Chow 150 :: VOTING :: Queen's Consort

[daestwen]

FINALS ONLY
-=ROUND 150=-
-=QUEEN'S CONSORT=-

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http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/CHOW-LINES-MEDUSA.jpg
NOT SURE ABOUT THE GUIDELINES? CLICK HERE! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=117390)
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ROUND #150 :: QUEEN'S CONSORT

DESCRIPTION

Round 150 Special!!

Well guys, we've made it! 150 rounds of Chow!

This round is open. Basically, this is a lead-up to Round 200 and our new queen. Every Queen needs a consort... who will yours be?

(If you want some ideas for how to tackle this round, check out round #99 - Herald to the Queen.)


--- Thanks to Posh for The Extra Definition That Follows (In Case You Were Confused) : ---

This is Rumor Control. Here are the facts! (Al la Wikipedia... ahem)

A consort is a spouse or companion, often of royalty or a deity, sometimes slightly inferior in function/status.

* Queen consort, wife of a reigning king
* King consort, husband of a reigning queen
* Prince consort, possible title for husband of a reigning princess; alternative title for husband of a reigning queen
* Princess consort, wife of a reigning prince; alternative title for wife of a reigning king

A good example of a Queen's consort is Prince Albert who married Queen Victoria. He was never King, but was her partner in all things otherwise, and very important politically.

The topic is open for interpretation.

EDIT: If you want to see what people got up to in ChOW99 The Herald, have look here:

HERALD 1 (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112565)

HERALD 2 (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113170)

C'mon chaps... it's not really that hard. Imagine your queen and her partner, spouse, significant other, boyfriend etc, and design the male half of that relationship. It doesn't have to be based on Jessibean's queen either. With the next queen due at ChOW 200 this is a chance to anticipate that. A queens chum! That's all. Exercise those creative muscles. It's open so you can decide completely what they look like, however I would keep the character human... ish... and to a degree, regal in some way.

Make the most of it as next week we'll probably make it reeeaaal tough! Maybe...

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

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

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

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

[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)
-------------------------
:right:NEW ROUND RULE: WIPS PLEASE! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1910999&postcount=27)
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:right:SUBMISSION FORMAT REMINDER (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1911002&postcount=28)



PLEASE REMEMBER TO WRITE YOUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION UNDER THE IMAGE IN THE FINAL BURNING THREAD SO I DON'T HAVE TO HUNT YOU DOWN LATER!

---

Quick Check: Have You Submitted Your Chow Properly?

- is it named correctly? (ie, "CHOW#100_Oregano.jpg")
- has it been uploaded using the attachment editor?
- have you also uploaded or linked to your wips?
- have you followed the brief?

Good luck!

[cowboy surfer]

It's been a while...

[Forgerunner]

My concept:
Ferraoh:
Second Masterwork and Consort of the Steam Queen.
Comprised of a compressed shell of rare-earth materials over a leather heart and circulatory system. Ferraoh must be "fed" an amount of Liquid nitrogen on a regular basis to keep the automaton's body animated through extraordinary ferromagnetic properties. The amount of brute force at her creation's disposal inspired the Steam Queen to implant a servitor-god-complex into her creation. Ferraoh believes he is god-king of this world, and must protect and aid those whom he is responsible for.

So yeah! also, it's been a bit since i made it all the way to the finals thread, and this WIP stuff is new to me so that image was thrown together last min. anyhoo, i got up to the final image, the goal being a glamor shot style image, then made the "photo" look neglected..

His love for his Steam Queen is truly a one sided affair; her passion is her work.
Poor unloved Egyptian-magno-golem...

[Mercuralis]

My first CHOW (making it all the way to the final. I think I started one once...)

Oberon, Faerie King and consort to Queen Titania (who clearly wears the pants in the relationship). Jealous and possessive of his Queen he still often is in her poor graces. I wanted to depict him as vain and arrogant and otherworldly with hints of our world mixed in, with a definite Old Southern swampy vibe to the natural elements (incorporating alligator skin, ivy, moss, cypress, spanish moss, etc, into his costume).

If I could have done something different, I probably would have mirrored the image more in the early sketch stage. You can see between WIP3 and 4 where I mirrored it and had to correct a lot of slippage to the left (thanks to some of the people who critiqued for noticing that). I wish I'd saved some of the thumbnail sketches, but I tend to thumbnail then pick the one I want and develop it into a sketch right at the beginning, so...

[Ostrander]

When not attending court with Queen Burlingwood, Sir Virgil loves to roam the countryside on his trusty horse Maggie, in search of local game and adventure.

Copyright: Glen Ostrander; Concept Art; Characters; Other; Photoshop

[FAST ART]

here we go :)

[Artofinca]

Queen's Consort

(c) Artofinca - Alexander Nanitchkov

[bara]

not much backstory for this guy other than the setting is scifi. I reckon some interstellar dynasty.

[Edriss]

Copyright: JL Davis, Concept Art, Characters, Fantasy, Photoshop

Prince Aliah

The queen has the title but the prince has the money and money is power.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=612435&stc=1&d=1236448889
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=612437&stc=1&d=1236449484

[Dan!]

Lord Oribos; Consort to the Queen, keeper of the key of life and death.

[N-man]

good luck guys :)

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[kinnas]

The queen's consort. I went with a more traditional royal character from a colder climate. I wanted to concentrate more on the psychology of a timid man in a difficult situation. Somewhere deep in his heart there is a will to rule, a desire to act, to take over the state and be King, ruler supreme.. but the man is hindered by his own cowardice, lack of character and influence. He is hopelessly overshadowed by the powerful ruling queen, his own wife. Silently he withers marinading in his own angst and hopelessness.

[dwinbotp]

The Lover In Want, In Wait...

[benleon]

Queens consort, Raum, spirtual leader forced young queen into marrige.

[lake7less]

Not hard 2 figure this one out... just a a happy couple in love & their fun 4 the weekend. The only way 2 get your girlfriend interested in the meaning of RPG. Any ideas on how 2 introduce RTS? :)

[AvisNocturna]

Wow... I actually finished something!
Okay then, hope I'm doing this right.

Here's my Queen's Consort.
If your wife's the one to reign, you need to find another occupation.

Copyright: Nele Klumpe, ConceptArt, Characters, Fantasy, Photoshop

[Marria]

This is the queens consort Eu Tulsri. He's a Eunuch.

Eunuchs were employed in Imperial palaces as servants for female royalty. They have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures such as courtiers, government officials and guardians of women etc.

Not only does this one have a lot of clever advice and suggestions on ruling and other serious matters... but tons of hot gossip and beauty/fashion tips as well...

He was first employed to attend to the queen when she was yet a princess. Over the years a bond formed between the two. He even devised a cunning plan which led to exile of the princesses brother who was competing for the throne. Though many do not know it, after the queen, he is the second most powerful person in the land... And the only person who can get away with calling the queen a b*tch! (not in public obviously)

Okay, okay enough of that :P

So, here's my first CHOW! I think one of the biggest challenges in this piece was the lighting,colors and the weigh balance of the figure. I'm still not wholly satisfied with it, but it was quite a journey.

[dirkvandulmen]

My final Queen's Consort.

[Jason Snair]

The Queen's Consort: King Nor-essin:
The Northern Elf tribe, known to outsiders as the Essins, have a complex social structure. Their class hierarchy is broken into distinct groups, which have lived in peaceful accord due political and religious customs. Usually the royal family is composed of alliances between the two main larger groups, the warriors and the seers. However, political dominance is usually held by the Queen, and thus, the King's role is merely ceremonial in nature. Their current King, Nor-essin, was once a proud warrior. Even though he was quite aware of the nature of the role he overtook, he quickly grew tired of his powerless position and yearned for better days when he made a difference.

Copyright: Jason Snair
Date: 3/7/09
Medium: Photoshop, Painter.
Characters, Fantasy

[masque]

Prince Rupert of Tharse

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The arranged-before-birth marriage of young Queen Meg to Baron Rupert of Tharse was perhaps the most unlikely in the history of the Kingdom, yet their reign is looked upon fondly as a golden age of prosperity and peace. Perhaps this was due in no small part to their mutual understanding, reached on their wedding night over a marathon game of backgammon: Rupert kept mum about the Queen's not infrequent visits by studly paramours, and Meg turned a blind eye to the occasional late-night visit to the Prince's chambers by comely young page-boys. They enjoyed a convivial relationship for life, though Rupert would frequently chide the Queen (in older-brother fashion) about her abysmal taste in men.

Rupert enjoyed riding and hunting, was an avid supporter of the arts, and wrote several scholarly treatises on the aerodynamics of African and European swallows.
__________________________________________________ ___________________

Copyright: Karl G. Nyman, Concept Art, Characters, Historical, Photoshop

WIPs:
613726

[sone_one]

there we go...

[Jeremy Hoffman]

This is my final version...

[UCT]

daestwen - I have no wips. I am blaming my computer but it was my fault not properly saving things, I had actually spent some time making a progressive wip page then stupidly not saving it in readable file. quiet angry, anyways.



Queens Consort-

Le Cherp'e is the Grass Hoper Queens faithful ole male who hops about the kingdom smoking opium and talking to the wind.

[Daniela Blanco]

This was a great round...........
There are a lot of great works here......and I had real fun!!
I'm happy with my result.....sure I need to improve a lot on my painting....but I liked it!

Copyright: Daniela Blanco - 2009/03/08
Concept Art - Characters - Fantasy - Photoshop

[Fjooner]

Copyright: Rune Vandli; Concept Art; Characters; Other; Photoshop
613895

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[Pseudocognition]

On the forest planet Buruka, small pockets of civilzation exist in and among the trees. These villages, founded on the beliefs of primitive tribes past, are matriarchal in nature. The leaders of these villages are traditionally female and serve as principal executors of plans and decisions concieved by their respective peoples. Due to their limited numbers, Burukan "royalty" does not waste time trying to find other "royalty" to marry. It is the leader's duty to choose a qualified suitor--not limited to unmarried men--with whom she may produce an heir. This chosen suitor may be cast aside when he gives the "Queen" a female heir, but in some cases, he retains his position at her side as her advisor, lover, and husband. This is the case for Maska Kala of Hamue Village. He was not the most outstanding or accomplished man around, but something about him stuck the Queen's fancy. They lived happily ever after, and had lots of babies. Prosperity and joy were abundant. Rainbows, puppies, flowers, etc. The End.

(C) Lindsey Laney 3/8/09
Concept Art > Characters > Fantasy > Photoshop
CHOW, Consort, Fantasy, Male, Father

[Lechri]

Hello everyone!

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[Sulk-Sal]

One of these days, and I don't know when, I'll learn to do a proper background, since I seem to insist on putting them in.

Copyright: Jason Licht, digital, 2009

Consort of the Queen:

In this universe the species known simply as "human" desires to get an edge. Surrounded by species such as the Wa-Nath and Eelavane with amazing physical and arcane abilities the humans have had to adapt. Yet with humans it seems that if two are in a room there are three views on any subject. Some humans combined themselves with machines, and some, fearing a loss of their humanity, genetically altered themselves with DNA of the surrounding species to steal their gifts and abilities.

This consort to the queen exists for only one reason. Should she die he must provide her replacement. A smaller version of the queen grows in his chest acting as his heart to be harvested should the unthinkable happen. After he dies his Eelavane blood will kick in, giving him a rebirth of sorts, a new queen body placed in his, and the cycle will continue.

[MarkWinters]

A once proud general who married his queen has found that he has nothing to do in the world but to lead silly parades...


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[FreshPaint]

I decided I wanted to take this as more than just a character portrait- so the idea that struck me was to perhaps tell the story of the Queen's Consort's murder. I have a tendency to get stuck in the details, so while working on this I tried to work the whole image first and slowly hone in on the details that were important. I don't think I was completely successful, and I think there are some areas that I will have to go back into (particularly his pants, her hair and her veil, and I don't think his right arm -the one touching her head, comes across correctly).

Anyway, good luck to everyone! Great entries so far! =D
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[Sean McClain]

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Copyright Sean McClain,character,fantasy,painter and photoshop

[Sorknes]

Queens Consort - First Husband and leader of the Harem.

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Copyright: Sorknes, conceptart, characters, fantasy, photoshop.

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[Pixeltuner]

My final. A hunting goddess as consort, protector and lover of the queen.

Copyright stuff: Lennart Verhoeff, Concept Art, Characters, Fantasy, Photoshop

[Dreoilin]

As consort to the Queen, Fionvar holds the highest position available to a man at court. He is a companion, lover, advisor, and bodyguard- as long as he remains the Queen's favorite. Fionvar jealously guards his position, and he would think nothing of disposing of any rivals for his Queen's affections.

copyright: Ashley Stewart, concept art, characters, fantasy, painter

[Carnifex]

(c) Carnifex: Conceptart/Characters/Fantasy/Photoshop
Wips: Here (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=2156894&postcount=77)

[artina]

Hey everyone,
This is my entry. Good luck to everyone.

[JennyDavis]

Here's my entry. The Queen's consort is not a very nice man. A bit of a dandy, he takes care of the Queen's dirty work, as well as his own.

[Raydiant]

© Raymund Anlocotan, Concept art, Characters, Fantasy, Photoshop

[daestwen]

NO ENTRIES PAST THIS POINT

Thirty minute grace period.

[daestwen]

So, not making any cuts today. Here's who might have got cut on a larger round:

format issues:

forgerunner – not named correctly
sone one - not named correctly

Some Quality Issues – I'll give some more in depth crits for these later, guys.
N-man, benleon, lake7less, danielablanco, lechri, sulk-sal, darknight, f o x,



EDIT:

Also, I wanted to say that I'm really happy with the fact that we had very little formatting issues this time. Keep it up, guys!

[Pseudocognition]

Nice work everybody.

I voted for the entries that best fit the "Friend of the Queen" interpretation of the breif. Someone fit to lounge beside her highness, talking about inconsequential things while sipping wine or what have you. A little casual, a little regal, a little sexy... someone to spice things up in the palace, if you know what I mean. I thought it was critical to make him not as majestic as a full fledged king.

Mercuralis, Raydiant, Edriss, Freshpaint, Dwinbotp, Sorknes, Fox, Sone_one, and Kinnas did it for me :)

Mercuralis: I like the sort of corny romance novel cover touch of The Open Shirt (tm). I think that was a good way to convey Boy Toy without toeing the line to Man Wh*re, because the rest of his clothing is so solid and has good coverage. The antlers and makeup are awesome <3
Raydiant: That looks like a comfortable outfit! Yay plausibility <3 He's very dignified looking... he must take his job seriously. I would have liked to see more of him!
Edriss: I appreciate how you were inspired by something other than European historical dress. You get a vote for being a rebel, but also for a well executed design and yummy color combos.
Freshpaint: Great concept there, and very interesting with the murder, but I actually liked how you suggested his personality in life a lot more than that haha. The color choices you made and his playful long hair make (or made? RIP D: ) him somewhat dandy-ish. I thought that was really effective. Obviously he's important to the queen, because she's there leaning over him, but you managed to make him not-quite-King-like.
Dwinbotp: This needs to be a romance novel cover. You got my vote for the effort you took to revise your original comp, and your gorgeous Consort. Well done for going out there and making somewhat of a pretty boy.
Sornkes: While he could have friendlier, more inviting posture, I like his costume a lot. He reminds me a bit of a male peacock, making himself pretty (the hair beads, jewelry and such) to attract the ladies. With some changes he could easily be the lord of one very hot place or another, but the one-shoulder chest-baring sash says "Consort" for me :D
Fox: I love how he's touching the throne, like he's waiting for his beloved Queen to return so he can attend to her. I love that he is clothed from mid-chest down. Leaving that vulnerable area exposed really reduces his status, but the jewelry and fine fabrics state that he is important. Lovely color choices, too.
Sone_one: I've said this to death by now, but your Consort is really nice in that he doesn't look Kingly or anything. He's engaging in some regal sport, but the beautiful simplicity of his costume and the unelaborate circlet work to place his status somewhere lower in terms of power but high in terms of importance.
Kinnas: Firstly, I LOVE the hat. The entire costume is spectacular. Fukken saved, man. Secondly, he does strike me as a bit more important-looking than "Consort," but his conversational pose helps with that. I can picture him and an equally bundled-up queen talking about war tactics in some remote, cold location.

[Newman101]

Really great stuff guys! Im sorry I couldnt get in on time. I'll try again soon ^.^

Artina.... you just earned a spot on my desktop 0.o;

[UCT]

Sone_one & Kinnas.

Sone_one - Excellent style, really like the rendering and 'composure' of the character.

Kinnas - I can see the same regal awkwardness in your work that the royals walk around with. good atmosphere.

[Daniela Blanco]

It was a really great round!

I voted for:

Mercuralis: your character has so much personality......it's a strong and remarkable piece!
Fjooner: I loved it........I think I can say yours is my favourite! Great charater and great mood!
Dwinbotp: I've already told you how I loved your fisrt one....and I still like it hte most........But I also loved the solution for this one! So you definitly deserve my vote...
Jeremy Hoffman: Awesome work.........the character is great.....but the mood is what outstands the most...
Dan: your concept was the most creative (in my opinion)........really great character!

I must stop here.......it's always difficult to choose a few from a lot of great work....

[Chate Noire]

Voted for Mercurialis, Pseudocognition and MarkWinters.

This was a tough one to vote. I usually try to limit my votes to 2 at the most, but this time I gave 3 and still had a hard time deciding.

Since there aren't quite so many entries (or so I thought! In the middle of writing all this I realized there actually were quite a few!) I tried to give my two-cents on each. I hope it's helpful for anyone.

cowboy surfer - nice pose, I like the skinny rockstar/pirate look. It's a shame his legs are cut, and he could've used some more space around him to breathe. He would also stand out better if the background wasn't so similar to him in value and saturation (and in the torso area, even hue).

Forgerunner - making him an automaton is a cool idea (especially in Egpytian settings), but it's hard to get that from the illustration itself; some more steampunkish gadgets, pipes, axes etc. could have worked here. The comic-like coloring is cool, nice color scheme. I'm not sure a photograph is the best way to portray this character, but if you're going for it - I think the photograph could use a little bend to make it more realistic, and the writing - a bit more subtle and maybe lipstick-like.

Mercurialis - Very magical, in both design and execution. He looks like someone straight out of Midsummer Night's Dream. I like the soft almost feminie features and the boytoy-ish bare chest. His legs look a little flat, and some gentle touches of back light could've helped him to pop out from the dark background, but it's really a lovely piece.

Ostrander - The face looks like a great caricature - exaggerated and funny but still "recognizable". The rest of him is well done. I feel like he's missing some glamour that would turn him from a simple courtier to the Queen's Consort, you know? Some more detail, to the horse as well, that would make him more royal.

Fast Art - Interesting stylization. The character and background work nicely with the brushwork and colors. I think the final piece has too much black shading that doesn't work so well with the vibrant color scheme, and blurs some important features. The kitty is a cute addition :)

Artofinca - the contrast between the heavy armor and weapon, and the casual, almost feminine stance is interesting - in my opinion, that's what makes him the Queen's Consort rather than an elderly war general. It could be stronger if we could see his face and expression (is it fierce? bored? is he holding that weapon because he's dying for some action or because he has to?). The design of the armor looks good, but the strong shadows make it harder to fully see its form and decoration.

bara - nice; unique take. I love that his clothes could be modern, futuristic, steampunk and even some alternative history. His pose is basically good, but the back leg looks somewhat off.

Edriss - Lovely design. The slightly-turned foot is a small but nice addition to the pose. The fabrics look very rich and nice, but something feels a bit off in their shading, specifically around the hands...can't put my finger on it though.

Dan - wicked character design, but doesn't quite say "Queen's Consort", at least for me. He looks like a twist on the Minotaur, and all the elements really makes you wonder who this guy is. Check your shadows - they look black and it makes the character feel muddy.

N-man - You took this in a different direction ethnically - that's cool, and nice design. The lighting direction woeks nicely on the robes and the face, but it makes his midsection almost a uniform grey. In first glance I thought he was wrapped around the arms and waist with these straps. I guess you ran out of time, because some areas look more finished that others.

kinnas - Lovely work. The rendering of different materials looks great and the outfit definitely marks him as someone with loads of money and self-importance and nothing significant to do with them. I'd love to see his eyes a little better to get the expression properly. The hat/crown is cuh-razy :)

dwintbop - nice, flowing work. I'm glad you took the queen out - he's enough to fill a frame. Looking at separate parts of the image - the colors are lovely, but I feel there's too many of them, especially around the face. The colors in the last WIP work better together, in my opinion. I love your work on the coat, but his hips and pelvis are rendered in a way that looks as though he only has an upper body, and the boots sort of float under his coat. Still, very pleasant to the eye.

benleon - definitely interesting design; he looks both tribal and civilized, and the illustration seems to be telling an interesting story. His upper body shows a lot more work than his lower, and it's hard to understand what's going on with the disintegrating leg. Also note that both characters are looking "outside" the frame, which draws the viewer's eye towards something they can't see.

lake7less - personally, it looks like you worked harder on a "crazy" and funny concept than on character design, so I really haven't much to say as far as the character goes. You use a lot of black for shadows, which makes your work very dark and muddy, and the strong shadows on the wall imply there should be a strong light source somewhere in front of him, which isn't visible anywhere else.

AvisNocturna - Very cute. His pose, expression, clothes and general atmosphere really convey that house-husband personality. I like the idea that he's sewing the red carpet :) The massive shadow is a bit too much in my opinion - could be lighter and allow some bounching light on the shadowed area.

Marria - The colors are nice and warm, give a feeling of an Arabian Nights tent. The consort's body and face look quite androgenous - I'm not sure if that's what you were giong for, but it's hard to safely say if he's a guy or gal. There's also something a bit forced about his pose, with the front legs in such a straight point and the rest so casual and turning towards us. The remainder of the sketch lines is quite visible on the face, where it could've been softer.

dirkvandulman - interesting design, looks like it has lots to tell. The pose is cool and dynamic, and all the details are very intriguing. The strongly lit area is a good idea, but all the whites are a little overwhelming and create a bit of a mess, and it's also a little weird that the striped shadows (window, I'm guessing) end when they reach his legs and the light continues as a clean patch from there.

Jason Snair - I liked your idea of the bored and tired king. You could've stretched the pose and expression even further, since now he looks somewhere between bored and deep in thought. Nice, solid coloring, and the shadow on the top right corner is a very interesting addition. I also love the floor and the reflections on it. Looks great.

masque - great character :) His face and pose are full of personality, and he definitely has an air of someone high-up with no real duties. The brushstrokes give a cool texture and feel to the whole piece, and the only thing that bother me is that his grey clothes look too grey, as if they're not affected by the surrounding light or environment.

sone one - Lovely rendering. Really soft and beautiful. I love the gentle suggestion that the background is really a backdrop. The hawk rests against his robes in such a way that in first glance it looks as though it's part of the design. Maybe folding the arm further away from the body would create a siljouette where the hawk stands clearly apart from the character.

Jeremy Hoffman - Looks like he has an interesting story...probably tired of being the queen's puppet. The nice defeated/scheming pose you had in the sketch is kind of lost with all those massive black shadows; a 1/4 of the top and the entire bottom half are practically solid black.

UCT - definitely a unique take on the subject. He's somewhere between an anthropomorphic insect and a human with a very bizarre outfit, and I think a further push in either direction could've made him clearer. Nice rendering and definitely interesting design.

danielablanco - A nice character. I don't think the entire scene with the panties and the queen are necessary to convey his personality, where that pose and expression will do nicely. You could focus on the character alone, and have the canvas tighter around him, not much need for all that space on his left. There are a lot of greyish-black shadows which bring muddiness to the painting, and I'm missing a dropped shadow on floor, seeing as he's standing so close to a single strong light source.

Fjooner - Lovely character design, I adore the overly puffy robes and the warm colors. He totally says "Queen's Consort" in an almost puppet-like way. I don't think the queen's back and his look towards her are necessary...in this illustration they only make the eye wander outside of the canvas.

Pseudocognition - I love the rendering here. It's so lively and...for lack of a better word, yummy. All the details and design elements are wonderful, placing him in some exotic kingdom, in a "sit and be pretty" role. I wish he either looked directly at us or at the girl, since right now his gaze is somewhere in the middle and that lack of eye contact is a little uncomfortable. It was really lovely seeing your work process.

Lechri - The color scheme is very nice and works well with that flash of purple. There's something very stiff in his pose, especially the shoulders that look overly flexed (the armor enhances that). I'd give him a little more glamour if he's the Queen's Consort, something richer than solid browns.

Sulk-Sal - all the details are great, and the colors work nicely, but the very thick outline and straight shadow makes the character appear very flat, like a paper cutout. Try to use some variation in line weight instead of using the same width all over the contour. Your description says the consort grows the next queen in his chest - this is a really cool idea, and could be shown more clearly in the illustration.

MarkWinters - Wow. Beautiful design and expression. The short description you wrote totally reads through in the image. I love the reds and dull golds and the design of his armor, and that thing on his head is the ultimate "this is just for show" piece. The dark red in the border is very confusing to the eye; when I looked through all the thumbnails at the poll I hardly saw how awesome yours is because of all the noise from the border.

FreshPaint - Very unique color choices and lovely brushwork. It looks almost like painted glass. The character's design looks great. I'm not sure the dramatic scene is necessary to convey anything about him, but it makes for a nice composition with a well-executed difficult pose for the queen.

darknight - It's a nice pose (it was best in the first sketch, then the waist started getting a little awkward), but I don't feel that this guy is necessarily the queen's consort. Apart from the Egyptian wand in his hand, there's nothing much regal about him. There's some lack of shadow where his body touches the ground. He also looks very feminine, up to the point where I'm not sure which he's supposed to be (I assumed male because the sketches definitely have a masculine face).

Sorknes - lovely design. I really like the simple colors of both character and background. Some suggestion of texture and the surrounding light could help him look more 3d, especially in large areas of almost pure color like the blue robes and boots.

Pixeltuner - the outfit is a very cool design, but with the bow on her back I'm not sure if it's a bedroom apparel or a kinky hunting suit. The vibrant red robe is a nice touch, thich I only noticed after long seconds of looking at the piece, because all the lines distract the eye from it.

f o x - I love the jungle color scheme, and the guy's clothing seems to fit right into this setting. However, the chair and all the strong color aruond him are pretty overpowering...he would've stood out better if the illustration focused more on him. The upper part of his outfit is very nicely designed, but the bottom part feels a little plain by comparison.

Carnifex - All the puffiness is really nice, makes him more of a "for display" royalty than someone significant. The writing pose seems a little awkward, both the position of both arms and the way he holds the pencil. I feel the figure in the back is unnecessary, but if it stays it should at least be lighter so it doesn't compete with the main character.

artina - wow, lovely design. Well done for all the detail, jewlery and patterns, and the colors are wonderful. The background is simple and fits perfectly.

JennyDavis - nice direction, and good design. I like how his clothes are well past fitting him right. The character is so big on the canvas, and all the saturated color is a bit heavy on the eyes; maybe making him smaller and showing his entire body with some breathing space around him would make it better.

Raydiant - The suit is really nice (flowing sleeves are excellent), purple is a great color for it and the well-placed gems are lovely. I'm not sure the left side with the queen is necessary; since she's so vague it looks like there's just a lot of orange space there and the character loses focus.

[Wolfentir]

Well, I didn't participate this round because all week I was struggling with coming up with a decent design, never came up with any and by the time it was saturday I didnt even have a sketch, so whatevz. Heres who i voted for and why


Mercuralis - Really cool concept, I really like the costume and how it has subtle earthy things in it.

Artino - Totally different take on this, and very well done I might add. The initial sketch was awesome and the finished product is 10x cooler.

sone_one - I really like this one the most I would say, the colors are awesome, the costume is awesome and its really cool how you put the falcon in there too.

Dan! - Yours has a really cool concept, I really think the horns and the floating moon thing above his head are really cool, as well as the key staff thing. The colors give it a really powerful and dreamy quality.

markwinters - Really nice, seems like real game concept art. I like the feeling of it being in a ceremonial procession of sorts.

[Jeremy Hoffman]

Jeremy Hoffman - Looks like he has an interesting story...probably tired of being the queen's puppet. The nice defeated/scheming pose you had in the sketch is kind of lost with all those massive black shadows; a 1/4 of the top and the entire bottom half are practically solid black.


Thanks for your reaction.
You are right with the dark! I made a bad judgement when i started with the color fill. When i gave it a color it looked a bit brighter on my laptop, so i made it bit darker. But afterwards, on a different computer there was nothing left of the color and detail. :nohope: My mistake!! Next time better :-)

And you were right about the story. Love turning into hate... Or maybe fake love, just to get to his goal (ruling on his own!!).
For the moment excepting being her puppet... But when he is not around her, he stays on his secret trone in the darkness. Creating his hatefull plann, untill the final day...

[MattGamer]

Beautiful work, everyone. ;]

[MJ_Alcazar]

Wonderful work everyone

[daestwen]

As promised, some crits. Specificallly some reasons that you might not have gone to poll if there were more entries.

N-man: The idea isn't bad, but the pose is very stiff and it still feels very much like a sketch rather than a finished drawing. Also the ground plane isn't flat and is so close to his feet it looks like he's standing either on the edge of a cliff or right up against a wall that doesn't take shadows. A better idea, in this case, would be to leave the ground plane white and just put a cast shadow under him, but that won't solve the stiff pose problem.

benleon: To be honest, this just isn't finished. Large swaths of it are very rough. I would have left the queen out completely. Not only because it doesn't really help the image since you left her so unfinished, but also because I asked people to leave the queen out. :P Is there a reason part of his leg is transparent...? To me, he looks more like a genie.

lake7less: I like the colour much better in your wip than in the final - it's a lot duller and greyer. I don't really think this helps you, it just makes the colours more bland. Stuff is still pretty rough, you could use another hour or so to polish it up.

danielablanco: make sure that you pay attention to your lighting. I can see that you're getting there, but he looks like he's floating right now because there's no contact between him and the ground. Make sure that you finish the image to the same level of polish (even if you're leaving things unclear) or pieces look unfinished. Again, I don't think the queen is helping your image. In order to hide her, you instead have her almost-visible and standing in a really awkward position.

lechri: Be careful with your balance and anatomy. Right now he looks like he's about to fall over, and that he's hunching his shoulders up to his chin. He's very stiff.

sulk-sal: The details in this are great, but the outlining is making the whole image look flat and taking away from those details. I know this is the style you work in, but I think it's doing you a disservice - you have some good ideas that just aren't getting across. I'll second that you need to vary your line widths, but i would go so far as to try to work without lines at all. You might hate it and just go back to your normal work, but I think the experiment would benefit you a lot in helping you to make your character have real depth and volume rather than reading so flat.

darknight: Make sure you are finishing things to the same level of polish. (Take a look at the feet, for example, they are finished in entirely different ways!) If you don't, it makes it look rough and unfinished. Also, watch the anatomy, something is very odd about the way he/she is lying.

f o x: I actually quite like this one, it just isn't finished. For example, the boots versus the face. The boots look like they were quickly blocked in and then not returned to.

Okay, more later for the others, maybe!

[Sean McClain]

Deastwen: thanks for the crits, your right I need to work the painting evenly
ian mccaig says to work the whole thing at the same time and your totally on thanks for bringing it to my attention. I felt the same way about the pose looking off. Thanks for doing what you do I love these chows.

Chat Noire: wow thanks for doing a full critique, I drew inspiration from the character prince Siddhartha from the movie little Buddha and Ra from Stargate, and was going for
an Egyptian queen's consort(pharaoh's consort) maybe if I had made the cloth more embroidered and perhaps silky it would have helped, however I looked at Waterhous's Cleopatra and she was just wearing plane white cloth , I guess he did have some femininity but allot of Egyptian guys did look a little posh so :S. I think I did lose the pose as I detailed it your right I need to catch that next time. All in all looking at it and it doesn't really have enough umph
I think the problem is what Daestwen mentioned about detail. I have a lot to learn:)

[Sean McClain]

I voted for Dan and Sone one

Dan : from the moment you look at it you know its awesome not much else to say

Sone One: Your style is cool man, Very original, to me at least, very loose I like it.

[Daniela Blanco]

Chate Noire: thanks for the critics......these are really important for me and usefull......I tend to put a lot of things on the scene and can't deal with all this.....I'll keep trying...

Daestwen: thanks a lot!! I see what you mean about the light and about keeping the same level of polish.......I'll work more on it next chow...
and I totally agree the queen is in awkward position.... I really aprecciate your critics! :]

[Sulk-Sal]

Thanks Chate Noire and daestwen! I think I'm beginning to understand the whole flat thing and I'm not opposed to changing my style at all. I think this week I'll experiment with both differing line weights and not using lines at all. Actually used to work in Illustrator. Program drove me a little crazy but I wasn't using it wisely. Thank you very much again for your crits!

[Mercuralis]

This is my first CHOW and I have to say it's a far less intimidating experience than I was expecting. I know... it's probably cliche to say that CA intimidates me, but it's somewhat true. However now that I've tried it, it's much less scary, and I know I'm going to want to do so again in the future.

I just wanted to thank everybody who critiqued my image. I've been really trying to work on building a real "character" and not just painting portraits of characters with no real personality or differences between them. I really feel the need to push the costumes and the variations in facial and physical features more and I think this is a great way to do that.

I wish I had time to critique right now, but I'll try and drop back in and do so later. Thanks!

[sone_one]

thank you guys for your comments.

i had a hard time to narrow down my votes to 3, but somewhere you need to cut it i guess. markwinters, kinnas, pseudocognition

chate_noir: thank you alot for your critique, sadly i didn't notice the sillhouette problem myself (i think yoitisi did mention it on irc), since its already been sunday and the piece already been mostly done, i have seen no chance to change that anymore. definitely something ill pay more attention to in the future though!

pseudocognition: your sense of fashion and design is amazing, so is you anatomy and rendering. actually i started to seriously draw/paint again on saturday after flipping through your sketchbook. thank you alot! (consindering what youre capable off at this age, makes me feel kinda desperate though.)

[The_Macedonian]

Mercuralis should win

[Dreoilin]

pseudocognition: thanks!

chate noir: thanks for the crit! (and kudos to you for mentioning everyone :) ) You're right about the bottom of the outfit- it is very plain. I had more planned, but didn't have the time to do everything I wanted with this picture.

daestwan: aaah you're right! Mine was unfinished. I ran out of time and had to quickly finish things off before work on Monday, and a lot of things suffered. :(

For me, I think my favorite was pseudocognition. I love both your rendering and your idea on this one. I love the gender role reversal with the man as the caretaker/housewife. And what a great costume! I agree with chate noir though- I wish he was looking at the little girl more.

Also voted for AvisNocturna and Fjooner. Great work to everybody!