awhile. WIP

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/3516/chow3yw7.jpg

[Nadiamoon]

http://i37.tinypic.com/2mpfz2x.jpg

[ryuloulou]

madhatter> you're so right, I was so deep in the gothic lolita mood that I forgot a few basics.

by the way, I really didn't like the first try, so I changed everything.
http://stephaniehans.free.fr/automaton5.jpg

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0016-4.jpghttp://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0017-4.jpg

ryuloulou - looking good.
prepsage - very regal looking. Can't wait to see it finished.
Nadiamoon - She looks like a guy right now. Hourglass figures were really big, so maybe push that more.

[Artificially Awake]

some ideas for mine so far, eventually went with the end one

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/prep-executioner/agathawip.jpg

[JessiBean]

Interesting work so far, some really stellar stuff in there too.

Artificially Awake - I think it's a little small to tell what is happening here, maybe post something larger?


Probably won't make it to finish on this, but I wanted to at least get my sketch done for once - Woot!

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[birdsatemyface]

Everyone's progressing great so far.

Slooow progress on mine, but should be finished by the deadline. She looks like a mix between a drag queen and a mime, haha. :P

[Daray]

I think this is the hardest challenge I've done yet. I'm not at all happy with my piece and I can tell you now, robots/automatons and steampunk type things are NOT my forte! lol :P

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[ryuloulou]

ha jessybean, I have to say, I am always very impressed with your lines.
I really love your work. It is alway so clean.


prepsage>impressive


http://stephaniehans.free.fr/automaton11.jpg

[YIIT]

WIP
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/3034141665_96e0a24654_b.jpg

[vandalfish]

DefiledVisions - Thanks! Checked out your sketchbook btw, it was great.

YIIT -Very creepy so far, and I like that you went in a different direction with the wheels instead of a skirt or legs. You might want to try making the waist more narrow, it would look more Victorian and also make the silhouette more interesting. Possibly throw in some corset detail? It might also help if you gave her a more distinctly Victorian hairstyle, and not draw every strand of the hair. I love the intricate, metal-work mouth.

fuhrenator - Can't wait to see that finished. The only crit I have to offer is that the skirt-length doesn't quite work for the time period.

MJ_Alcazar - Looking good so far. The structure of the face needs to be tightened up a little bit, though.

JessiBean - Love your linework and the way you handle fabric. If you were going to finish this I'd say that the loose fabric on her forearms isn't necessary though. I haven't really seen that very much in Victorian women's fashion, but it could be I just haven't looked at enough reference yet.

ChristianShane - I really like what you have for the face and the hair so far. All the illustrations I've seen so far of Victorian women have had ridiculously tiny waists and about a hundred petticoats, though, so it might help to exaggerate her silhouette a bit, bring in the waist and poof out the skirt. At the same time, I'm guessing servants and maids clothes were a lot more practical, so if that's what you're going for completely disregard me :)

Daray's - You have the steam-punk feel there. A wasp waist and a bigger skirt would do a lot to help tie this into the Victorian theme. Love the use of the different fabric patterns and textures as well as the ornate wallpaper.

ryuloulou - I like the movement and comp of this pieces, and the look on her face. I think you should bring out her left (our right) elbow out a bit more, as that arm is looking a lot shorter than the other. Also, the seams on her nose look a little strange, and I can't see a purpose for them, but that's probably just a matter of personal taste.

Thought I'd post this one more time before I finish. I think I might have messed up the color scheme by adding yellow. The skirt isn't fully rendered yet. I'm still trying to decide if I should put any ornate detail in the background or leave it alone.

[JessiBean]

So I got into it... and I finished. Woot!

Thanks for the comments!
vandalfish - thank you! and the fabric on the forearms were a kind of false sleeves women who did housework and such used to keep their actual clothes clean :^^: I love where your piece is going, I have to say. Very cool.
Also, LOVING the rendering, ryuloulou

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[Seage]

Omg JessiBean....how do you do this? It seems to just flow for you.
Im backing out, lol. My design is stiff, looks all off, not interesting. Gosh.

[MJ_Alcazar]

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk153/Seloh_Eft/scan0018-4.jpg

I think, I may have just ruined her face. :(

Jessibean - that is amazing! I love it.

[AlotAbitAlittle]

As usual walking the line with time... here is my wip! There are some great things happening in this Chow, I am looking forward to seeing the finishes.

:0) CC's welcome.

Thanks madhatter106 I reworked it a little thanks for the crit!

[daestwen]

Jessi - You've got two different directions for the same light. :P

[Stephan_R]

Jessi: Exactly what the contest asked for, nailed it! I love how you slipped clothes on over the steam punk body, and the duster is fantastic as well. Overall her design is really great, from the proportions to the colors but i wish there was some smoke coming from that pipe coming out of her head :) I'm just curious, but what would the font look like behind her head (Since she's in front of the bottom background) Won my vote, and glad I didn't jump in here... this one just does it all great work.

[¿Dubious?]

Not sure if Ill get to finish this as my roomate needs my tablet for his ad design final but I think you can see where I was going with it. Too bad I kinda liked this one.

[madhatter106]

vandalfish - I don't think she needs the hat. Though I love the hat, I'd imagine this robot will spend most of the time indoors, and the hat is such an exterior accessory...more fitting for a Sunday promenade in the park (conspicuous consumption, oh-so-Victorian) rather than an afternoon of washing dishes and serving tea.

JessiBean - I'd agree with another poster, your lines are exquisite. Fits the brief perfectly and has that playful whimsical sense the description calls for.

MJ Alacazar - the sword/blade looks strange, since it's falling behind her back, although her hand/arm angle would not indicate that. Why does she have the sword at all?

AlotAbitAlittle - great start, I love the idea of seeing her in action cleaning the floors. From the waist up, she's great, but the proportion/angle from the waist down seems a tad off - it doesn't seem to match? Maybe the foreshortening on the leg closest to the picture plane? I dunno, something just seems a little teensy bit skewed. I just love how her head is lolled to the one side, like she's in need of another wind-up soon - looks like she's running out of juice. I hope you finish this one, it's a good start.

Dubious - you've put on the screen what I had in my head when I envisioned this, but didn't have the time or wherewithall to do myself - an intricate machine with huge smoke/steam/pipes billowing in back...something almost impractical for a normal household, a great smoking and belching monstrosity that's almost frightening. I do hope you take this further, as I think it's a great take on the subject...!

YIIT - another great start, I love your lines and the intricate details you've done on the last version. The mouth disturbs me - it looks slightly dangerous or eerie. I almost thought she was giving me the finger at first glance, then realized she was holding a spoon...would love to see this in color.

ryuloulou - I'm glad you took her skirt longer, it fits much better - looks less "baby doll" sexpot trashy lingerie. I love the idea of her holding on to the enormous key that's needed for her wind-up.

Daray - great line work - she almost looks either distraught or about to malfunction. Great gears, too.

ChristianShane - looking forward to the finished version - I think the steam/smoke in the back is a good start, I think it needs some more detail work that tells us it's an automaton/robot.

[Partialartist]

Here's what I've got so far. I've still got a lot of work to do on it, but I think I can get it done.

[MJ_Alcazar]

madhatter106 - lol. ummm. I was trying to put a menacing intent on it, although by all appearances she looks like a good thing. looks like it didn't quite work out. And I did notice that when I started putting the ink down that the arm angle and sword didn't match! oops. :(
Oh well, unfortunately, I ran out of time so I'm dropping out of this one. Wonderful work guys. I look forward to voting in the poll!

[Flipnastywebby]

master wants two sugars pfzzzzzzt!!!!!*

:pirate:

[Hideyoshi]

here's a speedie, 1.5h, tried to manage without ref. (I am fool, I know...)
I'll post it before I spot too many mistakes and begin to hate it like I always do, lol.

Sorry, no WIPs...

[Flipnastywebby]

should have posted this before the sketch
this was the original 15 minute color comp.

[birdsatemyface]

Vandalfish: Thanks, I added more to the skirts and shaved a little off the waist. ;)

madhatter106: You're right, she looks a little too human, I'll try and throw some things in to fix that.

Might be down to the wire, but should have this done before time runs out. I'm just wondering if this is an acceptable background? (It's a stock texture, I'm not sure if we're allowed to use these as they're not explicitly ours.)

[prepsage]

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9720/prepsagechow13503cn6.jpg
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1015/prepsagechow135be5.jpg
smashed my index finger on my drawing hand...

[DecayingLolita]

I don't know what to say... I expected some really cool and original stuff but everytihng looks so identical it's another round of "Who paints the prettiest picture of the same robot." I might finish mine but I don'treally feel so much like it anymore.

[purb36]

finally finished something. congrats, and good luck to everybody who participated!

[¿Dubious?]

Dude DecayingLolita you do realize we were all given the same topic right? And maybe you should show us something new before you lament our lack of originality cause last I saw your design looked a lot like everyone elses.

[The Whistler]

Hey guys, just came here to say hello and that this is an awesome topic :) Unfortunately I'm away on college and in another town without a tablet or a scanner so I probably won't be able to do any chows anytime soon.

Anyways, great work people, prepsage, yours is my favorite, just what an automaton is supposed to look like, very steampunkish :)

Also, Vandalfish - I love yours too and I saved it in my inspiration folder because it's awesome, but watch out - you named it agetha copy.jpg, you should change it to be correct according to CHOW rules if you still have time, it'd be a real shame if you got cut out from the poll only because of that

[Daray]

Dude DecayingLolita you do realize we were all given the same topic right? And maybe you should show us something new before you lament our lack of originality cause last I saw your design looked a lot like everyone elses.

I don't think she meant it in such an offensive way. But this is the problem when we have such a specific breif :) It's nothing to get at anyone, or to start a bitchfest, just for people to enjoy the challenege and come up with their idea.

[AlotAbitAlittle]

I don't know what to say... I expected some really cool and original stuff but everytihng looks so identical it's another round of "Who paints the prettiest picture of the same robot." I might finish mine but I don'treally feel so much like it anymore.

That should be even more of a reason to finish! :0)

[vandalfish]

Whistler- Thanks! I had no idea the name of the file itself matters! Am I supposed to name it Chow135?

[DecayingLolita]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that.... it's just that I've been quite ill the past few days and after I put up my first sketches I didn't do much till now... and I came back and everyone's done it better than me it's pretty disheartening. Blame all the medicine i'm on atm. :D

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b274/Lucretia_the_fallen/agetha6.jpg

I saw a couple of interesting original ones it's just me feeling hopeless and unoriginal again.

[¿Dubious?]

I don't think she meant it in such an offensive way. But this is the problem when we have such a specific breif :) It's nothing to get at anyone, or to start a bitchfest, just for people to enjoy the challenege and come up with their idea.

yeah I totally understand, just saying that maybe you shouldnt call people out unless you can back it up. No offense meant, not trying to start anything, just responding in kind.

[DecayingLolita]

I'm not calling anything out... I thought yours was one of the good ones. I'm just a little dissapointed in the lack of any kind of thing here that i've said "wow that's cool" (besides yours and the one on wheels) and just seen pretty pictures. I'm going to shut up now cause I'm too tired to think straight.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Vandalfish - Name it Chow###_yourname.jpg For instance mine was Chow135_MJ_Alcazar.jpg Hope that helps!

[¿Dubious?]

I'm not calling anything out... I thought yours was one of the good ones. I'm just a little dissapointed in the lack of any kind of thing here that i've said "wow that's cool" (besides yours and the one on wheels) and just seen pretty pictures. I'm going to shut up now cause I'm too tired to think straight.

Yeah sorry bad choice of words. I totally understand. Besides sometimes the internet makes people sound more hostile than they mean to be. Just as a p.s. I really loved yours. Would have loved to see it finished. Better luck next time!

[purb36]

glad to see so many participants this week (course, it's only my second chow ever, first time making it to poll, so it's a lot for me). we have the wips, i'd love to see some chains, basically yall's thinking process when going through your piece for this week.

i'd also love to hear some crits, cause whatever happens, it's a learning experience. so please leave a crit, if you feel so inclined.

so here's my thought process going through this challenge:

so, though i wasn't planning on doing it, i was pushed into this by the rest of the Boston sketchgroup, or really just Vorp (thx, btw). we decided that we would like to push ourselves (and each other) to do things that we normally don't do, so he would do the EOW, and i reluctantly agreed to do the CHOW. course, when i heard that it would be a Victorian-era thing, being the closet Jane Austen fan that i am, i decided that i would do it. my biggest problem is actually finishing pieces (working in color is another one, but not as much), so that was to be my challenge for the week.

Agetha, The Victorian Automaton

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i studied engineering in uni, and i tend to be extremely literal, so i set about "solving" things in that fashion. there were several things that i picked up as highly important:

1) Victorian
so her fashion should be straight out of the victorian era (i.e. long, poofy dresses with open necklines, not super deep cleavage, and bare arms, and done up hair)
2) realistic
most automatons from that era didn't have much of the actual machinery sticking out, so i tried to make just about everything that was seen to be of the ivory, especially since the people of the time were so keen on being pale, i thought that worked well
3) full-size clock-work doll
pretty self-explanatory
4) Agetha is made of all British Empire materials, including genuine Indian Ivory, Canadian copper and bronze, and Pearls off the Australian Coast so she would be painted, pale (from the ivory). i tried to add some of the bronze in her cheeks, and i would've done it for the eyelids too, if i had decided to show them
5) fully capable of mimicking all human emotion
this was a really big one for me, actually this is where i started from. for facial emotion, the most important things are the mouth, the eyes, and the eyebrows, which actually express a lot more than is given credit for. for example, when expressing great happiness, the mouth widens and resembles a sideways "D", the eyes close slightly and the bottom lid is pushed upwards into a curve by the cheeks, and the brows stay relatively still. in sadness, however, it's mostly the mouth (which reverses its shape), and the eyelids (which pull upwards and together in the middle) that give sadness its characteristic look. so i needed to find a way that eyebrows were fully moveable, and the mouth could change shapes as well, and the eylids could close and open enough to make believable expressions. i decided that rather than make a simple puppet jaw, i would split the jaw down the middle and separate it at the cheeks, so that the position of the lips could change enough to get a couple different shapes out of the mouth. it wasn't perfect, but i thought it could be plausable and passable for different expressions
6) Wound by a secret form of steam technology
since it was wound by steam technology, a person wouldn't actually need to wind it, thereby removing the need for a big external key for somebody to turn. this actually sparked another idea, which i'll return to in a little bit
7) can do all your daily chores for you
8) Henry Dunnet wanted by police for misconduct and endangering the Queen
these last two ended up being combined into one, which gave me the motivation for the scene i composed so, picking these 8 things out, i started to work on the picture. first on the facial expressions, and then on some clothing. after doing the first speedy, i thought i had found something that could possibly work. i will say that the initial lay-in for her face and all was absolutely HIDEOUS...ask Vorp or PartialArtist. haha. but, i worked with it for a while until it wasn't SCARY to look at and imagine. so i set about to a composition. i knew that i wanted the queen in there somewhere, to bring in the part about endangering the queen. i have an off sense of humor, i think, and thinking of the queen made me think of the queen of hearts from Alice and Wonderland, and i had this mental picture of her going "Off with 'is 'ead!" over something ghastly, when she came to...i had originally intended for Agetha to be juggling knives, or playing William Tell (arrows at apples, anyone?) with the queen and "accidentally" injuring her in the shoulder or arm or something. i decided that that was a little too extreme for what i wanted to do, and that it should rather be something more trivial, as i can imagine the queen becoming irate over the littlest mishap. i thought about lawsuits as well, and thinking about what sort of chores Dunnet could have Agetha demonstrating for the queen. tea came to mind, and when i looked back over the brief, the "steam-powered" thing gave me an idea that Agetha could be a sort of big teapot, since she boiled water after all, and that she could spill some boiling water on the queen while doing her teapot thing, while singing "I'm a Little Teapot." so that became my thing. Nquyet suggested (or expected) that i should do something with weird perspective, cause i've been experimenting with that lately in portraits, so i thought with Agetha doing Teapot, that could work. so i went through some compositions in pen, and came up with something i thought could work. the hardest thing was figuring out what the perspective would look like, since i don't think i've ever tried to handle a figure in a bent at the waist double-foreshortened pose before. so i was a little nervous going into it, but i found something i was happy with. i'm MUUUUUUCH more comfortable in pen/pencil, and was originaly going to scan it in and color over it, but i didn't feel like hooking my scanner up and going through that whole process, so i put down some lines, put down a layer of desaturated green, and went to town. i also decided that i would work directly in color as opposed to working in greyscale and coloring over that in the end, both because of time constraints and because i wanted to put some of the things i've been studying (reading) about color to practice, cause you don't get better by just reading, and by playing it safe. so i started laying down some initial colors and shapes. i decided early on to change her sleeves from green to red, to lead the viewer to her hand, out of which would come the hot water. i also decided to change her dress from the initial speedy, from teal-ish to much darker green (instead of a maid's black), which would provide a little more contrast with the more saturated red in her sleeves and her lips, and the reddish-orange of her hair. threw in some reds and purples into the queen's clothing as well as some golden colors to show that she's royalty. wanted pale hands, but more pink and alive than Agetha's skin, to provide some contrast that there's one living human and one ivory doll who ACTS almost human. tried to use more greens in her outer shell to do this as well. so, it happened pretty organically, i would paint some, think about the scene, think about composition, and try to use the things that i'd been learning, like repetition to create the illusion of space, so i put in the flags and the knights. i tend to use very small brushes and get toooo refined in areas that aren't important, and then overwork things and mess up the composition that i thought so hard about, so i wanted to keep this very painterly, and keep details where they were needed, and leaving the rest with just hints of details. so Agetha's hand, her face, the water, were the most important. i drew one knight pretty basically, copied it, shrunk it, lowered the opacity, and moved it back to look like atmospheric perspective, and added some more details on the closer one. i must admit, i never really settled on a lighting scheme, so that's probably the thing that i can think of that's most off in the picture. something i need to work on a lot. but, i kept working on it, and working, tightening up details here and there, until i got something i was pretty happy with. i went back and forth for a long time about whether or not to add the teapot speech bubble (for about half an hour or so actually, just looking at both images), cause there are other artists who do illustrations with this in it and i deliberatly didn't want to do things that copy others, but after adding the music notes i thought it fit what i was going for much better, so i settled on that.

and so here's my piece. i think i learned a lot by doing this, and i look forward to doing another one. good luck to everybody else, i hope you had a great experience too. chow for now! :yayca:

[Daray]

Purb! lol... *wall of text crits you for max hp* ;)


Nice ideas though! :)