CHoW Discussions - Comments, Kudos, Gripes & Crits

[S.C. Watson]

Don't like CHOW?

Have an idea on how it could be run better?

Just want to get your two cents in?

Let'er rip. Just keep it polite.

Have an idea for a Character? Go here.

Ciao,
~Oreg.

[Chate Noire]

I love the smell of a brand new thread =)

I joined CHOW only recently, and so far it's the one challenge I really look forward to every week; even if I don't end up participating, the brief is often a cool source of inspiration.

Personally, I would love to see more CHOWs that really focus on character design, which is (I think) what we're all here for. "Sam Sherydan" was a good example - the brief clearly called for a character sheet: poses, expressions, accessories etc. The main issue in the final piece there was the character, and not composition, awesome backgrounds, decorative elements etc, which can sometimes steal the spotlight.

The concept doesn't matter; any character concept can be done as a full-blown illustration or as a character sheet, so throwing that into the brief every once in a while would could be great, in my opinion.


Cheers,
Aviv.

[madhatter106]

Personally, I would love to see more CHOWs that really focus on character design, which is (I think) what we're all here for. "Sam Sherydan" was a good example - the brief clearly called for a character sheet: poses, expressions, accessories etc. The main issue in the final piece there was the character, and not composition, awesome backgrounds, decorative elements etc, which can sometimes steal the spotlight.

I agree with the above - this was a perfect opportunity to really delve and explore and round out the character and go into details. I only wish that more people had turned out for it, and some even made it to the poll with (what I would have judged to be) less than enough of that to qualify.

Perhaps it was because not only are you doing a full character sheet, you have only been given a few certain specifics character-wise to go on. Maybe it needs to be like the Farmer Bucket CHOW, where the list of his alien-contact apparatus was included? Or some more details, so that the framework is dictated to us and we can spin off from there...

Sometimes these CHOWs remind me of Project Runway - there are entries where I sometimes want to yell, "did you read the brief?" because they either went off on their own wild tangents or did not fulfill the requirements in full or in part...I can get behind "growing" and "thinking outside the box," but come on - if you were asked to write a book report, at least review the book you were assigned!

[S.C. Watson]

The Character Design is one of my pet peeves. I agree that it should be included more, and am going to start including it as a specific part of the brief from here on out.

I am *very* interested to see people's design process - I want to make sure that they were *thinking* about the character, not just knocking out the first thing that came to mind.

Thanks
All the best,
~Oreg.

[Daray]

I am *very* interested to see people's design process - I want to make sure that they were *thinking* about the character, not just knocking out the first thing that came to mind.

I think this part here, is the most important piece of advice here. You need to show design process' when you show off your portfolio for the industry, so why not here? I think its a damned good way to prove your reading the breif, getting some early feedback, and practising for future needs

[Studio Colrouphobia]

I'd prefer to see Ortho-styled character designs though.
The Sam Sherydan one turned into a disney-esque-fest, which was nice for one or two competitions, but I prefer things like the Goblin-hunter comp or similar...

[Sir Bret]

I love CHOW - even after participating in only two, I feel it's helping me get better and better. What I would like to see is a design brief that replicates what an actual professional brief would look like - or as close to, anyway...
It's great though, I just find it hard to keep up with it all with so much coursework!

[Taibox]

Maybe some people who has participated in the CHOW are "Digital Color Junkies", they don't make sketches or concepts, they work directly in the final.
Personally, i believe in the process of the illustration which begins with paper and pencil, and ends in the digital paint.
It will be cool to put a sidebar with the process, something like sketch-pencils-ink, so all the work is considered in the poll, the final and the sidebar.
If you want to work in the industry, this is almost the only way of work.

[Chiko]

I really enjoy the CHOWs, I've participated in only one, but I really want to do more! I kind of think for a few competitions an othro-style design sheet would be nice, but I like a variety. The illustration method of submitting your character is nice too. Maybe if we decided to incorporate the design sheets we could alternate from week to week?

[Carbono]

While I don't believe I have enough skill to participate in a CHOW contest yet. I feel that i should give my suggestion here, hope it doesnt sounds like i'm a stranger trying to "change the rules" of 'your' house.

To ilustrate my point, i'll use the "latest" contest as an example:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=132634

My point is, the amount of "non-serious" work that entered this pool is scary... I believe 1/3 of the works presented there should've been cut out because:
1 - They don't fit the theme.
2 - They are simply sketches and not final art (i doubt some of those works took more than 2... 3 hours to be made)
3 - They don't inovate or present any new concept idea, some are simply "realistic" renditions of the classic costumes/designs.

Sure, i'm not saying "all work need to be masterfully drawn and colored!" or "all work should be ground-breaking and inovative". But my point is, there are lots of works that weren't really "loved" in the making process, while i can forgive a badly drawn/great concept character, or a mediocre concept/well drawn character, i can't forgive some badly drawn, mediocre concepted character.

I believe COW show us an example, its a pleasure to browse the voting topics of COW, because the quality level is high. You can like or not the works presented, but you know there was lots of work behind each one of them.
And while there are some insanely good works in this Batman-Themed CHOW, i believe the presence of some rushed works really bring it down and make it harder to browse the voting topic.

In other words.
I believe the selection should be pickier next time.

PS: I hope i don't offend anyone, i'm not saying i can do better than any of the artists on the contest, i'm giving this a opnion as a "watcher", not as an "artist".

[daestwen]

Okay guys, the winner's thread is finished and up to date! Yaaay.

Take a look if you're curious.

[feifeicreate]

I'm very new to CHOW or even CA, I understand the concern mentioned above. When i look at the past winners, I'm not even sure if this is a character design contest or a illustration contest with a focus on character. But when I look at the professional character design works, I see both: straight forward character standing pose (front and back) face close up, plus several variations; and full illustrated panels that not only depict the character but the environment he/she live in, his/her movement, emotion, even a bit of a background story.

IMHO, maybe it would work if we could alternate between the two style, we have one round that focus more on the character design giving specific requirements and the final has to be in a specific format (such as including front back view, face close up, various emotion studies...), and next round more about creating a full panel illustration with background to express your character's mode, emotion, telling a story with your work.

I'd love to participate two, but I think the full panel illustration would be a bit harder than character development, because you need to be more aware of your work, keep composition, lighting, character movement and background into consideration.

[sourgasm]

I agree, for the most part, with the above post.

I couldn't care less who wins or loses. These weeklies are just a means for me to practice, which is why I generally do them but don't submit. It does get frustrating to watch solid concepts go completely unnoticed due to better (but less assignment-orientated) illustrations consistently winning.

[Splittingadams]

actually pleased with the way things currently are, the system is not perfect but it does invite a wealth of comments and suggestions over each weekly idea. i think in that regard, getting people to think on why they are here and what they are doing is worthy goal as well as making a keen illustration.

as for who makes it or who dosent, its at the mods discretion, but people should be allowed to argue why or why not something is included.

If everyone was all nice and accepting of everything, no one would get better would they? it wouldnt even be allowed on the Interwebs.

[S.C. Watson]

Admission to poll will be based on the artists' skill and their ability to handle their subject matter: meaning we will keep a wide spread of work from beginners to professionals in the poll based on that particular week's submissions, but we will be far more picky on who actually ends up in poll.

EXPECT TO GET CUT. If you come into this with guns blazing expecting to get to poll and win, you're coming at it backwards.

There will be generalized reasons on why an entry has been eliminated from poll. When we're dealing with the numbers that we often do in CHOW, it's the best we can do and still hope to have a life for ourselves, not to mention hold down day jobs (no, we don't get paid for this, what were you thinking?).

Other points to keep in mind:

• The poll is subjective. Surprise. The entries that go to poll are the ones that either I like, or Daestwen likes, or that we both like. We did not ask your opinion.
• Poll is not the end all be all of CHOW, CA, my life or yours, so get over it. Enjoy the entries, and the process and keep in mind that we bust our butts for you so you can have an enjoyable experience, but ultimately in the great lay of things, it's meaningless.
• We make mistakes. We leave people out, we put people in who probably should not be in. We do our best, but at the end of the day, we're human. Deal with with it.
• We also on occasion take someone to poll who otherwise wouldn't be there. This is done purposefully to help someone get some extra attention for their work and to get them some decent crits. It's not done so you can have a hissy fit about it. Get with the program and help people instead of bitching about the poll.
• If you get cut, DO NOT send me or Daestwen an pm bitching about it. That is a sure fire way to get on my unhappy list. If the generalized reasons list doesn't cover it enough for you, we're happy to provide a more detailed reasoning either in thread or via pm - just ask us.

More as I think about it.

All the best,
~Oreg.

[Ceyface]

I'm new to these forums, art, and CHOW, but I just wanted to say thank you for all the obvious hard work you two put into running the show. Really appreciate it

[feifeicreate]

I'm here with Ceyface, want to say thank you to Oregano and Deastwen. I can only imagine how much work you guys put into this every single week from coming up with an interesting topic all the way to put on the final poll. This is perfect for someone like me, who can't work without a deadline...LOL. The way I see it, it's really not about winning or loosing, it's about pushing yourself and learn something new.

I would participate CHOW all the same if there's no poll, no winning or anything.

[dustinner]

here here! I am 100 percent behind you guys on this Oregano. People should learn not to take it all so personally. I know im here to learn and if that means i dont make the cut. I learn from that. So keep it going strong guys. You got my support however little that means

[tomwaits4noman]

agreed with all,

Chow is a great way to cut your teeth on a project with tight dead line, experiment and try new things you would other wise consider and it helps you push yourself more, with all quality work each week,

if not a popularity contest and or competition

looking forward to next chow brief....

[daestwen]

Court thread is up to date!

So you can see all the winning images in one place, now.

[daestwen]

This image is now up to date, so refresh your browsers if you're still seeing the old one!

[chaosrocks]

damn Dae... I can't ever catch up ..as soon as i get the winners circle updated, you put up the spiffy iconsquare, yeash.... we're all just tryin to catch up to CHOW.... kudos on the trend setting.

crx

[daestwen]

damn Dae... I can't ever catch up ..as soon as i get the winners circle updated, you put up the spiffy iconsquare, yeash.... we're all just tryin to catch up to CHOW.... kudos on the trend setting.

crx

I do my best.

Someone's gotta do the tidying around here.

[daestwen]

On that note:

EVERYONE WHO HAS WON A ROUND SHOULD NOW HAVE THEIR AWARDS.

I just sent them out. So if you should have one, but have not received it yet, please pm me!

[chaosrocks]

question..how does that work?
d you just send them the lil icon and they get to put it in their avatar?
iwish we could add em like Foz does... I need lil icon

[daestwen]

chaos: it's a little psd file, yeah, that they can put in their avatars.

Speaking of which, because the PM system is a bitch, the urls don't work.

FOR THOSE THAT RECIEVED THEM, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:

Take the "ch...rds" part out of the url and replace it with "chow/awards/". For some reason the pms are taking the link literally instead of what I actually copied/pasted into them. :/

[S.C. Watson]

NEW ROUND RULE: WIPS PLEASE!

When you submit your final in the finals thread, you must EITHER submit 2-3 wips as well, OR link us to your Wips in this thread. Thank you!!

~Daes

WIPS REQUIRED, CHAINS OPTIONAL
We're very interested in your process - not just how you progress from one element from another in the course of your illustration, but why did you choose those elements to begin with? What were you trying to do? Why did it work, or not? Show us what you used for inspiration - be it a photograph, or someone else's work that you admire, or something you have - or did you just shoot from the hip after reading the Brief?

So, in the Finals thread, this is your chance to consolidate all of your ideas and talk about them. Review your own work - look at it critically and analyze it from an objective standpoint, and talk to us about it.

You can go as indepth as you want - this can be simply just the wips, or you can include the chains as well

All the best,
~Oreg.

[S.C. Watson]

JUST A REMINDER PEOPLE:

YOUR FILE NAME ABSOLUTELY *MUST* READ AS FOLLOWS:
"CHOW000_YOURNAMEHERE.jpg"

Please name your files correctly - or you'll be automatically disqualified from poll regardless of how good your piece is

[Skrunchey]

What thread can I find all of the past CHOWs and their descriptions/ground rules for entries. I would really like to start at #1 and work my way up to the current rounds.There are quite a few that I read too close to the close or after the final polls were posted. SO, if anyone can let me know I'd really appreciate it!

[daestwen]

Skrunchey:

First off you might want to check out the "Queen's Court" thread - in it is every single round and the image of the winner. Not all the entries have the details for the round, however. There is a complete list of winners (with all the rounds linked) in the "Chow Standings" thread. You might have to look a bit in there, but it *does* contain a link to every round, where you can find all the info on that particular round.

Or, you can go to the bottom of the screen and select "Sorted By: Thread Start Time", "From The: Beginning" and "Sort Order: Ascending".

This will give you all the chow threads from the very beginning, in order!

Good luck, and don't forget to post the results in the 'Chow Revisit and Revision' thread!