C.O.W. #152 Half a Pound of Evil -- WIPs Posting thread

[Michael Jaecks]

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

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


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Round #152 Half a Pound of Evil

Topic:
Half a Pound of Evil

Creature Description: Half a Pound of Evil -- Thanks to Mordus for this week's topic. I think the title should be pretty self-explanatory. Design a creature that weighs eight ounces, and is evil.

Deadline:
Friday Aug 21th

Finals go here: [URL="http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=166100"]http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=[166100/URL]

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

Intriguing topic.

I have to come up with something more interesting than a small round devil which was the first thing that came to my mind. :)

[wanwan]

excellent, maybe i'll actually get this one in! blasted flu!

[Mordus]

(goes all weepy inside) They used my topic!
HUZZAH!

[bakadoodle]

http://www.petchidog.com/images/chihuahua.jpg

phearrrrrr!!

[ChallengeManager]

(goes all weepy inside) They used my topic!
HUZZAH!

Hey, it's actually Michael Jaecks here logged into the ChallengeManager profile. Anyway, your topic really gave me a chuckle this morning. I hope everyone has fun with it.

I was thinking a smart way to do this would be to think of the creature as something that swarms, or attacks in a horde, or swims in a school, or flies in a flock. Like a plague of locusts or school of pirhana. Monsterous, but all the more so because it attacks in great number.

Just some ideers to get folks started.

[wanwan]

thanks, cause all I could think about for the topic was Jeremy Beadle's hand!

[acb]

bakadoodle - ROFLLL

and a really good topic ^_^ i like it when its opened for interpertation ^.^

[acb]

well here it goes ....wip 1 ^_^

http://i27.tinypic.com/2i7o76w.jpg

well im posting it while in the middle of the initial step of bringing stuff forward and backwards and i know i need to bring that upper thingy forward and play with the lightning so it will be visible that the lower thingy is lower beneath it .and i still need to define lots of things like the bend of its back cuz it carrys the upper thing on him~_~

C&C are welcomed
gl and hf everyone :D

[Arbinn]

Interesting idea but it doesn't look that small and light (half a pound) and the bottom part of the creature could use some heavy improvements (the hands look unnatural and the creature would fall to the left).

Fix the hands and make it look smaller and we'll see how it looks then. :)

[The Searle]

OOOh OOoooh. Shotgun doing an evil mushroom!!!!!

[GoldenSerpent]

Ooh this looks like it's going to be a fun topic, I can't wait to get started!

bakadoodle: That certainly gave me a good chuckle.

acb: I agree with what Arbinn said. I do like your creature's head though, you could always try that head out on some different bodies.

[The Searle]

Heres a WIP. Hope you likey.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Searledesign/evil2.jpg

[The Searle]

Hope this fun guy dosnt brake the no plants rule? I think he sticks to the spirit of the challenge. All good?

[Labrynthine]

I was thinking a smart way to do this would be to think of the creature as something that swarms, or attacks in a horde, or swims in a school, or flies in a flock. Like a plague of locusts or school of pirhana. Monsterous, but all the more so because it attacks in great number.

Just some ideers to get folks started.

How about small, subtle killers? Like things on your neck or evil pets?

[dustin53545]

http://www.petchidog.com/images/chihuahua.jpg

phearrrrrr!!

Its so cute its EVIL!!!!!!!! Some day this dog will rule the world! BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

[acb]

arbinn- thx alot ^_^ yeah yure right about the hands and i might change those completely and might leave the upper creature or the lower one alone but ill have to play abit with it to see where im going with it :D
golden serpent- thx ^_^ btw which head did you liked the upper one or the lower one ^_^ (i defined abit the lower one and i didnt touched the upper one yet so i guess it doesnt look like a head yet :D)
the searle-LOL great idea ^_^ looking forward for updates :D

[Syhn]

Haha, funny enough, it's the "small" part of this COW that was giving me trouble. Keep imagining little imp demons, so I figured I'd better do a number of sketches to try and push my ideas more towards creatures.

I think the top-right one was somewhat influenced by a Tailless Whipscorpion. That bottom-right looks like if Kirby swallowed a porcupine. Suggestions are welcome, otherwise I'll just fumble around with it :)
752090

[wanwan]

this has to be one of the most difficult briefs I think I have ever had; it's pickling my brain! i've even got a forum post on dA on the go and my journal http://wanwan.deviantart.com

[bakadoodle]

Searle - Whether it is valid or not, it is still cool as hell :$
Syhn - I dig the one in the middle with the blue, except for the back legs maybe.

I'm having the same problem with size, but I think I have it figured. It is more about perspective, take a tick for example, when photographed close up they are hideous looking creatures with lots of parts and claws and pincers but you can still tell they are tiny because of context of the background, hair follicles, skin flakes, etc.

I guess maybe just draw a normal size critter, just add a background that makes him look relative in size.

[Blitz]

This topic brought this guy to mind right away.

http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/dark/fizzgig.jpg

[skodone]

haha n1ce topic :P

this small guy came to my mind!
hes running after ya calfs always hungry!

[GoldenSerpent]

acb: ah, didn't realize it had two heads, in that case the bottom one.

Syhn: Some great thumbnails there, I'm partial to the whip scorpion inspired one and the belly-crawling critter on the bottom left side.

I've got some sketches that I did last night that need to be posted but I think I'm going to try to post later. I think the hardest thing about this topic is that there's so much room for interpretation! I kept getting all these different ideas of what exactly a Half a Pound of Evil could be. After bakadoodle's post I was thinking about something cute one moment and evil the next, as well as the attacking in swarms suggestion, and then I started thinking "wouldn't it be horrible to have a parasite that weighs half a pound wriggling inside you" there are just so many ways to interpret this one I'm gonna have to reign myself in a bit. Anyway sketches coming soon.

[bakadoodle]

Was listening to some dark music and thought I would take a stab, rough quickie concept wip

[evolvingeye]

This will be my first COW entry, excited! I will post some wips soon.

[.Elec7ro]

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k426/E7art/LPs/Sinttulo-3yt.png

and the final:

http://i326.photobucket.com/albums/k426/E7art/LPs/Sinttulo-3yt4.png

[jouste]

hey all!

really neat topic. had me thinking for a while. thought about doing an evil gaseous monster thing but then i was like "jouste you idiot, you can't draw gas!" and moved on to something more conventional.

it's the black-tongue burrower!

black-tongue burrowers are malicious creatures that are used by sadistic magicians to torture the hell out of people. they secrete a noxious black ooze out their mouths and pores that make any orifice entry sickeningly easy.

the black slime also stimulates pain receptors in the victims body and basically over clocks their agony all while keeping them fully alert and conscious. they tend to favor the mouth but some will enter through back-doors in order to get the proper screams out of the recipient.

burrowers will tear, bite, and slime their way through whoever they manage to crawl into for days on end. the damage is atrocious but rarely fatal. the writhing and screaming is enjoyed by the burrower so they tend to stray further away from the more vital organs in order to keep their playtime going on for longer.

some may argue that the burrowers aren't truly evil, that they are just acting instinctively; but that was all before some biologists discovered that they are vegetarians and eviscerate people purely to quench their evil desires!

here's some wips and another wip! that's the burrower dangling and being held by a total jerk of a magician.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/1_jouste/process/cow_152wip_panels.jpg

aaand what i got so far (fun to work on the tower style canvas :D)

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/1_jouste/process/cow_152wip.jpg

[NickTrip]

Goo, there's a lot of really good ideas going around. I'm going to have to really think hard about this one.

[GoldenSerpent]

Here's what I have so far and I'll explain a few of them.

752409

8. is the idea of a cute, exotic alien kitten type thing for a pet but that it's much to ferocious to be kept safely.

9 & 10. are wormy dragon-like creature that would be parasitic.

7. I was thinking that the spikes on it would inject people with a poison that made them go berserk, evil, and thus was more or less literally a hand full of evil, *shrug* it was late at night when I did this one.

My favorites are 2, 6, and 12, after piranha were mentioned I've had the image of some weird rat/piranha thing that attacks in swarms. A rodent like creature has definitely captured my attention for this topic so I'm probably going to do something along those lines. And I thought 12 was a bit boring at first but he seems to have some attitude. Let me know what you guys think!

Jouste: I really like yours, its frothy mouth looks especially cool, and fun description too.

.Elec7ro: I noticed you already posted in the finals category, I really think you should spend some more time brainstorming ideas and finalizing things. Remember you have a whole week to finish this project.

[Arbinn]

Nice jouste!

Seeing stylish art like yours makes me wonder every single time if I should try something like that instead of stubbornly doing as realistic pieces as possible.

I dunno if I post my WIP today.

EDIT. Really cool concepts Serpent! I really have to give my creature a facelift as it's currently too humanlike gremlin.

EDIT 2. Ok here's my relatively early wip. It's going to be a hairy gremlin ripping unborn chickens out of the eggs.

[Syhn]

Very cool designs serpent! I'm a bit partial to 7, 8 and 11 myself, but I think 2, 4, 5 and 6 fit the "evil" description for this COW the best.

[evolvingeye]

I'm gonna do some sort of demonic/venomous/blood-thirsty hamster type critter,with its sacks replaced with venom glands.

[GoldenSerpent]

Arbinn: Man that is pretty evil, interesting critter design as well.

evolvingeye: nice shot of the creature's nasty green mouth, but it's head sort of blocks seeing the rest of it. It also still looks pretty normal maybe try pushing your concept some more.

I think this one's going to be harder than I first anticipated. I sketched out a couple ideas for what an overall picture might look like, I'm not particularly happy with either of them though and advice on the perspective of the arm would be great, I wanted it to be almost like the viewer's arm was what was being torn to bits. A couple more doodles of my rat like beasties too. I'm beginning to think that I'm not making them look evil enough though and might have to go back to the drawing board. Any thoughts?

752615

[dwinbotp]

Just for FUN! Colors to follow:)

[GentlemanCrow]

Goldenserpent: i was wondering if you could tell me what size and resolution you work in. im having trouble posting any of my images because they are too large >.<.
Also, with the person's perspective, maybe you should try with someone who like fell and has their arm supporting themselves trying to get up?

Peace,
Gentleman Crow

[GoldenSerpent]

GentlemanCrow: When I was still working on my first batch of quick sketches as a psd file the size was 1500 pixels by 900 pixels with a resolution of 300. For posting my pictures here I've found that 700-1000 pixels works pretty well. When I resize them I also save them as jpegs. I hope that helps :) and thank you for the suggestion, I'll have to try that view out.

[Crustibian]

Here's what I was thinking. What did little Jenna's father bring back from his recent business trip to Cameroon? Apparently someone wasn't very happy with his "business". He was cursed with a whisper demon.

[GentlemanCrow]

for some reason, even when my file sizes are 'small' like much less than 700-1k pixels it says its like 630kb instead of like urs where its big and only 237 or something...i dont know what im doing wrong, is it how im saving it? is it how im posting it?

[GentlemanCrow]

So, are you posting them onto this site? its really not working for me, i made the image really freaking small and its still saying that 72 dpi 400x250 is 583kb and too big...when its freaking tiny >.< someone help please. should i just host the imgages somewhere else?

[Arbinn]

evolvingeye Try to make it look more exotic. Currently it looks just like a hamster/guinea pig with a green mouth. Maybe you should try a different pose for it as I'd like to see the whole creature instead of just its mouth.

GoldenSerpent Thanks for C&C. I wouldn't personally call my critter to have that interesting design as it's almost just a small round human. :D Though I do like the face. It's looking better with fur on it but I still need to come up with something for it to look cooler.

Yours is coming out great. The creature to the right looks nastier than the others but those on the other hand look more evil. Maybe some kind of combination of those two? :)

dwinbotp What? lol :D A furby from hell.

Crustibian Nice idea but the creature is too skinny and long. Draw it with shorter limbs and make it a bit fatter (I know you tried to make a thin critter but that's over the top imo :P) and I think it'll look better.

[OneTimeOnetime]

Just a quick throwup, um i have no idea how to paint/color so any tips would be appreciated before i start working on this legitimately -_-

the nasty nasty Kurabu, I was thinking these things would spawn out of those lava craters underwater, from hell maybe?

[SimoneA.M.]

Not sure if I will go with this one, but it was the first idea that popped into my head that I liked.

752840

These nasty critters can be found in creeks and even hiding in thick mud. Their main target humans, when the opportunity arises they will launch themselves onto any available open crevice (and I mean any open crevice) and shoot out possibly hundreds of tiny tape-worm like parasites that naturally live inside its body into the victim. If you're one of the many who end up with the parasites inside your G.I. tract then you are one of the lucky ones; as this is only a mild inconvenience that can be taken care of through medicine or surgery. However there have been those not so lucky, becoming blind, deaf, suffocating, and even having their reproductive organs rendered useless and many times requiring removal. Studies show that there is no survival reason to inject the parasites into other creatures, they are simply jerks.

I'm worried this creature doesn't look evil enough (though what it does most certainly is haha), feedback is appreciated!

acb - I have to tell you, that creature most certainly doesn't look half a pound!

Syhn - Great little sketches, my favorites are the top right and the middle ones. I think the middle guy could work well as some sort of giant tick monster.

jouste - This guy makes me cringe! Looks great.

GoldenSerpent - Loving that hand perspective shot and this creature, I think the face definitely gives off an evil mutant vibe. Maybe the creatures could be lacking flesh over their gums? To give them that rotten freakish Nemisis (from RE) look.

Crustibian - This one is pretty creepy... I think you could make it look more interesting from the viewpoint of the girl lying down, like maybe place the camera by her ear. That way you could get a better feel of the creature looking over her as she sleeps.

[Arbinn]

What program are you using for colouring OneTime? I use photoshop and these tips are for that program (they may work on other ones too though, I dunno).

You could do a greyscale (colours only from black to white) first and then use the colour brush (select it from the upper bar which has "Normal" selection as a default) to colour your black&white creature.

Or you could just pick whatever colours you want and paint them on your creature (like I did now). Keep the separate colours on separate layers if you're not sure if you want to keep them so you can later change the colours from adjustments ---> hue. You can use different colours as shadows instead of just darkening the main one. The drawing will look more interesting and alive that way.

Load selection- tool from the select- tab is awesome for colouring as it limits the selection to the things you've painted on that specific layer. I usually start colouring by painting my creature strictly by the outlines with some (anything goes, I use dark grey) colour without opacity or pen pressure and then use load selection and start the real colouring on another layer. That way the colours stay precisely inside the lineart.

And you will want to use 60-80% opacity for colouring (100% is fine too if you don't paint with heavy hand and have the pen pressure on) as absolute colours are a bit boring.

[Alexjholt]

Thought I'd get my first draft in - I give you the Eyesnatcher, whose name pretty much describes the concept. I'm thinking of giving him some kind of prehensile tail... the idea is that it clambers aroudn at night snatching peoples eyes... though it probably needs some mechanism for tranquilising victims first.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k4/Alexjh/Game%20Art%20Stuff/eyesnatcher.jpg

[december09]

i like it man...

[JakkaS]

LOL. dwinbotp love yours!

GoldenSerpent - Cool sketches. I like all of them, but I think #4 was much more interesting then the one you have choose.

Here is my WIP. I thought, if this had to be a HALF of pound creature it should looks like a HALF of something. I have even a cool story for that!

[GentlemanCrow]

WIP#1
time to try and post from off-site hosting :]
some important facts about the Sparkhorn.
1-Calcium and flint based exoskeleton, when it hits other hard objects it releases sparks, causing many fires. 2- Due to a huge population they cause mass havoc and too many fires to control. 3-Insanely fast metabolism, this creature can eat up to 100x its bodywieght in food/raw materials per day, they will eat practically any edible substance.
Many people believe this new species will bring about the end of the world due to widespread famine and uncontrollable fires purging life from the planet.

I hope you guys like it, C+C is very appriciated.
Edit-Thanks for the advice GoldenSerpent, the mouth and eyes were just kinda place-fillers till i decided what sort of eye i would want. heres just a bit of an update on that :P

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz268/Gentlemancrow/COW-152-Sparkhorn.jpg

[Draugth]

Frist time here in the COW!

the mai idea was to make a swarm like creature, is like a mix between a insect and a piranha, is very colorful, but i like how it is going :].

Btw, i saw really nice works (unlike mine rofl), but i guess the talent to create thouse fabulous creatures only will came practicing and participating ^^!

[OneTimeOnetime]

Arbinn- I use photoshop cs3, haha thanks but im still having trouble, i guess cuz i dont have any experience with color at all, i guess ill just have to mingle and play around with it a bit until i find my "inner center" -_-

[Arbinn]

Well in that case you may want to simply colour on your lineart without any tricks or more advanced techniques. One gotta start somewhere. :) But I still recommend that you check out the Select --> Load Selection. Just give it a try. Colouring/shading will be hell of a lot easier and you won't have to use the difficult lasso tool. Though it will work only/best if you have the lineart on a different layer and you can colour under it.

I didn't draw almost anything today. Wasn't just feeling like it. :( So my next WIP will come tomorrow.

[acb]

simoneA.M - thx alot ^_^ yeah i know that already >_> lool....so for now ive split the creature into 2 different creatures and now choosing the one i wanna continue with either the upper one or the lower one (well i took the head of the lower one and tried to find a nice body for it :D)
and you have a cool idea and a really nice design :D

JakkaS-wow thats cool @_@ looking forward for updates ^_^ and btw does it has one leg and one arm and it uses them both to walk ?

GoldenSerpent-nice ^.^ those rat like creatures look very evil with those eyes ^_^

cool stuff everyone keep up the good work ^(^_^)^ and the most important thing is to hf :D

[Lege1]

Jakkas & Golden Serpent:
Icredible begginings as always gentlemen =]

[GoldenSerpent]

Crustibian: I really like the composition of this; it’s very easy to view that little critter as evil since he’s sneaking up on the innocent sleeping child. Two things, 1 I think the creature it’s self could use some more playing around with it just seems sort of simple, and two trying to find some sort of reference for the girl’s arm would really help since it looks off right now, if you can’t find something on google quickly maybe see if you can get someone to take a picture of you in a similar position and work from that.

GentlemanCrow: sorry about replying so late, I’ve been out of the house all day. I just use the attachment manager here on CA and for saving my pictures I go up to Save>Save For Web or something similar and save it on the highest setting for jpeg. I’m really not sure about what other information you need, seems like you finally got it to work though. Hm, your creature looks a bit too cute to me, I’d amp up the evil somehow, maybe try giving it a meaner set of eyes.

Arbinn: True, its body is pretty simple but there’s an odd quality about its face, part of me wants to say it looks sort of cat like but there’s also something else that I can’t quite put my finger on. The fact that I can’t figure out what else it makes me think of is what I find interesting.

OneTimeOnetime: cool critter coming along there, I especially like it’s legs and all the ragged spine-like protrusions on it’s body it’ll look really great with some texture. I’d definitely try laying some color over the top picture you posted. One thing that might help is to make a new layer over your linear and completely fill it in with color till all you have a solid silhouette, then go over to the layer palette and switch the layer’s setting to something like color or multiply and you should get an instant base color over your lineart. From there you can go into Hue & Saturation (command U I’m not sure where it is under the options anymore) and play around with the base color. From there you can continue to add new colors on new layers doing the same thing and erasing away or merge your color and your sketch layer together and start painting highlights and shadows on it. Let me know if I need to explain anything better :)

SimoneA.M.: Nice, I really like the dorsal view with those very long dull red eyes and an almost teardrop shape to the creature’s main body. I’d really like to see the underside elaborated on, maybe look at references of the underside of starfish (all their little tube feet suckers) and octopus suction cups. I can almost imagine the squelching noise it’d make when sticking onto someone’s face. It also makes me think, ever so slightly, of the amoeba like creatures from an episode of Star Trek, Operation:Annihilate I believe.

Thank you for the tip about the fleshless gums, that’ll probably look really cool, I might even spread a little bit of the rotten look around the rest of their bodies.

JakkaS: Thank you, I’ve been toying with the rat-like ones but I still don’t really feel sold on them yet, so I might go back and experiment with 4 or maybe something new if it pops up. I like the “half of something” concept you have and your creature is looking really awesome already!

Draugth: I like the head on this guy, I’m not sold on those wings though, his body looks a bit too heavy for them, I think it’d be cool to maybe see what he’d look like with a second pair of wings lower down his back. Could be worth a try.

Lege1: Thanks man :)

Well, like I said earlier in this post, I haven’t been home all day and I’m pretty worn out so I probably won’t be doing any drawing tonight but I’ll jump back into things tomorrow hopefully.

[PowleyMan]

In a time when the church sent their crusaders to exterminate all that was evil. the secret order of the magi, through the use of alchemy, created the Blasphemer. A small magical creature that has an insatiable lust to devour holy text.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/Griffer/8oz_3copy.jpg

[MikeBurns]

This'll be my first time participating in the COW. I think I have a pretty cool concept so far I just have to do more sketching and then I'll be sure to post!

[badass]

so my guy is like a little evil chimp thing. Hes basically blind, because he lives in the dark, so he "sees" using sound-waves (like a bat); to create the sound-waves he makes a high pitched scream.

The idea is, characters would hear this scream noise, then see these little monkey things jump out from holes or something in a cave area. Oh and the tail has a poisonous chelae/pincer thing that slowly paralyzes its prey while making them hallucinate.

[badass]

GoldenSerpent: i love the rat things. especially the one biting/stretching the flesh

PowleyMan: hilarious/awesome. though the colors dont bring evil to mind, the face in particular is evil/gross looking.

JakkaS: i love how you rendered yours! it already looks badass.

SimoneA.M.: you should check out the creatures from half life 2 who do a similar thing. (and maybe check out insects or something for some anatomy). heres the only pic i could find: http://totallylookslike.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/128862927522281148.jpg

edit: heres an update... more bat-like eyes and a lemur tail. im thinking of adding gliding wings, like a flying squirrel.

[Steve Marworthy]

Here is my start....

[acb]

well heres my progress so far ~_~:
http://i31.tinypic.com/nbf0r9.jpg

and heres where i stand now again in a middle phase where not everything is defined cuz i didnt had any time to work on it on the weekend ~_~
http://i30.tinypic.com/sw7k8o.jpg

i know the wing in the right side of the pic looks like a spiderman wing but thats a test(which i think ill replace it ) of the type of texture i want it to have and i might take that arm on the back of the creature to a different place that way it might make the wings look descent and if not ill play with these abit (although their not finished yet ) and im thinking about making the eyes red (that blue is making my crit look like its curiouse rather then evil >_>)

well lots of work to be done and i hope ill be able to finish it :D

draugth- cool crit ^_^ but i think (might be ) that its lower jaw is pointing to the wrong angle (too much to the right of the pic )and it needs to be below the upper jaw :D

buddha bear- nice concept :D its has a cool face ^_^

[alive]

eeeeviiillll creatures! like demonic pokemon , here some thumbs , please help me choose one i m having a hard time

jakkas-awesome design awesome colors,

golden serpent- your sketches are too cool, i like very much


heres my sketches

[Draugth]

@Alive: the 5.6.9.10 are awesome! :O

[alive]

haha thnx so much dude !:)

[acb]

alive- hmm nice ones :D i think 3,5,6,8,9 are potentially evil and the rest are too cute :D and 2 is an interesting one but i think yull need to think of a less cute head for it ^_^ looking forward for updates :D

[lkjhgfdsa]

wips time
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/Illustrations/lkjhgfdsa_COW152wipz.jpg
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/Illustrations/lkjhgfdsa_COW152.jpg

[Arbinn]

Dude... lkjhgfdsa stop it. That's insane. xD

[Steve Marworthy]

Which tail do you prefer?
I laid down some very rough colors - the green might be a bit cliche. I think I'll try some other combos and work out a more interesting skin texture. Any comments/paintovers/suggestions welcome.

[Lege1]

Hey all, so far so good........:yayca:

[Arbinn]

Steve Marworthy I prefer the hairy tail and colour. The green is, as you said, a bit cliche.

Here's my current WIP. Like in the last COW I'm again trying to draw something I've almost never drawn before, so I'll be happy to hear tips about drawing fur/hair. I did search tutorials with google but they are all about drawing human hair or editing photos...

[acb]

lkjhgfdsa - now that one looks evil with all of those markings on top of it ^_^ tho i think you should change the eye's lens cuz when you look at it's body it looks evil as hell but when you get to the eyes (specially the big ones at the middle and the lower ones )it doesnt look that evil :D
Arbinn - cool concept ^_^ and i think you should change the eyebrows so itll look like its doing it with anger (or out of evilness ^_^) cuz it doesnt look like that ^_^
Steve Marworthy - i think i like the feathers one better :D

[scorge]

Gotta love all the evil being put out here these days. It's been too long......Some really great work so far from some of the usuals and some of the unusuals as well.

[Arbinn]

How do you do that scorge...? Not a rhetorical question. :)

Do you use lineart or draw a "mass" which you start shaping? Do you use many layers? Greyscale?

That's insane... I'd love to know how to draw like that. I think lineart isn't working for me that well. I have to try something else next.

[PowleyMan]

small update, thanks for the crits.

[Verehin]

my sweetheart pet

[Arbinn]

Current WIP.

There's something wrong with my picture but I can't tell what it is. It seems to be extremely heavy to watch and somehow unpleasant but I don't know why. :(

Ideas?

EDIT. Could it be because of the size of the picture? I zoomed out a bit and it was better.

[GoldenSerpent]

Alive: 6, 8, 4 and 5 are probably my favorites, all of them are great sketches though :)

Steve Marworthy: I really like the little brownish one with the feathery tail, I’d say definitely go with that one.

Arbinn: not sure, maybe upload a smaller size version of the picture since it’s too big to be able to see the whole thing at once. The areas that you’ve gotten near the finishing point look really cool, the face especially and it’s feathery shoulders are looking cool too.

The other night I messed around with #4 a bit but still didn’t like it anymore than I did to begin with although I liked some of what I did around the eyes so I just applied it to my rat type critters. I think I’m going to just have to settle with them since I don’t want to waste more time brainstorming ideas and then not get anything finished. I also think I probably ate up to much time to do the previous thumbnail ideas I had so I’m going to concentrate on the creature’s more and then see if I can squeeze in a background later if I have enough time, if not they should still look pretty solid on their own.


Four again:
754980

WIP of what will be my final picture:
754981

[scorge]

How do you do that scorge...? Not a rhetorical question. :)

Do you use lineart or draw a "mass" which you start shaping? Do you use many layers? Greyscale?

That's insane... I'd love to know how to draw like that. I think lineart isn't working for me that well. I have to try something else next.

Glad you like it so far Arbinn. To be honest, my process is actually pretty simple and is usually dictated by what I'm drawing. I tend to go back and forth between Painter and Photoshop usually, although this one was done entirely in PS, but I like to do all my sketching, blocking and lineart in Painter, then take it over to PS for image adjustment and detail. I guess if I had to break it down, when I do the creature designs, I usually start by laying out some simple forms then kind of see where it takes me from there. Then it's all about getting anatomy, balance and compo in the right order then going to town. For more complex stuff(like people)I usually have to do some serious work with the line art to get everything just right. Hope this kind of helps.
lkjhgfdsa: Looking sweet man, I do agree about the eyes. They just appear unfinished and a little lifeless. Otherwise it's primo.:D

Here's where I'm at:

[TomCardin]

looking awesome scorge. I like the creature on the first background better, stands out a lot better...some details of the new background are throwing things out of whack for me. The brick texture in the back is throwing the scale off...the bricks look too small or the can and roach too big. The perspective on the can is throwing me off a bit but I guess it could be a bent up can.

[Einen]

Thought USA bombed Japan in 1945? Think again. :)

Still very much a WIP.

755053

[lkjhgfdsa]

Thanks for tha critiqz! updated image in above post;
I added a bit of stubble, blood and new green eyes that are squinty...!

[Lege1]

Scorge: Fucking ridiculous man!!!! In a GOOOOD way. I don't know where you come up with this shit or how you render it out so well but keep doing what you're doing man cause your poking peoples eyes out with this one =]

[scorge]

Poke, poke, poke......Love that one Lege 1. Heh-heh.
Thanks for the advice and kind words Tom and Lege 1. You guys are the bomb. New background up top. :up:

PS: Golden Serpent: Killer stuff. Sketches and all.
And lkjhgfdsa, much better. Forgot to mention how good that wood looks.

Einen: You're always my hero.

[Arbinn]

scorge Is it still just a WIP? Just outright amazing. Thanks for telling about your drawing process. :) I haven't tried painter myself and find it strange how some artists use both PS and painter for a single picture. :o I'd imagine that both softwares are capable of doing pretty much the same things.

Verehin Brr... Can't wait to see that finished.

GoldenSerpent The new WIPs look terrific. I like the glider better as a creature but the second - to be final - picture is superior as it has more action. My creature's "feathers" are supposed to be tangled hair a bit like in this picture (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3594/3315333263_8e4d3f05e7.jpg). But feathers are fine too. :D

Einen It's cute. :) The armor/crown thingie on its head has nice reflections.

PowleyMan Nice idea but the creature is very flat and the leg doesn't follow the surface of the book. :S Try to make it less saturated as it has pretty bright and "happy" colours atm (unless that's what you were after). :)

[PaperJester]

blahh mine sucks so much, but at least im getting the hang of photoshop.
2 (not so) speedpaints, still not sure about the color

[Steve Marworthy]

Fleshed out a lot more form, put some dimension into the tail and increased the overall tonal range. Next up, those awful feet, teeth, skin and hair. Can't wait to get back to the color :P

[Arbinn]

PaperJester Oh it's fine alright. :) I like the speedpainted new lineart better than the one you coloured already. It has better pose and structure imo and it reminds me of Zerg lurker (http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/1/19739/770894-cglurkerhigh_super.jpg). The colours make the creature look like a lobster. Try different colours here and there and plan the highlights better. Currently the highlights look pretty random and remind me more of just a lighter colour than a part where light hits. Remove the highlights from the hindlegs and make them darker to add depth to your creature if you plan on experimenting/working the coloured one further.

[feralcoconut]

So I have to embarrassingly admit that while I've had a wacom for a while now, and have used it for digital imaging/graphic design and the like, I haven't really used it for illustration or painting.. I think mostly because I'm so much more comfortable with traditional media (haha, and I'm only a rookie when it even comes to that). But I found this site and you all amazed me. I'm seriously blown away every day.

So, new to digital, new to the site - everyone here has finally motivated my ass to get out of my comfort zone and start actually pushing myself (or more accurately, to let go of my artistic cowardice and remind me of why I started drawing as a young whippersnapper in the first place). Thank you all.

and here we go..

wip: 1/2 lb evil

[ino]

Hello,

I hope my creature will not going to be too cute

Sorry for my english. I'm french

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/6644/uglycatcopie2.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/i/uglycatcopie2.jpg/)

fnaly i decided to change lots of things.

This is my goal

i think i am not going to keep the horns or maybe small ones.


http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/1852/monstre.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/i/monstre.jpg/)

[Einen]

Hey thanks guys, here's an update. :)

755566

[Steve Somers]

Hi everybody, been on a trip the last few days, time to catch up to everyone....

Scorge - WOW! totally bad ass, that thing looks wicked, but you probably know. Feels completely evil.

Golden Serpent - I think I like seeing your process as much as the end result - the comp with the creatures going up the arm is a great composition, I like the hand one you're doing now, but there was a liveliness on that second set of comps that really works for me. On a sidenote, my #7 design totally resembles your #4 -- we must both be thinking flying squirrel mouth monsters - weird coincidence...

Jakkas - another awesome beast from you - hope to see a book from you soon.

Arbinn - I think that guy is going to be killer. Attacking the egg is a disturbing touch, the face has some Ratfinkness to it which is a good thing.

Einen - beautifully rendered, great color choices.

Alive - I dig #2 and #5 and #3 designwise. Really like your drawing style, has a nice continuity to it. Can't wait to see the finished.

lkjhgfdsa - Does that dudes head spin around? That would be killer. He's looking quite nasty and mean - the bedpost perch gives the scale nicely.


Here's my sketches so far, if anyone thinks there's a promising beast in here, please let me know -- I'm sorta undecided so far.. Here's a quick explanation of each concept:

1. The minibeast - operates like a psychic tapeworm devouring the useful thoughts of it's victims.

2. The Arachbat Inseminator - Impregnates it's victims with with a DNA altering mutogen that changes them into insane beasts

3. The Cacaphone - emits an unbearable sound from it's papery wings, known to cause outbreaks of mass hysteria.

4. Skinfiltrators - A colony of miniature "eyeball tree" parasites that take root in the pores of human skin and control whatever limb it's on.

5. The Weasinart - Sticks it's extending fang into the anus of it's victims, and spins it around inside dicing up their guts.

6. The Skullopener - Opens the skull of it's victims like tin cans and then hooks their brain and returns to feed it's young.

7. The Skullcappar - lays in wait on forest tree limbs waiting to land on the head of it's prey, taking over control of their nervous system.

[Arbinn]

Steve Somers Awesome concepts. I like 5 and 6 the best. 5 has great expression on its face. :D

I'm done for this night. Finished the hair on the gremlin (I will add something later on though), started working on the chickens and added some minor things here and there.

[MikeBurns]

I've been spending a lot of time thinking out my concept and I think I have a really strong idea. I wanted to depict evil as more than just a violent killing machine. I thought manipulation would be an interesting translation of the subject.

Name still pending, but this is the description:
This creature latches onto the spine of it's prey. It uses the antennae-like fibers that come out of it's face to tap into the prey's nervous system, taking control of it's host, while the host is still conscious of what is going on around them. Once attached to the spine the creature manipulates it's host into getting into stressful and highly dangerous situations. It does this to make it's host release adrenaline and it feeds on it. Some examples of situations it put's it's host in are making it approach another animal that prey's on the host animal, making a creature afraid of heights walk along a cliff and jump across highly elevated gaps and of course the mere fact that there is a foreign creature attached to it's back. After the creature has sucked it's host dry of adrenaline it ejects itself and leaves it's host very vulnerable to attack because it has no adrenaline left for reacting to a potential threat.

[GoldenSerpent]

Scorge: wow, really amazing picture, I love the rotten looking flesh, especially around it’s neck, and all the little dribbles of liquid. Great stuff.

Arbinn: Ah my mistake, it really seems to be coming along nicely and the goo on the baby chicken looks awesome.

Steve Somers: Thank you, I’m glad my art process is that entertaining. Your right, sort of an artistic converge evolution. By the way those are a really awesome set of drawings. I like 6 and 5 the best. 5’s description and its look of glee make it seem the most evil in my opinion.

Einen: cool creature, I love all the colors and the subtle radioactive symbol on its back.

So here is how mine is coming along, I think it is close to being done. One thing I noticed was that the angry rat-creature crouched on the right side didn’t look like he was hissing at the rat-critter on the left so I pushed him back a little bit which I think helped quite a bit. I still might rework one or both of the left guys heads, as they look a bit odd. Let me know if you guy’s spot anything off as well :)

755837

[darkly]

Wow! Looking good everyone! I'm especially diggin' scorge's and goldenserpent's. They look like nasty little creatures.

Haven't done one in a while so I thought I'd throw together a wip. Enjoy!

755844

I'll have the final up soon.

[evolvingeye]

wow. All of you are doing awesome pics! I wish I had more time this week to work on my piece but thats life for ya. Anywho, was fun participating in my first c.o.w., learned a lot from watching you guys flesh out your ideas. Thanks and great job!

[MikeBurns]

Here's some some possible color schemes. This part is killing me for some reason.

[alive]

scorge- that is really really cool monster lol , very nice

einen- i love it, that is great, its like a little bomb creature that explodes right? the colors are beautiful and it definitely fits your concept perfect,
lkghfgh- yours is awesome too, the face looks really cool, my only crit would be the arms and legs look so human like, but other than that is is real good,

golden serpent- i really like your update, coming along nicely,

[alive]

hey mike, im not the best with colors but if you are having trouble picking a scheme, just think about colors that are complimentary to eachother and start from there, for example, red and green or blue and orange

[NickTrip]

GoldenSerpent - It looks like the one on top has a head that's a little too wide compared to the others. Outstanding work though.

[SimoneA.M.]

Some amazing stuff!

Goldenserpent - Looks great, love the mix of mammalian and reptilian textures. Are you going to give it some kind of background? If you did I think placing them in the corner of said background would make it a stronger piece.

lkjhgfdsa - Amazingly frightening, definitely looks evil.

scorge - Aaah! Your skill level is just through the roof. Love the creature too, but I think you could push the evil just a bit more. Between the clear eyes, purple/blue color scheme, and angel-like wings it's kind of giving me a "looks evil but is misunderstood" vibe.

Einen - ...that is just too cute haha. I'm really digging the warmth of the picture and how clean your painting style is!

Steve Somers - I really like number 6! Looks the most evil of them to me.

Arbinn - The gooey feel of that chick is great~ I really like this critter, though in the picture I kind of wish it were zoomed out a little to show the terrified profile of the mother hen haha.

Thanks for the comments on my previous concept! Though the mud-lurking tripus has now evolved into a sky bound toxic balloon (hopefully I'll think of a good name by the time I finish my entry).

756048

I took the "plague of mankind" idea a little further with these guys. Concept idea being something along the lines of a creature that was originally created as a biological weapon deciding to wreak its own havoc. Its bowels forever bloated with chemical reactions creating an incredibly noxious gas - they float in the air forever excreting the chemical polluting and destroying any form of life it comes into contact with.

Here's some alt versions, not sure which to go with. Opinions?

756049

[lkjhgfdsa]

Last wip,
made tha hands less humanish and messed with colours... added a jingle bell also- homage to the best 8oz killa- the deamon from StephenKing's black cat movie!
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/lkjhgfdsa_COW152lastwiper.jpg

[alive]

painted 4 of the creatures, didnt realize it would take me so long, please tell me which one I should take to finish because at this point i feel like just doing something else...oh and is white background better or black background?
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww292/ash-artwork/creaturespainted_edited-4.jpg

[kimliatach]

Alive, I like the blue squidly one on black best,
like a very evil pokemon.
Hopefully I'll get one in for this weeks myself

[Einen]

Cool stuff guys, I'll see if I can't find time for some comments soon. :)
Mine's almost done I believe, some more editing here and there and description to come. Basically it's a creature actually responsible for all nuclear explosions in the world.

756362

[dwinbotp]

LOL! So much packed evil here for this round, lotsa fun critter guys!:D

Golden serpent Love your rat sized dinos! poor owner of hand,haha!
Alive love the different creatures, some looks heavy though, I love the blue lower left one, white bg for me:)
Jakkas Lovely texture on your critter man, looks tres evil to me!:)
ScourgeFantastic mood! IMHO the mouth at the belly is overkill but looks great nonetheless!
ikjhgfdsa That extra post did wonders for size comparison, lovely detail work!:)
Einen LOL, Evil by action, looks pretty cute! love the glow!

I apologize if I left out a whole chunk of you, will get back to more comments soon.
Here's my light take on the subject...

[alive]

kimliatach-thnx man, i'm really glad u think that one looks like a vil pokemon lol, that was my goal for this assignment...

Dwinbotp-ROFL, that is hillarious "and it doesn't sleep" well done sir i tip my hat to you

ill have my final up by fridays,

[Steve Somers]

Damn, wish I would've seen people's comments before I worked on mine last night I would've gone with my #6 design -- Maybe I still will, but I'm liking this guy too, has sort of 60's hot rod overtone to it with the spike helmet and all...

Thanks for the crits guys.

Oh, and Alive, Yeah, the #3 dark blue guy on a dark background looks cool, but they're all pretty tight, really liking the variety of marks and textures you're using - very effective.

[alive]

hey thnx steve, really appreciate the comment, yeah i think im going to choose the blue monster since everyone seem to like that one best

[wanwan]

After many far too cute sketches this critter came out of my fingertips.

Creator of flies and pestilence, could also add wasps cause they too are distinctly evil.

[NickTrip]

Here's what I've got going for this one.

I've decided to go with a bird type of beastie. The dark thing hanging out of its ass there is going to be an ovipositor of sorts, where the bird would lay small eggs into the flesh of its host (you). It would hurt like heck. Then horrible flesh eating birds would be growing out of you and it would be terrible.

http://www.tripiciano.com/files/HostedImages/NickTrip_COW152a.jpg

The thing is though I think I'm heading down the same road as last week and making something that looks pretty normal. I've given it a "toothed" beak and some horns, but its still pretty much a bird. Any ideas?

[Arbinn]

You draw with a pencil NickTrip? Just making sure. That's really good. :)

[Steve Somers]

Hey NickTrip, yeah, I see what you mean, it's pretty much a bird with some bonus evil accessories. I guess my thought would be lighting, number one. You can take the cutest normalest thing and light it in such a way to make it spooky, or evil, maybe make the eyes more ominous -- but maybe you want to avoid making just look like a crow.. The other route is just to rethink the proportions or material it's made out of... Even though it's a pencil drawing, you could still mess with the proportions in photoshop to sort of 'evil it up'...

[NickTrip]

It's not done yet, so I can still make large actual changes to it.

[JakkaS]

acb - thanks and.. yes. They have just random body parts. I think lots of their kind won't even move :)
lege1- thanks man :D
GoldenSerpent - thanks :) I like the progress...but that new wip of four. I still think this was the better option :) hehe
PowleyMan - I think that balloon (is this a balloon?) on his tail looks more like attached then a part of the body. Maybe the tail should be more stretched, more curved.
Snow Lion - Thanks man! Btw, I think your first approach was better. Creature was more evil looking than second one, btw the first one looks like a hairy gremlin :)
acb - One thing doesn't work for me in your illustration. If he is flying how he can hold the wings like that. Maybe he could be standing on that rat. It would explain why he has his wings raised - not in motion.
alive - thanks! Nice sketches btw. I like #8 and he is still the best in color version.
lkjhgfdsa - I like your creatures head (nice detail) but the rest looks too human like. Especially his arms.
Steve Marworthy - Nice work. I think the left one looks better. He has better tail and colors.
Arbinn - I like his head...especially his eyes.The last wip looks promising.
scorge - nice design, definitely a twisted and evil looking creature.
Verehin - sweet! There is something scary in your creature... the guy in the background doesn't look like pleasant one either :)
Einen - Funny creature. But I think the way he suppose to be used isn't funny at all
PaperJester - the pose on the second sketch is more interesting then in the color one
feralcoconut - for now it's hard to say something about yours
ino - hehe...dig the two tail idea..
Steve Somers - Thanks! Nice sketches.. i like #6. the creature looks like a pocked version of cthulhu :) but I see you have choose another one.
darkly - nice design and colors! Looks cool!
MikeBurns - Hmmmm...it doesn't look too badass...or evil
SimoneA.M - I think some vains and shiny surfaces would help to make it more interesting...btw, he could have a long tail/something to catch/stuck to the prey.
dwinbotp - Thanks man! I think your final looks great!
wanwan - Hmmmmm. Still hard to say something about yours
NickTrip - nice drawing.

Ufff... Sorry for my English guys!

And here is my final!
-------------------
Oie's monsters!

It think it happened fifteen years ago. I was trying to create, a species of small intelligent creatures. I had few minor problems, but when I was close to finally solving them, one of my students has "accidentally" borrowed my notes. What was his name? Ahh... Oie! Yeah, poor kid. He was trying to make the same experiment. And he died trying. It was a nasty ...and probably a painful death. Let's say... students still can't use his room... hihi...anyway...what was I taking about... ohhh... yes. He was trying to make the same experiment, but as far I know he couldn't get all ingredients. So he used just half of them. And he accidentally created creature that looks like being born in the middle of the chaos. A twisted, evil looking creature with random body parts, one hand, eye, tentacle etc. They were small and they looked like they were half of something. They have turned against their creator. But I must say... in one way he was right....adding half of the ingredients has given him half of the success! But you have to have, half of the brain to try it! Hihihi!

Uliamo Mowowela
Alchemy teacher
Lanuhihea University

[wanwan]

my tonez. i was on livestream showing this off at www.livestream.com/rowenaaitken but now i am off to make crumpets mmm

[Einen]

JakkaS: Well, I suppose nuclear destruction isn't really a laughing matter at all, but do you mean it in a "that's not funny because it's actually a horrible thing"-way, or a "that's not funny because the idea really sucks"-way?
The only thing I was going for here was to cause maximum amount of evil for such a small guy, but I'd like to know how you think here.

[Arbinn]

JakkaS I can't tell if I like your or scorge's creature better. Both are immensely impressive, astoundingly amazing and damn dashing... The texture on your creatures is crazy though to be honest I would have liked to see that texture on something more interesting than a pile tentacles. :) I'm not saying they're bad in any way, just thought they could be even better.

Good job!

I didn't draw much today. :S The final composition of the picture is ready now though and this will be the last WIP. I dropped the whole picture a bit lower so that the critter's head would be at the center of focus in the middle of the picture. I also added a hidden chicken in the shadows and I think there's a nice triangle of chickens around the gremlin's head now. :)

I will revise the creature's head and especially the chin tomorrow as it should look much better being the center of focus.

[wanwan]

i really need some crits please

[Arbinn]

wanwan The lighting is going to the right direction. Keep the light source in the middle of the picture and creature and start adding more lights, shadows and details. The flies look like boring balls with wings so you could remake those. The visible intestines are a bitt odd decision. Are they supposed to glow through the creature because of the powerful light?

Hope that helped. :)

[wanwan]

thanks

the flies are just placeholders at the mo, I just wanted to nail the main guy. they will be properly drawn up - they won't stay looking like cheap golden snitches!

the gut area will glow with power, and of course the noxious gasses of pure evil.

i am really happy with the light source on this and there will be other ones, just have to work out the environment :) i am thinking dark gutters on a victorian street :)

will get to work on it tomorrow! thanks again!

[acb]

wow jakkas great work on your crit ^(^_^)^
i got bored of my crit cuz its a boring one so ill work on it abit and try to post some updates on it and next time im gonna sketch some more befor i jump on the 2nd idea im having ~_~

[Arbinn]

acb At least you didn't jump on the 1st idea you get like I do in about 80% of the cases. :D

[JakkaS]

Einen - I like the idea of making something cute so deadly! And I don't have anything against your entry, or how the thing is working. Really :)

Arbinn - Hey, they are just a "slugs".... made of random body parts. You can't expect they will be looking too good :D

wanwan - I agree with Arbinn. Maybe try to rework his arms. They are curving in all directions...

acb - I haven't write too much... at least too much useful things, hehe

[dwinbotp]

Not much to add, just wanted to say I really had fun for this round of COW! From seeing the funny, to the obscure and back again, great stuff guys! (bows) :)

[alive]

jakkas- wow, that is half a pound of AMAZING, awesome work , i hope someday i can render like that i will practice and practice more...... i think the concept is very good also, ps, is there any way you could tell me what brushes settings you use.. or is it secret information hehe

Oh yeah, i forgots to say same thing as dwinboyp, awesome work evrybody this round was very fun

[acb]

Arbinn - lol well i was like that too ,i used to jump on the first idea i get most of the time ~_~....but now i have improved ^(^_^)^...im jumping on the second idea i get most of the time >_> ~_~ loool...

and thats why next time im gonna thumb and sketch till my hand will hurt and i couldnt sketch no more.....and then o_O!....ill do some more sketches! ^,^
and from those sketches ill choose something interesting :D

but besides...i like your idea arbin with that crit pulling the chicken out of the egg ^_^

[Syhn]

Still have a couple days so I may keep tweaking this. Also trying to come up with a good background to really show the size of this thing.
756704

[Arbinn]

My piece looks very chaotic and heavy compared to the other ones. :/ Any tips how to improve it? I was thinking about making the background less detailed and lighten it up a bit leaving hay and straws only to the very foreground. I don't know what else I could do. :(

Syhn Try adding some stronger highlights on your creature for eyecandy? :) The current one works too though. As for background: put the creature on a table with some ordinary everyday little item (cell phone, pen, eraser, mouse...) next to it?

[wanwan]

"wanwan - I agree with Arbinn. Maybe try to rework his arms. They are curving in all directions..."

Jakkas: What do you not specifically like about the arms? The pose or the uneven lines? I felt they added to the creepiness personally but I am open to other points of view, as a n00b!

[MikeBurns]

Jakkas: after spending a day away from the piece I feel the same way, I'm reworking it now and will be posting sometime tonight, thanks for the insight ;)

[Kristal Lee]

Looks like a fun topic for my first COW challenge! :D

Sweeeet~

[acb]

hmm arbin i think there are too many highlights in your background that draws the eye and it takes the attention of your crit. try hightlighting your crit abit and darken the hightlights of the inviro abit :D

[MikeBurns]

Here's the new drawing of my creature, decided to give it a more interesting pose and I'm really pushing the design.

[Lee]

Ill have to comment later. Good work in here.
Was fun doing this! Haven't done one in awhile.
756869

[alive]

haha lee thats wicked! :) i like it! the face especially

[MikeBurns]

I'm enjoying the color scheme finally! I feel like this is a lot better than the last one.

[Mike D]

Eh...what I was thinking of doing is not what I ended up doing ....=/ If I get done with this tomorrow going to decide if I want to scrap it. I like the face, but legs are kinda bugging me, maybe I'll just do them all over since they just suck so much.

Not sure what direction I want to go in..I was trying out the shroom as he's supposed to be small so I felt it could be a good way to show his size. Not set on that though, just trying it out for now until I get a better idea.

[NickTrip]

Ok I've got the drawing finished now. I redesigned the head a little bit. I think it still looks a lot like a normal bird, but its a little bit better. Baby steps, you know?

http://www.tripiciano.com/files/HostedImages/NickTrip_COW152b.jpg

[Arbinn]

Well I'm gonna call this one finished. I desaturated the background a LOT, got rid of the extreme highlights, flattened some parts and finally I think the focus is on the creature & chickens.

Damn it. My picture's size was 550,2K with maximum quality but allowed size is about 530K. :D

[NickTrip]

That's pretty sweet, Arbinn. Nice work.

[Arbinn]

Thank you NickTrip. :)

Your bird looks cool too. Can't wait to see it coloured. :)

[wanwan]

i'm doing my CoW on livestream http://www.livestream.com/rowenaaitken right now :D

[NickTrip]

Here's what I think I'm going to submit for the final. If anyone sees anything that could be improved, please let me know.

http://www.tripiciano.com/files/HostedImages/NickTrip_COW152c.jpg

Made a change to the contrast and values

http://www.tripiciano.com/files/HostedImages/NickTrip_COW152d.jpg

Messed with the bird's color a little bit too

http://www.tripiciano.com/files/HostedImages/NickTrip_COW152e.jpg

[Arbinn]

Hmm. The second version is better than the first one. Very stylish though your bug from the last COW was better imo. :)

The stinger does indeed look kinda phallic.

[Steve Somers]

Arbinn - That turned out quite nicely, really like the egg yolk. My only trivial crits are the highlights on the background chick is competing with the front, and since you've eliminated the outline on most of the picture, maybe get rid of it on the arm and wherever else -- but the egg stuff is really working well, and his face looks awesome.

NickTrip - Way better now, yeah it's a little birdish still, but I'd be scared of that thing with it's creepy face and buggy eyes. That tree too -- just something about the bark is unnerving, really adds to it... If you were gonna do anymore on it, I'd say just very some of the color a bit more.

Lee - Way to work the tablet in there. That's a solid little nut of a beast there, A-1 paintjob on him, really like the marks you use.

Mike Burns - I have a hard time committing to one thing too, but that pattern on your latest is very cool.

Jakkas - That sure came together nicely, I was wondering how that would work when I saw the WIP.

Well I went back and reworked my number 6 starting from the things I liked about it, but trying to make it a bit more frightening, took some reference shots of me and my friend to get that "just eaten brain" look. I think I'll go ahead and finish that one up. I like my first one, but maybe I'll just print that out for my friend's tattoo parlor. What do you all think?

[NickTrip]

Steve Somers - That new painting is so good! It's really horrific and well done! Great work! I would say maybe though put a little more contrast and definition into the creature. Right now its a little tough to distinquish its features.

[Arbinn]

Thanks Steve. The chicken in the shadows was indeed darker at one point but I felt like the dark top corner looked too empty as the chicken almost drowned in the shadows so I made it brighter to add some contrast in that area.

Your... thing... is looking kickass and scary! I agree with NickTrip that you could distinguish the creature's features more though. Good job!

[Steve Somers]

Thanks Dudes!! Yeah, I agree, the beast and the whole piece needs a few more hours of the tap tap tap of pen on tablet -- but I want to keep the dude sort of pulpy, pinkish, subterranean, maybe no eyes. Brain eating monsters have a very delicate complection and I need to be sensitive to that.

[wanwan]

on www.livestream.com/rowenaaitken again!

[PowleyMan]

Thanks for the crit Jakkas, your works amazing. That wasnt supposed to look like a baloon at the end of the tail but more flat round.

Arbinn i think your finished peice turned out great. and everyone else came up with some really weird shit, good job guys.

[Pierropod]

There are a lot of good stuff like usual. For now I love Jakkas and lkjhgfdsa's one. Those are pretty amazing.
So here is mine :

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[Mike D]

Possible new idea, not liking my last WIP all that much. Just started on it a little bit ago just going to see where it goes.

**edit: Threw on some simple color to see how it's looking so far. I like the skin texture so far, shiney =) Not so sure on where I'm going with the finish though.

Any ideas would be most appreciated.

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[Lander]

Great creations in the finals!

So here goes my wip on this.
Made this last night on my Iphone just before Mr Sandman came with a bag of dust.
If I get the time I'll work it in Painter and submit to the finals thread.

I'll redo the legs and give it a mounth from the Abyss.

Please crit :)

[Mr. P Show.]

Dammmmmmmmm!!! All of you guys kick ass, this is gonna be a sick COW:). Good luck to all.

[BlkCelebration]

Another great round, lots of great entries. Unfortunately I don't think I will finish my entry. I had this idea of a creature that was like a demon's pube or something haha.

Here's what I have so far:

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[wanwan]

for those of you who haven't been following me on livestream: www.livestream.com/rowenaaitken, here it is so far.

I'm on livestream now if anyone is interested!

[feralcoconut]

Ha, thanks JakkaS.. I didn't know what to say about mine either, except for the fact that it was just kinda ..blah. It didn't really do anything for me so I tossed out the whole idea and started fresh, which I've now posted in the finals thread.

[kimliatach]

here's a WIP final is in the other thread, amazing pieces abound.

[abyssopus]

Finding myself with some idle time on my hands and thought I'd give it a crack. Just jumping off the cliff here, so the speak. Roooough sketch of my creature.

As always, a ton (or would about 15lbs be more appropriate for this COW) of incredible work here.

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[MikeBurns]

I just posted my final image on the FINALS thread so I figured I'd drop one last update here. I have to say I'm really excited to read everyone's descriptions of their creatures! So many creatures are looking absolutely ridiculous so far and an awesome looking creature with an awesome backstory is just, well DOUBLE awesome! :D

[abyssopus]

OK. Think I might make it. Here's WIP#2.

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[PowleyMan]

damn i didnt know they had a drawing app for the iphone, i really want one now!

Blkcelebration, demons pube. Thats fuckin hilarious!

[wanwan]

putting the finishing touches to the beast right now, and if i don't say so myself; it is looking teh awesome! if you wanna see me do this live i'm online now: http://www.livestream.com/rowenaaitken

[skodone]

oi?

darn...deadline was 21st :s thought itd be the 24th...

very cool entries everbody :) looking forward to monday then!
(and if michael doesnt start the vote till tuesday ill be maybe able to put up my stuff too :D)