CHoW#232 :: The Zodiac Warrior

[Martheart]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW_Headerimage/QUEENOFCHOW_logo-3.jpg



ROUND #232 :: The Zodiac Warrior



DESCRIPTION


The Zodiac Warrior


For ages a war has been going on between 12 different tribes, all of them empowered by a different starsign. The Zodiac Wars have been the stage of many famous powerful warriors and mages, yet none of them powerful enough to overcome the others. Which starsign channels the most power? Who will end the Zodiac Wars?

Design the strongest Zodiac Warrior!


Can be male or female
Setting, timeframe, style; completely open!
Starsigns must be based on the western system: aries, pisces, libra etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_sign
Signs should show in the design, either in symbols and colors or literal references.
This is the warrior capable of winning the war, so (s)he must look impressive!


Good luck!


PLEASE NOTE THE RULES AND THE DEADLINE TIME

---------------------------------------------------------
DEADLINE:
SUNDAY, February 13th, 2011


Deadline is Sunday, at 9:00 pm (GMT +1). (Check your timezone!)


---------------------------------------------------------
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!

[Pixeltuner]

sounds nice, off we go again then :)

[Eofn]

Nice. Pretty much exactly what I suggested as well so I already have a few ideas :)

[Martheart]

Nice. Pretty much exactly what I suggested as well so I already have a few ideas :)

Yes, your suggestion inspired this topic!

[Eofn]

ah awesome! then I defiantly have to enter this one by hook or by crook :P

[Refschaufscheik]

How about the newest star sign? The Ophiuchus? Is that a possibility as well as the 12 others?

[JDSart]

Lol. Sounds familiar

http://ceo-bcn.upc.es/pase/seiya/imagenes/saint_seiya_hades_goldteam.jpg

Ill try to join this one.

[Martheart]

How about the newest star sign? The Ophiuchus? Is that a possibility as well as the 12 others?

Sure, we'll allow Ophiuchus too as the 13th sign :)

[Pixeltuner]

woopwoop, first (well not first, but the first I'm showing.. :p) sketch. Going for the Aquarius warrior woman with a stormy waves shaped blade thingie. Maybe I'll make her a bit more aquatic/alien as well dunno.

[Partisan]

aaaaaaahahahahahaa *freaks out*...to much possibilities....can....not....decide...what to go ...for...*head explodes*

so here my thoughts, just to share and talk.

obviously are there some more suitable options and some less suitable ( therefore all the more of interest conceptwise)

first things first... I first of all thought that the names of the astrological sign should be less an allusion to the real constellation of stars but rather nicknames they got as a result of their physical appearance or behavior.

1. Sagitarius...yeah the most obvious one ... he shots...thats what you do to win a war...shot until they stop moving, maybe this particular one invented a gun so friggin huge that nothing can stand it. Period.
2. Taurus , overcoming the enemies with pure physical strength, maybe a considerable amount bigger than the ones around him
3. The twins offer a great "win-condition" as it might be quite impossible to win against them as they are always 2 so in a one on "one" versus match of champions theyll wipe the floor with their opponents , maybe connected spiritually so its impossible to kill just the one of them as both survive if one survives
4. Lion obvious again , he is sublime and mighty, a leader, and supreme fighter ( not the real one ^^ ) thats what you need to win wars ...hes maybe not so much specialized in one particular field but he knows much about pretty much everything
5. The Scorpion, winning the war be killing slowly and secretly ...obviously a assassin like guy...problem here it could get difficult to convey the "win a war part" with that character aka "win in CHOW" part....
6.the Ram....had an idea about him being always in front ...yeah and charging into the enemy ...

I know nothing groundbreaking but these are the options for me

about the others :

1. Crab...could be cool but ATM there is nothing in my mind concerning it
2. the virgin could end this war by sacrificing herself to a certain god who than ends this war, OR she could be some sort of lolita/temptress who plays the others leaders of against each other so that she will be the only one left at the end
3. the scales could be a reference to a judge who ends this war by deciding it
4. the fishes....no nothing there either
5. sea goat ...the same

P.S.: why dont we have a "head explodes"-smiley ?

[PxelSlayer]

LIBRAAAAA!!! :geekg:

Balance between light/dark, masculine/feminine, good/evil, and some air and fancy fabrics and patterns and, oh, a mask maybe, oh and then some sparklies (but not too much) and...yay!

[LA-Fairy]

interesting... hmmmm
a quick sketch, Pisces. We are daydreamers and mostly quiet.. so I was thinking, she'd be in trance.... and just dream the weapons LOL..
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[doodles-inc]

Being Pisces, and it's my birthday soon :) I may have to take this one up. Never done a Chow before...so why not? Looking forward to this!

[OliviaM]

Cool Topic! I'm definitely thinking sagittarius for this one!

[neutral.]

Jeez... I wanna do the crab warrior! Just need to finish some assignments first.

[Parsakoira]

i might do aquarius as it is my zodiac... :P good topic!

[no87]

great topic! need to get sketching.

[caStone]

What a great topic with so many options for designs! Desperately wish I had time to participate this week. ._.

[tbaldree]

Gotta get some scribbles rollin' - Aries for me. Gotta stick with my sign!

[Chris Hershberger]

I hope that I get enough time this week to get something done and put up. If school doesn't eat all my time then I'll be in for this, already have some ideas... Aries all the way! :yayca:

[doodles-inc]

initial sketch :/

[tempest-haze]

Gemini twins (although I'm not even remotely a Gemini. I just don't feel like drawing a sea-goat. You have to be in the mood for that sort of thing). Drew the idea from the Greek and Roman mythology behind "Gemini" who were the twin brothers Castor and Pollux. One brother is immortal while the other is not in the original mythology, but my little twist is that through their breath (since this zodiac's element is air), they can pass that immortality back and forth between them.

Here is one brother giving the other his immortality to heal a fatal wound:

[blackrobin]

oh tbaldree, your Aries is exactly what i have in mind, except i'm going for more armor instead

[OliviaM]

tbaldree- Really awesome start!!
tempest-haze- Cool starting concept. I like the idea of the twins. Keep it up!

My initial idea-ing for my character, Sagittarius.
I'd like to keep him somewhat human and have him build his horse legs as armor (sagittarius centaurs and what-not). Once the horse armor is built, it's baked onto the character in a big fire. The baking and rituals give the horse part life. Don't really know how to show all that though, so I'm just kicking around sketches. Any Suggestions?

1163355

[tbaldree]

blackrobin - sorry :( I bet they'll be plenty different tho!

OliviaM - that leaping pose dead center is really awesome - love it! The idea of 'building' the horse-half of the centaur is also super-cool.

I'm on fire tonight - yow! Hand hurts.

Trying new brushes and a focus on not oversaturating.

[sayreh]

Sweet, this will be my first CHoW, I just joined ConceptArt.org recently! Nice topic to start out with :D better get sketchin'!

[Cartogriffi]

How about the newest star sign? The Ophiuchus? Is that a possibility as well as the 12 others?
While it's gotten more attention of late Ophiuchus isn't actually new; it was part of the original system but was cut ages ago to simplify it from thirteen signs to twelve. There are also several modified styles of the Western Zodiac that sprung up in the twentieth century that included it (and sometimes Cetus as well). :)

[Eofn]

Halogen Loving that you've designed a weapon out of the symbol that's an awesome idea!

Partisan Sagittarius is the most obvious? :( I was going to do that one but now i feel like it might look like I haven't really tried :P I guess I could take her down another route, like a rogue or Assassin's Creed style ranger type....

LA-Fairy Nice idea with the dream concept. I love the idea of the Pisces tribe being a group of almost psychic astral warriors.

-----

I was thinking so much about this last night I ended up dreaming about it. Taurus were massive, almost viking in appearence, Aquarius were alot like the water benders from Avatar, Leo's were like paladins using holy light and stuff like that and Sagittarius were Lightning rangers, sort of like Zeus' offspring. The funny one was Vigro who were bascially either assassins in harems or slaves.... which got me thinking what would a Virgo warrior look like?


EDIT:
Cartogriffi / Refschaufscheik I went and did a bit of research on Ophiuchus as I'd never heard of it before and it turns out that in the old system I would have been one! I think I prefer an archer over a dude wrestling a snake though :P

[blackrobin]

tbaldree - well nothing is cooler than that helmet design, can't promise that one wont be similar, lol

edit : alrite here's a sketch

[Teundeboer]

OliviaM Those poses look awesome.

Here's my start, scorpion. Gonna have to figure out some armor designs or symbols or sumthing. Would love some feedback.

[ArtByManon]

OliviaM - i love your sketches...


I'm virgo, just not sure how i can make her kick ass. But then Virgo is also one of the most sex crazed signs out there, so the angle of maybe bewitching everyone wiht her allure might work, but not sure that could win a war. Hmmm...
OR she could be like Elizabeth the 1st... who was a famous 'virgin queen' who was fairly hardcore and warrior like!

[GEB]

She could kill everyone off with venereal disease! Or lure them into her chamber and kill them black widow stylie!

[ArtByManon]

mmm a black widow style... I'm liking it. But she would look all innoccent and virtuous... hehehhe

[Eofn]

Or how about something along the lines of a Siren, Instead of just taking out enemies one by one she would have the power to lure whole ships/ convoys

[ArtByManon]

You guys are great - i've not really go ttime to do this at the moment (8 pages of sequentials to finish), but its tempting to have a go at my beloved sign!

[GEB]

I'm gunna have a crack at Leo as it's my sign. I'm thinking it's a great chance to do a proper ode to Frazetta. I'm thinking King Conan stylie. I've got the obvious look at me I've just kicked every mother fuckers ass type idea. But I'm more inclined to do the, I've kicked everyone to fuck, now what do I do... Like at the end of conan when he's sat on the throne and his troubles have only just begun. I'm gunna have him looking pretty lionesc if that's a word. A cross between Conan, Liono and vincent from the 80s beauty and the beast series

[ArtByManon]

Oooh Geb, I rather like the second one - there's something of a swagger to his leaning on his fist and the angles ... more interesting than the classic symmetrical fraz one above it...
I like that he's holding the head of ares - maybe you could have ares as a 'bust' on the wall behind the throne, you know like a trophy head?

[GEB]

Or maybe the heads of all the others as trophies. Lions are hunters. Thanks for the sweet idea!

[ArtByManon]

Or maybe the heads of all the others as trophies. Lions are hunters. Thanks for the sweet idea!

Hey no worries!! and definitely have to have all the rest of the heads up there...

[doodles-inc]

Pixeltuner Great start.

PxelSlayer Love how loose this sketch is. Good action.

LA-Fairy Keep going fellow piscean :) and Happy Birthday (I know it's sometime soon)

tbaldree Freaking awesome

tempest-haze Nice start :)

OliviaM Love the sketches. I like the bottom right one with the staff.

Elixy Thank you :) They're two daggers for my undersea-fishy-assassin-girl :P

blackrobin Love your start.

Teundeboer Good start.

GEB I know this will be good. I'm watching you :P

All the best folks :)

[JanJager]

Some great entries already.
Hard to decide were to go

[GEB]

JanJager: Nice! That looks epic! Maybe you could have figures that have been swept up into the air like at the begining of LOTR

[OliviaM]

JanJager- Great concepts! I'm not sure which one your leaning towards, but I really like your take on the twins. Weird and cool! All like GEB said though-very epic!

GEB- I also like the seated position better. It feels like we see a bit more of the character's personality. Maybe slouch him to the side just slightly more.

[GEB]

Refschaufscheik: Are you gunna do some guy with his trouser snake out for that one ;)

Teundeboer: Cool I reckon if you could be looking up at an even steeper angle he may look even more dominant

Tbaldree: Wow that was quick! Great atmosphere

OliviaM: Love your poses

Halogen: Nice line art. The only thing is she looks like she would be pretty much confined to the water, so how will she conquer the rest who will be on land? I'm just wondering if maybe she had elements of crab or lobster or even octopus? You could get really freaky with your design like an aquatic john carpenter thing

[st.s]

PxelSlayer — Yeeeeesssssss, Libras RULE!!! Love your skatch ;)

Here is mine. Sketchy, sketchy, sketchy....

[Eofn]

JanJager wow. If I had to choose, I would go with Libra, that is an epic concept!!

I'm working backwards to how I usually do; I started with the background because i was struggling coming up with a pose and thought it might be easier to start off with the environment she would fight in. I see the Sagittarai fighting the best in a combination of forest (jumping between trees in an elf ranger kind of way) and open grass plains for combat on horseback. Sagittarius is also supposed to have a strong bond with animals, particularly large hunting types such as dogs, wolves, foxes... so might populate with a few references to them as well :)

Not sure whether to do the 'planet' as jupiter or the moon...
EDIT: Which version is best? I was worried there was too much midtones in the first image.

[GEB]

Elixy: Hmm difficult to say until your character is in place. I would say it will be easier to make your character stand out in the top image though

[Kjesta]

Oooh, I like this. I think I'll have to give it ago - already have an idea for something Mucha-esque :geekg: Let's see if I can pull it off.

How critical is the background? The way I'm envisioning it right now, there's not much of one...

[Eofn]

Kjesta Background is secondary to the character, so no worries if there isn't much of one :)

[grey]

holy smokes, tbaldtree! If you were any faster you'd already be finished with next week's topic

[Kjesta]

Great! Actually I have a really epic idea, now if only I could handle paint at all... Whew, this'll be some real work next to school! I'm excited.

Am I the only one who's going to create the ultimate zodiac warrior who combines *all* the zodiacs? I'm thinking of something with a nice big circle design in the background, the way the zodiacs are usually arranged in a circle. I guess I'll also try something cancer-y though - cancers FTW!

[LA-Fairy]

LA-Fairy Keep going fellow piscean :) and Happy Birthday (I know it's sometime soon)



All the best folks :)

Aww, thank you and same to you!


LA-Fairy Nice idea with the dream concept. I love the idea of the Pisces tribe being a group of almost psychic astral warriors.
Thanks, it's either that or splashes of water... LOL


Got some awesome sketches going on here!

[Eofn]

For anyone who might be interested, I found these during my research. These pages pretty much contain everything you might need to know, right down to figure and face shape/proportions. I found it a great resource.

Sagittarius (http://www.lilycat.net/sagittarius.html) | Aries (http://www.lilycat.net/aries.html) | Taurus (http://www.lilycat.net/taurus.html) | Gemini (http://www.lilycat.net/gemini.html) | Cancer (http://www.lilycat.net/cancer.html) | Leo (http://www.lilycat.net/leo.html) | Virgo (http://www.lilycat.net/virgo.html) | Libra (http://www.lilycat.net/libra.html) | Capricorn (http://www.lilycat.net/capricorn.html) | Aquarius (http://www.lilycat.net/aquarius.html) | Pisces (http://www.lilycat.net/pisces.html) | Scorpio (http://www.lilycat.net/scorpio.html)

EDIT: adjusted the size because it looked too much like my sig!

[GEB]

Had an hour to try carve think out a bit

[GEB]

Wont let me upload :(

[Eofn]

Wont let me upload :(

Photobucket? or if it being a real pain you can email it to me and I'll put it up on your behalf.

[Supervlieg]

Leo it is! War is on!

[PxelSlayer]

I have no idea what this is, where it`s going and what will turn out of it...argh, fickle, fickle, fickle!:bs:

Thank God it`s only Monday. I know I`ll fiddle with it till the last moment though...must be a Libra thing...?

[xLouisax]

My Pisces so far

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u43/louisasasa/Pisces.jpg

Pisces are meant to be compassionate and caring so I wanted her to have a soft face, and be fairly sweet. I was reading into pisces and the two fish are supposed to be swimming towards Aquarius (who cares about well being) and Ares (who wants control), so what better way to represent this than with the classic defensive shield and an offensive sword. Theres also guna be waves and splashy water :)

I dunno though, theres something very boring about this design so far, I was originally thinking of doing Pisces as two people but instead decided to find a way to represent dualism.

[dawnusllaw]

sounds fun... Now to make the time and get things done! :devil:

[LA-Fairy]

"Piscean feelings can change a dozen times a day." Love that!
You know the ones that are quiet all the time, are the worst... LOL
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[Eofn]

LA-Fairy Loving the colours. The green 'suit' is beautiful. One thing that's jumping out at me at the moment is that her torso kind of looks like it's full of jelly... lol that's not a helpful way to describe it. Her boobs look like they're difference sizes and the side of her upper back you can see makes it look a little like she's got a hump... I'm not a master of anatomy, but I can do a redline for you if that helps.

[JDSart]

I'm gunna have a crack at Leo as it's my sign. I'm thinking it's a great chance to do a proper ode to Frazetta. I'm thinking King Conan stylie. I've got the obvious look at me I've just kicked every mother fuckers ass type idea. But I'm more inclined to do the, I've kicked everyone to fuck, now what do I do... Like at the end of conan when he's sat on the throne and his troubles have only just begun. I'm gunna have him looking pretty lionesc if that's a word. A cross between Conan, Liono and vincent from the 80s beauty and the beast series

Damn right. Beast it up bro.

I dont think i can join but Leo is my sign too, i kinda had a similar though about it. I picture it as a very physical, heavy, contact fighter.

Besides lion-o and vincent, maybe also a bit of Ifrit (http://www.pobladores.com/data/pobladores.com/vi/sn/visni/channels/mas_que_final_fantasy/images/3112652ifrit.jpg)?

Edit: btw, i think the second idea works best, portraying the character being imponent, in a power position, rather than getting his hands dirty. Its a Lion after all. It works on a "I could really fuck you over if i wanted too" kinda way

[kissorkill]

JanJager you reached right into my brain and Ripped the conjoined twins right out haha. I had actually started working on it.

[Teundeboer]

Still trying different stuff, different heads, designs. Not sure what I want.

Lemme know what u think is better, him holding the heads of other slain Zodiac warriors or him holding a flag, the flag could hold the Scorpio sign.
I dno.

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1163954&stc=1&d=1297118283

[LA-Fairy]

LA-Fairy Loving the colours. The green 'suit' is beautiful. One thing that's jumping out at me at the moment is that her torso kind of looks like it's full of jelly... lol that's not a helpful way to describe it. Her boobs look like they're difference sizes and the side of her upper back you can see makes it look a little like she's got a hump... I'm not a master of anatomy, but I can do a redline for you if that helps.

You'd think I'd know how to draw boobs xD LOL
Thanks for the heads up, I'll get back on it after I cook dinner. I might need some red lines for the back issue... as the only thing I can think off is to straighten the curve, right now... LOL.. we'll see.
Thanks!

[GEB]

Elixy: That's really kind of you to offer. I'll try again tomorrow. I'm starting to think of him keeping trophies, not just heads but say a trident for pisces, a rams fleece, sagiterean bow, a jar for aquarius, the head of taurus. But I don't want to clutter the image with needless crap as it's all about the character. I'm gunna try capture a feeling of boredum and dissapointment. He's won but it doing so he's killed any company he had and once the goal is reached there is nothing to strive for... That's some deep shit!

ReneOcho: What about wolverine style gladiatorial claws!?

[GEB]

The heads dude! It has to be the heads!

[JDSart]

ReneOcho: What about wolverine style gladiatorial claws!?

Awesome, no need to look too far either, the very Conan had a few like that when he was in a montage killing suckers back and forth in the first movie.

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/renegade8889/claw2.jpg
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/renegade8889/conanclaw.jpg


or maybe a glove (http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs12/i/2006/295/0/d/Claw_Glove_by_LordDonovan.jpg) or gauntlet (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dvdmoviereviews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/freddy-krueger-claw.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dvdmoviereviews.com.au/2010/05/10/2010-nuh-uh-were-back-in-the-80s/&usg=__8pUuQ_zGWsGhfR8i_gqIySYCAJo=&h=361&w=407&sz=52&hl=es&start=74&sig2=qNWkAbTXtm4M9y8lmlxcEg&zoom=1&tbnid=BfHnWXLmwZBQ3M:&tbnh=147&tbnw=164&ei=KHlQTcXQEcPngQfg5aQG&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dclaw%2Bgloves%26um%3D1%26hl%3Des%26sa fe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:es-ES:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D831%26tbs%3Disch: 10%2C1824&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1001&vpy=431&dur=455&hovh=211&hovw=238&tx=196&ty=100&oei=DnlQTcHRKIHegQedvZzzDw&esq=5&page=4&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:74&biw=1280&bih=831) .

Though he could have his own natural claws, but i think as ornamemt, some armour going with it would still look pretty cool.

[Jasper_]

Damn, looks like a good topic this week! I don't think I'll have the time to join in on this one but I'm looking forward to see what kind of work you guys put out!

[Nikola Marinkovic]

i decided to join the fun! since i'm libra i will be doing libra warrior.
here is my first sketch.
still pretty rough tough.

[Undeadartist]

Been awhile since i have got in a CHOW, great topic, heres a small character sheet just to get my design flowing, im doing cancer since its my sign :P, and the idea is that he is made out of a constellation, still have a few other ideas ill play with. i googled a bunch of stuff about zodiac signs and found a site that gives stones,colors,planets, and all the stuff about that sign ill post it here to help out some people.

http://www.findyourfate.com/astrology/cancer.htm

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Teundeboer- i love the first one with all the heads you could even bloody him up a bit.

LA-Fairy- great start only thing is her right eye(our left) looks almost lazy

xLouisax-hey good ideas i think to add to it you could split her down the middle and give like double personality type style?

PxelSlayer - great start the only thing is just not sure what sign he is but you still have much to do im sure :P great design though!

logistic puppet- i like it but i would try to push more of the character aspect of it, it seems a little more of a creature but keep pushing the idea man!

Elixy- i think id go with the 2nd one

st.s- good start i would keep pushing different design ideas but still a great direction

GEB- i love this idea, i think a good combination of the two like a throne on top of all your defeated enemies

JanJager- great sketches i like the guy charging with what looks like a battering ram?
.
blackrobin- cool start to early to really say anything but that i cant wait to see it finished

tbaldree-i love this one cant wait to see the final product!

OliviaM - great idea what you could try is maybe make a clockwork type medieval machine horse body i love the idea keep playing with it

tempest-haze- good idea but what i think would make it cooler is if the one who has a fatal wound looks alot worse like on his back while his brother is holding him up something like that? but keep going!

Halogen- like the whole mermaid idea keep up with it!

Pixeltuner-cool idea cant wait to see more!

[ARRGH!]

Aquarius Now let's see if I can make something out of this. Great stuff all around.

[Dayle]

Okay... so I wasn't supposed to be doing another Chow this week, I should be learning how to draw, but, it is quite addictive! and its a great topic. Here's the direction I'm going for; demonic capricorn woman, little (or no) clothing, dismembering and eviscerating all who get in the way. Need to make her more curvy / feminine. I really admire the stuff you guys do here, its what I aspire to (long way to go!) Comments / thoughts are welcome. ps, just spent an hour looking at Goats!

[Frozensceptre]

I worked on mine all night. This is what I have so far, I decided to go with Scorpio as my zodiac warrior.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i271/DAP1228/Z_W_Wip_4.jpg

and here are the steps so far.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i271/DAP1228/Zodiac_Warior_Wip_1.jpg

[ArtByManon]

Aquarius Now let's see if I can make something out of this. Great stuff all around.

What a delicious sketch.

[neutral.]

Sketched something during a life drawing break, think I'm gonna go in this direction, just more badass.

Crabby warrior of doom.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/sentone/CA%20CHOW/DSC00707.jpg

[doodles-inc]

I decided to leave the mermaid idea for now to try something else...more human this time. I was thinking about trying to implement a "piscean" design on armour. Sleek like scales, maybe with symbolic enscriptions and enchanted amythyst...Arggghhh I don't know yet...Ideas ideas, so little time. Need to crack on. It's 02:30am i need sleep. I will be back for general input, support and critique..

In the mean time...greatful on thoughts :) g'night :yayca:

[Nestoronfire]

tbaldree, he looks pretty cool. I really like the armor design.

OliviaM, i think you have a pretty solid concept going on. Is the horse armor going to be metallic?


Here's my sketch for the day.

[kissorkill]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/b_milum/CancerwarriorWIP.png

This is what I have so far. Not sold on the colors, We'll see.

[sayreh]

Ok, first sit-down to doodle, this is what I've come up with...I think I'm going to go for a darker Libra, and more for the magic than the brute force type warrior. Libra -> balance -> "death is the great equalizer..." so here she acts as a sort of puppet-master, raising undead minions to fight. I went more for the scales in the overall shape and pose rather than a literal element. I've also made her blind, as a reference to the lady of justice who is commonly depicted holding scales.

[Fetsch]

hey everybody, this is my first chow so i hope i am doing everything alright. Working on a cancerknight, probably reworking the whole value stage though.

1164105

[TennTenshie]

Ah... so... I've been haunting the threads for awhile, (never posting just looking) and I finally got up the gumption to join the... fun? So far all I have is a rough idea of the bodies as I'm doing Gemini, I went with smaller figures, as its an air sign and their travelers, nomadic maybe(?) I haven't quite decided that. Their outfits are still in the works. Ah, any glaring problems point out please? But be gentle I'm new. ^^;

Oh, and I know her eyes aren't even, I've been staring at it for the better part of two hours now and needed a break.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/TennTenshie/zodiacsketch.jpg

I think I got it to a size it wont stretch the page, (I'm still figuring out this drawing onto the tablet thing) if I've done it wrong, let me know!

[ENNEX]

Working on Virgo :3 Wanted lots of nature-ie elements with minimal metal. The polearm is designed around a stalk of wheat.

[PxelSlayer]

Hrmpfff...Libra...How to make "harmony" and "pastels" look badass? e_e
Must nail this sucker down before messing with final...

[tbaldree]

This is the most fun I've had with a CHOW!

Quite a few stance and proportion fixes. The last one felt a bit off balance and 'high-set', for lack of a better term. There were also some serious problems with his right arm and his head placement. And I just wasn't happy with the legs. Chest was also canted all weird and didn't anatomically match up very well.

Wanted a smokier, darker vibe too. Much happier with this now overall.

Now I need to get in there and start smoothing some wonky values and rework a few bits of the armor, and get the astrological signs in on the shield (helpfully divided into twelve wedges ).

GEB, I can't wait to see what you've got up next! Really dig your first scribbles - hopefully those upload problems get sorted.

[Quigleyer]

I wanted to do a Gemini warrior. Bulky armor guy- for whatever reason I don't have a good one for my portfolio.

He wields two weapons... the twins!

[lancer_idenoure]

sorry if this was asked before, but can we do the chinese zodiac? thats what i thought this was at first cuz it was just chinese new year, but i guess not?

[tbaldree]

Love all the different takes!

A couple of quick crits to squeeze in before I dive back into painting -

Teundeboer I really dig the centaur-style half-man half-scorpion. I'd go with the heads too. The main thing that I like about the flag is that it breaks the top quarter of the scene - otherwise it feels empty up there. His stinger could probably perform the same function if the tail were longer or his scorpion half were larger overall. Also, since he doesn't have pincers, seems like this guy ought to have a weapon to sever those heads with! Maybe a big pincer sword strapped to his back or something? Look forward to seeing how this turns out.

PixelSlayer - If you're looking for badass, Justice is usually shown with scales AND a sword - a bola of scales and a blade for when that doesn't work? I like the hooded costume.

Fetsch - Really cool armor design - the staff with claw elements is really sweet, and the plated shoulders and front do have a good crustacean feel. I kind of lose his big claw gauntlet down there a bit, but that may get sorted in the value pass.

Nestoronfire - The upper torso/arms and head are really nice - the centerpoint between his chest muscles looks a bit offset to the left of the page, or the twist of his hips is too far counterclockwise - it makes it seem like the hip are rotated 90 degrees off from the chest's forward direction.

[PxelSlayer]

PixelSlayer - If you're looking for badass, Justice is usually shown with scales AND a sword - a bola of scales and a blade for when that doesn't work? I like the hooded costume.

Don`t laugh, but I had to, erm...google some parts of your sentence...XD...so, what` "a bola"? ^_^`

Love you entry, btw. And since Libra and Aries are opposites, I`m kinda seeing your guy there as an arch-enemy of mine...har har har!

[fdisk]

This is the most fun I've had with a CHOW!

Quite a few stance and proportion fixes. The last one felt a bit off balance and 'high-set', for lack of a better term. There were also some serious problems with his right arm and his head placement. And I just wasn't happy with the legs. Chest was also canted all weird and didn't anatomically match up very well.

Wanted a smokier, darker vibe too. Much happier with this now overall.

Now I need to get in there and start smoothing some wonky values and rework a few bits of the armor, and get the astrological signs in on the shield (helpfully divided into twelve wedges ).

GEB, I can't wait to see what you've got up next! Really dig your first scribbles - hopefully those upload problems get sorted.

Dude, seriously awesome concept. I'm doing Aries too and thankfully I'm going with a Viking inspired design. Sweet Helm though, love the scepter and shield as well. No crits, just praise.

[tbaldree]

Don`t laugh, but I had to, erm...google some parts of your sentence...XD...so, what` "a bola"? ^_^`


Hee hee! I think the technical description is, 'those useless things Ewoks throw'.

[Shorinji_Knight]

Wow Tbaldree that's looking awesome!
I like OliviaM's concept of the horse suit. I'd never thought of that.
Also a lot of the other wips on here have lots of potential!

I'm not sure I'll finish this cause I'm working on another painting right now...

[blackrobin]

edit : updated :yayca:

[snatti]

looks great people, themes really sounds fun

[Ahnem Mee]

I really shouldn't, but I think I'm going to partake in this one.


... What's capricorn the opposite of? I want an archenemy too!

[Eofn]

lancer_idenoure Hey there. Unfortunately this ChoW is only for the western zodiacs (If you include ALL zodiac types it could get hugely confusing! :S) There's still masses of freedom though and well worth having a go ^_^

[GEB]

Blackrobin: I really like the way this is coming together and the colour scheme is sweeeeeeeeet

[GEB]

This is my progress from yesterday. I'm hoping I'll get a little time to myself to do a bit more today

[Eofn]

GEB That is pure awesome on a stick! It's going to be one super epic concept once it's finished!

[Taimic]

This is the first thing that came to my mind, i really hope i can make something out of that idea. nice pieces so far, cant wait to see more :)

[Tommoy]

I'm looking out for the next Team Chow, getting a little rusty.
Teundeboer, with a little tweaking it can get more dramatic.

[doodles-inc]

ok, I am sticking with this...Now to get painting. This is what's going through my mind for those interested >>>

These Piscean warriors of the sea are like no other. While in possession of magical amythyst they are granted psychic ability, allowing them to oversee the battlefield from the depths. They are also able to communicate telepathically to their ground based allies regarding the locations of their foes. The Pisces warrior also provide a safe retreat for allies by being able to grant compassionate healing.

Foes are known to literally try and "fish" them from the sea in hope of capturing their amythyst.

Lightly Armoured
Swift and stealthy
Daggers for protection/defence

[GEB]

Elixy: Cheers you're too good to me ;)

Tommoy: Oooooh he looks a proper grim warrior!

Teundeboer: Totally agree with Tommoy

Taimic: What if he were riding a bull? I think if you altered the body type to make him really heavy set it would help connect him with Taurus

Did a bit more on mine, not sure I like the sword where it is. Composition is so freakin tough! I will deal with the BG later as I want to keep it very simple. Need to do something with his right hand too as it kinda looks like he's playing with himself... I'm thinking of putting a goblet in his hand. Crit me!

[scatch]

hey everyone.
this is my first post. been on here for couple of years and finaly dared to post something. so tell me what you think.

[Eofn]

GEB I see what you mean about the hand... although aren't Leo's supposed to be quite... sexually charged? :P Leo's metal is Gold, so perhaps he could be hold/looking through the spoils of war; coins, jewelry, gold armor etc.... I know it would be tons more work, but i would personally love to see a Leo concubine or something at his feet, again with the sex lol :P

[Pixeltuner]

GEB & Elixy: get a room :p

[Eofn]

GEB & Elixy: get a room :p

I laughed so hard at that. Nothing wrong with a bit of friendly banter :P

[Shorinji_Knight]

Geb: I Think it looks great so far, but as far as the arm goes, maybe just have it on the arm rest.

[Eofn]

LA Fairy Sorry this took so long to get back to you. This is by no means perfect and I could be mistaken, but this is roughly where I would correct the torso.. as you can see, you would then need to adjust the arms.

http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m591/Elixyart/lafairy_redline.jpg

I really hope this helps!

[GEB]

Isn't the fact he's got a massive chopper between his knees enough!? ;) Pixeltuner I spat my coffee all over my desk, I hope you're happy!

Scatch: I like the feel you've got here. though there are several proportion issues. Maybe if you find a pic of the hulk in a similar position it will help you. BTW If you type zodiac warrior onto google there's an awesome cancerean action figure!

[GEB]

Elixy: I think a pride of concubines is a great idea (but then I am a leo) I may well expand on this painting eventually...

[Ahnem Mee]

Sketchy sketchy...

... turns out the tarot card associated with Capricorn (yes, sticking with my good old sign) is... THE DEVIL! Thus, I'm making this one an evil conjurer!

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/75/zodiacwarriorwip1ref.jpg


hey everyone.
this is my first post. been on here for couple of years and finaly dared to post something. so tell me what you think.First post? Nice one! Reminds me of american football a little, he.
Not much I can say as useful critique until there's more definition of the head and torso area - as is, I can't read it very well. Love the colors you picked btw.

Dat gezegd zijnde - ga ervoor!

[Pixeltuner]

GEB & Elixy: Always a pleasure bringing the lolz! :) ;)

[Ahnem Mee]

Workin' hard, because I don't think I'll have time for this until anymore saturday:

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/798/zodiacwarriorwip2.jpg

TEAR THIS THING APART, PEOPLE!

[GEB]

Ahnem Mee: That's looking sweeeeeeet!

Started rendering

[oldboy115]

Great topic!
I hope that I get enough time this week.
Here's my Virgo, my zodiac sign)

[LA-Fairy]

Thank you Elixy!

Fierce!, is all I can say to yours, GEB
Lots of cool ideas and pictures so far!

[Fetsch]

Good work everybody, keep pushing forward! :)

tbaldree: like how yours turning out, good design.
pxelslayer: cool characterdesign so far, if you dont find way to make him as badass as you want, just give him glowing eyes that should do it :D.

Finished the b/w blockin and made the first coloroverlay.

1164650

[scatch]

ahnem mee: you should look up keith thompson capricorn. maybe it can be to inspiration for you. looks really nice BTW!!

[Daxtor]

Some very nice entries!

Attached is my initial idea for this CHoW (awesome theme by the way, with so many ideas to chose from!). I have chosen Gemini, mainly because this idea came to me 'the strongest'. Also, my girlfriend is a Gemini :D

So I tried to put a twist on the Gemini, making them a sort of siamese twins with a pair of 'twin arms' ;) The arms and hands needs the most correction atm. I was also thinking of making them slight opposites of each other, the one more strong and masculine in her pose, the other the opposite.
Not sure if a spear for them is the way to go, maybe I should stick with magic aura feel from their hands?

I'll definately throw some comments around after I have read through the posts!

[Supervlieg]

Leo wip!

[Dayle]

GEB - Characters looking awesome! maybe for the hand he could be looking at his nails / claws? like you do when you've nothing else to do or kill!

[fdisk]

1164791

I'm going with a fantasy Viking approach using the elements of Aries (Mars, Fire, Ram, Alpha male)

His weapon is a battering ram with a ram head of course, his helmet and belt have a ram motif. He's on the mountains, traversing through the rocks as rams always do. His battering ram is filled with ambers and fire, eventually the eyes will glow and the back will have flames coming out of it.

That's all I got for now, I have to go make dinner!

[DImanic]

Late starting, some pretty impressive warriors happening.

[ENNEX]

It's been a while since I've done a piece in Painter, I'm pretty excited.. :)

[LA-Fairy]

did a bit more work on it....
is the torso better? I also relaigned the eyes, though I think I need to redo the eyeballs.. still not happy with the 'trance' look.
1164799

[Daxtor]

Say, I got a question for CHoW in general :)

Before I post the comments I have made, what is the 'code of critique' here? Is it in bad taste to give people critique who haven't asked for it, or are everybody here to learn more? :)

[Oniko]

wow everyone has great ideas and concepts for this one! very cool ~ I will see if I can do one too....

[Eofn]

LA-Fairy Looks much better ^_^ The torso could probably still use some tweaking. Her shoulders are square on to the front and even though her hips are twisted slightly due to her legs, they're still pretty much square. Rather than editing your torso, perhaps playing around with the shoulders might help. Also her mouth is a little off center, a tip would be to draw a straight line on a new layer using the line tool so it goes straight down the middle of her head :)

Other than that, I love the glowing symbol on her hand, are you going to do that on both sides?

[fdisk]

Say, I got a question for CHoW in general :)

Before I post the comments I have made, what is the 'code of critique' here? Is it in bad taste to give people critique who haven't asked for it, or are everybody here to learn more? :)

The way I've always approached it is that everyone and anyone posting in these forums is looking for critiques and to get better. I know that's what attracted me to CA and CHOW in the first place, there's plenty of forums I can go to where people will blindly praise my art, but that won't make me a better artist.

[Daxtor]

The way I've always approached it is that everyone and anyone posting in these forums is looking for critiques and to get better. I know that's what attracted me to CA and CHOW in the first place, there's plenty of forums I can go to where people will blindly praise my art, but that won't make me a better artist.

Thanks for the reply! I will go with your approach and hope most people share the same opinion :)

[doodles-inc]

Some progress...This is fun and good practice. I paint sooo slow.

Everyones images and ideas look real cool. I'm looking forward to seeing the finals :)

[tempest-haze]

Lovely work so far, guys! :D

[sayreh]

I decided to go in a slightly different direction for my libra warrior, but kept the reanimation theme. I'm liking her in armor a lot better

[LA-Fairy]

^ I love the color and the lighting on the arms!

I haven't even flipped my canvas yet. O_O oh boi... LOL tomorrow..

[Crumbelievable]

Am I too late to get in on this business? I'm new to this whole place so I'm sorry if I am!

Anyway, I wanted to try a warrior for Cancer. Here's the first sketch and some stand-in colors until I do my lighting and values.

[Daxtor]

Holy molybdenum there's a lot of WIPs! I took the pleasure of taking a moment to look through everyone, lots of great ideas.

I will commence comment spamming, I started out commenting a good portion, then I felt bad if I didn't go through with them all! I am by no means a good artist yet, so I could possibly be wrong with the critiques, so please keep that in mind!

Spelling and grammar errors are free.

Alright, here goes:


Pixeltuner: Nice sketch, I think there are some proportions that needs to be looked at if I may say, but I like the sketch, and the 'determined' expression you have given her :) I'll throw in a vote for making her more aquatic, maybe even giving her long sloshing hair!

PxelSlayer: Gonna be a cool Libra, your sketch looks great :D Maybe twist the right leg of the Libra and foreshorten it a bit, making it look like the Libra is coming more towards the viewer? Which colors are you thinking about, also a balance there? :) (And thumbs up on your productivity btw, it's truly inspiring to see!)

LA-Fairy: Lovely colors and I love the idea! I thought your sketch has a slight resemblances to Libra, but I think it will be a nice piece when you are done with it! At a second glance, her leg/foot furtherst away seems a bit odd? Also, her lip seems to be skewed sligtly. Don't forget her feet! :D But I am really liking how this is coming together, the clothes blue and green blended colors and especially her hair is coming out great :)

tbaldree: Beautiful, and an 'intense battle of colors' in your early pictures, the final one seems much more 'sturdy' :) At the first glance it seemed like a lot of highlights everywhere, but I think you found a nice balance in the end. I'll just give you some thumbs up, it's looking great!

Halogen: Looks nice so far, you got a great line quality. The weapon design is super, but if you could inverse the direction of the blades and handle, it would look much more like the Pisces sign and do the trick for me :D But the design is cool none-the-less! And a cool idea, fishermen fishing for pisces!

tempest-haze: I like the idea you have behind your Gemini characters! Wonder how they decide who shall have the immortality each night they go to sleep :D Perhaps slanting some of the things in your imagine, like tilting the sword and bending the leg and body a little bit might give a more dramatic feel to the image? But other than that, I'm looking forward to see it comple :)

OliviaM: Wow, what a task you have given yourself, and what a splendid idea! I actually think making it as a collage the way you did works perfectly to tell the story of the creation of a Saggitaurus, if that's what you want to tell (maybe instead of him sitting on the horse body, he would be in the midst of climbing down into it?) Also, unless these really just are sketches put together, then the branch the Saggitarus is leaping over is placed a bit unlucky, it can be perceived as an outstretched arm from the Saggitaurus to the right :) Can't wait to see more of this.

blackrobin: You got an interesting way of building up your character, looks nice and painterly :) I can't wait until you chisel that ram free on the breast panse! Will both the helmet and breast plate have a rams head? Oh, and great colors too!

GEB: I'm glad you went with number two, it tells a much more interesting story as has been mentioned. I would say the sword is positioned a bit odd. Could it be resting across his lap? Maybe leaning, the tip at the bottom right corner and the handle on his thigh?

JanJager: That's gonna be great! That's an out of the box take on the libra! :D

Elixy: A very nice background you have made, fun order you're doing it in! I would go with the first version with the same reason as GEB.

logistic puppet: Heh, rather untraditional, I like! Maybe if he is the water carrier, he could come pouring out from a huge tipped pot from behind him? I'm not sure what to say about the people inside him, I can't help thinking Gelatinous Cube, but I guess it would be an obvious weapon for such a guy! Thumbs up on brass gauntles!

xLouisax: I can see what you're saying that the design might be a tad dull, but nevertheless, if I imagined a Pisces warrior, that would be her :) Just a thought about dividing Pisces up into two people, you could make a King and a Queen, both ready to battle? For that purpose, you could even easily use the current design, perhaps considering adding a few years of age to her :)

Teundeboer: I am much more into him holding the heads, no doubt there what he is trying to tell us! The suggestion of adding more angled lines gets a vote from me too. I find the head a bit unusual - In the way that I really think it is a cool design, but it seems more fit for a nautical creature than a scorpion. I am curious, which colors will you be going for with the background? Kinda hoping for a bloodred sunset victory :D But overall I really like it, even taking apart the fact I'm a Scorpio ;)

Nikola Marinkovic: He seem's like a pretty 'stable' libra warrior, looks interesting :) Just a thought, how about giving him two of the same weapons, to add to the libra balance feel? And maybe 'tilting the camera' in a frog perspective? I think that could give him a somewhat stronger expression :) Looking forward to see more on this, especially the arms and head is looking interesting.

Undeadartist: Cool idea of making him similar to a constellation. Will the 'points' and lines (or maybe veins?) be glowing?

ARRGH: I like that pose - I can't help but imagining an old water bearer with tall pots of water all around him though! Any thoughts on what will come with this? :)

Dayle: Mayhem! It's great to see enthusiasm like that, when you can't help but draw something you already made your mind not to do to begind with :) Although I can't help wondering why you are holding back from CHoW though? I could imagine you have learned a lot from this, and I bet you know much more about goats than I do ;D I can see the research payed off on her horns, keep it up! :)

Frozensceptre: Go team Scorpio! I hope he is stepping on someone we don't like! Without being a color expert at all, I was thinking a light blend of red-orange into his armor could be a nice touch? Right now it's on the verge of going in the pink direction - but I might very well be wrong :)

Formic Acid: That looks really interesting! Will you do another pose for him for the final image?

Nestoronfire: You got a good hand going on there! The leg seems a bit off/rotated, but otherwise it looks very promising, very 'Leo-like'.

kissorkill: I don't think the colors are all that bad :) Maybe the glowing effects are a tad too saturated compared with him? An idea for it - how about instead of the pisces sign behind him, he could be standing in ancle deep water, where the sign is forming around him?

sayreh: Superb idea! It works for me all the way :) I might have considered losing the blindfold and give her some sunken in eyes instead, maybe plenty of black around the eyes. But you got a great start! EDIT: alright, you went in another direction :D She looks cool in that evil wide hipped armor, now I'm hoping for long talons on her gloves finger tips! The scales reference on her helmet doesn't for me though, but I like the helmet with no slits for eyes a lot!

Fetsch: Great design, color and pose, it's one of my favourites! And thumbs up for that cool claw.

TennTenshie: You've got an elegant line that puts a lot of character in the woman. I'm just gonna wait to see what you are going to cook up! Actually, I am really curious to see if you could stylize your design a bit more - I guess it's because your characters remind me of a mixture of Monkey Island 3 and Sinbad, but I think you could push it an inch more, if it makes sense :)

ENNEX: Any thoughts on the envirounment for her? Looks like she would fit perfectly on a soft field in the spring.

Quigleye: My favourite of your designs is the one in the top right corner. Also, the weapons are given equal attention, so they 'look more like twins', if you get what I mean.

Shorinji_Knight: If the weapon could be rotated a bit, it would improve a lot. Otherwise it's coming along nicely, got a slight arabian feel that I always find suitable for lion men :)

Taimic: A very 'down to earth' interpretation of the Taurus, works great! His body seems a bit 'stretched out' more than he is sitting comfortably in the saddle - if you get what I mean? Any thoughts on colors so far? :)

Tommoy: Wow, terrific, the gnarled bow suits this grizzled saggitaurus! Thumbs up from here and nothing else - can't wait to see it complete!

scatch: Looks nice! The ground really works for me, nice craquelure effect. I think a bit more of his weight from his upper body could be leaning down on his thrusting claw, making it look like more weight and strength is put into the strike. I was curious, have you tried with a yellowish sky? Other than that, keep it up!

Ahnem Mee: Cool twist on the saggitaurus, and I like how you made all the arms form a star. Although it does look a bit like the daggers are slicing him in the hips, but I guess they have to be placed in that way in order to work :) Oh, and great hands, especially the two resting on the staff!

oldboy115: Good start, interesting with some Firearms! Maybe she could wear a necklace with the Virgo sign in it, to hint to the viewer she is a Virgo? Although that would be a tiny detail :) The face is great! Almost a shame it has to be so small ;)

Daxtor: Work harder!

Supervlieg: Very tight lines and shading! I like the two skulls hanging from the belt, displaying his strong and dominant character. His right shoulder seems a bit too 'extruded' though? But nice work on the face especially and nice design on the headgear!

fdisk: Ha, cool! The first thing I would even comment was that he had a viking feel, so good job on that! I would love to see his right shoulder pulled a bit further down, showing the weight of the huge ram. His right leg seems a bit odd though? But maybe it's just because of all those lovely details, I'm not entirely sure :) Will the final image have glow and flames coming from the ram?

NZOB1: Interesting, looks like a heavy load to carry on ones head, but why not :) It seems to be rotated a bit though, pointing in another direction than the way she is looking. What will you develop on her hands? :) And any thoughts of her skin colour? Cause I imagine her red/slighty orange :) Keep it up!!



Alright, off to bed, I hope some of this will be useful to some of you :)

(Sheesh, if I break down conceptart.org, it's due to a smiley overload!)

[Daxtor]

Crumbelievable Naw there should be 3 more days before this contest ends, if I'm not mistaken :) And cool WIP there, fun idea with the crab helmet! I especially like the corals and sea stuff starting to grow on her, looks great! Just curious, any specific reason why you chose an axe? :)

[Artfix]

Hey guys I could use some advice here. I bit off a lot...

The idea is that this chick moves super fast and she is in super-fast motion. My friend said he could tell its in motion, but then he couldn't tell it was SUPER motion.

Any thoughts?

These are three versions: one before I added motion effects, and two ideas for motion effects. I can't paint any poses "in between" because these are the photos I had, and there's no way I could make it up without ref.

Thanks.

[Daxtor]

Hey guys I could use some advice here. I bit off a lot...

The idea is that this chick moves super fast and she is in super-fast motion. My friend said he could tell its in motion, but then he couldn't tell it was SUPER motion.

Any thoughts?

These are three versions: one before I added motion effects, and two ideas for motion effects. I can't paint any poses "in between" because these are the photos I had, and there's no way I could make it up without ref.

Thanks.

Cool idea and difficult to perform for sure! :D How about a continuous trail, sort of what they did in some of the old musicvideos? You can have the swiftest motion lack detail, while the movements where she pauses naturally have more detail like what you already did?

I'm a bit clueless, what zodiac is she? :)

Oh another thing - if she is fighting with lightning speed, then he reacts very fast to the wound :) Maybe have him appear to be about to defend himself, while the blood splatter tell the viewer he has been hit before he can defend?

[NickyBeats]

damn! DAMN! some firece competition in here!!! i like it!! crazy entries all around, i cant reply atm, but i promise ill work on some during the day tomorrow.

i am going with my own zodiac sign for this one, cancer. i started doing some sketch of a guy, and built up some crab armor on him, im thinking he needs a weapon though. any thoughts or crits?

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1164975&stc=1&d=1297228552

[PxelSlayer]

@Artfix - That looks absolutely amazing! However...you are very close to falling into the "illustration" trap. Remember, this is Character of the week - we have to see the design you went for. Sure, it`s good to have the final image telling some sort of a story about him/her, but remember - character first, story second. Or in this case - too much of a good thing.

This is just my opinion, though. Everything else is up to you. :)

And yea, I really DO like what you did there. She has that X-23 vibe going on...woof! :geekg:

As for little ol` meh, I felt bad that my character is covered/masked up, so I painted his face in normal/enraged mode. I actually spent 3 hours painting another face, and then my PS didn`t want to play with me any more and crashed. Without me saving it... you guys KNOW what it felt like. e_e

As for the glowing parts - @Fetsch ;) , one of the oldest tricks in he book, eh? It works, though! :D

Edit - I just noticed he looks like Jesus...*_*

[Shorinji_Knight]

Everyone is making great progress!
Artfix: Don't listen to your friend it looks super.

My update... I hated the way the head looked before so I repainted it.

[tbaldree]

More anatomy and stance twiddles. Fixed some off-side proportions on the mask. Redid shinguard AGAIN and showed a little more leg. Some detail work on staff and shield and all around mess cleanup around the page. Also popped some colors and contrasts a bit, and subdued some of the more overwhelming highlights on his chestpiece to keep them from drawing the eye so much.

I think I'm going to sit on this for a day and see what jumps out at me as needing doing - any crits on ideas welcome!

[tbaldree]

Pxelslayer - ooooh - love the face rendering!

Artfix - I really dig the motion blur but agree with Pxelslayer on keeping your character visible. Maybe if you keep a bit more of the figure in the foreground stance and 'pop' it out a bit from the blur without letting it encroach so much on the figure? If you want tween frames, i bet you could just take the upraised arm, rotate and scale a bit and stagger it between the major frames with a lighter opacity to help 'fill in the gaps' visually.

Fetsch - lovely rendering and lighting!

Supervlieg - the lion headdress is a sweet idea and looks cool

[Shorinji_Knight]

tbaldree: It looks good, The only thing that catches my eye is the horn, that is in the back, seems twisted like the head is turned farther than it actually is. It may be just me but I think you'd see a little more of it.

[tbaldree]

Shorinji_Knight Thanks, you're right. I've edited my previous post with a fixed version ( don't want to make people load almost the same image twice ) - definitely looks better. Much appreciated!

[vandalfish]

I'm a pisces, but I want to do more than one of these so I'm starting with Aries.

[fairystrychnine]

Go Leo women, go!

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b54/fairystrychnine/alexisLEO1.jpg

(Man, I hope that worked....)

Edit: Woo! It worked. Anyway, she'll eventually have more leonine details than just the mane of hair... i just haven't worked 'em out yet!

[RicoD]

Oh man, so many cool entries already!

@artfix: I love the lines of the 3rd version! Although it's perhaps less original than the squiglly waves of the 2nd, I think it conveys fast movement a bit better. Nothing quite as fast as the direct line after all. ;)

@tbaldree: I'm guessing a goatee would be pushing it? :D

I really ought to give this a go (agh, say this every time and always end up prioritzing other things). I used to draw Zodiac warriors (or actually, I had warriors, champions and assassins. For the rock, paper, scissors effect) a lot when I was 12 or so. This week's topic sure brings back those fond memories. ^^ Hmm, let me think what I can do with Aquarius without ending up with some water jar pouring Adonis ... although I do like the jar.

[Tawnos]

Fetch Damn, thats looking GOOD!

Tempest-haze I can't really figure out what the right sibling is doing at the crotch of left sibling....

[Gabrieldnc]

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/8892/piskes.jpg
My entry for piskes, I want to know what you think before paint it =3

[blackrobin]

Artfix : that is very cool, i can't really give any advice, but here is some ideas, desaturate and lower the opacity of her after-shadows, give them a 'super colour' but not too saturated, make them to look as mirages rather than solid silhouette of characters, leave behind only tell tale sign, e.g her shining eyes or blades, a more extreme path of movement will also help i think, and add more blurs and speed rays
give it more cheese but not too cheesy :D

edit:
tbaldree : im with RicoD, goatee!

[Ahnem Mee]

Oh lord the competition is killing meeeeee! Anyway, here's an effort at crits&comments:

Yay! the first Aries with an actual battering ram! Can't wait 'till you paint in the fire you talked about, fdisk!

Artfix - I think it's important to show clarity and not go overboard with the motion-blurring (aka keep the final stage as clean and crisp as in the first picture; at the very least her head, anyway)... I even recommend not smudging at all, just making previous motion poses a tad translucent / less saturated or detailed. I do think the path of the blood in the second picture is superior though.
If you're going with inbetweening things all the way though, it's true what has been said before me - you can get a long way with just using bits and pieces and modifying those until it's close enough - there's going to be enough to catch the eye and there's enough overlap to need to draw whole figures again.

Nickybeats - love it! Reminds me of X-com... In a good way! I love the little lumps and warts on his carapace - maybe he needs some of those acorn barnacles? (Actually had to look up what they're called...!)

Vandalfish- suh-weet! Is that going to be a helmet or crazy hair?

Pxlslayer, tbaldree, Geb - OMG SIGN MY BABY!

ahnem mee: you should look up keith thompson capricorn. maybe it can be to inspiration for you. looks really nice BTW!!Heh, I know that picture pretty well - Keith Thompson's site was one of the first I ever bookmarked.
... It's not looking too hard like it, I hope? I know his had multiple legs and it looked rather creepy too, but I've been trying to steer away from Keith's concept as much as I could without abandoning my own, which is why I didn't go there to look at first. ... Maybe I should go take a peek after all, to make sure my mind isn't playing tricks on me...

Aw crud it even has that circle in the background.

(People not knowing what we're talking about, go here: http://www.keiththompsonart.com/pages/capricorn.html)

[GEB]

tbaldree: I love this image the values and the mood is fantastic! My only crit is the legs. The front legs thigh looks to short the inside quad should come down pretty much to the knee. Something about the rear leg makes him look a bit off ballance to me

Supervlieg: Sweet idea! Though I think your perspective is a bit too extreme, it's making his left side look under developed. Also the legs need to be longer and need bulking up as the proportion isn't working for me

sayreh: I really like this. Can't wait to see it develope

NickyBeats: Nice! Could do with him at Christmas opening walnuts

LA-Fairy: Looking good, though I agree with Elixy about the symmetry

fdisk: wicked! You do have so proportion and pose issues though. Like I don't think the rear leg should be straight with th eheel down like that

[Eofn]

Well this is pretty much the pose I'm going with but I cant seem to get the clothes right or bring out enough of the character. I did several thumbnail silhouettes to get the shapes but when I add details they don't seem to work :S

[fdisk]

fdisk: wicked! You do have so proportion and pose issues though. Like I don't think the rear leg should be straight with th eheel down like that

Thanks! I'll turn the foot more towards the battering ram. Anything else you can catch? I'm planning to make his right arm about 25% thicker.

[Gabrieldnc]

Well this is pretty much the pose I'm going with but I cant seem to get the clothes right or bring out enough of the character. I did several thumbnail silhouettes to get the shapes but when I add details they don't seem to work :S

Looks pretty well for me, i think you can just finishi the line work and put some color on it! After that maybe you can take a especific view on it and see what's not working right for you and them try to fix it with tools, like liquify.
good luck

[warburton]

Artfix First off, that design is sweeeeet. At the moment the second one is floating my boat the most.

I would crisp up the focal point to the image, this will help giving a feeling that we're following the character and put motion on the bits which are moving the fastest. This not only enhances the sense of speed but settles the character into the background. Similarly, keeping a little of the focus around the figure, namely the ground directly beheath, will also help the depth of field.

You probably knew this already but thats my take on motion, hope it helps in some way.

[doodles-inc]

Elixy I just love your style :)

Here's a little more before I go do the mundane at my day job...

[Ahnem Mee]

Elixy - no worries - I think it's going to turn out nice once you get to coloring, if you take care not to spoil the silhouette with clashing colors.
Can't wait to see more - Halogen is right your style is deeeelicious!

Halogen - keeping an eye on you...! You're going to let the character actually hold those great daggers, right? The two different skin-colors are a bit brusquely divided though - would be nice to see some of either mixed in with the other, so as to not cut your character in half. Could be you were already planning on doing just that - if so, woops! Carry on!


...Everything having to do with something with as rich a throve of information on it as the Zodiac is so very nice to paint for... I wish I could draw more than one warrior too...!
The www is cluttering my investigations though with stuff I don't know is right or wrong. One place says Capricorn's stone is topaz, the other garnet... And I don't even dare to guess at colors. What sources are you lot using?

[doodles-inc]

Ahnem Mee I hope to be incorporating those daggers yes. I am just finding it so difficult along with her hands and yes, definatly colour....I am learning alot from this. Thanks for your comment.

[PxelSlayer]

Outfit...done! Good timing as well - starting to get some weird ticks and twitches...O.o Must fix too big "Jesus head" though. Tomorrow - action shot! Drawing the whole thing all over again...yay...@_@

Did turn out kinda badass after all...no?

[Nikola Marinkovic]

hey Daxtor thanks for your advices. I'll try it that way!

nice lines Elixy

Artfix can't wait to see it finished. lovin it.

[Partisan]

so started out with this weeks CHoW ...I ll go with Taurus ( even though its not my Sign ^^ )...and here is my first really rough sketch ...not yet sure about anything ^^ will see where this will end up

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165235&stc=1&d=1297260724

so long
Seb

[dragon4lunch]

Elixy: Very cute, she looks like your avatar, even the hair. Obviously not exactly intimidating, but it could turn out to be a great character piece. Tiny nit-pick: Her belt goes through this strange iron (?) loop, which would make it very uncomfortable to move around with this big loop presing against your body. Also, the weight of the arrow-bag (quiver) would pull down the belt and make it cling closer to her hip.

PixelSlayer: This looks like it's going to be a champ this round. Do it!

[ArtByManon]

Elixy: Cheers you're too good to me ;)

Tommoy: Oooooh he looks a proper grim warrior!

Teundeboer: Totally agree with Tommoy

Taimic: What if he were riding a bull? I think if you altered the body type to make him really heavy set it would help connect him with Taurus

Did a bit more on mine, not sure I like the sword where it is. Composition is so freakin tough! I will deal with the BG later as I want to keep it very simple. Need to do something with his right hand too as it kinda looks like he's playing with himself... I'm thinking of putting a goblet in his hand. Crit me!

I acutally like where the sword is - GOBLET... goblet of rock? (i think the goblet is a good idea..)

[Eofn]

Elixy: Very cute, she looks like your avatar, even the hair.

This is totally intentional as it's meant to be the same person so to an extent it's a good thing :P

I know what you mean about not being intimidating and the deal with the quiver. I'll have a play around to fix that. Cheers ^_^

[Partisan]

and update incoming ...this CHoW is fun ^^

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165274&stc=1&d=1297263614

[Zantillia]

Elixy Oooo I just love your style! :D
Hrrrrm, I really having trouble with this one for some reason, I adore the topic but all my Saggy warriors feel static or generic...

[Nikola Marinkovic]

changed a pose and view a bit added stuff here n there.
nice stuff coming up!

[GEB]

Nikola Marinkovic: Nice image you could really push the contrast with that rim light for dramatic effect

logistic puppet: I think if you had some glow about him and had that colour effecting your foreground characters rim lit in that blue it might help. Also in your sketch I'm sur eI saw people trapped inside, which was an awesome idea. Maybe some bubbles... Check out the ellemental in Hellboy 2

Partisan: Nice! Looks like a deon of chaos!

PxelSlayer: Really nice! Great tones and ballance

[GEB]

Elixy: That's awesome. Your line work is gorgeous. looking foreward to the colour scheme

[Teundeboer]

Tommoy Thank you for the paintover! I tried to implement what you suggested. I love the bow design on your character.

Also changed the head to something that seemed more scorpion-like. Probably gonna change the head a few more times before I'm finished.

Uhm.. Yeah, think I'm about to start coloring. Would love some feedback.

Was thinking about going for this color scheme and maybe a brown-reddish background. Dno.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flight-international/scorpion.gif

So... critique away!
1165289

[MarcSampson]

heres mine i went with Capricornus critique welcome


@pixelslayer i love the face but the hand and feet are much too small

[Pixeltuner]

Pxelslayer: I'm not sure why I'm the first one mentioning this but, this looks a little bit too much Assassins Creed ;)

[Partisan]

and update again ...sorry for sharing every little step ^^

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165344&stc=1&d=1297269978

[MarcSampson]

@partisan i love the expression and the color theme of the centaur i actually would leave it monochrom colored and just work on detail and value really a good one

@Teundeboer not bad but i donno its jus too "usual" i mean it looks like the scorpion king.. and i dont really dig the head.. its to unhuman :D

[Partisan]

Pxelslayer: I'm not sure why I'm the first one mentioning this but, this looks a little bit too much Assassins Creed ;)

yeah and also a bit like a possible villain from justice league or green lantern ^^ but its nevertheless cool :P

[Eofn]

Partisan OMG I'm in love! I love how your pieces come alive bit by bit! You've captured the epicness of this Taurus warrior perfectly ^_^

[renard_mxdf]

I decided to enter even when it is a little bit late.

It is Cancer

Here is te first rough.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/renard_mxdf/ChowZodiaco.jpg

[tbaldree]

tbaldree: I love this image the values and the mood is fantastic! My only crit is the legs. The front legs thigh looks to short the inside quad should come down pretty much to the knee. Something about the rear leg makes him look a bit off ballance to me


You're right on both counts. The spear shaft makes the eye confused on that back leg, so I've just changed the stance to have it masked and that seems to help a lot. What do you think of the leg tweaks? Stupid legs! They are my nemesis.

[Nikola Marinkovic]

tbaldree thats looking awesome!

here is mine update

[Crumbelievable]

Crumbelievable Just curious, any specific reason why you chose an axe? :)

At the moment it's pretty axe like, isn't it? :teeth:

When I render it, it should hopefully look more like a shellfish hammer. I forget what the real name for these things actually is, but the tiny hammers with a pointed end and a flat end for cracking shells.



Trying my hand at the painting phase, which is a really weak point for me. So any critiques are appreciated!

[artina]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I've participated in these. It's hard to find the free time to work on these. Anyway, here's my Zodiac Warrior. It is Sagittarius. I went for a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic take on it. Hope you like it.

[MasterTroglodyte]

It's been a while... Don't have time to comment on everyone's work right now. I'm still looking for a day job :)

[GEB]

MarcSampson: I like it! Is it gunna have fishy feet?

Partisan: Wow! That really is coming on a storm!

Done some more rendering. I've decided to ditch the trophies of war idea as I feel it will only clutter the image (and it's a lot of extra work) So I've thrown some fire in as that is Leos ellement. I figure since he's won the ellements are all out of whack and all is consumed in the fire. Why do I feel th eneed to explain myself... Hope you like, please crit away!

[renard_mxdf]

I changed my mind and created another rough.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/renard_mxdf/cancerchow.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/renard_mxdf/cancerchow2.jpg

[ClaretCrab]

Hey there. A lot of awesome works in here. I just started, but hope to finish it in time. Aries:

[Artfix]

I want to thank everyone for their feedback--really. I'm going to consider all your suggestions today!

GEB looking great as usual. I don't think you need the trophies either and I think the fire is a good idea. My only complaint is that it looks like hes in an empty nether all by himself and his throne. Maybe this is the case. One other thing: it looks like hes pondering why his sword is standing up by itself. Of course up to you--but maybe you could adjust the sword...it doesn't look like its leaning on his leg if that was your intention.

MasterTrog Putting crits together is very time consuming so no worries lol. I really appreciate the people that do it. I like the direction you're going...

Artina Great original concept here. My main crit is that it could be tightened up quite a bit. A lot of it looks quite sketchy and not in a style kind of way, but in an unfinished kind of way IMO. The linework especially looks sketchy and theres not enough variation in line weight.

Crumb Looking good. The gesture is good. Make sure everything is consistent with the wind including her hair. Also, make sure her hat doesn't look silly--theres no need to force the zodiac elements, IMO.

Nikola A seriously intimidating fella you got there so far.

tbaldtree This looks freakin' sweet. Are you using painter? If so, it makes me wanna switch back to it! I'm looking at your newest version as I type this; his balance looks perfect to me...staff not bothering me at all. It looks finished but you should take one more look at the front knee--specifically the way vastus medialis should look there. Also, I don't see an actual patella really.

Renard Great idea making a crab mount instead of the woman being crab-like per se.

Partisan I'm really excited to see this coming along because I had a very similar idea originally and I backed away from it because of lack of reference! I would REALLY like to see a more upshot on him tho. I think you can still keep that angle of his head, because the eye is showing which is nice. But the body I think could be put into more perspective so we are looking up at him.

MarcSampson I like this design. The head and horns are really cool. His anatomy is alien I can tell, but make sure to get lots of human ref for this so it looks relatable and believable.

Teundeboer I like the use of shape and silhouette here but I think you can make the shapes even more interesting. Maybe with more spikes, horns, staggly bits, chains. It just doesn't look as epic as the moment seems to call for. Maybe something for scale too? Like his little army around him that follows him? Army of scorpion-men or scorpions?? Ooooh :D

PxelSlayer This is cool man! Sorry if I give same crits as others. Someone mentioned hands and feet are too small--yes. He doesn't look like jesus at all so don't worry about that. I also really liked your head renderings you showed us without the hood. You did that just to study your character...man you have discipline! Can't wait to see him in action.

Elixy Love your style. Your linework is so decisive. My only concern is that she really doesn't even look capable as a warrior. Her pose with her high heels makes her look more like she should be checking her texts than shooting an arrow, ya know?

Ok sorry for all I missed--I gotta get to work on mine!

[warburton]

Loads of seriously amazing designs coming up here. I'm truely blown away.

GEB Thanks for your earlier crit! I'm lookin at yours and its makin me drool lol. The lighting and colour on his shiny armour and throne is amazing.

Also, tbaldree Seriously awesome concept. You've nailed the perspective perfectly, and the way its been painted is beautiful. Did you use photoshop or painter?

[Jay-Zee]

Hey guys and gals, i'm having alot of trouble with mine and any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Cant seem to push this any further without making it look worse. The colours are driving me mad also. Any obvious mistakes scream out at you at all?
Feel free to be brutal, i need an ass kicking here!

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/ff12-esper-cuchulainn.html

just sayin...

[Partisan]

Elixy, GEB, Artfix :hugsmile:

and update :

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165503&stc=1&d=1297285980

[Neclord]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165237&stc=1&d=1297261063

I couldn't help but notice the resemblance of this design to the creature Cuchulainn from the game Final Fantasy XII.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2879/cuchulainn2.jpg

Just thinking out loud.

[OliviaM]

OliviaM, i think you have a pretty solid concept going on. Is the horse armor going to be metallic?



I was thinking like an enamel clay glaze sort of thing. Gonna try to get some work in on it tnight. Thanks!

[MarcSampson]

@GEB thx alot i really dig your lion too, i love how you kept the human features . and the story it looks lik he just ownd everyone and is bored on his throne :D



@artfix overbulky and heavy yes alien, dont think i entended this ;S im going to look some ref up haha thx anyway

[Eofn]

My only concern is that she really doesn't even look capable as a warrior. Her pose with her high heels makes her look more like she should be checking her texts than shooting an arrow, ya know?

I know exactly what you mean :) I think in my mind I had originally pictured it more as a fantasy pinup type but she's ended up a little...weak. Totally know how to fix it though now. Thanks for confirming my suspicions :)

[dawnusllaw]

this is my late start after struggling with a pose for way too long. Trying out my tablet and am totally clueless!!
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo343/jp74/capricwar.jpg
Any crits/help much appreciated!!

[ArtZealot]

Hey guys and gals, i'm having alot of trouble with mine and any help would be MUCH appreciated.

Cant seem to push this any further without making it look worse. The colours are driving me mad also. Any obvious mistakes scream out at you at all?
Feel free to be brutal, i need an ass kicking here!
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165237&stc=1&d=1297261063

I couldn't help but notice the resemblance of this design to the creature Cuchulainn from the game Final Fantasy XII.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2879/cuchulainn2.jpg

Just thinking out loud.



Hmmmm.... :traced::lineart:

[tbaldree]

tbaldtree This looks freakin' sweet. Are you using painter? If so, it makes me wanna switch back to it! I'm looking at your newest version as I type this; his balance looks perfect to me...staff not bothering me at all. It looks finished but you should take one more look at the front knee--specifically the way vastus medialis should look there. Also, I don't see an actual patella really.

Also, tbaldree Seriously awesome concept. You've nailed the perspective perfectly, and the way its been painted is beautiful. Did you use photoshop or painter?

Photoshop - never really came to grips with Painter. I use some of Melanie Delon's brushes -

http://www.melaniedelon.com/?p=510

and have been staring at lots of oil paintings trying to replicate some of that vibe.

Artfix - thanks for the tips on the knee/patella region! - I'll scrape together some detailed ref tonight to try and correct.

[GEB]

Artfix: Wow I've just seen yours for the first time it wasn't showing earlier for some reason. It looks great but I totally agree with peeps that it's hard to pick her out at the mo. Great feel to it though. And thanks for the crit I've been looking at that sword for a while thinking hmm that's clever how's he doing that exactly ;)

Partisan: Yeah lets all get a room ;)

BTW what's the deal with team CHOW how does that work?

[Neclord]

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/ff12-esper-cuchulainn.html

just sayin...

Whoops, beaten to the punch. Good going, sir.

[Eofn]

Yeah lets all get a room ;)

And it shall be called, the Super happy fun awesome room of super happy awesomnesss!!!

[GEB]

Hahahahaha Yeah that's what I'm talking about!

[GEB]

Tbaldree: sorry missed yours earlier don't know what my machine is playing at. Yeah the balance looks great now, and yeah Artfix is bang on the money

Artbymanon: Missed yours too. I may well have a goblet I'll look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow

[Partisan]

Partisan: Yeah lets all get a room ;)


I go fetch the keys, you three get chinese food and drawing materials ! :P

just a quick update just changed the chest so now its more of a low angle shot as a few suggested, indeed it looks better this way ^^ thanks, aaaand may I draw your attention to a little spot I am quite happy about ...the reflection on the armour on his belly , reflecting the fabric and the highlight of the little armour-plates below ^^

[warburton]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165237&stc=1&d=1297261063





Hmmmm.... :traced::lineart:

Yer I understand these thoughts, thanks for pointing this out to me. I used this guy as reference when i started out, and I guess I had so much trouble trying to nail the idea in my head that I started drifting towards the reference design.

Reference is dangerous, and I need to learn to stop using it. I guess its one of my many weaknesses =(

Ive removed my posts anyways, sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused.

[Quigleyer]

Damn, there are some real show-stoppers in here.

I like this!

Sweet work Partisan.

Here's where I got. Dunno If I'm gonna keep it or not, but I guess I am still painting it. Again- Gemini. His weapons are empowered by the twins (have forgotten their names). He was sent to Earth to do good deeds and such.

[dragon4lunch]

I'm in. Good challenge. This is a Gemini-Warrior - Twin set of arms and fish theme, very gemini.

http://trickstertoys.com/additional/dragon4lunch_gemini.jpg

[Kjesta]

Golly, I feel like untalented hack compared to you guys. I've hardly finished sketching my first idea - sans environment and everything. Sigh.

Anyhoo, here goes. I still like my first concept of combining all the zodiacs into one, but my drawing skills weren't up to that epic idea. Oh well. So it's just going to be a cancer girl warrior, or something.

I really need to work on my anatomy, but I like the chunky boots and the crab on her butt. (I took a bit of inspiration from FFXII's Penelo for the boots, just love 'em.)

I'll see that I'll hand out some concrit - tomorrow, once I'm halfway awake :yayca:

And ClaretCrab, I want a piece of your brain. That's amazing! So organic and even though he stands still, he's really dynamic. NICE.

[Dayle]

Sayreh - I'm really liking the look of this, you should google the Judges from Final Fantasy 12, they have really cool armor designs.
Partisan - I'm finding your step by step updates really useful to learn how to render, please keep showing them!
Tbaldree - The tones of red are very rich, really looking forward to seeing the final piece.

This is where I am at with Capricorn, the legs are going to be scaled, not furry, as it looks now. I'm mostly happy with the character and proportions so will get on the computer and try and finish it. Oh, and I know the symbol is Saturn, not Capricorn, she is casting a spell and Saturn is the source of her power.

[MarcSampson]

kinda like that guy :D dunno if i should go color?!

[FilRam]

So many great entries!
Here's my humble leo wip:)

[sayreh]

Hokay, taking a break from working on mine to post a few crits, since I've been lucky enough to get some good feedback myself :) hopefully will get time to post more if people find these helpful

Partisan - I love the color/lighting and the pose on this - extreme perspective/foreshortening from below on faces like that is challenging, and I think it's pretty successful here. My only comment is that his hands seem a little small for the rest of him, but that might just be me

dawnusllaw - cool pose idea, but I think the foot on the left (her right foot) needs to be moved under her a little more, since that's the one supporting most/all her weight, I think that might emphasize the line of action better too

fdisk - battering ram is awesome. I'd say my eye was a little confused by what was going on with the leg on the left (his right) - hard to tell for me if the ram is resting on his leg, where the knee is, the ankle looks a little bent; something about that general leg position just looks slightly awkward to me, or maybe it's just not yet clarified

FilRam - nice WIP, I think what I'd say is either making his shield a little smaller or his shoulders a little wider, or otherwise breaking the two shapes up would help the overall shape, IMO his torso and shield kind of just blob into a single shape when they're flush with each other like that

GEB - this might be just a little bit of a nitpicky thing, but is the leo symbol on the hilt of the sword supposed to be symmetrical? assuming it's not (like the leo symbol up on the throne) you might want to up the difference in the two sides of the little curlies a little bit more - to me at first it just looked like it was meant to be symmetrical and the perspective was slightly off. again, just a super small thing, it otherwise looks awesome!

[Partisan]

Quigleyer, Dayle, sayreh : Thank you guys! Ill incorporate the crits in tomorrows work for now I am to exhausted to take this further ^^

so this is the state of affairs for today, moving on tomorrow

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165672&stc=1&d=1297297379

so long
Seb

[Taimic]

all i managed so far is to get the lines a little cleaned up :( , you guys are fast!
There is a lot of cool ideas around i`m looking forward to see them finished :)

@Daxtor: Thanks for your comment ;) you are right he looked quite uncomfortable, i kind of fixed but i still want him to sit more upright then relaxed, so he looks more majestic and hero-like :P

i`m still not sure about the colors, but i think ill go with a "earthy" red tone, i`m not really good with colors yet :/ thats one of the reasons why i decided to join every chow from now on, if i have the time :)

[doodles-inc]

Partisan - that guy just looks supreme, fierce with raw power.

There's really some super work here. I just look at it astonished. Great compositions and superior knowledge. I want to reach that level :) Good going all!

Here's a little update..really need to work on getting those weps in there along with her hands. Soo difficult. Tells me I need to study more...

[Eofn]

Concept for a Sagittarian arrow: Bolt of lightning with a head made from blue topaz quartz.

Sagittarius is a fire sign but more specifically it is an atmospheric fire, eg: Lightning.

[fdisk]

How do you guys do the mass comments? I'd like to give my feedback to a bunch of people, but it usually takes me like 10 minutes to draft a quick comments post LOL.

[doodles-inc]

A little bit more progress before sleeps :) Have fun folks.

[tempest-haze]

I love seeing everyone's progress, but my personal favorites thus far would have to be tbaldree's, PxelSlayer's, GEB's, and Partisan's.

Another WIP :^^: I adjusted the immortal brother's pose. Still have some basic rendering to do before I move onto the details :)

[Chris Hershberger]

Here is the start of my concept for Aries. I am going to work in more upper body armor, I haven't fully settled on the design yet. If any one has any suggestions or critiques I'm open to them. Good luck everyone, there is some really awesome concepts up so far.

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t180/Bloktar13/aries.jpg

[PxelSlayer]

*Spam post - a spammy post about guys, boobs and other profanities brought to you by the one and only uber-whiney Pxel Slayer!*

Pxelslayer: I'm not sure why I'm the first one mentioning this but, this looks a little bit too much Assassins Creed ;)

I know, right...:sadcheerleader: And I never even played those games...

But then again, I`ve been thinking - one can design a cleric/mage looking character with only so much elements, and they`ve all been used before. Here, it`s white + hoodie. And thanks to popular culture, we all associate it with AC, since it`s that popular and has become an archetype of some sorts. Same for female characters - boobs + braided ponytail = Lara Croft. Eh...*shrug*
I know this will cost me some votes in the long run. But, as much as I love you guys, and as much fun I`m having in the Super happy fun awesome room of super happy awesomnesss, I`m doing this one for myself, b/c of myself and against myself. I mean, painting a guy? With non-flamboyant outfit? Making him look like he means "srs bsns"? Way out of my comfort zone! :D

In the end, if I get really desperate, I`ll loose the goatee, slap on some boobs and call it a day! :devil:

Lots of Aries warriors popping up lately...oh my...you guys aren`t going to make this one easy on my guy, eh? Well... Bring it...e_e

*And now we return to our daily program!*

[Si_Swe]

Partisan - Your rendering looks nice enough, but the colour lacks balls. I see a visceral and dynamic pose and all I'm getting is dulled down browns. Throw something intense in there. Make a problem and then deal with it. I know from your Sky Guardian that you were having trouble with colour, and the best way to get better with it is just to go for it! Just try making a "colour" layer, grabbing something that commands the eye (like some holy-fuck shade of red) and just throw a bit on there, see what it does. Then work with it. I mean, you ain't gonna get better at colour works with a sepia tone scale. Right now the piece lacks the weight and punch it needs as a result of the palette. Please, kick my ass out of the park by busting some motherfucking colour out.

[tbaldree]

Gonna fix this knee and leg if it's the last thing I do! How's this?

Also discovered that his right shoulder was waaaay too low and took care of that as well.

Blackrobin & RicoD -
Goatee added by popular demand. But it looked lonely. So I added two extra.

[Artfix]

There's that patella! Much better! And I like the triple beard hehe

[blackrobin]

tbaldree : ooommpph for the goatee :D ,and i love that canvas look you added, might wanna try that some other time, and don't stop buddy, he can still use some cleaning and rendering, like his left shoulder pad, that is superbly rendered, the right part of it seems to lack finish, you can still one up your piece, make use and abuse the great mood you have created!

update on mine :

[tbaldree]

Blackrobin - love seeing the ram's head materialize in the chestpiece there. It's very clever the way you've worked in the curled horns as shoulder pieces - so nice! Really looking forward to seeing the rendering progress.

[NickyBeats]

love all the updates, im rushing to post this, so im gonna have to reply next time, but great stuff coming from everyone!

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165798&stc=1&d=1297312992

[Natzuur-JK]

Here is my entry so far, gotta rush as im joining in late. Obviously needs some pose tweaking and maybe some more dynamic lines for comp.

Great work everyone thus far! Really awesome stuff!

[tbaldree]

Caling it for the night. Sorry to spam with updates!

Trying some twiddles to the color scheme. I kind of like the blue, and I scratched in a hint of mountain which suggests mist down in a valley in the distance to counter the fiery, smoky sky.

Worked on some of those detail elements Blackrobin, ( right shoulder strap, wristguard, shinguard, scattered tweaks throughout )
and fixed leading foot to remove goofiness.

Popped out the levels on the mask - seemed sort of like a dark sinkhole for the eye there in the middle.

[serhc]

What I've got so far for Gemini. I guess I went for a yin-yang twin set rather than a pair of copies, but I think that's allowable...right?

1165853

[PxelSlayer]

@tbaldtree - Everything is looking spic and span, but his horns seem just a bit off. I fiddled with one of my 3D models (don`t mind the face) to see what they would look like in that position. Don`t know if it helps, but hey...! ^_^

[tbaldree]

Pxelslayer - thanks for the advice and the mockup -
how's this?

[fdisk]

TBaldree: That Aries is kicking major ass and taking names. Love the goatee; you should still clean up his left shin guard a little more and maybe define the left part of his left foot just a little bit more as well.

BlackRobin: Genius design on the armor and shoulder pads! Can't wait to see it finished!

I worked on mine a little (I've been up for 22 hours at this point, and I have to wake up in 5.5 to go to work :()

Any tips are more than welcomed, I'm planning to keep working on it until I run out of time so I won't be applying colors until Saturday for sure.

1165884

[slence]

Hi guys, i decided to join. I choose gemini, still need work on weapon

[blackrobin]

welcome aboard slence :)

[PxelSlayer]

Or maybe like this?
You know, I really doubt it even matters. Considering the whole image, this is more like nit-picking than actually adding to quality. It`s just my OC kicking in, that`s all ;)

[sayreh]

I decided to have her levitating instead of standing because it felt like it was *too* symmetrical of a pose, even for Libra XD I also decided to alter the horn decorations on her helmet. They may get tweaked more, still not sure how I feel about them...also decided to include magic-runic circles around the zombies to further the whole scales look by acting as the "plates." Started adding in some base color to see how things will look as well - hopefully will get to start really rendering soon! I also haven't yet touched the lighting and background - will be coming soon! I'll definitely have more time to work on this Friday/Saturday

[dawnusllaw]

Update: Thanks Sayreh, I had noticed it didn't quite look right.
Still needs a ton of work, off I go!
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo343/jp74/capricwar-1.jpg

[Bnoch]

Crazy couple weeks.

Never ceases to amaze me how people's interpretations of such a timeless subject manifest in crazy ways.

GEB... some hotness with those early Frazetta images! You got a bit tight in your color treatment and lost some of the looseness that was working. The initial lines you put down were confident and expressive. Try to build on that flavor and not let your renders get fussy. Really nice.

Earlier this year, people thought their Zodiac sign was changing (http://gawker.com/#!5732115/your-zodiac-sign-may-have-changed). turns out its not entirely true (http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/13/no-your-zodiac-sign-hasnt-changed/) ... kinda.

Here's some work toward the Zodiac warrior Leo bout' to unleash some sun sword up in fools faces.

[Rhdnor]

I was thinking of doing Gemini. Since the twins can reflect the duality of present in a single person, I decided to do a sort of a costumish/tattoo/tarot-ish representation with symbols that reflect dualities---sun/moon, angel/demon, light/dark, yin/yang. It may sound a bit cliche but I'm hoping it looks good in the end.

[TheGreekDollmaker]

My entry is generic and kinda low level but i worked hard on this.

I think i could have done a better job on this through.

I would have tried to color it to make it better but it ended up looking worse than this.

[scatch]

work in progress. i feel it better so i am improving :):P:yayca:

[GEB]

logistic puppet: Ah don't be silly, some of my best ideas were someone elses ;) the best thing you could do now is do another one. And don't stop using reference it's essencial. Don't feel down throw something else into the mix ;)

[cz64]

after a few painting failures i decided to go with the lineart instead... i hope the idea is not overused :-I

[Pixeltuner]

*Spam post - a spammy post about guys, boobs and other profanities brought to you by the one and only uber-whiney Pxel Slayer!*



I know, right...:sadcheerleader: And I never even played those games...

But then again, I`ve been thinking - one can design a cleric/mage looking character with only so much elements, and they`ve all been used before. Here, it`s white + hoodie. And thanks to popular culture, we all associate it with AC, since it`s that popular and has become an archetype of some sorts. Same for female characters - boobs + braided ponytail = Lara Croft. Eh...*shrug*
I know this will cost me some votes in the long run. But, as much as I love you guys, and as much fun I`m having in the Super happy fun awesome room of super happy awesomnesss, I`m doing this one for myself, b/c of myself and against myself. I mean, painting a guy? With non-flamboyant outfit? Making him look like he means "srs bsns"? Way out of my comfort zone! :D

In the end, if I get really desperate, I`ll loose the goatee, slap on some boobs and call it a day! :devil:

Lots of Aries warriors popping up lately...oh my...you guys aren`t going to make this one easy on my guy, eh? Well... Bring it...e_e

*And now we return to our daily program!*

Well, you're right of course but it's the combination of outfit AND pose atm. It's almost the cover of the game. Then 1+1 makes (wait for it..) 2 ;)

[Partisan]

Partisan you ain't gonna get better at colour works with a sepia tone scale. Right now the piece lacks the weight and punch it needs as a result of the palette.

thanks for the kick in the balls ^^ but actually I was quite happy with the overall tone , I liked it monochromatic AND I have other issues to solve atm , its one problem at a time, and for now I am trying to deal with my lack of composition and anatomical skills^^ so colour isnt that important ATM but I tried anyways, here is a try ( just 5mins of work, so far from being finished )

the pyramid is gonna stay as it frames the character quite well and gives an explanation for the lighting from behind as it reflects the sun, about the colours ... not yet sure, even though I have to admit they make the character pop out and even the armour looks shinier ^^

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1165956&stc=1&d=1297337336

[ArtByManon]

Crazy couple weeks.

Never ceases to amaze me how people's interpretations of such a timeless subject manifest in crazy ways.

GEB... some hotness with those early Frazetta images! You got a bit tight in your color treatment and lost some of the looseness that was working. The initial lines you put down were confident and expressive. Try to build on that flavor and not let your renders get fussy. Really nice.

Earlier this year, people thought their Zodiac sign was changing (http://gawker.com/#!5732115/your-zodiac-sign-may-have-changed). turns out its not entirely true (http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/13/no-your-zodiac-sign-hasnt-changed/) ... kinda.

Here's some work toward the Zodiac warrior Leo bout' to unleash some sun sword up in fools faces.

This is looking really superb - gorgeous rendering, and I love the golden sword and the expression on his face - just one thing, the back looks like its too humped or something which reads to my eyes like its his front. Its probably just me, but its like the base of his neck wouldn't join up with the middle of his back?