Team CHOW: The Mighty Minkies (metryx, cmalidore, f o x) ~ nudity

[metryx]

Okie, so I guess I'm starting this off. I guess we're all just doing personal sketching and will come together here to compare and blend?

However we do it, lol. Here are my sketches for The HERO, "light version"

I ought to have the Dark version sketches (only doing one or two for her, as it'd be the same design as Light, just different image) up later tonight.

For non-teamers, we're going at a "fantasy/steampunk" style.

Our descriptions are listed below.

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.

[metryx]

updated image

[metryx]

And here is the Protector... I decided to go female for my sketches ~ A male version didn't seem right, to me.

[metryx]

The Sage! Took a few different routes with this one.

1: Tried mixing up an African/Arab with a Greek Philosopher, and a machine arm powered by green magic.
2: It's a little Asian Yoda strapped to a mechanical spidery-thing. >_> We don't ask where I get my ideas.
3: I figured my other concepts didn't specifically hit upon the Victorian era (trademarked of steampunk stuff), so I went all out here for this one. Yes, there's five different colorations, but it was just to show the possibilities.

[Dreoilin]

Hey thanks for posting the thread Metryx! Looks like you're off to a good start (I kinda like that asian yoda on spider legs!)

Sorry it's taken me so long to post anything- here's a couple things I've been playing with to try and get some ideas going. More on the way!

[metryx]

Good work fox! I think we're on the same thought process for the Technician! I did a sketch this morning and I see we've got some common elements! (I'm away from my art this weekend, but Monday I can get the Technician up for sure, but right now I haven't many ideas for the Shadow or Rabble Rouser)

I really like that first Shadow design. Hopefully once Chris gets through this last Convention of his, he'll be able to get some of his sketchings posted and we can start narrowing down what direction we want to take with each character.

[wanimal]

nice work

[cmalidore]

Hey Team, apologies for not posting until now - for the last week and a half I've not really had the time to do anything other than work and nap for a few hours to keep the next day moving.

With that in mind, I have a few days to map out some characters now, so I'll finalize my designs up and plop em in probably tomorrow. Mind you I have no scanner working, so I'll have to do them digitally or something..... I'll figure it out.

Metryx: Digging the non-human elements you're tossing in, though I wonder about some of the clothing bits - they aren't communicating steampunk to me too much just yet. I doubt it would take much though... you're just about there. Gotta make sure we solidify our genre with these, readability is very important for character design.

F o x: Great designs! Do you have any color ideas in mind for them yet? Or are you winging it (as I will be haha)?


Are there any that you two are having real problems with? I can try and put emphasis on those when I plop out my designs tonight.

[metryx]

i'm having obvious problems with a "steampunk" element, haha. My Technician sketches (should have them up today or tomorrow) are much better, but so far as going back and adjusting the ones I have.... I'm at a loss. I was hoping that's where we'd sit down and hash things out together, lol.

F o x nailed the Shadow, I think. I have zero ideas for the Shadow and the Rabble Rouser.

[metryx]

the technician!

I might do another version for the protector and technician yet, but this is pretty much it for me. i dont have any good ideas for the rabble rouser or the shadow.

[sandeepbarot]

nice work

[Dreoilin]

Nice! I like where you're going with the technician. It's funny, but I have the most ideas for the rabble rouser and the shadow! I've got some more sketches of them that I've been playing with- hopefully I'll be able to get them up soon. The hero and the protector are the ones that I've been drawing a total blank on so far.

[cmalidore]

Alright guys - sorry for going MIA.... I hate this month. Anyway with my scanner out of commission I got tired of trying to worm around that and decided to just start drawing my designs digitally with my sketchbook next to me for guidance.

So these are really quick at this point, very speed painterly as I try to nail out the silhouette and a quick color theme.

Attached is Rabble rouser and Protector. I'll get Sage and hero drawn tomorrow evening.

Metryx: Love the Technician! That's fantastic :)

[metryx]

While I didn't (and wont be) doing sketches for the Rabble rouser, I'm terribly amused how we all pretty much had one common element in our ideas: The Popped Collar, lol.

Great designs, Yrin. :D

This coming weekend (24th-26th) I plan to have a LOT of free time where I'll be able to work on this project. Is there anything we can finalize or at least.... something I can do? lol.

[cmalidore]

We are running a lil tight on time - it may be a good time soon to start really figuring out what two you want to put focus on. Thoughts?

[metryx]

I definitely feel drawn to the Technician. I'm willing to work on the Hero, Protector (love your design, btw!) or the Sage as well. I'm particularily eager to see your designs on those latter two.

[cmalidore]

Okay, The Sage. I watched the ol Seven Samurai (Kurosawa for the win!) movie this last weekend and it reminded me of how much I enjoy japanese garb. Took some influence from there as there's usually a connotation of "wise" with such outfits. Apologies for the misshapen hand, I'm doing faaast silhouettes and then painting over them with color definition - figured we'd know that's a hand ;)

Not sure if I'll get to The Hero tonight as nothing I have is feeling right. So far the two I feel the best on are The Protector and The Sage.

And fox, you say you're having the best luck on ideas for The Rabble Rouser and The Shadow? Seems like we're splitting this up pretty easily so far.

[metryx]

Great design, Yrin! I love the lighting on that face.

So at this stage shall we just... take elements of all of our designs, vote on what we like best, or just sorta... go with it and give input on each other's "final" entry WIP's?

(that said, since all signs are pointing to me keeping the Hero and Technician... which of the Hero sketches spoke out the most to you guys? I realize its the most generic of the lot, and I'll certainly spice that up. Ditto for the Technician... I already had incorporated a few of f o x's ideas into them, but did you two like one over the other at all?)

[bharat]

coo start.... nice sketches....

[Dreoilin]

Sorry I haven't posted anything else yet, I do have some stuff to put up once I get the chance though. Awesome stuff cmalidore! Really digging that sage (seven samurai ftw!! Kurosawa is one of my all time favs) I'm happy to take whatever characters you guys don't want, but I have been having the most fun with the shadow and rabble rouser.

It looks like you'd probably be safe getting started on the technician and hero metryx. Of your hero designs I personally liked the one in blue and red best, and of the technician I liked the green and yellow (although I really like both of your technicians).

I guess if we all settle on who we're doing we just start fleshing them out, posting for advice and crits as we go? (Also, I have a moodboard that I was playing with if that'd be helpful?) Yikes, I didn't realize the deadline was getting so close!

[cmalidore]

On Hero I'd go with version 2 or 4...as version 1 is naked and 3 doesn't utilize the blues as nicely as the others do. I think the blues are a good route - blue is a very engaging color for a viewer and a Hero could use that visual cue :)

Sounds like it's all pretty split, if Metryx takes Hero and Technician, f o x takes Rabble Rouser and Shadow, and I'll work with Sage and Protector we should have it all, correct?

As far as the fleshing out process - I don't care if we do it here or what but we will need to show WIP's of process along the way, so brainstorming our ideas here wouldn't be a bad idea. I imagine we can take little cues from other concepts for some unity. Though obviously just running with the character will be quite important since really, they gotta speak about that character strongly. I'd just post WIP's and get feedback *shrug*

[silvestri99]

Great start guys! It's fun to watch everyone's processes! Good Luck.

[metryx]

cmalidore: Correct, everyone is accounted for.

I'll run with the version 4 of Hero (what was wrong with the naked version? I mean really, people always vote for boobs, lol) and the yellow/green Technician. Since I have the time, I'll probably put up daily WIPs here in the thread.

[metryx]

Here's the first few hours of work on a "final" for the Hero. Adding some more clothing elements to match more with the theme of our other designs. WIP#1 is merely where I started from the concept art. I really liked the pose and the way the light and dark models matched up for the composition, so I kept the concept pose as a base to work from. I'm very tempted to give her a scarf. Some of the lighting is still a bit wonky but I'm working that out as I render this out. I'll definitely be moving away from the cell-shaded look as I progress, just as a heads up.

[cmalidore]

Good preliminary lighting - I'd tighten up on her head a bit, planning on any referencing? I'd be pushing her forehead out a little.

[metryx]

Yep I'm gonna scurrage some up good face refs. For the moment I'm leaving the head a bit alone until I shape up the rest of the body.

[metryx]

Okay, here's the first pass through with rendering and detailing. Some errors I plan to fix tomorrow, as well as some details I just didn't bother with tonight:

Um, something went wrong with her face. I believe I wasn't paying good attention to perspective. But, alas, getting faces right is always a miracle for me. So I'll go over that again, finish up the hair, etc.

Gonna refine the mesh scarf a bit, add some mesh to the shoulders (maybe.) I also didn't touch the belt thingy, so I need to do that, and add buckles and such to the belt/pouch thing.

Her front foot looks broken, so I'm going to see what some rotating and size changing can do for a quick edit there.

Obviously I've the "evil version" to do yet. I'm excluding the scarf and skirt just to differentiate the attitudes of each persona.

Crits welcome! Teammates, how's this look in relation to what you guys want to do?

[metryx]

Okay, I'm done with the HERO, unless my faithful comrades point out some needed change. (I'm also really open to this background theme for all the entries, but that's debatable for later. It just worked real well for mine.)

Got some preliminary work for the Technician done. I'll work doubletime to get this done by tomorrow.

Also there's a possibility that we'll have a deadline extension to Saturday? go check out the main Team Chow thread for details.

[cmalidore]

Looks like it is officially May 2nd, good eye sir.

I am 2/3 through Protector and will post that when I'm home from work before finalizing.

Digging your hero, my worry is that your bg may be visually hitting on the same value level as your figure's shadows.... which may be distracting. What do you think?

[adammelo]

Great stuff guys keep it up.

[metryx]

Looks like it is officially May 2nd, good eye sir.

I am 2/3 through Protector and will post that when I'm home from work before finalizing.

Digging your hero, my worry is that your bg may be visually hitting on the same value level as your figure's shadows.... which may be distracting. What do you think?

That might be very possible. It started originally as a way for the rear girl to blend into the BG. All in all, it hardly has to be the final background for everyone's entries, if we're keeping something relatively similar for everyone. Suggestions?

[Dreoilin]

Looking great Metryx! I've been thinking of browns/sepia sorta colors for the background (i guess i associate sepia/brown with steampunk?) but whatever you guys think. I like the texture sort of thing you've got going on the background.

I am working, but have been unable to post yet- definitely will get some stuff up tonight. I saw that the deadline might be moved to sat.- is it official? The rest of my week is devoted to nothing else but this!

[metryx]

Due date is officially the 2nd - Saturday.

I agree, sepia/brown would be very steampunky. Once I finish the technician i'll play with the backgrounds some more on my finals. Do you think we should have one file that has a single background and all the characters within one border, or separate borders with one/many files? (i have no idea how others are doing it.)

That said... Final touches like borders/backgrounds may be well out of my hands. I will NOT have Photoshop access beyond Thursday and MAYBE some of Friday. I'll definately have the JPGs in order on here and send you both the PSD's via email if necessary.

Here's my Technician WIP at the moment. I'm expecting to finish it tonight or tomorrow for sure.

[Dynamike]

Add some extra time on each of your images and they will look great. Right now they seem unfinished.

[cmalidore]

If you two can email me images before Friday evening I can compile them into one page with a sepia brown texture presentation without issue. As it is I won't be able to finish mine until that evening.

Thought I'd offer :)

Technician crit: Her hip to shoulder ratio seems off, size wise and angle wise - while that can in real life be realistic, visually on a picture makes me see them as almost two different objects. May want to hit the mid-section a lil.

[metryx]

If you two can email me images before Friday evening I can compile them into one page with a sepia brown texture presentation without issue. As it is I won't be able to finish mine until that evening.

Thought I'd offer :)

Technician crit: Her hip to shoulder ratio seems off, size wise and angle wise - while that can in real life be realistic, visually on a picture makes me see them as almost two different objects. May want to hit the mid-section a lil.

I've not slept lately. Run that by me again? Lol. Do I need to make the hips less wide, or change how they're twisted? And do what with the midsection? My translator's broken, haha.

(and yes, will email you the finals by Friday. deal.)

[cmalidore]

Let me describe it this way - if this were an action figure, the upper torso would be pivoting in a different way than the hip - and it's making it look off plane a bit. The hips are a bit wide in comparison to the shoulders visually, so it makes her look a little off proportion.

Solutions? Shrink hips down a bit, or realign torso to angle a bit more face on, or perhaps even drop her torso a bit so that the mid section seems more compact (the twist makes her seem fairly lanky - and this is increased by the bottom of shirt to top of pants relation, shape wise). I'm thinking shrinking hips and reworking that area a little will help you plenty and offer the least amount of drama.

[Dreoilin]

Okay so here's the shadow. I'll try to post the rabble rouser before I have to leave for work, but if I don't make it I'll post him as soon as I get home. They'll both get color and detailing, etc. this evening and then I should be able to email them to cmalidore either Fri. morning or as soon as I get home from work fri. afternoon (eastern time). What would be the best format for the files?

Also, crit please! :)

[cmalidore]

Alright so we have a problem here, Metryx's computer has fallen to the land of possibly fried. I'm not yet certain if it is fixable by tomorrow - but he's keeping me posted on it.

This means that there is a possibility of us needing to finalize his things based on what we see here - or deciding to call this off and try for a later incarnation of the team challenge. We are right against a wall here with a lot of work to do still - I'm far from happy with my own work yet at this point.

Any thoughts?

I'm not horribly positive today after a seriously bad day at work so I'm trying to be calm about this, but overall that game plan isn't doing so hot lol

Should we pursue this challenge:
I like the Shadow here, watch his far arm though, it's feeling very stiff. You may need to hide more of it or possibly restructure for sake of loosening that. I believe having the gun tilted up is doing much of that since generally speaking we don't often tilt our wrists up like that when our arm is down.... not always practical. Though it can be done - so that's up to you :). Lot of room for detailing, good work!

Also on file formats.... honestly I'll work with anything. Anything high res is good - psd would be preferable (are you familiar with yousendit.com? Great for larger files) since it's easier to play with layers - but really as long as it's big enough for posting in the CHOW thread I can compile it.

[Dreoilin]

Ah that sucks about your computer Metryx! :( Really sorry to hear about that

I have no issues with bowing out of this challenge and trying again later- especially if that would take the stress off for you chris. We do still have a crazy amount of work to do. I totally leave it up to you guys though, I'll keep working until I hear from you.

You're right about that arm; it's been bothering me and I've been intending to come back to it. I was trying to make the gun clear so I forced the angle on it, but it does look weird lol.

[cmalidore]

I'm greatly reluctant to say continue right now for the sheer fact that with all of our various setbacks at the moment (mostly our lack of time in recent weeks) that I just don't feel we're going to be able to show the level of quality that really reflects what our team can do.

I sent a quick text to Metryx asking his thoughts and his response was:
"I concur. Even with hard drive access I can't get quality art done on another computer. If you guys want to finish for posterity at another time I'm okay with that."

So miss, If you'll work with us again for one of the next ones - I'd love to have team Mighty Minkies back in action to show what all we can do when we have time on our side :)

[Dreoilin]

While it is definitely a bummer to have to bow out on this one, I agree with everything you said. It's not worth it to put out less than our best to make the deadline. Also, to be honest this takes some stress off of me seeing as how I have to get ready for a wedding I'm going to.

I would absolutely love to work with you guys again though!

[metryx]

From a laptop:

First of all I'm very sorry the death of my computer has set the rest of you back and that we had to bow out of the challenge. I appreciate everyone's willingness and effort in this, and the consideration of finishing up my test on my behalf.

For those curious: Computer is fried - motherboard, processor, and all. Hard drive seems okay, but is presently inaccessible via my means until I work out some wonky techno crap. So I may be out of the art gamut indefinitely until I work something out.

[cmalidore]

While we COULD have finished without you - honestly I don't think it would be half as fun. So don't worry man, no apologies needed (well, I don't want any, at least ;)). We'll rise again when it makes more sense.

Best of luck on the ol computer :)