Chow 178 :: VOTING :: Hallowe’en special: Universal monsters

[Tommoy]

Back on track.

[Blaise]

I'll throw it in for consideration, but if it's cut I understand.

Blaise
Concept Art
Characters
Horror
Photoshop

[Saleem]

Love chow
heres mine wish i could spend more time
link to wips.http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...=172193&page=5

[daestwen]

NO ENTRIES PAST THIS POINT.

If you made a mistake with your entry (ie didn't attach, post wips, etc) you're going to be cut! If you edit your post to get rid of mistakes please pm me so i don't miss it! thanks~

we have 62 entries, so there will be a minimum of 12 cuts made today, so don't feel too bad if you don't make it in! it's a tough round this week.

[magnut]

I know I'm late by minutes posting this, but it sure doesn't help that your site (at 20 minutes before 5pm EST) crawls and operates like molasses.

Oh well. Here's my post. It was fun, and I'll do what I can to be a half-day early next time.

My WIP:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...&postcount=357

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...&postcount=364

[Aly Fell]

OK. First off, GREAT ROUND!

However it was incredibly busy. We are limited to 50 entries as usual so there have to be cuts. These are for the usual reasons:

SUPERMICHAELMAN - Off brief.

Undeadartist - No WIPs

MEMPER - No WIPs

lake - not attached / named incorrectly

Incorrect naming convention:

Artofinca
Dashinvaine
Aag
barata
badassm


And:

Tibi Tirconicu - Sorry, love the mood, but it doesn't read, as the face is almost hidden and for a character piece we need to see features.

[MEMPER]

wait, in the final image you want the WIP's attached? I did change my whole composition, but I did post a WIP in the progress section. Dont know the rules regarding big changes like mine...

[Clockwork Bunny]

wow loads of amazing entries this week - doubt I'll make any votes, but at least I wasn't cut this round

I limited myself to 5 votes for this
Adam Schumpert- love the energy and the detail on the monster and bride, theres a lot of feeling there too

Master Pete- the modern Frankenstein's Monster, complete with tattoo's and headphones, the mood and detail are great!

Missile - the bride looks sorrowful and beautiful

Lewis - I love the expression on the were wolfs face.

Bluefooted - love the delicate image and the tenderness the werewolf has for the woman in the picture.



Vineris - cheers for the input, I made changes to the fabric of the dress. Thank you for taking the time to feed back

[Nev87]

I didn't manage to get any done this time. I'll post one yet, but I really really enjoyed all the submissions. Pitty Dashinvaine's entry was cut, i absolutely loved it.

It made this decision very difficult, but in the end I couldn't get over jbellio's Bride of Frankenstein. I love the dress, the figure, the pose, the stitching, but most of all i love the horrified expression on the face.

Great work everyone!

[Nev87]

I didn't manage to get any done this time. I'll post one yet, but I really really enjoyed all the submissions. Pitty Dashinvaine's entry was cut, i absolutely loved it.

It made this decision very difficult, but in the end I couldn't get over jbellio's Bride of Frankenstein. I love the dress, the figure, the pose, the stitching, but most of all i love the horrified expression on the face.

Great work everyone!

[aag]

[QUOTE]

Incorrect naming convention:
Aag

is there anyway to keep the original file name once you upload to the CA albums without it renaming it user pic?

[AhChu]

Holy cow, the entries for this chow are so wicked, alas I did not get around to finishing but it was awesome watching your guys progress. Congrats to you all for some kick ass stuff

[TheDirtSyndicate]

great round guys
i usually limit myself to only 3 votes, but this time i had to do 4

my votes:
#1 - bluefooted: beautiful piece. my favorite overall. just gorgeous work all around.

#2a - Leo Listens
#2b - Markito
i couldn't make up my mind, i love them both so much, the unexpected-ness of markito's design, and the quirkiness of leolistens... just couldn't decide

#3 for me was Blaise
i just love the face, the colors used, composition... it all comes together to give a more "fine art" feel than "concept art" feel

awesome round.

[Lake]

Ffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Undeadartist]

gah! damn it to hell well next time ill be sure to make sure i got my wips.

[Lake]

Advanced warning - Right... I've just done a preliminary check on naming conventions, works in progress, attached images etc, and there are 13 here who need to have a look again at their submissions.

It would help if we knew who we were and why

[Cyr]

Five votes: Blaise, Wizo, TheDirtSyndicate, Antne and Shojo.

What I wanted to see in depictions of "monsters" was a sense of imminent danger, that the character wasn't just posing for a portrait, but was in motion, or about to spring into motion, and that the viewer himself might be the target of that motion.

Antne's Creature From The Black Lagoon provides a good example of this. While it wasn't technically the best Creature in the poll, the other Creatures were either static or moving towards the sides of the frame. Antne's Creature is coming straight towards the viewer. (!)

I liked Wizo's choice of a more impressionistic style for the Wolfman; it reminded me of some of Leroy Neiman's horseracing paintings.

Two submissions I especially liked but did not vote for, because they lacked that sense of "monsterousness" and danger, were Jbellio's Bride and bluefooted's Wolfman.

And, just for the record... [grumpy]Quasimodo is NOT a monster! If there's a "monster" in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it would be Claude Frollo.[/grumpy]

[{CKL}]

The rules are always located in nice bold words at the bottom of every brief. If you're going to take the time to do the work, make sure you take the time to follow the guidelines. The onus is on the poster not the mod. It keeps things running smoothly for those who donate their own time to moderate these things. Thems tha' breaks.

Nice round, I checked off a bit more than I expected.

[TheDirtSyndicate]

Five votes: Blaise, Wizo, TheDirtSyndicate, Antne and Shojo.
What I wanted to see in depictions of "monsters" was a sense of imminent danger, that the character wasn't just posing for a portrait

hmm... i see what you mean... a monster who's just ripped his own arm off and is about to beat you to death with it does have a sense of "imminent danger"
ha, thanks for the vote!

[Pixeltuner]

Voted for:

Adam Schmumpert: Lovely redesign. Nice colours, compo and mood. Background needs work though.
Jason Snair: Oozes the B-Horror atmosphere. Love the fishiness of the character.
Bluefooted: Never saw a more tender wolfman, really delicate.

Special remark on Burntsienna's piece: Your wolfman looks a bit too much like Wolverine for my sake. Just add some claws and it's him. Nice illu though

[Aly Fell]

It would help if we knew who we were and why

Do I need to tell you? When you have read the instructions through, and read the reminders I or Daestwen post every week you shouldn't need to be told, because you will of course have followed the instructions to the letter, checked your entry before you post and therefore not be cut. We're not here to babysit. When you enter ANY competition, even if it's for fun like this, you read the instructions and follow the rules.

I'm sorry if you feel hard done by, but please READ THE RULES, and if you do, and we get more than 50 entries, the ONLY reason you will be cut is based on quality, finish, and that alone.

On another note: We are still working on the 'only 50' entries issue. Right now it's unavoidable, but after ChOW 200 we hope to be revising the process anyway.

Thank you.

[kelly x]

I voted for the one's that read the best at this size, an instant read that would make me want to see the movie and be interested in the cast.
As far as submitting and getting cut, I've been there, I broke the 3/4 rule on my first CHOW by cropping tight, now I read all comments, rules and still get half of the stuff wrong and have to go in and edit my submission about three times. When you submit things to clients, contests, or magazines... the people in charge are not half as nice as our CHOW non-paid, professionals. I thank them for their hard work, and many hours put into running this
Half the reason for CHOW is learning the process of submission, the second half is creating a character that reads well instantly. The back grounds should at the most be a second thought or an rough concept compared to how the character is designed and is associated to the over all theme.
Don't ever give up, read the rules, and focus on the character. Most clients want to see a full view including feet, some kind of personality and make sure you work out anatomy issues to the best of your abilities. Every body did a good job and for those of you that may have been cut, take an objective look and see where you can do better on your next try, DON'T EVER EVER GIVE UP!!!!!

[kelly x]

Oh yeah, if I'm wrong about any of this or if anyone has anything helpful to add please correct me and/or add some things I may have left out please... always learning.

[Undeadartist]

totally spaced on the wips just kinda went and just killed off the painting sorry for the incorrect entry Posh and Daest.

[Artofinca]

bah i posted in so many chows and forgot to name the file for this one...
and yes great round

[Clockwork Bunny]

shame you didnt make it Artofinca, I loved your piece.

[Rambozo]

Bluefooted : brilliant.
LeoListens : diggin' the numbered body parts. The invisible man was a bit of a cheap trick though hehehe

[Nerahla]

Because I am trying to avoid doing my own prep work on a personal illo, I'm going to give a crit to everyone in the poll. Or maybe just a backscratch. In any event, here goes:

Adam Schumpert I loved this immediately and got that it was frankenstein and his bride, however, I feel the background isn't lost enough, and fights too much with the foreground characters and it's also kind of hard to even read what the hell that is back there. All that being said, that Frankenstein is actually hot enough to want to shag, so well done! VOTED

Blaise I love this guy, he looks like a big wise Odin, kind-hearted Frankenstein. However, I didn't vote because you really skirted the 3/4 rule and half the painting is just some red pantbrushing, tsk tsk on the shortcuts :p

Burntsienna Looks too much like Wolverine, so I didn't feel like it was original enough. I did like the faded enlarged pic of him as the BG and the feel and comp of the piece works, just honestly, too much like Wolverine

Clockwork Bunny Great pose and that cloth looks like you worked a whole lot on it, nice color on the cloth. It's really just a rendering issue at this point, learning your brushstrokes and colors/values. Wasn't as polished as some, it's hard in a big CHOW like this, however your ideation was solid.

Formic Acid Thought the Floating Jedi Bride of Frankenstein just wasn't moving me. Also, just a piece of advice, horizontal comps suck for CHOW and almost always get lost in the mass of the poll.

Grimwood Possibly the only one that disturbed me, but more because I just plain didn't know what it was. Which ideation was it? Dracula perhaps? The fact that I have to guess is likely the problem here, and the boneyBoner. Just some odd choices.

Hideyoshi Cool pose, cool creature. Too much black.

Irrlaeufer Is this a mash up? Mummy and Bride of F? Also if you're going to put a background element like a window like that, make sure to render it out, otherwise it looks sloppeh.

JBellio Lovely! Great colors, nice dress great expression and a very solid reproduction of the brief and what it called for. The only crit I'd say is there is a little TOO much purple, other than that, it's gorg. VOTED

LordM Just, too dark overall. Good leaping pose though.

Markito Awesome Creature from the Black Lagoon! I love creature concepts, very cool, good colors and nice BG for effect. VOTED

Masterpete I did crack a smile at this, but to be perfectly honest I thought it too far away from the original brief and unbelievable. I suppose I'm not a HUGE fan of comedic horror villians. So chalk it up to taste then. Only crit would be too much use of black.

Missile Very pretty and well drawn, but the color variety here is lacking - which could be a choice but comparatively it just ends up kind of boring. Sorry! I know how that sounds but honestly I have the same problem.

Ruri This one just sort of flew over my head. Sorry for missing the point

TerminalFears Female Dracula? Not sure. Blocky sort of drawing and lack of color variety in the painting. Read up on this: http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm

Wizo Interesting! Not my cup of tea, but you clearly know how to build up a skeletal structure and draw the eye with color.

arttorney I think B&W, while understandable in the context of the brief, didn't help you in the poll. I think her forehead might be a little too bulbous but hell it's the bride of frankenstein, I mean, who cares?

LewisLiked this one. Very black but it's not just a picture of a character, its a full blown illustration. Very interesting comp and I like looking at it, VOTED

JailHouseRock I wish I could have seen this colored, I think it only suffers from a lack of clear values - as it's too light to really have much impact for the subject matter. That's an interesting choice actually. ArtDeco Monsters

ArthurTwoSheds Interesting choice! I think Quasimodo has to be one of the more tragic monsters. I think I would have liked it more if Esmerelda wasn't looking like such a tramp and he didn't look so much like SleepCreep *cough*

Auren Cool idea, love those comic book hips! haha I think the use of black overshadows the cool drawing and concept though.

Diissar Very posh dracula. Almost voted for this one, I think you can go back to it and punch up your focal points with some more saturation to increase interest.

Ostrander Shit. I missed this in the poll because of the shitty way CHOW shows these things and BAD ME for not looking at the big ones first. I would SO have voted for this. If it was only a vertical comp, people might have seen it and what an awesome kick ass drawing this really is. Daest, Posh, can you add my vote?

TheDirtSyndicateNo. Fuck U. VOTED <fucking loved it>

Vineris Aww they are so cute! Very cool designs just not my own personal cup of tea, good graphic/card designs though! Very pro looking.

BlackCherry Phantom as a phantom? You obeyed all the rules regarding values and light/dark and everything but for some reason this just didn't speak to me - perhaps the busy-ness of his shirt, the rose the cloak folds, it's all so much right in the center of the comp that it sort of overwhelms the eye too much and you just can't stick around.

Random Stranger Nice mood, ouch on the collarbones. Really just a rendering issue here - skin doesn't look that plastic and smooth, even if they're dead. Especially if they're dead... err reanimated.

ChemX This is a great design unfortunately it's so incredibly dark that it's nearly impossible to read. I have a calibrated apple cinema display, so it's not my monitor, either. Less black, more win.

LeoListens Very cool and simple designs. Humorous wolfman and invisible man. Would have liked to see them bigger in the poll version, but this kind of spartan design I generally don't go for. Still, well done nonetheless. Just a personal taste thing really.

Reymus I think the fact that the two creatures seem outlined and cut out of the scene detracts from this piece a lot. Brown also isn't a good shadow color for a whole entire piece.

JasonSnair Holy shit you really learned a lot from the portfolio review week, dude. This is FUCKING AWESOME. You Win Chow this week. At least for me. GORGEOUS. VOTED

Tommoy Too black The entire left half, while possible to see, is shrouded in such inky darkness it makes it... difficult to keep interest.

dwinbotp I love me some phantom, great dynamic scene here, not just a character portrait, my eye is moved around so well by the color and movement, I don't notice (until later) the shoulder anatomy is off VOTED

Summey29693 Midtone galore, blacks for shadows, virtually no lights. Otherwise, cool scene.

Ashton To be honest I'm not really sure this entirely handles the brief, but... interesting nonetheless. Not sure those color dodged highlights coming down fom the top of the tent are doing much for the piece.

Gerezon Cool Frankenstein! Love the pumpkin shirt, I think the user of rimlight is a little heavy here and it detracted from it all, making him seem a cut out instead of placed anywhere.

MattB Midtones again! However, you did listen to all those crits this last week during the portfolio review and lots less black here, lookin very good. Lack of highlights and punching the focal area/details I think is what makes this not work as well as it could have.

OddBoy Cool drawing and design, too much black and pure saturation with the colors. No highlights. You could have really punched up the specularity on the skin here.

Pahavasa Too dark again. Are the back of his coattails like, weapons? I don't think coats act like that

Saleem Cool design on the cloak. Possibly too bright and yellow though. Too contrasted I think, this could be a neat image with some better handling of color/value.

thebee I really don't see what this has to do with the brief at all. However that being said, it's very artistic. Definitely get more of a fine art feel from this than a character brief or illustration.

Wiggers Very very cool, great comp smooth rendering. Perhaps less black/dark red and more color variation could be used to some effect here but overall I really like it. VOTED

Antne Was this watercolor? That just occurred to me. It's very neat but I have to try very hard to actually look at it and see what it is in its entirety. That just means it's difficult to read because of your use of value.

Bluefooted Beautiful, tender. I like your style of artwork because I've never seen anything like it, so while it's definitely more fine art and stylized, it still does everything it's supposed to do, and that makes it even MORE awesome. VOTED.

Gautham Too much dark value here.

Kmadden2004 Too much black! I'm a broken record.

Randis You know, even though you rendered your ass off, and it's totally apparent that you have monster kick ass skils... <I erased my kind of hard assed crit> and instead I will say, this is totally freakin rockin. Great anatomy and rendering. VOTED

Shogo Yes I know it's simplistic. That's why I like it. It's got IMPACT. In fact, I really liked it. VOTED.

KellyX This so reminded me of Posh, the pose and style haha I think the back thigh is a little thin but hell she's cobbled together, we can all just apologize that away! Love her hair and great comp. VOTED.

last one can't read the name heh monster metal band. Drums are too bright I think, they kind of make you only look at them, and not see any of the monters, unfortunately.


Okay holy shit that's done. Sorry, I crit harsh. You can all beat me up the next time I enter CHOW.

[OddBoy]

Thank you for the critique Nerahla. I really wanted to added some highlights and give him that kind of wet/slimy look but time was running out so I had to settle with what I had. Coloring isn't my strong suit but I'll get better with practice.

Thedirtysyndicate got my vote. The style is very appealing to me and I love the design. Way to be!

[Clockwork Bunny]

Thank you Nerahla,
I'm self taught so the different brushes and techniques are all a bit alien to me there aren;t many GIMP tutorials on the net either sadly

I'll keep working on it