CACohesion #001: 8th Day >>> ChOW - Leader of the Special Unit Jungle Force - Voting

[Fozzybar]

ConceptartCohesion #001: 8th Day

Storyline:

The year 2446 CE

Mankind and its technology have advanced at an exponential rate, however trivial political, religious and social demands have caused the splintering of former superpowers into smaller nation states, pitting themselves against each in a number of minor conflicts.

Since 2395 a minimum of 27 conflicts, hostile incursions and border disputes have been raging in various confined areas across the planets surface, sparking a new global economy.
Covenants of major corporations have banded together in various factions and are now the true international players, feeding the ever increasing demand of new weapons technology.
The change in style of warfare has rendered weapons of mass destruction virtually useless increasing an appetite for more unconventional weapon systems, specifically the VidaNova Corporations newest developments in the field of creating new species of animals bred for specific purposes.

The idea behind this new move is too harness the animals natural intelligence, sensory abilities, and ability to traverse difficult terrain. They are currently working on models for civilian implementation, ranging from beasts of burden for remote areas to leisure models as pets. However there have been worrying reports of certain products escaping from captivity, and having unexpected effects on the flora and fauna they interact with, conspiracy theorists place blame on a huge range of subjects, ranging from the Cytarabinoside used in manipulating metabolic pathways in the animals, to mother earth resting control back from humanity to satan himself.
Some minor political and religious groups are already rallying, trying to bring this series of unnerving events to the public eye, wild rumors and conspiracy theories are already calling this the 8th day of creation.




topic for ChOW:

Leader of the Special Unit Jungle Force

...specialized on hunting down escaped and mutated creatures. These guys are called when there is trouble with escaped creatures preventing attacks and damage caused by them. We need a charismatic leader, strong-willed, professional and cold-blooded - one who will survive in the jungle and accomplishes his mission under any circumstances. Of course he must be presented in the special units battle dress.
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In making your vote, please consider not only technical skill, but also which piece best matches the description.
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artist: VampireHungerStrike
concept: For thousands of years, humans have been changing animals to serve our own purposes. This specialized Jungle Force leader is equipped with the latest innovations from the Vida Nova Corp. His equipment includes the following:
Dragonfly Rifle spliced with the genes of a Bombardier Beetle
Scorpion and Millipede Armor
Wasp Wing Machete
Insect Egg Grenades
Spider Web Net for recapture
Fashionable Beetle Boots
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c323/larriva/chow.jpg

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artist: W!L
concept: Basically its a bloke with a long moustache. looks like a biker. with a headband... yeah back to the drawing boards i think... his leg armour i sort of like but isnt all that original. i figured it would be pretty hot in jungle so he doesnt wear that much. also the torso armour is an optic camouflauge unit that can basically make him invisible by bending light.. that technology already exists its just actyually works in the future... he has an mechanical eye capable of binocular vision and night vision and all that jazz. he wears tight clothing as you dont really want baggy camoflage getting caught on the foliage. he carries two guns. light weight and powerful with all different functions. ermm and thats about it.. basically designed for fast stealth killing like a ninja..
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2228/hunter5ht.jpg

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artist: Jonoy
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a134/jonoy/bitch0.jpg

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artist: JakkaS
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a314/JakkaS/586abd9f.jpg

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artist: Nutter
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a178/Lechy/jungleleader.jpg

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artist: Simonl
concept: Captain Esé Cortez "Stalker Lead"
Cortez is a veteran of the protracted campaigns in the equatorial jungles of Africa and Eurasia. He was head hunted by VIda Nova to head the security team at the Site C manufacture facility.
Cortez is a canny individual. He knows from bitter experience how unforgiving the jungle environment is, even more so with the introduction of weaponised micro fauna such as plague mosquito swarms. As such, he wears full cover fatigues made of ripstop microweaves. His weapon is a drum fed solid slug rail carbine with rigid tungsten loads to ensure that his quarry goes down at the first burst. The men and women under his command know him as a quiet and professional man who has saved their lives on a number of occassions.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v429/SimonPrime/jungletrooperfinal.jpg

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artist: Toshi666
http://www.chucklee.com/Ctemp/SUJF.jpg

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artist: goran
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v17/smogyboy/production%20design/jungle-task-rough.jpg

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artist: Amedyr
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v613/amedyr/jungleleader-final.jpg

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artist: Panagos
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v400/Panagos/WEBJabberwockHunterX.jpg

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artist: romance
http://www.artofromance.ca/ca/projects/CHOW/hunter.jpg

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artist: rawwad
concept: Leader of the VidaNova´s Jungle forces in his special battle armor, suit has own mechanical muscles which help to trooper when he moving in heavy jungle. All troopers have standard plasmatic gun, only leader has powerful shock-staff.
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/5836/vidanovajungleforcesleaderfina.jpg

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artist: AndrewLey
http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/5608/jungledude23ok.jpg

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artist: matias
http://members.optusnet.com.au/matias.jakku/Linking%20Files/Spec%20Unit%20Hunter%2006.jpg

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artist: cognition.sb
concept: The leader comes complete with a high powered, short range G43 Blast rifle, which also doubles as a novelty sized pool cue.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/cognitionsb/CHOW-junglesf-sbox5mar06.jpg

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artist: masque
concept: Cmdr. Jess Mayam, SUJF, VidaNova Corp.
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/9451/cmdrjessmayam1zs.jpg

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artist: onionface
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y130/onionface/junglesoldier.jpg

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artist: Hideyoshi
http://static.animexx.de/fanart02/fanart/54248/gross/651300.jpeg

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artist: Lunch
concept: These guys motto is definately 'Less is more'. They carry just the most necessary to be as agile and fast as possible. Too much equipment will just slow them down, and slow is not what you want to be in company with mutated beasts.
A high-speed rifle and a hand gun are his weapons of choice. In close combat he might use his machete but the wild beasts he's hunting have proven themselves a pretty tough fight everytime. So his tactics are nowadays to track the beasts down, be as silent as possible and then give his team orders to surround the victim.
After spending most of his time in the jungle, he has become one with nature. His hair greasy and skin dirty. People see him as a warrior quite as feral as the victims he hunt.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Johan_Idesjo/sb42.jpg

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artist: TjC
concept: 8th day of creation
Special unit Jungle Force 11th division Alpha team
Captain Seven L. Gregory
June 3rd, 2446
6:38am recon mission
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f298/suggesto/Chow2copy.jpg

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artist: seba_boi
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v98/seba_boi/8th-Unit-Captain-copy.jpg

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artist: Shamagim
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y8/shamagim/Sketches/CC001ChOWF.jpg

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artist: Marco Mazzoni
http://www.butcherfx.com/stuff/CA/Chow%201M%20(small).jpg

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artist: walnut
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a117/walberg/hunter.jpg

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artist: br0ken_spirit
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/bk7600/cch_chow_f.jpg

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artist: Laurentiu_Bontea
concept: The leader of the special unit is a mechanically enhanced ruthless cyborg. He has a strong character altough his brain is filled with implants that influence his humanoid decisions. His agility and lack of mercy can take his team to success in any conditions and he's feared for not failing in murdering his own family.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/Laurentiu000/conceptart/Leader_Laurentiu_Bontea.jpg

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artist: deABREU
concept: she's the leader, not a hitman! so she doesn't need to be the one to get the job done, she has only to coordinate her team: knowing what to do, where and when. so, she's a biologist with intermediate survival and combat skills, expert in animal psychology and leadership.
displayed gadgets:
-pheromone trap, can be either throwed or launched. orange to be easely recovered (expensive shit! you don't wanna lose it ). the tipod legs are spurng after a determinated time, and the bottom is round-ended and heavy, so it will stand up almost no matter what, then the legs are prung down and it gains stability. sythetic (or not) pheromones are relesed by a fan on the top of the tube part of the trap.
-the yellow body skin-thight clothing is more like an armor: made of modified spier web thread, it's more resistent than steel, lighter than leather and as flexible as spandex. also works as heat and scent camouflage. for the parts of the body wich need to be exposed (eg: fingertips and face) can be scent-camoed by a special lotion that can be opaque por visual camo too.
on the bottom of her chest armor, there are a few ampoles with variable contents (antidotes, poison, anaesthetics, etc).
-eletromagnetic wave converter: converts many frequency areas of the eletromagnetic spectrum into visible light - put it simple: heatvision, nightvision, uv-vision, and many more.
-rapelling belt
http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4462/final8gg.jpg

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artist: kuda001
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/kuda001/JUN_COMM_rev_6B.jpg

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artist: StenP
http://www.canterburydream.com/bright/jungle2b.jpg

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artist: Snuggles
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/Prinnyflute/junglechow.jpg

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[Fozzybar]

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artist: Mitze
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f162/mekese2000/space555.jpg

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artist: Smasher Six
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e175/smashersix/smashersixCohesion.jpg

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[Fozzybar]

ok, guys...there we go...VOTE!

btw some entries weren't taken to the poll, because of being stated as WIPs from the artists or breaking a rule...

[Fozzybar]

btw the next ChOW will be another round referring to the campaign story...it will be up tomorrow...

[Simonl]

I went with Laurentiu. His work stood out because of the moodiness of the piece and because the character wasn't another cigar chomping Sgt Rock type.

Other favourites are Jakkas, Jonoy, Romance, Nutter Panagos and Matias.

[brokk]

I voted for matias, because I really like how its painted and its a funny character : ) Other favorites are Jonoy, Laurentiu_Bontea, Hideyoshi, JakkaS, AndrewLey, romance, and rawwad.

Good round! This activity was really entertaining.

[Snuggles]

Definitely had no choice but Hideyoshi. He's got a charismatic yet cold blooded and business minded leader down in believable futuristic light armor, and it's all nicely rendered to boot.

[walnut]

Masque's character had the most personality imho plus i always enjoy the background he adds to it. So he gets my vote. Close second and third for me were matias and Jakkas.

[Jonoy]

1st for Masque (I know women like that, my sisters one of em), the character oozes personality
2nd JakkaS (cold hard killer type), 3rd Matias (memories of F.M.Jacket), 4th Toshi666 (cool pose though I would have liked to see it worked up more).

edit- cannot see Hideyoshi's bandwidth at all in any of the activities...

[Lingmerth]

My vote went to Matias, I thought his pice really stood out and had a lot of character

[Eshara]

I went for Toshi666, I thought the character showed he had spunk and charisma. I could see him as one of those leaders who kept his cool in sticky situations.

A lot of the entries, IMHO, were concentrating a lot on the outfits or looks than on the character. I see most of the entries as Soldiers, not leaders. Thats my opinion though! :P

[seba_boi]

Criminy!... This is a very tough choice!... *brows off sweat*

I'm went with NUTTER... I knew when I saw his first, that it looked great!... There's so much character hidden behind what's just shown, I love it (and I love those horizontal lines he incorporated with it)!... MASQUE's and TOSHI's would be my second & third choices...

Great job to all!....

[Tyranx]

Voted for Jakkas, cool character, nice execution.

[masque]

so many excellent contributions, i really had to hew close to the mark on "character" to winnow it down to a double handful: seba_boi, TjC, Hideyoshi, matias, goran, Toshi666, nutter, JakkaS and Jonoy all made my longish "short" list, 'cause they all put forth appealing characters whose faces, stance, and general demeanor were right up front and immediately apparent. where they had elaborate costumes or armor, it didn't overwhelm the core of characterization.

Toshi666's dude got my vote, narrowly, for having a casual strength -- a no BS, savvy leader, who i think i'd trust, even though he's a bit young. good character work in a compact treatment.

on another note, i dearly would like to see matias' roughneck and my (not so) femme fatale go toe to toe... would be quite a dustup, methinks :teeth:

[Lunch]

My vote goes to Hideyoshi. Very well executed!
Great use of textures and colors. I believe in how this character looks, his battle suit is credible and seems to fulfill all thinkable requests for a versatile jungle fighter.

His weapon looks a bit too big though. And I'm not sure I can see his face as a 'leader face' but who am I too complain, my own concept doesn't look that leader-like either.

Well done everybody!

[Nexus]

It was a really hard decision in between Masque and Matias. However in the end I went with Matias. His character is really what I envisioned when I saw the subject for this ChOW. In addition its very well executed. My only complaint would be a lack of background and any supplementary story. Other than excellent work Matias, keep it up.

[rustylynn]

voted for hideyoshi...was closest to what I had in mind when reading the description
Toshi666...dynamic pose in tree
kuda001 and vampirehungerstrike deserve high fives for originality
matias....cool character

glad my entry didn't pollute these great submissions

[Hookswords]

I went for Toshi666. Something about it really pops. I have to say I like a lot of them, but that one really did something for me. I wish I could have finished this one, but the fates would not have it.

[romance]

I voted for Matias. I felt his entry met the description requirements exactly. Despite the arms looking a bit too big, and the head too small. And I like the fact that the environment wasn't included, we shouldn't need an enviro' to tell who the character is; (something I forgot to consider with my own).

Ok, crit time. I stickin' by my words. So here dey come.

Snuggles - This feels unfinished. The cause - I can still see the linework underneath you render, and the sketches on the side aren't doing it any justice. Next time, leave them out, they don't help convey who the character is, just what tech he's using. Also, he feels more like a city cop than a Jungle Special Forces Leader.

StenP - Get rid of those bushes covering your character. Are you trying to hide something? I think the overall design is working, but the soft brushstrokes are making the form hard to read. Try to maintain tight, crisp lines for your focus, which is the character and save the softies for pushing things back that don't need the viewers attention.

kuda001 - You probably could have left the whole environment out. It's not helping your main design. The design of your character is working, so is the pose and proportion, but it doesn't scream leader. He looks like he could be any member of the force. Maybe loose the helmet and stick a face on there.

deABREU - Work on your posing, anatomy, and drapery. The arm on the right looks way too short, probably because it wasn't posed and shaded correctly, therefore making it look like it's still straight. With an arm pose like that, the elbows have a natural tendancy to move out from the body. The clothing she's wearing doesn't look like it's make of fabric; the shading and contours are making it look too rigid. Try to reference pictures that have people in similar poses in order to get the right feel for the structure of the folds. Also, the character, (maybe because the head looks as if it's tilted forward), doesn't seem to match the face of the close-up sketch. And mentioning the close-up; it doesn't need to be there, nor does the distance shot, nor the text with the spelling errors. One thing I do think is working well, is the environment, and the lack of detail it it is just enough to set the mood, but doesn't overwhelm the character, and if removed, wouldn't take anything away from the character either.

Laurentiu_Bontea - The mood seems to be overwhelming the design of the character. The stucture and silhoutte are working, but unfortunatly, the character just looks like a robot, let alone the leader for the Jungle Force. If the helmet, a portion or a whole, was removed and a bit of humanity was shown, you probably would have yourself a winner.

br0ken_spirit - I think you should be really happy with this entry; I feel it's one of your strongest designs yet The anatomy looks pretty good and well as the rendering, though the feet seem to be on a different plane than they should be. Perhaps try to pinpoint your vanishing point and sketch in a ground plane to help remedy this minor flaw. You could probably get away with loosing the equipment chart, the tiny pose, and the text. We shouldn't need these to tell us about your character. I think the only major thing holding this entry back is the fact that the character doesn't look blood-thirsy enough and too timid to lead the troops.

walnut - The pose your character is in doesn't feel fitting considering the character description. To me, the pose reads as '"I'm Jimi Hendricks... bitch", looks like he's playing air guitar. I think too much emphasis was put into the weight of the weapon and has created the footing. Given it's the future, perhaps new alloys or plastics have been invented that yield ultra-light weapons for manueverability. The characters hair looks odd coming from the top of the goggles, this can be removed without hurting the design. The rendering sorta feels unfinished. Perhaps it's due to the lack of contrast between highlights and shadows, another thing to look out for.

Marco Mazzoni - The theory you were trying to implement is apparent in the painting, it just wasn't applied properly. Right now, the highest contrast in the painting is around the beasts head, which unfortunatly is stonger than the tightness of the characters rendering; this leads the viewers eye away from the character and onto the beast. If your were able to combine the tight rendering and contrast on the character, it would be alot more successful than just the focal rendering. Also, his far upper leg looks too curved. This is a strong contender, but I feel it would fall apart if the environment didn't hold it in place.

Shamagim - The pose of the character doesn't seem to be working well, he looks as if he should be falling over. Too many main focal points as well. My eyes keep darting from the gun to the blood, but not really to the character. Perhaps strengthen the contrast thoughout the rest of the image, it would at least draw the viewer to the shoulder or head of the leader.

seba_boi - One of the strongest designs this round, and my runner-up.
Not much I can crit on except the fact the character doesn't look like a cold-blooded leader. Perhaps lose the smile and the emotion in the eyebrows, as if he's an apathetic killing machine.

Ok, gonna stop the crits for now. It takes alot of time. I will continue these tomorrow evening. I hope they are helpful and aren't meant to discourage.

-Rob

[cognition.sb]

Laurentiu_Bontea made this easy for me. Despite the 'what typically makes a character' debate etc I think a cyborg would make a great leader. From my interpretation, this fits the brief perfectly. It looks like it could withstand the harsh circumstances described.

Considering the setting is 400 or so years in the future, and given
The change in style of warfare has rendered weapons of mass destruction virtually useless
I would assume advancements in armour and other forms of protection were what made the older weapons useless. Still, a lot of the entries consist of someone wearing a similar outfit to current army gear.

This raises the question of characterisation vs the brief, and finding a happy medium. I'd say Andrewley is up the brief end, but got put in the industrial design basket. Toshi666 is at the character end, but looks like he's from our current time and place.

I'm not trying to endorse my character, because I realise now he's just a typical future-marine stereotype. However, I'm wondering whether Andrewley's character would've received majority vote if he was posing beside the open mech in some sort of control suit (you know, the typical tightish suit with plugs and other parts that link up with the armour interior).

On a different note; I also can't see Hideyoshi's entry any more, but from what I recall it's a good example of the balance between character and brief.

Edit: Now that I've re-read the character brief, I see I've looked over the charismatic, and strong-willed qualities of the character, which is kind of lacking in the cyborg I voted for. However, I still think my points have some merit regarding setting/costume.

[Duke]

Jakkas got my vote on this one. Looking at the face I can see how this character could be charismatic yet also intimidating when needed.

[Thefultron]

my vote is for masque,
I loved the movement of the character, the expression on her face showed energy and personality. the character was also sexy without being sexualized. and the e-mail format was funny.

[iAn]

voted Kuda001.

it just reaks of coolness.

[MichaelMotion]

Laurentiu_Bontea, fantastic drawing!

but voted for matias, now that's a leader!

[walnut]

Thnaks for the crit Romance. i guess i was going for a guitarhero. Must've got carried away there.

[Amedyr]

Tough choice between Jonoy's, Toshi666's and masque's... Ended up choosing the latter.

matia's has a lot of character, but he reminds me to much of J. Jonah Jameson
XD

[Jason C-M]

Lots of neat stuff, but very few really conveyed the "charismatic leader" thing to me. I think Onionface's is awesome, although as a piece by itself I didn't feel it quite had enough information to sell me that it was the best design. Love the body language, though.

[Hideyoshi]

same shit here!
Damn, take this link ok? Thank you!

edit Fozzybar:
Damn! I took it! Fixed it ;)

[Mitze]

Went for matias great pic. Jakkas nice one too. Might have voted for the more heavier armed pics as some where great. But i did'nt think they fitted with a jungle warfare type guy. Just my thought anyway.

[Hideyoshi]

awesome, Foz, thanks a bunch!
---

I remember JakkaS' character having a slightly different face in one of the early WIP versions which I liked better than the one he has got now.
But still, it's a sweet entry and it got my vote.

Other stand-outs:
rawwad, masque, matias, shamagim, marco
Andrew and laurentiu came up with brilliant armour designs, but they lack character as I pointed out earlier.

thx for votes and props!

[Fipse]

In the description there was written that the technology grew at exponential level - 400 years in the future. So I hoped there would have been some more far out concepts. Most - in fact nearly all - the stuff is quite generic modern jungle fighter with exo-armour or with big guns. I would have loved people going a bit more wild about the ideas and concepts. 400 years in the future the technology would be like magic to us if it really grew expontentially.

This in mind JakkaS was nearest to what I hoped would develop and he got my vote.

Fipse

[seba_boi]

Whoah... Nice C&C there ROMANCE, sir (ain't it?)... It takes a sweet amount of time to critique five people already let alone a third or half of what you've done...

I'll do a variation, a top five of sorts, since I don't have enough time to critique each one... :P

MOST CHARISMATIC (this is the aspect I'd connect to the most, probably why I went with NUTTER's):

1. Nutter
2. Toshi
3. Amedyr
4. Hideyoshi
5. Masque

MOST STRONG-WILLED/PROFESSIONAL:

1. Marco Mazzoni
2. Masque
3. Nutter
4. Matias
5. Goran

MOST COLD-BLOODED (even with that mask on, LAURENTIU's cyborg looks too evil for words):

1. Laurentiu_Bontea
2. deABREU
3. Goran
4. JakkaS
5. Masque

BEST DESIGN (can't deny, that ANDREWLey's design just blows me away):

1. AndrewLey
2. Cognition.sb
3. Kuda001
4. Laurentiu_Bontea
5. Romance

[masque]

my thought was that the balkanization of the so-called superpowers and the rise of corporate nation-proxies, coupled with perpetual concerns over security and financing the skirmishes, would tend to stifle any true advancements in basic science, and the "exponential growth" would be more a proliferation of varieties of tech rather than wholly new technologies. maybe pulsed energy weapons are available, maybe materials tech has improved armor to be lighter and less restrictive, but only if cost-effective. corporations bow to the bottom line. but if there's a jungle, that means hot, humid conditions, and that means heat-dissipation probs with armored personnel (technology can't alter thermodynamics), no matter how futuristic. plus the big R&D money would be going into the bio-engineered, weaponized creature hybrids, the "cutting edge," whereas human combatants would, as is too often the case, get the short end of the stick.

look at the soldiers of the 17th century -- steel armor and muskets were just beginning to be used widely. have we now, 400 years later, made any fundamental advances over that model of trooper? i don't think so. much greater advancement has been made in the realm of support for the grunt, but he's still pretty much a guy or gal with a bang-stick, wearing something that will hopefully stop the other guy's bang-stick from ending him.

just another take on the subject.

hey, seba_boi, thanks! she made 3 outta 4 (fashion hog, she's not ;) )

[flatliner]

Difficult choice this time, soo many great entries. Jakkas has great rendering, Matias's guy has strong character, Andrew has created an awesome design, as did Hideyoshi and Seba_boi has really great style and expression; I loved all of them.

Though, in end my vote goes to masque for a great character that fitted the description perfectly.

[masque]

thanks, flatliner! odd, though, your vote doesn't seem to have registered (it's now about 15 min. after your post). are we havin' probs with this part of the site, too? (3.0 currently seems a bit under the weather).

[asoir]

For me it was between Laurentiu_Bontea, Masque, Mitze, Andrew and Matias. Masque, your concept and execution just done it for me, great job!

[redehlert]

i echo cognition.sb's thoughts here (post #20), Laurentiu_Bontea got my vote big time.

Runner's up: Masque and Jakkas.
Great job all!

[Nutter]

Hmm Andrew, if that guy fell over I'm not sure he would be able to get back up again.:P Great painting though.

I went with romances character, it looks practical and fashionable at the same time, maybe its just me, but those pants look really cool.

Others that i liked were Rawwad, Laurentiu, seba_boi, AndrewLey, jakkas

cheers all

[romance]

My C&C's continue...


TjC - The silhoutte of the leader could be stronger if you brought the arm with the gun out from the body a bit. The back light on the leader is to white and is making portions of the leader look frosted. Try to use higher saturated versions of colours with the lighting instead of just glazing it with the white.
Also, the enviroment looks more like a city park or somebodies backyard then the jungle, it might be the grass that's doing this.

Lunch - I think the pose is working, but the arm anatomy and proportions are a bit off. The hair could be improved; try making the highlighted areas of the hair a different colour from the background, this will give more structure to the hair as it won't look transparent with the BG and will draw attention to the head, which is always good.

Hideyoshi - Good posing, colour and design, but the torso is quite stretched along the mid section. Probably didn't need to add the face paint pic either.

onionface - Why isn't he facing the viewer? This angle is not giving us a good look as too who the leader is. The posing and proportions look ok, though, maybe his arm is a bit too long.

masque - Great entry. Solid anatomy and proportions. Clear rendering. Almost flawless in my eyes... but... for some reason, it looks like she's skipping or prancing. I feel like I'm waiting for her to fall on her face while not paying attention while running. This is just me being picky. I'll be honest, I'm not that great at dynamic posing, so perhaps I shouldn't judge this. I love your stuff Masque, it gets better every time :)

cognition.sb - It think your linework and forms are solid, but you've picked a terrible pose for the character. It looks like he's sad because his gun is broken. When making the character, try to put yourself in their shoes, act as them for a little bit, then try to capture their most common stance. I can't see a cold-blooded leaded kneeling like this. Also, try to clean the colors up around the character or push them back a bit, that way the character jumps off the page more.

matias - I've already commented on this, and given my vote as well in my first post.

AndrewLey - You abilities in rendering, form, lighting and design are astounding. I'd love to see a step-by-step, as I am a fan of your work. Aside from that, I feel a few things make this entry fall a bit short. Nothing about this character screams leader. He looks like he could be ANY member of the force. Also, at first glance, it's hard to notice what's happening with the arms. Are they hidden in the suit? Is he holding the gun? A bit more clarification may be needed. Aside from that... props man.

rawwad - Overall, I think this is a good entry, but I feel it could use a few improvements. More contrast in the character's face will from the viewer to it, instead of the the end of the staff. Also, the design feels more urban than jungle.

romance - Time to rip me a new one! After doing all this C&C I can clearly see where I fell short. I should have left the mask out, gotten rid of the environment, made the gun clearer, (or lost it all together), Made the shin pads look less like bell-bottoms, fixed the hands and fixed the proportion of the front forearm.

Panagos - I think better weight distribution would really help this entry as it's hard to believe any character would be able to lift a head that big with without leaning back, let alone with one arm. Try making a vertical line down the center of the leg with the most weight on it in your drawing, if your proportions are equal on both sides, then they weight should be balanced equally. (I hope I have this right, it's been a while since I had to do this, so please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). The character might work better without the mask, it's a neat idea, but doesn't give the character any... well... character.

Amedyr - The character would have worked much better without the the enviroment and comrades. It's just to hard to find her legs as the colours are too similar to the BG. Maybe pushing the contrast in the character and can bring her out a bit. Some more emphasise on lighting might help define the form of the body from the BG as well. You proportions and anatomy seem to be working ok, so is the suit design.

goran - This is pretty busy and doesn't have a proper focus. I feel if you had gotten rid of everything except the character design, the entry would be alot more effective. You have some cool ideas, like the plasma net thingee. The character could be cleaned up a bit more, as it looks like it's in its rough stages.

Toshi666 - Pretty cool entry. Feels 'Metal Gear' like. I think this entry could use some cleaner lines, color and some smaller toes. :)

Simonl - This character looks really skinny to me. If you took all the armour off, he's be nothing but bones. You could probably fix this via photoshop with a bit of tweaking. Select each leg and the torso seperately and scale it horizontally a bit to make him a bit beefier. The painting looks a bit flat as well, maybe try a wider variety of brushes. I think your design is strong, it's just the above that is hindering it's success.

Nutter - Great pencil rendering! The shoulder on the right seems to be a bit low and the pose makes the character look more as a pacifist then a leader of the Jungle Force. Good costume design, looks mobile, yet protective. Did I say I like the pencil?

JakkaS - I'd give my left nut to be able to render the way you do. Setting that awkward comment aside... Great environment, it doesn't get in the way of the character design, which usually is a common problem in many CHOW entries (and why I usually prefer not to see enviroments in the CHOW's). I think my only gripe with this entry is that the character's face doesn't stand out and kinda looks zombified. I think adding a subtle amount of red to the flesh would help bring some attention to those areas (as of right now, my eye keeps getting drawn to the contrast in the belt). You deserve any ass-pats you get.

Jonoy - When I first saw this, I thought she was posing for a swimsuit calender. Interesting, seductive pose. Perhaps representing the finesse needed to weild the sword. You could have left the object in the foreground out, as it is feels confusing. Try adding something familiar to the foreground to help add depth. The shading on the legs looks flat; they would be far more successful with shading like the arm on the right has. Good depth with the background and it doesn't interfere; always a plus.

W!L - I think some more knowledge in lighting and rendering could help this entry. I'm having great difficulty telling whether the character has a shirt on or not; this may be due to the colour used, as well as the softness of the rendering; try using a harder brush when doing details. The red light coming from the left is inconsistant and makes it look like the character is injured. Try to keep bounced light to a minimum until you you get a chance to study a bit more about lighting. Observe and apply. Also, get rid of the stuff in the BG, it's distracting and serves no purpose.

VampireHungerStrike - Probably one of the most unique entries of the bunch. I think the pattern on the arms in legs needs to be broken up a bit, it's rather distracting; maybe some pads where the joints are in the arms and legs. The dragonfly 'gun' looks a bit flat (mainly in the torso); add some shadows and bounced light to it's underside.

Smasher Six - Doesn't feels finished. Perhaps because the lines are still visible in the rendering and the random light strokes in the environment. The character doesn't look all that different from modern day military, maybe try a different style of gun or boots, just something to shift the time period.

Mitze - The environment is hurting this entry. Is it a filter over a photo. Well, anyways, it's too busy compared to the design of the character, which is great by the way. Great weapon, and costume. The contrast might be a bit too high though. Something to look out for in your next entry.


Phew! I'm done, and exhausted. I hope this helps some of you as much as it did me. The comments are meant to be contructive, so if they seem otherwise, I apologize in advance, as I am really tired.

Also, sorry for any spelling/grammar errors. I just can't be bothered sifting through this entry to find them.

Also, I really hope more of you will find time to post C&C. It may take a while, but you'll find it's worth it in the end.

-Rob

[Jonoy]

Thanks for the C&C Romance, much appreciated!

[masque]

Rob, excellent C&C, you hit the nails on their heads to all our benefit.

i agree Ms Mayam's pose runs the risk of looking a bit effeminate, but, guess what... ;). just kidding, i do know what you see. i wanted to communicate absolute self-confidence, even cockiness, but also a certain raffish humour, and the pose and expression do this, but at the acceptable risk (imo) of also maybe appearing as you've described. an interesting mental exercise is to imagine a bruiser like matias' dude in a similar pose, with a dead-serious death-dealing expression on his face, and wonder if the same impressions would arise. cultural gender stereotypes can be extremely powerful, so going against their grain can be chancy, but also fun.

i appreciate your insights, and thank you for the comments, i'm glad some progress can be seen in my pics.

[Mitze]

Thanks romance for the crits on my pic. I liked my one, in it was better than my last one. The background was a photo painted over what gives it that look is the Watercolour filter. I thought it looked nice at the time but i know what you mean now. I really have to start planning my pics.

[Orion9282]

Voted for AndrewLey. I agree with Romance (awesome rendering too, by the by) in that Andrew's concept could be for any member of the jungle unit force, but I still felt his deserved my vote. Mostly because it's something I've never seen before that still fits the criteria. I think that it's really unique in concept, and I know a lot of people are wondering what's going on with his arms, but I love it! Who knows? Maybe arms are amputated such that technological enhancements can be added? Maybe his arms are inside the suit for protection, or for doing more important tasks? I dunno! It's crazy and I think it rocks!

Props to Laurentiu for an awesome rendering and concept, yours was my runner up.

[casec11]

I voted for Hidoyishi.
His character looked like he belonged 430 years in the future.
close behind was JakkaS, and I liked nutters character too

[Hideyoshi]

casec11: Hidoyishi, huh? :D :D

thx for the vote!
Romance: appreciate your crit!

[Naomi Ningishzidda]

Wow great stuff. Lots of sexy characters. I voted for Andrew Ley, mostly because I thought the concept was very unique looking, well executed and the outfit looks like something I'd want to wear out in such hostile territory! (It looks like he can fly in it or transform. Cool!)

[JakkaS]

Thx Guys for crits and comments.
Marco Mazzoni, Romance and Hideyoshi I try to fix color of the face and this knee.

[Marco Mazzoni]

Hey Rob, thanks for the crit. It is, of course, spot-on in my case. I think I felt a little insecure with this being my first CHOW and 2nd attempt at a finished digital piece, and somehow a flashy composition would compinsate... only the comp didn't work. As for his curved upper leg, I meant for that to read as a mechanical enhancement, but now that I step back, it does just look like poor anatomy. Oh well, there's always next week (right?)

Anyways, since you made the time and effort to do such a thorough crit for everyone, I suppuse I'll step up and return the favor with my own.

VampireHungerStrike - I like that you took a chance with the concept, no one can say that it's not original. Unfortunately, I don't think the centepede anatomy lends itself to fit the dynamic range of motion that human limbs are capable of. Perhaps if they were broken up at the joints the idea would function, but as it stands, I just don't think that guy will be going anywhere in a hurry.

W!L - It's tough to see exactly where this one went wrong. First hing I would do is lose those grey slashes in the background, they don't define any specific form and the awkward frame they create makes it hard to read the figure. Now for the character, I think the biker/ninja thing could work, but you really need to give the forms some specific mass. The torso armor looks flat. Check out THIS (http://www.itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm) tutorial from Niklas Jansson, I think you'll enjoy it.

Jonoy - Unfortunately I think the value is too flat to function as a B&W peice. As a result, it's hard to tell where the creature actually sits in relation to your character. Overall, the concept and execution of the figure is pretty good. I like the rider style samurai sword (as it appears she is dimounting her hunter beast) but I would flip the sword upside-down so it looks like she can draw it from it's sheath in a more fluid motion.

JakkaS - You're the man. But more importantly here, your character is the man. You got my vote because your guy fit the description without resorting to clichés (I saw that stogie in your WIP ;) ) The guy shows a cold confidence that can only come from hard experience, and he does it with a mullet to boot! Romance already mentioned the skin color and his left knee (our right) needs to rotate outward just a little, but anything else I can say would just be me getting picky or kissing ass.

Nutter - I actually really like the design of this character, but his pose seems much too passive to express any leadership qualities. Also, as it may have been mentioned already, his left shoulder (our right) is far too low, which probably caused you to shrink his hand to fit the pose. I would love to see this with some tone or even color.

Simonl - Overall, this is a decent execution, but I think the concept just doesn't look like its far enough into the future. It may be the overall bulk of the helmet, as technology advances, it tends to shink (just look at celphones) Also, his left kneepad needs to rotate inward slightly as well as counter clockwise a tad (what is a "tad" anyways?)

Toshi666 - That really is a great sketch, but it really seems like an anime sketch of a modern soldier in jungle gear. He doesn't need to be a cyborg or anything, but he really should have SOMETHING that says "Hey, I'm from the future" He does look pretty young (even a little Tom Cruise-ish) but that confidence is 100% leader material.

goran - I dig the roughness of your sketch, but in some areas it seems too loose to read. I'm not too sure what is going on with his chest. There are so many vertical lines in the armor that when you place the gun strap next to it, it reads as a part of the overal mass, flattening his whole torso. also, the connection between his upper and lower arm is a little weird. It looks like its the same material as his armor, but if that's the case then how does it bend? BTW props for participation in all activities, it's a good test of your speed and accuracy.


Wow, there are a lot of enties....


Amedyr - Someone already mentioned the white showing up underneathe the drawing. Don't be afraid to start your image with a middle value of grey and work your way up (and back down, of course) It's really hard to read an image when it looks like it's glowing 8) Also, be carefull with the color green. It is the hardest color to use spatially, that is to say it doesn't come forward or push back without some serious knowledge of color.

Panagos - The biggest thing that jumps out at me is that either the creatures head must only weight a few ounces, or that guy is going to fall forward any second. His posture is too straight to compinsate for the weight of that massive head, and in a profile view, that's a very though sell. Good use of minimal color and value. I would like to see more of his face also.

romance - Hehe, I could almost paste your crit for me in this spot. Your comp is very similar, only instead of too much focus on the creature, I'm having a hard time getting past those trees. They all look like they're on the same plane as the soldier, just moved up the page. I don't think that it just because they're too dark, but the most contrast is at their base (esp. that far one). In fact, if that far tree were to lighten up about 2-3 shades all over, the other two trees would act as a frame for your soldier. And as far as he goes, I definately dig his design (I'm a sucker for glowing red gasmask goggles) but without a face, or any other soldiers to compare him to, he just looks like grunt.

rawwad - Your's was a close second choice for me. The suit looks cool and you actually let us see his face and his helmet. I'll forgive you for those huge arms, but his chest armor just doesn't seem to line up with itself at those vertical shoulder...things, and his right breastplate seems too wide for the left one. Otherwise it looks great.

AndrewLey - Goddamn gorgeous, man! Too bad about that arm though.... I suppose that happens when you get carried away with a good design, huh? Well, I may have let you get away with it if you would have actually showed me some character :P This may not be right for CHOW, but you better believe this is now a part of my hard drive.

matias - With the exeption of the arm that could flip a truck, this is a pretty well executed piece. Conceptually I agree with everyone that this fits the bill, but to me the grizzled old guy with a cigar just seemed too obvious (though, the couliflower ear IS a nice touch) It seems like I've seen this guy a million times already (best resemblance is the sarge from Quake 3 arena) ...but it seems that's what the people want, so maybe I missed the whole point, wouldn't be the first time.

cognition.sb - I actually think this would have worked better with your original design (no face) and show the closeup of his face in the corner instead of this mirror image. Unfortunately your guy kind of has that same passive pose as Nutter's, this makes it hard for me to believe he's a leader. Overall nice design. I know it's hard to work with that acidic yellow/green combo, but I think you pulled it off.

masque - That memo definately makes the piece! Her character does almost look like she's just skipping along, carefree, but the text adds that extra dimension. She's not ditzy, she confident. I really do like B&W, but this one is just screaming for color. I think it's the likeness in tone of her skin versus the sky.

onionface - Sometimes you can really get a lot of personality from a person who isn't facing you, but unfortunately not much in the leadership area. This guy looks mournfull. Too bad, I probably liked his outfit design the most.

Seriously, there really are just too many entries to crit in one sitting. The rest of you will just have to wait ;)

[eyesofruby]

great entries from masque, joney (love how you incorporated your COW), and matias.

went with matias in the end. looks like a veteran badass.

[Vulgar`]

Tough vote.

Just wanted to say - Hideyoshi the Great, he looked too pleasant to be a jungle leader! Like the effort.

[onionface]

Thnx Marco
you're right about his lanky arm. Hopefully I have more time for the next COTW

Marco Mazzoni
I like your costume design aswell, but for some reason the dudes face makes me think lepricorn.

Vampirehungerstrike:
I think the concept of insect costumes is really cool. and looking at the rest of these entries it is also unique.

[Fozzybar]

Laurentiu_Bontea VOTE!
Though you can't see the face, there is a lot character in the pic imo. The pose and the way he posed his head is awesome and cries for a Terminator like character.

Jonoy Runner up!
Love the pose and clothing. She really looks like a merciless hunter and has a lot of character in her appearance.

kuda001Fav
Love it...same points like i mentioned about Laurentiu's entry...

[digitalfly]

I voiting for Laurentiu_Bontea
I very like all entries!
AndrewLey, Toshi666, onionface, rawward - thanx gays. It's soooo gooood!!!

[brokk]

Romance, thank you for the crits and comments, they are very concise, and I agree with the crits :)

[Dragonspit]

That was damn near impossible to decide.
I went with Goran. I loved the perspective movement, mood and all that.

Laurentiu_Bontea, very cool mood. Like the design, just a little static, for this.

Hide, a character? from Hide, and pretty darn nice to. Hmm that gun looks, somewhat, kinda, vaguely reminiscent.

[Hideyoshi]

hey Dragonspit:
thx! Haha, need to try this field as well, right? :-)
gun looks familiar? What's it remind you of? Any Starsiege weoponry? ;-)

[chaosrocks]

I was going to person by person Crit this too. But I guess that’s already been covered. Over all I was disappointed so much of these guy looks like GI Joes or little plastic green men. One looks Buzz lightyear.. The heavy armour is totally impractical in the jungle or any heavily foliaged environment… Macho dudes in heavy armour with big guns,,,, there must be another way. I couldn’t think of one but I have absolute faith in this group of artists and their ability to be innovative. I just don’t see anything new here. Except maybe the centipede armour..and its impractical

In many cases the drawing is beautiful. The scenes are great.. No one's truly fit into my mental picture of who this guy is…. Could he really ride/capture any of those beasts that the COW people produced?
That being said I somewhat based my choice on “pretty Picture” and somewhat on “would this guy die in a jungle. (.Heat humidity dehydration). I didn’t’ know any other way to judge

The four finalists—and the questionable problem with each

Nutter- not polished drawing
Hideyoshi- elvis?
Marco Mazzoniu—too brown and Blurry
De Abreu—character…personality.. Good---- Deferennces in the various view----s awkward

I went with DeAbreu..it was a different take on the subject..I like that

respectfully submitted
Chaos Rocks

[deABREU]

thanks for the tips, chaosrocks and romance.
and sorry for the bad spelling, i was in a rush and haven't been practicing my english for a while. hope you guys forgive me.

and, oops, i didn't know that i shouldn't vote for myself. >_< i couldn't find any directions about this poll thing, so i thought "why not?".
thanks again for the tip, chaosrocks.

if i knew that, i'd probably vote for seba_boi or Amedyr, becouse they seem to be the only ones that also thought that killing these research subjects would be too much of a lo$$ for the company =)

everybody, my apologies.
:yayca:

[Jonoy]

Well, it would seem that my entry went better than I thought it would for a 2hr30min picture, people actually liked it and some peeps even voted for it!...YAY!
All up, thanks for the encouragement and C&C!
::returns to hiding::

[JakkaS]

Thx for votes and comments!
Romance and Marco - thx for crits! I try to change his face and knee.

I have many favs [Simonl, romance, rawwad, AndrewLey, masque, Hideyoshi, Shamagim, Marco Mazzoni, Laurentiu_Bontea] but finally I voted Matias.

[Fozzybar]

I will take care of the winner thread, when the second part of this campaign is finished...just wait ;)

congrats to the winners!

[masque]

thanks to all who gave my gal a vote! helluva round, lots of good work to see.