ChoW 213 :: 8bit Game Character Redesign!

[Martheart]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW_Headerimage/QUEENOFCHOW_logo-1.jpg



ROUND #213:: 8bit Character Redesign Challenge!



DESCRIPTION


8bit Character Redesign



We are going to try something different this week: an assignment brief for a fictional game company!

A very cool and amazing game company has decided to make a sequel of a very old franchise, dating back to the 80’s. They need complete new redesigns for the 8bit characters to make them ready and fitting for the new generation of consoles and graphic power! And they hire YOU to make these redesigns.

They selected ten 8bit characters that need a cool redesign.

Please choose one or more of these and make an awesome new version!

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/211-220/8bitchallenge/8bitcharacters.jpg

Cantaurman – Megaman 6
Firebrand – Gargoyles Quest
Barry – Resident Evil Gaiden
Black Mage – Final Fantasy
Gorgon – Castlevania 3
Splash Woman – Megaman 9
Yama – Digital Devil Story
Cellica – Fire Emblem Gaiden
(thanks to sprites-resource.com for these images)

Keep in mind the following:

- Be creative, since new technology gives character designs almost no boundaries!
- BUT the character must be recognizable as the original 8bit one. (think of similar colors, shapes etc)
- Try to create your own original design, not simply something you saw on the internet. This is a real challenge for concept artists, so go for it!

Good Luck!


PLEASE NOTE THE RULES AND THE DEADLINE TIME

---------------------------------------------------------
DEADLINE:
SUNDAY, September 12th, 2010


Deadline is Sunday, at 9:00 pm (GMT +1).


---------------------------------------------------------
THE RULES
If you do not stick to these 6 simple rules, you will not be added to the poll.
---------------------------------------------------------

:right: 1) FOLLOW THE TOPIC.
It's about designing the character of the topic. The environment or side characters are far less important.

:right:2) SHOW AT LEAST ¾ OF YOUR DESIGN.
This is not an illustration contest, but a design contest. Show your whole design!

:right:3) POST YOUR FINAL IN THE FINALS THREAD.

:right:4) INCLUDE WIPS WITH YOUR FINAL.
Show your work in progress and post (links to) this in the finals thread!

:right:5) SAVE YOUR FILES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT. Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oblio.jpg" ;)
No final.jpgs please!


:right:6) 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).



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. Icemoon and Arthemis IX 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!

[ArtByManon]

I take it you mean sunday september the 12th.... ;)

[HolyMane]

not taht i' sure i'l enter once but... can we enter 2 times

[Darsy]

Who-hooo Black mage!! Sounds Fun! ;)

[blackrobin]

this is super cool

[zepheenia]

Ohhhhh! How exciting!

[bluki]

no Commander Keen? :(...... but I'll try to choose...

[John McKenna]

I had to go with Yama, as she was the only character from a game I had never heard of.

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[M!CK]

I might try the gorgon or yama :) havnt played castlevania 3 or heard of Digital Devil Story tho :p

[sketchibo]

Black mage!!! Yesss!!!

[BANDD]

quick sketch...
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x148/bpdeakin/e6cc223c.jpg

[JR McGee]

awesome topic ^_^

i'm definitely jumping in this.

[hemlock-key]

Fun time...Black Mage or Celicia...

[shockowaffel]

It would help, if I knew any of these. ^^

[Crysse]

Sketch of sketch… Try with Gorgon.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4103/4963929274_e28ff551d9_z.jpg

[reginanegra]

fun stuff! sketchibo amazing as always! thats one cool black mage!

[Amberthyst]

Not entirely sure if I'll be able to follow through on this one (I certainly haven't before), but this topic sounds like fun and I could use some practice.

I figure Black Mage will be rather popular, so I think I'm going to try and step a bit outside of my comfort zone and try redesigning Gorgon.

Sketched up an idea over the course of the day, and threw down some colors to start with before I pass out. I would love to hear any ideas/comments as to where I might want to take it, trying to learn!

[LORD M]

Vivi Ornitier from Final Fantasy IX got the best Black Mage design ever, but I will give it a shot anyways! :)

I think this will be a really popular CHOW.

[Lady Chestnut]

@LORD M: Totally agree XD

Very cool theme! I'll try to come up with something :D

And even when I fear a LOT of people will choose the black mage as a victim, I don't think I'll be able to resist and do it as well, anyway...

[JanJager]

Amberthyst
Good Perhaps put some more light on him to define the shapes and get some nice highlights.
Crysse
I like the composition and the character. Looking forward to see it finished.
BANDD
Good sketch
sketchibo
Lovely pose.
John McKenna
Looking good
shockowaffel
I don't know any of them either.
Going for this Cellica seems fun to draw.

[Crysse]

Janjager > …simply great ! Now, i'm waiting impatiently the final !

[zepheenia]

It was a hard decision between Gorgon or Splash Woman, but a robot mermaid was just too hard to resist. I'm hoping colour will make her look more like her original....

http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr155/smeiklej/robotmer.jpg

[ArtByManon]

Oh i didn't realise she was a robot... I was thinking of doing her too but if she's a robot (i was only going by the tiny pictures as i don't konw anything about these characters!), wonder if it would matter if she wasn't a robot!?

[Martheart]

ArtbyManon: You can make her a non-robot character if you like as long as she is inspired by the sprite! Basically you are free to do whatever you want with the character as long as you stay true to the sprite.

We do not require that you know the game, just interpret the sprite and do it justice :)

[zepheenia]

@ArtbyManon - I had no idea she was a robot either, I was looking on the net to have a little read about her and found it out...decided to run with it :)

[Veshkau]

Genuinely great assignment - more like this please :)

[ArtByManon]

Awesome to hear it Arthemis!! and sepheenia, your robot mermaid looks wicked so far.

[Martheart]

not taht i' sure i'l enter once but... can we enter 2 times

You can make as many characters as you want, but put them together in one final drawing. This because you cannot enter with more than one piece in the poll.

[Pixeltuner]

Black Mage = Orko from He-Man :)
Fun topic, bit too obscure characters though for the most part and not very varied.. I'd rather pick a main character (which essentially sells the game) like Simon Belmont, the guy from Ghould 'n Ghosts, the dude from Impossible Mission, or even Turrican (yeah that was 16-bit already)

[seungy]

Quite interesting.. due to the fact that there's a varied range of options to choose from!

[ArtByManon]

Splash woman - such a rubbish name for a character!!

WIP

[UCT]

what did centaurman do? what was his power, did he shoot things from this hands or just charge at megaman?

[Martheart]

@ Pixeltuner: Yeah it might've been fun too to select the more famous characters, but we deliberately picked the more obscure characters so you wouldn't get too influenced by all the redesigns already going around on the internet :P We even wanted to make our own 8bit characters for you to redesign. I'm excited to see what kind of cool designs people can come up with with only these simple characters to go on :)

@UCT: In Mega Man 6 he's equipped with an arm cannon on his right arm whose shot spreads on impact, and his Centaur Flash has space distortion abilities, allowing him to temporarily halt time.

! But, you can also think of your own attacks, you dont have to be true to his original attacks.

[Lady Chestnut]

Well. here's my first wip for the Black Mage. Both Orko and the FF versions were my absolute fave iconic characters when I was a little girl, so I'm obligued to do it XD

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Remember how cute they were those black mages, with their little daggers...? 8D

And now, some comments:
Sketchibo: That's one awesome sketch O__o Can't wait to see it finished!
Amberthyst: It' s looking good! But I have the feeling that the frame is cutting the figure too much. Maybe trying not to cut out the wings and the bow, and showing a bit more of the tail...
Zepheenia: Way to go, you splash woman is looking great! Love that robotic tail :)

[Pixeltuner]

@ Pixeltuner: Yeah it might've been fun too to select the more famous characters, but we deliberately picked the more obscure characters so you wouldn't get too influenced by all the redesigns already going around on the internet :P We even wanted to make our own 8bit characters for you to redesign. I'm excited to see what kind of cool designs people can come up with with only these simple characters to go on :)

Yeah I get the reasons behind them, but the fact that they're secondary characters from more obscure games doesn't always make them really iconic or even really good designs, so it will be harder to pick out certain design traits and translate them to the modern generation. But, that's the challenge of course :)

[dkiearth]

Great topic i was thinking to go for Barry but then i remembered that is not originally from a 8bit game but from a psx1 game and after the remake of resident evil one for gamecube, there a thousands detailed pictures of him on the net so not much fun.so i will probably go with Celicia.

[UCT]

low res

[~baxter]

Great topic i was thinking to go for Barry but then i remembered that is not originally from a 8bit game but from a psx1 game and after the remake of resident evil one for gamecube, there a thousands detailed pictures of him on the net so not much fun.so i will probably go with Celicia.

Same here. I was thinking about doing Barry as well, but it would just be an alternate costume at most lest it be a completely different character face-wise.

Thinking about doing Black mage, but we'll see how my wacom will treat me. Might end up sitting this one out. :/

[dkiearth]

my version of celicia so far

[psychosako]

So my guess is that we're not redesigning them, but just drawing them in our style?

[Elissimo]

Neat topic! I decided on Splash Woman. I want to keep the roundness in her design. I don't like her helmet though so I made it more tentacle-y/cleopatra-y.

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[ArtbyWard]

So my guess is that we're not redesigning them, but just drawing them in our style?

Feel free to redesign! Make the character your own, not just by style.

[Suneater]

I went for Yama, because I thought the idae of the game was cool. Trying to give her a bit more personality, as the 8bit version is just a nekkid lady with a goat's head and legs.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii147/patrickkod/chow212copy.jpg

[psychosako]

pencils for a Gorgon and Black Mage are down. I'll scan them probably tonight.

Wow,Suneater. I'm loving what you have down so far. <3

[hemlock-key]

So far I'm getting...cute. This could be a problem. Perhaps just a slight re-working...

[Carnifex]

gorgon.
the flowy,ornate box art kept kreeping into my mind.
crits? comments?

[Dave_]

Damn you, this CHOW and the Last Teen Challenge at the same time, as well as first year of uni.

Q_Q

[Pixeltuner]

Celiciaaaaa :)

[kazerniel]

Here's my first WIP, I'm going with Splash Woman. I want to keep it as curvy and woman-ish (pin-up style) as I can, I may refine the pose some more.

[Psychotime]

I'mma keep an eye out to see how you guys will do Firebrand.

[John McKenna]

Did a color-rough. gotta run to work, I'll try to do some crits when I get home. Lots of cool stuff this round!

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[Penpoint]

black mage.
hard to think of a redesign.
he's pretty perfect in 8bits

[zepheenia]

ArtbyManon - I agree, Splash Woman may be one of the worst named characters ever haha. I really like the feel of your piece so far, she definitely seems like she'd be a major boss of a game - nice and powerful!
Elissimo - I love that helmet design, it's feminine and yet actually looks like it would protect her haha.
Carnifex - so, so awesome. I can't wait to see the details fleshed out more!

[Thélema]

Pixeltuner very good work with your Celicia. Maybe she needs to be a little more muscled? Just a point.
Zepheenia your lineart is just awesome! I cant wait to see it coloured

Well I'm going to do some Black Mages. I guess I'll upload the WIP tomorrow ^^

[Axazel]

Hello all! Everything is looking great - I'll comment in more depth later.

I wasn't able to finish last week, so here I am again for sure.
Guess who?
http://i55.tinypic.com/10mvvyv.jpg

[Elissimo]

I kept going with sketches and tried starting with the face this time, I think it looks better.

Thanks zepheenia I'm looking forward to seeing yours finished!!

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[Axazel]

Can only comment on a few cause I start classes again in the morning! I'll try to get to more tomorrow.

Kazerneal – For a more dynamic pose, you may want to bend her body into more dramatic angles. It will give your composition movement and energy!
this http://i54.tinypic.com/142bspz.jpg is more dynamic than this http://i56.tinypic.com/2hg76ev.jpg

Pixeltuner – beautiful colors. She feels so solid.

Carnifex – The design work is admirable! A little anatomy thing is that his right (the back) arm doesn’t appear to be connected to the torso because it separates at the armpit too far up. Holy cow on detail. Keep up the good work!

Hemlock_key – Things that make what you have adorable is the dot mouth, big eyes and round hands. Also, things with beefed out staffs tent to look badass even if they are cute!

Suneater – Such an interesting face. I really enjoy the direction that you are taking.

UCT – Yeah! Go Centaurman! Haha. After looking through your sketchbook I am excited to see the finished product.

Lady Chestnut – This whole concept is rockin. I want to compliment on so many parts of this. Great staff and torso! Are the sleeve ends supposed to be different?

Zepheenia – Such great line work – soo clean! Everything looks fleshed out save for the staff with is 2D at the bottom. I’m assuming that color will change that! Can’t wait!

[zepheenia]

Elissimo - LOVE the updated pose! I really wanted to have her pointing the trident at the viewer in mine but couldn't make the perspective work haha! I love this new one, can't wait to see more of it!

Axazel - loving your design, I take my hat off to absolutely anyone that can make a horse's anatomy work. Look forward to more!

[Penpoint]

lil' more
now to embellish, clean, embellish.
got to fix that book hand! having a hard time with reference...errr!

[Lady Chestnut]

One quick question! In the Black Mage design... can I make both the male and female versions? In the same picture, of course :) (I say it because if I were to redesign it for a modern remake, they would...well, look quite different XD And since you could choose the gender in a few FFs...)

[bluki]

This is my take on Black Mage, in terms of art direction my favorite is FFXII and FFTA2, the character design is so full of details, so I try to adapt that approach while still maintain it's original 8-bit silhouette, so I still give him the robe and adding more details on his body.

[Martheart]

One quick question! In the Black Mage design... can I make both the male and female versions? In the same picture, of course :) (I say it because if I were to redesign it for a modern remake, they would...well, look quite different XD And since you could choose the gender in a few FFs...)

Yeah sure! Would be quite interesting to see the difference between the male and female black mages :)

[Martheart]

Made some designs for Celicia (Cellica? Her name is spelled different everywhere!). Don't know which one is best? The third one is the closest to the sprite, but I think I like the first one better.

[hemlock-key]

Arthemis I like the first one's legs best, but the torso of the third...

[ArtByManon]

Artemis I like the first one best too...

[ArtByManon]

Next stage...

[silentkitty]

So happy to see an SMT game up there :D I have to go with the Yama, of course.

[sketchibo]

Urg. Looks like I'm going to have a really busy week. Probably won't finish again.:(

[jlafuente]

Here's my first draft; picked Centaurman. Still has a lot of work ahead but advices would be nice (: Thanks.

[Carnifex]

working on clean lines...this will take quite some time...
axazel - hey thanks alot! didn't notice.

[lancer_idenoure]

i dont think ill really have time to do anything for this, but if i do, can we pick another 8-bit character if we include the original in our final? or do we have to stick with those?

[Axazel]

working on clean lines...this will take quite some time...
axazel - hey thanks alot! didn't notice.

Glad I can help! The clean lineart is looking great so far~

[Nev87]

things have calmed down and now i have nothing but time on my hands. and just in time this is an AWESOME topic.

i chose splash woman for 2 reasons.
1) there is far to much interest in black mage
2) i wanted to paint robots and not cloth :)

comments, complaints? i wanna catch the bad stuff early so i can actually get a decent painting this time.

[Autumn_Elder]

Here are some of the roughs for Black Mage I've been toying with. I love the concept that the character's moral compass is between evil and atrociously evil. He's meant to be one ugly guy, one look upon his face will drive you mad, so I've been toying with the idea he's trying to compensate with style... creepy evil style.

This is a great topic! Its cool seeing how people interpret these characters. Good luck all!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zl5m5vZKMns/TIZhxKe7ewI/AAAAAAAAACU/h-4TmfeACPo/s1600/Black_Mage.jpg

[Nev87]

autumn elder - really like the one on the right in the middle of the page. think it stays truest to the black mage design but gives it a bit of an attitude that plainly says "i want to blow up your face"

[shockowaffel]

@Carnifex:
Dont spent too much time just for the lines and try some more poses, I would say.
A lot of these details are nice but can hardly some. When you start with details, the rest should be all right.

@jlafuente:
Nice metal look. Work out a center of attention and maybe rework the breast a bit, it looks somehow twisted to me. All other parts are shiny and plain, only his breastplate not.

@Sketchibo:
Too bad, i'd like to see this one finished, but if you dont have time, better choose a simple style.

@silentkitty
How about using a reference for the head ?

@ArtByManon:
Looks great and promising, but Im worried about the center of attention.
It should propably be her face or upper torso, but with her stick shining like that, it's a bit hard. Maybe it would be better if the light would be closer to her face.

@Arthemis IX
The knees of the first one look a bit strange, but her pose is the best.
I also like no1's armor, but not her free lower half.
To me it's a kinda cheap way of drawing attention, plus I cannot take it serious as an armor if she runs around in her panties.

[dwinbotp]

I am not going to mention how many times my Black Mage failed to cast a Fireball at the right time before the spell finally fizzles into crap. I love the character, Good time to make it look cooler than usual, or I'll try anyway. I will excitingly expect everyone's take on these timeless characters, to be FUN :D

my spellcaster so far!

[Autumn_Elder]

@Nev87 Thank you, I believe thats the first time the line "blow up your face' invoked joy ^.^... actually blowing up many things brings me joy... I mean... uhoh!

Just so I'm sure do you mean the one on the far right middle row, or the one in the very middle. Cause I think both could blow up my face... I'm pretty sure I'm going to dream about that.

[FalyneVarger]

This sounds like fun! I've never entered one of these before and I just might have to make this my first.

[Nev87]

I might work on it later today but i need to get away from it for a few hours. Comments?
suppose after i post ill get some word in on the first 3 pages :)

[Suneater]

Guess this is pretty much as far as I'll go with the lines. Colouring's up tommorow. Let me know what you think, I've gotta run now but I'll try to throw in some crits tommorow.

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii147/patrickkod/CHOW212copy-1.jpg

[shockowaffel]

@Nev87:
Pay attention to the composition. The picture swings drastically to the left side.
Try to compensate that, for example by adding more space left and taking some right, or by another pose.

@Suneater:
I like it. Just from looking I would say, that maybe the arms and/or legs are a little bit short, but I could be wrong.

[Feil Magnus]

Lots of cool black mages that's nice.
I'm going with firebrand as gargoyle's quest was my first GameBoy game, it brings back cool memories :)

[Nev87]

Dwinbotp - badass BLM, reminds me of the Black Waltz characters from 9
Autumn Elder - from top left to bottom right it would be #6.
carnifex - looking great so far :) lots of little details, just make sure before the details go in you have all your shapes exactly where you want them. that bow and arrow is looking a little wimpy for such a big creature, more importantly it looks like such an awkward angle but maybe its just me :/
Jlafuente - loving this so far. keep going :D
sketchibo - aww, work is work i suppose but i really hope you can finish this one :)
silentkitty - great form, love the volcano(i hope thats a volcano:/)
artbymanon - currently the character feels lost to me. swirly background overlay + light source/ focal point being so far away from the character i suppose. will she be mechanized? currently reading as just a mermaid and not splash woman.
arthemis xi - #3s face and hair and armor with #1s pose, boots and pauldrons perhaps?
bluki - great pose, love all the little things that make it feel like final fantasy :)
pinpointte - loving your style :D fitting for the black mage
elissimo - looks and feels like splash woman
axazel - now that is how you do a robot centaur for a video game :D
john mckenna - feels like its lacking something. its very docile for something that has to capture my imagination for a character. is yama a good guy bad guy? i know nothing about her. nows your chance to teach me through your artwork. figure out what characteristics make yama, yama and than figure out how to translate that.
kazerneal - agreeing with axazel. john mckenna you can use this too
pixeltuner - love the palette. pose doesnt seem a little stiff to you?
suneater - wooo go for it! give her personality :D
dkiearth - who doesnt love a fiery redhead with a giant sword :D though picture that thing on your back. if it was coming forward so much on the bottom she wouldnt be able to grab it from her back. :/ i seem to be having a hard time saying w/e it is im saying
UCT - hmmmn :/ very modern and fluorescent. not reading much character from it.
lady chestnut - this made me lawl. lets see what you do with it :)
zepheenia - you sure did raise the bar to those of us working on splash woman. thought about just starting a different one :D cant wait to see it in color.
janjager - she scares me :/ its the face.....if i had dreams of that face id wake up screaming.
amberthyst - nice start :)
crysse - nice sketch. lets see where you take us
bannd - hard to make out the rest but the face sure is interesting. reminds me of scarecrow from batman

lots of splash woman, yamas, black mages, celecia and gorgons. what about the other 3 :D

[kazerniel]

Axazel and Nev87: thanks very much for the help! :)

Arthemis IX: I like the outfit of the 2nd and the 3rd, but imo the 1st has the best pose

[Nev87]

shackowaffle - little better? i took away the 8-bit picture cause i didnt need it in there if we are discussing composition. also idk if that was the entire canvas that you were seeing as i used the snipping tool to grab a portion of my screen. did as you suggested anyways :)

Kazerniel - it was mostly axazel :P she said it first but i figured it could do with redirecting in case you missed it :)

[Thélema]

As I promised, here are my WIP's, a pair of lovely black mages :3

[FalyneVarger]

My initial sketch for Cecilla. Done on my 6x9 writing tablet so I kind of ran out of room. She will most likely be full body in the final.

[ENNEX]

Redesigning Yama

Still working on that other giant hand >_> I have redone it...so many times.

[FalyneVarger]

ENNEX
It looks like the problem you are having with the hand is that you are drawing it facing down. I would try to make it mirror the other one personally so that the palm is facing towards her hip.
The way it is now (or what I can see of it) just seems a little awkward.

[FalyneVarger]

Working more things out in this sketch. I see a few problems with her anatomy I'm gonna have to iron out in photoshop. My paper won't take anymore erasing. D;

[Eric Young]

I haven't done a CHOW in a while! This one seems so fun. I'm going to at least do the Black Mage. Here is my first sketch, this isn't my final pose or design, just some sketching to generate some ideas.

[Quinn Simoes]

Cool topic!

Really nice concepts from everyone so far!

Here's my work in progress for Firebrand...

[zepheenia]

Thelema - Your colouring style is beautiful, it's somehow crisp and loose all at once, can't wait to see more!
Nev87 - Thanks so much, that's very kind! I'd better get those colours down! Look forward to seeing everyone's takes on Splash Woman :D

[Tigipuff422]

missed the Yuki-onna CHoW so i'm tryin to redeem myself with this one... I <3 gamings ^^

[FalyneVarger]

Now onto the final rendering! Meaning this is my last post for the day.

[Veshkau]

Just had time to try and get the pose together. Will certainly need some reworking and the face is definitely not staying. Going for a sort of swinging motion in the sword->arm->arm->leg->leg to add a bit of action. Any feedback would be lovely like cake < 3

[vineris]

Now onto the final rendering! Meaning this is my last post for the day.

The lack of feet on this pic give it that "I ran out of paper!" feel.

[FalyneVarger]

The lack of feet on this pic give it that "I ran out of paper!" feel.

That's exactly what happened! lol
I might extend it more in photoshop if I have time, but this is it for now.

[Lady Chestnut]

Pffffff, lots of awesome people making awesome black mages. My self confidence is going on holidaaaay...

New wip! Lineart for the mage guy is done, and the sketch for the woman is hopefully ready as well. What do you think?

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Axazel: Thank you very much! Yes, the sleeves are supposed to end different - the hand that holds the knife needs to move fast and without the burden of the loong sleeve :) (or maybe sometimes you just don't want the knife to be seen... Then you switch sides XD)
Sketchibo: That is looking so kickass - I really wish you can finish it!
Veshkau: I like some aspects of that pose. The torso is looking cool, but the legs make me think about a more "fighting stance" pose. A bit like the classical Kill Bill one, where the arms go like this -> http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_iVF7RBst0h0/R1TnwNHL8MI/AAAAAAAAASM/eCIfLAjAkmU/s1600-R/kill-bill2_1024.jpg (bad reference, I know, sorry). Be generous with the swinging motion as well :)
FalyneVarger: I love those colours! And the pose is cool too, but I see something rather strange in her right leg. Like if the lower leg is too prominent (sorry, I don't know how to express it well), or too twisted in relationship to the other. Dunno, maybe it'll be solved when you add the feet, but be careful on that part!
Quinn Simoes: Wow, that's looking great already. I could eat those tones of red for breakfast! XDD
The Original [E]: Love it with a bit of a fangirlish passion XD Great pencil work! Can't wait to see it finished.
Thélema: Veeeeery cool! I don't think it needs a lot more before calling it finished. They make such a well looking pair!

[Noah7]

There's alot of people working on this one! Here's what I have so far. any tips?

Yama, King of the Dead, according to it's myth, actually looks nothing like the sabbatical goat, but I'll try and ignore that.

[sony]

I wish i could pull some time for this

nice going everyone
The Orignal [E]: I think the right arm seems too short especially the forearm, the gesture seems stiff may be slight angle in shoulder line could do help. like the sketch.
Quinn Simoes: Oh! I loved the color essence of 8bit design, nice choices.

[M!CK]

Heres where im at. Just found out that centaur-man is in fact a robot :p

So im gonna add some vents and wires etc - is it a big deal if he is not 100% robot?

[ArtbyWard]

Heres where im at. Just found out that centaur-man is in fact a robot :p

So im gonna add some vents and wires etc - is it a big deal if he is not 100% robot?

He doesn't have to be a robot :). You are free to interpret the sprite in your own way.

[Elissimo]

Ugh I realised her arm/trident was totally unrealistic.. have to change it.

1058989

[zepheenia]

Flat colours with a start to shading.... sigh digital painting is something I really struggle with, it always looks so flat and boring. Any crits and suggestions are very much appreciated!

http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr155/smeiklej/robotmerwip1.jpg

Elissimo - she is looking absolutely incredible! I should just bow out now hahaha

[silentkitty]

Moving along, I should actually be able to finish this week, huzzah.

Some great entries this week, looking forward to seeing the finished products! :asspat:

[Yeti Ball]

Here is a sketch I did for Celicia. This one is sticking as close as possible to the sprite, but I may redesign her armor. Let me know what yall think!
1058994

here is an update... I'm not super happy about this so far, but would like to work it up. Suggestions?
1059024

[Crysse]

In progress ;)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/4970872286_02eecaefce_b.jpg

[bluki]

I have to miss this CHOW apparently, got to leave town until the end of the week, anyway this is my WIP, I'll continue later for my personal portfolio

[ArtByManon]

[B]@ArtByManon:
Looks great and promising, but Im worried about the center of attention.
It should propably be her face or upper torso, but with her stick shining like that, it's a bit hard. Maybe it would be better if the light would be closer to her face.

.

Thank you - yeah, I feel i need to maybe change the angle a little or bring the trident closer to her face.

Also, as Nev87 said - at the moment its just a mermaid - and i've been told she doesn't have to be a mech mermaid...so i wasn't going to make her that way! I am an artist before im' a concept artist, so i do tend to get carried away with the whole image and not just the character. Maybe i'll try one which suits me better. Not sure!

[Feil Magnus]

Moar wip.

[Ephelea]

Nice work so far. Black mage <3 awesome character.

[RichLyons]

Cool topic! Cheers Arthemis.
Great entries so far. I went with Celicia, trying to design a character that looks as though she would have great physical strength. Using mma star Gina Carano for body ref and will try to take some elements from Madmen's Joan for head ref.. Such a great show go watch it now if haven't seen it. Anyhoo here is my first wip, still playing with costume.
Cheers Rich

[Carnifex]

thanks for the crits guys. changed the arms alittle,enlarged the bow,drew some more. things left: hair,snake body, background.
then it's on to colours.

[hemlock-key]

I'm much happier now. Less cute, more creepy.

[Thélema]

Falyne Varger: Looks really cool and manga-styled! Really good anatomy too.
Veshkau: I like her face a lot. I mean, how can you guys do such impressive sketches? It's awesome O_O
Lady Chestnut: Thank you so much! Your black mages couple looks great too. Can't wait to see it painted!
Elissimo: That's a quite beautiful face :3 but I suppose her fish tail should be longer, to make her look more femenine and majestic...
Bluki: Your black mages kinda looks like it was drawn by Amano, it's simply great! Keep the good work


At least! here's my final...

[Dustoff-ex]

I had to go with the black mage his simple design stands out from most of final fantasy's characters design still W.I.P
first post ever here hope to become more active all this is overwhelmingly fun XD.

http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt157/Shirouinu/Chow213_Dustoff-EX.jpg

[psychosako]

Dunno how much sugar i'm going to pour over these this week, since i've got a ton of other stuff to work on, and the awesome work i'm seeing so far is a little discouraging, but hey, i'll try to throw something out there. I was going for the "Less is more, we'll put details in the highlights" tactic. Any similarity of my black mage to anyone else's is purely coincidental: it's a variant of a costume i made when i was in highschool.

I was hoping to work on some dynamic lighting, but now i'm afraid i've overdone it.

1059251

Will add detailwork the next few days if i can manage to find time. Critique welcome.

[ZenzybaR]

This is maybe gonna be my entry sorta. I'm taking inspiration from the Vanquish game and trying to load things onto her Final Fantasy style. I've restarted about 10 times since monday so i'm sticking with this.

[hemlock-key]

Still working I think.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/251/2/6/black_mage___again_by_alice_time-d2yaxsi.jpg

[blackrobin]

A loose sketch, must...resist...drawing a Lulu for a black mage

[sethpargin]

this is my first ChoW, and i have a feeling these are outside the guidelines...
if so, i'll just finish on my own time.

anyway, here are a couple rough sketches for the black mage. one is sort of an asian/mayan(?)-inspired design, and the other is voodoo-inspired. any feedback is welcome. thanks.

[Eric Young]

more process on my final. I'll post my sketches and thumbnails soon

[Ephelea]

this is my first ChoW, and i have a feeling these are outside the guidelines...
if so, i'll just finish on my own time.

anyway, here are a couple rough sketches for the black mage. one is sort of an asian/mayan(?)-inspired design, and the other is voodoo-inspired. any feedback is welcome. thanks.

I think your asian inspired one is more successful. It's more recognizable.

[prepsage]

militarized centaurman


1059617

been painting it while sick so prob mussed up some things...

edit:updated a bit...

Lots of nice characters started!

[Nightblue]

Centaurman vs Splash Woman.

Out of town but cannot pass on such a good topic. So here goes the crappy tablet PC scrawling.

[Ruri]

Here's the beginnings of my Black Mage. He might end up fighting another sprite, still not sure.

[Darsy]

prepsage - awesomeness! can't really see anything wrong with it
zepheenia - I like your concept yeah, but you can still make her left hand look better ;)

crysse - really want to see that one


This is what I've been doing so far, I'm showing it because I'd like some advice about the colors:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/Darsy/blk-wip.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/Darsy/blk-pen.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/Darsy/blk-paint.jpg

I'm really liking this ChoW You're all making great stuff, keep it on!

[hemlock-key]

Darsy Wow...those are bright colors. Almost scintillating on this computer screen. I like that red and dark blue, but I'm not sold on that pale teal color.

[Kuutamo]

Yama. I got this strong horror-game feel from her, so I decided to run with it.

I really suck at making sketches that can be understood by others. I'll probably sketch this in pencil and go back to Photoshop for colouring. I'd love to finish this, I like the concept, but it might be more than I can chew. We'll see!

stock credit for the model photos: Marcus Ranum (http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/)

[hoshicat]

haven't been on in a long time... haven't drawn in forever either.... second doodle for Splash Woman. :) Never played the game, so just going off the sprite.

[sketchibo]

Found a little time today so I put in some work on mine.

[BANDD]

black mage gone wrong...????

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x148/bpdeakin/6d03aa42.jpg

[Angelsway257]

So i wanted to follow the basic composition and posture of the tiny pic. Here she is! A hot bombshell in grayscale!! Can't wait to color. Anyway, any criticism is welcome.

[BANDD]

mmmm no to sure about it......
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x148/bpdeakin/f6159676.jpg

[Eric Young]

further development, everyones pieces are coming along great, should be an awesome round

[Kezhi]

Decided on Celicia, sword in thumbnail got abit out of hand so went with simpler design for now.

[Kuutamo]

@Kezhi: Minor nitpick - shouldn't her right foot point outwards as she runs? Seems like the current position doesn't have much stability.

[prepsage]

Bluki: Wish you could find the time to finish. It's coming out real well. Love the ornamented gear.

darsy: I really like the sketches, but the colored rough is hurting my eyes right now. Maybe try starting from greyscale and doing color overlays?

[andreas_V]

First sketches for Celicia, still trying to decide where to go with that.Comments welcome.
Many good works already, will post comments later

[Carnifex]

darsy, the lines are fine, but you're using far too many saturated colours next to each other.
http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm
that's a page with basic colour combos(further down), i suggest you go mainly with a combo of desaturated blue, darker red, and strong yellow. lose the turquoise blue and purple.

[Carnifex]

finished lineart. on to colour!
edit: thanks suneater! fixed the tail. still checking the snakes. their position on his head is meant to be there,so i'm not quite sure how to fix the flatness.

[Ephelea]

This is what I've been doing so far, I'm showing it because I'd like some advice about the colors:
!

Darsy, some awesome line work and concepts. I love the feel of both of them. Way to step it up :D

However, I agree. The colors are too much. Google Vivi and some of the other black mages from the final fantasy series. They use really muted colors. You can still make this a gorgeous piece without the gaudy use of colors.

[Suneater]

Alrighty, crits first. (I only critted on page 5, because with this kinf of turnout there's no way I could do them all, sorry)

Carnifex: I like how it turned out, especially the details on the armour. A few minor bits of mewling though: I take it you intend to have has body wrapped around the rock, but right now the tip of the tail suggest that his body bends just beyond the frame, and that the coils around the rock belong to a different creature. You could fix this by curving the frame-facing end of the tail's tip downwards instead of upwards (hope that made sense). Furthermore, the snakes coming from under the crown lack depth at their base. Placing them a tad further back on the head should work. Hope that helps >.o

andreas V: I would say 1, but the hood/cape-thingy on 3 is cool too. Don't know if you will just take one of these and work them up, but if so you should use a reference for anatomy, it just looks off right now. Good Luck!

Kezhi: besides the bit Kuutamo already pointed out I've got nothing to whine about here, though, the over-the-top sword does look awesome imo.

The Original [E]: I like how you handled the lighting, it works great! However, to me the boot looks a little off.

BANDD: If you ask me, he could do with being a bit skinnier. Don't give up ;)

Angelsway257: Oohw, bombshell :). Her left leg, right to the viewer, looks like its bending inwards too much, also, if she is holding that sword in her hand, it should be lower than that.

sketchibo: Great stuff. 'nuff said.

hoshicat: I'm curious to see what you'll make of this, but its not far enough along yet for me to have any significant comment ;).

Kuutamo: When you work that up its gonna look spooky! Here's hoping you can finish!

Darsy: Several other people already pointed out the bright colours. The design looks cool, though.

Ruri: I'm sorry but I don't really see a black mage in it yet. Maybe I'll just wait until you start colouring.

Nightblue: I really want to see this one finished.

prepsage: nothing wrong with this to my eyes. Nice take on the character.

sethpargin: I think the asian one is the coolest. Imo, you should push the guidelines as far as you want and go with what looks cool. Making the poll is secondary to that ;)

blackrobin: Is he separated though the midsection?

ZenzybaR: After those awesome game screens I wanna see what you'll do with this ;). Pay attention to her neck/shoulder area though, it looks a little crooked. Flipping the image should reveal this.

As for me, I didn't really like the pose in the earlier lineart I posted, so I made a new one. Here's where I'm at now. C&C would be much appreciatred ^.^.

P.S.: I hope I didn't go too overboard with redesigning?

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii147/patrickkod/CHOW212prev3.jpg

[Lady Chestnut]

Quick update before going out - I'll write some critiques this night :) Great entries, everyone!

1059721

Lines are done, plain colours will go next. I guess I got a bit too excited designing the woman's wand in Alchemy... Meh XD What do you think?

[RichLyons]

other wip, will try for another back front.

[Quinn Simoes]

Quick update for my Firebrand design.

Everyone's designs are looking really cool!

[IvanChristian]

My sketch of Celicia. Hopefully I will have to time to finish it off. Comments welcome.

[FalyneVarger]

andreas_V, I don't think that the third one really looks like the sprite at all. Cecillia (or however you spell her name) is a swordsman, not a mage. It's a fine design by itself, but not for this character. I would choose one of the others to work up for her.

[dwinbotp]

BOOM!

[TaraFkri]

Heres a Wip of my mage ^^

Edit: hawt damn. sorry, about the page strecher, scaled the image down a bit

[Soultek]

Not sure if i'll have time to finish this one or not. i hope that i do. But anyway, here is a sketch of where i'm at so far. I decided to go with celicia(sp?)

http://a.imageshack.us/img838/8152/chow213004.jpg (http://img838.imageshack.us/i/chow213004.jpg/)

[Ruri]

Everything's looking pretty great.

sketchibo: Awesome pose and lighting.

BANDD: I think the version without the heavy shadow looks better. You probably shouldn't use lined paper.

Quinn Simoes: Badass, as always. :asspat:

Here's the finished pencils, ready for colour.

[John McKenna]

Not really sure what else I can do to this...

1059892

[Darsy]

hemlock-key: yeah you bet, my bad XD
prepsage: definetly! I'm changing them now ; )
Carnifex: This is really helpful thanks a lot for the link, it's very good I had never thought of color in that way. Giving some good colors to the charachter it's the hardest part, after that I can have some rest XD.
Ephelea:Yes you're right, Vivi doesn't kill anyone with his color brightness hahah, I'll fix it thanks
Suneater:same thing thanks! I think you can fix the right arm as to the deltoid muscles and the hand
Lady Chestnut : Those two look cooley
BANDD: Some folds study will help you get a better shape of the blackmage. Although we can feel some form because of the light source coming from his hands, you can still work it better. Watch his feet too, I think they need some perspective, and yeah keep it up
Quinn Simoes : Wow!

thank you all for the advices, I figured a new design to stick with, I'll show it later )))

[psychosako]

Been doing more impressionist type stuff this week, and i think it infected my chow entry. :/


1059945



I'll probably continue to add details and refine them over the next couple days, but i don't think i'm going to do much more to this unless i get some critique. Otherwise, it's staying the way it is.

Also, i apologize to the mods if there are multiple posts or multiple picture uploads. Everything is fighting me today for some reason.

[corspufo]

Hey guys, I haven't done a CHOW in a very long time and wanted to join in on this one. Feedback is welcome and crits are very much invited.

Bluki: your pose and details are really cool.

Ellisimo: I really hope you finish yours. The way the face is painted is done very well.

Carnifex: The detail on your work is really cool, but for some reason the nose is really bothering me. Seems a little too masculine, but that's just my opinion.

Prepsage: super frickin cool.

Angelsway: hot chix rulz. I hope you finish it in time.

Dwinbotp: I really like it. though is the energy lightning looks like it's behind his hat than in front of him.

[Afekay]

Started Barry (not the most interesting character, but none did him).
Designed him as a mix of a commando member and a survivalist. I'll add blood and FX later.

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/9878/barry02.jpg

[smokenmirrors]

i saw the horns on centaurman and immediately envisioned some daemonic centaur getting ride to rip and ride.... i realize it wouldnt quite go in sync with the mega man universe but seems like this is somewhat of a cross over of the previous mega man chow w/ the fantasy twist.... so missed that one, but not this one. :P

[Carnifex]

darsy - glad to help. i'm often struggling with colour myself.
corspufo - the idea is that you can't really tell whether it's a female or male character,thus the nose. :)

got some more stuff to work on,but i wanted to get general feedback about the colours. i think it's abit too kitschy,but i wanted to get in some colours from the original sprite,thus the pink shirt f.ex.

[Soultek]

Awesome work so far everyone! I will try and give some crits and comments as soon as possible. So much already submitted it's hard to draw and keep up!

here is a little sketch update on my linework.

http://a.imageshack.us/img844/1408/chow213007.jpg (http://img844.imageshack.us/i/chow213007.jpg/)

[FalyneVarger]

Everyone's entries look great so far!

This was a fun first chow. Definitely a challenge to redesign a character from an 8-bit sprite from a game I never played! lol

[Ruri]

Rough colour.

[Amberthyst]

Wow, been keeping an eye on this thread and I'm astonished at all the amazing works! Lots of very cool-looking Black Mages, and kudos to the guys who are giving the other sprites some love :)

Thanks to all who gave me some helpful tips and feedback! I made the image a bit larger so that I could show more of the character, and started painting away. My concerns now are:

-The bow. I've designed weapons before, but I've painted myself into a corner with the shape. I'm thinking of adding some sort of magical effect and runes/symbols (perhaps based on some of the character's attacks?), but I'm not sure.
-Messy image/background layer troubles. I've completed paintings before and come across this problem, but I've never really learned how to fix it. I want to change the background so that the character doesn't fade into the background, but the layer that I used for the color has been painted over. Is there some sort of technique for painting on top of all the layers to change something that's in the background? Not entirely sure I'm describing it properly.

[Eric Young]

still need some more work, add some more details

[Ephelea]

JohnMcKenna: Wonderful depiction, but I don't see anything new - or different at all.
All of the people who chose Yama, did the same character. I don't see a new take on it.

[jrbarker]

The Black Mage has been redesigned quite a bit by Square. He appeared in FF 9 and beyond. It's hard to compete with their designs.
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100818231824/finalfantasy/images/2/2d/Vivi_Ornitier_character.jpg

[Thélema]

Jrbarker: wow! Nice entry! xDDD

[Penpoint]

wow!
didnt check the thread for a day and BAM!
so many good entries.
Heres mine from a day ago. hope to finish him off tonight
not so sure about the magic hole of whatever under him... like the light, but its feeling a bit contrived.. thoughts?

@dwinbotp: niiiiiiiiccceee!!

[hemlock-key]

Amberthyst I tend to play with the opacity of the layers covering the background when I run into that, but the layers all have to be separate to do that. Your other option (if the background and foreground elements are on one layer now) is to simply paint around it like you would with traditional media. You could also try a color overlay on top of the background layer to alter the tone or do a gradient and play with the opacity to darken/lighten the background. I don't know what program your using so I can't be more specific.

[Lady Chestnut]

COLOUR TEST GO! Comments and critiques are very welcome :)

1060107

Dwinbotp: Wow wow, that's one kickass entry O___o Love the cape, and the detail of the striped socks XD Is it the final image?
TaraFkri: Cool pose, I loke the design of the leg armor. I could use a spell somewhere tho... Maybe showing a bit of the rear hand, with a start of a fireball on its end... Dunno!
Soultek: The face part is looking awesome. But that's a difficult pose! Watch out her left hand... It seems to me that the thumb should be visible, and the wrist is a bit too prominent on the exterior side. Also, isn't her left leg a bit too stiff, with too straight lines? Or is it an armor?
FalyneVarger: Lovely piece - I specially like the hair and the face!
Ruri: That's a curious redesign XD Love the cartoony scent that it has!
The Original [E]: I like those colours! But watch out the foot... It looks a bit to twisted outwards to look natural.
John McKenna: Cool colouring as well- Love the upper part, but I think you should work out more the legs. Maybe looking at some reference can help you out...
Psychosako: Nice! I don't think it needs much more before calling it finished. But I miss a little more of variation tone on the background. Too much red, it makes the eye a bit bored...
Corspufo: Love the idea of a robotic black mage! But the shape of the hat is definetly missing. I'd better eliminate the shoulder adds, and put the hat just like in the first sketch.
Afekay: Yaay, I'm glad to see that Barry finally gets some love! And you portrayed him nicely, I like the soft colouring. Can't wait to see it finished!
Smokenmirrors: Nice idea - Can't give much advice here, but I like how you did the horse legs :)
Carnifex: Well, the red+purple combo always sells me XD Yes, maybe it's a bit kitschy, but I like it!
Amberthyst: Cool entry! But yes, you definetly should change the bg in order to make the figure stand out from it. Well, if you have troubles painting the bg and want to paint it on top... Why can't you simply make a new layer on top of everything and paint on it? If it's for the borders of the figure, you can try masking the layer with the outline of the figure (select it, and then press the "mask" button). Is this what you mean, or I didn't get it correctly?
(edit: wait, I automatically assumed you have Photoshop XD Which program are you using?)

[Yeti Ball]

Smokenmirrors in your sketch it looks as if the "human" section of the body meets the "horse" at a strange angle. As it stands now, it seems like the human part has been rotated 90 or 180 degrees from how it "should" be, as if the human part is "sideways".
Maybe this is your intent, part of the concept, but I think it would look more correct if the two halves of the body shared the same spine, so to speak.
I don't know if this is clear but you seem like a smart person so I think you should be able to grasp what I'm talking about.

[Nev87]

didn't work on this yesterday and didn't do a whole lot today. but im chipping away at it. tell me what you think so far. this is usually the part where things start happening that are apparently beyond my notice or control

[Amberthyst]

hemlock-key Okay, I might try some of that. I know about the painting over everything technique, I just wasn't sure if there was some sort of trick to it, 'cause my previous attempts at it weren't very successful. I'll have to mess with it until I get it right, I guess.

Lady Chestnut Yeah, that's pretty much what I wanted to know. I want to try the paint-over, but have had trouble with it in the past. I'm using Photoshop CS3, so using a mask isn't a problem. I'll have to try that.

Thanks to both for the help!

[ZenzybaR]

Update. My work flow is slooooow and tedious.
I'm going for part cyberised. I don't think we have to keep them in the context of their original game i think i can get away with it.

Can anyone point out any major problems with it. I haven't got anyone around to critique it and a W.I.P thread at this point seems pointless.

[BANDD]

WOW great stuff all around!!! and i'm amazed at the amount of support and crits going around X)) !!!
I guess it's my turn to give back a bit... sorry if i miss someone...
dwinbotp: nice!!!! that's one black mage i want in my party!!!! i like the whole normal size you gave it, looks really badazz!!!
TaraFkri: sweet!! hope to see the final version, nice pose.
Soultek: really cool design, and pose, please do finish her up ;)
Ruri: very cool, minimal and simple
John McKenna: i'd go a bit darker and creepier...
psychosako: you can def tell an impresionist sraight foward vibe going on...
corspufo: the colors get muddy and make it a bit hard to make out, nice design.
Afekay: classical!! nicely done, a few harder shadows, like a two tone could pop it out a bit.
smokenmirrors: as said above, the attachment is a bit off, there's no body fluid body movent... not sure if that is well said...
Carnifex: more color on her skin could help
FalyneVarger:Nice design and pose, you've stretched it to the limit and well done. I'd work on the color blending, it looks too blury in some places.
The Original [E]: Nice work!!! hope to see fianl version!!!
Lady Chestnut: you'er line work was great and the pose and design really appealing but the colors aren't doing it... they're too blurry.
prepsage: respect for tech!!!!
Darsy: as said before, colors not helping out. otherwise it's a great job.
andreas V: I'd go for 2... i like girls shourlders, makes them slick... ;P go figure...

can't post much more now, at work doing this ;P shhhh son't say a word... tha't why i might have lines on my papers, i'm recycling them.

here's my take on another pose and angle. I get pertty bored with them quickly...

AWESOME WORK EVERYONE!!!

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x148/bpdeakin/76c74b5d.jpg

[Noah7]

I'm almost done; I'll just go over it tomorrow a little bit.

[ZenzybaR]

This is what i have so far. Need to sleep for work but hopefully i can have it done by the deadline.

[Eric Young]

Thanks for the critiques guys, they really helped. I think I solved the boot issue.

[PxelSlayer]

Took a shot at Yama. Industrial design is haaaard...*____________* Not sure if I`ll finish it, I have a bunch of gowns and dresses to draw :3 *lol*

Edit- colors, colors, colors...I really wish I have started this one sooner :/

[popwilleatitse1f]

Wow these are all really great. I wish I wasn't so buried in work right now so I could try my hand at a redeisgn or two. Get idea for ChoW. hope there is more like this in the future. Great work everyone!

[JR McGee]

was only able to do som quick sketches on company docs at work lol. i'll try to get down to business this saturday....

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/253/3/9/mage_re_amp_by_jr_mcgee-d2yewm0.jpg

[UCT]

I did this ages ago, Im trying to figure out a different pose so I can include a gun arm whilst using this kinda design.

Quinn Simons - ACE! every week...

[Martheart]

FINALS THREAD IS UP (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=196305)!

Don't forget to post (links to) your WIPS there as well :D

[Carnifex]

amberthyst - you want a layer mask.

[jlafuente]

Another wip. Got to work on the composition and shapes too--

Thanks on the suggestions on my last wip. Feedbacks always welcome!

[Tawnos]

Wow PxelSlayer, that thing is crazy!
Awesome work.

I like the colors, too :)

[Maizter]

The first step on my ViVi!
This is the first time i upload somthing here on conseptart.

[Afekay]

Still WIP, I'm not sure I'll have enough time to finish it.
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/6794/barry03.jpg

[Maizter]

This is in the progress...

[Maizter]

little bit further

[matias]

I sorta decided to see if I could do a future-ish black mage, mainly sticking ti Vivi's costuming as blackmage ref as well. Not sure about it, got carried away and dont know if its really recognizable as a black mage next to the 8bit character, not sure if the pointy head reads but oh well I'll finish it and see if its acceptable.

[Maizter]

I put in some final touch and now its dune, Enjoy.
The Game Assembly Rules!

[Carnifex]

maizter - i actually think it works better without the moon. also,you have to put your name onto the final piece (and it's chow,not crow,as in character of (the) week ;) ).

[BANDD]

i'll leave it here... still lots of fun and i learned lots, i'm just a noob with color, always trying to get drawing perfect first... great work all around!!!!!

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x148/bpdeakin/BlackMage1.jpg

[Carnifex]

wohoo! thank you, colour balance layers! this is more like it.
i feel like it's the new break of some epic dawn. "let's go hunt some humans."
think i'm gonna call it final,except if i overlooked something?

[Ruri]

matias: I think he needs the hat.

Getting there now with mine.

[kazerniel]

My 2nd Wip. Tried to create a more feminine pose and started shading as well. I don't know if I'll have the time to finish it until the deadline :/

[mythril_golem]

cool works so far and so many black mages, too many? idk, anyway here's a wip from me to further saturate this pool.

[Kezhi]

thx Kuutamo and Suneater for the bit about the balance, and going back to original design for sword although getting the perspective for it has been a bit of a challenge

[hemlock-key]

I've decided to go in a different direction...

[Obilex]

joining the masses

[hemlock-key]

Changed the arm. Fairly certain this is the final.

http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/253/3/9/black_mage_v_3_by_alice_time-d2ygkec.jpg

[Nev87]

worked on the face and part of one arm, and the helmut and a little bit more of the tail. not quiet as much as i wanted to accomplish today. i guess one big final push tomorrow. comments?

[artfulshrapnel]

I went with what seems to be the more popular of the choices, Black Mage. Pencil drawing, don't know how much time I'll have to finish him up properly, but I really wanted to start getting back into weekly practice of some kind and my people need more work than anything else. ;)

In my mind, the mage's face was always a physical object that made it black or dark. Either he was some sort of creature with jet black light absorbing skin, or he was wearing some kind of magical mask.

[Soultek]

Just a little update. Still have a ways yet to go.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1397/chow213011copy.jpg (http://img215.imageshack.us/i/chow213011copy.jpg/)

[Dolleater87]

Starting of to say that here are some wicked creations here,
I'm amezed every time I get in here and look! :D
Here is my first attempt on the CHOW,
the black mage was my choice so enjoy!
still not finished thou, but it's comming up! :bashful:


^____^

[sethpargin]

got some values and color temperatures going.

[Astrobiology]

Soultek - Oh man, the texture on this!!!! Wow, would I love to learn about your techniques.

[Homerid]

Nice topic, there are some great designs already, lots of Black Mages :P
I chose to go with Firebrand, brings back memories from Ghouls n' Ghosts.

[Ruri]

Thanks for the comments!

'Lil update.

[Nightblue]

Got home, have cintiq and good monitor back... now trying to get this piece together.

Centaurman vs Splash Woman.

[vatteh]

Here's My WIP. Hopefully the anatomy right this time.

[Pixeltuner]

Ditched my Celicia for a Firebrand :) Big brutish Gargoyles ftw!

[Elissimo]

zepheenia: Thanks :3 but... you better finish yours!!

Thélema: Thanks for the feedback. I chose not to lengthen the tail because by the time I read that it was a bit late to change.. and elegant wasn't exactly what I was going for. I kinda like it short.. makes it look like she might be a brat to compensate for her stubby tail looks hehe. PS: Your entry looks great, I love the colours!

Corspufo: Thank you, I finished it but it was hard to get the same kind of feel into the rest of the body : / D'oh!
Interesting character design you're working on! Maybe more variation in the temperature of the shadows (eg warmer shadows on the blue areas) will help?

Wow there are lots of really well done pieces here.. awesome.

1060969

[prepsage]

looking sweet nightblue. hope you finish!

[Lady Chestnut]

Homerid, love that Firebrand! O_O Can't wait to see the finished version.
Elissimo, yours is looking sweet too... apart from the figure -which is awesome-, love the 8 bit background XD

Working hard on my entry, final wip to be posted later. Good job, everyone!

[Senira]

I've been busy all week, so I'll try and do this challenge tonight. I chose Splash Woman for the character, though I'll probably have to scrap this version. I got so caught up in the rendering that I forgot I was trying to use my CHOW pieces in my portfolio, so they've all got to have the same look. I'll restart this one in my flatter, more graphic style.
1061031

New sketch. My idea is that when she's mad, the eyes on her squid helmet roll around in their sockets and her jewel starts flashing, followed shortly by her blowing up like a puffer fish and attacking with the trident. I've never played mega man, so I don't know what she actually does in the game.

1061076

[Carnifex]

let me be the first to say that HOLEEE SHIT that's gonna be one helluva tough round to chose a favourite.
i'm damn impressed with the finals,which,given the standard of this site,is saying quite a lot.
pat yourself on the back, guys n' gals.

[Brushcommander]

I totally agree, Carnifex

[Darsy]

let me be the first to say that HOLEEE SHIT that's gonna be one helluva tough round to chose a favourite.
i'm damn impressed with the finals,which,given the standard of this site,is saying quite a lot.
pat yourself on the back, guys n' gals.

Yeah you bet I amazed with so much talent, I can't wait to see them finished tomorrow, I still think there will be a lot of surprises here! Give it all you got people!

[Ruri]

Hell of a round guys, hell of a round. :yayca:

Nightblue: Great fight scene, and Centaurman looks like a boss from Doom!

Senira: I like the shape of the character, hope you can finish in time.

Here's where I'm at, I think he's done. I would like to hear any last minute crits if anyone's got the time, though.

[artfulshrapnel]

An update with colors and the start of rendering. Not sure where I'm taking this one exactly, but I'm having fun with the lighting and materials.

Pose is pretty dull, but I got in late and wanted to shoot for something I could actually finish. Hoping to get started at the beginning next week and actually keep up with this stuff. :)

[vatteh]

Yeah I think I'm pretty much done. The Ian Mccaig Tutorial on Ocean Light (http://iainmccaig.blogspot.com/2010/08/ocean-light.html) was very helpful.

[sketchibo]

Awesome entries everywhere!
Managed to finish mine.

[t_rAt]

Sketch:
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/9311/wip2s.jpg

References:
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2604/references.jpg

Final:
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_2DyHMWjBGjc/TIwuXoC9u8I/AAAAAAAAApM/gR9cTVDb5Rc/CHOW_213_t_rAt.jpg

[Blitz]

I didn't get much time until today to do anything. This is my first Chow, and I really wanted to show the Final Fantasy Black Mage some love.
Its been a while since ive done anything even this finished. Trying to get myself back into art again.

This good enough? I would like to add more color but I have to get going and I won't be around tomorrow.

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2790/blackmagesketches.jpg

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8158/blackmagechow213.jpg

[Nightblue]

Ended up finishing it after furniture shopping :)

Seeing some awesomeness happening here. Really want to write feedbacks but I gotta run... Sorry for the bailing out.

Here's what I ended up with:

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1061212&stc=1&d=1284258802

[MasterTroglodyte]

This is as far as I've come in a few hours; this is probably as far as I'll go for the time being. Great round, everybody!

-M

[artfulshrapnel]

Here's where I got at the end of tonight, with a couple detail shots of areas that I think may have got a bit over-rendered for the final format/size.

Great round everyone, definitely inspired me to get back into this. Hopefully I'll be able to get started earlier and actually contribute more next time. :)

[Soultek]

Another update. Still has a little more work to go and need to add some background elements if i get the chance.

Astrobiology - Thanks for the compliment. I'm still trying to get the hang of coloring in photoshop. I usually use textures and put them on different layers and vary the type of layer, such as multiply and such. I then erase and go in and add a little of my own effects to it and then keep painting more layers on it. Hope that helps a bit.

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5904/chow213014.jpg (http://img201.imageshack.us/i/chow213014.jpg/)

[RichLyons]

there are some great ideas in this thread, looking forward to seeing finals!
Here is my last post.

[Dolleater87]

RichLyons: that is some wicked work!
loving the chainmail. :D

[Katanasoul]

Hey everyone, reaaally awesome round! So many good entrys! :D
I tried to do Splash Woman, don´t know the series, but thought it would be fun anyway.

1061513

[aline]

Soultek: love it... my fav!

[Homerid]

update

almost there

[ArtbyWard]

I couldnt finish mine, so here's how far I've got with my jellyfish powered Splashwoman.

I did manage to learn how to add :medusachow: icons to chow winners names though, so from chow 200 and up I've updated the userprofiles. PM me if there is something wrong, or if I've missed you :)

[Martheart]

Couldn't finish either :)