C.O.W. #136 Beatific Dragon with Breath Weapon! --WIPs Posting Thread

[Michael Jaecks]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/cow/cow.jpg

For more infos and details about the rules go here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110879


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Round #136

Topic:
Beatific Dragon with Breath Weapon!

Creature Description: Beatific Dragon with Breath Weapon! Most dragons are evil. A few species are quite the opposite. Some dragons are so aligned with the forces of goodness, they are downright saintly, holy... beatific. Your task this week is to design a species of dragon that looks the part. Think purity, sacredness, white, gold, silver, light, angel wings, furry paws, kind faces, compassionate hearts. Whatever. Now... mind you... these are still DRAGONS we're talking about... they are still formidible, powerful, magical and majestic. The breath weapon: You MUST illustrate your dragon displaying it's breath weapon. Obviously in this instance, the dragon's breath should fit the theme... the kind of breath weapon one would use to vanquish the forces of darkness! It could be a burst of holy water, a bathing ray of golden sunlight, a pink cloud of euphoria, a rainbow, a swarm of monarch butterflies... whatever... anything above or anything else you can think of that is appropriately holy. New artists :pay attention to this point... the breath weapon can be the perfect point of departure for how you choose to light and render your creature. This week's topic is all about magic and goodness and a species of dragon that makes people feel joy in their hearts and rightness in the world.

Deadline:
Monday, 16 March 2009



note: The deadline won't be EXACTLY after a week...it can last up to 24 hours more, i am human and have to work also, you know ;)
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How to post

In this thread you can post all wips, questions, comments etc
However if you are done with your entry, post the final image in the following thread.

THREAD FOR FINAL ENTRIES (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=152420)

READ THE INFO IN THE 1ST POST OF THE FINALS THREAD TO SEE HOW TO POST YOUR FINAL IMAGE!!!

[karlthepirate]

this sounds challenging and interesting for my first C.O.W piece. cant wait to get started, though European dragons are hard to make look good without a magical white aura surrounding them that kinda distracts the piece :S

[ninety9]

great theme, and very detailed "briefing" this time :D

[Wixxi]

Dragon of Love !!!!

Bless this topic :angel:

[heavyflash]

Wow, COW has really gotten energetic ever since Michael Jaecks took over posting the weekly topics.

Good luck to everybody participating on this round!

[chrislomaka]

Too bad it's a 'breath weapon' as i have visions of a heavenly dove dropping bombs of holy poo. If i have it so that the holy bomb is *inhaled* will that count as a breath weapon? ;) (just kidding. i have other ideas, i just wanted to share the laugh)

[Lanista]

Wow, really top notch topic, I love the specifics. This is one of theose topics that, not only will have a bunch of DQ's for people that don't read past the headline, but also be on page 10 in the wips by day 3.

Fluffy, butterfly-burping dragon it is.

Now I just need to put down Flash long enough to get past the sketch stage. :/

[David79]

like every one nice topic :D dragons rocks!
wixxi: lol :D amen!

[Sperling]

Hey, can I just clear this up- this doesn't have to be a 'plausible' creature, right? Not scientifically possible? [what with the mention of magic, cloud of euphoria, burping butterflies, etc]

[Mr--Jack]

Now this sounds fricking cool . . .
Congrats to sir Jaecks for his injection of liveliness into the CoWs!

[Michael Jaecks]

Awwww.... you kids. I's happy to bring the excitement back to the COW.

Sperling: Yes, I was thinking this round one could dispense with the pseudo-scientific explanations of how your dragon did it's thing. Get as magical and full of love as you want to with this one. BUT I still want to see skilled illustrations. There's no harm in checking out anatomical references, even for a chimerical, magical beast.

[Sperling]

Michael Jaecks- *locks fingers together and cracks knuckles* Thanks! Will do- off to pick apart cat, snake, velociraptor and bird references!

[benu]

cool topic! Here are some silly dragon faces:

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[Michael Morisse]

very cool topic. I am extremely bummed I did not have time to do last weeks COW, so many great entries!,
will do my best to participate in this weeks "Puff the magic dragon" love festivity.

[gatling]

European dragons are hard to make look good without a magical white aura surrounding them that kinda distracts the piece :S

Then don't use white. Use a color that compliments what you're going for and go easy on the effect. White isn't the only color to represent goodness. ^^;

So... got a brilliant blue dragon in direct light? Then use a slightly more desaturated and lighter blue (low on opacity) to give it a diffuse magical glow.

[noche]

"a swarm of monarch butterflies..."


LMAO

[meganite]

Wow, I came at the right time. Dragons are my specialty =)

Gold, white, light, beautifulness =) Check out these references!
http://rah-bop.deviantart.com/art/Cosmic-Gold-82474483
http://lizardseraphim.deviantart.com/art/Seraphim-dragon-66893952
http://hibbary.deviantart.com/art/Sea-Dragon-49997271
And especially: http://kilara.deviantart.com/art/Greatness-Fallen-89122712

Strange and otherworldly is also an aspect of Holy =)

Ok, here's my first sketch...
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[dwinbotp]

excellent topic, no one can go wrong with dragons!but adding the breath weapon's the real challenge, kudos to Michael Jaecks for this!
I watched "the Flight of Dragons" when I was a kid, thought it was a magical piece of animation, I can still hum to the song. and an initial idea of my piece, might be completely different again next time, but going something more classic I hope. cc are welcome guys!

[SinnerMan]

got an idea, the face needs some beautyfication...now where did I put that mascara?:gasmask:...

[kovah]

doodle two liked em both sticked em together :yum:

[meganite]

Here's my progress. I'm still trying to figure out a pose and a color scheme.
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615295 615292

What do y'all think of the form and the pose? And which color background is better?

[kovah]

meganite i like the blue on better, but i would make it lighter i think. Not so sure about the point of the circle?

[Sorknes]

My mind is now filled with My Little Pony versions of dragons.



*cough*


Right, holy and saintly. Majestic. Powerful.



My Little Pony dragons on stereoids. Ok. I can do that. Maybe. :P

[Edward B]

Another sweet topic!

It's going to be pretty cool scrolling through the entries and look at all the different 'breath weapons' lined up.

A wippy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/Cerebellum/Dragonwip.jpg

[Wixxi]

Here are some sketches i made in my sketchbook yesterday in front of tv. Good there wasn't anything interesting on.

Nice first ideas guys! :)

http://s5.tinypic.com/2a8kzo7.jpg

[riotorange]

so i ask this---this breath weapon has to be displayed *while being used as a weapon* or just has to be shown in use? what if they are on lunchbreak from their daily 9-5 destruction of the evil forces of darkness and using them to.. i dunno.. churn butter for their adoring minions/worshippers (but yanno something else thats peaceful...heh)
just wanna know 'fore i attempt to draw.

[Michael Jaecks]

I think a breath weapon is just that... what it uses to combat evil.

Dragons typically have breath weapons. The most common of course is breathing fire. Dragons from the Dungeons and Dragons game, for instance, have different breath weapons based on their color. Some spit acid or emit a bolt of lightning or spew a cloud of poisonous gas.

But for these Beatific Dragons, they should have a breath weapon that goes along with their saintly, holy, or benevolent natures.

At the same time, these are dragons... they just happen to fight for goodness and not evil.

[.Elec7ro]

Hi I'm new here xD This is my first cow =O i gone try to do my best xD

PD: forgive my English :S is a little bad

[karlthepirate]

dose it have to be gigantic rawr rawr dragon, or can it be a small chubby dragon that attacks in swarms and drowns people in bubbles? dose my piece have to meet ALL the crieria? as in majestic, holy, peaceful? or could i just do one of these?

[riotorange]

so...thats a yes to "make its fire breath burn the orcs" and a no to " make its fire breath cook some marshmallows for sweet little urchins"? Yah?
Thanks Michael Jaeks :)

[benu]

more sketches:
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/9833/drachemn2.jpg

[scorge]

dose it have to be gigantic rawr rawr dragon, or can it be a small chubby dragon that attacks in swarms and drowns people in bubbles? dose my piece have to meet ALL the crieria? as in majestic, holy, peaceful? or could i just do one of these?

Dragon's can be any size, color and shape you want to make them, as long as they don't look like a house cat or anything else that you would find at the local zoo.
As for the criteria, the most important rule in the brief is the last line. Read it and sketch whatever comes to mind. The other stuff is only suggestions.

[skullbeast]

This one will be tough for me, for I never draw creatures of light.

[Michael Jaecks]

dose it have to be gigantic rawr rawr dragon, or can it be a small chubby dragon that attacks in swarms and drowns people in bubbles? dose my piece have to meet ALL the crieria? as in majestic, holy, peaceful? or could i just do one of these?

You can try a cute angle if you want. There are cherubs and there are archangels and I would consider both holy and beatific. But you'd have to pull it off pretty well in a really specific way that amped up the holiness I think. This dragon, per the description, is a saintly, beatific, powerful force of good. Not a bath toy.

[skullbeast]

update.

[KevinR]

Here's my one for this round.

Kev

[parascytheJack]

i dont know..but it makes laugh and smile everytime i think about a dragon breathing butterflies as its weapon...i'll post mine soon

[meganite]

Kevin, yours really reminds me of Falcor =P

Great looking dragons everyone! I'm not feeling so well... hopefully I'll have some time to work on this tomorrow... or maybe I'll feel better tonight.

Kovah: The circle is because I was trying out some radial gradients... also, maybe a halo sort of deal? It's pretty cheesy at this point, but of course I will mellow it out. Thanks for the feedback! =)

[Freha]

This round is too good to pass up even though I'm still busy with college work. If there is one thing I can't pass up on is the chance to draw lovely benevolent dragons. ^_^ Some of my quick concept sketches...

[Wacky Wackowski]

this is the direction i'm moving in

[scorge]

Man, I swear COW is worse than crack...except I've never tried crack.
Even when I try to get away it sucks me back in.
I was a little put off by the whole dragon thing again but this one has some serious merit and challenging viscosity that moved me to act. Anyway, enough rambling.
My dragon spews youth. It was a toss up between that and color. Seems like they didn't have enough of that in the middle ages. Just can't decide which one to go with. Probably # 3.

[Moai]

Sweet topics, MJ!:)
IF I enter this round (and I've been having a terrible time lately of actually going through with any of the weekly activities I've decided to do), I think my dragon will be based on Cygnus olor (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_olor), the so-called Mute Swan. Perhaps with a little butterfly and iguanid thrown in.

[carakhan]

great topic, i have many ideas already. Unfortunately, my dragon skills are lacking, so tonight was just dragon practice night (you can tell i just started to get it at the end):

[thepaddedcell]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I've drawn a few COW and CHOW entries in the past but never posted them... let me know what you think!

http://fc54.deviantart.com/fs42/f/2009/070/b/6/C_O_W___Beatific_Dragon_by_thepaddedcell.jpg

[DauDau]

OMG. I have dreams of exactly this species of dragon. Know them well. heh. As weird as that sounds. Also known as "White Dragons". Celestials in the Japanese mythology. (As in belonging to the stars and heavens - not earth per se.) Also sometimes seen as rainbow flares flying across the sky.

I have been telling myself, I'm too busy, but it's hard to say no to this one. At least giving it a go.

Weapon is a lot like the Unicorn. Difficult to explain... Note to self: Shuddup.

[fionkell]

Neat topic for my first COW attempt. Going to try very hard to not make it look like Falcor from The Neverending Story ;)

Actually I have had recurring idea like this bouncing round my head for several year but never got it down, maybe now's me chance...WIPs comin

[Wixxi]

I was thinking about an evil dragon beeing possesed and transformed into a good dragon by monks or something, by some kind of spell.

[Michael Jaecks]

Sweet topics, MJ!:)
IF I enter this round (and I've been having a terrible time lately of actually going through with any of the weekly activities I've decided to do), I think my dragon will be based on Cygnus olor (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cygnus_olor), the so-called Mute Swan. Perhaps with a little butterfly and iguanid thrown in.

Now THIS sounds pretty inspired. A holy and deified swan dragon the likes of which has not been seen since Jupiter paid his visit to Leda. Nice.

[Michael Jaecks]

I was thinking about an evil dragon beeing possesed and transformed into a good dragon by monks or something, by some kind of spell.

I know this sounds a little weird, but based on the narrative here, this sounds more like a character... an individual. A evil dragon from its evil species singled out and made into a good individual by the spell casting of monks.

I know I may be pounding this point home a little hard recently, but the actual backstory you write out for your description is not nearly as important as how you convey the idea of a saintly, beatific dragon displaying its breath weapon in your image. The design, anatomy, color, texture, lighting and atmosphere will go a long way to hitting home the idea your dragon works for the side of goodness.

[parascytheJack]

michael its my first time to join this thread...what is your recommended canvas size? or the image that will be uploaded

[KevinR]

Kevin, yours really reminds me of Falcor =P


Thanks, meganite, I hadn't really thought of that, but now that you've said it, it does kinda look like him. There's still more to come though, so he'll probably start looking different soon.

Kev

[parascytheJack]

here's my 1st wip...

[Michael Jaecks]

michael its my first time to join this thread...what is your recommended canvas size? or the image that will be uploaded

There's no real size limit, but nothing too crazy. Keep in mind you want folks to see your image wihtout having to scroll too much, which can be distracting even on a highly skilled, highly detailed piece. Keeping things in the neighborhood of 1000px tall or less is always wise. Personally I think most illustrations look just fine in the range of 600px tall.

[benu]

I'll make a watercolor painting this time.

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[gatling]

Benu, those sketches and designs are gorgeous.

[kovah]

Looking awesome so far guys,

Benu your sketches make me jealous...

Have reworked mine abit and changed the pose so its more intersting to look at. Though its worrying me that its gonna be the my little pony of dragons :o

[.Elec7ro]

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k426/E7art/LPs/dragoonwip.png

is like a snake more than a dragon xD

sorry i dont speak english very god xD and i dont draw very god lol

[Bohnded]

Hi, newbie here.

I hope to have time to finish this. I did as much as I've had time for so far. Attached are the thumbnail for the dragon and a small version of the background. The background is actually done in a vector graphics program (Microsoft Expression Design).

I have already created a layer that has the breath weapon on it, but I'm not sure how it will look once I have inserted the dragon in between. Especially since the dragon will not be a vector graphic. Sounds like I may have a great deal of importing and exporting ahead.

Thanks for looking,
Will Jones

[DefiledVisions]

OK it's ON!!!!!!

Here's a sketch for inspiration.. I can't enter with it since it's old :P

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=527885&stc=1&d=1227655222

[yoitisi]

Bunch of thumbnail/sketches I did for this round. I like the twist of this topic and already got an idea lined up for that, but I wanted the dragon to look a bit more special than the next generic dragon (especially since my last COW didn't go down well, I didn't really went out of my way with the design I admit).

So, I opened a few books with insects and other stuff and started to look for interesting shapes and stuff that I could make a dragon's head out of. Here's the first result, needs a few more design steps before I go on with my final. Still looking for a bit more holiness and stuff...

Oh and there's a few notes in there on the Automotive course I'm following, just ignore them :P

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Will try to post some crits later on if I get around to it :)

[KevinR]

A small update to my image. I'm working out a few elements in the image, whether I want them in or not.

Kev

[Bohnded]

I've added the thumbnail in as a placeholder. The weapon is bubbles. I have an explanation for their need and everything.

Thanks

[skullbeast]

update

[aoseen]

Man this is really really hard. Whats getting me is displaying the breath weapon and still making the dragon look peaceful and beatific and all things good....

soon as i open the jaw and reveal the teeth...along with the weapon.....shit looks evil....

http://www.andrewmelnychuk.com/Art/COW_Dragon/Dragon_Wip_1.jpg

[Mr--Jack]

So here I am posting wips days before the deadline...
I'm sorta going with the butterfly-breath thing; the first thing that came to mind were the 'most beautiful butterflies' at the end of the Cowboy Bebop movie
http://www.dvddiary.net/images/eat/cowboybebop_butterfly.jpg
so I'm aiming for a feel like that.
Pretty happy with the rough so far but I'm gonna play around with a few things (gasp!) before settling... You never know, might work?


.
Some cool wips coming up already, too :D scorge and yoitisi, some very nice different takes on the usual dragon thing, really liking the moth-dragon idea...

[parascytheJack]

Now this is awesome Mr jack...i cant wait to see this in full colors!

it is really a challenge to do butterflies breath as a weapon.. i wanted to see that..yeah i remember that cowboy beebop movie...

[fionkell]

WIP it into shape

Noodling around with the forms at the moment, still trying to come up with a good breath weapon...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v686/iolarnula/sketchbook10/cow136_01.jpg


***EDIT 1

Quick scribbling over before I hit bed
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v686/iolarnula/sketchbook10/cow136_02.jpg

[benu]

Screwed up the colors. Shield your eyes!
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[CCThrom]

I dunno Benu, I wouldn't say you "screwed up" the color at all... and it's good to see someone else working with the traditional watercolor route!

[Michael Jaecks]

For folks that are still hemming and hawing over ideas...

I won't find the time to try my idea this week, but one design I was contemplating was a dragon with a sort of crest that looked like a pope's miter. Getting it to look like a part of its body and not clothing would have been a real trick though. I was thinking something with a very tall, long neck, which got a lot wider on it's body...symmetrical composition (mostly) almost ritualistic... ornate... probably angel wings... a pose almost like prayer though perhaps not so anthropomorphic... breath weapon would have been a very bright bolt of sunlight.

Thought a little bit about the way Gandalf the White rode out on Shadowfax and repelled the Ringwraiths on thier Fell Beasts with his staff.

Remember that 'beatific' does not necessarily mean peaceful. Sometimes you have to kick evil's ass pretty hard, shine a really bright light, and make the vile things of the world squirm and run away with their undead, souless existences.

(Anyway, just a ramble. Won't have time to do it, so if anyone likes this as a springboard, use it as you see fit....)

[Pierropod]

I hope I'm going in the right way with this dragon :)
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[parascytheJack]

major overhaul from my first WIP...

head rendered...i had to think out of the box for this "snapping turtle dragon"...i prefered not to change its stance since for me it look like majestic and full of confidence... i still need to play with colors..i dont want this to look monotonous...but im not that good in coloring yet...i still ask for Mr Jack's assistance...hehehe..its my first time to use a tablet and attempted to join this thread right away...ambitious i am tsk tsk tsk...

enjoy..hope to finish this soon...:lifedrawing:

[parascytheJack]

hey michael, that what i was thinking too...the light that emitted from gandalf's staff...the first time i read your specifications or descriptions...whatever...

this is really tough...

[Chuck,mate.]

great start everyone. :)

me, I`m just WIPing along, this is so much fun.


P.

[Michael Jaecks]

Patri! You speed demon genius! Love your new (to me) avatar BTW.

Welcome back to COW, mister. Can't wait to see your final.

[Tomorrow-man]

Umm.... I've never done this before, but I thought I might give it a go. I personally like my dragons to be enormous lizard-like creatures with wings, so I chose that route. I have an unyielding love for dinosaurs which could explain this. Anywho, the topic mentioned a dragon shooting a beam of light as it's breath. That seemed like a great idea to me and it's what I'm attempting to create.

WIP, obviously, and I didn't include the wings to display, because they're hardly finished. I was attempting to create scales more quickly, however I eventually realized it wasn't granting me positive results. Now I'm drawing them all by hand.

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[kovah]

I'm really struggling with his far back leg, can anyone give me any pointers?

Tomorrow man Looking awesome with the gold, but the neck looks abit too rigid an looks like his head is just sorta stuck on there.

[Tomorrow-man]

Shall I curve the neck, maybe? Like an "S." And I'll work on that head, too. Thanks for pointing that out.

[riotorange]

Michael Jaeks-- another question- The breath weapon does not have to be an "exhaled" weapon, does it? i would like to draw my dragon as an inhaler of the evil of the creatures, which might not taste good but would kill them and leave them either like bones or.. a non-evil dead version of their former selves.

[Tomorrow-man]

As far as your leg goes, I'd suggest drawing some lines to find the creature's alignment. After that, you might benefit from some real world comparison, if the trouble is making it look "right." They also appear to be slightly ranging in size a bit too much. Perhaps I'm imagining.

You have a beautiful creature so far, so really the best advice I think would be to just sharpen those details and finish her up. I can't wait to see it finished.

[carakhan]

Finally getting into the final character, but I need to make it more epic, fit some wings on there.

[dwinbotp]

love the variety everyone's coming up with. my knowledge of dragons is very limited, always thought about drawing one up bur never finished any, hope this may be the first one. a small update.need more ooomph!!!

[benu]

Update:

[carakhan]

Love the way that is coming out benu! The foreground dragon especially, the head and neck are looking awesome.

[Moai]

Here's a rough side view of my design. Now I'm going to go do some homework, so I don't feel completely irresponsible.:)

[Bohnded]

Here is a revised version of my dragon. I think I may tilt the head a bit in order to show the left side more. I'd like the smile on the dragon's face to be more obvious.

[kovah]

my hand is about to fall off gonna give it a rest for tonight i think...

[meganite]

Tomorrow-man, that gold is so beautiful I can't even begin to describe it. Great job with the color! Some of the perspective is still a bit strange, looks like maybe you made a collage of reference images and then painted over it. It will probably just need a little bit more working with the connections on some parts like the head to make it look all the same piece. For instance the upper and lower jaw look like they're in different perspectives (look at the points on the bite of the upper jaw where it dips down) But oh my gosh, gorgeous color!

Kovah - Looking good! One thing I notice is it looks very clay-like. Maybe widen the bright parts so it looks more shiny? You might just need some bright white highlights in the middle of your lit parts. The perspective is looking a little strange in places where he's touching the ground. You may want to raise up the far leg, to look like it's a little farther away, or maybe add some darker shadow right where he's touching the ground.

Benu - that's some great color. Very bird-like and pretty! Good detail too. Are you going to touch it up digitally or just do it all traditionally?

dwinbotp - your dragon is very dark, looking kinda evil right now.

thinmint - I really like the shading of those gems or whatever they are. Strange and alien looking dragon, but looks good! Yeah I think you need to add wings =)

Paracsy - great start, good detail! Your color scheme is kinda everywhere at the moment though.

Iolarnula - cool design! Can't wait to see the color =) It's a little hard to see his eyes, but I think some more detail will clear that up fine.

Pierropod - looks cool! Kinda monochrome... reminds me of the Chozo statues... Which are strange, beautiful and benevolent also.

Mr. Jack - your work is always fantastic, I'm glad you're giving this a shot. And already days before the deadline you have WIPS? Can't wait to see some color.

Aoseen - Neat pose! He is looking kinda evil. Maybe have the spikes and stuff be curling upwards instead of drooping downwards? Color can have a lot to do with it. Maybe don't even show any teeth? Angly lines like you have usually connote evil... maybe tone that down a bit, make them less sharp?

skullbeast - It's coming along nicely. Although, there's no way for me to tell he's a "good" dragon except for the little demons. You might change his color from that dark brown to something lighter?

Everyone's dragons are shaping up! I tried to give crits to most people... sorry if I missed you. I got tired =(

Here's my progress pic. I am just trying to get the lighting right before I go on to the details. I edited the pose and form quite a bit. I want him to be a powerful knight-like type of dragon. Fearful and awesome against the forces of darkness! (Anyone remember that whenever angels appear to anyone in the Bible the poor humans are struck with fear?)

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[Tomorrow-man]

Man, you were right about that neck. I tried to integrate the head into the body more, and added some scales. What do you think?

Edit: Thanks meganite! Yeah, it was surprising to me how wonky the pose was until I fixed it, (hopefully!). I hadn't even noticed, mostly because I'm so detail oriented I can forget about the whole picture, and thus what really counts. Although I didn't trace anything, because, well, that would be defeating half the fun, I did use a reference for the body, specifically that of a horse. They're similar in my opinion, and optimal for use. The head was more my love of dinosaurs coming out, but from imagination. I drew it about three times before I settled. I actually had an entire other version of my dragon flying through the air, but forgetting to save on a computer that's less than reliable can an unhappy artist make. Basically, I had to redraw the entire thing. Oh well. That's how ya learn.

By the way, though yours is just in its inception, it looks AWESOME! I'm already afraid and you've barely laid down the planks. I skimmed through your sketchbook, and I gotta say, I can't wait to see what you'll offer.

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[Michael Jaecks]

Michael Jaeks-- another question- The breath weapon does not have to be an "exhaled" weapon, does it? i would like to draw my dragon as an inhaler of the evil of the creatures, which might not taste good but would kill them and leave them either like bones or.. a non-evil dead version of their former selves.

Its an interesting twist on the idea. You can give it a try if you like. What exactly would your dragon exhale after it sucked up all the evil, is the question I'm left with.

[kovah]

Meganite Thanks, yeah haven't got round to the shiny yet. I'm hoping for very shiny almost iridescent when im done. just hoping i will have time to pull it off but didn't want to start before i had the pose down and wasn't going to change it at all. Was sorta going for his body curling round the little knight man I think so his bum an head are closer than his main body, might just need shadows on the floor more.

Yours is looking awesome, i love the post and how the light is almost coming through the dragon in like a concentrated form.

Tomorrow man Man that looks great with all the details. I know you havent really got to the tail yet but most tails in the 'real' world thin out quite abit towards the end. Then again it is a dragon ;)

[xgabo]

My entry. I'll post in the finals shortly with a description.

[skullbeast]

xgabo - wow thats cool!!
meganite - thanks! the Trinity of eyes in the shape of a cross is a start and I do plan to lighten it up a bit. I wanted the bearded dragon / rattlesnake feel.

[Jakers]

Nice stuff guys.

xgabo Nice! looks really cool indeed, though pretty damn evil if you ask me! cobra influence?

I've got a lot of work left to make this look nice and I need to evolve the dragons design...especially since thats the point! I've spent a long time trying compositions...any feedback would be lovely!

[aoseen]

great work on these guys,

[Moai]

xgabo- Epic! Very cool design! I agree that it looks extremely evil, though.
skullbeast- Also looking cool. Some of those edges need to be hardened, though.

Here's what mine looks like so far. Very rough Starting on a painting is always the hardest part for me, so if this version gives me too much trouble I may try something else.
I've tried a few backgrounds already, without much success.

[xgabo]

Jakers - He, I know it looks pretty grim, but that's my twist on the theme. It's a "Pope Dragon", defender of the Catholic faith, bringer of terror to the infidels and the light of Christ to the true believers. You could say it is aligned to Good... depending on what define as good. I think the whole good/evil thing in the fantasy genre is usually a little too clear cut for my taste, so I decided to define righteousness in a different way. In my personal experience, the Catholic iconography is at the same time glorious and terrible, and that's the beauty of it, so here you go.

I'll have more details in my final description.

[Tomorrow-man]

xgabo! Holy mother of crap, that's amazing. I need to redouble my efforts if I expect to come in pissing distance of that.

And Moai! Wow, I love the entire look and design. Reminds me of an oviraptor. Very sleek, though, I love it.

I hope I'm not posting on this too much. Is there some rule I'm violating or need to be aware of? Eh, I'm just trying to make this as good a picture as I can. What do you guys suggest?

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[skullbeast]

Moai - thanks!

[skullbeast]

Moai - cool dragon!!

[riotorange]

Michael Jaeks i am considering giving it a try. i draw slow, and i've got a lot of school work that should have been done last week (heh) but if i find time i will do it.
As for exhaling--well i'm thinking it would just exhale air, cos its powers obliterate the evil it breathes in, ya know, magically.

or maybe it breathes out all those monarch butterflies i keep hearing about :)

Tomorrow-man That is looking really great! Nice detail on the head scales :)
There is a really nice feeling of quick shooting motion of that light( is it light?) coming
from its mouth--well done! it doesn't quite look like it is coming out of the mouth yet.Sort of looks like
it is just sitting there behind it and its mouth happens to be open.i know you're not done yet so you prolly already
have plans for that.
Also, the front left leg looks kinda off to me, like it shouldn't be that straight/at the angle you have it
because of how much of the other leg we can see and how the stomach part is twisting.Like it shouldn't be just
the side we're seeing, you know what i mean? i'm not an expert on
dragon anatomy so ignore that if it's how it should be.
Keep up the great work this is going to be AWESOME!

[meganite]

So, here's some crits:

xgabo: .... holy crap... not even any WIPs before this. It's amazing. I love the explanation XD a Pope Dragon. I think it's appropriate. Interesting take on Righteousness. ("I will righteous you with lasers")

skullbeast: coolness =) I see it now. Very nice! And how he's using what looks like water as a weapon. Water dragons are supposed to be benevolent and peaceful.... most of the time. The radial stuff I'm not sure if it adds much to it. The red makes him look more evil than good.

jakers: AMAZING light and dark stuff going on there. Really cool, I love the composition. One thing a friend noticed who's really into anatomy is that the leg is "broken"... I think the shin is bending too far into the thigh. You might lengthen it out a bit, just separate the lower part away at a wider angle. Or, it might be more plausible if you moved the foot inward a bit, just at an angle into the image. Because his thigh looks like it's splayed out a bit, so the foot would turn inwards naturally. I hope that made sense. I'm tired, so I can't really tell.

Moai: pretty cool! I like the form. He's more dino than dragon at this point, but still looks cool. What's his breath weapon going to be? He definitely looks more natural than magical as far as creatures go. (Oh were you thinking Dilophosauri have a breath weapon too? ;) )

Tomorrow-man: I love the details, it's looking great. He still kinda looks boxy though. I'm getting a very 90 degree feel from the head, which doesn't seem natural (at least for a non-human). Animals' necks usually come out of the back of their skull backwards, and of course, straight out from the torso, maybe at an angle. That's what would give you an S-curve for the neck. You may want to look at some photo reference of swans or giraffes or something with a long neck. Herons are cool... but not really the type of creature you have there. Another thing, one thing I REALLY liked about your first thing was the golden glowyness. You're starting to lose that with so much black for the details. Maybe pop another layer on top of that with an overlay or dodge blending mode or something to get back that golden glow. That amazing lighting was what made it so great in the first place. Detail is nice, but don't lose the feel of it! I also really like that breath weapon, it's looking very particulate. If light is a particle.. which they say it is.

Here is my progress so far. Doing some drawing on top of that paintingness I did. Haven't added any real highlights, just that really basic stuff I did before. Trying to get the perspective on the close wing right, it's supposed to be coming out at you. Maybe y'all have some advice? Also, playing with blending modes is fun =)

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[aoseen]

great work on these guys,

ah i dont think i pulled it off, my dragon jsut ended up looking evil...

http://www.andrewmelnychuk.com/Art/COW_Dragon/Dragon_Wip_2.jpg

[skullbeast]

update! Some very cool WIPS folks!!

[tomagnetti]

Hi guys, I just really started using this site and amazed I never saw it before , what talent here.I entered a contest on char and wanted to do this now too. I am trying to recreate an almost transparent glass like dragon, combined with bubble colors that are quite crazy to follow as there seems to be no real orderto the way they receive color. Here is my first wip. please if anyone has tips or techniques on this or any other thoughts please let me know.
Thanks
Tom

[Tomorrow-man]

Thanks so much you guys! I really appreciate the honest critiques. I'm working on all your suggestions as we speak.

I kinda live in a bubble, and I'd really like to improve but no one near me can teach me or tell me anything. It's frustrating. I've taught myself everything I know but there are limits to what I'm capable of understanding on my own.

I have to say this: I freakin' love this website! It's AWESOME! Tons of my favorite kind of art and inspiration. Loads of like-minded, friendly people, all looking to improve and learn and create. I'd love to be a concept artist one day, have been since I was eleven, and this place just feels like it was made just for me.

And though I really doubt to win this week's creature contest or anything, (the people on these forums are so immensely talented it frightens me), I am enjoying participating in this; it's a lot of fun seeing everyone develop and interpret and create. It's like a sweet self-taught classroom. I'm looking forward to learning with all of you.

meganite that is looking mighty intimidating! I love how you made such a large creature seem almost graceful and incredibly majestic. The feeling of the dragon's purpose is understood immediately by the viewer.

[scorge]

Xgabo:Hot-Damn. You never fail to thrill do you.
Mr--Jack: Thanks man, I do try to be different. Looking pretty awesome yourself.
MJ: Sorry you can't play this round, would've liked to see what you could bring this time.
Yoitisi: Beautiful sketches. I should probably do more studies myself.
WIP, changed some things....as usual

[fionkell]

Wow, great work so far everyone :O

Another update on mine, getting some plumage and whiskery business going on here...still trying to figure out a breath weapon

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v686/iolarnula/sketchbook10/cow136_04.jpg

[Michael Jaecks]

scorge: 'workworkworkworkworkworkworkwork' sez my little pac-man. Oh god! Here come the ghosts!

[carakhan]

Ok so this is a mini update, because unfortunately photoshop crashed on me twice last night and I lost most of my work :( But I'm going to use my free time at work today to try and get some of it back. Man, it was really going somewhere...

So my idea is that the breath weapon is the breath of life, to fight the darkness. The Breath of Life dragon creates worlds - before I lost it, he was creating a tree. Lots of bright light and color. His dragon color came out crazy too, hopefully I'll be able to recreate that today.
Meganite: Thanks! They are the source of the breath weapon. And it took a while to find the right pose, but I finally got some wings on there last nite.

[benu]

xgabo- Holy dragon inquisitor! Love the twist on the concept and the cross on the snout. Colors, textures light... it's all working perfectly.

Jakers- Looking great! It would be better though, if you had not cut off the dragon's wings.

Moai- sweet design. It reminds me of seabirds, doesn't look like a very tall creature. I can imagine a swarm of these attacking a pirate ship.

Tomorrow-man- Wow, this golden texture is fantastic!

Meganite- He's majestic! It is coming out very well. Something seems off with his right front leg. The upper arm looks longer and thicker than the other.

aoseen- Does look promising anyway. Hm, maybe make him stand out more from the bleak landscape, make him brighter. Or somehow illustrate that he is bringing light and life back to the desert, if he's not fighting evil creatures; some dragons are connected to rain and fertility.

Skullbeast- The head is really nice. I don't know about the background color, it's a bit overwhelming imho.

tomagnetti- Right now, it looks more like mother-of-pearl, but that's really nice too (and certainly easier to paint ;) ). For the glass effect, the best advice can give is to find some irregular shaped glass knicknack and see how the material reacts to light and how you see the background through it. The bubble looks good already. I know the scientific explanation for the colors, but that won't help you much.

scorge- great start. The head design is so pretty and original!

iolarnula- looks like an asian dragon/gryphon hybrid. Nice sketch, but the hindquarters look a little bit small.

Mr--Jack - That manatee face is so adorable!Also a lot of Action in this sketch. Can't wait to see it colored.

Pierropod- The head is super cool, but get some reference on bird wings.

ThinMint- That's an original take on dragons antatomy, very cool!. I dont think it needs wings at all. Chinese dragons don't have wings, too. They just fly around like giant helium-filled macaronis. (Oh, I just see you added wings. But it seems they lack some joints?)

dwinbotp- Nice start! I'd make the wings bigger.

yoitisi- I always enjoy your work process, with all the sketches and studies. A moth-dragon is a neat idea.

bohnded- I dont think the background is working so well. The dragon sketch with the doe eyes is sweet, though.

kovah Not bad. What it needs is some interesting textures and mayeb stronger lighting. The blacement of the front feet looks wierd perspectively.


Started with a digitally colored version yesterday. Less eye-hurting, but kinda boring. I think I'll go with the watercolor version.

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Concept: The Dragons of Lemuria had a terrible reputation. Many noble knights and dragonslayers from all over the world traveled there to challenge the mighty beast, but few ever returned. No one knew what made these dragons so invincible, as none of the homecomers talked much about the experience, at least nothing coherent.
Until the orcish army tried to overrun the country. It was stopped at the borders by the lemurian dragons without a fight. They circled over the battlefield spitting clouds of vapor on the combat-ready warriors. Whoever inhaled the dragon's breath was overwhelmed with love and joy. This turned the battlefield into a mass orgy, while the evil wizards who lead the orcish forces contemplated over the beauty of creation or giggled at their ridiculous robes.
The army dispersed. Parts of it retreated to their homeland, where the wizards were put to the torture to tell what really happened at the borders of Lemuria. Some warriors even killed themself to save their honor. But others stayed in Lemuria to live there with their true love happily ever after.

[karlthepirate]

i still havent gotten any wips going D: tonights a cram session! i cant do colors cause i has no shop-photo, do im diong it black and white :S im screwed XD

[Freha]

Benu, if you are unhappy with the detail or crispness of the watercolor version, you could go back and use colored pencils to sharpen things up and highlight detail. I'm just guessing that this is the reason you tried painting it digitally.

[Bohnded]

Benu - Thanks, I was on the fence about doing more to the background, that was a needed push.

[meganite]

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I fixed the leg and arm and wing, I hope? I really can't get foreshortening apparently. I need more practice =( Adding more detail. Definitely not finished with the legs or tail. I'm thinking the wings are going to be translucent as they are.. I may have to fix some of those supports, to make it more obvious they aren't fingers. Anyone see any problems?

And now for crits:

Benu, I like your painted one better. Maybe just touch it up digitally or something? I don't paint with watercolor, so I really can't help ya there, sorry =(

iolarnula - I like the way it's going =) Maybe its breath weapon could be a wind of blessing for sailors? Or mist to confound the evil foes?

Tomagnetti - cool concept! As always, I suggest to look at some reference. Do you have any glass objects you can look at as you paint? It will help you get the tone of stuff, I think.

aoseen - just lighten the dragon up and you'll be fine =) I don't normally suggest just using dodge, but you could make another layer and set the blending mode to dodge? It's an easy way to lighten up just the dragon.

[Chuck,mate.]

hey Michael! thanks for the warm welcoming. glad to see you`re running the show so tightly.
hope I won`t get bored with meself and finish the dragon on time.
(for a change)

cheers!
P.

[fionkell]

Benu: some of its pelvic region's hidden behind the wings unfortunately so its arse looks a bit small. damn wings! heh

meganite: hmm you got interesting ideas there...so far the only thing i could think of was the northern/southern lights coming out of its throat for some odd purpose (radiation?). but i will revise that now.

More noodling on it, not sure if I like how it is going at the moment, I appear to have lost all the sharp edges and it's too soft :/
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v686/iolarnula/sketchbook10/cow136_06.jpg

[Tomorrow-man]

Photoshop just crashed on me so I lost a lot of wing detail and some other extraneous things, so I thought I'd post an update anyway. I'm thinking of a background, any ideas? Maybe like demon smoke clouding swirling and swarming around him?

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[Bohnded]

meganite - I liked your's better before you tightened it up. It seemed to be a creature made of light. I understand that was just a quick color sketch, but I liked it better than any of the entries I've seen.

[meganite]

Oh yeah, tomorrow-man that looks great, you've added a lot of that gold quality back into it! I agree you need something else... try maybe just adding in random background terrain with a very faint brush?

iolarnula - I really like that fur! Heh, it's supposed to be soft, right? Why do you need sharpness? =P Anyway, looking good.

[kovah]

fiddled with the anatomy for almost an hour and it just looked worse than when i started so running out of time i cut my losses and just put the colours on and started the scales and stuff. I fairly like how its coming along anyways.

Tomorrow man: Looking great - the wing does abit stuck on, could do with intigrating abit into the torso. I love your texturing on it though *jealous*

[xgabo]

Posted my finished piece in the finals thread along with some backstory explaining the origin of the dragon.

[Freha]

My WIP. The clouds were painted in Painter and I'm painting the Dragon in Photoshop. Still not quite sure what the breath is going to look like, I'm thinking of going with something that is a combo of light and flame if that makes any sense. Sort of a prismatic fire, that purifies as it burns.

[KevinR]

I'm trying something different with my image for this round. Not too sure if everything here is going to remain as it is for the final image, but I kinda like the way it looks now.

Kev

[Evil_Sloth]

sketch for mine:

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/9183/dragonsketch.jpg

[skullbeast]

benu - thanks! I'll have to agree with the background.

[parascytheJack]

skullbeast- wow dude! yours is almost finish!

[skullbeast]

parascytheJack - thanks man!!

[Evil_Sloth]

block in:

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6749/dragonsketch2.jpg

[Wacky Wackowski]

changed directions with mine a bit:

[Tomorrow-man]

Still figuring out this whole background business. What do you guys think of the demon smoke? I'm still not finished but I'd like some input before I go further.
Evil_Sloth I really like your design. Great earthy dragon, like a centaur dragon ent lovechild.

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[carakhan]

Benu: Thanks! And yea, I knew he didn't need wings, but I thought it would help the composition. I am going to start working on their anatomy today hopefully.

Tomorrow-man: I really like the direction you're going with this. I think your light breath is a little too textured though, i have a hard time figuring out what it is made of. And I know how you feel about the background, I finally just started blocking one in and just "found" my in playing with it. Give it a try.

I was sick of looking at a grey background so thats part of what I worked on yesterday. And the tree, although it needs to be integrated more, feels kind of slapped on there. I think its just because the surrounding areas aren't lit by it yet. And I am not ignoring the joints of the wings, I just wanted to get a full picture in there first.

[Pierropod]

There are some great works already !! Nice jobs guys !!

Tomorrow-man : Nice work I know it's a WIP and maybe you saw that already but If I can critique a little, I think the right back leg is a little bit shorter than the other one. And for the left wing the contrast is too dark compare too the right one. It doesn't look farther.

[Pierropod]

Here is my second WIP
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[skullbeast]

ThinMint - outstanding choice in color and composition!!!

Pierropod - cool concept! the Breath weapon is very interesting!!

Tomorrow-man - I am quite fond of the "darkness" you created!!

Wacky Wakowski - great block out! That goes for the first concept as well! You are nailing the perspective! That is something I need to sharpen up for myself!! I cant seem to shake the layered flattness look that I do always. maybe on the next one I will focus more on dynamics.

[commander-salamander]

This is the first time I've tried this and I suspect I've left it too late this time. I have been lurking for weeks now. Hopefully I can get it finished in time.

First image is roughs. I would have more but half of it is in tiny pieces or screwed up in frustration on the floor.
Second is more or less final for the head. Still not entirely satisfied with it but I don't know what to do about it. *sigh*

[Mr--Jack]

This isn't really working quite the way I'm wanting it to yet, I might have to re-start the colouring . . . still, it's a step.

[rushwolf]

Eh wanted to sketch. Didn't see the challenge until today. Probably won't finish just thought I'd throw a wip in.

[Freha]

Posting really quick before I go to bed. Added a tint of yellow to the sky since it was too "blue" and lightened it a bit. Also changed the wing color to gold to add color variety. The dragon was starting to feel very monochromatic. Probably the last WIP I'm going to post before the final.

[scorge]

Another before calling it for the night. Actually going to get to sleep before midnight I think. Pretty rare these days. Just can't seem to find the time to work on this. Color and final detail tomorrow.
Rushwolf: Not bad for just joining in, but then again, you're that good.
Tomorrow-man: You've done a great job so far, now the biggest challenge is going to be tying the two elements of your scene together. Right now they look as if they belong on separate pages. Make sure that you use the light source(whether it's the dragons breath or the sun) to put them in the same space, and also give some sort of scale reference or even perspective based object around or near the dragon to show us how far or close it is to the raiding horde. I would have to say the most challenging issue would be that floor. Other than that, keep plugging away!
Mr.Jack: It'll happen man. Besides, any steps you take when it comes to this stuff are straight to heavenly artwork. (Stairway to ArtHeaven playing in the background). Definitely one of my favorites so far regardless.
Thanks for the comment Benu, love the color rage you've got going on.

[rushwolf]

Kinda... gotta figure out if he has wings or not.. if not how the hell did he get on that ledge.

Guess he needs some... magical breathe o benevolence too.

[Mr--Jack]

'Kay, just about to put it up in the finals thread.
@ scorge; thanks :D . . . well I started the colouring again, it was what I'd needed, but I'm pretty happy with the result. Yours is coming along pretty nicely; still really liking that head!

commander-salamander; bah! Nothing wrong with the last minute... The head's looking damn cool, if that helps some :)

and rushwolf; really lovely progress (not that I'm surprised); great form and light :D Now just to increase the holiness-level a couple of notches.
Gonna be a pretty noice poll this week.

[Michael Jaecks]

Looking good folks. Just a reminder, the deadline is Monday March 16th and I will be setting up the poll sometime in the morning of Tuesday the 17th (central daylight time, USA)

[rushwolf]

Last update... for...ev...ur. Or for tonight.

[Chuck,mate.]

looking very cool, guys and gals.

I`m still going, slowly but surely.
(way too much to do, not enough hours in the day...)



P.

[Labrynthine]

I kinda started mine last night. I might get it done this afternoon.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v622/SpectralArtist/bdwip.jpg

[gatling]

I'm seeing some great lighting and compositional directions from both rushwolf and Labrynthine and of course some nice work from Mr--Jack

[Evil_Sloth]

Some beautiful pics developing dudes.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2446/dragonsketch3.jpg

[Tomorrow-man]

Wow, guys, everything is coming out awesome!

Alright, umm... I'm not sure if it's done so... what do you guys think? Does it need something else?

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[Wacky Wackowski]

lot o cool stuff coming out on this challenge :D It keeps getting harder to just pick one to vote for. here's the progress i made so far... need to pick up the pace!

[Bohnded]

I look at all this nice stuff and wonder why I didn't have time to finish. Great stuff every one. I am jealous.

[meganite]

Looking good folks. Just a reminder, the deadline is Monday March 16th and I will be setting up the poll sometime in the morning of Tuesday the 17th (central daylight time, USA)

That's midnight after Monday, right? =D ... not midnight tonight? =( Working hard to finish, but it's already midnight here...

[rushwolf]

Messin around with it some more- probably won't enter the poles. I dunno.

[commander-salamander]

Another WIP. I really don't think I'm gonna finish in time but I'm going to give it a go. Gargh! I have 'Major Scanner Issues', those being I don't have one right here, right now, so sorry for the hideous photo.

[Chuck,mate.]

http://i514.photobucket.com/albums/t348/patribalanovsky/cow136_chuckmate.jpg

well I`m done. it was a great deal of fun, no doubt. :)

cheers ppl.
Patri.

[Michael Jaecks]

that looks great Patri.

Yes, ppl: the finals thread is still open...

If the deadline says March 16th, you have until midnight GMT that night, minimum. GMT is about six hours ahead of me. I let my own midnight pass (Central Day light Time, USA) and typically set up the poll during my own morning of the next day. This means we have COW about once every 7.5 days or so, rather than a strict calendar week, but I don't care because I cannot keep track of who is in what time zone when.

Also: I will be making cuts from the poll this week. Follow the brief and submit the best art you can.

[carakhan]

Thanks Michael, thats good to know, since I don't even get out of work until after the (GMT) deadline and I want to make some final revisions. Going to put up my final wip in a few.

[darkly]

Looking good everyone!

Way too much stuff came up this week, so I don't think I'll be able to finish. I hate not being able to participate, so here's what I got.

http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/7977/gooddragon6.jpg

[parascytheJack]

*sigh!, i have to rush mine just to meet the deadline...

next time!, next time! i got to practice how to do it fast...

[Michael Jaecks]

Apologies about the poll. Work reared its head and on top of that I am getting sick. I will get the poll up tomorrow morning. But first a little sleep. Just a little. :)

So stragglers get a reprieve this week.

[Michael Jaecks]

The poll is on!
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=152420