Chow 198 :: Sergeant Dan Pulp Covers - HOST : Jessibean

[daestwen]

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

ROUND #198 :: Sergeant Dan Pulp Covers


DESCRIPTION

Sergeant Dan Pulp Covers - Two Week Chow

1950s/60s Pulp Novel Cover (actual cover layout optional) - Sargent Dan is the hero, and as in every episode of his epic story, campy battle action ensues. Pick one of the titles below. Time frame and genre are up to you - it can be a noir murder mystery, a spacey science fiction thriller, an occult detective story, etc. etc. Just make sure you reference the campy nature/storytelling of the 1950s/60s pulp novel covers.

"Sergeant Dan and The Terrible Twins of Torture"

"Sergeant Dan and The Crypt-City of the Deathless One"

"Sergeant Dan and The Valkyrie from the Void"

"Sergeant Dan and The Bat-Men of Thorium"

"Sergeant Dan and The Brain Thief"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_magazine
http://www.coverbrowser.com/top/pulp


TWO WEEK CHOW! PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DEADLINE DAY AND TIME!

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Thanks to JessiBean for the topic this week!

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DEADLINE
SUNDAY, May 2nd, 2010
Deadline is Sunday, at 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5).
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: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)
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:right:NEW ROUND RULE: WIPS PLEASE! (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1910999&postcount=27)
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: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!

[stoph]

awesome topic, Jessi! defz gonna give it a go

[meeatu]

Skeeetch
progress: added the 2 figures on the BG and redid the kitty cap on Sargs ... gonna redo lightsource of Sargs

[radius]

...Awesome. I'm sure I left some spare time in here somewhere. Goddammit, where is it.

[Wiggers]

Great topic Jessie! i should be able to join in on this one.

[Emberry]

Two weeks! Awesome, I might actually have time to do this one.

[Auspiciouspanda]

Oooh neat! Quick Sketchie.

[George Abraham]

Such potential.

Scweet.

Not to mention a good education for me that is. Never knew what pulp referred to in pulp fiction.

[QueenGwenevere]

Oh dear, just when I was wanting to mess around with pulpy styles, too... I might not be able to resist this one.

(Kind of tried for a pulp look last time, don't think it worked 100%...)

Dang, though, can't it be more of a 1930's/40's pulp cover? Those are the best ones...

[Gavage]

Haha, some of those covers from the second link are wonderful. 'Planet of the Knob Heads' indeed. Great idea. Struggling to think of a way of presenting something outrageous while keeping enough focus on 'Dan' at the moment though.

Terrible Twins of Torture sounds the most tempting right now.

[George Abraham]

Sorry, but what the heck does "campy" mean?

[Reymus]

Zaorr, it's usually something that lacks taste or (current) fashion sense, but is enjoyable. So while making fun of babies with big heads may not be fashionable, you could make Sergeant Dan vs. The Big Giant Baby Head.

Or watch...

[George Abraham]

You said the F word. :D

Thanx Reymus.

[Reymus]

Kicking off some thumbs,I thought of Sergeant Dan as the big Allan Quatermain type guy.

[Pixeltuner]

haha, really awesome Jess. Shame I won't be able to do anything else then painting and fixing my new house.

[Truepinkas]

Some thumbs and a rough outfit idea for him. Yeah yeah, I know my brainstorming stuff looks like a 4 year old did it...

[TheDirtSyndicate]

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jimthing/index.htm

[zepheenia]

Just a quick question, I know about the 3/4 rule, but would it still be within guidelines if Sergeant Dan had his back facing us while say, the Valkyrie from beyond the void, has a full shot?

[monkeysills]

Great topic! This is my first attempt at well...anything on CA so I don't know if I'll finish. Here's what I have so far. I'm kinda going with the traditional damsel in distress thing. And then Sgt. Dan will bust in to save the day. Oh and please enjoy my retarded labeling. Lol.

P.S. If I post wrong or break a rule or something please let me know how to fix it cuz this is my first post ever. :)

Oh! And here's a great source for pulp covers. They have hundreds! http://picasaweb.google.com/pulpgallery

[daestwen]

Just a quick question, I know about the 3/4 rule, but would it still be within guidelines if Sergeant Dan had his back facing us while say, the Valkyrie from beyond the void, has a full shot?

Yeah I'll allow that.

As long as you have at least one character fully designed, I won't be too picky.

[Gavage]

First idea stemming from atomic age jingoism.

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5355/sgtdan.jpg

[ArtByManon]

So is Dan a 'real' hero from one of the old pulp comics - or is Dan a made up character by Jessi?

[Reymus]

Edit: I guess I'll go for Crypt City of the Deathless One. My mistake :).

[daestwen]

PLEASE NOTE

In the brief it mentions that you are supposed to pick one of the fives titles listed below.

I won't mind so much if we get less than fifty entries, but if we have over fifty, I'll be cutting entries that don't follow the brief.

[Truepinkas]

I had about 40 various 1950's websites open for various bits of reference all as different tabs in the same browser and what do I accidentally do? Close the browser...All my research gone... ( run firefox in a mode where when I close it it forgets everything, cache, browser history ect...)

I'm loving this topic BTW, what a great one to be my first. Do I have to post WIPs here or can I just do a little montage of WIPs on the final thread?

[Feil Magnus]

I'm going to try out something with the bat-men :)

[ianthegeek]

Here's my take so far. I just couldn't resist chicks:)

[Homerid]

Awesome topic, I'm giving this another try (didn't make it on time for the last CHOW :().
This is mi cover for "Sergeant Dan and The Brain Thief", I'm going for a sci-fi thriller look. Here are some first sketches.

[Psychotrope]

I think this (http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/14/14578.jpg) Takes the cake for Sgt. Dan and the Brain-Thief. But.... this is such an interesting concept I'll have to enter anyway. Now, Brains or Deathless ones? It is a quandary.

[Persondoingstuff]

I think this is my first post on CA.org after lurking for many many years. How better than to start with a CHOW?

my idea for the terrible twins.
http://www.easydugit.com/wp-content/uploads/rough1.jpg

[George Abraham]

Calling all Lurkers!!

[Gavage]

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9288/sgtdanwip2.jpg

Another WIP, thinking more about how to present it as a cover. The figures are still pretty messy, don't want to turn the twins into silhouettes or leave Dan looking too generic but it's heading that way. Having fun though!

Update

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1666/stdanwip5.jpg

Scrapped the twins, going for the Valkyrie instead. Aiming for something between battle angel and weird space girl. The text on the bomb says 'death tidings' in Old Norse (I hope). Going for a lion motif on Dan's suit (ie courage and faith: Daniel and the lions) rather than the USA stuff. Still uncertain about colour and what to do with the background. Hoping to replace the 'free keyring' idea with a poster and have a little of it poking out of the side of the image.

[Truepinkas]

I picked one of my thumbs I was happy with and did a larger rough to better workout the layout. Probably start in on painting/rendering this weekend. Good thing this is a 2 week one...

[pepps]

sketched the character, i want him to have a jetzon feel, but i guess i´m not there yet...=)

[George Abraham]

Trying to establish a good range of choices.


Did not get much time this week.

[JessiBean]

Persondoingstuff - I really like this piece and the figures you have going. But I think the girl sitting on his knee is in such an even-to-camera perspective that she doesn't mesh with the other two where you are looking at them from above. Try keeping her in the same perspective where we are looking down at her, not straight on at her. ;)
Very cool start!

[Revolution77]

what an awesome topic! I don't have time to join in myself, but I'll be watching for sure.

[cptcrandall]

this is my first posting at all on CA, though I have loitered around for a while on here. Please be honest and open with your crits! If it is shit, tell me!!!

http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv305/cptcrandall/Sergeant_Dan_sketch_3.jpg

[monkeysills]

Progress! I don't know if I have the girl's legs quite right so let me know what you think. Also, I'm wondering if I should move Dan back into the doorway more. Any other suggestions would be great too!

[cptcrandall]

Progress! I don't know if I have the girl's legs quite right so let me know what you think. Also, I'm wondering if I should move Dan back into the doorway more. Any other suggestions would be great too!

I would put him silhouetted in the doorway with the composition you have currently, though he then wouldn't be the main character anymore or the focal point....

[Reymus]

Persondoingstuff - Great sketch! I agree that the girl on his lap is off, she's also more floating than sitting on his lap, we should be looking downward at her and she should be closer to his thigh/hip area in placement.

Slow update.

[NoShot]

sketch for Crypt City & Deathless One

[Tommoy]

Great topic, those covers are so inspiring.

[Homerid]

Update.

[Serpian]

I need help!

Here's my drawing, and I'm soon ready to start painting (oils).

963463

But colour scares me! Here's some rough color schemes I've tried, but I'm having trouble finding a coherent and harmonious use of colour...

963464

963460

963461

963462

any suggestions?

EDIT: I worked on it some more, and I'm getting to something I like a bit better. What do you think?
963504

[Nightblue]

Tommoy - love that start, already looking super-dramatic with a nice touch of cheesiness :)

[Shadoworen117]

I need help!

Here's my drawing, and I'm soon ready to start painting (oils).

963463

But colour scares me! Here's some rough color schemes I've tried, but I'm having trouble finding a coherent and harmonious use of colour...

any suggestions?



I personally think that the woman's dress/covering should be light blue or white as if it's a medical purpose covering. Seargent Dan could be army green and burgandy or black. and the twins of torture (if thats who they are) could stay with the mad scientist colors (white, pale skin, black or grey hair) The labratory is up to you, but I like the green on the screen behind him

[R3u5]

sketched yesterday

The Valkyrie from the Void
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac173/R3u5/chow/dan-valkyrie-from-the-void.jpg
The Terrible Twins of Torture
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac173/R3u5/chow/chow198_R3u5.jpg
The Brain Thief
http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac173/R3u5/chow/dan-brain-thief.jpg

Persondoingstuff I really liked yours, that's probably the reason i couldn't imagine the twins as males ( i tried ).

edit... updated the Twins

[Tommoy]

Started with coloring and couldn't resist throwing in some text.

[Nightblue]

Beware the Bat-men!

edit: updated the crappy lunch sketch. needing facial studies.

[Schmull]

Serpian - Tjo David! Kul att se dig delta! With the colors, for example in this one http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=963462 To get it all working together, try putting in a desaturated version of the purple background colors in the midtones of the figures/clothes too. And have a general warm/cool and saturation/less saturation scheme for everything.. exactly how that would be depends on if its a cool or warm light source I guess.. but basically the the scheme Ive been using at the atelier is:
Lights: warm and saturated.
Midtones: colder, desaturated, some of the background color (well, we´ve had sort of cold background behind the model, not exactly sure how it works with a warmer bg color)
Shadows: warm and saturated.

..And now I´ll post something where Im not entirely sure how the warm/cool stuff is gonna work out myself hehe.

(I know its not the last color test you´ve done, but since it had a more clear color scheme I thought it was easier to critique.. still hope something could help out..)

Tommoy - Nice!

[monkeysills]

Great job everyone! I can't wait to see all of these finished.

Tommoy Love your coloring. It really captures the old pulp feel.

EDIT: I worked on it some more, and I'm getting to something I like a bit better. What do you think?

Serpian I would suggest cooling down the colors and incorporating like a wash of the background colors in it if that makes any sense. Take a look at these. They are GREAT for color reference: http://picasaweb.google.com/pulpgallery

[Serpian]

Hey, thanks for the suggestions Schmull and monkeysills! First I tried blending in some background colours into the character and vice versa and this is what I came up with:
964266

Then I followed monkeysills' link and found this cover, which featured a man in red and blue and a woman in distress, in yellow, in a dark room!
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_WBagVNVxSLI/SB4CVdv0y_I/AAAAAAAANlQ/TGGLYjsDa-Q/detnovmag193808.jpg

so I stole some colours from that one and this is the result:
964268

It's not exactly beautiful, but it's a step closer to some kind of coherence. I think the next step is to do another color study in oils to try to find out how to recreate this in that medium.

[Nightblue]

Took the scifi out of it... going straight military instead.

[ianthegeek]

Here's where I am at the moment. Thought I'd put Dan in some sexy shorts just to up the camp-o-meter. Still playing with colours.
Advice more than welcome.

[alexson]

Great stuff everyone, competition is stiff this week!
I chose the brain thief story.
Here's my first sketch, tough I still haven't figured out if and how to squeeze in the villains in the picture to make some more story to it. Maybe add some in the background that is in the middle of extracting the brains of Dan's fellow soldiers and something in the foreground for him to shoot at.

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab135/alexson12/198_sgt_dan_pulp_1.jpg

[Pinback]

Great topic, I chose Brain Thief. I know, it looks more creaturey than characterey, but I'm going to bring the mad scientist closer to the foreground to get a better view of at least one humanoid figure.

[¿Dubious?]

Persondoingstuff, Tommoy, Schmull:
you're all spelling Sergeant wrong.

[cptcrandall]

Persondoingstuff, Tommoy, Schmull:
you're all spelling Sergeant wrong.

I find that humorous....cheers all! update tomorrow I think..

[Tommoy]

@ Dubious: haha, will fix it in the next update.
@ Pinback: supersketch, but if the hand is the only thing we see of sErgeant Dan it could be a problem.
@ Alexon: nice start, good perspective. Beret disturbs a little.
@ Ianthegeek: good one, fresh colors and sweet Valkyrie. Only her head is a little too big for the body.
@ Monkeysills: maybe put a mad professor in the doorway and give Dan a more prominent place rescuing the girl?
@ Nightbleu: Great one! A shame you took the scifi out though.
@ Schmull: good one, but the pink is predominating.

Progress, its fun.

[Truepinkas]

Slowly chugging along... Lots of work to do before Sunday...

[Dreoilin]

Wow wish I had time to offer some comments- lot's of great stuff! This is a really fun topic.

I spent all last week screwing around with composition and thumbnails on this thing and it still sucks, but if I don't start painting now I won't finish. Ah well.

[Schmull]

Dubious - Hehehe, had already changed the spelling :P (A friend pointed it out)

Some progress:

[Reymus]

Schmull - Great mood, the "D" on his chest could be a little blended in however, it looks off being so sharp in contrast to the blocked in paint atm.

Tommoy - I don't know what he's holding right now,but since it's a source of light, with the downed heroine, it would be cool to have the bat-men cover their eyes from the light, and give you more space beside his head so it doesn't look too odd with a mace right above his head.

Another sloow goin'.

[cptcrandall]

color underlay

[Serpian]

Almost done... I need to figure out a better way to photograph my painting... 965616

[B u r l]

sergeant dan - ripped and ready for action

[dashinvaine]

I've made a start... Went with the Valkyries.

[QueenGwenevere]

Eh, eleventh hour, but trying something anyway... Been browsing the books I have on pulps, it's such good stuff I couldn't resist. Here's my inchoate thumbs and a rough, going for the Deathless One, not sure if I should throw in some tentacles or something or keep it simple...

[George Abraham]

Hope I get this done in time.

Oh what torture!! Hehe!!!


I scrapped some WIP layer, so this is skipping some steps.

[dashinvaine]

a wip. Sergeant Dan is the man...

[Adam Schumpert]

Updated... :)

First let me apologize I know it is bad form to jump into CHOW's this late,
but to be perfectly honest I thought I had already missed the deadline on
this one. :P Anyway here is my wip for Dan I've decided to go with

"Sergeant Dan and The Crypt-City of the Deathless One"

(I've been listening to a lot of Lovecraft - Call of Cthulhu audio books so
ideas of deathless horrors from beyond the stars have been bouncing
around my head recently. I'm not sure how healthy that is... )


966588 966861

lots of nice work so far can't wait to see the finals :teeth:
take care,
Adam

[Truepinkas]

I've still got a ways to go, but I have tomorrow off. So I'll be putting in some quality time with this.

[dashinvaine]

Adam, that's looking dynamic. Nice utilizing of the female posteior.
Truepinkas, love the retro look. Here is my latest wip following some good advice re composition.

[JanJager]

Some great entries.
Adam Schumpert
Wonderful action. In your piece.
Apologize for jumping in even later.

[Truepinkas]

Is there a preferred pixel height for the final in the final thread? This is my first CHOW and I wana make sure I'm doing it right.

Also, I assume it's alright if I line my WIPS up in a single file for the final thread?

[daestwen]

Truepinkas You can make your file image as big as you want, but I would suggest no taller than about 800-1000 pixels, if you want it to fit on everyone's screen. And yes, wips can be combined in one image, but please make sure your final image is separate.



PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE THAT THE DEADLINE IS SUNDAY (TOMORROW) NOT MONDAY! Thanks!

[Adam Schumpert]

Another update...

967401

run Dan... run! :P

[Homerid]

Just got my internet connection back after almost a week of suffering :P
Here is my last update, I redid almost the hole thing, and the painting was an absolute torture, but a nice experiment and good practice nonetheless :)
Good luck to everyone on the finals!

[NoShot]

small update.

[cptcrandall]

FAIL!!! I have run out of time. THis is what comes of being an indentured slave of Uncle Sam entails from time to time. Looking forward to next weeks I guess. Cheers all.

[daestwen]

20 MINUTES TO DEADLINE!

Just so you know. :P

[daestwen]

IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ

Hey guys, I can't save any of the files from the attachment editor, it's giving me 'attachment.php' instead of the files anytime i right-click save them. So, I'm delaying the poll until I can figure out what's going on and see if I can get it fixed.

ENTRANTS, PLEASE EMAIL ME YOUR ENTRIES. Email them to brittnewstead at conceptart.org. I only need your finals, so that I can put them in poll. Hopefully this won't be necessary and the attachment issue can be solved, but in the meantime let's try to get things together before them.

If anyone can save all the attachments in this thread, PLEASE PLEASE contact me by PM or email, as I might ask you a huge favour. :P

Thanks everyone, sorry for the delay.