C.O.W.# 156 -- Red Hot Doom -- VOTING!

[Michael Jaecks]

C.O.W. #156 Biped Insectoid -- VOTING!!

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ROUND #156 VOTING

Topic: Red Hot Doom !


Deadline for the voting: Sunday 11 October 2009

Posting thread (closed): http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=169841.


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OK - before voting/posting read this!!!

1. Please give c&c or a reason why you voted for the image!

2. Feel free to comment on any or all entries, the artists will appreciate it!

[Mr.Wittmann]

Artist: Mr.Wittmann

Concept: Molten Lion


The Molten Lion lives in the deserts of Ari Han, where its feeds of creatures/people who dare to enter thier lands. Bacause of the lack of food it has evolved an ability to absorb energy from the sun, witch also make them able to breath fire. They are also called Red Hot Doom by the indians in the mountains around the desert.

[kingkostas]

Artist:Kingkostas

Concept: Devil's Claw

The Devil's Claw, a vicious red predator with flaming like eyes,which lives under the water for more than 2000 years,got its name because of a particular action against its own species.After research,they find out that the mother leaves the eggs under the sand for 6 days and then she returns to feed with her own newborns.The stronger newborns can survive if they leave the "safety" that the sand provides to them.Its a wonder that their species managed to survive for so many years,even if their number is reduced constantly.A creature doomed to extinction,like it was a false creation of god...

[ActsOfBob]

Artist: ACTSofBOB

Concept: Caballus Enfernal Doom

Caballus was once the pride of Lord Winstin the english armies General and righteous leader against the barabrian invaders from the east. Caballus was known for his unwavering fury and dedication to his master, however one fateful day when charging upon his masters enemies he faltered and threw his master from the saddle causing Lord Winstin to be killed by the enemies' footmen. Upon his dying breath Winstin cursed Caballus and the creature was reborn in the lower planes to wreak doom and destruction on any who stood in its way.

[Jatari]

Artist: Jatari

Concept: Volcanus Pompejana

Volcanus Popejana, more commonly known as Pompeii Fire Worms, are an aggressive species and much larger than their distant cousins on Earth. Scientists now believe these creatures are responsible for the creation of many deep trenches and canyons including, the grand canyon and the Mariana Trench, Millions of years ago.

[luvazquez]

Artist: LuVazquez

Concept: Lava Demon

No one will ever truly know what horror befell Betellhiem, of ancient Norway. "Demon" says one legend. "The Doom of Man walks" warns another. Perhaps it is this walking doom that inspired the words of W.B. Yeats when he wrote "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"


793249

[Bonedaddycash]

Artist: BoneDaddyCash

Concept: Ash Ram
The Ash Ram is a nick name given to this horrible denizen of the underworld by members of the U.A.S. (Underworld Assault Squad). The name came from the beasts nasty habit of ramming it's target into a broken mess before filling it's neck pouch with flame and belching it onto the struggling victim.

[K0RR]

Corrado Ficarelli: K0RR

Concept: Desert Symbiote
Hi everyone, this i my "desert symbiote", a creature who lives in the martian desert.
The giant martian cockroach to live needs to exploit the body of other living beings to which subtracts the awareness and vital energy. This union creates a new creature called the desert symbiote . Because of toxins emitted by the beetle, the victim of the symbiosis is disturbed by high fever that goes over 50 degrees, and his body is covered with infected red sores.

[Techr0n]

Artist: Techr0n

Concept: The HellRazor

The Hellrazor is a creature of the underworld, summoned here a long time ago, their population since grew then. They are also known as the sky dancers for their way of catching prey. Hellrazors live near volcanic islands, flying into ash clouds and inhaling the small molten dust into a special sack. Once they find a air born prey, the Hellrazor flies at a high altitude and then dive bombs towards the prey. The quickly release the captured volcanic dust into they prey’s eyes. The creature then swoops under the stunned prey and attacks it from behind. Its yellow Silva quickly disloves the prey, as it is as hot as lava. The Hellrazor then enjoys its meal.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6241/dsgsdgbytechr0ncopy.png

[Vaghauk]

Artist: vaghauk

Concept: lava creature
This magical lava being was created by Nephaestos, an powerfull fire magician.
When he conjured it, it existed an relative short time, exactly seven minutes, but this was enough to burn down the entire east wing of the magical university of Goch.Nephaestos himself surprisingly survived the catastropy by jumping out of the window of his laboratory and right in the Goch river. His burning beard shining in the dark.Since then the lava being appears every year on that same day in an random location of the city.And during seven minutes it burns down everything around it.
Nephaestos was banned from the magical university and from the city of Goch and never seen again....
Red Hot Doom is the name the people of Goch gave this terrible being.
Until today Goch still stands because every year the city is prepared for Red Hot Doom´s arrival.
It´s the reason why the Gochians always keep an huge bucket filled with water in each room of their houses.
792466

[evolvingeye]

Artist: evolvingeye

Concept: Dramathoth

Dramathoth are the most powerful demons. They have dominion over all the other demons and the fires of hell themselves. Dramathoth will usher in the apocalypse of the end times.

[Evil_Sloth]

Artist: Evil_Sloth

Concept: Lavasaur
Lava field creature especially adapted for it's environment to a degree.

792931

[dwinbotp]

Artist: dwinbotp

Concept: Daemon Magmat
Categorized under (L) Class Monstrum Incendia which includes other fire empowered creatures like the Red Dragon and Fire Phoenix. Daemon Magmat is characterized by it's enormous build and heft size. It's horns burn at 4200 centigrade, encased within a hard rock-like body and equally hard skin. The beast's blood itself reach scorching temperatures and is vented out as steam thru it's mouth, nose or thin vents along its torso/chest area. Usual habitats include mostly volcanic crevices, molten lava or magma pools. It is a land based creature of pure destruction and they travel in herds when searching for prey. They are widely regarded by many as the red stampede or red hot doom.

[lkjhgfdsa]

Artist: lkjhgfdsa

Concept: Nialabolin
Every millenia or so a faultline deep beneath the ocean will uncover a Nialabolin, buried deep in the continental plates after soaring across the galaxy's spiral arms; searching for the hot depths of stars and every so often a planet like our earth. Once awoken the Nialabolin will attempt to reconstruct its environment to suit its fiery nature.
BURN

[Reymus]

Artist: Reymus

Concept: Cherufe

Rising from the Pacific ocean's volcanic rifts every few years, the Cherufe have plagued the seas west of Chile for millennium. The volatile gases they produce while lying dormant underwater eventually builds up in their bodies to enable them to rise out of the ocean and soar through the skies for months. During these times, fishermen, planes and flocks of migrating birds are in extreme danger as these predators scoop everything up in their flight.

[mythril_golem]

Artist: mythril_golem

Concept: Jidhoum

the carnivorous Jidhoum are imported to the Thrin continent to be used as transportation by jhotan merchants. have to be constantly watered. else they overheat and vent high temp steam endangering both the riders and the anyone nearby. very fast and with high stamina.
on their native jhotai the creatures live solitary lives 6 months out of 12 and then start mating at the beginning of the rain season. by 5 months they've moved on.

[Sperling]

Artist: Sperling

Concept: Fire-maned Teklac

The Fire-maned Teklac is native to the mountainous country of Acrema, though can now be found more commonly in the Torean Empire. 'Fire-maned' is a bit of a misnomer as the Teklac's fur ignites only occasionally due to a chemical reaction when adrenaline levels peak. Normally, the Teklac's mane is a characteristic red, ranging from burgundy to a dark pink. Having a rather docile temperament that contrasts its fearful appearance, they are used as the primary beast of burden throughout Torea and surrounding provinces. Pictured below, a herdsman chases after an exited Teklac that has incinerated its rider. His own beast has already begun to ignite and burn away the regenerative flesh of its skull, putting him at risk of a similar doom.

[DeathByChris]

Artist: DeathByChris

Concept: Charamoragaun

The Charamoragaun is know by many names such as "The Lurker Beneath the Earth", "Bringer of Doom" and "Smoldering Beast". Every century it awakens to collect the dead bodys of all sorts of animals and piles them into a deep pit where it would later set them ablaze and feast on their chared remains. In order for human societies to survive its cometh they would hunt and gather up animals for the Charamoragaun and offer it in exchange for their lives.

[Steve Somers]

Artist: Steve Somers

Concept: Firespitting Hexapus

Hey, hi there. It's me, the floating firebeast over here. Hey. Hi. So let's talk, shall we? Well, first off, I'm a Sagittarius. I love long floats in the park at sunset and then spitting fire onto unsuspecting victims. Whether it's a kid on a bike, a couple in the midst of a tender kiss, a hoary marmot, or a just pile of dry sticks -- I'll spit mad fire on it with the hotness!! That's just how I float yo. I just love love LOVE setting shit on fire. And floating. Sometimes I like to float up behind a stranger, tickle the back of their neck with one of my coiling tendrils, and then, just as they turn around - SUPRISE!!! I smother their face in liquid flames! Hot-diggity! I tell ya, if you really want to see a whacky look on someone's face, set it on fire.

But enough about me, tell me a little about yourself hotstuff. Do you smoke?

[phoenicorn]

Artist: Phoenicorn
Concept: Burzin

Burzin is a creature that feeds off the life force of organic material. Tending to devourer in plague sized swarms the burzin has been responsible for the destruction of many civilizations. The creature cannot move whilst feeding but as a defense it's body temperature rises to ridiculous temperatures and lets of a smell to mimic burning wood to give the illusion of a forest fire, thus the nick name Red Hot Doom

[Lander]

Artist: Lander

Concept: Core dweller
The Core dwellers where discovered just recently as the Norwegian government continued their tunnel projects to shorten the travels in this by nature hopeless land. :) Fist showing as a seismic disturbance the engineers should have prayed that it would have stayed with that. Now they awoke the magma creatures and started their reproduction activities. They spread their spores across the universe by going "top side". They use the heat from the center of the planet to create a heat jet that ejects the spores into space.

[Cy-AN]

Artist: Ca-AN

Concept: Volcano hunter

A creature that lives on a strange planet covered whit volcanoes is a predator and feeds with all kind of beings that are approaching the volcanos


http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww301/edenschildren/cow156ultimatewip5.jpg

[Doomsupporter]

Artist: Doomsupporter

Concept: Mini Doom-Leviathan

A rank 1 demon, growing up, feeding on anything smaller than itself.
it doesn't care about devouring it's own kind. immune to magic and other
spells, it must be eliminated by pure brute force, preferably by a rank 1 force of nature.

[Fuseboy]

Artist: Fuseboy

Concept: The Shame of Morton

"Yes, I'll tell you, but only so you know what to do if it should happen again. The events of that year are a stain on our parish, and there's no joy in the telling."

"We were deviled that whole year. That sulphurous fissure that the boys discovered up in the hills was a bad omen; the sickness among the cattle; our girls, vexed with sores and boils. Then the imp came - that shameless obscenity - leering at the miller's wife across the millpond, pissing on our thatch and throwing rocks at the dogs."

"At first, none of us understood these things were all related. Of course, the women had kept the shame of what had happened to them secret for many months. How could they not? We don't even have a word for such a thing."

"When it was found that the vicar's mother was pregnant, the outrage was too much to bear. The stinking crack through which that vile imp had come to us was found and stopped up with tar and stones. To think that we celebrated that night! But that was before the births."

"My heart is heavy with the memory of what we were forced to do. To this day I cannot look upon my daughter for the shame of it. Many times I asked God why this was visited upon us. Did we not toil? Did we not pray? I regret that my faith has been sorely strained. Is it possible that we, by some hidden indiscretion, brought this upon ourselves?"

[walnut]

[*B]Artist: [*COLOR=White]walnut[/COLOR]

Concept: [*COLOR=White]grey basalt hoshin [/COLOR]
[/B]your-description

The grey hoshin of the Wallarian wastes is one of the most intriguing and deadly remnants of the Warpsong wars. During the years it leads a peaceful life grazing on the mineral deposits on the rocks of the waste, but it undergoes a peculiar transformation when the mating season arrives.
The males of the species dig their legs under the soil and begin pumping up thaumaturgical energies, of which there remain great amounts, even till this day. The males will then spread out their collar and release the energies into the air, in the hopes of attracting as many females as they can.
This ritual turns the surrounding area into a blistering hell, choked up with magical fire and alchemic particles, not to mention the fact that the hoshin's poking in the ground causes earthquakes and random explosions.
Fortunately these creatures rarely stray from the blighted lands where they roam. There have been instances recorded however of solitary hoshins setting up their mating ground a few hundred miles from a pioneer settlement, spelling doom for all its inhabitants.

[Sukizan]

Artist: Sukizan

Concept: Destroyer
The destroyer, named by the Humans because of they're Violent and Destructive behavior are said to be the marking of the apocalypse, They travel in Pairs of 3 and Feed on entire volcanoes.

[SymbioticFusion]

Artist: SymbioticFusion

Concept: Fire Ambusher


Fire ambushers are creatures, that lives in underground tunnels in various locations around the world, they use their tentacles to attract their favorite victims humans, once their targets are close enough their dragon like heads emerge for a mortal attack.
These creatures have a exposed heart, that pumps an extremely hot blood, which is the main source of their fire breath and also is their biggest weakness, this is the main reason why these gigantic creatures prefer to ambush their enemies from underground and avoid an open combat.
Rumored to live thousands of years these creatures have no known origin and are usually called demons or aliens.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=793582&stc=1&d=1254525547

[Duman]

Artist: Duman

Concept: Magma Hound
The magma hounds are beasts that live near volcanically active areas. They are named as such for their resilience to lava, and their unique use of it. The hounds gather large quantities of lava in their mouth, and use it as a sort of shaping tool. By spitting or drooling they use the lava to create large dens under active volcanic areas, where they live in families of around twelve creatures..
These beasts can be highly destructive, for when provoked, they can project a large stream of lava from a unique rock formation on their back. Their extreme desire for cooked meat means their raiding parties on human settlements are very destructive, often leaving nothing but cooked cinders in their wake.

[Bradford A Rigby]

[*B]Artist: [*COLOR=White]Bradford A Rigby[/COLOR]

Concept: [*COLOR=White]Red Hot Doom[/COLOR]
[/B]
This is my first attempt at one of these COWs. I had A LOT of fun doing it and it inspired me do get more done and pursue my dream. I wanted to throw a human in there for size comparison, but ran out of time. Its suppose to be very large. Can't wait for the next one. Great work guys! Really, all awesome.

[MEMPER]

The Naar Hawwa. Guardians of the Temple of Phgraal-Ul, Saviors of the Guyyn, and the official mascot for the Underworld pie eating contest.

[Crustibian]

Artist: crustibian

Concept: The smolderer has the world’s hottest blood. Sometimes it’s thick, rocky hide keeps the internal heat under control. Most of the time it does not. The smolderer’s surroundings are almost always reduced to bare scorched land. The phrase “Brave enough to hug a smolderer” refers to someone who is seriously injured or killed doing something stupid.

[darkly]

Artist: darkly

Concept: Dragnoth

They came from the land of the never ending fire.
The Dragnoth left nothing but ash in their wake.
They surly are the devil's pets.

793718

[trickynick1001]

Incendiary Canary

Artist: trickynick1001

The Incendiary Canary is seldom seen, yet well known, due to its destructive habits. This bird thrives in grasslands. Here it ignites the dry grasses, and then catches small mammals and insects as they escape the blaze.

[Vampire Ninja]

Artist: Vampire Ninja

Concept: Fire Breathing Bat Mammoth!

http://www.theklaus.com/PICS/Vampire_Ninja_COW_156.jpg

Deep in the Caves of a mystical Island rests the Red Hot Doom of the Fire Breathing Mammoth Bat.

[scorge]

Artist: Scorge

Concept: Lava Titan
Millions of years old, these ancient and testy beasts scour the inner crust of the earth, waiting for their time to burst forth and wreak havoc and destruction on the denizens of the world. Pushing their enormous lava filled gut, they burn through the earth's crust, spewing red hot death and destruction. Believed to have come from deep within the core, these mighty creatures arise when the time has come for the cleansing of the earth, so that it may start anew and create new varietys of life.

[Niva.]

Artist: n1va

Concept: Infernal Orb
The infernal orb is the highest order of the Beholder species, their name comes from their affinity for the fire element. These evil monstrocities reach increadible size and never stop growing, though their rate of growth does slow down with age. While these creatures can consume flesh their primary sustenance is derived from the absorption of the souls of their victims, preferrably ones of magical origin.

793794

[Izer]

Artist: Izer

Concept: Draconian ''Tri-Burst'' Surpuhnt
There have been races who idolized these creatures, prayed to them, and even tried to harness their power. Try as they mite these ''people'', there are only scorched idols and monuments left to tell their tales. Tales written in ash...

I added head close ups, but wasn't sure if ''one post'' meant just one final or just one image per final. It can be removed if Is a violation.793785
Creature heads close ups.
794166

[sketchius]

Artist: sketchius

Concept: Reaping Inferno


Known for its scythe-like forearms and molten drool, the Reaping Inferno is a fiery menace best avoided.

794378

[ghūl]

Artist: ghūl

Concept: Red Dawn

Feasts on the dying at the end of battles, it is the last thing they see.

[jlind11]

Artist: Jlind11

Concept: Lavaburst Bug

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5218/redhotdoomfinal.png (http://img240.imageshack.us/i/redhotdoomfinal.png/)

The lavaburst bug lives in the temperate regions of its homeworld. It is most known for its strange method of reproduction. When eaten its body releases a chemical that converts the digestive juices of the predator into a liquid that is superhot like lava. This liquid also expands at a rapid rate, overflowing into the other internal systems and out the bodily openings, thus the unfortunate creature meets a red hot doom. However this event is crucial for the lavaburst bug: while being eaten the critter releases heat-resistant eggs that incubate in the smoldering corpse. When they hatch the young burrow under the leaf litter, feeding on freshly dropped leaves and fruit; the purple and greenish fur camoflages them. When they mature and mate eggs are laid in both parents increasing the chances of proagation. The large bald spot also appears on their backside so they are easier to spot by predators; coupled with sweet tasting flesh they become an easy target. One would think creatures would eventually catch on to the after effects of eating these critters, however the lava-chemicals have a delayed reaction of 4-5 mins., and the predators aren't cleaver enough to connect snacking on these tasty little guys with erupting.

[Michael Jaecks]

All righty. You may have noticed things in the poll are looking slightly different than usual. I guess this week the real Red Hot Doom is me... or perhaps I am the Red Hand of Doom or the Red Mod of Doom. Call me names, I can take it. ;)

I'm doing something a little different this week. Overall, I've been a little disappointed with the entries this week (and quite frankly weeks past, but I haven't had the time till now to invest in working the poll this way until now...). I feel like some folks have been phoning in sub-standard entries, some folks have been bending some of the rules, and too often folks are thinking around the topic too much rather than really trying to concentrate on the real focus for which COW is here... designing cool, new creatures that clearly and VISUALLY convey the week's topic.

I've also received both privately and publically repeated feedback that some participants are concerned that the voting here has a lot less to do with the quality of the entries and a lot more to do with friends voting for their friends.

So, I decided to make a few cuts. Actually, I decided that ten, and only ten entires would make it to the poll this week. And it was really tough making those cuts. As I worked on this yesterday and today I kept coming up with 11 and 12, but I wanted to stick to my original plan. Based on the quality of the entries, whether or not the artist followed the classic COW rules we repeat and repeat each week, the originality of the creature designs, and the ability of the artist to visually communicate this weeks topic were the criteria on which I made my cuts.

You'll notice how often in this post I keep stressing the idea of visually communicating the topic for the week. To be perfectly frank, I didn't read a single one of the descriptions this week. The written descriptions are like interesting bits of data you can include to flesh out the history or biology of your creature... but if your artwork isn't clearly hitting the week's topic, you can't write yourself out of that corner. It's not enough to tell us your creature fits the topic. You have to show us.

There are a couple entries I really liked, but did not make it to the poll. Evil Sloth: I really like your illustration, but your design is just too humanoid. I know there have been plenty of instances where the humanoid rule gets bent, but your entry's anatomy just reads 'human female' too much.

And n1va: nobody more than me adores a new Beholder variant. They are my all time favorite Dungeons and Dragons monsters along with the mind flayer. But, at the end of the day, your Beholder is not an original idea, just a revision of an old idea. Because I am restricting myself to ten entries only, I had to make the cut. I really did hem and haw over this one. (I like the painterly way you've rendered it, and am a huge fan of the critter.)

So there we are. You've got my top ten to choose from, but there can be only one. Vote and make it count. Think about the things that I have discussed above both when choosing your favorite Red Hot Doom and before you begin your entry for next week.

Will I be so savage with the cuts next week? I don't know, to be honest. I'm going to play it by ear. If I see a marked increase in folks trying to work harder and smarter, you will find me being a bit more generous when I set up the poll. If I feel like people are sliding in with half-hearted entries, I may be just as harsh as this week.

All righty. So... I'm working on the next topic and hope to have it up within the hour...

Feedback, thoughts, concerns, rotten tomatoes... feel free to send them all my way.

[Niva.]

Shame I didn't make it in, I understand Michael why you cut it out though. Unlike last time when I made the dragon I decided to just push forward with the concept I liked better and didn't have time to create a completely original critter.

Beholders are cool, thanks for the kind words.

Anyways, excellent entries, I once again voted for Doomsupporter. I don't know but I'm drawn to your style dooms, keep it up! Cheers!

[Evil_Sloth]

Michael: No worries mate, thanks for the explanation. :)

[luvazquez]

I voted for Lander's. Alot of good entries, but Lander's struck me immediately as giant alien doom-slinging creature of...well, DOOM! Even in the sketch stage, I could see this. It also looked hot and terrifying. :)

Lu

[Izer]

Voted for lkjhgfdsa, great over all feel to it, has everything the topic asked for and more. Also liked dwinbotp's great creature design and i like the bg, i didn't noticed before that there are more then one creature there, like they are guarding something or lining up to attack, just cool.

@Michael Jaecks , i think that it's a bit difficult to really say as far as this topic is concerned that there was a lack of communicating this topic, it was only 3 words, a bit limiting, even though it seemed like free rein.

Not sure about most people here but the quality for the amount of people that participate seems even or over, say compared to other weekly challenges like CHOW (no offense to the participants), we just have less people participating, but imo some better quality designs with the ratio to the less quality ones, mostly because we are not limited to just human/humanoids.

Yeah agree with you on the descriptions, if the creature concept isn't done well, it means squat.

Oh also is there a way you can delete all but the ones in the poll on this thread?, so viewers don't have to sift through all the non-poll entries. Just mite make it easier. Finals thread should do fine to see the rest.

On a personal note, i didn't expect to get to poll, i missed the planned dead-line. Great work to those who did and all the participated, hope to see more people next time.

[LJaydemos]

Hello Sir Michael Jaecks, as a frequent lurker and part time community art teacher in my local area, I would first like to thank you among others here at CA.org for the wonderful job you're doing here and managing these weekly competitions. These COWS CHOWS EOWS all serve as a tool here for the students aspiring to become great artists in their future. Although most of the students love designing characters, I find a lot more of them seemed to be more adept at creating monster and alien-like creatures. I absolutely agree that your "non humanoid" rule is a great way to expand the imagination & creativity of a monster/creature design/concept. Kudos for this idea.

As for cuts, I think it is only natural, as with grading grades, the same rules apply. Quality over quantity in my opinion is a must. It is encouraging to see many entries every week but the bar must be set high given the nature of these mini competitions. How would one strive to improve?

As for votes, it is a subjective matter to like another art over another one's but for the past winners' entries, There was little room to doubt why they won. Sure there will always be friends or allies to give a friend a nudge or two but not so much as to create such an imbalance. If many vote for a low quality piece just because they're bosom buddies, then shame on them. again quality above else.

Lastly, more power to you good folks doing this for everyone's benefit. Thank you, we are grateful! And to those who participate,we're always looking forward to what you guys come up with each time:) win or lose, all winners in my book!!!

[Michael Jaecks]

@Izer: IMO, it seems to me that there are entires here that really nail the topic, there are some that sort of skirt around the topic partially (looking "hot" but not really very red or inspiring much "doom") and there are some that just completely miss it all together.

In my own working experience, I find that even when a client hands me a very detailed brief to work from (which is my responsiblity to 'nail') there is still plenty of wiggle room within which to express myself creatively. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. Conversely, I think three words (Red, Hot, Doom) could easily inspire a thousand pictures. So from my viewpoint, even within the entries that I think most successfully conveyed the topic "Red Hot Doom" there is ample variety to the designs. Open ended the topic was, but that doesn't leave one open to doing whatever one wants. Or rather, the phrase 'open to interpretation' does not mean 'open to ANYTHING.'

As far as deleting those that didn't make it to poll... no... I think people should be encouraged to compare and contrast what hits and what misses.

Also, know that this week does not neccessarily create a new policy in COW. I won't be cutting us down to ten as a rule every week. I'm playing that by ear.

Okay... I gotta quit responding to PMs and this thread for a bit or I will never get a new topic up tonight... :)

UPDATE: Here's the new topic -- http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=170522

[DeathByChris]

Glad to see I made the cut phew... thanks coach. I voted for Dwinbotp I really liked the powerful beastial design of his creature and the environment to complement it, well done. Other favs of mine were lkjhgfdsa and lander. lkjhgfdsa creature had a very ominous and powerful surreal feel to it and Lander's entry was just really original.

Here are some of my thoughts on the contest any chance we could get thumbnails in the poll like they do in the CHOW threads? or even make the artists name in the poll a link to jump to their post for quick viewing?

In retrospect mine could have been a little more red hot haha, good luck everyone.

[evolvingeye]

This was a really fun round. With each week I like doing these c.o.w.s more and more, you can really learn a lot from this. I voted dwinbotp, absolutely awesome imo. Close behind were DeathByChris and ActsOfBob. On to the next round!

[Duman]

I thought a while about what I wanted to say here.
While I disagree with some of the decisions, I will abide by the ruling of the true professionals. The professionals, who I hope to one day join.
(no, I will not be staging some kind of art coup d'état)
You have some valid and logical points, but I just feel that excluding some people was a little harsh, or maybe just a little sudden and unexpected.
As for the voting process, I was not aware of what you described as somewhat less than honest voting practices. But that is probably something that can never be completely avoided.
That being said, I will endeavor to improve both my ideas and abilities for the following COW.

[Izer]

@Michael Jaecks , no need to respond to this, do your thing. i don't disagree with anything you've said, just see with different eyes. The poll thing was just a suggestion, i had a hard time finding the ppl on the poll, figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

@LJaydemos, Hey come and join us if you get time.

[Lenorekitty]

I voted for lkjhgfdsa. Its red, its hot, and its full of doom! I would be terrified to see something like that emerge from the earth, definitely apocalyptic...
Close second is dwinbotp
Great job everyone!

[Sperling]

I voted for Lander, because what doesn't spell out red hot doom like an overheated, city-sized extraterrestrial?

I'll be posting critiques on everyone's work as soon as I get the time to examine them all.

@Micheal Jaeks: While I admit that I was a bit bewildered and miffed when I first read through your announcement/explanation, I completely agree with your decision. I know that we should all be striving for our best in everything we do. I still have issues with it (mostly in regards to judging an entry soley on image, without consideration of concept description), but I believe that your actions will benefit us in the long run.

[Jatari]

@Michael Jaecks: I agree with your decision and as a first time participant (who also didn't make the cut) I find myself wanting to work harder and smarter on this next COW to convey the message directly. Keep up the high standards, looking forward to "Wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy".

I voted for Dwinbotp, his beastly Flaming Taurus just felt massive and to see a herd of those coming towards me would be terrifying.

Demonsupporter was my 2nd and lkjhgfdsa was my 3rd.

[phoenicorn]

ActOfBob because I love the texture on the creature. Just looked more unique to me and kept more red than my second fav. Tough decision though.

Yeah it was my first attempt and I didn't make the cut But I do feel that this should be a regular thing (only voting for the top 10). I will try to make the top 10 next time.

[Seferian]

My vote will have to go to Lander for a great idea, carried out nicly!
I must say though, that I love Fuseboy's :)

[mythril_golem]

voted lander cos the doom is undeniable and it hits on red and hot too :)
others i really liked and wished i had more votes for:
dwinbotp- i love the render and bulk but that horn just doesn't do anything for me
memper- that creature is just awesome, like a rusty furnace got possessed by a demon XD also gets my brain thinking about targete so nice work man.
lkjhgfdsa- evil hyper shrimp, what's not to like. really nice touch with the trains.
doom supporter- another amazing pic and design, my only problem with it was the skulls at the end of the protrusions, just way too corny imo
walnut- from the first sketch i thought it was gonna be some kinda organic artillery, love the design. would have been cool to see this pushed further.

[Bonedaddycash]

I can understand sub-standard. However, I feel that with art their is a fine line when judging "Sub-standard" What one person sees as sub-standard another might see as a different style. For instance, I really like sketchius's piece. It may not look as finished as some of the others, but I just interpreted that as a different style.

As far as missing the mark, I think that may be a bit harsh this week, as part of the description was, "Pretty open for interpretation". It may have been better to leave a little less room for interpretation when making cuts for lacking on interpretation. I didn't realize it was necessary to have a creature that looked like it was pure lava-esque fire. I figured that as long as it killed things with fire it met the standard for red hot doom. But then I guess it's entirely possible that my piece wasn't good enough.

Warning would have been nice. I put a lot of work into my piece. There's a lot of personal work I could have been doing this week. I think that's the main reason I'm personally offended.

I'm not trying to be an ass, I understand you know what you're doing. I'm just disappointed. I didn't realize that I might not even make it to the poll.

P.S. I do realize that there is a clause in the rules that say no WIPS, sketches, or rushed artwork... But there is nothing for skill level. I honestly feel like some pieces were left out as "phoned in" when it may have been a skill level issue.

[hotjen]

voted for dwinbotp RED HOT!

other faves were ilkjhgfdsa and actsofBob, I loved lander's piece too, but I cannot imagine it as a species but more of a boss creature(that would be cool as hell) :D

[darkly]

Okay, so I'm going to be completely honest. Call me what you will. I'm assuming mine was cut from the poll due to it being too humanoid which I , in most cases, would understand. However I think that the timing of letting us know how strict this particular round would be after the poll has been set up is poor timing.

Now I could continue to piss and moan, but the fact of the matter truely is this. You guys and this website are my main outlet for art. If I'm not receiving feedback, encouragement, or helpful critiques then it becomes a useless tool. Now I'm fairly happy with my piece in how in turned out and that I spent my friday night working on it than doing something else. Am I a little upset that it didn't make it to the poll? Sure, but I understand. In all I guess I'm just a little disappointed. I felt like I worked hard on this one and .......


Alright I'm posting all that for posterity's sake. But I think I'm done with COW (at least for a while) Good luck to the rest of you. My best wishes! And I do mean this sincerely despite how it may read to some, thank you Michael Jaecks for being the admin. I apreciate all your hard work!

Nate

[Qurkeburkly]

Voting for Lander's picture. For me it seems to convey the most of the idea of red hot doom with quite an interesting insectoid design and including the background in the picture so that I can actually see what kind of havoc that creature can create in the bootiful Norweigan cities.

I enjoyed Doomsupporter's picture a lot too, the only reason I didn't vote for it was that it felt to me more like a red hot jogger rather than doom.. It seems so happy and cheerful while running along with the people there.

[ActsOfBob]

Voted for Lander as his was unique and conceptually on topic. Dwinbotp rendering is great! Second? Good job lkjhgfdsa I liked the onimous feel of your design.
good stuff guys... I look forward to the next one :)
-AOB

[Lander]

Holy crap MJ. I can understand your pow but isn't the poll supposed to do what you just did? To me the entire purpose of the poll is to see if I get my design to work for other people. If I get one vote then that proves to me that there is one person out there that thought that my entry was better than all the rest.
(That is also the reason why we stick to "one vote system".) Hell that does it for me.

A one person filter is a grid to fine for my taste.

I'm not saying you have bad taste (since you picked me :) I'm just saying that it is a bit to much of a dictatorship.

Give the power back to the people :)

Thanks for the votes so far. They really do mean alot :)
FuseBoy: You would have had my vote :)
Doomsupporter If a creature can bring such heat and look as bad as that then it should rule the poll :)

[Bonedaddycash]

Lander- You got my vote on this one. Thing looks cruel. I love it.

[Michael Jaecks]

@Micheal Jaeks: While I admit that I was a bit bewildered and miffed when I first read through your announcement/explanation, I completely agree with your decision. I know that we should all be striving for our best in everything we do. I still have issues with it (mostly in regards to judging an entry soley on image, without consideration of concept description), but I believe that your actions will benefit us in the long run.

Hey Sperling, the logic goes something like this: a quality concept illustration that hits all the criteria and nails the topic visually is always going to win out and should always beat out a concept illustration that sort of misses or totally misses, but has a beautifully written and interesting description. This is not a writing class. We're hear to strengthen our ability to create, concept and execute our ideas visually.

Quite frankly, when an art director reviews your work, they're not reading much of anything you would write about it (beyond something very, very brief.) They've got anywhere from dozens to hundreds of images they are going to look at on any given day. They're looking to see if your artwork clearly and originally conveys the concept they're looking for.

Just my two cents.

[Michael Jaecks]

Holy crap MJ. I can understand your pow but isn't the poll supposed to do what you just did? To me the entire purpose of the poll is to see if I get my design to work for other people. If I get one vote then that proves to me that there is one person out there that thought that my entry was better than all the rest.
(That is also the reason why we stick to "one vote system".) Hell that does it for me.

A one person filter is a grid to fine for my taste.

I'm not saying you have bad taste (since you picked me :) I'm just saying that it is a bit to much of a dictatorship.

Give the power back to the people :)

Thanks for the votes so far. They really do mean alot :)
FuseBoy: You would have had my vote :)
Doomsupporter If a creature can bring such heat and look as bad as that then it should rule the poll :)

Hey Lander. MMMMmmm. No. Not this time. Look, as I said before, this is not new COW policy for every week, this is an exercise I'm employing this week. I think sometimes when I allow for a 100% democracy, the overall quality level of the entries goes down. When I push back a little, people try a little harder. I'm pushing harder now than I have in the past (39 entires, 10 made it to the poll) but I thought there were clear differences between those that made it to the poll and those that did not.

So. I will return the power to the people once I feel we're all working harder. Till then, Jar Jar has voted I receive Emergency Powers and I am using them. ;)

[Bonedaddycash]

However, an art director would more then likely give an artist more then "Red Hot Doom" if he expected a specific result. Not that I have an issue with the topic, but it would seem better to start on topic cuts on a topic with more specific requirements.

Arg. I'm sorry. I'm being argumentative... I just agree with Lander on this.

I can understand if a piece was obviously done on someones lunch hour, or if something completely misses the point of the topic, but I think some things that got cut had a lot of effort involved, and if they missed it wasn't by so much that the only way to tell whether "red", "Hot", and "Doom" were involved was by the description.

I just feel like the filter is a bit tight for a community project. Is every round going to be limited to the ten best entries from now on? Because you mentioned the two that you cut because you wanted only ten.

If so I'll probably spend my attention elsewhere, because if the only point is for me to get better then I can get more personal critique by posting in the WIP forum. A huge part of the fun in the weekly competition is the competition, and I guarantee there are more then ten artists who blow me out of the water talent wise.. which guarantee's I'll never make the finals if it's down to ten.

(Okay you answered the every week part.. I guess I just don't really understand where the obvious difference was in my image (Other then no background, which isn't a requirement, and I feel can distract from the creature itself.). He's red, His throat is full of flame ready to be belched up over his enemies, which would mean their doom. It's possible you really think I suck.. Or that I phoned it in.. I'm just frustrated that I put 10+ hours in on this thing to get cut for "Not trying hard enough". It's not that I don't appreciate that you do a lot to put this stuff together, and that you don't have to. I really do. But as I said, it kind of sucks to be lumped in to a catagory of people who didn't try hard enough when I spent so much time on it.)

[Lander]

Hey MJ. Well we all know that Jar Jar is a adomination that never should have made it to the silver screen :)

Hope to see you all next round and let's show the clown that we can do better :)
No worries. You are not my worst enemy :) (would a clown be rejected next week?)

I'm just beeing a pimple on a buttcheek. We are all greatful for the work you put into this. Cheers and go and paint some!

[Michael Jaecks]

For Bonedaddycash and the rest: My process went something like this...I looked at the entries and considered 'phoning it in' myself and including everyone. But, the quality level overall seemed to be on a decline, not an incline, so I reviewed and made a list. From the very first glance, I pulled nearly 50% of the 39 entries. That's just way too high, IMHO. That left me with a list of about 20 'Definite yeses' and 'a variety of maybes for a variety of reasons.' That made me think, "why leave in the maybes?" If there are definitely a set of ten who are clearly hitting the mark and the rest are just sort of skirting around it... why not make a real, positive example of the top ten entries to show everyone what is expected both with respect to concepting and effort/execution? From there I cut it down to 12, stuck to my guns with the whole "Top Ten" idea and gave clear reasons why the two runners-up didn't make it to the top ten (humanoid rule for one and originality for the other... which is not to say I did not like either illo. I did.)

For Bonedaddy specifically: I like your entry. You clearly have rendering skills and some interesting things going on with the design. Specifically, I think you could look more closely at real world creature anatomy to add believablity to your creature designs. Moreover, the positioning of the feet and the heavy weight of the toes and the claws left me with the feeling that this creature would sort of trip over its own feet a bit. Something about the proportions make it look almost like a youngster for its particular species. There are some very nice things going on with the head. The red could be a bit more red and varied. It looks like you are being a little tentative, desaturated overall, like perhaps you're not very comfortable with using color yet. That's not a bad thing. We all start in different places as artists. You definitely look like you put significant effort into your entry and you were most assuredly not on the list of 'first glance' cuts.

Lander: I've already received via Twitter one vote to keep the Top Ten Dictatorship the law of the land forever. I guess that makes Blobs, Jar Jar Binks. ;)

[dwinbotp]

hmmm, not to be off topic but hey, every once in a while, we need a Jar Jar, to remind us why there is a need and strive to improve on COWs. Monsters be damned but hey they gotta look cool! :D

As for the cuts, MJ is just pushing us harder than usual, which is not too often really.(poke poke) Too much pushing however, I agree with Lander and we'll all fall like lemmings. I got lazy as well for the past COWs and I hope to keep my quality up to par with the rest. Cuts are hard for newcomers but it's just a part of the process and ensuring that we set our goals higher and not just "hey i have a critter here, here goes nothing!" I dabble in COW for one reason and it remains true today, I want to improve because for a time being, I can't draw a dog.:D

[Lander]

I had a long (hours) discussion with a bunch of friends some time ago. It began with a suggestion that everyone but one disliked. As the night went on and we twisted and turned the subject around on all sides people converted and in the end democracy won a victory in favour of the at first down voted suggestion. I'd say we'd better end this now or I'll vote for MJ as "The King of all known suns and unknown worlds in the universe".

In the end I don't think I'd be here today if I had been cut first time around. But that's me and I'm not known to be much of a fighter. I'm a slacker :)

I also had a second thought. There is always a contemporary style that is easy to like. (lots of heavy armored feet on soldiers these days). Only with an open mind can we discover what lies ahead. So let's discover this by votes. Not that we are having a vote. Just freedom of speech (and bad spelling). My voice is nay to the poll of ten and yay to the removal of WIPs.

Does this rambling make any sense at all?

[Doomsupporter]

i voted for Lander because of it's HUGE doom-level. almost equally doomy was lkjhgfdsa's creature.
dwinbotp made a fair chance for a vote because of his technique, however,
the doomishness of the creature was more comparable with that of a standard lavahound... no offense at all.

which brings me to a new question and perhaps a suggestion for Michael Jaecks
i'm new here, so i don't know a lot about all the past topics' content, so i don't know
if my idea has been mentioned before, but...

i was kinda wondering if it would be possible to split up the voting system in 2 halfs,
something like a) : technique b) : how true to the topic the artist stayed.

i'm saying this because i think it would result in more honest voting and which will
probably cause the artists to do more efforts on all ends.

[dwinbotp]

Doomsupporter no offense taken:) Doom is doom really, on a small scale or a massive one. I just chose the best creature I thought fit the description and an excuse to draw a horned lavahound,er...bull:)

[Crustibian]

I voted for lkjhgfdsa. A truly terrifying creature! I am pretty new to C.O.W. (This was my sixth submission.) I have to admit I was disappointed at the poll of ten entries (and not being among the chosen). After some thought, though, I have to thank Michael Jaecks for the kick in the @$$. When I first found C.O.W., I spent over a year just lurking before I finally submitted. After several submissions, I believe that I kind of forgot my initial fascination with the talent here. Somebody finding this sight for the first time (and those of us who still love to peruse it) should see everybody's best effort. I understand your motives, MJ. Good call.

That being said, the few votes that I have gotten over the past few months have felt great. Technique, staying on topic, and effort are all important, but I hope style is always completely open. Or my cartoons don't stand a chance :)

[Vaghauk]

ui - it´s a pitty that so few made to the end-poll .... :( and my favorite one is not on the list.... buuuaaah !) well,i understand that there are rules to be followed ...
i don´t mind to much to be cut out -just a izi little bit :) - my lava being was really not that original at all-though fun to do- but i´m here to improve and learn not (only) having fun.Next time i try harder. So what really helped would be some reasons for the cut-out´s to know what went wrong and being able to work on it.
but i also understand that this might be a a bit of to much of work to do with so many entries .
In the biped insectoid cow i posted the first time and had one nice comment from crustibian on my giant dreamweaver which i most appreciated ! I really hope that crustibian sticks around with his "comic" creatures ! And i hope that all newcomers (like myself) get a warm welcome somehow.

I can´t help but i got to add this : the last creature (scorge´s) which was admitted to the poll just looks not finished and it´s confusing to look at it. After trying very hard i saw the idea behind it and i really like it - but well i thought there are no wips allowed ....and after deadline ? in my oppinion that was an strange decision and a bit unfair to some really cool creatures which where cut out.(i know i´m an real greenhorn here.... it´s just my oppinion)

ah ! i nearly forgot :
i voted lander because it was one of the more original designs and well executed. Just loved it from the beginning. :)

and to fuseboy : shame on you ! how could you ??? :D love it - even if it´s more an part of an creature ! and since the topic was so open i think it was an great (and bold) idea !!!

would like to comment on everybody but my time´s also limited...
see you all in the next round- i hope !

[Steve Somers]

Voted for Lander, just thought his concept was something I didn't really have a reference for. Really liked some of the others, but some of them kind of reminded me of past COW's, like Shadow and Flame, or Colossus from Hell.

As for cutting so many of the entries, I'm impressed you did it Michael. Bummed that mine got the axe, but the COW must swing the axe sometimes. Fozzy would be proud.

[Fuseboy]

Ah, disappointing. I realize my painting skills are hardly heaping esteem on this web site, but what brings me into the competition is the chance to get at least some gauge of how I'm progressing - the thrill of maybe getting a vote or two. Concept aside, I'm working at the limit of what I can do in the ten hours I devoted to it, so it's discouraging to not even have a chance to get measured.

Anyways, my vote went to Lander. dwinbotp's lava bulls were freaking awesome, but Lander's concept just said Doom that much more loudly.

[Michael Jaecks]

I don't want to further micro-manage the discussion. I've made it pretty clear why I set up the poll the way I did. If I can pull 50% of the entires in the finals thread without a guilty bone in my body, there's an overall slide or decline in the entries overall ... or... there are just so very many new people coming to COW that what is expected as a final isn't understood very well, which is definitely a possibility.

In physics, the second law of thermodynamics states that all ordered systems, when left to their own devices, grow more and more disordered over time. COW is no exception. A laissez-faire attitude will get one nowhere. The only thing that combats the entropic nature of the universe is an active and conscious choice to push it back into the direction of order.

[Steve Somers]

Michael, you shouldn't have to justify your decision. You're the moderator, you make the call. That's how it is. There's a ton of online art submission forums and if this one is to remain respectable then there has to be some standards.

I like this forum more than most others because it attracts some awesome work by some great artists and those are the hardest ones to tell when they're missing the mark or phoning it in.

And to the other artists: PLEASE - If my stuff is looking goofy, or substandard, tell me. If I want my ego stroked I'll check my myspace page.

[wanwan]

I can understand sub-standard. However, I feel that with art their is a fine line when judging "Sub-standard" What one person sees as sub-standard another might see as a different style. For instance, I really like sketchius's piece. It may not look as finished as some of the others, but I just interpreted that as a different style.

As far as missing the mark, I think that may be a bit harsh this week, as part of the description was, "Pretty open for interpretation". It may have been better to leave a little less room for interpretation when making cuts for lacking on interpretation. I didn't realize it was necessary to have a creature that looked like it was pure lava-esque fire. I figured that as long as it killed things with fire it met the standard for red hot doom. But then I guess it's entirely possible that my piece wasn't good enough.

Warning would have been nice. I put a lot of work into my piece. There's a lot of personal work I could have been doing this week. I think that's the main reason I'm personally offended.

I'm not trying to be an ass, I understand you know what you're doing. I'm just disappointed. I didn't realize that I might not even make it to the poll.

P.S. I do realize that there is a clause in the rules that say no WIPS, sketches, or rushed artwork... But there is nothing for skill level. I honestly feel like some pieces were left out as "phoned in" when it may have been a skill level issue.

Someone has to be in charge.

[wanwan]

To all of you who think that the cut was unfair here is my point of view.

I understand that a lot of you, myself included, are aspiring artists and I feel that a lot of you are hurt that you didn't get a chance to get a vote in or for a chance to get some crits. Well, here is my point.

Placing work in the WIPs section means you can get crits, and if no one is giving you them ask people who are taking part their opinion. Other than that, post your work on other art sites live deviantart for constructive crits.

Now, please don't all get angry at Mr Jaecks, he is just doing his job and at any time for any reason he can say a piece can or cannot make it through to the finals. Yes this is a contest and everyone is free to enter but quality control is a must. It means that those who really put the hard work in get a chance to shine and those who want to aspire to be 'teh awesome' have something to aim for.

Is it not fair that people that don't abide by the rules should have their work removed from the final poll line up? A rule that is frequently broken is, and this isn't a direct quote, 'nothing that resembles humans or animals'.

So please stop throwing your toys out of the pram, complaicency breeds medeocrity.

[scorge]

Real toss up between Lander and Dwinbotp.......in the end Dwinbotp for design and illustration, and the true feeling of menace. Lander, one of your best pieces yet.

As for the cuts, I do feel lucky I made it(I did only spend three or four hours hashing it out), but for those of you new here, you would have hated the days of Fozzybar when cuts were made every week. Something to keep in mind. On to the next.

[blobs]

Ahh Fozzybar! Yep, I had a fair few of my images kicked to sh*t and thrown overboard at the voting stage when he was in charge!! :).. never did me any harm! :)

We might not agree with the fact that our images haven't get selected, it's a p*sser, we spend all this time and energy on our work, and for what? Nothing? Only to have to go through the same thing again next week and more than likely never getting into the vote?.. I don't think so.

... Could it be about perception? By not giving up and getting on with it even when you get knocked sideways, you prove to yourself quite a bit believe it or not...
You'll improve naturally with each image by driving yourself and your art. Ignore the voice that says 'I'm not selected' or 'I've not got any crit' because if you listen to the voice that says 'I'll do fking better next time.. grrr!'.. your art will improve, isn't that what you come here for?

So I'm all for what Jaecksy's done here, personally.

Here's a suggestion that will help us make Jaecksy's life a misery and make a few of you smile I'm sure... for any and all that aren't selected for the vote, Jaecksy has to give a solid crit to each and every one... ouch, that'll hurt with 20-30 submissions.. heheh ;)

I know these thoughts don't apply to everyone and all discussions in the thread, but for some of the newer people it might apply and help... or hinder.. who the f*ck knows :)

[blobs]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I voted for lkjhgfdsa that image just screams of impending doom and red hot lush!
:)

[Michael Jaecks]

Here's a suggestion that will help us make Jaecksy's life a misery and make a few of you smile I'm sure... for any and all that aren't selected for the vote, Jaecksy has to give a solid crit to each and every one... ouch, that'll hurt with 20-30 submissions.. heheh ;)


Point number one: It's spelled "Jaecksey"
Point number two: I remember signing no contract with blobs, ConceptArt.Org, MarvelDisneyMisery, nor the ACLU about solid crits with cuts. Or did I? Was that the night I woke up with Fozzy's underwear on my head? I forget. Too many times to count.
Point number three: If you really feel super super super duper bad about not making it to the poll this week (and really now, little padawans. Search your feeling on this one; I'm not getting paid for this.) you can always PM me anytime and I will go over with you the strengths and weaknesses of your entry.
Point number four: There is no point number four; I made that up.
Point number five: (because all design teachers will tell you odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing than even ones.) Really, really, really. I understand what it is like to get cut from the poll and not get any votes that week, THAT WEEK, you really really really did think you'd get a few or even win. "Hi, my name is Michael and I'm a COW addict. I participated in over 50 COWs before I ever got my bunny ears and haven't gotten one since. And it wasn't for the lack of trying, I can assure you."

Don't give up.

[wanwan]

Point number one: It's spelled "Jaecksey"
Point number two: I remember signing no contract with blobs, ConceptArt.Org, MarvelDisneyMisery, nor the ACLU about solid crits with cuts. Or did I? Was that the night I woke up with Fozzy's underwear on my head? I forget. Too many times to count.
Point number three: If you really feel super super super duper bad about not making it to the poll this week (and really now, little padawans. Search your feeling on this one; I'm not getting paid for this.) you can always PM me anytime and I will go over with you the strengths and weaknesses of your entry.
Point number four: There is no point number four; I made that up.
Point number five: (because all design teachers will tell you odd numbers are more aesthetically pleasing than even ones.) Really, really, really. I understand what it is like to get cut from the poll and not get any votes that week, THAT WEEK, you really really really did think you'd get a few or even win. "Hi, my name is Michael and I'm a COW addict. I participated in over 50 COWs before I ever got my bunny ears and haven't gotten one since. And it wasn't for the lack of trying, I can assure you."

Don't give up.

*sneaks up behind Mr J and shakes fist from his side saying 'YEAH!!!'*

Grow up people, life is one big f*cking contest. If you don't believe me, ask Darwin.

[jrbarker]

Thanks, Jaecks. I think your decision is fair and just. I'm glad to see you handling the COW this way.

I had to vote for lkjhgfdsa. It just seems so menacing, and really fit the bill. I would have liked to see what the whole body looks like.
Also, I really love EvolvingEye's illustration. The volcanos on the back are a great idea. Of course Dwinbotp turns in another excellent rendering. And Lander had a really original idea and well done execution.

[lkjhgfdsa]

"There is no competition in art; there is, however art in competitions"
I participate for the sake of becoming more technically and conceptually proficient,
not for the votes that sporadically come my way; and one hopes that they are votes
based on concept and rendering not favouritism.

More community interaction with critiques and wips will lead to a greater level of concept and technique, maybe that will reverse the 10picture cut? as opposed to protestation.

[Fuseboy]

Nonsense, whining is the key to all progress! Point taken. Fear my scary monster for next round!

[Izer]

Hmm this thread has seemed to take on a life of it's own. All and all this is just a fun way to practice and improve with good direction and with others that like creatures like us, and to be completely honest without something like this for direction and people to throw ideas around with and get feedback(and give), i'd just be sitting here doing nothing in the middle of nowhere upstate NY, never learning or growing or seeing what i like, not many artists around here, so this is valuable. So lets just have some fun and i hope to see you all in the next round! (and myself for that matter, but i ll comment when i can)

[Vampire Ninja]

wow, so I haven't been to Conceptart.org in forever, and I tried really hard on this weeks topic. I was a bit disappointed to see I wasn't even represented. I'm just wondering if mine was a technical error, or I just didn't make the cut. I understanding wanted to raise the standard, but I feel kinda cut having given the topic a really good try this week.

[Seekr]

dwinbotp: I loved your creature. Amazing colors and flow of the piece. Very nice Job.

[TomCardin]

Yeah them bunny ears are damn hard to get...Heck I won mine on an entry I worked really hard on, every evening of the week we had I was plugging away on it, and in the end I was really suprised to win.

Though I can't participate due to injury to my hand, I am still very inspired by the work everyone does and I love seeing the tremendous growth this COW thingy does for everyone who participates.

Yeah I had a couple pulled by Fozzybar as well...usually because I wrote up my description wrong and made the creature sound like a character, thats a knife in the belly when your art was fine but your words were wrong.

Keep it up!

I voted for lkjhgfdsa, it wins out on the doom aspect for me.

[Bonedaddycash]

Okay, final post on this. I wasn't going to, but I feel like a lot of people have gotten the wrong impression about my argument. I wasn't just whining over hurt feelings. If I was angry for any reason it was because the general explanations given for the cuts were that people missed the concept (which I really don't feel I did), or that they were phoning it in.. not trying (Which I didn't.)

I have no problem with wanting to raise the standard of entries. I feel that one of the main points in this exercise is to make people better. I'm not one of those people who things children are better off getting awards for things they're not good at, I think it distracts them from finding the things that they can really excel at and love.

It's not about everyone getting a cookie.

So, I don't disagree with making cuts. At all. I do have a fundamental disagreement with the manner in which they were made. A warning at the beginning of the "Wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy" round that cuts would be made and they would be harsh would have accomplished the same end goal without leaving some of us going, "huh?". And if people didn't believe it then it would have been their own fault.

I wouldn't even mind future rounds having that disclaimer from now on out.

To Michael. Thank you for the critique, I really do appreciate it and it is immensely useful. I realize that you were under no obligation to give it and that I in no way deserved the personalized attention.

I hope you can understand that despite my strong disagreement with the manner in which this came about I have great respect for your art, and for the end goal you were trying for. I just felt (and do feel) that the reason entries get better when you do this is because a lot of the new people joining in (or newer artists who are still developing) throw in the towel. I don't think they should be coddled, but I also don't think they should be so readily discarded.

[luvazquez]

I for one am happy about the discussion going on in this thread...it's good to know that folks care enough about this challenge to voice their opinions, even if they disagree.

I didn't make the cut, I asked Jaecks if he could give me some idea why, and I'm satisfied with the response. The idea of these challenges is to push yourself...get/give feedback and hopefully grow in the process.

That being said, it looks like I won't be able to participate in this week's CoW; work's starting to pile up. This sucks, cause this week's topic is just too tempting to pass up.

Maybe I can squeeze in a last minute entry...gaaah!

[Studio Colrouphobia]

Was a toss between Lander and Doomsupporter for me. In the end I picked Doomsupporter because I felt like I had seen Landers design in other creatures before.. Not saying it wasn't a new design, but I have seen similar creatures before. Most obvious one I think of right now is the creature from Episode one of Star Trek the next generation: Farpoint (had to google for that one). where the shapes and the sheer size of it is similar, but there where others..

To add to the debate on entries and whatnot- I know most people do their best in these weeklies, and I personally know how it feels to have an entry that doesn't make the poll because it isn't "well enough rendered" but I must also say that the past five-ten weeks it has felt like cow is going on the backburner rather then the full gas that it should.
The general sensation of the entries (you know, if we take a joint impression of all the entries of the week) has felt like "yeah..it's just cow, I tossed something together for it so it's done".

I'm not saying that this is how people have thought, but at a glance this is how it feels like.

Sometimes, a wake-up call is needed to push yourself that extra mile. I know last time I had an entry I got 1 vote of a total of 300+ votes and t made me stop doing COWs till present time, and instead push myself to practice and practice and practice even more.. difference between then and now s that now I work professionally as an illustrator..

[Lander]

I did a google on that and I don't have a clue as to what you are refereing to. Not that it does matters. I see it as a compliment. I designed something you liked. If you have some reference that you could refer to please do. Always cool to see.
lkjhgfdsa:love your nick. How do you say it when you meet people in real life?
Can someone give the man some more votes so we can share the second place?

[psantha]

I was going to vote for Vaghauk. When I seen his monster, I laughed.

[Studio Colrouphobia]

I did a google on that and I don't have a clue as to what you are refereing to. Not that it does matters. I see it as a compliment. I designed something you liked. If you have some reference that you could refer to please do. Always cool to see.
lkjhgfdsa:love your nick. How do you say it when you meet people in real life?
Can someone give the man some more votes so we can share the second place?

You should, I liked it!


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

"Their actions cause the alien craft to transform into a jellyfish-like space creature, and Picard is able to deduce the mystery of Farpoint Station. He confirms with the apologetic Zorn that the Bandi had found a similar lifeform injured on their planet and, though they attempted to care for it, they also exploited its ability to create matter to create Farpoint Station; the creature now in orbit is trying to help free its mate by punishing those who ensnared it."

Basically, the creature is a city similar in shape to your creature, and in the end it get revealed that the city is a creature...

http://scifitvgeek.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/specialwp8a.jpg -is an image of the thing in space, but by then it has turned upside down and so looks more like a jellyfish.

It was just one example of where I had seen this sort of thing before and really, it was this minor a thing tha made me choose doomsupporter over yours..

[MasterPete]

I just loved dwinbotp's clean finishing!

[Vaghauk]

thanx to psantha !! made my day !!

[morbid_Butterfly90]

you people have amazing talents :] i can draw but nothing like that. nice work