ChoW # 222 :: Steampunk Superhero

[Seablossom]

Hi all!

Reworked proportions, played with color... my eyes are crossing. lol.

[Supervlieg]

excellent work in this thread. You guys make me want to work harder!

Pixeltuner: Great work so far, but you might wanna check the oval shapes of her machines, the perspective looks off.

Here my progress, not sure if I will make it in time, but lets see!

[Pixeltuner]

Small update. Fixed shoulder, some texturework.

Supervlieg: Yeah, you're right but I only noticed it after flipping the image, should do that more often :/

[ilmenhin]

Tawnos, I guess, you can still work on a newer pose whether or not there's a deadline, just for yourself and us.

karatina, I quite like the colours. I'm thinking those flying cogs look too uniform? Maybe have some at different angles?

TSonline, hope you do finish it, I like what you have so far!

ActonArt, Cogs look great, hope you get new batteries soon so we can see more progress.

Reginanegra, liking how he's coming along. The rendering on his helmet is looking good.

Tahrinya, oh that looks more dynamic; that clockwork parrt looks nice! Your colour choices are coming along nicely.

naaaq, nice concept designs for your hero! I really like the dude at the bottom left, because the flapping scarf makes him stand out. Plus, he's got a huge-ass weapon.

IIKII, I remember watching Steamboy- those were fun times! I Nice hero- what exactly does he do?

Seablossom, oh that's no good, but I hope you get better quickly! Maybe bests not to overwork yourself so you can have 100% to work on the entry. XD proportions are looking much better and the rendering on her wings is beautiful.

Koh, your character is looking great too!

Mincx, she's looking really sexy with that hourglass figure- so yes the shoulders look good. I think her head is still a little big but doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

LJS, nice concepts! XD He does need more stuff on his feet~

buffichar, your hero is looking cool. Maybe give her a little more hips there? and actually tapering the middle of her raised arm slightly? It currently looks like she has no elbow. o.o

snootchy, uwooh wish I could paint like you. lunch doodle

artiphats, ah, very superhero-like.

MittyMandi, why not?

alexson, I think she needs a bit more hair volume on the right of her face. Everything else looks good.

Pixeltuner, :o gorgeousss.

Mat Kaminski, hope to see more when you go further.

Paolo13, omg, she's looking pretty awesome with the exposed parts (haha, that sounds dirty).

Urötskidoji, the one you're thinking of going with looks the best. The first looks like some hula-hooping action is going on. XD; Anyway, I'd probably suggest cropping the left and right to narrow onto Wheeler?

Supervlieg, looking sweet! Great to see a hero saving someone here.

-------

I was going to post my embarrassing art earlier but I thought I'd work on it more. Here's what I have so far:





Her superhero ability is to be able to emit light. She used to glow all over, but now with her channeling gloves she can work out trails of light from her fingertips. She can blind people with flashes of light. I was going to work on some contraption onto her boots, but I'm going to need more references to work out something that looks cool.

I'm not good with superhero names, by the way.

[ianthegeek]

I will finish this one if it kills me!!!

[JanJager]

ilmenhin
Beautiful.
Pixeltuner
Great. Perhaps her right arm is a bit hard to read at this stage.
Supervlieg
Nice creature and outfit.Very much steam punk superhero. I know its a wip but mind the perspective on his knees.
Seablossom
Nice take on the subject.
alexson
I like the colours and overall look.
reginanegra'
Very nice. I like the mystic Cyclops steam punk look. Looking forward to see you render it out a bit more.
Smolin
Perfect steam punk Superhero. Perhaps the outfit could reflect more colours from the surrounding.
snootchy
Great character.
ianthegeek
Awesome guy

Sorry for not critting all. So many mind bogging entries.

[Lucyohlucy]

Whooaaaa great work people!

LJS - i always wanted to be able to design weapons and gear like that! it looks promising!

snootchy - i like it very much! But theres not enough steampunk in it imho

alexson - sweet!

Pixeltuner - holy smokes! (literally) Love it!

Paolo13 - nice job so far

Supervlieg - looking good! I'd like to see more enthusiasm on her face She is being rescued, i'd be happy if i was her

ilmenhin - love your work so far. So clean.

ianthegeek - i like it!

JanJager - haha love the outfit!


I've been working on mine too so heres my wip

[Tahrinya]

LucyohLucy, I love yours so much. It's just gorgeous.

[LJS]

Lucyohlucy: Watch out on her head. It's about 30% too big, and give her more neck, she'll look even more goergous
Good work!

[IIKII]

I haven't think of her name yet but she is a thief that is mistaken as a superhero when she went to steal some stuffs and have to fight off some other bad guys because they were after the same things. Some people saw that and thought that she is the hero.



Using texture brushes, adding overlay gradients, adjusting curves and contrast.

[snootchy]

ilmenhin: thanks, but I think you paint much better than i do, i just put bs on the canvas haha, really like the goggles and the pose, the body is a bit twisted much but looks good overall, looking forward to seeing ur sketch pushed further!

JanJager: thnx, u have such a cool way of capturing a playful aspect to the chow's, i dig the way u captured the forms and expression flows well!

Lucyohlucy: thnx for the crit, i agree actually i haven't even started to think about all the little gadgets etc, but thanx will definitely work on pushing those elements further! cool update, I think there are still issues with the anatomy, i agree with what LJS had mentioned, woman tend to have longer necks than men cuz of the smaller trapezius muscles

pixeltuner: wicked update, luving the color scheme! yea sijun rocks! once in a while the greats like sparth and vyle will post, too bad haven't seen the great mullins (aka spooge demon) post anything lately or since i joined =( but of all the forums i've learned the most from that thread and now here to refine and push speedpaints to more finished sketches!

small update, legs are bit wonky still haven't figured out what kind of design will go for with the pants or the pose...

[dVargas]

cool topic! lots of great, inspiring pics so far! here is my start.

:d

[lach-land]

Most kooky first though....

Once Captain Ogilvy of the Royal Fusiliers until shattered by cannon fire
- he is now......
Monkey King!!!
protector of the British empire's opium trade in the orient

Utilising the great apes phenomenal strength, aided and enhanced by the latest technological developments.

Hes a detachable head!- so a touch of frankenstein.
A bit like all those mounted trophy heads too.
I gave him a sculptural helmet- to protect the human head in a fight/when he's crashing through walls etc.

Far left is the escape mechanism- a balloon with props (stowed in the back mounted power unit), carrying the head and its vital life support equipment..

The little clockwork monkey is there to attend to things out of reach.

Sort of wondered whether he should have antenna to recieve beamed energy to power him- like a Tesla thing- a twist on the whole frankenstein idea.

(I guess for an arctic assignment he might have a polar bears body...etc)

Gave the Captain Ogilvy big sideburns- (buggers handgrips as they say).

[LJS]

trying to find something here

[Jaunay]

In the land of Williard things are quiet and calm, the town are happy and recovering after the junkwars. Williard has taken role of the town superhero, he uses his powers of mechanical regeneration to help the towns people achieve their goals, and he finds it quiet pleasing.

Willard lost his legs during the junkwars, but fortunately for him his special ability has enabled him to control any metal that has had contact with his blood. Also being an avid engineer he has been able to create a range of prototype bodies for himself, and would interchange them depending on the situation.

If in dire circumstances he can choose to expel his blood onto objects around him to create new mechanical prosthetics. But in his current peaceful predicament his favourite pass time to to escort the children around to the town to school and play.

---

Williard is a name in the works. I want it to start with a W at least. S:

[lancer_idenoure]

i actually started this as something else, but it got very steampunky along the way. not sure if it looks much like a superhero but i though id post it anyway. whaddya think?

haa this is reeaaaally different than everyone elses. good stuff so far guys

[Niva.]

Hmmm... I made some minor updates, got rid of the energy glare since that probably added the most sci fi element. Added some gauges and cleaned it up a bit.

I might actually be done, don't know how much time I'll have before the deadline to work more. Wish I could've done better but I'm actually happy with this becuse I used a completely different workflow than usual and the result stands out from my other works.

[witcrack]

Page 5 already? Wow, you guys work real fast here! I'm still reading about steampunk, 'cuz to be honest, I was a little vague about it and still am!

well anyway, here's my update: very minor , gotta make my mind up ASAP. I have an idea on how he can step on the orbs and jump to help his mobility, because he's a scout type superhero, so I think it's only logical to have a super motoric ability as well... arh, I think I have to figure out how to say these right. Hope the picture can tell it better:

I think I'll go with the "flying" pose to finish.

Can't comment/crit right now. I will try though, perhaps at the end of the night. But in all, you guys all ROCK!

[NetherVoid]

Holy cow, so many great entries! Here is a WIP of what I am doing.

[LovelyMe]

Hi all! I'm loving a lot of what I'm seeing so far. I can't wait for the finals to see how everyone completes their work I've attempted two of the past challenges in private and have decided this will be the first that I'll try and share =X I hope I have time to finish, I'm planning to go full mode the next three days to get it done for finals.

I'm not sure if I'm attaching properly since this is my first post on here, so please forgive me if I've done messed up somehow o_O

[Tawnos]

Did a reposition now, still don't have the feeling to have full control over the tablet, but thats sth yet to come, hopefully...

Colours are going to come on the weekend, if I find a timeslot for that, because I have to read through some colouring tuts first, I have no idea of digital painting
Plus, I need to find a way to show more of the apparatures on his back, maybe in just make them bigger and giving him a more bowed posture....
anyway, here is it:

[ActonArt]

Awesome work so far guys.

Threw on some colour... Her right leg is totally screwy... :-\

[Mincx]

Haven't done a lot more but here's where I left it last night, and added some boot designs this morning. I'm thinking the lace ones, they fit the superhero/victorian theme more.

[ilmenhin]

ianthegeek, that arm looks fantastic. If you're going to get killed, I hope you have someone to resurrect you after! D:

JanJager, that colour scheme is awesome! It makes him look more approachable.

Lucyohlucy, thanks, I dig your work so far. Nice colours, and that brush you're using really adds up to the steampunk atmosphere. I agree with LJS on giving her just a little more neck.

IIKII, haha, I like her backstory. Pretty cool looking gizmos too on her back.

snootchy, thanks, you're too kind, but it's not true. I like how your update has more flow and movement. What about pinstripe patterns for the pants and couple of brass buttons? I don't know.

dVargas, good start so far. Might want to fix up his right hand in the next update? His hand doesn't look right on his wrist.


lach-land, those sketches look cool! For a moment I actually thought the guy's head was Abraham Lincoln's. XD;; That clockwork monkey is neat. Very useful for a hero like the Monkey King.

LJS, nice sketches, hope you will find what you were looking for.

Jaunay, mechanical regeneration- that's a great idea. Mr W looks good so far, and very interesting.

lancer_idenoure, it could work with a brighter colour scheme so he doesn't look as menacing?

Niva., that makes me think of the Witchblade comic cover. Cool layout. She looks like she can take out a whole army of evil robots.

witcrack, you caught up pretty fast. Your character concept so far doesn't betray the fact you are still vague on the genre. Can't wait to see how your flying hero will look.

NetherVoid, looking funky so far. More, more!

LovelyMe, sharing is caring. Your hero looks cute.

Tawnos, perhaps making the apparatus bigger will show more if you don't intend to change his pose. Otherwise, an angled pose will be good.

ActonArt, nice colours there. I guess her right leg looks screwy at the moment because you haven't quit rendered it yet. Might turn out fine after you put in the shadows and highlights.

Mincx, that girl is looking fine. Lace will be sexy on her!

[JaneMag]

Mr. Doggytail so far:

Many details may still be changed, including his face - he looks more like a lion than a dog.

I have two big problems so far:
1 - there's no superhero feel about this design
2 - The colorscheme bothers me

SIGH

[Kippemon]

Theres some really cool characters here, wouldn't want to be a badguy in whatever world these fellows hang.

Don't really have time for this now.. But I want to try on a non-cartoony one too! A bit out of the comfort zone but still

Anyway, the cartoony one is turning out something like this

[Urötskidoji]

lach-land, Wow, that must be one of the most awesome things I´ve ever seen
I love the fact that he´s just a head and can detach. Perhaps he has several motorised bodies he can switch between?

Jaunay, Love your idea of the backstory and the char! Junkwars, sounds cool! Lets have one.

[Grumbleputty]

First, my progress on Big Ben so far:




I need to add some machinery, paint the villain, and maybe add some cowering laborers in the background. My idea is that Big Ben roams the industrial areas of London by night, punishing factory bosses who use child laborers (which, I found in my research, was a terrible and common reality in victorian mills and factories).

Ok, now some crits and reactions. I'm sorry I can't offer reactions to everyone's work- there's just too much, and it's all so fantastic!

Supervlieg: Fantastic, but I think you're missing an opportunity with your damsel- her hair and clothes look like she's stationary, while the guy carrying her is rocketing upwards. A long dress or long hair could really increase the sense of motion.

Pixeltuner: I'm so frickin' jealous of you right now!

ilmenhin: Nightglow looks great- very nice pattern choices in your materials.

ianthegeek: Fantastic- I always enjoy seeing your work. You might be able to sell the "steampunkiness" even more with some ornate and unnecessary brass trim on the arm plates.

janjager: Cool, clever design- looks more villainous than heroic, which might be something to play up even further. A very original take on steampunk.

Lucyohlucy: Gorgeous- my only criticism is that some of the steampunk elements look kind of stuck on, especially on her hat. Maybe you could find some ways to integrate them into her outfit a bit more. But again, beautiful!

IIkII: terrific, and a nice and suprising color choice for her outfit (it's not a color you usually associate with steampunk, which I think is refreshing. Watch her backpack- it gets a bit lost in the background mechanical stuff, so it's hard to say where she ends and the background begins.

lach-land: Holy crap that's great! I love the dirigible-harness!

Sorry, that's where I ran out of steam (plus, I really should get to work before one of my bosses comes by!). I appreciate, and desperately need, any crits or suggestions you can offer.

[IDP]

Here's an update on my efforts so far. Now renamed The Iron Hawk (thanks to Smolin for giving me the idea for the name).

Really love all the back stories that people are coming up with for their heroes. So many imaginative pieces.

Just realized how much work I've still got to do designing and painting his wings. Think I might go away and cry.

[ShehZ]

Progress on Commander..

Keep up the good work guys! Cant wait to see more