TEAM CHOW II :: Team Lego Lickers

[Mat Kaminski]

Here we go... let's get on this.

So far we have jdeegz and Matte_art and Earendil and Sketcheth

We'll consider these a referenece dump for a little bit until the topic is announced. Time to fuel the fire!

[jdeegz]

Team lego lickers!

[Mat Kaminski]

http://orcbruto.deviantart.com/galle...tock-Guerrilla here's an interesting stock photo group for some 'larger' possibly post-apoc ref.

I'll just start tossing up refs like crazy in here.

[Mat Kaminski]

A few of my fave themes are of course, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, punk, steampunk...

Realistically, we could go with anything for now, I'd suggest just posting like crazy ref after ref anything cool you can find for now.

I'll start dumping post-apoc and punk type stuff as soon as possible :3

[Mat Kaminski]

What we DO KNOW:

TEAM CHOW SIGN UP THREAD

DESCRIPTION

Here we go again!

Now that Newborn is coming to a close, it's time once again for team chow! If you didn't participate last time, or have no idea what this is, check out the previous team chow threads - it's pretty awesome!

We all know the competitive nature of CHOW, but this is different!. Here we focus on team work.

This will be a one-month contest. It will run alongside the regular chows, so if you aren't interested in participating, you don't have to feel left out of the regular activity, and if you'd like to do both, you have plenty of time.

Here's how this is how it's going to run:

- Please use this thread to sign up and find a team. If you would rather be assigned a team rather than find your own, please post so here, and I will make up teams out of those that ask. I will not add to teams already created, just out of those without a team.

-Teams will consist of 2-4 people. How this works is up to you, and how many people you want to work with. You may not play by yourself, you must at least have a partner. If there is a group of 5-6 people that wish to participate together, you may PM me with why you want such a large group and I may let it pass.

-Sign up will take place over the next week. You can still sign up later in the contest, but this will give you a week to coordinate with your team members and brainstorm for the coming contest. In order to sign up, each member must post in this thread that they wish to participate. When those members decide to form a group, ONE member must make a new post with each of the group member's names and the group name. (ie. The Hound Dogs, or similarly dumb things like that).

-When the teams are submitted, I will edit the following post with all the teams. If I happen to miss your team in the thread, just send either me or Poshspice a gentle PM and we will correct the error.

-In ONE WEEK I will announce the rest of the contest. Aka, you will know what you're going to draw. I will however, tell you the basic idea so that you have time to brainstorm:

• You will get FOUR TO SIX CHARACTERS that your team must design. The characters will not have a genre or time period associated with them.
  
• You will have to work together to come up with an over-all design, theme, genre and time period for the project. You may start on this now. But you will not know the exact characters you have to create until next week.
  
• If you participated last time, you may chose either to stay with your team or create a new one. If you stay with your team you do not have to stick with the same world/genre/period, but you are free to if you'd like!
  
• When you have found a team and confirmed it here, please create a Team Sketchbook thread here in the Team Chow forum.

----

That's it, Folks. If you have any comments, questions or concerns please post them here. Along with the character guides, in a week I will also publish the more specific rules for submitting your work at the end of the contest.

That's it! Good luck!

IMPORTANT NOTE

Guys, it looks like I have something really really awesome to pull out of my hat for you guys on this one, but it means that there might be REALLY large format changes come Aug 1st's contest announcement.

Without giving anything away, I should let you all know that you really will have to roll with the punches on this one and that you should focus your pre-contest work on learning how to work together and getting a good workflow going, rather than preparing too much stuff in advance! ;]

This is going to be awesome, folks!

Thanks for the concern Jessi, but they've already contacted and cleared it with me, so it's no worries. :]

The new structure this time through means that the workload will go up if more people are added to a team, but it shouldn't give them an unfair advantage.

All will be revealed on Saturday. :]

Maybe this is what she means?

TEAM CHOW II: GOOD AND EVIL

DESCRIPTION

This month's Team Chow is going to be a little different! This time, we are creating fantasy portraits for player characters - with good and evil versions! It's both a wide open brief and a very strict one! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create a random team from the options given to you below, and to create 4-8 fantasy portraits that read well together and still look awesome separately. Thus, as a team, you must create a compatible 'look' for your characters.

ConceptArt.Org is going to be running game design activities and it is our hope that some of these characters could really inspire people doing activities on the other parts of the site too! Fuel for their fire so to speak. :]

Also, Jason has allowed me to offer you some fabulous prizes!

The winning team will get four downloads of their choice each and a pass to an upcoming live streaming course right here on conceptart.org!

Also, individuals within teams are also up for a prize! These will be given for leadership, and for extra effort in making great characters. This prize will consist of four downloads and the pass to attend ca live streaming event.

On to the nitty-gritty:

Here are the rules!

1. Teams of two MUST create at least 4 portraits, teams of three or four need 6 and teams of five need 8. You are perfectly welcome to create more images that the requirement if you feel your team is up to it.
2. You must take a random selection of the choices below. Please don't do 4 elven fighters, or only orcs, for example. Please take a randomized selection. If you would prefer me to give your team a specific assignment, I will generate the selection for you. If I see teams doing more select parties, then I will request you to change to something more random.
3. You must follow the format provided. See it below, please!
4. You must do a LIGHT and a DARK version for each character, please! This means that for each character you need two portraits.
5. You must submit a paragraph about each character. Do a short write up for each character you create. I want to see some interesting, stereotype-breaking stuff here, folks!

PLEASE SELECT ONE OF EACH CATEGORY FOR EACH CHARACTER.

Gender: Male / Female

Race: Human / Elf / Half-Elf / Dwarf / Orc - (and anything else you can think of!)

Class: Fighter (Barbarians, Knights, Dark Knights, Brawlers, etc) / Thief (Assasins, Rogues, etc)/ Spell Caster (Wizards, Sorcerers, Druids, etc) / Healer (Priest, Cleric, White Mage, Medic, etc) - (feel free to make up something for this, too)

Alignment: Good / Evil (please do both for each character)

YES, THESE LOOK LIKE STEREOTYPES. IT IS YOUR JOB TO BREAK THEM. I want to see some really interesting, kick ass stuff!

Okay, NOW GO!


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SUBMISSION GUIDLINES

The Final Burning Thread will go up ONE WEEK before deadline. The deadline will be August 31st, at 11:59 pm GMT - 4, Eastern Daylight Time. I will accept submissions as long as it is August somewhere in the world, but after this I will close the thread. I am going to give myself 1-2 days to then sort out the poll and the voting, so please be patient.

1. One team member will be in charge of submitting the final entry. How the entry is presented will be up to you, but keep it consistent and coherent.
2. Remember that you will need to submit wips. If you decide to make a group sketchbook for this activity, a link to that will suffice.
3. Also sumbit a list of Team Activity. I want to see how well you worked as a team - who was in charge of what and what each member did.
4. All other ChoW rules apply. If you are not familiar with the usual chow rules, please read the guidlines thread sticked at the top of the subforum. Including, 3/4ths rule, no paint-overs, etc.
5. Please submit files with this naming convention: TeamChow_TeamName_Image001.jpg
6. Please keep to the format of the image below. We're gonna be a little bit more strict about presentation this time - each portrait should be portrait-aligned, like so, and the figure about as big as the one you see below. Full bodied figures, please.

And thanks so much to Zhanglu of Massive Black Shanghai who created to help get this contest get off to a great start!



Thanks, and Good Luck!

[jdeegz]

aye, we should do a practice character or somthing, i dunno ;x

[sketcheth]

Well I figured I'd do a bunch of thumbs for no reason since we have no brief yet!

[Mat Kaminski]

Woot, how interesting, definitely some usable in there!

If for anything else than for awesome... topic should be announced any moment now 0.o

[Mat Kaminski]

Topic has been announced, and here are some fast ref boards for you guys:

(Assorted artworks, let me know if you want any of the individual pieces, I claim no ownership)

[jdeegz]

So i had some time to think, well a lot of time, it is summer after all.
I did some horrible, i dont even know how you could even benefit from them, though i could, thumbnails.

I also wrote down a random word list, though far from complete. It was helpful in that it allowed me to get all of the junk in my brain down, and maybe see where we can go.

I also have a few questions/propsitions for the group as to a direction we could jump into.

1 )Does 'stereotype' mean the 'role' certain races/sexes play in the world of fantasy? IE- orcs: brain dead battle machines, or High Elves: annoying goody too-shoes.
so could we just reverse those, and have high evles be the gritty warmongers and that is breaking stereotype, just what does Dae mean?

2) Should our characters have somthing in common?
could all of the characters be of the same origin, IE all orcs from the mountains of hell
could all of the characters be of all the same race, though differ in motive and alignment
ect..

3)What if our 'fantasy world' was divided good/evil based on the characters sex. IE girls = evil witches, men = loyal and resilient.

4) What if we were to display the working class of our fantasy world rather than just the typical 'hero or heroine' - the unsung heros essentially.

5) what if we wrote astory of one hero, backed by five other 'working class' supporters.
If anyone has seen the movie 'A Knights Tale' with Heath Ledger, sort of like that.
We have one warrior/wizard what ever 'hero' and then we have the black smith / armouer, the care taker who looks after the animals, the physician, ect ect.

5b) how about two heros, one good, one evil, and then two side kicks/minions/workers.





yah, some some stuff, rambling on is good at this stage, but we do ONLY have ONE month so we need to get our direction down asap so we can start working on our illustrations!
-

[Mat Kaminski]

You make some great points... I would suggest though that we think about ways that we can unite an entire world together, for example:

In every city, there are both good and evil, intermingling in many different ways. I think if we were to somehow convey that through our backstory...

What I would also like to approach like jdeegz suggested, is the fact that not everyone should be a hero / heroine. I think in ours we should approach this on a different approach. Having a blacksmith type of character would be very interesting, as most people lump blacksmith's into just being shop owners and sword menders; I suggest we toss a character with actual character. Like say this blacksmith has another agenda, but just so happens to be a blacksmith as well. I mean, he may be bulky and all, but he could always smash some folks with that giant, crude-looking warhammer behind his counter. Or maybe he's on a quest to find some ultra-rare gem / mineral? I dunno, just some thoughts to get some backstory flowing...

I would suggest that we kinda start tossing character ideas / archetypes out there now. I've actually started to write a list of archetypes and will be submitting them soon. As of right now, I'm mainly in research mode for the next couple of days...

[jdeegz]

cool.


ill do some moar sketching and see what comes up!

[jdeegz]

so i was sort of rambling through this idea of having the working class, but at some point, whether it be at night time, when it rains, what ever, they transform into some other type of being.

so they are the greatest of blacksmiths and armorers, people cannot resist trading for their high quality prices, but are afraid of seeing the true side of the village. If you're caught in the village when the other side is showing, there is no going home. hahaaha

[sketcheth]

I love this discussion so far!

About the stereotypes and what you guys have been saying about them--
I think that's one way to approach stereotype, in terms of character and motive, i.e. the warrior-blacksmith. But the stereotypes we need to evolve our characters away from might be more simple. The blacksmith in is every story is a dirty, gruff, bulky man. Mat, with that movie you referenced "A Knight's Tale" the blacksmith character was female, thus breaking the stereotype.
That is what we should be pursuing. When you're contemplating a character, acknowledge the first thing that comes to mind and then do the exact opposite of that in every way.
Could the blacksmith be a child? Could the blacksmith be a neat freak? Could the blacksmith be a poet?
You might dismiss these ideas as implausible at first, but this is fantasy. So, while saying a child couldn't be a blacksmith because a child is too small and weak is perfectly fair, it creates more interesting avenues for creation when you think about this question:
What it would take for that character to work?

Specifically, jdeegz, I think your idea about reversing the typical gender roles is gold. We could come up with some awesome stuff this way.

Dae specifically mentioned making sure our characters were different races so I don't think we can make them all orcs or anything...and I think the point of the good/evil is that we take the same character and really throw them down two different paths. Like Molyneux's "Fable."
I think it'd be interesting to see how the characters might change physically, not just in clothing, but their actual bodies. Like someone might become really fat if they're evil or vice versa. Or they'll have extensive piercings/alterations/mutilations done to their body!

Fun stuff ahead, guys! And I dig the sketches! I'll be adding to this soon!

[sketcheth]

This is just a bunch of random things I saw today. Nothing follows any trend necessarily, but maybe we can grab things from it...

[jdeegz]

male succubus.... lol..

[Mat Kaminski]

One intiial thing we might have to consider before proceeding, is the old adage, location, location, location.

We'll have to sit down and discuss what kinds of areas we are creating for initially so that we have an idea of the clothing of each character, and perhaps the hairstyles, etc.

During our initial creative process, we should definitely consider the world as a whole (even though it will be a made-up world, we have to consider it as though it were a real world being created). Thusly, I suggest we make, if even a small area, of towns to consider, or caves, or forests, or mountains, etc.

Just a quick thought, I will add more productive things tomorrow: More reference, more ideas.

[Mat Kaminski]

male succubus.... lol..

This is also known as an incubus

[Mat Kaminski]

Alright, so here's some thoughts that I have...

The attached image is a proposed plan to try and get this stuff taken care of.

Hopefully we can make our best attempts to follow the tenative schedule. Of course, I understand, things happen, but lets make an attempt at least...

I would also suggest, that for the finals, we try to get all the portraits to fit in a 4x6" (1200 x 1800 px) size.

If possible, I would also propose that we do a 80 x 120 px "headshot" photo... this way we can use them for a thumbnail shot of each character. Just a thought at least, but it keeps it in line with the whole 'RPG game' aspect

Also, here's a quick brief of a possible character type:

Unflinching clergy, whom are neutral to all. This order roams the world purely to exact justice on all. Unbiased towards good or evil, these "clerics" are powerful and discreet. This order, being the largest in the east.
They care not for material possessions, thus only carry what they need. Most would not dare stand in the way of their target, as to oppose, would surely mean a swift death...
The order itself has the ability to scry on almost anyone on the planet, so they can search out exactly whom has wronged who.
Upon initiation, they shave you bald, castrate men and women, and force all initiates into one year of solitude. No contact from anyone, and just barely enough food to keep a child alive. The purpose is to "cleanse" the intiate into this new lifestyle. Most that make it through, end up being just sane enough to hold themselves together, but a majority of them end up sewing their mouths shut so that they may never express their opinion again...

You may not like it, but it was just a very very fast idea that I came up with last night... of course, the idea can be changed as much as needed, but it was just a thought that occured...

Hope to hear from you guys soon.

[Mat Kaminski]

Here's another concept I was working with:

Here goes another idea: Once a great swordsman <name> now travels the country side as a merchant, but more often than not, ends up being the savior in most cases. He has more than once had to fight off a goblin horde, maurading bandits, even a dragon once... He still tends to have much modesty when it comes down to talking of his exploits. Most people just see him as a helpless wandering merchant, so the evils tend to think him easy prey.
Loyalty runs deep with <name> though, so if he befriends you, you might as well consider him a friend for life!

Quotes:

"If money didn't exist, I guess I'd be out of a job... well out of one of 'em anyway."
"You don't have enough money for that? Well let's see... what do you have? ::looks over:: Well... we'll see what we can work out."
"Back before the war, things were different. You didn't have people gallavanting, trying to turn a buck offah everyone."


The opposite spectrum:

<name> knows nothing more than complete and unbiased greed. Everything can churn a profit, it's just a matter of how far someone will go to show it. There was one case where he sold the knives and arrows to a gang of bandits, only to head to the assaulted town and sell them armor and weaponry. He has learned early on that greed is the only way to true happiness in this world, so why not exploit to it's fullest?

Quotes:

"Everyone needs something, sometime!"
"Hell, I'd sell my mother if I knew the ugly b**** would sell!"
"Quit lookin' and start buyin'! I don't have time for browsers."

[Mat Kaminski]

Here's lots of thumbs for you guys too! If you like one, feel free to play with it :3

[jdeegz]

i like those a lot matte!
the 1st post, 2nd guy, with the face, is great. the first guy has a stiff appearance around the legs for some reason.

[jdeegz]

scribblers
dunno, just.. pooping onto my canvas.

[jdeegz]

lizard king

[Mat Kaminski]

I'm liking where this is headed...

Here's another from that clergy description above.

He's not a very nice person :3

[jdeegz]

looks more like a punk thief. haha

[Earendil]

I think we should not spend too much time on each individual sketch but just get the idea across. Let's just get ideas down so we can pick a direction and then we can solve problems with perspective/anatomy/lighting. Simple and clean.

I'm interested in exploring our earlier native american influence, so the question that I'm trying to answer in my thumbs/design is: What would Native American cultures look like if they had developed to the same level of tech/society as the Romans/Byzantines?

[sketcheth]

I just wanted to doodle some things based on some of my thumbs...kind of elaborate on them more I guess... I guess this is like a mage of some sort...a priestess...and a fat man. Brawler type fat man.
I'm posting up more rough thumbs later, I think?
Sorry Earendill if I'm getting too specific. I'll keep it loose from now on, I promise.

[jdeegz]

defining a face.

[Earendil]

Sketcheth I seem to have trouble following my own advice. Not happy, I cant' seem to get simple and clean yet into these drawings. When we're nearing the end of this phase, I'm going to put all of these images into one PSD file w/layers, so we can easily play with every thumb that was created, and start our chars/illo from there.

Muck. The scribbles say "Doesn't read!" and "ceremonial?" and "explore spiritual shapes!".