C.O.W. #218 ,solar collector. VOTING!

[(lark]

Round #218 - Voting!

Topic: Solar Collector

this weeks requirements... (read BEFORE voting)

- the design must show how it collects solar heat energy, and how that energy is stored.

- the environment must be cold, Well below freezing. Think snow, ice, glaciers, etc.

[JanJager]

Artist: JanJager

Concept: solar manatee
Harvesting the arctic sea

[mat0fr]

Artist: Mat0fr

Concept: Nautasolis


the nautasolis is a huge planktivore which spends his days sailing on icebergs with his back pannels open to capture the sun's rays.
He stores the heat of the day in his four heat glands

Once he is recharged, he go fed into the freezing water for several hours.

Part of solar energy is used to emit light signals on the skin of nautasolis to attract a partner or to ward off predators.

[Highland3r]

Artist: Highland3r

Concept: Solar crawler

The solar crawler collects solar heat energy with his head, the collected energy is stored well-protected under his armored backplates.

[warburton]

Artist: logistic puppet

Concept: Spineas
A mammal which lives where no other animals can thrive. It spends its life climbing frozen mountains in arctic conditions trying to get as high as possible to absorb the suns light. It converts this heat and light into energy which it stores in its body and absorbs during cold nights.

[Girsteroth]

Artist: Girsteroth

Concept: Wolmagni
The Wolmagni are a species that live on arctic shores. They keep warm by magnifying the sun's rays into their hump through an organ that grows in the middle of their horn. The hump's external organ absorbs the heat and stores it in fat so that the Wolmagni can go long periods without sunlight and stay warm. Wolmagni are mammals with avian features and their primary diet is fish. While their young are still growing their thick layers of hair and developing their horns, food is regurgitated to them from their parents while they are kept warm at night in large huddled packs.

[Inspirized]

Artist: Inspirized

Concept: Antarctic Behemoth (Glacialis Amplus)
As it's name suggests the Antarctic Behemoth resides on the frigid polar cap Antarctica. It absorbs sunlight with it's onyx black plates and stores this energy as heat within it's massive bulk.

Over the course of a day the Antarctic Behemoth's body temperature reaches upto 480 degrees fahrenheit. It's this creatures nightly emission of heat that attracts it's only supply of food. Penguins and sometimes even seals will come nearby to sleep amongst the ample warmth generated by the Antarctic Behemoth who, when the morning comes, makes short work of the still sleeping and sometimes char-grilled fauna.

Due to the ease of it's life it's body size has far outgrown the bulk of it's legs and once an Antarctic Behemoth reaches adulthood it will seldom leave what it then considers it's territory, even to mate which may occur as rarely as only once in it's lifetime. The single young is kept nearby until a time at which they are able to generate enough heat to coax their own prey. At this point they travel until they're no longer able to walk for their size.

It's plates are made of extremely dense bone. More accurately just calcium turned black by the near constant heat and tempered very shiny by the frequent expansion and contraction of such extreme changes in temperature.

Occasionally these plates will crack and eventually break off. Antarctic Behemoth back plates are a highly prized possession amongst the right crowd. An Antarctic Behemoth will grow plates it's entire life due to the constant supply of calcium from the animals it digests entirely.

[Rob Powell]

Artist: Rob Powell

Concept: Osteonimbus

Osteonimbus got it's name for the bony protusions throughout its body and it's ability to float like a cloud. This unusual creature lives in the harsh climate on planet Glacia. It's unique becasue unlike other creatures, Osteonimbus carries it's own ecosystem, made up of bacteria and algea, which absorb solar energy to produce several hot gasses, which in turn keep the creature warm in the cold environment and allow it to float through the air, much like a cloud. It expels excess gasses through tubes around it's hindquarters, to decrease airpressure of built up gasses and uses this to propel itself through the air. Large veins attached to the creature's 'Greenhouse sacs' collect heat from it's back and transfers it to the creature's body.

1266619

[Whiskey Sour]

Artist: Whiskey Sour

Concept: Blue Burrower
The Blue Burrower hibernates during the long day light hours of the Northern Yukon summer. They bury their torso to protect their body and open up their mouth to abosrb the sun's power.... and anything else.

[alive]

Artist: alive

Concept: Sundrill

Solar absorber, using telekinetic refractors it magnifies and directs the sun's rays. After absorbing the light in its paneled arms, it burrows again into it's icy domain

[Si_Swe]

Artist: Si_Swe

Concept: Basking Phallaxid


Across the frozen tundras of Algernon's third moon, this peculiar creature can be seen. It's vibrant orange fibrous tenrdils support its insect-like form as it crosses snow leaving nearly no tracks. Having little to eat the Phallaxid gets most of it's daily energy from the sun. Spreading it's large, rear frill it absorbs solar energy which travels up it's rear spike and into it's thorax. It's graphite exterior is heavily insulated, allowing for almost no heat to escape. The Phallaxid generally travels in basking groups of up to 25 which will spread out over a large area.

1266716

It got a bit rushed near the end. I would've liked to have rendered it with it's frill closed, as well. Ah well, I figured it had been a while since I entered. hope ya' like it.

[Cericke]

This mammoth-like creature stands for hours on end during the daylight, soaking up the rays on its black, platelike coverings to conserve for use during the long winter nights, where it buries itself in snow and pretends to be a cave to snag a passing meal, enticed by its seemingly warm, cavernous depths.

Edit: with one minute to go on my clock too. Wheee.

[Lechooga]

Hmm...? I submitted, and I'm in the poll...but I can't see my post? Technical issue?

[scorge]

Damn!!! Damn!!! Damn!!! Forgot the poll was today. Ah well. I've had my fair share of entries anyways.
Decided to go with alive this time. Solid concept and not a bad rendering to boot. Tough to choose this round.
Well done creature lovers!
Here's where I got with mine.

[Si_Swe]

Hot damn, that's good stuff, scorge. Really a shame it wasn't on time for the poll. And, as you said, you have many entries (I believe it's the second most, after JakkaS), something in the 60s as number of entries goes.

[Rob Powell]

Had to vote for JanJager this round! Si Swe and alive both had strong entries as well. Some pretty good stuff this time around guys!

@JanJager: Awsome creature dude, and great composition. I'm feeling as if the hair is a bit too neat too be honest, I notice a few strands sticking out a bit here and there but I feel as if it needs to be a bit messier, and dirtier. Also the feet look like they could use a bit more attention. Other than that there isn't too many flaws that I can point out. So good job dude! Had to vote for this one!

@mat0fr: Interesting creature. The diagrams at the bottom help us see the full anatmoy of the creature, but without those the creature looks a bit incomplete. Maybe if you showed the creature with its tail out of the water as well then perhaps we get a better feel of the creature's design. The reflection of the ice in the water still needs to be stronger I find, the surface of water can be almost as reflective as a mirror especially when it's fairly calm water as shown in your image.

@Highland3r: As I've stated before I believe the source at which it absorbs the lightsource should be more prominent on your creature, a larger surface area allows for maximum exposure to the sun allowing your creature to absorb more energy. In terms of rendering, the fur look a bit too rough, you have strands of fur in shadow that are the same value as the fur in light and it flattens your creature considerably. The front claws are looking a bit stiff at the wrist and they don't look like their grounded, look at reference pictures and ntice how when animals have their feet on the ground their legs/joints bend a bit under the creature's weight. Some of the rendering on the shell could be cleaned up a bit as well.

@logistic puppet: Cool looking creature dude, the pose could be improved, becasue we can't see the back very well. Some of the photoshopped textures on the sails are bothering me actually.

@Girsteroth: Nice design, but it's still looking a little flat. Also those cloudy textures make your creature look a little muddy, I'm not sure if your going for a colour variation on your, but it distrupts your creature's form.

@Inspirized: Your getting tired of hearing this but the highlights still aren't strong enough for such polished surfaces. And I've noticed the use of pure black for your nighttime scene, when the moon is full in the night sky, remember the moon still casts light on the landscape during the night. I'm assuming the orange lighting is coming from the creature's belly, but it looks very choppy and needs to be refined. I also notice a flaw in your creature's method of hunting prey, seeing as it doesn't move to often and wildlife are normally quite scarce in frigid environments such as Antarctica, it may be sitting around for a while before any prey item would even notice the heat it gives off.

@WhiskeySour: Really cool looking creature with some really nice rendering, probably the best I've seen you do, but I think the values need to be changed a bit so the creature doesn't blend into the background so much. I don't really see the 'solar collecting' aspects all that much, unless you showed the anatomy inside it's mouth and how it collects the sun's energy, it isn't too obvious.

@alive: Really cool looking creature, with a unique way of collecting the sunlight. Looks like it'be a boos creature in a game. The rendering is very well done, some of the textures and details look almost photorealistic. My problem is actually with the design, mainly the lower half, it seems to be missing something, I'm not sure if it's buried under the ice, or if that's that.

@Si Swe: Awsome stuff dude. Very neat design, and a cool way of collecting solar energy. I notice on it's tentacles some of the edges need to be cleaned up a bit. Another thing that bothers me is the ghost to the right. Since that particular individual is still relatively close to the viewer it's not a good idea to lower the opacity of the creature, becasue the background shows a little too much through it.

@Cericke: Your creatures doesn't really read very well to be honest. Doesn't help that it gets hidden by the ice as well. You've got a decent idea but it could've been executed a bit better, although it just looks like a plated creature and I don't see it collecting any solar energy.

@scorge: Shame you missed the poll. Your creature has a strong sense of pride in it, no wonder with your skills. The sail is very unique as well looks like it can absorb the sunlight from any direction. The colouration on the creature's body looks awsome as well. I'm really liking the reptilian and mammalian aspects of your creature. The little dragon at the top right is cool, but it disturbs the flow a bit and draws the eye away from your creature, mainly becasue it makes the viewer a little curious at what this little white squiggle is.

[Nkristian]

voted for Logistic puppet i like the expression of his creature face.

Here is what I ended up with. i still posted this maybe someone would like to comment. :D

[Stryke]

@Nkristian: you win.

great concept and idea. love the tail-cover.
the only thing that could need some more work is the head/mouth.

[warburton]

Another great round, love how orginal all the entrys turned out

janjager Beautiful piece man, love the colours and composition. Creature is very cool too. My only possible crit would be that its hard to tell this creature is absorbing sunlight for energy. I just noticed one of the creatures has its back fin down. Perhaps bringing more focal attention to this would show that these creatures use their fins for a purpose rather than have them just for display.

mat0fr Good entry, i like the colours of this creature and the sense of scale achieved. Theres alot of plain background which makes this creature feel abit flat, perhaps abit more colour variation in the sky behind the creature could bring him forward and create more mood.

highland3r Interesting concept, i quite like the above shot of the creature also. I think the floor its standing on could use abit more work because at the mo its hard to tell what hes standing on. Perhaps putting a few rocks or something around him would not only give the creature a sense of scale but also give a clearer indication of what the floor is made out of and where the lighting is coming from. The way his front claws are pointing down also makes it look like hes floating. The actual creature reads well though, you've done a well in hitting the brief, good job.

girsteroth Another interesting concept, i like the idea alot. The colours of his fur work as well. I think a more direct light direction would help your creature design alot because at the moment, even though strong light is hitting the disc on his head there is no value variation or shadow on the rest of your creature. Checking these things out in life would help you with these problems alot. Also would have been cool to be abit more adventurous with the background. I imagine a flock of these creatures all bowed at the sun, haversting that suns energy. Check out Janjagers entry and how he used composition to sell that creatures character and mood. These details can go a long way.

insirized Very well thought out concept and i love the amount of detail and thought you put into this creature. Also impressed with the day and night idea. I think the biggest pointer which bugs me is the perspective. It feels abit flat at the moment and also more attention and detail to his arctic surroundings would have helped your entry. Sometimes when i'm having trouble with perspective i build a basic 3D model in 3DS Max or Sketchup, render it out and work over the top of it in photoshop. It saves alot of time and also helps with understanding shapes in 3D space. Also drawing things from life and how working out how they fit in 3d space helps alot. Also, I like those penguins, they made me lol XD.

Rob Powell Awesome concept and very original! The values of this create are all very similar which makes it feel like its made out of 1 material, check out this http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1T4WZPC_enGB401GB401&tbm=isch&q=portuguese+man+of+war+jellyfish&revid=744951568&sa=X&ei=bukNTs7gMIOz8QOQkZjBDg&ved=0CDYQ1QIoAQ&biw=1280&bih=572 for beter idea of transparent pouches. Also its tough to see that this creature is floating, i thought it was underwater at first. Perhaps showing clouds around it and mountain peaks off in the distance would have sold that sense of height and scale. Probably my favourite creature in terms of concept, keep up the good work ;)

whiskey sour Would'nt want to be caught off guard by this thing, cool creature design. The rendering of this creature is very nice, i love the paintly (if thats even a word) feel you've achieved. I'm having abit of trouble understanding the background around its tail area though. The focal line from the tail leads the viewer to an up-side-down crack which confuses me. Also theres no real indication in this image of the creature using light as an energy source. Without the description, i would have no idea how this creature used absorbed light for energy.

alive Very good entry, and a very original design. Also lovin the expression on his face and the rendering. I guess my only crit would be a picky one, and thats that its random that it directs light at its arms, of all places. Perhaps making the panels on this arms more obvious would clear this problem up. Good entry regardless, nicely done.

Si Swe Good to see you back again. The actual creature itself is one of the best and nicely rendered. Nice colour variation too. My biggest problem is the background. It feels like you did the creature design, then did the background seperately afterwards because the creature kinda looks like its floating above the ground. The shadow is bugging me abit also. I also noticed creature in the background on the right is transparent on the horizon line, but to be honest i don't think you need to extra creatures in the background. They draw away focal attention for the main creature and clutter the composition. Great entry regardless and you got my vote.

cericke Good job on getting your entry in on time ;) I like the colour palette in this concept and also the composition (Wish i had though of doing the northorn lights ;p) To dots running throughout your image look abit out of place and more variety in textures, on the mountains, rocks, snow etc would have been cool. Also don't understand the actual creature. I can't seem to work out its head and limbs which make it difficult to read. Your description is cool, i love the idea of the creature pretenting to be a cave, but your actual concept design doesn't show this. Also great job on getting its fur right, i struggled for ages with fur on my design and still kinda failed ;p

scorge Shame you missed the poll dude coz thats a badass entry, as always. I doesn't look like you've put many layers of texture or paint on this body and it still looks gorgeous. When a creature looks this bad ass, who cares if hes chillin his balls on a slab of ice XD
Thanks for giving me a bench mark to aim for, have you ever done any step by step tutorials? Because i would love to see your wips and thought process when doing one of these.

NKristian Thanks for your vote, shame you missed the poll beause this is a very nice entry. Love the rendering also, kinda reminds of a book illustration. I agree with stryke, i think the mouth could be improved but other than that its a solid design. Nicely done ;)