Chow 183 :: The Dragon's Egg

[Absorber]

Hi guys,

Here is my first wip
I worked a bit to long on the environment. Could better be working on my character design.

But the light is determined. She will be a girl from 12/13 years old. A bit childish and maybe even dressed up as a pirate.

I'll be working a bit more on the concept but I'm quite happy with the pose, angle and light


Please critique if you have any!

[PxelSlayer]

"I think I`ll go asian with this one, might be a new approach".

FAIL.

"Floating egg...surely NOBODY thought of that one! "

FAIL.

Meh...who cares? I get to play with some lighting!

Bed...must...sleep..CC...later...*yawn*

[Gaius]

Cool topic

A start:

[Katanasoul]

@elmasfeo: Interesting style... It looks like she can use magic.

@Absorber: I think this is fine as long as it shows! (And it really does.) I like it a lot even by now, just make sure she´s not falling!

@Pxelslayer: You´re right: Who cares? It looks good, if you didn´t do something because someone else did it before you, you could even stop doing anything. I like it, keep working!

@Gaius: She is so cute! Will you make the egg egg-shaped later on? Because if you didn´t think of that yourself, I would suggest leaving it that way. It looks cool!

I don´t know what to doooo... Q___Q
Any suggestions? I feel like it´s kinda borring...

[jspangler]

I think people are obsessing too much over everything being a "new" approach in their concept. Here's the thing... dragons have been done before. Many, many, many times. And they more or less fall into the Eastern or Western category. So "going Asian" is about as obvious as "going European" on this one.

But this isn't a COW of dragons... it's a CHOW involving a dragon's egg and a teenage girl. I think the challenge is in coming up with a convincing character within the given parameters.

For me I was thinking Asian girl and Asian dragon from my first post. Some very talented artists already had similar ideas before and after me but that doesn't change what I am doing. When this many artists all work on the same task there are going to be similarities.

Like Shannagan already said "Great minds, great minds..."

[NinoCencini]

well these are just some ideas, i'm kinda late for that, but whatever..

please tell me which one you like the best.. i'm probably going with number 2 or 4.. (:

[grenogs]

Ah, awesome! There are so few CHOW events focusing on my area of illustration (children's book/young adult) so this is extra cool as a potential portfolio piece. ^^

I'll have to work on some sketches later today...

I'll second you on this one, the only problem i see on this one though is the fact that it is such an open brief,(unlike most real book illustration commissions) it could become more hassle than it should normaly

[Sentinel.]

An image immediately sprang to mind when I read the topic, unfortunately I can't use it for chow because of the 3/4 rule. I made a quick little sketch anyway and maybe I'll use it for another painting later



Here's a close up of my current wip I'm trying to give her a "hmm, what is that?" kind of expression... We'll see if I can pull off everything I want to do with this one

[shannanigan]

She will be a girl from 12/13 years old. A bit childish and maybe even dressed up as a pirate.

I say say YAY to the Pirate costume...

Shannanigan: I like what you have so far, your lineart is very clean and crisp. One thing though: The expression on the girl's face looks a bit 'sleepy', probably because of the eyelids. If you raise or remove them (I'm not sure which one would work best) she will get that expression of fear or surprise you were going for.

You may be right... they were higher but I lowered them. What I think it may be is their shape, probably needs to be a simple arch instead. I'll have to try a couple things. Thanks!

[shannanigan]

"I think I`ll go asian with this one, might be a new approach".

FAIL.

"Floating egg...surely NOBODY thought of that one! "

FAIL.

Meh...who cares? I get to play with some lighting!

Bed...must...sleep..CC...later...*yawn*

I think you should add an angry mother dragon in the background.

[Viridis]

Nice ideas, everybody. A few comments:

gdlr- Even young girls can have some chest. Usually not big, but at least noticeable. You don't want her to look like a hermaphrodite.

kittens- I really like your character design! Very cool and spunky.

Monika Gruszka - Damn, I was thinking of doing a modern setting, dumpster and all. I may have to change my idea, or go back to my original thought...

MisterE - good setting, and you've got little girl proportions but her face is all adult, and honestly looks very creepy because of it. Double-check kids' proportions. Their faces are especially weird. Just removing some of those wrinkle-like lines will make her look younger though.

[Kailaan]

First thought on it. Although its more of a chicken egg right now than a dragon egg.
Gonna try keeping it more illustrative less painterly.

[jspangler]

OK... since so much emphasis seems to be on avoiding similarities... my Asian dragon is now an ice dragon and my setting is Arctic.

Let me guess... Ice Dragons are sooooooooo five minutes ago, right?

[Aly Fell]

We've had this 'idea similarity' thing before in ChOW. Don't get hung up on it. If the theme lends itself to inevitable coincidences it doesn't matter. Everybody's images will be different anyway. Don't beat yourself up if your character is Asian and so is someone else's, and if you want to do a floating egg do it!

[DauDau]

Floating eggs in a pickles jar. Lots of them. Full of tiny dragons. Belonging in a store, that sells.... I think my mind is on overdrive.

I really like this round.

[jspangler]

Floating eggs in a pickles jar. Lots of them. Full of tiny dragons. Belonging in a store, that sells.... I think my mind is on overdrive.

I really like this round.

Ooooooo... what about a pickle dragon? And the eggs that come out are pickled as well? I bet nobody has ever done a pickle dragon.

Wonder why?

[Delmar]

So many cool pieces already !!

Here is my sketch from today.......really psyched to get into chow again

[Absorber]

Thanks for all the comments !
I'm very busy these days. got barely time for the painting so I'm very sorry but I can't comment on all of the wip's here.

I'll try to pull out some good tips near the end

I'll update asap

[Parcel-Sisters]

jspangler: Any kind of dragon is old news, really. But hey, if bellbottoms and spandex can come and go in style, so can ice dragons (and big-ass mukluks)!

[Viridis]

Ooooooo... what about a pickle dragon? And the eggs that come out are pickled as well? I bet nobody has ever done a pickle dragon.

Wonder why?

Maybe not pickle dragons, but there are some cool candy, pastry and chocolate dragons out there.

[Mark Tarrisse]

Hey Sentinel, Adrian and I are just in total admiration in front of that portrait, WE LOVE YOU !
AND THIS TIME PLEASE FINISH IT !

[Adrian Wilkins]

Aaah sentinel marry me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;__;

[jspangler]

Sentinel - you have an amazing talent. That girls literally breathes... can't wait to see your finished piece.

Any advice on brushes, technique, etc you care to pass my way would be greatly appreciated. Do you use reference for your people or have you simply learned to render them that well without needing to reference photos?

[Dan!]

here we go again- stilll working on things- good starts all

[Sketchtastrophe]

Katanasoul - It looks like the dragon just hatched. But the top of the shell looks quite evenly broken and where's the top gone? I think adding some pieces of egg shell peppered on her legs and/or around her feet might be nice.

[Sentinel.]

Mark, Adrian - Thanks guys, I promise I'll finish this time!! XD

jspangler - I use a pretty basic brush set in PS, with one or two custom brushes thrown into the mix. One of my faves (and the one I've used the most in this drawing) I actually got from m@ - http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=73169 ... It's called softchisel 1. It's an oval brush with really nice blending properties.

As far as rendering goes, on her I haven't used reference yet. But it's informed by previous practice and the mental library I've been building up, and I can't recommend drawing from life enough. I've been taking a figure drawing class the last few months and it's already helped me by leaps and bounds. When it comes to the rest of the elements, I'll more than likely find some references to make sure I get it right, like embroidery and textile folds, etc, even if I'm not going to follow them exactly. I use reference more for inspiration and little details than anything else I hope that helps!

I have to get going to my figure drawing class now, otherwise I would yap forever haha. I'll set some time aside this week to comment some more, but keep up the awesome work everyone!

[AndreRuben]

quickies

i guess ill go trough with the one in the right

[fersteger]

Some quick thumbnails mostly for color. I like the giant egg one on the right. Going to try and get a sketch going from that I think...

Nice starts for everyone!

[jspangler]

Still in the rough stage moving stuff around. Yes. those are walrus tusks on the Ice Dragon.

What?

[Stinger88]

K..I'm in...

Loads of great looking entries so far!

Here's mine so far.

Decided to try a a graphic novel art style. Also I want to study semi transparent materials.

I started out with the intention of having the Faerie semi nude. Then I read the brief again and realised that this is to be aimed at young adults for a book cover...So, I will cover her up a bit more to protect innocent eyes.

I'll also be thinking about a backdrop that shows off the transparency of the wings a bit better and creating a better headband design to suit the backstory... whatever that might be.

C&C welcome.

EDIT: I will be trying to make her look younger as well