CHow#249 :: Warrior Alice

[hekatoncheir]

Heh, here's my wip for alice, took a while to post up here.

I can't keep track of the entries, but I'm typing up a crit and posting it later, when my computer problems are resolved.

I love a lot of the entries, especially daniorr's!

[Csumlin]

I always stumble with the coloring, not the biggest fan

[Mistermike]

Decided to start again, but kept certain aspects of my original design, hopefully i will get this finished in time, but the standard is so high on here that it makes me doubt that i will

[PS Zant]

Man! so many nice entries here. Cant wait to see the finals.

I decided to start and made a first sketch. So many problems pld: hope I can overcome them any pointers would be nice.

Alice and the cat got into a fight

[Quinn Simoes]

changed mine up a little bit.

[electric_sandal]

Thanks for all the critique. hopefully this fixes some issues. there are still quite a few things I'm fixing. I haven't really been working on it. got job stuff occupying time. Love how everyone's is looking!

[Lostcookie]

I gotta be honest. I'm sick of of the big tits, babydoll, bare midriff, big gun/sword thing for every single female character. It's played out, and frankly a little childish, especially when the possibilities are limitless. But it's so pervasive throughout the who sci-fi/fantasy genres that I can see where artists feel like they have to go down that road every single time they're tasked with designing a female character. I mean, I like boobs and ass as much as the next man, but this is a design challenge, is it not? It seems like male characters always get a more diverse array of designs. Although, there are more rippling man abs, giant pecs and square jaws than there probably should be. But I'm certainly guilty of all these things myself.

I will be honest, when doing this task I felt a bit the same, but ended up doing that very kind of design. I don't normally draw women, and don't know what people find appealing about them, so really the only reference I have to "attractive" women is what I'm shown by the public as I have 0 intrest in them.

However, I think that there being an array of male character designs is false. The majority look like Sheperd from mass effect. White male with slight stubble. People are begining to notice;however, being that the majority of gamers are male they probably are not looking at the sex appeal. Which means they arn't looking for certain things that tick their boxes, or any kind of uniqueness that suits their fancy. And a good example : http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y50...3923304565.jpg

I think the industry is just lacking in some real diversity at the moment. And at the end of the day, it's up to us to change that i guess..

[PS Zant]

They keep coming in. So many nice entries, inspirational. Note to self: I need to practice a lot.

Quinn: I really like your entry it has some kind of feel to it.

small update.

[SuadK]

so I decided to start from scratch, since my last Alice didnt remind of Alice very much
this is what ive done for today, and I really hope that Ill have time to finish it!
pls comment, all crit is good crit

[Narko]

Todays update.
Fixed the left arm, reworked the clothing.
Think I need to tweak the legs a bit.
Thinking about the materials and local colors now.
Reworkd the cat and made smaller. playing around with texture ideas.
Added some basic BG ideas. Probably just keep it very simple with stylised shapes.
Added in some quick lighting ideas.

[Gadbury]

LostCookie - Funny pic in that link, but I wouldn't really put left 4 dead in there, especially the second game anyway I think has some pretty unique lead characters which go almost directly against the usual stereotype characters. I imagine playing characters like Shepherd from Mass Effect must be appealing to the majority of players or they wouldn't have that look so common in games.

[Ironbyte]

Started tightening up the rendering on the clothes and armour, then lots to do on her skin and boots.

Just to say thanks for all the comments and crits, really helpful . Have some time tomorrow to post more back.

Quinn Simoes - really like the look of the new one.

Hellfire - Sweet rendering, your cat and rabbit look psychotic, I'd just run.

Revidescent - thanks, have lots of rendering to work on, went with bigger brushes, cheers. Love your lighting, be great to see how it turns out.

[Gadbury]

I remember when Snake was shown for the first time with Metal Gear Solid 4 with grey hair and a mustache, I thought he looked like a total badass but loads of people were like 'oh man he's just some old git'. Its probably the creativity of the majority of consumers lacking than the game artists in a lot of cases

[Dcritelli]

I remember when Snake was shown for the first time with Metal Gear Solid 4 with grey hair and a mustache, I thought he looked like a total badass but loads of people were like 'oh man he's just some old git'. Its probably the creativity of the majority of consumers lacking than the game artists in a lot of cases

Yup, I always thought they kept designs generic for psychological reasons. Players like to project themselves onto the hero and it's easier if the character is young and generic. It's the same reason the main character doesn't have spoken dialog in a lot of games. Unfortunately, people that don't think like that get bored with it pretty quickly.

*edit* Found this minutes after my last post http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/117/1177659p1.html

[Kahel]

Hey guys! Some comments for some of the more recent entries.

Hellfire - Thanks! Yours is turning out quite awesomely. Great job on the rendering, I especially love the cat.

GEB - Really digging this one. Nice work on the armor, she's got a lot of personality as well.

Narko - Yay welcome! I'd say you're off to a good start.

DecayingLolita - It's got a nice mood to it and I think the shade of blue you picked really works for this design.

Gezzunder - Alice on a rampage! Clever idea, though, I'm not sure if someone already mentioned it, but you might want to rethink your composition a bit. You don't see much of the character and it would be a pity if that would later cost you a spot on the poll. I'm not sure if this could count though, but it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

Helltroll and Jamesbiff - Better late than never. Here's to us and finishing on time

Rob Powell - Looks great so far. I especially love the details on her bow.

daniorrr - She's looking a little bit french maid but I love the idea of loading her up with guns.

Dreoilin - Sounds like it's gonna be pretty cool.

Rachel Pierce - This is awesome! Clever concept, and I'm loving the details you've put in so far. I'd keep the tree though, it reinforces the scale. Though it's a bit too soon to tell, the body language of the people at her feet don't look too concerned about her.

Physicalpariah - Nice, I like how her determination reads through quite well. At the moment though I think she still looks young enough to be a child.

elhero - Loving this one as well. She's definitely giving off the proud warrior vibe.

Smolin - Nice work on the details.

Revidescent - Good catch, thank you! I knew something felt off with the arm, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. I've tweaked a bit and hopefully now it looks more natural. And I totally agree, when I started I didn't have anything specific for Alice in mind and so it wound up a bit more on the generic side. Still thinking it over.
Yours is looking pretty great by the way. Doesn't read marching band to me, but somehow I got a Chinese pirate vibe. Must be the sword, I'm not really sure.

Black Tea - Welcome to Chow! You're off to a good start. I'd have to agree with Revisescent though, there's something a bit off with the position of her left leg. It seems like the heel doesn't align too well to the rest of her leg.

Partisan - Lol, I agree, and everyone seems to love the cat as well.

gloombunny - This one's coming out really nice. I love how the cat's expression is such a contrast to her more vicious one. He seems like an awfully fun fighting companion to have.

Paolo13 - Very nice, as always. I especially find the cat references very witty. Great details on the armor as well.

Mr. Gadbury - Loving the outfit, very unique and creative.


Aaand a tiny bit of an update. Making very very slow progress with this one, boo. Reworked the outfit entirely. With the initial sketch I wanted to give her a more street fighter vibe but then I suppose this one's a bit more on the fantasy side. Maaaybe, just a tiny bit.

[jenny7332]

@Quinn Simoes Looks great, there's a lot of movement in your painting.

@Hellfire I love the way you've drawn the cat and rabbit! Great posing as well.
The chainsaw's ace. I think you could take Alice's outfit to another level though
right now it doesn't hold up to the cat and rabbit.

@Revidescent The composition and lighting are looking awesome. I like that she's in
battle, though she still looks a bit young with the clothing and hair style

I'm stumped for what to do with the background...


Originally I wanted her to have a skinned Cheshire cat as a hood and cape, but that
made no sense... so now it's a flamingo.

[Jager]

Nice work, lots of great characters.

Mr. Gadbury Fantastic costume! really like the rendering and the details too.

Paolo13 Love your works, you nailed the warrior look in this one. Maybe it’s just me or does she look a bit bald on the left side of her head? add some more hair?

Revidescent Very nice composition and coloring, looking forward to see next progress.

here´s my wip . Patient showing severe delusions since early childhood.

[Schnookiefoo]

Just needa tweak some stuff and then off to inking this mess.

[SuadK]

quick update

[Mistermike]

completely need to revise the lighting on alice but still, getting there slowly but surely. Any critiques very welcome

[dVargas]

Great topic, some nice entries so far! Mr.Gadbury, Jager and JoshBuzee - very inspiring!

I'm havin a go at this one, got some thumbs and sketches in today...





:d

[Paolo13]

almost done...getting quite sick of this one...lol...THANKS FOR ALL THE FEED BACK!!! Ciao

[Box Face Jones]

Ah! I gotta hussle! Some blocking and face stuff. Everyone is looking great!

@Paolo13 Love the armor design!

[dragon4lunch]

Narko Her chest looks awkward. I'd reduce the size by 50%. What do you think?

Jager: Looks great! Tons of atmosphere and mood. Great hair.

[Smolin]

JoshBuzzee: I'm excited to see yours. I love the style & that you gave her the traditional headband.

Jager: Awesome.

Gloombunny: Loving yours, particularly because she looks like Alice.

Elhero: Looking great. I dig how you worked in the smock-thing that Alice usually has, but made it very subtle.

dothaithanh: Love the design, almost like an Elven Alice.

There are a bunch of other really excellent pieces coming along, too. But while painted and designed beautifully, some entries are missing the mark for me because they could be anyone. Isn't part of the point to create visual cues about who the character is?

Anyway, now that I've shot my mouth off to my betters , let me present my steaming pile. I got some more done in fits & starts today, adding in some vague background and doing a first pass on rendering.

[Lostcookie]

LostCookie - Funny pic in that link, but I wouldn't really put left 4 dead in there, especially the second game anyway I think has some pretty unique lead characters which go almost directly against the usual stereotype characters. I imagine playing characters like Shepherd from Mass Effect must be appealing to the majority of players or they wouldn't have that look so common in games.

Yeah, I didn't put the complation together, it was on a forum to begin with, and I'd hardly put any of Valve's characters in a lump with any catagory as their more "real characters " (left4dead, Halflife) are def more sound as humans more than anything. I especially love Alyx's design, as she seems very well fitted into her environment. But on that same note, how come "white stubble guy" is the one we most identify with? I'm def not a white stubble guy, and don't really relate to them.

The main point I was trying to make with that post was that male character's designs are not much more, if any more, unique than female character designs.

Sex sells, and so does fantasy. Not everyone likes huge titties, but at the same time, not everyone want's to be white stubble guy, but it sells, so that's whats going to be made. And for the rest of us, there's just no choice.

Just a bit of counter pointing what jrbarker had said.

Anyway, I should stop derailing yo. Probably wont get to finish my Alice picture in time anyway 'A'

[elhero]

Made some good progress today on my color render. I think its all downhill from here on out (i hope)



@Partisan, hope it helped!

@Hellfire, who's Brom? glad you like it thus far. once again, your color treatment is dope, look at that girls knees! perfect!

@Rinibee, im itching to see how it comes out. you've got the most dynamic pose out of everyone thus far.

@jrbarker, really good criticism, definitely agree, next time i'll work harder to break the cliche, and go for something really dynamic!

@daniorr, sick night vision . all she sees is hearts.

@rob powell and @gezzunder, heres the color, what do you think? feedback?

@smolin, glad you dig it thanks

@box face jones, holy crap, that looks awesome.

[steve pete]

Update.

Feedback appreciated.

[daniorrr]

tadaaa, im done!
Thanks for the feedback guys! im kinda rushing with some work now so im sorry i cant give much comments.

[Physicalpariah]

Almost done with the values as I'm running out of time.
Going to do a couple passes in colour soon.