Chow 99 - The End Of An Era :: The Herald Of The Queen (final burning) PART I

[S.C. Watson]

FINALS ONLY
-=THE HERALD OF THE QUEEN=-
-=ROUND 099=-

-------------

This topic is open. To an extent.

The Herald is a powerful member of the Queens' court, announcing her arrival and departure, and acts as her body guard and protector. A knight of unrivaled power, The Herald is the one who champions the Queen and all her ventures.

This character must be powerful. Watch your anatomy - we need a heroic, but believable character. This character needs to look the part - poised, strong, in control even in adverse situation.

The character needs to be executed in a more realistic manner - no cartoons or comic styles will be accepted.

If you're off target - you will be disqualified.

-------------------
+ NO COMMENTS UNTIL AFTER POLL IS POSTED. All other posts will be deleted.
+ This thread will include the final poll. Here is where you will do the voting.
+ SUBMISSION DEADLINE: MIDNIGHT SUNDAY DECEMBER 9TH
+ Poll will be posted MONDAY EVENING, PST
+ Do not post placeholders.
+ Please comment only after the poll has been set up and the voting has started. Thank you.
--------------------------

POLL RULES
(for the new people)

THINK BEFORE YOU VOTE. GIVE FEEDBACK
See if the entry you are voting for has mathced the topic requirements. Take time and give feedback - you will learn a lot
!!! DON'T VOTE FOR YOURSELF !!!
YOU CAN VOTE MORE THEN ONE ENTRY
You can vote only ONCE! It's up to you how many entries you cast your vote or.Think before you click that button.

:right: PLACE THE IMAGE IN A FRAME WITH YOUR NAME/TOPIC
:right: SAVE YOUR FILES IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT:
Chow##_Nickname
example: "CHOW#100_Oregano.jpg" ;)

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/ChowPics/frame.jpg

If you do not follow these simple rules, you will not be taken to Poll.

______________

[Wade h]

i Know, its a shitty drawing, but i had fun drawing it, and im learning more, so im gonna post it anyways, I dont mind if it gets Rejected :)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/wade_h/chow99entrybig.jpg

[hallo]

http://www.notmybiz.com/files/fb_portfolio/bilder/chow99_queensherald_hallo_final.jpg

[Gorgoth of Suburbia]

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/Damnroadkill/CHOW99_GorgothofSuburbia-1.jpg

[Spitch]

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u226/spitch1/Spitch-ChOW99.jpg

[NARobles]

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q70/NARobles/CHoW99_NARobles.jpg

[Nerahla]

hey guys, I'm glad I joined up, but realized that I really need to be working on my LMS entry so I just finished it quickly this morning. Had a BLAST though - and this is looking to be a great CHOW :)

[dannE-B]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/Reanimate/Prophet_chow99_HeraldofQueen.jpg

[Michael Jaecks]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a379/neorepto/Chow99QueensHeraldMichaelJaecks.jpg

[Lord Of All Bunnies]

A herald of a different bent

[Stephan_R]

http://www.steveroyer.com/sketching/chow_99.jpg

[hjj]

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e315/hjjhjjhjj/chow99_hjj.jpg

[corspufo]

http://www.fluffalo.com/Alex_Imageupload/CHOW99-Herald_Corspufo.jpg

[Pixel Dust]

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p194/Blue_puppet/TheHeraldoftheQueen.jpg]

[bluefooted]

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/3507/bluefootedchow99py4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ManaBurn]

I decide to play too. =D

[realitychek]

255094

[Mark Tarrisse]

255255

[Hideyoshi]

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd97/HideyoshiR/Chow99_Hideyoshi.jpg

[Delmar]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b279/Delmar18/chow99_delmar-2.jpg

[dCepT]

255349

[Stoat]

Meh. Okay. That's all I got.

[c@s]

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n152/calebsouza/chow99_cas.jpg

[Straniero]

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/1038/chow099stranierovw6.jpg

[Penumbra]

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s136/penumbra_photo/Chow99Penumbra.jpg

[Bendragon]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a98/naftnaft/Chow99_Bendragon.jpg

[chaosrocks]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e181/chaosrocks/chow99herald-chaosrocks.jpg

best Ican do
Im not looking at the others or I wont post

[Jason Snair]

First time doing a Chow. Had lots of fun.

[angrykid]

angryKid

[REGNIRUTH]

here's my final piece.
it's my first complete painter work also, any crits and tips would be appreciated. thanks.

[Extollere]

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff146/extollere/chow99_extollere.jpg

"The onlookers stood in silence as the strange herald prepared to announce his queen."

[Mr.Delicious]

ouuuu, almost forgot to do this! All nighter haha.

rescuing the heir to the throne.

[gtgauvin]

255855

Awesome work, everybody. I can't believe I finished, with all my slacking and the distractions I've been dealing with these past weeks. It helped going for broke and merging all the layers, forcing me to stop getting caught up in the minutiae of the process.

[Jip]

Surly, yet jaunty.

[Schade]

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/2466/chow99schadeuy0.jpg

[dragon4lunch]

http://www.trickstertoys.com/additional/CHOW99_dragon4lunch.jpg

[Whyto]

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5668/chow99whytonn6.jpg

[jread]

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/1091/chow99heraldofthequeenjnl6.jpg

[CMobley]

my 1st entry

[Saturns Gate]

Phew! Finally got it finished in time! :) Great entrys so far! See ya in the poll!

[baby-bel]

Weee! Here's my Post-Apocalytic, Beat-boxing Herald to the Queen. I decided to start this one today so it's a little rushed, it was hella fun though!
Nice work everybody!!

http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs22/i/2007/343/8/4/Herald_by_Baby_bel.jpg

[Pragmatist]

here's mine.

[JessiBean]

:lounge:

256165

[joiton]

256168

[insubstantial]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc126/paul_heyduck/Chow99byInsubstantial.jpg

[Grendel Grack]

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i242/GrendelGrack/GrendelGrack_CHOW99.jpg

[Pesmerga]

Here's mine.

[davi]

deadred made me post it.

[Coleb]

Final

[rodriguez]

My Final

Protect the Queen
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/3527/chow99rodriguezoo2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Lynus]

WARNING- the following image contains graphic violence towards orcs....
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff270/Artfiend14/CHOW99_Lynusv2.jpg

[Raydiant]

256308

[carotello]

Here is mine. Nice work everyone.

[R.Araya]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2012/2099050611_6af3d1fbd0_o.jpg

[daestwen]

http://www.daestwen.com/gallery_pics/daestwen_herald.png

[kischi]

Ok here is mine.

[mrbo18]

No colors, but I think an improvement with my lighting. Nice topic and good submissions by all.

[Tifaria]

Oh man, these are all really amazing. It really makes me realize how much more I need to work. :painting:

[Gwenevere]

Well, here's mine, for what it's worth. I could tweak it all night trying to get the colors to match the original, but I'd better stop before I miss the deadline. Attempted to do it in actual analog oil paint, not sure it's entirely successful, but it was fun!

[mickeymao]

No time this weekend to paint... so perhaps what I've done is too comic-booky in style, but I figured I would put it up and see if anyone likes it...
http://www.garethhinds.com/ext_post/CHOW99_mickeymao_herald3.jpg

[Draixe]

Huzzah! Finished with half an hour to spare ;) Thanks, Oreg, for the terrific topic. I'm looking forward to the queen with great anticipation.

"The Herald emerges from the shadows and approaches the young lordling's entourage. The stoic being presents the lord with the head of his unfortunate ambassador, a silent, yet no less poingant reminder as to where the lord's lands end and Hers begin..."

[Texahol]

lots of great entries!

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t291/texahol/texahol_chow99.jpg

[Death]

Why the stink not?

[blackrobin]

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8048/testgh1.jpg

[fydbac]

:lineart:

[TwoKinds]

Here it is, nearly an hour late. Sorry, but I was having massively frustrating computer problems.

-- Herald to the Queen of the Valkyries--

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j146/Katy_192/Chow99_TwoKinds.jpg

[Wizard of KOZ]

Whew! I made it with an hour to spare!!!

This my entry:
http://www.landofkoz.com/Paintings/chow99.jpg

"The Herald of the Queen was built in prosperous times... More than a personal guard, it was her friend. Indeed he was programmed with almost an obsessive personality. Never did he leave her. It was rumored the Heralds architect was in love with the queen herself, and the herald was his way of being with her.

With the fall of the Kingdom by treachery of a spurned suitor, the herald undying now roams the empty halls of the vast palace, looking for his Queen, but never finding..."

[aoleon]

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7793/heraldofthequeenchow99kp6.jpg

[tatiana]

http://tygriffin.brinkster.net/images/casketches/CHOW99_tatiana.jpg

Here's hoping it's still close enough to midnight somewhere... :) Regardless, I had alot of fun and creatively stretched myself again - yay!

[jfwalls]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/jfwalls/CHOW99_jfwalls.jpg

[dabble]

Here it is....

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x18/dabble21/ConceptArt/CHOW/99Herald_final.jpg

[Kuma Kensai]

I hope I got this in on time, and the format is right... Woo Hoo first Chow participation!!! Hope everyone likes it. As always some killer pieces in this thread!

[deviousg]

256484

[edujante]

Duke ofWellington, the herald queen!

http://edujante.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/heraldo.jpg


PD: How many art this roound!

[deviousg]

And another entry. Chow is a great place to see what people respond to and get great feedback. Some mind blowing entries - hope all of the entries from the discussion thread make to final voting.

256485

[Kerberos]

Well I am humbled. Good job guys.

[Rodimus25]

Sorry for the rush entry. Hope i made it in time for this chow... not quite finished yet either... but here is what i have so far.

[smugbug]

256960

[Benjamen Christ]

heres mine, simple and tough. c+c welcome!

Ben Christ

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee86/christ-85/harld.jpg

[Lodin]

Hi, my entry
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/263/heraldbz2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Slash]

I don't know if its still sunday anywhere on the globe, but for what its worth, here's my final.

[davidherd]

My not very good entry. It does not adhere to the brief very well at all, I had too many versions going on at once but I learned a little about technqiue along the way, its never a waste of time . . .

http://www.davidherd.com/0000/artwork/CHOW99_davidherddotcom.jpg

Oregano: I realise I may have posted too late. So no worries if its not included in the poll.

[spudstudios]

Oh man I am posting so late.. I lost my original so had to go from a jpeg wip on my blog.. excuses excuses.
I understand if it dont poll.. sorry

I hope ya dig. I had so much fun with this one..

[Felicia]

Here is my late entry:

[alice_]

Ugh. Not really finished but I'm posting it now because I have to go make dinner for 10 people haha. Looking at this is making me feel a little nauseous- I hope I'll have time later to change the background (although really thats the least of my problems with it...)

edited: done..?

[Blue Severin]

This is as finished as I'll get. Fun topic, and quite the turnout of awesome artists.

[S.C. Watson]

I will post poll as soon as I get home from work, which should be in a couple of hours. After poll is posted, the thread will be opened for comments and crits.

~Oreg.

[S.C. Watson]

Just a heads up:

The Polls are limited to 50 entries.

We have 86.

There will be two polls. This is the first and LAST time I am doing this. From here on out, entries will be edited.

~Oreg.

[Extollere]

Well since comments are open I just wanted to say great job to everyone! the turnout was crazy. There are some really strong entries and imaginative ideas. Now....who to vote for!?

[S.C. Watson]

devious g, your entries have been disqualified. Only one entry is allowed.

[Aly Fell]

In this half I've gone for:

Jessi's - Dynamic! Some anatomy issues, but great striking image.

Stephan - Lovely piece. Fab lighting! Got to say more narrative illustration than a character design, but great stuff.

Mickeymao - Fab! Feels like a still from an animated movie, but once again more narrative based than a pure character design.

Fab turnout!

[Nightblue]

stanphanR: your piece is my favorite out of the batch :) You went with a very unique concept, and rendered it superbly. love the rich yet natural colors of your piece.

There are many other entries that took my breath away. Good thing this is a multi-vote!

[jread]

wow, tough crowd this round :S if some crit could be thrown my way i would appreciate it muchly :)

felicia, stephen r, hallo, and gorgoth of suburbia got my votes this part of the poll. They struck me as the most 'heraldish' with decent execution.

I though there were some quite cartoony entries here, which stopped a few more votes from me coz the brief says only realistic entries. Also, many just look like warriors and although well done, not 'herald' enough for me. And if he/she is an unmatched warrior...why would they need armour at all?

well done all, this was a fantastic round...the amount of entries has made me dizzy! cant wait for the next! :D

[dCepT]

My votes for this part were JessiBean, Lodin and Stephan_R... lovely images, people! I cast two more votes in part II... like I said in the other thread... awesome awesome work guys and gals! See ya in the next one!

d-C

[Xol]

Jebus, *way* too many good entries here.
In a way this makes me not mind so much not getting my entry finished. I can see some people really stretched themselves with this topic - a real delight just to scroll through them.

[Straniero]

My vote on this side went to StephanR (the other 4 votes I limited myself to went on Part II). I thought it was the best overall painting. I really like how the bright light draws the eye initially to the Herald, then the stray beam of light draws you down to notice the rest of the image. You almost feel like your eyes are focusing in dim light to notice the other figures, then there is a great triangular arrangement of those figures that leads the eyes right back up to the Herald at the top once more.

Other things I really liked on this side:
Prophet – He has a sort of swift, arrogant trickster air to him. Thinking about Hermes/Mercury it really fits the Herald theme well.
JessiBean – Very heroic; I imagine it as a box cover for some light-hearted fantasy RPG. I almost voted for this instead of Carotello's on Part II.
Lodin – I liked the armor design. The cloth message/banner in his right hand is a great touch and there is great urgency to his stride.
Rodimus25 –Interesting concept. He has a great regal air about him that matches the power described in the brief.
Baby-Bel – Cool concept for a futuristic Herald to match the outgoing urban corsair Queen.
Schade – I loved the rendering quality of the bone of the horn vs. the metal helm vs. the skin.
Penumbra –Along with the quality, I love the placement of the firey portion of his body. It lights up the face perfectly and leads you down to the hand, swordhilt, through the belt and so on through the rest of the image.
MickeyMao – This picture is great as well. It has a very Tony DiTerlizzi feel to it and looks like it should be in a book insert somewhere.
Hjj – I like the detailed work on the skin and the shoulder armor alot.

[deviousg]

voted for lodin and stephenr - stephenr for the unique and beautiful piece

Lodin - for one of my favorite chows since I have been aware of the contest, power grace beauty, and really nailing the brief in my opinion!

Not sure why neither of mine made it to voting - any feedback on that or anything is appreciated.

[jread]

Not sure why neither of mine made it to voting - any feedback on that or anything is appreciated.

You are only allowed one entry, it is in the rules (the first post made by Oregano at the start of each round with all the big red letters). :)

[kischi]

Ok I decided to vote only three per page, but there are many more really good posts!
Lodin: When I first saw it I was totally flashed by the colors and the kickass armor!!!
hjj: Really dig the ralism of this pic, very well done.
JessiBean: I like the complex build of this picture. The colors and everything pops out. It's a lovely pic even it's more comicstyle than realism ;)

[bluefooted]

Good work, everyone!

I voted for too many over here probably:

prophet: Beautiful colors!

JessiBean: Great illustration and design.

Felicia: Love the whole image!

Grendel_Grack: What a cutie! Plus the detailing is great.

Stephen_R: Such a complete image - it tells a whole story! Great lighting and sense of space, too.

Gwenevere: A great-looking traditional herald.

extollere: I love the colors and details in this.

[insubstantial]

meh... if i knew, that my image becomes resized, i would have made the final it in another format (dont know how its called, i guess upright format).

[S.C. Watson]

Lodin, you have been disqualified for entering a piece originally done in 2006.

You and devious g are banned from participating in CHOW.

[Pesmerga]

There's an image not showing up between insubstantial and Twokinds.

Stephan R and JessiBean for the win! Penumbra and Felicia close second (for this half). Great job everyone. Oh and I love Extollere's piece. Please post your progressive wips next time. I hate people who don't show their process.

[mickeymao]

Penumbra and StephanR were my favorites on this side. I also meant to vote for Baby Bel, but I think I messed up somehow -- although not all that well executed, yours was my favorite offbeat concept (pun intended).

Others that almost made the cut or deserved mention: Texahol for making my brain hurt. Gorgoth for being the creepiest. Felicia for a beautiful rendering. JessiBean for a great rendering and presentation (I like the design too, but didn't find it edgy enough for my own personal taste). Rodimus25 I thought had a lot of potential, but it wasn't finished enough and didn't quite convey enough about the character.

Those I didn't mention either weren't executed at the same (very high) standard, or just weren't as interesting conceptually. But the competition was crazy, so good job for even throwing your hats in the ring.

[S.C. Watson]

There's an image not showing up between insubstantial and Twokinds.

you are seeing the remains of a disqualified entry. Move along. Nothing to see there...

:geekg:

[Blue Severin]

I enjoyed Fydbac's, Penumbra's first design, and Lodin's. As none of them were at poll, I voted for my next favorite, Stephan R's. The character design is good, though I don't know if the design would be as strong without the context of the awesome illustration.

[bluefooted]

I enjoyed Fydbac's, Penumbra's first design, and Lodin's. As none of them were at poll, I voted for my next favorite, Stephan R's. The character design is good, though I don't know if the design would be as strong without the context of the awesome illustration.

Fydbac's entry is in Part II of the poll - you can go vote for it over there.

[Blue Severin]

thx, forgot to add that your piece was one I was looking for to vote on as well.

[Gorgoth of Suburbia]

Voted for JessiBean, stephan R, Penumbra and bluefooted.

JessiBean - I think your character might be a bit on the cartoony side, but your use of colour makes up for it. Lovely!

Stephan R - Again, excellent lighting and composition. The concept itself is also outstanding.

Penumbra - This entry was much more herald-like. And a lot more interesting too. Good job!

bluefooted - Lovely linework. Must've taken ages. I also like how you didn't use too bright or saturated colours. Very atmospheric.

Great work, people.

[Penumbra]

Wow,
There are some excellent entries this round, I am glad that I got into it.

Stephan R- I love the lighting in the scene, and the Herald. It was a good direction and a diffrent interpretation. Well excecuted.

Apparently one of my other votes got disqualified for using previously done artwork. It's a shame but the rules are quite straightforward and prominately posted. Fair is fair.

Jessibean-Yours would have been my third vote on this side but I made a mistake with my browser and only voted twice. Its a very accomplished traditional, almost archetypical Herald.Well done.


Thanks for the great work and for the great competition.

[jread]

Lodin, you have been disqualified for entering a piece originally done in 2006.

tut tut. :traced:

[form2function]

Cast my votes and working on a full crit that should be coming up in 15 mins or so. In the mean time...

Kerberos, if you read the rules there's a big line there, in a huge font, in white letters, surrounded by exclamation marks. It states, "DON'T VOTE FOR YOURSELF". Hard to miss. Read the rules next time, eh?

PS: Lodin... Ouch. It was a really beautiful image and one of the strongest of them all, but... Damn. It kinda defeats the point and it was a pretty insulting move for everyone that worked their asses off in the time-frame we were given.

[Stephan_R]

I tried to keep my votes based on first and foremost the look of a herald and secondly a strong execution. It was extremely painful not to vote for more that were very strong characters or illustrations that just didn't quite meet the top two criteria (to me anyway)

Jessibean: Love the design, presentation and color pallette. Very strong!

Schade: I was torn on this one, I'd like to see more of this character's front side but the designs and especially the horn really were interesting and I thought he'd make a good herald.

hjj: I didn't vote for so many awesome pieces because they felt more like knights than heralds BUT this one walked the fine line. His lack of armor and design were really great and ultimately felt more herald than knight. Powerful image for just b&w.

Gorgoth of Suburbia: This was just great, I can see this guy being used in a game or movie. Very creepy, but also lots of craft in the design and render.

Thank you for those that voted on my entry, very much appreciated.

[Orunitier]

Lots of great entries!!!!!!

JessiBean: Love the composition and the pose. I like the different patterns and the Massive Black logo is a nice touch!

Grendel_Grack: I like how you made the overall design look so simple and clean, even though you can see all these details...

Penumbra: I like the different approach to the subject.

PatriciaS: Fits the description. Still needs some polishing, but I like the direction you took.

Gorgoth: I agree with mickeymao, somehow yours is the creepiest. The mood created is nice and so are the details.

[deviousg]

disqualified for not reading the rules properly - making a mistake...

nice.

If it was really for posting two images - it was not meant as a bid to increase my odds - wasn't sure if either satisfied the brief. Just trying to find out what people respond to. - just trying to find a style and content ideas that evoke a response.

Some reason as for my eternal banishment would be appreciated.

‽ ‽ ‽

[S.C. Watson]

disqualified for not reading the rules properly - making a mistake...

nice.

If it was really for posting two images - it was not meant as a bid to increase my odds - wasn't sure if either satisfied the brief. Just trying to find out what people respond to. - just trying to find a style and content ideas that evoke a response.

Some reason as for my eternal banishment would be appreciated.

‽ ‽ ‽

Okay devious - you're not permanently banned. You are disqualified from this round, however.

Please make sure you reread the rules.

The brief thread is where you find out what people respond to. Both images were in the Final Burning thread, which is where I pull the images from for taking to poll. Only ONE image from each artist is to go there.

Enter in CHOW 100 and make good. But only *one* entry, please :P

But I do want to be clear, CHOW doesn't suffer cheaters lightly. It is the participant's responsibility to read the rules/guidelines and follow them. They are posted on the header graphic for each round.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

~Oreg.

[deviousg]

certainly wasn't trying to cheat - was up late, and was focusing on making interesting art.

Will be more careful.

[Kerberos]

Someone said earlier that some of these entries were too warriorlike, but I thought that was the point. I think ‘herald’ might have thrown some people off, because the brief made me feel like this guy was supposed to be the Queen’s personal body guard or greatest warrior. It’s all over now but a better description for these characters might be bannerman/bannerwoman. The greatest of the warriors who carry their queen’s symbol into battle.

This vote was ridiculous. I couldn’t believe the turnout, and there were dozens of really good entries. I am glad I got to vote for more than one, but I still felt like there ought to have been a consolation prize. A herald for the herald.


JessiBean- I have been reading some fantasy novels a roommate loaned to me, and your entry basically brought a character straight out of the book. If you ever did a tutorial on that one I would be interested to see it.

edujante- The expression on your character’s face made me laugh (a good thing). I am afraid he suffered somewhat from being scaled down.

spitch- I thought yours was really well done, but I didn’t vote for it because I couldn’t figure out why he was angry.

Rodimus- that guy looks awesome. Very regal looking. He reminded me of the Aztec warrior in Apocalypto.

Baby-Bel- I liked the concept behind him a lot, but according to the brief, he wasn’t warrior enough.

Stephen R- You probably have enough comments to pay attention to, haha. But even still, awesome concept.

Penumbra- I know you removed the hand off the hilt of his sword in the final…but I liked the other sketch where his hand was detached and gripping the sword behind him. I know what you mean too about drawing so many things for children that you just want to have fun and draw something evil looking.

tatiana- were those dragons in the background modeled after the national symbol for Wales?

Hjj- I loved it bro. The guy looks like Odin trying to hid under the veil of some mortal. I think the black and white really adds to the effect.

extollere- your character was really well done. If he was a character in a story, he looked like one I would love to hate. He’s got the smug confidence of the Queen’s right hand.

It is too bad about Lodin’s entry. Pretty sad actually, because that golden knight definitely had the stride and pose of a BAMF (Dane Cook reference).

[daestwen]

Prophet: She looks very strong, very sure. The proportions of things look a little weird, but it seems to work with the style so I have no complaints. I was considering giving it a vote, but in the end she just seemed like such a lone wolf to me, her expression is almost defiant. I couldn't really see her running at the beck and call of a queen.

JessiBean: He is so obviously a herald. :) Totally got my vote. The only thing I worry about (for him, not for the image) is that he's all heart and no muscle, haha.

Shera 3000: Careful with your anatomy here, not only on him, but the horse as well. One of the major things I noted was that even though his arm is pointed towards us, it shrinks. Foreshortening goes the opposite way, objects closer to us appear bigger, even if it overlaps the rest of the arm behind it and therefore might look weird to you. The horse's face and hair look squiggly, as if you painted it and then smudged it all around with the photoshop smudge tool.

edujante: Remember to put your name and the Chow # on the image! :) I had to look through three pages to find out what your handle was. Anyway - He's got character, and I love the little moustache, but the fact that the gun fades to white so suddenly at the end of it bothers me, haha. This is one of the ones that i liked as an image (ignoring the disappearing gun), but didn't really say 'herald' to me.

PixelDust: I love the action, especially in the horse, though the figure looks a little too stiff compared. My only notes would be that 1), the colours seem to be a little bit muddy, 2) The bottom of the horse's jaw/throat seems a little twisted, and 3) the flowing cape doesn't line up right.

texahol: So bizarre! She creeps me out, man. I just can't see the herald in her at all - she seems more like a succubus with white panties and a big sword. :P

BlackRobin: This one still feels pretty sketchy to me, some places more carefully rendered than others, and some just missing (though that might have just been the crop). It just doesn't feel finished.

Spitch: He's so gung-ho! I don't have much to say for this one - anatomy looks good, the cloth looks good, and you've rendered it well. I think the problem only lies in that it's not as visually interesting as a lot of the other ones, and the pose is kind of a strange one for the topic. :) Good work, though.

rodimus25: I like the idea, and I hope you finish the image. :)

Pelicia: I love the raven griffin thing! :D It almost feels like it's the centre of attention, though, rather than the figure! This was one of the ones I was close to voting for, but when I realised it was more for the creature than anything else, I thought maybe I shouldn't. :) I like it, though, keep up the good work.

Baby-Bel: The grey shadows are muddying up the image a bit. My suggestion would be to actually give the shadow a colour, next time, usually the opposite of the light source. It'll help from making the colours look muddy, and make the figure stand out from it's outline. :)

mrbo18: Doesn't feel finished, and didn't really give off the impression of being a herald.

Kerberos: I'm going to refer you to the advice I gave Baby-Bel two entries up, about shadow colour, as I think it would help. :) Otherwise, watch out for his other foot! You should be able to see it on the other side of the horse. The three primary colours are all really saturated, if you're going to use all three, my suggestion would be to mute down one or two of them so they don't all fight for attention at once.

Blue Severin: I think this one would benefit by using just a little air perspective on the mountain - objects further away aren't as clear or as saturated the further they get. Right now, the mountain is almost as saturated as the figure, and makes it look a little flat. If you grey it out gradually, the part closest to us the clearest, and the furthest corner (up on the left side) greyer and out of focus, you'll give a better impression of space.

GTGauvin: The lighting seems a little confused on this one. His face it pretty well illumated, with soft shadows, but the shadow beneath him is really stark - as if from a lamp or a spotlight. The sky is so bright it would be casting global illumination, and therefore soften that shadow up a bit. \

Christ: I'm a little confused about what's going on in this one - is the one on the left the character concept, and the right an illustration of him? If so, you should make sure to render them differently, just to give the viewer a visual clue as to what's going on. Also - is there a reason that his armour is sculpted like a chest on his back? It's a little confusing to look at, as if his torso is twisted around.

Grendel Gack: I love him. :D Haha. No, really, nice work. The only reason I didn't vote for it was because I felt I was biased toward it. :P The gold seems a little-off colour to me, though? Maybe a little less orange? It really stands out, the way it is. I like the horn, though, nice touch.

Coleb: I think the thing throwing me off is that some places are much more cleanly finished than others. I think you should give it a few more hours, and clean up the horses legs a bit, and the mane and the tail, and it'll come out nicely.

Stephan_R: I fell in love with this the moment I saw it. I almost wish that you'd go and finish the other figures, but I think the contrast is what makes him stand out, at the moment.

Whyto: I don't like the colour of the skin-shade so much, it's too grey. Other than that, I can't find any significant problems with it. It just doesn't really stand out, compared to some of the other images, and isn't as carefully rendered.

schade: His horn is neato. Otherwise, he creeps me out, haha. Good work, I just didn't personally like it as much as some others.

Rodriguez: I looked at this one for a little while to figure out what it was that was bothering me, and i'm still not sure. I think it might be the breast plate - it makes his form look flat, rather than cylindrical. His neck might be a little too thick, his expression complacent. I like the puffy sleeve, but you didn't follow it up on the other side?

Michael Jaecks: My thing with this one is that I can't get out of my head that he looks like a gladiator. :) The elipse on the outside of the shield is a little funky, and his right hand (our left) looks a little bit too big.

Penumbra: Really. Cool. Especially the creepy skeleton staff. I like him a lot, just didn't think he fit the brief as well as others. Good work. :)

Jread: The counter-weight (the ball at the end of the hilt of the sword) is HUGE. How would he swing that thing around? :) I like him, though, he's got attitude, and reminds me of the early 19th century, save for the very roman-esque shoulder shield.

REGNIRUTH: Please put your name on the image so we don't have to search for you. :) My problem with this one is that it doesn't really fit the brief - neither the realism part, nor the herald part. He looks more like a guard.

Chaosrocks: I'm so glad that you came and tried out. :) Hope you don't mind if I make a couple of notes. Your anatomy looks pretty good, the only things that stand out are his right boot (our left) makes it look like his twisting his ankle a little painfully, and I think the face may be a little bit small. (I'm a bad judge, though, as I tend to draw mine a little too large.) Also, the left (our right) hand might be a teensy bit small, but I didn't notice until just now. Mostly, I think you just need to keep at it and practice your rendering, because you have most of the form down - you just need to clean up the lines and the colours to make it more solid. Good effort, and I hope that you keep coming out. :)



Okay, sorry guys, but I've been at this for an hour! :P I'm up in six hours for work, so I'm going to start getting ready for bed. Hopefully I'll get back and finish these up soon, but there's so many of them! :O

[Kerberos]

Thanks for the advice daestwen! I agree totally, and it didn't occur to me until after I submitted the final that his other foot was missing, haha. My excuse is that he was spurring the horse on the right side. That is the best I can come up with.

[tatiana]

tatiana- were those dragons in the background modeled after the national symbol for Wales?

Actually, not initially...but sort of in the end. :)

I was more inspired by some mental imagery I had after reading Holly Black's "Tithe" and "Ironside" earlier this year and was planning on a Queen's court along that kind of line...but then as I was researching heraldry and saw the Welsh banner and already had the wee announcer dragon for my Queen's Herald...decided to emphasize a dragonic feel with those two characters in the back. Just ran out of time to implement my design art for the banner to meet the CHOW deadline...but it (the banner) was definitely inspired by the national symbol for Wales.

[form2function]

Amazing turnout and it definitely raised the quality bar even further. I'm honored to have taken part in it and hopefully it's the first of many for me.

I ended up voting for ten entries in part one, which I felt was a fair number considering the overall number of entries. I know some frown upon that and keep to a 3-5 vote range but to each his or her own. I've never been much for following unwritten rules. ;)

I'll comment on the ones I voted on first and then all the rest. I think the huge level of participation requires equal crit time for all, and would love to see more people offer crit for more than a 2-3 artists even if it's not for all the pieces. Remember, feedback is a big part of why we're all here, otherwise we might as well be working in a void.

Prophet: I love the attitude and color in this and your linework and painting is obviously great. Good use of color contrast as well in pushing out your figure, since the values seem pretty muted to do it on their own. I think as a piece it's perfect, but as a herald it might need something more to read right. Could be environmental too, like a castle silhouette. Just something to give the figure purpose so they're not just standing in the middle of nowhere looking all defensive. ;)

JessiBean: Speaking graphically, it's perfect. You obviously can not only render but have a good grasp of composition and design. The piece could easily function as an advertisement (and that's a compliment), and you've really pushed that with the branding of the logo on the banner and shield. The only thing I might have changed would have been to maybe set a reverse lighting on the border, going from dark up top to lighter in the bottom. That would help the lower area which feels a but too muted compared to the rest. A lighter border accent down there would still push the lower part to the background but at least let the eye wander a bit more past the face.

Edujante: You forgot the border with your name! Definitely a good composition and I like the design and colors on this. What's even more impressive was that for me it really captures the feels of heraldry in a futuristic design, which is harder to do than it sounds. The expression is great as well, especially in the larger version. More of a background, even as simple as a gradient, would help. But it's not always possible and I still think it works without it.

Spitch: Great action shot Spitch! It would almost seem comical, but the darkness of the image and subject fix that nicely. I think it's pretty complete as an image and it works well towards the brief. Some contrast with the background would have helped a bit, even if it was just shadow silhouettes and keeping the same color and values. Definitely powerful though as an image.

Blue Severin: From a technical stand-point it's great and I had to give you a vote based purely on your talent as a painter and in that the character fits the brief well. However there definitely is something missing for me and I have a sneaking suspicion it's compositional. The character seems to get a bit lost against the background, and due to that the image reads more as a situation description than a character portrait. As if it's meant to be in a book opposite the page where a battle was about to begin and has little to do with the character themselves. Not sure how I would fix it, but I hope you see what I mean.

StephanR: Ah, the popular one. Definitely an amazing job on painting, lighting, environment, and just about every other quality I can think of. And of course it's bound to get votes on that. But, and yes there is a but, I'm simply not sure how well it fits the brief and also it lacks a focus of a character portrait and goes for more a story theme. Meaning that it tells a story about a situation and less about the characters therein, not that it's based on a story. Which it is, but anyway. Still, it's a beautiful piece and exceptionally well done. I love it as such, even if it doesn't move me as a herald.

Penumbra: I was one of those who liked your first direction more, but I like this one as well. I love the lighting and the darkness of the image. And he does have something slightly heraldic about him, though he also seems like he might work well as a lone, powerful lich of some sort. My only real crit is the same as someone else mentioned during the wip stages, the staff is a bit too busy and draws too much of the focus from the character. Which is hard to do considering the lighting, but it still does. Maybe if the pelvis and ribcage in the middle were taken out and the top and bottom left in, it wouldn't compete as much next to the figure and instead balance the top and lower regions. Also, I would have liked to see the severed hand stay in some form. Great job regardless though, it's a striking image.

Gwenevere: Now that's a herald. It's one of the few images where there's no question about that in my mind. He fits the brief perfectly in that he's a herald but also has the look of a protector. And you get that sense through the age of the character more than his stature, armor, or weaponry. He looks like a seasoned veteran who might have gone soft in his purpose but would still kick your ass ten ways to Tuesday if you tried anything. And he's a bit grumpy today too so I wouldn't try it. Crits. Not a whole lot. Given your style it seems pretty complete. That edge of the balcony frame seems a bit fuzzy even compared to the wall edge, but that's about it.

Gorgoth: What a cute, warm, and friendly herald! Just kidding. Words that come to mind are evil, sinister, cunning. Definitely an amazing job of rendering, as well as lighting. And I'm glad to see the lack of armor, as I was among those who felt there should be less of it. Though the brief was a bit bi-polar on it's needs and led to two camps on the topic. However. My one issue is that he seems far less a herald than he does an evil advisor or a powerful figure on his own right. There is something subservient about him, but not a lot. I'm not quite sure what would be needed to push him into herald territory. Perhaps an outfit that seemed a touch less accustomed to palace life and a bit more comfortable with travel? I'm not sure. It's a very fine line and it wouldn't take a lot to make it work for me, I'm just not sure what it might be. I just know it's some small detail. Either way excellent job. A distinctly evil and unique character to be proud of.

Extollere: This one is another that does a good job of capturing the heraldic feel, and is also unique in its look. I like the palette on this, especially the warm and cold contrasts which help drive the image into the moody and perhaps a touch sinister realm. That while all might look fine in the sunlight, in the dark corridors of the palace something is a bit twisted. The background ties well into the language of the piece, especially the shadowed figures. The design itself is good well. The gauntlets bug me a bit in that they're armored, but that's subjective. Overall definitely a great image and a unique look.

--Rest of the crit in the next post, as it wouldn't all fit in one.--

[form2function]

And now for the rest... *deep breath*


Pixel Dust: Powerful stance and composition. A bit flat but not by a lot, mainly due to the good job you did on lighting. Having the subject in shadow against the light background makes for a striking image but not the most ideal character portrait, as you loose some of the details. On which point, it could probably use a bit more attention to those details. But that depends on whether its looseness was a stylistic choice or that you didn't have/put in the time on it.

Texahol: Boobs! I mean, er... It's an interesting image in that- boobs! Sorry, where was I. Ok, you definitely did a great job of painting it, no question. It's a bit of an usual approach, but that's what works about it too. The weird stuff going on with the legs is very distracting though, and not in that good way that boobage is. The sword doesn't really do it for me either, but that's subjective. Still, excellent painting technique and any crit would have to be on the subject itself.

BlackRobin: Lots of beautiful details on the suit of armor. Pretty good lighting as well. He seems more of a knight and less of a herald though, and that's one of the main things that detracts from a vote, for me. Also there's some issues with the sword. The fact it's huge is fine, but if that's the case I think it could stand to be more visible on the lower end as well, even it's just a sliver. Right now it just looks like a handle strapped to his back. Also, the cropping of the image could be better, so that we see all of the left part of the image and there isn't so much blank space on the right. That's a biggy that makes it look subpar compared to the rest. Good work though, and there's definitely some unique concepts in there that could be more explored.

Rodimus25: I like the overall concept for this guy and I think you did a great job of it. He definitely has the tribal thing working well. My main complaint would have to be that it has a sketchy, unfinished feel. It could stand to have the linework tightened a bit and the blurred glows tend to distract a bit and also add to that unfinished feel. If you plan on blurring like that you really need to have the subject nice and crisp otherwise the whole thing gets lost and washed out. As far as the brief goes, I think the huge plumed headress tend to make him look a bit more regal than he should. He seems like a leader, not a follower. That's something that most of us often have to work at and curb some of the hero-appeal when it comes time to design a follower.

Felicia: Great job on the painting, both in color and lighting. The size doesn't do it much justice, but I also saw the full-sized piece and it looks good. My main issue is that the size of of the mount detracts from the character. If you asked me what the subject of the image is, it would definitely be the mount and not the rider. And it's not like you spent less time or detail on the rider, it's just that in context he's dwarfed by the mount. Literally. That's my main crit though, as an image it looks good. And the smaller size actually helps it a bit in that it crisps up some of the looseness of your original piece.

Baby-Bel: Funky! It's definitely an interesting take on the brief, and I think it does work conceptually. I think the bared blade conflicts a bit with the subject, but that's neither here or there. Mainly though I think it just needs more time and work put into it so that it can stand next to some of the other pieces. Which could be said for many of the entries, so don't take it personally.

mrbo18: A nice, interesting noir take on the subject. It seems more of a speedpainting than a fully rendered piece though. Still, you have quite a bit of nice detail in there. Where it falls flat I think is mainly in its concept. He really doesn't look like a herald to me. More like a grounded pilot or an explorer. Fun image though, I do like it outside of the heraldic context. Just needs to be more fleshed out.

Kerberos: A nice start. A little too cartoony for my tastes, but technically speaking you're in the right direction. It just needs more work to bring it up to par. I won't say more except try to follow the rules next time.

GTGauvin: I think a samurai fits the theme well, and I even took some cues from them in my own piece. The main areas that need work are your colors. They're a bit all over the place, to put it bluntly. One main problem area is the face and background, which clash harshly. On the face you're going for a desaturated and moody approach where the image might have been grayscale and just overlapped with washes of color. Which I think works just fine, so long as it's on the whole image. Then you take a look at the environment and it looks perfectly normal and colorful. And the multi-colored armor further follows that. What I would do is either paint it all with realistic colors, or desaturate the whole thing to grey and do a wash of only one or tops two colors over the whole thing.

Christ: A decent start but you have a long way to go before the image could look like a final and fully-rendered piece. Right now it just seems like a concept sketch with some color thrown in, and the dual views further add to that. These sketches are definitely needed but should be your guide towards a finished piece, not used by themselves as final renderings. Keep working on it in the future!

GrendelGrack: For some reason he really reminds me of Chris Angel and I have no idea why. I like it though. I love the detail on that shoulder piece and the shell is well done as well. He's a bit sparsely dressed, but that's fine. Overall it's a great piece, though for some reason it doesn't really "pop" next to the others. Good work though.

Daestwen: Another great start, but he looks rather unfinished. I like the sketchy quality of him, but he could use "something" behind him to at least separate him off the page. Concept wise he also seems more of a knight's page than a powerful herald of a queen. I like where the image is heading though, definitely.

Coleb: I really love the effort you put into all the decorations on the horse. It comes close to having the same issue as other mounted figures where the mount becomes the focus, but I think it barely escapes that. Right now I'd say the focus is equally split between the two though, so the figure could use a bit more attention. Definitely some great details in there though that you don't notice at first. There's something funky going on with the cape over the horse's head though that's really distracting and detracting. It would look a lot better for me if the horse's head was clean and the cape was seen just somewhere between it's two front legs and behind the horse.

Whyto: A nice and clean design. Your painting is pretty good and even if it can use improvement the piece an still stand on its own. We're all here to improve after all. My main crit would be that he seems way too much like a warrior/knight and not nearly enough like a herald. It was a tough brief to follow, but others did manage to stay more on point so I have to hold everyone to the same standard. As a piece it's good though. It just needs a bit more detail to flesh it out.

Schade: What and grumpy, sinister little fella! I love him because of that. The piece has a very ethereal and fairy-tale feel to it and it's a nature departure from the norm. Definitely one hell of a horn he's got there, and all the details look great. Perspective-wise, he seems to be suffering from a touch of torsitis, where his legs look a bit too short for his torso. Either that or his pants are about to fall off. Beyond that it looks pretty complete. Maybe could use a bit more detail, but what piece couldn't really.

Rodriguez: A nice start, definitely. The pose is good and the details work for the most. It feels very flat though, especially up at the top. What I love the most about it, oddly enough, is probably the stone floor, which looks exceptional. It feels like you needed a bit more time to finish it all though, and if that's the case I hope you do so anyway.

Michael Jaecks: What a character. He's got more nature and animal references than I can really count, and that definitely make him look like a clown. Though I wouldn't necessarily want to call him that to his face. I think it's the approach you were going for though, and if so, well done. Very caricaturist and surreal, and very well painted. Herald? Maybe. But I'm not sure if it's for the Queen or the Queen's world-famous circus. ;)

Jread: An interesting approach to the topic, with nice realistically historical references thrown in there. Your painting style compliments that nicely as well. Mainly what bugs me is the head pops a bit too much from the background while the feet blend well into it. He also seems about to fall backwards. Either way a great entry. The square and compass might have made a nice touch to it. ;)

Unknown: Couldn't see your name and I don't feel like hunting for it, but you're between Jread and Chaosrocks. It's not bad, but you should definitely keep working on improving you rendering skill. The linework is a good start though, it just needs to be properly painted so that it doesn't look like a comicbook. Hell, even most comicbooks don't look like comicbooks today. Keep up the work though, you've got a good basis for drawing from what I can tell.

Chaosrocks: What a dandy! I really like the Puss in the Boots feel he has. The colors are a bit over the top in the choice, but he himself seems a foppish and over the top so it works. I'd point out the rendering needs more work, but I think you already know that. :)

WadeH: A good start, and glad you shared. Got a long way to go before it can stand next to the rest of the submissions, but I hope you keep working and improving.

Insubstantial: A great painting. Very moody, powerful colors and dramatic lighting. Unfortunately he doesn't come across as a Queen's herald at all. Death's Herald though? Definitely. His list could easily be the sins of one's life, before he takes it. What bugs me is the frame you made for the image. I think would have looked better untouched with a separate border or just cropped. It seems like a cheap effect as is. But the painting itself is indeed great.

TwoKinds: Striking imagery, definitely. The dramatic background, greyscale tones and hints of color all make for a powerful and stylized image. It does feel like it could use a bit more love on rendering the figure, which looks a bit flat and cartoony but would look exceptional against such as simple and powerful background if fully painted. I'm also not quite sure on whether you picked the right touches to highlight with red. The spear is a given, but I might have made different choices on the body. Maybe taking out the feather reds and just leaving the eye and spear. In any case, it's a strong image and I thank you for sharing it.

Tatiana: Beautiful composition. It has the feel of a storybook page, but still keeps the focus on the character. Great job on the color and the banner in particular which is nicely stylized. The character seems a bit light-hearted if that's meant to be the queen he serves in the background, but that's my only real crit. Good work!

Hallo: I think I've stared at this one way too long considering it was the first real final entry. It's beautifully painted, but I think you know this already. The lighting is great as well. My crits are minor points, like the highlight on the trumpet being a touch too strong compared to the gleam of the other metals. The breastplate bugs me as well in how it's bent in one direction, though that's just the design itself and I know it's intentional. One other minor point is that the mouthpiece of the trumpet isn't in the right perspective, but that's just nitpicking. You did such a great job though, which is why it stands out to me. Excellent work.

PatriciaS: This is one of the few mounted ones that for me work well as character portraits, as the mount doesn't become the focus. Even with the golden accents, the lighting of the background and the height of the spears keep the figure in the foreground and help push the horse back just enough. Technically it's a nice painting, and the loose style works due to the time and attention you seem to have put into it. The colors are also subdued enough to keep them from overloading the content, even in their variety. Except that magenta streamer on the pike, which is a touch to bright for me. But that's minor. I like the pose and he definitely has a majestic feel to him. I'd almost say he's more of a warlord, but a few little touches help with that. Particularly the scroll-case at his side, which is something I used myself to keep the messenger angle in play. Very well done.

NARobles: Nicely painted, with an interesting, somber feel to it. I think what it lacks is a bit of contrast to push the figure off the background, because as it stands the whole thing feels very flat. I think with some careful fine-tuning it could easily become a lot more dynamic and a much stronger image. Though on the flipside, the flatness does contribute to that somber feel, if it's intentional.

MickeyMao: Great piece and it could easily work as an animation still or a movie concept art. I love the scale of it. I'm not crazy about the texture, but that's entirely subjective and it does work with your style. However the main reason I didn't vote for it, and I did think about it quite a bit, is that what I truly love about it is the creature, not the character. It's a great mount design and I love the sleek lines of it. But even without any accents or strong shading, it's very much the center of attention. The rider is completely secondary for me. If the brief called specifically for a rider and their mount, this would be a killer concept. But as it stands, I don't really see it as a portrait of a herald. It is truly beautiful though, so I thank you for sharing it.

Lynus: A good descriptive painting, almost an action panel. It definitely pushes the Queen's protector angle. I would have loved to see this painted/colored, and perhaps with slightly cleaner lines in the process. But there's definitely a story being told there, and the design is nice as well.

Lord Of All Bunnies: Visually interesting, even if completely outside what the brief called for. Another one I was slightly surprised to see make the cut. Fascinating in it's own style though, and I found myself staring at it quite a bit looking at all the little details of the linework.

jfwalls: I would say the colors where a bit over the top, but the alien angle is often a get-out-of-jail card with regards to color. The most bizarre combinations can often work visually so long as the viewer is told it's taking place waaaay off in another world. The closer to reality it comes, the closer it needs to match it to be believable. In any case, I like the armor design as well, and overall it's a nice and funky piece. On crit I'd say the lighting and lines on the staff should be harsher, to match the lighting on the armor itself. But that's about it.

hjj: Beautiful render, particularly the progress from foreground to background. It carries of the feeling of mist very well. I'm still not sure if I would have liked to see it in color, perhaps just the herald himself, or if I prefer it in black and white. To be entirely honest I'm not crazy about the character himself, but that's entirely subjective. I do love the queen in the background however. And for not liking the character too much, I've still found myself staring at the image quite a bit so that should tell you something. It's possible it might read even better if the axe was at a slight angle so that it didn't look a full profile. It's a slightly awkward angle to be holding it at, and that's one of the things that bugs me.

hideyoshi: Another great piece from you. Very moody and somber setting. He almost looks defeated or regretting he wasn't defeated. Or just taking a breather, heh. I like the composition of it and it leads the eye nicely for me. I do think he looks far more of a knight than a herald of any sort, but what was called for is still debatable. Definitely a good-looking piece by all accounts though.

dragon4lunch: Very surreal entry, in the true sense of the word in that it still keeps strong ties to reality. The twisted perspective also helps push that angle quite a bit. I love the shading on this and I'm perfectly happy with it as a b&w image. In fact I think it would lose a lot if it was done in color, and that's rare for me to say. Very unique and interesting design, good work!

Delmar: This guy definitely has the feel of a herald, perhaps he's a bit lacking on the other side of the requirements; that of the powerful knight. Still, considering how few went fully on the herald side as opposed to the knight side, I'm glad to see it represented. The colors are well-chosen and I like the sketchiness of your lines and painting. I'm not sure the lighting on the spearhead works, unless it's meant to be some sort of energy. Which is fine if it is, but if that's the case you might need something to tie that a bit better in the rest of the image. Compositionally it's a bit distracting though regardless of intent. That's all I can say though, beyond that it's a great portrait.

Myself: I'm pretty happy with the character and he's as complete as I had originally intended him to be. My main regret is not having enough time to do an actual background, due to work this week and also starting on this late in the game. I did have some idea of what I wanted for the background though and I plan on finishing it for myself. It's actually one of my better paintings on the anatomy end and took me a bloody long time to get right. There are some great details on him that unfortunately get lost due to size, even on the original (http://www.form2function.info/images/chow99_form2function.jpg) I posted, such as the scrolls hanging from his belt or the fact his shoulder plate is cracked stone. But at least I know they're there. I was also surprised with how well he ended up fitting the Medusa Queen in the end. I had him in mind with stone-like skin and physically blind, and I can easily see how that might have been the case if Medusa was his queen. Not that we were held to that or even knew about it, but it's a fun coinkidink. :)

Oregano: Yes, you get crit too! Thanks for running this sucker and for taking the time to put it all together, especially for splitting it this round. I'm sure it wasn't easy but you can't blame the people for heeding your call for entries either, eh? One actual crit though, and it's on the brief. As I said somewhere above, I think it was more bi-polar than was really needed in what it asked for, and led to two separate camps of opinions. This shouldn't be a problem, but it also defeats the requirement somewhat when it isn't clear what is needed. It caused a few people like myself to go back and forth on our designs trying to fit all the requirements, but more importantly it affects how our work is judged. Those who like me feel we should expect more herald and less warrior judge by that criteria, and others do the opposite. I'm not the first to say it, but crit is crit. :)

*whew*

Ok, that's it for part one. Tomorrow I'll try to tackle voting and crit for part two. Good work everyone and I can't wait to see the entries for the next round! It's both inspiring and disheartening at the same time. ;)

[Michael Jaecks]

Thanks form2function for the comments.

Yeah, he sorta went into an Alice in Wonderland direction.

[corspufo]

Form2function: Dude you're hardcore. Thanks for taking the time to comment on everyone's piece. The people that get one or no votes, really really appreciate it.

[insubstantial]

@form2function:
thx for the feedback (thought about some torturing queen of sins or something like that) ... i guess you are right :)

[jfwalls]

Thanks Form! I was wondering if anyone would tackle the mighty job of critiquing all these. Hats off to you! I was aiming towards a triadic color combination to kind of bring some variation and brightness to it.

[Stephan_R]

I'm always unsure how harsh to critique things. I love it when experienced artists will not only "expose issues" but also offer the little tricks and tools that they find useful. I'll try and help more, hopfully the veterans will get into more detail on their crits too :)

[smugbug]

Form2function - holy....that was incredible of you to take the time to crit/comment on every entry! And thank you! I'm seriously looking for crits and you provided them.

Can never thank you enough!

Oh, and to everyone else tackling the crit/comments - a hearty thanks, as well!

[form2function]

You're all most welcome. Personally I look at it as a required part of contributing an entry. If you spent two weeks working on a piece, you can spend a few more hours to offer feedback. Like I said, it's one of the main reasons we're all here, to share, contribute, and learn. For many of us this is the only creative source of feedback and without it we end up working in a void.

It's not easy. I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday on this part of the poll and I'm about to start on the second part now. But it's a matter of showing proper respect for one's fellow artists, and not just to the few and proud but also to the eager and learning.

They say everyone's a critic, and this is one place it's helpful when it's true. ;)

[jread]

You're all most welcome. Personally I look at it as a required part of contributing an entry. If you spent two weeks working on a piece, you can spend a few more hours to offer feedback. Like I said, it's one of the main reasons we're all here, to share, contribute, and learn. For many of us this is the only creative source of feedback and without it we end up working in a void.

It's not easy. I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday on this part of the poll and I'm about to start on the second part now. But it's a matter of showing proper respect for one's fellow artists, and not just to the few and proud but also to the eager and learning.

They say everyone's a critic, and this is one place it's helpful when it's true. ;)

yes indeed thankyou form2function :)

you are 1 of only 2 that gave me crit, so it is really appreciated.

It does seem a bit silly that we all crit/comment on the really strong pieces by the pro artists that dont really need it, and not on the pieces with few/no votes from people that would find the crit extremely useful.

admittedly though, I found the shear amount of entries this round scary so guess thats why many havnt given crit.

[daestwen]

Okay, starting from where I left off...

Wade h: I think what you need to work on here is both your anatomy, and your cloth. For the anatomy: His waist/hips are really small, especially compared to how broad his shoulders and chest are. Because his hips are so thin, his legs look too long and stretched out. Your best bet is to get yourself some reference - even if you just take a snapshot of yourself standing in a similar pose, you'll be able to tell when your shapes are off, or when the arms are too long/in an uncomfortable position. As for the cloth: the flowing stuff around his knees doesn't look realisitc - cloth in the wind has a tendency to fold over itself and jump around, rather than just pulling off straight to one side.

Insubstantial: He looks like the anti-christ, haha. Or a demon, or *someone* coming to tell me that Jesus has forsaken us, and drag a list of my sins along. :)

TwoKinds: Watch the anatomy of her limbs - the closer part of her arm, to us, should be bigged, because of foreshortening, ditto with the hand. Her knees are too small - yeah, the legs will come in a little bit right above and below, but the knee itself is a pretty thick joint. :) The shadows on her armour are too dark - there's no reason for them to be black. They'd probably be closer to the shadowing that you've done on the shield, rather than being so stark.

tatiana: I don't have much to say for this one, as I like it quite a bit. :) The only reason I didn't vote for him is because rather than her herald (and thus an ally), he looks more like her opposition... She looks evil as hell, whereas he looks like he could be a good guy. :)


ack, going to be late for class...

[TwoKinds]

Gosh, Form2Function, you're awesome!

It's nerve-wracking being a newbie, so getting feedback is the best. I agree with you on (most) everything you said about everyone and all of what you said about mine. Thanks a ton.

Thanks too, Daestwen. The black on the armor came from an experiment that...didn't work out so well. Thanks for the anatomy stuff, I'm never sure if I've got it right.

I feel sort hypocritical, enjoying feedback so much but not planning on giving any. Thing is, I don't feel like I have the authority. I'm new and not a very experienced artist, so who am I to tell what people should fix, you know? Besides, for most of them, my comments would be along the lines of: omigosh, this is, like, totally, awesome! Because this was a really good round.

[Blue Severin]

Daestwen and Form2function, thanks a ton for the crits. I'll pay more attention to that stuff in the future. Thx for putting foth the time to crit em all.

[Supervlieg]

Great round everyone! Here is some feedback on some that caught my eye.

Jessibean: Great pallette and composition. I love the details and feel of the background. While it is a perfectly executed image, I think the concept of the herald is as I would expect it to be. There is no surprise in it.
Dragon4lunch: Very powerfull image, The contrast could have been a bit higher. I love and at the same time am confused by the his facial mask. I like the mystery in that.
Stephan R.: Another Stephan R. classic. Very lord of the flies. As always your concepts and colors are immaculate. Im a one vote type of guy, and youve got mine.
Gorgoth: Very nice style. The clothing is exceptional. He is a bit scary, the metal could have done with a higheer specular to make it more metal like.
Hjj: Great values. Overall a touch of color might have put some focus in other areas. I finf myself looking at his belly, since it has the most noticeable values.
Penumbra: Great image, with lovely style and lighting. Somehow I think a contrasting color in there might have spiced things up a bit more.

[Sorknes]

Argh! Too many drawings! *lol*

I gave up on trying to rate, so I ended up giving two votes in all. One in each thread. Works well since my two favourites are in a thread each.

For this one it's JessiBeans. That's a herald, alright. Can't mistake it for anything else, and beautifully made too!

[donalfall]

Whew! What a voting round. I always try to vote only once, (although I know I could vote for everyone) but I'm giving mine to Baby Bel. I think this piece could have been pushed further and harder, but I love the idea and the concept stands out as being a bit different. Caught my eye, well done that man.

[Texahol]

...mine got bandwidth exceeded.
boy do I feel speshul.

[Tifaria]

It was hard to decide who to vote for! Honestly, all of the pieces have something good going on in them. However, as some others have mentioned, there were many that I liked as illustrations, but didn't quite fit my interpretation of the brief. In this thread, my votes went to:

Stephan R: I was really floored by this when I saw it in the brief thread. I love the idea, the lighting, the colors, the whole piece.

Hallo[B]: This one really strikes me as the closest to what I had pictured in my head when I read the brief. I like his weary face. If I had to pick just one, I think this would be it.

[B]Gwenevere: I like the bright colors and his pompous expression. This was another one that really screamed "herald" to me without having to think about it. Kudos for using natural media for this.

Gorgoth of Suburbia: His mouth really freaks me out! I'm having a hard time articulating why I like this one so much, other than just saying that the creepiness really appeals to me. As far as a "dark" herald goes, I feel like this really nails it.

[joiton]

Well, here are the coments on my choosen ones..

Prophet: Beautyful execution, the pic have a nice dusty mood. I love the design of the clothes, nice color choices. As for the crits I think there are some proportion fixes to make, maybe the head a is bit small the lower part of the leg too short.. and some volume issues here and there mostly on the chest/arms area. But overall one of the stronger concept/execution pieces.

JessiBean: One of the most well painted and well done pics! Beautiful rendering, colors and textures. I voted it for that in fact :) I think the weakest point is the on the concept side, I dont see it as a queen protector too much. Anyway, you are showing some really good skills with this entry of yours, congratulations!

Stephan R: Beautiful pic!! one of the great ones, I love the design originality, the mood and the narrative you put on it. Only one crit I beg you to revise :) the hand holding the big arrow (dont know the name on english :P) could have some more work, is like a pretty shapeles thin as it is now. Beside that I love it!!

Schade: Original design, great colors and textures, nice anatomy. Only crit is the face I dont know if fit too much with the rest of the character. One of my favourites!

Penumbra: Loved the character since the early wips. Great desing, originality, mood. Makes me wonder about his bakground, and his weird world. Nothing to crit really.

Dragon4lunch: I love the almost style you give to your entry. BW helps a lot to the misterious feel of the piece. Only crit is the cape is a bit stiff.

[Timmy the Turtle]

Sorry for my noobish question, but I'm kind of confused... may I post my final here or wait for another round or what?

[Texahol]

timmy the turtle: this round is over, only voting now.

new round is here: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113022

[dragon4lunch]

joiton, Supervlieg and form2function: I very much appreciate your comments! Thanks guys! It can be a little disencouraging when one spends a weekend painting and then your entry is hardly recognizable among the flood of entries in a loooong column voters have to scroll through...

Everybody: I think we should have thumbnails next to eachother, to click on, rather than a long column. Thoughts?

[Timmy the Turtle]

Thanks, Texahol!

[daestwen]

Okay, these are a little late, but I really did want to get through them all, so here goes...

hallo: I seem to recall this being one of the first finished images I saw for this contest, and I think you got it pretty literally on the nose. It might be my imagination, but is he a little stretched? and the ellipses on the horn are a little weird.

PatriciaS: I would have liked to see what you would have done with this had you gotten a little extra time for it. :) Good work, he looks like he could sit through a hurricane.

NARolbes: I'm liking the strong female idea here. :) My only comments are for the background - it looks too close, though I can't pin down why. Probably because the horizon line is too low. The horizon should always be at the viewer's eyeline, so she's either really really tall or the viewer is laying down on the ground. :) Or, it's a fogbank that's really thick and close.

MickeyMao: I like this one, and I almost voted for it. :) Good work. I like the babylonian feel and the dino-horse.

Lynus: the copious amounts of the smudge/blur tool make it more difficult to read than it would be otherwise. Try to use a different technique to blur your colours together rather than *actually* smudging/bluring them together, as they give a very un-real feel to everything.

Lord Of All Bunnies: I don't know what to say about this one, as I can't even tell what is going on. :/ Just a warning, though, it doesn't follow the brief, as it says: "The character needs to be executed in a more realistic manner - no cartoons or comic styles will be accepted. "

jfwalls: I can't really seem him as a herald, so much as a creepy alien soldier with a flag, haha. I like his head/mask, though.

hjj: There's nothing specific about it that makes me think this way, but for some reason all I see are vikings when I look at it. :)

[Gwenevere]

Okay, I guess I'm voting pretty late, but I wanted to give it some proper care and attention and this is the first day I've had much free time... Also I wanted to at least try to crit everybody - I haven't covered all of them yet, but I'll try to crit the rest later.

Meh, I'm terrible at making decisions, so I voted for a bunch - I ended up voting for the following 8 entries in this poll (still need to go through part 2):

JessiBean: That's just gorgeous... I love the classic fairytale look you've given it, and the decorative approach to the background... And even though your herald may have a willowy physique, his stance and expression are more than enough to peg him as a heroic knight and a person of importance. He looks like he has a mission...

Stephen R: I've certainly commented on this before, and it's still beautiful (really needs to be seen at the larger size, though - pity it got shrunk down so much.) It's such an original take on the brief, but still fits the brief perfectly, I think. And I love how you've used the light to keep the focus on the herald in what might have turned into an overly complex scene...

Felicia: Oh, now THAT is dramatic! Love the design, love the colors, love how you have the banner covering the sun...A small crit, though: the banners feel pretty flat - I think I'd like this much better if they had more three-dimensional twists to them...

MickeyMao: I really love the composition on this one! And the watercolor look, and the sunny neo-Babylon ambience... Granted, I'm not sure if the creature doesn't dominate the scene more than the herald, but then, the creature definitely gives the herald status... (Cool creature, by the way. Looks like a combination of a dinosaur and something off an ancient temple.)

Penumbra: I like this one even better than the first one! And he does work better as a herald... in a grisly way, of course.

Gorgoth of Suburbia: I think I've commented on this one before... Anyway, he really is wonderfully evil! He looks like someone you do not want to mess with. The sickly greenish color scheme helps give an evil aura, too...

Tatiana: Good lord, that's one scary queen! I love the backdrop with the queen and her creatures, and I love how you've placed the herald in front of/emerging from the backdrop. The whole thing feels like an illustration to an intriguing story, it makes me want to know more. Of course, the herald looks like such a virtuous dude, you have to wonder why he's working for that queen. But stranger things have happened.

extollere: I really like this character, he looks so nasty! The lighting and composition really catch my eye, too... Though I have to honestly say he doesn't look so much like a "strong defender" as a "devious bastard". Really devious. Probably robs widows and orphans...

And now, crits on everybody else (there were a lot of other good entries that I didn't vote for, but I thought I should at least keep it under ten votes...)

Crits so far (I may not have everyone's names right):

Insubstantial: The herald of death...? I quite like the lighting and composition on this... A pity it got shrunk so much...

Prophet: I've always been rather attracted to the costume design you have there, there's something very graphic about it. And the orange-white-blue color scheme is very fresh... Minor crit, and I may be imagining it, but her arms and right leg seem to be tapering off a bit - they feel slightly too small, but only slightly... It might just be the pose, really...

Shera3000: This gets rather confused looking from the smeary effects, I think... You may want to try to avoid smearing and blurring to get your shading, and focus on light and dark values as shapes instead. If you have the shapes of the different value areas right, blending becomes almost irrelevant.

edujante: This maybe feels more "warrior" than "knight and herald" to me. I like the clean design of it, though... However, the anatomy feels distorted to me. I take it the legs are meant to be in perspective, but then the arms and torso aren't, which makes things feel slightly askew. Also, his right hip seems to have been cut off.

Pixel Dust: I like the overall pose and composition, very classic. And the character fits the brief nicely. Some crits: the horse's head and neck still feel odd to me, as though they're the wrong size for the body... And the bottom part of the picture is awfully dark - but that could just be my monitor (it basically just looks black to me, so I can't see the horse's feet.) Also, the blending is getting smeary-looking, especially in the herald's body and cape.

Texahol: Okay, that one's different all right... I don't feel it fits the brief though. Her expression is just too kittenish.

blackrobin: This feels a bit confused-looking to me. With such a complicated costume design, maybe you want to use a less loose approach, or at least tighten up some key areas more. Either that, or adjust the lighting so we can focus on his face without it getting lost in the details. The off-center cropping doesn't help matters...

Spitch: I like the simple, graphic feel of this, it's almost poster-like... And the cape merging with the background is a neat touch.

rodimus25: Well, he fits the brief all right! Definitely a Person of Importance. Only crit might be that the hazy blurred backlighting may be getting a bit excessive. Not a bad effect, and it gives the right mood, but there's so much of it it nearly overwhelms the picture.

Baby-bel: Kudos for an unusual concept! Possibly getting a tad cartoony, though...

mrbo18: Frankly, I'm not getting either Knight or Herald from this, much... though it's an imposing sci-fi warrior. Interesting black and white composition going on - though it might benefit from being tighter/more defined in some areas, right now it's just a tad obscure.

Kerberos: I hate to say it, I keep thinking "surfer dude" when I look at him... I think it's the hair and expression. Crits: you could push the light and shade more, this feels a bit flat in tone... Also, it might be improved if the horse had a more dramatic pose. Right now it seems like such a mellow, sedate sort of horse. (Also, and this is just me, but it bugs me slightly that there's a saddle on the horse but no reigns...)

Blue Severin: I'd say that fits the brief fairly well... The background is quite distracting, though. If it were simpler, more solid shapes and less patchy, it would be better...

GTGauvin: I can't pinpoint it exactly, but there's something odd about the colors in this piece. The various parts don't seem to fit the same lighting scheme. Possibly it's the fact that some areas are shaded while others are flat or nearly flat, I wish I could put my finger on exactly what's causing it...

christ: I'm a bit confused as to which figure is the herald, here... If it's meant to be two views of the same figure, that's not clear, because they're kind of placed in a background. The background is really distracting in this case - it could be toned down considerably or removed altogether.

Grendel Grack: Honestly, to me this feels more like the queen's paramour than the queen's herald... bit of a crit: I think the skin tones could stand more variety of color and value... right now the lighting seems a bit flat, and the skin tones are kind of overwhelmingly pink.

Hallo: I like him as a character, he looks so world-weary. I kind of wish his pose was more dynamic, though. Very nice lighting on the armour; but the horn seems a bit askew... (the ellipses are a bit off, maybe?)

PatriciaS: This could work if it was pushed more - right now it feels almost sketchy, it could stand to be more refined. Could use more solid shapes and values, and better-defined lighting - it feels kind of scattered and patchy as it is...

NARobles: I like how cranky she looks! The color could be more varied, though - it would be much improved if the background colors were significantly different from the figure, for a start...

jfwalls: As usual, I wish I could see his face. Very cool style, almost psychedelic, and I like how the armour came out. The banner looks unfinished in comparison with the rest, though...

hjj: Ah, so you stayed with black and white. It really works well for this piece, very dark and grim. I like how everything is kind of emerging from a fog. And that queen scares me, yo...

Hideyoshi: Knight yes, not much herald...And without being able to see much of his face, it's hard to read his character. As it is, he could be any battle-weary warrior...

form2function: I like the design of this, very graphic...

dragon4lunch: Again, I really wish we could see his face! Very dramatic pose and setting, though, and overall I like your use of black and white here. Minor crit, the background could maybe be pushed back a teensy bit more, to make the figure pop - maybe it just needs to be a little lighter behind the figure...

Delmar: This guy is still an interesting character, though I feel as if some of the verve got lost from the first sketch, as if it got a bit over-worked towards the end... As far as the brief goes, I'm afraid he feels more like a guard than a knight of importance.

[Gwenevere]

...Oh, and form2function, you've absolutely read my mind! You've described pretty much what I was thinking when I drew mine. I had in mind not some young, dashing knight who's good with a sword, but somebody experienced and dependable, with skills in politics and military strategy... Someone who could be relied on to speak for the queen, manage her affairs, and go out and defeat the Spanish Armada if necessary.

[form2function]

...Oh, and form2function, you've absolutely read my mind! You've described pretty much what I was thinking when I drew mine. I had in mind not some young, dashing knight who's good with a sword, but somebody experienced and dependable, with skills in politics and military strategy... Someone who could be relied on to speak for the queen, manage her affairs, and go out and defeat the Spanish Armada if necessary.

And it comes across crystal clear. Especially defeating the Armada, he definitely looks like he could pull it off! ;)

Also thank you for the crit! Even in its briefness, it's the only crit I got this round. I did learn a lot just from everyone else's work though so I'm well enough pleased. :)

[smugbug]

Gwenevere - Gotcha! Thanks!