Team Chow II :: Topics and Main Thread

[daestwen]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/CHOW-LINES-MEDUSA.jpg

TEAM CHOW II: GOOD AND EVIL

DESCRIPTION

This month's Team Chow is going to be a little different! This time, we are creating fantasy portraits for player characters - with good and evil versions! It's both a wide open brief and a very strict one! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a random team from the options given to you below, and to create 4-8 fantasy portraits that read well together and still look awesome separately. Thus, as a team, you must create a compatible 'look' for your characters.

ConceptArt.Org is going to be running game design activities and it is our hope that some of these characters could really inspire people doing activities on the other parts of the site too! Fuel for their fire so to speak. :]

Also, Jason has allowed me to offer you some fabulous prizes!

The winning team will get four downloads of their choice each and a pass to an upcoming live streaming course right here on conceptart.org!

Also, individuals within teams are also up for a prize! These will be given for leadership, and for extra effort in making great characters. This prize will consist of four downloads and the pass to attend ca live streaming event.

On to the nitty-gritty:

Here are the rules!

1. Teams of two MUST create at least 4 portraits, teams of three or four need 6 and teams of five need 8. You are perfectly welcome to create more images that the requirement if you feel your team is up to it.
2. You must take a random selection of the choices below. Please don't do 4 elven fighters, or only orcs, for example. Please take a randomized selection. If you would prefer me to give your team a specific assignment, I will generate the selection for you. If I see teams doing more select parties, then I will request you to change to something more random.
3. You must follow the format provided. See it below, please!
4. You must do a LIGHT and a DARK version for each character, please! This means that for each character you need two portraits.
5. You must submit a paragraph about each character. Do a short write up for each character you create. I want to see some interesting, stereotype-breaking stuff here, folks!

PLEASE SELECT ONE OF EACH CATEGORY FOR EACH CHARACTER.

Gender: Male / Female

Race: Human / Elf / Half-Elf / Dwarf / Orc - (and anything else you can think of!)

Class: Fighter (Barbarians, Knights, Dark Knights, Brawlers, etc) / Thief (Assasins, Rogues, etc)/ Spell Caster (Wizards, Sorcerers, Druids, etc) / Healer (Priest, Cleric, White Mage, Medic, etc) - (feel free to make up something for this, too)

Alignment: Good / Evil (please do both for each character)

YES, THESE LOOK LIKE STEREOTYPES. IT IS YOUR JOB TO BREAK THEM. I want to see some really interesting, kick ass stuff! :D

Okay, NOW GO!


--------

SUBMISSION GUIDLINES

The Final Burning Thread will go up ONE WEEK before deadline. The deadline will be August 31st, at 11:59 pm GMT - 4, Eastern Daylight Time. I will accept submissions as long as it is August somewhere in the world, but after this I will close the thread. I am going to give myself 1-2 days to then sort out the poll and the voting, so please be patient.

1. One team member will be in charge of submitting the final entry. How the entry is presented will be up to you, but keep it consistent and coherent.
2. Remember that you will need to submit wips. If you decide to make a group sketchbook for this activity, a link to that will suffice.
3. Also sumbit a list of Team Activity. I want to see how well you worked as a team - who was in charge of what and what each member did.
4. All other ChoW rules apply. If you are not familiar with the usual chow rules, please read the guidlines thread sticked at the top of the subforum. Including, 3/4ths rule, no paint-overs, etc.
5. Please submit files with this naming convention: TeamChow_TeamName_Image001.jpg
6. Please keep to the format of the image below. We're gonna be a little bit more strict about presentation this time - each portrait should be portrait-aligned, like so, and the figure about as big as the one you see below. Full bodied figures, please.

And thanks so much to Zhanglu of Massive Black Shanghai who created to help get this contest get off to a great start!
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/kl.jpg


Thanks, and Good Luck!

[daestwen]

TEAM LIST

Random Team 1: skorpi, Ahchu, LostFayth and Mimer
Doomsday Dream Clan:Swordhand, Clanlord, n1va
Team SteelBubbles: petitemistress, Slash and Mulm
Fine Shankables: MoHog and Stevo.H
Team Tall, Grande and Venti: Dished, Daestwen, Yoitisi and SunRoamer
Studio Moinoi: algenpfleger, Alex Pascenko, and Janaschi
Team Fuzzy Pandas: Just Call Me Bruce!, adamsimons and Ken-OH.
Team Fluffy Fledglings: Katanasoul, R3u5, Zilrion and AvisNocturna
Team Coco Meowza: Sekino, XanaChama, 3mMajster, Pretty_Angel and AsaB
Team ???2: markus and immelmann_turn
Happy Little Trees: blackcherry, nimzicki, CKLamb and ALH
The Unweeaboos: theories and Jaytea
Team Lego Lickers: jdeegz, Earendil, sketcheth and Matte_art
Thundercats: Sentinel, Markus the Barbarian, JessiBean and Hygami
Team Chönyid bardo: Hala, Snootchy, JailHouseRock2, Grandmassa Mr. Spect
Team Sugah Face: MJ_Alcazar, JazzW, Tavarilyn
Team Milk of Amnesia: Burtzum, Fluorine, Nightblue and Moai
Team Supreme: Liffey, Gabbyness, DeeLock, papervampire and DefiledVisions
Team Sleepless Kats: Asatira, curly, greenbd
The Squishy Eyeballs: 0kelvin, Little Redhed
Team Drunken Wastrel: Cuervo, and Ookchk
Team Birthday: indus, realgro
ARCHITECTS OF THE OMNIPOTENCE, THE HEGEMONIC EDIFICE OF THE UNIVERSE; PAPA COSMOCRATOR: gunnarsson, Ryden, Konstruktion
Team Super Cool: k a y a, Sept13
Team Squishmitten: lady nerevar, Naykomii
Sad Panda: Tiki Snakes, FalyneVarger, Morgalahan & Mordus
Team ???7: LunaPhobia, Jason Rainville and ChaoticKnight
Team Polarbears: rossipoo, itsthematthias
Team Legion: Irishdrunk, Cypheir
Team Ticklebear: ChromaticCodex and Hugeharhar
Super High Five Squad: tron-one ???
Team DSK: DeKal and Lege1
Team Ken-Do-Pu-En-Ds: SirKenneth, dwardo, sepu, vshen and AmbientSounds
Team Obsidian: AaronDeath, t i m, The Crazy Dude SRD and Razorleaf
Brotherhood of Heel: GunTrouver, RoboMonkey
Team Sureños, aka Hasty McPants: GriNGo and Maestro Andres
Team McFly: Sublimus, Lyno, Goog
Wizards of the Toast: Form, Jens and Interceptor
The Howling Loveboys: mr. Delicious, twitchfinger, marco_mazzoni, trevor
Team Microwave: Chance., Flock
Team Cheesebye: iamnotatypeofflower, tinkiewinkie, ziff.lau
Team Chowder: Ginseng, and Corrick
Dark and Light Squad: Michael CTY, micheal see, beelow, xric 7
Team Horseradish: aspectabund, Lighty, QSeptember5, Diaforetikos
Team SteamBoat: RichLyons, No_name_brand
Team:maeT: Sellis, daveneale
Team-Work: Zimfin, Nickillus
KYZULUS - revenge of the kryptofighters: kynu, jozulus, longshao
Atelier Team: Icon and Secret Science
Team Cooking By The Book: zulu, dile_ and PieMonster
Team Robozo: Arogoth, Rambozo
Team Daemonic Squirrels: Rabbi Satan, Quikenobi, Maeve
Team ASAD: Genius_Malignus, munkes
Team Baquette: ronaldliu, smokenmirrors, Vorace
Team Lyphorm: ImaGEEnation and Camsyko
The Four Horsemen: cakeypigdog, paul_harison, fjooner, Saturns Gate
THE REAL ATELIER TEAM: Lake, Nadiamoon, Localfatheaded
Team Super High Five Squad: Tron-one, Primordial Seven, Stephen Mason
Team Banana: Bendragon, Quicksilver
Team White Rabbit: Dimagyan, Inic and Dark Eyes
Team Jaguar-Salmon: Kaotica, Xgabo
Team Cobra-Yawn: MLutz and Big Escy
The Illuminaughty: Muninn, Icemoon and Arthemis
Team Qing Bai: DarkTemplarFury, zeiderxUGD
Team Incognito: RonHundred, DVD-1-one
Team Facepalm: NoodleDoodle, Carnifex, ~baxter

LOOKING FOR A TEAM

lilnebo
Kazzeh
biggjoee5790
Psychotime
Kimbee
Artofinca
Kerberos
~baxter
Sirkenneth
donalfall
CKLamb
greenbd
vshen (??)
popevergel
KonnA
Lord Dubu
i hate art
m0uS3r
Tommy Applesauce
Genius_Malignus
blackmoondev
0zz0
MasterStryke

RANDOM TEAMS

ONE: tonysaurus, kisou, Darkwolf

TWO: ChristianShane, GeistDel, Zaxser, Stark

THREE: Liz Edwards, blau, Gominoid

FOUR: QuaTronics, 2kre8, Kimbee, 626elemental

FIVE: MiniGoth, Oblivia Enna, Kerberos

SIX: BBQ, Mordus, Random Stranger

SEVEN: ValkyriesBard, obscure

[Mat Kaminski]

Woohoo! Time to get started :D

[tonysaurus]

Nice topic!
Question:
Do the good and evil portraits count as individual paintings or are they paired together to make one portrait of the same class/race?

[fluorine]

I have a question, do we have to stick with the traditional AD&D art style? The medieval/Mythical/general European/Celtic/LotR high fantasy style? Or we are free to choose a time period and culture, or create our own world setting as long as the character stick with AD&D race and class?

For example, can we do high tech sci-fi elven wizard holding an electronic spell book with shinny projectile 3D images?

Or we have to do a LotR style Elven wizard with long robes with Celtic patterns, fancy delicate accessories, and girly hair style?

[LostFayth]

Great topic, deastwen. Also, I second fluorines' question. My team made up a brief in the last team chow, which we were planning to use again. Is that allowed?
And with 6 characters for a team of four that means 3 characters with a good and evil side (=6) or 6 characters with a good and evil side (=12). I'm a bit confused. :S

[Liffey]

I was just aout to ask both Tony and Fluorine's questions.

[Just Call Me Bruce!]

Same question as LostFayth, is my team to do 12 portraits? And with portrait to you mean Baldur's Gate style, ie just the face, or like the Zhanglu picture you post?

[Vatsel]

Zhanglu rocks!!!

I'll be following this activity :)

[ALH]

You must do a LIGHT and a DARK version for each character, please! This means that for each character you need two portraits.



I was confused too, but its mentioned twice!

6 characters, 12 portraits ;)

[LostFayth]

Yeah, but read the first one. It says we need to do 6 portraits within a team of 4.

"1. Teams of two MUST create at least 4 portraits, teams of three or four need 6 and teams of five need 8."

[daestwen]

Nice topic!
Question:
Do the good and evil portraits count as individual paintings or are they paired together to make one portrait of the same class/race?

Two individual paintings, please!

I have a question, do we have to stick with the traditional AD&D art style? The medieval/Mythical/general European/Celtic/LotR high fantasy style? Or we are free to choose a time period and culture, or create our own world setting as long as the character stick with AD&D race and class?

We're looking at High Fantasy here, but I don't mind if you blur the culture lines a little bit. ;] But no sci-fi, please. As far as style goes, that's totally up to your team. But try to keep it in genre.

My team made up a brief in the last team chow, which we were planning to use again. Is that allowed?

No, sorry. This round is pretty genre specific, I'm afraid. :( I promise later rounds will let you use your brief again though. :]

And with 6 characters for a team of four that means 3 characters with a good and evil side (=6) or 6 characters with a good and evil side (=12). I'm a bit confused.

Never said 6 characters, always said six portraits. ;] so this means at least three characters, two portraits of each, one dark, one light.

And with portrait to you mean Baldur's Gate style, ie just the face, or like the Zhanglu picture you post?

The rules say very specifically to do format like the example given. :] No head shots please.

[AhChu]

nice one, time to get cracking :)

[Sentinel.]

This is a badass idea, Dae!

Thundercats, HO!

[hala]

So, light and dark versions of the same character, or of the same race? Sorry I am a bit confused ^^;;

[Liffey]

So, light and dark versions of the same character, or of the same race? Sorry I am a bit confused ^^;;

Pretty sure it's the same character.

[daestwen]

So, light and dark versions of the same character, or of the same race? Sorry I am a bit confused ^^;;

Same character, please. :] But obviously the light/dark aspect is going to mean they are going to choose different clothing, accessories, but we want them reading as two versions of the same person.

[hala]

Oh I see, thank you so much! :)

[AsaB]

Fantastic, this is so exciting! :)

I wonder about one thing. I know these characters have a specific genre, like human, half-elf, orc etc, but how faithful do these have to be to their conventional presentation? I ask because before the brief was released, my team was thinking about doing characters who're object-based, a la Beauty and the Beast where they were clocks, candle holder etc. Is that totally out of the picture then?

[daestwen]

I wonder about one thing. I know these characters have a specific genre, like human, half-elf, orc etc, but how faithful do these have to be to their conventional presentation? I ask because before the brief was released, my team was thinking about doing characters who're object-based, a la Beauty and the Beast where they were clocks, candle holder etc. Is that totally out of the picture then?

Hmm, that's a hard one. You *might* be able to squeeze by with it, but probably not quite as outrageous as beauty and the beast... Mostly because most of the object we think of these days just wouldn't have been invented. :]

You could of course do races *centered* around objects... like a key gnome! :D Or something like that.

But i think animated objects is probably too far off brief. :(


edit: maybe trolls make their armour up out of fruit...? or halflings that wear pots and pans as armour, stuff like that?

[AsaB]

Thanks for the answer, daes! :) But since this seems to be in such a limbo, we'll probably just try to take it in a different direction. Haha, the trolls having armour of fruit is an awesome idea, though! Hum...

[AsaB]

Sorry for the double-post, but I was wondering if you could possibly elaborate further on the individual awards? You said something about leadership awards and such, but I don't really see how that would work. Just curious!

[Liffey]

So is it cool if we invent our own race for one of the characters, as long as it looks like it would fit in with a traditional high fantasy setting?

[daestwen]

So is it cool if we invent our own race for one of the characters, as long as it looks like it would fit in with a traditional high fantasy setting?

Yup, be my guest. :] Might want to explain it a bit in your write up, as well!

[daestwen]

Ps, check out the top banner, guys! ;]

[zeal]

I am wondering if the winning images from each CHOW are posted in a gallery somewhere? Anyone know where to find the previous chow winners??

Thanks

[Aly Fell]

I am wondering if the winning images from each CHOW are posted in a gallery somewhere? Anyone know where to find the previous chow winners??

Thanks

>>PREVIOUS TEAM CHOW ENTRIES HERE<< (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=156801)

>>WEEKLY CHOWS HERE<< (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=84)

[kraal]

i am new to this section. just clicked on banner. how do you join or get a team?

[zeal]

Thanks for the link Poshspice!

[zeal]

BTW - Posh your Pinups are amazing!

[Sirkenneth]

I am with Kraal here, how do I join a team? This sounds like FUN!

[Cuervo]

winner of a topic... never done any high fantasy stuff though.... hmm... out of the comfort zone i spose. :P :yayca:

[Sublimus]

NEAT NEAT NEAT!

Could I get signed up for a random team??

[edit] wait, im going to try and assemble a team first!

[fluorine]

I have another question, how much wiggle room do we have in regards to pose? Do we have to do a full frontal standing pose, or we're free to do standing, walking, running, sitting down....as long as the character shows 3/4 of the front side, and is a full length character? Can we do back view or 3/4 back view?

[JessiBean]

I know the character we show needs to be shown in both good and evil, and it has to be the same character, but can we change up the gender? Like an evil male orc thief and then a good female orc thief - still the same, but showing the gender options...

[AvisNocturna]

I wonder if we may use medieval fire arms. Our team was thinking about something like an archebus or something. Would that be okay?

[GriNGo]

Hey can we join this? Our team is called Sureños

So far members are Gringo and Maestro Andres.

I'm asking if someone else is interested, but so far, people are busy. Can we add another team member, if someone decides to join later on?

[HugeHarHar]

Chromatic Codex and Hugeharhar in Team Ticklebear.

[Konstruktion]

ARCHITECTS OF THE OMNIPOTENCE,THE HEGEMONIC EDIFICE OF THE UNIVERSE, PAPA COSMOCRATOR - Ryden_, gunnarsson, Konstruktion.

[Ryden_]

ARCHITECTS OF THE OMNIPOTENCE,THE HEGEMONIC EDIFICE OF THE UNIVERSE, PAPA COSMOCRATOR - Ryden_, gunnarsson, Konstruktion.

This is going to be off the hook. :assspank:

[Moai]

Question:

How do we know if our team is random enough?
Should our characters be truly random, as in role a dice for each variable (sex, race, class, etc), or is it just enough if we make a point to have a variety of races and roles in our lineup?

[DIMAGYAN]

We're looking at High Fantasy here, but I don't mind if you blur the culture lines a little bit. ;] But no sci-fi, please. As far as style goes, that's totally up to your team. But try to keep it in genre.

This answer of yours Daestwen it's something i was thinking about this contest.
My initial idea was to keep the races, classes,etc suggested in the brief but without the european middle age look. Fantasy but with other cultaral aspects.
I don't know however how far can we bend or blur the cultural lines.
There is some aspect of the character that is unremovable?(mainly about looks)
Sorry if this questions are too annoying,And thanks in advance.

Oh and we have a name for the team now: White rabbit (cliche i know, but i like the book and i couldn't think in a better name)

[tron-one]

The Super High Five Squad is looking for two members. Toss me a pm if you're looking for a team.

[daestwen]

PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP IN THIS THREAD, IT WILL NOT GO INTO THE TEAM LIST. PLEASE SIGN UP IN THE "SIGN-UP" THREAD, ALSO FOUND IN THIS FORUM. I WILL DELETE ANY SIGN-UP POSTS MADE HERE STARTING TOMORROW.

Sorry for the double-post, but I was wondering if you could possibly elaborate further on the individual awards? You said something about leadership awards and such, but I don't really see how that would work. Just curious!

We'll be working this out later, and it will really depend on what we see in the threads and stuff. Basically it's just so that even if it turns out that your team doesn't work well together / the other members drop out or leave you hanging, etc, that people doing good work can still get recognized. :]

I have another question, how much wiggle room do we have in regards to pose? Do we have to do a full frontal standing pose, or we're free to do standing, walking, running, sitting down....as long as the character shows 3/4 of the front side, and is a full length character? Can we do back view or 3/4 back view?

Please do it mostly front-facing, thanks. :]

I know the character we show needs to be shown in both good and evil, and it has to be the same character, but can we change up the gender? Like an evil male orc thief and then a good female orc thief - still the same, but showing the gender options...

Good question, but no, it has to be the same gender. You're very welcome to submit an other-gender sketch version as part of your wips, though, to show what you'd like to do with it. :]

I wonder if we may use medieval fire arms. Our team was thinking about something like an archebus or something. Would that be okay?

Nope. High Fantasy usually doesn't have them, so I would stay away from them. Had a big argument with my teamate yesterday about this, and we checked the dates on when they were invented and they are all very late medieval, whereas high fantasy tends to be around late dark ages / early medieval and thus is a couple hundred years out. :]

How do we know if our team is random enough?
Should our characters be truly random, as in role a dice for each variable (sex, race, class, etc), or is it just enough if we make a point to have a variety of races and roles in our lineup?

Mostly just to make a point about variety. :] If you want to make sure you're being open enough, pm me and i'll come look at your thread. :]

My initial idea was to keep the races, classes,etc suggested in the brief but without the european middle age look. Fantasy but with other cultaral aspects.
I don't know however how far can we bend or blur the cultural lines.
There is some aspect of the character that is unremovable?(mainly about looks)

Well, there are lots of other cultures that had 'middle ages' that weren't in europe. :] I think as long as you stick to the same level of technology, regardless of culture, it should be fine. Just think of the "Men from the East" in Lord of the Rings. :]

[hunchback]

team moinoi : algenpfleger, Alexander Pascenko, Janaschi

:jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop:

:wtf:

[nzrkiwi]

Hi Daestwen ,

I entered the newborn challenge way too late about 6 days ago. And felt i did alot of work with the character in the 6 days. I was wondering could i re-enter my character for this competition so i wont waste the time i spent on the character. the character didn't really suit the competition too and i have to make a evil side of her.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=164411

Cheers

[GriNGo]

Hi Daestwen? Why haven't you added my team to the list yet? I put the post here AND in the suscribe forum.

[Mydrim]

Hi, just for any case:

"6. Please keep to the format of the image below."
means only "make it character-centered", right? Or we have to keep the exact proportions of the image and not a pixel shorter?

[daestwen]

I entered the newborn challenge way too late about 6 days ago. And felt i did alot of work with the character in the 6 days. I was wondering could i re-enter my character for this competition so i wont waste the time i spent on the character. the character didn't really suit the competition too and i have to make a evil side of her.

No, you absolutely may not. Only images made for this contest can be entered, and this is a team-based contest anyway.

GriNGo: I'm techinically at my mother's house on vacation. :P Thus I am doing the best I can but there's a little bit of a delay. I didn't take any of the teams posted in this thread because I specifically said not to put them here, and if you put your team in the team thread after I last said "updated teams" then I haven't gotten to you yet and please be patient. Just because you're not in the team list doesn't mean that you can't start your thread and participate, it just means that I am busy and slow.

"6. Please keep to the format of the image below."
means only "make it character-centered", right? Or we have to keep the exact proportions of the image and not a pixel shorter?

Keep it around the same ratio, please, but exact dimensions can be changed a bit. (like, it should still be longer than it is tall, in about the same ratio width-to-height)

[¿Dubious?]

Hey daestwen Ive been looking around the threads for this topic and I came up with a couple questions.
1. By a good and evil version of the same character do you mean, for example, two elf clerics one good one evil or one elf cleric being pictured first as a good guy then as a bad one.
and also
2. the time period has to be medieval correct? a couple threads seem to be going for 18th century.

[JessiBean]

Someone posted in our thread mentioning that the time period HAS to be medieval in order to be high fantasy. I think this was extrapolated based on the comment about not allowing weapons like guns, but I want to be clear to exactly how this impacts the whole project. We've been planning to base ours on 18th century french clothing/shapes/desigm, of course in a high fantasy universe (so if there were weapons, they would look 18th century, but be magic-based, etc.). To be safe, I have been scanning and re-reading the wiki definition of high fantasy and nothing in there says it has to belong to an exclusively medieval time frame... it often does, but it doesn't HAVE to (it even cites His Dark Materials as a high fantasy example which is more 19th century steam punk) Since we want to break the generic medieval high fantasy mold and show something completely new (per the brief) doesn't limiting the time frame defeat the purpose? We're also assuming this is an alternate universe, where elves and trolls and such exist, so their medieval could look like 18th century France if we wanted it to, right?

[daestwen]

Someone posted in our thread mentioning that the time period HAS to be medieval in order to be high fantasy. I think this was extrapolated based on the comment about not allowing weapons like guns, but I want to be clear to exactly how this impacts the whole project. We've been planning to base ours on 18th century french clothing/shapes/desigm, of course in a high fantasy universe (so if there were weapons, they would look 18th century, but be magic-based, etc.). To be safe, I have been scanning and re-reading the wiki definition of high fantasy and nothing in there says it has to belong to an exclusively medieval time frame... it often does, but it doesn't HAVE to (it even cites His Dark Materials as a high fantasy example which is more 19th century steam punk) Since we want to break the generic medieval high fantasy mold and show something completely new (per the brief) doesn't limiting the time frame defeat the purpose? We're also assuming this is an alternate universe, where elves and trolls and such exist, so their medieval could look like 18th century France if we wanted it to, right?

This is a good argument. And though I definitely don't consider His Dark Materials high fantasy (as it, like Harry Potter, includes very contemporary ventures into our own world, as well as tandem parallel universes), I can see the point.

I wasn't going to personally take an issue with clothing/accessories/etc, but when it comes to weaponry I'm a bit on the fence, I'm afraid. I would consider that 'gothic fantasy' or 'steampunk' rather than high fantasy...

You guys are shooting for something that's very much like "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel" which is totally awesome, but not reeeeally traditional fantasy, which in this case is more what I was shooting for. (Ps, you guys really should read that book)

However, I hate to be a dictator here, so I will concede and allow it, but if you can keep the modern weaponry to a minimum I'd appreciate it. :] Though it's personally one of my *favourite* fantasy settings, it's not quite what's in the brief here, though I guess I wasn't specific enough.

[ariel_medel]

How can I participate? How can I find a teamate?

[Asatira]

ariel_medel: It's easy to participate. Go to the sign-up thread here http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=164163 and either a) post you're looking for a team or to be randomly assigned, or b) PM a member of a team that you like who still has openings and ask to join. There are a number of people who are still looking for teams or to add to them.

[Liffey]

Should we come up with a story for why characters change from good and evil, or is it best not to worry about that part of it too much?

[daestwen]

Liffey: I wouldn't worry too much. think about it like choices that the player can make for a character - either they can play the character good, or they can play them evil. Rather than two identical people who happened to be opposites on that spectrum and live in the universe at the same time, they are the same person who could take two different life paths. :]

Does that help?

[Burtzum]

Are these to be for the conceptart.org game project? Will they probably be plugged directly into the game? Will there be separate challenges for the writers to come up with story? Etc?

[DeKal]

daestwen - id like to do something urban..city-like..i guess pretty modern...like a modern urban orc assassin. im guessing thats not going to fly??

[Asatira]

I was wondering if we could multiclass. I was reading a bit about D&D classes to get an idea about what makes each one different (especially amongst the fighter types), and I glanced at a little about multiclassing. I'm not sure if I'd actually have two types (definitely no more than two; more than that and the recognizablity gets lost), but I wanted to clear it with you so we'd have the option.

[daestwen]

Are these to be for the conceptart.org game project? Will they probably be plugged directly into the game? Will there be separate challenges for the writers to come up with story? Etc?

This isn't directly for the game project no, more to inspire those working on it and get their heads in the game. :] But I think anyone who would like to work on that project later will probably want to stretch their muscles here! It's a good opportunity to learn to work in a team and create some awesome stuff. As for questions about the game project itself, those are better directed to Jason in the thread in the lounge.

daestwen - id like to do something urban..city-like..i guess pretty modern...like a modern urban orc assassin. im guessing thats not going to fly??

Not modern, no. But "urban" isn't modern either, you know. :] There have been cities around for thousands of years! But if you mean style/etc, no, i wouldn't put that in the realm of 'high fantasy' I'm afraid, but feel free to take inspiration from this contest to create your own personal work, and please link me later since I would like to see it. :]

I was wondering if we could multiclass. I was reading a bit about D&D classes to get an idea about what makes each one different (especially amongst the fighter types), and I glanced at a little about multiclassing. I'm not sure if I'd actually have two types (definitely no more than two; more than that and the recognizablity gets lost), but I wanted to clear it with you so we'd have the option.

Short answer : No. Longer Answer: Kiiiindof. Since you're allowed to make up your own classes for this, you can make classes that kind of meld two into one... I would count the "Druid" class in D&D to kind of be a mix of Sorcerer and Ranger, for example.

[trevor]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=165168
team howling loveboys sb
we have posted some junk woot!

[zimfin]

First, I am sorry if I missed the answer to this so thought I best confirm!

Just so I am absolutely sure where we stand minimum-wise, Nickillus and I will be making a Two man team so, unless I am mistaken, we need to do, between us, FOUR portraits.
Does that mean we each need only do One character each, (good and evil counting as 2 portraits) for the two of us to reach the four Portrait minimum?

[Liffey]

Another question... Is it okay if wer have background characters in the final portrait? For example, if I had a portrait of a king, could I add in a couple servants to the background?

[daestwen]

zimfin: yes, you need four portraits, so that would be two characters with both a good and evil portrait.

Liffey: Yess.... I guess, as long as it was really obvious they were background. But King isn't a class, so I wouldn't suggest it. :]

[Mat Kaminski]

Alright, if this has been asked before, sorry...

But, are we allowed to do characters that turn into evil characters? Does that fit the brief?

Like for example: Char A is good during the day, but evil at night. Will that work?

Or does the chracter need to be the SAME char....just...abused as a child or something?
Kind of like an alternate universe kinda thing?

Example:

Char A grew up in a loving family, etc, so ends up living a goodly life.
<show character in that scenario>

Char A grew up in an abusive family and stole and things to get by.
<show evil character from that scenario>

Which scenario would be right?

[daestwen]

Um, think of it as two different paths the same person could take. Not necessarily raised any differently, but a culmination of choices to lead the person down two very different roads. At least, this is the minimum you need to do.

If you would like to give a more complicated reason, that's fine, but they should be the same person, kind of like a dark mirror.

[DeKal]

daestwen - what about guns? i hope thats cool at least. assassins need guns!

[daestwen]

daestwen - what about guns? i hope thats cool at least. assassins need guns!

That question has already been answered. :P

I personally don't view guns as High Fantasy. Steampunk, for sure, Gas Lamp Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Alternate Universe, yes. But not High Fantasy.

Guns brought about the end of Feudalism and the Middle ages. Hand guns weren't around until 1300-1400 hundred and flintlocks not until 1600-1700 and the revolver not until mid 1800. So anything you would consider a gun is decidedly modern.

[daestwen]

Guys, I just wanted to say that I am super proud of all of you! I have been following all your sketchbooks intently and I'm so happy with what I've been seeing. :]

Please, keep up the good work!

[zimfin]

Daestwen: Nickillus and I were wondering how "humanoid" our characters need to be in order to remain within CHOW guidelines? The reason I ask is we are planning on doing Element based, (Fire, Air, Earth and Water....possibly Quintessence too) characters but need to know if that is allowed.
I also wondered if the link we need to our sketchbook has to be written in a post or if my signature link will suffice?
Thanks!

[daestwen]

zimfin: They need to be as human as necessary to get across that they are characters rather than creatures. I can't really define this to a specific point, so if you're worried it's not reading well enough, pm me the link to the image and I'll take a look for you and let you know if you're too far off base.

As for the sketchbook... When you submit your final burning post, you will have to submit the link to your sketchbook. Until then, as long as it is in the team chow sketchbook section, you are fine. :] If you accidently made your thread in the main sketchbook section on CA, and not the team chow section, let me know and I can move it for you.

[Primordial Seven]

Question: In terms of character races, do we need to stick to the established lore/race fiction? Could I say, for example, that orcs infact are the slaves of the giants? Natrually they could retain what makes orcs orcs but the fiction surrounding them would change from the norm.

[daestwen]

Primodial Seven: Nope! You don't even have to stick to established fantasy races if you don't want. :] Feel free to go crazy, in that respect!

[Sentinel.]

Hey daestwen :D Someone had already asked about what leeway we have in pose and you mentioned to stay mostly front-facing - but would we be okay if some of our characters had 3/4 of the body clearly showing (the rest blocked somewhat by other people or props), or were in poses that didn't show off all aspects of their costume? Right now my team and I are doing thumbnails and I wanted to clarify this before we get too far along on any one image.

Sorry for being a little redundant, I know you mentioned in the brief to do full-bodied but I just want to be sure :teeth:

[daestwen]

Hey daestwen :D Someone had already asked about what leeway we have in pose and you mentioned to stay mostly front-facing - but would we be okay if some of our characters had 3/4 of the body clearly showing (the rest blocked somewhat by other people or props), or were in poses that didn't show off all aspects of their costume? Right now my team and I are doing thumbnails and I wanted to clarify this before we get too far along on any one image.

Sorry for being a little redundant, I know you mentioned in the brief to do full-bodied but I just want to be sure :teeth:

Yeah, i saw the sketches you might be worried about. :P

I would like the characters to be as open as they can be... I mean obviously I want to give some lee-way with poses, but as portraits I want to see most of the character and costume, at least in the main portrait... you're always welcome to do extra work on top with some more interesting compositions. :]

[Primordial Seven]

Primodial Seven: Nope! You don't even have to stick to established fantasy races if you don't want. :] Feel free to go crazy, in that respect!

Just to be absolutely sure before I go off and do something crazy, are you saying we can make up our own race for a character just so long as it looks fantasyish?

Also, can do we something a little more low fantasy? Our team (super high five squad (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=154902)) is going for a del toro esque style. Could you perhaps take a look and let us know?

[Raoul Duke]

I'm toying around with signing up, but Tolkien isn't my taste, can I do more of the Frazetta'esque Fantasy setting, bordering on greek mythology? May I blend genres for example Viking Orch or a Centaur Knight blah blah blah.

[daestwen]

Primordial Seven: Yes, you can make up a race as long as it looks fantasy-ish. And you guys look fine... Del Toro is fine by me!

Raoul Duke: Yes, that's fine. I'd count frazetta in high fantasy anyway.

[Pierce]

Hi all, This sounds like fun, but I will need a team! If you are interested in working with me drop me a message. Feel free to check out my gallery. Thanks.
Pierce

[zachalicious]

man everyone here should definitely check out the chanman's downloads on HERO's and VILLAIN's. They are the best downloads i've ever seen so go buy them... there you go chanman.

[daestwen]

NOTE TO ALL PARTICIPANTS

Guys, here's the deal. The example image in the first post is the format you're supposed to be working with - please stick to it! These are supposed to be portraits and I'm starting to see stuff that is getting a bit off target.

If you break the format then you won't be applicable for the prizes!

Part of this contest is working with the brief, so please stick to it. :]

If you want to double check that you're team is working within contest parameters, feel free to pm me and I'll check up on your stuff.

I can't keep track of everyone on my own, please try to keep to the format as it is outlined in the brief as much as possible.

Thanks in advance!

[Jason Manley]

plz be sure you are using the format provided...all rules must be followed to get the goods and looooooot!!!


j

[Jason Rainville]

I think there's some confusion with regards to this;

1. One team member will be in charge of submitting the final entry. >> How the entry is presented will be up to you <<, but keep it consistent and coherent.

I think that maybe some clarification should be given as to what the differences between presentation and format really are, since this is probably where the deviations spring from.

[daestwen]

Hey jason,

Yeah, ignore that everyone please. You'll notice that's only on the sign-up thread and was left over from the last team chow competition. I'm sorry if it made everyone confused!

Just to make it clear:

You need to submit the portraits required by the brief, in the format required (don't forget the width/height ratio, for example!).

You MAY ALSO submit other work, like turnarounds, etc, but it is not required.

If you wish to make up a presentation for that work, that's fine, but if you do that please make sure that the portraits are also attached in the format given.

Hope that's clearer. :]

[Twitchfinger]

When you're referring to the image format, does that mean we need to stick to the exact proportions of the Zhang Lu example? (~2:3 width-to-height ratio) or is it fine as long as we maintain an overall portrait setup (height longer than width)? Just want to make sure we're on the right track.

[LostFayth]

Do we need to make a line up like last time, Daestwen? (for the poll) If yes, should there be one for each side or just one with both sides on it and in what format?

[daestwen]

Twitchfinger: I'd rather you stick to the 2:3 ratio, or close to. Thanks!

Lostfaith: No, you don't. But you can submit one anyway, if you like. :]

[Saleem]

Am I too late for joining in, just got back from holiday
this chow looks awesome, please let me know if i can still join in. thanks

[JailHouseRock2]

Hi daestwen, couple of quick questions.

For the character briefs, do you want them on the character images themselves, or will a link to the write ups suffice?

Also do we need a brief for each portrait (good&evil), or just one broader character description for both?

And finally, am I right in thinking we don't need a composite image for this CHOW?

Thanks, I know these are busy times,
matt

[daestwen]

You need to submit at least a paragraph of the brief in the final burning thread for each of the images. If they are longer than that, post the first paragraph and then a link to the rest. Yes, you need one for each portrait, as good and evil would have different descriptions, right?

Yes, you are correct, you don't need a composite.

[Icon]

hey, atelier team dropped out. due to unforeseen circumstances (we both got sick as fuck) our team was not able to deliver. But if there is a next time we'll sure as hell be there! good luck to everyone!!!

XOXOXOXO
atelier team

[JailHouseRock2]

Thanks! One finale question: Do we need to upload our finales using the Attachment manager, or will and external host like photo-bucket do?

Sorry for all the questions, you've done an amazing job over the last month, and everyone really appreciates the effort and patience!

Thanks,
matt

[daestwen]

Always, always, always attach in chow. Always.

It says right in the submission rules that you should do so. :P

[CKLamb]

Is this thing closed up or what?

[daestwen]

in about... half an hour, if you'd read my post in the final burning thread. :P

[CKLamb]

Bleh. I was just wondering, some of my teammates lost a lot of sleep to get this in on time. Just want to make sure their efforts are appreciated.

[jeris82]

I would love to do this but I HAVE to work on other stuff right now..... ><

For future reference I will team up with someone of a similar artistic ability

[Theking78]

Is still possible to join a team? Or be part of a new one?