Chow 184 :: The SURVEYOR

[Aly Fell]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/CHOW-LINES/CHOW-LINES-MEDUSA.jpg


ROUND #184:: The Surveyor


DESCRIPTION

The Surveyor

The Surveyor is a being of unknown origin an age. It appears, at least here on this planet, to resemble a woman of around 30, though eyewitness accounts vary.

The first account of her is marked as her appearance in times square, but theories abound that she actually started her survey well before this, simply in a less-obtrusive manner.

Different populations have regarded her from everything as an alien to an angel. The reality seems to be more complex. She seems to be a representative of a multi-dimensional population. She appears at random all over the planet, and speaks to representatives of the human population about everything from the mundane ("What kind of spices do you put in your soup?") to the highly theoretical.

At first it was assumed that there were thousands of surveyors, since near-simultanous conversations were reported all across the globe, but once a compiled list of known conversations had been made, it was apparent that two never occured at the same time - there was always a .0005 second delay between one sighting and the next.

Conventional weapons were found useless on the surveyor and once the reigning govermental bodies declared her to be benign, she was granted almost complete access to any knowledge on Earth. She could, after all, appear anywhere at any time - including in the middle of a hidden nuclear facility. Withholding information was deemed useless.

No one knows why she is here. When asked, she simply says 'for the survey', hence the formal title that has been given her.

They expect her to interview every living being on the planet capable of speech before she disappears.

So far 14.7 million interviews have been reported.

When will she speak with you?
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DEADLINE
MONDAY, December 21st , 2009
Deadline is Monday, at 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5).
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:right: FOLLOW THE TOPIC.

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example: "CHOW#100_Oblio.jpg" ;)

:right: PLACE THE IMAGE IN A FRAME WITH YOUR NAME/TOPIC

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(you can add CA logo, etc).


POST YOUR FINALS IN THE FINALS THREAD!
Remember to include your nickname in the file name.

About quality - as general rule: if your shapes and values are not decent - you are out. Watch proportions, perspective etc. we need perfectly readable shapes and coherent, consistent values.

_____________

BE PROFESSIONAL - only finished and good quality entries will be taken to the poll. Daestwen and Poshspice will make the selection.
Please review these helpful reminders if you have not done so already.

:right:ON GETTING TO POLL (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1891823&postcount=15)
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PLEASE REMEMBER TO WRITE YOUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION UNDER THE IMAGE IN THE FINAL BURNING THREAD SO I DON'T HAVE TO HUNT YOU DOWN LATER!

[Wijaha]

That sounds so good... is it an actual legend or something you made up? Hopefully be able to do something here...

[Choob]

Wonderful theme here Poshspice!

Last week of school this week, so I'll see what I can rustle up.

Brilliant story. :D

[Aly Fell]

The idea is Daestwens wonderful imagination this time. She's got a couple of PC problems so I'm holding the fort! :)

[Asatira]

Hmm. Sounds fun.

[Pixeltuner]

Better start with this one then, since I kinda missed out on the Dragon's Egg and there won't really be time to come up with a decent image for that.

Nice topic, made me think of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditors_of_Reality

[fersteger]

Ahah this topic is dope, what a cool idea. I like these interpretive topics, we get to see so many takes on it. Long live CA:yayca:,

[Giorge]

haha , sound like a man that started talking to me, from nowhere, while i was crossing the park , fun!

[comixnut]

I really like the Dragon's Egg one but came in too late. This, however is just plain AWESOME concept. i am IN!!

[Ephelea]

Sounds great! Very "Fringe" like. :) Excited to see what other, and myself can come up with. :yayca:

edit: adding first sketch

[Raoul Duke]

Sounds like it could be fun, because the real character design is in the context.

[Ian Barker]

I am in, this sounds like an awesome concept... I'm still putting the finishing touches on my Dragon's Egg, but it was fun. :)

[jpacer]

I've never done a CHOW piece before. I think I'd like to try my hand at this one. It's a really good concept. Considering how open ended it is it'll be interesting to see what everyone comes up with.

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

This is a fuckin' cool idea! Last week of school, but I'll definitely try to make time to enter something. Deastwen's imagination ftw.

[Wiggers]

Nice!

[Sarynroth]

A very imaginative topic choice.

Seeing as its only one week to go till I break up from school I will try and have a go at this topic, as I don't have too much work to do. :rendered:

[maria riaz]

coool topic i shud better start working :)

[Supervlieg]

Lovely, I think I met her once.

Catch ya'll on the flip

[bushwick]

something really quick I came up with now.
only starting digitally really.
any good suggestions and tutorials I could find useful?
I realise this is only a bust, will work further.
EDIT: somehow my comment got posted twice, sorry :(
http://i47.tinypic.com/f4hhf7.jpg

[bushwick]

something really quick I came up with now.
only starting digitally really.
any good suggestions and tutorials I could find useful?
http://i47.tinypic.com/f4hhf7.jpg

[Janos]

Here my idea:
-simple modern but tight clothing, something a little uniform looking.
-pursed lips, weird sunglasses and hair.
-pale, iridiscent complexion
-and a cheap looking survey board

Cheers

Criticisms and comments always appreciated, check out my sketchbook for hair ideas!

[kittens]

@ Janos - liking your concept so far!

Here is a quick WIP. Thinking kinda like a ghost secretary who maybe doesn't take her job too seriously. She has to survey everyone one in the world but maybe she got bored after the 1000th one.

[kittymeow84]

Cool concept indeed.

I am thinking prim librarian style look with a sexy/ethereal edge.

Now if only I could translate what i see in my head to what I draw on the page/screen.

[Clockwork Bunny]

mmm yummy idea - know what you mean kitty picture in my head is amazing however it never seems to come out properly :(

[Janos]

kittens great face. I say push it further though and try to make her really original! Make her special, you know what I mean?

Some more work... glasses or no glasses?

[Aly Fell]

A doodle... her face is based on an earlier sketch that came to nothing but I liked something about it.

[Commander Obvious]

A doodle... her face is based on an earlier sketch that came to nothing but I liked something about it.

Maybe it is that "this will only tickle a little, unless you want it to tickle a lot" look on her face...

[klortho]

Just sketchbook fodder from me:
855191

[BlackRogueDreams]

I'm intrigued. It just might give me an excuse to get my feet wet here.

[Shogo]

initial pencil puke, playing with shapes, will probably give her hologram head some sorta headdress i think, but any sort of crits would be very welcomed!

[neutral.]

sketchy sketchy :painting:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/sentone/CA%20CHOW/Sketch1.jpg

[Pierce9]

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/199/surveyor.jpg (http://img709.imageshack.us/i/surveyor.jpg/)
Tech Angel quick sketches.

[alexboyer]

Here's my initial sketch.

855477

[kittens]

@ Janos - I did kinda like the glasses, made her look mysterious, but it looks good without as well! = )

@ Formic - liking your design so far and I love the first pose!

@ Pierce - great concepts so far!

alright here is some more progress. Planning on adding a few more details to make is a tiny bit scifi so she doesn't just read as a schoolteacher

Thanks = D

[Sketchtastrophe]

Ephelea - The pose is great so far, and I like her care free sort of down-to-earth look :}

bushwick - Looking pretty cool, I love the elongated head. Looking forward to seeing your progress!

Janos - Man, her face is wicked! I love the alienish look you gave to her eyes. Very cool. The only thing I'd watch out for though is that she's looking kind of old lady in the face. I think it's the sunken cheeks and the dark shadows around her mouth/chin area. Maybe lighten up or fill out those area's a little more. The background and lighting is looking really good. Oh and I say no glasses, I think it'll take away from those awesome eyes ;}

Poshspice - I think she looks great - I love her expression and the uniform look is very strong and well porportioned :} Your line weight is really nice btw! I hope you'll finish this one :]

klortho - I like the sci-fi feel! She looks like she means business!

Shogo - I think your idea is really unique! I like the oufit design, but I'm not totally loving the shoulder pad/armor things. But that could just be personal opinion. Maybe try working with the shapes a little more. Maybe something a little more organic? Keep going on it! I hope to see more wip's :]

Formic Acid - Wicked concepts so far! I really like the third one, and the colour choices are quite eye pleasing :D

Pierce9 - Great sketches! The one on the right is especially nice, and the tech aspect of your piece is neat twist :]

alexboyer - The pose is great, very fluid and interesting to look at. The inclusion of the time piece/clock is very cool. I'm looking forward to your progress on this one!

kittens - What a gorgeous face! I really like your idea and the relaxed pose too. I think her left hand, and possibly her arm as well are looking a bit big at the moment though. Your line quality is really nice, and the flowing hair is very pretty ;}

~~~~~

What a nifty topic! I love that it's so open ended. I'm sure the final images will be amazing and full of variety! I really enjoyed the last chow and couldn't resist giving this one a go as well. I had a couple idea's today, but I just had to go with my first one. It's kind of ambitious for me, so I'm hoping I can finish it. Or at the very least get this image out of my brain box and onto the screen the way I'm picturing it.

I was going for a business type woman. Someone people would talk to with out being startled by, who sort of blends in. I wanted to keep with a city feel, going for a slight downward shot of a busy big city sidewalk. The Surveyor will be in the pic a few times, talking to various people. But further back in the pic she'll be more sketchy/transparent. Sort if like an illusion/burned image/scotty-beam-me-up thing. Or that's the plan anyways, since she can zap all over the place and the sightings occur within .0005 sec's of eachother, I wanted to show her more than once. I wonder is the perspective is looking a little weird though? Maybe she's too plain/cliche looking?
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8286/chow184sketchtastrophew.jpg
Close up of the Surveyor so far: http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/3344/chow184sketchtastrophewd.jpg

I hope that wasn't too long :/

[ImaGEEnation]

Kittens- I was just thinking, do you think you need to show her other leg? What do you think? Also the perspective between the chair and the wall, the angle seems off. I love where you're going with the skin tones though! :D

[Ian Barker]

Here is my first sketch... I want to make her look like someone who's been traveling for a long time. She has a large backpack where she keeps books and maps and such.

[Josu]

i'm not sure if i get this right, ''The Surveyor'' is something like a reporter then?

[Janos]

More work.
Any thoughts on the glasses, the torso, which seems off or anything else?

Love all of your work. I'll comment later, now I'm off to eat.

Cheers

[Aly Fell]

Janos - Looks great. Is she going to have shoes?

[Autumn_Elder]

I really like the Dragon's Egg one but came in too late. This, however is just plain AWESOME concept. i am IN!!

Hahahahah hello comixnut! I found you... mwahahahahaha. Don't be frightened its just the wicked little red head! Can't wait to see what you do dude.

[Janos]

Thanks. I was actually thinking of her being a bit eccentric, hence tehgalsses and the bare feet. Her skin is going to change though a little. It'll be more iridiscent. Any thoughts on wether I should add passers by?

[seba_boi]

I feel like coming down with the flu, so while resting I think I'll devote some time to giving crits... :p

EPHELEA - I see you're going with the look of a girl who can blend in the crowd which makes sense for a surveyor, right?... But at the same time you also gotta think of how to grab the attention of people here with her design so I wonder what would be up your sleeve... So far she looks alright... The left foot doesn't seem to be on the same level as her right thus making one leg look shorter... Is she going to be wearing heels 'cuz her right foot looks like an overhead shot (unless she's wearing heels)?... :) She looks like an artist too if you think about it with the pencil and paper... :)

JANOS - Looking very posh!.. hehe... I dig the whole professional and fashionable attire... Straight down to the huge sunglasses!... I agree with SKETCHTASTROPHE though about the huge glasses... But for me either darken them to hide her eyes (for the "I can't read what she's thinking" look) or get rid of them entirely and show where's she's looking... She could be staring at the viewer like a surprise shot or you could tilt her head a bit (with a high chin) as if she's looking for people... Up to you... Now is that supposed to be her skin?... I'm just guessing here, but it looks a bit too dark... Looking fine there mate!...

KITTENS - I dig the lines there bro (or sis!)!.... She does read a bit of a school teacher, but to me that's not such a bad thing since she's supposed to blend in with the crowd... I dunno what you're thinking though to make her look more sci-fi but I'm guessing some gadgetry?... :) You gotta double check the angle of the floor in accordance to her and the La-Z-Boy couch... They're not corresponding together at the moment... Funny 'cuz it doesn't look as obvious in the line sketch... Hehe... The nice personable face would really fare well with random people she approaches though.... Definitely keep that!...

POSHSPICE - Oh, POSH... I dunno if I even need to give crits... I love everything you draw!... I love her hair! I love her costume! The face!... Okay enough!... Hahaha... I should tell you on the notes I thought you nailed right... Like for one, very nice touch on the really high skirt, short tie--both blend together quite beautifully!... And the ID--very nice idea!... Oh geez, it just hit me that her hair totally reminded me of a celebrity... I won't tell you though as it might make you change it... :p

KLORTHO - Hoho!... Great mix on the urban style and scientist look!... I really like the mixture of the goggles and her hair... Makes me imagine of possible designs myself (I'm not stealing your ideas!... hahaha!)... Her swayed-right leaning pose works really well and creates a nice curve/flow... You know for some strange reason, I feel like her coat is gonna be coloured yellow... I'm talking crazy I know, but I'd thought I'd share that... (probably because yellow and black makes a nice contrast) Are you going to add a background to her with people?... I'm curious as to how you're going to make her blend in...

SHOGO - Well, she's definitely unique... I can see you're going with the total sci-fi look... And since technically the description didn't put any details on the timeframe the Surveyor is in that a sci-fi look would work just fine for a futuristic setting... But I gotta say though that she's looking a bit too royal at the moment... She looks more like a person of status than a girl who's constantly on the move in the streets surveying people... Perhaps a more mobile costume would fit much better... The holographic head might also shock a person she's surveying but since it's in the future, there's no telling what things would be seen as normal then...

FORMIC ACID - For a futuristic setting she works very fine... In fact I think your designs rock!... Design-wise, I'm definitely picking the third one (but maybe without the spear)... That small blue "skirt" adds a welcoming feminine touch on her character... I'm just wondering though---that a futuristic setting might rid of the mystique the Surveyor has of being able to appear anywhere at any time providing technology then is much more advanced that we can imagine... At the same time, if she's surveying people of this day and age, she's going to stand out too much and might scare off regular folks... Sorry to be thinking into this too much--haha... I don't even know if other people feel the same... :p Did I mention that your designs rock?....

PIERCE9 - It's clear that you're going literal on the whole "angel" description... And I'm guessing she's surveying people in the future, am I right?... :) Now is she going to have just one wing or two?... I'm already imagining thoughts of how she's going to utilize her wing to teleport her to places... I dunno if some parts of her are going to be like an armor, I'm suggesting don't as she might look more like a battle angel than a girl who conducts surveys... But again, I'm probably just a stickler for the description given... This is supposed to be open-ended after all... But just a thought... Also, is she holding a pen on that sketch at the far right?...

ALEXBOYER - Now I'm loving the timer idea!... I'd like to know more on that 'cuz it's quite an original part of the design... It seems like she's "running" through time/space... Just a guess, but to me it works as a means of teleportation from one place to another... Maybe you can put some blurred people in the foreground and background?... I dunno... hehe... She's looking a bit of an alien race at the moment though... I just thought the "multi-dimensional population" in the description might mean an earthling, but as I told the others, I'm probably just being too much of a stickler with the description... Otherwise, I'd like to see more of your progression!... Good job so far!...

SKETCHTASTROPHE - Dude, I'm telling you right here and right now that I love your idea... (I'd wish I'd thought of it) But yeah, it totally works and it's totally thinking outside the box!... Way to go!... Her design is wicked so far with the silver hair... She can stand out from the crowd without actually calling too much attention to her... It's like, "whoah a chick with silver hair--cool!" and be on their way but little do they know she's up to something much more... Great start so far!...

LIFFEY - Yahoo!... Please tell me that you're channeling some Yoshitaka Amano there 'cuz I love it!... I'm sorta curious though as to what timeframe are you fitting your character in--the future? Past?... She looks like a traveler of sorts and certainly she is the way she surveys people all over the world... I like the approach there!... Simple yet great pose IMO... I'm also wondering if you're going to fit her in a background?... As you see I'm very curious to how you're going to handle all this... :D :D :D


EDIT: YAY!... A great big wall of text!....

[neutral.]

Had to do this short comic before going to bed. Topic description made me do it! :sungod:

By the way, muchas gracias for the suggestions, will definitely consider them for the final.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/sentone/CA%20CHOW/comiccopy.jpg

[hanvisuals]

My first chow...
I wanted to make it look like she's reading statistics or wutever..
and made it to a partial 3/4 view of the full body... here's my wip
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/wip1.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/wip2.jpg

[Irrlaeufer]

i hope this meets the requirements esp. the 2/3 rule. want to make her dress look like a data stream. maybe some glowing translucent tattoos running down her back are a nice idea too.

[Kassary]

Hello CA!:>

There are already so many awesome ideas posted so far so my first sketch seems a bit boring I suppose.^^"
To me it looks like a female Moses.:P
http://www.bilderhost.com/images/g5d917rmhscozvbm3gm.jpg

[theUNKNOWNsketcher]

nice works guys! keep it up!

[grenogs]

although it does mention the character being less-obtrusive in the past, there is no actual time periods mentioned, so i'm thinking this is a very open brief, so i'm going for a mix of cyber-punk mixed steam-punk direction, :)

[mythril_golem]

i'm just throwing in a quick little sketch this round, my version of the surveyor would be a powerful psychic with ability amplifying headgear and effortcorrelatingbloodynosedness. and she'd probably be working for some kinda hideous imperium.

grenogs: the leg that goes underneath would be the one closest to us not the other. i like the idea, if it were me i'd blend the two themes a bit more, right now there seems to be a clear disconnect between character and apparatus

kassary: cool pic, love the lighting and pose, like she's just arrived and getting started immediately :P an awful lot of paperwork though... hmm.. that got me thinking about a whole system of workers who sort out everything she dumps on them when she insta-travels back to hq.

Irrlaeufer: like the idea, hope you can pull off the datastream look

hanvisuals: you might wanna go and use ref to get the right perspective. it seems off.

liffey: beautiful pencils man, reminded me of the archivists in mtg, which i love. i'd love to see how this progresses

[blau]

I'll try to make this one as good as I can for the portfolio. Any pointers about the perspective, greatly appreciated. (she's supposed to be floating in the air)

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/1793/022ql.jpg

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/7924/55021284.jpg

I even did a video to see the progress myself, to see how hard it was to do, or how to upload to youtube... it was easy enough, but I'm not sure if I'll do it until the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC37_X2QeGw

[Eric Young]

Initial pencil sketch.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Here's a quick sketch, I'll need to work on her a bit to make her seem more alien I think. Nice looking sketches so far!

[lacigrl]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie, and this sounds like fun!

This is purely at an "idea" stage right now, but I did a really quick, fun sketch of what I want to develop. I thought it might be fun to go the humorous route! I want to make it less cartoony, obviously, and develop the actual Surveyor character a bit more (I think I want to give her a longer, craning neck), so I'll have to play around with her a bit still. I do know that I want her skin to be almost translucent, glowing. Hopefully I can pull it off!

[Armonah]

Hanvisuals: The problem with that picture is that you use two different perspectives for the upper and lower body, which makes her body look warped. If you look at for instance Blau's sketch you'll see a more proper execution (upper and lower body are from the same point of view), even though the perspective in that image is slightly off, as well.
Unfortunately my knowledge on perspective is very limited, so I can't provide much more in-depth information. Looking for good references would be a good idea.

mythril_golem: I'm really digging your idea for the surveyor, and the only thing I want to make sure is that you're aware you need to have at least 3/4 (and preferably a full-body) design for CHOWs.
On a more technical note, her nose is placed halfway her face, rather than her eyes (even though they're concealed you can still guess where they are), which makes the face look kind of out of proportion.
Yup, that's all. Good luck :)

Grenogs: Only thing I'd like to point out to your initial sketch of yours is that her head's too big for her body.
I'm not that familiar with cyber-punk, but steampunk's always cool, especially if it's pulled off real well. It'll be nice to see where you take your concept. :)

Kassary: Welcome to CA, and CHOW :)
I can already tell you're pretty skilled, and the backlighting is a nice touch, so I would keep that. I have to agree on the boringness of the picture, though, because her outfit makes her look like a regular every-day person (who might be a surveyor) instead of a more mystical creature.
Re-reading the brief it says the Surveyor is from an unknown origin or age, and unfortunately I can make a pretty accurate estimate on the origin and era your Surveyor is from right now.

Sketchtastrophe: This is also my only point of criticism for you right now, her outfit makes her look like a modern-day woman from western society. I like your idea of putting the Surveyor multiple times in the same picture, though. And I think having the hair being silver colored would be a good decision (it didn't occur to me until I read seba_boi's reply, because in the sketch itself it appeared to be lightblonde to me).

Formic Acid: :D Loved the comic.

As for all the others (Poshspice, Janos etc. But this includes you as well Formic, I didn't overlook yours because of the comic :P) I don't really see anything wrong with it, so I can't really critique.

[grenogs]

thanks guys for the comments, always appretiated, :). As for the drawing? yeah its way out at moment, but i'm not to worried about that at moment, just got to get some reference and draw it out properly later, at the moment i just wanted to get a basic idea of where i'm heading on this, that way i dont have to worry about doing to much work now then finding out much later that i've over stepped the brief and have to rethink my idea.
Armonah basicly cyber-punk is high tech psy-fi technology in a grunge like world, blade runner would be good example

[Seaport]

Formic Acid - :teeth: cool comic

Here's mine, she's all gone a bit sifi, went with the crowd in Times square idea

856108

[mythril_golem]

@armonah: hey thanks for the heads up... no pun intended, yeah i didn't notice it after going wild in liquify :P and i doubt i'm taking it further than this, got too much other stuff to be doing

[mongreldesigns]

My picture of her is she appears as a person from some point in the near future. Like a normal college student.

[drobyazko]

i didn't finish pic in time for last CHOW and probably won't be able to finish something by this ones deadline too, but still i'll sketch something out. it's another topic that interests me. i have two ideas, one for the angelesque and one for the more modern surveyor. will post sketches once i make them, even though i won't finish in time.

[Shogo]

small updates, still looking for any sorta feedback and really appreciate those who did give me some pointers!

[Catamaran]

Its taken a while but I'm happy so far. The description gives you a lot of room to explore and ask questions. Definitely tougher than I anticipated. My biggest hang up atm is the chest, cant decide between Risque or Sanctified.

I think thats a bowl of cereal, maybe Life, or maybe alphabits, mmmmmm.

[ImaGEEnation]

This is her!

She'll be CHASING a few people. I've drawn them all on separate pieces of paper. I'll post them soon.

Good to see everyone has a different take of the surveyor! :D

EDIT: Added another WIP. Inked. And added a couple of people.

[Pierce9]

Ephelea : I like how she's so relaxed and in no particular rush, great mood.
Bushwick : Cool silhouette started, just start thinking in form now. Remember CHOW is at least 3/4 of a visible figure.
Janos : I can totally see her stopping people, asking them weird ass questions like its nothing. Awesome.
Kittens : She's gorgeous! If you showed part of her lower right leg the pose would work better.
Poshspice : Retro 50's goth dominatrix FTW!
Klortho : Like your inking style, the black masses around her calves reads wierd though.
Shogo : Trippy, I like i, it reminds me of The Lost Cities of Gold cartoon for some reason.
Formic Acid: Cool suits, the first one's my favorite.
Pierce9 : Get sum skillz loseah!
AlexBoyer Love the motion,if you could get her looking and gesturing to the foreground it'd be more engaging.
Sketchtastrphe : Ambitious, I want to see it finished!
Liffey: Love your lines, this will be great.
Seba Boi : Future, past, present it's all the same to her.One wing asymmetry rocks! You're right about the armor it's out. It's a writing utensil of some sort.
HanVisuals: I like the idea,check out the Warren Louwe (sp?) in the ImagineFX workshops, he had a cool tutorial on forced perspective that'd help you out.
Irrlaeufer : Always go with tattoos. I like the data stream dress idea.
Kassary : I dig the lighting, she looks good.
Grenogs: Push the suit to a cooler purple, it matches the hue of her chair too much I think, her expression is awesome.
Mythril Golem : Cool!
Blau : Third one is best, and I like the perspective you're using keep it up!
The Original [E] : Cool character, but I wouldn't stick around for her to ask me questions.
If I missed anybody I'm sorry, I'm getting sleepy...sleepy...slee...

[aguilas990]

Hey, this is going to be my first time participating in the CHOW! Awesome topic, and I am loving all the sketches so far.

Not sure exactly where I wanna go with this. I envisioned a woman who can make herself invisible when she wants and basically disappear in an instant after she gets all the information she wants. Will have to brainstorm a bit about what makes her "The Surveyor"

856465

[B-Russ]

W.I.P. Going with a superimposed alien face effect. Which will most likely be a challenging rendering process for me. Cheers.

[Aly Fell]

Poshspice : Retro 50's goth dominatrix FTW!

Too right! :)

[alexboyer]

New update before bed.

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[RedPen]

Preliminary sketch and my first time entering! So excited about these things!

856532

The stairs look all wrong, but I like that the bum and the Surveyor are on eye level. :-/ I suppose I could make him standing up, but I think that would lose some of the "bummyness" on his part. Not sure what to do there...

I'll have to post feedback tomorrow. I'm exhausted...
Now time for bed. @_@

[Janos]

Some progress. I'll probably add textures, and see if I can tighten up teh lightsource. Any other ideas? I think I am going to lose the passers by. It'll be too crowded and I haven't got a lot of time for this one left.

Edit: some ideas for the head. The angel like comment about the surveyor led me to some ideas. Maybe white hair, or a halo? The last one was just fun. There are so many good uses for the liquify tool! :D

[Armonah]

Janos: I also think it's probably better to not add more people to the picture.
I like the haircolor as it is right now, so it would be too bad if you changed that. As for the halo: The second version (with the sci-fi halo) has my preference.

ImaGEEnation: I like the humor in your piece, and your style emphasizes that.
And, I can't help it, but whenever I see a running fat kid it reminds me of this picture:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b171/Duvel01/Misc/Hatersgonnahate.gif

Shogo: The dress kinda threw me for a loop there. Because of the shape it looks like her torso is stretched out. But this can easily be resolved by showing some of the curves (at least the curves of the upper body and waist), without having to compromise much (if any) of that sci-fi look you're going for.

Catamaran: Actually, that design looks more like something that'd fit the Steampunk Harem CHOW a few weeks ago. I think it's probably because of the drapery you put in her clothing, for me that's more something that fits with a harem girl rather than a Surveyor.
(To get an idea what I'm talking about: http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii293/chowarchive/176-185/180/chow180_mattb.jpg )
As for her chest, I'd like to suggest a cyborg/body-suit look like this: http://artgerm.deviantart.com/art/Fall-Out-Toy-Workz-Cover-5-137215599

[hanvisuals]

thanks for the pointers guys..i'll try fixing it...i'd tried the force perspective on the background to make the figure look believable proportionate...its my first go at 3 point perspective actually.. it kinda look like a surveillance cam view... still a work in progress (this is actually my third drawing using a wacom...just bought it about a week ago for fun..practicing everyday when i'm free) Sorry if it looks like a mess... i don't really know any good workflow..just doing it at my own pace with a hard round brush, color picker and layers..any tips?
'wish there are workshops for this in my country'
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/wip3.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/wip4.jpg

[Pierce9]

Hey hanvisuals check out the PDFs from imagineFX,
ImagineFX Workshop PDFs (http://imaginefx.com/02287754330326480692/workshops.html)
I'd reccomend reading the one by Marko Djurdjevic (I know I misspelled that) first, then check out that Warren Louwe (I fail at spell) workshop for the perspective help. Any of those also have great examples of different professionals' workflow. Just see what works best for you.

[hanvisuals]

THANKS!!! This is very helpfull... I'll try and improve.. Thanks a lot!!!

[SCF]

hanvisuals: I think the perspective on the background only highlights the problems with the figure more. If you look at the belt and bottom of the skirt for example, they're all straight lines, as if you're looking at them dead-on. Since the viewing angle is higher up, those lines should all curve slightly upwards as they go around the figure, like I tried to show quickly in the picture below. (it doesn't match the background perspective correctly, but it's to show the idea)

Also watch the character in the background. He doesn't match the scale of the surroundings and looks really tiny compared to the surveyor.

http://www.scfworks.com/stuff/hanvisuals.jpg


I like this week's concept and already have some ideas. Hopefully I can find some time to get started today.

[Commander Obvious]

Going to be heading out of town this weekend so I'm hoping to get this one done early (unlike the last one which was LATE).

I'm going the cartoony route again because I like the exaggeration for the pose. I looked at a lot of references for faces hoping to find one for a person who is paying attention to another talking person (turns out active listening is not an interesting look). Anyhoo, here's my first sketch...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/Russell_Collins/ConceptArtOrg/CHOW184_commanderobvious_wip1.jpg

[elmasfeo]

great imagination for the topic daestwen! :)

Liffey - wow, I completely love your sketch and its amount of details!

Formic acid - lol, the comic strip was great, made me laugh! :)

The Original E - I like a lot the design of the mask, and the outfit, specially the upper half... maybe you could make the sceptre longer, continuing it at her back... just an idea

MJ_Alcazar - it's looking good, except for the feet being both at the same level and position... I like the details, and personally I don't think she needs to look more alien if you don't want... it's your design anyway, so you don't need to listen to me ;P

lacigrl - haha, I had the same idea at the beginning, I just discarded it because I was too lazy to do 3 characters, hehe :)

Janos - I like it the way it is right now, I love her weird looks...


and here's what I have from mine for the moment, I did a pencil sketch and then corrected the proportions digitally and inked it... does the pose look ok for you guys?
For this week I wanted to move a bit away from my usual cartoony style... I wanted her to look "normal" at first glance, I think she should mix with the people if she wants to get answers... but then she should have a misterious look, and subtle details that make you think that she's something else beside her posh secretary look... so she has no ears and instead of that, her face will be a mask...

[Commander Obvious]

ElMasfeo - I like the costume but your proportions are different on your inks than from your thumbnail. I'd take a quick look at some references if I were you to pick up on what I'm getting at. The arms and torso are for a much larger body than the legs below. If you're doing all this digitally, just expand your canvas and give her some room to stretch!

Hanvisuals - Keep at it! That perspective is very engaging. Watch out for the arm throwing off the perspective by being foreshortened incorrectly (i.e. the hand is much smaller than it should be).

blau - Again, I like the perspective. In your case I'd work on the display last since you're making it look translucent, you should settle the other details first. Fill in some of your forms a bit first to make sure your proportions and scaling are how you like. Greek costuming with a Predator wrist computer is a nice combo.

[Ephelea]

I went in a completely different direction than my earlier sketch. Early painting stages so far :) :

[Commander Obvious]

For some reason Dead of Alive's "You Spin me Round" has become the best type of music for working on this image... :punkgirl:

Thank you, Pandora.com and your Billy Idol radio station!

Color WIP here:
I'm going for some slightly undersaturated colors and just shy of alien skin-tones. I imagine there will be some heavy color adjusting on these layers as I get more of the image fleshed out. I'm trying to push the sinewy and angular anatomy a bit on this one. Though I just noticed I made her right ear a bit TOO big even for the mishapen face she's got...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/Russell_Collins/ConceptArtOrg/CHOW184_commanderobvious_wip2.jpg

[Supervlieg]

First wip

[SCF]

Just a quick concept for the design. I'm not sure about the colours yet, Might change her hat too as she looks a little too millitary-like now.

http://www.scfworks.com/stuff/surveyor_wip1.jpg

[Janos]

Poshspice Love the tight skirt and shoulders. I can imagine her standing in fornt of you in that skirt, which might be actually impossible to walk in and when shes ready with you, shes's just gone. I do think she looks a tad ordinary at the moment. Make her a little more special maybe.

Shogo The flying head is a nice idea. I would think abou t another pose though. Maybe let her interact with a human. What are you thinking to do as a background?

FormicAcid This one I find really interesting. Nice concepts and I love how the visor looks like a baseball cap in teh last pic. She looks a tad to fancy for me though. I imagined the surveyor as someone who mingley well, yet stands out if you look at more exactly. Keep going though, I wanna see it finished.

pierce9 Here I can see more of the angel approach. I like it, her boobs look placed weirdly though. Check that up, before continuing.

Kittens A nice, rather romantic interpretation of the subject. Love it! I am a sucker for these kind of illustrations, and your colouring seems ace. The perspective is off though.

sketchcatastrophe This one is my favourite. I can imagine her hopping around to every single guy in the crowd in a few seconds and then stopping to ask teh question in a very interested somewhat weird way. I was thinking about going with white hair as well... perhaps thats why I liek it! :)

Liffey Nice sketch. Love the loseness of teh lines and yet again a rather romantuc interpretation. I like piled up things and yours is a real feast for the eye. I hope to see it finished. The way she is holding the block though looks weird. Get reference and change it I say!

hanvisuals Like the stance and teh fantasy approach. Keep going, and concentrate on teh character a bit more. Do not lose your aim: The Surveyor, not the background. :)

Irrläufer Good idea, I think you need to improve your image quality though. Try sketching the figure first and learn how to depict the body forms.

Kassary I like the painting itslef, but teh design is way too boring for me. Make her special somehow. You do not need to add flames, a huge word, boobs, a shark, a gigantic octopus and some cruise missiles though. Come to think of it..... that would look rather cool actually.

grenogs Like the chair idea and the more comic approach!

Blau Here I like the basic design. A simple greekl robe and high tech armmachine. and she can fly. now make an interesting image and shes good to go.

The Original [E] Also a very different approach. This one looks more horror than the rest, which you might wanna tone down a little, due to her being described as rather inobstrusive.

lacigrl lol :) Finish it up in a nice cartoon style and it'll be amazing. I also like the geeky surveyeor and her expression. Work on anatomy though, I can you have some difficulties there.

Seaport This for me is the one to watch. You basically took the brief and went with it. The crowd sets her off perfectly and her design is very nice
and slick. I would maybe think about chaning teh composition a little to make it less static, but teh crowd is awesome. Love it!

mongreldesigns Like the college student idea. Keep going with it, but I am afraid you need to really emphasize it more. Now its a little boring.

Catamaran Here I also think that the character is overdesigned. WIth this chow I really feel like keeping it simple should be the main point. Thats just me though. As a concept its interesting.

imageenation Love the comic approach. Nice to see another one. Here I also like the crowd more than the actual surveyor though. Love your drawing style as well. I think this ones all about not getting teh surveyor lost in the final image.

aguilas990 Not sure the naked approach is right. She could have a weird bodysuit though, so as long as she doesn't look nude, I think you'll be fine.

B-Russ Nice shop skills. THis is a simple design I find that works quite well, if the superimposed alien face comes out right. Nothing else form me, I think you are on the right path.

alexboyer Nice scene. The method of questioning looks a little rough though.

RedPen Funny scene. i do not understand the screen thing though. How does her real face look like?

elmasfeo Nice idea with the mask. I would say make that teh main focus, as that is your most interesting design concept. I also really dislike the belt, but that might just be me... :D

Commander Obvious Nice style and colouring. Needs more contrsats though, but I am sure you were going to do that anyways.

Good night!

[3XLT]

Hi.

I'm new to the forums. I saw this thread and thought I'd join in! Here's my initial designs for the Surveyor.

[Rhen]

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/raemienrhen/surveyorsketch-1.jpg

Here is what I have so far. I am trying to get more done with my sketch and get cleaner lines before I move in to photoshop. But now I get to dry vac my carpeted laundry room where I just had a big old flood yippi.

[Raoul Duke]

Here's the thumbnail and the layout of the composition. Watch Out I'm abouta go all watercolor on your asses! Crits welcome.

[hanvisuals]

Hey guys.. i know i got some problems with the first one...i ditched that and made a new one...thanks Pierce9 for the link and thanks guys for the pointers.. i learned a lot from that... This time its a new simple pose where she's feeling and listening as she write down notes about the environment.. still use the same costume design as the first one.. here's my new WIP's..
http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip1.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip2.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip4.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip5.jpg

[jpacer]

Hi there! This is my first CHOW. I'm not only new to character design, but also painting digitally, so any and all crits are appreciated.

Maybe I'm cynical, but when I read the description of the character, my initial thought was, "If I had the job of interviewing every single intelligent being on the planet at the end of the day I'd need a stiff drink... or six." So I decided to show the surveyor in the bar, drinking and smoking while using a laptop to either record her notes and/or continue the survey via the internet. I haven't got very far yet, but I believe I may have broken two rules. One, I forgot about the 2/3 figure rule. Two, I realized I wasn't so much designing a character as I was a narrative. So, I figured I'd post this anyway, since I spent time on it, but with work and all the holiday shenanigans this week, I don't know that I'll be able to start a new one. Anyway, it was fun.

857410

[kittens]

Great stuff so far. Sorry for any repeats of crits I haven't had a chance to read through all the posts.

Shogo- Loving your design for the dress!

Cata- Looking pretty cool so far. The only thing I notice is that her ankles look too thick.

Imagee- I loveee how dynamic the first pose is! Great job!

Pierce- Looking good so far, hope to see more development soon!

Aguilas- Love the pose so far, very much my taste! Cant' wait to see more!

B-russ - Liking how clean this is so far, good concept too!

Red-pen - Love it! There is a lot to this so far! Great point of view!

Janos - Don't change the red hair I like it! And you made the glasses work perfect. My fave one is with the glow behind her.

Hanvi- Liking your outfit design so far. It looks like there are some issues
with the perspective, I see that someone did a trace over for you though so I hope to see your progress soon!

Elma- Liking how clean your lineart is, though I would like to see it have more depth, some lines thicker or thinner than others, I think that would really bring it to the next level.

Ephe- face is looking great so far! I find the background kinda distracting and unnecessary at this point but that is somewhat minor.
Commander- Great style!

SCF- I like the middle version the best as far as colors go.


When I have more time I'll try to comment some more!

Anyways here is some progress! I tried to fix the perspective. I guess I wanted it to be somewhat dynamic, but if it's wrong then it doesn't work heh.

[PsycheDragon]

Okay, so the *first* thing that came to mind was a Vorlon with a Dr. Who scarf. XD Here's what I have thus far. ^^ The top is the initial sketch, and the bottom is the finished line work. Her face looked funky initially, so I fixed it. :)

[NPlaxco]

So this is my first go at a new style of painting in CS4. I feel like I mightve painted myself in a corner I dont honestly know where to start my next step. Any pointers would help immensly, Im new to photoshop.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w9/artofdrownng/TheSurveyor.jpg

[Carrion]

G'day all. First-off, wicked entries so far to compliment a sweet topic. Hopefully I'll find time to post some crits.....

Well, here's my first sketch. I got myself a graphic tablet for my birthday a couple of weeks ago (stoked!!) so hopefully I can find time to get this baby into photoshop and apply some colour (for the first time).....as always crits welcome and appreciated.

[aguilas990]

hanvisuals: I think scrapping the first one was a good idea! I'm so bad with perspective myself! I like the new one, keep pushing those values and can't wait to see the colored version!

jpacer: very cool take on the concept. Right hand looks a little wonky, like the thumb is right in the middle of the palm. great brushstrokes!

kittens: Wow, she is gorgeous! Love the face and hair especially.

PsycheDragon: Looking pretty cool man! Only crit is her right foot looks too high, like she is standing on a slanted ground

Carrion: Love the costume on yours. Think it's gonna turn out really sweet!


Here's where I ended up tonight, ran out of ideas for now!

857501

[PsycheDragon]

PsycheDragon: Looking pretty cool man! Only crit is her right foot looks too high, like she is standing on a slanted ground



Thanks a bunch, I thought her foot looked odd. XD

[kittymeow84]

Started sketching today and came up with this. A bit different from my librarian idea (poshspice pretty much read my mind on that one and he'll do it a million times better than i can!)....but still keeping the ethereal thing going.

Would really love some guides on what to do with the light and shadow and if I've got all the highlights in the right spot. The light source is obviously the pen.
I think the hip area is a bit dodgy so if anyone can help me out I would be stoked!!

Not sure I'll finish cos I started real late but I'll have a go.

ALSO....If *anyone* can tell me what I've set up wrong with my tablet to get the little blobs at the end of each stroke like indicated in the first picture then I'd be super happy.

[Gavage]

aguilas990: Cool start - only suggestion would be to alter the front of the dress a little as it doesn't quite match up with the straps at the back at the moment.

Carrion: Liking the mask!

NPlaxco: One suggestion Photoshop-related would be to make a new layer (ctrl+shift+n - I think) so you can paint 'over' your previous work without actually altering it - could be handy to try out new things with it.

kittens: Loving the hair and outfit - quite plain but I think it would suit her for going about without attracting too much attention.

The idea behind the design for mine is something vaguely alien or futuristic disguised as a human related to the handling of information... something secretarial.

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6466/surveyorwip1.jpg

[Janos]

Rhen Nice sketch. Her eyes are not on the same level though. Correct that before you go on!

RaoulDuke Nice style, but I do not get how she is holding the notepad :P

jpacer You might be right with this being an illustration rather than a concept design. I have a similar problem: I like my images finished and polished. Sometimes a sketch is a lot more worth though, so you could try to just post a very simple-rendered sketch capturing her at teh end of the day. I'm afraid a better view is a must though.

Kittens The colours are getting really nice. Also the background looks a lot better now. The whimsy approach is unique, but as I mentioned already, I like romantic illustrations and the idea of one person recording every information in the world is quite a romantic (and epic) one. I'm off to look at your sketchbook now.

PsycheDragon I like the design, the four nostrils, the graphical approach and the expression. You might wanna get some ref for the crotch though. Looks weird to me.

NPlaxco I think you might get more help if you post in the critique center. You might wanna do these weekly challenges in a medium you feel sure with so that your design is the main focus. How are you at traditional media?

Carrion I like the idea of a breathing mask. And the drama of your sketch with the huge cape. I think this might work, in contrast to a normal New York street filled with normal people.

aguilas990 Okay now she makes more sense. I like the sexiness, but I gues if you go for a sexy design a more "surveyor" pose. like her holding some kind of notepad or something would be better. Now she looks more like a babe. Also the background could look more civilized, as she questions people. It seems to be in the early stages though, so I'll wait and see.

Edit: You two weren't there when I started my novel so here are some thoughts....

kittymeow84 I like the idea of the glowing pen and the serene expression, not sure about the hip though, as you seem to be going for a very cartoony style. I do think you need a background and more contrast though to highlight your main idea of the feather.

Missile What I like: The "secretary" expression, the nails?, the capelett (very trendy :D) What needs work: Not sure about the long dress, the earrings and I think you could pull out a cool design for some si-fi glasses with a mic incorporated. I say make that your main feature. Her face is the best part for me. I also think that the normal notepad doesn't fit to her.

Also here my as good as finished submission. Now I just need the final thread to come up, couse I'm leaving tommorrow and I wont be able to enter if all goes wrong, which would be a shame. :D
Any thoughts on general things I can tweak in phtotoshop? Values? Colour?

Cheers

[Pixeltuner]

meh, looks like I won't have time for this one either this week... :/ Maybe I can cook up something on sunday.

[neutral.]

@Janos

I've got 2 suggestions for you, firstly I'm not sure about the size difference between the feet, I think they'd have to be much further apart for it to be so apparent.
The other thing are the glasses, and the thing about glasses is that they usually reflect something to a certain degree, be it sky or their surrounding.

Hope you don't mind me making this example :nohope:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/sentone/example1.jpg

[Janos]

Oh, very nice paintover. I am going to correct that straight away. Thanks a lot.
I also used reference for the feet/legs. Maybe I'll try to use some colour perspective on them to put the backfoot further back.

Cheers

[Djinn]

Been real busy all semester, and I'm still pretty slow with photoshop so I didn't have much time to really dig in to a CHOW, but now I'm on break and I'd love to get in on this one (I was so sad that I was in the middle of crazy finals for the Morrigan, that one woulda been so much fun.)

Anyway, after playing around with a few thumbnails here is my dirty scanned in line art. I think her feet are too small =\

I've got a drawn idea for the face too, I want her to look only vaguely inhuman, also, I want to indicate that the ram-horns are some kind of transmitter, still toying with different ideas about that. She'll be manipulating virtual computer-like consoles with her hands. Still not sure about the background, might for the sake of time just do a neutralish bg so i can focus on the character

Crits always welcome.

[xabian]

Great entries so far guys, heres mine so far
http://i45.tinypic.com/2j1o09f.png

[kittymeow84]

Thanks for the crit Janos :) I dont know if I should put clothes on her actually. Last night I had an idea for maybe some skin markings like swirly tattoos.

And you're right I definitely need a background and some more contrast. Thank you :D

[MJ_Alcazar]

Here's an update, finally figured out what to do with her one hand. Hope her legs look a little better. I'm unsure whether I'll have the halo that works for teleportation connected through a hat or just have it floating there.

[elmasfeo]

cmdr obvious - thanks for your comment, I'll make the legs a bit larger, I really should check some references, I'm just not used to doing it... and I know I'm doing it wrong.... yours is looking very good for the moment, nothing really to crit, maybe feet are a bit small? I like the style and the lines...

Janos - yes, thank you, I'm not really sure about the belt neither, I wanted to give her some details and I'm really bad at imagining details... I'll get rid of the interrogation marks

Supervlieg - heeey I remember you from a looong long time ago in CGTalk daily sketches, you were one of the 'big ones' there in the old times ;) ...so... hi!


I'm not sure I'll be able to finish mine, too many pre-xmas dinners and meetings and buying presents... but I'll try until the end

[doombee]

so i was thinking about the surveyor and her gathering of knowledge and about how in the prompt it says that she may have been at this for a while. which led me to thinking about ancient civilizations and how they may have worshiped her as a goddess of wisdom or knowledge, which led me to greece and so on. now i'm thinking my sketch doesn't really follow the prompt.

stoopid train of thought.

anyway. lots of work to be done. may put this away and start over if you guys think its too far off prompt and if i have time :/

[grenogs]

Worked this out much more now, got some decent reference, changed the angle slightly, so its now looking more to what i was after, the steam punk element has got very lost on this one though, and its gone much more sci-fi now, and trying to keep away from the shiney chrome effect is also a little difficult:)

[Janos]

mj Alcazar Love the idea of the teleporter halo. Keep that one, even hovering.

dombee Wow, never thought about Athena. great idea, but yeah do not keep it literal. Make her slicker and more modern, adapted to modern culture. But keep visuals like the owl, though in another form and the helmet. You could have a winning idea here.

grenogs Nice to see this one tightening up. I love the idea and the lighting idea. I feel like its too colourful though. Try keeping the palette more reduced otherwise it looks a bit.... "cheap". Not being diesrespectful, I hope you realise. :D

[doombee]

Ephelea: I just had to say that I really liked the pose and loved the idea of the tool belt in the first sketch and am sad to see you scrap it :(

Kittens: I like what you’ve done with the background.

Formic Acid: Looking good. I like the floaty pose :) Oh and stellar comic!

Liffey: At first glance I thought her face was misshapen, but now I see that it’s an eye patch/monocle of a sort. But I love the sketch so far.

Seaport: Love the idea. Is she pulling him out of the crowd or is he just reaching up to her?

Shogo: I like the idea of the holographic head, but the proportions are throwing me. She looks a bit short. Unless she's not supposed to have legs, but in that case, you may want to make that more apparent by shortening her lower section. But then again that might go against the 3/4 rule. Ignore me 0_o

Catamaran: Good start, but her back foot looks like its twisted at a painful angle.

Imageenation: Love it so far. That little doggy reminds me of my puppy, St. Mars!!

B-Russ: sounds painfully challenging! :D good luck, it’s a nice start so far.

Hanvisuals: Its looking good, but I would check her left arm. From elbow down looks off. Could just be your shading.

Janos: Thanks for the input. I stepped away from it for a while and now I think I’m ready to jump back in and salvage :)

[Ephelea]

Ephelea: I just had to say that I really liked the pose and loved the idea of the tool belt in the first sketch and am sad to see you scrap it :(


Yea, I'm fighting myself. I'm not sure where to go anymore. But with finals this week, if I don't go somewhere I'm going to be nowhere :P

[grenogs]

grenogs Nice to see this one tightening up. I love the idea and the lighting idea. I feel like its too colourful though. Try keeping the palette more reduced otherwise it looks a bit.... "cheap". Not being diesrespectful, I hope you realise. :D

defenetly not disrespectful, in fact much appretiated, and i know what you mean, at the moment it has that cheap 80's sci-fi book cover look, one of the reason i think sci-fi and fantasy often have such a bad press. maybe a light texture layer will help to tone it down a little

[Raoul Duke]

I did take this to the crit center for a few other sets of eyes, before I set things in stone with watercolor.

My first layer of watercolor has finally dried. (it applies so fast and dries so slow)

BTW thanks Janos

[neutral.]

My first layer of watercolor has finally dried. (it applies so fast and dries so slow)

Why don't you use a hairdryer?

[JanJager]

Hi
So fun seeing all different surveyors develop. Had to send one.

[lmeden]

My thinking is that by collecting information she is analyzing patterns. So I'm creating her from patterns (hopefully) and making her slightly indistinct, following the idea that she does not quite seem real.

Rough sketch. I'm planning on using a smaller brush for the final. So you can, you know, tell that she's human.

Fingers crossed.

[comixnut]

Ok so i went and forgot about this, so very far behind. Just a quick sketch i just did to get stuff out of my brain. Not going to have time to really mess around here so i have picked one of these and just going to rund with it.

Autumn_Elder- LOL i WAS going to reply with a name and say something funny, but now i'm pretty sure i would get that wrong so i am not gonna! LOL Who is this? :D

[Djinn]

Raoul Tons of style in this piece, and I love the coloring. Definitely looking forward to seeing more, and I commend you on using watercolor.

grenogs Thats a great first step in your render. The crossed over leg looks a little wrong in this step though, not sure how to fix it exactly, but it looks propped up on something invisible rather than crossed over the other leg.

doombee I absolutely love this first step, I was going for a "may-have-been-worshipped-as-an-ancient-goddess" thing too, so of course I dig this approach, my gut feeling is that the owl is out of place though,

MJ_Alcazar good to see you still working at it buddy, getting better every time I stop by. This one has got a lot of great little details that help a lot, I like the floating halo, but my first feeling is that it should be floating behind her head more like the "disc" in many christian paintings of saints and such, but I think either way works. The leg in front looks way longer than the one in back, and in an unnatural position--dipping the hips so the one closer to the viewer is lower would help too (try standing like your character is posed and pay attention to what your hips do.)

Janos I think this is an extremely well rendered piece, I have a good feel for the textures. And I like how scientific and detached the surveyor herself seems to be

carrion Totally awesome design, I dont know if the "hiding the feet" trick will work as well once it's digital, and maybe the book could use a new title, hehe.


Lots of great work going on. Good luck everyone.

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

Agh! I'm so slow! All thing in good time though I suppose.

Here is my next step, I still have no idea what my background will be like, which I'm sure is a mistake, but I just can't think of anything. the virtual computer things are basically placeholders but will end up something like that.

Crits always welcome

[doombee]

update. progress is slow. its just one of those days. i still have to make it convey surveyor, fix the top, details, color...grrarh.

i might just sleep on it and start fresh in the morning.

[Rhen]

elmasfeo: I love the idea of the human mask
doombee: I really like the thought of her having influenced older cultures and having been seen as a god, that and I have a soft spot for owls

Here is what I have so far, I am trying to be a bit more careful and not let things get to sketchy and messy, still really early on.

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/raemienrhen/suveyor2.jpg

[rinjii]

saw this late, and had to jump on it. here's what i have so far. i kinda see her as a shape-shifter, modifying her general appearance depending on who she surveys but not completely hiding the fact that she's out of this world [hence her markings]

ergo, this is how i see her appearing to me!

[Raoul Duke]

Why don't you use a hairdryer?
The shapes are sensitive and some of the puddles need to be puddles. But mostly cause I don't own a hairdryer.

[comixnut]

mucking about with some face aspects.

[hanvisuals]

Still work in progress.... didn't have much time since my last update..

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip6.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip7.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip9.jpg

[Raoul Duke]

This is my last stage of watercolor. I'm afraid I overworked this, so I'm going to wrap this up in photoshop.

[Sketchtastrophe]

Ooh, lots of great idea's and art rolling in!

hanvisuals - Nice progress! I really like your design, especially the detail on the headpiece and coat/outfit. The only thing I'm seeing that's a bit wonky is her head and neck. With her head and profile pushed so far to the right it's making her neck look extremely wide. I think you need to lasso the head and pull it more to the left and tilt it up a bit to match the angle you have her spine going in right now. And maybe bring her left arm and should up and in a tiny bit. But aside from that it's looking great so far! Keep going on it :)

Missile - I really love her design :] Especially from the waist up, I agree with Janos too, her face is the best part! Her right arm is looking a little crocodile leg right now though, and sort of an unnatural postion. I think it either needs some definition or maybe try a different position for it? I'm not a huge fan of the skirt from the knee's down. (Though I personally hate the fish-tale look so don't take that to heart, it's a totally biased opinion on my part!) Aside from not liking it though I do think you need to at least widen it out more at the bottom. It's a bit too narrow to look like she could stand very well. But like I said the face is great! I'm looking forward to seeing it finished!

doombee - Great design and I think you're idea behind it is just as nice! I really like the progress and changes you've made already :] The flow of the fabrics and the strong pose are great and I adore the barnowl. The only thing I'm not totally getting from this is the surveyor part. Maybe I'm taking it too literally though? Or did you plan on maybe having the owl as a sort of message carrier (which I think would be rad)? And, I'm not totally sure but I think her right shoulder maybe a bit too rounded out. Other than that I have no crits! Can't wait to see it finished! It's looking quite nice already :D

Great stuff from everyone else so far too, wish I had more time to comment :{

[doombee]

doombee - Great design and I think you're idea behind it is just as nice! I really like the progress and changes you've made already :] The flow of the fabrics and the strong pose are great and I adore the barnowl. The only thing I'm not totally getting from this is the surveyor part. Maybe I'm taking it too literally though? Or did you plan on maybe having the owl as a sort of message carrier (which I think would be rad)? And, I'm not totally sure but I think her right shoulder maybe a bit too rounded out. Other than that I have no crits! Can't wait to see it finished! It's looking quite nice already :D



the owl was initially a symbol of knowledge, but when i reworked the picture i thought about putting the owl to more practical use as a carrier. perhaps he'll be toting her results around. i don't know. i've got a lot of ideas rolling around in my head. but i'll check on that arm 1st thing in the morning :)
thanks for crits, and i'm glad you like it so far.

[hanvisuals]

hanvisuals - Nice progress! I really like your design, especially the detail on the headpiece and coat/outfit. The only thing I'm seeing that's a bit wonky is her head and neck. With her head and profile pushed so far to the right it's making her neck look extremely wide. I think you need to lasso the head and pull it more to the left and tilt it up a bit to match the angle you have her spine going in right now. And maybe bring her left arm and should up and in a tiny bit. But aside from that it's looking great so far! Keep going on it :)


thanks for the heads up:asspat:.. did lasso those..see if this works..:)

http://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip9.jpghttp://i484.photobucket.com/albums/rr208/milhanb/chow184newip10.jpg

[Raoul Duke]

I'm going to ink this mufuga in Photoshop now because the scans don't look right.

[kittymeow84]

A bit of progress...
Really loving working on this. :)

Would still really like some guidance on if I'm heading in the right direction with my lighting. And if anything particularly stands out as wrong.....

I'm not sure about the right hand at the moment and how to place the highlights.

[Raoul Duke]

kitty- I like your surveyor, she's a doll like being. I take there is light coming from the pen and some bouncing from the tablet. I went ahead and did a paintover for you. The ugly sharp lines are mine.

[Elissimo]

I don't think I will get time to finish.. she would be standing in a busy walkway and wearing mostly white

[Tavarilyn]

Once more.... into a CHOW. :} I had thought that she would be recognizably not human, though with obviously human features (30ish/femme). I dunno if I'll keep working on this one or not. Right now I'm trying to push some color on her and not liking it. It was a fine pencil doodle but not sure if it has finish-potential. Thoughts?

Tav

[Lodin]

Hi all
My WIP entry
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/6153/chow2.jpg (http://img686.imageshack.us/i/chow2.jpg/)

[elmasfeo]

starting with color.... sorry, I have no time to comment on other people's work right now, thanks for those who commented on mine! :)

[Ian Barker]

elmasfeo, she's leaning way too far forward, like she's about to fall over. Also is her face a mask? The strap makes it look like that but I'm not sure... if it is you need to make it more apparent so people don't have trouble reading it.

[kittymeow84]

kitty- I like your surveyor, she's a doll like being. I take there is light coming from the pen and some bouncing from the tablet. I went ahead and did a paintover for you. The ugly sharp lines are mine.

THANK YOU!!! That is a lot of help :) Very much appreciated :D

[Raoul Duke]

This is my latest (maybe the last) iteration for the time being. As always all crits are appreciated.

[blau]

a couple of comments first

Raoul Duke: I think you increased the saturation in that latest image? I liked it better before, when she popped up more.

elmasfeo: Her right arm looks too long to me, and I'd clean the colors on the face even if just a little. Like the pose and the character fits nicely. And what are you planning with the background?

Lodin: Looks like the start of an awesome image, but so far I don't feel the caracter of the surveyor...

Imeden: If you find a way to really show that analyzing patterns idea it will be the best. Those swirls look like a good start.




----

here's mine. Thanks for the comments. Don't know what to do with the background, I'll probably leave it like this...

http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/5537/45417875.jpg

[Supervlieg]

update: still more to polish/add. Feedback welcome!

[Parcel-Sisters]

I'm a little late in the game for this one, but here's a starting sketch anyway.
Everyone's stuff is lookin' really good so far!! It's quite inspiring!

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h112/parcel-sisters/surveyor.jpg

[t i m]

Thought I'd share my take on the Surveyor it's a bit borderline in terms of the premise, but fun to do regardless :)

[JanJager]

Hi
Some updates

[Raoul Duke]

Tim! How dare you use a bigger scope of the galaxy than me! Stop being so awesome!

Blau Thanks for your input. I'll play with the saturation a little.

Any thoughts on my final presentation? The filter, the type? huh huh?

[Rhen]

Lodin: I realy like it so far , solid in every way.
JanJager: I like the see through legs, and the wavery bits.
tim: that is just neat. I likes


Bed time , here is what I have at this point, sleepies now.

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/raemienrhen/suveyor3.jpg

[ArtZealot]

For the next character, for the christmas week, i'd suggest Krampus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus). Santa's demon assistant from folklore who had the guise of a demon and carried birch branches and rusty chains which he would use to punish kids who were on santas naughty list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus

[kittens]

Again, sorry if these points have already been gone over

comix- For some reason I love the bottom right face, something really cool about it!

hanvi- Liking this! Push the values a bit more though.

raoul- Nice to see some traditional work here! Cant' wait to see more!

kitty- I really really like yours so far! My taste! want more! = D I agree with the lighting comment as well

Lodin- Looks pretty awesome so far no crits thus far.

elma- I like your style, her neck looks a bit too long though, for some reason I didn't notice it in the linework.

Scrolling through the rest of them they are all looking pretty good, I will wait to comment until I see a bit more progress! = D

-------------------
Thanks for the a crits so far!

Um here is some progress. I added a kinda backlight/glow to make her a bit more "magical"/"mystical", I was planning on putting more on her legs but I don't want to overdo it, I kinda feel like I already overdid it a bit ><

Thanks again as always! = D

[rinjii]

an update- added more detailing on her, and gave her a tool- i borrowed the concept of an eye from Norse mythology representing wisdom and gave her an 'eye' of her own to record everything she sees and hears. i'm quite pleased with him, actually.

[Raoul Duke]

KITTEN thanks for the comment.

ZEALOT Krampus wouldbe an awesome holiday theme. I saw him on the Colbert Report (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/258167/december-09-2009/12-9-09-in--60-seconds).

[Commander Obvious]

JanJager - I like the fade effect but the execution looks a little *wonky*. I don't have a good suggestion for how to make that look better but I'd go with an old Star Trek transporter effect if I were you.

[aguilas990]

Update - changed her a LOT today. Note to self: flesh out your idea before you start painting next time! Will have to make final corrections and finishing touches tomorrow

859116

[kittymeow84]

kittens - thanks for the comment :D I really love your piece too. Just love how you draw hair :)

Raoul Duke Thanks for the crits again. It helped a lot and I used the info in your paintover. :)

Some more progress....This may or may not be my final. I'm going to leave it overnight and see if I want to do any more changes on a fresh look in the morning.
Contemplating some swirly tatts of some description but not sure how to go about it...or just keep it simple? Hmm.

First CHOW that hasn't had me tearing my hair out in frustration and that makes me happy! :D

[Janos]

kittymeaow84 I like it, but one thing I am unsur eof is the eyes. Are they closed? or open but completely white. I'd say look at some fotos of real eyes and try to add some simple shapes to help make it more readable, if they are really open or closed.

[ImaGEEnation]

Updates!

Inked the characters in and added the colors. I think I'm about finished. But any crits, let me know! :D Cheers!

[3XLT]

W.I.P.#2

[Janos]

Imageenation I like your style and your rendering, its just that I feel like the surveyor has lost some of its importance in the composition. The cropping might solve that, or an altogether different composition.

3XLT This one looks very superheroish. Which is a nice interpretation, and it makes sense. Its just that she looks like a random superhero with a notpad. Maybe try to differentiate her more.

aguilas990 I like the texture but as with 3XLT's I feel like her design is too much superhero with a pencil and a pad.

rinjii Nice idea with the familiar. Now bring the character up to par with her familiar and it'll look good. I think you need to do more research on anatomy and such though.

kittens Shes getting lovlier by the update. Maybe add another colder color to add contrast.

Rhen I think the head is too big for the body and the angle on the nose is different to the angle on the face. Change that and finish it up and it'll look good. Maybe you should also clear up the meaning of the blue ball though.

Raoul Duke I like the glowing body and the heigth (reminds me of the Naavi from Avatar) but I feel that the similar texture detract from the surveyor.

Jan Jager What I like about this one is the beaming affect and the scene, with the crowd and the light falling on her. I think colour and valuewise you could push it a lot more though.

t i m Not sure if this one hits the description perfectly, but as an illustration/design/concept its beautiful and wonderfully rendered and my new favourite. But the Surveyor? Not sure... mainly because of the Surveyor being adapted to human population.

Parcel-Sisters I like the scene with the african children, and her holding a coke and a pepsi can (???). Please finish it! :)

Supervlieg I do not get this one! The perspective, the general scene.... but that might be because its not finished. Also the skin colours could use more work. I like her design though.

[Steelfox]

Yet again its unlikely I'll get to complete this, long commutes, and the impending horror that is christmas, and we still havent put the decorations up...

anyway, I was quite pleased with this sketch so I figured I'd throw it out there

I figured she might not always have access to a wi-fi hotspot so she may need some storage hence the epic Hard Disk on her back which also incorporates her mode of travel, a Gravity Drive to punch holes in time and space allowing her to come and go as she pleases...

Clothing wise I wanted her to look slightly utilitarian, like a bit of a boffin but I gave her puffy sleeves as her job seems a bit librarian like so I wanted a bit of prissyness there

Ok so it's a bit rough but if I survive christmas and I get time I may refine it

Merry Christmas etc :)

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Thought I'd share my take on the Surveyor it's a bit borderline in terms of the premise, but fun to do regardless :)

I dunno if I'd buy it for this particular topic, but by itself? That is AWESOME :O.

[3XLT]

W.I.P.#3


3XLT This one looks very superheroish. Which is a nice interpretation, and it makes sense. Its just that she looks like a random superhero with a notpad. Maybe try to differentiate her more.

Thanks for the feedback Janos, much appreciated! I'm a comic book artist at heart so my work usually tend towards the more superheroic look.:)

I did add a little more of a design element in the form of abstract wings and sort of a halo.

Now to add some color!

[Rhen]

Not suer how I feel about the text by I am trying to make it look a data collection device is in her hand. If anyone has an crits they will be much appreciated.
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/raemienrhen/suveyor5.jpg

[Aknuff]

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2009/353/0/b/Surveyor___WIP_1_by_AKizzle.jpg

I'm not sure where I am going with this one. This is my first CHOW post and I just wanted to produce something and practice.

critiques and comments are welcomed!

[Nike]

my w-i-p quite chaotic still - should draw more :) hope i'll be able to finish it.
the surveyor is recording dreams ...

[Djinn]

next step.

Any feedback would be much appreciated... hoping I can clean this up enough in time for the deadline.

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Haven't been able to get started on this due to school, I'll try to get it done by Monday. Here are the figure sketches and a quick block in.

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=859479&stc=1&d=1261262060
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=859481&stc=1&d=1261262086

[kittymeow84]

kittymeaow84 I like it, but one thing I am unsur eof is the eyes. Are they closed? or open but completely white. I'd say look at some fotos of real eyes and try to add some simple shapes to help make it more readable, if they are really open or closed.


They are open but completely white. Not sure how I can make that look realistic cos I dont want her to have an iris or pupil.

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

More.

[Djinn]

They are open but completely white. Not sure how I can make that look realistic cos I dont want her to have an iris or pupil.

It might help to drive the point home if they were a bit glowy and more glassy/specular.

[kittymeow84]

Thanks Djinn :) Just redoing the eyes now to make them more realistic!

[Catamaran]

Started over quite a few times, this is my attempt to tone it down a bit. Not too psyched about it, but it feels like its closer to where it should be.

Its a lot of fun to see what people come up with though so its enjoyable enough to try again.

[Garth Cochrane]

Messing around...I like the idea of the woman's face being a hologram and somehow showing that it's been corrupted and that there's actually a messed up jabba style alien behind it. I'll see how I go...I don't have a great track record with chows and I'm starting this one ridiculously late. :)

[Commander Obvious]

I meant to post this yesterday when I "finished it". I will add the border and other info tonight and upload the final image to the proper thread tomorrow. I'm actually out of town and posting this from my dad's laptop so I don't have access to any of my software. The only thing I'd like to change at this point is the hair but oh well. Good work this week, people!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/Russell_Collins/ConceptArtOrg/chow184_commanderobvious.jpg

[Rhen]

Bed time, here is where I am at
http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af109/raemienrhen/servyor7.jpg
Steelfox and Garth Cochrane I love the sketches.

[Tavarilyn]

Here's my complete redo. I was bored yesterday so.... came up with this new idea. I like it a lot better than the last. Anatomically.......not 100%, but I think I'm going to make an attempt to correct it when I do some finish work. Feel free to make suggestions! :D Thoughts?

Tav

[Raoul Duke]

commander obvious- I think everything is well executed on the technical side, but she just looks like "some lady" and not "the Surveyor" Maybe if she was somewhere out of place. Right now there is nothing but a clipboard to indicate who she is.

[Aly Fell]

NB: The new ChOW will probably be a day late this week. So don't worry if it's not there later.

[Irrlaeufer]

just started to work on mine again this morning. oh well sunday lazy sunday.

[t11]

Started this one yesterday when I got home after spinning out on the ice and ripping a tire off my truck... :S
But at least it kept me from doing other things so instead... a CHOW!!!
I've been meaning to jump back into doing these for the phenomenal practice they are... so... here I am! Just posted in the finished thread so i'm only gonna post the processes here. This one was an absolute mess, my fault for challenging myself to have a go at not using reference... lessons learned.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=859885&d=1261314829

Thank's for looking/the impending (hopefully) dissection! :yayca:

Edit:newer version, didn't save steps but it's pretty straight forward. Repainted the kid's arm, got rid of the silly balloon, projected the type with a mixture of overlay and blur effects, perspective transformed and saved. :)

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=860685&d=1261387317

[Garth Cochrane]

Blocking in colours. Going to 'artifact' her face in the final I think, giving hints of the alien face underneath. Somehow. Maybe.

[Gavage]

Irrlaeufer: I like the dress. The creases on the neck and the shades above the buttocks seem a little harsh at the moment.

t11: Nice concept. The kid makes it quite eerie, the way she's looming over him gives the piece a good feel to it. I'm no expert but I can't see anything wrong with the anatomy or anything for the complaints about not using reference.

Commander Obvious: Love your style! The pose and hairstyle are ace.

Rhen: The text leaking out of the device is a good idea, although a bit distracting if the words are going over the figure. Have you tried having it come out on the right instead where there is more blank space?

ImaGEEnation: the crowd running away makes me smile. It takes a little emphasis off the Surveyor but it does seem a shame to lose them... so I don't really have anything useful to say there. Sorry. >_>

WIP:

http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/7870/surveyorwip3.jpg

Made a few change based on crits (thanks!) to alter the pose of the free hand and busy up the skirt a little. Just need to think of something to do with the clipboard.

[elmasfeo]

Liffey - thanks, I've tried to correct her pose a bit, is it any better now?... I think I don't want to make the mask more apparent, I want to keep it as something you will only see at the second glance... anyway I hope it will be clearer that it is a mask now...

blau - thanks, I've shortened the arms a bit, I think you were right... in yours, the face and arms are looking very good, but all the rest is missing some more definition, are you finished already?

Kittens - thanks for your comment, I've shortened the neck too but not too much, now I'm thinking it's not even noticeable... maybe I'll shorten it a bit more... I like a lot the magical toches you gave her, not much to crit, I like what you did with her hair...

Garth Cochrane - looking good! I wonder how will you plan to show the alien underneath... maybe the alien head is smaller, at the height of her shoulders?

Missile - she's looking sexy! I think you still need to add more shadows in some areas, like her face and arms...

update:

[3XLT]

W.I.P.#4

[Commander Obvious]

commander obvious- I think everything is well executed on the technical side, but she just looks like "some lady" and not "the Surveyor" Maybe if she was somewhere out of place. Right now there is nothing but a clipboard to indicate who she is.

I had considered going really over-the-top and futuristic with what she's holding or things like that but really I don't remember reading much about technology in the brief. I chose to use a sort of Jetsons aesthetic for the hair, the palette, and (with an obvious exception) the costume as well. Maybe it wasn't successful but I figured I'd go for subtle instead of overly accessorized.

[Cyberman]

O.k. so I am I am depicting a angelic Surveyor, I switched that up a bit as well
by making this a pegasis angel, I went with a big city theme.
I just got to the point where I am rendering my constume, I have an odd
way of doing that by layering with lots of colors so it bleeds through, then I save darks adn lights for the end. so just ignore her light and color for now please.
I am going to post this tommmorow morning before work
Cheers!
860154
860155

[alexboyer]

Well this is probably as far as I'll get before the deadline... Work and social stuff. I'll probably complete this one though hehe I like how it's coming out so far.

Whole scene:
860223

Character detail:
860224

Thanks all! Good luck with all your entries! There are alot of original ideas in this one. :)

[Tavarilyn]

Finally managed to get some line work done.... :D

Thoughts? :}

Tav

[Ian Barker]

Okay so I haven't much had time to work on this between finals and coming home for break, but I have a little time off now, so I should be able to get it done tonight. Oh, and the monitor I'm using right now is really bad... it's realy hard to distinguish dark values, so let me know if those need adjusting, I kinda guessed in some areas. Here's where I'm right now... I'll post some critiques in a little bit.

[Ian Barker]

Tav: Aside from fixing anatomy issues, something you're going to want do is make sure and communicate the idea that information is flowing from the child to the portal. You have the veins flowing in the right direction, but you may need more than that. At this point if I didn't have the background information on this piece, I would have no idea what is going on.

alexboyer: Right now there are way too many blacks and saturated colors. It's a very electric piece which I'm guessing is what you're going for, but it's bordering on dificult to look at. The background photo doesn't blend with the character painting very well. Also nothing about this communicates to me that she is a surveyor. She looks like a superhero with electric powers.

darknight: Very neat. I'm intrigured to where you go with this.

elmasfeo: It's better. It still seems a bit unnatural to me though. I suggest finding a reference for that pose... you'll discover I think that such a pose doesn't exist... but you can find something similiar and make the adjustments. I think if you want to make the mask not apparent at first that's fine, just add something to make sure that when viewers do notice the strap, there's no confusion... just a buckle or button or something would do the trick.

Missile: Are you planning to add detail to the feet? The shape indicates something unusual about the feet but I would like to see what. Unrecognizeable silhouettes generally are better off avoided in character design.

t11: All I see is a woman who looks like she just got out of the clinic acting creepy towards the kid... include something to show she is a surveyor.

Rhen: Her face seems a bit too manly... it's too rough and rigid.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Here's an update on mine.

[Raoul Duke]

I had considered going really over-the-top and futuristic with what she's holding or things like that but really I don't remember reading much about technology in the brief. I chose to use a sort of Jetsons aesthetic for the hair, the palette, and (with an obvious exception) the costume as well. Maybe it wasn't successful but I figured I'd go for subtle instead of overly accessorized.

It's not necessarily the costume, it's the lack of context in your case. Maybe if she were sitting on that stool interviewing a bushman in the middle of a jungle. It's not necessarily the costume that's lacking it's the storytelling.

[Parcel-Sisters]

alexboyer: it's unfortunate you won't be able to finish this on time! It's looking great so far. I especially love the detailed shots of all the symbols on her outfit. I suggest reworking her right hand (our left) though - it's a little large and the finger is really thick.

Tavarilyn: Glad you started this one before it was too late! I don't know if it was your intention, but the Surveyor is appropriately creepy in this. Are you planning to keep working with it and color it?

Liffey: This is looking really good so far. I love the outfit! There could be some darker bits, but it's not too bad. I hope you're able to finish!

MJ_Alcazar: This has a nice futuristic and cosmic feel to it! The halo is obviously my favorite part. The only thing I'm really noticing is her bent left leg. Her hips are too aligned and it makes the left leg look a lot longer than the right.


Here's an update on my own so far. Hopefully I'll make the deadline!

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h112/parcel-sisters/surveyor-1.jpg

[Raoul Duke]

Liffey- Your surveyor body language tells me she's presenting a document rather than taking notes. Maybe that's what you want, but I believe it would require a supporting character.

Parcel- I think I like where your going, but it's still too rough for me to put it all together.

[MJ_Alcazar]

Eek! Thank you Parcel, I meant to fix that, and I did bring that leg in a little bit, but I didn't swivel the hips enough. I can see that now that I've stepped away for a little bit. Note to self: step away every once in awhile or you won't notice your mistakes.

I'll try to leave some crits later, need to run off and finish mine.

[t11]

t11: All I see is a woman who looks like she just got out of the clinic acting creepy towards the kid... include something to show she is a surveyor.


haha, ya know you're right. I had concerns about not including any sort of gear, theoretically someone of such otherwordly capabilities as she wouldn't need such a thing. Perhaps it's all stored in her brain or something.

It seems I was a bit ahead of myself and given that there's some more time I'll see what adjustments I can make.

[R0oK]

Trying to get a submission together in a single evening... Hopefully I can pull it off! Will start color in a sec... posting this in case anyone can spot huge anatomy/proportion issues that I'm not seeing. Any feedback is appreciated (and I apologize for being so pressed for time I can't give much out).

Edit: After posting this the proportion of her femur looks way out of whack.. going to try and fix that.

[Tavarilyn]

Tavarilyn: Glad you started this one before it was too late! I don't know if it was your intention, but the Surveyor is appropriately creepy in this. Are you planning to keep working with it and color it?

Hey Parcel! Thanks for the comment... actually, I thought the idea -was- rather creepy/intrusive. It's rather like a fact-finding mission before the enemy comes in to annihilate us all! -grins- I wanted her to have an almost "siren" quality. And, of course, if she's going to survey every living being on the planet, that would include children who refused talk to her or were deaf or hadn't learned speech yet. So... rather than have her ask and require a verbal answer, I thought she might have a way to transfer human thoughts directly into an interface. :]

Here's the final. All my wips and such will be in the finals thread :}

Thanks to all who offered suggestions! Great round!!

Tav

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

I really don't think I'm going to finish this by 2PM tomorrow but I'll give it a shot.

[Irrlaeufer]

@alexboyer: I like lighting and the way you manage to work with your lightscources. But watch out for anatomy, her hand looks a bit creepy.

@darknight: Intersting concept and Idea. I hope you can spare some time to work on her face a little more.

@Liffey: I Like the costume. But maybe you should change the angle of the notepad. The way she holds it looks a bit odd and to me looks like it's not in the focus of her line of sight.

Here is what I got so far:

[Raydiant]

Really interesting topic! I just have to grind out something for this! Here's some progress.

[Ian Barker]

Thanks for your suggestions guys! Unfortunately I won't be able to use them because I have to go to work right now and I'm gonna have to turn in what I have now... but I really appreciate them. :)

[Raydiant]

Not sure if I'll be able to get this done by the cut off now. Gotta go to class in a few mins. :/

Here's what I got done at least.

[ImaGEEnation]

Hey guys this was a really fun round. Thank you to those who suggested and critiqued my submission. Unfortunatelly, I can't really change the composition as Janos suggested since it was exactly how I want it to look and the fact that I just won't have enough time because of work. Thanks again! Good Game! :)

[lacigrl]

OH NO!!!!! I've been working all day on my entry for the Surveyor, and this is my first CHOW. And then my internet died. And now the finals thread is gone. NOOOOOOOO! Is there any way to get it into voting still? (Pounds head against wall) Please? Anyway, here it is, along with the WIPS.

[RedPen]

861406

I am sadly too late to participate in the poll, but that's how things go. (Darn Holidays). I still finished, since I hate leaving things undone. Here's my WIPS also...

Thanks to Janos for the feedback as well.
861395 861396 861399

Started out with the basic sketch. The Surveyor has a projection in front of her face to present the most friendly, ideal face to approach the people she's surveying with- so a cute blonde for a skeezy old drunk or a nerdy, likeable, harmless looking face for some nervous girl. (I figure the body might alter a bit too).

I changed the stairs in the sketch to a dumpster since I thought it'd be a little more 'bum'ish'.