Chow 178:: Hallowe’en special: Universal monsters

[Aly Fell]

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

ROUND #178:: HALLOWE’EN SPECIAL: UNIVERSAL MONSTERS


DESCRIPTION

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS

TWO WEEK CHOW

Was that the trees a rustling? Or the hinges on the gate? Something spooky in the shadows... IT’s ALIVE!!!!!

HALLOWE’EN, the old festival of Samhain is here and this is a two week ChOW! Take one (or more if you fancy) of the classic Universal Monsters from this list and produce your own take on them.

Dracula (1931) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021814/)
Frankensteins Monster/The Bride (1931/35) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021884/) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026138/)
The Mummy (1932) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023245/)
The Wolfman (1941) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0002574/)
The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0014142/)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016220/)

And if you’re feeling inventive,

The Invisible Man (1933) LINK (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024184/)



Redesign them... Give us your version. Use the Universal interpretation as your inspiration or starting point, not the original stories, as Universal Studios gave them a unique twist, but feel free to explore the possibilities. However remember, this is a character challenge. There’s plenty of reference on the internet for all of these.

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

All the above are copyright UNIVERAL PICTURES
---------------------------------------------------------
DEADLINE
MONDAY, November 9th, 2009
Deadline is Monday, at 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5).
---------------------------------------------------------
:right: FOLLOW THE TOPIC.

:right: POST YOUR FINAL IN THE FINALS THREAD.

:right: SAVE YOUR FILES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT. Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oblio.jpg" ;)

:right: PLACE THE IMAGE IN A FRAME WITH YOUR NAME/TOPIC

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/ChowPics/frame.jpg
(you can add CA logo, etc).


POST YOUR FINALS IN THE FINALS THREAD!
Remember to include your nickname in the file name.

About quality - as general rule: if your shapes and values are not decent - you are out. Watch proportions, perspective etc. we need perfectly readable shapes and coherent, consistent values.

_____________

BE PROFESSIONAL - only finished and good quality entries will be taken to the poll. Daestwen and Poshspice will make the selection.
Please review these helpful reminders if you have not done so already.

:right:ON GETTING TO POLL (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1891823&postcount=15)
-------------------------
:right:NEW ROUND RULE: WIPS PLEASE! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1910999&postcount=27)
-------------------------
:right:SUBMISSION FORMAT REMINDER (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1911002&postcount=28)



PLEASE REMEMBER TO WRITE YOUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION UNDER THE IMAGE IN THE FINAL BURNING THREAD SO I DON'T HAVE TO HUNT YOU DOWN LATER!

[DefiledVisions]

Woa what a great topic, thanks!

[LostFayth]

Shweeet! :D

[Photogr@fever]

I'm pretty new here and think this will be a great CHOW to start me off! Great idea!

[Undeadartist]

Hells yea! most def following through with this one

[Asatira]

This is awesome. I can't wait to see what comes up.

[Raffix]

awesome, i'm in :D

[hunchback]

gosh i guess im doing the hunchback O_O....:rocker:

[LostFayth]

Sorry, I just had to put this up. Every year when Halloween is approaching I think of this video.

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1kNP3jogfek&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1kNP3jogfek&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

[Undeadartist]

i know this isnt the place to post videos but follow this link found it while was researching sorry for the post just seemed appropriate : D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQFPJusVhqw

[NPlaxco]

Are we tied down to the traditional sex of these characters? For example what would the acceptability of a Wolfwoman instead of a wolf man?

[Aly Fell]

For this brief stay to gender. :)

[The Whistler]

Daestwen, Posh, THANK YOU!!!! :steph:

Oh gosh, I feel like a kid in a toy store, which one(s) should I choose? I'll probably end up doing it (or them) next week but can't wait :D

[Wiggers]

Great idea!!

[LORD M]

I'm sold on the The Invisible Man. Saw the movie from 1933 some years ago, god I loved it.



Ok my Invisible Man turned into a blood-sucker instead. :P This is how it's so far. Gotta do some brainstorming on the clothes now and hope for the best. I wanted it to look like he's leaning forward, but he looks like a dwarf right now, so I gotta try and fix that somehow.

[Telefunker]

Quite a few to choose from. I think I'm going to be in this week. I was trailing in too late to finish my submission for last week.

[Helltroll]

I'm starting off with the Phantom of the Opera, might do Drac later (the inner Castlevania fanboy is calling!)

Got silhouette design so far

[Freedezigner]

Frankenstein The Bride.
What do you think can she look like this?
812340

[Gavage]

Tempting!

First sketch for The Invisible Man. Thinking it's too close to the original at the moment but I will probably retain the smoke idea.

[AhChu]

Halloween special, oh hell yea! I'm going to throw in for Creature from the Black Lagoon & Wolfman.

[Pixeltuner]

Oh yes :)

[Aly Fell]

Careful chaps, this isn't the lounge. Try to keep posts relevant to the brief please.

[AestheticMachine]

sort of a vampire-y looking black lagoon creature, i think. wanting to organically incorporate some classic 'dracula' features. not sure if i want to actually put in a background, and the head is getting a little snakey. crits and suggestions welcome!

[Terminalfears]

I can only hope to do this justice :o

[etchesofthesun]

Hi, Im just wondering how much freedom do we have in the redesign? I mean do they still have to resemble the Universal interpretation? Or can we just go nuts? For example, could i do a Pirate Dracula? Or maybe the wolfman playing in a rockband?- Cus he looks a lot like Brent from Mastodon..lol Thanks :)

[LORD M]

Hey thanks a lot for the critique, Arthur 'Two Sheds'. Now it's looking much better! :D

I really like your Quasimodo, but maybe you should have his eyes open, looks a bit like he's in a trance or meditating right now. And nice touch with the jester-hat. :P

[Irrlaeufer]

I started off with a huge canvas size this time. It really got frustraiting last week when i ended up using 1-pixel brushes in order to work on the details because the canvas was kind of small. I only painted in grayscales so far because i'm trying to get some proper values this time. Plus I try to work with foreground and background since I want to have something going on in this picture :D

[mongreldesigns]

Do different characters have to be in the same composition? Or could I submit a separate one for each?

A first set of sketches for the big three.

[Photogr@fever]

okayyyy, so frankenbride...
I wanted to make her look a bit more modern and 'beautiful', the original bride is so old fashioned (not that that's a bad thing), I fancied making a younger bride; I don't know, it's still really close to the original, but hopefully not bad for a first timer!
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/jbaugha02/frankenbride.png

[Adam Schumpert]

Hi, Im just wondering how much freedom do we have in the redesign? I mean do they still have to resemble the Universal interpretation? Or can we just go nuts? For example, could i do a Pirate Dracula? Or maybe the wolfman playing in a rockband?- Cus he looks a lot like Brent from Mastodon..lol Thanks :)

Usually CHOW has been pretty accepting and open to each artist's
interpretation of the brief, which has allowed us all to push ourselves
creatively :teeth: Also I don't claim any official authority to interpret
the brief only Posh and Daestwen can give you an official answer about
the brief or rules of CHOW

That being said...
What I took the brief to mean was that we are to redesign
these classic characters not rewrite who they are. What I mean is that from
a visual design point of view we should all push as far as our hearts desire
but the end result should still be the same character. Count Dracula should
be recognizably Count Dracula... Frankenstein should be obviously
Frankenstein... etc...

Think about it this way, there is a huge difference visually between Dracula
from 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula and 1931's Dracula that Posh posted
above, but both are still Dracula. That seems to be the challenge for this
CHOW we aren't coming up with new characters but reinterpreting classics.


Now as far as what I would think we could push... other than visual design I
imagine time period could be played with quite a bit. After all with just a little
tweaking the story of The Wolfman, The Invisible Man or any of the other
really could be brought to a modern day, taken back to the darkages, or
even set in a futuristic setting. However IMO I would really try to hold onto
the fact that these are Horror genre characters so they should feel more
horror than scifi or fantasy. :wink: However changing Dracula from an
Eastern European Noble to a pirate or the Wolfman to a rock-star might be a
bit of a stretch imo.

And actually all of these characters have already been reinterpreted in one
form or another over the years. You can easily find may different versions of
them all online. So the question is if you where deciding what Frankenstein or
Quasimodo or etc... looked like how would they look.

Anyway that is just my take on the brief which Posh or Daestwen are more
than welcome to correct in anyway. :teeth:

[Raoul]

Whatsup

Heres my first take on the Monster from the Black Lagoon. I wanted to keep his cheesy rubber-costume look but at the same time make him a little more fishy. Got a long way to go (starting with learning how to color things...)

http://i797.photobucket.com/albums/yy254/CaptainMonday/monsterfromtheblacklagooncopy.jpg

[lkjhgfdsa]

I'll probably give it a few more arms or some folded wings- just stitching flest together and seeing what will graft

[Danilo]

This time I wil tentate the egg tempera insted of watercolors. This is the inisible man, there is not much of character design, but i think the concept is important.

Photogr@fever> try to lighten up the leg on the left and darken the shadow beneth her chest, maybe it could work better

[Vampire Ninja]

This is a great top. I've always loved the universal horror. I think I'm gonna use Basil Gogo's paintings as my main inspiration
http://www.houseofmysterioussecrets.com/images/D/FAMO.jpg

His work is amazing, he did all those old Universal Horror film painting tributes and some of the old poster work. It's either that or old Black and White paintings.

QUESTION: Do we have to do full-figure or can we do headshots? (I apologize if this has already been asked)

[bluefooted]

Wolfman sketchy thing

812898

[Gavage]

Second idea/s. Finding it quite hard to give Frankenstein a more unique appearance at the moment but I'm relatively happy with the poses for this one.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4557/frankensteins1.jpg

[mimer]

going for dracula, and since ive got 2 weeks, i figured id try for a cartoony look that ive been fiddling with on and off for a good while now, see if i can actually make a consistent character in this style. Heres the first dabbles.

[Lt_Action]

Closet Dracula :D

He's obviously a Dracula, but he'd rather people didn't know.

Here we see him replenishing his stash at the local clinic :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/ltaction/DRACULA2.jpg

[El Capohan]

Here's my idea for the Wolfman. I guess somewhat of a radical redesign (hopefully not subconsiously ripped off from something else though, I hate when that happens).

Basically, this incarnation of the Wolfman was captured and subdued by a classified government agency. The agency then proceeds to enlist the wolfman into their service on the condition of a cure for his lycanthropy upon completion of his duty. The agency also supplies him with a cache of Lycanthropy suppressant that reduces the effects of his transformation. Essentially allowing the wolfman to experience something of a middle-state between humanity and full-on werewolf. The end result is an agent with the enhanced strength and speed and highly acute sensory perception associated with Lycanthropy, yet retaining the sentience, reasoning, and moral compass of being human.

Dunno if I'll have time to finish/re-tool this one. But I'll throw it out there in hopes of some good advice as what I can do. (He's totally leaning to the left, so I think that's number one on my list of things to fix).

[Master_v12]

I thought id give this a try, this is kinda my idea. I need to work hard on those hands...
http://www.masterv12.com/pics/paintings/178_CHOW_01.jpg

[RMick]

My take on Dracula - still in the early stages:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o134/RonnieMick/Dracula-WiP.jpg

[Obilex]

Photogr@fever: the angle that her face is at is making that hair look off. right now it kinda looks like its going off to the side rather than the top, other than that i love it!

[daestwen]

QUESTION: Do we have to do full-figure or can we do headshots? (I apologize if this has already been asked)

You should read the rules. :P

In them, it stipulates you need to show at least 3/4ths of the character, so about down to the knees.

[Vampire Ninja]

Early Sketches:
http://www.theklaus.com/PICS/CHOW178_sketch02.jpg
I know we have to show 3/4 of the body, so I'm going to do that in another sketch, but this is my starting concept for the face.
http://www.theklaus.com/PICS/CHOW178_sketch01.jpg


I've pulled from Basil Gogo's style of sketch, with many quick scatched lines. I'm going to pull from his saturated contrasting color pallette.

[NPlaxco]

So many great starts Im gonna try to help out as much as I can!

MasterV12- Great start, love the pose. Cant wait to see where this goes.
Photogr@fever- Coming along nicely. I cant expand more on what everyone else has already noticed.
RMick- Its a strech and feels a little bit like 'Predator' to me. But I like that you're trying to reimagine. Excited to see where it goes.
Danilo- I appreciate the looseness and like the look of a different style but to be honest im not entirely sure what Im looking at here. Might wanna tighten it up a bit.
bluefooted- His face and shoulders seem akwardly placed. I see what your trying to go for, just wish I could give some advice on how to fix it. Maybe some of the anatomy masters here could figure it out.

Anywho, Im doing wolf man, gonna try and get a pic up tommorow of a WIP. And since we have so much time this has given me an opporunity to do some canine anatomy studies!! yay!

[Saleem]

another fun topic yea :yayca:

[Claudio Grassi]

Very cool designs peeps! I went with Frankie Punk-RocKenstein.... @_@ yeah, I know..but I was bored :P

813233

[Photogr@fever]

Danilo & Obilex: thanks very much for the crit, I'll work in it! :D

[AhChu]

Just dusting off the cobwebs, and getting some ideas out of my head for my remake of the Creature from the black lagoon. :)

[Vampire Ninja]

AhChu's Avatar
AhChu the smoking creature of the black lagoon is pretty funny.

[AestheticMachine]

maybe a bit better like this, seems fishy-er.
crits would be awesome, as always :)

[Photogr@fever]

Okay so I've worked a little bit more on the shading, and altered the hair, so hopefully it looks a bit more convincing!
I am dreading getting round to detailing all that fluff on the dress!
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m167/jbaugha02/frankenbride-1.png

[kovah]

Going for count Dracula i think :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v483/kovah/TheCount.jpg

[AustenFM]

Hell yeahhhhhh, I am on it,... for real this time!

Are we limited to only those Universal monsters listed? There are a few wonderful classics not on the list, for example, I really wanted to tackle the Metaluna Mutant http://monroelab.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/this-island-earth-mutant.jpg . Just thought I'd ask if this was acceptable before i do anything.

Claudio Grassi - Top notch! love the idea!

[Nutter]

sketchy for Mr Frankenstein.

dunno which one i'll go with yet, just initial scribbles.

Ha, punk frankenstein is a cool idea :) great stuff Claudio

[Aly Fell]

Are we limited to only those Universal monsters listed? There are a few wonderful classics not on the list, for example, I really wanted to tackle the Metaluna Mutant Just thought I'd ask if this was acceptable before i do anything.


Yup, just the ones listed. There's nothing to stop you doing supporting characters in your image, but stick to the 9 in the first post :)

[wildcat0571]

What an interesting CHOW this week. Another great way to push ourselves yet again. Hmm...now who to start on first???

[kelly x]

90% sure I'm in, if not I'll be sure to vote... great subject and Posh, you have yours as your avatar, just noticed!!! 1935 Rocks!!! Also I love the lighting they used in the film, should be fun.

[Reymus]

Ahchu - I think you could make his silhouette larger and less humanoid, bend his knees and make him wade through the muck.

Nutter - I love the pose and expression of the second, maybe that with the lower half so he's getting off the operating table, or about to.

I'm going to start with the Mummy :).

[Saleem]

got some thumbnails down for dracula
c&c welcome

[mongreldesigns]

Decided on Frank. I'm gonna do some texture, scars and steam punky add ons, but this is the basic stance. I was thinking of torches in the foreground.

[Undeadartist]

Here is my take on the wolfman crits welcome/ideas going to possibly make a snowy background with a full moon , im going to attempt a frankenstien's monster and if theres time maybe a creature from the black lagoon813677813679

[LORD M]

I think I'll skip this round, I need to work on my proportions instead since they're horrible.


But good luck to all of you on this! Looking forward seeing the final entries! :)

[JessiBean]

You can work on your proportions and make a monster, Lord M, that is what the CHOW is for ;)

[Jason Snair]

Here's my take. Creature from the Black Lagoon:

Wanted to get away from the "man in suit" proportions. I really love the look of the claws in the movie, and went ahead and made them larger and more animalistic. Also I'm going for more crustaceious body structure, with like a crab like body armor. And I added a tail, which I'm not crazy about the position and will probably move it down somewhat.

[TempleoftheEye]

You can work on your proportions and make a monster, Lord M, that is what the CHOW is for ;)
Very true. Even though I missed the deadline for the last CHOW, I still learned quite a bit about a number of things - importance of thumbnails, my weakness with certain anatomical concerns, etc. - all of which I will take with me to this CHOW.

[LORD M]

You can work on your proportions and make a monster, Lord M, that is what the CHOW is for ;)

Oh.. well... ok then! You convinced me. :P I'll try and finish it, working on the proportions as I go.

Thanks for talking me back into it, because I really wanted to do this CHOW. I just hope I get enough time over from the uni aswell... :^^;:

[aag]

finally pushing myself to do one of these chow events.there's a bit of work i still need to do size ,proportion, ect.:yayca:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1696&pictureid=8559

[Shogo]

first crap before the real underpaint for my invisible man

[spacebunny]

Aha hmmm hi
here's a really sketchy initial sketch of the Bride of Frankenstein

http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv158/Forrez/brideoffrankestiencopy.jpg

[lkjhgfdsa]

I was listening to some black metal (again) and ended up deciding on a metal band shot but hey, maybe it'll change again... two weeks is a long time...

[Vampire Ninja]

http://www.theklaus.com/PICS/CHOW178_Vampire_Ninja.jpg

well this might count for nothing (being the 3/4 character showing rule) but hey, it was a great Basil Gogo's study and I really liked the results, and wanted to share it. I'll probably still submit it, unless the community thinks that's wrong. Just don't have time to do a body painting as well, I'm trying to do the creature competition.

anyway, enjoy guys.

[xerxyz]

Mein gott, i must get in on this. My life will be meaningless otherwise! (or at least incredibly dull)

[diissar]

Hi all,great job everyone!!
this is my first entry to Chow challenge,ok here is my Dracula's version.
I wanted to make a version that reminds the original Dracula character ( Vlad Dracul).Comments and critics are more than welcome :)

Good luck to you all

Cheers!!

[JessiBean]

Vampire Ninja - this IS a two week CHOW, you know. That means there is plenty of time to get the other 1/2 of the character you need to meet the rule requirements. It'd be a shame to waste the work you have done so far.

[Jason Snair]

Crits:

Lord M: You have a nice idea. I like the wide open eyes and I think this is a good direction to go in. You spoke before of want to work on real proportions (even hinting at skipping this round) I think you should try and pose a friend, or even stage yourself and take a photo. You're going for a complicated shot here, and the weight and balance of both characters are going to be tricky.

Hell Trool: Nice silhouette so far. i like the face make so far. Now fill it in.

Arthur 2 sheds; Really cool. I like the bright high saturated colors and the texture fills in the foreground

Freedezigner; Good start. I like the hair do, which is probably the most important feature for this character. Perhaps you may want to try and find similar structures in the costuming as well

Missile; I think you're right, it's probably a little close to the original. I think you're idea has good possiblities though. i'm not sure what you're going for with the smoke. maybe having him holding a cigarette in mid air.

Aesthetic Machine: Really cool. Are you going for a vampire or lagoon creature. Vampire, right? I like the eyes, fangs and collar. I"m not getting Dracula at all, though, and i think it has do with proportions. (the super long arm, this guy is more animal-creature than human vampire) While the character is cool looking, it's probably too far away from the Count.

Terminal Fears; Nice face and hair so far. I think you may want to go little more in your own direction. It feels too much like the original right now Give us your own take!

Irrlaeufer: Sounds like you have an idea of what you want to do, but as a viewer i'm not sure what that is just yet. (which is okay, since you're still at the beginning) Before getting into painting, like the face, i'd lay out the designs more. Nail the idea, concepts first, then start painting. if you start painting that face now, and then realize it's not going to work with the rest of the picture, you may end up having to repaint.

mongreldesigns: Pretty cool. Going for 3, huh? nice. I really like the face of dracula. And the wolfman pose is great too. I'm not crazy about frank though.

Photogr@fever: I really like this. Great pose, great emotion, nice lighting. I dig the washy brush strokes too.

Raoul; Cool face design.

Danilo: Egg Tempera, huh? Wow. Good luck. I did that in school some.
i'm not sure what your concept or character is here. There's some good mood going on, but I really want to see more of this character (or evidence of this invisible character)

Bluefooted; I love this. Great pose. I love the narrative your pushing here. Wolfman is always this gnawly creature, and you've made him romantic. Can't wait to see it finished.

Missile (second idea) I like this much much more. Bride is great. Keep pushing it.


Mimer; good start. even though you're going for cartoony...get some ref for the clothing.

Lt. Action. Cool contemporary idea.

El Capohan; I like your concept...and i understand what you're going for, but I'd push the WOLF part more though. Kinda just looks like reg. scruffy guy right now.

Master V12: Good start. I'm not sure what your idea is right now, but it looks interesting.

RMick; Interesting. I like the costume a lot, lots of good details. Nice face too

Claudio: Very cool. The face and muscles are cool. I like the style

AhChu: Verryyyy Cool. I'd like to see a bit more of him, it's kind of dark right now...even though it's supposed to be really dark and moody. it's a balance act. Very cool scary face expression.

Kovah; Good start. You may want to try and find some ref. either take a photo of someone sitting in a chair, or find one online. Looks like you're going for a bored Drac...and you'll need to get that hand/face position closer to sell that idea. if you find a photo of it, you won't have to guess.

Nutter: Great Starts. i really like the second one. can't wait to see this one fnished

Reymus; The mummy, FINALLY! It's a good start, but some tweaking is needed on the pose. I'd life the face up towards the viewer. make him look at us...make that connection. Also, as is, it looks like he's dusting the top shelf of a book case. IF you lift his face to us, that'll probably go away. Nice collar

Saleem: great silhouettes! I like the bottom row, 4th one in the best

Undeadartist; Snowy background with full moon is a great idea. lots of cool possiblities. before painting, though, I think you should redraw wolfy. The legs aren't quite there yet. Get some ref. Just do a quick GoogleSearch; Guy kneeling.

Agg: This is GREAT! love the old-movie-poster look. Fix the hand/arm though. make it really coming at us. (Almost 3-dish)

Shago; neat idea. i like the 40's costume and the stark lighting.

Spacebunny: Great start. I like the stylized look. Nice face

Ikjhfsda: Cool idea. i like the second image. Glad you fixed the lightning bolt. Cool concepts

vampire ninja; VERY COOL. Good colors. nice concept. No real crits, i guess.

Dissar; Great concept, i like what you've painted. But you mention wanting to go for the original Dracula, Vlad... and i'm not sure that's what the CHOW is about. I think you've lost too much of the classic hollywood take on this. Maybe incorporate some elements of the screen version back in. I do really like the face though and i like what you've painted here.

[diissar]

Jason Snair:Thanks a lot for your comment and advices:)I think we can make our version based on the Hollywood's one,i know i changed the character a lot.Maybe i went too far?!

[Wiggers]

@Jason Snair, i love you piece mate looks great!!

I start soon on this CHOW don't want to miss it glad it's a two weeker!

[Undeadartist]

Thanks jason yea never was happy with the legs they were a pain, but i think ill just focus mainly on him for the time my frankie just isnt working right now.

[JaderGader]

Wow, such great starts! Some of these I look at and go, "Goodness! This is a start?! It looks near-finished!!"

I'm doing my best not to feel intimidated, haha.

I just have a quick question, because I read the rules, but after seeing some entries, I'm confused. Are we supposed to make our own take on the monsters, or re-make the Universal ones? Because some of these (although awesome) do not look much at all like the universal ones. To me at any rate...

Also, is there a limit to how many characters can be included? I'm thinking of doing a scene from the Mary Shelley book with the look of the Universals, and I wanted to make sure it was okay to do so.

Apologies for the dose of n00b-- I'm a very recent addition from dA.

[AustenFM]

Just some Gill Man studies done while watching, of course, The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I plan on watching it's two sequels while working more on this. I still have no clue on a layout, these are just studies.

[aag]

Agg: This is GREAT! love the old-movie-poster look. Fix the hand/arm though. make it really coming at us. (Almost 3-dish)

pretty good idea:hugsmile:think ill try it out later today.http://www.conceptart.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1696&pictureid=8579

[Dham]

A phantom that lives in an opera theater, wears fancy clothes, and kidnaps women.

A tragic creature whose grotesque attempts at love echo in the garish theater to which he is forever bound.

Erik liked to watch her sing. ~oooooo


http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq350/dhpbucket/phantom08.jpg

[gerezon]

Awesome stuff guys!

Starting off with Frank, not very original Im afraid :/

http://gerezon.se/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/frank-copy.jpg

[Sean McClain]

Here is my Steampunk Quazimoto, when this is done I want to do something
else cool with dracula mwahahaha!
814414
814415

[Matt_B]

My Frankenstein so far:

[xerxyz]

Aha hmmm hi
here's a really sketchy initial sketch of the Bride of Frankenstein

http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv158/Forrez/brideoffrankestiencopy.jpg

I really dig what you've got going so-far (nothing to do with the fact that i chose Bride also :D ). I gotta say though that the image creates a kind of dull sillhouette. Is there some way you could play with a pose a bit more?

Anyways, here's mine.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn196/erkimmer/mrsoffrankenstein.jpg

be brutal. I want to try something i don't usually do, this time to the tune of a rainy environment, complete with slicked stone backdrop and lightning. Also, painting a wet t-shirt is proving to be about half a bitch and the internet is less than helpful at finding anything but porn. Any tips on painting wet cloth in photoshop? Preciate it, and am really loving all the work thus far.

[Reymus]

Xerxyz - If you find porn pictures that help you, use them, just because it's pornography dosen't mean you can't take reference on how cloth is affected by water. A tip that comes to mind when painting wet/translucent cloth is to paint it opaque over the figure (another layer of course), and then use masks and/or opacity to bring out highlights on the tips of folds.

Aag - Great! He seems to be stuffed tight into the lower left though, maybe extend the canvas just a bit to let his tail breathe.

Added some value on mine.

[-shh im invisible-]

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4554/brideoffrankenstin.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/i/brideoffrankenstin.jpg/)

I'm doing the bride, obviously! This is my first sketch. Lately, I have really been into the late 1700's hairdo's of the aristocratic women, and I thought that a wacky do like that would be fitting for this character. Also, I put a little bit of that period into her dress, but also tried to keep the boxy shoulders and the lines down around the figure that the Universal dress makes. I think that as I continue with this, she'll have her hands crossed in front, like she's waiting to be married, since she is the bride of Frankstein. Any feedback would be awesome!!

Also, Reymus, I think it might be cool if you kept the same pose, but put the face straight on. It could more confrontational and monster-like that way.

[Auspiciouspanda]

Heres a quick sketch i did. Liking the wolfman character a lot lately.

[El Capohan]

Man, everyone's submissions are looking awesome so far!

Jason, thanks for the crit - As per your advice, I've upped the "wolf" factor of my character a bit more. (sorry for the super light outlines!)

[Saleem]

more thumbs yay
but which one to use for my dracula?

[neutral.]

WIP1 for the Bride of Frankenstein. :painting:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/sentone/CA%20CHOW/WIP1CHOW178.jpg

[majortom]

I have yet to participate in CHOW, but I told myself I really need to challenge myself, and what better way than with chow?
Everyone else's is looking so good... I really need to get working! But here is my first WIP of the Bride and Frankenstein monster.
My concept for this is portraying them (especially the monster himself) with more modernized sci-fi technology (if that makes sense). He was made through science, and yet is revered as a monster. And even his bride is frightened by their own existence! So to me, this is more of a tragic science fiction story. Haha.
But anyways, here is my initial brain puke of the idea... I really need to fix up a lot.

[Barata]

Hi!

My initial concept: Bride of Frankenstein. She´s holding limbs in a basket...

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/2903/57168732.jpg (http://img338.imageshack.us/i/57168732.jpg/)

[Carnifex]

not sure if i'll follow through,but here's a first concept idea.

[Auspiciouspanda]

Saleem I'm really liking the second thumbnail to the right in the third row. The last one on the first and third row might be interesting too.

BarataLove how thins is coming along. I know it's not finished but that face is already freaky.

shh im invisible I love the face you've got going on. Very pretty and very creepy at the same time. Not sure if you were going to leave the final like this but you might play with her pose a bit and how she's placed on the page.

Jason Snair Love it! Cant wait to see the finish. The feet are great...

aagThis is coming along really well. I also agree you should take another look at how that hand is positioned.

Nutter Really cool. I'm liking the second sketch the best.

lkjhgfdsa This is really awesome! You might try adding in some other color somewhere to help create a focus, even if it's really subtle.

AestheticMachine I think this is a great makeover of the creature from the black lagoon. You've really reinvented the character visually while retaining who the character is. Coming along great!

[gerezon]

Every week I say that its late and that i'll leave crits the day after, and I always forget. So this is me trying to make up for it :P

Im sorry if I forgot someone...

Lord M Glad you decided to stick with it, I agree with Arthur, the stomach above all needs some love.
Helltroll A bit early to tell, maybe do some more silouettes, try doin em small so you can get alot of them to choose from.
Arthur 'Two Sheds' Glad to see you're back. I like the tilted perspective, works well with his character. The girls stomach is a bit of tho, but I think someone mentioned it already..
Freedezigner Most definetely, she looks great. Shes like one of those teenage girls playing with a chewing gum, except its her eye and whatever string thats attached to :)
Missile I really like the bride, frankie on the other hand needs some work. Theres no real weight to him, and he's not placed properly on the ground.
AestheticMachine Great sketch.
Terminalfears Watch your anatomy, her head and hands are pretty huge, and her arms look too small.
Irrlaeufer Not really sure whats going on yet :)
mongreldesigns I like the wolfman sketch the most. The guy in the middle needs to pee real bad huh ? :)
Photogr@fever Lovely lines.
Raoul Bit too early to tell.
Danilo I think the whole point is to design a character isnt it?
bluefooted With you, I know its gonna look awesome when its done, cant wait :)
mimer I like the custome and the pose but im not super fond of the face.
Lt_Action Its not obvious to me that he's Dracula, on the other hand its just a sketch, but I think it needs something more to get the idea across.
El Capohan I like the backstory but as you said there are some pretty severe anatomical issues. Even though you're going for a cartoony look looking up some reference wouldnt be a bad idea.
Master_v12 I like the pose, i'll drop a line once you've fleshed it out more.
RMick To me it doesnt read as dracula right away, maybe add that signature dracula collar?
Claudio Grassi That is awesome, makes my frankie cry :)
AhChu I love the face, he looks terrifying yet a bit humorous.
kovah It kinda looks like the throne is a rocket, might wanna change that, unless its intentional :)
Nutter Great! I like the one on the left the most. I like how his muscles are flexed and it looks like hes about to rip his chains or whatever of.
mongreldesigns He's bending in a pretty strange way. Maybe try to use a bigger brush for painting, and stay clear of the white highlights :)
Jason Snair Really like it, cant wait to see it finished.
aag Great composition, very scinematic.
Shogo Is he commiting suicide? :o Anyway, i dig it.
spacebunny I like it so far.
lkjhgfdsa Just finished Brutal Legend the other day, can't help to fall in love with your piece. Great :)
Vampire Ninja Too bad you're not going for a full figure :/
diissar I like it, his right hip looks a bit too wide tho. And he's leaning just a biit to much to his right, maybe try moving his right leg a bit.
AustenFM Just fab, no real crits. Love both sketches.
Dham Cool, i get a nice ghostly vibe from it.
darknight Love the sketch and the idea, however the paint job isnt doin it for me. Its a bit too saturated and it looks like you've used the dodge/burn tool too much maybe?
Matt_B Great sketch, i think his receding left leg looks a bit weird, cant put my finger on it tho.
xerxyz Watch for the placement of the eyes and her nose bridge looks a bit to thin to me. Other than that I love it.
Reymus I have to say that I liked the sketch more, not sure what it is about the values that throws me off, but it has alot of potential.
-shh im invisible- Like it so far. I'm drawn to her eyes, they've got a quality to them. She's too pretty to be marrying frankenstein's monster :)
Auspiciouspanda Great start.
Saleem Hard to pick one, most of them are very good. I like row 2, col 3 and row 3 col 2 the most i think.
Formic Acid Nice start.
majortom Hey, welcome to chow. I think you'd do well to get some anatomy reference.
Barata Thats freaky !
Carnifex The face looks great, nice work.

Wow, that took a while. Sorry if some of the comments arent as helpful as one would have hoped, its hard..

Anyway, here's my progress. The design is not complete, i usually add things as I go. I know the feet needs some love, and probably alot more, thats where you come in :)
http://gerezon.se/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/frank4.jpg

[Barata]

Thanks for the comment auspiciouspanda :)

Update:
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2099/fb2k.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/i/fb2k.jpg/)

[LostFayth]

I'm sorry, I didn't read the whole thread, I will do so on Sunday and drop a few thoughts ;)

Aw man, this sure was a busy week. I couldn't be happier with a two week chow. I had to turn in some turn papers and research papers in this week so I was busy typing them out....

I was able to make a few sketches. It has been so long for me....I haven't designed something in weeks, I just kept working on foundations and studying stuff...

A well...I was thinking of a 21st century version of Frankenstein. What if Frankenstein lived now, how would he look like?

Just a few sketches:

[Undeadartist]

AustenFM- Awsome studies bro cant wait to see what you come up with a good gill man i saw while looking online was from an old movie called monster squad should look into it

Aag- Love the idea and look only and this could be what your going for just still looks a bit to much like a guy in a rubber suit to me

Dham- Love the phantom dude, can wait to see finished, oh and you plan on showing a mask?

Gerezon- love the lighting man cant wait to see in color

Darknight- dude sweet steampunk quasi, cant wait to see done, think a steampunk frank would be even cooler though my opinion but keep doing what your doing

Matt B- Cool concept just his face seems to plain to me maybee try him groaning or angry or something love the body just face needs something

Xerxyz- hate it when that happens but some of it can be good refs, keep looking and to maybe her shirt could be drenched in blood?

Reymus- Dude love the mummy glad to see he didnt get left behind

-Shh im invisible- like the design but i just think she needs a bit more dynamic pose maybee give her a bouquet of dead black roses

Auspiciouspanda- love the goatee man looks like it will be an awesome one

El Capohan- hey man love the new take on wolf man one thing that bugs me though is his eyes seem a bit to high up on his head

Salema- Love the sills fav ones i think are 2nd row 3rd from right 3rd row 2nd from left and 4th row 3rd from right.

Formic Acid- love the bride man cant wait to see done

Majortom- love the concept but the poses just seem to still you should make frankie bigger meaner and grabbing her hand almost like "bitch your marring me!" and maybe have her pulling away just a bit?

Barata- love the grousome bride just one little tiny thing her face looks a little to much like a dudes to me

Carnifex - love your take on the gill man dude hope you can finish

[Barata]

Undeadartist you´re completly right, thanks...

[diissar]

Gerezon:Thanks for your advice ,I ll try to fix that :)
Barata:Great process so far,i agree with what Undeadartist said,good luck with the rest.
Good luck everyone!!

:)

[Gavage]

Barata: Creepy face! Looking good so far.

Gerezon: I like the face - it almost looks kind of ape-like which suits the kind of "simple" nature of Frankenstein's monster. (Sorry if that's not what you're going for.) Only critique I can offer is that the jacket looks a little plain at the moment, some more detail to/around the pockets could enhance the design a bit.

Auspiciouspanda: Promising sketch, the pose is nicely predatory...

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/5268/bridewip2.jpg

Updated WIP, testing the composition a little. Badly Photoshopped together at the moment but I'm aiming for an old film poster style.

Dropped Frankenstein's monster from the design and just focusing on his hissing zombie wife instead. Basing her dress on Edwardian-era style wedding gowns with a veil bolted in place on her head. The bandaging and stitches are inspired by a mix of cosmetic surgery and autopsies.

[tron-one]

So many great starts I just had to throw my hat in the ring. I went a little nuts with Frankenstein. What if little Frankie was a kid genius that just needed a friend? Totally pulling from all the little doodles I'd put in school notebooks.

[TheFarlander]

Look out Brendan Fraser!

http://fc03.deviantart.com/fs50/i/2009/302/e/9/mummy_by_TheFarlander.jpg

... and possibly Liono!
It's the mummy. Everyone's entries are looking stellar, not too many mummies though. So here's a sketchily-doodily-mummilly type fella. Since this is two weeks maybe, just maybe I will get enough initiative to finish.

[Matt_B]

gerezon - Thanks for the crit. For yours I'd check the structure of the hands a bit (left side thumb, pinky and ring finger, right side palm / underside of the hand). For the feet I'd made sure they feel planted in the perspective you've established. The way the pants are shaded kind of makes it look like the right knee and foot are way out of line (which for a person of stitched together body parts might work).

Undeadartist - Thanks. As for your sketch I do think a bit more look at reference would help with the anatomy. Nice idea tho.

[Barata]

Thanks so much for the comments :)

Well... another update:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/5886/fb3a.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/i/fb3a.jpg/)

Ps: A knife is probably too predictable but...

Cheers

[JaderGader]

Dangit...

Well, I started working on it (sketch, underpainting) and then realized that you can only see half of him. Dangit.

I'm guessing that wouldn't fly, would it?

So now I don't know what to do... I feel inspired by it, but I think I'll finish it as a general Halloween piece but not participate in this round of CHOW? Maybe? :\

[Jay-Zee]

Just a quick idea so far.

I'd love some comments and criticisms, so if anyone feels the need, please don't hold back :)

[pahavasa]

Great topic!
Wolfman wip.
815089

[DefiledVisions]

portrait of wolfman.. just a sketch. Many more things to explore here! btw, looking great everyone!

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=815086&stc=1&d=1256853363

[Photogr@fever]

Jay-Zee- LOVING the 50s take on the bride! brilliant idea!

Defiled Visions: I am in love with that sketch! Are you going to keep it as a facial shot? I hope so! It works really nicely, very dramatic!

[gerezon]

Thanks for the comments guys! I'll try to fix some of the issues you pointed out.

Trying out a color scheme, whaddya think?

http://gerezon.se/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/frank6-copy.jpg

[Undeadartist]

Decided to completely redo the whole wolfman i had 2 different ideas what you guys think i should use? Big buff one or the normal sized one?

[DefiledVisions]

Defiled Visions: I am in love with that sketch! Are you going to keep it as a facial shot? I hope so! It works really nicely, very dramatic!

Thanks! I have a vague idea of what I want to do, somehow illustrate the morph between man and wolf. A three-in-one illustration showing him in manform, midway through the transformation and complete - the final transformation having a wise and pondering look, yeah I just might build the piece around this face.
Have to stick to the rules too though, minimum 3/4 body showing :)

[RayTwicket]

lkjhgfdsa : Hilarious and awesome. I had a similar idea after seeing GWAR tonight, I was thinking of doing a few of the characters and making them a metal band. Anyway good work, back to the drawing board for me :)

[spacebunny]

@ Jason Snair and Gerezon: thank you

@ xerwyz: thanks and yah didn't see your comment till now but it kinda is isn't it. i'll see what i can do. poses are my weak spot for me for sure.

@ everyone: looking good guys. i don't have enough time for crits right now

started painting mine. face bugs me a little bit.

http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv158/Forrez/brideoffrankestiencopy-1.jpg

[greenbd]

Hi all,

Here's my initial sketch of the Phantom of the Opera.

[vertebra]

frankenwip


not sure if its going to go final

[Grimwood]

Hi all! Long-time lurker, first-time poster :)

Dracula sketchy business, thought I'd go for the halfway/regenerating man-bat form.

EDIT: Update! Face detail and basic lighting

[Matt_B]

Frankenstein's Monster
Color base:

[walnut]

Ok, the mighty walnut entering the fray. Here's my monster and his moll as a doomed alcoholistic emo couple, whining to eachother all day about how misunderstood they both are. Probably too obvious an angle, but it's what came popping out and i think i'm going to have some fun with it.

missile; That's looking promising! Are you going to include a BG?

[Sseal]

Barata : As soon as I saw your piece I immediately thought of Goya. Great stuff!

[diissar]

ok,lot of things to deal with lately,not much time for my character,anyway here is my progress so far,Im waiting your feedbacks!!

[Carnifex]

missile,btw,i can't stop returning to your pic,she's hot.

[Jason Snair]

Dissar: Awesome texture overlay, what is it? Is it just on an overlay layer, opacity set to low? Really looks cool

[diissar]

Jason_Snair:Hi,thanks for your comment,I used a gray grunge texture on an overlay layer,i use custom brushes too :)

[vertebra]

diissar, solid stuff, but he could use some flair? swords pretty boring.

[Seekr]

Saleem: 2nd Row 4th one in, and 6th row 2nd one in. All are amazing but those 2 stick out for a great Dracula for me.

[Auspiciouspanda]

Got a bit further on this

[Barata]

Auspiciouspanda great improvement, keep up!

diissar: I agree with vertebra in the sword part...

Sseal: Some time ago I went to an exposition called "Dreams of Goya", I liked it very much and did a bunch os sketches, that was obvious a great influence altough I didn´t do it on purpose in this painting... nice observation :)

Well I changed things a little bit, I like it better now, what do you think?

Cheers

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/240/fb4q.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/i/fb4q.jpg/)

[diissar]

Vertebra:Thanks a lot for your comment,im working on the sword right now :)
Auspiciouspanda:Cool!!keep it up!!!
Barata: thanks mate,Im working on the sword right now,still few things im not happy with,oh you changed the face,good luck with the rest of your image

cheers :)

[xerxyz]

Thanks to everyone's words of advice there's only a few things left to do on the piece like rain. here's what i've got so far.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn196/erkimmer/mrsoffrankenstein-1.jpg

i like the idea of having her shirt soaked in blood but i still want it to be raining. I'll try some stuff but if anyone has any suggestions...

edit: Missile: I really love what you've done with your bride. The way she looks like she just had the hell beat out of her instead of being a sexalicious monster icon. Also, am diggin' the autopsy scar on the chest. It's not easy to see on mine but it seems we both had the same idea...

[Pheike]

My generic werewolf 8)

815724

815725

815726

[Raffix]

Frankenstein's monster = leniency with proportion consistency!!

[Jason Snair]

Couldn't pass up the chance to do an old-school movie poster. I'm going to start painting tonight.

[Saleem]

not sure if ill have any time to finish this chow, loads of uni work to do
more thumbs

[Cam Sykes]

I went for a more relatable frankenstein here. Not trying to be scary, I wias thinking more about a modern day monster that is searching for a place in society and his his existence but is rejected because of his appearance. He keeps his hand on his hand to make sure it's still beating.

http://www.lyphorm.com/images/camssketches/pencils/frankenstien.jpg

[Undeadartist]

great stuff guys love it all well here is my new wolfy WIP in color more to do just thinking how

[Adam Schumpert]

Lots of really cool stuff in the works can't wait to see where this CHOW goes


I can't help but feel that Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein is such
a tragic story... So here is the start of my Frankenstein and Bride. Clutching
the body of the one person who was supposed to love him as the tower
laboratory crashes down around them.

815859

[Irrlaeufer]

I dediced to start a new one since I had not been able to work on my first one for like a week or so. I didn't like the idea anymore that i wanted to realize in the first place. It was too much a cliché and the guidelines for this week are a bit restricted anyway.



Not sure if I'm gonna finish. I think this is just not my topic ... lol

[xerxyz]

whoo. nice work adam. It's moody. i dig it. also, pheike, to be perfectly honest, i really like the way your first initial rough was coming out up there. It had a sort of feral, starved look to it. Kind of like a hyena. Don't get me wrong, i like the one you ended up with, just not as much.

[El Capohan]

Hey Saleem - I hope you get time to finish yours. Your thumbnails for your Dracula interpretation look really interesting! For me, this topic was initially a toss up between my wolfman agent man, and a "samuraized" or "ronin-ized" Dracula. That said, I'm partial to your thumbnail that is at 2x1 (that's X and Y axis respectively) and the one at 6x4.

[Auspiciouspanda]

Barata Looking great, love how that dress is coming.

Pheike This is starting to look really interesting. Maybe you want to play with the pose a bit?

Jason Snair LOVE the poster idea. Great color choices too.

Dissar This is looking great! I do think you could spice up that sword a bit and maybe add some highlights or reflections on the armor.

Update!

[El Capohan]

One more update comin' at ya.

I'm not all that great with backdrops, I generally don't do them for things like this - so I've added a ficticous "DarkOps" insignia behind Mr. Agent Wolfman to take out some of the empty space happening around him.

[aag]

finally back on it again thanks for the crits and suggestions.ive been kind of busy for the last couple of days so im thankful that its finally the weekend here.
keep up the good work everyone there's still plenty of time to finish these so get crankin:painting:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1696&pictureid=8777

[Reymus]

Aag - You'll probably resolve this in color anyway but the B/W kind of looks like they're both underwater. I would love to see a red/blue 3D overlay version as well!

Saleem - Your thumbs are great, I hope you choose one, I'd pick one without a big sword, some of the ones in the 4th column from the left.

Started color on Mummy, and thought about a duo poster thingy.

[Irrlaeufer]

Auspiciouspanda: i like your idea. how about some scratches in his suit due to his changing stature?

Adam Schumpert: great atmosphere. looks awesome. can't wait to see it finished.

Undeadartist: powerful concept. maybe you could emphasize the gesture by putting his left leg further behind.

Cam Sykes: like your shading. It seems like the everything in the lower part of the pic looks a little too big though, Especially the right arm. I'm not sure if it was your intention to create this effect, since this is frankenstein. :) If you add some stitches, like between his forearm and his upper arm, it will look more authentic.

Saleem: Wow. Huge amount of good works. would love to see them all realized as a painting in one way or another. :)
For this week's chow i would pick the first in the third row or the second in the fourth row. keep up the good work.

Jason Snair: i haven't watched the movie so i can't really say anything to that guy. the outlines look neat, keep it up,


Pheike: nice. but his face in the third picture looks a bit more cat-like than wulf-like. IMO you captured it better in the first pic.

xerxyz: Damn, her face looks scary. i will have to look at her nipples. xD Her arm right arm is a bit too long. But again, it could be credible since she's not actually human.


Barata: I like how you manage to play with light, but take care it doesn't get too dark.

diissar: His Armor reminds me of Bram Stroker's Dracula with Gary Oldman and his sword looks like the sword of clound from final fantasy vii ;) everything besides his boots looks a bit flat, try to add some highlights, like as you did on his boots.


... sorry, no more critique for today. got to go to bed. -.-

oh ... and I doodled a little more on mine: here is the result xD

[jhgoforth]

Trying for a feminine/androgynous dracula as he has always tended to exude an allure to both sexes in some ways. We'll see if I can pull this off or not. ;) starting to work out the hand pose with wine glass, and figuring out the seating (thinking an ottoman type style at a club scene...a nod to the Ivan the terrible roots in wallachia aka transylvania, a province conquered by the Ottomans in that period of Ivan's youth).

[Undeadartist]

well here is what today came up with thanks Irrlaeufer for the crit. may play around some more with that tomorrow possibly as for everyone else all looking amazing feels like mine is a disgrace to all the amazing work up here. : P

[Grimwood]

Auspiciouspanda: I really like the dynamic pose he has, it's awesome. Not sure if it's intentional, but the nose looks a little off-center with the teeth and the lighting on the snout.

Anyways, small update, still haven't settled on an eye colour yet.

[Adam Schumpert]

Slight update... bedtime now :yawn:

816131

[ChemX]

So, this is my beginning! All crits are welcome and appreciated.

[Kinnaree]

Progress for now:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2646/4059846891_cbd0d80c7d_o.jpg

[CKLamb]

Kinnaree- You're doing some nice work on that piece, the pose conveys a lot of drama, but (if that is supposed to be the Phantom of the Opera) you're supposed to stick with the gender of the original. Might want to consider that.

[Jason Snair]

I started painting the forms...and then messed around a little. Here's the Japanese International poster versions. I'm pretty sure the translator butchered the title.

[Matt_B]

Some feedback on mine would be appreciated. (previous page)

Adam Schumpert - I like the sketch and the idea's really cool. Where are his legs right now? They're either tiny, missing, or in a hole. Might want to pose it out in front of a mirror so you can nail it down.

Jason Snair - So far I'm liking the colors on the left the best, although the one on the right isn't shabby either.

[Terminalfears]

Revision. Hope to bring this to completion >_< so much school work.

edit: added update :D

[LostFayth]

Adam and Jason Love it :D

Ladies and gentlemen...I'm proud to present, the (concept of) Frankenstein and his Bride of the 21st century. What if they lived now, would they still be monsters or would they be part of 'us'?

816447

I don't know how far I will be able to bring this image along. Some shit has come up and I don't know if I will be able to focus on the image :S I hope I can...

[agnostes]

Maybe I will finish it this time...

[kelly x]

These are looking great,
Agnostes, you have great sketch tech!! Please complete..
Here's my WIP, any help would be great, I started her about three times, I'll help anyone too!!

[Barata]

Update...

http://i33.tinypic.com/2zpnwcw.jpg

[agnostes]

any help would be great, I started her about three times

For what it's worth I'd leave the background for now, decide on a definite primary lightsource (top-left looks best right now) and focus on painting-in light and shadow on the folds of the robe. Cloth is always hard to do convincingly imo, but you seem to be going in the right direction already. Then work in a secondary lightsource (bottom-right would work well - use a constrasting cold colour, don't be too heavy-handed with it) for backlight/rim-lighting. Hope that helps!

Edit - pretty-much what you've already done with the face, which is looking nice, by the way :)

[Pixeltuner]

Been stuck with crappy sketches and half assed ideas the whole week. Finally getting something that I like. :)

[dwinbotp]

woop woop!!! Loving everyone's take!

[bluefooted]

Tiny bit of progress on mine:

816638

[JBellio]

well i saw this a lil late, but what a great topic. diggin what i'm seeing so far too. can't wait to see all the finished ones.

sorry for another bride. love the idea of making a beautiful monster though, so this is what we get. she's a lil too feminine right now, not enough monster, but i'll get it.

thoughts?

[Wasker]

Lookin good barata, bluefootedand jbellio!



lolz, I do far too few of these chow things.

anyway, I've always thought that The Hunchback of Notre Dame would be a fitting name for a cage fighter.

[Terminalfears]

JBellio, I love your take on the bride :D She's adorable (in such a menacing way :P)

[Grimwood]

Some feedback on mine would be appreciated. (previous page)

I think the upper half of his torso is kind of static, which is holding the image back. Just cover up his legs with a sheet of paper, you'll see what I mean - his torso is straight up and down as though he was standing rigidly, while his legs have a great active pose. It's just that the movement of the lower half of the image isn't matched by the upper half, which (just my opinion here) makes it look a bit flat and uninteresting. At the very least, it'd be good to see a bit of a curve and twist in his spine and upper torso as the big doodad on his shoulder is probably fairly heavy :)

[Jager]

http://www.torjager.se/temp/gf/priest2.jpg

Wow so many nice characters :)
My first take on Dracula ended up becoming some kind of evil pope.
Well well , I’ll give it a new try tomorrow.
Think I stick with the old Count anyway. or maybe the hunchback his an awesome character too

[Pomelo]

Hi, everybody!!! Here's some sketches for my take on the good old Wolf man... But I'm not sure if I should keep walking this path, since it looks more like a creature than it does a character. What do you think? Would it be acceptable?

[Jay-Zee]

Just another quick idea for the bride from class yesterday. The idea was that her clothing is made of skin and sewed onto her. Right now though it doesn't really read that way so I'll have to figure out how to work that out if I go with this one.

thoughts?

[lkjhgfdsa]

lkjhgfdsa

[Ravenseye]

Wolfman. Wheres the finals thread?

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/6148/chow178ravenseye.jpg (http://img245.imageshack.us/i/chow178ravenseye.jpg/)

[majortom]

gerezon: Thank you for the warm welcome! You're right, I took better reference and I think the anatomy is a lot stronger already, thanks for the help :D
Undeadartist: I think you're right, especially to make him seem more 'monstrous', maybe also to heighten the beauty/beast parallel more.
I adjusted the poses, trying to make the monster look more scary and agressive but also softening the bride up. I put in some base values, but I'm looking forward to messing around more with both of their designs tomorrow since it's so late here...
I am loving everyone else's so far, there is some stiff competition going on! Sorry I don't have much time to crit right now, but hopefully I'll update in a little bit.

[dashinvaine]

a wip or two.

[agnostes]

thoughts?

Really nice pencils. Maybe some stitches around the limbs would make her seem more monstrous? I know it's a cliche, but then, isn't that what Universal's monsters represent...?

[Dionesiist]

Will go for a more fantasy-oriented version [with lots of unnecessary details, hopefully] of Dracula. I tried doing some of the other monsters, but Dracula just attracts me most. Will probably just color it digitally, drawing with a mouse isn't a happy experience... I'm open for critics and suggestions.

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x256/Dionesiist/scan0003-6.jpg?t=1257103534

[z01ks]

Having a go at the Mummy here. :p

http://www.hot.ee/lazypete/mummy.jpg

[Pomelo]

Good stuff, guys! To share some thoughts, if you don't mind:

majortom: You have a sweet base there. I know it's in an early stage but, watch out for the monster's legs.. right now I'd almost switch them around.. make the right leg left and left one right (what?). Cause it's kind of an awkward pose he's in.
Jager I'm really diggin your Dracula Pope so far. Haha. Looks nasty evil!
Jay-Zee: It's looking really nice but.. Aren't you planning to show a little more of her face?
lkjhgfdsa: Heavy metal Franky... How much more awesome could it get?
dashinvaine: Dude, I want to see that finished! I'm betting it's gonna be soweet!!
z01ks: I'm not sure if he's dancing or putting on a jacket, but in either situation, it's looking badass!
Dionesiist: Looking great so far, now show us all those unnecessary details!!! :D

Ok, here's my progress so far. The idea was to make the face human-looking enough, to show he's still a man; cursed forever, but a man, nonetheless.
I'm unsure about the blood. Leave it there or take it out? that's the question.

[Badassm]

Initial sketch here.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x51/Badassm/CA_Chow.jpg

[dashinvaine]

A tiny bit more done:

I'm not sure whether to leave the ghouls in black and white, so it looks like they've come alive out of the old films, or to put a hint of colour on them...Thoughts welcome.

[Jason Snair]

Arthur that night sky is beautiful.

Update on mine: Started painting today.

[fersteger]

That creature is looking great. Here's my attempt so far at Dracula.

[Jay-Zee]

This is the direction I decided to go. Still going to change some things like the face before I start rendering in earnest, but I think its a pretty good idea of what the final will look like.

[JessiBean]

Fergster, that is gorgeous. Jason Snair - I keep thanking all your posts... I think I am infatuated with your process. I LOVE this creature drawing. Jay-Zee - I like that you are experimenting, but it is SO hard to get any kind of a read on your characters when you show them from behind, so I would be wary of going with a pose like that, it handicaps you from the get-go. (edit: we posted at the same time, this pose reads much better. look up some poodle skirts on things like halloween costume websites - they tend to be poofier and don't usually sit SO low on the legs - you can see the ankles and the socks and stuff.)

my sketches have been crap so far, thank goodness we have two weeks. Back to the drawing board... :/

[Grimwood]

Dio: Fancy seeing you here! (it's AR) Looks good so far, can't wait to see what you'll do for the coat and stuff :)

Anywho, Draculupdate! Any comments or crits would be appreciated :)

[Artofinca]

trying something out of the box

[aag]

:painting:update on my progress thus far.http://www.conceptart.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1696&pictureid=8943

[diissar]

Great Job everyone,really great art here,hope that you all will be able to finish before the deadline :)
I ll post an update tonight.
keep it up!!!

[Wiggers]

Some great looking work, loving Jason Snair ,Fersteger and aag.

[diissar]

Wiggers:Nice start my friend,good luck !!
Jason Snair:Great!!Im sure you will make an amazing image:)
Fersteger:great start,can't wait to see the final image.
Aag:Nice!keep it up!

here is my update,i have a lot of work this week,I ll try to finish this image before thursday,wish me luck

[Wiggers]

Update.

I'm a big fan of Basil Gogos.

Wow that's really nice diissar love your style!!

[feralkiwi]

hey everybody! this'll be my first CHOW, so hopefully I'm doing everything right...

Anyway, love this challenge! I went with the wolfman because he's by far my fav of those monsters, and I couldn't stop coming back to him.

so first i did some sketches:
http://www.feralkiwi.com/artblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/wolfmen.jpg

before this more finalized one: http://www.feralkiwi.com/artblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/wolfman_wip1.jpg

I wanted to make him both more wolf-like than the original wolfman, but also to convey some sense of confusion at being the wolfman. Actual wolves in pain/fear/human situations would be both terrified and horrifically confused, so imagine how terrifying and confusing it is to be the wolfman. I really like the idea of him being a composite of both wolf and man- both physically and emotionally. hopefully i can finish on time!

[dashinvaine]

My latest guinness-fuelled effort...

[JaderGader]

Dashinvaine: I think you should definitely keep the monsters in black and white. They'll make more of a statement that way. Especially if the foreground/frame is brightly colored.

[natelyon]

Evening folks :) This is my 1st post, I've been loitering a while now and this is the 1st chance I've had to have a crack at this. This is my take on the Bride. Should hopefully get the chance to play about with some colour over the next few days.


http://www.conceptart.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=1750&pictureid=8969

[Barata]

Eh eh eh... so many new people challenging themselves (me included).

diissar: Great job! Your style is very clean, I like it. Maybe not this time but in the future you should invest more time and effort in learning dramatic lightning, just a thought...

Wiggers: Nice sense of anatomy and composition. You shoul be more bold in your aprouch to the theme though...

aag: Nice perspective and colour! Becareful with those soft brushes, try hard ones too...

Jason Snair: Nice colours and anatomy, I like the pose too...

fersteger: It promises alot...

Arthur 'Two Sheds': Nice composition and concept! I think you should try more colour variation...

z01ks: Nice textures and the mummy is pretty dynamic, but where is she looking at?

Dionesiist: Nice pose man! But that moustache... :D

Cheers

[Jay-Zee]

Thanks for the advice Jessibean. I thought I had the poodle skirt right and didn't even bother looking it up, but you're absolutely correct, I'm not sure what I was thinking. I think I'll be reworking the whole thing again, good thing there's still another week.

Wiggers: Loving that wolfman in yours. The face is almost looks bat-like but it's really cool.

Diissar: I like the take on Dracula. Very regal.

aag: Cool creature concept, it reminds me of Cthulhu:)

Fersteger: It looks great already, I love the color palette you're going with. I can't wait to see it finished.

[¿Dubious?]

Dashinvaine - youve got some real nice work going there but I feel like you're not so much redesigning the characters as just drawing them. This is a character design competition not an illustration competition after all.

[AhChu]

Whhoooaaa, man some wicked as pics rocking along here :)

Nateloyn Welcome aboard this crazy train of creative goodness. Nice sketch, will be looking forward to seeing what ya do with colour.

Feral Kiwi Hiddiy ho!, funky sketch, hopefully you get the time to carry on with it, I would give him abit more room on the right side

Wiggers That is one awesome pic,I want to see more. Hopefully the 3/4 rule doesn't ping ya coz you have a funky entry

aag Enjoying you updates, badass creature, his right eye looks like it is sunken in compared to the other eye. Look forward to your next update.

jason Your pic is coming along well man, would make a cool poster.def one of my favs

[Jason Snair]

fersteger: I really dig this. It's a good start. I like the color palette and the energy of the brush strokes. It has some emotion to it. I hope that you keep some of that while progressing. With this style I'd almost say you could get away with a loose rendering of the background and some of the body. As long as the face and some other areas like the hands or upper chest were tighter.

feralkiwi: Cool sketches. I like your animated style

Dissar: Good job man. Nice. Although, this thought just came to me. Originally you wanted to go for the historical Vlad Dracual...and he was known for impaling his victims. I'm wondering if instead of a sword he has a long impaler staff...or maybe the hilt of the sword if long and spiked. (Just thinking aloud right now....)

[Kinnaree]

Kinnaree- You're doing some nice work on that piece, the pose conveys a lot of drama, but (if that is supposed to be the Phantom of the Opera) you're supposed to stick with the gender of the original. Might want to consider that.

Ah! Thank you. >.<;; I didn't see that.

[Auspiciouspanda]

Hey everybody, great stuff going on. Kind of in a hurry so ill make some more specific comments later.

Progress!

[kelly x]

AAg, I love the slime factor, if you made the posts smaller your creature would look bigger, great form too.
These are looking so good.
Arther of two sheds, is she dead or trying to get back up? her shoulders look like she's trying to get up in a tensed position but she looks either dead or passed out so they would be relaxed completely. Nice job.
I did some more work on mine still working on everything, at this point these scars look like hippy attire to me?!?!?! still working on hands and everything :):):):) Good pieces guys!!

[Shogo]

current shot of the invisible man, thought this was a one week chow and didnt really have much time to work on it more last week, thought id skip this.....

and just when i thought chow couldnt suck me in....

it did!

and im glad because these pieces are amazing, anywho, enough of the beans, heres the goods (for now)

[smugbug]

Holy crap - there's two weeks for this CHOW? Originally, wanted to do a Creature from the Black Lagoon - we had a Universal remastered DVD of the film at the bookstore, until someone bought it on a day I wasn't there! Grrrrrr....wanted to have it on as I worked on the WIPs. Aw well....

Anywhoos, Jason Snair: love what you've got. I dig the color palette and movie poster idea! One of my fave monster films of all time and you're updating it something fierce.

kelly x - dig your Bride piece! Eerie feel to it.

I gotta look over the rest...this is a mighty awesome CHOW.

[burntsienna]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first ever post and participation. I've enjoyed this forum/site and visited often. It was high time I joined this amazing rag-tag group of enthusiastic Concept folks. I will try to comment on as many as I can and be as involved as possible. Would have loved to have taken part in past CHOW's, but better late then never.

Well enough talk, lets get to it...
[Disclaimer: All images reduced size/quality]

1.) Pick A Character - I chose the Wolfman.

2.) Thoughts - I did some sketches of what we have come to know and what was out there, basically just get the pen moving...

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/9086/chow178wipheads001a.jpg

3.) Decisive - Pick a direction (more on this later...)

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/5923/chow178wipwolfman002c.jpg

(Even though I want to keep some human elements to him - he is still between stages of transformation, but I thought I'd see what the next phase could perhaps look like...)

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/2554/chow178wipwolfman2001c.jpg

4.) Theme - As mentioned before, picking a direction was key. I wanted to play the Wolfman up with another character.

5.) 2nd Character - Enter Bride Of Frankenstein. (What would she look like?)

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/8514/chow178wipbridefrankstr.jpg

Ultimately, I am thinking about taking ideas that I like from each and combining to fulfill the theme I have in mind. We'll, hopefully that's a decent start for the first set of designs. Next step is to do a final look for The Bride, then put them together for the final.

Feel free to comment or not or rip to pieces. Cheers and good luck to everyone!

-Asif (aka Burntsienna)

[vineris]

Can't quite decide which approach to take:

819090

819091

[Wiggers]

@vineris i like the second one Dracular.

[Terminalfears]

I'm trying to keep the size reasonable, in PSD format it's 3k by 4k lol.
Thinking of her as more than a monster.

[Artofinca]

take2 :)
think there is something wrong with the attachments and image linking
so here is url http://tsabo6.deviantart.com/art/chow-178-wip-142367526
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/1797/178v.jpg (http://img410.imageshack.us/i/178v.jpg/) http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/178v.jpg/1/w900.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img410/178v.jpg/1/)
http://tsabo6.deviantart.com/art/chow-178-wip-142367526

[Gaius]

My first Chow, be gentle with me.


Ok So I have decide to go with The Wolfman.

I am determined to make him look like a wolf , rather than a general beast creature that alot of werewolves in movies look like.

So realtively skinny and rangy.

here is my first doodle anyway.

probs with attachement manager I think.

Outside host:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i179/gmiley/wolfman_001copy.jpg

[blackcherry]

So glad this one is on for 2 weeks, I might have time to get involved now.

I've decided to go with the Phantom of the Opera for this one. Partly influenced by the fact I'm reading Maskerade by Terry Pratchett right now, which is about the Opera and the Ghost :)

Here's some studies I did from my chosen pose silo.

http://www.biscuitofdoom.net/Forum/poto_designs1_09.jpg

Working on my final now.

Some great work from everyone so far!

[JessiBean]

Nate Lyon - yay! so glad you started posting! I like the design of the character, I think there are some anatomy issues holding it back right now. I hope you don't mind, I nabbed the image and moved a few things around to show what I mean better. The shoulder on the right sticks out kinda far, even for the angle her arm is held at, and it doesn't quite line up with where the arm reappears from behind her. The hands are kinda small, and the head is a little large (I just scaled up the rest of the body a bit to match the head) The eyes and mouth were slanting off in different directions. Just a few little tweaks I think you should try before you charge ahead, otherwise, looking forward to the color :D Also, try flipping your images in Photoshop, lots of little proportion issues pop out when you flip things. ;)

819414

[Wiggers]

Almost done.

Attachment not working again? or is it just me?:(

[Mumph]

Hi everyone, I decided to join. A bit late but I think I can finish in time. Cool entries so far!

[vineris]

Wiggers, I can't see your attachment either. :(

Edit: I can see it now! Good stuff!

[natelyon]

JessiBean - Thanks for the advice. I'll probably try and adjust that arm cause its bugging me now lol. I'm quite happy with the face being a bit off set, being a monster at heart there should be something off about it, I'll see when I start to colour, now I know its their it may get to me ;) Can't see you image though, may give me a better idea.

[dashinvaine]

I may have lost sight of the redesign idea, but here's how I'm getting on... I quite like the idea of putting them in a novel context and keeping their original look.

[Kinnaree]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first ever post and participation. I've enjoyed this forum/site and visited often. It was high time I joined this amazing rag-tag group of enthusiastic Concept folks


Asif! I love your process! Thanks for sharing. Also, this my first time joining in as well.

[MEMPER]

too late to enter?
Heres my wip of frankensteins monster...


for some reason now he looks like he's being a little/sexy shy with his expression. Maybe dropping the shoulder would help...

[Barata]

lol... I forgot to mention that I chose Frankenstein´s bride... eh eh eh...

I will post the final tomorrow, now I am going to sleep...

Ps: Nice work people, good luck to all !

[Carnifex]

sorry folks,i'm out. too much paid work.
wiggers - have i already told you how awesome that is? only the way the deltoid joins the arm on the werewolf seems wrong.

[JailHouseRock2]

Just a couple of quick notes:

Arthur 'Two Sheds'- Looking so good man, but watch out for the left hand (middle finger looks a little off) and the perspective on the cross, apart from that great work man!

Jason Snair- Great colour choice man, this ones looking real good!

Wiggers- So frucking cool man, love it!

kelly x- Shes looking good, I love the Bride, but I think a little more life in her would help. Maybe some movment in the arms, or in the eyes, shes just a little to zombie-ish atm... but that may not be a bad thing!!
_____________________________________________

First off, thanks a bunch for making this a two week CHOW, with exams and stuff on atm I'd never find the time, so thanks!

Great topic too, I love the Bride!
First layout sketch, and I'll start on the piece tonight!
matt

[Badassm]

quick update on mine. Frank is almost finished. Next have to detail the Mrs. and add background.

[arttorney]

I have to fix her bottom before I move on past these lines. At least here's my WIP stuff. Photo used by permission of kelly x (Thanks very much). The wall is from the Open Office drawing tool as manipulated by the GIMP.
820067
820068820069
820070820823

[JBellio]

quick reply. rough pencils. will catch up on the rest of the posts soon

[Adam Schumpert]

Got a little bit of work done tonight >:D

820151

Looking great everyone can't wait to see the finals! :teeth:

[ChemX]

Here's an update. Crits are very much appreciated.

[Terminalfears]

Here's an update. Crits are very much appreciated.

Nice work so far. Very nice color choices. Is he standing over water? If so - I've noticed you have the light under the leaves, but no reflections.

[Gaius]

really great looking ay everyones thought and creative process.

Small update from me: Pushing that wolfy look.

[Jason Snair]

Okay, just about done. A few more tweaks, highlights and details here and there and it's complete.

[crossmirage]

Aaaaargh I'm almost late for CHOW again.

Here's my go at Frankie's monster. I replaced the bolts in the neck for life support tube things he has to breathe from (life support devices are installed in his body in very uncomfortable places). I'm not sure what I should do with the background yet, but I might make him hold something to remind him of his wife. Monsters need love too :P

Will add stitches and whatnot later.

[Wiggers]

Just about done.

@Jason Snair looks great!!

[natelyon]

JessiBean - Ah, see it now. I may have a tinker :)

[gerezon]

burntsienna Very nice sketches!
wiggers Really cool, you're making me envious!

Here's what I think is pretty much my final frankenstein, unless you have something that I should fix?

[Cyr]

dashinvaine, #225:

You do realize that the little girl answering the door is Rhoda Penmark (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2943064064/tt0048977?slideshow=1)?

Those monsters are screwed.

[Pomelo]

Thanks everyone for your insights!

Here, quick sketch for a different approach.. since mummy was my second option, anyway. Grungy mummy is grungy

[Lewis]

ooooh i like that style Pomelo :D

here's what im working on

[Kmadden2004]

First time entering the CHOW fray, so be gentle...

Anyways, here's my take on Dracula.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii302/Kmadden2004/draculafinals2.jpg

Little bit radical, I know. Admittedly inspired by Guillermo Del Toro, I based Drac's look on Polish/Asian folklore where Vampires used a stinger-tongue to suck their victim's blood...

[Saleem]

started my dracula
really amazing work posted up from everyone.

[Ruri]

Here's my contribution to this mash of monsters, The Bride and The Creature. Still very very rough.

[LORD M]

Yo dudes and gals! This CHOW is looking mighty fine! I didn't get time over from school enough to continue on my CHOW directly (ahhhh exams!). But the last couple of hourse I doodled something, and thought I would post it here, cause it's semi-related, maybe I'll put it up in CHOW if I can do that.

I wanna thank Jason Snair and gerezon, although I scrapped Dracula I value your critique a lot, I will take it with me in the future. :)

[Markito]

...Finalizing my design on this creature.

[kelly x]

Adam S, I love this monster romance, the mood lighting is great and it's sexy!!
Attorney, thank you for using me as a model for a monster, very flattered and looking good.
Jailhouse, I will bring some life to the piece, thanks so much!!
gerezon, you asked and I think your piece looks great, there may be something strange with the Monster right foreshortening, maybe the arm part is too thick for the angle. Get a second opinion, but not a deal breaker, I love his feet!!!!!

[El Capohan]

More updating...note to self, must...get...tablet...

I was going for that thing where everything is in black and white, except for things of a certain color - in this case, the Red DarkOps insignia...

Probably won't put this one up in the finals thread as I've got more studying to do, and loads of work to do on this CHOW before I could get it presentable...so, somethings gotta give.

[LeoListens]

I need help.

I was worried about pushing the design too far and get out of topic (didn’t want to end up with “teen wolf”). There are indeed differences between the original versions and the Universal versions. I reckon that, staying away from the Universal vision would render the CHOW guideling useless as the briefing is about “Universal Monsters”, and not just plain classic Monsters.

So I’m trying to stick to Universal concept and time period (not much graphic violence, black & white). My fear is that, working within this limits, might result in a classic and unoriginal design. Maybe I am the only limitation.

The Wolfman

For the Wolfman, I tried to maintain the human appearance, accentuated by the civilized outfit. I think that the “Wolfman” of the movie has a much more likeable appareance than the werewolves depicted by legends, which are represented as vicious big wolves (check Wikipedia for some terrifying examples).

My problem is that I couldn’t think of any redefinition of the character. I just wanted dark hair, saliva and little yellow eyes. Every way I choose seems obvious, already done before. It’s a difficult task.

Frankenstein’s Monster

I tried to reinforce the broken man appearance, the abomination of a scientist that wanted to be God. I give the vacant stare of an innocent creature that didn’t ask to be born (I separated the eyes with that purpose).

I’m thinking of adding numbers to each piece of meat. I also make him wear some sort of robe, which has a medical connotation, and is related to newborns and corpses.

So far I couldn't think of any way to make a new use of the classic visual details, such as the metal parts, the costures and the greenish skin.

Finally, I think that an interesting twist would be that the monster’s body is physically attached by a cable to some machine, were the monster’s soul/brain/program is located.

Some interesting facts about these monsters from Wikipedia:

The Wolf Man

It was The Wolf Man that introduced the concepts of werewolves being vulnerable to silver (in traditional folklore, it is more effective against vampires), the werewolf's forced shapeshifting under a full moon, and being marked with a pentagram (a symbol of the occult). These are considered by many as part of the original folklore of the werewolf, even though they were created for the film. Unlike the werewolves of legend, which resemble true wolves, the Universal Wolf Man was an extension of the previous 1935 Werewolf of London in which both primary characters are a hybrid creature unlike the traditional interpretation. The Wolf Man stood erect like a human, but had the fur, teeth and claws and savage impulses attributed to wolves in folklore.

The Wolf Man is one of three top-tier Universal Studios monsters without a direct literary source. The others are The Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Frankenstein’s monster

In the novel, how Frankenstein builds the creature is only obscurely described, references being made to a long slow process born from a combination of new scientific principles and ancient alchemical lore. Whereas the movies precisely depict the methodology by which their version of the monster is created, showing Frankenstein robbing graves of the recently dead and using the organs and body parts to reconstruct a new human body. This process culminates with the harnessing of a lightning bolt to awaken the creature, a scene famously depicted with great spectacle in the 1931 film. Despite their at best limited presence in the original novel, the idea of the patchwork body of dead flesh and massive discharges of electricity being key to the genesis of the monster have become commonly associated with the Frankenstein story.

In contrast with later film adaptations the monster in the original novel was not created from dead body parts. In fact Frankenstein himself concedes that he later found that reversing death was impossible. While the exact details of the monster's construction are left ambiguous Shelley's depiction of the monster is akin to that of a golem. Frankenstein explains that he has been forced to make the monster much larger than a normal man, in part because of the difficulty in replicating the minute parts of the human body. After giving the monster life, Frankenstein, disgusted by and fearful of the monster's appearance, flees. Henry Clerval comes to Ingolstadt to study with Frankenstein, but ends up nursing him after his exhausting and secretive efforts to create a human life. Frankenstein recovers from his illness in a fortnight. He determines to come home, for his five-year-old brother William has been found murdered.