C.H.O.W# 406 Airborne Assassin

[InfernoKing]

Working out the pose of the character as she skulks around, dispatching people who get in her way. Need to work on the legs.
Still refining the style of her equipment, at the moment I'm leaning on influences from Arts&Crafts/Nouveau stained glass windows, without being too flashy. Not that her stuff is made of glass.

[spearman247]

Ok, so i fixed the anatomy a bit, made sure to flip the image a few times, so that i could get the face and pose right. Now I'm working on adding cogs, gears, pistons, and other details. I might add embroidery to the dress, to add more visual interest, so that way everything feels evenly detailed.
Critique and comments welcome!!

[Sparekiss]

almost done im not gonna do much more refining to the character, maybe some lighting in the background. some critique would help im struggling a bit especially with the colors... im used to very vibrant and saturated colors, this stuff's too dark for me but maybe he needs to be darker ,i dunno, nothing seems to work.im also gonna post a second version of the same image as final where his pose is altered a bit and he's flying to show how it works. opinions about anything are more than welcome i want to change something but i dunno what it is.

lawnchairbear your c and d designs are spot on in my opinion. you should show some cool way to fly too and you re jet. and abrahamdhr your 2nd one's pose looks super awesome and your 3rd's equipment is very intreresting too. these are just my personal favorites i think from the prev pages but not the only ones! everyone seems to be doing awesome work but i think this post would be too big if i comment all of them!

just a couple things about the last 2.. infernoking shes cool she reminds me of boba fett a bit but i think you already have in mind how to emphasize the steampunk aspect even more in your refined. also if you fix slightly the second pose its a cool pose i really like it, good for a final

spearman its going the right way, i think, like you said if you add more detail on her body. and not just refine i think you should actually add more stuff like equipment and couple of discreet mechanical parts cause you got the ninja part but doesnt feel quite steampunk yet

[InfernoKing]

Thanks, Sparekiss.

Two things I notice with your character.
Figure out the color consistency and direction of the lighting. From what I can see there are 3(?) different sources
1) Top ambient blue light
2) Back lit yellow (but then it becomes more white at the bottom)
3) A peachy spotlight on the assassin's arm, front shirt edge and the dead guy's face but it doesn't appear to illuminate much else.

Also the proportion of the leg planted on the dead guy needs adjusted. The thigh is a little short, knee is high and shin too long.

[Sparekiss]

thanks man i completely overlooked that leg you re right now i see it! about the lights i think it looks awkward cause i havent added a background light yet. yea its 1)top ambient blue 2) top yellow spotlight from kinda far away and kinda in the back (wanted to look like he's lit by a real small street light some candle maybe) and 3) an ambient white from behind the character, like almost pointing the camera but from far away and a bit to the right. thanks for your feedback ill see if i can fix the lights then!

[spearman247]

@sparekiss: Thanks for the suggestion! yeah i got the same feel from the design. At first i had wanted her to be a "lower tech" or "earlier" version of steampunk, but when I thought of great steampunk-like games, like Dishonored, Bioshock, and Fallout (on occasion) I felt I needed to add a little more to her. I have been adding gears and cogs all over and trying to work them in as equipment somehow. Hmm... maybe I'll make one of her legs mechanical........

[Lege1]

Very cool stuff in here....

[Lege1]

Just FYI that you can use the keyboard short cuts for zoom (ctrl+)/ zoom out(ctrl-)/ and regular screen size(ctrl0) to better view the images on line. When I want to see the larger posts I just zoom out. Hope that works out well for everyone.

[Moirae]

Just FYI that you can use the keyboard short cuts for zoom (ctrl+)/ zoom out(ctrl-)/ and regular screen size(ctrl0) to better view the images on line. When I want to see the larger posts I just zoom out. Hope that works out well for everyone.

It's good practice to make your art as easy to view as possible, not just on here. If on your portfolio a client has to click on several different things to view an image, or wait a few seconds each time for a massive image file to load they may lose interest. You shouldn't really make people have to jump through hoops such as zooming in and out or whatever to see your stuff clearly. As I said earlier there is nothing in the rules preventing large size images, it just makes sense to get into the habit of adapting your images to show easily on as many devices / browsers as you can. You can't always expect a viewer / prospective client to work to see your pictures.
This isn't a rant, I worry people might think I'm moaning at them.

[Sparekiss]

you re right guys i saw the rules that say 800px max but i must have uploaded the wrong file though i remember changing the height to 800. sorry about that... anyway i just wanted to ask isnt the deadline tomorrow? shouldnt there be a finals thread yet? im just new here and i thought it would open yesterday. and sorry if im spamming here asking random questions ill shut up now forever just worried if it doesnt appear for me for some reason or something! or if im supposed to look for it somewhere else

[Discorave]

Update, not sure if I'll have the time to do much more, which is a shame, but I will see if I can clean it up before submission.

[Lege1]

It's good practice to make your art as easy to view as possible, not just on here. If on your portfolio a client has to click on several different things to view an image, or wait a few seconds each time for a massive image file to load they may lose interest. You shouldn't really make people have to jump through hoops such as zooming in and out or whatever to see your stuff clearly. As I said earlier there is nothing in the rules preventing large size images, it just makes sense to get into the habit of adapting your images to show easily on as many devices / browsers as you can. You can't always expect a viewer / prospective client to work to see your pictures.
This isn't a rant, I worry people might think I'm moaning at them.

Totally right on that man. Clients need to be catered to no doubt and considering we are practicing with career opportunities in mind, it is only right to get into the habit now of catering to the client and presenting an image that is not over sized.
I found 1000px to still be a bit large for the forum. So here is a re post at 800px in height. I also did an image size for 516pxh to see if that will fit the screen perfect; There fore I can more or less just use that image as a template.

[Lege1]

And 516 pixels high for tightest fit on this forum it is.

[someguy216]

This CHOW has made me realise something. I hate designing steam punk themed stuff. I can't for the life of me design a good steampunk mask, it often comes out looking to sci-fi or just far to mundane or boring. urgg anyway I will finish it eventually, when are the finals up?

@Discorave Looks cool so far, but the little dagger seems rather out of place with the rest of the design, I think something more bulky or at least more steampunk themed would fit better.

[Moirae]

you re right guys i saw the rules that say 800px max but i must have uploaded the wrong file though i remember changing the height to 800. sorry about that... anyway i just wanted to ask isnt the deadline tomorrow? shouldnt there be a finals thread yet? im just new here and i thought it would open yesterday. and sorry if im spamming here asking random questions ill shut up now forever just worried if it doesnt appear for me for some reason or something! or if im supposed to look for it somewhere else

AdamRoush usually handles the finals thread, he must be delayed somehow. I will put up the thread if there isn't one Sunday morning (GMT)
If it ends up being pushed back really late we may extend the deadline a little to compensate.

[AdamRoush]

The Finals thread is up. I was out of town and the wifi / mobile service was extremely spotty, so that's why it's late this time. I'll extend the deadline until 4am GMT Aug 1 for this chow.

On the matter of image size, you can right click on the image, and select "view image" to see the image in a new tab or window and zoom to your heart's content. Really the problem is how the images are displayed, in this low-tech forum. The website is stuck in a perpetual state of 1999. I really wish there was a better way to display the images.

Personally, I prefer a larger image compared to a smaller one. I'd want to see the detail you've poured into your design; the smaller the image, the more that detail gets lost. For chow, it makes the most sense to make your image size vertical instead of horizontal, to display the largest image, and steer clear of a horizontal one. For clients, I suggest having a separate portfolio site to display your works, like a tumblr, a blog, or a dedicated portfolio site. A lot of those kinds of sites will auto-resize to match the size of the viewer's screen.

[spearman247]

Hey quick question, you said photo plates weren't allowed, does that include photos or drawings unrelated to this challenge that we took/ made?
I wanted to use a drawing I did before for texture and decoration on my character, but if its not allowed I'll be ok.

[FredJohnson]

Is this still going on or closed?

[AdamRoush]

FredJohnson: this topic is closed. There's an end date on the first page, where the description is. But you're welcome to make a design for fun, but there won't be another poll for this theme.

[KLANCEISMYMAYOMOM]

Hey, I would like your feedback on my design for this thread. I imagine the wings being more for steering and having a fire impulsor that is kind of like with a spaceship but not so powerful. Also, there are arrows that are 'soaked' in poisonous gas inside the metal tube and that is why there is a mask. The poison in the arrows doesn't kill you but makes you fall unconscious for a few hours and makes you very weak for at least a few days, used to get info from...whoever you'd need information from, probably your enemy. These are very fast, made for abducting enemies for information and putting them back while they are still weak and won't remember anything. Very strategic.