C.O.W. #153 -- Lean, Green and Mean Posting WIPs Thread

[Michael Jaecks]

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

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


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Round #153 Lean, Green and Mean!

Topic:
Lean Green and Mean!

Creature Description: Lean, Green and Mean-- The creature brief should be pretty self explanatory this week. It can be fantasy/creature or sci-fi/alien as long as it fits the description. Like the Pale blue/obese round, your creature should visually convey the aspects described in the topic. Lean. Green. Mean.

Deadline:
TUESDAY September 1st

Finals go here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=167294

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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[wanwan]

sweet

that is all

[Michael Jaecks]

sweet

that is all

:) You're being very brief and Twittery tonight. You're not on the peach cider again are you??!!?

;)

[Arbinn]

Good.

Hopefully I have time to participate. I'm moving tomorrow. :/

[wanwan]

:) You're being very brief and Twittery tonight. You're not on the peach cider again are you??!!?

;)

haha no alcohol for me tonight - just in a funny mood. home alone, no man to torment :P

[MikeBurns]

No set direction I'm going in just yet, but I'm playing around with the idea of a pet that desperately craves attention so it gets into all kinds of trouble and it torments the other pets out of spite. Here's a quick sketch I just did.

I'm not even sure if I'll have a finished entry for this week cause I'll be moving back to school tomorrow and I might not have the time. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on everyone else as they post. So many awesome ideas show up with these things :)

[acb]

hmm...what do you mean by lean :D ? and MJ i think Team Cow will be AWSOME?!

[MikeBurns]

How exactly would a team COW work? i don't really know how team chow works, i've seen the threads but i'm not sure i understand how it works :/

[NickTrip]

acb - lean means without a lot of fat. So a body builder would be lean, but so would an emaciated person.

This should be fun!

[evolvingeye]

Here is my concept so far. Its gonna be a tree-dwelling type creature that feeds on unsuspecting campers.

[PowleyMan]

Im diggin it evolvingeye, certainly mean and lean ;)

Just screwin around with some ideas. Team COW would be intense any ideas on subject matter?

last wip of the night, gettin sleepy...

[Ironhead]

Hi there, after a long time i will give it a try.
Happy drawing!

[Ederic]

Heyo, this is my first try at C.O.W or anything similar.


This is my first sketch for the creature, a dragon-thing that likes to terrorise innocent kite-fliers.
760303
Feedback is accepted.

[wanwan]

Heyo, this is my first try at C.O.W or anything similar.


This is my first sketch for the creature, a dragon-thing that likes to terrorise innocent kite-fliers.

Feedback is accepted.

Nice starter, but it looks a bit too 'ordinary'. Keep up the good work!

[Lege1]

It starts.........:yayca:

[Dorkthrone]

Throwing my hat in the ring.

I'm going for a praying mantis sort of look.

[Yor]

nice, i'm in! here are some quick sketches.

[evolvingeye]

Great concepts so far! PowleyMan, I'm diggin the perspective you have goin on there. I'll post another wip soon.

[acb]

i like your ocncepts Yor :D
no 2 looks really interesting and also no 4 but it looks less stable on that pose like its about to fall :D

im still sketching although i think i have a good idea but i dont wanna jump on the first nice idea im getting :D will post something soon and will post some more comments too ^_^

[Yor]

@ Acb, thanks man, i think i' m going for n2. here's a wip of n2 and n4 but i won't be using that one

[dwinbotp]

Yor, great sketches & ideas! :)

My initial idea after reading the brief. comments and suggestions are welcome:D
It's a dog, made of plant/root, that came from a seedling, grows underneath and rises from the ground after maturity. Not sick enough of an idea but I'm tired. Can't wait to see more from this round:)

[Coxaman]

So, this is my first time here at COW, and my creature is an alian worm that feeds on blood, so for the firsts years on earth the worms was only killing rats to live, but it was a hard work because the rats was faster than the worm. Now this creatures lives inside Ball Pool biting and drinking blood from little kids in the pool.

http://images.orkut.com/orkut/photos/OgAAAERouTnq6oJ-ykoET6ugLwiIRfk2rcnjbvj5zY65dl39-oqCho1PkM0tWOQs7EMfEcWPzXGZ5oCGu4SsqJLS4KQAm1T1ULy lZzaqk0BRqnFROjNhnzNS9SFd.jpg

[wanwan]

nice work, coxaman but so far all i can see is a shark with a moustache :P

[Coxaman]

lol, its not finished yet. Ill try to do improve it, but im kinda out of ideas...

[Yor]

Dwinbotp, ncie idea, curious to see how ot will turn out!

ok here's my final i think, if you think that i can change still something please tell me.

[JakkaS]

Yor I like you sketches, but I am afraid the one you have choose looks too humanoid. But maybe I am wrong...
dwinbotp - I like your sketch. It reminds me one of my creatures I have started few years ago but never finished. Check the attachment. :)
MikeBurns - nice start... I like the greens... and head design.
Lege1 - nice start!

Here are my sketches. I am still not sure which I should choose. Also ...still don't know If I will have time to do this one :(

[Yor]

JakkaS, those are really nice sketches, nice values and really dynamic! if my entry is too humanoid, i won't post it in the finals thread bien entendu.

[Lege1]

Jakkas: Thanks broski! Means alot coming from you. Your wips are monsterous no doubt, I am beggining to think that you are a creature yourself,lol, don't take that the wrong way but you and Scorge are both monsters of COW. You've both inspired me alot throughout the years.

[dwinbotp]

Jakkas LOL, my man!:D Those look great!!! Similarities aside though, please allow me to finish what you've started, I have such a one track mind, haha. If it's too close, I'll do another one different:) Again, great great stuff dude!

[mobius-9]

Hey fellas, this here's my first ever cow, its an honor. Here's a couple things I've been messing around with.

[MikeBurns]

Jakkas: Thanks! Your sketches are already looking ridiculous, I'm definitely gonna need to push...i mean..."forcefully shove" the design of my guy. I look forward to seeing your progress!

Yor: Yeah I could see how it might come off as too humanoid. I still think it's an awesome design and I LOVE the blue light on the side as well as that shaky effect on the arm! You could maybe ask Mr. Jaecks if it's too humanoid if you are really concerned thought. I love your guy though.

The others are really interesting too, I can't wait to see everyone's progress

[feralcoconut]

JakkaS - Your c.o.w. tutorial really helped me! (ha, well I think it did... we'll see) I've seen so many people starting with black and white, and then coloring it in after. So I started doing that, but it's so boring that way! I would lose interest in a piece before it was anywhere near done. Also, I decided to try making a sketch but not working on it... this definitely makes it easier to "accidentally find something cool".. Thanks! We'll see how it all works out for me.

Here is the wip of my lean, green and mean. So far it is a floating ghoul type thing. It's going to have a translucent green skin, with bone protruding, long thin arms, and an open gut spilling out from the ribcage. I'm also going to make the ribcage a bit less human looking. Through the skin I hope to make some of the organs visible - mainly the heart and veins which will show the creature's black blood. The mouth and exposed organs will be black, oil slick looking. The idea is that this creature doesn't really have much of a digestive system and everything it eats gets turned into this black guk which spills out of it relatively quickly... forcing it to eat often.

IF i stick with this idea.

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Question about deadline...it says Monday September 1st, but September 1st is a Tuesday?

[Lenorekitty]

I might actually have some time to do this one... :) Great work so far, all of you!

[GoldenSerpent]

Well here's what I've tried to scrape together sketch wise. Great topic but I'm having trouble making much of anything substantial, 8-10 are the same body plan because I rather like how it turned out although I can't seem to figure out a good head to stick on! I'm thinking I might not get to finish this COW because I'm back to school now. :/ Here's what I've got and I'll pop back on tomorrow to give some feedback for you guys as well, on top of things my internet is a bit wonky currently...

761169

[lkjhgfdsa]

lol, even in australia it is tha 1st!
Edit! this is my 200th post- pity it isn't something phenominous!

[PowleyMan]

Lege1, Im lovin that awesome worm! especially the head. reminds me of somthing out of my d&d books.

Yor, thats a nasty lookin little fellow you got there. i love the teeth. i wish i could see more of his legs though.

JakkaS, crazy good wips as always. hope you have time to finish one.

Mobius-9, i like both your ideas, the silk (if thats what it was) spinning one would be neat to see.

Coxaman, looks like an italian great white! hehe im lookin forward to an update.

Heres my latest disaster. i threw out the sucker hands and the rabbit eared baby bird head thing. hope ya'll dig this one a little better. any crits welcome.

[PowleyMan]

GoldenSerpent i forgot... my votes for number 8. i got a thing for that sweet mane i think ;)

[Lege1]

Golden Serpent: Great set of wips man. It always astonishes me when people like you and Jakkas come with so many ideas. I usually get one strong idea, lock down on it and then change things as I go along. Great work! I like number 8.

Powleyman: Thanks on the compliments man. I wanted to come with something fantasy this time around and really thought this idea would be fresh to bring to finish. I am hoping I can do just that =] I like the textures you're rockin on yours man, dope scales no doubt.

[Steve Marworthy]

a quick sketch

[The Searle]

Liking all the WIPs so far. Last one was an awesome one, looks like this will be also.
Heres my initial line drawing for my second entry so far. Enjoyed it so much last time I thought I'd participate for a second time running.
This guy blows fire onto villages, then uses his wings to spread it. What a meany!
This image shows a last ditch attept by a wizard to destroy one of these terrible beasts.

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

[Ironhead]

Hi folks, my creature looks like a blade of grass to eat all the tiny little sweet vermins.
What do you mean?

Cheers Artur

[PowleyMan]

Haha IronHead i love it!

[jsn]

Great ideas and stuff!

Mine is similar to a caterpillar, about 100,000 times bigger, and leaner! Three mouths!

Do we attach images here, or use another site? This ones attached!

[Izer]

Some pretty cool entries, i personally like the direction goldenserpent is headed. Oh and #7 is my pick for thumbs. I'll go back and comment on others a a later time. For now just a doodle.

I doubt i'll finish it or even go in this direction but wanted to participate a little. I guess some sort of super crazy aqua creature, i never really think things through, i just sketch.

[Izer]

Ok i saw where i wanted to go with this one (sorta), although it takes me longer to take a pic of my sketch then size it down, then switch to my other computer, then to post with very shotty wifi, then to actually sketch this out in pen... lol, anyways 8x11 quick 10 min pen sketch, body profile, claw from the top view, and a little face, nothing fancy. I'll throw it in photoshop at a later time to clean it up and do the line work like the previous post. Sorry for the quality. Oh i really gotta lose the smile, and make it more aggressive and menacing.

[GentlemanCrow]

My WIP#1 :] kinda just winging it, not gonna sketch or anything just a speedpaint so far.
I probable should find new brushes so i can do these things easier :].

Nice concepts so far everyone :)

btw, concept is a rare forest creature that is greatly feared due to its agressive territorial behavior and the agonizing poison released from its tendrils.
also it hunts its prey and toys with them.

Comments and Critique are Very appriciated :]

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz268/Gentlemancrow/COW153-MGLcopy.jpg

[Lege1]

Gentleman Crow: This is looking cool, I like the overall look of what you have going on here. I am looking forward to seeing more. Hit me up in a PM if you want me to send a nice brush set your way. Keep doing best =]

As of now this is what I have for this weeks creature. I think I am more or less going to call it finished. It felt really good to finally finish one of these things and provide more than a sketch which is the usual for me. Life sucks sometimes and the artist need time to produce; this week I took father time by the beard. Comments and crits are welcomed as always =] Keep doing best everyone.....:yayca:

[scorge]

Lege1:You've come a long way man! Very exciting to see someone improve after playing here for so long. Looks good!:jawdrop:

Here's some finished sketches from today. Not sure if I'll use 'em or move onto something a little more original.

[PowleyMan]

Lege1, crazy colors man! im diggin it. i love the background also. we have a week till the deadline dont give up addin some more detail if you got the time.

Scorge , very sweet concepts, your wips are better than my final will be! not sure which one i like better! i love the top ones mouth, and well... i like big butts and i can not lie :P second ones ass looks deadly!

[Michael Jaecks]

Small bit of housekeeping: I must have hit the back button at the wrong time while setting up the threads this week because as I checked in today I noticed there was no place to put the finals! It's up now with the link on the first page of this thread changed.

Ah well, too early in the week for finals anyway.

Sketches look great! Looking forward to seeing the progress...

[Lege1]

Scorge: All I can say is thank you and that I've learned from the best. I've watched you, Jakkas, Cloister, Lander, and Njoo, along with Whiteeee to name a few just rip shit up in here over the years. Your compliment means alot and just because of that I am going to go and clean up my piece more because I don't like all the sketch showing through. I like your pieces were everything is solid color. Thanks again man and I am looking forward to you coming hard on this COW as always =]

PowleyMan: Thanks for the compliments man as compliments like yours are what have kept me here over the years and inspired me to keep up with playing Dr. Frankstein with these crazy critters. I am definitely going to clean up the piece more and put in a little detail here and there. I didn't realize how early I was with finishing with this one. It's been great and I look forward to seeing you finish yours.

Mike Jaecks: WHAT UPPPP? It's been awhile man. I look forward to you dropping a creature out soon in one of these forums. Just to do it for good times sake =] Hope you're good and business is steady up North.

[Ironhead]

PowleyMan: Thank you Powley! I tried this time to make a creature in a "funny" style. By the way, keep on going! Hope to see your finish creature.

GentlemanCrow: You have to add more contrast in the darker areas. Its hard to define the shape of the face. Looks like an eagle had. Cheers Artur

[Michael Jaecks]

Question about deadline...it says Monday September 1st, but September 1st is a Tuesday?

That's what I get for trying to count the days off in my head rather than looking at the calendar. All righty, let's keep the date and I will change it to Tuesday.

Official deadline: TUESDAY September 1st, 2009!

[Rafael kokiri]

Sorry guys, I know my drawning do dot apply to the rules and can't be a entry, but when I saw the theme, I couldn't resist to draw the most Lean, Green and Mean Creature of the universe. Zorak.

[Steve Somers]

Mike Burns - I like the concept of an attention hungry beast, it would be cool to see some of the havoc he wreaks in the background -- if you've got all your stuff moved that is..

Lege1 - Yeah! That's a fuckin killer monster - the colors man, the colors....and I like the bear instead of the ballet guy you had there. It looks great already, and if you keep massaging, tweaking and smoothing by tuesday it will be an awesome force

Jakkas - The thing with 4 arms is different, but any of them will turn out well, that tree monster is rad too. If only you could just stop sleeping and make creatures 24 hours a day..

Mobius - You gotta finish one of those, I like the bottom beast.

Golden Serpent - Another pile of awesome sketches. The #4 with no identifiable head is a cool idea, I like #7 too. But if you're looking for a head to pop on, maybe the head from #1 would give it a cool profile?

Mr. Marworthy - Your foliage tree monster has begun well, hope to see some of that awesome detail like your last piece...

Powley man, nice progress on that one, but you changed that cool head you had on there...

Ironhead - points for uniqueness, I've never been more frightened of grass.

Scorge - The bottom guy is kick ass, esepecially that head body area

Gentleman Crow - Solid painting so far, looking forward to see the rest of him...

Here's a beast I drew last round but didn't use, decided to paint him in last night, he emits a poisonous fume... but since we've got till tuesday I think I'll bust out the non-digital paint and see what that gets me..

[MikeBurns]

Steve Somers: Thanks! I took your advice and here is the new sketch I came up with. I think I'll have enough free time between now and the deadline to have a finished product for the finals, but this'll probably be my last time participating in CoW because my classes will be starting up soon.

[acb]

well thats the skethc im going on with for now
http://i29.tinypic.com/wrjtqa.jpg

for now everything is super basic (background and the colours ive used for everything )so ill work on it abit and then ill see wether ill continue with it or move to one of the other ideas i have sketched :D
C&C are welcomed :D

[dwinbotp]

MikeBurns LOL, great expressions! I don't wanna even care whether it sticks to the brief or not, hahaha. Classes clash with COW, which sucks! But we'd love to see you stick around regardless:)

Scourge We hate you! We hate your WIPS! Just kidding man! :D We love em, now go choose which one you'd finesse over, I prefer #2:)

Golden Serpent Lovely concept work, I wish I had your discipline as well. Keep it up! lovely work!

Had time to finally get this one finished. I hate work, clashes with COW too!

[Ederic]

The last one was too plain so this is my new design. It's a fey that taunts human passer-bys verbally (and harshly). Once the human in question is so enraged that he approaches the creature quickly snatches him up with his surprisingly quick and strong arms. Once caught he slowly sucks out the soul with the holes in his "mask", and then he throws away the body and wait for his next victim. No idea about the name.

I totally see that he probably is too human-looking, but I will probably not be able to make the deadline anyway. I'm still putting this up if there would be any feedback or critique. :)

[Ciar]

Really like the stuff on this thread, love the monsters, first post from me on one of them, maybe a little plain, and sketchy, but its my first attempt and is still a work in progress .....

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8082/natewolf.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com/)

[rockinmyway]

Gentleman Crow- Sick concept, I want to see a finished.

Scorge- Great concepts. I like the design and silhouette of the bottom one. But it feels unbalanced. It has the 4 large legs in the back but nothing holding it up in the front. I think if you brought the middle leg forward a bit it would help with the balance. idk, just in my opinion. Anyone else feeling that way?

Any who, heres my WIP.

[jsn]

WOW...awesome stuff everybody!!!

I'm a changin from me first idea,...stinks! Not lean enough anyway!

Now the bott dude/creature!

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Just a quickie head color (didn't like the body I sketched -_-). Doubt I'll have time this week, since I'm supposed to work on other things, but took a break to have some fun. XD

[MikeBurns]

dwinbotp: Thanks! I'm glad to see you like it :) What did you mean exactly by "sticking to the brief"? As far as the class conflict goes, I may not be participating but I'm definitely gonna drop by and check out the entries and stuff. Might provide some inspiration for one of my projects.

[mobius-9]

"thanks Ted, this is really shaping up to be a heck of a COW"
"you said it Bob!"

...

Update on my critter.

[Steve Marworthy]

Steve Somers - Thanks! I hope to avoid the detail until i have a solid framework this time. Nice work on your creature :)

[GentlemanCrow]

Awesome updates and entries so far from everyone

Lege1, steve sommers, ironhead, rockinmyway: thanks for the input and compliments :].
rockinmyway: i like the hunched feel of your creature so far, seems like it would stalk around :D.

So heres an update on my piece, its really wierd drawing without sketching and just blocking in shapes in b/w and adding color after but i hope you guys like it. :D

i think as far as the scene will go, i will do a lush environment, possibly a forest with him pinning a human/creature under his front left leg. the creature will be clutching at a point where the creature poisoned it.
havent thought of a name or anything yet :P

Anyhoo WIP#2 on my first entry to COW.

Comments and critiques are Very appriciated. its how i learn best with feedback from other talented artists :]

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz268/Gentlemancrow/COW153-MGL.jpg

[Lege1]

GentleMan Crow: Very good work coming in from your corner and don't stop the rock. You're welcome on everything no doubt and have fun with that brush set. Open up a blank document and experiment some =]

[Lege1]

Alright all, I think this is really going to be it for me. I changed a few things and did a lot of touch up work. I am very anxious to work some on the team CHOW as I had alot of good ideas that I at least want to suceed in making wips of if nothing else.......

Keep up the good work everyone!:yayca:

[Lander]

I can see pigs flying around here :)
Lege1: You just made my day. Never thought I'd hear anyone say that.

So here is my wip. Muscle and speed with teeth. Will probably add some more character to the design but I kind of like the asian (to me) feel.


There are some nice diversity to the entries this time around. Guess that the assignment gives us alot of freedom.

Now I'm off to the salt quarries where I work.

[Lege1]

Steve Somers: I am really glad you like my killer fuckin creature =] I had to come through and do something this time around. I never get time to really do what I want. This time was a little different. Thanks for the compliments man.

Lander: Why would you think that I wouldn't give credit where credit is due?... and to add to the list our COW leader MJ has made his impact on me as well. You guys are awesome and I am glad I stuck around through out the years to lurk and throw down where I could. Hard work and time put in really does pay off. Thanks for inspiring this once only graffiti artist ;)

To all those new and striving to get better:
Just a reminder to let you all know to keep putting in work. In time you'll get closer to where you want to be. Don't compare notes to the other artists on this site and get intimidated...Get inspired from these guys and get to work to do best and emulate their greatness. I wanted to take the time to really encourage you all who feel like that for real and I even put up some of my old creature illustrations from the past to show the progress that I made in keeping up with things and not being weak and giving up. I am going to continue to put in work to just get better at all I do because in this game of art you never stop learning. It never is good enough and as long as you feel that way you will all progress =] Much love and thanks again to all those who have helped and inspired me.

[Lander]

Well I was caught off guard and it made me smile. And I didn't realize that I had been here enough to make an impression. Hell you all inspire me to do more and I guess that's why we are here right.

[Verehin]

Vagina-mouth monster :sungod:

[PowleyMan]

Son of a bitch i think i got a tear in my eye. The last COW was the first thing i had drawn in 2 years. not sure why i stopped but now that im drawin again, and all you guys who inspire me that i can be better, i dont want to stop again... but enough with that shit ;)

Lege1, Your welcome and thank you for the inspirational words (COW94 singing death cracked me up, the concept i mean). Im loving the update. its a great setting for such a beautiful monster. your colors choices are really unique and u make it work. i wonder, does it have tremor sense?

Steve Somers, sorry man i had to change that hideous head. it was like a chicklet from hell!

Mike Burns, thats freakin hilarious, i wish it was animated so i could see the end result, as sick as that may be.

dwinbotp, i love it, i wonder if the girl was worth it. :D

Rockinyway, thats a sweet start i hope to see an update soon!

Mobius-9, thats lookin killer man! keep it up!

GentlemanCrow, Im loving the textures, but it doesnt seem very lean to me.

Lander, thats a sweet wip i cant wait for an update!

Verehin, Dear god its like an STD on steroids! cool concept and awesome rendering so far!

here is a small update of mine.

[Ragnj]

Ah, I really wanted to do this one but cant seem to find my pens after I moved last week. Guess theyll pop up where and when I least expect it, hopefully in time for the next COW!

[Mr--Jack]

Aaagh! Sleep looms and so many other posters and cool work to talk about, but I had to get this done and up . . .
As always, i of course just leapt in with the first thing that came to mind; something I'll get over eventually, but anyway.
Between 3 and 4 hours for this; I'm a little unsure about how I feel about this but hey, fun it was, and that's (at least some of) the point.
Since we're (unusually) still days from the deadline crit away! Not sure if I'll change anything, but it's always good to get feedback :D

[The Searle]

Thanks for that encouragement Lege1 . Its great to hear those words as this will be only my second entry into a weekly so far.
Gald you had time to tidy up your entry also. Its looking so much better.

Heres mine almost finished I think. May put a few more buildings in and just a quick tidy after that.

Crits much appretiated.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k43/Searledesign/dragoon-1.jpg

[scorge]

dwinbotp: You really know how to make a guy feel special. I'm a little choked up right now.;)

Mr.Jack: Nice to see you here my man. Now please tell me that's not a rabbit under that claw is it? Please?

[Ironhead]

Hi, this is the latest update. I changed the eyes and other little changes. Has anybody an idea to give it an texture. I dont know witch i choose!
Thanks all!

[Noukah]

Hey guys , are great so far!
Heh don't mind me, I'm just lurking around as usual ;)
Hope to have time to join you in the next round. Looking forward to the finals - keep going!

[Lander]

Noukah: Nice seeing you around. Please do join us!

Ironhead:That creature is quite slick.

I totally slipped with the colors. Sorry. I'll clean everything up. promise. (that I might not keep)

[The Searle]

Ironhead I personally think that you should leave it looking nicely smooth and streamlined. Awesome stuff, really original man.

[Mr--Jack]

Alrighty, up again this morning all refreshed and feelin' good, so on with the discussion :D

MikeBurns; Not sure what exactly it is about your guy but man is he creepy; definitely got the mean bit down, in a bizarrely humorous way :) I would say his pose is a little awkward, currently, I think it might be his left foot's a bit too far forwards.

Yor; looking cool, definitely think he fits the brief! And I think he's twisted enough to avoid being too humanoid, perhaps you just need to lighten the bottom area around his hips a bit to show that the torso and legs are quite short.

JakkaS; man, some very nice stuff (do I sound surprised? bah!). I really love the 4th guy, but I think the 2nd and 3rd fit the 'lean mean' description a bit better; can't wait to see where you go from there.

dwinbotp; absolutely love it! There's something that disturbs me about that back leg, I think the creature seems like it's running on a horizontal plane so it feels a little awkward fitting into perspective with the background, but the expression in the piece is wonderful :D

GoldenSerpent; Really really nice thumbs, it's always good to see people working with a lot of ideas to begin with (now if I can just take some of that advice :P); the body you're using for 8 9 and 10 definitely fits the description I think, though I really like the feel of 5, even if it seems a fairly straightforward quadruped. Not getting the same mood from him but nonetheless I love 7 as well, very cool.

Steve Marworthy; hehe :D great expression there!

Lege1; Very dramatic! There's really nice mood going on in the piece, and I like the atmospheric perspective going on with the creature, but I think some more care needs to be taken with overall forms in the initial stages to get perspective working properly—i.e. roughing in a bent cylindrical shape to begin with to work out how the details would curve around the neck—I think at the moment the biggest issue is the first 'ring' up from the chest, which should be curved in the opposite direction. The disparity in size of the two front legs is a bit of a problem, too; I noticed your thumbs had bigger canvases so it wasn't the issue but looking at the final it looks as though you'd just run out of room and tried to fit the left leg into the space that was left.
I really like the bright crustacean colour-scheme, it's definitely a striking beast that one certainly wouldn't want to run into on a nice stroll through the woods :)

Scorge :D It might be . . .
Awesome pieces you've got already; I think I like the first a bit more, just because the second one feels a little bit too 'over-the-top just for the sake of it', but I can't wait to see what you come up with for your final!

Steve Somers; very creepy, though something about the jaw and head unnerve me a bit anatomically—I'm looking forwards to see what you do with some traditional paints!

mobius-9; very nice mood you've got going on here, quite a disturbing creature indeed! Are you going for an night-vision sort of feel for this, or are you keeping it monotone to get your values down to begin with?

GentlemanCrow; Lookin' cool, though it doesn't hit me as 'lean' or particularly mean, at this point, rather it seems more 'slow-moving forest guardian' than anything else; I think the relatively static pillar-like position of the legs has something to do with it. The overall balance of the creature seems a bit off, as well, I think because of the inward curve of the feet—perhaps that's just 'cause at the moment it looks like it's on a smooth metal surface where it wouldn't have much grip, though.

Verehin; fffuuuuuu . . . MAN that is creepy. And not just because it's a vagina :P Some really nice rendering going on on the face there, the eyes and mouth are looking fantastic (if that's quite the word to use...)

PowleyMan; Coming along nicely! I know it's back in darkness but it might be worth thinking about how the rear leg attaches to the hip, it's looking a bit off at the moment. The horns are looking a bit too much like metal spikes, but overall it's definitely the sort of creature I can imagine scuttling through the canopy at night looking down on unsuspecting passersby :)

Ironhead; haha :D awesome.
I'm a little unsure as to his method of getting around, but he seems pretty mollusc-like so perhaps a slimy/pebbly snail sort of texture'd work nicely? (might be a bit obvious what with the eye-stalks and all, but hey) Agreeing a bit with The Searle though, he's looking nice as it is so if you do add anything don't go overboard.

Lander; that guy's definitely got the mean part down! I like the completely bipedal look, though at this point I'd say that the tail doesn't look long or heavy enough to balance out the thick neck and big head.


whew! And I can't believe there're still days before the deadline! :D

[Lege1]

Lander: I am glad that I could make you smile and you’re one of the COW originals that I remember seeing a lot and looking up to when I first joined. Lately I haven’t been seeing you around much but it’s great to see you back here now. We’re all definitely here to get better that’s a fact, and some are just here to pass time, but either way it’s good ish =] real nice update on your creature, it looks like a speed demon indeed =P

Verehin: That Vagina Mouth monster is dope! I like your painting style a lot too. Awesome detail in the face and around the mouth of your creature, I really like how you did that eye too. The back ground seems simple and implied so that is fresh cause it forces our attention on the creature. I look forward to your final.

PowleyMan: You’re very welcome on the inspirational words man. I thought the singing death COW I rocked was hilarious too, both the illustration quality and the concept. I actually caught a lot of heat from everyone on the color for the Singing Death illustration because there was white in the illustration and the colors themselves were to metallic like and saturated. I try to watch going overkill on the colors these days. Being a graffiti artist I am naturally drawn towards bright colors but classical and more professional art has only saturated colors at focal points. I try to stay away from solid black and solid white especially when used next to one another and that is another bad habit that I had back in the day that came from the graffiti where writers are addicts for high contrast images and over saturated colors. No relation to Tremors by the way….and your illustration this round is coming along well for sure. Try referencing pictures of bugs, sea creatures and so forth to help you out more on the overall construction of your character and also don’t go over board with the texturing.

The Searle: Your very welcome and for real keep faith in evolving. Everyone starts somewhere so don’t be afraid to just do what you do and put it out there. Just be focused on getting better and you get that way by studying classical art and the different (suggested) rules of making a great image. If you ever have questions feel free to hit me up and if you don’t feel comfortable asking in the forum you can always private message me. Your creature looks interesting and I see more or less what you had in mind. Try thinking out side the box of typical cliché story lines, fantasy, and creatures from the movie. Also, just like I told PowleyMan, keep in mind that a simple google image search of different creatures, animals, and critters can make all the difference in your concept and quality of work. Think like doctor Frankenstein and piece together different part from different things but don’t make the parts separated and obvious, keep the same look all over the creature. Try using your brush pressure options with your brushes. Do this by pulling up the brushes options box (F5) and go down to other options and set the opacity jitter and then some to pressure. Hitting pressure in the brush dynamics can be interesting too. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Mr. Jack: You’re another super fresh artist around these parts, at least in my opinion and I appreciate your compliments and critique. I am glad you’re digging the mood, and I definitely like that you’re feeling the atmospheric perspective. I am definitely relating to what you’re talking about in roughing out the forms with the cylindrical shapes and just to make a 100% on that if you could throw together a quick example on that, this would be great. I like using a lot of extreme perspective but when drawing from only the imagination things can definitely not work out best. I wanted the one leg to look as if it where coming out towards the viewer and really couldn’t find any other alternatives that I was happy with in doing this. If you would like to do a paint over on my image to correct these things that too would be great, but only if you have a second man. You can post on here or send it to me email. Just hit me up in a private message if you want the email. When I resized everything I was concerned about making the creature look like it was jammed into the viewing window and according to what you’re saying I did just that. Next time I will be more cautious about this. Definitely glad you like the bright color crustacean scheme, it was just an idea I had floating around in my head. I notice Scorge using a lot of bright colors in his work and I wanted to emulate that in this illustration because he inspires me a lot. I wouldn’t want to run into this creature on a stroll through the woods either man, LOL, we all create some pretty crazy stuff in here that would scare the shit out of me if I were to see it in real life.

Your creature is looking really tight as well. I love how you did just a simple sketch and how the dynamic of your creature represents that of a carnivourous dinosaur, preferably the T-Rex or Alasauraus. Do you just start blocking in over that in gray scale or do you jump right into the coloring? I really like the coloring on your creature, the orange and yellow elements really push the image and the under lighting on the tail and neck work wonders. Very comical that this creature is crushing some helpless furry little animal, it gives the personality that your creature takes no shit and definitely has no problem being a bully. I really like the details that you rocked on the face here, a lot of intricacy there no doubt. Do you think you’ll keep this image on a simple back ground or rock some type of environment? Whatever the case it looks great and keep up the good work. I’d personally like to see another color added into your creature like maybe a blue or purple because there is a lot of green going on there, not much though, just a bit. Thanks for everything Mr. Jack.

[.pc]

quick sketch.. i hope i have time to make this.

http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss313/immelmann_turn/cow153_sketch1.jpg

..gonna take a nap. @_@

[lkjhgfdsa]

It is an anal parasitic fish, it is NOT from the amazon, it is from lamearse...
OK!

[Izer]

Not much here justa wip. Not sure of a BG atm and lots to do, but this is all for tonight.

[Mr--Jack]

Lege1; No probs!

So I did a paintover; the two most important things I think you need to work on are, as you said, getting the shapes right, and planning out your perspective. I've tried to keep the neck of the creature a tube the whole way along, and that way it appears more solid and believable; working like this also helps prevent you from making unnaturally 'flat' bends or kinks in curving shapes—an example would be the head, here, which in your version is a little too vertical and should probably be foreshortened more.
The best way to get your perspective right is always to rough out some lines as a guide, and using the feet as an example, marking out on the 'floor' plane where they're going to start and end and the working back from there. So, if your left leg is far forwards, then A-B will be a lot longer than in the right leg, but the because of the number of joints in the legs they both still come up to about the same height, and they're not that different sized since the perspective here isn't that over-the-top. (The 'C' points mark where on the perspective plane the middle knee joint falls, which, despite the differences in extension falls roughly in the middle of the A-B distance on both legs.)
I also tried a version with more dramatic perspective, where the pose is fairly similar; it's pretty rough but hopefully it makes some sense, where you'll notice that even though the legs are of quite dramatically different sizes the height of the knees both reach the same height.
Hope this helps :D

lkjhgfdsa (man your name's fun to type :)) that creature just makes me shudder . . . Still, it looks a bit too innocent I think to really fall under the 'mean' category.

[darkly]

Well here's what I got so far, but after seeing MR Jacks I'm not so happy with it. And 3-4 hours, man that's impressive!

763977

[GentlemanCrow]

Heres another update on my creature, did a few tweaks to improve balance of creature and make him a bit more lean. plus doing an actual environment. i will add some other things to show scale, im thinking it will be about 9-10 ft tall and a mean beast that will hunt down any intruder in his/her forests and/or meadows. i will add another side-veiw line-art sketch so you can tell the anatomy and length of the body.

Thanks again for all the input guys.
Critiques and Comments are Very appreciated. i figure i will have to tweak the brightness in this picture and maybe a few things, if you have any suggestions please voice them...or type them i suppose.

PEACE,
Gentleman Crow
-Colby Marchi

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz268/Gentlemancrow/COW153-LMG-1.jpg

[StreetBehemoth]

Just realized this was going on today, :O
Any Crits welcome

[lkjhgfdsa]

Nastier version...?

[Mr--Jack]

haha :D Yep, that'll do it!
*shudders* again

[Lander]

Mr--Jack: good point. I'll do something about the tail. I actually have an idéa that will solve the tail and sell the creature :)

[Lege1]

Mr.Jack: AWESOME!!! Thank you so very much! I honestly never use grids in working with my perspective and I see now that it is a huge benefit to understand this matter and do so. I think you're right indeed about keeping the neck consistant. My creature has a transformer kind of look and I don't think that's too convincing. As far as dealing with things like heads, do you think it's a good idea to construct it out of 3d shapes to get the perspective right? I totally get what you are saying now about the perspective and understand alot more how this subject works when applying it to things likes creatures. I can't wait to really use this in the next creature illustration I do where I can start things from scratch. I like all the examples that you show very much so and thank you for getting at me about this. I am very happy to have learned something new and shed a brighter light on the surface of this complicated subject. Thank you very very much Mr. Jack. I included a quick block in edit on my creature just to see if I have things going in the right direction. Let me know what you think please about the revision but only if you have a few ticks.

Gentleman Crow: Great progress update. Glad to see you going for the gusto with the background. Maybe consider some side lighting on the creature, that might look pretty cool.

lkjhgfdsa: Looking good no doubt man, I can't believe how in depth you go on the detail. Pretty incredible indeed. I think the blood thing is cool but a little dramatic. I would consider going back in and making the creature look mean by editing its facial anatomy. Just a suggestion though and you always come through with awesome work =]

[scorge]

Mr Jack, you are a gentleman. I have no idea how you do what you do so fast. Makes me think I spent way too much time on this.

Darkly: I like.

Anyway, here's where I stand. And here's some more(or less) rabbits....:D

[Arbinn]

Awesome pieces everyone!

I got a green meanie myself too but am unable to post it at the moment. I moved just a few days ago and the internet is still not working.>:{ I'm writing at my new school.

I got a completely different approach on this one than the rest of you. ;) I just hope I can post it here in time because if the connection is not fixed today it won't be before the next week. :(

[CavyWolfe]

I need to actually start doing COWs again. :D

GentlemanCrow: I have a question...Is the green stuff in/around the creatures mouth grass, or apart of its body?

[Arbinn]

Hooray for the fixed internet connection!! \o/

Here's my current WIP. Instead of spamming every single inch of the picture full of details as I usually do, I'm trying a different approach. This time I detail the head as well as I can and leave rest of the picture flatter. Blue shadows and yellow highlights do wonders for green meanies. <3

[Steve Somers]

Verehin - I love that thing. It's well rendered and just bizarre. It pushes some of those deep psychological buttons.

Mr Jack - The teeter totter design of the body is pretty slick, and then the vestigal limbs finish it nicely. I think, without that it would just feel like a dragon or dinosaur. It's also very cool of you to take time and throw some tips Lege1's way..Oh, and I think the mouth on my first one could use some refinement too..

Lege1 - I'm gonna try not to swear so much. I see Mr. Jack's suggestions are helping you, very cool. But I wouldn't completely abandon the "make it up as you go" process. Having a clear plan is definitely faster, but sometimes the strange tangents yield the most suprises and reveal the artist..... crap, sorry, that sounded corny as fuck. Shit, and I swore again.

I'm thinkin about the rest of you, but I'll save my blathering commentary for the voting.

So, here's some updates, and I still plan to knock out a painting this weekend for whatever idea I commit to. But that's the problem I have on this and the last three COW's I've participated in. I know it's the excitement of learning new things from other artists and playing with weird ideas, but at a certain point it gets, you know, ridiculous.

But anyway, This Stork-frog is my latest idea. I showed it to my friend who said "It should be eating a baby." Which I thought was a horrible awful thing which only a diseased fancy could conceive of, therefore it must be painted. Plus, the texture of frogs and storks will be fun to paint.

[GentlemanCrow]

CavyWolfe: those are tendrils coming from around his mouth, im going to do a few small drawings to show how it works. they are venomous tentacles that cause writhing pain in the victim, then there are some other ones that help it feed by pulling the food into its mouth.
I didnt want it to be just a huge mouth because tahts what everyone does so i went for a different approach where my version of 'mean' is more so how it acts and plays with its 'food'(which often is hunters and loggers trying to make a profit off the forests).

Scorge: dude your creature must be super fast, rabbits/bunnies are insanely hard to catch lol.
anyways as far as the execution goes its phenomenal but as far as the design goes it seems a bit over the top imo.

Mr--Jack: thanks again for the suggestions and i really like your art style after i looked through your deviant art and blog a bit :].

Peace,
Colby Marchi
Gentleman Crow

[Steve Somers]

Oh, and this isn't my submission, just some photoshop BS but I thought I'd share it anyway......

and Scorge - Really like the work on your creature, my favorite so far. The curve on some of the legs is a little weird to me, but then I see bunny guts everywhere and I forget all that....

[StreetBehemoth]

Here's another update. I didn't hear any crits on the original concept so I stuck with it. If you guys have any ideas for improvement, let me know :D

[Lander]

Still working on it :)

So since we are killing the long eared ones.

And I went for the hard edge brush.

[acb]

well heres a new wip
http://i30.tinypic.com/2me332x.jpg

still lots of work to be done,the lights around the inviro are planets but i didnt draw them yet so they dont look that way yet ,the plants are supposed to light the wings from behind the char which ill define the lightning later cuz its not yet defined and well the inviro still lacks lots of things mainly cuz i dont have any inviro costum brushes yet and it killed my arm doing it all with the round brush so ill save that for later (btw any crits on the inviro will be really helpfull as im starting to do some inviro studys ,this is my first, gota start somewhere ~_~ , so crits will be awsome ^_^)
C&C are more thne welcomed and ill post some crits on the rest later on ^_^
cool stuff everyone

and one thing- lkjhgfdsa - that new head really makes a different and its a cool crit but that look in your crit's eyes looks like its tired :D looking forward for updates :D

[StreetBehemoth]

I'm about to start dialing this in and adding color, so if anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them!

[Steve Somers]

Streetbehemoth - looks like you've got your concept pretty well established. It's good to see a different, more caricatured approach to this. Maybe push the dark silhouette of the bird and the highlighted outline on him to reinforce that looming shadow feel.. maybe a line of drool out of his mouth?? if birds indeed drool, that is.

[StreetBehemoth]

Hey Steve, thanks! Someone else had mentioned the drool strands as well, and also wondered if birds drool. However I think if it looks good then this bird will just be an exception. I'll definitely be playing with the silhouette kinda thing.

[MikeBurns]

mobius-9: That's a really awesome start! I can't wait til you flesh it out more

Verehin: That's adorable! In a very strange, you-might-kill-me-if-i-try-to-hug-you sort of way :P

PowleyMan: I'm glad you're enthusiastic about my guy :) I should have an update soon

Mr--Jack: Yeah I was having some problems with the feet I'll play around with them more thanks

Arbinn: OMG I LOVE you're creature so much! It's hilarious and it looks like he is even teasing the guy he stole the candy from

lots of other great entries here too, I look forward to seeing more!

[Arbinn]

Thanks for the love Mike. :)

Here's the last WIP. I almost declare the creature finished now but I'm tired and it's very late so I'll have a second look at it in the morning. Besides the zoomed detail shot + frames need more work and thought.

Cheers!

[GoldenSerpent]

So much for commenting tomorrow pfft...well for this one I sort of gave up on trying to sketch it out with my tablet, I kept fighting with it more than actually getting into things. Sooo... I went back to good old paper and pencil, the medium that rarely fails me, and much easier to work on in between taking notes in class :) haha. Anyway here is my finished sketch and I think I'll lay some colors on it in photoshop etc and then maybe see how much I actually want to paint and how much pencil I'll leave in.

The little monster changed into a tree climbing banshee lizard-ish thing that uses its long prehensile ovipositor to lay eggs in rotting trees which they then guard ferociously.

764509

I'll probably just have to comment on your guys' work in the finals thread once everyone gets their stuff up :/ something I still need to finish up for the last round. Curse dial up internet, I have to block images just to load this thread in a reasonable amount of time :( (my laptop isn't picking up wifi as well as it usually does...)

Anyway good luck on your entries guys!

[kimliatach]

Intimidatingly good work appearing here as usual.
This is a predatory mimic, not a plant :)

[alive]

holy shit there is definitely some awesome creature creation happening here this week, I will definitely be focusing on this now...I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION....WHY ALL OF THE HATRED FOR BUNNIES? can't You just leave the poor bunnies alone already? lol

p.s. what did they ever do to you?

[evolvingeye]

bunnies are too cute to live...

really great stuff here so far guys, been busy as hell this week but I'm gonna try to get a wip up soon.

Scorge: Awesome stuff man. I like the impaled ones and the entrails. The purple and green colors on the body turned out well too.

Steve Somers: The baby eating stork-frog sounds awesome, would love to see it.

Lander: One of the coolest concepts I've seen for this week, really like the idea of that fast little beast bolting through the others, and how you can see its path in the background, good stuff.

[alive]

its hard to pick out a favorite, everyone is just killing it this week :)

[evolvingeye]

ok here is mine so far. I'm pretty much done with the base painting, just adding bells and whistles now, trying to make it more interesting.

[GoldenSerpent]

Here's a bit of messing around with color, I'm thinking I might go back in and erase out some of where the colors started covering up the pencil a bit to much, like the shoulder and the tail areas. At first I thought I'd paint over the whole thing till I didn't need the pencil markings at all but I like the feel of them so might be erasing some of that color out. I'm a bit worried that'll end up making to too flat but what's your guys' opinion?

764720

[GentlemanCrow]

GoldenSerpent: personally i like your idea of keeping a bit more pencil, it gives it a bit more style and makes it more unique. by the way you make some insane creatures :D.

StreetBehemoth: I like the style and scene of your creature, imo i would try to not put too much color and keep it low saturation and just hints of color to keep the gloomy shadow feeling.

anyways, im kinda pissed because i had added a good ammount to my painting and ended up accidentally resetting it and then nudged a layer making the fatal un-undoable mistake >.<
was going to add an update but it seems like im going to have to redo about an hours work :\.

Keep up the great stuff everyone

[lkjhgfdsa]

Now with less sleepy-eye and more grin!
...and bubbles!
(what's with bubbles in underwater shots anyway?!?)

[Arbinn]

I pretend this one is finished.

[Ironhead]

Mr--Jack, Lander, The Searle:Thank you all for the comments! I leaved the creature so clean. I added a foliage behind the head, inspired by a dandelion. Now it looks like more agressive.

So here it is.

[Steve Marworthy]

I think that is a good idea GoldenSerpant. Your work looks great but the outlines do flatten the form a bit. Your style will shine through, with or without the lines.

[Izer]

Ok a few comments, apologies if i missed anyone, i went back to page 3. Looks like it's gunna be a awesome COW, great stuff and really inspiring.

Page 5
@Arbinn, I think your concept of mean is unique here, lots of character within your creature.

@Ironhead, another interesting take on the concept, the foliage/camo is a nice touch, not sure how ''mean'' it is though, looks like its hangin onto something, not sure though.

PAge 4
@lkhgfdsa, love the grin on this, the blood looks good as well and i think without bubbles everything would just look like its in the sky, that's my guess. Great work.

@GoldenSerpent, loved the line work for this, pencil and paper can sometimes feel better for some designs, not sure were you plan to go color wise but it looks like it'll turn out well.

@evolvingeye, I like the fur on yours, not sure if it's my monitor but it seems a little dark, im just havin a hard time seeing it, i suppose its at night so yeah.

@kimiliatch, i'd liek to see how that thing works, as a mimic, it sure is lean but it doesn't seem mean at all. Good work overall.

@acb, looks good so far, i'll wait till you update again, from what you said loosk like there is lots to do.

@Lander, nice follow through, that's a hell of a way to die, i also like how yo adeded another one in the bf to show there is a pack. Im sue the long eared ones will have their revenge someday. Good job.

@StreetBehemoth, nice start, that pikachu is screwed, like to see it in color.

@Steve Somers, cool ideas, your last design, the stork-frog is great.

@scorge, always great concepts, that thing looks like it has so many ways to kill, rabbits beware. I also like your color scheme, looks as nasty as it probably is.

@lege1, looks like you got lots of help already, i have to say, i really like how you did the background on yours, great work.

@GentlemanCrow, nice work, mite still need to be leaner, but the envo mite do that for it, reminds me of those chiapets.

Page 3
@darkly, yeah wouldn't worry about other peoples designs being better so much as being inspired by them, lots to take from them. I like your design though, sorta a sickly dog mutation, that under bite makes it look mean without even doing anything, sorta like a bulldog or a pitbull.

@immelmann turn, yeah you should finish it for sure. Nice start.

@The Searle, wow different, not sure how you did that but it's unique, a bit hard to read though, i can't really tell what's going on there, nice work overall though, glad to see you coming to try the challenges. COW needs more love.

@MR--Jac, fantastic work, the face reminds me of the Tremor 3 little beasts, lovin all the spikey things and little details.

@PowleyMan, nice to see you gettin pumped about drawin again!, nice design so far, loosk liek you went more of the alien look way (atleast that's wat i see), looks promising.

@Verehin, lol vagina-mouthed monstar, yeah that IS scary, and im sure mean, pretty wild concept overall, i'd like to know wat that pink sack thing is, great work.

@mobius-9, likin the angle and the design as a whole, that thing looks monstarious, awesome work.

@Aphotic Phoenix, the head shot looks cool, like to see the rest of it.

@jsn, cute style, hope to see it in color.

Edit: i didn't think to look at the finally finished section, i just noticed it, so disregard my comments to those of you that have finsihed if i've comment about improvements/quiestions/etc or something of the like.


And another update of my own, im glad it's gettin somewhere, i don't draw creatures often so it's fun. A bit more to go.

[jsn]

All works look great! Good job everybody!

I still might try something different before the end!

Here I'm showing two of the same species!

[jsn]

This one is similar to a sketch I did 2 pgs ago!

I thought it was too human like!
Wot do u rekon?

[GentlemanCrow]

Hey again everyone. awesome updates.

firstly, thanks everyone for the support and suggestions, also In this update my creature is a bit more lean and visibly mean.
also, since rabbits seem to be the prime victim for green creatures. i figured i would join in the massacre.

added a bone mass to the tail that acts as a blade and/or cutting edge to finish victims. the tentacles on the face are there to consume prey and a poison to disable the victim and make it easier to consume after finishing it off.
also it uses its front legs to pin prey or as a bludgeoning weapon.

Tell me what you think! Critiques and Comments are appreciated greatly.

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz268/Gentlemancrow/COW153-LMG-3.jpg
i updated the picture to make the rabbit a bit easier to see in this smaller version.

[Mr--Jack]

Well finals are beginning to roll in now so I'll save more comments till after then, but I thought I'd chuck this up since my final's not that high-res and ye might be interested :D So here's his head at 100% zoom.

Lege1; yup, definitely looking better form-wise. A lot of this comes down to practise, really, and a very important part of it is getting your surface details to follow the underlying shape of the body, and it's working better now.
Steve Somers; I'd say you're definitely on to a good point there, though (and this of course depends on the style of finished piece you're aiming for) there's a difference between rigidly planning everything out before you go and being confident enough with rules of form and perspective to keep a design convincing, even while you're making it up on the fly.

(p.s. honestly I don't have anything against rabbits, but there's obviously some very deep-seated issues going on here considering the glee with which everyone's leapt into dismembering them :D)

[MikeBurns]

I'm starting to lose my drive for this piece, so I'll probably be wrapping things up soon. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. There are lots of really awesome entries so far, this is gonna be another tough competition.

[alive]

Ok hustled today and came up with this stuff, and i have a tentative background, any and all crits comments appreciated mucho

mr jack- very very nice work


http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww292/ash-artwork/cowleanmeangreen_edited-7.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww292/ash-artwork/cowleanmeangreen_edited-77.jpg

[NickTrip]

Here's what I've got cooking. Got a little lazy with the bg, but bg's aren't important right?

http://www.tripiciano.com/files/HostedImages/NickTrip_COW153.jpg

So as you can see, I got a little lazy with the fg, but fg's aren't important right?

Oh yeah so anyway, he's a big mean city-attacking creature, like godzilla, but even meaner! You don't have to worry about giant moths coming to attack the city next because HE ATE THEM WHEN THEY WERE BABIES! 'cause he's mean...

I got a little lazy with the mg, but mg's aren't important right?

[evolvingeye]

LOL funny stuff man, liking the concept so far NickTrip.

[NickTrip]

Thanks, evolvingeye. Unfortunately I'm probably not going to get to work this up any more before the finals (both for lack of time and lack of patience).

[Steve Somers]

So here's some more WIP's now that I decided to bust out the oil paints. I've been using acrylic since the 80's, so I figured it was time... this is my second effort in oil... If any of you oil paint and have some tips, especially for getting nice fluid opaque lines, I am ALL EARS...

and Mr Jack - thanks for the closeup on the head, I was thinking that mouth claw on his right was a tongue - like a parrot tongue, now I see it correctly. And I agree with your point about having the rules of perspective in mind, unless you're intentionally avoiding them, like cubism or something.

[Mike D]

Way late to start this one, vacation =/ Here's what I'm looking at so far. Not really sure what I think of it so far, kind of rushing to hit the deadline.

[Mike D]

And completely over-rendered again...starting to think my muse wants me to do "Aliens" black and white types of work, lol.

If anyone can check out my errors and slap me with them would be appreciated.

[Lege1]

Steve Somers: Swear all you want,lol, it’s the way of the world anymore. Yeah Mr. Jack really did bring something new to my attention and when any of you do that for me I am very greatful. That’s the only way we get better in what we’re doing on here, that and time,lol. The “make it up as you go” process definitely should not be abandoned but there has to be a scale of weight to the cause to balance out that idea with correct drawing and realistic attributes. I am going to continue to fine tune my mental triple beam =] There was nothing corny about what you had to say man and thanks much for the input. “The make it up as you go process” keeps me in the mind set to not become a complete image making robot and go by nothing but the rules. My goals are to learn the rules of making a successful image so well that I can eventually go and start to break them, with things like anatomy though, it’s easier said than done.

Also, your creature looks really cool and I like how put tow animals together to make something original. I would suggest going a bit of of the box on the storks face by adding texture or some other elements that take the absolute look of the stork away. It looks very much like two animals just put together. Just my opinion and suggestion tough man, hope it sheds some light your way.

Gentleman Crow: Any success with the brushes?

Lander: Sick redic illus man. I love the concept and rendering. The colors on your creature are also super fresh and I love the visual of motion portrait in this picture.

Arbinn: I am loving the concept on yours! Like stealing candy from a little baby.

Golden Serpent: Really nice line work this week. I look forward to seeing the finished piece. Actually I see that you have an update here with some color blocked in and things are looking good. I’ll be looking for you in the finals.

Evolvingeye: I know you put a lot of work in this image and it came out looking good BUT, if you focused on making the picture look more as a whole using things like atmospheric perspective and soft edges here and there it would look a lot better. Right now things have somewhat of a cut and paste kind of look. Things are just too separated from one another and I am not talking about the guys arm being ripped off. The far back ground is way to generic to go along with the rest of the picture in my opinion. On the flipside of things; I think that your texturing looks great especially on the creature and trees, and your all around rendering of forms looks pretty good.

Gentleman Crow: Your image has come along really nicely but watch out for the crammed in details like the rabbit in the mouth. Also consider using atmospheric perspective and softer colors in the back ground of things.

Mr. Jack: You’ve been a great help to me this round and I have learned a lot. I am looking to research the cause of using perspective on my figures and creatures a lot more but what you broke down to me I took seriously. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to make the revisions on my creature that I really wanted to make, it’s been a very hectic week and Iam actually currently out of work. So priorities over luxuries always. Anyways, thanks again man and know that I think that, that head shot you posted of your creature looks killer indeed.

Mike Burns: Your piece just makes me laugh man and I do like it.

Alive: What do those guns have to do with your creature? I like the creature though for sure, really cool 3d anatomy on that one no doubt. Nice muted color scheme as well. Very concept artsy.

To everyone:
So this week I will not be able to make the revisions on my creature that I would have liked to make due to not having the full amount of time needed once again. Iam currently out of work with bills to pay and having to dedicate my time towards getting all that under way before I can focus more time towards my art. The state of Florida’s job economy and dependence on others to be honest has fucking melted in our hot sun. Anyway, kudos to all who participated and my hats off to all those who came with solid final entrys. Better luck next week. I’ll be posting my original concept render in the finals for shits and giggles.

[evolvingeye]

Thanks for the crit Lege1! I do agree that I need more atmosphere. In fact I tried to add in some night fog, but I just couldn't get it to look right. My original intention with it was to have some campers below shining their flashlights up at it, so would have had sort of spotlight lighting. I ran out of time, however, and had to just suck it up and draw in a bg. Your crit is much appreciated tho, and I will work on a more painterly look in my next pieces.

[GentlemanCrow]

lege1 yeah man thanks for the brushes, i did a couple sketches using them but so far i haven't really used them in a piece. personally i like to texture things myself rather than use a premade texture.

[alive]

hey lege1, i have been reading your posts, and i just want to say: stand tall and keep doing your thing, even if you cant post your work just keep a sketchbook and keep drawing in it whenever you have a spare second, because it seems like u have passion for art so if u keep doing it u will get to where you want to be, this is something i say to myself as well, so , anyways, so yeah, just keep drawing,- as long as you keep moving forward you can never fail

[Michael Jaecks]

All righty. Deadline was Tuesday the 1st, which makes today poll day. As per usual, I shall post it around noon, CST, USA, which is about 7.25 hours from this writing. Let the stragglers begin to trickle in!

[Mr--Jack]

purely out of curiosity . . . is 7.25 hours 7 hours and 25 minutes or 7 hours and 15 minutes?

[Lander]

Mr--Jack: since you are a speedy painter (in best of ways) Are you planning to redo your critter. There is plenty of time for you :)

[Izer]

Just stopped to say awesome round everyone, great concepts all around. Hope to do it again.

[alive]

izer i have to agree with you on that, so much eyecandy in the finals thread its ridiculous, i think the openness of the topic drew in a lot of people

[Steve Somers]

What happened to Scorge? Didn't see that awesome monster he was working on in the finals....

Lege1 - I would agree that my Frogstork pretty much looks like a frog and a stork -- I probably could've messed with it to look less like that, but in this case I want that recognizability. I'm a little preoccupied with storks for some reason, and this will go with these other stork pictures.

Sorry to hear about the employment situation in Florida. So many of my friends are out of work right now, makes me feel guilty for loathing my job as much as I do.

[Michael Jaecks]

purely out of curiosity . . . is 7.25 hours 7 hours and 25 minutes or 7 hours and 15 minutes?

Update: Originally 7.25 hours would have been seven and one quarter hours. but, work snafu has me under assault from the revisions monster and it's going to be a bit longer. Just wanted to give everyone the heads up.

If Scorge hasn't finished yet, this would be an excellent opportunity for him to take advantage of the generosity I extend on account of the unexpected bumps in the road of my life.

So you're all cool. Glad to see another entry come in this morn. Refine, refine, refine.

[Izer]

Wasn't sure if we had to post our finals here as well, but i figure i didn't post that much, so heres mine, added a bit more to it as well from the update above. Images are a big large, sorry about that, the sequence is a bit hard to read other wise, it isn't much of a sequence but i think ya get the picture.

[scorge]

I'm trickling, I'm trickling! My internet cut out on me after I posted my last update and I just got it back up. Posting now. Thanks for the heaping handful of generosity MJ.:D

[StreetBehemoth]

woooo, It's cool you got it back up in time!

[GentlemanCrow]

im glad you got it up in time scorge :].
more rabbits this COW to be killed.

they will be remembered. o.O

anyways Goodluck to everyone!

[dwinbotp]

Another poor wabbit bites the dust, what's with all the hostility LOL! Suggestion for next COW, maybe it's about time we let the furry gentle creatures the edge? :D

[StreetBehemoth]

yah, like a furry small creature that preys on something 20 times its size.
dwinbotp, you should post some ideas in the idea thread :D

[yoitisi]

Posted this late entry of mine in the finals thread earlier on, and then CA went all pear-shaped for a while but I figured I'd post it in here too. It's a bit late, and I think I started it after the initial deadline was over too so if it doesn't get into poll for that I'm okay with it :)

769463

[Michael Jaecks]

I suspect something is afoot with the site changes and the server, because all I can see in the finals thread are red X's. Anyone know what's up? I'll check back in an hour or so and try to set up the poll asap.

[Lander]

Yoitisi: nice one!

MJ: Looks ok now.

[yoitisi]

Yeh the attachments seem to show up now for me too. MB crashed the server with an update in the FF section, which was heavily advertised so too many people tried to post in the same thread at the same time.

[Lander]

Well I guess they got what they asked for :)

[StreetBehemoth]

yoitisi! I'm lovin' your submission! I checked out your blog too, you've just got yourself a new fan

[jrbarker]

Yeah, I guess I missed the deadline too. Here's what I had so far. I know it's got lots of issues like lighting and proportion of different parts. Some of the areas are obviously still sketches. But I think I was on the right track.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3887655485_051e0a3a08_o.jpg

[PowleyMan]

(with all due respect) For the love of God lets vote and get this next COW goin!