Team Chow II :: Tall, Grande and Venti [Archive]

daestwen

August 1st, 2009, 09:18 AM

Okay! :D

Round is up so I no longer have to be so secretive about it. :P

So! High fantasy. :D

I'd like to throw in a lot of different cultural references for this, though. Actually give EACH race a different culture... I don't see why if there are multiple races they should all wear european stye armour, for example. :]

I'd really like to do a character from an "angel" style race, keeping in what we were talking about before... I already have a brief running around in my head! I will write it up soon. :]

So because there are four of us, we have to do at least 3 characters, with 6 portraits.

I think we can push ourselves and do 4 characters with 8 portraits, what do you guys think? That's two portraits each. Either we can do the good/evil of one character, or mix and match and do each other's characters. :]

As for team work, I'm thinking that we should work individually, but with heavy wip crits and paintovers for eachother, and really push ourselves to the best of what we can do!

I was thinking that a unified colour palette will go a long way in helping us work as a team and present our work in a unified fashion... I'm still interested in doing the saturated warms, desaturated cools as one palette... but maybe for the 'other' side we could flip that palette? saturated cools with desaturated warms? What do you guys think? :]

Also, we should arrange a meeting time... This weekend looks a little crazy for me so I'd prefer to speak here (as well as monday because it's a holiday) but I'm free Tuesday to have a meeting, during the day (my evening is booked). Thoughts?

yoitisi

August 1st, 2009, 09:49 AM

Yay! I won't be able to do much until the 6th probably, but here are my thoughts so far:

I agree on the palette, as it will act as a bonding factor between our work. I also like the paintover idea, that way we can all do our thing but still make sure we're all on the same track.

I think it would be fun though if we first make one good/bad version of a single character each, and let someone else do the evil version of it? Should give some interesting results :P I think we should be able to do 8 portraits too, actually. More work = more pressure to actually start.

I'm currently at Daestwens place so whenever she's available for a meeting, I am too :)

Edit: Also,as Daestwen is doing her write-up, i think all four of us should come up with on character description (both the good and the evil version of it, so two write-ups each) before we move on to sketching. That way we're sure what we're going to make before we start to go wild with sketches.

SunRoamer

August 1st, 2009, 04:09 PM

I'd like to throw in a lot of different cultural references for this, though. Actually give EACH race a different culture... I don't see why if there are multiple races they should all wear european stye armour, for example. :]

We could even do that with the different "alignments":
For example, we could say that the characters good version stayed with his/her people whereas the "evil" one someday moved away (had to flee/was exiled, w/e^^) and came to adapt to a new culture. Really depends on the briefs, though ;)

I think we can push ourselves and do 4 characters with 8 portraits, what do you guys think? That's two portraits each. Either we can do the good/evil of one character, or mix and match and do each other's characters. :]

Well, I don't mind doing 2 portraits... and, well, what I was wondering about, since it says "portrait"... does the 3/4 rule still apply?

As for team work, I'm thinking that we should work individually, but with heavy wip crits and paintovers for eachother, and really push ourselves to the best of what we can do!

I was thinking that a unified colour palette will go a long way in helping us work as a team and present our work in a unified fashion... I'm still interested in doing the saturated warms, desaturated cools as one palette... but maybe for the 'other' side we could flip that palette? saturated cools with desaturated warms? What do you guys think? :]

I definitely think the evil's colour palette should be different, in which way, however, I don't specifically care about :>
Crits and paintovers are more than welcome, too^^ I hope we can profit from each other quite a lot :)

Also, we should arrange a meeting time... This weekend looks a little crazy for me so I'd prefer to speak here (as well as monday because it's a holiday) but I'm free Tuesday to have a meeting, during the day (my evening is booked). Thoughts?

I'm always kinda bad at converting the time from different timezones to another. So, maybe it would be good in which timezone you live, so that maybe I can find myself a chart with all the different zones' times ;)
I live in Germany, so my timezone's UTC +2 (only in summertime, though). GMT = Central European Summertime.

If each of us writes his/her own brief how long should those be? I mean, the usual CHOW briefs are very short, I think. So, should our briefs be just as brief as those or should the be longer?

E:
since my fingers itched, I just started writing something D:
So, my character's gonna be a human, names are definitely not final and the text itself is far from being refined (not even completed xD) However, I just wanted to post it already to check whether it's okay with you because, well... the meaning of good and evil is kind of twisted in this case (although I doubt I'll be able to transport that to the images)

Name: Ren (pending); different surnames
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Profession: Fighter//Spellcaster

Humans have, like in our world, formed a great variety of different cultures and what's related to it - languages and religions, for example. This character grew up in The Imperium, one of the greatest and most civilized human nations. The Imperium's rulers have always strived to purge the world of evil demons and bring the benefits of their superior culture to the lower, less civilized human nations.
Thus, its history is one of expansion and glorious bloodshed for the greater good; its gods are superb beings of light and goodwill, bestowing their people with the power to enforce their will over nature and the necessary strength to carry out the world's purgation. Only humanity shall prevail in the Paradisus that the Imperium's going to bring about us!

Story:
Good:
"Being born in The Imperium's magnificient capital of Salvatio, protected by our great nations' continued efforts to bring about us the Paradisus, I grew up surrounded by many wonders. I strived to become one of the many heroes our nation had born, one of those who would save our world from the demons lingering just outside our nations borders. I strived to become one of the brave men who would fight those wretched beings to free humanity from their oppressive rule... "(still have to finish it ;P)

Well, I guess it's far from being a brief with all those explanations xD So, Imperium's a racist, facist nation which will only accept its own culture in the world. Less civilized people who refuse the "privilege" of being absorbed by Imperium will either be forced to or, for they are "demontainted", exterminated. The "oppressive demons" actually include all non-human races (or most, for example if we include an angelic race we could have those "angels" as Imperium's guides and true leaders. Although I guess daestwen has other plans for her little winged pals :D), which are everything but demons.
All the while, even as Imperium itself is the oppressive, "evil" force in the world it doesn't see itself that way, and so does its people. So, while commiting their crimes and calamities the citizens of Imperium believe themselves the good ones, the saviours. For my "good" character-version that means that he's actually evil, whereas the "evil" one realized the terrible truth and was labelled a traitor by his people. While the good character is a brave fighter the evil one will be a "heathen spellcaster treatied with demons"; druid-sorts of thing with some voodoo-influence, I guess.

So, are you okay with something like this?

daestwen

August 2nd, 2009, 10:53 AM

Sounds pretty interesting, though your brief is more about the world so far and less about the character. :] I don't have time right this second to make a really detailed post, but I will on monday.

I'm in Toronto, Canada on Eastern Daylight hours, so six hours behind you, if you share a timezone with the Netherlands. :] Yoitisi is here right now, but he'll be in the netherlands again next week.

Means that meetings will probably end up in the afternoons, for me, evenings for you guys. Dished usually has to work afternoons (She's two - three? - hours behind me) but i can always fill her in if we have to split up meetings a little bit.

As for the Imperium, I'm cool with that, but they would be made up of only humans, no? We still want to make it pretty clear who is good and who is evil, since these are player characters, and we have the benefit of the fourth wall. :]

SunRoamer

August 2nd, 2009, 02:47 PM

As for the Imperium, I'm cool with that, but they would be made up of only humans, no? We still want to make it pretty clear who is good and who is evil, since these are player characters, and we have the benefit of the fourth wall. :]

Yes, only humans and considered brutal and evil by everyone but themselves. That's also why I thought it could be kind of problematic if I chose such a kind of a character (because the good one's actually bad from your characters point of view) and decided to consult wit you guys first before I continue writing the brief...

(my original motivation was that I thought that it's pretty sad that in most fantasy stories the evil guy's nothing more than just the evil guy; we never get to know more about his reasons, we never find out that, maybe, he wasn't simply evil but acted according to noble ideals/for the greater good, at least in his opinion)

And I think it's correct that the Netherlands and Germany share the same timezone :>

daestwen

August 2nd, 2009, 10:09 PM

Yeah I think we should stay to more recognizable 'good' and 'evil' stuff, though i like the idea of using a very lawful-evil kind of idea and chaotic-good, that could be super interesting. :]

SunRoamer

August 2nd, 2009, 10:43 PM

hnn, lawful-evil, reminds me of the good ol' times roaming the Sword Coast in Baldur's Gate :>
Well then, since it's almost morning again over here I'm gonna go to bed for now but THEN I'll think about something different... probably gonna stick with humans (well, I could also try inventing my own race but actually I really like the human cultural diversity)

daestwen

August 3rd, 2009, 09:57 AM

Just a couple thoughts I had guys...

The Ahnge:

Often referred to as "Celestial Beings" or "Angels" by the more earth-bound races, with often a god-like status, this race is just as fallible and mortal as any other. With life times spanning up to 300 years, they outlive many of the others and thus have the connotation of being 'immortal' though they are far from. There are actually many variations upon the Ahnge, depending upon their food sources, and can range from the infinitely colourful to the more usual white/black/brown of the northern hemisphere. (There are even a race of them that predominately eat shrimp and lobster that they fish with long spears off the coast and in the swamps, that have a very delicate coat of fine white feathers with graceful pink tips, though from their ranks have come some of the most fearsome warriors ever known to grace the planet.)

Though a very tribal race, they will often band together against the 'earthmen' (not just humans, but any other race that are bound to the earth) in long and vicious wars in order to protect their homes from destruction, and also sometimes just for fun and for profit. Because they spend much of their time aloft they are not farmers, and scavenge or hunt instead, and so food supply can be a hotly demanded topic. Often they will start a war just to gain some food, and some of the less moral among them have been known to eat earthmen when times are dire.

Ahnge are characterized by the down covering most of their body, and their massive thirty-foot wingspan. They have eyes larger than a humans, who's colours range from black (very very black) to yellow and green, with the very occasional and rare blue or purple. They have very light, hollow bones and lengthy features. When going to war their lightness can either be extremely helpful or very dangerous, and thus they have two different 'styles' of fighter - a very light armoured, spear-equipped flying fighter, as well as heavy armour ground fighters, whose armour and weaponry (which varies according to taste) is too heavy to allow them to fight continuously for hours in the air, and which requires them to fight on foot, aided by the air infantry.

The Ahnge cannot naturally cross-breed with humans, a few Ahnge scholar-magicians have successfully induced fertilization through magic, and thus there are a few half-bloods. Unfortunately the cross-breeding sometimes renders the half-bloods unable to fly, which in turn causes them to become outcasts in their society and often comes with the death penalty. The successful cross breading attempts result in ahnge (often with broader wingspan) with slightly thicker bones and much stronger, which have become some of the most well-known warriors across the cloud kingdoms.

When they are not fighting with Earthmen (or simply demanding allegiance based on their 'god like' status, they are either have massive festivals, or fighting one another.

to anyone reading this thread that isn't part of the team: If you'd like to use this race for your own team, please be my guest, but i would love to see what you do with it! :D

daestwen

August 3rd, 2009, 02:16 PM

As for the good/evil versions...

Think of them as player characters - the player can play that character, and then can choose if they want them to be 'evil' or 'good', that sort of thing. So both characters don't exist at the same time, they are chosen by the person playing them, if that makes sense. :]

okay some more thoughts:

I think I'm going to do my character Female - Ahnge - Ground Infantry (though I might do Air Infantry) - Good... And then do a similar thing but evil.

I'm leaning towards evil being not really a GROUP of people being evil, but rather the tendencies of the person. Just like how anyone in a normal city will be of the same national affiliation, but some are nasty and some are nice. But I'm also open to good/evil organizations, so we can play around a bit. :]

Anway, ahem...

Feraethia, Daughter of Oshiir, of the Coastal Tribe of Solus

Both Description: 6'1 (average Ahnge female height), with pale green eyes. Feather colouring White and Black with blue accents.

Good Description: white down feathers on face, as well as most of torso and upper part of wings, leading into black flight feathers and blue accents on feathers and on tail. (Tail is white where it connects with the torso flowing into black soon after). She has long black 'hair' which is also part down feather, but matches fairly well to human hair but much softer, and she has some part of control over it, like most Ahgne (can flatten it while flying, ect). She has long features and a small mouth, but an open, honest face. As part of the air infantry she wears a very small amount of armour - two scaled sheets down the side and front of her thighs (back is protected by her tail), a small breast plate and gauntlets. No shoulder armour in order not to hinder flight. She also wears high dragon-skin boots tied with thick cord (think how ballet slippers tie up the leg), as well as belt and ankle sheaths to hold close-combat weaponry and two days worth of meager food supplies, just in case. As a decorated soldier she also has a few polished shells that have been granted her as medals, and she has a few pieces of miscellaneous jewelery that she has collected.

more later!

daestwen

August 3rd, 2009, 02:25 PM

I'd also really like to do some kind of merperson thing as well...

Guys I can't wait! :D Gonna start sketching some stuff out on the train home today.

SunRoamer

August 3rd, 2009, 04:45 PM

Hmhm :]

Thinking about all those things is so much fun~ Constructing your own world and everything ^.^ I want to draw maps now and the different environments of all those different nations and I want to think about the relations between those countries... the cultures, the religions, everything :D
(I'm kinda forgetting that this is about characters D: )
Anyway, I love your Ahnge ;)

Well, for my character I'm still gonna stick with my initial idea of The Imperium although the good/evil thing won't be from Imperium's point of view. So, my evil one's going to be lawful evil and the good one's... well, he's good xD

E:
There's still something that's bugging me:

Well, I don't mind doing 2 portraits... and, well, what I was wondering about, since it says "portrait"... does the 3/4 rule still apply?

Enlightment, please :D

daestwen

August 3rd, 2009, 07:18 PM

Ah, right, sorry.

Yes. Take a look at the original thread's example image. They should be full bodied portraits. :]

Your lawful evil guy sounds good, so I would say run with it. :]

Did you guys still want to switch around the opposite portraits? I know yoi does, but what do you two think?

SunRoamer

August 3rd, 2009, 07:25 PM

Ah, thankies :>

And for switching around the portraits... it's not like I mind doing it :) Definitely might be fun to portray somebody else's character in this, especially since we have to take care that both are at least somewhat recognizable as the same person^^

daestwen

August 3rd, 2009, 07:29 PM

Yeah, I thought that would make it super fun too. :D Awesome. Hopefully when we can get a meeting this week we can discuss it a bit more in detail and work out some stuff... I was sketching a bit on the train so hopefully i'll have something to show you guys soon! :D

SunRoamer

August 3rd, 2009, 07:48 PM

Sketching, eh? Maybe I should do that, too, instead of constantly thinking about the character's story and so on... "efficiency" seems to be a word I don't quite know ;D

daestwen

August 3rd, 2009, 11:29 PM

Hokay, here we go, finally something drawn, huh?

So I was trying to make her very etheral and beautiful and kitten/small puppy/baby seal like to make it clear how humans could revere them so much but I think i took it a bit far, heh.

Definitely nothing solid yet, just took it and ran with it.

742321

yoitisi

August 4th, 2009, 10:41 AM

Nice sketch Daest, though I was watching you make it :P Bit too cute maybe but I like it.

Sorry for not being around a whole lot yet, I'll post more stuff soon as I get home and got my business back on the rails. I was thinking of doing either a Merman/maid with tentacles :P or a Medic kind of type (should be interesting to do the evil version of that...) but I'm not sure what race that should be. I think we need an elf too huh?

SunRoamer

August 4th, 2009, 11:08 AM

I really like it! :D
Hmm, about the cuteness... I agree with yoitsi that it may be a little bit too cute, it's really hard to imagine her as some kind of warrior-angel. But well, it's a cool concept anyway :>

daestwen

August 4th, 2009, 11:26 AM

Yeah, I totally agree. I'll do some more sketches and make her a bit more bad ass and see if i can't get something working. :]

I think a mermaid/merman/tentacled thing would be awesome... maybe in the sorcerer/wizard vein?

We can always do more than 2 each if we really get the ball rolling!

if you guys can come up with some short characters stories (yoi and dished) maybe we can decide who's going to do whose opposite.. haven't decided if i want to do the good or the evil version of my angel yet - anyone else want to give her a try and do you have dibs on which side?

Dished, you said you might have some sketches for the angel, right? Post 'em! :D

SunRoamer

August 4th, 2009, 09:50 PM

General:

if I write something like (xxx || xxx) the first thing describes the good and the second the evil version

Name: ---us (nickname || surname 'divinus')
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Profession: Spellcaster (Mage using some voodoo-rituals of sorts/power of nature || Mage warped by the gods, relying on purely divine/arcane magic), but well, I want to make it somewhat more complex (as to include Fighter elements as well)

Height: around 185 cm
Natural haircolour: Black (slightly curled)
Natural skincolour: Mediterranean (suncrisped *fufufu*)
Eye colour: Green, with brown/orange/red dots (depending on the light)
Build: Quite muscular (not too beefy, tough...)
Age: 34
Miscellaneous: Maybe one or another scar... not too entirely sure right now (like, I don't even know if I want him to be somewhat handsome or not... and such^^); with the story update, he's lost his right arm ^.^ (originally right handed)

Born as one of the nobility of Salvatio, capital of The Imperium; caring family, well-protected
Started being tutored when he was around 5 years old; all his mentors say that he was a very bright-minded little fella; zealously studied The Imperium's history and their philosophy (regarding the Paradisus and the 'demons')
When he was just 10 years old, his pater (32 years old) who served as an Tribunus militaris in the army was killed by 'heathens and their demon-allies' during a campaign; where once had only been a dislike out of loyality towards The Imperium now a real hatred toward heathens and demons alike began to grow, and fester
With 13 years his practice to prepare him for fighting and warring duties started; he was both trained physically (body control, use of armours and weapons) as well as mentally (general tutoring, informations about defiant nations yet to be conquered, demons, strategics; later on he was taught divine magic)
As soon as he was 20 years old, he finally started riding into real battle (somewhat akin to a Paladin, at that time); he helped defeat many other nations/tribes and seize their lands; if the people they invaded turned down the offer of being absorbed into The Imperium (and thus openly revealed themselves as 'heathens') or if any demons were present he was said to be one of the most gruesome and most ferocious fighters among Imperium's troops, due to the loss and grief he still felt to the untimely loss of his pater
With 24 years he had already risen to the rank of a Dux militum and the next campaign would surely get him an even higher rank; however, before the end of said campaign his fate was not yet decided...

Good:

It was supposed to be nothing more than a common mission, it ended up as a catatrophe: we ventured deep into enemy territory, wrestling their lands from them, 'freeing' those who wanted to be freed - or were to afraid to do otherwise, I suppose - killing those who were brave enough to refuse. Time passed, I revelled in spilling innocent blood until some day we were ambushed. Still drunk on the bloodshed from a few hours before, feeling myself soar high above those 'wretched pagans', as I used to call them, I didn't discover the appoaching enemies, and neither did my soldiers. In fact, we still would have had the superiority both in numbers and equipment, if it weren't for my bad luck... or rather, the enemies cunning. Seeing as I probably was the leader they mainly focused on taking me out first and, taken by surprise, I barely managed surviving the first strike. Though my life had been spared that moment, my right arm was not; rendered defenseless the only reason I'm still alive is that my horse panicked and dragged me along, eventually falling into the ruthless river that ran close by.

Brief version for the rest:

saved by elves or something else (main thing is he'd consider them enemies)
stereotypically growing closer to his saviours, starting to doubt all his previous beliefs (good guys sure are boring, especially if they undergo stereotypical-(fantasy-)personality-changes :'D)
new resolve (maybe some kind of a catastrophe in between to make sure he completely abandons all he was before, i.e. slaughter of his saviours)
life as a rogue; rallying people against The Imperium, also change of what he relies on in battle (weaponry- and magic-change... no more d'vine stuff!)

Evil: (only brief summary, too tired)

almost the same until the actual attack on him; he still loses his right arm but with less panicking horses and more going crazy instead. Power gushing forth from his severed arm as much as blood he slaugthers the enemy. The Gods then declare him Divinus, which makes him one of the most powerful man in the whole nation. They even bless him with a new arm => either gonna be ethereal or somewhere between technolyzed and arcane... (I never quite got those awesome Chronomancer-concepts (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1505275&postcount=203) (just scroll down a bit, I think you can't really miss the Chronomancer with their mechanic appearance, the strange lights and the sometimes floating body parts) out of my system, I guess... ;D)

Dished

August 4th, 2009, 11:34 PM

swweeet! :D

anyway heres a couple sketches i did for a bird-like character. Not necesarily the anghe but could be a possible group of half breeds that were outcast and therefore hate the anghe. So they could possibly be a radical group against the anghe, so technically they can be evil. anyhow,

I was going for a more 'birdlike' look to them, so they look human,but i changed the eyes around a bit, made the forheads bigger, pointier sharp downward going noses and higher cheekbones.

Anyway i was also thinking of making my character a Druid. He'll be an either an or human,but he'd have immersed himself so much in that sort of magic that he'd sort of have certain features of the animals he likes to work with or turn into.And which animals he chooses to do his druidy things with would be determined by his alignment.

I do like that idea that there'd be one character,and the player would be able to choose his/her alignment. Reminds me of fable.
:D

working on sketches of my guy right now

trevor

August 5th, 2009, 03:51 PM

hey guys looking great so far
i was talking to dawn last night and offered a suggestion for you britt
would you guys be all totally bummed if i offered a few crits?

daestwen

August 5th, 2009, 03:53 PM

No way, I would totally be hyped to get crits. :] Tear it apart, man!

SunRoamer

August 5th, 2009, 08:52 PM

Crits are always more than welcome :D Like Daestwen said, just tear it apart! ^^

So, I finally got to sketch. Only a portrait, though, in three different versions:
First one is just the base (he got quite a lot of scars now ^^), for the second I added the Imperium's soldier's gear and the last one shows him in the evil version, as a Divinus. Well, his eyes glow xD Since we wanted to take the same moodboard for both alignments (just with switched saturation, so that the evil uns have saturated colds and desaturated warms, right?) I thought the bluw glow might come in quite handy :>

Well, it's nothing too special for now, I was mainly playing around and stuff... some things may look awkward, right now ^^

E:
some subtle changes made...

daestwen

August 5th, 2009, 09:50 PM

Here... I'm scrapping this one but figured I'd show you guys my thought process in the meantime. This was a sketch that i was trying to work out some kind of mer person idea, based on a lion fish... but you can see it didn't work out too well. :] At least you can see where I was coming from on this one.

744106

yoitisi

August 6th, 2009, 08:07 AM

bluhblargh I'm back home enjoying my jetlag at the moment, but I should get to sketching a few things soon now :)

That's all for now, brain out...

SunRoamer

August 6th, 2009, 09:19 AM

Well, I like it Daestwen!
The only thing that kind of stood out was the nose... it was rally very humanoid, and at the same time really broad. The kind of nose I'd expect on a dwarf or a halfling, but well, I think it doesn't really fit mermen...
Anyway, I made a quick overpaint of one of the other possibilities (just 2 little slits)
(well, it turned out quite more like a feline nose and it also doesn't really blend in with the rest, but well, it still shows what I wanted to show, I guess D: )

SunRoamer

August 6th, 2009, 07:31 PM

So, I somewhat added a body to the head =O

Athough it's only the upper body... <.< Anyway, it's enough to show the clothing and the cultural influence:

So, the good one will be inspired by the Maasai, although the influence probably will only go as far as to the clothing. So, no shaved heads, no typical-Maasai tatoos and so on. Although I really love their traditional headdress, which would probably look stupid with such long hair :<
Right now the clothing's somewhat like this (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/Elephants%20smell%20danger%20101007%20Maasai%20%28 credit%20Katie%20Slocombe%29.jpg) or this (http://enkishonnataana.com.istemp.com/images/new_koilel_tumpes_traditional.jpg) but I'm also considering such (http://www.wildlife-kenya.org/images/maasai_hom.jpg) a style (so, more or less bare upper body).
On the other hand I already thought about doing something similar (=> bare torso) for the evil version; though that one will be more inspired by typical roman clothing. So, I thought about giving him a gladiator's gear (somewhat like this (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/gw/images/f/fe/Warrior_Elite_Gladiator_Armor_M_gray_front.jpg). Although I want to make it look less Village People-ish :'D) But well, we'll see, I guess ^.^
Eh, yeah, thats pretty much it :>

E:
for some reason, nothing was uploaded :/ Should be up now, however^^

Dished

August 7th, 2009, 04:44 AM

heres a sketch of my orc shaman lady...

checking out some amazonian tribe costumes/accessories to add to it,but for now,sleep time.

SunRoamer

August 7th, 2009, 10:54 AM

So I've been spending some time drawing a worldmap :>
Well, since it's fantasy the climatic zones are kind of extreme; the whole thing so far is definitely smaller than the whole of europe, still we got something like a pole in the north of the map and mediterranean climate in the south of the map; I guess fantasy worlds usually tend to be a little bit cramped :'D
Right now I'm thinking about how The Imperium expanded (so, like the whole history. This also includes already sparing some thoughts for the pantheon (nothing too concrete though) and also about my characters journey.
The original (rather small) Imperium will be located in the western part of the mainland and well, later on it'll be like almost everywhere. Well, at least except for parts of the swamplands where my good version stranded^^

Dished

August 7th, 2009, 04:30 PM

Another update...

SunRoamer

August 7th, 2009, 08:59 PM

I love it, dished!
Can't wait to see the other version's first sketches :>

So, I continued with the world map. Now you can see how far Imperium's spread. I'm even thinking of slapping together a little movie... to tell the story and such ^.^ It would be cool if I could include some environment-sketches as well :> *doing everything that has the chance of being labelled "unnecessary"*

Also, I further worked on the character design (even fixed some anatomical things, something unnecessary again :/), reworked his arm-stump, the tattoo and the accessoires.
(three versions: fullbody concept with clothing and everything, bare upper body to see the tattoo, bare upper body to see his bare upper body)

( ~(°A ° ~) )

And I also already have an idea for the final illustration, whereas for the evil version I only got the character design => I'm probably gonna do the good one 'cuz I like the idea, however I don't want to force my concept for the actual illustration onto whoever-will-be-doing-it ;)

E:
dammit, just ignore his legs D: Anatomy sucks... xD

daestwen

August 7th, 2009, 11:54 PM

hey guys! sorry i've been so out of it, hopefully i'll feel better tomorrow

loving the orc and i really like the map though i think we need a couple tiny pockets of hold-out among all that red... like tiny little towns that just *would not* give up and they simply gave up on taking them over and just went around.

maybe we could get some wood elves in there, sequestered in a forest that the humans have yet to enter and keep their lives? A fierce race dedicated solely to survival in the shadow of a xenophobic empire with no love of their kind...

also, the anatomy on the guy isn't just his legs :] right now he's about ten heads tall! if i'm feeling better tomorrow i'll do a paintover for you.

in the meantime, here's my current angel sketch... ignore basically everything save the armour, please, really haven't looked into those bits yet. Basically i'm going for some fishscale-style leather/dragonhide armour kind of thing...

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yoitisi

August 8th, 2009, 08:35 AM

Hey I finally got around to read all the post in here concerning the story and background. Kinda cool stuff, but I have a spot of trouble with connecting your character design to the idea of it being such a huge and powerful empire, Sunroamer.

My problem is that I have trouble believing a culture based on the Maasai, by being just a tribe and using fairly primitive weapons, they actually managed to conquer such a vast Empire. Looking at almost all great nations and empires in the past, I think all of them had a technological advantage over their opponents (and maybe some luck and a great army). I like the character write up you did of him, but can't match the culture you chose with the story really I'm afraid. I'd suggest either changing the side he's on (which would need some changes in the write-up) or change the character design so he looks like he's actually belonging to an advanced culture (could still be based on Maasai, just more advanced). Hope you don't mind my suggestion here.

Also, for the style of the final entries of us: are we still using the colour palette (warm yellows/reds vs. cool blues/greys or the other way around) as Daestwen suggested in the first few posts, as well as the classical painter style? I'm totally up for that, just wanted to make sure we're all on the same page with it.

SunRoamer

August 8th, 2009, 09:04 AM

I really like your design Britt, but well, you know that already I guess ^^ Although it's actually mainly about the armour I really love the peacock/Bird of Paradise-tailfeather^^

loving the orc and i really like the map though i think we need a couple tiny pockets of hold-out among all that red... like tiny little towns that just *would not* give up and they simply gave up on taking them over and just went around.

Well, yes, why not ^^ The map was more to simply show how much Imperium has expanded, so I didn't think too much about possible resistance :)

also, the anatomy on the guy isn't just his legs :] right now he's about ten heads tall! if i'm feeling better tomorrow i'll do a paintover for you.

The upper body's anatomy's right, though? Right?^^ Well, about his lower body... Guess his feet should be somewhere around the bottom of the pic and not outside of it xD that means his kneecaps also have to be moved upwards a bit (a lot, in fact xD) Paintover would be welcome anyway, just to make sure it definitely gets right ;)

My problem is that I have trouble believing a culture based on the Maasai, by being just a tribe and using fairly primitive weapons, they actually managed to conquer such a vast Empire. Looking at almost all great nations and empires in the past, I think all of them had a technological advantage over their opponents (and maybe some luck and a great army). I like the character write up you did of him, but can't match the culture you chose with the story really I'm afraid. I'd suggest either changing the side he's on (which would need some changes in the write-up) or change the character design so he looks like he's actually belonging to an advanced culture (could still be based on Maasai, just more advanced). Hope you don't mind my suggestion here.

Ah, I think you misunderstood something (or maybe, my explanations were not clear enough):
Imperium is a nation inspired by the roman empire. The Maasai-influenced people live in the swamplands which are not-yet-conquered; while the good version of my character grew up in and also fought for Imperium he later on was taken in by said people (when he had been wounded). He then realizes that Imperium isn't as good as he always thought and adapts to the people who saved him and now supports them against his own country.
More believable that way?^^

(I guess I'll still have to change the write-up to make sure there are no such misunderstandings... ^^" did you also understand it in another way dawn, Britt?)

yoitisi

August 8th, 2009, 09:13 AM

Sunroamer: Ah uhm, must've been me I think. Would be cool if you could write that out in a single post with nice write-up :P Still, he'd have dealt with a culture more advanced than his own, so he's bound to have picked up a few things from them I guess.

I think what confused me is the fact that the Empire is evil but looks shiny, bright, golden and basically like the 'good guys', while all the others look like the evil side but are actually the good guys. This is something that is really hard to pull off I suspect, as then the designs have to be really subtle since the division between good and evil isn't really clear (as opposed to most High Fantasy worlds). Hmm..

daestwen

August 8th, 2009, 09:21 AM

I think it's doable with body language and expression. Just think of the movie gladiator... joaquin phoenix definitely does not look like a good guy, even when wearing totally white shiny armour. :P

SunRoamer

August 8th, 2009, 09:46 AM

I want to have him protect a little child or something in the final illustration, besides we also have the colour palette and such to help differentiate between good and evil... I hope it works out ^^"

daestwen

August 8th, 2009, 11:41 AM

okay so after i posted that bit about elves i ended up thinking about them and here's a quick sketch i came up with... I was following up on the kind of african theme, tossed a bit of egyptian in there too... could even be a swamp elf, tie it into the human with a similar tattoo, etc...

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yoitisi

August 8th, 2009, 12:18 PM

Cool stuff Daest :) Hope to see that sketch worked out a bit more later.

Here's a quick sketch of mine. Decided to just jump into Photoshop and see what comes out before I start thinking it out too much. Ended up with a Lizardman that doesn't belong to any specific class yet. Pose is meh etc. but at least I'm getting back into the swing of things :)

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SunRoamer

August 8th, 2009, 01:27 PM

Nice sketches you two!

So, well, I hope the anatomy's more or less correct now^^ Feet are still awkward but I don't want to struggle with those for a simple sketch D:
Rather, I'd like to hear some opinions on the design itself. For example, I'm not too sure if I should give him some kind of weapon (I already thought about a mace-like thing and also about his tattoos kind of extending and forming a black, writhing mass that can be used to fight but, well, once again that would appear to be VERY evil xD That currently leaves me with spirits, only... [Maasai Guardian Spirit (http://www.tutorgig.com/ed/Masai_mythology), for example] I guess I shouldn't restrict myself too much to the voodoo priest-like class) or well, maybe there are other suggestions for other things^^

daestwen

August 8th, 2009, 01:46 PM

okay crit time :D

if he's from the swamp he needs shoes or boots of some sort so he doesn't get trenchfoot. he's not in a dry enough area to wander around barefoot. I like the waist stuff, but it's not reading bulky enough right now - too close to the skin. Need to flesh out the fabric more, give it some volume and weight. also, i think it's riding too low on his hips at the moment.

Liking the necklaces, but same thing with the clothes, get them a little less skin tight, especially considering how long they are. I like the tattoo...

There's something missing but I can't really put my finger on it right now. :(

SunRoamer

August 8th, 2009, 02:03 PM

There's something missing but I can't really put my finger on it right now. :(

His left hand? D:

Aaaanyway, thank you for the crit :> I actually want some parts of the clothes to be clinging close to his skin, but well, I'll have to see (like the foremost guy on the right side (http://www.wildlife-kenya.org/images/maasai_hom.jpg) also got it quite tight). The drapery on his left will be lose, however; maybe you meant that?
Necklaces will probably increase in numbers, and yeah, some time I was also thinking about the fact that they are like, REALLY tight... I just always forget about those things, I should probably write it down xD Same goes for the thing with the shoes :)

Thank you again ;)

and it will take me some time before I can go online in Skype again, still have to eat and such things. Sorry ^^"

E:
the clothing needs some structure. Especially the hanging stuff doesn't make any sense at all :/

SunRoamer

August 8th, 2009, 09:06 PM

Update:
Worked on his clothing
Added "shoes"
Necklaces should look less tight now

Well, not too much but the design for the clothing took me quite a lot of time. I'm always bad at designing not-completely ridiculous things D:
Some things will probably somewhat change in the final illustration (maybe too much... stuff hanging around right now?), but since I wanted to do the good version myself it should be okay, I guess^^ So, unless there are any things that definitely need to be changed in the sketch I'd move on to the evil one now :)

daestwen

August 9th, 2009, 10:56 PM

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wibble...

JessiBean

August 10th, 2009, 04:57 PM

Sunroamer - I like how you are considering the costume and the patterned fabrics/necklace details/etc. I think it is missing some reality, tho... like what holds it up, how is it put together? Indications of things like stitches or laces, belts or sashes that tie the cloth onto the body - these will make the clothing design look more realistic and cohesive.

Nice work guys!

yoitisi

August 10th, 2009, 05:28 PM

Time for a tiny update on my side, been sketching a bit more on the lizardmen. Dunno if I should continue with it or not, not really happy with these heads (and yes, they lack any character atm since it's more looking for a head shape rather than it's costume/character).

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Dished

August 10th, 2009, 09:55 PM

doooood! those heads are awwwesome! AHH! if you go through with them i woudl looove to switch characters with you,if thats ok haha.

daestwen

August 11th, 2009, 02:20 AM

Taking kind of an assasin approach on this one... what do you guys think?

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MasterStryke

August 11th, 2009, 11:34 AM

the lizard heads are well done

but the steps seem wrong to me. (if they are morphose steps)

1 to 3 looks ok

2 to 4 looks ok too

but3 to 2 is too much morphose on one step and doesnt fit that much imo

if they are not steps <_

then 1 fits for good

and something of 3 but longer face at all and mor narrow eyes you know

quick sketch ... how i mean ~~

SunRoamer

August 11th, 2009, 11:36 AM

Really cool sketches!

@Jessi:
Thank you for the crit! Well, I thought the fabric was just somewhat bound around the body and itself in a way that would make sure it doesn't just fall of. Somewhat like when you bind a towel round your hip... anyway, in some of the pics I looked at the Maasai also wore belts, so that's also a possibility. But for now I guess I'll simply move on to the evil version, and well... if I have time I'll change the good version's sketch again, or I'll just try to directly change some things in the final illustration (something I wanted to do anyway^^)

Well, I still changed some things (didn't really help I suppose) but for now this will be the final sketch :)

SunRoamer

August 13th, 2009, 03:06 PM

So, just to show that I'm still doing something...
the first pic is just a first sketch for the evil characters design. Just wanted to have at least something I can somewhat work on... ^^ General inspiration was roman armour and stuff as well as these Chronomancer-concepts (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1505275&postcount=203) (just scroll down a bit until you get to those weird technolyzed humans). Moreover I want to include some patterns, as Daestwen and Dished suggested :)
Links:
Japanese Patterns #1 (https://budogu.com/images/products/361_large.jpg), #2 (http://paperflame.com/content/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/japanese-crests.jpg) and #3 (http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/i/igr/64.jpg), Roman armor reference #1 (http://img1.photographersdirect.com/img/14912/wm/pd1442472.jpg), #2 (http://images.celebrateexpress.com/mgen/merchandiser/34903.jpg), #3 (http://www.casasculpture.com/photos/themed/renaissance/renfair1/pic3.jpg) and #4 (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/gw/images/f/fe/Warrior_Elite_Gladiator_Armor_M_gray_front.jpg).

Well, right now the shoulderplate/right arm don't really blend in with the rest, but that's the problem I have to work on ^.^

Well, for the second image I made some "thwampnails" (haha, I suck at making jokes ~.~) to get a feeling for the swampy place my good character lived in for so long. For the first one I used this reference: Link (http://fairiegoodmother.deviantart.com/art/Swampy-Waters-6-119379940)
The others were also somewhat referenced (mood/colourwise) but no direct "copies"...
just wanted to do something different I guess ^^

daestwen

August 13th, 2009, 04:07 PM

sunroamer: niiiice. reminds me that we have to start thinking about how we want to do the backgrounds.

can we get a meeting all together on saturday?

in the meantime:

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SunRoamer

August 13th, 2009, 06:20 PM

sunroamer: niiiice. reminds me that we have to start thinking about how we want to do the backgrounds.

Thank you :]

About the backgrounds... I'd like to keep them as an "extra". Actually I did those thumbnails because I wanted to do something else, besides I have to get better at landscapes ;) I definitely don't want to paint such a detailed landscape in a larger format as a background for a character illustration (=> or rather, I don't want to have to work more on the background than the character^^)
And well, you once showed me some references for the style we want to achieve in the final pics:
Link (http://www.artchive.com/artchive/c/caravaggio/caravaggio_amor.jpg) and Link (http://www.racollection.org.uk/asset_arena/photo/large/60/PL007260.jpg). Actually I really like those obscured backgrounds :> Well, I guess in the end everyone should somewhat decide it for themselves... meeting wouldn't be bad though, it's easier to discuss things that way ;)

daestwen

August 13th, 2009, 07:14 PM

Yeah, I'm cool with the obscured stuff, though I think we could maybe put something in the background to obscure. Just the hint of something back there... Or even nothing in the background, but stuff in the midground, like in those examples.

yoitisi

August 14th, 2009, 08:03 AM

Alright a small compilation of what we've done so far and as to what the plans are. We need to get this show on the road as we still have to start on our 8 portrait illustrations...

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I figured seeing all the images we posted in here together might inspire us, and it's also a good check to see if we're going the right way. I think if we keep the color palette really tight, we can basically design any character/culture we want without everything falling apart at the seems. I didn't deviate between colour palette for good or evil yet, but the effect will probably be much the same.

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I'll update this post with the written text a bit later, so we see what characters each of us is working on at the moment. Probably best if we get a range of classes rather than all spellcasters and stuff ;)

Okay so here goes:

SUNROAMER

Character 1:
Name: Ren (pending); different surnames
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Profession: Fighter//Spellcaster
Side: ???

Character 2:
Name: ???
Race: ???
Gender: ???
Profession: ???
Side: ???

DAESTWEN

Character 1:
Name: Feraethia, Daughter of Oshiir, of the Coastal Tribe of Solus
Race: Anghe
Gender: Female
Profession: Warrior
Side: Good

Character 2:
Name: ???
Race: Wood Elf
Gender: Female
Profession: Assassin
Side: Evil

YOITISI

Character 1:
Name: ???
Race: Lizardmen
Gender: Male
Profession: ???
Side: Good

Character 2:
Name: ???
Race: ???
Gender: Female
Profession: ???
Side: Evil

DISHED

Character 1:
Name: ???
Race: Orc
Gender: Female
Profession: Shaman
Side: Evil

Character 2:
Name: ???
Race: ???
Gender: ???
Profession: ???
Side: ???

That's the rough list I came up with. It leaves a whole bunch of gaps at the moment as you can see. There are also a few characters to divide, as I think we agreed on seperating the good/evil version of each character per person. The ones we have so far:

Ren - Evil/Good
Anghe - Evil
Lizardmen - Evil
Orc - Evil
Wood Elf - Good

When we meet this weekend on Skype, we can decide whether we stay with the characters we chose, and what the rest of our characters should be. So, before the meeting please figure out your final choice for your first character, and then we can divide the opposites amongst each other and start on the final illustrations.

daestwen

August 14th, 2009, 11:52 AM

Did another quick sketch for the elf... Just trying to work out the costume a bit better, maybe for the good version?

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As for the meeting, I'll be around all day today if you guys are?

Dished

August 14th, 2009, 01:01 PM

hey guys! ill be online for most of today so ill most likely be good for a meeting today.

, but just a small correction, my orc will actually be evil :]

trevor

August 14th, 2009, 01:39 PM

looking good so far guys!
but dont the rules (as i understood them anyways) state that we have to do a good and evil version of the same character? maybe yoitisi's post confused me hahaha

brit watch that back leg on the elf, i think the toe would Be pointing more in the viewers direction and for balance sake try rotating her clockwise a bit
she seems a bit unstable
1 last thing, try not to over render. your loose greyscale has a lot of life to it and the color image seems to be flattening out a bit due to a lack of a strongly defined lightsource
yoitisi
those lizzzzzzzard men are sweet
i cant wait to see which you use
any ideas on scale patterns or color markings?
sunroamer
i would suggest reffing that anatomy quite a bit more he still seems a bit wonky
and for his tattoos try making the tentacle marks chunky thick and graphic
or go completely opposite and try tribal stylized versions of them in black , again thick and chunky. any thoughts on how the armor will fit in with the rest of the team's pieces or how it will differentiate from standard roman armor?
dished
where are you? i want to see more! the bird ish dude was looking cool and a bit creepy hahaha
hope i havent overstepped my bounds here
glad to see you all so into this!

daestwen

August 14th, 2009, 01:45 PM

I think yoi's post did confuse you a bit. :P Yes, we need one of each. we are just totally scatterbrained at the moment but we'll sort out who's doing what by today or tomorrow.

Thanks for the crits, man, I super appreciate it. :] You are of course welcome to give them any time!

Earendil

August 14th, 2009, 02:16 PM

Looking good! I like the finned-head individual and the assassin! Can you believe we're almost halfway? Sheesh! :D Keep up the awesomeness!

yoitisi

August 14th, 2009, 04:07 PM

Trevor: Haha yeh you are right and I realise that, the problem is that we're all over the place at the moment so I just noted down where we're at :P Gonna sort it all out this weekend I hope.

SunRoamer

August 15th, 2009, 02:51 PM

Evil character design so far... I'm kind of clueless about the patterns :/ Until now I only got a flower emblem with strange rays leading away from it *headdesk* Help! D:

Also, since I'm not too happy with giving him a fully "technolyzed" right arm (tried several things, and it never quite felt right (esp considering the medieval setting... even if it's "godgiven") or too much like the Chronomancer designs) I want him to have a blue "spirit arm" instead :> Just didn't get to sketch that yet^^

@Trevor:
Thank you!
I'll definitely try to play more with the tattoos, I really like your suggestions for them (especially styilzed versions can be fun^^)
About the anatomy... did you mean "wonky" literally (=> he looks weak) or more like that the anatomy itself is "weak", i.e. not too good? (Since I'm not a native speaker I sometime find myself having a hard time with certain words/phrases, since I don't really know in which situations they're usually applied, and such ;))

yoitisi

August 15th, 2009, 07:44 PM

Quick update before I go to sleep, been working on the lizardmen body a bit. Think I'll go with something similar to nr. 2, but it looks a bit too bold and young for what I was aiming for so will work on it some more.

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Also, we quickle made an overview of who does what this evening but I'll put that up after I have gotten some sleep ;)

Sunroamer: Since someone else is going to do that evil version, I was just wondering if you're okay with the design being altered slightly -as is inevitably going to happen in this sort of situation? Just so we're all clear on that issue ;)

Dished

August 15th, 2009, 09:41 PM

Thanks trevor!

Yeah im feeling sorta stuck with this character at the moment,heres a quick change of teh legs,but i think i might just do some sketches with the creepy guy

SunRoamer

August 16th, 2009, 08:40 AM

Sunroamer: Since someone else is going to do that evil version, I was just wondering if you're okay with the design being altered slightly -as is inevitably going to happen in this sort of situation? Just so we're all clear on that issue ;)

Yep, I already knew that it would happen and I think that's the one thing that's the most interesting about this swapping thing ;) I just thought it would be helpful if the basic concept is already somewhat progressed, but well, if britt doesn't mind working with only what I got now I'd be glad if I could drop the concept and start with the illustrations.
So, Britt: would you prefer if I worked more on the sketch or is it "enough" right now? Either way, I totally don't mind if you change something^^

@sketches:
I really love all the bodies Yoi! Just wondering (since they all look like they won't be too agile/fast) can they drop to their hands and move on 4 legs, then? Right now they seem like they could only be slow warriors/some kind of spellcasters (be it real mages, or priests...)... that reminds me, what profession is your lizardman gonna be?
And dished, I really think some skulls would fit her... at least her evil version? Well, anyway, I really do like the concept so far ;)

daestwen

August 16th, 2009, 11:21 AM

I think I can run with this for now. :]

We're down to the half way point now guys, so I think we should each do a few thumbnails for our final portraits so we can make sure that the composition and stuff is really solid and that they all have a similar kind of presentation. What do you think?

Dished

August 16th, 2009, 04:03 PM

heres a few thumbnails i worked on this morning..
im really leaning towards either #2 or #3. Im liking the idea of her sort of patting a vine thats sticking out from the side, kinda makes her seem more regal and that the plants obey her. what i like about 2 is that shes got these two spiky plant vines and an army of tiny beetle bug things near the worm insect thing shes riding.

sun roamer- good idea man! yeah ill see where i can fit skulls there maybe:D thanks!

anyway let me know what you guys think!

daestwen

August 16th, 2009, 04:06 PM

Awesome, Dished!

3 is out, they have to be portrait layout, it's in the rules. :]

I like 2 the best but I think the figure still needs to be a bit bigger

SunRoamer

August 16th, 2009, 04:26 PM

I definitely like the second version the most as well... (I love those big roots ^.^) Britt's right though, I think. The character needs to be bigger :> And yup, I'll work on some thumbnails as well ;)

yoitisi

August 16th, 2009, 08:26 PM

Here's the final general design of my lizardmen. I want to type a bunch of info about this race and why they look the way they look, but I'll have to do that tomorrow since I really need some sleep here. More sketches tomorrow, including some costume stuff and some conversion to a single character out of this general shape. Maybe some ortho's too.

(also, my brother mentioned something about Stargate when seeing this sketch. That's all lies, I swear! I might fiddle a bit with the side flaps on his neck though, to differentiate a bit from their design I guess)

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I should probably also hand out some feedback to you guys and maybe some paintovers? I'll see how much time I have tomorrow ;)

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

Edit: So, I spent this morning revising my update from yesterday :P I went looking for some more reference of lizards and figured mine should change slightly.

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Lizardmen:

A bit of info on the race itself before I get to work on my evil version of it. Lizardmen are an ancient race that's been around from well before humans ever decided to climb out of the trees. They are a highly individualistic race, which is probably the reason why they never became a dominant species in their environment.

As soon as a juvenile lizardman crawls out of its egg, the motherlizard abandons the nest and leaves the youngs to the mercy of their environment. Few make it to adulthood, but the ones that do are tough and have no natural predators. Lizardmen are highly intelligent and as they live for a very long time (rumoured to be an average of 400 to 600 hundred years) they are usually a source of knowledge and wisdom.

Their natural habitat is the deserts and lush jungles in the warmer regions of the world, as they are cold blooded and cannot regulate their own temperature. They can often be found basking in the sun or cooling in the shade, contemplating or meditating. They regard the sun as their god, as it not only is the source of all life on earth but also essential for their survival.

Lizardmen are nomadic of nature, and usually travel alone. They can often be found in company of other races, but they simply can't stand to be among a group of others from their own race. Though mainly sticking to their natural habitat, many lizardmen travel around the globe in search of ancient wisdom in ancient ruins and libraries. They mostly seek personal enlightenment as they didn't have any parents or people to teach them when growing up. Their appearance can vary depending on where they were born, but they do never walk on all fours anymore. They do not possess any magic either (this due to the fact that the lizardmen do not evolve and have not done so for eaons. Magic is like radiation, it makes mutations easier to appear, something that lizardmen are highly resistant against by nature).

Lizardmen, by their very nature, usually move slow but in need they can act with tremendous force and speed. Each single lizardman is worth a dozen humans when it comes to fighting, and they are unmoveable obstacles in a fight due to their thick and armored, scaled skin. The older the lizard, the fiercer an enemy it is. They are crafty in many skills, and usually make their own armor (with little metal as it tends to make them overheat easily. In general, their clothes are build to be able to both cool them or help them warm up when needed).

That's it for now, sorry for the rambling :P Description of my own character will follow later along with some sketches.

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Something else, as said earlier we're rather all over the place with our designs and cultures, so the one thing that should bind our work together in the end is the palette. I made a quick overview of what I think we were aiming for, correct me if I'm wrong (and an example by Rembrandt, though on the first page in this SB we have two other examples)

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Edit: this means the palette of the final illustration, not the colour palette of your character design necessarily. It's also not forbidden to use a bit of blue or green really, just don't go for totally saturated greens overall ;)

daestwen

August 17th, 2009, 11:54 AM

Yoitisi, you are totally awesome. This looks great. :]

yoitisi

August 17th, 2009, 05:25 PM

Quick update. First concept for costume for my character. Just trying a few things out. Main idea is that the armor is foldable or has the ability to enhance both the cooling or warming up of the coldblooded body of the lizardman. The design right now looks a bit too regular still I think, but I'm going to move on and add some extra character elements later or in the final illustration I think.

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SunRoamer

August 18th, 2009, 11:30 AM

Thank you for the helpful post yoi :) Actually I already worked on a thumb (before I read what you wrote) and well, it's so not worth uploading and it doesn't even "work" (since my background was, like, completely obscured and DARK and the character was simply senselessly sparkling D: ) Well, I somewhat have to change my initial idea but I think it only helps improving the final illu^^

Your design's awesome so far. I always love armourdesign with similar stuff on the back like what your lizard got :)

E:
tch, actually Rembrandt himself turned out to distract me from doing thumbs as well :< I just wanted to have a closer look at the colours, and then I somewhat repainted it... well, I didn't do any sketches and I was still mainly interested, so it's a somewhat twisted rembrandt, but it was a nice study for some 45 or so minutes D:
I hope this study will help me with colours and final style in the illustrations :)

yoitisi

August 18th, 2009, 03:54 PM

Sunroamer: Good idea :) I think you could use some warmer reds in there, and overall the original is much darker too. The warmer the colors you use, the more easy grays or gray with only a tinge of green or blue read like like totally cool colours.

Here's design nr. 2. I'm enjoying these too much, I should probably hurry the last concept I want to do up a little and move on to the final painting.

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jozulus

August 18th, 2009, 05:47 PM

this reptile-dragon warrior is really fine piece. you made awoseme work on painting these. they must be funny, when they move on 2 feet, like real 'teenage mutant ninja reptiles' ;)

other team cocnepts are improve well too, good work for you

cheers

daestwen

August 18th, 2009, 10:57 PM

You guys are burning up the dance floor, I love it. :D

Did some sketches to figure out posing for the Good Wood-Elf Thief (the evil version would be the Assassin)... Let me know what you think.

I'm leaning towards the one in the lower left, myself.

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edit: thumbnaaaaail

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alive

August 18th, 2009, 11:14 PM

hmm, i was thinking upper left, edit- but go for what inspires u most hehe

daestwen

August 19th, 2009, 12:30 AM

Problem with upper left is I have no idea why a thief would have a giant hammer... :P

edit: Trying to get a little more movement in here...

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yoitisi

August 19th, 2009, 03:55 AM

Daestwen: Woooo nice stuff. I also love the upper left thumb you did, but can't think of any reason for a thief to have a hammer like that either I'm afraid :P The current pose I'm not too sure about to be honest, it feels a little unbalanced. I think for a thief, the lower right pose might work too? It's a bit more sneaky or something. I love those thumbs you did though :)

Also, wasn't I supposed to do the good version and you the assassin? a_e I'm so confused as I forgot to put up the list properly, my fault. If you want to finish the thief that's okay with me, I'll handle the assassin then :)

SunRoamer

August 19th, 2009, 05:01 AM

guido: evil lizard, good elf
britt: evil elf, evil warrior
sun: good warrior, good shaman
dished: evil shaman, good lizard

That's the list, I think...

Anyway, I prefer the lower right version as well... :> The current one somewhat seems to be more like a swashbuckler, or something like that. Although I really like her expression!

DigitalShade

August 19th, 2009, 01:39 PM

Yoitisi really digging the lizardmen designs. It would be neat to see a picture of one of those in battle.

alive

August 19th, 2009, 02:20 PM

you could always change the hammer into a katana , katanas are always win material these days heh

SunRoamer

August 19th, 2009, 02:38 PM

Hmm, so I somewhat worked on sketches/some thumbnails (actually it's the same sketch all the time with little changes because of me getting new ideas)

First pic:
Original sketch at 50% with 2 different formats, but I guess I really won't decide that just now :> Also, a clear image of the Vévé (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veve) I designed for the background, since I didn't want to lose my Voodoo-influence. It's also just a sketch, and actually I'm somewhat clueless. I definitely want it to hint to a protecting/healing spirit, anyway.

Second pic:
Original size, I forgot that I also had a version of the girl with a cape and I wanted to show it.

Third pic:
Original size as well; gave the girl elves' ears (wanted to do it from the beginning, just forgot about it D: She's supposed to come from the same tribe as Britt's elf, if it doesn't show^^ Hope that's okay?) and I added a fog at the bottom. I really like it this way, although the fog could be white as well (I'll just have to experiment a bit, I guess)

Oh, and please don't mind anatomical issues right now, for the real illustrations I'll use lots of reference pics, I promise! Rather, I'd like to hear what you think about the whole sketch itself :)

@Britt:
His scars somewhat changed sides on his face D: Would be awkward if the good and evil version had the same scars, but on different sides of their faces oO So that simply was a mistake on my part^^ Although it made me think that maybe we could simply remove the scars from the evil characters design. I mean, he was granted a new "arm" by the gods, so why shouldn't they have healed his face? °A ° It's your decision, however ;)

daestwen

August 19th, 2009, 02:49 PM

SunRoamer

August 19th, 2009, 03:41 PM

No worries about the scars, we'll work that out. :] I'll be doing my version after yours is a little further along, and using that as the basis, so don't worry if you want to change stuff, I'll make sure to incorporate it.

Okay :>

As for the rest of the sketch...

We need to lose the girl. Since we're doing character portraits it needs to be clearly a singular character... It's a really great idea but doesn't work for what we want to accomplish. :( We need the focus entirely on the main character.

[...]

b) he's feeling too static to me, let's get some movement into him, get him a little less posed.

Well, okay, too bad I can't keep the little girl ;( I guess I have to work out something new then... well, good thing is, in that case he'll definitely get some movement :>

As for the rest -

really like the veve, i think we could incorporate that really soothly, like it's drawn in chalk on the wall behind him or carved into something, ect. Right now it's too strong but that's easy to mute down.

[...]

A) Dooooon't cut off the feet DON'T DO IT. :P It just looks lazy and adds absolutely nothing to the composition

Yep, right now I had already spend enough time on the design, so I simply slapped it behind my character. Didn't want to make a big fuss of the BG yet D:
Okay, so I should not cut off the feet... is putting his feet into a veil of fog and shadows acceptable, then? (guess not <.<)

Oh yeah, what about the new tattoo?

daestwen

August 19th, 2009, 03:45 PM

No, you can't hide the feet in fog :P Problem with cutting them off like that is that it leads the eye right off the page.

The new tattoo is great! no complaints there!

yoitisi

August 19th, 2009, 03:46 PM

Hey Sunroamer: Yep I agree on Daestwens comments. Basically, not including the feet in whatever fashion is being regarded as being either too lazy to draw them or not being able to draw them, both are worse than biting the bullet and just giving it a try really :P

I like the new tattoo better btw, though the stump of his arm reads a bit like it's a leather cap strapped on over his chest atm (something I think might work too, here).

SunRoamer

August 19th, 2009, 03:55 PM

Well, okay, thank you xD I have to be careful, it seems D:

For now I'm off to bed, but I'll start on a new sketch right after school tomorrow (so, after 5 pm <.<). And well, after I watched the GuildWars 2 Trailer.
Unless I die of happiness after seeing it, of course @.@

yoitisi

August 20th, 2009, 11:24 AM

Sorry for the lack of updates all of a sudden :P I need to give my arm and wrist some rest, I've been a little too enthusiastic the past week I suppose. Nothing to worry about, just should take it easy for a bit.

SunRoamer

August 21st, 2009, 12:58 PM

I thought that maybe I should change my style at least for sketches D: Altough I really have to be careful not to get too detailed with these sketches... if I had added the tattoo it'd have been hard to make out anything (like, half his body would have been one black mass)

Moeover, he's somewhat looking really evil right now, due to the heavy contrast and strong shadows, I guess... besides, his expression will change... right now I'm thinking about making him look up, giving him a pensive/sad/tortured expression. Also, I'm currently considering certain symbolic things, like giving him blood-stained hands and such, because of his bloodsoaked past, and also his bloodsoaked present... (mimics are important because of this, too :>)
Maybe his mace will slip from his grip then, as well.
Eh, well, I guess it's better if I explain it later :/

Anyway, for now I simply played around with the format a bit, what I know for sure right now is 1. I don't want the picture to be to "cramped" (version 3) and 2. I don't want the character and the sign simply right in the middle of the picture (version 2)... well, yeah xD

yoitisi

August 21st, 2009, 06:21 PM

Sunroamer: Composition looks a lot better now that the feet are included :) I'd try and incorporate the big sign into something in the background though, and make it smaller. It really distracts from the character itself right now, which is the most important part of your image. Also, guess the evil-ness comes from all the contrast and black right now (look at them eyes :P) but I suppose you're working on that so.

Anyway, managed to get this thing done today. Had to take frequent breaks but my wrist and hand are getting better. I'll move on to the final painting now, think I'm going to use the second concept I did.

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daestwen

August 21st, 2009, 08:42 PM

Sunroamer: Much much better though I still think you can push it a bit. Because he doesn't have two arms he comes out very thin, so pulling his arm out to give him more width would be a good idea. I dunno about blood-soaked hands, that would ring pretty evil! I second yoi about the background, but I do think you can use the misty kind of thing that you pulled in. I disagree with him about the size, though. I would actually make it much, much bigger but much much fainter - like an overlay. If I have time I'll do up a quick paint over for you tonight. :] Remember to stick to the width/height ratio in the example pic in the main thread. :P

Yoitisi: This one's actually my favourite, haha, though maybe not for the evil version. :] I really like the nostril/eye chain and the adorned shawl... Maybe pull some elements into your other design?

Guys, who's around tomorrow? Can we get a quick meeting in?

daestwen

August 22nd, 2009, 12:27 AM

Just a quick thing for the face... her face keeps changing.... blah blah blah blah blah.

Also, I'm well aware that the eye on the right is kind of screwed up right now... will fix it!

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Dished

August 22nd, 2009, 01:02 AM

just did a quick sketch of how im workin her design out for my evil shaman

hope this helps a bit too sunroamer, of course feel free do put your spin on her when you do the good version. Have fun! :D

daestwen

August 22nd, 2009, 01:09 AM

Dished, I love how she has crazy limbs and a zombie face and then PERFECT BEAUTIFUL boobs.

awesome. :P <3

Dished

August 22nd, 2009, 01:35 AM

hahah! thanks dae! :D those boobs were hard.... like i put a stroke down,and dohh! it got square,etc.

anyway heres an update on the illo. lemme know what you guys think

i decided to make her arms regular length, i think making em long and gangly..iono didnt fit right lol.

yoitisi

August 22nd, 2009, 09:27 AM

Dished: Cool stuff, I like the pose in the last one. I'd crop the image a little more on the right and bottom to focus more on the actual character still. There's lots of empty space there. Also, the boob issue might come from the fact that her nipple is pointing straight at us atm, think having it point a bit more forward and decreasing the contrast boob-ribcage (they're small boobs after all) might help too. Anyway, cool stuff :)

Here's some thumbs, not sure which one to pick yet. My favourite is nr.1 but it might be a bit too dynamic to fit with what everyone is doing at the moment.

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SunRoamer

August 22nd, 2009, 12:40 PM

Sunroamer: Much much better though I still think you can push it a bit. Because he doesn't have two arms he comes out very thin, so pulling his arm out to give him more width would be a good idea.

So, you mean he should lift his arm, somewhat extending it to the right part of the image?
And thanks for all the other feedback :> the sign's something I can change anytime, and deciding about things like adding bloodsoaked hands or not can also wait for now. For now, I'll work it out a little bit more, and well, we'll see what happens, I'd say ^^

@dished:
okay, I'll try to have as much fun as possible with her design xD Although, first comes my cleric, because britt is also kind of waiting for my progress on him before she wants to start on his evil version^^ I certainly don't want to be the one slowing her down :>

SunRoamer

August 22nd, 2009, 08:10 PM

Okay... he got his arms somewhere else. Is this what you suggested?^^

Niva.

August 22nd, 2009, 09:35 PM

Yoitisi that lizard creature is awesome, great job. Cheers!

daestwen

August 23rd, 2009, 01:20 AM

Sunroamer: Lookin' good. I think you can probably make him a bit bigger but other than that it's an alright base to work with.

alright, this is it for tonight. left the my damn tablet pen at the other house so can't work anymore tonight. :/

Was thinking about giving her maori-styled tattoos and i think they actually look okay? Here's both versions, let me know what you think.

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daestwen

August 23rd, 2009, 03:17 AM

Wood-Elves - Aka Razarim (as they call themselves in the northern forest) and the Razadum (those that once populated in the southern forest, now mostly used as slaves or third-class urban citizens)

Once a solitary but friendly people, the wood elves changed dramatically as their territory was encroached upon and their lives lost. The Razarim escaped most of what the wood elves refer to as their genocide - the reach of the Imperial City hadn't extended to their northern forest yet and they were too far to be worth a huge effort until expansion. The Razadum, however, had been trading with humans and other races for several hundred years, and lived much closer to the main contingent of the human population, which unfortunately also made them a much easier target. When the imperliast xenophobia spread, so did the hatred against the wood elves, who were known for keeping many of their secrets from human knowledge. The southern woods were burned to the ground, and the elves captured or slaughtered. Most remain in captivity, though there are a few that have earned their freedom over the last few generations since the burning. (It has been 3 human generations - just about 2 elven generations - since that time.)

The Razarim in the north are known as one of the fiercest pockets of resistance on the whole continent, and harbour refugees and fugitives that are willing to fight for the cause. They have also seeded many resistance cells in human urban areas, often masquerading as Razadum slaves in order to gain access to their targets.

Known for their ability to move quickly and silently, they have been trained and used on both sides as thieves, assassins and spies - for the resistance, they fight for their cause, for the empire, they fight for themselves, greed, or for their family which would be slaughtered on their betrayal.

Though there are many elven slaves, they are considered more precious than some other slave races (like dwarves and mountain orcs) and are often trained as spies (see above), or entertainment (dancers, actors, musicians). Resistance spies often take the guise of dancers or musicians in order to gain closer access to their targets. It is seen as unseemly for a human to have sexual interactions with elves, but there have been many known cases of half-blooded children (shunned by both societies) to the disgrace of both the human and elven parent.

Both the razarim and razadum have traditions of body art, and the tattoos they are granted upon adulthood tell the story of their birth, their family tree, the tribe they belong too, and the legend of the First - the original elf that brought life to the forests. The tattoos work as a sort of instant-communication and have yet to be understood by the xenophobic humans, who even by their loyal elven spies are told that they are merely decorative. Nevertheless, elven spies have been known to change the appearance of their tattoos with make up, or give themselves additional tattoos to obscure their origin.

Other notes: Though there are different races of elves, like the desert elves and the mountain elves, they are actually closer to humans than to the other elven races. Humans refer to many different races of 'elves' though there are actually many species and can't always inter-breed, though most can breed with humans.

SunRoamer

August 23rd, 2009, 07:38 AM

You should definitely give her those tattoos! I really love them :>

SunRoamer

August 23rd, 2009, 01:05 PM

First colours for the character. It definitely got worse xD Right now it's also looking far too digital, but well, it's just the beginning ^.^ (and I definitely need to turn the head a little bit more back to the viewer, liked that more in the original sketch :<)

daestwen

August 23rd, 2009, 10:02 PM

Okay, here's the update....

In black and white since I'm totally not happy with the colour right now.

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Dished

August 24th, 2009, 02:39 AM

ok heres a bit of an update, DEFINITELY a lot of work to do, her legs are way off, so i gotta fix that. Big thanks to trevor for doing a PO and helpin me out:D

SunRoamer

August 24th, 2009, 11:36 AM

Progress so far is gorgeous Britt, Dished :>
As actual feedback, I think the elf's nose is too broad. In fact it somewhat reminded me of Pixelturner, since his/her humans also often "suffer" from the same problem ^.^

So, here's a bit of an update on my picture. Hmmm... I'm not really too sure about this :/ (ref-time now^^)
(if some things look totally off it could also be because of the fact that I'm actually more feverish than I thought I was D: )

daestwen

August 24th, 2009, 11:45 PM

Just a quick update guys, no time!

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yoitisi

August 25th, 2009, 03:27 PM

Did some quick paintovers for Daestwen, hope they help a bit :)

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Trying to figure out the hips and legs a bit, not sure I was all that succesful.

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Dished, Sunroamer: I was planning on doing you guys a paintover too but my arms need some serious rest I'm afraid :( Not even sure I'll be able to finish off my part of team chow at the moment...

vardoburrito

August 25th, 2009, 04:24 PM

I can't help but always balance my characters on one leg - I can't do the even weight distribution stances. [I think I have a phobia].
If it helps. :)
- I love uneven eyebrows.
- Looking off camera, but those eyes eye sick as already so I left it.
- Stretched the back of her noggin a bit, as I kind of liked her neck, but it was positioned too much in front of the clavicle base.
-Tilted her straight up, and just a bit leaning back.
-The legs, ugh! I don't know, googly eyes, so double x2 please.
[She lost a shoe] :( sorry. hehehe.

-Back light on her left beub looks a bit strong.

Again, I can't do the even stances.
I love the details.

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SunRoamer

August 25th, 2009, 04:26 PM

You shouldn't worry too much about that, yoitsi! Health always comes first, I'd say, so don't you dare push yourself too much ;)

So, Britt and I had our sweet time looking at all kinds of hunks since I wanted to get my hands on one or another reference. Right now, the cleric's abs change like every few minutes xD They are still way off, even now :/

trevor

August 25th, 2009, 04:41 PM

hey britt
quick suggestion
i think you may be pushing into final rendering piece by piece instead of working loose overall until its evenly polished enough to get to final details
if you have her overall rough defined pretty well by the time you go to a final render you wont be worrying about repainting too much when you have these potential balance issues
just a tip ;)

daestwen

August 25th, 2009, 05:46 PM

dwardo, yoi, thanks so much, I really appreciate.

trevor, you are so right :P but i can't stand to look at my stuff at the mid-point so i go kind of crazy. i'll do my best from here on out though!

Dished

August 26th, 2009, 02:55 AM

quiick update,daestwen suggested i fix her hips a bit, will work on that some more! :D

Dished

August 26th, 2009, 03:38 AM

Hey guys..im technically supposed to be asleep,but i decided to doodle stuff for the good lizard,anyhow heres a bit of a sketch, ill post more as i work on em!

daestwen

August 26th, 2009, 10:53 PM

Ugh, getting totally sick of this painting! I feel like whenever I fix something it just loses something else. :(

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vardoburrito

August 27th, 2009, 01:16 AM

oh my gawd, sorry, I think I made the knees the same level in my op. gaaah.
uhhhm - I think it's the knees that is makin it off-kilter - It's always the knees (damn you knees, why must you be needed).

The pose still gets me, but I don't know - see what you reckon.

-pulled in left leg closer and under the body.
-thinned out the lower leg as it was almost the same width as her thighs skin
tight boots.
-resized the back arm smaller
-and I think I added some kind of eye lens perspective to her legs. [sorry, but that's what my eyes see]

That said, I botched up your detail work, again, but I do love your values/detail/lighting

The feet arch and knee directions. Keep a look out. I still can't get them right man.
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And please daestwen, if you're thinking of extending the deadline by 2 more days, please, don't, please. hahaha.

oh, on second look, her back feet look aren't pushing her forward like I wanted to, and I didn't define the foot arch. ugh!

i hope it helps.

Dished

August 27th, 2009, 03:20 AM

Damn,gotta go sleep! Work is LAME! just a quick update guys...

SunRoamer

August 27th, 2009, 10:14 AM

Britt:
If you feel tired of the picture maybe you should focus on something else for now (=> background, for example. Until now you've done nothing but paint the character^^)
Well, apart from that I guess the others have already pointed out most of the important things... hmm, or well, maybe... the way she "presses" her hips/butt back/outwards looks kind of unnaturals (at least in relation to the rest of her body)

Dished:
BUGS! :D

Well, I started looking at some stock photos of female models just to get a little bit inspiration for the orc (it's mostly about the general pose)

http://tinyurl.com/flowerpose1
http://tinyurl.com/flowerpose2
http://tinyurl.com/flowerpose3
http://tinyurl.com/flowerpose4
http://tinyurl.com/Generalpose1
http://tinyurl.com/Generalpose2 (http://faestock.deviantart.com/art/Emmeline7-114073208)
http://tinyurl.com/Generalpose3
http://tinyurl.com/Generalpose4
http://tinyurl.com/Generalpose5
http://tinyurl.com/orcshamanclothes

And a little update... the colours of the background are better now, I think.

yoitisi

August 27th, 2009, 11:06 AM

Hey Dished, Sunroamer, bad news I'm afraid. I'll have to drop out for this team chow :( I already told Daestwen. It's not that I don't want to finish anything or stuff, but I really should stay away from my computer and tablet for a while longer instead of stressing to get 2 illustrations finished in time. My elbows and arms are getting better but they need a few more days of rest really. I'm totally sorry guys...

SunRoamer

August 27th, 2009, 11:15 AM

Don't worry, yoi, like I said before, health always comes first :) So just take your rest ;)

SunRoamer

August 28th, 2009, 02:48 PM

Duh, first sketch for the good orc shaman.
(once again, different style <.<)

So, uh, are you okay with this? General pose/composition and so on (exact anatomy's wrong and well, her right knee is supposed to somewhat point towards the viewer but I just suck at foreshortening, at least if it's "from scratch")

Might get a little bit too green and blue in the end... well, I'll have those colours desaturated, then^^ (maybe I'll add more flowers and then make them bright red and orange and yellow just to make sure those evil greens don't shine through :P)

E:
her left leg has to be moved more to the right (under her belly) and, maybe, her right leg needs to be moved a little bit to the left on top of that. What do you think?

E2:
Don't be too shocked when you see it D: She'll be changed back to an orc later again^^
(I just found the sketch rather fitting for a race called Silvari (GuildWars 2 :>) and decided to change it a little bit so that it looks like one... well, it became a bit more than just "a little bit" (don't worry, not too much time was wasted. I actually got it done quite fast^^) in the end :))
In fact I wanted to restart with the sketch again as soon as I went back to the orc but since I also changed some anatomical things (her upper body's proportions were worrying me from the beginning) I'll PROBABLY continue working with this one, just changing the face and probably her colour (depends on how dished is going to colour her^^) and well...
please point out any anatomical errors you can spot D: Since I still didn't use any refs there will be plenty^^ (well, I'll search for ref anyway before I continue)

So... for now that's the shaman, I hope I can finish the cleric tomorrow and then I will finish the shaman ;)

Dished

August 29th, 2009, 03:22 AM

heyy sunroamer! lookin good man! keep at it, might i suggest maybe adding more ornamental costume stuff? like maybe some subtle tattoos, possibly henna or even floral like jewelry. anklets,bracelets,etc.

heres a bit of an update on what ive got as far as the orc goes..

SunRoamer

August 29th, 2009, 05:46 PM

Yep, there definitely will be more "stuff" in the final version :>

Well, for now here's an update on my cleric... pretty much final, I hope^^
I decided to NOT give him the neclace and all that stuff because I think it was becoming "too much" (at least in combination with his tattoo)
Still pretty much anatomical issues but well, I'm kinda fed up with that right now :< Sorry ;) Feet will remain as raw as they're now (there will be some fog blurring them a little anyway but I think right now there are things more important than painting the feet^^)
And well, it turned out I'm actually totally incapable when it comes to painting weapons, even with ref D: settled for a magical weapon for now, but well, I'll work over that again => either I'm gonna try drawing a real weapon or I'm at least gonna improve the magic effects and so on ^.^

Also, I want to know what you think about the wings... good idea or should I just lose them?

E:
oh yeah, his wrist's looking awkward as hell :< and the veve needs to be less visible <.< so much to do, so much to do~ so little time left~ xD

And I also wanted to ask... do we like, use the same frame in our team?

SunRoamer

August 29th, 2009, 08:30 PM

A little update.
Hope I didn't forget anything, Britt ^^ (changed his fugly face as well)

daestwen

August 30th, 2009, 12:18 AM

Actually I have a bunch of new crits for you now... Haha, but he's coming along. :] Can you send me a super high res version of him on skype tomorrow?

Been working on the evil version of the cleric, here we go:

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dawn, here's a paintooover. we went over this on skype, but here's a version for yooooou.

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SunRoamer

August 30th, 2009, 08:10 AM

Okay, I'll send you the high res as soon as you come online ;)

SunRoamer

August 30th, 2009, 02:10 PM

Quick update, thanks to daestwen once again :>

So, uh, also continued the orc... lot's of henna and kind of the same outfit as in the evil version... sorry^^" Well, changing it's no problem, though, so...
final crop will be different of course^^
And I fear that this illustration won't be as refined as the cleric. Sorry once again ;(

Dished

August 31st, 2009, 04:46 AM

:dead:

SunRoamer

August 31st, 2009, 10:28 AM

Yay, lizardman's here ^.^

Well, now it's time for some colour, then the final improvements and at last, the final crop. Like I said, it sadly won't get as refined as the cleric. Sorry dished ;)

Well, I hope I can catch someone this evening on Skype again ;) (I think this is the last day for me, since the 31st will be pretty much over all over the world when I get back from school tomorrow :<)

daestwen

August 31st, 2009, 03:52 PM

aaaaaaaaaaaghhh scrambling to get this done

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SunRoamer

August 31st, 2009, 04:23 PM

Good luck ;)

E:
Big thanks to yoi for the help with the colours :>

yoitisi

August 31st, 2009, 06:18 PM

Hey dudes, here's a polished up version for the Evil Lizardmen. That's all I can do I'm afraid :( Great stuff so far though, think you all pushed yourself for this one :)

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daestwen

September 1st, 2009, 06:13 AM

UUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH.

I pulled an all-nighter for this one, but there, it's done. :P

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SunRoamer

September 1st, 2009, 08:16 AM

An all-nighter? oO Wow^^ I hope you aren't too tired! Good work, anyway.
And yoi, I really love your pic, so don't worry about how much you could work on it.

yoitisi

September 1st, 2009, 08:28 AM

Sunroamer, Dished: If you two see this in time, could you please write me a short bit about your characters. Only a few sentences is enough, but I need it for the final post and otherwise I'll have to write it up myself so :P

SunRoamer

September 1st, 2009, 09:20 AM

Name: Ren
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Profession: Cleric

Having grown up as one of the highborn in the xenophobic human nation of Imperium, Ren too carried a deep hatred for the so called demons and the wretched pagans who collaborated with them. From when he turned 13 years old he had always been prepared for his warring duties, which included physical and mental as well as magical training. Finally, when he was 20 years old, he first rode into real battle, soon becoming one of the most feared Dux militum in Imperium's short and bloody history.

Good:
Still drunk on the bloodshed of a previous slaughter, Ren and his soldiers were ambushed during a campaign deep within heathen-territory. Taken by surprise, he only managed to barely keep his life, however he lost his right arm. In fact, he only survived thanks to his panicking horse which ran off and pulled him along, throwing itself into a river running nearby.
He had passed out and, when he regained conciousness, found himself bandaged and obviously treated by a skillful physician, however still too weak to move. To his great dismay he soon realized that he had been saved by the demons he'd hunted down so vigorously before: the rebellious elves of the Magoth deltas had saved him, although his armour and weapons had clearly identified him as an enemy. Even though he was distrusting at first (in fact, the elves were too) he came to like his saviors over the time and even helped them out. He learned much about them and he found it largely confusing, because these people definitely weren't the demons he'd been told of.
Then, one day a little war band of Imperium soldiers raided the village and started to slaughter all its inhabitants; knowing full well that they would leave nobody alive Ren made his final decision: he turned against his former comrades, his patria, his familia. He decided that they were the true demons.

Evil:
Still drunk on the bloodshed of a previous slaughter, Ren and his soldiers were ambushed during a campaign deep within heathen-territory. Taken by surprise, he only managed to barely keep his life, however he lost his right arm. Even though rendered defenseless, he survived as he was favored by Imperium's deities: as his blood gushed forth and his enemies' blades came down a last time to take his head, he unleashed powerful magic which seemed to spill out of his wound just like the blood did, breaking all the heathen warriors and gruesomly deforming them into they were utterly unrecognizable.
When he returned to Sanctum, the capital of Imperium, he was declared Divinus by the Pontifex and forever cherished by the people, becoming one of their greatest heroes.