CHoW#262 :: Chess

[Eofn]

Character of the Week #261
:medusachow:Chess:medusachow:
-Design a Chess piece as a character-

:right:DEADLINE: SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 2011, 9PM GMT+1:left:
Check your timezone!

Chess is an ancient and noble game full of tactics, rules and strategies. Each match plays out in its own unique story, with each piece a character in the narrative. This week, we would like you to go one step forward and create a fleshed out character based on a piece form the chess set. YOu need to think about the personality and the role of the piece within the game. You can choose any piece, but your choice MUST BE CLEAR!



The Guidelines:
Must be based on an existing chess piece
Any style or genre
The King must be male/ Queen must be female / all other pieces can be any gender



THE RULES
In addition to the brief, if you do not follow these rules, you will not be included in the poll.
Files must be named: CHoW#259_Username 
(Files with any other names such as final.jpg or even chow259final.jpg will not be accepted)
Finals must be posted in the finals thread BEFORE the deadline
Final post must include the CHoW number and the artists username at the bottom of the image
At least 3/4 of the focus character must be visible
Final images must be accompanied with a basic character sheet in a separate image
Character sheets should at the very least show a sketch of the front and back of the character and a couple of early thumbnails/silhouettes.
Follow the brief!

[Revidescent]

Yessss. I finally have a week with time to participate, and this is an awesome topic. So many possibilities, oh man.

[Drygrass]

Yessss. I finally have a week with time to participate, and this is an awesome topic. So many possibilities, oh man.

I see your participation and raise you.... MY OWN! WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW.
sincerely,
thy nemesis
oxoxo

-----

Also, in case anyone else besides me is terrible at/ignorant about the nuances of chess, here are some handy Wikipedia links:

King (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_%28chess%29)
Queen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_%28chess%29)
Rook (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rook_%28chess%29)
Bishop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_%28chess%29)
Knight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_%28chess%29)
Pawn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawn_%28chess%29)

Overview of Chess Pieces (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_piece)

[PxelSlayer]

I see your participation and raise you.... MY OWN! WHAT WILL YOU DO NOW.
sincerely,
thy nemesis
oxoxo

*cough cough*


Hy guys!
Missed me much?



http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm204/CommonGreatness93/The%20GIF%20Folder/tumblr_lkt07peZwm1qafsat.gif

[Barefoot]

The King must be male/ Queen must be female /
thanks for that, I would have got confused :P
naw, just kiddin', this one sounds fun :)

I reckon a pawn might be something similar to a squire or serf, probably going to go down that route.

[kissorkill]

I think Im gonna go with the Rook as a Near Future Charriot Driver.

[sone_one]

lovely... im in! :)

1324743

[edit] forgot the pawn >.<

[fdisk]

1324756

I might scratch this altogether and start again, but I figured after I spent a couple of hours on it I might as well show it...

[toastergargletop]

I think i may have to enter this one.......

[Howie]

really cool topic, here's where I'm at so far

1324779

[keith eager]

Really nice linework fdisk. Some issues though, just bear with me here:

Mostly the trouble is with the horse popping out of the side of the knight. Also the knight is standing on horse legs. I understand the knight is supposed to be riding the horse... But the proportion of the knight to the horses body suggests otherwise(the knight is too big, his legs, so small that I didn't even notice them at first). Look at some reference of how small people are compared to horses...

http://www.travelblog.org/pix/shim.gif
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/62562/62562,1170097650,2/stock-photo-man-on-horse-2575479.jpg
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/79/4979-004-36E5A9B9.jpg

[~baxter]

Rolling around some ideas, but I think the most prominent one so far is that of a female crime/drug leader to represent the Queen. Inspired by this scene from the Wire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0mxz2-AQ64&feature=related
"She smart and she fierce."

Looking to get some thumbs posted tonight :D

[fdisk]

keith eager: Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it! I ended up scrapping the whole thing because it was a mess from the beginning and I just wasn't feeling it.

I'd really appreciate similar feedback on the new one though!

baxter: The Wire ftw!

1324805

[poeticgarble]

Long time lurker. First time poster.

went for a Black Knight samurai kamen rider biker gangster vibe.

[Rob Powell]

Cool topic! Thinking along the lines of a Rook Golem, might have to do some thumbnailing

[toastergargletop]

aww man! i was going to do a centaur!!!

hmmm, thinking thinking...........

[fdisk]

aww man! i was going to do a centaur!!!

hmmm, thinking thinking...........

Dude, you can never have enough Centaurs!

[M.A.C.]

cool topic, just some design ideas, still thinking about the comp and stuffff

Edit:
1324856

[keith eager]

fdisk

Your new image looks much better! Just watch that there is some interaction between the figures and the ground plane(they are all floating).

Here's a thumbnail showing my composition so far.

[toastergargletop]

Dude, you can never have enough Centaurs!


lol, sounds like a motto to live by! i might do a cyber-centaur. Trans-centaurism anyone?

[Rob Powell]

sone_one: nice thumbs, I like the Rook and Queen the best

Howie: nice initial rough, will be cool to see this taken further along

here's an idea, dunno if I'm gonna take this further along, but we'll see, since there are two rooks I figured I'd put a pair of them in there, the king's tower so far is very rough, but you get the picture...
1324907

[PxelSlayer]

Ok, Black Queen, take one. (btw, thanks, Howie, for reminding me of alchemy, totally forgot how nifty that little program is!)

ATM looks less like a chess piece and more like something that Gaga woman would wear. O_______o
All tho...few leather strap ons, some metallic details, worn out fabric, stains...I guess it could work as a post apocalyptic piece, no...?
It`s Monday morning, still got some time to get my mojo going...


Also, on a side note - guys, I noticed some of you are already starting to work on illustration pieces. By all means, if that`s how you usually work - OK. But don`t fall into that trap. Put that aside for now and make an AWESOME front/back/side view of the character, and explore some designs. IMO that should be your focus here. Just try to imagine you are a 3D modeler - you want your reference image and design to be as clear and easy to read as possible. A nice illustration...is just an icing. A cherry on top, you know.I`m not calling out anyone, I`m just...advising you. B/c your mom and I love you very, very much.

:devil:

[toastergargletop]

Ok, Black Queen, take one. (btw, thanks, Howie, for reminding me of alchemy, totally forgot how nifty that little program is!)

ahhh, is that the program you used? because these are outstanding. looks like i might be making a new purchase!
EDIT: IT'S FREE?? awesomerer!
Thanks for the advice too, about the ref sheet first. I think I'm going to work on that before i go further on mine.

[AdrianNagorski]

Ok, Black Queen, take one.
:devil:

PxelSlayer: alchemy a great way to get silhouettes fast that mirror function is great to bad photoshop aint got it plus when you export you gota delete the white image to get your lines out i find that frustrating , noticed my avatar pic??

I'm a chess master! I love playing black and the main piece i use is the queen for total desolation so i'll start working on the black queen. . . MmmmwAHAHAHA!!

- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[toastergargletop]

Alchemy is downloadable from here if anyone is interested:

http://al.chemy.org/download/

[Jamesbiff]

question: do we have to stick to english names/definitions for the chess pieces? In many germanic languages, the Bishop has a different name that means runner or messenger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_%28chess%29#History

Edit: it might be a good idea to stick to english names now i think of it, seeing as chess is a world wide game it can vary pretty wildly in terms of characterisation of the pieces.

[Khalo]

howie At first glance, it looked to me like the knight was carrying the horse over his shoulder. Which would be awesome.

fdisk At first glance, it looked like the bishop was trying to chase a centaur and his buddy out of his vegetable patch. Which would be awesome.

PxelSlayer This design looks wicked, and makes me want to open up Al.Chemy again. This is awesome.

I have spoken!

[Pixeltuner]

You should all youtube Battle Chess and revel in it's awesomeness. Stat.
Transforming golem-towers ftw. Absolute classic :)

[Gadbury]

Sketch for the Queen - Going to try and work out the design first this time before anything else

Edit - Smallish update

[meth]

great topic!!! and some start pxelslayer! bam

will watch this one

M

[jsn]

Cool topic!

My queen looks a little funny, will try to put time into it, fix things up!
All the best everyone!

[ryansumo]

Some fine work going on here. My own idea might be a little pedestrian, but I hope to make it look pretty at least. Some of you might think of 30/30 from the cartoon bravestarr but the original idea came from a Philippine mythological creature, the tikbalang. It's essentially a reverse centaur, with a horse head and human body.

I wanted his weapons to reflect that of a knight, so he'll be carrying a lane as well as a shield that acts a support for the lance while he's running into battle. I didn't want too much armor on him since he ought to be fast in order to execute the L-shaped flanking maneuvers on the chess board. I toyed with the idea of integrating the L shape into his armor in the first WIP, but selft if out of the second one. tips and crits would be appreciated!

[fdisk]

Ok, Black Queen, take one. (btw, thanks, Howie, for reminding me of alchemy, totally forgot how nifty that little program is!)

ATM looks less like a chess piece and more like something that Gaga woman would wear. O_______o
All tho...few leather strap ons, some metallic details, worn out fabric, stains...I guess it could work as a post apocalyptic piece, no...?
It`s Monday morning, still got some time to get my mojo going...


Also, on a side note - guys, I noticed some of you are already starting to work on illustration pieces. By all means, if that`s how you usually work - OK. But don`t fall into that trap. Put that aside for now and make an AWESOME front/back/side view of the character, and explore some designs. IMO that should be your focus here. Just try to imagine you are a 3D modeler - you want your reference image and design to be as clear and easy to read as possible. A nice illustration...is just an icing. A cherry on top, you know.I`m not calling out anyone, I`m just...advising you. B/c your mom and I love you very, very much.

:devil:

I agree with you, but some of us don't have a lot of time to work on these, unfortunately since we are not professional artists, we don't have access to our digital tools at our corporate offices; not to mention drawing at your desk is generally frowned upon by bosses...

I would love to just submit concept art; but let's be real, submitting anything short of an illustration will not get you many (or any) votes. I wish I could say I didn't care, and although I expect to never win one of these challenges, and while I do it 99.9% for the challenge and improving my art it's a huge blow to someone's ego to spend what little free time we have working on these to get no votes at the end of the week because your picture is just not as pretty. You wouldn't know because your stuff is always amazing (I'm a big fan).

Personally, I love character art but never draw backgrounds, and drawing part of the world your characters live in adds a lot to the characters themselves. So my added challenge is from now on to make the world/background one more character in the picture.

I hope that sheds some light into why some of us go straight into illustration and iron out the concepts as we work on the image as a whole.

Khalo: That's a hilarious idea and I'm definitely going to gear my image that way now!

ryansumo: I love the concept and backstory; I'd go with the 2nd armor set since it looks more knightly (since that's what you are going for; my own night is more of a barbarian than a knight) and add a breastplate armor to it. I really dig the lance + shield combo you have going!

[Dayle]

Hi guys, just sitting at work thinking about this one!

Here are some rough ideas, can't wait to get home and work something up.

[kidult]

fdisk - all the more reason to do character sheets. You can do a really quick and rough one and not post it. Just get your ideas down and visualized. With the design worked out beforehand you can go in and just illustrate, instead of wasting time trying to design things as you go along. That way you can spend time on the pose and scene!

will post some thumbs soon!

[fdisk]

fdisk - all the more reason to do character sheets. You can do a really quick and rough one and not post it. Just get your ideas down and visualized. With the design worked out beforehand you can go in and just illustrate, instead of wasting time trying to design things as you go along. That way you can spend time on the pose and scene!

will post some thumbs soon!

I actually did that for the centaur; the other two characters were a last minute background addition :)

[ninjamupp]

The Dark King with his lesser evil but loyal henches who are forced to push his chair.

[Tommoy]

This could have bin a great topic for a Team Chow!

[Artfix]

I was just doing some research about the rook on wikipedia and I ended up reading about heraldry. Have you guys ever read about that?? It is bizzare and fascinating!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraldry

[JanJager]

Tommoy
Looks like a powerful pice.
ninjamupp
I like it. looking forward to more steps.
ryansumo
I like nr. 2 with the ornaments on the armor.
jsn
Nice details in the armor. at this point it looks a bit flat. It got a goo focal point.
Gadbury
Great start.
PixelSlayer, Howie
Great
sone_one
Awesome thumbs. You nail them with so few brushstrokes.
Artfix
I will definitely take a look at it.

[Drygrass]

I'm doing the Bishop! Also, aiming for a character that would fit well into a video game or tabletop role-playing game.

I think I'm going to plow forward with #3, a Cthulhu-style priest. Crits very welcome!

jsn: Keep in mind that when you change the perspective on a figure, it's not just the scale that shifts. Looking at the figure from the bottom upwards, you're going to see more of the underside of the limbs, chest, etc. There's also foreshortening to take take care. Everything is really flat right now, so when you go back to tweak the image remember that you're sculpting a 3d figure. I hope this link kind of helps to show what I mean :) http://www.posemaniacs.com/archives/1544

[DoctorDigits]

hmm.... i guess alot of us have the same favorite piece.... lol, damn the other black queens look sick....

jsn : careful if you use the transform perspective in photoshop, if you use it be sure you make adjustments as you draw on it, looks like you tried to get a more dynamic camera angle but didnt make adjustments to the drawing yet once you transformed - perspectived it which is making it look very funky and flat

edit: lol looks like Drygrass mentioned what i was while i was typing it up

fdisk : new one is a vast improvement over last one, but try to come up with some unique twist in the design of the knight
p.s. - is that a mustachio mexican in the background as a pawn!? :D

thats the only real crits i have at the moment, good starts people.

[oouah]

Great ideas here! :)

Here's me brainstorming on a bishop. Initially I start with a sketch I did on the subway but then I kinda let loose and sketched away to see if I found something better. Had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure which way to go now.

[Fallenangel]

My to cents doodle...sexy gal + robots....what can be better??

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b312/DDT87/fallen20911.jpg

[Gadbury]

Started an illustration, playing around with some new brushes

[NicoleWG]

My 3 ideas for the queen. I like somethings about all of them and I'm sure I know were I want to take the design. I won't bias the comments.

[fdisk]

I added more detail to the centaur in order to make him less barbaric and more "knightly".

I also got rid of the bishop, it just wasn't working for me. Changed the color scheme to reflect that these are the black pieces; although the red makes it look like "Checkers" rather than "Chess" but at the moment I don't know what to use in order to get away from that (Using white would obviously make it seem like it could be either side of the board)

I might just try gold instead of red...not sure yet.

1325474

[toastergargletop]

some progress.

EDIT: I just asked my daughter if she liked my picture. She said "yes, but it could use some love hearts, and flowers, and it should be flying." I think that i might have to try and incorporate at least the flowers and love hearts.

[ninjamupp]

Of course I think the Dark Lord — he'll object to black king — is the kind of person who not only have a laser pointer but puts said laser pointer on a long stick. Also: poor henchmen.

[Fallenangel]

One more and good night....

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b312/DDT87/fallen20911a.jpg

[Revidescent]

I've been hit by a sudden ninja!deadline which means I may not have the time to get this done this week after all... but until I know for sure, still going full speed ahead.

I figured the Queen would be crazy popular, but I couldn't resist. I'm going for something kind of traditionally regal, with lots of lace, and some little bits that can float around. (How does the Queen move in all directions? She flies, obviously.)

None of these feel quite right yet, but I think I'm getting there. Designing an outfit to be predominantly white is... interesting.

1325550

[Howie]

I wasn't crazy about my first sketch, didn't want to make it futuristic and it was too evenly between robot and human with armor. So I did some more thumbnails exploring more shapes, I want it to be medieval tech and completely man powered...it would kind be a giant puppet used in battle. I imagine working sort of like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQbTMEupTpk&feature=related

I'm liking the tall guy on the right the most, what do you guys think?

1325768

[toastergargletop]

i think i like number one. They are all pretty damn solid designs though!

[AboutaDirk]

@Howie: they're pretty rad, especially the upper halves. Maybe you can do something with the lower halves as well, like maybe give them a "foundation" or "dungeon" feel, whatever would be below your castle :)

[Ramalooke]

Oh boy, oh boy. Hope I'll manage to fix some electricity issues back in home so I can participate xD Great job so far guys ;)

[PxelSlayer]

Day 2, and already some wicked images are starting to show up. Great work everybody! This one is going to have a great turn out. I can just smell it...!


Scraped #1, moved on. Ended up with something robotic-like. I wanted my queen figure to look regal, but at the same time mobile/fast (did see I`m not the first one to think of that ;) ), and with a good silhouette and interesting shapes. So I made the White queen first, and then reworked it to get the Black queen. Now I have to see if I can pull them both off...:ore:

[toastergargletop]

Here is where i'm at. I scrapped what i had before, and went back to the basic values I was using in the piece by going into filters>cut out. It worked really well and i got a good look at the values and how the overall picture worked. Here is where it is now.

[Dayle]

Revidescent Great thumbnails! I like 7, 14 & 23 best.

[AdrianNagorski]

Still early days of production

The queen carries a half dead pawn to his/her loving kings arms, all opposing forces sides pieces lie decimated across the board, just the way i play chess with the queen will post later when im available for playing a chess game against one of yous! :assspank:

Gadbury: loving the grungeyness of yours the dramatic sort of realism in that piece is great very pleasurable viewing thank you!
oouah : your the only one to do the bishop thus far very admirable.
PxelSlayer: looking at your last post and reading the comment i instantly visualized them arms wrestling each other LOL
Revidescent: lucky 13 a certain eloquence

i would comment more but my wife to be is in bed waiting for me ;-)
- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[GEB]

Was thinking demonic black bishope

[David Keen]

Some great stuff showing up so far!

@PxelSlayer I'm really liking your re-design, the sketch on the left is especially appealing to me.

@oouah Your third is my favorite, kind of a druidish, swampy looking character. Very cool!

@Revidescent I really admire the way your sketch out all your ideas, I'm always way too excited to get into the main piece and don't do enough pre-lim stuff. Your eleventh silhouette is probably my favourite, very creepy wraith feel to the design.

This is what I've got done so far, I wanted to do the king because I thought it would be interesting to explore a weaker character. Doing lighting from my imagination is especially challenging for me so any crits and help with that or anything else would be awesome!
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6165/6166276840_5c90c6f1f5_b.jpg

[jagder]

Got a whole set here.
1326070

[fdisk]

Howie: I really like the first one; but I can see how the third one fits more with the backstory you are going with.

Geb: That looks awesome! Nice take on the black bishop.

PxlSlayer: What can I say? Rocking as always! Really digging the whole vibe and differences between the two queens. I'm rooting for you to be able to finish both.

[oouah]

@Ebersol: Thanks! I might go for it. I'm still not sure. Your king is nice too. I like the expression of his face. You might want to show more of his body though? Would be a petty to see it disqualified.

@Howie: I like your third. Looks like a roboty medieval city on two legs.

@Revidescent: I think I like nr 6 best. But they are all a quite alike. Maybe go even crazier and see where it takes you?

@ninjamupp: I really like this king. What's the blade boomerang thingy attached to his arm for? I’m just curious.

@Drygrass: hmm.. I'd go for nr 1. But I like nr 2 also. Maybe if you give him a really mean expression to match all those skulls?

Here are some more bishop thumbs. Jeeez.. Seems I have some problems deciding my design. Right now I'm leaning towars 3 or 13.

[Gadbury]

Update on the illustration - Anyone have any ideas on how I can make it look more chess related?

[GEB]

Make the background chequered? Like in some of the Alice concepts

[fdisk]

Gadbury: Definitely add a checkered pattern somewhere.

Oouah: no. 1 and particularly no. 2 are the only ones reading as bishops to me.

[Fallenangel]

Make the background chequered? Like in some of the Alice concepts

yeah i agree or make at least the ground chequered.

[GEB]

Bit more, play to play with the hook crook a bit more

[ninjamupp]

oouah: keep the hat from 1 and 2, then go bonkers with the body design depending on which side he's on. The shape should tell if he's evil or good I think.

I'm not sure about the boomerang claw, perhaps I redesign that into a normal claw as that makes more sense. To be able to pick up apples from the ground without using a ladder.

Need lots of work with the henches though, the king looks more like a chieftain now.

[PxelSlayer]

@jagder - *____*...The colors....my God, the colors...<3
@Gadbury - *____*....Jesus, people, those colors again. How do you do it? They`re muted, but clear, it`s like...subtle, but bold, I just, I mean, I don`t even...@____@. The checkered ground would work, and maybe you could draw silhouettes of pawns in the background, and maybe put some sort of a crest on the flag? Anyways, it`s looking wicked ;)
@GEB - HOnestly, if I had to design a bishop for my queen, this one would be just perfect! You and I, man, we`d make one wicked chess set together, I tell you...:yum:

[zenarion]

This topic looks like a lot of fun. Would actually be cooler if we'd split this up into more weeks. One chess piece a week. But hey.

[Gadbury]

Cheers for the helpful comments guys. I'm messing around with putting a sort of chequered tabbard on the horses, and a fleur de lys symbol on the queens chest. Tried a chequered flag on the knights flag, but it just looked like she'd turned up for a race, lol

[NicoleWG]

zenarion: That would be interesting. The next round could be to design for any piece except the one that wins until there was a whole set. That would probably be really lengthy though.


Also, I narrowed it down to 1 queen design.

[Pixie Trick]

gadbury: I don't like the idea of a checkered ground (too distracting I think) but maybe the flags? Awesome work btw. :)

[Dranyer]

here are my roughs, i'l post crits in a bit.

[fdisk]

I like the idea of pawn silhouettes in the background.

[nAniA]

Is a female bishop allowed? If it is, then here is my take on a white female bishop.

[Dayle]

Here is my Rook, just a starting point, glad its only Tuesday!

[Gadbury]

Updates - trying to add some reference to chess with the symbol on her chest and chequers on the horses. Started painting over the original sketch too - don't know how the designs going to turn out though

[~baxter]

Some quick thumbs, although I feel I may be scrapping my previous ideas and starting over. Went for urban crime boss inspiration route, sorta reads Queen, but doesn't feel like it is based of the chess piece at all.

Back to the drawing board!

Edit: Some thumbs of the white and black king.

[NickyBeats]

great topic. btw for those like me who have no clue what chess pieces actually look like, here :

http://www.chessville.com/images/DublinPatternChessSet_HouseOfStaunton.jpg

[ryansumo]

Nania I don't know if female bishops are allowed, but I like it!

I don't rallyhave useful crits for anyone so just a bug thumbs up for all the work done so far.

Here's how mine is progressing. I finalized his armor and weapon details, made the lance a little slimmer, incorporated a long knife into the design of his shield for when the lance splinters on impact. Not sure if the pose I'm going for will work well. It's very dynamic and fast but very imbalanced, which will be difficult since I'm not rally planning on making an illustration out of this, just a character design.

[Fallenangel]

Still doodling...
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b312/DDT87/fallen21911.jpg

[hueonpao]

okay, my first participation in a competition.
pawns got it tough! they can't turn back, get mowed down quickly, and have to act as cannon fodder for every other piece. their only hope is to keep reaching for that end of the board!
here's a quick sketch. i'm not sure if i completely dig the pose, and maybe i could go for a slightly... pawnier helmet, but i think i'm onto something.

[ninjamupp]

Fallenangel: can't wait to see the finished version.

Nania: the brief said only the king and queen have "fixed" genders.

Anyhow. Proper claw to pick up apples with and details details details. Next up is more details and some bigger bits.

[NickyBeats]

zbrush doodle.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1326299&stc=1&d=1316570352

[toastergargletop]

Scrapped my cyber-centaur-knight thing. To me it was the same old crap I've always been churning out.

I would really appreciate any help you can give with this.

This is my new direction:

[fdisk]

Started rendering; I hope I can finish it by Sunday. I know I'm over-rendering, it's something I can't help myself doing and I really need to work on.

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[mysticmelon]

It always amazes me to see the quality work that these challenges turn out. @Ninjamupp - I absolutely love the idea of the king being carried around by his henchmen. Very novel, and really expresses the character of the piece.

I decided to take the plunge and try with an entry of my own this time. I'm doing the bishop. I read there is a culture in which the bishop piece is interpreted as a "shooter" character, so I'm doing him as an archer.
1326355
I like the look of him so far, but I'm a little worried that it won't read as a bishop because it's non-conventional. Any critique or suggestions would be helpful.

[NickyBeats]

quick sketch in painter this time.
not sure if i should add the horse head to his arm guard, i think if its not too lumpy ill toss it on, and see how it looks.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1326399&stc=1&d=1316575422

[fdisk]

Dranyer: I'm in love with your designs! I think so far you are the only one who has fully captured the essence of this challenge. All of your designs are instantly recognizable as the chest piece they represent. I look forward to seeing where you take them.

My preference in order is: rook 9 knight 5 and bishop 1.

Jagder: Your first character looks a lot like the villain in Frisky Dingo LOL!

[ryansumo]

Nickybeats I'd go without the head if I were you. It's not so much that it's lumpy but that it feels really out of context just thrown on like that. If you could make this knight look more like a savage (ie viking berserker) or maybe make him look like he lives in a cold place (ie the knights of the wall in game of thrones) it would make more sense.

Quick update here, jsut sorted out some proportional issues and also widened the image a bit to make the composition less awkward. I think I'm going to go ahead and render on this.

[Kaimera]

WIP sketch. Cool topic.

[NickyBeats]

ryansumo - thanks, yea i decided to put it on there.

i think this is as far as ill go on the linework, i doubt ill add the shield in there. would probably take up too much real estate on the canvas.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1326424&stc=1&d=1316578765

[~baxter]

First wip for the modelsheet, decided to go with the White King.

[JanJager]

Fun to see what everybody comes up with

[Howie]

not sure how i feel about this, I'll have to sleep on it

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[angelknight]

Good day Guys.
Nice topic this week. I like chess. :D.Everyone make me crazy..:X so many awesome characters

Yeah. Sketch for the Tower. . He is a tower. In MMO, he is Denfender :X

[PxelSlayer]

Black queen done-ish.

Now...Do I start working on this one, or do the White queen as well. If I do, I might just end up with 2 concept shots, but no illustration...:/

[AdrianNagorski]

so many mistakes :S

- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[Pixeltuner]

I'm afraid I won't have time to do anything this week due to 2 art-test for potential jobs.. which is a shame because this is an awesome topic. Maybe this weekend :)
Nice work everyone, great stuff coming along! :yayca:

[toastergargletop]

PxelSlayer: That's so cool!

On a totally unrelated note, does anyone know how to steal artistic ability?

[ryansumo]

Great work all, specially digging JanJager's African Queen going on over there.

Just another quick update from me. Starting to do the rendering now, and I think I've figured a way to cheat on the illustration. Yo9u know how in some Japanese video games (specially fighting games but some RPGs too) when a character does his special attack there's like gradation speed lines at the top and bottom? Yeah, that's my cop out this week. :)

[barelyrobot]

black queen wip here
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/264/b/5/bl_queen_wip_1_by_barelyrobot-d4ahdb9.jpg

[kidult]

ideas for black bishop:

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg236/kidult_01/chow2copya.jpg

[GEB]

Pxelslayer: Yes an S&M demonic chess set! Let's do it!

A bit more progress

[zy.]

Black queen done-ish.

Now...Do I start working on this one, or do the White queen as well. If I do, I might just end up with 2 concept shots, but no illustration...:/

Very very awesome. What program are you using to create this?

[rich4rt]

Awesome stuff so far, here's my rook -

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[Rob Powell]

Awesome work so far guys, favs so far are PxelSlayer's Black queen loving all the details on yours, you remind me how awesome alchemy really is, and GEB's black bishop, just badass. Howie's Rook Golem totally swamp's mine, haha

won't be able to work on mine this week because this week's IOW just won't let me ;)
need to paint more illustrations anyways...

[NicoleWG]

My white queen's design, basically complete unless someone has a critique.

[eentrouc_arts]

Kind of new to this, But I am ready to give it a try!!

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/picture.php?albumid=6031&pictureid=34885

[eentrouc_arts]

how do i make my pic appear a bit bigger on my post?

[spaethl123]

PxelSlayer: rock an illustration, lets see her in action.

my white queen. still playing with making her clothing a little more ornamental

[eentrouc_arts]

Trying this post again. Anyhoo, worked out some thumbnails for a queen and bishops! Any feedback appreciated!

[rayelian]

I love this topic sooo much! Even though this week is quite hectic for me with schoolwork and deadlines, I HAD to give it a try.

I tried to work on a male character this week... I really did. And then the white queen just kinda appeared in my thumbnails... and of course she got all of my attention.

Bleh bare basics and scratchy lines.

[AimBiZ]

PxelSlayer: Very cool design. May not strike me that much as a chess piece but I guess it goes into definitions. Still one of my favourites so far.

ryansumo: I'd much rather see the action from a front-ish view and not a side view as it's boring. Also angle the planted foot with the back upwards to convey the look of him lifting off the ground more.

barelyrobot: very nice colours! would personally like to see some more chess references though. Perhaps sihlouettes of other pawns?

GEB: Sweet rendering! Lots of bend lines though. Perhaps some of them could be turned into straighter lines for increased variation?

rich4art: Hmmmm, I've always pictured the rook as something less agile but very tough. Perhaps give her more of a standing pose where she's blasting away with the canon, holding against the recoil?

Here's my progress so far. Illustration still being messy but it's starting to become something. Next thing is to get rid of the lines.
Whataya think?

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13268831326885

[NickyBeats]

quick update.

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1326926&stc=1&d=1316642799

[toastergargletop]

I have to pull out of this one guys and girls. I have to go away for a few days and won't be near my computer. :(

[APW]

:D

http://fav.me/d3k7aee

I did this a couple months ago, reminded me of this topic. hopefully it will inspire some one else :P

[Saleem]

NICE work people. got a queen wip. time for some food now :) thank god for chow bloody good topics. will try to get the king done...... maybe

[Saleem]

update

[fdisk]

PxelSlayer: Go for both even if you can't finish either. This is CONCEPTart.org after all! ;)

GEB: That is looking SICK! I don't know how I feel about the extra arm though; to be honest. I'm not digging it too much, I think it breaks the figure.

Saleem: Great designs! It's hard to pick one, my vote goes to #1 because she not only looks like a Queen the most, but she's also the creepiest/most ominous one. The Queen piece is supposed to be feared by the other player because of its versatility, and I think #1 represents that well.

1327085

Still rendering, I worked on the background a little bit as well; still working in ideas as I have them. I have a new workflow that is great for changing your mind halfway through and making drastic changes without negative repercussions.

[ThreeNineteen]

Doing all the female pieces (if I can) ...I want to try a King's harem of sorts chess style. Need to work out a bunch, but here are the thumbs.

[Lucassie]

Only just started working on something, it seemed the pawn was not receiving much attention so I decided to give it a go.

There are legs as well but at this stage I'm not altogether happy with them.

1327183

Edit: I apologise, I can never get the size right.

[AdrianNagorski]

So much yet to do. lets take a break aaah . . . . :vodkamachine:

7v3rW2iFhS8
- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[oouah]

Went for the druid-ish bishop, but I kept the hat from my fist thumbs to make it more clear what chess peace he is. Here's some more sketching on him.

[angelknight]

Quick sketch today.. train for my skill @_@:carnifex:

[barelyrobot]

ty AimBiZ yeah maybe tomorrow (: i like your concept as well
http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/265/4/e/bl_queen_wip_2_by_barelyrobot-d4aki9h.jpg

[Ramalooke]

Power's back. Here is quick pawn sketch. Hope I'll finish this before the deadline.

[AdrianNagorski]

Time to go to bed didnt do to much today now i gotta smoothen it all out , umm, flipped the canvas just to see from the opposite end, thanks for the comments guys :drinkup:
face also needs work as well as establishing which color is which.

hpHEio0ib88

- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[maloshenkov]

Super works everyone !!!

this I made in one evening, its not finished yet. but i forgot to save wips :( saved it only onece before i started to draw details. I'll see what i can do more with this. its a queen btw :)


1327439

[Lucassie]

A little more progress... I hate rendering clothes.

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[mysticmelon]

Although I liked my archer idea, I dropped it for the conventional bishop for recognizability. Got a sheet of thumbnails.
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1327576

So far I'm leaning towards number 5 because I like the long flowing curve of the robe, and I think the straight staff contrasts it nicely. Hopefully I'll have a finalized costume by tonight so I can start working on the final tomorrow.

[Saleem]

Got a turnaround. might experiment with some colour and rendering while watching 14 blades :)

[AimBiZ]

maloshenkov: Lovely design, great colourscheme. Toned down and moody. Good use of having the main light from the background. Is it all traditional or both?

Saleem: Lookin good. I suppose it's a queen. It's not conveyed that much. Might want to make her more proud and noble.

Well, progress going slower than I expected. A tip, if you're going to use lineart to guide the painting, make sure it's very thin. Easier to not ruin the shapes when painting over I suppose.

1327705

[NoShot]

spaethl123

Disclaimer: I'm not sure of your age or experience, and I am by no means a pro (or even a good artist), so take the following with a grain of salt.

Negatives: To my eye, I don't see much refinement or technical expertise in your queen...yet. There are a good many proportion issues, even taking into account perspective. For example, even given the stylized elongated look, her left arm (especially forearm) is small and too short while her left thigh and torso are too long. If you are going for a stylized female shape, most people would expect to see a shortened torso, and longer calf in relation to the thigh. You mentioned the clothing is a work-in-progress, and I agree it needs something beside simple drapery. I would think a more prominent (thin and tallish, not huge) crown would equate nicely with the prominent headpieces on actual chess pieces. You could make the dress somewhat more regal/elaborate, but I would still leave arms and some leg exposed to draw attention to musculature (more on that below). Shoes are a bit wonky. Ok, so now that the negative bits are out of the way lets move on to the real reason I even posted here! The...

Positives!: The pose of the character has a ton of presence. It's pretty masculine (hunched shoulders, wide stance and what not), but if you add femininity via stylizing, it could end up being a pretty interesting contrast. In line with that, excellent attention to detail on the musculature!!! The knee elbow, tricep, etc. are very well thought out and you communicate those shapes nicely even in a WIP without a whole lot of value. The background and lighting will probably divide a lot of viewers, but I think I like it (maybe less contrast, i.e. light grey textured sky to dark grey textured sky) . It is simple, to the point, and adds directional lighting that compliments the pose you are using. Finally, the face (probably what compelled me to post here). Very, very, well done! Again, there are some proportional issues, but all that is negated by the subtle yet strikingly clear communication of emotion and character.

Overall: Very strong potential in this WIP and I hope you continue to work on your art because all of the elements for future greatness are evident.

[Saleem]

face update blah.

AimBiz- thanks will develop it to make it look more queen like. cheers

[Saleem]

Im tired now almost 2am. thats all for today

[Haiasi]

Figured I'd mess around with this. Thought of doing some huge ass war machine rook.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/fakeanimosity/rookWIP01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/fakeanimosity/rookWIP02.jpg

[Rob Powell]

Haiasi: very cool idea, however this is leaning a bit too closely towards an industrial design, try adding some stuff to give this thing a bit more character, although the central segment of themachine kinda looks like a face...

[Haiasi]

Yar, the center is supposed to have some eyes and teeth. I just won't submit it.

[mysticmelon]

Going into the final now. Refining the figure and establishing the costume with my line art.

1327813

At this point the lines are still really messy. It's going to be a pain to clean it up.

[cloudcan]

@fdisk nice, love the action in it :) I would just pay a lil more attention to lighting though.

@threenineteen very beautifully done but as silhouettes they all look too similar :(

@oouah loving the aggressive take on the bishop ahaha can't wait to see full version

@angelknight very nice but it's not clear what piece it is :o

@barelyrobot wow, different style and mood :D

@Ramalooke nice render but it looks like Lucassie's! not saying anyone copied anybody, maybe make it less generic looking and make its 'pawn'ness more clear

@adrian love the color palette :)

@maloshenkov wowow great design :D

@LucassieI love that you picked the common pawn! but i'd try to make it more clearly pawn and more interesting, he just looks like a generic medieval soldier :p

@saleem going well! I'm so glad you picked the first one, that was my favorite too xD

@Aimbiz lol nice, I'd just try to make it more visually interesting and less like a queen of hearts costume

@Haiasai wow creative, I would never have thought of that! yours is prolly my favorite among all the ones i've seen though it's the least 'character' like :D

@mysticmelon gender isn't clear in your latest version :( and the pose makes it seem more like a teenager dressup than a real bishop. otherwise it looks good keep going and show us more :)

ok anyway didn't wanna miss this chow!! here are my initial quicky ideas for the king and throne (not much I know lol but any feedback will be appreciated)

[Voodoo_Mama]

white knight riding a unicorn wearing a helmet
1327854

[AdrianNagorski]

time time TIME?!?

moving on character sheet, pc so slow, got night shift tonite and thru the weekend so i might leave this as is got so much tweaking and fixing to do but i like it thus far :hugsmile:

8ft23qDRmOo


- - - - - - - - - -
Things I Do Weekly -- sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=224706)

Wasted - The game's production sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=225181)

Ctrl+Paint, a place for beginners, many helpful videos! (http://www.ctrlpaint.com/)
- - - - - - - - - -

[Quinn Simoes]

Here's my rough for the black queen.

Lots of cool ideas from everyone!

Cheers

[maloshenkov]

Quinn Simoes: Holy shit this is amazing, my favorite )) simply killer design !

AimBiZ: Tks alot !! its all digital.
cloudcan: Tks!!!

[Lucassie]

Cloudcan: Thank you for your comments. I guess in some way I was trying to make the character generic, commonality is perhaps the greatest trait of a pawn.
I am however, working to make the character himself a bit more unique and will add harder lines later to get that chess piece feel.

There are so many great entries, well done to everyone.

Update:

1327968

[yongs]

oh my, u guys really got this place going! lots of amazing and cool ideas here!

anyway this is my version of the Pawn. Still a bit more to go and think the bg's not gonna stick. Probably will come up with something new. But he's like some kind of demon thats controlled by those red stuff around his limps, somewhat like a dog ready to be unleashed.

crits r welcomed!
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1327977&d=1316767545

[ryansumo]

Quick update. Love some of the stuff that's coming out here. Haiasi's rook is bad-ass, and loving Saleem's stylings too.

Didn't realize how close it was to Sunday. Better fix this up right quick and do the character sheets. Rendering feels pretty good now, jsut gotta colorize and do armor designs and I'm calling it done.

[angelknight]

Many awesome stuffs today. I love It.
Thank you alot. I can study some skills and brushes with your stuffs :X
Saleem: I always love your style. :D
PxelSlayer: And love your style too.. :D.. Is she a Dark Queen ? >:)
Haiasi: I like your idea.But the chain look like so small :D
Cloudcan:Thank man. I am trying to finish him :D..and train my skill :(
Gadbury: the tone of colors is nice. I like color and brush style. ^^

Quick update...Try and Try.. :D

[DiMage]

A quick 2h concept but unfortunately i think this is all i will do, i have a very busy weekend and i wont be able to complete it. But i will start early next week :)

[Miki Tikus]

It's unlikely that I'll get to finish this, it's just a quick 1/2 hour speedpaint/scribble. I chose the White Bishop =)

[zenarion]

I'm going for a pawn here. Nothing about this dude says "Pawn" yet.
Interesting stuff so far, everyone.

http://i.imgur.com/GqHVd.jpg

[jsn]

Thanks for the comments,...on pg 2
Awesome lookin chows everyone!

Still lookin a little funny, but I'm enjoying it!

[barelyrobot]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6170/6175241174_11e074736a_z.jpg

maybe thats final i dont know :/

[Ramalooke]

@cloudcan
Well I was like: If pawn is a representation of a pikeman, so why don't make him a regular pikeman. It seems like I had a same idea Lucassi had ;p.

Did some rendering. Now I'm working on making him to look less generic, yet still staying generic. Hope you know what I mean ;o

[nilfheim]

http://i.imgur.com/ZG7xd.jpg

king piece wip

[al-saqr]

here's my wip for the pawns, trying to tie the look of the pawns a little bit cartoony, with an action vibe that suggest how willingly they throw themselves into it. with the king and queen ordering them on.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2ccxi4z.jpg

[nilfheim]

@al-saqr - look carefuly on your perspective, the diagonals of the squares do not cross, so these aren't proper squares
here, take a look
http://i.imgur.com/WxW4u.jpg



also updating my white king
http://i.imgur.com/dyCMD.jpg

[al-saqr]

@al-saqr - look carefuly on your perspective, the diagonals of the squares do not cross, so these aren't proper squares
here, take a look


Thanks! will go back and fix it!

[Gadbury]

Some really imaginative designs going in here, especially some of the monster rooks. Awesome!

Just some progress on this

[Lucassie]

Ramalooke: I love that we coincidently chose opposite sides - You white, and me, black!

It's looking great by the way, I really love the background and the epic sensabilities of the pose. Hooray for generic pikemen! :p

Gadbury: pure awesomeness as always.

[hueonpao]

i haven't managed do advance much, just laying some color. I'd appreciate if you guys could tell me if I'm on the right track here and what changes I could make - I do plan to replace the weird shorts + leggings combination with some baggy pantaloons, but other than that i can't quite put my finger on the specific parts of the drawing i'm not satisfied with.

[kuda001]

well, ran out of time again.
I need to get faster or quit my job!
HA
Was going for some sort of knight....thing......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/kuda001/CHOW262_KNIGHT_3A.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v120/kuda001/CHOW262_KNIGHT_3B.jpg

[sayreh]

My main computer is down so it's all traditional for this one XD which I actually kind of like since I'm planning on sticking with a greyscale for this, as it seems to suit the topic well. Just a few initial rough sketches - I decided to go with the pawn, and think I may end up with an illustration showing both the black and white pawns, so have included rough sketch ideas for both. I've been drawing most of my inspiration for these from the heartless/nobodies/keyblade armor of the Kingdom Hearts games, as I thought the whole "faceless minion" aesthetic fit my idea of the pawn pretty well.

[nilfheim]

http://i.imgur.com/5QQAE.jpg
nearly finishing

[Saleem]

Update. wanted to do a king or a knight, if I get time I might try squeezing one in.

But now FOOD :) and then try to get a finished piece before 2moz.

Kuda001- looking good, 1 thing tho the arms look small to me

nilfheim- Reminds me of R2D2 from Star wars. awesome stuff

barelyrobot- would defo give him like 6 slim robotic arms lol maybe

zenarion- like the 2 bottom poses

yongs- love it, that hand looks a bit small. try to add a swirly tongue covered in blood :)

Haiasi- industrial design I'd say so too, but im sure you can make it more into a character. Great design

will comment more later

[Saleem]

the pic

[cloudcan]

@voodoo_mama Unicorn! :D
@adrian aww I think you could have worked more on it. gl with the character sheet :)
@Quinn WOW awesome :D
@Lucassie lol you had the same idea as the other dude xP but commonality doesn't always have to be generic. I think the lighting and tattered clothing you added really helped add to the idea of 'common' :)
@yongs oh wow very different version of 'pawn' .. other people went for the humble common man and you went for mindless beast minion xD nice! I agree with you though the bg doesn't match well right now.
@ryansumo omg I love that you added the horse element :D
@angelknight good update, are you going to add color though?
@Dimage aw ok cya next week :)
@miki scary looking, I wish you could have worked more on this ;o
@zenarion reminds me of gladiators xP
@jsn omg awesome, not a usual thing around here to do something like that. I think the proportions and armor totally convey queen's formidability :D
@barelyrobot gj :) I really wonder how she looks from the side O_O
@Ramalooke ahaha yeah. If his costume is supposed to be generic though, i'd add something interesting to the pose / illustration. huddled in fear, or with lots of other generic soldiers around showing their genericity, idk, something to convey 'generic'ness more strongly.
@al-saqr oh .. wow.. how ..cheerful .. xD
@Gadbury awesome as always.. :D
@huenpao maybe you feel like you're missing something because you are missing the rest of the piece. I don't think you've finished enough to tell how it will turn out. for ex what is in the upper right corner? I'd work out the general atmosphere and objects before going in and doing detailed shading.
@kuda001 nice, i have no crits xD
@sayreh love the idea of 'faceless minion' keep it coming
@nilfheim really cool design, but when I first saw it I thought 'bishop' (b/c of the head shape maybe?) btw I'm doing a white king too ;p
@saleem looks great, I'm assuming you're going to refine it later? keep it up :D

And here is my rough char sheet for my king .. have to refine a lot but the general idea is there. (ben hurr spokes ftw.. lol idk if I'm keeping those)

EDIT: does anyone know if greyscale is ok for final char sheet and/or final illustration? ;o

[monkeybread]

.Awesome topic, awesome entries...Saw this a bit late, but am hoping to get an entry in...I seem to have misplaced my small thumbs, but here is the shape I picked, with some stages of play..good luck all.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/266/4/5/cow_black_bishop_wips_by_bigbwana-d4apw9w.jpg

[Haiasi]

Saleem, I think your queen is coming along nicely, but she looks way too much like an adventurer. I think if you elongated her dress and got rid of her rogue combat boots she'd look more like royalty.

Dunno if people care about paint overs in this forum or not.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/fakeanimosity/QUEEN-turnaround-4-copyasdf.jpg

[~baxter]

does anyone know if greyscale is ok for final char sheet and/or final illustration? ;o

I don't believe color is mandatory, but I would certainly say it is encouraged. Color is one of the most powerful tools you can have :D

[Saleem]

Haiasi- thanks, yea your sooo right she looks more like royal, paintovers are fine I believe

[Howie]

well i think this is gonna be my final, unless i change my mind but i'm pretty sure i'm done :)

I think I might like the cow more than anything else

1328503

[fdisk]

Here's my final; unless someone points something extremely messed up about it!

I spent way too much time on this one, probably clocking in a 10-15 hours or so when it was all said and done.

1328505

[Ramalooke]

Thanks for all suggestions, I'm uploading another WIP.

[THEMike]

Wow, there's some awesome entries! I am late to the party but I thought I'd give it a try and see if I can make the deadline. I thought of having my black chess pieces be a goblin army. Here's a few concepts for pawns and a silly idea that popped into my head about the knight being a a crazy goblin riding an armored dire rabbit :P. Any thoughts?

[PxelSlayer]

Working on the final for these past 2 days on and off...and just not feeling it. It seems I used up all my "mojo" for the sheet there, and now I`m just in that "meh" mood. This one will turn out less "epic" I imagined it would. Plus, I suck at dynamic poses.
Just hope the "voters" won`t hold it against me (hey, I have a rep to keep here. No RL, but I have a CA rep!)


-_________________-`

[JanJager]

Lots of great entries
Haiasi, cloudcan, howie, Salem, nilfheim
Cool concept
Pixelslayer,Gadbury, Quinn Simones
Very nice rendering.
ryansumo
I like the action

[Gadbury]

Update - I'm trying to go for a spotlight look on the figures, like a Frazetta or Caravaggio style - I like the idea but the shadows look awful...

[cloudcan]

@baxter thanks for the answer on greyscale. I'll probably keep char sheet in grey and do illustration in color :D
@pxel maybe having her legs foreshorten or separate would help make it more dynamic? right now I get a feeling like she's forcing them together. great concept!
@janjager interesting take on chess :D I love how you used the shape of the chess piece
@gadbury loving it so far.. I know shadows can be an ass to get right xP

my 'finished' char sheet, not as finished as I'd like but I'll try to return to it after illustration is done
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s_1IsCtfbYY/Tn4YzqclvZI/AAAAAAAABDU/wTPSyIKZuf8/s1600/chess-chow---char-sheet3.jpg
some initial composition ideas... which do you like best? :o
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OKp2QrBpZVE/Tn4dfHSA2wI/AAAAAAAABDc/W_aznExCQVA/s640/compo-thumbs.jpg

[Ramalooke]

@cloudcan
I like the second or the fourth one.

Last WIP, almost finished.

[~baxter]

Some quick updates.

[ThreeNineteen]

Decided to go with a female white knight...let's do this :0)

[Dranyer]

~baxter: the pose feels kinda stiff, and his arms a kinda short. pushing some darker darks would really help it to pop.

Ramalooke: pretty neat, i think the shadows could probably be pushed more.

cloudcan: really cool design! i'm a fan of compositions 2 and 7.

Gadbury: great image, but i think the chess aspect could be pushed a bit more maybe a chessboard pattern of light and dark squares on the ground.

JanJager: lookin' good so far, the rendering on the chain-mail is particularly nice.

Ok, so a friend of mine suggested doing some steam-punk designs where the pieces had wheels which would only allow them to move in their allotted directions. i've roughed out several so far but the only one i kinda liked was the bishop.

[mysticmelon]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to bow out of this now, don't have the momentum to pull together a finished piece. But great work everybody! I'm eager to see how things turn out.

[yongs]

well guess i'm just gonna give up working on it for now. very nice entries this week! :) nice job everybody!
1329181

[ryansumo]

This is likely to be my final. I jsut need to work on some basic charsheet stuff later and I'll submit it. I know the bG was kind of a cheat but whatever.:P Great work all!

[hueonpao]

aw man, even though i probably wasn't going to finish my piece in time, i was making some good progress. then suddenly, BAM! country-wide blackout. does anybody know of a program to keep backups of photoshop files?

i really liked all entries, though! i particularly fancied jagder's group piece (reminds me a bit of the mass effect council), pxelslayer and barelyrobot's black queens, and howie's rook.

[cloudcan]

omg I woke up 4 hours later than I was going to >_> no way I can do this in 40 min ... and I don't wanna submit a half-assed piece. oh well ..lesson learnt.. (hopefully)

Amazing entries so far people, good luck to everyone :)

[NicoleWG]

I suppose I'm done. I don't think it's "done" enough for the final thread. Oh well, there's great entries though.

[jsn]

Cool lookin finals!,...I won't be joining you, however, I will have time to vote! :)
Good luck everyone!

cloudcan "@jsn omg awesome, not a usual thing around here to do something like that. I think the proportions and armor totally convey queen's formidability "

Thanks very muchly!
Just curious,...
What do you mean, "not a usual thing around here to do something like that"?
Thanks!