C.O.W. #137 CNN Breaking News: Life Found on Titan! --VOTING

[Michael Jaecks]

ROUND #137 VOTING

Topic: CNN Breaking News!! Life Found on Titan!!


Deadline for the voting: Friday 3 April 2009

Posting thread (closed): C.O.W. - #137 CNN Breaking News! Life Found on Titan!!! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=153096)


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OK - before voting/posting read this!!!

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

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

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

[Lege1]

Artist: LEGE1
Concept: TITANIAN FEROCI

Titanian Feroci is an alien predator creature living in solitude within the solar systems second largest moon, Titan of planet Saturn. The Titanian Feroci is equipepped anatomically to be well adapted to either extreme hot and cold circumstances and uses it's helmet like head arrangment to neutralize and control its body temperature and is also an aquatic species. Titanian Feroci is extremely territorial and feeds on just about anything it can come across. It is a species that plays the role of being prisoner to Titan, until of course humans go and tamper with it and unleash it on accident here on Earth. Until that day, lets just hope the thing stays on Titan =]:yayca:

[Lakai]

Artist: Lakai

Concept: Titan fish

Scientist find this strange creature by using their new beam technologies , which primal was developed to destroy all human being, financed by the army, but the new technology was improper to reach this goal. Fortunately for us that it was used to find these new specie instead. Though this disover will destroy us with their awful light balls anyway.

http://www.devappeal.com/lakai/al.png

[lkjhgfdsa]

Artist: Lkjhgfdsa

Concept: Crustacea Gigatus Titanae

Due to the low level of gravity (approx 1/7th the gravity of earth) on Saturn's moon Titan, life there has grown to , dare I say- Titanic proportions.
The first species sighted in what was to become a multitude of new life-forms found dwelling upon Titan, was that of the crustacea gigantus titanae.
A land and ocean dwelling crustacea, the gigantus carries about its own camoflage in the shape of self-formed layers of detrius and saliva. Closer inspection by a NASA probe (pictured below) found that massive crustaceans have indigenous flaura and fauna closely associated with them in what would seem a stable ecological state.
This could very well see the beginning of a solarsystem wide chain of RedLobster restaurants opening in the near future...

[Crowsrock]

Artist: Crowsrock

Concept: Lantern Drifter

The creature lives in the subsurface ocean, consisting of liquid water and ammoniac. It lives completely aquatic. Since it is moving slowly exobiologists strongly suggest that it filtrates smaller live forms from the surrounding water or subsists on large aggregates of symbiotic microorganisms, presumably methan or ammonia oxidizers. The microorganisms may be contained within the large bioluminescent "lantern" that inspired the name of that creature.

[Faernen]

Artist: Faernen

Concept: Titanesque Rockfish

After the discovery from space, a probe with human crew was sent to collect informations of the strange creature.
However, all they found was red rocks. At the moment, they didn't realize they actually found what they were looking for.
The last images send to Earth by the probe depicts a 20 feet long creature with a rock carapace.
For the moment, scientists are violently arguing about how long this creature escaped human vigilance and hide herself from satellites thanks to her camouflage.

[Bowlin]

Artist: Bowlin

Concept: Titan Razorback


"This just in, the creature appeared to have an unusual spine that scientist believe helps break the top layer of the ocean's ice. Also noted was a blue glowing appendage that apparently helps attract Titan's smaller fish to it's unusual mouth in it's forehead. More to report on this unusual new life at 11."

[dwinbotp]

Artist: dwinbotp
Concept: Titan Basin Serpent
"Is everything running smoothly Baker?
"yes Sir, Going deeper now, moving 3.5 knots and maintaining.
"Anything unusual soldier? Radar and sensors picking up anything down there?"
"nothing yet Sir...wait, my sensors are picking up somethi....HOLY MOTHERF%@king...Cripes! What is that??!!!
"Report back Baker! What's going on down there? Damn it! Report!
"Uhhh Sir, It's a...Big %#@ creature S-Sir...It's staring straight at us..."
"What's that? Where's Collins?"
"Right beside me Sir, pissing all over the place..."
"Well if that thing don't attack you, I wanna know what it is, The images you're sending aren't worth shit for that billion dollar equipment you're manning!"
" It's enormous Sir, maybe a couple of miles long...there seems to be breathing ducts all across its head and it's covered with huge scales over its entirety, almost like a snake Sir."
"It's swimming away Sir, what do you want me to do?"
"Well, follow it! If that thing exists, it's highly possible there are other life forms on the planet."
"it's gone Sir...Radar clocked its speed close to 70 knots and we can only see the tail fading deeper into total darkness."
"F#@K!!!!"

[Pierropod]

Artist: Pierropod

Concept: Titanesca
We don't know a lot about this creature but the scientist think it could be measure a little bit more than 2 yard. They think that it could eat a lot of plankton like whales but it could eat some big fishes like shark size.
628494

[luness]

Artist: luness

Concept: Timolana Grupali

The creature under the icy ocean surface finally seemed to move, extending what apparently was one of its limbs which, for our surprise, was later detached and consequently, taken away by the subterranean stream. After several hours of filtering and focusing the image, the silhouette gave us the impression of a new creature, not a limb. The previous thought about a frog-shaped giant creature has been dismissed. It is believed now that the silhouette in question is a new social creature, part of a school of similar ones, that due to sickness and/or other unknown cause died and was abandoned by the rest.
This is a recreation of what the creature might look like, and the possible functionality of the different parts of its anatomy.

[LORD M]

Artist: LORD M

Concept: Globular Floater - Tethys vitamorphis
"At 7:am this morning NASA recieved some highly intressting images from the Cassini satellite orbiting Saturns moon Titan. NASA had recently transferred some updates on its IR-camera and instructed Cassini to test it out on the possible oceans hiding beneath the ice-crust. The Cassini satellite photographed a moving shadow which could be seen from beneath the ice of Titan. The shadow seem to be some kind of slow moving multi-limbed organism which is around 20 feet long according to our mesurements. Since it wasn't seen so good on the IR-photo, scientists believ it is a transparent creature that floats forward with the fin-like structures. On this screen you can see an artists rendition of the image captured by Cassini. So there you have it folks, we are no longer alone in the universe."

[scorge]

Artist: Scorge

Concept: T01, Life found on Titan


And now, breaking news from CNN correspondent Jim Norris in California at N.A.S.A Ames research center with an interview on an amazing discovery. And apparently, we are not alone.
"That's right Dianne, I'm here with Dr. Verne Ludqvist, Director of Operations and Mission control here at AMES, what can you tell us about this discovery doctor?"
"Of course Jim. At approximately 16:20 hours today, two roving submersible robots currently on mission in the depths of Saturn's moon Titan, discovered a life form. From what we can tell using proportional scale, this creature is around twenty feet long, and found at 10,000 fathoms resistant to barometric pressure. The "Ferns" as we call them on the forward portion appear to be feeding strainers of some sort of filter, and in the midsection we find what would be considered a large false eye, leading us to believe that this creature has a evolved a sort of defense against what could be larger predators. We are still in the preliminary phases of evaluation and will have more information at a later time."
"Thank you doctor. There will be a more formal press conference at 7 pm and N.A.S.A has agreed to release a high definition photo taken of the life form and you can find more pictures at CNN.com, back to you Dianne"
"Thank you Jim. Kind of gives you goose bumps doesn't it? Now we go to Pete Dawson with the weather........Pete?

[Ostrander]

Artist: Ostrander

Concept: Magucyphilae Titanasauri
"As word has it, this is it, it is official. We are not alone, ladies and gentleman. Scientist's have unveiled a recent image scan from the Hinder-Voltar IIV satellite as it passed by Saturn's moon, Titan. What we are seeing is what scientists are calling Magucyphilae Titanasauri. All the details are not known as of yet but we will have new details for you shortly. It's remarkable ladies and gentleman, this is unlike anything we've ever seen in the history of mankind. Who knows what other life this moon may hold or other planets within our solar system and beyond. Please stay tuned to CNN for the latest reports, I'm Bill Williamson, and we will return after these brief messages".
629026

[Sanaz]

Artist: Sanaz Sattari

Concept: Titanidae
After having observed the creature for some time, and having chosen a name for it, the scientists figure that the blind creature, used the sensory bumps on its back to direct its way. The Titanidae was a rather harmless creature, feeding on smaller life forms, probably with hard shells, as its sharp tiny teeth showed. But the whip tails with their glowing fins were alarming enough to scare off any possible predators, which gives news of other, perhaps larger, creatures to be found in the deeper waters of Titan.

629033

[Mara644]

Artist: Mara644

Concept: Euarthropodum Titaniae
Hiding under rocks and ice the creature was not easy to observe. Scientists presume that it feeds from essential nutrients floating in the hydrocarbon lakes in the moon's polar regions. Attaching itself under a rock it waits for the nourishing currents, changing place only when it's forced to search for more fertile regions.

[Sperling]

Artist: Sperling

Concept: Titanian Suspension Feeder

Not much is known about the strange new creature found on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The Cassini–Huygens mission in 2004 included the discovery of liquid hydrocarbon lakes in the satellite's polar regions, leading to the belief that the moon could be a possible host for microbial extraterrestrial life. However, the recent discovery of this new creature of gigantic proportions came as a shock, albeit exiting and delightful one, to the scientific community. Besides its immense size (approximately 20-25 yards), the most notable feature of this new organism are the twin sails along what is assumed to be its back. These sails have a membrane across them, forming a long, net like tube. It also sports tentacle-like appendages, from which it dangles a bioluminescent 'bait', attracting microorganisms in the surrounding liquid methane. It is unknown at the moment whether the bait is a substance produced by the creature itself, or if it is somehow connected to that which it feeds on (both of which share an uncanny glowing trait). Either way, the creature seemed especially protective of it and two probes were lost to the whip-like attacks of its tentacles. It swims by undulating its sails, pulling in liquid methane and expelling it out again in a jet-like motion. Though at the moment unclassified, it is being referred to by scientific researchers as the 'Titanian Suspension Feeder'.

[Ink-Ronin]

Artist: Ink-Ronin

Concept: Serpentine Crustacean

This creature is cold-blooded and has been known to hide along the oceanic floor, particularly amongst coral areas. As camoflouge it rubs itself through muddy coral sediment so as to blend in from above. The lights on its head are not only useful for vision but also aid in attracting certain type of prey. The "eyes" directly up from its nostrils are actually ears which collect sonar pulses reflected back from surrounding objects. This is an extremely fast predator with quick reflexes and strong pincers with which to seize its victim.

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x83/kooph20/Titans-Oceanic-Crustacial-.jpg

[Somni]

The creature was thought to be a carnivore, but to the surprise of NASA, the creature is actually herbivore. It feeds upon small plants on the bottom of Titan's many oceans. So far, the nickname for this creature is the Titan Whale, however, exobiologists are already formulating a species family system for exobiological creatures. The Titan Whale carries a large shell to protect it against icebergs, large rocks, and the ice shelves that froze at the ocean's surface. The Titan Whale supposedly cannot see well, which is why its eyes glow red. They casually drift near the surface when not searching for food. Apart from the Titan Whale and several sea plants, scientists believe there are no other lifeforms on Titan.

[thedarkcloak]

Artist: thedarkcloak

Concept: Titanian Harrier Giganarthropod

It's been dubbed the Titanian Harrier Giganarthropod, in what scientists say is one of first of what will surely be many great discoveries of the 21st century.

The creature is said to be a roaming scavenger, with an impressive appetite. It's exoskeleton is very tough, and it seems to layer as the creatures age and grow. It uses water jets via vents contained within it's rocky exterior to help it maneuver through the frigid seas. Perhaps contributing to it's maneuverability, and buoyancy, is an astonishing feature within this beast. Within it's body it has the ability to generate heat, which it then seems to store within the pyrite looking husks accumulating over it's shoulder areas.

Also, it's long beak appears to be used to puncture equally tough cadavers of other creatures, which it feasts on. It will wedge it's whole beak, and even it's whole head, to scrub and shred meat free from the carcass with it's thick sharp bristles, which lie just under it's beak. However, the creature does not have a jaw, but rather it seems to have an almost fleshy pocket, surrounded by small tentacles that uncurl to bring food into it, as needed.

When done eating, the tentacles curl back into it's gaping maw, keeping unwanted debris out, but still allowing it to take in enough water to flush through with it's water jets (presumably after heating it enough).

The BBC has already acquired rights to air a special on this amazing creature.

Back to you, Bob!

[skullbeast]

Artist: skullbeast

Concept: Titanian hellfish
Breaking news today what appears to be a new undiscovered life form has been photographed on Saturn's moon Titan. It appears to be some sort of alien deep-sea ice fish nearly 20 feet in length. It's light source may also be used as a rudimentary mandible. Thought to be cannibalistic in nature. More at 11:00...

[Supervlieg]

Artist: Supervlieg

Concept: M*Jax


Lost in the purple lit seas of Titan, the crew of the last shuttle misson were confronted with a massive leviathan. Having never witnessed anything like it before on planet earth, they were stupified by its awesomeness. As they described to an excited public back home how the massive creature headed towards their sinking shuttle, the last exclamation heard by Houston before all connections were broken was a hearty: "What the fook!"

[rushwolf]

Artist: rushwolf

Concept: Ice Ripper

NASA's Titan fuel expedition team made a historical discovery today. Life was found in the Moon's subsurface ocean. A 20 foot long creature that NASA experts say "Is really fucking big." Other more credible experts explain the shock of the shocked experts: "Ammonia based life, which is what this organism seems to be mainly composed of, is a rather strange phenomenon. The Ammonia atoms do not contain enough neutrons to form a strong hydr- Look its just really fucking big!"

From what we've gathered from the footage, our intern here at CNN, Ted, said that "the monster probably like climbs on those ice-rocks and like... looks for food. It probably stabs stuff a lot."

[Bralt Hannicart]

Artist: Bralt Hannicart

Concept: Titanodracon
"Images from the Titan Orbital Satellite "MERCATOR" showed a thermal image outline of what scientists now call the 'Titanodracon'. The first extraterrestial lifeform discovered in the history of mankind. Professor Alfred Jaeger, currently overseeing the Titan Exploration Project, says his team was baffled by the images sent back from the orbital satellite. Professor?"

Professor Jaeger: "It certainly was a big surprise to find lifeforms in such harsh conditions. We are now further analyzing the images and data to learn more about this wonderful creature. 3D thermal scans already provided us with enough information to present the world an artist impression of the creature. Now NASA and ESA have put the plans to send humans to Mars on hold. A manned mission to Titan is considered to be highest priority in space exploration from this moment."

[Michael Jaecks]

All right kiddies. Here is the poll. I did not cut anyone this week in part because I felt bad for getting this up a day late. I will not be so generous in the future. ;)

I'm very pleased that so many folks are really trying to bring their best game forward in COW over the last weeks and happy to see we've consistently had 20+ entries. I'm going to try to keep thinking up topics that will inspire a wide group of folks.

Speaking of which I am writing the new brief right now... it will be up in a few minutes, but for now I will open the poll...

Also... I'm honest enough to say that I was nearly narcissistic enough to vote for Supervlieg's excellent entry because he named it after me. Apart from its well deserved name, the creature is great and I'm always fascinated by the steps he takes between WIP and final. I also loved scorge's critter (perhaps my fave of yours yet! I love the perspective) Bralt's, Rushwolf's (I think the black and white it very fitting, very NASA for this round...), thedarkcloaks, dwinbotp's, Ostrander's as well as a few others. Sorry I'm not naming every name, but I am getting dizzy scrolling back up to find you. At any rate, I had to vote luness this time. Great design, great render, lots of nice crunchy varied texture and detail... alien yet believable...

[gatling]

:star: luness Your overall concept, crisp graphical layout, striking pencil work (not overwhelmed by your final colors I might add), and gorgeous texture work just brought this so firmly together that I had no other choice but to vote in your favor. Bravo.

Bralt Hannicart I really liked your design especially. Maybe more simple, but definitely effective and could hint at possible later evolved forms of the species.

Ostrander Beautiful flow and color especially. It caught my attention first.

[Faernen]

Choice was hard !

So much good concepts and amazing realizations...

My top 3 :

- Supervlieg : the concept is very original and I love the colors. It's just a little sad that you didn't add much details on the tail, but after all, we had only one week ! The creature is my favorite.

- Scorge : I like the creature, but what impressed me the most was the shading... truly amazing !

- Bralt Hannicart : So immoderate, so strange, so well made !


But I like the others as well (with special mentions to Luness and Lord M), it's so inspiring !

Thanks for everyone that participate ! It's great to see everyone's concept !

[rushwolf]

Scorge - You got my vote this week. I was really suprised and impressed by how your creature turned out. I like the colors, mainly how they blend in a realistically uneven way.

Luness - Awsome rendering. The skin of the creature really reminds me of that of a plant. Like if I poked it with a pen it'd make a crisp sound and a little hole. Great colors. Overall well thoughout and executed design.

Supervlieg - I really love this. It would have gotten my vote if you took the rendering to a more finished level. That mouth and the tink eye :D. Also awsome texture variation and balance. I dunno why there is a shuttle in the water, I don't care. I still love it.

Bralt Hannicart - I like how it turned out. Cool macro-photography look to it. Some crits: The anatomy is nice, but the flow and general rythem of it is very choppy. Look into opposing and continuous force + gesture. Some rearrangement of the "lines" in your design can make a massively nice change. The creature also seems a bit monotonous in terms of texture and color. Just bein hard on ya cause I see the potential you have!

skullbeast - The creature itself looks like it belongs on earth, but is still good. I really think you'd benefire from spending some time away from soft-edged brushes. Your color/value shifts tend to get very muddy.Try working with any hardedge-brush, about 50-60% flow, opacity jitter to pressure. Try and focus on variations between hard [abrupt] and soft [gradual] changes in value. In the future try to define some large shapes/planes within your creature's body.

Ostrander - Nice design, but it feels a bit generic. Kinda Lochness with a segmented plate body and an oni-looking face. The base values and colors work very well. When I squint at it, it really sells. I think this piece would come to life with a bit more blending, atleast near the front quarter.

LORD M - The material of the creature doesn'y really sell as globular or translucent. The orbs [eyes?] seem a bit out of plate for the creature ontop of making its body seem smaller. It is difficult to get something to seem translucent with a single lightsource in the water. Some color to the water would have helped sell the depth, vs just black.

rushwolf - I find your use of vulgar language very offensive. As for your creature. I really put myself at a disadvanage by not using color. The eye likes the purdy colors. Theres also not much as far as texture variation. Making it seem like a recorded video forced me to mute the values a bit.

Overall nice work everyone!

[Supervlieg]

Nice round everyone! It's feels good to finally participate in cow again.
MJ: I guess I have to keep naming those creatures after you until I succeed muhaha. There is not really that much going on between wip and finals, except for trying to go as nuts as possible on the details and the occasional crash to make me start over again. And I use the "make nice picture" filter on photoshop a lot.

Lege1: Nice scene, but I think values need more work. They all ask for the same attention, making the image a bit flat.
Lakai: Its a bit hard to descern the shape and movement of the creature. Not a bad thing for an alien creature, but making it a bit harder on the viewer.
lkjhgfdsa: I think you win for best nickname. The creature is a bit flat, probably due to the perspective. Im not quite sure how the creature relates to the hill its standing on. I like the color setting though.
Crowsrock: Nice critter, the highlights need a bit more work though. The skin could also use some variation. Its probably good to start working on a higher rez, and scale down for the final image. That way you can get rid of most of the rough strokes.
Faernen: Nice one, but definitely needs more love. Try adding texture, and definition in places you want people to look.
Bowlin: I like the strange creature design, looks like someone swimming upside down. Parts of the image looks unfinised. Especially the foreground arm, and the tail.
dwinbotp: Nice flow and I like the scales. I think ultimately a bit more detailed texture in the skin could make the scale more convincing. The sub looks like a toy instead of the creature looking like a giant.
Pierropod: I like the design of the head. Overall the values are a bit flat, making it a bit hard on the depth perception
luness: Great use of texture and very nice details on the creature. Design wise it could be a bit hard to read. The only "recognizable" parts are the fins. The rest is very alien, making it very hard to interpret. Somehow the creature looks like a fly smashed in to some fly paper. I love the little inserts, they really build the story.
LORD M: Nice alien design, reminds me of the weird creatures that are found in our oceans. It could use a bit of glare here and there on the highlights, to give it that light emmitting feel. And although alien, from the design, the right eye appears to be weirdly placed.
scorge:Very nice design, and lovely flow and balance in the creature. The shadow on the wall really sold it. The tail is a bit underdeveloped, but since the eye is led to the frontal parts, it doesnt really matter. You got my vote!
Ostrander: Lovely colors, the pallette reminds me of matt dixons work. Maybe the viewpoint could be slightly different to reveal more of the design.
Sanaz: Funny and very likeable creature, but a bit simplistic in its execution. Maybe the image would have benefitted by adding more of the same species in the background, and in different poses to show off the movement.
Mara644: I like the flow of the tentacles. The lack of outlines in the background kinda make the creature look detached from the scene though.
Sperling: Interesting design. Maybe the pose is a bit stiff. The values on the creature seem to be a bit off compared to the background
Ink-Ronin: Looks like an interesting creature, but I think your work will benefit if you start working at a higher resolution.
Somni: I like the choise of the horned head, but I think overall it could use a bit more detailing. The image looks a bit unfinished.
thedarkcloak: Lovely detail in the textures. Like all entries, including mine, the highlights are a bit much for an underwater scene. And because of the clarity in the surroundings, the creature appears to be flying instead of swimming.
skullbeast: Nice lighting and details. Overall I would say it could be a bit more alien. It look very much like angler fish found on earth, with three eyes, and even more teeth. Nice job though.
Supervlieg: Paint more ya lazy bum.
rushwolf: Great work on the b/w's. I would have love to see where this would have gone in color. I was close to vote for your entry. The body is a bit hard to read, especially the transition from the frontal part to the back, its hard to read the perspective on that. I love the mysterious sub in the back, although its so mysteriously shrouded in the mist that I almost tend to look at it more then the creature.
Bralt Hannicart: Very lovely design. Overall It could have benefitted from a bit more variation of color in the skintones. I love the little wrinkles on the body.

[Faernen]

Faernen: Nice one, but definitely needs more love. Try adding texture, and definition in places you want people to look.Thanks, I will take your advice and try to do better next time, I'm a total newbie and it's a great occasion to learn ! ;)

[Michael Jaecks]

LOL SV... I just got PS CS 4 and I cannot for the life of me find the 'nice picture' filter... I also cannot find where you control spacing on the brushes.... scatter, yes, but not spacing. I'm also still not used to the new place where the eraser tool is kept. And then, only what a week ago... they change the user interface on Facebook! Why can't these programmer types leave shit alone?

Again, I am really happy to see close votes, healthy competition, good crits and everyone bringing their best game to these rounds...

Now go paint some baby killing mammas, you guys! :) The cannibal round wants you to bring your best gorefest yet.

[Sanaz]

This was my fist participation in any of the weekly activities, after having watched the threads for the longest time. :P Courage is a good thing! But I'm happy I did enter, cause it make me draw what is normally not up my alley, and I will continue doing so.

I really liked all the entries, specially where they varied from each other, the little changes and details. And it was interesting to see that when people think of alien creatures, they mostly think them the kind that might just kill you if you find them! :P I personally, have a more positive view on everything, or maybe naive, but I go for the cute side of things first! ;)

I voted for Bralt Hannicart, cause I found it the most interesting to me. I loved the smoothness, and also the use of texture. The depth of the whole work and its simplicity caught my attention.

My other favorites were those of luness, scorge, Mara644, Supervlieg, and rushwolf. ^_^

But great job everyone! I learned so much! :D

[Tyrus]

I chose Scorge because his style fits best with the alien feel of this week

[luness]

I’m very sorry for not being able to give any kind of feedback for this COW’s wips. I barely had time to work on mine, making only minor changes to the original sketch. I just kept the initial idea of a very graphic (sort of two-dimensional) look. Nothing like posing or anything like that. I was a bit afraid of that approach, but I’m happy with the result.

So, voting time again!

I’ll base my vote on weirdness, uniqueness, and separation from shapes and even the anatomy we all know or are familiarized with. I mean, it’s Titan, right? We have no idea how extraterrestrial life would look like, and even if we do, there’s still lots of room for variety of shapes and experimentation. For example, if I had seen a giraffe on a drawing or illustration first, as a concept or artist idea, I would say that is one of the oddest looking creatures ever, but it actually exists, so again, the odd factor was a must have on these designs, at least for me.

Lege1 – the background textures have so many interesting details that I actually spent more time looking at them than at your design. In other words, you should have put more attention to the details on the creature, and then leave some spare time to the background and vehicle design. It definitely looks ferocious and predatory and the backstory is pretty cool, so congrats for that!

Lakai – I love it! needs more work to define the different parts and elements of its body, and perhaps changing the pose a bit to get a more readable silhouette, but I still like it anyways. I think the bubbles are a bit too big. Smaller bubbles would have give the impression of a larger creature. I didn’t get the story that well but good work anyways, cheers!

lkjhgfdsa – awesome, great idea and backstory, and the RedLobster thing? Haha, sweet. The only thing that kinda bothers me is the probe. It looks very cartoony compared to the nice creature rendering. Good work!

Crowsrock – sweet goodness! I really like this design, but it lacks some refinement. Next time, try to use airbrush or other soft brushes as well, aside from what you already use. I mean, you can clearly see the brush strokes, but although it can look very nice and painterly sometimes, it doesn’t work that well here, you know what I mean? Same thing happened with the background, which btw, sometimes is not that necessary for presentation purposes. Maybe your design could have had more impact without a background. Take a look at the wonderful work of Carlos Huante and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Faernen – that 45 degrees angle that the tail and its torso (?) make is quite strange for a creature that seems to be serpent-shaped. I would suggest more thickness variation to indicate weight and perspective, just like you can see on many sketches and final pieces of different artists around, specially in the Sketchbook thread. Cast shadows could have helped a lot too, and as I suggested to Crowsrock, sometimes a background (and foreground) affects negatively a design. It is a pain to work on that, I find myself struggling with the background thing as well. Keep it up, and I hope to see more designs from you!

Bowlin – weeeeeeeird! So cool! But needs more work, looks unfinished in some areas, perhaps a bit more of texture for the skin and carapace. This is so odd, I can’t stop looking at it. Good work!

dwinbotp – it’s a personal thing, but it looks more as a sort of fantasy serpent/dragon than an alien form, although I particularly love the absence of smaller scales. Its skin looks thick and appropriate to deal with the hard environment around, pretty cool.

Pierropod – great design! But my most favorite feature is barely noticeable. The lateral fins that go all the way til' the end. It’s a very nostalgic feeling, I must confess. They remind me in a certain way a beautiful Ghost Knifefish I had to give away (I was going to study overseas). Anyways, did you try adding a bit of different colors here and there? It looks great the way it is, but I think some passes of color (in the fins, or around the eyes, or along the spine, for example) could have added some extra punch. Great work!

LORD M – it is too dark around the creature to understand what’s going on. Since it’s tail is long and is a very important part of the creature, you should have shown a bit more of it, giving more information about the creature’s shape, regardless of what we already know from Cassini’s image.

scorge – gasp! This is what I was talking about at the beginning. Alien oddity. Playful with shapes and design elements. That eye is wonderful. You could cut it and paste it on any other creature and it would look awesome. .One thing disappoints though. It’s tail. I mean, when you start seeing it from left to right, you’re like “woooooow” and then when you reach the tail, it’s more like “……….”, you know what I mean? You’re a top creative mind and, in my humble opinion, that tail needs some of your skills. But you know what? It’s still on my top favorites, and it’s making it hard to decide which to vote for.

Ostrander – another great piece. Looks very alien to me, even without any strange feature, but there’s not too much information about what comes after the torso. I see a tail and a pair of fins, but other than that, I think it lacks of the coolness we can see on its face design.

Sanaz – I like the non-predatory nature of your creature, and you were quite adventurous using a “simple” body shape, but you succeeded because it still looks unique and alien, thanks to those mouths, the delicate fins, and the sensory bumps. The only thing I think it could have been more alien-looking are the mouths. They look somewhat cartoony but overall, it’s a nice design. Good work!

Mara644 – great idea and backstory, but it lacks of textures, variety of tones, and volume; which is a shame. I really like it

Sperling – it is odd, yes, but the sections of its body are way too similar to those found on a train. Maybe changing the rectangular shape were the membranes are for a more rounded one, or just a different shape, could work better. I absolutely love the idea behind them, but the design of these twin sails don’t work for me.

Ink-Ronin – interesting design. The size of the image is kinda small for the amount of details the creature has on its body, but I really like the way you worked with the cast shadows and lights.

Somni – it needs more work, lots of work. I’m sorry if it sounds harsh, but it looks unfinished, rushed in. The “bleeding” of the creature on the canvas doesn’t help either, since it takes away information about the creature’s tail and carapace. It is better to work on the gestures, silhouette, color blocking, composition, etc, first, than jumping right away to coloring, or try to deliver a “speedy” when there’s not solid structure or rough to start from. Please, do not feel discourage, I get and take critiques and suggestions too. It is part of the learning process and we never stop learning, so I would love to see you participating on the next COW too. Cheers!

thedarkcloak – despite the fantastic and very detailed description, the creature looks stiff, unable to move gracefully or at least good enough to maneuver, even with the assistance of those water jets. Nice work with the textures though.

skullbeast – great rendering!!! Very different to the dragon’s, much better. Despite it looks more like a great (and freaking scary) deep-water terrestrial creature than an alien one, it’s still a great submission. Kudos!

Supervlieg – I really enjoyed the humor behind this piece and the rendering near the eyes and mouth. The tip of its tail somehow reminds me a snow globe…man, I’m tired. I’ve been writing for quite a while. Anyways, good work!

rushwolf – hummm, just for presentation purposes I would have used much smaller fonts, smaller CNN logo, and dedicate more space to the actual design. However, I love the texture, the lights, the cast shadows, the grainy look, the vehicle design, the mood, the rocky/icy stuff, the fun backstory, the design of the creature…so what do you think? Yep, you got my vote. I put myself under the expedition team’s skin and imagining that we are singing songs, talking to Houston, and looking around, and all of the sudden this giant creepy odd stuff sort of crawls in front of us gave me goose bumps. Awesome work!!!

Bralt Hannicart – Another favorite. I have a crush on this creature. I hope is female. I love the elegant and smooth design. It looks effortless, graceful, very alien, very nice. You have serious design and rendering skills. Cheers!


So yeah, rushwolf, you nailed it.
Thanks a lot for the votes and comments I’ve got. I really appreciate them.

Congrats everybody!!!

[rushwolf]

Luness voted for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Woot!

[cotletan]

Voted for Supervlieg

Nice work also from Luness , Scorge and Rushwolf

[Faernen]

Faernen – that 45 degrees angle that the tail and its torso (?) make is quite strange for a creature that seems to be serpent-shaped. I would suggest more thickness variation to indicate weight and perspective, just like you can see on many sketches and final pieces of different artists around, specially in the Sketchbook thread. Cast shadows could have helped a lot too, and as I suggested to Crowsrock, sometimes a background (and foreground) affects negatively a design. It is a pain to work on that, I find myself struggling with the background thing as well. Keep it up, and I hope to see more designs from you!Thanks for the critics ;)
Now that you said it, the perspective looks wrong, especially the sharp 45° angle (I should have at least make it more rounded).
I must confess that the background is here just to fill empty spaces, shame on me ! Next time I will give more importance to it (or remove it if I can't).

But what do you mean by casting shadows ? Are you talking about shadows from the NASA probe's headlights ?
Or maybe just gradually darkening the end of the tail ?

[LORD M]

Thanks a lot for your critique and comments, luness, Supervlieg and rushwolf. I really appriciate it. :)

This week it was very hard to lay my vote, so many good ones (but then again it always is like that :P), but in the end I fell for rushwolf's piece. I loved the freaky design of the creature and the great presentation of it. And nice touch with the sub.

Lkjhgfdsa - Awesome crustacean based creature. I liked the colours you used and its design, but I think a more defined lightsource would have been good for it, it kinda looks ambient right now imho.

Bowlin - Very odd but cool creature, first I didn't know if it swimmed on its back before I read the description.

dwinbotp - Awesome! Really great piece, but imho it reminds me more of something fantasy then something alien.

luness - One of my favs. It's so odd looking it's believable. :P Don't know what more to say then amazing!

scorge - Loving it, it got a really alien and cool design. reat job!

Ostrander - One of my favs aswell. I loved the golden light coming from below. That and the design of the creature made me think of Final Fantasy XII somehow. Kinda looks like something from there.

thedarkcloak - Awesome creature, the body almost looks like it's made up from mussle shells which is cool. The head was especially cool imo. :)

Supervlieg - Awesome pine-cone like structure on its furthest body, I really liked your design of it. And the space shuttle was a great extra touch. :D

Bralt Hannicart - Great rendering, very believable creature. Great desing and use of colours.

[Bralt Hannicart]

Lege1
Apart from some anatomy issues in the creature and some awkward perspective in the submarine explorer pod/tank it's a solid image. Very nice warm colors, I really like the wavy lines on the top right. The fins on the top of the cranium look a bit crooked, I'm not sure if they either run down the face or wave upwards?

Lakai
Whoa weird creature! I actualy quite like it a lot. The entire image just lacks a bit more definition of forms and contrast. You could have played a bit more with the lightsources on the creature for a more dramatic scene. The pastel blue colors also make it a little less 'oomph! as it makes it feel like a tropical ocean and not an extraterrestial ocean.

lkjhgfdsa

Nice concept and a very weird crab! I'm confused about the scenery actualy. Is it submerged in water? or is it standing on some shores? Some well-defined shadows underneath the creature might explain a lot. In the top left I also spot another of those crabs, yet it seems like it is standing close to the shores of the Titan seas. And we see indeed some reflected water surface (or is it some flat ridge surface?) flowing below it but then I become confused if the front crab is submerged or not...it's a bit hard to explain so I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. But apart from that, I liked it!

Crowsrock
The brushstrokes really aren't doing your work credit which is too bad because the design of your creature is actualy looking smart and fresh. Perhaps you could benefit from working on separate layers a bit more, keeping creature and background seperated at all times untill the final touch-ups. A tip I always give is working in greyscales and add the color later on different blending layers. That way, you can concentrate on values and defining shapes and worry about the right colors later. Study some crabs, lobsters, insects and spiders to see how their exoskeleton allows them protection but ALSO mobility. Those frontal appendages look like two immobile protrusions that don't seem to have a lot of function. Keep it up and keep drawing!

Faernen
I can give about the same advice as Crowsrock! Study real animals, draw from examples and reference and when you feel a bit more confident, try to mix some elements together. Also, your image is suffering from lack of color depth (something I also need to work on) which makes me think you made the highlights with white and shadows with black. Try to use more other colors in your shadows, like some purples, blues and even greens. Try setting your brushes in different modes to achieve either highlights or shadows. If all that is a bit too intimidating, take plain white and black, and try your hand at greyscales, allowing you to concentrate fully on defining forms, highlights and shadows. Color can be added later on different layers with different blending modes! Now go draw!!

Bowlin
Weird design and some confusing shapes here and there. It's tail looks a bit like a human leg complete with foot. I think the intention was to have a whale like fin, right? It seems you should have made it blend with the background like you did with the right arm to give it depth and definition. Also not sure what is going on with the blue strokes on the left 'hand' ?

dwinbotp
Ah I adore the murky rendering, full of colors and life. Very dynamic piece! Not too fond of the head though...

Pierropod
That looks very alien like. Awesome design on the face, I really like those eyes! Perhaps some advice on the background? The rocks are perhaps a bit too saturated in this big deep ocean. Less light = less color saturation (like during nighttime colors are almost completely gone, only values remain). You could have faded the back of the creature a bit into the background to give it some extra depth. Perhaps some blurring too as this creature is SO big.

luness
OH :asspat: Fantastic design and rendering. I adore the extra work put into the graphic presentation. I was a bit confused about the whole 'limb that tore off' idea...but perhaps that is more my fault, dunno.

LORD M
Cool and mysterious looking. The face especially looks really good. The region below it (abdominal?) looks a bit undefined with some almost random looking highlights and shadows. Perhaps revealing a bit more of the creature might make it pop a bit more.

scorge
Got my vote. Love the eye on it's ass. Only comment I have is the right fin, which could use a bit more of that purple color like the left fin. As it is now, it seems to blend a bit with the cast shadow.

Ostrander
Oh excellent complementary colors. Too bad we can't see much of the body of the creature. The head looks very nice, I like the armored faceplate.

Sanaz
An original design (I really enjoy the placement of the mouths) and excellent colors. I'm not a big fan of those crayon like lines. Also some white highlights on the creature might make it pop out a bit more.

Mara644
I like the slug like body with all those details, it's a neat design. The rock it's sitting on, seems a bit rushed however. Perhaps a black outline, like used on the creature might make the piece a bit more coherent. Also the rocks might give off a brownish hue as they are submerged in this brown murky substance too. Just wash over it with some of those browns and okers. Pretty textures on the background too!

Sperling
Very cool idea, original concept! The tube like membrane on top of it's body is a really cool feature. You could have pushed the translucency a bit more on the membranes by letting some subtle details shine through in a blurred manner.

Ink-Ronin
Too bad the image is rather small, because it really shows a nice creature with lots of detail that perhaps is a bit lost in the small image size. At first, I thought the two antennae were two ridges in it's shell with glowing orbs at the end but then I noticed, in the profile silhouette, I was wrong. Perhaps a shadow cast on the body/shell would make it a bit more apparant they are antennae.

Somni
You could definitly use a bit more contrast. Some stronger shadows and some more intense highlights. Also it lacks some color depth, highlights and shadows seem made with the same colors as the midtones with the brush set on 'screen' and 'multiply'. Also try to define your shapes more with lesser brushstrokes.

thedarkcloak
I like the creature. And I like the background. But I don't like the two put together. They seem to be floating on two different planes, almost as if the creature is just pasted in front of this background. Perhaps making those sharp blacks of the creature a bit softer with yellows and reds from the background, so it seems the creature is submerged in a liquid. Don't be afraid to loosen up with the details on some parts. Some blurring on it's tail should give more focus to the rest of the creature and also make it blend more with the background.

skullbeast
Very cool scene and nicely rendered. The claire obscure effect really gives it a frightening edge. But like Supervlieg said, it's not really that extraterrestial looking.

Supervlieg
Nice humour :p Excellent playful lighting, fantastic textures and colors too but the entire design is a bit too cartoony for my taste.

rushwolf
Very weird design and almost got my vote. I admire in awe how you handle your values. The little details and grainy look give it that authentic looking atmosphere. Together with the CNN overlay presentation, it's really pretty!

So that is it. Once more I feel obliged to say I'm sorry for my lack of English vocabulary so reading all of this might seem repetitive for most. Thx for the comments on my work too, I hope to learn from it and do better next time!

[luness]

rushwolf - hahaha

Faernen - I would say both, although at the end depends also if you keep the bg or not. I heard once that a good way to tell where the light(s) would hit could be to think of it as water, and where the water would go if you poured it on the canvas...or something like that. When you only have the design, and no bg at all (or something barely noticeable) you have more freedom with the lights and cast shadows, deciding what part and/or detail is more important, what can be taken as just a silhouette, where do you want the viewer to look at. It also adds depth and volume to your design. When you use a background or you place the subject on a scene, then you must consider the light that bounce on the different surfaces, the mood, all that. I hope you understand what I just wrote. I'm also learning in a trial-and-error base, so, don't rely exclusively on this, alright? :yayca:

Bralt Hannicart - well, since my English is self-taught, I also struggle with technical/geeky/scientific terms sometimes, so I spent hrs trying to write down what I had in mind, the idea behind my design. But yeah, the image shows what apparently is a giant creature, the scientists thought it was one, when actually it was a school of creatures like the one I posted. Hmmm, I guess this brief explanation doesn't help either, haha.


Anyways, I would like to say that it could be nice if whoever has voted, or is about to vote, supports the vote with a comment. Just a few words, a couple of lines. Doesn't matter if it's just for the design that got the vote but, we, the ones on the poll, appreciate that, you guys have no idea how much. It is time consuming, yes, but it is a feedback that let us know what's great, what's not, what should we keep, what should we change.

See you guys later. I can't wait to see what you'll be coming with this round. I'll be trying the IDW this time. I'm scared.

Hugs.

[Lege1]

Luness:
I totally feel what you are saying about the backround no doubt. I think I did get a little to carried away with it, like I zoned out and created my own sober acid trip or something,lol. It is what it is and always to be better. Thanks for the CC =]

Bralt Hannicart:
I am glad you're feeling this is a solid image man, coming from you this is good cause you are a hard hitter indeed when it comes to solid and well conducted images. I am a big fan of your black and white into color work, you pull it off really well in my opinion. As far as the anataomy on the creature, I admit....I haven't been in the sketch book as much lately, I need to get down on some zoo antics or something and start building that mental library of animal and insect anatomy.

Scorge:
You are disgusting!..............In a good way...The attention to detail on your creature was off the hook for real. I could really imagine this thing rockin Titan for all that it's worth. Great job!

Supervlieg:
I love that what the FOOK on your entry man...good humor for sure. Loving the size of that monster too, definitely looks like it can hold it down on Titan. I appreciate the cc too man, the values are a little wacky cause I work so far up in the black and white and then add color. Everytime I am feeling good with the process it seems I am not doing something right. I am currently experimenting more with color and planning on possibly only briefly starting with the black and white process and then just run with the color. Thanks for the reminder of wonky values though man I was looking at that as well.


To everybody else in the forum I'd love to crit but am short on time so I made it simple. Big shout out to Mike Jaecks for running a kick ass forum. Both you and Chaos rocks have been rockin on the topics =]

[scorge]

Luness couldn't have said it any better....If you vote for somebody, tell them why! It's one of the few perks we have and also a major source of knowledge for those that have a hard time getting the votes. Besides, why take the time to vote unless you have a reason. CA is about sharing goddammit! Oh if you could only see me laughing at myself after writing this. Good times indeed.
Anyway, I voted for Rushwolf and his truly honest depiction of how it would go down, not only in creativity(although I will have to admit that I liked some of the original ideations better), but in presentation, mood, lighting, and over all total submersion into this historic future event. Very well done and believable too, what a combo! I can't believe I shocked you. Woot for me too! Even though I didn't get a vote from Luness.
Thank you very much to everyone for the votes and comments, especially the COW old schoolers. You know who you are.
Anyway, never any time to write all the compliments and harsh critiques these days with a three year old running around the house. Hard enough to even get my work in on time here. Looking forward to seeing all you guys in the next.
P.S. Side note, we need to revive 3CH. Especially now that ChuckMate's running it.

[Pierropod]

For me It was hard to choose this time. I voted for Scorge because of his creature design even if I like the Bralt Hannicart's one too. I 'm not gonna comment all the entries this time because of my english it takes me a lot of time. I would like too thanks all the people who take time too comment all the entries, It's very nice of you and there are good advices too !

[Ink-Ronin]

Hey guys, nice to be back on the forums. Supervlieg and Luness, 100% on the resolution issue! I'd been doing tattooing and traditional media for a while now and for some reason it didn't really hit me until I uploaded it that the sizing was f'd up! Also Hannicart, thanks for the antennae shadow idea, good looks bro. Over all I have to agree this was a bad ass cow.Dark Cloak got my vote for this one.I liked the overall amount of detail and texture.. I don't recall so many entries makin the cut as from when I used to post here...bravo peoples! oh yeah and grizzly designs of baby consumption here I come!

[skullbeast]

I voted for luness. utterly alien, jaw dropping originality. killer execution on the layout. just overall great work. thumbs up!!

Scorge wow! very impressive perspective and depth. cool beastie! my second fave!

rushwolf cool monster! you have such a great sense of form and structure!

Bralt Hannicart - sweet anatomy and lighting!

[JakkaS]

Nice work guys. Lots of cool entries.
I voted for Scorge - I really dig his creature :)


MJ - Nice to see you in charge :)

[scorge]

Holy crap. A vote from the Sensei. Woot, woot! Sorry Rushwolf, can't resist. If it helps, I am blushing. :bashful: :D

[Mara644]

Thanks for all those comments (special thanks to Supervlieg, Bralt and luness). It's really helpful to get feedback, especially when you have the impression that it's honest and thought out by someone who knows what they're talking about. For most of us, chow (and even cow etc.) is about learning. Even if I'm not able to give elaborate critics (yet...), i want you people to know how much these are appreciated. Must be quite much work...

:cheerleader: :cheerleader:

[Mr--Jack]

I voted Luness in the end; the overall design was just really damn nice; very alien, and fantastic detailing.
Rushwolf and Scorge were very close contenders though, must say; very impressive alienness in there.
A lovely creature from Bralt Hannicart too, and I really like the mood and 'underwater'-ness in Lord M's though in a creature-design activity like this leaving most of the creature lost in darkness makes it a bit difficult to judge.
Great round, all! :D