Team Chow II :: Tall, Grande and Venti

[yoitisi]

Time for a tiny update on my side, been sketching a bit more on the lizardmen. Dunno if I should continue with it or not, not really happy with these heads (and yes, they lack any character atm since it's more looking for a head shape rather than it's costume/character).

[Dished]

doooood! those heads are awwwesome! AHH! if you go through with them i woudl looove to switch characters with you,if thats ok haha.

[daestwen]

Taking kind of an assasin approach on this one... what do you guys think?

[MasterStryke]

the lizard heads are well done

but the steps seem wrong to me. (if they are morphose steps)

1 to 3 looks ok

2 to 4 looks ok too

but3 to 2 is too much morphose on one step and doesnt fit that much imo



if they are not steps <_

then 1 fits for good

and something of 3 but longer face at all and mor narrow eyes you know


quick sketch ... how i mean ~~

[SunRoamer]

Really cool sketches!

@Jessi:
Thank you for the crit! Well, I thought the fabric was just somewhat bound around the body and itself in a way that would make sure it doesn't just fall of. Somewhat like when you bind a towel round your hip... anyway, in some of the pics I looked at the Maasai also wore belts, so that's also a possibility. But for now I guess I'll simply move on to the evil version, and well... if I have time I'll change the good version's sketch again, or I'll just try to directly change some things in the final illustration (something I wanted to do anyway^^)

Well, I still changed some things (didn't really help I suppose) but for now this will be the final sketch

[SunRoamer]

So, just to show that I'm still doing something...
the first pic is just a first sketch for the evil characters design. Just wanted to have at least something I can somewhat work on... ^^ General inspiration was roman armour and stuff as well as these Chronomancer-concepts (just scroll down a bit until you get to those weird technolyzed humans). Moreover I want to include some patterns, as Daestwen and Dished suggested
Links:
Japanese Patterns #1, #2 and #3, Roman armor reference #1, #2, #3 and #4.

Well, right now the shoulderplate/right arm don't really blend in with the rest, but that's the problem I have to work on ^.^


Well, for the second image I made some "thwampnails" (haha, I suck at making jokes ~.~) to get a feeling for the swampy place my good character lived in for so long. For the first one I used this reference: Link
The others were also somewhat referenced (mood/colourwise) but no direct "copies"...
just wanted to do something different I guess ^^

[daestwen]

sunroamer: niiiice. reminds me that we have to start thinking about how we want to do the backgrounds.

can we get a meeting all together on saturday?

in the meantime:

[SunRoamer]

sunroamer: niiiice. reminds me that we have to start thinking about how we want to do the backgrounds.

Thank you :]

About the backgrounds... I'd like to keep them as an "extra". Actually I did those thumbnails because I wanted to do something else, besides I have to get better at landscapes I definitely don't want to paint such a detailed landscape in a larger format as a background for a character illustration (=> or rather, I don't want to have to work more on the background than the character^^)
And well, you once showed me some references for the style we want to achieve in the final pics:
Link and Link. Actually I really like those obscured backgrounds :> Well, I guess in the end everyone should somewhat decide it for themselves... meeting wouldn't be bad though, it's easier to discuss things that way

[daestwen]

Yeah, I'm cool with the obscured stuff, though I think we could maybe put something in the background to obscure. Just the hint of something back there... Or even nothing in the background, but stuff in the midground, like in those examples.

[yoitisi]

Alright a small compilation of what we've done so far and as to what the plans are. We need to get this show on the road as we still have to start on our 8 portrait illustrations...



I figured seeing all the images we posted in here together might inspire us, and it's also a good check to see if we're going the right way. I think if we keep the color palette really tight, we can basically design any character/culture we want without everything falling apart at the seems. I didn't deviate between colour palette for good or evil yet, but the effect will probably be much the same.



I'll update this post with the written text a bit later, so we see what characters each of us is working on at the moment. Probably best if we get a range of classes rather than all spellcasters and stuff

Okay so here goes:

• SUNROAMER
  
  Character 1:
  Name: Ren (pending); different surnames
  Race: Human
  Gender: Male
  Profession: Fighter//Spellcaster
  Side: ???
  
  Character 2:
  Name: ???
  Race: ???
  Gender: ???
  Profession: ???
  Side: ???

• DAESTWEN
  
  Character 1:
  Name: Feraethia, Daughter of Oshiir, of the Coastal Tribe of Solus
  Race: Anghe
  Gender: Female
  Profession: Warrior
  Side: Good
  
  Character 2:
  Name: ???
  Race: Wood Elf
  Gender: Female
  Profession: Assassin
  Side: Evil

• YOITISI
  
  Character 1:
  Name: ???
  Race: Lizardmen
  Gender: Male
  Profession: ???
  Side: Good
  
  Character 2:
  Name: ???
  Race: ???
  Gender: Female
  Profession: ???
  Side: Evil

• DISHED
  
  Character 1:
  Name: ???
  Race: Orc
  Gender: Female
  Profession: Shaman
  Side: Evil
  
  Character 2:
  Name: ???
  Race: ???
  Gender: ???
  Profession: ???
  Side: ???

That's the rough list I came up with. It leaves a whole bunch of gaps at the moment as you can see. There are also a few characters to divide, as I think we agreed on seperating the good/evil version of each character per person. The ones we have so far:

1. Ren - Evil/Good
2. Anghe - Evil
3. Lizardmen - Evil
4. Orc - Evil
5. Wood Elf - Good

When we meet this weekend on Skype, we can decide whether we stay with the characters we chose, and what the rest of our characters should be. So, before the meeting please figure out your final choice for your first character, and then we can divide the opposites amongst each other and start on the final illustrations.

[daestwen]

Did another quick sketch for the elf... Just trying to work out the costume a bit better, maybe for the good version?



As for the meeting, I'll be around all day today if you guys are?

[Dished]

hey guys! ill be online for most of today so ill most likely be good for a meeting today.

, but just a small correction, my orc will actually be evil :]

[trevor]

looking good so far guys!
but dont the rules (as i understood them anyways) state that we have to do a good and evil version of the same character? maybe yoitisi's post confused me hahaha

brit watch that back leg on the elf, i think the toe would Be pointing more in the viewers direction and for balance sake try rotating her clockwise a bit
she seems a bit unstable
1 last thing, try not to over render. your loose greyscale has a lot of life to it and the color image seems to be flattening out a bit due to a lack of a strongly defined lightsource
yoitisi
those lizzzzzzzard men are sweet
i cant wait to see which you use
any ideas on scale patterns or color markings?
sunroamer
i would suggest reffing that anatomy quite a bit more he still seems a bit wonky
and for his tattoos try making the tentacle marks chunky thick and graphic
or go completely opposite and try tribal stylized versions of them in black , again thick and chunky. any thoughts on how the armor will fit in with the rest of the team's pieces or how it will differentiate from standard roman armor?
dished
where are you? i want to see more! the bird ish dude was looking cool and a bit creepy hahaha
hope i havent overstepped my bounds here
glad to see you all so into this!

[daestwen]

I think yoi's post did confuse you a bit. Yes, we need one of each. we are just totally scatterbrained at the moment but we'll sort out who's doing what by today or tomorrow.

Thanks for the crits, man, I super appreciate it. :] You are of course welcome to give them any time!

[Earendil]

Looking good! I like the finned-head individual and the assassin! Can you believe we're almost halfway? Sheesh! Keep up the awesomeness!

[yoitisi]

Trevor: Haha yeh you are right and I realise that, the problem is that we're all over the place at the moment so I just noted down where we're at Gonna sort it all out this weekend I hope.

[SunRoamer]

Evil character design so far... I'm kind of clueless about the patterns :/ Until now I only got a flower emblem with strange rays leading away from it *headdesk* Help! D:

Also, since I'm not too happy with giving him a fully "technolyzed" right arm (tried several things, and it never quite felt right (esp considering the medieval setting... even if it's "godgiven") or too much like the Chronomancer designs) I want him to have a blue "spirit arm" instead :> Just didn't get to sketch that yet^^


@Trevor:
Thank you!
I'll definitely try to play more with the tattoos, I really like your suggestions for them (especially styilzed versions can be fun^^)
About the anatomy... did you mean "wonky" literally (=> he looks weak) or more like that the anatomy itself is "weak", i.e. not too good? (Since I'm not a native speaker I sometime find myself having a hard time with certain words/phrases, since I don't really know in which situations they're usually applied, and such )

[yoitisi]

Quick update before I go to sleep, been working on the lizardmen body a bit. Think I'll go with something similar to nr. 2, but it looks a bit too bold and young for what I was aiming for so will work on it some more.



Also, we quickle made an overview of who does what this evening but I'll put that up after I have gotten some sleep

Sunroamer: Since someone else is going to do that evil version, I was just wondering if you're okay with the design being altered slightly -as is inevitably going to happen in this sort of situation? Just so we're all clear on that issue

[Dished]

Thanks trevor!

Yeah im feeling sorta stuck with this character at the moment,heres a quick change of teh legs,but i think i might just do some sketches with the creepy guy

[SunRoamer]

Sunroamer: Since someone else is going to do that evil version, I was just wondering if you're okay with the design being altered slightly -as is inevitably going to happen in this sort of situation? Just so we're all clear on that issue

Yep, I already knew that it would happen and I think that's the one thing that's the most interesting about this swapping thing I just thought it would be helpful if the basic concept is already somewhat progressed, but well, if britt doesn't mind working with only what I got now I'd be glad if I could drop the concept and start with the illustrations.
So, Britt: would you prefer if I worked more on the sketch or is it "enough" right now? Either way, I totally don't mind if you change something^^

@sketches:
I really love all the bodies Yoi! Just wondering (since they all look like they won't be too agile/fast) can they drop to their hands and move on 4 legs, then? Right now they seem like they could only be slow warriors/some kind of spellcasters (be it real mages, or priests...)... that reminds me, what profession is your lizardman gonna be?
And dished, I really think some skulls would fit her... at least her evil version? Well, anyway, I really do like the concept so far

[daestwen]

I think I can run with this for now. :]

We're down to the half way point now guys, so I think we should each do a few thumbnails for our final portraits so we can make sure that the composition and stuff is really solid and that they all have a similar kind of presentation. What do you think?

[Dished]

heres a few thumbnails i worked on this morning..
im really leaning towards either #2 or #3. Im liking the idea of her sort of patting a vine thats sticking out from the side, kinda makes her seem more regal and that the plants obey her. what i like about 2 is that shes got these two spiky plant vines and an army of tiny beetle bug things near the worm insect thing shes riding.


sun roamer- good idea man! yeah ill see where i can fit skulls there maybe thanks!

anyway let me know what you guys think!

[daestwen]

Awesome, Dished!

3 is out, they have to be portrait layout, it's in the rules. :]

I like 2 the best but I think the figure still needs to be a bit bigger

[SunRoamer]

I definitely like the second version the most as well... (I love those big roots ^.^) Britt's right though, I think. The character needs to be bigger :> And yup, I'll work on some thumbnails as well

[yoitisi]

Here's the final general design of my lizardmen. I want to type a bunch of info about this race and why they look the way they look, but I'll have to do that tomorrow since I really need some sleep here. More sketches tomorrow, including some costume stuff and some conversion to a single character out of this general shape. Maybe some ortho's too.

(also, my brother mentioned something about Stargate when seeing this sketch. That's all lies, I swear! I might fiddle a bit with the side flaps on his neck though, to differentiate a bit from their design I guess)



I should probably also hand out some feedback to you guys and maybe some paintovers? I'll see how much time I have tomorrow

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Edit: So, I spent this morning revising my update from yesterday I went looking for some more reference of lizards and figured mine should change slightly.



Lizardmen:

A bit of info on the race itself before I get to work on my evil version of it. Lizardmen are an ancient race that's been around from well before humans ever decided to climb out of the trees. They are a highly individualistic race, which is probably the reason why they never became a dominant species in their environment.

As soon as a juvenile lizardman crawls out of its egg, the motherlizard abandons the nest and leaves the youngs to the mercy of their environment. Few make it to adulthood, but the ones that do are tough and have no natural predators. Lizardmen are highly intelligent and as they live for a very long time (rumoured to be an average of 400 to 600 hundred years) they are usually a source of knowledge and wisdom.

Their natural habitat is the deserts and lush jungles in the warmer regions of the world, as they are cold blooded and cannot regulate their own temperature. They can often be found basking in the sun or cooling in the shade, contemplating or meditating. They regard the sun as their god, as it not only is the source of all life on earth but also essential for their survival.

Lizardmen are nomadic of nature, and usually travel alone. They can often be found in company of other races, but they simply can't stand to be among a group of others from their own race. Though mainly sticking to their natural habitat, many lizardmen travel around the globe in search of ancient wisdom in ancient ruins and libraries. They mostly seek personal enlightenment as they didn't have any parents or people to teach them when growing up. Their appearance can vary depending on where they were born, but they do never walk on all fours anymore. They do not possess any magic either (this due to the fact that the lizardmen do not evolve and have not done so for eaons. Magic is like radiation, it makes mutations easier to appear, something that lizardmen are highly resistant against by nature).

Lizardmen, by their very nature, usually move slow but in need they can act with tremendous force and speed. Each single lizardman is worth a dozen humans when it comes to fighting, and they are unmoveable obstacles in a fight due to their thick and armored, scaled skin. The older the lizard, the fiercer an enemy it is. They are crafty in many skills, and usually make their own armor (with little metal as it tends to make them overheat easily. In general, their clothes are build to be able to both cool them or help them warm up when needed).

That's it for now, sorry for the rambling Description of my own character will follow later along with some sketches.

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Something else, as said earlier we're rather all over the place with our designs and cultures, so the one thing that should bind our work together in the end is the palette. I made a quick overview of what I think we were aiming for, correct me if I'm wrong (and an example by Rembrandt, though on the first page in this SB we have two other examples)



Edit: this means the palette of the final illustration, not the colour palette of your character design necessarily. It's also not forbidden to use a bit of blue or green really, just don't go for totally saturated greens overall

[daestwen]

Yoitisi, you are totally awesome. This looks great. :]

[yoitisi]

Quick update. First concept for costume for my character. Just trying a few things out. Main idea is that the armor is foldable or has the ability to enhance both the cooling or warming up of the coldblooded body of the lizardman. The design right now looks a bit too regular still I think, but I'm going to move on and add some extra character elements later or in the final illustration I think.

[SunRoamer]

Thank you for the helpful post yoi Actually I already worked on a thumb (before I read what you wrote) and well, it's so not worth uploading and it doesn't even "work" (since my background was, like, completely obscured and DARK and the character was simply senselessly sparkling D: ) Well, I somewhat have to change my initial idea but I think it only helps improving the final illu^^

Your design's awesome so far. I always love armourdesign with similar stuff on the back like what your lizard got

E:
tch, actually Rembrandt himself turned out to distract me from doing thumbs as well :< I just wanted to have a closer look at the colours, and then I somewhat repainted it... well, I didn't do any sketches and I was still mainly interested, so it's a somewhat twisted rembrandt, but it was a nice study for some 45 or so minutes D:
I hope this study will help me with colours and final style in the illustrations

[yoitisi]

Sunroamer: Good idea I think you could use some warmer reds in there, and overall the original is much darker too. The warmer the colors you use, the more easy grays or gray with only a tinge of green or blue read like like totally cool colours.

Here's design nr. 2. I'm enjoying these too much, I should probably hurry the last concept I want to do up a little and move on to the final painting.

[jozulus]

this reptile-dragon warrior is really fine piece. you made awoseme work on painting these. they must be funny, when they move on 2 feet, like real 'teenage mutant ninja reptiles'

other team cocnepts are improve well too, good work for you

cheers