C.O.W. #178_Supersonic Spike_Voting!

[scorge]

C.O.W. #178 Supersonic Spike - VOTING!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ROUND #178 VOTING

Topic: Super Sonic Spike


Deadline for the voting: Thursday June 10th 2010

Posting thread (closed): http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=189015

[JellevdVegt]

Artist: JellevdVegt

Concept: Forkhead
This creature is the result of crossing human DNA with that of crows. The scientists were looking for a way to manipulate DNA so the could create a human with wings. The first experiments went very wrong, because the specimen didn't grow wings but multiple beaks. Those beaks didn't really function as a mouth, they were more like horns. However its body looks very humanoid, it walks like an animal. It can reach speeds up to 45 miles an hour, and makes use of it's horns for empalage.. auch!

988336

[KleeWyck]

Artist: KleeWyck

Concept: Supersonic Spike
A creature in the leech family. It swings its tail at incredible speeds to impale and hook into prey. The spikes on the tail also secrete a paralysis-inducing poison in its victims to facilitate the slow eating habits of the Supersonic Spike.

[ArtMinionAndrew]

My entry for the "Supersonic Spike" creature.

"The Sprinterbug" a predatory hive based insect that lives in temperate and tropical regions. Capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion, the Sprinterbugs hunt in packs firing venomous quills from their tails in order to bring down larger prey.

[Jatari]

Artist: Jatari

Concept: Razorcat


On a Terrestrial planet, light years from earth, lives the Razorcat. Usually living in packs, these horse-sized felines can move at extremely fast speeds while hunting prey ranging 4 to 13 feet tall. For large game they are known to run past cutting their legs until the animal falls. While hunting smaller game they pounce and wrap their spiked-tails around the bellies of unsuspecting prey before delivering the final blow.

[(lark]

Artist: (lark

Concept: Velocirat


989307

built for speed, the Velocirat can reach between 75, 80, and sometimes as high as 90 mph. it can reach these speeds due to its lightweight muscular body, mixed with its aerodynamic body shape.

the impressiveness of its speed is only matched by its aggressiveness, which is immense considering that its the size of a medium sized dog.

their hunting technique is to run full speed into larger prey, propelling its spike-like beak into the body of its unsuspecting victim. its bony shoulder formations keep its body from going too far into its preys body. it then fastens its claws into the hide of its prey, giving it the ability to continually stab its prey until it submits to death, and in turn to being the Velocirats meal.

[Phade01]

Artist: Phade01

Concept: Spike-Bug


The spike-bug is one of the medium sized predator creatures of Gliese 581 C

When hunting, this carnivorous creature uses electromagnetic energy to throw its spike at supersonic speeds at its victim, it uses the same energy to retrieve it. It can shoot a victim from many miles.
It has no eyes, instead of that the creature has a sort of "radar" which it scans the environment with and pick up signals and frequencies of possible mates or competition.

The energy's of these creatures have different distinct frequencies so they don't retrieve a spike of a member of there own species.

The creature lives and hunts alone and often has a huge territory, when 2 creatures are in the same piece of ground a duel starts for the control of territory. Often standing a few miles away from each other, they start trowing there spike(which takes just a few seconds to impact)

It's said that the soul of the creature is stored in the spike on its back, and if it gets destroyed, the creature dies.

[Homerid]

Artist: Homerid

Concept: Crimson Spike

The Crimson Spike was a small size predator that used to roam the deserts of Pannotia, almost 600 million years ago. These creatures were one of the most deadly species in the world. Their bodies were very well adapted for the hard weather conditions and their anatomical structure allowed them to move at speeds up to 160 kilometers per hour, making them extremely dangerous when traveling in packs.
Their mace-like tails were covered in venomous spines that could cause acute pain, paralysis and even death after a long exposure to the toxins.

[basti0n]

Artist: Basti0n

Concept: Octrustean
Octrustean is a small water based cephalopod. This creature hunts in reef and tidal flat areas. By grabbing coral and rock outcroppings to anchor itself then using water pressure it expels poisonous spikes from its semi rigid outer shell into passing schools of fish. It has low manueverability and relies more upon camoflauge and ambush to shoot its spikes rather than traveling quickly.

[matoohan]

Artist:matoohan

Concept: Supersonic Spikefish

This creature live in the ocean, it moves quickly using its tail and its tentacles with spikes., which use as a dangerous killer weapon .......

[maxrlx]

Artist: maxrlx

Concept: Snot Monster
A bipedal creature that shoots crystallized (when in contact with air), hard as steel, supersonic snot spikes at its prey or predators.

[Anthis]

Artist: Anthis

Concept: Spikespitter


Specialized musculature and air sacs allow this creature to compress gases. These are then used to fire deadly spiked projectiles at extremely high speed. The spikes themselves are modified teeth, stored within the large jaw.

[ianthegeek]

Artist: Ian The Geek

Concept: The Duninaday or "Cactus" Bird

The Duninaday Bird lives on the desert planet of Alphabetagamma9. It is a deadly predator. Capable of reaching incredible speeds, it inpales its prey with its boney horns. It is also capable of defending itself with it's spiked, club like tail.
The natives of Alphabetagamma9 refer to it as the Cactus Bird. They joke that god of the birds, Tweetus, fell in love with a cactus and fathered the very first Duninaday bird.

[NickTrip]

Artist: NickTrip

Concept: Cave Creepers
Living in damp caves and the underbellies of evil enchanted vampiric castles, these creatures attach themselves to wet ceilings where they collect dripping ground water. Their long tentacles are equipped with spiked ends that they use to whip careless passer-by's. The Cave Creeper goes Ka-RAK! and your face goes OH NO!

[Lightmode108]

Artist: Lightmode108

Concept: Sand raptor

The Sandraptor makes its home in the sahara desert, catching its prey by night with its regenerative, spike-projecting tail. A natural speed demon, it utilizes the sand as a resource for regrowing its lost tail. Capable of reaching speeds of up to 90 miles an hour, it covers vast stretches of desert in one night looking for something to devour quickly, and begin again on its trek.

[Si_Swe]

Artist: Si_Swe

Concept: Arrowhead Vampires

Description:
The arrow head vampire is not a vampire. At least not in the traditional sense...

It is a creature that lives in a diet of the blood of other animals. The squid-like creature is sleek and aerodynamic to allow for it's muscular tentacles to launch it from tree canopy at extremely high speeds. It's favored prey is raptors, particularly falcons, whose speed they see as a challenge. After locating prey they will launch themselves at it at a speed fast enough to impale it with it's chitinous snout, if not travel straight through the creature. The creature then drinks the blood that comes out with it. Despite their aggression towards smaller animals, they tend to leave well alone most larger creatures. In fact, there have only been three reported killings of humans involving arrowhead vampires, all of which were the result of ill-fated attempts at creating personal flying mechanisms in the wrong part of the woods.

[J-Sun]

Artist: J-Sun

Concept: Bleujet
Little is known about these recently discovered airborne cephalopods which inhabit the lower levels of the ionosphere. They are so named, in part, because they resemble blue jet planes, but mainly because of their association with the atmospheric phenomena known as Blue Jets. The creatures seek out these electrical discharges which occur at the tops of cumulonimbus clouds and it is theorized that they they possess a very unique biochemistry allowing them to feed on charged particles. It is postulated that the creatures have evolved a sort of biochemical based ion drive to maneuver through the upper atmosphere. Bleujets have been observed to be capable of propelling themselves, incredibly, to super-sonic speeds through the expulsion of charged particles.



http://www.digitaljungle.com/cow/J-Sun_COW178.jpg

[lancer_idenoure]

Artist: lancer_idenoure

Concept: desert spiker
desert spikers are medium-sized(4-5ft when standing), aggressive mammals that hunt using the retractable talons on their forearms. they can extend and retract them with blindingly-fast speed to easily, and very quickly, impale their prey. they are also equipped with a coat of quills on their backs that can stand on end if the desert spiker is threatened. these quills carry a small electricmagnetic charge, allowing them to sense whatever is behind them; essentially giving them eyes on the back of their heads. desert spikers are very agile, reaching speeds of up to 30mph. they spend most of their time on all fours, except when attacking prey.
the desert spiker's naturally built-in weapons and traits make it a truly frighteneing predator. approach at your own risk.

[Snafu]

Artist: Snafu

Concept: Sythe-tailed sheep eater


Capable of reaching speeds of up to 70mph, this monster uses its powerful back legs to launch itself at unsuspecting sheep. Its large claws allow it to cup its foe for it's young while the large spike on its tail(resembling the grim reapers' sythe; hence the name) allows it to slice up and finish of its prey so it can swallow it through it's beak.

[ninety9]

Artist: ninety9

Concept: tha´loaoul

The tha´loaoul, commonly called the supersonic spike, lurkes in dark caves waiting for prey that mostly walks on the walls and above the creature´s spiked head. with its bendy and strong legs it catapults itself into the air and pierces its prey while jumping. 3 eyes support a surround vision to spot potential prey, the hairy claws feel even the slightest tremor.

[ninety9]

voted anthis for best combination of supersonic and spike, very well rendered as well.
arthur two sheds, phade01 close second, nick trip 3rd (cool blur effect, that tentacle must hurt!)
my 1,5 hour quickie sucks

[Ragnj]

Phade got mine, he really got the supersonic spike look captured, nice rendering aswell.

[(lark]

Voted phade01. Really awesome creative concept. 2nd to si swe which was also really creative.

[Si_Swe]

A lot of good stuff this round. Time for my (kind of) weekly round of comments:

ninety9 - Hey, for 1.5 hours it ain't bad. Pretty original design, but you can tell a bunch of it was rushed. I'm not quite sure what that glowing miasma is either, other than a light source.
Snafu - The problem here is that the creature is really hard to read, I can't tell quite what everything is that I'm looking at, where the head starts and the neck ends, what its legs look like. Things like that. There's some really nice painterly style going on, I just can't tell what's being painted.
lancer idenoure - While the piece is some of the best rendering I've seen you do, I have one gripe: the humanoid rule. My only gripe and I'll shut up now.
J-Sun - While the concept is cool, and the execution and composition are nice, I have a problem with the design. The design lacks the organic quality to really make it seem like a creature and not, say, a transformer. Making the creature seem believable as an organic life form should be a big thing, and I can see part of that coming through with the layers of nostrils, but so much of it screams "Gunship" at me.
Lightmode-108 - This was another one I found difficult to read. What are the protrusions on it's side, what parts of it exactly are its limbs? It's a really dynamic image, it's just hard to read what's what.
NickTrip - It's both advantageous and disadvantageous to enter a primarily digital activity with your piece retaining so much of traditional media. You've done a fantastic job with this piece and it with the exception of the blurred part (which I love) the entire piece could be pencil crayon for all I know (is it?). It looks like an old school sci-fi image from the 80s, which is something I can really get behind. The second (back tentacle, looks a bit odd to me, though. It looks almost detached. or from another of the creatures.
ianthegeek - Very nice for the most part. The running pose looks quite believable, and I love the spiky tail. the image loses it's detail in the highlights which is a problem since they should really help define details, not distort them.
Anthis - Very nice rendering. Stylistically it reminds me of some of the stuff I've seen Emerging do. The right legs are a bit too sloppy even deciding to do the far legs that way. I really like the creature, though and I can get an idea of scale without even really seeing it in context. The blue was a really nice touch. Maybe use a bit more contrast in the future?
maxrlx - One of the best images I've seen you do in the last while. Try and avoid black as it flattens images. The rim lighting shouldn't be inside the outline. it should define the outline. The spikes it's shooting look a little out of place, so making them feel more unified with the creature would help bring them into the image more.
matoohan - Really nice, crisp lines on the tentacles/spikes which gives me a really nice feeling of the way the creature moves. Try and avoid using black. The image would benefit from rendering the water it's in a little more... watery.
basti0n - Really cool combo of the lionfish and an octopus. The problem is that it looks totally out of place on it's background. The background is far and away more saturated than the creature and is one, flat colour, it really takes away from what is, in the end, a really well done creature.
Homerid - This was one of my favorites this round. I thought the two tongues looked a bit strange at first but it's pretty cool anyway. The colours and design are very well done and I can see that the creature is fast without really seeing it moving.
Phade01 - My vote went here this round. It was an interesting and original design, with good execution and a really well composed image with a fantastic palette. My only issues are that: the rendering on the underbelly is of an inconsistent level of rendering with the rest of the creature and that the tail is a bit too straight, it needs a more of a curve going on.
(lark - Original and very fast-looking design. I love it's musculature and I really like your soft rendering style. I'm not a big fan of it's front legs. I don't see a reason why they would be formed as such, it seems like a design choice that was done less for practicality than originality.
Jatari - While I like the design, I don't get the impression of high speeds. It looks a little bit to heavily built for fast running. Just look at the shoulder where there are folds consistent with creatures like rhinos, which, while definitely not stationary, are more a creature of momentum than speed. I would've liked to have seen it's feet.
Arthur 'Two Sheds' - I love your rendering style. It's fantastic. This was another of my favorites this round. The one thing I have trouble with is the creature's pose, which is a little bit static. Stellar job, otherwise.
ArtMinionAndrew - It took me a while to read the two creatures properly. At the one point they meld in and out of one another. Try and avoid using white like you have here, the overabundance of it makes them hard to look at and flattens the areas it covers. I do like the design, though, just needs some practice with light and shadow.
KleeWyck - I can totally see the lamprey inspiration here. The motion blur still seems a bit too much, but the creature is well done if a bit too warm-looking to be underwater.
JellevdVegt - There's a really nice sense of musculature and form on the creature itself. I would've liked to see the same sense of form on the muscles given to the bones around it, which feel out of place. Watch out on that humanoid rule.
Me - I rushed a bunch of stuff on this one. I didn't do a great job on the bird so I tried to mask that with a lot of motion blur. I'm reasonably happy with the creature itself, but the back of the head could have been better thought-out/rendered.

Cheers all.

[lancer_idenoure]

voted for anthis. i just love the rendering and its a really different take on the topic than the rest of em.
thanks si swe. yeah i knew about the humanoid thing; i was thinking about that while i was doing it. i was gonna put it on all fours and change the anatomy slightly but i just didnt have the time. only had about 5 hours to work on the rendering so i didnt have time to change it at all :( this week was crazy

[Phade01]

Had a difficult time choosing between arthur 2 sheds, anthis & Si Swe eventually voted for Arthur because of the compelling image. I also really liked J-Sun's image, but as said before, it needs some more organic qualities.

[NickTrip]

Si_Swe - Thanks for your support. I'm glad you like the piece and thanks for your insights. Its a charcoal drawing that's been colored in photoshop.

I voted for Phade01's piece. Outstanding design and execution.

[basti0n]

@Jelled - the musculature of your creature is well formed and rendered. i wonder where the light is coming from though.
@Klee - this is why i dont like going into open water. i wonder if blurring the creature and not the water might have made it look faster though.
@Andrew - it took me a second to figure out your creature and im really interested in how they would move. i do question your environment a little though. i feel it looks more refined in the background and blurrier in the foreground. this is the opposite of how we see things though typically there is higher contrast and detail closer to the viewer. adding a bit more contrast and detail around your creatures might help to set them off a bit.
@arthur - i really like the reflected light on the underside of the planes wings, it would be nice to see the plane reflected on the creature. a nicely rendered piece definitely
@jatari - i think there is a good sense of light, atmosphere and contrast in your piece i do wonder where the light is coming from though. i notice multiple highlights on the muscles of your creature but they confuse me since they seem to come from multiple spots.
@lark - i like the rendering and blur on your creature, definitely makes it look fast. the windswept plain is a good place for this creature and well described.
@phade - great creature, really strong image
@homerid - i very nice creature, i wish the dust cloud it had whipped up was a bit more distinct. increasing the eddies and visablity of it would be a good way to showoff the speed.
@matoohan - i like the quality of your image. i can feel the viscosity of the paint and appreciate the sort of open style you use. i am curious about its scale
@maxrlx - i appreciate your palette. purplegreens are some of my favorite colors ever. i wonder about the musculature of your creatures neck. i think the idea is good though
@anthis - a strong creature. i am quite like the folds of the creatures skin and also the way you distinguish the sacs.
@the greek - i feel like your creature should be in motion but i dont feel like it interacts with its environment maybe some buffs of dust or kicked up rocks. i really like the creatures intense look
@nicktrip - the sense of speed on the tentacle is awesome. id like to see more color variety i think. i think it keeps the charcoal drawing feel, it might be nice to have more than jsut a 'black' dark color
@lightmode - your creature is definitely moving fast and i like how i can see the air being displaced using 'brushstroke' to indicate that might make it seem even faster.
@si-swe - thanks for the feedback. im still new to this on the computer art thing so intensity and saturation are still confusing to me. i think your image is really strong and i like the blurr on the bird.
@ j-sun - i like the sonic booms the creatures are creating. a strong image.

more feedback to come. i gotta go to works.

[J-Sun]

Another round of COW, another awesome assortment of designs!


JellevdVegt - Love the contrast and highlights on your Forkhead. Wild concept - you did an amazing job bringing it to life!

KleeWyck - Very realistic interpretation Klee. The detail on the mouth is outstanding, as is the depth blur/focus you've got goin' on.

ArtMinionAndrew - Great concept - and the anatomy of these guys looks very cool! I would have liked to see this a bit more refined - but who am I to talk!

Arthur 'Two Sheds' - Awesome and crisp rendering - Great stuff!

Jatari - Love the razorcat, Jatari!

(lark - Your Velocirat is great (lark. I really like how you thought about what would happen if the Velocirat plowed full speed into its prey and took that into consideration with you design.

Phade01 - Beautiful piece Phade! You gave this guy a most excellent anatomy. The electromagnetic energy and the overall atmosphere of this piece is terrific.

Homerid - Your Crimson Spike seems so real to me -- the modeling of the scales/hide and the kinetic pose of the creature make this one of my favorites from this round!

basti0n - I like how you combined components of actual creatures into your design. I dig all of the details and texturing you did on the suction cups and arms and fins and spikes - very cool!

matoohan - Your Supersonic Spikefish is truly a monster of the deep! He is reminiscent of some of those really creepy looking deepwater species, yet made much more intimidating with those spiked tentacles! Love the details on the mouth/teeth and his tail fin.

maxrlx - Your Snot Monster is definitely a distinctive creation and I imagine it has an very strange ecology.

Anthis - Beautiful piece Anthis. I love the rendering and the energy of the Spikespitter in action. I especially like the concept of the spikes being modified teeth - very thoughtful and believable - Awesome!

ianthegeek _ I really like your concept and backstory that go along with your piece - which I also really like! The horns and spiked tail are very cool - and the little wing with the spiked claws as well as the way you handled the feet really bring this guy together as a very clever design!

NickTrip - Your Cave Creeepers are true monsters. No more Spelunking for me! Nice work!

Lightmode108 - Your Sandraptor is very demonic indeed! I like the concept and dynamism of your piece.

Si Swe - Terrific and equally gruesome concept! Really nice rendering, you've done an amazing job depicting the movement of the Arrowhead Vampire tearing through the bird. Poor falcon.

lancer idenoure - Great concept and rendering , Lancer. Love the head on this guy!

Snafu - I really like the form of your Sythe-tailed sheep eater - there's a lot of movement goin on - very cool!

ninety9 - Excellent design ninety9! Great concept. I really like the details - especially those claws!

:yayca:

[Anthis]

I'll keep it quick and constructive! There's a bit of critique in there - hope you enjoy!
Thought it was surprisingly tough to come up with a believable creature with supersonic abilities, and also to keep it novel. Good topic!



JellevdVegt - Nice fleshy musculature, fun brushwork. Not a fan of the black outline: seems to flatten your creature.

KleeWyck - Think your concept stayed too close to lampreys. Shame, because you have a very nice realistic approach. Unusual pose too.

ArtMinionAndrew - Absolutely crazy creatures. Reminds of starship troopers, with the reversed front/back legs. Think the colours are a bit harsh, nice patterns though.

Arthur 'Two Sheds' - Very nice illustration, very clean and with a nice composition. I think everything in your piece matches the supersonic theme, except the creature itself.

Jatari - Love the classical approach and realist feel. Bit like a book illustration or a frame from a nature documentary.

(lark - Everything in your piece reads speed, fast, deadly. I like how he is well integrated with the ground, with the dirt flying around. He seems somewhat stiff though, you'd expect a more smooth and flexible build.

Phade01 - Always love multiple arms. Nice illustration too. The creature itself really feels like a piece of 'artillery', really matching the description and concept of throwing a spike instead of being really fast itself. Be careful with the pure black!

Homerid - Nice detail! I like how you can really identify anatomical structures, such as muscle, spike, skin, tendon, etc. Good thinking! Very monochrome creature, which is a shame. Experiment a bit with colour and saturation!

basti0n - Convincing creature. Always nice to see some influence from existing creatures, although in this case perhaps a bit too much. It can make it hard to sell your own concept. I actually like how you placed the creature on the left side of the canvas. Odd!
Thanks for the comment, I always think I spend too much time on some of the details.

matoohan - Very interesting technique on those tendrils, not sure how you did that. Effective! I also like how you did the perspective on those segments where his body turns. May be a small detail - but hard to pull off! Still a bit sketchy in some areas, start earlier!

maxrlx - Very original. I like how the spikes crystallize, I can also imagine it really helps with creating aerodynamic and fast spikes. Anatomy looks uncomfortable in some areas. Good pose though, closing one nostril. Also: hairy butt!

ianthegeek - I like how you blended some bird-like features with the bony horns and impale-strategy. Some nice anatomy too - you did your homework! Could use some more colour variation and richness, to really sell the creature.

NickTrip - Compliments on the extensive pencil drawing, digital usually dominates here! Good use of the blur there though. As well as the water drops. Impressive rock render, I only think the black outline around the rock spikes is not working. You may want to achieve a sense of depth using contrast or detail instead.

Lightmode108 - A bit sketchy, but it does sell your idea. Not a fan of the spike-legs (good concept, but not functional!) Very few people actually used the white, "speedy air" around the creature, and you show that it's possible.

Si Swe - Action shot! And a graphic one at that. Very nice, very convincing. Good use of contrast. Nice idea of the creature self-launching, at first I thought it flew by itself. Didn't know birds that size have so much blood.... ;)
Thanks for the crit! Use of contrast and color is a bit of a weakness...

J-Sun - Amazing sense of speed. Compliments on the 'breaking the sound barrier'. Strong image. You're not showing enough of the creature, I'd really want to see what it looks like up close! Thanks for the comment!

Lancer idenoure - Last minute! Compliments on that. You could really use the extra time, as shown by some of the nice details. For example those eyes and the ears. Having those saturated ears with light shining trough. Good move, thoughtful.
Thanks for the comment! Went for a sluggish creature on purpose!

Snafu - menacing creature, menacing image too. Dense atmosphere, very foreboding. Shame we get to see so little of the creature!

ninety9 - Strange, alien, unnerving. Always like the fresh designs. I enjoy how you used two shots to sell the idea. Does he pierce with his tail? or the spikes on his head?

[Homerid]

A hard choice , but finally my vote goes to Phade01, I liked the idea of a creature that propels a part of its body through bio-generated electromagnetic energy. While the creature doesn't really look like it could move very fast I can definitively see that deadly spike traveling at supersonic speed, and it's a different approach to the concept. My second place would be Si_Swe; really original creature design, and it really reflects its devastating ability to "impale" its prey =)
I also liked Arthur "Two Sheds", (lark and Anthis creatures, great concepts and rendering, nice job guys.

[Brandozer]

JellevdVegt - Nice rending. That pose is very flat and static despite said sexy rendering. It takes work (sometimes alot) to work it into 3/4 but you'll defo get a better sense of dynamism if you slog through the effort.
KleeWyck - I like where that concept is going. i would suggest that you tone down the blur. If you are conservative with the tool/filter it rocks but it feels a little heavy handed here. Blurring the back ground makes the viewer look like a bad cameraman, but blurring the creach only looks like its too fast...SUPER SONIC!
Art Minion Andrew - Cool crustaceans. I would say though that it is very hard to read where in space those forms sit against each other. Spare the hi-lites and the saturation for the key areas instead of every sqaure inch and you'll see things pop for you. Also, the background is distracting. I spend more time there then with the Sprinters (most likely because my eye needs to rest after the smorgasboard of yellow).
Arthur - Haha nice design, love it. crit would be that im not sure why the engine exploded relative to the spikes action (And give those jets some missiles). Aside from that the image is still tits!
Jatari - RAzorcats FTW. I would have liked to see more hilight dev on the face and coat. They look badass but some of the forms are muddled.
Clark - I likey, looks like something from Pitch Black. Minor Crit would be that the posing of the front legs feels like we've caught him galloping rather than sprinting. Could strech them toward front or back for maximum power.
Phade01 - That long range spike launcher is da bomb. I though it was kinda hard to read his face due to the fireball? he's summoning? what is he doing? Eitherway one of my favs.
Homerid - That creach looks cool. I would add some more flavour by varying some of the hues throughout his greasy lil lizard skin.
Bastion - nice render work. It really feels like a Worth1000 photomashup to me. Not seeing the functionality of the spikes and the composition is too jarring for the subjectmatter me thinks. What is that scribble doin there?
Matoohan - I love where you are goin with this - I just think you need to keep goin. Spend some time bringing out the head and body and they will be eating out of your hand.
Maxrlx - hahaha i love your imagination. All i can say is that the fog in the top third looks out of place and could be integrated a bit more (hard to do with water vapour).
Anthis - I picked yours hands down. love your design, your execution your style. He doesn't feel like hes a fast beast though, but thats why hes developed this ability right ;).
Ian The Geek - Jousting chocobo in your face! I Like it. Liek I said earlier your piece would benefit from a more dynamic pose.
NickTrip - I like the action (I would try to mask out the arm when applying blur as i can see where where you applied the effect (on the rocks in between the spikes) Nice compositional elements.
Lightmode - This one is hard to read but i like its potential. I would turn down the moon and some of the white highlights and apply only where needed. Play with sillouette and try a 3/4 pose as I think you'll get more out of it.
SiSwe - Thats ruthless man! Like the creach, but yeah the bird feels rushed. One of my favs.
JSun - nice render on the sonic boom! Cyborg birds of death comin at ya. I would say that the most detail should be placed where you want the viewer to look to give some visual heirarchy booooost.
Lancer - I like where this guy is headed but he feels like he is 80% finished. Don't give up on him, he rocks too much ass.
Snafu - Beautiful environment...but it seems less time was spent on the creach. Get him up in my face so I dont day dream in that beautiful sky.
Ninety9 - Creeepy lil shit isnt she. Stuff like this is why im scared of the deep water. Keep pluggin away on the detailing and lighting and she's solid gold.

Nice imaginations guys, one love.

-Brandozer

[scorge]

Congrats Anthis! Well deserved star coming your way right now! :D