Chow #004 Voting - MORTIMER, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE

[S.C. Watson]

ROUND 4 VOTING
Mortimer, The Devil's Advocate
NON-HUMAN

If the Devil had a Lawyer, Mortimer would be it.

Closely related to Succubae, Mortimer is an asexual minor deamon who’s will is that of it’s Overlord. Sent to parlay delicate matters of Spiritual Ownership, Soul Use, Spiritual Development and Management, Theological Planning and Soul Collection, Mortimer is a cunning negotiator and loves what he does because he is very, very good at it. And thinks it's fun watching people squirm.

But what Mortimer would love the most is a glass of ice water .
---------------
scumgrinder
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a232/scumgrinder/mortimer_final1.jpg

Zaknafain
http://www.destrucreative.com/zaknafain/crap.jpg

masque
http://home.metrocast.net/~chipartist/ImagePost/MortimerCHOWentry.jpg

Hanuka
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/hanuka/chow4_mortimer_.png

hurricane
http://www.diduct.com/Hurri_Sketchbook/Nov-05/chow4.jpg

Mr. Blonde
http://alduar.iseenothing.com/nov/mortimerlow.jpg

R_M
http://www.robertomarchesi.com/temp/chowa.jpg

Bluefooted
http://www.angelfire.com/art2/bluefooted/images/mort_copy.jpg

Jakub Sudra
http://sudra.neostrada.pl/mort256.png

Sinix
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b202/sinix5/dsb111505a.jpg

thnikkaman
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v717/nunchuckgun/MONTY.jpg

solorpower
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b335/solorpower/Chow4_final2.jpg

llothcat
http://www.llothcat.com/devil1.jpg

xgabo
http://www.gabo.ca/devils_advocate.jpg

Poshspice
http://www.darkrising.co.uk/Stuff/Mortimer.jpg

krAtul
http://lauris.art.free.fr/speed/20051116_chow004.jpg

redehlert
http://www.cognitionstudio.com/conceptart/redlrt_ChOW04.jpg

MuffinMan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v63/MuffinMan/Mortimer.jpg

mentler
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v413/mentler/ElGreco/chow3.jpg

Drawnblud
http://64.71.52.62/forums/Mortimer.jpg

ploboyko
http://www.image4u.org/patloboyko/PLmortimerlores.jpg

Hunger_Artist
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~carbeu20/morty5web2.jpg

Jska
http://www.jskaconcepts.com/badaboom/mortydone.jpg

Zeitwolf
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/odinsregen/sketches/chow4.jpg

misledtomisery
http://misledtomisery.com/forums/mortimer.jpg

Helzon
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Helzon/Mortimerpost.jpg

Johanni
http://www.johannaost.com/677.jpg

jabberwookie
http://elbandersnatcho.com/dsg/mortimer.jpg

shadoman
http://www.shawnadomanis.com/images/chow/ChOW04.jpg

Muchitsujo
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c125/muchitsujo3333/mortimer.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

magicgoo
http://www.everythinggoodwastaken.com/resume/03-final-sm.jpg

Slash
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b21/slashesc/slash_chow_04.jpg

doven
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~afabia20/mortimer.jpg

Hideyoshi
http://www.hideyoshi-ruwwe.com/images/mortimer_small.jpg

young paddy1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v19/youngpaddy1/mortimermk1.jpg

neoknocker
http://cf.geocities.com/emailjfhoule/chow_08.jpg

bwkeough
http://nand.net/~keough/sketchbook/CHOWdevilsadvocate.jpg

poise
http://www.tprothero.com/images/mortimer.jpg

bumskee
http://home.exetel.com.au/bumskee/con/ChOW5_2.jpg

Gloklund
http://rhinohidestudios.com/images/chow4-mortimer.jpg

moraisins
http://www.stephdart.com/steph_web/sketchbook/mortimer_fnl.jpg

lukavi
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b338/deceptant8/advocate_devenecia.jpg

crazy3dman
http://www.crazy3dman.com/CA_Sketchbook/chow4final.jpg

Prehistoric
https://home.comcast.net/~zackrubin/Mortimer.jpg

and one late one (by 10 minutes):
Trollboy
http://www.stosiak.com/images/art/colour/ch_mortimer_colour_72dpi.jpg

...and a slip up on my part (sorry Alday.J)
Alday.J
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/Jujubox/Morti.jpg

[S.C. Watson]

All of you continue to humble me. Fantastic work, again.

~Oreg.

[crazy3dman]

Wow, so many great ones, I'm not even going to try to name them all. I do have once comment that applies to a lot of the entries though. A lot of these look like pretty major demons to me while the description was minor demon. But that certainly didn't stop me from enjoying the all the amazing work.

I gave my vote to Hanuka. I just loved that character as soon as I saw it. There's something about it that seems to me like it just stepped right out of a story.

[Muchitsujo]

Ah man, such a hard choice. Great job everyone. There are some truely amazing works here!

[poise]

everyones work turned out pretty darn cool! ;)

[scumgrinder]

overwrite your file, dude

[redehlert]

Dude. Am I reading the poll results correctly? Did Mr. Blonde vote for himself? Pray tell....this cannot be so.

[Slash]

You have a broken [img] tag there oreg. it need a slash! (no pun intended)


My vote goes to mentler. He got it, and i dont even know what it is, but he got it. (Hey mentler, did you use to do childrens book illustrations? or other book illustrations? There's something about your drawings that takes me waay back into my childhood, but i CANT for the life of me remember what it is. Its this strange familiarity... )

[scumgrinder]

Dude. Am I reading the poll results correctly? Did Mr. Blonde vote for himself? Pray tell....this cannot be so.
yeah he did... maybe it was a mistake?

[redehlert]

My vote goes to Posh. Sure it's kinda Wonka'd, but the joy expressed in Morti comes across in the whimsy of the illustration. Also love the monochromatic approach.
Blue, Lukavi, Helzon, Sinix, Shadow, Poise, Magicgoo and Gloklund get thumbs up too!
Great job all!
D

[scumgrinder]

How do I do that, Scumgrinder? Thanks for the assist!
save the final with the same name as the one oregano posted and upload to the same directory

[S.C. Watson]

Red, I fixed your image.

I also nullified Mr. Blonde's vote. We're going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that the vote for himself was cast by mistake.

~Oreg.

[Drawnblud]

Man, this was such a great topic! As usual, everyone brought out their best, but XGabo got my vote. Very cool!

Honorable mentions....
Hideyoshi
misledtomisery
PoshSpice
and R_M
Great job to everyone!!

[redehlert]

Thanks for the assist Shayne!
Cheers!
D

[Mr.Blonde]

um... yeah... i totally was voting for R_M.... i can't even fathom the leather.

[Trollboy]

alot of nice work here...

being as how a Succubae is a demon sent to have sex with men while they sleep, and Mortimer is closelt related to one, i think he should be humanoid (just my opinion) here are my comments on some or the more humanoid ones that stood out to me.

Mr. Blonde - has a great atmosphere and mood. he looks scary (though the pentagram should be flipped... the star pointing up is the good version, pointing down evil - a minor thing) should there be a handle for the giant pen nib?
R_M - captured the asexual feel nicely. i'd like to see more detail, especially around the face.
Bluefooted - he does look dandy-ish. friendly even. nice colours and textures
xgabo - the face looks a little masculin to me, but while mortimers asexual, he was refered to as he. The snake, centipede and raven really add alot to it.
poshspice - also very nice, but where xgabo's had a manly face, this one is very feminine
Helzon - He really looks like a big, fat, demon lawyer!
Glokund - the expression on his face is great. the skull/spirit in the jar is also a nice touch. I would have liked to see more of mortimer

So in the end, for me it was Helzon and xgabo. I gave it to xgabo because the creatures crawling all over mortimer add a certian creepiness

[Demiurgic]

Had to vote for Poshspice, awesome work and great concept, fit the description very nicely.

[Prehistoric]

xgabo gets my vote this round. nice work all around people!

a second close is misledtomisery, but i would have voted for that if the topic were "the devil" and not "the devil's advocate".

[Fozzybar]

I fixed the url tag of Jska, as SLash mentioned, there was a "/" missing...strange that Slash was the one noticing it :)

And i voted for R_M...runner-up is Gloklund...

[Aly Fell]

So far I think this has been the most difficult to vote on. The range of interpretations are incredible, and some of the thought behind them is stunning! I'm voting for Redhelert, because I love the sense of whimsy that seems to be in Mortimer, and the description hinted at that. I would perhaps like to have seen more play made of the 'asexual' part of the description, but I guess Mortimer can look how he wants!

Lukavi - Yours scares me...;)

[moraisins]

wow, so much good stuff! voted for Poshspice, thought he caputured the character. Really liked Shadoman's too, Xgabo, and Gloklund's.

[young paddy1]

voted for Trollboy just thoughtit had the manic look of someone working directly for the devil.


p.s. did Hurricane vote for himself as well?

[R_M]

whoever voted for me, thanks :) Happy I could give you some warm fuzzy feelings.

Lots of different takes on the theme!

I voted for Poise, because I really like the basic concept and can't help but think what if... he completed it.
that is the on epiece I would love to pick up and finish.

I really like the eyes of magicgoo's image, I think they capture mortimer nicely.

there are lots of runners up! but Xgabo sticks out because of the extremely strong graphic element of the snake. I think it is a shame it isn't more predominant and used as a theme for the entire piece. Right now it competes for attention with the scarf the crow the centipedethingy the bag ecc.

[copperfish]

Great work everyone. Hurricane gets my vote.

[mentler]

This was fun and challenging ‡‡ lots of great entries ‡‡ some that stood out for me are Mr. Blonde's very strong and menacing ‡‡ Hurricanes ... The slimy flesh of this dude is very unappealing in an appalling way, good work Bjorn ‡‡ Sinix for major personal style points ‡‡ Shadoman I am diggin' yours as well <> really like the jaws of hell thing on the entrance ‡‡ R.M. great attitude of the pose and the fine print on the contract is great ‡‡ this is only some that caught my eye ‡‡‡‡‡ everyone should be commended here!!!!

[buzzz3d]

My vote went to Xgabo, strong character.
Props to Mr Blonde, Hurricane, R_M, bluefooted, posh, mentler, redhelert, helzon, shadoman, poise. And the rest :)

[neoknocker]

Poshspice. Superb work. You stuck on the subject, the succube (which is a life fluid drinker) which looks human at first glance, so they can get their prey. Good luck.

[silentkitty]

I voted for doven's, there's just something about that guy that I like. ;P Nice style, too, something a little different from the rest; it looks like it belongs as a storybook illustration.

All in all, though, amazing entries, there's something I like in all of them so it was a tough choice.

[Helzon]

zaknafain, hurricane, Mr.Blonde, R M, bluefooted, xgabo, sinix, Poshspice, redehlert, shadoman, Gloklund, and Trollboy
Absolutely outstanding!
Choosing here is as painful as having roids removed through your nose.
I wish I could vote for everyone....but ultimately Posh gets mine....the line work is mindblowingly tight....the expression is spot on...and the whimsy factor is refreshing.

redehlert : What a luminous piece...really tying it all together in a great package. Keep em coming bro.
bwkeough : hey B, this one creeped me the frig out in a sort of Chitty-chitty-bang bang goes to hell sort of way...
lukavi : dude I love where this is going...and I would love to see it all finished up with that lukavi voodoo juju you got.
To everyone....you really threw your hearts and 'souls'..(bwahahaha)...into these and i've got nothing but great admiration and respect for you all. Here's to seeing what you come up with on the next topic
Cheers!

[bwkeough]

I voted for Bluefooted. I really like the use of texture and the fairy-tale feel of the image. I can imagine this as the friendly face of the guy that offers what you yearn for even though it means your damnation.

hurricane, blond, RM, posh redehlert, xgabo, magicgoo, helzon, poise, gloklund, hideyoshi, trollboy all had strong "dark entries."

[masque]

my vote went to R_M's Mortimer for its strong but not in-your-face androgyny, and the combination of an apparent passive/submissive (to its Master, at least) nature with the threat of impish evil and domination with the "borrowed" power of the devilish contract. more than most, this image disturbed me.

also liked: redhelert's, for its satanic sophistication and joie de morte; ploboyko's for its manically didactic quality and cruelly jovial symbolism (blind justice, indeed); doven for pointing out the potential for horror in (mostly) everyday life.

misledtomisery and Gloklund also strong. good work all around.

[nephilim]

had to vote poise on this one the deisgn is way cool and creepy, runner up was glokund. Props go to anyone who didnt have their character wearing a suit, or carrying a briefcase.

Mike

[Hanuka]

thanks to crazy3dman, nice to know someone liked it ;)

heres some crits and props for everyone:

scumgrinder:
pros: it has your palette, which i really dig. his gaze is absolutely intriguing.
cons: i said it before and that was no offence, just an honest crit... due to the bust with it's base it doesnt stand out to me as a character. i understand your explanation about that reflecting his asexuality, but i think it hurts the whole design.

zaknafain:
pros: major style points. his facial expression is spot-on...
cons: but sadly it's his face only. there isn't much more to the piece and the clothes, especially that tie look lazily rendered ;)

masque:
welcome! pros: the rendering and style is very consistent, the fire is well done.
cons: i think you could have used the red light on his skin more effectively, giving the skin color some more variety in warmth with a smoother transition. it hurts the piece's plasticity a bit.

hanuka:
cons: lazy assturd. you couldve at least fixed the anatomy on that wonky suicide-guy. and your approach was totally unoriginal. i'll knock the stoffing out of you.

hurri:
pros: lighting, coloring, rendering... it all works very well, mortimer looks very organic and his anatomy is convincing.
cons: i'm having problems with his head/face. looks like a soccer ball with giant mickey mouse-ears. ;) i think you gave him a very unique touch with that, but i just don't think it looks that intriguing.

mr.blonde: shees... i immediately thought, that this looked manley-ish. which doesn't mean it lacks your personal style. it's just the top-notch composition, subtleness and light.
cons: much like many of jason's pieces, this also lacks detail in some areas. you're working with strong focus, which is a good thing, but can also kill my interest in a piece, since there isn't much to explore. when working with strong focus, you should try to work with more than only one focal point, which here basically is his whole head/chest-area.

R_M:
pros: almost everything here seems right to me. confident style, beautiful colors, strong details, interesting concept. face and feathers add some serious creepiness.
cons: dunno what to say.. to me this is one of the very best entries.

bluefooted:
pros: well, it's your style - interesting colors and textures. i like the feet. i may be lacking the right vocabulary here, but your artwork always stands out to me as folklore-ish. and that adds interesting aspects to the character. what is his origin? if he looks like this - what does hell look like? ;) strong.
cons: hands and pose are a bit off to me.

Jakub Sudra:
czesc :) pros: i like how you work with geometric patterns. and 'brush-stroke-textures'
cons: face and hands are weird to me. with these glasses, the hair and face he sures looks asexual, but more in a michael jackson way, if you know what i mean. plus, his left hand looks strange. of course, the anatomy is highly stylized here, but the transition from arm to hand just doesn't work for me.

sinix
pros: i love your style, it leaves so much to the viewer's imagination and still expresses enough for a concept. nice subtle textures in the background. wonderful colors. i want a tutorial some day :)
cons: hard to find crits such highly stylized and highly professional works. i think you're doing and improving just fine.

thnikkaman:
pros: pose, hands and face are all right. this has potential.
cons: this is _too_ rough. it's a sketch. you should have put more effort into this one. i guess, even a black&white linework would've worked better than this :/

solorpower:
pros: as i said before, this is sweet. i like the anatomy and your rendering.
cons: the background kinda distracts, though.

llothcat:
pros: it's danny-de-vito-ish, haha. overall quite solid execution.
cons: the image is flat, you're not using enough color variety regarding your otherwise detailed rendering. it ranges from dark grey-blue to blue to white. you could have fleshed it out some more with warmer colors and more confidence in your brushstrokes. his face needs some tweaking, i think, it's a little skewed. what's with his horns in the background? too many highlights.

xgabo:
pros: well, another over-the-top entry. cool. the area around his head is stellar. with that crow, his hair and the collar, there's so much movement. his facial expression is wonderful. everything has a great comic quality to it. plus i like how the background works with your character here.
cons: the snake's head should have more focus. i didn't even see it the first time. other than that, the pose might be tilted a bit too much.

posh:
pros: you got your great deal of attention already :P as i mentioned: great work.
cons: those swirling ends of his cloak are a bit too much for me.

krAtul:
pros: i think you've done a great job with the textures and colors here. and as i said before, this is very strong work, when seen as a creature. great anatomy.
cons: i still think, it's no character. how would he communicate? has he any attitude or expression to his appearance? the mask, of course, excuses this to some degree, but still, there is no personality in the pose either.

redehlert:
pros: nice layout. fine focus on the face. i like the face the most, any way. nice touch with the smoke rising from his collar.
cons: anatomy is a bit too simplified for my taste, weak pose and we've had the water dispenser before :P (which doesn't necessarily mean you ripped it off, no offence ;) ). other than that, i don't think that suitcase fits a business-man like him.

muffinman:
pros: the ligth glaring from behind makes his appearance quite impressive:
cons: these ribs are off as is the anatomy in some other places, especially on his huge hands. the face could have used more detail and realism, maybe reference.

mentler:
pros: made me laugh out loudly, wonderful idea.
cons: you have your very own style. i gotta say, im not too fond of it, but i respect it and i know people like it. so there isn't much i can criticize here. :)

drawnblud:
pros: fun layout. your line work is good and has a good deal of comic quality to it. cons: huge hands! and he looks not so much like an advocate to me.

ploboyko:
pros: lots and lots of ideas and details. good palette.
cons: it's a bit overwhelming with all the little spots and brushstrokes. it's a bit too 'dirty' imho and lacks focus due to the sheer amound of stuff going on.

Hunger_Artist:
pros: someone said you have a style similar to sinix'. well, at least you have a loseness that reminds me of his works. and your choice of colors is pretty awesome too. extravagant texture in that contract.
cons: this lacks clarity, pose and anatomy to some degree. a bit too much style and not enough form. plus, he sould have feet. a pose is nothing without balancing feet.

Jska:
pros: if that is a gluttonous book on the left... awesome. intriguing gaze.
cons: its a bit dark and you seem to fade out the harder parts like his hands and feet. more clarity would've helped this, too.

zeitwolf:
pros: interesting clouds. looks like a golem to me, which also implies some sort of asexuality. doshin the giant comes to my mind.
cons: this could have been cleaner, your strokes, colors and brushes are interesting and have lots of contrast, but it looks all sketchy.

i hope to give some more crits later on, just don't have the time right now. c'mon guys, keep the crits coming. it's not just the pros who need 'em...

[shadoman]

I voted for R_M. I thought that his execution was the most on point. You nailed the androgony and law feel to it while keeping a human element to it as well. And on top of that, it was well illustrated. How long did it take to do that text?

Other good entries were, Mr. Blonde, Hurricane, Poshspice, Gloklund, Hideyoshi, and BlueFooted.

[Alday.J]

Ha-hem ! Well, I can't see my entry here ! Do you forgot it, Oregano ? Or there's a good reason... Well, I think it's too late, now. :(

Anyway, I voted Shadoman. Simply a great pic with an excellent use of lights. Very dramatic.

[S.C. Watson]

Ha-hem ! Well, I can't see my entry here ! Do you forgot it, Oregano ? Or there's a good reason... Well, I think it's too late, now. :(

Anyway, I voted Shadoman. Simply a great pic with an excellent use of lights. Very dramatic.
Alday.J - I apologize. I missed your entry when I consolidating everything last night. It's in now, and early enough to still get a solid collection
--------
As always, if your entry has been overlooked, just shoot me an pm and I'll be right on it.

If your entry has not made the cut for whatever reason, you'll know as I will always send you a pm explaining why. I don't like to leave people hanging.

Again, Alday.J, my apologies.

~Oreg.

[Ostrander]

There's a lot of really great work here by the usual suspects. It makes it very hard to decide. I can't give a crit on everyone due to time constraints but I would like to call out my top 5.
5. Redelhert: I really,really like what you did here. I like the play on the "eye being the windows to the soul" aspect. As a character I think this is a really fun take on the breif. It's whinsical and light, considering the topic. On a technical note, I personally would like to have seen this inked and colored, similar to what Ms. Blue does with her work. I think that your style would translate very nicely to pen/ink and wash. Overall it's a job well done.
4. Hurricane: The composition is good and the painting and lighting throughout are well done. The character itself is not quite there to me in terms of developement however. I think it lies mostly with the head and the two fin/horn elements. I think that mayeb a little more time in developing this area would be good. By the look of things it looks like you tried to stay away from the obvious horns icon but what you have in its place is too far from something we can relate to. Overall though its very nice.
3. Bluefooted: I love the line work and the overall character design. The patterns on the clothing are very nicely done. The only thing that I didn't care for are the colors. But it's still a very nice peice as is.
2. Poise: I'm very fond of this one. The design is wonderful, from the horny leg stumps to the little dangle charms. It's well done. On the technical side of things, I would have liked to have seen a little more finish to the piece. Right now it's a very strong sketch, which I feel deserves more.
1. BWKeough: This was so hard to call for me but, I kept coming back to this image because it disturbed me so much. Now before you all laugh, let me just say that this thing creeps me out to no end just like those "Burger King" commercials with that freaky faced burger king guy sitting next to the guy waking up in the morning. Very nightmarish to say the least. To me it's very unsettling and hits me between the eyes. It's not that this image has all the technical bells and whistles going for it either, the rendering is very nice and servicable with nice details but this hits me on a completely different level. You got my vote.

At any rate, there's my 2 cents.
Good job everyone!
cheers,
G

[bwkeough]

I was totally thinking about the BK masked mascot! I wanted to have that whole deceiver thing going on, something I was working with on my early 'demonic princess' entry for LMS thunderdome round 1.

to have someone pick up on what I was trying to do is great; voting for me, too, is an extra treat :)

[Alday.J]

You're a gentleman, Shane !
Thanks for fixed it ! :confident And don't made apologies, I can imagine how hard it is to supervise something like the CHOW ( with so many pictures !).
Cheers ! :bashful:

[redehlert]

To all - many thankyous for giving me your thoughts and lumping me in with some of the incredible talent! I am honored.
To Posh - all I wanted was a single vote for my piece. Knowing I got it from you makes me a winner. Thanks!
Cheers!
D

[magicgoo]

I voted for R_M. It's just too cool with that law book bolted to his/her naughty bits. Very pretty style that I wish I could do. I think the only thing it may have needed, was an off-white background.

Thanks, for the complement on mine, by the way, R_M.

Also: Very talented entries, Hurricane and Sinix.

[Sinix]

Had to go R_M, his pose, rendering, and design are all my favorites this round. Great job, dood.

[Aly Fell]

Here's my take on stuff... please don't take anything too personally! :) If you do; see my lawyer; his name's Mortimer...

Props to everyone for taking part, regardless of whether you drew him in a suit or holding a briefcase! ;)

Scumgrinder - Incredibly quick as usual, and you've put some thought into the character with a very unexpected approach. What lets it down, is the lack of attention to a background. Backgrounds aren't essential, but the unfinished nature of this detracts from the strength of the character, and his ickyness! :)

Zacknafain - Very androgenous character which works well, but once again I feel a bit more time on it would have given you a better image, which is actually pretty striking!

Masque - Great debut! Confident approch, and very different. I like the smoke coming off the pentagram.

Hanuka - Mortimers design is looking good, but perhaps if you concentrated on the main figure a bit more, the image would feel more complete. You don't actually need the smaller ones at the top, and they end up perhaps being a bit distracting. One thing I'd like to see is more detail on the eyes; this would pull you in to him a bit more. At the moment his pupils are hidden by the shadow.

Hurricane - Fantastic pic that amazes me considering you did it so quickly as well. I really like the lighting haloing him; it adds to the drama silouetting the wings like that.

Mr Blonde - Once again a really dramatic picture with some great elements, like the pen nib. My only crit is perhaps there could have been more detail on his face. You can see from the highlighting there is more going on there, but you can't quite make it out. Then again, that's not what you were going for here anyway.

R_M - Smashing work. Some strong anatomy work there as well. Genuinely scary!

Bluefooted - Lovely work! Only thing I hve to say is I'm not sure about the viewpoint. I feel we're looking down on him/her, and for me this makes a less imposing character. But this is minor. Great costume!

Jakub Sudra - Really cool graphic approach on this. Have a look at your rendering on the BG. I would guess you're right handed, unless you flipped it. The line stroke all goes off toward the right of the pic, pulling the eye away from the detail areas.

Sinix - Fantastic! I love the way you paint, almost in reverse, removing areas. Someone said something about your backgrounds always being white. I know it's not strictly speaking white, but I understand what they mean. It gives the character a starkness on the page which feels a bit brutal on the eye.

thnikkaman - Great pose, but I feel you could have spent a little more time rendering this up with some facial detail perhaps to bring out his evil thoughtfulness.

solarpower - I really like this, but what gets to me is the pose. It doesn't look very comfortable with that crouching legs bent thing, otherwise the humour is fab!

llothcat - Heh heh! Another off the wall take on Mortimer. Very nice... what's he pointing at? The only uncomfortable thing for me here is the slightly blocky legs.

xgabo - Excellent, really nicely realised piece. No crits, but I notice one thing; the bottom horizontal of the pentagram on his face is battling it out with his mouth for attention. At first I thought it was his mouth, and he had a wide lip thing going on.

Poshspice - You've concentrated to much on trying to do something different. Looks a little too much like Willy Wonka... Not sure about the colour scheme either...

kratul - Someone said earlier that it borders on what constitutes a character, but as for your technique, I have no crits, other than the presentation is a bit central and being straight on, a little dull. However it is a truly spooky daemon! :)

redhelert - you got my vote so I won't go on about stuff!

muffinman - Maybe a bit more time on picking out some details would have given this a bit more vibrancy, otherwise, his intense expression is pretty creepy.

Mentler - Great stuff! Your clasical style lends itself so well to the brief. Bosch would hve been proud! ;)

Drawnblud - Excellent idea, however I'd like to have seen more communiction between Mortimer and his 'audience'. He doesn't seem to be looking quite at us, but that could just be the jpeg compression.

ploboyko - There's a whole lot of energy in this piece which is fab! Those eyes are pretty horiffic! Makes me think of Saint Lucy with her eyes on a platter...

Hunger Artist - Veeery nice! It's got a superb overall feel to it, but I'm looking for the detail elements; like what his face actually looks like, and the outfit is a little indistinct.

Jska - Very Gollumesque and creepy! Not quite sure what he's holding though... :\

Zeitwolf - Bizarre but fab! I love the heavy paintwork. I know that's supposed to be a vortex behind him, but it could perhaps be made a little clearer...? Perhaps a bit more finish would really tighten this up.

Misledtomisery - Cool feel to this! There are a couple of antomy issues, like 'his' right arm, which looks a bit like he's dislocated his shoulder, and I think you need a proper lightsource to define some of the elements.

Helzon - I really like this! He's got character and presence, and like I said before; great linework. My only crit is the plane he's standing on. Looks a bit sloping, but it's a small one...

Johanni - I like your work a lot! You've got quite a sensitive illustrative quality which is very subtle. Only thing here I don't like is all the white space...

Jabberwookie - He's very camp! Reminds me of a harlequin charcter. My main thing here is why crop him off at his ankles? You got ll the way down there and then stopped... give him his feet back! :)

Shadowman - Great atmospheric piece. He's got a real feel of a 'fallen' angel. You've kind of twisted one of the wings a bit awkwardly to get the feel you wanted, but it's no big thingy... Excellent!

Muchitsujo - A fun image and very spooky. I do think you need to spend a bit more time on this though, it is quite sketchy... Welcome to the forums!

Magicgoo - Love it! Very close to Redhelert for me in the voting. The fake smile is very creepy and a fab idea! Some elements look a little unfinished though... thassall!

Slash - Heh heh! The strap-on's a cool idea, and the anorexic hips freak me out. Dunno quite what's going on with his mouth though... but I think that's just me... :)

Doven - I like your approach here, and the muted colours are a nice contrast. Pretty 'hellish'!

Hideyoshi - Alot of work in this one, and as an image it works superbly, with a bit of a Hellraiser feel. Not sure if he's meant to be floating, and perhaps there is too much going on on the costume, but I really think I'm being picky! ;)

Young Paddy 1 - Tighten up on him. There's a lot of unused space around the character that you just don't need, and if you did you'd be able to make out more of the details. Have you been reading books about the OTO, 'cause I recognise at least one of those symbols on his chest?!

neoknocker - Very striking image, however I get the impression you spent more time on the BG than the character. His face is cool, the red palette there working very well.

bwkeough - Freaky and excellent at the same time. The face looks like a mask with those empty eye sockets. A whole mixture of elements that work well together... only crit, dull pose.

Poise - Love it! Want to see it finished though, unless you see it as done! The upturned eyes are inspired for creepyness...

bumskee - It may be a quickie, but it's got a smashing feel. You paintstrokes are strong nd confident. Maybe more detail, which seems to be something I have a thing about really...

Gloklund - This works really well as a pure illustration, with some lovely detail and atmosphere. As a pure chracter design, the daemon seems almost secondary to the other elements. However, this doesn't detract from the talent on show.

moraisins - Cool pose, and you get his kind of nonchalant attitude across. I think you need to work on your anatomy a bit though, his legs and arms are very straight. Try desaturating your colours a fraction as well... they're very 'up'!

Lukavi - Like I said, this scares me. Nice to see your more sketchy work. Loads of character in this though! :)

crazy3dman - It would appear smoking is a mark of the devil! Heh! The little bumps for horns are a cool touch, but green with pastel pink!! I would hope the average demon was moe style concious! ;)

Prehistoric - Nice piece man! The spooky little henchmen are a graet touch. He really looks like your money hungry lawyer type...

Trollboy - I like this one. Not too sure about the pose, but there's some fab design work on the case, the expression is manic and the necklace is nice touch.

Alday_J - Dunno why, but I think of Al Pacino here. Like I think I've already said; Devil horns are cute, and the stylisation of the character is cool too.

Phew! Hope I didn't miss anyone. Probably far too many, 'greats', 'fabs', 'cools' etc, and I think I was starting to lose it at the end. I've tried to be balanced in my crits, as I know sometimes internet words can sound quite brutal. Any missing 'a's are because my keyboard is poo!

[DSillustration]

sooooo many good ones!
i swear im getting in on this as soon as possible!

[doven]

R_M got my vote. The attitude and expression on his were a big selling point for me, as well as the overall design - creeepy! Redehlert's was a very close second though! I just love his Mortimer's big grin and several arms, and the background details made for great characterization.
There are things I liked about most everyone's this round, but it came between those two in the end.

Also, thanks so much for the kind words Masque and Silentkitty. :)

[sve]

I vote for likavi because he made my eyebrows jump. His character is full of life, humor and has a great an impact, at least at me. I'm wondering how he/she makes sales, but i repeat it could be a moment after signing the contract. I can't stand against it, powerful and extreme. Thank you, lukavi,.
I loved all the images, but still have some favorites:
Mr.Blonde, you were my choice until I saw lukavi's, R_M, Alday.J, redhelert, mentler, Johanni, hurricane, Bluefooted, Poshspice, doven, misledtomisery, poise, Gloklund.
Thank you all, a real fun to see.
Sveta Dudetta

[Hanuka]

thanks for all the comments on everybody's work, posh.

you are right about my character, i actually wanted him to have these dark, hidden eyes, but now i see this also means a lack of involvement.
i finally chose who to vote for this round and it wasn't an easy task. actually i can't even say why, because there were a bunch of others i would've voted for.
anyway, this time it's xgabo. props to everyone who pushed himself and put effort and dedication in his piece... basically props to almost everyone. except for hanuka. i hate him. he slept with my g/f.

[Prehistoric]

sooooo many good ones!
i swear im getting in on this as soon as possible!

well, we might as well all step aside then and bow our heads. . . . .

HA, just kidding man. i hope you do join us. i'd love to see your take on these characters.

[Wishes]

Voted for ploboyko because of all the neat accesoirees and the dirtyness of the character.

[Reeech]

some of you have a sick imagination ! Just kidding, great designs, interesting to note none were similar

reall coll all

[Jska]

My vote went to R_M... loved the feel to it, the colors are corspe-like and rendered very nicely. Runner up would have to go to Xgabo (among many others) -- I love the very graphic feel to it, and nice expression :)

Thanks to everyone for the crits, I appreciate them -- first time participating in this sort of thing :)

[Azrael]

Damn! I missed this one. I ran out of time to devote and my entry is only half complete. major bummer.

There are some nice pieces this round. My vote went to Hurricane. He had the most dynamic composition that stood out to me.

Some of my Favs
Mr Blonde :: Awesome mood! I just wish I could see more of the character.
R_M :: awesome piece all together. It was a tough decision.
XGABO :: nice piece. I like the pentagram scar on his face.
Glokund :: Great concept.

[Slash]

Wow, by typing up comments to all participants you've proven that you're a better person than me posh. :D

The mouth? well.. im not sure myself :P The strapon can be unscrewed, so instead of a big intimidating gilded outie, he'll have a big gaping intimidating gilded innie. (notice the clever cradle of filth reference.) So he (or it..) varies how he wears it, depending on what gender he's negotiating with. Oh, and it also doubles as a thermos, that keeps his (its?) water ice cold in the fiery pits of hell.

[Muchitsujo]

Hey thanks for the feedback Poshspice. I most certainly agree that my entry is very sketchy...I was desperate to get some work in on this one becaused I absolutely loved the topic, however, I ran out of time during the week and ended up throwing this together at the last moment. Oh well, looking forward to this weeks CHOW.

Great job everyone, there are some truely amazing works here.

[shadoman]

Posh, thanks for the comments. As soon as I uploaded the image I noticed the wing. I'll have to live with it...

[Art_Addict]

It was a tough call on this one, between R_M and Sinix. I ended up voting for Sinix tough. They both are nicely painted and they incorporated the theme well.
Opposed to Hurri for example , who did an excellent paint job (props for that :) ) but didn't followed up on the description that well. It's more creature to me as well. The androgyn feel is nicely done by R_M but the main focus is on it being a lawyer, so I think Sinix deserves to take the cake

Just my 2 cents

Btw, I'm defenitaly entering the upcoming round , degenesis, here I come ! :)

[masque]

Thanks to Hanuka and poshspice for their helpful and encouraging crits -- makes a newcomer feel like a homey! Hanuka -- good point about the blending, I'll definitely pay closer attention to that.

Partic'lar thanks to Quick_Sketch, you made my day.
Also jabberwookie and maxetormer (late night postscript).

On to Alaric!

[krAtul]

Props to masque, hurricane, bluefooted, xgabo, ploboyko, magicgoo, lukavi; very nice concepts guys !

I voted for XGabo !

[central]

great work everyone. i always pictured the devil's advo in a slick suit but R_M's design got my vote. the kind of reaction i got from lookin at it no other picture came close to, shockin, repulsive, soulless etc etc everything the devil's advo should by virtue of workin 4 the 'man in black' possess ... great work

[vigostar]

I tell you.. this has to be the hardest round to judge thus far.. but, Im picking Drawnblud for the cool looking advertisment!! all the others did great work...

[romance]

R_M got my vote. Just saw the current poll results, can you say LANDSLIDE.

Lots of entries in this CHOW. Lots of good ones too. Looking forward to seeing everybodies future entries. Keep up the fantastic work and effort.

-Rob

[Helzon]

Wow that's a lot of typing Posh.....thanks so much for the c+c....much appreciated!

Also the three that voted for me...I am stunned and most appreciative. Many thanks.

[Slash]

Thanks to blog for voting for me!

(Did you guys know that you can find out who voted what if you click on the number of votes?)

[ploboyko]

Man, this was hard to vote on. So many great entries...I love those ponytails on magicgoo's demented image; the horrifically vacant, mask-like face on bwkeough's piece; poise's piece favorably reminds me of the artist who worked on "Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children," a twisted comic I enjoyed in my youth...the list could go on and on. Eventually I voted for R_M. Loved the mix of realism and graphic stylization. The feathers and the bolted chain crotch thing are my favorite elements. Great job.
Thanks to Masque, Hanuka, Poshspice, Wishes and krAtul for the comments and to everyone who voted for me. Posh, I was kinda going for a St. Lucy thing; glad you picked that up. Those images of the saints always freaked me out as a child, and I figured hell would snap at the chance to subvert and corrupt such an image for it's own purposes. Plus the blind justice thing Masque pointed out. Anyway, thanks again, and I look forward to the next round! I haven't done a finished graphite drawing in several years...

[poise]

Thanx to all the peeps that voted for my creepy kid thing, haha. :)
Everyone did a fantastic job on their pieces, I would crit everyone but I think Posh did an exellent job, so I see no need to say the same things over again, :)

R_M, Posh, and Gloklund you mentioned that you would like to see it finished. I seriously did this while I waiting to head out on Sat., I wasn't going to do this CHOW but I got so inspired by everyones work, :). I just threw it in Photoshop and did what I could before I was dragged out the door going somewhere I really didn't want to be. oy! I hate those days. So.. I will finish it up

It was a tight Vote between R_M and Hurricane but I voted for you Hurricane, because I just love the colors and I loved that he had a tie, :)

R_M thanx for voteing for me it feels good that the person who is getting the most votes voted for my ungly kid, lol thanx man. :tihi:

[R_M]

wow....

Thanks for the votes/responses. It is very nice.

Someone asked about how long the text in the contract took. that was prety easy and fast, I just copied a text from the net and pasted it into a textbox. then I rasherized the layer, cut it up in minor sections and finally transformed it to fit the perspective. 5 minuutes tops.

I really wish I had time to do the next chow, but work is killing me....:S

Poise/your pice was the shit... very puddhead. I am surprised it didn't attract more attention. Having friends and a social life can be a pain sometimes.

cheers

[voraz]

Hi, great entries. Chow is atracting a lot of people. I voted for R_M because I felt it was the concept that made more sense for me. Also like a lot the pieces from Hurricane, MrBlonde, Hunger artist, doven and Hideyoshi and maybe I am forgetting someone...

[MuffinMan]

this was a fun challenge for me, i was stuck at first with what to do, but good thing i whipped something up that i liked.:^^:
i really like R_M's piece, it's got a nice touch and dark feel to it. but sinix's character appeared more like a professional to me.

[sketchling]

Wow... that was not an easy decision!!!
Zaknafain got my vote cause even though the character was not particularly demonic... I really find the understated condecending attitude frightening... I would not want that biatch near my soul!!! He looks like his sence of humour hurts other people... A lot.

R_M: Awsome
Hurricane : You nearly got my vote... AGAIN. geez man. Like yer stuff.

I also really liked Sinux and hunger artist. Great work :)

[pisc99]

At last Sinx is my favorite, cause I couldn't decide betwen him and R_M. The thing that has tipd the scale is that ghoust like thing in sinx's picture. It makes the charachter more mysterious and enigmatic. I think thouse are qualities as devils layer.

[rasdasa]

GODDAMN hard choice between Mr.blonde and R_M... but, I chose MR.Blonde simply because the figure fit better in his environment and therefore projected himself more dramaticaly.

Scumgrinder, Sinix, very nice stuff, as were alot of others. Feel bad for not being able to comment more but my testicals are in a homework vice.

ras

[S.C. Watson]

CONGRATULATIONS TO R_M TO OWNING US ALL WITH 25% OF THE VOTE!

[R_M]

thanks oregano...it was a lucky shot :)