CHOW - Team Subway Grope (AUG, Ostrander, Sundance, Ilaekae)

[Ilaekae]

This is our base thread for the Chow team Challenge. Planning discussion, sketches, WIPs, etc., will be up as soon as we find a ...uh... those little sticks of wood with black stuff in 'em... PENCILS! Yeah...pencils...

Our team consists of...

AUG
Ostrander
Sundance
Ilaekae

...and we all thank Daestwen for allowing us the chance to prove what fuckin' geniuses we really are. :P

Here's the rules, etc., so we don't have to keep bouncing back and forth.

TEAM CHOW SIX CHARACTERS

DESCRIPTION

For this Team Chow you will be required to design six characters that make up the 'protaganist' side of the game/tv show/ect that we are pretending to create. There will be no villians/antagonists this round.

* Can be changed according to genre. ie, mechanical = magical = steampowered, car = boat = horse, etc.
** You may do two version of this, if you wish.

Characters:

The Hero
- Female, between 20 - 30. Has no memory of anything beyond a year before present.
- Stubborn to a fault, but unswervingly loyal to those she cares about, convinced that she could lose her memory of them at any time she makes the most of every moment.
- Has a tendency to say things before she thinks about them.
- Rumoured to have a second personality that can remember everything from before, a 'dark' side, as it were, with totally different personality traits. **
- A quick learner, but unlikely to pay attention unless something immediately catches her interest.
- Searching for her past but ultimately easily caught up in the present and the worries of others, tending to think of other people before herself.
- Found (to her horror) that she is more than capable of handling herself in a fight, and likely capable of killing.

The Shadow
- Male, between 20 - 30 (should be around Hero's age).
- The only person that the hero has any memory of, beyond the last year (though she can only remember his face), and the only person who might know who she is. He pretends he doesn't know, or refuses to say.
- Seemingly self-absorbed but actually self-destructive, has a tendency to take out his insecurities as malicious remarks on other people.
- Isn't well liked, but doesn't care, or pretends he doesn't.
- Doesn't seem to have any friends except the hero, who he would do anything for, though of course he would never say that. However, though he seems to actively despise the rest of her friends, he cares for them more than he admits.
- Whether he is helping the hero find her memory, or actively hindering her, is unclear. She believes he is helping her. He doesn't necessarily believe that it would help her to find it.
- Often disappears for long periods.

The Protector
- Male or Female, between 25 - 50, well-built
- Found the Hero directly after she had lost her memory, and managed to piece her back together.
- Strong and loyal, but prone to worry. Decided to take hero under wing, and began to notice the very strange energies* and events that surrounded her.
- Completely distrusts the Shadow and the Sage and believes they are actively working against the Hero's interests, but defer's to the Hero's opinion and trust of them.
- Strengths lie in activities done with the hands - higher concepts either are not a concern, or are too hard to think about in depth.
- Honest and blunt, so sometimes seems unkind, but never means it.
- Sometimes wonders if accidently stepped in way too deep into something never meant to be approached.

The Sage
- Male or Female, any age
- Does not come from the same country* as hero. Came from far away to find something, and claims that the hero will lead her to it, though will not say what it is - even whether it is a physical object* or a higher plane*.
- Often seems to be looking through the person that he/she is speaking to, and just as frequently stares off into space.
- Seems to disappear whenever trouble starts, but has saved the hero and her companion multiple times to threats that they were completely obvlivious/unaware of.
- Eats very little and sleeps less, and makes very little noise when he/she walks.

The Technician*
- Female, 18 - 28
- Completely in tune with anything mechanical*. Takes things apart / dissects things with disturbing regularity, and while can usually put them back together again sometimes forgets to do so, to the dismay of her friends whose objects* she 'borrows'.
- Fascinated by all methods of transport*, and has an amazingly large memory for all vehicles* and machines* but not for people or places (they are just not important!)
- Initially hired for one-off job by the Hero and the Protector, but took an instant liking to them and convinced them of her usefullness.
- Not very good in rough situations like fights, prefers cold logic of puzzles, as her size tends to work against her. However, pressed into a corner, she can make her technical* knowledge work to her advantage in place of physical prowess.
- wears her heart on her sleeve and is often very cheerful, but takes some blows very hard (a friend getting hurt, etc). Sometimes flighty.


The Rabble Rouser
- Male, 20 - 30 (should be around Hero's age)
- Met Hero + crew rather accidently and they helped out of a bit of trouble (which he had gotten himself into and was almost entirely his fault).
- Developed instant infatuation with Hero + told her that he would help her find her memory. Infatuation may or may not be sincere. Hero does not return it.
- Tends to bring trouble with him, or create it when he gets there, as he grates people's nerves.
- Charming and seemingly hollow, but in select instances with the Shadow has shown that he's invested more in the quest than one would think - though perhaps not for the apparent reasons.
- Has good luck with gambling to match his bad luck with people, and never is wont for money - it tends to find him as easily as he finds it.
- Has an excellent memory for faces as well as for numbers.
- Well groomed, but not as flamboyant as one might expect - unless it is on purpose as part of a bluff.

--------

SUBMISSION GUIDLINES

The Final Burning Thread will go up ONE WEEK before deadline. The deadline will be April 30th, at 11:59 pm GMT - 5, Eastern Standard Time. I will accept submissions as long as it is April 30th somewhere in the world, but after this I will close the thread. I am going to give myself 1-2 days to then sort out the poll and the voting, so please be patient.

1. One team member will be in charge of submitting the final entry. How the entry is presented will be up to you, but keep it consistent and coherent.
2. Remember that you will need to submit wips. If you decide to make a group sketchbook for this activity, a link to that will suffice.
3. Also submit a list of Team Activity. I want to see how well you worked as a team - who was in charge of what and what each member did.
4. All other ChoW rules apply. If you are not familiar with the usual chow rules, please read the guidlines thread sticked at the top of the subforum. Including, 3/4ths rule, no paint-overs, etc.
5. Please submit files with this naming convention: TeamChow_TeamName_Image001.jpg

-----------------------

(The image below is just a space holder...)

[Sundance]

Thanks for setting up the sketchbook Ilaekae.

I'll be back with some of my ideas in a bit... I need to re-read the brief a few more times; first time through I see what Glenn was saying about Serenety/Firefly, which also ties into my favorite books "The Dark Tower Series". I also agree that we should try to stay away those series...

[Ilaekae]

I'm going to do a bit of research on the books because I'm not familiar with 'em, but I agree...the farther the better.

I'm going to start shot-gunning some sketch ideas. Characters, costuming, period/era, genre, etc., and post 'em here. Once we get a few decent ideas started, we can finalize how to get this bitch done.

[Sundance]

I have re-read the briefs several times, as well as the PM's from Ilaekae and Ostrander.

I like the idea Ilaekae had regarding the physical characteristics of the Hero character, and taking it further into the other characters in a modified way. I am not a big tech guy, but perhaps a group of cyborgs?

I will start throwing out some sketches along that line too...

be back soon!

[Ilaekae]

Here's the PMs so we don't have to keep bouncin' back...

------------------------------

PM post by Ilaekae:

Let's get this rollin'...

I set up a group thread in the sketchbook section for us.

I'm assuming all have read the set of specs by Daes'... If so, let's take a day or two and make suggestions on the era, style, type of character, etc., before we do anything. Put your best BASIC ideas out verbally so we can come to some consensus. I'm guessing we can do it in the sketchbook if nobody cares. It's easier to keep track than using PM and email. I got no secrets.

Also think about the visual approach we use. We all have some things stylistically in common, but our strongest points are probably not in that common group, so we'll have to work around that.

Bluntly, I'm a retired pro, so matching to what anyone wants to do isn't that big a deal for me, though it might take me a wee bit longer to get the result we want.

My first thoughts after I read the overview was fairly natural human with "four arms" because it crossed my mind that everybody else would be trying to play with the costuming, which to me is just decoration. No overly muscled types ala Frazetta, but more skinny apocalyptic survivor types (in general build). That could give us an identity edge right up front. I also like the fact that she requested a little character and a mage. I think female for both, and maybe most of the others as well (just because I like drawing females more than males ) but I immediately saw the mage/shamman character as a little pre-pubescent girl--very strange around the edges.

BIG POINT--I've never worked this type of thing before so I'm going to follow you guys unless you think we're all in the same clueless boat.

Alj

-----------------------------------------

PM posted by Ostrander:

Re: Let's get this rollin'...

Hello fellow gropers,
I first want to say thanks to Ilaekae for getting this going. I've read the brief and the 1st thing to come to mind was the movie Serenity. Check Google, Wiki and youtube for more) Firefly was the TV show that the movie was based on but I never followed it. If any of you have seen it, lets try our best to stay away from it at all costs. With that said, I haven't really given much thought to the characters. It doesn't say in the brief that they need to remain human (I don't think) so we could go anywhere with the "look" of these. I'm up for anything. The only ideas I had were where they are, what time period, parallel world, etc. Whatever it is we do, I just want it to gel, and feel like when someone looks at this it looks well thought out and believable. If the characters have 4 arms that's fine with me. But lets design them in such a way that it looks physically possible. Not just a second set of arms attached under or over the 1st set. Maybe they are further back, near the shoulder blades, and can fold like wings. Maybe there is something different about all of them. Like X-men for example. Whether this gang is set back during the height of the gold rush, with steam trains and covered wagons. I don't care, as long as they look believable and the world looks believable. I'm fin with any time period really. Maybe we cross time periods, maybe it looks like the 1800's wild west, but the tech is a bit different, with laser pistols/rifles, and hovering wagons and trains? Just as long as whatever we decide, we make the viewer excited when they see it and want to know more.

I was thinking about styles, and really I don't feel I have a definite style. I'm not sure about everyone's style, I've seen Ilaekae's vector stuff before. And a thought came to mind that maybe one of the characters has the ability to move around (phase) in a parallel dimension and when in that dimension, the world is the same, but it's done in Illaekae's vector style. And this character uses this phasing when he/she fights, or sneaks around. Just a thought.

I tend to ramble alot, and sometimes I'm all over the place when talking, you guys will have to try your best to make it coherent. As far as work goes, or what is needed, I think we should have character sheets showing the character, his main weapons/tools and an action shot inset on the page showing off what makes them, them.
(I don't know if character turns are really necessary)

Glen

[daestwen]

To be honest, other than the technician and the protector I don't really see the Firefly thing going on... :P

[Ilaekae]

Gentlemen, I'm going to check through the other CHOW sketchbooks tonight (which everyone else is doing as well apparently :P) to see where everyone stands on theme and genre so we don't duplicate anyone.

I'd suggest some solid thinking over the next two days on period/genre and general character type so we can et this rolling. I'm doing a series of rough thumbnails of what the characters could be stylistically without worrying too much about specifics like type of clothing and period, and making a list of possible things that might help that I'll post in the next two days. I'd suggest we all do the same if time allows, so we can iron out how to approach this fiasco.

At this stage, we need a ton of overall imagery and types, not specifics or details on what buttons, shoes and weapons/tools are being used.

[Ostrander]

To be honest, other than the technician and the protector I don't really see the Firefly thing going on... :P

Sorry daes, I don't get out much, it was just that initial 1st reaction. I know you put a lot of work into this and I hope my comment doesn't negate that fact.:yayca:

I will try and gather some stuff in the next couple days as well. I'm trying like
hell to finish my Dr. Who entry for this weeks CHOW.:[

[AUG]

Guys,

I just wanted to post some sketches until we find our sea legs. It is not my intention to steer us in any particular direction with regard to character design or style. Maybe a few sketches will, at the very least, reveal the path that we don't want to take.

I attempted to keep these pretty generic. The weapons were added just to give the characters something to hold. I will post a few more by tomorrow.

[Ostrander]

Very nice sketches AUG. Very fluid. Me likey. :)

[Mark Tarrisse]

Wow, nice sketchs AUG ! Will be watching this thread :)

[Ostrander]

Hi guys,
I pulled together a bunch of stuff for inspiration and ideas.
Just a bunch of stuff really, nothing to say we have to go this way at all. If anything it's just to get the gears going. :yayca:
All images copyright their respective owners.
643037
643039
I went with Alj's idea of 4 arms on a character and gave them to the technician. I thought it would be cool to see her fixing something using all her hands.
These are super loose and quick just to get the idea out.
643350

652794
652796

[Jazz]

Hey Ostrander, I mooched an awesome picture from there! I had to be honest! ;_;

Good success, you guys!!

[Ostrander]

No worries. :)

[AUG]

Thanks Ostrander and Markusthebarbarian!

Ostrander: Thanks for posting all of the great pictures. It would be impossible to not be inspired by Mobius. I like the idea of the four armed technician.

[Ilaekae]

Good start, guys. I'm not quite ready to post yet. I'm going down three different variations of the same road to see what happens. Should be up in a couple of days.

I have a three or four day problem facing me--a large brace in my upper jaw tore loose and caused some real damage (nothing life threatening, but uncomfortable as hell and I'm worried about potential infection) so I may have to undergo some very very minor surgery on Monday or Tuesday, which means I won't have access for a few days. Hang in there. I think we got these bastards licked.

And if nothing else, we're gonna have the coolest mage/shaman ever if you guys like my idea...she's only six, and wears a huge five-fingered hat that looks like it's flipping the bird. My approach is characters are "scavengers," so any thematic era or style is open that you guys feel like doing.

[Ostrander]

Thanks AUG!

Alj, that doesn't sound pleasant at all. Get better and we look forward to seeing your designs. :)

[Grandmassa Mr. Spect]

hope you feel better Ilaekae! ... what kinda spy am i?

[Ilaekae]

...just about the kind we'd expect...






I think it was the black cape that gave you away. :P

[Ilaekae]

Sorry for the delay on these. Apparently, I can't stay up all night anymore without falling asleep on my pad...

I got four enough along to post. The males are very similar in species appearance, except without the boobs.

Was trying for a scavenger, fringe-living kind of thing. Everything is carried and clothing is minimal and functional (nomadic), except for formal gatherings at a main base. In a case like that, both sexes would wear a stiffish tunic that looks almost like a double-sided apron in brilliant colors (like a long piece of material 2-3 feet wide and twice the distance from the shoulder to the ground with a long square hole where the head comes through). This would simply go over what they're wearing now, and would have a tie immediately under the breasts for the females, and one (or none) at the waist for the males.

The long feather-looking things are sensory "hairs" that have taken on the characteristics of feathers, and act as a kind of cat's whisker to alert that something was closer than arm's length.

Hair is more like a combination of quill and feather than human hair--fairly stiff and maybe brightly colored. Both sexes have a few long "curls" of "real" hair that hang from the temple to the chest.

The secondary arms are slightly smaller, less robust and extremely facile and sensitive, and are used for delicate things. In battle, these would simple cross in the front under the breasts or pull in tight to the body.

I envisioned a magpie-like love of bright and pretty colors and things, so the minimal and formal costuming could be really ornate to the point of absurdity.

Don't like armor (except for maybe leather attachments here and there), even with the Protector, because her incredible height and arm-reach would be a major factor in defense. Light is good, heavy and cumbersome is bad.

Sundance and Ostarizer, if AUG didn't contact you, his mother had a medical emergency, but he's in.

Lets talk in a couple of hours here.

[Ilaekae]

Comments:

I think Aug, Ost', and I have the ability to execute in line of some type, then color without looking too different. Sundance, who hasn't been in touch yet, I'm not sure of.

Aug, Ost', and Sundance (from memory) are capable of doing classic machine painting from scratch, which is a bit of a problem for me since I don't have a tablet set up yet, but I have ways around that. I can guarantee coming close to anything you guys do, at least for government work :P.

We have six characters. Keeping in mind that we're not sure about Sundance at this point, we can split up and execute two characters each. All we have to do is decide some details...

1. What are the sexes of the Protector and Sage? I saw them as female, but they could just as easily be male.

2. I approached the characters with minimal clothing. AUG and Ost' went with a less primitive look on their initial idea sketches. I can happily go either way, so we need to determine whether everyone is heavily clothed, moderately clothed or minimally clothed. That would be an indication of the degree of nomad-ness vs stay-in-one-place-ness for the "tribe" to some degree. Or we can let the characters decide (meaning, we each interpret the character within the context).

3. Related to (2) above is weaponry, if any (probably should be, with the presentation by Daes' almost screaming for it being necessary). Is it more modernish contemporary, scifi-style, or "primitive non-firearm? I'd prefer Scifi or primitive over contemporary.

4. I suggested the odd hair arrangement and extra arms to solidify species identity and separate us from the other contestants. Do we need it, or is it a limiting factor for us?

5. A lot of what I show is determined by the fact that I decided to treat the "tribe" as scavengers or as living on the fringe of society. Should we forget that and just make them more "normal" in a societal sense? It would allow for more elaborate clothing and sophisticated weaponry, etc.

*******************

Since we haven't heard from Sundance, let's assume we three are doing two characters apiece. I'll do the assembling for the final presentation unless someone else wishes to do it.

I'd suggest making the characters freestanding (in the sense that they are on a white background with any other elements you think necessary to integrate so I can merge them. Lighting, so we're consistent, should be maybe from above and to our left. Any other preferences are okay, too, as long as we all do the same to some extent.

Art approach: I'd suggest some sort of moderately-visible line with color either from behind (multiply) or painted with at least some line elements to keep a presentation similarity. I'm open to other opinions, obviously.

Does anyone have a color palette preference? As in moody and dark, neutral with some strong color, or strong color.

Anyone have any prefs on what characters they want? You two decide, I'll take what's left, though I'd like to do some real work with the sage as a child. If you'd prefer an adult here, it's up for grabs.

BTW, I'm a huge fan of Moebius and his art. :P

alj

[Ostrander]

Thanks Alj. Please see my comments below.

1. What are the sexes of the Protector and Sage? I saw them as female, but they could just as easily be male. I could see AUG's "suessian" critter as the protector. Almost like a loyal dog or even the equal to Han's Chewy. And I completely dig the Sage you came up with.

2. I approached the characters with minimal clothing. AUG and Ost' went with a less primitive look on their initial idea sketches. I can happily go either way, so we need to determine whether everyone is heavily clothed, moderately clothed or minimally clothed. That would be an indication of the degree of nomad-ness vs stay-in-one-place-ness for the "tribe" to some degree. Or we can let the characters decide (meaning, we each interpret the character within the context).

3. Related to (2) above is weaponry, if any (probably should be, with the presentation by Daes' almost screaming for it being necessary). Is it more modernish contemporary, scifi-style, or "primitive non-firearm? I'd prefer Scifi or primitive over contemporary. I'd prefer scifi or primitive as well.

4. I suggested the odd hair arrangement and extra arms to solidify species identity and separate us from the other contestants. Do we need it, or is it a limiting factor for us? I like the 4 arms, I'm just not sure about on everyone. This is just my opinion. If the majority vote goes for 4 arms on everyone that's fine.

5. A lot of what I show is determined by the fact that I decided to treat the "tribe" as scavengers or as living on the fringe of society. Should we forget that and just make them more "normal" in a societal sense? It would allow for more elaborate clothing and sophisticated weaponry, etc. I wouldn't mind seeing a mix of both. It could be interesting to see the various characters and the way they dress giving little clues to their individual backgrounds. I see them as a rag tag bunch of misfits.

*******************

Since we haven't heard from Sundance, let's assume we three are doing two characters apiece. I'll do the assembling for the final presentation unless someone else wishes to do it. Fine by me

I'd suggest making the characters freestanding (in the sense that they are on a white background with any other elements you think necessary to integrate so I can merge them. Lighting, so we're consistent, should be maybe from above and to our left. Any other preferences are okay, too, as long as we all do the same to some extent. This is fine by me

Art approach: I'd suggest some sort of moderately-visible line with color either from behind (multiply) or painted with at least some line elements to keep a presentation similarity. I'm open to other opinions, obviously. This is fine by me as well.

Does anyone have a color palette preference? As in moody and dark, neutral with some strong color, or strong color. No preference here.

Anyone have any prefs on what characters they want? You two decide, I'll take what's left, though I'd like to do some real work with the sage as a child. If you'd prefer an adult here, it's up for grabs. I wouldn't mind the rabble rouser and technician if nobody objects. I think the way you handled the sage was great! I like AUG's critter guy and the top hatted character. I could see them as the protector and the shadow. I think we could use the 4 arm tribal character type on the sage.

BTW, I'm a huge fan of Moebius and his art. :P

alj

[Newman101]

nice work guys! I really like the ideas your throwing around in here :) good luck in the Team CHOW :D

[Ilaekae]

Broke this again for AUG to follow easier...

************************************

Alj: 1. What are the sexes of the Protector and Sage? I saw them as female, but they could just as easily be male.

Ost': I could see AUG's "suessian" critter as the protector. Almost like a loyal dog or even the equal to Han's Chewy. And I completely dig the Sage you came up with.

alj: Like that idea. To confirm, you have the MECHANIC and RABBLE ROUSER. I have the SAGE. AUG has the PROTECTOR. I'll decide with AUG on the HERO and SHADOW.

alj: 2. I approached the characters with minimal clothing. AUG and Ost' went with a less primitive look on their initial idea sketches. I can happily go either way, so we need to determine whether everyone is heavily clothed, moderately clothed or minimally clothed. That would be an indication of the degree of nomad-ness vs stay-in-one-place-ness for the "tribe" to some degree. Or we can let the characters decide (meaning, we each interpret the character within the context).

alj: 3. Related to (2) above is weaponry, if any (probably should be, with the presentation by Daes' almost screaming for it being necessary). Is it more modernish contemporary, scifi-style, or "primitive non-firearm? I'd prefer Scifi or primitive over contemporary.

Ost': I'd prefer scifi or primitive as well.

alj: Agree, with stress on Sci-Fi, because it would make the Protector and the Mechanic easier to handle.

alj: 4. I suggested the odd hair arrangement and extra arms to solidify species identity and separate us from the other contestants. Do we need it, or is it a limiting factor for us?

Ost': I like the 4 arms, I'm just not sure about on everyone. This is just my opinion. If the majority vote goes for 4 arms on everyone that's fine.

alj: Since we're going all out for variety, let's drop the four arms (I'll use for SAGE)

alj: 5. A lot of what I show is determined by the fact that I decided to treat the "tribe" as scavengers or as living on the fringe of society. Should we forget that and just make them more "normal" in a societal sense? It would allow for more elaborate clothing and sophisticated weaponry, etc.

Ost': I wouldn't mind seeing a mix of both. It could be interesting to see the various characters and the way they dress giving little clues to their individual backgrounds. I see them as a rag tag bunch of misfits.

alj: Totally agree.

*******************

alj: Since we haven't heard from Sundance, let's assume we three are doing two characters apiece. I'll do the assembling for the final presentation unless someone else wishes to do it.

Ost': Fine by me

alj: I'd suggest making the characters freestanding (in the sense that they are on a white background with any other elements you think necessary to integrate so I can merge them. Lighting, so we're consistent, should be maybe from above and to our left. Any other preferences are okay, too, as long as we all do the same to some extent.

Ost': This is fine by me

alj: Art approach: I'd suggest some sort of moderately-visible line with color either from behind (multiply) or painted with at least some line elements to keep a presentation similarity. I'm open to other opinions, obviously.

Ost': This is fine by me as well.

alj: Does anyone have a color palette preference? As in moody and dark, neutral with some strong color, or strong color.

Ost': No preference here.

alj: Anyone have any prefs on what characters they want? You two decide, I'll take what's left, though I'd like to do some real work with the sage as a child. If you'd prefer an adult here, it's up for grabs.

Ost': I wouldn't mind the rabble rouser and technician if nobody objects. I think the way you handled the sage was great! I like AUG's critter guy and the top hatted character. I could see them as the protector and the shadow. I think we could use the 4 arm tribal character type on the sage.

alj: I agree. See my note above. I'll settle with AUG on the HERO and SHADOW.

alj: BTW, I'm a huge fan of Moebius and his art.

[Ostrander]

Sounds good, I'll show you guys my two in a more finished state as soon as I can. Hopefully by Saturday.

[Ilaekae]

Same here.

[Ilaekae]

AUG confirmed he's doing the Protector and Shadow. I'll handle the head babe and the weird kid. We probably should all have something to look at (at least the line art from me) by this weekend. I want to start the color work late sat or early sun... After that, it's just waiting for Dae' to declare us the winners... :P

Let's show these brats how it's done. :yayca: :P

[AUG]

Guy's,

Here are a couple of linear sketches of Shadow and Protector. I'm not sure how we are going to handle the color scheme. I went with Ostrander's suggestion of the "loyal dog" theme for Protector.

Feel free to make any additions or subtractions to the characters.

The last drawing is an earlier version of Protector that was not working out.

[Ilaekae]

Like these. Be careful on the Shadow--he's supposed to be about 20-30, so don't make him look too old. Gaunt and weird is good, but not too aged...

Don't worry about palette. My sage is idiotically colorful to the point of bizarre, and the Hero is probably going to be denim/khaki/utilitarian with bright color flashes here and there probably.

I'm working on line art on both mine right now. I'm going to concentrate on the Hero so Dan can have time to color. Should be up tonight or early tomorrow morning.

[AUG]

Ilaekae,

I tried to give Shadow some youth. Let me know if he needs any more revisions.

Will Dan be coloring the entire character? Do I need to send him a .psd of the final line work?

[Ilaekae]

Looks perfect. Nice age and feel. Great job.

I'm not sure what he would need, but you could probably supply a large or high res jpeg or png just as well. He would simply open in PS.

I sent Dan an email to alert him to get back to you ASAP. Post a note if he doesn't.

alj

[Sundance]

Hey Aug,

Nice work! Yeah, send me a png file to the email address that I posted in the last PM I sent out and I'll get cracking on it.

- Dan

[Ilaekae]

Finally!

This is the hero. Comments welcome--rip it apart.

Sundance, because of the way I set up my docs, I might be able to color this a lot faster than you can from scratch, OR...I can lay down a flat color fill that will put in the bulk of the primary color, if you can use the wand and add the painting part to make it dimensional. For example, if her pants are blue, I'd use a dark blue FLAT and you would add the highligts, texture and dark shadows. Does that help at all?

alj.

[Ostrander]

mmmmm...bewbies :)

So should I just send Dan line art? Or something with line and value he could just color in pshop?

[Ilaekae]

I'm not sure. Send him an email at the addy he gave us in his PM and check with him first. He checks when he gets home from work(?)...

[AUG]

Ilaekae:

Great job on the line work and design. That cleavage would be distracting in a confrontation, putting her at tactical advantage, no doubt.

Ostrander:

I sent Dan original sized .png's of the images that I posted earlier. I'm hoping that it was O..K. to do so as there was no color information and little in the way of shading included in the files.

[Ilaekae]

A reminder that these are due Thursday night late, so try to get everything finished to me no later than Thursday evening so i can clean up the presentation. The higher the res is on what you send, the better (Don't go goofy...!). I worked out a background/border and ID panel that I can shift for each character easily so all I have to do is drop the characters in. Shouldn't take any more than a couple of hours if I have to do some eraser cleanup on the edges.

[Ilaekae]

"That cleavage would be distracting in a confrontation, putting her at tactical advantage, no doubt."

Armor is useless/unnecessary on females when they have bewbies... :P

Locally, we have a gypsie gang of young girls that periodically rob convenience stores and liquor stores that are hard to catch because they rip their tops off just as they go in. Police haven't gotten a decent description from anyone yet...

[Ostrander]

I sent Dan my stuff, and told him if it's too much work to let me know and I would finish them off myself. Are these due Saturday? I think Daes' extended Team Chow until then.

[Ilaekae]

Thanks for the head's up. I didn't see Daes' deadline change.

If the deadline is May 2, then all I need is about four or five hours before the deadline to assemble everything. This also means I can paint both of my own, which should make Dan happy :P

It also means I can get some sleep... :\

...and if the Hero gets us dirty looks from the Moral Majority, my Sage is getting me 20-25 years in Federal prison. :P She is coming out absolutely evil/spooky looking...no real bewbies though...she's only eleven years old.

[Sundance]

Yeah for Saturday!

[Sundance]

Hey guys, I have begun the colorin-in and plan on getting them back for your review on Thursday night/Friday morning (or Friday afternoon...night...) so you can either take them and tweek, or address some changes you would like to see.

I won't wait to post until all four are done... they will come up as they are completed.


Very nice work by all of you!

[Ostrander]

Awesome Dan, Thanks!


-Glen

[Ilaekae]

To the guys that actually created the characters...

Give me a rough idea of who/what they are, if there is more specific info in your mind's eye than the material Daes' asked us to adhere to. For example, the Protector is alien/non-human. Anything I should mention in our presentation that puts him in context of our rag-tag bunch?

Also give me an idea of height in metric OR English (doesn't matter, I'll convert) so I can get an idea of how they visually relate to each other. For example, my Hero is roughly 5'10" to 6'0" and the Sage is approximately 4'6".

Thanks.

*Dan, if you see this, can you email me one of the partially painted/done characters (when at that point) so I can get a feel for the style/coloring/etc., so mine don't mismatch?

[Ostrander]

The Technician is a human female standing 5'3", slender build, about 115lbs.
Sports a custom pair of mechanical arms to aid in lending a hand.
The Rabble Rouser is a Non-Human race called Basts. They have feline characteristics and facial features as well as heightened movement and senses. He stands about 6' and weighs 185lbs.
Feel free to embellish all you want. Thanks Alj.


Glen

[Sundance]

I had a question too...

Ilaekae's got some pretty hard lines, do you want me to match that? I can, but it will just take a bit more time.

[Ilaekae]

Dan, I'm going to MATCH YOU. I have a way of softening my line to pretty much match what you end up with. The hard preliminary line is because i do a lot of my preliminary coloring in Illustrator before I covert. It gives me a kind of base to control my painting because I don't use a tablet. That's why I wanted to see an example of your work as mentioned above.

I'm 80% done with my Sage and will probably post later tonight or early tomorrow morning.

[Sundance]

Dan, I'm going to MATCH YOU.

Hahahahaaha...you can't paint that bad :P

[Ilaekae]

Hahahahahahahahaaha...

I'll bet you my ex-wife that I can. :P

[AUG]

I envisioned Protector to be short in stature, under 5 feet tall, explosive, badger like movements in a confrontation. Does the "cow thing" with his tail when he poops. Shadow would be over 6'5 with slow, fluid articulation of his body and limbs. I had no additional back story material to add to Daes' excellent character descriptions.

[Sundance]

looks like an all-nighter for me... this is totally based on good news on the work front, so no remorse!

Alj... look at Matt Dixons stuff, I am using his book "The Fantasy Artists Figure Drawing Bible" for influence. I ain't saying it's going to look like Matt's stuff... but I am trying!

[Ilaekae]

If you feel like crying, call me about 4:00 am...

I decided last minute (3:30 last night) to age my Sage about 4 years...total redraw. :P

[daestwen]

Good luck guys! I'm rooting for you! :D

[Sundance]

the tears are flowing :[

[Ilaekae]

Here's the Sage line work. I'll be coloring/painting all Saturday on Hero and Sage. Dan, do you need help from one of us? No joke meant...

Sage is 483 years old, but grows so slowly, she's just barely into puberty in her own race.

[Sundance]

Here's the Sage line work. I'll be coloring/painting all Saturday on Hero and Sage. Dan, do you need help from one of us? No joke meant...

Sage is 483 years old, but grows so slowly, she's just barely into puberty in her own race.

Why yes...

I do need help!

I have pretty much finished the Technician and I am in progress with the Shadow. I am pretty slow...apparently slower than I remembered.

So that leaves the Protector and the Rabble Rouser.

I have to take my son to a birthday party this afternoon, so that will knock several hours out of painting. Do we have until end of day anywhere in the world?

Hope so....

[Ilaekae]

I just got up an hour ago because I didn't hit the floor til 6. I'm going non-stop on coloring mine, so if I can see light, I'll give you a hand. We'll make it--don't sweat it. We have the "anywhere in the world" thing to help a bit, but I still have to do the staging after we're colored.

I'm hoping Glen and AUG check in and see this today, so don't panic. This is just our usual deadline race.... :P

[Ostrander]

I'm finishing the Rabble rouser as I type this. I'll be sending it your way shortly Alj.

[Ilaekae]

I fucked up my dates again. The deadline is TONIGHT! anytime in the world, not Sunday. Mine will make it and we'll make the deadline, but for some strange reason, I thought Sunday was the 2nd...

[Ostrander]

FYI, I'm gonna finish the protector too so we can get these in to Alj for his final layout treatment!

[Sundance]

You guys rock!

[Ilaekae]

Of course we rock! Y'gotta be fast when you're groping... :P

AUG's making the icon for us, just for the record.

WE'RE GONNA WIN THIS SUCKER!!! :P

[Ostrander]

Sent Alj my 2 pieces. I'm looking forward to seeing everything when it's done!

[Ilaekae]

I have Protector and Rabble, as well as icon. Thank you much--looks really great.

I'm in process of painting mine now.

Just for status, here's what my illustrator final looks like in flat color. It's in PS now being worked on...

[Ilaekae]

Here's the six characters. I'm resizing the composite and it will be up in a few minutes.

[Ilaekae]

Here's the composite...and icon.

[Ilaekae]

Gentlemen, thank you for your efforts and perseverance. I think it came out pretty well. I just hope i didn't fuck anything up last minute.

AND, now that it's over...May 2nd was my 39th wedding anniversary. If you need an example of an understanding wife, I've got one for you. :P

[Ilaekae]

Note to self...

Never do anything that requires thinking and writing/typing after three days with no sleep. I accidentally changed our tea name from Subway Grope to Subway Gropers on the final entry pieces. :P

[Sundance]

You Sir (and your extremely understanding wife) totally rock!

Note to self...

Never do anything that requires thinking and writing/typing after three days with no sleep. I accidentally changed our tea name from Subway Grope to Subway Gropers on the final entry pieces. :P

[Ostrander]

Thanks Alj for pulling everything together for the final presentation. And tell the missus I said thank you too for being understanding!! Hope you had a nice anniversary and I hope to make it to 39 years, that's amazing! :)