Chow 159 :: VOTING :: The Outlaw

[Rodimus25]

"The Baron" Cochrane's last stand.

[ASVogel]

Thomas "The Baron" Cochrane's got a bullet, and your name and back is on it.

The different colors in the intitial sketch denote me figuring out the gun, and the underlying bone structure. From there, created an anatomically correct silhouette which was traced back to paper. Then the full sketch was drawn and taken to computer. Due to scanner driver problems, I had to use Vuescan unlicensed which caused watermarking.

I emailed a gun collector friend of mine who was not only able to provide references of loading a revolver but also pictures of his reproduction Colt Peacemaker. Clothes were researched from period resellers online, further references pictured. The face is clean shaven, which is a nod towards the 20th century. I brought out my grandfather as reference, as he was a turn-of-the-century cowboy in Wyoming. My thought was to do a sort of tribute to him by doing the anti-hero gunfighter. However, the more I read the description of Cochrane the more I didn't buy it. He struck me as an also-ran/sidekick type. He rode with all these legendary outlaws, but he didn't have the same level of fame. He was just "lucky" that he outlived them. I decided his name was ironic due to his lack of class. As a result, I just used my grandfather's pic for aging reference, and made an entirely different face which was more weasely and sunken in. His clothes are stained, and the pants are tattered on the edges denoting his recent string of luck. The use of yellow is intentional, with it's cowardice association.

Once drawn, the bulk of the painting is done in a layer with multiply, and a normal "top coat" layer for accented areas. To ground the figure, a stock photo of a western town was worked into "Layer 1" hinting a horizon line and a nice grass texture. This was integrated into the Background brushstroke layer with opacity changes and posterization.

[artina]

Hey everyone,
Truly awesome and inspiring pieces this round. I had fun with this.
good luck to all.

[Cloud-Yo!]

Thomas 'The Baron' Cochrane realized from an early age that, to survive in this world he would need more than quick reflexes and steady nerves. He always carried plenty of iron, a bottle of Laudnum and a pinch of luck.

Started with the face and then the rest just sorta developed.
Best of luck to all!

[John Isaacson]

my chow

[YihyoungLi]

The Hippie Gunslinging Outlaw.

[daveneale]

Good luck everyone

[blau]

©Iván Díaz

[openanewworld]

this is my submission

[Dan!]

great work all around

[hungryan]

My take on this.

[Phaethon]

Final. Great work, everyone!

[Razorleaf]

Razorleaf, Concept Art, Character, Western, Painter

[Liv]

Inspiring round! Had fun drawing this old sod! ^^

Gabriella Liv Eriksson/Concept Art/Characters/Western/Photoshop

[NickTrip]

Here's my artwork for this week. The color didn't come out exactly as I had hoped, but I'm happy with the results anyway.

NickTrip>ConceptArt>Characters>Western>Other....

[ianthegeek]

Here's my humble attempt. Good luck all.

[Chelette]

pew pew pew

[daestwen]

NO ENTRIES PAST THIS POINT.

15 minute grace period.

[daestwen]

POLL IS UP!

No cuts this week. You can thank Posh.

[YihyoungLi]

So many great entries...ahhhh

My votes were based on technique and what I thought defined the character: angry, drunk, western, and old.
Artina: incorporated almost everything, although the feet together is somewhat strange. Good expression!
Michael Noel: Great perspective and good style. Imothe brushwork is on the edge of being messy/unrefined, but that's not particularly noticeable or important.
Sidharth Chaturvedi: incorporated almost everything, although the horse is too big! haha. Good expression though. The brushstrokes on his jacket could be cleaned up a bit?
Openanewworld: damn professionals. Some of the shadows from the tree branches are strange--especially the ones on the horse's head. (I feel really nit-picky...but I have to say something!)
Nichols: Great effort -and- excellent execution. (*cough*winner?*cough*)

[Sidharth Chaturvedi]

Well, that was awesome . Sad to see a few really awesome pieces not make it to the final, but oh well. Nichols, your guy's got old hardass written all over him, love it! Only other ones here than even came close for me were Openanewworld's and Dan's, awesome work!

YihyougLi, duly noted! I think I'm remembering what a horse looked like to me when I was like... 12 . I'll keep it cleaner next time.

[hungryan]

I don't have time to comment on all, but 1 thing for NZ0B1: although the whole anatomy is really much messed up (the arms are like really straight pipes or wooden sticks, etc.) I really like the face of your character, he looks like a very tried bum. You seem to have a great sense of face character, so I voted on you because of that. I also really like Chelette's piece, I think it should deserve more votes.

[Razorleaf]

I loved this Chow .... there are so many great pieces.

I liked Reymus's submission, he pushed the barrier of creativity to step outside the box and yet maintained a strong sense of theme.

Tommoy's was great but there wasn't any added uummph to this one. It looked like so many other great western pieces that it really didn't stand out.

Nichols was great! Not only did he use a slew of creative juices, his rendering was sweet.

[NicHolS]

wow what an incredible round, im really thankful for all those who voted for me, im honoroed! i had a few which to me were all winners and deserved my vote. a few i also overlooked for various reasons.

no_name_brand - i mean wow, this was my fav... honestly i just really dug everything about him, pose, facials, attire and esp his boots... great job!

dirkvandulmen - haha thats CLASSIC, honestly i really appreciated your original take on the baron, senility was a great idea!

johann de venecia - incredable style, i think his head and the horse were bugging me a little but your style here was really original and fresh

rodimus25 - great pose and style, i really think you deserved more votes, the cartoon influence was very cool!

phaethon - im kinda suprised you didnt get more votes, the only thing i wouldve worked further on is his face, its a bit too harsh with the shadows, needs a little softening but i really regret not voting for yours! sorry mate

kugu - wow really great style... the details really impressed me and made him really impressive, im also shocked you didnt get more votes... overall he did seem very dark on my monitor and his shadow made him seem kinda flat too. i wouldve removed the black shadows and perhaps inverted them on the sleeves and face... only real crit

icemoon - great idea, just felt a little too loose for me this week

bangalore_monkey - no knees, just felt he was too torso and failed to be 3/4 for me... loved his face tho

dan - haha great idea with the coke sign, made me giggle i agree that it may have stolen your focal point being too contrasted, perhaps faded a bit more could correct this?

openanewworld - overall a really impressive piece, from your sketch to final the polish was great... but i felt it lost focus on the character, and i spent more time looking at the city and horse then him... he just lacked any real focus in your shot. kinda shocked you havnt got more votes tho, it really was a good piece

matejkovacic - awesome pose, just didnt feel it matched the age and demenor of this character. he seemed way too young for me

daveneale - cool, something original... its simple but bold... got my vote!

giorge - great pose, had a few issues with their faces and the angle of his wrist to me... also pushed the 3/4 rule a little closer to 2/3s but great action pose! and pretty funny too

amber alexander - your original layout was ok, but this new one with the revisions really improved your piece a lot, so i thought it deserves a vote this week! you really improved a LOT... fantastic! and the cards idea was fresh too...

to everyone else i dotn have time to reply, sorry im at work and its already past 9am sigh see you all next round i hope!

adam

[Auren]

AmberAlexander I like your idea and design but I wish I could see his eyes. I think that would have given him the personality he needs to round out your piece.
Darkdoglk I like the backlighting you set up but you need to seperate the character from the background more. There's just too much of the same brown and the guy gets lost.
Giorge Nice action in yours. Very cool.
Hungryan I like that he's jumping out the window but it bothers me that it's the same empty space inside and outside the window frame. It looks like he's just jumping through a hoop rather than from one place to another. MichealNoel Yours feels almost like a watercolor piece to me. I like the vibrancy of color, the angle and the expression. Wish I would have voted for yours too actually.
NZ0B1I like your idea and his face. He looks like a cowboy gone to pot. He and the other elements look like they're just floating in space though. Ground them to earth with some shadow next time
DaveNeale Yours is another one I should have voted for too actually. Simple but effective design.
Tommoy Yours gives off a vibe that fits the character really well. He looks like he's scrounging for a fight like the brief specified. Nice one.
JohanndeVeneciaOne of my favorites. Your stylization is great.
NicholSI have to say I would call yours as the best illustration.Great execution and design.

[blau]

Voted for Hungryan, loved the simplicity of colors and the action.
For MichaelNoes, great colors too, and that's the way I pictured him in my mind.
openanewworld, I think rounds the description of the character the best.
And dirkvandulmen, that's just awesome... maybe there should be a round of Quixotes! ... ummm I'll head off to the suggestions thread...

[blackcherry]

My votes went to:

Nichols: Great presentation and design. This is my favourite entry here to fit the topic. Love the whole look and feel of the character.

dirkvandulmen: Great design! He's totally crazy looking, hehe! Love the expression, outfit and accessories.

Tommoy: I like the pose and look of the character. I also like the sandstorm effect.

[Razorleaf]

This voting poll has been up a few days now and each day I check to see the status of the voting. To my utter surprise the same people I see in this and other forums keep getting all the votes ... some of those people are working in artistic fields already ... and some of those same people have won Chows and Cows in the past. Yes, they are very good and their work is great but so is the work of those artists who put their stuff out there for everyone to see.

Mantoe Masanyo EnglishDuke Leuparadeu
Lotta JohnIsaccson IanTheGeek NickTrip
MojoKingBee BangaloreMonkey LIV Gothique
Blackguy Dark Aikidoal Blau
KevinMayle Auren Nadiamoon Sketchius

Please forgive me if I forgot anyone, it was not intentional.

This Chow was fun and exciting ... so, Bravo to everyone who participated. Great Job!!

[Chelette]

I voted for:

Giorge: I like the look of this guy, he's an old dude but still has that trouble making spark of a young hoodlum. I really like you went for a dynamic pose, and really love the humor in your piece. However there are two things that throw me off, what's going on and where is he looking? His posture is a little awkward... it looks a little like he got pushed by and is looking at someone off the page....but....I don't know. Possibly some indicator of what he's looking at might help?

Hungryan: In the description it says, "There would be one last gunfight, and he didn't intend for either of them to walk away from this one." I think this piece captures that. He's totally old, but fearless and not afraid to die. The action in this piece to me says a lot about who this guy is, the kind of risks he's willing to take.

IceMoon: The image was small in the poll but I liked that it read even though it was represented much smaller. I like his stance while blowing another man away. With a silhouette like that who else could it be....besides "The Baron"?

Kugu: I like the idea of him being superstitious. Despite his relaxed pose, I doubt anyone would start any trouble with him. He feels like he has a lot of history about him, not just any outlaw. I also am attracted to how this piece was executed.

Rodimus25: I like the intensity of his posture juxtaposed with a little of an old miner sort of feel...maybe it's his hat. Walking around town people may think he's some harmless crazy old man left over from the past, but from that pose he may still be the fastest gun in the west as well.

Nichols: I feel like, a photographer...an eccentric hobbyist, a young journalist, someone of the like...saw him sitting there drinking and had the gall to ask for a photograph. And The Baron indulged the photographer. Maybe this is the last (and possibly only) image of him before the fateful gunbattle. There is so much storytelling in this image.


(hope I didn't miss anyone, ah multitasking)

Thanks for the props Hungryan

[ArtbyWard]

Oh my, I forgot to vote! Luckily i discovered just in time

My votes:

MichaelNoel: I really liked this one, he really looks like an old guy not to be messed with, very good expression.

Sidharth Shaturvedi: My favourite! I like that you didn't go the mustache way. He looks like a evil nasty man, very good.

Chelette: Wonderful pose, it makes me want to look away!

Openanewworld: What a great quality and shot, it is a feast for the eye, very inspiring.

Dani: great pose, and I somehow love the coke sign, even though it's realy obvious. It just gives it some more atmosphere

Kugu: Great style, and I love all the items you gave him, you really thought about it

Rodimus25: wow, such a great style and dynamic picture. Wonderful!

Tommoy: Great character. He reminds me a bit of Ocelot from metal gear. Which is a good thing . Also he feels like hes really standing there.

Johan de Venecia: I always love your style. Your picture tells a story.

Nichols: What can I say other than awesome! I hope you will share more about that composition technique of yours someday. Really nice and finished.