C.O.W.#147 Demon Devourer!! -- Posting WIPs thread

[Michael Jaecks]

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

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


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Round #147

Topic:
Demon Devourer

Creature Description: Demon Devourer-- Design a new creature that devours demons. You can take this in any direction you want. The creature can be either good or evil. But it must be a creature, a member of a species, and not a character. I can see the potential for people taking this in an overly humanoid direction, so I'll take this opportunity before anyone has time to make a sketch to warn everyone to avoid that. Bipeds are fine, but it must be a creature. A gorilla is a creature. A guy in a gorilla suit is not. We had the biggest turnout in recent memory last week with our Shadow and Flame round. Let's keep that enthusiasm and momentum going this week. Post your WIPs, talk about your design and rendering process, give constructive crits and help each other out. Hard work and working together is what makes us grow as artists.

Deadline:
Saturday, 20 June 2009

Finals go here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=160543

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

Cool prompt! I think I'm gonna take a righteous approach to the creature, since I worked on evil ones last week. This will also be a good opprotunity for me to work on brighter environments.

[Marsch]

will try lions, wings and stuff.

[Sketched]

Im goin on the righteous side aswell.. My creature will be made of stone.
Heres how i figure.
Demons Vs. Angels. If anyone is gonna kill a demon, why not be an angel. So why not use gods favourite Angel SAINT PETER (since he is the one guarding those pretty perly white gates).. Also the greek origin of peters name means "Stone" so this is my basis, "The stone animal version of Peter".
Now i gotta figure what kinda of holy stone creature will look cool slaying demons.

[emerging]

sweet cow! :) im in! lets do this wip!

[infinitemonkey]

My first COW in ... years? I need the practise.

concept: Sort of a piggish thing, demonic but not particularly evil since it eats demons. I see it as more of a janitor in hell than a predator. The skull-like bone plate between its eyes may or may not glow, I haven't decided yet (lures are bit cliché for COW).

WIP #1

[zimfin]

Nice one MJ! This option for righteousness will help relieve the "taint" some will be feeling after last weeks evilness! I am in though I don't know which side I will choose.

[volscalkur]

Wow! I thought last weeks topic was super cool! :jawdrop:

Thanks for another truly excellent topic Michael Jaecks!:rocker:
You have out done yourself sir!

This week's topic is great given the fact that you can choose whether to make your creature good, indifferent or so incredibly evil, malicious and downright plain naughty that it literately eats demons for breakfast! :devil:
It promises to yield some awesome creatures! I more excited then any adult in their right mind should be!:bounce: Can't wait to get started!

Think I'm gonna have to sleep over voting on last week's creature... there simply are too many that are amazingly good to narrow it down to one, I've been going back and forth for like 20min trying to decide and still can't!:[

Looking forward to another "awesome" round as we american kids say! :)

[acb]

omg....im with volscalkur on this one....and when i thought last week's theme was cool....now comes something even cooler @_@.....i dont think my heart could handle the stress but ill endure the heart pain and participate in this one :mod: :D

and i think ill go on.....the EVIL theme ^_^ really evil :D (at least ill try to ^_^)

[ghoulio]

Owwwww yeah...yummyyyyy

[sanstream]

:cheerleader:

Go demons! (in the devourer that is ...)

My brain is allready chiming with happiness. I'll see what I can come up with..

[Droid]

Sounds good.

Will see what I can come up with.

Angel idea's ok guys, but bear in mind it has to be closer to creature than character.

;)

[dwinbotp]

Michael, got your message at DA! I will join this time:) EPIC!

[pahavasa]

The topics just keep getting better.

This one will be a demon too, but the species has no own personality whatsoever - they stalk other demons as their prey and pick up their behaving traits in order to survive and stay in motion. Of course as soon as the prey has been eaten they need to find another target, therefore they are always in hunting mode.

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[acb]

well i thought of this demonic creature as this BIG GIGANTIC beast which goes around and devouers demons but then....it had to have a purpose of doing so cuz itll just wont make sense that a big gigantic beast will come up form nowhere and start eating demons....so i backed it up with a story :

"the king of the demon realm got the information from hes generals,it was certain, a rebelion was planned against him. in an act of despair and some say madness he created the most dangerous race that was ever under his command....the devourers @_@
giant beasts which their whole race was created to carry the demon king's generals castles on them and to devouer demons ,it was the perfect solution as it gave the generals the ability to supervise the battlefield and drive the walking weapons of destruction at the same time @_@ .( fierce O_O)"

initial sketch and a tiny bit of values
http://i44.tinypic.com/2h64zti.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/2n8uhd2.jpg

[Mauii]

Looking forward to my first CoW :)

[volscalkur]

Sweet idea acb Like the direction your going with that- lookin' good so far and that story is great!

[lkjhgfdsa]

I'm going with horses as they are majestic (yet scary- esp. ex-racing horses) and are in alliance/servitude with humans.
The five heads are representative of the hexagram and the white wings refer to an angelic state...
i figure...
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/Speedpaint/cow147_lkjhgfdsa_wip1.jpg

[Bralt Hannicart]

Aah, lkjhgfdsa, I was also thinking about a devine creature, a holy spawn that devours demons. A ride for Angels perhaps...but I'm going too pass this round, not into the whole demon/hell theme at the moment.

Good luck all!

[pahavasa]

Some progress.
Now I think I'll let it be for a couple of days to get some distance. As said, my devourer's like a chameleon (although it apes the preys pattern, not the environments), thus the translucent skin. C&C welcome, as always.

[acb]

cool design lkjhgfdsa @_@ looking forward for updates ^_^

and thx alot volscalkur ^_^

pahavasa i rly like the head @_@ its rly cool @_@ and btw those thngs coming out of its elbows are wings of some sort or is this a type of a natural weapon it uses ?

go demonic themes go ?!

[pahavasa]

acb, thanks! Actually the "wings" were supposed to help it to mimic others, but right now they're just too long... gotta make them a bit shorter and maybe join them to the bristle. That way they'd help by enabling some minor changes in the body structure. Thanks for pointing them out.

[danlambert]

Haven't really tried to make a creature before, so I figure it's about time I started.
Just got a few silhouettes for now, any input would be awesome!
Peace!

lkjhgfdsa - That is fucking badass man, can't wait to see it finished. Only comment would be I think some of the heads look a bit inanimate compared to the others.

pahavasa - You have got the hunting mode pose perfectly, and the design is sweet as.
Maybe try mixing in a bit of green or something into the white, just to dirty it up a bit, the colour scheme seems a bit bright and cheerful for a demonic conscious-less monster!

infinitemonkey - Maybe a bit more of a gormless look on his face, he seems far too cheerful for a janitor ha!

acb - cool idea, reminds me of one of those colossus things. it looks a little off balance at the moment though

[BEAR JR]

Fun challenge! It's been a while, I'm excited to participate.

I'd like to post some C&C, I haven't read all of the posts, so if I repeat what someone else has already said, apologies.

acb, I really dig your concept, and I can't wait to see how that castle comes out! Is it going to be fused to the creature's body somehow? You may want to clarify where your light is coming from for this image; right now it's hard to tell.

lkjhgfdsa, the horse idea is awesome. I would watch that the amount of muscles in the chest don't get confusing. Can't wait to see more of this one!

pahavasa, great translucent skin idea, and I love the way the head and skin texture is coming out! I'm not sure what the wing/feather things on its elbows are for, though...they seem a little delicate for such a powerful creature.

Here's a WIP I worked up this morning after reading the post...any and all comments welcome! The creature here moves between dimensions, devouring creatures that otherwise would have no natural predators. It swallows demons, djinn, and the like. No affiliation with 'good' or 'evil'; it's a beast that lives to eat.


http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/HeyBEARJR/ConceptArt%20Challenges/demon-dev-wip_615.jpg

[MasterStryke]

i like the pegasus-mutation (: .

i would change the mouth in something stronger.. a little bit.

@pahavasa: nice colour choice (: .. but the creature is kinda boring.. i dont know why..

well i have not time to paint a good creature for this cow.. but maybe next week.

[Nkristian]

I would love to try and join again :D

this time I'll post the sketches before continuing and rendering the image..
lkjhgfdsa - those unicorns are already looking good!!

I'll try to make a cute specie for this one because i think I haven't tried doing that.:D

[danlambert]

I just realised I forgot to post the image on my last post, well clever I know.

Here's where I'm at so far, not particularly imaginative I know, but I'm new at this whole creatures malarkey. I'm pretty sure I'm going to change that chained up arm (not entirely sure why I put it there in the first place). But yeah any guidance would be appreciate.

Haven't had a chance to check it on a proper monitor so the contrast may be all over the place
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=698697&stc=1&d=1245084549

Peace!

[Droid]

lkjhgfdsa: Awesome idea there bro, like a cross between pegasus and the devil, sometimes portrayed as the seven headed serpent.

I like how it's so much smaller than the demon too, makes it seem more innocent somehow.

Keep up the good work guys, I'm gonna get down some sketches, but I have no solid ideas yet.

=P

[Gumish]

What do you think about this. I would like to paint some creature which was bred by the inquisition to exorcise demons from the heretics and witches. I am little bit decided to continue on the second upper sketch. The first is the water creature which was lifted from the well to torture heretic. On the second I am now working. And the third (lower and smallest) is the four legged creature which takes demons from the epilectic.
http://www.wydle.eu/stuff/cow_147_line.jpg
http://www.wydle.eu/stuff/COW_147_wip1.jpg

[Labrynthine]

Should we approach this in either a "this thing should be built to exist in nature" or a "potentially mythical creature" way? Like should we be designing this to fit in a nature reserve, or a myth, if that makes any sense.

[sketchius]

I want to go with a heaven vs hell theme with this one. My demon devourer will be a holy beast sent into hell to feed upon the demons that dwell there. Here's my concept sketches so far.
698906

[dwinbotp]

Whenever I see the word "devour", I always think "swallow whole" next to it. So my devourer would mean hugely massive, enormously gigantic. so here goes nothing:)

[Marsch]

A sketch, please, help in its improvement.

[lkjhgfdsa]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/Speedpaint/cow147_lkjhgfdsa_wip2.jpg

[FishyBoner]

2nd time doing this, Still a bit noobish around here. Not really sure what im doing.

I am going for something loosely based off of an Egyptian Vulture. I want something celestial looking, But at the same time semi-corrupt. After all that nasty food cant be good for you.

Agile enough to take down demons in flight?

Still not to sure on a design for the head, horns? I just dont know.

[dwinbotp]

Here's what I got so far, Used the better part of the day for this. I apologize for my first post, it was a bit unorthodox but then again,I;m not one to be too keen at making the usual black and white forms then adding color via overlays. Most might consider this a flaw, I like to think it's just my quirk:) C&C are always welcome like always.

[MasterStryke]

hmm noone answers on any suggestions here.

@dwin: reminds me of digimon :D

@pegasus: i dont like the tail-action. looks pretty unfitting. maybe a shorter hairy tail would be better

[JEFFERSON]

Alright.
This is my second only C.O.W. submission. When I first red this I instantly thought of a giant bird creature, but after looking at the other posts I felt that I should go in a different direction. The second thing that popped into my head was the rabbit from Monty Pythons "Search for the Holy Grail", and the killer Rabbit.
So I went with it. I feel like it is a little bit of a cop out but, I going to work with it.

[Pixelestial]

Just a bit of inspiration from Mr. Barlowe (http://www.waynebarlowe.com/barlowe_image_pages/inferno_5_gumhead.htm)


JEFFERSON: Let me stop you before you get too far -- as COW is a creature design competition, a plain ol' rabbit probably won't make it to the poll (even if it is no ordinary rabbit). Why don't you take the idea of cute fuzzy unassuming killer and run with it, and make something really original?

[acb]

Soulweaver -omg....so many cool monstrosities there @_@ thx alot ^_^

lkjhgfdsa- i think thats a rly cool creature but i gotta agree with the crit on the tail ,it lacks the tention cuz it seems like its resting there and not trying to tear the skin from that demon,i think it lacks the tention ^_^


btw changed to concept to a different creature cuz the other one doesnt give the feeling of a "devourer" so much but still continuing with the castle on the back theme ^_^will post a wip soon :D

danlambert-thx alot :D thats one of the reaons i changed it to another creature :D

BEAR JR-thx ^_^ well im going to make a sort of a stomack that is pointing out of the body (meaning the bod has a sort of half visible stomack part out side of it )that in the stomack there will be a sort of combustion procedure with the demon it eats an that will give the castle it's power threw underskin veins .....i know it sounds weird but as soon as ill post the wip hopefully yull see it and hopefully ill manage to make it look right ^_^

[dwinbotp]

Nice ideas and entries so far guys, keep it all up!:D

MasterStryke sorry, I don't know what a digimon is. I'm old school! LOL
JEFFERSON c'mon man, even though you might not mean to cop out, this topic gives you a wide wide variety of choices of creatures you can pick out of your imagination to work with. I'm sure you can dig up something out:)

These COWS are tests, as I would like to think of them. It's an activity to draw something different than the usual fare and to do this,always pair your creative juices with wild imagination and yet bring some semblance of sense and practicality and you've got something! These are just my thoughts mind you:) It's all about balancing the inconceivable within reason.

[lkjhgfdsa]

Yeah, the tail was an issue for me as well, hopefully with colour (and polish) i can show that it is poisoning/paralyzing the deamonfood- maybe making the inedible edible? I will make it hairy also- it's a bit lizardly atm.

[yAdam]

Been ages since I did any weekly activity and probably years since I entered
c.o.w... So here's a random WIP. I guess this is all about these creatures having an elaborate 'demon digestion' process. My idea was that they extract the essence of the demons they caught wandering around. They deposit them in these 'plants/flowers' for some purpose, maybe to feed or give energy/power to something.???

700009

[Sketched]

So im going with a kinda tiger stone creature.
Ultimatly i want to have a righteous look to my creature. Right now its sorta demonic with the horns and the growl but i think i can work with this. Like a batman sorta idea, he can look like a bada$$ but theres good in him.

[sketchius]

Here's the composition I'm working on. I'm doing the creature and background as two separate sketches. Here's my first try at putting them together.
700044

[tonynokills]

So far:
http://i42.tinypic.com/2rom8ig.jpg

[dwinbotp]

Here's my final I guess, now to get back to work:)
Keep it real everybody! :D

[SephyCloneNo15]

dwin: That's an impressive evolution from rough silhouette to badass final. *applause*

Fishy: I like where you seem to be going. I look forward to seeing more progress. I think no horns works, and I like the jagged-beak-mouth-deal.

yAdam: I like the concept, but the focal point of the piece is very vaginal, which is kinda distracting to the more immature parts of my mind.

Marsch: I'm sure others who've been doing this for longer than me and consistently churning out far better work than me can give more meaty critique than I can, and it will probably sound less pretentious and spiteful from a veteran than a rookie, so all I'll say is it doesn't look like you're working with any reference. It'll help you with proportions, perspective, anatomy, and a whole bunch of things you can't put your finger on but which will just suddenly be better. You've got lion-parts and bird-parts. Google them and find all the pictures you can. If you can find any videos of them in action, those will probably help too.

My first WIP will be up in a little bit, at which point I will appreciate the most merciless crit any and all of you are willing to give. Tear me a new one at the WIP stage so that I can make it look good enough to actually go to poll this week.

[JEFFERSON]

So after rereading the rules and responses I put aside the bunny to finish later and started over from scratch. After three hours. This is where I'm at.

[Viridis]

Hmmm. I usually do CHOW, but I need some practice on my creatures, I think, and I have an idea or two for this. I'll have to see what I can come up with.

[Wazbot]

Heres my idea generation.

Although I liked the look and idea of the tentacles, I've seen plenty of octopus/squid inspired creatures...so I'm taking it another way :)

Still roughing it out before I go digital, just trawling through catapilar references.

[Crowsrock]

Pencil sketch of my creature!

[Rabies]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dull_Gret

allthough shes a human, i tink im gonna base my entry around her. Ie. something mad, not likeley to kill demons, raging, and possibly hunting in great numbers. Only idea so far for the design is something based of a lamb.

[pahavasa]

MasterStryke, can you define what exactly is it you find boring? The design, the pose or something else?
Loving dwinbotp's entry.

Current wip, added the tail to bring some balance.
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[volscalkur]

Lookin good guys! We've got some pretty sweet monsters going on here! Hope to see more! :)

I haven't had much time to devote to this week's creature :( which really annoys me since this is such an awesome topic and I'm quite excited about it! Unfortunately I'm not as far along as I would like to be! (as usual) but I'm hoping to carve out some time later this week and really push this!

The idea I'm going with is a wild "hell beast" the creature from which hell hounds were breed by demons long ago, similar to the way dogs are descended from wolves. These creatures are much larger, faster, stronger, meaner and more intelligent then your average hell hound, and live in the wastelands between hell and purgatory where they hunt in packs and prey on anything and everything including the demons that live in the frontier towns along the edge of the wastelands.
Here is all I have so far, just a rough sketch to figure out the basic look and anatomy of the creature. I'm going to go with a more dynamic pose for the final!

Comments and Crits much appreciated as always!
Now back to work!

[Chaos-Shark]

hey ppl trying a really different approach :D i can draw a bit but i have to practise with the tablet

C & C highly apriciated

[skyline]

crits and advice please, second atempt at cow
http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq280/skyline92_bucket/deamondevourercopy.jpg

[Chaos-Shark]

skyline: the idea is awsome you could defently work this one wou with more feathers and such , better shading,and improve the spiky hair/stone things

:D

[dwinbotp]

SephyCloneNo15 Thanks man, It's how I usually start a piece and then finishing it. kinda makes it hard for me to do a tutorial LOL, but hey if it works, don't fix it :D

Some critiques, hope these will be helpful...here I go!

JEFFERSON, I'm glad you decided to go for a different creature, I don't mind rabbits, just use the fur, teeth, ears etc into something else and it'll come out great as another creature too. keep it up man:)

Crowsrock, I like the creature you are creating, just make sure the creature can balance itself properly, have a few more takes on the back legs and maybe try to stand him up to make it look more powerful. Now if you're going for a more sneaky-type look,it's ok too, remember to visualize your creation if it was real, can it walk? run? jump etc for realism.

Marsch, Grab more references, there's a ton of feline creatures and pics to base on, wings, even more. keep it up man!

ikjhgfdsa, nothing much to crit, looks great atm, i'm more concerned that it looks like a one of a kind God creature, anyway, it looks baddass man!:)

yAdam, really unique design, and yes, I'm just a man, I have dirty thoughts looking at it LOL :)

sketched, I love the idea of a demon eating, half smiling, rock encrusted stone Tiger too, but maybe enlarge certain parts of it, making it look big and powerful enough to gobble demon bones to dust, he looks kinda cute right now, keep it up!:)

sketchius, I know you have put a lot of effort into your piece but right now, it's a bit small to see anything. It's really wonderful that you plan to add many other elements like the demons, the caverns-like place but I would suggest working on a more concrete design of the main creature, when you have any time left, then you get to finish/add/subtract what and whichever you like or don't.

pahavasa, looking great already, love the colors that you used. About it being boring, i have to say it's hard to tell atm since it doesn't have anything surrounding it to imply it's a demon devourer, surely after you've gone and added more stuff, it'll look way much better, good work man:)

volscalkur, Take more notes on the animal references you used, if you didn't, i suggest you might have to study more animal anatomy in which your creature might be based on. looking good, just a bit more:)

Chaos-Shark, with more practice on the tablet will do wonders, right now, seeing as it's freehand, try to play with perspectives a bit more to truly make your creature nasty, i'm loving the tongue part, try to bend them a bit and give some of those branching out different directions so it won't look flat. Keep on working:)

Skyline, I love the dragon-like creature, I would however make the wings larger to support its weight, if you meant it not to fly, then we'll all just have to wait and see what you have in mind more, once you add the detail work:)

[Chaos-Shark]

dwintopbotp i'm sorry but what do you mean with the persective part?

[dwinbotp]

hmmm, something like this. isn't it a bit more exciting to look at? :) hope it helps.

[Chaos-Shark]

yeah that shoudl prolly work
-.-
mind if i work with your sketch?

its a better dynamic pose and such and i can expand the wings

cuz i was working further on my early sketch and this is what ive done to it, still flat and such

[Sketched]

changed my direction of how my creature will kill its prey.:uzi2:
Went with demon encompassing light cacoon idea. The lights reaching the sky are from the already defeated demons being pulled back up to heaven for elimination/judgment/etc.

I've never really done this sort of lighting effect (i want it to slightly glow). Any suggestions on how to improve ?.. nowhere near done anyhow :teeth:

[GrayMind]

Here's the sketch i'm working on right now... and demons can fly with tiny wings if they feel like it >:P

So, more arms, some legs, wing size, tail, no tail, etc. SO many choices.
Please, critique! I want input!

[JEFFERSON]

This is where I'm at so far. I feel like I'm running out of time, but I am going to stick with it, and see where it will take me.

[Reymus]

Started late, hopefully I can finish it this time :). It's too generic right now, but my first thought was something Hellboy-ish.

[pahavasa]

dwinbotp, thanks! Unfortunately I don't have the time to work with it anymore, but I'll sure remember your advice on the next round.

[Feil Magnus]

Nice amount of scary beasts for everyone,
here's my contribution (guess a can isn't human, animal nor machine so it can be a creature if it's got eyes :p)
(It was a very interesting study of can and plastic glass by the way)
wip

[Chaos-Shark]

feil magnus Great idea XD very creative but the end of the can on the left seems a bit wierd

anyway here's the 3rd wip (and i used the sketch of dwinbotp to make the pose more dynamic) c&C always wanted

[skyline]

i have gone with the more bird like dragon idea. this is just a rough sketch, to get the colours, and general shape right. the black lines were just to help show more detail, and wont be in the final. tell me what you think.
thanks.
http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq280/skyline92_bucket/deamond2copy.jpg

[tmyohlaing]

These are my sketches of demon devourer so far. I already picked the one bottom left side. Finished painting will be up soon as I will not be free on tomorrow and probably weekends.

[Chaos-Shark]

here's wip 4, C&C alway wanted ^^

[dadoalmeida]

Ouch! I´m late, again! LOL

Dudes, I´m trying to participate in COWs since the first day of the brief but I can´t, need to stick a note in my forehead to try post in time.

I read the brief yesterday and this afternoon I dig some ideas for my concept. Hopefully I have something to share right now:

701968

For this one I started to conceptualize with a phrase/idea: "Bad things can´t fulfill the body and the soul".
Even the Demons in the Hell (or the place where it lives) don´t have right to rest in peace. They´re tortured like all the others.
In these places there are creatures, who chase and kill demons. Hunting to survive, eating like crazy, but never get fulfilled. That´s the creature I´m trying to conceptualize.
As you can see I tried to use keywords to find some interesting points to sketch. These words gives me ideas for the first thumbnails, then I ended with three options to work on (maybe I´ll go with the last one, what do you guys think?).

I like the flying aspect of nº2 too, It can suggest a creature who attack in groups. Like piranhas in a river or a cloud of insects.

Gonna check the deadline for this one and try to rush a better concept. Hope you guys like it.

Ah! There are great entries already. Nice to see some very close that I imagined (like the whale one) and it´s curious how the "blindness" creature is still being used creatively. ;-)

Anyway. Any feedback will be very apreciated!

[AbelPhoe]

This is my first time participating in COW. I finally got off my butt and stopped being a lurker. I hope to join in COW each week from now on ^_^

I decided to run with a chameleon/anglerfish/frog sort of concept. My beastie (which still needs to be named >_>;;) lurks around in the tunnels and dark damp places that I image demons/imps and other devilish beings hang out in. Its tail glows, which lures in unsuspecting demons like moths to a flame.

Anyway, I have a pretty rockin composition for the final in mind. I'm just sort of drugged up on meds. at the moment due to a nasty head-cold, so beginning sketches was all I could manage tonight. More tomorrow, for sure.

Comments? Critiques? Suggestions for a direction I should work towards?

*nervous* >_>;;

[Doomsquid]

Hey guys! I too am late-- I've been struggling with sketches for the past several days x_x

My creature is supposed to be kind of unassuming, a domesticated beast put to use by mountain-dwelling monks to... well, devour demons! I wanted to give my creature a bovine quality, but for the longest time everything simply looked like a rather strange cow. I felt like I was encroaching upon the "No reproductions of existing creatures" rule. I now have a rough drawing to share, but first-- the comments!

dadoalmeida: Very neat-- I think my favorite is actually the rough sketch in the middle row furthest to the right. Its silhouette is clear, sturdy, and it makes me want to see more.

Chaos-Shark: It’s coming along quite nicely! I think the body would benefit from some more value range, to differentiate the highlights from the shadows more.

tmyohlaing: Looking forward to seeing more! Neat sketches...

skyline: I think it would be cool to see some yellowish bits on the creature, this would jive nicely with the purple background :D

Feil Magnus: A funny idea, but I’m pretty sure it’s... not in keeping with the spirit of the assignment?

Reymus: Looking very cool, and very ominous! Looking forward to seeing its development!

JEFFERSON: Very neat! I think it would feel more complete if you refined the edges of the wings and end of the tail a bit more.

GrayMind: I love it! Nice and meaty, with almost comically-proportioned wings. The face is really cool, and I love the shapes of the hands and fingers. Exciting!

Sketched: Sorry if this is a little late in the process, but I don’t really get a clear view of your creature’s anatomy from the head-on view. Nice texture on the skin, though!

volscalkur: Nice musculature! I think it will benefit from the dynamic pose you mentioned. Go for it!

pahavasa: Very nice, indeed! I love the colors and the ethereal quality of the creature!

Crowsrock: Neat! Hooray, pincers... I like the club-tail, too. Looking forward to the paint treatment.

Wazbot: I like the grubby fatness of the caterpillar body. Killer teeth, too. Try to push the pose, make it really dynamic!

dwinbotp: Wow. Simply gorgeous... The motion, colors, detail, and atmosphere are fantastic! My hat is off to you!

tonynokills: Hahaha, I like the juxtaposition of cute and creepy. I feel like it lacks anatomical complexity, though.

sketchius: I like the mask-like face! Lovely perspective, too!

yAdam: Awesome! Interesting creature, cool atmosphere, nice perspective, spot-on lighting!

Fishyboner: Very nice sketches! I like the loose, gestural quality.

lkjhgfdsa: Stunning, as always! Can’t wait to see the final version.

Marsch: It feels rather flat at the moment, I’d suggest really considering the basic forms (spheres and whatnot) beneath the creature’s anatomy. Also, maybe a bold color somewhere to set off the beige? Best of luck!

Gumish: Cool idea! Terrifying and gross and wonderful. I especially like the one with the creature suspended in front of the poor prisoner’s face.

danlambert: Yeah, I think omitting the chained-up arm would help. Good luck!

BEAR JR: Sweet! I like the light pouring from the openings! Looking forward to seeing more.

acb: Make sure to vary the values; nice silhouette on this one!

infinitemonkey: Very cool! It’s nice to see a cute demon devourer... I eagerly anticipate completion.



Right then! Here's my rough drawing. (Especially the former-demon. That's super-rough :P)

[sketchius]

Here's my grayscale image. I'm trying a bit of a new process here with carving out lights from a black background. I'm going to color it by splitting each light layer into red blue and green screen layers and then adjusting from there. But first I want to work out some more details with the creature and the demons.
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[lkjhgfdsa]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/cow147_lkjhgfdsa_wip3.jpg

[Feil Magnus]

Awesome job everyone, nice creatures here and there :)

Well i guess the cola can demon clan may have some difficulties with anthropologists to be recognized as a unique new specie.
Here is another wip because i'm a defender of the living cola cans :p

[MasterStryke]

@dwinbotp: digimon are oldsql^^ ~ 10 years old anime creatures
how old are you?


hey greymind: i like the shape of your entry! the shape is awesome and the pose too

[volscalkur]

Wish I had time for some crits but I gotta run to work!:\
I will just say lookin' good everyone!!
I had hoped for more, but I guess everyone is tired from last round, and I'm no one to talk since I haven't had time at all this week either, and I'm going out of town for father's day this weekend so probably won't get much farther on mine! :(

Thanks for you help dwinbotp !
It is really awesome that an artist of your caliber is willing to take time to help us less experienced artists! I myself, and I'm sure everyone else, really appreciate that! :yayca:
Yes, you are correct, I used no reference for my first sketch! :tihi:
Thats a problem of mine I'm working on- using reference! However I attempted to rectify that with this one! :)

Like I mentioned earlier I probably won't get much farther then this since I won't have a chance to work on it any more by tomorrow so no dynamic pose after all this week... :shrug:

I do plan on finishing it and posting it to my sketchbook someday soon though! :)

Thanks for the crits everyone!
Much appreciated as always!

[infinitemonkey]

I haven't had time to finish my WIP for this week. Maybe tomorrow... it would help a lot if the deadline slipped to Sunday :D

[¿Dubious?]

well Im starting mine now... so wish me luck I guess. We'll see if I come out with anything approaching a final image.

EDIT: Banged out some scribbles in a few minutes that Im ready to call a sketch. Drawing inspiration from Lions, Sharks, Centipedes, Hawks and as always Frank Frazetta. Thanks to Soulweaver for that Barlowe link. That's been hugely influential as well.

[GrayMind]

Been seein' some awesome work so far...

...anyways, Ifinished the sketch and have started painting. Still haven't added shadows or a background yet... let me know what you guys think so far.

Thanks!

[scorge]

Alright, so I've been out of town for a week, no access to a computer, then I see this really killer topic on some guys laptop at the airport.(He was nice enough to check us out). So as I'm flying home, I start getting all these crazy ideas for my subject matter, start to sketch, just get my internet running 5 minutes ago, and come to find that my idea is not as original as I thought. Not going to mention any names, although lkjhgfdsa, I really thought we would have faired better in the last one. :P So divine is out? Maybe. Evil, probably, but with a divine edge. Anyway, haven't had any time to see when this one is actually due so I might not have time to finish for the pole, but I've got a weekend with no wife or child, so we'll see what happens. I know, actions are louder than words. Doin' it to it.

[dwinbotp]

volscalkur, It's my pleasure man, I'm just glad I can be helpful. I'm also happy that your creature is getting better and better. I would just suggest widening the waist/midsection part a bit bigger, just so the large head would balance it out a bit better, other than that, I'm liking it a lot, Keep at it man, nobody is above it all, everyone needs practice:)

MasterStryke LOL :D When I meant old school, I meant He-Man, G1 Transformers, Thundercats, Smurfs etc. I love taking in newer stuff, not just too kiddie kind/type. I'm also older than you but younger than your dad LOL

[¿Dubious?]

Alright done a bunch of work on my linework and am probably going to call it for the night but Ive got tomorrow off so who knows I might make an image out of this yet. In any case a few crits and comments before I get down to it.

lkjhgfdsa youve got this one so far in my opinion. Youre background is iffy though. I'd introduce some asymmetry to those rock spires and switch up the textures a bit.
dwinbotp your rendering is superb. The concept is a little generic but your technique really pulls it off.
Feil Magnus while amusing your piece isnt really a concept so much as a gag. This may not be the right thread for that sort of thing though.
GrayMind there's something I really like about the upper body, its very bear-esque in a good way. The leg area doesnt really give the same impression of immensity though. I'd put him on the ground if I were you. I dig the little wings though.

Okay thats all I have time for for now. On with the scribbles. Let me know what you all think.

[Cam Sykes]

what I've got so far. the idea is a guardian that prevents demons from escaping the pits of hell.

[Cam Sykes]

some progress
\
edit: more progress - my neck is sore, my eyes are stinging, I'm tired, and I have other work to do, but I must finish :) having alot of fun painting this :yayca:

[GrayMind]

Dubios I've experimented with several different leg designs and none of them look quite right. The four arms make his legs look incredibly short, unless they're just hanging down (flying). What's your opinion on the leg shape? Should they knee bend like that (typical demon) or like a human? Thanks for the input... I'll try to fix the legs if possible.

[GrayMind]

Here's another take on the legs, this time on the ground opposed to the air. Does it work better?

[Michael Jaecks]

All righty COWboys and COWgirls. Today is the deadline, which means you have until 12noon Sunday Central US time to get your work finalized and posted to the Finals thread.

Before I take on the next topic, I would like make a point, again, to warn people off trying to outthink or out-clever the moderator and his topics of choice. We're here to design new, interesting and awesome creatures. Sorry, Feil Magnus, but a Coke can is not a creature. Even with googly eyes. It's cute, it's funny, but it's not going to the poll. You're welcome to try something else and you've got almost a day to do it. But if that's the entry you're posting, I'm sorry but it just doesn't fit here. AT the very best, an anthropomorphised inanimate object might qualify as a character. But we don't do that here. If you have to explain your rationale with a bunch of words and caveats, you're missing the mark and the point of the activity. Cool, awesome, new creatures. I will also be pulling entries for quality and for not fitting the theme.

And now onto more fun news. Jason Manley has started a new forum for a very new and special contest. The theme for the contest is "Newborn" and the deadline for it is July 31st. This is a big deal. There are prizes sponsored by Wacom and ConceptArt. There's a chance to win a slot in the header thumbnails of the whole site! It's a huge promotional opportunity. And much will be expected of those who enter. Check out the new forum for details about how to enter:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=158

Now here's how COW is getting involved. Starting tomorrow, I will be starting a special TWO WEEK long COW related to the overarching topic of Newborn.I haven't quite decided what sort of angle I am going to take on the subject, so stay tuned before you start thinking up too much stuff. You will have TWO WEEKS to work on and develop your new creature concept. I expect LOTS of traffic, talk and crits in the WIPs thread this time.

The point of this activity is to get you thinking and involved in the whole Newborn contest due July 31st. You're going to take your time to develop your creature here, and then once our round is done you'll have time to develop it further. Or start something completely different for the Newborn contest. You can submit multiple entries for Jason's larger Newborn contest (and believe me, people will)...

Starting with your entry for this round of COW, you could push your entry further and show the complete life cycle. You could do an entire series of infant monsters or mutated creature fetuses. The possiblities are endless...

But we'll begin to explore the theme here in COW with a single concept everyone will develop over two weeks.... and then where you take it from then to July 31st is up to you!

Stay tuned, see you at the polls!

[acb]

wow mj thx for letting us know about the concept and i think that as the contest has no limitations (demonic,alien,supernatural ets ) i think that this cow should have it like that too cuz this topic is really wide and stores lots of opportunities (well as long as its a creature :D)~_~

great works ppl on this subject and i wasnt able to finish my lovely devourer and i think ill finish it somewhere later on :D

gl on the contest everyone :D i already have an idea for it so i think im going to work on that one now :carnifex::lounge::mod:

[¿Dubious?]

Graymind way better. much more power and weight in that stance. I might beef the legs up a bit in length and girth to support all that weight but I think you're on the right track.

[dadoalmeida]

Ok. Got this one done in time.
Still with my idea, but tried to incorporate some of the creature that Doomsquid likes (since he was the one who said something about my sketchs).

Here´s some Wip thoughs, maybe can be usefull:

703393

That´s it. ;-)

[VulgarDragon]

Haven't done COW in a while and saw the topic the other day and just had to do it. Did mine in a day. Lot of excellent entries from everyone so far.

[MuYoung Kim]

Whew...didn't think I was going to have time for this one, but glad I did as this is now my very first COW!

Well, for what it's worth, here are my WIPS for my entry. Hopefully, next time I'll actually be sensible enough to post early enough to be able to benefit from the great advice available...sigh.

See, blobs, I told you I would partake.

Enjoy!

[Feil Magnus]

Thanks Michael Jaecks for taking some time with my case, my only aim was to check and identify the definition of a creature here, i'm fully aware this doesn't fit with that explained.
Sorry for the loss of your time, I'll post some true creature next time (no time left for now)

[Chaos-Shark]

wow a 2 week cow?

finally i can get some work done on it (last one week was tooo busy to finish it)