C.O.W. #247. Asymmetrical Insectoid - VOTING!

[Si_Swe]

Round 247: Voting!

Topic: Asymmetrical Insectoid

Deadline for voting: Feb. 16th

Round Requirements (Read BEFORE Voting):

- The creature must be asymmetrical if one were to look at it straight on and/or from above

- The creature must be insectoid (Insectoid, in this case meaning: sharing the qualities which we associate with insects, in particular, it should be an arthropod)

[ToddBushman]

Artist: ToddBushman

Concept: Sidewinder


The sidewinder has evolved from a normal flying insect to a side-flying insect. It needed its sense of smell more horizontally than vertically, so it evolved into having its wings on the side in order to orient its smell receptors on the left and right instead of top and bottom. Its prey are low flying insects, having the smell receptors on the left and right gives it greater ability to know where its prey is.

It lost one its front limbs in order to accommodate the wings, but it has learned to use the one main limb for holding its prey while eating.

--This is my first COW, thanks for the feedback and all the great inspirations!

[Rob Powell]

Artist: Rob Powell

Concept: Asymmetrical Tree Crab

This slow-moving crab-like creature spends most of it's adult life in the trees. It uses it's large claw to stablize itself while it uses its legs to navigate itself through the branches. It feeds primarily on plants and lichens, but may gorge itself on bird egg and the occasional bird if it can catch one. It's body is full of sharp spines and irritating fur-like bristles. For additional defense it uses a sharp barb at the end of it's tail, that secretes a chemical that will cause hallucinogenic deluisions. Some tribes will extract the poison from the crab to use for ceremonial rituals and more often recreation. This could also coincide with the crab's bizarre appearance making it seem even more horrific when the individual is under the influence.

[JaapOomen]

Artist: JaapOomen

Concept: ”Gladiator Bug”

These Gladiator bugs are from a small planet far from earth, they live in tribes like the early humans on earth. Because every tribe wants to have total control over the planet, there’s a constant war going on between them.

These creatures are amazing fighters, their exoskeleton provides good defense, while the “wings” on their arms and left leg are used for distracting their prey and to glide through the air for short distances.
They have six limbs total, their two right arms can be used separately or together, while their left arms are fused together( through evolution) to from one big sword. Their torso is developed in such a way that it supports the limbs on either side perfectly. The left side offers more protection to the shoulder as well as power to the chest, to be able to make powerful slashes. The right side offers less protection but more flexibility, which helps to create better diversions. To create more space on their right side, for their arms, they don’t have wings on their right legs.

[Dayle]

Artist: Dayle

Concept: Asymmetrical Dragonfly

This particular species of Dragonfly has learnt to adapt to its environment. By evolving a long talon like appendage, where previous a sixth leg stood, this insect can crack small bird eggs, instead of relying on catching other small insects. This is useful not only as highly nutritious food source but also reduces potential predators in the ecosystem. Maybe in the future they will become even more successful by deliberately targeting insect eating bird eggs.

[Bertling]

Artist: Bertling

Concept: Viperfly Larva


At the larval stage of their life cycle, the viperfly does not yet have fully developed wings. However, it is just as venomous and lethal as its adult counterpart. Tourists are advised to keep away from cave-like structures, and to seek help immediately if stung.

Viperflies can be easily identified because of their asymmetrical form. This asymmetry is largely due to the fact that many of their organs are located outside of their exoskeleton. The reason for this is as follows:

An insect's size is limited by their relatively inefficient respiratory system. Insects do not have lungs and so they breathe by diffusion. If their bodies are large, oxygen cannot be properly diffused to their vital organs. Thus, by having the organs on the exterior, the viperfly increases the surface area with which to supply oxygen to these organs. This allows the bug to grow extremely large.

[Erzebeth]

Artist: ERZEBETH
Concept: REGINA ORCHIDACEA

The Regina Orchidacea is an asymmetrical insect feedind on smaller one. It uses a strong and smelly odour which looks like pollen to attract them. This odour is spread with the little shiny button at the end of its tree part. It has also a clever and colorfull cover to look like an orchid and attract more bugs and bees. It hangs in trees thanks to its claw and foreleg. The top head legs are for catching its prey. The covered 2 side legs are for catching biger bugs.

Its assymetry give it a nice and natural cover from its predators. It doesn't move a lot and hangs in trees all spring and summer. During automn and winter, it hide in the ground.

[Erzebeth]

Artist: Erzebeth
Concept: Regina Orchidacea

The regina orchidacea is an asymmetrical insect feeding on smaller one. It uses its shiny "button" ending its "tree part" to spread an strong and smelly odour to attract bugs and bees. It has a nice natural and clever cover wich imitate orchids to attract other insects. It hangs in trees thanks to its claw and its foreleg. The top head legs are for catching small bugs and the side legs are for catching bigger bees.

Its natural asymmetry also help it to hide from predator because it looks like a part of the tree.

Rob Powell --> Like I said in the wip thread, my insect presentation looks like a bit like yours but it's a coincidence due to its nature. It has to hang in trees so sorry if you felt imitated.

[Duman]

Artist: Duman

Concept: Emerald Javalin Bug
This large insect utilizes ambush tactics to catch its prey. Leaping from a tall vantage point with its powerful back legs it rockets towards the intended victim. Contact is made with a deadly lance like stinger protruding past its head. If such an attack is successful, death is almost certain, but so is a hard earned meal.

[blazinwolf]

Artist: blazinwolf

Concept: Battering Scorpion
The male battering scorpion is an asymmetrical insectoid. One side of its body is covered in spikes and the other, smooth. This creature rams itself against its opponent with this side to stun it, and quickly stings them while they're stunned with its venomous stinger. Scientists speculate its big claw is used in mating rituals, the bigger the claw, the "stronger" it appears, and thus, more attractive it is to a potential mate.

[B-Lister]

Artist: B-Lister

Concept: Bramble Bug
The bramble bug is a type of beetle that has evolved to have leaf-like projections from it's body as both a means of protection and camouflage.
The bramble bug changes colors to match the leaves as seasons pass and it's said that no two specimens look exactly alike. (Although on July 15th, 2008, this was proven to be incorrect when twin specimens were found by researchers in the Amazon.)


--This is also my first C.O.W. and I appreciate all of the helpful feedback. I look forward to learning from all of you (and stealing your most valuable secrets).

[Kaimera]

Artist: Kaimera

Concept: Scorpio Mantis
The Scorpio Mantis lives in the desert and is asymmetrical. The long left appendage excretes a glue like substance and a pheromone to attract smaller insects into its grasp/glue. The claw on the right side is used for protection and burrowing into cactus, which is where they typically build their homes. The Mantis can grow to the size of a small cat and may be know to eat snakes and other larger prey.

[GEB]

[B]Artist: GEB

Concept: The Giant Sand Reaver
The Giant Sand Reaver is a genetic oddity believed to be the result of post war nuclear weapons testing in the Nevada desert. They can have as many as 30 limbs, proto limbs, claws and hooks, with combinations varying massively from individual to individual. They are large and extremely aggressive, springing from huge tunnels to claim their prey.

[apielotje]

Artist: Apielotje

Concept: Leaflet
The Leaflet has two big wings which look like leafs. When another insect gets close, it swings the wings aside to reveal killer pincers!

[Death Nova]

[*B]Artist: [*COLOR=White]Death Nova[/COLOR]

Concept: [*COLOR=White]Dusk Reaper[/COLOR]
[/B]
The Dusk Reaper is an ambush predator. They live in inhospitable environments where plants hardly grow. The Dusk Reaper is well adapted to this by using a deformed front limb which has the shape of a little plant. Since the rest of her body is well camouflaged she just waits for days for a bug or small rodent to come by. In a split second she lunges at her prey and traps it in her giant scythe-like claw.

Laying eggs can take up to two months. The dusk reaper digs herself halfway in the ground and starts laying eggs with her strong ovipositor.

[GammaGrey]

Artist: GammaGrey

Concept: Asymmetrical Insectoid
Due to the nature of its asymmetry, this creature has difficulty moving around. As a result, it is primarily a bottom feeder. The large front legs are the primary means by which this creature moves.

[Rambozo]

Artist: Rambozo

Concept: Mantis polemistis
A more detailed text is on the image, but I basically thought it was interesting that the praying mantis got its name because it's forelegs seemed to be in prayer, and from there thought well praying = monk, why not start with the name "crusader mantis" (or warrior monk) and see where it went.

[AdrianNagorski]

HOLY MO-LEE!!! Love your entry ROB!!!!

[scorge]

Well, it's official, I'm an idiot. Been so wrapped up in stuff that I never even bothered to check the due date.

Rob: Kick ass my man. Got my vote.
Also taken with JaapOomen for beauty and GEB with the power entry!

Here's what I ended up with just for shits and giggles.

[Harmageddon]

Voted for Rob Powell and GEB: both very cool entries.
Correction: voted Rob Powell. I can only vot once. Silly me. *slaps head*
All the others produced nice work as well. Good stuff!
As a general crit, I personally like to see the creature placed in an environment - many of you did this (for example, Dayle's dragonfly on a bird's nest) but many of you didn't (for example Blazinwolf or Kaimera's entries). Although the environment should not overwhelm the creature (this is COW, not EOW), it does help to ground the creature in a certain reality. Makes it more, real. Touchy. Just my 2 cents.

[Rob Powell]

to crit or not to crit? that is the question, whether tis nobler in the mind to come up with awesome entries in cow, or slings and arrows and whatnot....

ToddBushman: welcome to cow! The asymmetrical aspects show fairly well, although it is a little difficult for such features to get twisted like this in nature, keep in mind advantages to a creature's anatomy and why it evolved in such a way, from what I see here this fly will be buzzing in circles more than anything. Also try to be a bit more adventurous with your designs, study a lot of creatures and animal anatomy, and especially experiment with silhouetting and scribbles, often times you'll find shapes and features that you wouldn't think up just by sketching.

JaapOomen: Lovely piece, man.I like the feircesome gladitorial look to this guy. One of my fav's this round.

Dayle: Once explore a more creative route with the design, cuz I just see a dragonfly here. The piece could benefit greatly with a more complete background, the soft region behind the bug against the white doen't help with the bug's silhouette, especially with the wings.

Bertling: REally neat looking creature here, and very nice description to go with it. The piece seems to lack some depth and could use some darker values on the creature's body to help build up some of those forms a bit. And more of colour variationcould improve the piece as well, add some warmer hues to the focal area, which would be the head or maybe that large blue organ on it's back.

Erzebeth: OMG YOU COPYCAT!!!HOW DARE YOU!!!, haha just kidding. This is a pretty nice design, maybe to push that asymmetrical aspect even further and distort it's head, one thing about camouflage is that nothing is really uniform, or so that is how it appears.

Duman: Nice design. I see a flaw in the creature jousting arm, it is going to have a hard time actually spearing it's prey, because it can't aim it, give it some joints so it can more effectively aim at other insects in flight. Also give the creatures some room on the piece, they look very boxed in with it cropped so close to your subjects.

blazinwolf: Nice work, always a fan of your stuff, and cool to see you experimented with a different style that you normally go with. To me the creature too much resembles Moldarach from zelda. I wanna see more spikes on it as well, and indicate some enlarged legs that it uses to support the extra weight of the big claw as well. Dim down that plain white background as well, and ground the creature with a shadow at least, those things always bug me.(no pun intended)

B-Lister: Also, welcome to cow. and it isn't stealing if we give it to you. Try to focus on getting the forms down first before adding any textures. I would like to see some asymmetry in this becasue to me it looks quite borderline the way the leaves are arranged.

Kaimera: your piece is alcking a little depth, too much contrast on the tail is competing for attention from the head, it's sort of bugging me how the whole creature is visible cept for one of the hind legs. The shadow need some fixing, cuz it's looking a little choppy, try to take into consideration the surface under the creature as well, if you notice how the shadow seems to follow the creature in the backend. If there is a hill there try to indicate that with some texturing on the ground so it doesn't look so odd.

GEB: Kool piece dude. Quality rendering and very cool design. Easy second placer for me here, would've liked to see more of the creature overall. Especially those 30 odd limbs (although that may be annoying to render all those) But a great piece of work!

apielotje: I like this one, very clever having it's wings form a camouflaging cover for it's claws for hunting. And some solid rendering as well, nice work!

Death Nova: Nice design. Some elements of the background could use some slight refining, and I think a stronger lightsource on the creature might make the piece a bit more readable, and also would add some more variation in the values around the focal region. solid work overall though! I do have to point out in the supplementary sketches the creature's exoskeletal forelimb would wrap arounf it's prey like that rather than just act as a clamp, much like the praying mantis.

GammaGrey: At first glance it seems more like a bunch of ribs with legs. It's pretty hard to decern some elements of the creaure's anatomy. The rendering style is looking decent however sort of sketchy and almost a watercolour look to it.

Rambozo: Nice work, a very beleiveable, concept. I just love those little vestigial wings on there, and how you made the female of the species symmetrical compared to the males. I really like how you arranged this, it's like a bestiary page. Got my vote man! Excellent work!

scorge: First off idiots don't come up with wicked designs like this. You would've gotten my vote if this was in the poll, awesome work as always!!

[Moai]

In terms of sheer strength and clarity of design and rendering, Rob Powell won my vote immediately. GEB was a close second! Also really liked rambozo's and apielotje's, and a few others that I thanked. Strong round!

[Pat Thompson]

early congrats on your soon-to-be first win Rob! love how you rendered the little spikes on the legs, very clean. Very Asymmetrical as well, which matches the brief of course, however I think it was a bit overboard - IMO I think the center of the crab would read better without the extra stuff going on in there - the funny mouth with the legs coming out of it, and that genital spike. Also, I would have made that little bird a bit bigger - otherwise it makes the crab look way too big to be arboreal. But other than those anatomical crits, a very good illustration of the brief. well done man, and congrats again. wish I had more time these days to participate.

[Rob Powell]

Pat Thompson: Thanks, but I need you to quickly knock on some wood.lol

Thanks for the crits as well, I can see what you mean, it is looking a bit busy.

[Supervlieg]

GEB blew me away, so he got my vote!

Honorable mentions to Rob Powell and Gammagrey.

[Rambozo]

I voted for GEB : I like the movement and the mood of the illo. You can feel the creature in motion which can be great for the motion-design crew to work with after. I would have liked to see more of the creature itself though, get an understanding of the details, how it works etc. (but to be fair, I understand it can be hard to get to when you render a mood-piece).

[GEB]

Can we extend this for another week? I think I could win this if you did

Another great round I thought. Rambozo got my vote as I just loved how vibrant it was and to me it looks like something that could actually exist.

Also Rob Powell, great design though to me looks more crustacean than insectoid especially the eyes. I appreciate the same could be said of mine

GammaGrey: As an image I really like this, though it doesn't scream insectoid to me

Erzebeth: Very cute, I want one

[Rob Powell]

GEB: thanks, I was paying attention to part where it said 'it should to be an arthropod' which includes crusteceans, as well as insects and arachnids. and you've already got a star, share! lol

[GEB]

Sharing? It's a new concept for me, but I'll give anything a go one except insest and folk dancing