C.O.W. #231. Siberian Legacy - WIPs Thread

[ninety9]

really cool rynsworld, reminds me of the marsian lions that frazetta painted

[Barefoot]

RyNSWOrLD: You have some really nice color going in your entry right now. I would recommend going into grayscale mode and try to start rendering form using simple values. If not, try working with the colors that you have already established in your illustration and render out the form accordingly. Midtones are for sure key...try to get things looking as 3D as possible just using shadows and midtones then when you put the highlights the shyt will really pop. I did a quick paint over on your creatures face as I liked it a lot. Just something to give you a little motivation. Good luck man!

thanks for all the help, i really appreciate it, however, so far when it comes to starting out in black and white adding colour just doesn't seem to look right, so i was trying out starting with colour strait away.

[Barefoot]

really cool rynsworld, reminds me of the marsian lions that frazetta painted

thanks man

[Rob Powell]

Eclectix: neat design, starting to resembles the tiger slightly, perhaps with colour it'll be more obvious, but looks cool so far

Si_Swe: Mike is awesome without a doubt, that is one neat looking creature

ninety-9: cool initial thumbs, the head on the second one seems a bit too big though, making it too top heavy

Lege1: looking good, except for the legs, they look quite awkward, I feel like the head could use some extra details, so it isn't just a tiger head with 4 eyes...my approach variesdepending on my mood, usually I go in and add the values first but this time I added the colours and started rendering from there, mainly because I know what colours I'm going to use so it makes it easier...

GoldenSerpent: We have a winner already. Mike's work and yours are already making me miss pencils. I like the design of the second one but the pose of the first one. I'd also add a little more space pn the left, becuase it's head is creeping a little too close to the edge. Thnx for the advice as well, I fixed the cloaws a little, may need some more tweaking, though.

Dahlia: Mind the creature's weight on it's front legs, there are too straight and they are leaning back a little too much, take into consideration the center of gravity when putting your creature into a pose, unless it's floating or underwater, then the weight isn't as effected.

RyNSWOrLD: Nice design, would've been nice to see you combine the tiger with an alien creature as stated in the brief, however a rhinoceros-tiger ispretty cool, although it reminds me off Rodrigo Vega's creature design tutorial where he played around with a lion and rhino...then I notice you did a re-design, the design and the pose is looking better, the colours you added have some potential as well...let's see where this takes you...

InFlame: Nice initial design, is that coloured pencil?

sepu: I think it's far enough away from a generic tiger with wings for SI to be okay with. Kinda looks like a pidgeon from hell actually...I think it'd be cool if you add some thing to show scale as well...

Well, I'm feeling kinda iffy about this, I think I should add some more features to the design because other than the face it looks more mutated, than hybrid, was also thinking of adding some extra sketches of a tiger and the alien creature, but I don't know if I'll have time.

[Lege1]

Thanks Rob...I tore apart my creature and added / subtracted some things. Let me know if you feel something like this would work better. If any body else has any crits I would appreciate them =)

[RicoD]

Some fierce looking concepts again this week!

Probably won't be able to finish this week, but seeing if I can scrape some time left and right anyway. Still good experience I think ^^. Starting with the silhouette method first, to focus on shape. Nice way to find out that some things that might work in my head look really stupid once jotted down .

[ZenithDeLunaris]

All of my favorite ideas were so tiger-like, I mean if you are trying to save the creature from vanishing I'd figure you'd go for something at least similar to it when choosing the alien to cross it with. Anyway this is my first sketch, maybe I'll Figure out something a bit more wild to add in as I go.

[hekatoncheir]

I've never used a scanner before so this is my excuse for using it and posting up a sketch of my siberian legacy! (In hindsight, I should've used pen, but alas, next time).

Eclectix: well hello pretty pretty. I'd say the only thing to work on is to make sure he's actually standing on the ground. From the picture you can see that his limbs (mainly the first pair and then the last pair) are not placed on the same horizontal line (or perspective line). I would recommend drawing out some perspective lines.

Dahlia: That's such a sad creature fate... :<

Inflameleek design! But I'd rethink the hind feet. If you think about it, in lizard anatomy, their hind feet kind of hangs at a relaxed slant.

rynsworld: I actually really like that second design better... The pose is more dynamic and integrates alien and tiger parts better.

sepu: CAN I PET HIM? LET ME PET HIM? (I totally love the direction gurlfriend!)

rob powell: Very sweet design! I'm guessing all there is to this painting is to push your values (highlights and shadows) and spice up the background.

lege1: Hmm, I feel like it may be easier to redraw him on a separate piece to get his design more concrete. Because it still feels there's not much of a plan lower parts.

ricoD: I loveeeee your silhouettes! No.3, 4, and 6 are my favourites! well actually I'm in love with no.3, no pressure.

[sepu]

RicoD - I would try to cross mix some of the better looking parts of few from those shapes. some look interesting from the bottom some have nice legs.. mix them not many ppl make 6 legged ones so maybe try this.

v-lkry - if you will make bottom left creature turn its head and look at us in predator way it might have nice feeling, I love the body already.

and I was thinking about my tiger pigeon to be hand reared pest control thing anyway(size of an eagle or condor, RobPowell - I will do try to draw something beside it to show it later), so you can do this job in your free time - go pet him, he likes scratching under his beak

I think I'm trying to go in the direction of Si Swe suggested picture(that was very very inspiring), I guess for this reason Golden Serpent's creature is my fav so far

[InFlame]

Lege1: haha, yes, the name's related to the band, I really like their music! thanks for your suggestions. really appreciate it! you're right, finally I'll put in some digital highlights. my digital skills are not that good as my traditional but it's enough to mix it up in the end!
about your design: I agree with Rob. your creature looks good but the legs are a bit weird. better in your second design. the details on the creatures head make it look more alien-like. really nice. I'm curious to see how the finished design is.

Rob Powell: thanks, yes, it's colored pencil.
I really love your design! that's a fierce predator. Nice!

v-lkry: thanks for your suggestions. you also have some nice initial sketches so far!

RicoD: There are some cool silhouettes. nr. 6, 8 and 10 are my favourites.

[Barefoot]

RyNSWOrLD: Nice design, would've been nice to see you combine the tiger with an alien creature as stated in the brief, however a rhinoceros-tiger ispretty cool, although it reminds me off Rodrigo Vega's creature design tutorial where he played around with a lion and rhino...then I notice you did a re-design, the design and the pose is looking better, the colours you added have some potential as well...let's see where this takes you...

This happens every time I think I'm being original, lol
thanks for the feed back there mate, I have a full timetable this week, but I think I might do a re-redesign, not so keen on this latest one

[DanSchallock]

Sorry I haven't posted yet but I have been working on it. Here is my roughs in progress so far. I am going to start rushing to get it painted in time now.
-Dan

[warburton]

Hi folks,

Eclectix Cool initial idea, looks like an insect hybrid which could create some interesting results. Keep it up!

ninety9 Sketching is gooooooood. Helps with getting ideas on paper and generating new ones. Also its good for getting a sort of wire frame for your design before you begin blocking in values etc. The sketch is lookin cool, i prefer the top one. Hope to see it rendered!

golden serpent your pencils are just..... The design is also very cool. Nice one!

dahlia Interesting take on the topic. Keep working those values before adding any colour and remember that if theres a light source above the creature it'll create shadow below it. Look forward to seein it taken to finish.

rynsworld ive not read all your posts so not sure what your plans are with this design but it still has potential. You could take that tough rhino body, like plated armour and bring tiger elements like the strips and agile limbs. Taking inspiration from natures animals is cool but try to stay away from copying them. Rather than having two literal halfs to two existing creatures you could try and merge your ideas into one creature as a whole. Not really sure if this makes any sense lol but i hope it helps either way. Keep up the hard work dude

inflame coloured pencil? w0000t, thats awesome lol. Its back leg looks abit arkward and it would be cool to see some sort of surface beneath it so its not floating, part from that i hope to see it in the finals

sepu So much pencils goin on here, its awesome to see. You've got some nice skills here, i think theres a few areas of its anatomy which could use some work though. The wings look abit bizarre, especially its right one which appears to be bigger than the left and folded in a different position and its left leg which seems to be to far away from its right leg. That bein said i love the head and its expession, would be cool to see you take this further

rob powell Lookin prity beasty, i would'nt want to mess with that thing lol. I would perhaps look at introducing a light source, doesnt have to be a strong one but something which can help you introduce more values to your creature. Also i'm not sure how i feel about that blue background, it seems to be competing with your design. Perhaps consider desaturating it abit and darken it slightly to pop your creature forward. Finally, kinda obvious one but try to drop a surface for it to stand on so that its not floating on your canvas. Keep pushin bro, lookin forward to seeing it in the finals

lege1 Robs got some valid points, its cool that your pushin your design so hard. I think your composition looks a little odd and thats perhaps due to some perspective issues. The environment seems to almost slope while your creature in not, try to keep the horizon line consistant through the environment. Also dont think you have to render every bit of detail to polish in your design. Having sharp and soft edges is what makes focal points and beter initial reads. It looks to me that your taking small details abit at a time and rendering them individually with how you believe the values to be, (sorry if im wrong) this is making your creature look too busy and is throwing off your values.


Hope you don't mind but heres a quick example of what i mean. By detailing little individual bits there are too many extreeme light and darks so try and work on your forms as a whole and keep you values middle key. My paint over was very quick and by no means perfect but all ive done is taken out the extreeme values on the face and taken out all that white. (Try to avoid white, its an easy way to throw off your values.) Sorry for the long crit =/ hope it helps regardless. You have some awesome design skills, just keep practicing those fundementals and i'm sure you'll do just fine

RicoD Great silhouttes, love the variety here. I'm personally liking 3, kinda reminds of some dragon hybrid or omega weapon from the final fantasy series.

zenithdelunaris Cool sketch, bit early to crit, perhaps just watch its legs, they look abit arkward. Other than that keep pushin dude

v-lkry Awesome sketches, bottom left looks like a beast! Would love to see you find the time to take one of these further.

Still needs loads more work, head looks prity stupid but i'll keep pushin. Crits welcome of course

[Thole]

So this is what I felt like doing when I read the description Not sure if it fits the criteria so I won't post it in the finals thread.

[InFlame]

logistic puppet: thank you! your design looks neat. are this hands on the back of the creature? looking interesting. reminds me on a gorilla somehow...

update

[Dahlia]

I like all the new entries! I don't really have time to critique, but
RicoD- those little thumbnails are a really good idea.
V-lkry- I like your sketches. Nice lines.
DanSchallock- cool design, but for some reason I like the pose rough better than the final.
logistic puppet- interesting concept, but the arms sticking out of its butt just seem kinda random to me.
Zenith- good start. Looking forward to more.
Thole- That's seriously tragic, but I like it!
InFlame- Coming along nicely! And I agree, awesome band.
Rob Powell- looks good. I would try to see if you could vary the color a bit though, like picking some different colors for the shadows instead of just darkening the same color
Lege- The legs are a bit confusing now. Does he have 3 or 4?

Well, on my part the motherboard of my computer melted and I lost a bunch of my artwork, including this. Se la vie.

[ninety9]

Looks great Thole, it fits the brief but since the tiger shouldn´t be the 99%-main-component you could add some more alien-stuff and then post it in finals?
however i really like the approach and that´s what came to my mind at first also: to show a pityful creature that was left over after all the genetic alteration...! very intensive piece.

[sepu]

scanned, patched up, and getting it cleaned/fixed. work is now easy so I should be able to finish it on time. still will fix some anatomical problems(head, legs, and feet) probably with photoshop liquify ..

so for now tiger pigeon from hell:

[Lege1]

v-lkry: Yeah man, I am thinking about starting over from scratch, like sketching the creature up with pencil like I see a lot of others doing and then scanning it in and attacking with color from there. What do you think? Thanx for the crit for sure bro =)

InFlame: For sure bro, Inflames is RAGE! I have all their albums and love the music something serious. Glad there’s another InFlames fan out there for sure =) I am glad you’re liking those alien details…I am def thinking about just starting this one over from scratch……back to the drawing board =)

Logistic Puppet: Thanks a lot for taking the time to put that crit out man and I am going to take as much as I can from it and see if I can just get this thing together finally. I wish more people would come as hard on the crits as you did and the paint over works great man, that is a great way to get your point across always =) Thanks again, going back to the drawing board with this for sure.

Dahlia: I think I got lost in my design =( Gonna have to take this one back to the drawing board for sure….I don’t even know what’s going on anymore…

[sepu]

[Dranyer]

here are my roughs, i'm leaning pretty heavily toward #2.

[Lege1]

Dranyer: Really awesome prototypes man and I am really liking #2

[LMP]

Howdy all,

This will be my first time posting something in CoW, got a real late start on it.

Went a little out there with the design, hopefully he'll start to look more alienish and less like a bug. Another all nighter and i can wrap this one up and submit it

[Scimthar]

I'm still pretty wonky at digital painting, but what do you guys think? It's supposed to be a snake/moth/butterfly/tiger creature.

[monotony]

Hey. I really like the topic and had to make one entry today too. saw the topic way too late.
And since I won't have time to work on it tomorrow as well it's pretty much done. I will try and make time for some comments though.
great works so far guys!!

[ZenithDeLunaris]

After refining what I had, I started doodling over it with some ideas to make it more alien.
So it came down to spikes, quills, crests, frill, or side frills.
I'm kind of partial to the spikes but the frills seemed cool too,
though if I go for the frills I might make them more like the ones anoles have under their chins and less like a fish fin.
If anyone has an opinion on which is better I'd love the input.

[Zimzibar]

Probably won't have enough time for this but here are some rough sketches

[InFlame]

ah, I'm out! didn't have the time to get my piece finished... xD maybe next round!

[RicoD]

Awesome submissions so far people!
Sepu, Rob Powel, Thole, Dranyer, LMP: those are sick!
v-lkry: part of me wishes you did the pet version (it's the part that wants to pet kittens and puppies) ^^
Zimzibar: love the sketches, very diverse, but a tad safe perhaps?
DanSchallock, ZenithDeLunaris: I like how you did variation on the same theme, very nice!

I did an ortho instead of an illustration this week. Not sure if it meets the criteria, but it was borderline anyway. I mixed 3 and 6, but came to something rather safe again (very tiger-like and spikes ... just missing the wings now):

[Si_Swe]

30 minutes to poll!