C.O.W. #135 -- Undead with Two Heads! VOTING

[Michael Jaecks]

ROUND #135 VOTING

Topic: Undead with Two Heads!!


Deadline for the voting: Monday, 16 March 2009

Posting thread (closed): C.O.W. - #135: Undead with Two Heads! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=151728)


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OK - before voting/posting read this!!!

1. Please give c&c or a reason why you voted for the image!

2. Feel free to comment on any or all entries, the artists will appreciate it!

3. No voting for your own entry!!! If a participants votes for his own entry, every member has the right to call him a stupid lame moron in this thread! And i will delete his/her vote anyway...
4. The poll is public and everyone will be able to see who votes for whom. No self-votes.

[yoitisi]

Artist: Yoitisi

Concept: Graverobber

The Graverobber can, obviously, been found mostly roaming graveyards and animal bone yards. Although it's an omnivore, most of its diet consists of carcasses and other carrion eaters - fungi and maggots are included. Due to it's preference for this type of food, these creatures are very vulnerable for diseases and often their bodies start to decay and rot long before actual death sets in. These creatures should be avoided at all times, since not only do they have a very bad temper and attack on sight, they are also spreaders of almost all contagious diseases known to man.

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[David-david]

Artist: David-david

Concept: Satan's pet


Ladies and gentelmen, get down on your knees and shiver in front of this
duality archetipic creature.
You are in front of the Satan's pet, kindly called Dustbin,
a very lovable and kind animal who only can stand the harsh and virile charesses of his master.
If some unwary soul touches it, for sure it will be the last time.
Because when it gets angry it becomes Abaddog, (its siamesse brother),
flipping his body vertically his second brain found in its double cranium gets
activated and only can think about mayhem and destruction,
flying towards the victim until it gets its meal.

[Bralt Hannicart]

Artist: Bralt Hannicart

Concept: Ischiopagus

Ischiopagus are all born as conjoined twins. They share one heart but each have a pair of legs, a stabbing arm, a one-eyed head and their own digestion system. After hatching, they quickly develop a preference for the "right" or "left" side of the creature which eventualy dominates the other twin for the rest of it's life. The subjected twin looses it's awareness over a few weeks and it's limbs atrophy and stop growing after a while, aiding the Ischiopagus in it's balance. The vision of the subjected twin remains, giving the dominant twin an advantage as it can see behind it's back.

The compound eyes are set on a stilt inside a transparant but rock-hard glass-like skull. Special concave and convex curves on the inside surface of the skull allow the animal to see for miles in any direction.

When in danger, the Ischiopagus acts like a dead rotten animal. It lays still on the ground making it's skin and even muscle tissue transparant thus giving off the impression of a carcass. Special glands emit the smell of decayed and rotten flesh. When predators or scavengers do decide to investigate and try to take a bite, the Ischiopagus can quickly thrust it's stabbing limb forward in a final attempt to save it's life. Sudden movements like that tend to frighten most predators. With this clever diversion, the Ischiopagus can quickly dash towards safety.

[luness]

Artist: luness

Concept: Bidodo Parretus


Also known as BiPa, these undead giant birds have been a favorite guard pet among wizards and black magic practitioners in the valley of Wirinhii.
Since birth, their flesh and internal organs start to decompose slowly but at a steady pace, all due to deep-tissue infections caused by their constant exposure to dead matter. Once they have reached their adult age their bodies start to decompose much faster, their skeletons begin to fracture, slightly affecting locomotion and how much work as guard pets they can handle (still able to harm and even kill curious visitors, though). It’s when they all gather in a single group and all the puss-covered eggs protruding from the ulcers found around the neck areas are expelled from their bodies in several violent and outrageous slimy squirts, and after a period of incubation among the now finally dead adult birds, new tiny Bidodos are born.

[CCThrom]

Artist: CCThrom

Concept: Genetic disaster

It was intended to be a solution to world hunger. The challenge was to grow from scratch, a protein tissue that would be indistinguishable from actual animal meat. The Bova series was created from the genetic material of many bovine species. It was designed to have no higher functions, no nervous system at all... in theory it would be no more "alive" than an uprooted turnip. But that's not quite the way it turned out...

The worst part was, any small piece fractioned off from the "parent" would ultimately grow into a viable entity of it's own. Oh, we got meat all right... the question now is how do we get rid of it? And how long before they start in on hunting braaiiiinsss...?

Excerpt from Closed Congressional Hearings (declassified):
"...why didn't you tell the public?"
"The public? Are you kidding? The public still freaks out over genetically modified tomatoes and irradiated milk. Do you really think they were ready for THIS?"

[grey]

Artist: Grey

Concept: Carrionbird
the unholy incarnation of every pet parakeet that ever died neglected in a cage, these monstrosities slither about on undulating layers of viscera, squawking in an endless ill-tempered tirade against unkind fate . . .

[Wixxi]

Artist: Wixxi

Concept: Atomic Lonewolf
These beasts wander the desert outskirts by themselves. They never travel in hords, for the simple reason that these beast are extremly aggressive. They eat everything that moves, even their own kind.
These dangerous predators are the left-over of desert animals and nuclear test bombs. Because the intense radiation they are exposed to they have brains that have a neural activity beyond recognition.
These higly toxicated brains make their bodys operate without failing in extreme conditions. Because of their strong and ever lasting bodies these beasts scare or walk aside for nothing and nobody.
The only thing they think about is eating to regenerate their bodies to their original shape.
Throughout the years these monsters have evolved into a selective combination of the best predator parts.
If you see this thing comming at you, you better kill yourself fast, because there is no running, and once they got you between their teeth a part of the toxic gasses go inside your body, stopping you from dying and making you watch the show while they slowly digest you.

[Pierropod]

Artist: Pierropod

Concept: Crodalinus
This creature is not very fast. It's crawling with the help of its second head.
It's looking for its master, but he's dead. The Crodalinus only dies when it realizes its master is gone.
611942

[lkjhgfdsa]

Artist: Lkjhgfdsa

Concept: Haemionarazel
Haemionarazel does not breed, rather it travels virally from one creature to another;
spread in the spore left behind from the initially unwell creature to other creatures
feeding nearby.
Once infection turns to decay the host begins to mutate between it's own and last host's DNA.
Only the consumption of flesh and the driven need to spread its spore will sustain the undead
creature once it arises from it's final death throes into Unlife.

[Verehin]

Artist: Verehin

Concept: Sicklos


This undead mutanting creature, hunts at night and eats as the vampire, exhausting blood of a victim

[KevinR]

Artist: KevinR

Concept: Bogdog

A dumb species of animal that is constantly at conflict with itself. Even in an undead state it would rather rip itself apart than fight for it's own survival. Needless to say, they're on the endangered list, but with nothing other than themselves as a threat to their existence, extinction is imminent.

[Soulweaver]

Artist: Soulweaver

Concept: Wastewalker
The Australis Tecton is an arctic wasteland that is inhospitable at the best of times, but its winters are particularly brutal. Living things cannot hope to withstand the temperatures, and most animals have the sense to migrate to warmer climates. The wastewalker, however, is a non-migratory creature. Since it cannot survive the winter, its solution is simple; it dies.

With the onset of winter, the wastewalker floods its system with a chemical that dissolves and digests its internal organs. Though the creature is effectively dead, the energy produced by this process fuels it for the entirety of the winter, and it continues functioning even in the coldest temperatures.

These undead creatures feed exclusively on a special crystal that only grows in the Australis Tecton's cave systems during the winter. The crystals have regenerative properties, slowly rebuilding the wastewalker's missing organs. So in this way, come springtime, wastewalkers are "reborn".

[dwinbotp]

Artist: Dwinbotp

Concept: The Bloodhounds of Carnifex 64
description included on final piece

[scorge]

Artist: Scorge

Concept: Von Kotzebue's Burden
Discovered in the Bikini Atoll on March 3 1954 by natives on neighboring islands, these were thought to be aliens from another planet. At the time, none had the wherewithal to understand the first test of a hydrogen bomb and its adverse effects on the surrounding wildlife.
Believed to have come from the sea, this creature and many more like it were originally found alive, though suffering badly from diseases at the time unknown to common man. After the death of one of these majestic beats, its body was entombed in a steel box for transport to the United States for further study, but it never made it that far.
After having been dead for 2 hours, Von Kotzebue's Burden(Named after Otto Von Kotzebue who discovered the islands), came back to life, it's body sustained by the massive dose of radiation from the fallout of the newest and deadliest bomb the world had ever seen.
It's not clearly understood why this creature has two heads, but it is suspected that in its very rapid evolution a second head was added to the now tainted genetic code to ensure the beasts ability to sustain animation after death.

[Wacky Wackowski]

Artist: Wacky Wackowski

Concept: Heart-Breasted Fuzzle Wuzzle
Nothing said 'I love you' better than a gift of a heart-breasted fuzzle wuzzle. These creatures were developed by one of the world's top genetics companies and were funded by Hallmark's stuffed animals division. They were loved for the heart patterns on their chests as well as the funny interactions between their two halves (both of which result from their conjoined state) as well as general cuteness. For several years, the fuzzle wuzzle was Hallmark's top selling item on Valentine's Day. This would suddenly drop off with the discovery of an odd 'condition' found in 2% of the fuzzle wuzzle population. The condition was an unintended result of the genetic manipulation of the creature that caused reanimation upon death as well as a hunger for flesh. As could be predicted, this unfortunate side effect resulted in many break-ups between couples as well as the occasional widow/er. Hallmark went bankrupt soon after from a multitude of lawsuits. The few heart-breasted fuzzle wuzzles that remain are a favorite pet among the morbidly curious.

[Edward B]

Artist: Edward B

Concept: Pyrmamid Guardian

Animated by the old lords of Egypt, These creatures were tasked with guarding the ancient burialgrounds.
Having claimed several uncautious archeologists the beasts earned their nickname: Phear-uh-ohs.

[David79]

[*B]Artist: [*COLOR=White]David79[/color]

Concept: [*COLOR=White]canine leprus[/color]
[/b]

Mars 2316, after terraforming,the colons started to impleted some animals earth to mars, but a old martian diseas start to mutated all creature!
Here a concret example of how the diseas work in a primitive dog, all relative organic partes are gone, attacking beasts and humans, no moar alive! aproch with extreme caution!

[ramtam]

Artist: ramtam

Concept: Soul Devourer

The Soul Devourer makes it's home in the dreaded bone graveyards of Murky Realms.
It feeds on a dimwitted creature known as the BoneGrubber.

Bone grubbers, like Soul Devourers, possess multiple eyes, but cannot see the Soul Devourer that lies beneath it's decoy skull, which it
wears on it's back to entice the dimwitted creature.
When the bone grubber goes after the 'fake' skull looking for a meal of fresh bones, he is absorbed into the devourer and his remains spewed out.

[skullbeast]

Artist: skullbeast

Concept: Feeder

Eons ago these beasts were summoned forth to clean battlefields of death and decay. Now they roam the lands with a prodigious hunger in search of their long dead masters, feeding on living and dead alike.

[benu]

613508

Artist: benu

Concept: Dikephalos Anekros


After Perseus beheaded Medusa, he left Kisthene's dreadful plains to present his gruesome trophy to Athene. Elated by his triumphant victory, he neglected to incinerate the Gorgon's pregnant body, as the goddess had warned him to do.
From that time on Medusa's headless remains give birth to a Dikephalos Anekros every year on her day of death. The monstrous beasts, half horse, half bird soar high up over the plains on decaying wings in search of the severed head. Their two skulls perpetually shrieking and neighing in lament of their mother's evisceration, driving any unwary wanderer to insanity. As these undead creatures share the lifeforce of their mother's undying body, they will continue their quest for all eternity unless Athena returns Medusa's head.

[Anthis]

Artist: Anthis

Concept: Two-headed scavenger

Roaming in search of corpses or live prey when possible, this creature needs corpses to sustain its slowly decaying body. Flesh is reassembled into new tissue, rather than broken down. They are notorious for opening graves, but mostly search for carcasses or weak animals to feed on. They depend mainly on scavenging, as their decaying bodies are frail and not fit for hunting.

[Fractalbot]

Artist: Fractalbot

Concept: 2-headed Night Mare
The 2-headed Night Mare is an undead mount bred from 2 zombie horses. With each generation of breeding the creatures become even fiercer than their sires and less horse-like-- the legs and angles of the creature are the first to change their appearance drastically. They are more elephantine in size and can run at an extremely fast pace across dangerous terrain, and aren't afraid of losing a limb or two in the process.

[darkly]

613988

Artist: darkly

Concept: Dromi-Mortis (of the Dromi-Morti family)

This awkward looking and odorous creature is the Dromi-Mortis. You may notice something peculiar about this creature. That's right, it's "undead."
It is actually quite natural for it to be so, mainly due to the fact the Dromi-Mortis' molecular structure is at constant stages of both decomposition and regeneration. Slowly its body degenerates and at the same rate regrows anew to replace the dysfunctional and rotting parts. The Dromi-Mortis reproduces young approximately once every 100 years. When one is birthed, it is "undead" and functions quite well despite that fact. The Dromi-Mortis actually uses its rotten flesh to discourage predators from coming near its' territory by leaving samples of the fowl stuff around. Some locals who have been able to get over the stench of these creatures actually use them as beasts of burden. It's been said that the ownership of some specific Dromi-Mortis have been passed down through multiple generations due to their longevity. Which in itself is ironic due to the fact that they are indeed "undead."

[Evil_Sloth]

Artist: Evil_Sloth

Concept: Ligerton

When Africa switched nuclear power in the late 30's the powerplants were not very well built and maintained as a conciquince the watering holes were tainted with radiation and the wild life both living and dead began to mutate. Some carrion was continuously batterd with radiation over the course of 10 years before the powerplants were destroyed, which began cell regeneration in the exposed carcass not only to restart after death so quickly in some cases that cells could fuse tissue from living and dead sources into itself adding to the hosts body.


614152

[Mr--Jack]

Artist: Mr--Jack

Concept: Necrosaur


In 1924 a plateau was discovered in the jungles of eastern Bangladesh, and it was thought at the time that a possible 'lost world' had been found, inspiring hopes driven by a still-lingering fascination with the ideas behind Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel. In fact researchers at the time were unfortunately close to the truth, and a number of extant relatives of otherwise extinct animals still existed (though to say thrived may be to put too fine a point on it). Their survival was concluded to be due to certain radioactive leakings from a myriad labyrinth of vents and geysers across the plateau, which had given the creatures the necessary resilience to death to weather the dramatic shifts in climate, which otherwise brought about a number of catastrophic mass extinctions. It was not, however, a wondrous paradise that the researchers had stumbled into; many of the animals had grown fierce and highly intelligent across the generations—the Necrosaur being a prime example—and only one member of the party ever managed to make his unfortunate way out of the heavy jungles, to die with his body riddled with cancers in a hospital in Calcutta.

[Nether]

Artist: Nether

Concept: Ancient Mutant Quadfish

In a time when the earth was still young and life was yet to emerge from the sea unto land, there were several leaps in evolution when nature was still trying to figure out how a land-dwelling creature was supposed to work. The Quadfish is a prime example of a species, which has taken the next step in evolution to become a land-dwelling quadruped, resulting in it's pectoral and pelvic fins starting to resemble actual limbs. While still retaining almost all of the qualities of a fish, the Quadfish is gifted with a voracious appetite and a remarkably efficient neural network giving it a strong drive for survival.
This particular individual is a two-headed mutation resulting from a sudden leap forward in it's evolutionary chain. In some fight with a larger predator the creature has sustained enough damage to become practically dead. The only thing keeping it going are instinctual neural signals from it's two stubborn brains, that make it mimic it's basic survival funtions even though the creature itself has died a long time ago.

614234

[LORD M]

Artist: LORD M

Concept: Mage Crusher

This horrible abomination is created by necromancers when they go to war, fortunatly it is very rare since only the most skilled necromancer can create it. They are adapted for recognisance and infiltration - and assassination of enemy mages. Infused with dark magic, the Mage Crusher is capable of withstanding magical and physical blows that would kill off a living creature aswell as most undead creatures, and only the most skilled mages can withstand the foul beast.

The Mage Crusher uses its speed in combination with its aura of decay and filth, even slightest scratch given by this creature can spread to become a nightmareish disease for the unfortunate one to have been touched. The creatures is so feared by enemies and allies alike that even the necromancers high council have banned it from use if it isn't extremely necessary.

[Mr. P Show.]

Artist: Mr. P Show.

Concept: Afanas Spiridon

[Michael Jaecks]

On the whole, I am very happy with the entries this week. There are some really highly skilled stand-outs from the more experienced artists and I also think the new folks who may have seen their entries get cut, or nearly cut in previous rounds have really pushed themselves. So, this week, everyone gets in the poll. :) I'll make more individual comments later. Well done guys.

[Wixxi]

I voted for Verehin because hes monster is very original and also VERY NICELY rendered.
However, hes discription doesn't fit the piece, and is pretty lame >.>
But that isn't the most important thing, so no big deal :)

Well done mate!

[Fractalbot]

I voted for Luness-- I love the choice of colours and the texture is amazing. Very original creature!

[LORD M]

I voted for Scorge, because I fell in love with his undead alien. Awesome creature design, the circles on its head made it pretty unique. Lovin the maggots aswell. :)



yoitisi - Loved the african warthog-like tusks you gave it, gave it some character. Nice and icky skin you gave it, riddled with holes - was it the flies that made those holes when they pupated? :P

David-david - I really like the bipolar temperament of the creature, it looks so innocent when not angry - almost a bit cute heh.

Bralt Hannicart - Totally awesome! Amazing art and creature concept. And the creature description is very imaginative, a great and intressting read. Oh and I also liked that you put a baby of it down by its feets.

luness - Really gross looking fella, one of my favos. The fallen plumage is a very nice touch, aswell as the skin. It looks very painfull.

CCThrom - That's one hellofa meat loaf from hell, great description aswell. What medium did you use? I really find the colouring beautifull.

grey - Awesome, pretty different approach to the topic, and I like it. Lotsa guts, and is that an egg coming out in the end?

Wixxi - Lovin the skulls, but the bone looks more metallic then organic. Looks like a pretty evil creature, the grin is fabulous. :P

Pierropod - I like your style I must say, a bit cartoony is always good. But I think that you maybe should have looked up muscle attatchement on the jaw, it looks a bit off on your drawing imo. Just a suggestion though. :)

lkjhgfdsa - I totally love the rendering in this one. Great piece! Creature looks pretty evil, and the spearheads is a nice touch. But I think that you might should have skipped the dude, he's kinda distracting imo.

Verehin - Gross, nice pustules and goo on it, and that flimsy scraps of flesh and skin hanging from the bones. Maybe you should have worked a bit more on the other head in the background, it now looks like a silhouet.

KevinR - Haha, a creature that drives itself to extinction, I just wonder how one of those could even evolve. :P like the sinister grin you gave it.

Soulweaver - Awesome creature! Love it. When I first looked at it fast I thought of a sea slug, don't ask why..., but it is pretty original - especially your description. Really nice entry. ;)

dwinbotp - Cool design! I really like the head design on it. Awesome skin rendering.

Wacky Wackowski - Hehe, funny entry. Great contrast with the living and dead creature, very humorous idea with the carrot and guts eating similarities. :D

Edward B - Very strange design, but really neat aswell. Really like the rendering on the intestine beneath the head.





Half to comment on left, doing it later when I have more time over. :)

[ramtam]

My vote was for David-david.
A smart, purposeful and seeminly effortless encorporation of the two heads was what I was looking for, and he manages to pull this off very well in his piece. The rendering is suitable for the creatures description in itself, and it also takes you from the norm, by giving you a look at cute and cuddly(intentionally) as opposed to simply dreaded terror wreaking beast when it comes to an undead.

[grey]

luness got my vote - I liked the style of that piece from the initial sketch, and dig the way the feathers and little pustule eyes were rendered in the final

[skullbeast]

benu cool design! sweet feathers!!

[luness]

It is hard to vote just for one. I have a handful of favorites and believe me, I have spent a good amount of time looking at them, being amazed by the creativity, hard work, and design skills, particular and unique on every post.
I really enjoyed the developing process of many of you, as well as giving and receiving critiques and suggestions.
My vote goes to benu’s Dikephalos Anekros. Although the story would make me think of it more as a character than a specimen of a species, changing the background story would make a difference, but I wouldn’t change anything about the overall design and the colors used on the final piece. The accurate anatomy –even for a mythological creature- is a plus, the level of detail is crazy (flesh, feathers, guts) and eye catching, and the colors are simply great (the flesh looks like flesh, the bones look like bones, etc, etc). Great work and congratulations!!!

My other top favourites would be: Bralt Hannicart’s Ischiopagus, lkjhgfdsa’s Haemionarazel, Verehin’s Sicklos, scorge’s Von Kotzebue's Burden, and David79’s Canine Leprus.

Cheers everybody, congratulations to those who struggle sometimes with the designing process (all of us, I believe) but did survive, learned something new and enjoyed the ride, and finally gave the best of themselves :yayca: ...and thanks for the votes!!!

[meganite]

It was really hard to decide (and really hard to look at some of these... yeesh), but finally I voted for Nether. The description wasn't that great, but I love the detailed rendering and the lighting is great. It's a creepy story.

Other runners up were:
yoitisi - great rendering style, he looks really cool
luness- great detailing, I didn't really read the description (TLDR), but there's no real focal point in it
CCThrom - REALLY creepy concept. Not supergreat pose or rendering style for the subject matter.
Lkjhgfdsa - really creepy concept also, and great drawing. Too monochromatic for me though.
pierropod - oh man I feel sorry for that guy... great rendering too.
KevinR - I think I almost got sick just looking at this guy. Great rendering and lighting, looks super-creepy. Kind of indistinct form though, just made of wrinkles. He might be a species of one member the way he is self-destructive.
soulweaver - really interesting take on it, I love the blue transparency. He doesn't really seem undead to me though, but he was definitely a tough choice for me not to pick.
wacky - haha, that's hilarious. I like the two views. Kind of a plasticine rendering style though, hard to tell if it's made of different materials or all the same. some specular gloss on those intestines would really add some grossness.

Cool work all of you =)

[Mr. P Show.]

I voted for luness. Your piece looks sick--figuratively and metaphorically speaking. yoitisi comes next as well as Bralt Hannicart's. benu's looked great too. Great work everyone.

[Anthis]

Just a few favourites, lacking time for full crits:

Scorge; Got my vote. Well readable, nicely detailed. Use of color really sells the piece. The details are there for a reason. Those rats are a great find.
yoitisi; Has a good feel to it and is well readable. Great brush/texture. Think your concept is too thin though, it's still a boar.
luness; Crazy design. Exceptionally strong rendering. I think you lost some of the overall shape in some areas, perhaps because you can still see texture overlays. They may be interfering with the pencil drawing.
lkjhgfdsa; Very dynamic, and an unusual creature. Some very convincing rendering, especially in the skull areas. On the downside I think your piece is very monochromatic. I also think the glowing points on all the horns and pointed objects are a little excessive. A little distracting too, it leads away from your focal point.

[siiilon]

I vote for Nether, since it's very natural looking and alive in an undead way. The same way I like work of yoitisi and benu. But there are so many other great entries, but many times they have alien or demonic impression on me rather that undead.

[Nether]

Goddamn this was a tough call. I'd probably have voted for all the entries if I could, since they all had one or two things going for them. In the end my vote went for David-david since I think his creature represented the right balance between, design, concept, execution and humor.

My top three favorites after David-davids entry were:

benu Wicked design and painting style. Loving the guts that are falling out.

Anthis The dark mood and fabulous design make your scavenger creature one of my favorites.

Luness That thing looks sick and disgusting. Just the way an undead creature is supposed to. Points for giving me nausea.

[David-david]

Thank you all for the nice comments!It has been a great way to wake up this morning.
I absolutely voted for Luness for the coherence of the anathomy inside of that caos of distorted bones an rotten meat, the beautiful process I could follow and the most important for his trajectory, I visited his sketchbook and it is an exhaustive day by day effort of improving and with a very high attention in the creature issues. Well done!

[benu]

Wow, this week it's harder to decide on a single favourite than ever. There's a whole lot of great high quality entrys this time and I want to wote for all of them.


Yoitisi- Good use of color and I like the painterly style. The flies are a nice touch. I've seen better stuff from you though ;)

David-David- Hahaha, great concept. The expression on the happy face is priceless. I don't find the critter's body very convincing.

Bralt Hannicart- One of my favourites. A creative and convincing concept with a plausibel explanation for its two-headedness. and really cool bizarre creature! It is very well rendered, reminds me of Dali. But it doesn't really read as undead, maybe you could have done more with the skin texture?

Luness- Lovely details on the feathers and the heads. The soft colours and the textures you used give it a watercolor feel, which is really nice, and I enjoyed your studys in the wip thread. As someone mentioned there, I find the angles at which the legs and heads are sticking out of it a bit confusing. The lighting could also be stronger to make the shapes read better

CCThrom- Is this traditional? Looks like pencil + watercolor. I like the description a lot. You could push the rendering on this some more to make it really creepy.

grey- Interesting approach to the topic and well rendered. I hate that animals are kept in little cages by people who are unable to look after them.

Wixxi- Wouldn't want to run into this guy, he looks dangerous! The rendering and details are quite nice, though the bones look metallic. There are some anatomy issues, some more refs would help.

Pierropod- Aww, poor thing. I find the heads hilarious for some reason. It's a great improvement from your last cow in terms of rendering and design. good work!

lkjhgfdsa- This is insanely detailed and a nice creature, but I liked your darker wip and the black and white one much better. The bright colors and glowy reflections make it less scary.

Verehin- another favourite. Great work on the anatomy, with all the muscles and sinews. It looks very frail and gross at the same time. Some parts, esp. the second head, look a bit unfinished.

KevinR- I love the faces with the flabby skin and their expression.

Soulweaver- Also a favourite. Great job on rendering the transparent blue body and the skeleton. Good concept as well.

dwinbotp- you sure know how to render stuff. This skin looks so real.

scorge- Another fav entry. Really like the heads of the beast. It looks unique.

Wacky Wackowsky- That's certainly the funniest entry of the bunch. It makes me laugh every time I see it. The rendering could be a bit tighter, especially on the living critter.

Edward B- reminds me of giger's work, nice job, but still a bit rough

David79- good job, I like the heads and the eyes and the overall anatomy. what I dont really like is the colors, there is not much variation within them and no interaction with each other or the light source, and some are too bright, like the red.

ramtam- looks interesting, and the textures are nice. The creature is somewhat hard to read, esp. the heads.

Skullbeast- Mmm, calamares! Fishy tentacle monsters are always great. Lovely skin texture. Something is off with the perspective, and the lighting could eb stronger. This flattens the piece.

Anthis- Also a very nice entry with a very dark mood. I like the background and the critter's arms.

Fractalbot- Very nice stylization! It doesn't look undead, imho.

darkly- A simple design, but nevertheless disgusting. The background looks very uniform.

Evil Sloth- I really dig the colors and light and the painterly brushstrokes in this piece. The vultures are a nice humorous touch. The critter's body looks a bit rushed and has perspective and anatomy issues, but the heads are really nice.

Mr--Jack- It is amazing that you have completed this in such a short time. The prowling pose is cool, too. Design wise, it could be more different from regular dinosours.

Nether- It's looking very real, and it's obvious that you put much time into studying real fish, which is very important for convincing creature design, but often neglected (I do that to little myself sometimes...). I liked your pencil version better than the colored one, it is so amazingly detailed.

Mr. P. Show- It's all very fuzzy and blurry and stay away from these primary colors, they are much too bright. use more subdued colors to make it more realistic.

[Pierropod]

(sorry for my english)
Great job to everyone !! There are a lot of very nice art here !!

I voted Benu : Because it's very well done, it looks really undead and I like the composition and the color.

Yoitsi : Very nice ! I almost voted for you but was too simple even If I know the background doesn't count for the COW.

Davis-david : Nice drawing and very nice concept, but it doesn't look very undead to me.

Bralt Hannicart : Very well done, very alienish, and nice concept but doesn't look undead enought to me.

Luness : Very well done too, nice color and nice details. But if we don't know there are two head it's hard too find the second one. First time I thought it was its tails. And the creature doesn't look functional to me.

CCthrom : Nice concept, but the colorization isn't enought.

Grey : Very well done with nice color and everything but it doesn't look like creature to me but more like a sculpture.

Wixxi : It's nice terminator dog :) bones looks metallic, I don't know if you wanted that. It would has been better with real bones looking. And you're creature looks too stiff too me. But it's nice concept.

Lkjhgfdsa : It's very well done nice detail and everything, but you put a big light on the man so our eyes went directly on him so we miss the creature. But it still a great piece of art but for the C.O.W the attention on the creature is not enought I think.

Verehin : I love your style and the creature's anatomie ! looks like Dali's painting a little bit. But the head on the right look added and not mixed with the body. I have the filling if we erase the right head with its neck it will not miss something to the creature. (I hope my english is not too bad)

KevinR : Nicely gory. The left head looks maybe too elastic.

Soulweaver : It doesn't look very undead, but it's very nice . I recognize the pinches tails ! it's from an insect but I don't know it's name in english.

Dwinbotp : Amazing rendering on the skin !! Very nice alienish design. You almost got my vote too but to me stronger legs or arms will be better too support the body.

Scorge : Very nice !! but a little bit like Verehin, I have the filling there are two creature and not one creature with two head. But it still very nice. I like the little rats :)

Wacky Wackowski : Nicely funny :D well done !

Edward B. : I like the design it's very cool, but it doesn't look finished. it miss some details I think.

David79 : Very nice too !! I like your style !

Ramtam : Nice concept ! but it was kind hard to me to see the second head.

Skullbest : Very nice ! nice details and concept. But the volumes are too flat to me, I have the filling there is no deepness. Maybe with more work on the shadow and the light it will be better.

Benu : Very nice work on everything ! That why you got my vote.

Anthis : I like your work too, nice concept and nice movement.

Fractalbot : Very nice ! nice color ! But the heads look too Disney to me :D

Darkly : Interresting creature, kinda funny, nice !

Evil Sloth : Nice work ! and nice details !!

Mr jack : Very nice strong creature ! but too tyrex for my vote :) .

Nether : Very nice too !! I almost prefer the graphite one on your WIPs

Lord M : Nice idea ! But kind hard too see the different anatomy parts. It's kind flat like the Skullbest's one.

Mr. P Show : Nice ! but the green I don't know.

[Michael Jaecks]

I voted for Verehin because hes monster is very original and also VERY NICELY rendered.
However, hes discription doesn't fit the piece, and is pretty lame >.>
But that isn't the most important thing, so no big deal :)

Well done mate!

Hey, I just wanted to make a quick point about the written descriptions. Obviously, I know in no uncertain terms that Wixxi was not trying to be unkind with these comments, because after all, he did vote for Verehin, and that says everything. But I think we should all try to remember that we here at COW have participants from all over the globe. Many folks don't have English as a first or even second language, but manage to participate all the same. No one will ever be pulled from a poll or thought poorly of simply because a description is brief or English is difficult. There is no language barrier here, as far as I am concerned. That's why a picture is worth a thousand words (or more!)

Nice crits and comments all the way around so far guys. Keep 'em coming, and be thinking about holy dragons this week. :)

[Wixxi]

mj: Sorry, i just thought i should criticize every aspect of the cow. Guess i'm wrong :)
My english also sucks, but i use online translator to make the best out of my descriptions. Oh well, matter of taste.
Anyway, again....nice piece Veherin, with or without discription :D

[TomCardin]

luness - awesome! The colors and details and rendering do good justice to the exquisitely drawn image you began with. I love the creature design and it reads very well to me. You get my vote.

Also really nice works from:
Bralt Hannicart - beautifully rendered, anatomically bizaar and inventive

Scorge - very nice, love the design and rendering and especially the mice

dwinbotp - absolutely horrific, love it - slightly weak in the lower limbs

benu - very iconic, great detail and rendering - beautifully disturbing

Lkjhgfdsa - hope I got your name right! beautifully rendered but anatomically confusing and obscured in areas. Love how you brought the light into your originally dark image.

[ramtam]

Thank you all for your comments! :)
I agree the creature is hard to read, I’ve heard comments that some of my pieces can appear like a colorful abstract mass! … which isn't usually the intention...

With my artwork usually having emphasis on line, I think the problem mostly stems from the fact that I struggle quite a bit with line weights and where their variability should be used most effectively.

[CCThrom]

I'm having a hard time choosing between Lkjhgfdsa, Scorge, and Luness... but I think my vote is going to Luness, mostly because I liked the initial pencil drawing so much and the color / texture treatment manages to keep that goodness.

Crazy deadlines this week, or I'd write about everybody.

Lord M and Benu: yes the media is traditional, Pencil on hot press Arches paper with watercolor.

To those of you that feel my color isn't up to par... you do have a point. I pushed for speed on this one and as usual got sucked into the pencil rendering. Next time I'll try to spend less time with the pencils and more time with the watercolor.

[scorge]

Very cool topic and devilish creations from all! Thanks for the comments guys, they really do mean a lot each and every time.
Voted David David. Didn't like it at first, but that was probably because I didn't understand it, now I love it! Rendering is a little rough, but hey, it is concept art after all. Nicely done man.
Couple of other favoritos:
Yoitisi: Beautiful rendering and palette, but somewhat lacking in creativity as you already know and I now feel like a jerk for bringing it up. Always nice to see you play.
Bralt: Your conceptualization skills and just plain weirdness in design has severely upped the anti around here! Really love how you make it look so simple yet complicated at the same time.
Luness: Beautifully executed, texturally sweet and just downright dead looking. Still don't understand the architecture of the anatomy though but that's okay, because I love it all the same.
Benu: This would probably be a lot better if you added a little bit more detail. Heh-Heh, kidding of course. Definitely in the top three for me. Those guts just make me want to cry they're so cool.
Anthis: Hey, that looks like something I would draw....but you did a better job than I would have. Probably could have used a little more love but I'm diggin' the concept.
Mr. Jack: 3 hours? That's scary and awesome at the same time. Colorific piece my man.

Of course, I love what everyone did this round and apologize for not having the time to comment on everyone's this time, but I look forward to seeing what you guys do in the next. Another dragon was it? Whose crazy idea was that? See you there.:P

[HareTrinity]

Voted for Nether; it's original and I can tell what it was meant to be whilst alive (I don't see many zombie fish either).

Yoitisi: Close second, I like the double-headed piggy-dog thing, though the detail on the right head is lacking.

David-david: That's neat! Smart take on the concept. The body and lack of undead-ness put me off though.

Bralt_Hannicart: I like the little one, but the creature seems to be a faker undead rather than a real one, and its design doesn't look very practical, though the pic itself is great.

Luness: It's cool, but hard to make out which limb's which.

CCThrom: Classic freakshow content, I like. I like the first and last bits of the description. Be nice to see something of it out of the test tube though, and that's not my personal favourite art/colouring style, though it is done well.

Grey: Why don't they have parakeet beaks? It's a cool pic, but the description leaves something to be desired... Why are they still caged, will those eggs hatch, why's it serving as the head for this mock-human egg layer? The bird itself I like a lot, but it's pretty small, so I couldn't really vote based on that alone.

Wixxi: Why don't the heads attack each other? The skeleton design also seems a bit odd (especially the spine, but it's a nice concept.

Pierropod: I like the head/neck design and the story (though I guess it's really more death-resistant than undead), but the body seems out of place. I also find it hard to concentrate on the creature, made troublesome by the lack of background (the ground's good, but the background growth is pretty non-descript). Some colour might have helped, a brightly-coloured tongue perhaps.

Lkjhgfdsa: I'm surprised this isn't winning. It's a pretty stunning picture, and though I'm put off by the highest upper torso, the bull-like head is great, the colours really create an atmosphere, the background's gorgeous and in generally it looks very epic. The dude looks a little oddly positioned, but who cares when there's a kickass monster like that in the scene? I can't make out more than 1 leg of it, but if the upper body had been less humanoid I probably would have voted for this.

Verehin: Quick and simple, it's an interesting critter splice. Unfortunately there's not much to separate it from the other entries, so maybe an action scene would have been better? Also, if you drew your avatar, you should have gone with a black and white entry. Dark and morbid would have really suited this.

KevinR: Made me smile, a nice random entry, and those wrinkles look like awkward time-consumption. Again, I think I'd have prefered a more action-filled scene here.

Soulweaver: Very cool, and good use of colours. Something about the arms and the difficulty seeing the heads is offputting though. Also, a hint of internal organs would have been nice. Not what I'd think of for this competition title, but it's still good.

Dwinbotp: Put off by the human element of the heads, but otherwise very cool, and a good use of texture on the creature's skin. I do like their smiles.

Scorge: He is a cutie, I like the touch of the rodents. The double-halos are certainly interesting, and the faces look good, but I think the lack of colour/markings made this entry a little offputting. I know they're creatures of rotting flesh, but internal organs are quite colourful and the scene's lighting is nice. Also, the detail on the critter's side isn't matched by the detail on the chest/s, which is a shame.

Wacky Wackowski: That is pretty awesome. The 'nice' pic lacks texture, but it's still a very cool entry (though as a rodent owner I find the 'nice' pic more worrying on account of the mouth).

Edward_B: It's cool, but those faces are quite humanoid. As Egyptian monsters some jewelry/etc for the burial guardians would have been nice.

David79: Aww, puppy! He's cute, but other than the spikes and lack of ears this does seem like an Earth creature. Sharper teeth and claws and maybe some sort of toy for him (like an alien limb) would have made this picture a bit more exciting perhaps? Either way he's adorable, I like the concept, and it's a good picture with consistant use of colour and texture.

Ramtam: It's pretty hard to make out the shape of the creature, but the scene is good.

Skullbeast: A bit more defining of the creature, with lighting and texture use, would have made this a much more striking entry for me. The tentacles seem unnecessary, but I like the head and body design. And the eyes and tongues, got to love those. The collapsed feet work well too. Generally a great piece, I guess you were low on time.

Benu: Cool concept, but gravity seems to have forgotten those innards, and that you need more feathers to fly. Grounding the undead beast might have worked better, but from a quick glance at the WIPs I notice you wanted to do the undead Pegasus in flight early on, so congrats on getting it finished!

Anthis: The humanoid elements in this are offputting, but otherwise it's quite a scenic picture. Again, some colour might have helped it to stand out among the entries (e.g. a twilight forest might have further emphasised the darkness of the creature).

Fractalbot: A stylish entry, but much as I can tell its legs have become tentacles and its skin is missing, this doesn't seem much like an undead. Possibly I'm just biased against the big-body-small-head/legs style used on horses though.

Darkly: Very cute, but doesn't seem to be doing much, which makes it hard to see it as an entry to vote for. Also not sure how it eats or drinks with short necks and such long legs, but it must be quite novel to see it do so.

Evil_Sloth: Poor undead doggy being picked on! Picked off... Gah, puns. Can't see it as a cat despite its name, but though it's an interesting scene and the heads are well detailed the pic really makes me feel sorry for it. I'd now like to find an undead pet charity to support.

Mr--Jack: Very cool, I like the lowered head particularly. Bit difficult to make out the body and the tails seem over-flexible, plus the texture looks only partially finished, but generally it's just awesome to see an undead dinosaur.

Nether: Simple and different, and also quite colourful; stuck out from the crowd for me and I liked it quickly. Got my vote.

Lord_M: Nice use of decay, in particular the eye in the mouth, but the picture's a bit big to look at and the creature could do with more defined texture, especially on the limbs and ribcage.

Mr. P Show.: Fluffy and cute, and colourful too! That the fluff stuck on without the skin seems a bit odd though, and I'd like to see more of the creature's shoulder area (it's hard to make it out). I like the limbs and skulls though.

[Mr. P Show.]

Voted for Nether; it's original and I can tell what it was meant to be whilst alive (I don't see many zombie fish either).

Yoitisi: Close second, I like the double-headed piggy-dog thing, though the detail on the right head is lacking.

David-david: That's neat! Smart take on the concept. The body and lack of undead-ness put me off though.

Bralt_Hannicart: I like the little one, but the creature seems to be a faker undead rather than a real one, and its design doesn't look very practical, though the pic itself is great.

Luness: It's cool, but hard to make out which limb's which.

CCThrom: Classic freakshow content, I like. I like the first and last bits of the description. Be nice to see something of it out of the test tube though, and that's not my personal favourite art/colouring style, though it is done well.

Grey: Why don't they have parakeet beaks? It's a cool pic, but the description leaves something to be desired... Why are they still caged, will those eggs hatch, why's it serving as the head for this mock-human egg layer? The bird itself I like a lot, but it's pretty small, so I couldn't really vote based on that alone.

Wixxi: Why don't the heads attack each other? The skeleton design also seems a bit odd (especially the spine, but it's a nice concept.

Pierropod: I like the head/neck design and the story (though I guess it's really more death-resistant than undead), but the body seems out of place. I also find it hard to concentrate on the creature, made troublesome by the lack of background (the ground's good, but the background growth is pretty non-descript). Some colour might have helped, a brightly-coloured tongue perhaps.

Lkjhgfdsa: I'm surprised this isn't winning. It's a pretty stunning picture, and though I'm put off by the highest upper torso, the bull-like head is great, the colours really create an atmosphere, the background's gorgeous and in generally it looks very epic. The dude looks a little oddly positioned, but who cares when there's a kickass monster like that in the scene? I can't make out more than 1 leg of it, but if the upper body had been less humanoid I probably would have voted for this.

Verehin: Quick and simple, it's an interesting critter splice. Unfortunately there's not much to separate it from the other entries, so maybe an action scene would have been better? Also, if you drew your avatar, you should have gone with a black and white entry. Dark and morbid would have really suited this.

KevinR: Made me smile, a nice random entry, and those wrinkles look like awkward time-consumption. Again, I think I'd have prefered a more action-filled scene here.

Soulweaver: Very cool, and good use of colours. Something about the arms and the difficulty seeing the heads is offputting though. Also, a hint of internal organs would have been nice. Not what I'd think of for this competition title, but it's still good.

Dwinbotp: Put off by the human element of the heads, but otherwise very cool, and a good use of texture on the creature's skin. I do like their smiles.

Scorge: He is a cutie, I like the touch of the rodents. The double-halos are certainly interesting, and the faces look good, but I think the lack of colour/markings made this entry a little offputting. I know they're creatures of rotting flesh, but internal organs are quite colourful and the scene's lighting is nice. Also, the detail on the critter's side isn't matched by the detail on the chest/s, which is a shame.

Wacky Wackowski: That is pretty awesome. The 'nice' pic lacks texture, but it's still a very cool entry (though as a rodent owner I find the 'nice' pic more worrying on account of the mouth).

Edward_B: It's cool, but those faces are quite humanoid. As Egyptian monsters some jewelry/etc for the burial guardians would have been nice.

David79: Aww, puppy! He's cute, but other than the spikes and lack of ears this does seem like an Earth creature. Sharper teeth and claws and maybe some sort of toy for him (like an alien limb) would have made this picture a bit more exciting perhaps? Either way he's adorable, I like the concept, and it's a good picture with consistant use of colour and texture.

Ramtam: It's pretty hard to make out the shape of the creature, but the scene is good.

Skullbeast: A bit more defining of the creature, with lighting and texture use, would have made this a much more striking entry for me. The tentacles seem unnecessary, but I like the head and body design. And the eyes and tongues, got to love those. The collapsed feet work well too. Generally a great piece, I guess you were low on time.

Benu: Cool concept, but gravity seems to have forgotten those innards, and that you need more feathers to fly. Grounding the undead beast might have worked better, but from a quick glance at the WIPs I notice you wanted to do the undead Pegasus in flight early on, so congrats on getting it finished!

Anthis: The humanoid elements in this are offputting, but otherwise it's quite a scenic picture. Again, some colour might have helped it to stand out among the entries (e.g. a twilight forest might have further emphasised the darkness of the creature).

Fractalbot: A stylish entry, but much as I can tell its legs have become tentacles and its skin is missing, this doesn't seem much like an undead. Possibly I'm just biased against the big-body-small-head/legs style used on horses though.

Darkly: Very cute, but doesn't seem to be doing much, which makes it hard to see it as an entry to vote for. Also not sure how it eats or drinks with short necks and such long legs, but it must be quite novel to see it do so.

Evil_Sloth: Poor undead doggy being picked on! Picked off... Gah, puns. Can't see it as a cat despite its name, but though it's an interesting scene and the heads are well detailed the pic really makes me feel sorry for it. I'd now like to find an undead pet charity to support.

Mr--Jack: Very cool, I like the lowered head particularly. Bit difficult to make out the body and the tails seem over-flexible, plus the texture looks only partially finished, but generally it's just awesome to see an undead dinosaur.

Nether: Simple and different, and also quite colourful; stuck out from the crowd for me and I liked it quickly. Got my vote.

Lord_M: Nice use of decay, in particular the eye in the mouth, but the picture's a bit big to look at and the creature could do with more defined texture, especially on the limbs and ribcage.

Mr. P Show.: Fluffy and cute, and colourful too! That the fluff stuck on without the skin seems a bit odd though, and I'd like to see more of the creature's shoulder area (it's hard to make it out). I like the limbs and skulls though.

Thanks for your fine critiques; it was worth the read:).

[chuck18mp]

I voted for Scorge, very cool style!
My second choice was luness

[JBurrough]

All the entries had something wonderful about them... voted scorge on design and dev as well as output - wonderful work!

[Michael Jaecks]

Congrats to luness for a much deserved win.

I am still trying to sort out getting people their COW bunny ears as well as getting the PSD needed to post folks concepts to the winner's gallery. Rest assured that while I have not yet hammered it all out, I have also not forgotten and well try to get all that as soon as I can.

Thanks guys!

[luness]

:D

Thank you for the votes! and of course, the suggestions and critiques; and thank you Michael for the hard work and the hot new topics. You're doing a great job!

:yayca:

[ArtZealot]

Wow, there were so many good entries for this one. I havent checked CoW in awhile. Props to Michael Jaecks, the topics have been awesome lately, i think i might jump in on one of these pretty soon.