C.O.W. #250. Aristotilian Elementals - VOTING!

[Si_Swe]

Round #250 - voting!

Topic: Aristotilian Elementals

Deadline for voting: March 14th, 2012

Round Requirements (Read BEFORE voting!):
- The creature must represent a singular element. That element MUST be one of the four basic elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air

- Each creature must be at least partially comprised of it’s particular element

- The elemental should have a singular form, which is in a mostly-stable state

- There should be a sense of cohesion between a set of elementals

[Junco]

Artist: Junco

Concept: Sulfurous Gulper
The Sulfurous Gulper feeds on the chemical energy from combustion with a body mainly comprised and fueled by Hydrogen Sulfide, a very noxious and flammable gas. The Sulfurous Gulper tears off bark and uses that fire energy to propel it's lightweight body in the air, firing off excess energy through a series of chambers alongside it's spine for locomotion.

[ToddBushman]

Artist: ToddBushman

Concept: Dragonado


Dragonado is an air elemental that uses it's ability to create tornados to hunt and kill it's prey. He finds his prey by using his tongue as his sense of smell, finding food that is flying through it's air currents. His claws can capture and hold very large animals. He has no need for eyes as nothing stands in his way.

[Sebastian Wagner]

Artist: Noro

Concept: Moltezar


The female moltezar can be found in areas around volcanoes. Most of the body is made up of molten lava, which drips from its tail and other parts of its body.
Because of the fire-resistent skeletal core and wings it is often killed as a trophy. The female moltezar carries its brood/eggs on the back in a transparent blueish organ. It sets everything around it on fire, leaving small but significant paths of destruction everywhere it is hunting. Because of this they are easily spotted and avoid to fly away from the volcanic area and their nests very often.

[Rob Powell]

Artist: Rob Powell

Concept: Pyradens

The lava filled caverns of Mt. Furia holds a mysterious and precious treasure. No one knows what the treasure is exactly or what it does but there is great certainty of the treasure's value. Many hunters and thieves alike have perished in the fiery chasms while in search of this treasure due to the furious power of it's guardian. A grand serpent of fire, said to have been born of the chaos that dwells within the mountain. The furious nature of this creature leaves many fearful, because it does not confine itself to stay within the walls of the mountain.

[Whiskey Sour]

Artist: Whiskey Sour

Concept: Aristotile's Tomb


Aristotile's body and soul decomposed into the four classical elements, thus proving On Generation and Corruption was correct.

[Madame_Mister]

Artist: Madame_Mister

Concept: Manders Daemoni

The Daemoni are strange remnants from the Before Times. Each "breed" (for want of a better word) combines the features of animals with the Magickal essence of the Elemental. The Manders, for example, are based on fire Magick. They resemble wolves with scorpion features, and are cruel hunters.

[VegasMike]

Artist: Vegasmike
Concept: Aristotilian Elementals

I wanted to show all the Elements together in an epic scale. Earth is represented by a multi legged Tortoise whose shell is the platform for the other Elements. He is ancient, made of rock, soil and vegetation and must balance the shell for elemental harmony. (Morla from Never Ending Story was a big influence here!) I wanted Fire to be a volcanic predator with an aggressive hell hound look...Whatever he touches is set ablaze and his saliva is pure magma. His breath can set entire cities on fire...He is kept in balance by lady Water. She is a collection of sea life, tentacles, and large ice caps as she goes higher in the atmosphere. She can be as gentle as a drop of water and as furious as a tsunami. The steam created by lady Water keeping Fire in check eventually forms the elegant and deady lady Air. She can be invisible at times, felt only as a soft breeze or she can gain strength and become a furious thunder storm. She is represented by an angelic, faceless bird made up of clouds. Her purpose is to oversee that Fire and Water are also kept in balance.

[Abee]

Artist: Abee

Concept: Undine


"Undine don't care, Undine don't give a shit, Undine just takes what it wants!"

Undine is the embodiment of the element water, it cannot be caught, cut, hurt, It glides without goal or purpose. It just exists and does not know why, nor does it care.
It absorbs the very essence of the objects around it, feeding on whatever is pulled in by his gravitational pull, it's outer shell merely nutritional rocks, algee, fish and whatever stuck to the shape of energy that is Undine when he swam by.



(Ps. He gets really ****** angry when you put the kettle on, so drink tea with caution.)

[Firith]

Artist: Firith
Concept: Arktos - Earth Elemental
Arktos is the soul of the earth, it is a female bear that breathes life into the simple dirt to make it fertile.
Depicted is a moment when she is called forth by a believer to make his homeland grow green again.

[Grumbleputty]

Artist: Grumbleputty

Concept: Cthonic Wayfarer


In ages past, when their grasslands were under threat from neighboring tribes, the druids of the Prairies would call forth elemental creatures of earth, stone and tangled roots, to defend them.

When the warlord Agreddon wiped out the druids in his great push to the west, the elemental creatures were left masterless. To this day they roam the prairies, aggressively protecting their territories from all perceived threats. Scholars believe that magics from the sacrificial stones they carry animate the beasts, and perhaps destruction of the stone is the key to destroying one of these creatures.



(Si_Swe, I leave it up to your discretion whether or not the plant-like elements of my entry violate the "No Plants" rule.)

[aburnier]

Artist: aburnier

Concept: Tide Dweller

The tide dweller is remarkable because of its ability to alter the nature of the hydrogen bonds in nearby samples of water. Able to strengthen them and weaken them at will, the creature is actually able to control its element to a magnificent extent.

The tide dweller will often attach water to its body in interesting shapes, extruding features such as fins to make itself appear larger and more threatening, or trailing streams of water off of itself (and brightening its new features with bio-luminescence) for the purpose of attracting a mate. In certain cases, the tide dweller has been known to ensnare fish by strengthening the bonds in nearby water, immobilizing the fish completely. Even without this ability, the tide dweller is an agile and capable hunter, although its favorite hunting grounds are shallow bodies of water such as streams and tide pools.

[kora]

[*B]Artist: [*COLOR=White]Kora[/COLOR]

Concept: [*COLOR=White]Angler Salamander[/COLOR]
[/B]The Angler Salamander’s skull structure is reversed- the jaw swings open from the top, rather than the bottom. While hunting, the Angler Salamander dangles its flaming tail above its open mouth. The salamander patiently waits for passing moths to be attracted by the flames. Once the moths draw close enough, the salamander’s jaw swings shut, trapping its prey.
In the past 100 years, the bright lights of the rapidly growing cities have ultimately proved to be more tempting to the moths than the Angler Salamander's fiery tail. Deprived of their main food source, the once common salamanders have now been driven to extinction.

[ashess]

Artist: ashess

Concept: water element: seaking

living on the ocean's deep, the seaking is composed almost completely of water, using a jellyish-like shell to protect his inner organs from the outlying waters. the seaking usess his long, poisonous tentacles to catch prey. but he is also equipped with a long neck and beak, armored with ice.

how the creature regulates the temperature of the water for this purpose, while mainaining free flowing currents within, is unknown.

[tsabu]

Not many knows that Triton one of the largest Neptun have a very interesting history. In the past these planet was beauty full earth like place.

The ecosystem of the planet was balanced by two kind of creatures - giant sea cetaceans that were transforming salty ocean water into fresh drinkable one in the process of breathing. Fresh water was launched up to the surface in the bubbles coming up from from the creature backs.

And fire roaches that were living in the caves placed under ground. Feeding by hot magma rocks, creatures basically purge them self by expelling fire on their backs. They had additional pair of limbs on their backs just to spread up fire on their back more, which was occasionally very spectacular show.

No one knows why they gone - some are saying that they antagonize each other vanished in giant war, and with them all the life on these planet.

[kora]

Edit: I think I might have submitted my entry incorrectly. :c Trying again.
Artist: Kora

Concept: Angler Salamander
your-description

The Angler Salamander’s skull structure is reversed- the jaw swings open from the top, rather than the bottom. While hunting, the Angler Salamander dangles its flaming tail above its open mouth. The salamander patiently waits for passing moths to be attracted by the flames. Once the moths draw close enough, the salamander’s jaw swings shut, trapping its prey.
Urban expansion has pushed the Angler Salamander to the brink of extinction. Compared to the bright lights of cities and towns, the salamander's tail is a dim beacon. Deprived of their primary food source, the salamander has all but disappeared. The cities grow brighter, and the forests grow darker as the Angler Salamander's flames are extinguished one by one.

[Noun]

Artist: Noun

Concept: Littilith


These tiny stone beings hobble tirelessly across wastelands, rejuvenating barren soil and breathing life into withered flora. They may wander into more populated urban areas, oblivious to the curious gazes of nearby people.

[GammaGrey]

Artist: GammaGrey

Concept: Aristotelian Element: Fire
The intense heat that radiates from this creature has melted the rock encasing it. Each formation, crevice, and dent tells a story relating to its movement. As such, this skin-like encasing is in a constant state of flux.

[scorge]

Artist: scorge

Concept: Firebain
The most stubborn and dangerous of the four elementals, Firebain has wreaked havoc throughout the world for eons. Its massive body comprised of no more than ash and soot from its burning core, this elemental has earned the nickname Balrog, Devil, and Legion of Fire. While Firebain's intentions have largely gone unknown up to this point in history, some believe that the massive beast will one day cleanse the world in flames.

[ChromaticCodex]

[B]Artist: ChromaticCodex

Concept: Elementals
Air; Fire; Earth; Water! (Heart?)

[Si_Swe]

Poll is up! No cuts this week.

[Bertling]

Edit: thanks Si Swe for late add

Artist: Bertling

Concept: Egyptian Alchemist`s Creation


This alchemist was able to create a water elemental by drawing from the Nile river. But little does she know that its existence would be short-lived unless binding magic is used.

The study of alchemy in those days was indeed one of trial and error. That is, until mage guilds became commonplace across the Farlands.

[AdrianNagorski]

Wow nice work boys and girls.

My top four in no particular order: scorge, tsabu, kora, Abee,
the rest was/is pretty cool but i liked the flow and movement of Abee's one the most,
even though the creature description was a bit nonsensical to me adleast.

[aburnier]

Hey everyone. Wonderful, wonderful work. My favorite overall would have to be Scorge simply because of the awesome atmosphere and sense of scale. Rob Powel's is crazy too, and I dig the rendering on the cracks in the skin as well as the thought that went into placing the creature on the rock. Vegas Mike's is incredibly well executed of course, but I would have preferred a focus on just one element and gotten more of a sense for the design of an individual creature rather than four in one. Kora's design really REALLY stood out to me, and as far as actual creature design is concerned, I liked his the best, but I am such a fan of color that it didn't quite win me over.

Again, great work, and good luck to you all. This was a ton of fun for my first COW experience. I hope to participate again soon when a topic piques my interest. Cheers!

[Rob Powell]

Some nice entries this round... and now for some crits...

junco: really nice design. I'm always a fan of gulper eel-like designs, it's neat how you included some in teh background as well interacting with the environment. Somehow though the fire doesn't quite seem like fire, more than it does hair.

ToddBushman: Your designs are getting more creative now. Anatomy on the arms seems a little awkward. I'm not totally convinced by the whirlwind look you have. Don't be afraid to look up some reference, and do a few 1 hr (or more if you feel) studies, get yourself into the groove and figure out for yourself the best way to approach certain things. I would've also picked a different colour for the creature, becasue it doesn't really say air elemental any more than earth. Almost like having a blue creature as fire (though if you did it right it can still work)

Noro: Pretty neat design, mate! I think you could've pushed the intensity of the magma a bit more, perhaps a darkerbackground could help as well. I think since basically everything it touches gets burned there should be way more fire and charred bits all around it.

WhiskeySour: Neat little pandora's box type scenario here. The earth elemental doesn't really read very well, and the design of the air elemental needs to be pushed a bit further. There should be a little more reflected light from the fire creature especially on the water creature.

Madame Mister: Way too much yellow here, even with very hot substances there can still be some form (look at scorge's piece) so overall your creature looks very flat becasue of it. The background is nicely painted but there is hardly any light coming from the creature.

VegasMike: Really nice work overall, as I've already stated more than once. I like the Atlas reference with the tortoise holding up the fire and water elementals. I do have to point out that the air elemental is alittle hard to read, but that's mostly with all the atmospherein front of it. With that said it is a solid piece of art. Got my vote on it! (p.s. you should really come back to cow more often)

Abee: Took me few moments to realise what I was looking at actualy. So readability is a small issue. Perhaps a better angle of the creature would make it a little easier. Also watch that fin that touches right on the edge of the canvas, those kind of conflicting edges really hurt your composition, so either give it some space between the edge or cut the end of a bit more.

Firith: Very nice scene, with some decent lighting. The design is a little on the safe side. Also providing a little atmosphere would better indicate it's scale becasue at first it seemed just about the size of a regular bear.

Grumbleputty: Still missing some of the creature aspects, as you've mentioned. One suggestion would bee instead of using a bundle of roots, perhaps they form more arms and legs that appear mroe articulated. And also some anatomical features such as eyes, a mouth, or whatever. However with that said the pupose this round wasto create a being that is fully or mostly comprised of that particular element. Your creature fits that bill quite nicely.

aburnier: A nice piece. A decent design although it feels like I've seen somethign similar before, but then again you could say that for just about anyone's designs these days. I like the orange eye to bring contrast to the image which is dominated by blue. I feel it would've worked better if there was more orange on the creature's body to lead the eye to the focal area.

ashess: interesting piece. I'm a little confused by what those shapes in the background are supposed to be. Is it part of the creature? Is it another creature? Is it part of the environment? I noticed you tried to add a sparkly look the those icy scales, which doesn't really work out that well underwater especailly at certain depths. Specular highlights would've worked fine to indicate a shinyness. Whereas here it breaks up the silhouette of the creature. Also to add a little more cohesion to the piece you could've positioned the diver in a way so the turtle is curiosly looking at him.

tsabu: You're improving, dude! Your forms are starting to come out quite well, and readability has gotten better, Your technique is developing into quite the nice unique style. A few things still need to be tweaked. The fire doesn't quite seem as intense as it should be, and the pitchblack within the creature's mouth is a bit too much. I think some more bubbles coming from the cetacean's back would help indicate what your description said a bit better.

kora: Very nice design and a very cool presentation of the image. Still trying to figure if it's traditional or digital, but methinks digtial based on the brush strokes. Problem is despite the very clever design it doesn't say elemental to me, other than the fire on it's tail. And I was kinda looking forward to see this rendered with colours especially after seeing those thumbs you posted. Looking forward to future contributions from you.

Noun: It's hard for me to make out an actual creature here, more than just a piece of pottery. Although after reading reading your description I can picture this..thingy walking through a busy city and people looking at it like 'wtf?'

GammaGrey: It looks to me like more of a mountain than a creature....and now after a bit aof a gander I see what looks like a head, there is too much emphasis on the forelimb and not enough on the creature's head, making difficult to read.

scorge: Yeah well it's not bad...haha! Nice work as always, mate! Definitely a unique design, and some nice use of colours here as well. Close second placer this round, btw!

ChromaticCodex: Well you managed to do what my intentions were, and create illustrations of each elemental, but my fire serpent jsut took me way too damn long ><...I'll start with top and work my way down. I'll keep it fairly brief for each though...
air-needs more contrast
fire-best of the four, legs look kinda rubbery though
earth-oncea gain more contrast and some more intense lighting around the head of the creature
water-I don't actually see a creaturemore than just a large wave, so some more emphasis on the creature's forms to give it some structure.

Bertling: A nice idea, seems almost sad the way their hands are pressed against the glass. The edges need to be more clearly defined againt that background. And some smoother strokes on your creature, cuz the form kind of seems a bit too irregular. Remember water water isn't quite as textured as that.

Si_Swe: just a friendly reminder that my star is still invisible

[GEB]

Was Scorge again for me I'm afraid Conposition and the virbrancy of the piece made it a real stand out for me

Vegasmike: You were really close but I think the atmosphere you added was to universally applied and just served to flatten it a little. But really am just being picky there as it's an awesome piece of work. When you have to pick between two great pieces of work it comes down to niggly shit like that

[Eclectix]

Difficult for me to choose between aburnier, scorge, and Rob Powell this round. There are many excellent entries. I am leaning towards aburnier's entry simply because to me it is so unusual, and so well rendered.

[Grumbleputty]

Wow- a hard one to judge! Congrats to all the great entries!

Here are a few thoughts I can offer- I wanted to hit everybody, but most of my suggestions have been covered by other (much more talented) artists:

@Junco: Great job- I have to agree with Rob Powell, some of the fire didn't quite come together. I think having the creature illuminate his surroundings a bit more would have helped ground him in the scene a bit.

@ToddBushman: Love the sense of motion in the environment, but his posture robs him of the energy I think he needed. I looked back at your initial sketches, and there was some real power there that got a bit lost along the way.

@Rob Powell: Ridiculously great stuff. The only possible suggestion I can come up with might be to have his lower body fade a bit into the ambient yellow, so he's not all silhouette. But holy cow, that's awesome!

@Madame_Mister: I get a nice sense the heat coming from his core. I think the lighting on the surrounding ground could have been more extreme to emphasize how bright he is.

@aburnier: I love what you've done on the trailing edges- great design!

@Ashess: conceptually quite cool! I think the lighting is a bit off- more shadowing on the underside (since things underwater are generally only lit from above) would have helped.

@Noun: Personally, I love your piece! A very unexpected design, with a great backstory. I think a month from now yours will be the one that sticks in my memory the most- that's why you got my vote.

@Bertling: Rob_Powell is right about the poignancy of the piece- I really appreciate that you incorporated some quiet emotion into it. I was a bit put off at first that everything is one the same horizontal plane, but that does echo the style of Egyptian hieroglyphics, so in that context it makes sense. It does feel like the actual elemental didn't get as much attention as the figure, though.

Altogether a nice body of work, congrats to everyone involved (and thanks to you all- I learned a ton this time around from watching you all develop your ideas!)

[ashess]

@ Junco- looks really cool, although I think the fire could have done with giving off a bit of light to the surroundings.
also, it still looks like a skeletal snake that caught fire, not so much that the fire is part of it.

@ ToddBushman- very nice things going on with the blurred surroundings and the earth dug up by the speed of the tornado.
I have some problems with the concept though; there seems very little relation between the bug-body and the air spinning.
maybe the bug caused the spinning, but that's about it.

@ Noro- a creature so hot,it causes it's surroundings to catch fire. not completely sure it fits the brief, but I like it.
I do thing it could have done with a bit more refinement, especially in the ankle and elbow joins.

@ * Rob Powel - it looks awesome. somehow, you managed to confey the black skin is only that- a dead little layer containing the actual creature within.
which is made of molten fire. im curious to see how the lower body would have worked- I see a leg, but that's it. and it's a bit of a shame not to have a point of reference to put the creature into scale.


@ Wiskey Sour- I like the pandora's box setting. but as for the creature themselves, im not entirely impressed. I cannot make out earth, water is just a wierd fish and air an eagle. seems more like just animals representing an element to me.


@ Maname Mister- it's a great eyecatcher,and I like it. not sure I see a wolf init, if not for the draw-on face, which I do not think it needed. you could have spent a bit more time getting the fire right.

@ VegasMike -first off, I have to admit I'm not much of a fan of grandious compositions like this- so take what I say with a grain of salt.
the earthcreature and fire I really like; the fire because it works so well, the effects are great and it''s a combination of fire, lava and smoke. the representation of a snake/ dragon is a great one. it's a bit of a shame you couldnt get the trees under the turtle to show more of that shaded/ to light feel, what you see in real live I mean when a dark cloud hangs over a pasture (or, here should be forest), and one part is dark and one part is light?
that forest seems so important in this piece it had deserved some more time. air as a godess is a bit overused, but in something like this it's probably best to stick to an easily readable figure. you show a lot of different clouds which I like, but the texture& lighting on them could have been a bit more different too. the water doesnt really do it for me. I guess it's a watersnake. the wave is ok, but the ice doesnt look like ice at all.

@ * Abee- Undine is basically a shipwreak waiting to happen. I like it a lot- the whale- like shape, which seems almost an accident, the vagueness of the shape. and at the same time, it's so vague.. I can just about picture the artcritics around your work 'it's great!' -'it's amazing' - 'it's... what is it?'


@ Firith- like I said, love the composition, love the dramatic lighting. hate the bear's feet. they bother me.

@ Grumbleputty - as you said, it is sorta planty, especially as the root seem to be the animated part. but it does represent all earth is- solid, stone and soil, and the live it causes. it coulda done with a few finishing touches, but it's a very handsome piece.

@ ** aburnier - it's a stunning animal that! love the fluorescent areas best ofc, but it's great allover, and really screams 'water' to me. the only thing is, the way it's standing to me suggest is should -at least partially- be in the water. but it appears to be on dry land!

@ tsabu - I like the idea of your fire roach, but at first I have to admit I though it was supposed to represent earth. it's the colors; they're too 'brown. the fish is also a bit more ice then water. it's a very pretty ice fish though- the tail might be attached a bit oddly, but that's the only problem I have with it.

@ ** kora it looks awesome, like I said before. this presentation is nice too. I kinda miss the colors though. also, it's so dark I'm missing some of the details. like I have trouble telling the thingson top are moths.

@ * Noun - ah, it's so cute, I want one! I kindof miss the 'breath of air'coming out of the mouth. and maybe something else to show it's a living thing, not a fase with legs. it's really nice though.

@ GammaGrey -it's a nice vulcano. I imagine the thing in the low middle is the head, but im not enirely sure. and the I think I see front legs; other then that, im a little lost on the anatomy else then that though.

@ **scourge - ey, pretty awesome again. the fire works really well. I did have to look twice to notice the arms not just being fire. if I had to crit anything id'd be the tingies growing from the shoulders. I thought they were background first.
they just seem a bit lost there. also maybe the blending of skin and fire. the creature still seems a bit built of two halves.

@ CromaticCodex -I commend you for doing all four, but it does seem to mean you had little time for any. they all seem more then sketches then finished work. the water has a very strong etmosphere, but the wind is definitely prettiest.

@ *Bertling - very nice feel; indeed a little sad. I like the wave on the far end of the flask. the creature's head and limbs are a bit less obviously water. also, you could have set off the creature a bit more by making the metal parts of the flask and the person more angular and 'solid'.


---
lol, I pretty much had to crit everyone to come to a fair vote. I put stars in front of the names of the people I considered voting for. going for aburnier. I just really like the creature I guess.

--quik replies:
#Rob Powel: thanks for taking the time to crit; the thing behind is supposed to be the water's surface. that's why I though a bit of highlight should do. might have gone overboard a bit though

# Grumbleputty- ah, that's true. I used quite a bit of ref for turtles and yellyfish; they all had underlight from the camera's. I should not have just mindlessly copied that though.

[Firith]

So here goes my critique to each final piece. If I am a bit harsh forgive me I ll just try to be constructive to the best of my knowledge although that isn't very much when it comes to Concept Art !

Junco: I find your style very different in a good way, it looks like a Chinese dragon but also not. I think you could do with a little more rendering or a better way to hide out the more simple strokes you left in there. Overall you are in my top 5 though.

ToddBushman: Interesting idea, there is a plasticity in the lighting which puts me off. Also anatomically the arms look a bit too curvy and not likely to exist in nature.

Noro: Very original creature and nice choice of perspective-scene. For me it would look better if it was more intense color-wise like increasing your contrasts etc.

Rob Powell: As most your work I have seen here, this is very good. As a personal taste, I think the fact that the whole creature is rendered equally may in the end look a little flat. Also the background choice doesn't work 100% for me, I don't have any suggestions though

Whiskey Sour: The idea is very good, as an image I don't think it works very well. The water creature looks good and nicely rendered, as does the environment but then the 3 other elements look a little sloppy.

Madame_Mister: As others have said although it works as a design, the fire surely needed more work, more orange-red tones would do it for me I think. Though I have to say the carapace of the creature looks really good.

VegasMike: You got my vote. As I said before I like the balance in your piece and I think of it as something I would find browsing posters in a shop. As most have said already the air is the weakest element, but only as a design, the space it holds and the tones still work well.

Abee: You have a crazy atmosphere in your piece, definitely sets the right mood. The creature itself is also pretty great.

Grumbleputty: Original idea, and very nice technical skills. Don't see anything wrong with it, maybe the fact that it doesn't have a face works negatively.

aburnier: The most interesting design of this round for me. Very well put together and spot on on the subject.

ashess: Cool idea and design. The environment doesn't work well with the creature I think. Also the colors of the creature itself may not read as "deep sea" so much.

tsabu: Nice designs, not much i can think, maybe the lighting you used is a little flat.

kora: Great creature, definitely a favorite.

Noun: Very original concept, I would like to see it interact more to realize it's alive, because due to its hard-surface-ness it doesn't read automatically as a living thing.

GammaGrey: Interesting concept, and color palette. The silhouette is readable but the volumes inside it don't work 100%.

scorge: My 2nd choice, an amazing piece again. Picky note: The way the flames emit from his arms looks a little weird to me(the wavy path they follow).

ChromaticCodex: Nice pieces and congratulations for doing all 4 elements. Best to worst: Fire - earth - wind - water. Wind and water look rushed to me. Fire really works all the way I would like to see it even more rendered.

Bertling: Cool idea, the elemental itself has a nice form and interesting features. The lighting doesn't compliment the scene in my opinion and the way you rendered the elemental makes it look a little like smoke.