C.O.W. #196 DEATHS FAMILIAR. Wips Thread

[(lark]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/cow/cow.jpg


For more info and details about the rules go here:

http://www.concepyart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=110879


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ROUND #196, deaths familiar

topic:

ROUND#196, deaths familiar

death... the supernatural specter that comes to us all when we die has the daunting task of collecting, and transporting our souls to the afterlife. In this round we'll be designing him a helper.

A familiar traditionally is a creature of sorts that acts as an aid to those with magical ability. Think about what kind of familiar death would have. What job does it do for death? Does it collect animal souls instead of human? Does it take over the job entirely every now and then when death needs a vacation? Or does it serve a required purpose that enables death to carry out his duties? You decide. also don't be afraid to give him more than one, maybe he has a legion of these guys helping him out.

Give death a helping hand, he may be kinder to you when you finally meet him.

for more info on familiars check out the Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Familiar

Deadline:

Dec. 1st 9:00pm PST (GMT -8 )

Finals go here: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?p=2933011#post2933011

[(lark]

hey guys. i posted this topic a few hours early. but the last round is still going as well. so if you have a final you want to turn in on 195. you still have a few hours.

[kayness]

oh sounds awesome!!!

[skullbeast]

f'n sweet!

[Forrest_I]

I'll definitely be entering this :)

[Odayga]

I'm entering this for sure

[a la bapsi]

yeah.

[Jaunay]

An image of death riding a swarm of his helpers to his next victims just popped into my head.

That's an idea... I'm in. :D

[SinnerMan]

I'm IN !!! This theme is wicked sick :D

[Fireburnspaper]

I am morally opposed to the idea of illustrating such a terrible thing.

yeah right. I'm in!

[BiblioFauxbia]

I'm in. Can't wait to see everyone else's ideas.

[ninety9]

cool topic, looking forward to a bunch of cool entries.
although that sounds to me more like an individual creature than a species we have to design ;)

[SailorMooninite]

Yep, in. I am planning to try to post something for every one, even if it's just roughs. No way to get better than to keep drawing! I can be very ambitious then not deliver, but I'm pretty serious about this, so I am going to stick with it!

Sweet topic! I just saw the Young Frankenstein musical and all I can think of is Eigor (pronounced I-Gor) :)

Maybe I go the funny route. A familiar that keeps Death on his toes (if he has any)

Can't wait!

[BiblioFauxbia]

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh18/Aiorn/DeathsFamiliar.jpg

First sketch, idk about the background yet, but I think I've got its basic structure.

[Forrest_I]

Alright, I've got mine sketched out. I'm goin hardcore on this one too since I've got a lot of time.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8394/deathsfamiliar1.png (http://img256.imageshack.us/i/deathsfamiliar1.png/)

[emerging]

holy molly nice topic! i have an idea. As many of us may know Death is often portrayed with a sandclock (a sandclock of life). I want to make it a living organism. The familiar is going to have a sandclock embeded into it's organic body. Tricky to design but i think i can tackle it!

[BiblioFauxbia]

Forrest I - love the design, it's very fearsome.

[ninety9]

awesome emerging, i smell u wanna steal away the win in this round again ;)

[Forrest_I]

Progress...

http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/9238/deathsfamiliar2.png (http://img840.imageshack.us/i/deathsfamiliar2.png/)

[Si_Swe]

Hey guys, I think I'm going to sit this one out. I had a couple of ideas, but I really need to work on other things for the time being. Good luck.

Forrest_I - I would encourage you to read the rules of COW at this point, before you get too invested in that design. Firstly, your creature is getting a bit on the humanoid side. Secondly, we do not allow creatures to have clothing or accessories. There have been very few exceptions to these rules and it is usually specified in the brief if accessories are allowed in.

[emerging]

okay so im gonna have a small scene like this

[porcupine]

Hah!

I got so much work this week I was gonna skip this, but I simply can't pass on this topic. Damn you (lark, damn you! :^^:

(Really hope you pull that idea off emerging, I smell epicness)

Rough sketch:

[BiblioFauxbia]

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh18/Aiorn/DeathsFamiliar-1.jpg

Coloring started, needs more value.
Anyone else have any suggestions?

[Sketched]

Hey guys. Last round was awesome so i think im gonna try again.

I'm gonna go dig into the Hindu mythological personification of death.
His name is Yamaraj (DEATH). He rides on the back of a Black Buffalo and carries a rope to carry the dead to hell for proper punishment.

So my creature will revolve around the "idea" of a buffalo but more "grim reaper-ish" in design.


Cant wait to see everyones ideas !

[emerging]

some update!

[Biomecha_wolf]

I decided for this one , to make the familiar to do the "boring-easy" jobs of the lazy boss , some of the routine life taking that he is so bored to do for quite some millienias now

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5977/familliare.jpg

this is the first sketch for this idea. maybe i will change my mind later though ;D

[skullbeast]

heres my idea so far

[Ludic]

Very interesting subject, will definitely give it a go.

[Paolo13]

Soul retriever!!![

[SCF]

Paolo13: Haha, that's a great concept. Looking forward to seeing that fleshed out.

emerging: Damn, that's a creepy creature. I like the hourglass idea, but the guy's head looks a bit large.


Just started on this. Last week I had all of two days to finish my entry, but thankfully I'll get to take it a little easier this time.

http://www.scfworks.com/art/cow196_wip1.jpg

[Ludic]

So, my idea is that Death has several different types for certain tasks, might continue on this idea, seemd like lots of fun.

For now it's "The Goon", the one who brutally bashes the carrier of the soul into submission. And "The Tracker" Fast, slim to pin-point the victims location.

[Tawnos]

Paolo13, yours looks crazy, can't wait to see that!

Ludic I love the Goon concept!

[SailorMooninite]

Okay, so I am not going the funny route at all...when I sat down to research and come up with a concept, I fell in love with the idea of personifying the Scythe.

Death uses his scythe to "reap" the souls of the dead, so I figure when needed, it comes to life in its true form of a vulture-like creature that "cleans up" after death by surrounding the soul in it's blanket-like wings and carrying it off to the afterlife.

[emerging]

update. i think i have enough time to finish a creature by itself as well on the white background - to show some more detail of how it looks

[skullbeast]

emerging - looking pretty badass! man you have a knack for composition! followed of course by a sweet render.

update

[rydicanubis]

Not a super serious entry, because I know I am going to be shitkicked by the other awesome artists. But an effort, a start, a first COW for me.

Please make very free to rip this, and me, apart... ;}
1109686

This little Tickler is death's familiar. Well, sort of. Death does not actually like these little buggers, they just turn up whenever he is doing his job. You see, Death cannot actually do anything until the person dies. The Ticklers though, they live off the last breaths of a dying person. They sidle up and rest their bony little haunches on your shoulder, rattle their ribs against your chin as they snuggle in around your neck, restless fingers stroking, caressing, teasing out panicked breath, long nose touching, testing, prodding the corner of your mouth, the space behind your ear, its smoky mane drifting up your nose, making you choke on your last breath for fear... The Tickler sucks up those last gasps, straining until the last instant, then flicks out of the picture as death can finally play his hand...

[JanJager]

skullbeast
If you render it out it will bee really scary image.
Biomecha_wolf
Good idea.
emerging
Great Very creepy.
BiblioFauxbi
Its got the feeling of sorrow and death.
porcupine
Great. A cute creature turned into something evil and wicked.
rydicanubis
Good start And idea. I like the design with the skeleton like body.
SailorMooninite
Good. Reminds me of a Egyptian vulture.
Ludic
Interesting take.
SCF
Good, little creepy creature. Its obvious what's going on in the scene. Perhaps dampen the face of the man and have almost a silhouette. To give more focus on the creature.
Paolo13
Powerful expression. Looking forward to see more.

Hers my play with the pets.

[Wixxi]

about 1 and a half hour, just sketch tho, just coudlnt resist falling back on clichés XD i guess ill keep this as a warm up, ill try to actaully design a creature this time lol

http://oi56.tinypic.com/34quwef.jpg

[Ragnj]

Jan: Nice! I like the cat the most, its really delicate and not as "obviously" evil as you would expect in this challenge. Maybe twist it somehow tho so it isnt just a ghostly cat, maybe a shadow on the wall depicting a gruesome beast?

rydicanubis: Nice description and creature. The body looks very Deathish.

skullbeast: Knew this would suit ure style, goin for the brute version of Deaths familiar. Cant crit any atm, its lookin really promising.

emerging: Really nice design and idea with the sandglas incorporated. would be cool if it was even more in a symbios with Death, maybe just prolonging the tail into his cape. Also ure really great design and rendering of Death and the dying takes a little focus off the creature itself, maybe make them a little less prominent somehow?

SailorMooninite: Nice! I really like the design, I dont know if you will render it more but imo the design and style of the painting works really well now aswell, so I wouldnt mess around with alot of colours etc.

Ludic: Good start, but they are looking pretty much like you expect a familiar would look like (not that thats really a bad thing), but maybe mess them up a little bit more. Thats what these COWs give you the chance to do with classical themes.

[Wixxi]

attempt nr 2, im gonna go with this one i think, really like it so far :)

shadow dog, story to be added soon..

http://oi53.tinypic.com/2e2pizt.jpg

[FilRam]

Here is my deaths companion,
he can smell the nearest death:asspat:
its still a little dark

[Ragnj]

WIP.
The Thanatos emerges from the wall. The dying are many and Death needs help in his neverending task. These wicked demons were created to end the life of the struggling by scaring them to death and then collect their souls by licking them into their groutesque stomages.

Looks rather ridiculous atm but gona try and fix it up with a shitload of details and shading. Crits v welcome.

[Grimstitch]

whoah, Wixxi, that looks awesome!

[Ville_S]

My first COW ever...yay!
Still trying to figure out good story, but I kinda envisioned these creatures as kind of Death elves if that makes any sense. Theyr all over the place constantly checking on people, informing death of what those naughty people are doing. :D

[Ludic]

Not a whole lot of progress but oh well.

[groyne]

Hi guys, I'm new around here, here my familiar wip, tomorrow more updates, cheers!! looking really nice guys :D

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_0k30dWdzNWA/TPHjolmBIJI/AAAAAAAAABA/U5up2LR2sAQ/s800/death_familiar.jpg

[shiNIN]

Hi people, I'm a beginner and I don't know when I will do my first COW (maybe CHOW will be first, I usually draw humanoids but love animals as well) but I can't resist to write my opinion about your sketches. It's a great topic, I love personificated Death, skulls, lovely cemeteries... I learned the word 'taphophile' yesterday.

SailorMooninite: I can't find words to descripe my thoughts and feelings but I love its shape, I'm looking forward to your progress!

rydicanubis: That description... you enjoyed that, right...? ;) Creepy one, I find its head great, those eyes are priceless... I have nothing bad to say about the body but the limbs trouble me for some reason... The first ones don't even seem to appear to have the same length.

JanJager: When I first looked at this topic, my first thought was 'cat', I love Terry Pretchett a lot... Death is my favourite character :) Is the cat's not visible part of body casting a shadow onto the outside of the wall from inside...? :D

Wixxi: Your beast definitely has style... and a cool pose as well. I love it.

[RayTwicket]

Kinda surprised there's no horses showing up here in the thread, that was the first thing that popped into my mind, maybe it's too obvious :)

Here's what I got so far.

[zenarion]

Long time, no post.
JanJager: your shadow kitty looks really cool.
Here is my first WIP.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/zenarion/zenarion_cow196_wip2.jpg

[Tawnos]

I don't know if I like it too much, but this is my first compository setup I did when I was at my waiters job and our restaurant was empty :)
Soulsucker bugs death uses to take the fallen souls to his.... house, whatever :)


Ah, how big is the canvas you guys use? I tend to go 1024, but it seems a little small....
any tips?

[OHI]

Awesome wips so far!
Quick sketch.
My familiar is floating above the ground. It has fins that it uses to soar through the air. It helps Death to carry all the souls he has collected. probabl won´t finish this, like usual.

[Paolo13]

update!! Did not do much...harvesting olives at home!!!

[zenarion]

Tawnos: use as big of a canvas as you need to. Your image contains very little "creature" and a lot of Death the character. A tip might be to use more canvas for the creature itself, and some kind of ordinary object next to it to describe it's scale. Matchbox, oreo cookie, other stuff that people recognize the size of. That way you don't have to waste 90% of the canvas on the character that isn't even part of the challenge.

Moar:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/zenarion/zenarion_cow196_wip3_final.jpg

[skullbeast]

update. final grey tones. ready for color.

[Penpoint]

nothing too exciting. First thing I thought of was the obvious familiar...
Death's horse.
Here's a quickie idea of how the freaky steed might look

[Paolo13]

did some more

[Jaunay]

RayTwicket Heheh I'm loving the design. I can just imagine the skulls jiggling and making clinking noises as it walks. Good to see you posting. I need to get something in for this. It's hard to manage doing more than one community activity at a time. Lol.

Also I know i'm a bit late for this but I'll try. I was thinking of doing something that represents the cycle of life. Death isn't necessarily a scary or bad thing. It just happens. Ouroboros. (http://www.google.com.au/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1680&bih=963&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=ouroboros&aq=0s&aqi=g-s2g1g-sx7&aql=&oq=orobor&gs_rfai=)

[Xeinnex]

here is my first attempt here in a while.

Death's Soul Container, it helps Death not to travel from earth to the afterlife everytime he gets a soul, with this friend he only have to do that trip once a day :)

[sourfruitjunkie]

Loving the variety and processes so far. They're ALL very inspiring.

Late into the race but I've got an idea I want to flesh out. I'm going with the idea of black hounds that guide souls/ghosts to death and final rest. Cerberus, Garmr, and Barghest got me going on this one.

I'm still trying to find the rhythm painting and getting compositions down. Hopefully I'll see the end of this one, instead of my computer dying on the last COW.

[JanJager]

Paolo13
Coming at you really good.
Penpoint
Death's horse. Good idea. I would focus on the head I thing that will be a great focal point.
skullbeast
Looking forward to the colour.
OHI
Hope you finish. You got the story already.
Tawnos
Expressive start.
I have no good advise of canvas size. I use to start small force myself to not zooming in to much. Then go up in pixels when the I'm happy with the basic shapes.
When I'm posting I use to go under 1000. Hope someone can give better advise.
zenarion
Great colours and design good action to.
RayTwicket
I like the cartoonist style. The skulls clearly shows what kind of creature it is.
shiNIN
I'm not really sure about the shadow. My first thought was some kind of animal showing up in the corner of the eye when its time to go.
groyne
Good start.
Ludic
Lots of character in your creatures. Perhaps define more clearer where the light sources are. I think that will help to model the shapes and shadows.
Ville_S
Awesome creature I like the skin where you can suspect the veins, and the creepy skinny legs. Looking forward to see where you will go with it.
Ragnj
Nice It's oblivious what's going on. And the creature looks unpleasant as a it should. Perhaps have it against a dark background to make it pop out. Thanks for the advise about the cat trying to give it some kind of twist.
FilRam
Great design for a death smeller. Perhaps have the background a bit brighter around the creature to show the nice silhouette. A also think a shadow on the ground would contribute the realism.
Wixxi
Really cool creature. I like the design, The nose and how the tail curves. Gives a good path for the eyes to follow. I would crop a bit of the right in the picture and ad a bit more space on the left to have the creature more in focus. Perhaps put some more light on him to drag some attention from the death.
Xeinnex
Good start and story.
sourfruitjunkie
Coming good Looking forward to see more.
emerging
Great That's a creepy familiar.

[SailorMooninite]

Some very unique takes on the topic, and good rendering too! Really keeps me motivated, and so do the comments and critiques.

Here's my latest. I will be working on re-drawing the ghosted pose in the background as well as adding a bit of a simple scene. I am trying to convey the feeling of the solemn and silent creature at rest, and with the ghosted pose, the frightening and loud awakening when he is called upon for reaping.

Feedback is always welcomed.

[Penpoint]

some progress.. playing with color. but its getting late, and im getting a little sloppy i think.
dig the b&w a little better right now

[Xeinnex]

update :) i actually love to work with colors to have a mind-image of what i want, i have only spend time in the Scythe (even knowing that the important part is the crature) i guess i couldnt help myself, i had to do the scythe first.

[Tawnos]

Yeah, my start was mainly for myself, compositorily... I know the creature has to be bigger, so I think I'm just gonna zoom more on the fingertip and make one big creature and just a little blurry

[DefiledVisions]

ohhh.. saw this just now :( cool topic.. wanna give it a shot :O

[SinnerMan]

Daaamn, I totally forgot to post.
Here's mine, and I'll try to speed up for this one

[NecrotoX]

Really cool concepts so far, I really like emerging's idea =D

[polawat]

WIP...

1111255

[zenarion]

SinnerMan: dangerously close to "character" and far off "creature".
polawat: that looks real nice.

[OHI]

I need help.

[Si_Swe]

SinnerMan - While that's a very nice start, I would remind everyone to read the rules and guidelines for COW that we post in the first post every round. Humanoid creatures are strictly forbidden.

[OHI]

I don´t know how to go about adding the color. Any tips?

[Paolo13]

ohi: I do not know if you are using photoshop, but I think that a good B/W drawing with good values would be the best approach for you, without rushing into coloring it. You could work on the feet and the ground on which it is standing. And because of the empty space on the left side of the canvas, you could add something that hints to a background, lets say some very light mountains or what you feel better with.

Still working with values but adding colors: A: Your drawing on Layer 1 B: Create a new layer and fill it with a color of your choice, (I personally like dark yellows and greens because of the "old photographs feeling) C: Change the layer style to Overlay, or soft light, but tray all of them so that you see all the changes. D: you can now flatten the image or select all, press ctrl+shift+c and then ctrl+shift+v to make a coppy of all the layers in one single layer. This way you can freeze the effect of the layer without loosing the base of your work, a kind of backup. Once you have all in one layer, repeat step C with a different color, lets say for the creature. This time, before flattening the image, erase the colored layer around the creature. Then you can start adding or changing things as u like.

I still suggest you to keep few colors and work on the values, but experiment all you can, trying to understand what is happening. This is not a art lesson, but just the explanation for some tips on photoshop.

To others:If I did say something wrong please correct me, I am no expert but just passionate.

[OHI]

Thanks Paolo! I do not use photoshop I use Gimp. I will stick to greyscale and try to throw in a background!

Edit: Background

[Paolo13]

Slowly...slowly...

[SCF]

Made some more progress. I'm going to leave it in black & white I think. I'm pretty content with how the creature itself is turning out, but not really the scene as a whole.

http://www.scfworks.com/art/cow196_wip2.jpg

[Kir Nuyts]

Nice SCF! I think the scene on its own looks great! The focus on the creature works for me. Maybe you can add a tree in the back (window), so the moon casts some shadow of the twigs and leaves into the room? Just an idea, that maybe would make it a bit less clean?

But looks really great to me.

Here's mine in wip: It s the pet's soul catcher, flying monkeys.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_wR6pSam1n3A/TPQlCzuk5FI/AAAAAAAAAmE/40ED1AxXCck/C.O.W.-%23196-DEATHS-FAMILIAR.jpg

[ryan mcshane]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1111668&stc=1&d=1291078874

[emerging]

gona be an awesome round!
some play with color for my update! made the creature stand out more

[skullbeast]

update

[Xeinnex]

its time to tell you guys about your work :D yay:

Forest I: i like the way it looks and i would like to see the final result, im not sure what it is but im guessing is some kind of torturer.

Emerging: well the idea and the work is so great, one of those works that make me feel i still have a long way to go.

skullbeast: what a nice scene and terrific monster, it makes me want to stay alive so i dont have to meet one of those.

Paolo13: i really like the way this is getting, to be honest the first sketch wasnt so amazing but looking at the progress, .... i just love it.

SCF: i agree with you that the scene isnt so wonderful but the monster is cool, its funny because i was expecting all kinds of scary ideas here, and that one isnt the scariest of all, anyways i think the creature is cool but it is maybe too smal part of the canvas, i would crop that a little bit.

Sailormooninite: nice concept, to turn his weapon into a creature was really original, cant wait to see the final result

JanJager: when i saw the first image it looked like a regular cat, so i thought you were going to do the dog, but after seeing the 3 headed cat i understood your idea, it still looks so much like an animal.

Rydicanubis: i understand how you feel xD this is my first CoW too, and your work is actually very impressing, i hope you put as much effort as you can so we can see what your full skills are.

Wixxi: i like the start of this and ill be waiting for the story you promised.

Filram: its a cool idea, i think its a bit too dark but i still like it.

Ragnj: i dont think it looks ridiculous at all, actually i think its a good idea to make a funny creature so when you die you would at least go to the afterlife with that funny helper.

Ville S: a good start, i want to see an update soon.

Ludic: its already a sketch, you should update us with your latest details, :) good job.

Groyne: nice concept, cant wait to see an update

RayTwicked: man that is a good one, it feels like a good creature, i wouldnt mind having one of those at home.

Zenarion: nice style, its quite a weird creature, i like the scene as well.

Penpoint: it looks very nice, a nice pose, and i liked the red colors you used, it fits perfectly with the creature.

SinnerMan: it doesnt look like a creature, its more like a character, i think you should fix that.

Polawat: nice start. i would like to see a bigger version.

OHI: i cant comment until i see a proper update, in my opinion it looks so much like a polar bear.

ryanoir: nice way to start, i need to see some more details or info to understand your idea.





ok after all that comments, im expecting some comments for myself as a reward :D, actually im not really sure if my creature will be allowed because im planning to put it a robe like Death's, and i just read the rules and it says i cant. im not sure if this contest will make a small exception to that rule as the creature is also a helper and it need its robe to be recognized as a Death Familiar.
if my creature is not allowed its ok, i dont think i would be able to compete against most of you guys.

sometimes when seeing your progress i feel like im doing stuff in the wrong way, i see how most of you and most of great artist work like sketchy all the time, and then suddendly blend all together and BOOM a great piece of art, but i have the habit of work on each detail 1 by 1, as you can probably notice in my WIP, so i would like some advices about that.

here is my update :)

[(lark]

just got back from my trip. nice turn out guys!

here's what I've done so far. nearly done i think...

1111920

[ryan mcshane]

looking great everyone :D
--
death needs some creature to do all the physical work, deaths a fucking skeleton, cant lift anythin can he? this dude pulls the bodies, also digests the good parts, like the main limbs, but leaving the souls and hearts in tact, just rips of arms/legs/heads, om nom nom
the bubbly things are like boily deformations
im purdy happy with it so far, first creature design D: D: D: D:

[Xeinnex]

Ryanoir: nice art, but the idea doesnt make sense, death isnt suposed to take our bodies when we die, only our souls :) probably he wouldn't need that help, xD

(lark: great one, great excecution, now that you are almost done with it, whats the story behind your creature?

[Niva.]

Completely unplanned one, just started throwing shapes down, the only thing I knew is that like others here I wanted it to have scythe-like taloned limbs.

The soul eater is a serpentine demon who feeds on the energy of souls, it is great friends with Death since she saves the tastiest morsels for him during her trips into the open world.

1112109

[Si_Swe]

(lark - Looking fantastic, but the coldness imbalances the piece. Throw a suggestion of warmer colours into the shadows to give the piece a fuller overall look.

[ryan mcshane]

xeinnex - well its a matter of opinion really, who really knows if death exists? but thanks

[RayTwicket]

Xeinnex thanks for taking the time to do all those critiques, it takes time and it's appreciated.

as for your piece, don't get too discouraged by some of the work here, some of these guys are CRAZY :) ... This is all about learning and helping (at least that's why I'm here). I too used to get hung up on the little details and it would either take too long and I would not finish or one part would be great and the rest of the image looked half assed at best.

To speed things up I suggest spend a good amount of time sketching it out, getting proportions and perspective right, then start your colouring by using large softer brushes to get your base down, don't worry too much about staying in the lines because next you will want to use the eraser to refine the shape, this way leaves you with nice clean edges.

Like Paolo13 said in his post, I'm no expert and maybe someone will give you a better tip, but this is what worked for me when I was having trouble making the transition to digital from traditional illustration and once you start to get comfortable with this process you'll eventually start tweaking it and making it your own.

Hope that helps


PS thanks for the feedback everyone :)

[zenarion]

Little update. Did some more definition and revision.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/zenarion/zenarion_cow196_wip4.jpg

[Kir Nuyts]

I hope to finish it tomorow! Didn t spend too much time on it today:

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wR6pSam1n3A/TPWbEC5X3BI/AAAAAAAAAmM/tcEw-hLrl1A/C.O.W.-%23196-DEATHS-FAMILIAR.jpg

The monkeys guide the good souls from the grave to the light. (more monkeys and light comming!

[Xeinnex]

i want to know when is the deadline, im kind of new around here and i cant find it

Ryanoir: im sorry i dont want to sound annoying but i cant agree with that, even though death might not exist, he certainly is a universal fiction character, its like Santa Claus, he isnt real but his description is the same everywhere, anyways the cool part of it is that even tough your story doesnt match with the universal one, it cant be wrong, i think its actually nice to be creative and original, nice creature overall ;).

Raytwicket: thanks for your help, i am going to try that out on next week creature, as you said it takes too much time the way im doing it, i dont know if im going to be ready for this one

[Jaunay]

Xeinnex Hey man, the deadline should be in a few hours from what I can tell. The deadline is displayed below the brief in the first post.

If any of the mods read this, don't close the finals im saving and getting it in now! *stress*

[RayTwicket]

isn't the deadline tomorrow? Dec 1st?
here's what I got, think I'm finished unless someone points out something :)

[Xeinnex]

RayTwicket: in my country the deadline is Dec 1st at 00:00, (gmt -5), and about your entry, i think its great but i'd like to see it with a black background behind the green mystic thing, i think it would match better than white :), or maybe crop it a little bit, i find the top very distracting ;D

[Jaunay]

RayTwicket Looks amazing, I wish I got to spend more time on mine. Hah. It is december first here aswel. I'm going to keep working on mine maybe and see if i can sneak a better version in later. Also you'd better put this on deviantart. >:)

[(lark]

jaunay, and well... everyone: sorry about the deadline confusion. You've got about 25 hours until deadline. It gets tricky with everyone being in so many different time zones on this site. Feel free to work more on yours if you feel the need.

[Jaunay]

(larkThanks Lark, now I know I've got more time I can refine it. (:

Phew here i was freaking out.

[Xeinnex]

oh its goot to know this :) so the new CoW topic always begins at (gmt -8) 9pm of every thursday?

[SailorMooninite]

Still working out the background and coloring, as well as how I want to work the second pose.

It's supposed to juxtapose the "Scythe at Rest" pose I have fully rendered. It is his "Awakening"

I was thinking of silhouetting it like I have it in this image, (much cleaner of course) but a lot of detail is lost on his shape I'm not sure it's frightening enough. I also thought of doing a clean line drawing and overlaying it. That might do the trick, but I am not sure if it will compete too much with the rest of the image. (See the rough sketch Attached to understand the details of the arms, wings, etc.)

Any thoughts on how to approach this?

Thanks everyone in advance for your help!

[sourfruitjunkie]

SailorMooninite one way to make the "awakening" seem more imposing is to zoom in more. Dunno if that helps but here's an example. By not showing the complete creature, it makes the audience imagine it's immensity http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/fallenchloe/scythe.jpg

And here's my idea so far. Pretty much done, just going to tweak the silhouettes in the middle more and get some more black into the skyline.

[strangedawn]

Familiar wip trying to finish today..

[Xeinnex]

hello friends, here is my latest update, i would like some tips for the soul in his hand, i cant get the look i want to give it, its going to be a little bit glowy and a light source in the illustration, its going to give light to the tree, and the arm of death, also a part of the creature tail, but before doing that, i want to make sure its shape is ok, i need to give it some face and thats what i need help with

[porcupine]

Xeinnex - If you read up a bit about the personification of Death you might be surprised over how different he, or she, is depicted in different parts of the world, different religions and different types of fiction. :)

Everyone - Can't wait til tomorrow and see the finals thread!

[DefiledVisions]

Hey everyone, here's my wip - I hope to finish before deadline! still got some hours left which is a relief :) I hope the piece doesn't conflict too much with the humanoid rule

For those of you who are interested, I made a quick wip walkthrough of the piece so far in my sketchbook, scroll down a bit and check it out - here! (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=166495&page=38) - :)

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i158/Alandir/november-cow-deathhelper-wip12.jpg

[Kir Nuyts]

Great one Vision :D Hahah that Pokemon in your sketchbook is awesome aswell. Good luck!

[Metal Fingers]

soooo, deadline is tonight at 9 PM, pacific standard time right?

[Ishren]

Very late. Let's see if I can finish this in time.

http://i56.tinypic.com/154av6f.jpg

[Niva.]

Ugh, didn't realize the deadline is today. I gotta go to work in a bit so I guess I won't finish this in time. It became entirely too complicated to do this so no big deal.

1113089

[Si_Swe]

Metal Fingers - Yes, that is the deadline time. (lark and I have been trying to keep a consistent week going, starting and ending at the same time every week. It may seem like an arbitrary time, but it was what we managed to make work with both of our schedules so we could get the new topics set up and the polls up at approximately the same time.

PenPoint - I'm not seeing your image in the finals thread, you may want to check up on that and make sure that image works properly before the deadline.

[(lark]

Hey everybody! A little less than 2 hours left until deadline. If you got stuff for the final finish it on up and get it in the finals thread!

Great turn out by the way everybody. Good stuff.

[DefiledVisions]

awh.. there were another 2 hours? crap! haha

[(lark]

you guys are awesome! 10 minutes till deadline! put um in there or they wont be in the voting.

[skullbeast]

final