Chow 200 :: The MONARCH of CHOW

[ArtByManon]

lalilulelo - I absolutely adore the crown. Are you going to emphasize it so it's a focal point?
bnoch - wow…just wow…
ninjacat11 - it's coming along. i like the color scheme. she's looking kind of skeletal, though.
soupandbutter - i like both!
rgeorge - I hadn't even thought of the music of the Sirens! awesome concept!

Here is my latest "progress". I use the term loosely because I feel like I take a step forward and two steps back. I reworked the crown to go for more silver/chrome, I think the gold was overkill. Thoughts?

I like the silver idea - but at the moment it looks like its white plastic, rather than chrome or silvery. These kinds of reflective metals are rarely so white - they have alot of other colours in them. If you do some googling, you'd easily find some ref (chrome pieces on harley bikes etc) or silver candlesticks etc...

LOVE the pose...

[vertebra]

Bnoch, you stole my beard! heh, but I'm not ready to unvail mine... yet..

nice one. the cigarette needs some smoke.

[goldilockz]

I like the silver idea - but at the moment it looks like its white plastic, rather than chrome or silvery. These kinds of reflective metals are rarely so white - they have alot of other colours in them. If you do some googling, you'd easily find some ref (chrome pieces on harley bikes etc) or silver candlesticks etc...

LOVE the pose...

Thanks! I definitely agree that the crown needs more work. Will be googling like mad tonight and might even take photos of my own motorcycle's pipes for ref...

[Quinn Simoes]

Bnoch Nice work!


Here's an update on my king, and a some progress on his queen.

[Aly Fell]

Quinn Simoes - You have some lovely rendering going on, but have a look at the foreshortening on the kings arm and leg. Right now it's not working. I suggest putting more of an angle on the forearm, bring the wrist in to the body and the elbow slightly out.

[UCT]

Quinn simons - grim & briliant!

[Chicklet]

Excellent Quinniford! Needs some more blood and gore though

[goldilockz]

A little more progress, and a close up of her crown and choker. Crits please! I'm about sick of the crown LOL!

Tomorrow... I start on the dress *dun dun dunnnnnnnn*

[Astrobiology]

goldilockz - I would say the crown does indeed look like chrome now, but I still think there is a little too much white. Maybe just darken it up a bit, but the added reflection colors look nice. Also, might I ask, what are the paddle shaped prongs on her crown? I feel like they are supposed to by symbolizing something music-y but it is falling short on me (and therefore perhaps others, also).

[goldilockz]

goldilockz - I would say the crown does indeed look like chrome now, but I still think there is a little too much white. Maybe just darken it up a bit, but the added reflection colors look nice. Also, might I ask, what are the paddle shaped prongs on her crown? I feel like they are supposed to by symbolizing something music-y but it is falling short on me (and therefore perhaps others, also).

Thanks! The paddle shaped parts will be guitar handle/stems... eventually!

[Quinn Simoes]

Aly Fell Thanks Aly, I will definitely give that a try. The foreshortening on his arm and leg have giving me trouble from the beginning.

Cheers!

[vineris]

The Queen of Country Goth

[Saiya-chan]

Such beautiful idea's and wip's everyone.

A little bit of a short post (sorry) later this evening i'll post some more.

my wip

(still need to add alot, skirt of the dress and all)

My first idea is to make a Queen of Classical music featuring a big Cello case as her throne (with some other instruments), and a violin bow as her sceptre etc.

Some other idea that I had was a Queen of ballade songs and music with hair so long and fair that it is spun in to a harp.

Another one. A old king with a huge beard that is becoming one with a piano. His beard hair has become the snares inside the piano.

and some scribbles I made in the train few days ago:
http://www.saiya-chan-com.nl02.membe...20sketch01.jpg
http://www.saiya-chan-com.nl02.membe...20sketch02.jpg
http://www.saiya-chan-com.nl02.membe...20sketch03.jpg

[ArtByManon]

Thanks! The paddle shaped parts will be guitar handle/stems... eventually!

Its looking really good - but yes, just a tteeny bit darker! I'm having to do a commission at the moment and the thing i'm drawing is a white laquer weapon (kind of like those white android glossy looking things, but with hard edges and flat sides) - and I can't find ANY reference fo things like that and its driving me NUTS!!!

[monkeysills]

Slow progress...hard part's done though...I think. Experimenting on the hair.
Any tips? Time to go to bed.

P.S. I hate drawing noses. I think the one on there now is number 5. Ugh.

[Pixeltuner]

fuck, just got diagnosed with a fine case of kidney-stones last night. Pretty painful and the side-effects of the medicines are all also sweet.. :/ Still hope to get some more work done this weekend, everyone's cracking here and I don't wanna be left behind.

[Dan!]

beelow- thanks-looking good you have a great way of translating personality into your characters eyes
goldiloks- thanks for the comment- i like what you have done with her dress the legs felt clumsy in the first iteration she feels more stable and grounded now
sakuranym-thanks!- beautiful rendering - nice and clean I like the hooves- I agree about the blue drops they are not reading so well
bnoch- very nice set you have going- smoldering atmosphere- i almost feel as if the character is being sold by all the extra stuff in the scene however.
quinn simoes- loving the darkness and texture you are establishing- will you be putting them together in the same space?
saiya chan- great lines!! digging those shoes.
no87-shes not feeling like a monarch to me- maybe someone who is playing monarch- which could be intentional like the boy from "where the wild things are". Nice texture though and very believable face.
SoupandButter- i like the fun take on the ideas
Pinback- Coooool style- reminds me of some graphic novel art or something from heavy metal
tetrodotoxin- interesting idea- IMO I would try and make the technology more present and maybe more outlandish as she is glitch/glitchhop
Sholly- love the gold and red- he could have a bit more flourish to his outfit though.
JanJager- wild stuff- cant wait to see where you go with it.
Reymus-your trio makes me want to have a whiskey
Lalilulelo- im liking this dudes style- I liked the more dynamic pose the first time around though.
Mykro- His pose feels like hes neither of the two things a hip hop monarch would be- stoic or in your face-IMO
Multi crab- go go nice lines- watch her left hand though.
QueenGwenevere- epic dress- cant wait to see it fleshed out.
vibhas virwani- cool idea- very natural feeling as well.
Icemoon- i want that chair
refshaufscheik-nice rich colors cant wait to see where it is now
Leolistens- nice iconic feel to the piece- i feel like you could play with the angle of our view to make him appear larger than life
Pixeltuner- ouch get well man
ally fell- Jessibean- can't wait im sure you two will be dropping some gems on us as usual.
anyone i missed i didnt mean to.
To all - this is a great round in the making- yet another fantastic comp.

[ArtByManon]

Slow progress...hard part's done though...I think. Experimenting on the hair.
Any tips? Time to go to bed.

P.S. I hate drawing noses. I think the one on there now is number 5. Ugh.

Tip for faces and 'tricky' areas (apart from lots of practice) - try not to look at it as a nose, just look at it as shapes. Good tricks for this are to try drawing a face upside down (if you are drawing from a photo), so your brain no longer 'recognizes' the face and just looks at the shapes. Thats why things like faces (or things we recognize really easily) are SO hard, because we are having to fight with what our brain is filling in that is there, and what is ACTUALLY there. Our eyes don't generally see everything all the time, apparently we are filling in alot of what we see with memory or what the brain thinks it sees (hence people seeing jesus in pieces of pizza etc).

Good work and i can see it coming on (nose is maybe a little too turned up compared to the rest of the face, its definitely a nose though...) ps - don't hesitate to use reference.

[Demo]

I think Ill join in on this Ill also be doing Glitch Hop/ or something of the similar

[artina]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I've participated in CHOW. I couldn't pass up this opportunity. The are some awesome entries so far. Here is my WIP and the Final (so to speak). Crits and comments are welcome. Good luck to everyone.

[lissinator]

Hey guys, starting coloring my queen today. I was wondering if I did the background successfully enough to make it look like a "set" on a stage...if not I could use some suggestions.

Also struggling with the colors of her dress. I wasn't sure if it looked right or not.

[BahadirBaris]

Bnoch - Both of them are amazing! In my opinion first one is looking better. Its view angle is great. Especially i like character's action and mood.

no87 - I think, excepting her left arm her body looks smaller.

Saiya-chan - It's looking good. I like how you use musical things as accessories.

lissinator - Background idea is looking good. Maybe you can use some spot light to make it more effective.




...and here is latest version of mine:

[monkeysills]

Tip for faces and 'tricky' areas (apart from lots of practice) - try not to look at it as a nose, just look at it as shapes. Good tricks for this are to try drawing a face upside down (if you are drawing from a photo), so your brain no longer 'recognizes' the face and just looks at the shapes. Thats why things like faces (or things we recognize really easily) are SO hard, because we are having to fight with what our brain is filling in that is there, and what is ACTUALLY there. Our eyes don't generally see everything all the time, apparently we are filling in alot of what we see with memory or what the brain thinks it sees (hence people seeing jesus in pieces of pizza etc).

Good work and i can see it coming on (nose is maybe a little too turned up compared to the rest of the face, its definitely a nose though...) ps - don't hesitate to use reference.

ArtByManon : Thanks for the tips. I'll have to try that sometime. And believe me, I am not afraid of reference. I use it like crazy! I'm just not experienced enough to do anatomy without it.

[Lalilulelo]

A little bit closer.

[ManaBurn]

I recognize a few of you. Been a while. Good work everyone. I stayed away from the thread once I read what the subject was to keep fresh. Aside from a tuning fork type thing going on with the sword I steered a lot farther from any actual imagery involving musical instruments and what not. I kind of just wanted to take a char and think so what would the king of all metal look like in some kind of crazy heavy metal animated movie type way. I guess I'll see how it pans out in the end. Somehow I fried a laptop in the process and had to take the hard drive out and attach it to a reader to get my work and my software back. Like breaking a thousand dollar pencil. Whatever, here's the teaser stuff I guess.

[orangus]

here's some progress, just blocking in colors, bg is too bright i guess, struggling to get some cool tattoos and designs which has a metal look, so thats next.. and more...

[Dorkthrone]

Some more progress on my progressive rock piece. Also, I'm starting work on a post-rock character. He's not very ornately dressed, but I can't really think of a way for his costume to look more ornate without keeping it in line with the genre's trappings.

[Mercuralis]

So many awesome entries, and still not sure if I'll have time to finish this.

I'm happy with the overall concept, I'm just having a hard time trying to figure out how to get across the "King" aspect of this.

[AimBiZ]

Cool stuff though Mercuralis! The cool dark colors make me think of Satyricon by some reason.
Unsure myself about the king aspect but right now he looks too modern I think, or rather he doesn't really show any kind of heritage. Being a king I guess he should represent his bloodline somehow.
Perhaps adding some ancient acessoiries that tells a story would do the trick, like old golden bracelets or something.

Decided to give this competition a shot. My theme would be "the queen of goa" which would resemble all kinds of trance music, mostly goa nd psy-trane then.
I gathered refs of the Hindu gods, indian culture and clothing and carnivals from india, brazil and I also the masks they wear at carnivals in venice.

I will base my final image on this sketch, I also made some thumbs. Would very much like to hear your thoughts about the design as I'm not too sure about some elements myself.

[Dan!]

Aimbiz- I love the energy of the top left sketch-maybe if you coupled it with the accessories of the main sketch?