C.o.w. #191 arctic war beast. Voting!

[(lark]

C.O.W. #191 ARCTIC WAR BEAST_Voting!

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ROUND #191 VOTING

Topic: ARCTIC WAR BEAST


Deadline for the voting: oct 27th (9pm PST)

Posting thread (closed): http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=198692 WIPS THREAD #

[Loathsome]

Artist: Loathsome - Conny Nordlund
Concept: Snowhopper

[lkjhgfdsa]

Artist: lkjhgfdsa

Concept: Balenor
On the frozen world of Brassmoneki, seventy leagues to the north of the almost pleasant yet slightly frozen equator, two tribes of pseudo-humans vai for territory. While it has taken several years, one tribe has managed to train a large carnivore of the tundra - the Balenor- to work with them in driving their more civilized neighbours from the habitable region that they have claimed as their own.
Thankfully, the Balenor are a mostly solitary creature, their training would be near impossible otherwise...

[SaintLConcept]

Artist: Art4All

Concept: Ashgarr
Ashgarr, so they are called, a vicious breed that has both speed and strenght to devour any beast they encounter. some even say their claws are strong enough to rip mountains. raised and trained by the askhainu clan they are used for gruesome wars, endless wars against the viskhnu clan. cold blooded as ice, strong as blizzard, together they are feared as the ashgarr riders.

[Lemmingwing]

Artist: Lemmingwing
Concept: SiMo(Simius Mortuum)

Ladies and gentlemen,
let me introduce to you the creature that will help us conquer the arctic lands of this earth.
This new species can resist incredible pain, endure freezing temperatures and once their set loose, nothing can stop them.
we will drop them into areas populated by the enemy and they will clear the whole area.
After that we just have to find a way to dispose od these ''arctic apes''.
Ladies and Gentlemen I give you
the Simius Mortuum or SiMo.
http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq36/Lemmingwing/arcticmonkey-1.jpg

[Lodin]

Artist : Lodin
Concept : Beliant

We have lost contact with the ZK-410 Planet since many centuries. The settlers must living in a hard situation without the energy they have lost for a long time. Searching some rare ressources, they entered in many conflicts what are separate the colony in some tribe. With the rare livestock, the best ressource, Beliants became a strategic ressource. females are large and with a driving, these beast become some war machines. Males will be some local specialties : Big Beliant menu with or without potatoes.

[Fallenangel]

Artist: FallenAngel

Concept: Ledokol

Ledokol's name origins in the russian language- it means "the ice breaker".
Usually a peaceful creature that prefers to hide in snow than fight, however when it becomes infected with the "ice virus" as it called by the natives it becomes more and more insane.
It grows huge spike like horns and weird shapes and slowly begins to cover with an ice like armor, that is proven to be as hard as a diamond.
Some native tribes use these huge diseased beasts as tanks to attack their enemies- there is nothing that can stop an outraged Ledokol in battle.

[tmyohlaing]

Artist: tmyohlaing

Concept: Blaska-dayohoo


Only two tribes survived in the world living in Arctic after the 2012 doom day. They didn’t get along each other as kept fighting war. Darozo tribe, found a frozen egg in somewhere in Arctic and made it warm enough that later hatched the strongest beast of all time. As they used the beast, to crack and crash the Jungora tribe’s home and bases, it used its horn like things on top and bottom of his head to charge whatever it was ordered. Its iron like thick skin made it able to live in Arctic. Nothing could beat this war beast yet.

[Si_Swe]

Artist: Si Swe

Concept: Umalo


The Clans Belias and Kutlaan have been at war for decades. A trade dispute gone bad, turned into a territory dispute when Clan Belias discovered the other's rich natural resources in the form of a Thermite deposit in the Aluathan mountains. When small skirmishes of scouting parties turned to full scale war, both sides began to use the fauna of their harsh cold environment. Most impressive of which were the crested behemoths known as the Umalo. Being the largest breed of crested wuyg, they were fearsome in full frontal charges, their heavy bone crests tearing through the snowstorms and their large bone horns tearing through fleshier substances. It is said that the long, mournful moan of an Umalo will bring fear into the hearts of the brave and pee into the pants the less brave.

To identify their own beasts in the often blinding snowstorms, Clans Belias and Kutlaan painted their beasts with designs. Belias' can often be idenified for using large cresting and swirling patterns in deep blue colours. Kutlaan's can often be identified for gold and orange phallic symbols along their beasts' sides and crests.

[sozo]

Artist: sozo

Concept: Gromut
The Gromut was bred for war. It's a ferocious creature whose only intent is to kill and strike fear into its enemies' hearts. They are very loyal to the Whitachi tribe, who is the only tribe that knows the secrets to training them, going so far as to continue fighting to the death even after a rider has died.

[Lege1]

Artist: LEGE1
Concept: Meltalacor


In the frigid battle grounds of Freznoria two militant clans battle one another for territorial claims over the ice covered land. There are two clans; the Rumborians, in the East, and the Heatoras to the West. Typically the Heatoras pull off fire orientated attacks on the more peaceful Rumborians sporting red war uniforms and various weaponary. After years of the Rumborians trying to negotiate a peace treaty with the Heatoras under propositions of dividing the land equally, the Rumborians have grown fed up with the Heatoras and have decided to unleash their best kept secret..........the Meltalacor.

The Meltalacor is a highly intelligent serpentine like beast that can breath fire and with stand the frigid temperatures of Freznoria with its leather like skin and its internal temperate adapting system. The Meltalacor also has bone like plates and protrusions from the top of its head and side of its neck that absorb sunlight which stores as energy and keeps the creature warm. Meltalacor has fin-like arms that can be used for swimming and like ice picks to climb with. The Meltalacor is rider friendly and can be verbally commanded only by the Rumborians. :yayca:

[porcupine]

Artist: porcupine

Concept: Tar'val
On a frozen planet far away, two feuding clans train the native animals into weapons of war.
The animals commonly known as Tar'val are about as aggressive as they are dumb but they do react to colors and so the clans use war paint so that the beasts know who is friend or foe.

[haekel]

Artist: Haekel

Concept: SharkyBear
Big meany bear, usually fead on arctic sharks.
Only nostril pain can help to control them, a little. But it also make them angry, so beware...*



Here is mine. No more time to do some war paints (and no great idea to make it, also :D)

* sorry my english sucks.

[ninety9]

Artist: ninety

Concept: arctic war beast


When the arctic war beast is unleashed it will not stop until it is dead or there is no enemy blood and flesh left to spill and crush.
These massive creatures are the pride of the 3 arctic tribes in the northern region of blakkshryk.
One beast weighs 100 men and so the tribe who has the most talented tamers and therefor the most beasts will rule the region.
But only the tribe´s elders know that there is one instant of time where it will be wise not to wage war
- when the artic war beast is searching for a mate during its rutting season - none of the tamers will have control over the creature and if it is no longer bound in its chains
that bind it throughout the everlasting winter it will not make out enemy and master
but will crush an stamp whatever stands in its way into freedom.

[Toastage]

Artist: Toastage

Concept: Arctic Frost Wyrm

Vast legions have journeyed to the home of the demon and met their end in the frozen deserts. The heavens part and she gloats her victory to the gods. Beckoning them to battle.

1085742

[scorge]

Artist: Scorge

Concept: Grantian Annihilator
For eons, the Ka tribes of the north and the Nua tribes of the east have battled for territory, there epic clashes each more elaborate than the last. Each tribe prides themselves on their living weapons, their beasts of burden used to tip the balance in their ongoing war on this icy planet.
Here we see a Ka beast trainer out hunting his Freenok wolves, his black furs blowing in the wind. Freenoks are a vicious and aggressive beast used to seek out and hunt both game and enemy alike. But unfortunately for this proud warrior, he has let down his guard and a troop of Grantian Annihilators, ridden only by the most courageous and daring of the Nua tribesmen has managed to ambush him and his still young pets. Grantian Annihilators are considered to be the most prized of the warbeasts on this vast arctic tundra, and the Nua tribes proudly mark their monstrous mounts, sending fear through the veins of their enemies.

As if their size wasn't enough to do the job.

[Sunseaker]

Artist: Sunseaker

Concept: Duka

These large mammals are sightless and hunt the icy wastes using infrared and smell. This means they are excellent at finding settlements and people hidden in caves in the ice, as well as being good guards at night. They dont like getting their thick fur messed up, especially not with sticky war paint, much to their riders dismay. Their riders have however been able to coax them to walk through a shallow pit of paint before patrols, which is a lot easier than trying to placate a pissed off one. Their teeth, horns and claws are often augmented with metal casing to increase the damage they do and protect them in battle.

[JanJager]

Artist: JanJager

Concept: Mustela nivalis arctica
They came with the polar light.

[Arbinn]

Artist: Arbinn

Concept: Arctic Pummeler


Nothing beats mother's love. Not even entire tribes. Arctic pummelers are naturally docile creatures that are used as war beasts with the help of their cubs, which are catapulted into the enemy camp. Seeing their offspring in danger drives the mothers into a mindless rage and makes them attack.

[hunchback]

Artist: Hunchback

Concept: Arctic Raiding Hounds, "Rarghour" ( i suck at names :( )

so my idea was that the villagers would have modified and bred raiding dogs for quick attacks on the enemy and for supporting the main force and causing terrror! they travel in large packs of 30- 40. The metal casing protects there brains and makes them harder to kill.

[Veshkau]

Artist: Veshkau

Concept: Arctic War Beast


Single rider killing machine. Fur to protect from the cold, exoskeletal plates to deflect snowdrift and protect from physical attack.

[phizpietl]

Artist: phizpietl

Concept: Arctic Warbeast


1085932

Phil Lietz
www.phillietz.blogspot.com

[Freha]

Artist: Freha

Concept: Grug


The Grug started out as a simple carnivorous beast of the planet Mur. When the natives of the planet began feuding over the scarce resources, they looked for animals that they could give them the upper hand in battle. The Grug if raised from birth with a particular clan will view only those people as part of it's pack, honing in on the opposite clan in battle. They are very effective in battle but males will often get distracted battling other males instead of trying to wipe out the other clan. New comers to a clan should keep their distance from these beasts... or risk being killed.

[Homerid]

Artist: Homerid

Concept: Glakh

The Glakh are a deadly and unpredictable predator species that lives in the frozen tundras of Ghoren. The Arak tribes train them as weapons for war, using them for combat and scouting; the Begh tribes, on the other side, fear and admire this creatures with incredible respect. The Arak use the blood of their rivals to mark their beasts, but only when the Glakh allows them.

[jrbarker]

Artist: J.R. Barker

Concept: Breaker Whale
The Breaker Whale is commanded only by a single rider. This arctic sea mammal has been trained for two main uses. The first is to use it's horned head to break through ice. This allows water passage for other war beasts, ships and transports. It's other main function is to ram and destroy other creatures and enemy ships. This ability is similar in function and purpose as the ancient Greek trireme.

[m8y]

Artist: m8y

Concept: The Great Beast

The great beast dominates the battlefield by sheer resilience of conventional weaponry and tactics. Its main uses are battlefield command and as a platform for ranged units bearing high-powered muskets, impractical to be carried on foot. It can also be modified with various siege weaponry, including cannons and trebuchets.

The main threat facing the occupants of the carriage is not the enemy but the beast itself. Unintelligent and at times unpredictable the beast is known to occasionally rear and swipe at the enemy causing chaos for its crew.

nb: Only just became aware of the rules about equipment etc. If the piece doesn't make it to poll, I won't be overly upset as I've had a great time creating it. ;)
1085966

[(lark]

Artist: (lark

Concept: King Ferros (and rider)


Living on the icy planet of Thesia 3, The king Ferros is a species that has evolved from smaller ferret-like rodents into large highly dangerous beasts capable of dealing immense damage in battle.

The 2 main human tribes of Thesia 3, have resorted to taming these creatures for use in warfare against each other. they've done this in an effort to control the limited resources of the planet by eliminating each other. over the years these battles have turned from a need for resources, into a bitter blood feud.

The king Ferros will only trust one rider their entire lives,and the rider must have very close contact with it from the moment its born to gain this trust. Before battle, the riders paint individualized war paint on their beast to intimidate their opponents. You will notice the painted rings around the tail. These are to signify how many king Ferros' that particular beast has slain in battle. The king Ferros understands this, and will brandish their tail to taunt the hated enemy before a fight.

1086000

[a la bapsi]

Artist: a la bapsi

Concept: Arctic War Beast
The clans of our snow planet worked hard to tame and domesticate these beasts,
not only for their heavy build, large tusks, and value for transport as well as a weapon
in a collective charge toward the enemy, but for its loyalty to the warrior it chooses to
obey, which mirrors the warrior's loyalty to his clan he serves.

The color of the war paint helps identify the clan, while the markings identify the tamer.

Those near a beast that is not their own are advised to avoid making eye contact or
standing directly in front of them. Doing so would upset it, or worse, excite any others
nearby and cause a stampede.
1086004

[lancer_idenoure]

Artist: lancer_idenoure

Concept: Greater K'ahlou
On the frozen planet of Hyrion IV, the only civilization consists of several relatively primitive warring tribes fighting over the scarce resources that exist on the global ice shelves. The Hyrions have domesticated a few of the planet's lifeforms as pack animals and for use in battle. But the most fearsome of these creatures is the Greater K'ahlou. With some of the larger males exceeding heights of twenty-one feet when standing, the Greater K'ahlou is the largest land predator on Hyrion IV. It is naturally equipped with three-inch claws on all six of its paws as well as two pairs of horns on its head. Those combined with its uncanny swiftness for its size and its excellent sight from its dual pairs of eyes make the Greater K'ahlou one of the most frightening things one will ever witness.
It is rare that these creatures are captured, and even rarer still to see them tamed. Attempts to do so often result in deaths and damage to villages, but once tamed, the Greater K'ahlou makes for an unrivaled asset in battle. If you happen to come across one, run.

[Devilfruit]

Artist Potbelly
Concept: Clan of the "Three Fire Moon", "Arcion".This Beast called an "Arcion" is the Mount used by the "Clan of Three Fire Moon".
Being that ice is thicker on this planet this clan use at as armor on many of there mounts causing alot of dammage to ground troops,
there four eyes help in snow blizzards, they will alternate getting best vision possible.

[Kasteyrn]

Artist: Kasteyrn

Concept: Hammer Head Wush-Ah
This beastie is designed for life on cold planets. It has a thick orange plasma running through its body that keeps it warm. Because of this and its aggressive nature, the local warring tribes have decided to use it as a beast of war.

[(lark]

ok polls up!

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my first round. thanks for making it awesome!

I'm gonna wait to vote because there is simply too many awesome entries and there is, imho, not a clear winner.

seeya guys in the next round!

[hunchback]

i voted for bapsi.

the creature itself is excellent. it has enough familiarity to help me connect with it but also has a spice to it. I think the human in front could have been placed in perspectuve though :P

sweet stuff guys :D

[phizpietl]

lots of good entries everyone! well done :)

Phil Lietz
www.phillietz.blogspot.com

[Si_Swe]

Okay wow! It has not taken me this long to write crits in a quite a while. I love having 30+ entries in here but writing crits for everyone is exhausting. I had to deliberate for a long time on this one. I've thanks'd my top picks, but there are a whole whack of amazing entries this round. Truly wicked!

Loathsome - I like the warped perspective that’s giving the bounding sense of movement. I feel like more time could have been spent really getting that movement across (snow flying etc). I also feel like everything could have just used one more coat of polish, The foreground characters have a lot of personality, but they feel unrefined.
lkjhgfdsa - After one of the longest periods of deliberation I’ve ever had during a COW round I decided to vote for your entry. I liked the sense of scale, the great details. The mood of the piece, the attitude of the creature and the cheeky application of “war paint”. My only complaint would be that the four eyes look a little bit less natural than they should. They feel like they aren’t quite sunken enough so they look a little bit like I’m looking at the face cross-eyed if I’m looking real close.
Art4All - You’ve nicely portrayed your creature as a mount. It has a sense of intelligence and yet malevolence. You’ve done a good job making it look like a creature that functions as part of something greater, a unit rather than a solitary creature. That said, some of your forms could be tightened up, the legs look a bit flat and you could push the fur textures further. A good one for sure and I’m looking forward to seeing more frmo you in the future.
Lemmingwing - There is a definite creepy element to your creature. It looks warped, ghoulish and violent. Nevertheless you did two things against the rules: firstly you created a humanoid which is a COW-wide rule that has been in place since it started. Secondly there is no war paint, which was a requirement of the round. You have some anatomical issues with some of the musculature in some areas like where the shoulder meets the torso. Some highlights on the musculature would not go awry to help define their form. You have a solid base here, but in the future please adhere to the COW rules and round-specific requirements.
Lodin - For the most part your creature bears the distinct polish and incredible skill that you present every time you create a creature for this competition. But there is a strange sloppiness to areas like the back leg and the claws. I completely understand that it is unnecessary to fully render every area of the creature, but because it comprises the majority of the latter half of the creature it is more noticed. Perhaps if the foot of the back leg were rendered to a greater degree it would complete the image for me. That said, your image was one of my considerations for a vote, the design and execution is superb and it has some of my favorite war paint application of the bunch. The end of your description made me chuckle...
Fallenangel - I like the evil grin you have on your creature here and it looks like quite the beast. the back leg looks a little awkward to the front legs which are quite well arranged, but the back leg is always harder (I have a lot of trouble with it myself, as you can see in my entry). Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the scantily clad woman riding a beast, particularly in the arctic cold.
tmyohlaing - Overall I thought your design was wicked. It’s built like a tank and I think the design is great. I feel like the face got a little overdone from what I saw in your sketches. It feels almost too cartoon-y next to the rest of the creature. The only other issue I had was that it lacked war paint which was a requirement of the round.
sozo - You were heading awfully close to humanoid territory here, but I think you pulled it off alright. The rendering on most of the creature is great. I feel like the hands look a little awkward, and the fur looks like it received less attention, but it’s an overall really strong and dyanmic piece. It’s headgear, in particular, I thought was quite strong.
Lege1 - You piece had a very classical feel. It was the one piece that dared to say: “Yeah, it’s fucking green in the arctic! What of it?” I find it’s hand a little strange overall, but I think the piece is strong and well composed. Again, I feel that the position of the rider looks a bit awkward, but that’s my only real issue with the piece.
porcupine - Those little painting creatures made me laugh quite a bit. Are they your warring species? I feel this piece isn’t as strong as pieces I’ve seen from you in the recent past. Fur is hard to do, but there is some great advice out there on how to do it well, I can’t remember what round it was (it was in the last 20), but scorge gave a very good description of how to do fur well. The strong point for me is the eye and the personality it generates. Again, the neck seems to a tad thin to support that head. Hope that helps...
haekel - Your creature’s design and execution are fabulous. It strikes me as strange that it’s just sort of out in the cold in the wilderness, but tied up. No war paint is a shame, but the creature looks great and I expect to see more awesome stuff from you in the future.
ninety9 - Your creature was one of my favorites in terms of pure design. With more rendering and less (for lack of a better work) liney-ness I may have voted for it.
Toastage - Your image is strong and has a load of atmosphere, but it lacks detail. This is a creature design competition and you creatures details are entirely obscured by atmosphere.
scorge - Another of my favorites and my a very close runner up to lkjhgfdsa’s piece, for me. I don’t need to tell you, at this point, that I love your rendering style etc. etc. but that’s definitely part of it. Your image brings to mind Max riding on top of the Bull Wild Thing in Where the Wild Things Are which is one of my favorite images of all time (to the point where I have it tattooed on my forearm). Your application of war paint is my other favorite (along with Lodin) this round. I would say frmo your front creature that it looks like it would have trouble walking, but it seems to be doing just fine in the background. Really strong work and I’m really glad to see you busting out your killer work again.
Sunseaker - I can get a sense from design alone, that your creature wold have the excellent sense of smell you described above. The main thing I would say your piece needs to improve is values. They are the base of every good piece. Right now you have lights and a few midtones but no darks. A good piece will have a good distribution of all three, even if some are less present than others.
JanJager - Your work always has a strong sense of atmosphere and a strength in it’s rendering. This piece is no exception and you’ve managed to get the great eerie lighting I’ve seen in your enviros in the past. Like I said before, it resembles pre-existing polecats rather a lot, which isn’t a problem but it would have been nice to distance yourself from them a little more. One problem that is present is a lack of war paint which was a round requirement.
Arbinn - Your creature is fantastic if the rest of the illustration is a bit weak. Your creature has a great sense of fury to it and looks very much like it’s about to crash down on that unfortunate group of people. The legs on your creature feel like a weak point to me, with the abdominal (abdominal snowman.. hehe) region being the strong point. I do wish that those employing it as a weapon were more present, rather than it appearing that an army has stumbled upon a wild colossal creature.
hunchback - Your creature was one a gave great consideration before I voted. I felt it was really strong, nice and painterly and I really liked that you used a smaller creature as opposed to the colossi we have throughout this round. I feel like the legs could have been better defined, particularly the feet and I would have liked to see more evident war paint. I know how you feel about creature names, too.
veshkau - Your minimal use of colour really worked wonders for bringing your piece to life. There are some really excellent textures present and the focal points all feel like they’re given the right amount of attention. The fur felt a little bit too uniform in terms of direction, to me (it should have criss-crossed a bit more) and I always feel like that chain brush never looks as good as we think it does when we first apply it.
phizpietl - This was a really strong drawing. I really like the war paint on the skull helmet. I do wish the creatures eyes and snout were more visible within that though. It feels like the helmet has consumed important details.
Freha - Yours was another I was heavily considering voting for. The creatures themselves are so so strong and the piece was so well executed. The only weakness I can see on the creatures is that the manes could have used a bit more rendering. If the environment and the details of the environment (such as the people) had been given a little more attention I probably would have voted for it.
Homerid - Really good work as always. The pose and the scene are really strong. The enviro feels more rushed than I’m used to with your pieces and I thin kthe fur could have used some tightening up. Overall really strong piece in a really strong round.
jrbarker - I was wondering if anyone was going to make an aquatic artcic war beast. Overall the environment needed more attention than it was given, I think, though. Your creature’s design works and the concept is really cool, but it falls short because of the appearance of the water.
M8y - Despite the rough appearance I saw at first glance, there’s some great detail in your piece. The back carrier piece is amazingly detailed and fantastically rendered. This is a creature design competition, though, and I feel that the creature doesn’t stand up as well as its saddle. I say this because it’s very clear that you have some rendering skill, but it feels like the creature wasn’t given that kind of attention.
(lark - I was really glad when you added that tail. It was a great decision and it added a lot to the composition, to me. The weight distribution seems a lot better now, but that front reaching claw does look a but strange. You seem to have transcended your wobbly-horned problem I mentioned in my last crit, though, they look great. I like the two moons as a concept, but they feel a little polka-dot right now and could have used a bit more attention as far as tonal variation goes.
a la bapsi - Your piece came out of left field for me and it is fantastic. The only thing that prevented me from voting for it outright was that I feel the legs are rather weak in comparison to the rest of the piece’s rather strong rendering and mood.
lancer idenoure - A very well done piece. I think it’s one of the stronger ones you’ve put out in the last little while. The palette is really believable and the creature’s face bears many parallels to cougars and snow leopards which got some points in my books. It’s right fore-leg looks strangely straight and seems to lack the form of the other legs. Very nice piece overall.
potbelly - I can see where you took some of my advice and the problems are reduced but still present. The drop shadow is the real weak point, though, it looks blocky compared the creature and should not be such a similar tone and hue to the creature. The sense of dynamism and ferocity are still very present, but it’s just small rendering issues that bring it down.
kasteyrn - I liked the addition of the bodily plasma. Your creature retains its very present and humorous personality from the drawing you presented originally, but also retained the drawings main issue which was the creature’s center of gravity. The center of gravity, in this case, makes it look less like the creature is lowering it’s head and more that it’s neck can’t lift its head off the ground.

[ninety9]

Loathsome - could work a bit more polishing and due to its kinda comical look it´s kind of hard for me to consider this a war beast in terms of aggressiveness or war-skills.
i like the colours and comp though.

lkjhgfdsa - voted for it, mainly because of the very clever use of the warpaint. the creature itself isn´t the most innovative design in this round, so the warpaint let me choose between my handful of favourites this round.

Art4All - a really good design and the warpaint is fresh as well, although this could as well be the natural pattern of the fur. there could be some more shadows, texture and details that would make it even more awesome.

Lemmingwing - a bit too human-like for my taste. the comical look is executed pretty well though.

Lodin - wow, awesome rendering as usual. u get my vote for having the best custom creaturesheetdesign :D
somehow my eyes stick on the front claw after wandering down the image and there could be more detail/rendering. your concept is strong and was just a close loser to the winner.

Fallenangel - what really makes it stick out from the pool of creatures is that u incorporated elements of ice right into your creature´s body.
definetely one of the most unique designs.

tmyohlaing - looking good but has some anatomy or perspective issues and would profit from some more rendering and lighting.

Si_Swe - the concept is very interesting but i see some problems for the creature in the snowstorms u mention in your description. if the wind blows hard from the sides the "sail" will either slow down the beast, make it unstable or fall.

sozo - very sweet rendering and dynamic piece. some more texturing on certain areas would make this rock even more (thinking of the bandages for example that look a bit flat)

Lege1 - u chose a very unique approach by choosing a dragon-like creature. bonus-points for that :D the rendering looks good.
somehow this creature gives me the feeling that it is a one-of-a-kind and not one of a species. but that´s just my personal impression.

porcupine - made me laugh, in a positive way. bonus-points for making the tamers of the "beast" little furry balls instead of humans :D the rendering fits the comical and cute concept very well.

Haekel - very interesting design. as u mentioned the warpaint is missing but that´s not really a problem. the face is rendered veeery nice.

ninety9/myself - as Si_swe already mentioned i wish i got rid of the strokes and made it more polished but on the one hand i didn´t have any more time for that and on the second hand i just could not. i don´t know why but on some of my pieces i cannot achieve a smooth look. i am either using airbrush and dislike the veeery smooth result that lacks texture or i use hard brushes and cannot make it look more rendered then. it seems to be some either it works or it does not case.

Toastage - although i like the piece a lot for its atmosphere and execution in terms of being a COW-entry i miss details. i cannot really see what the creature/dragon looks like, i cannot see warpaint, i miss a story that explains how and why this creature is a warbeast and who (if) controls it. plus it looks like a one-of-a-kind.

scorge - as always very sweet rendering and very unique personal style. u designed two creatures and some clothes for the people.
very close loser to the winner.

sunseaker - you´re on the right track. keep it up. i like the design of the metal casing wich is a good idea.

JanJager - the artwork looks beautiful. having the beast as draft is a great and unique idea.

Arbinn - as i said earlier you´re getting better from round to round. your creature looks great although i liked the approach from the WIPs a little better.

hunchback - the idea is great but i´d like to the the head/face without the casing.

Veshkau - looking good but the very well executed face stands in some contrast to the obvious strokes on the fur. the color-palette is great and looks very icy.

phizpietl - altough it´s a sketch it looks great BUT it misses a description and i need one because i cannot really see wich parts are external addditions and what is part of the head. it could be some kind of mammoth with extra horns or it could be a polar bear with mammoth-horns attached.

Freha - this was and is probably my favourite design from the sketch-stage on. these beasts look massive and fit the concept+story very well. similar to Si_Swe u just missed having me voting due to the level of details and lkhjfghdttsjajjkaknhhfuzfuieiemmd having such a strong concept for his warpaint.

Homerid - also a good one. i love the pose and can see how useful these mounts will be in such territory. one of my faves.

jrbarker - good idea to have a creature in the water but u cannot imagine it ramming boats and having a rider on the back.

m8y - massive beast that looks good. if u just pushed the rendering a bit further. the seat looks as if it was rendered the most so i assume u just ran out of time. i hope u finish this one.

(lark - creature and scene are looking fine. the hind leg looks a bit strange, as if there´s too much space between it and the body/hip joint.

a la bapsi - a great entry. flawless in terms of execution and technique. i really dig the style.
didn´t vote it because the creature itself isn´t that original itself compared to some others in this round. it "just" looks like a wild boar with a massive bone plate and tushes on its head. hope to see you around more often in COW.

lancer_idenoure - great design (as always when u do cats ;D ) although i feel that the upper horns dont sit right. they look a bit off perspective.

Potbelly - reminds me of he-man´s battle cat. the piece looks good and you´re on the right track. if i imagine the creature without armory it´s some 4 eyed-lion wich isn´t the most original this round but still the piece looks good.

Kasteryn - good idea and i like the background story/concept. what are these red bulbs? is their color connected to the warm liquid inside of the creature u talked about?



Additional note: this is the first time i really wished that we could vote for more than one creature like they do with the "character of the week". this is one of the strongest rounds recently and there were so many great designs and fresh ideas.
good work everyone!

[(lark]

Congrats to lodin, and a la bapsi: on the win! Lodin you're really starting to rack up those stars, and bapsi its cool to see you get your first! Thanks to you guys and everybody else who particapated. Hopefully see you guys in future rounds!