ChOW#300 :: THE MONARCH OF DUALITY

[Dread_Reaper]

@Rhdnor
Looks like we've got the same concept! I really like the classical painting way of bringing it together, so cool.

Damn I shoulda paid closer attention to everyone's concepts and done something different. Thanks for being so cool about it.

No worries buddy! I'm actually glad to someone else going this route as well: I love different interpretations! Best of luck to you friend, make it a good one.

@Scatch
I like your efforts so far, but I am having a really tough time getting the "fighter" girl. When I think fighter I think of a fighter's pose, weapons, something to imply violence. This waif of a girl seems to be totally calm and non-threatening, with nothing visible to imply she's capable of violence under that giant jacket. Its still early enough to really try push the concept a step farther to make it stand out.

@Christoffer
That's a definite improvement, however I think how you render out the garments, etc is really going to sell it. Any ideas? What about like cooling magma if you don't want to do just plain old fire? A thought...

-Dread_Reaper

[Arhan]

Initial sketch-- still exploring options and looking for references.

[Funkykzu]

wich team?

[Rhdnor]

Proggity-prog. Just laying down the colours. I;m LATE.

[Noun]

Awesome prompt, can't miss out on CHOW #300. A lot of great entries so far.

Trying to do grayscale vs. color. All advice is appreciated!

[rumpenstiltzkin]

uh man, some pretty cool ideas in here! i feel so sucky heh
really wanted to do a chow as i havent in aaages, but ive had a bit hard time coming up with ideas but jumping in with some lame sketches x)

im having fun with the right one so just gonna keep working on that one i guess.
and im going for sun and moon/day and night thing...

[zephyri]

I was trying to think of something more unique to do with this idea, but damn if I don't love demons and angels. So hell with it.. no idea if I'll have a chance to get this done in time for the deadline. Just a rough, rough sketch at the moment, may yet explore different compositions. I will try to get to critiquing and leaving thoughts later, but I'm having real trouble with the site and my anti -virus at home, and don't trust anything that even beeps at me funny on my own machine. Suffice to say some awesome pieces being created here!

[humboldt squid]

Life and Death, both reaching out across the divide, because life and death are cyclical opposites, death gives rise to the new and all that. I thought of them circling each other but then I thought that would be a fairly predictable yin yang composition, so I thought I'd just do a classical painting type thing. I want the whole thing to look a little medieval and macabre (not overtly horror, just a underlying thing)

I want to know if Death looks silly not wearing any underwear, is it relevant or am reading too much into that?

Are you going to go for a medieval diptych\illuminated manuscript look? because that's pretty neat.

[benu]

kliest: interesting concept! You actually inspired me to do something physics related. Also I like the swooshy energy(?) between them.

nim Composition i looking good. Doesn't quite read as apathy/excitement, more like boredom/mild amusement, I think.

marko markovich: lovely painterly style!

Sseal: Nice composition! Her upper body seems awfully long.

jsn: composition and design is working much better than the previous one. Color wise, it needs much more contrast, and avoid the blurry brushes for now. Get reference for anatomy and lighting.

Drayner: These sketches are all awesome, my favorite would be #13.

Forrest_I: Maybe make the armor glowing red hot, or even partially melting?

Arhan: The left one's shape is looking really cool, but what is it?

zephyri: the angel is lovely, the guy doesn't look particularly demonic or evil to me.


I'm a bit late but I hopeI will beable to finish this in time: Massive king of protons and lightning fast queen of electrons.

[JanJager]

benu
I like the idea. Perhaps have some tracks of her path like at the symbol of an atom. Also I think you can push the anatomy more especial her´s.
zephyri
Very nice start. Maybe you should have some connections between them in the outfit. For example the same headwear but with total different proportions of the separate parts.
rumpenstiiltzkin
I like the idea that they kind of playing with the sun and the moon. Gives some more actin and story.
Noun
Interesting idea. At this time the color character is mostly red. Maybe ha should have more colous. Perhaps add some more attributes to them. rainbow, color palette, etc.
Ahdnor
I like the medieval look. Perhaps go further with that and have some medieval stuff for example symbols or lettering.
Funkykzu
First couple are my favorites.
Arhan
Nice. I especially like the pose and outfit of the first. Second is cool to but at this point not as distinct as the first.

[nim]

initial colour block.. will prolly change along the way... but ugh.. wasn't in painting zone... sleepy. doubt I'll make the deadline.

[davidfisher]

jPerols: great concept man i like how you picked a simple idea and made it
look pretty cool in my opinion
dranyer: holy shit wish i had that many concept ideas if i did mabe mine wouldnt
come out totally cliche and unoriginal keep it up man cant wait to see
the finished product
Forest I: I like the fire dude looks pretty sweet, i agree with dranyer tho
try and make the armor more organic to his element id push it a little
further man looking forward to the finish

so heres what ive got so far after a ton of shitty sketches and ideas i went with queen exorcist/soul hunter vs king of the undead idk i thought they would naturally be on opposing sides but not sure if thats exactly how it works didnt want to take too long to decide what i was gonna do seeing as i started super late anyways im still learning, studying and starving for growth so crits, comments, suggestions and all the good stuff is appreciated as always.

[Rhdnor]

Are you going to go for a medieval diptych\illuminated manuscript look? because that's pretty neat.

Illumination sounds tempting.... but sounds like so so much work
Thanks for the idea on the diptych, I can experiment with panelling at least.

Nim: Liking where yours is going, tells a story.

[Forrest_I]

Thanks for the crits everyone I'll try and leave some of my own for other people later tonight, I hope the start of his obsidian armor looks ok. Damn obsidian is hard to draw -_-

[Arhan]

Benu + JanJager : you're right, the second is too static, too.. well, both don't really connect. I've redrawn the King/ right one, and decided to blend both figures in one composition.



It.. kind of looks like Light vs. Darkness and the design would look that way too, mostly, but it's more 'the one who basks in light vs. the one who dwells in darkness'. I'm still thinking of the best way to say it/ title it, 'what's observable' and 'what's hidden'? Maybe something like illuminated/dark sides of the moon/ tidally locked planet.

[Santiago-Ibarra]

Haven't posted here in days. Here is my chosen composition on purity and corruption. i hope the eventual spin on the concepts is interesting to you all.

[Santiago-Ibarra]

getting there.

[jsn]

Forrest_I...smoken! Looks great,...keep going!

Lotsa great ideas,...keep 'em comin!
Thanks for the comments!
I need to make time to comment!

Updatedly...

[Noctisette]

My progress so far.. Somehow it turned into a rather big picture..
The attached picture is horribly resized due to messiness..

[Santiago-Ibarra]

still getting there...

[Forrest_I]

More progress, I'll try out some tests on how to make the fire fella look more fiery In the meantime I'll leave some feedback now!

Arhan I very much like where this is going, I can't wait to see where you go with the color

Rhdnor It's a fine idea you've got laid out, you might want to look at some references for the two characters though. Character design is important for this challenge so you want to try and make them look iconic and unique

Noun Ooh, very nice. I hope you go crazy with vibrant colors on the right character and I love the looseness of them as well

rumpenstiltzkin I much prefer the sketch on the right, much looser then the left one and more fun in my opinion. You should try and be more iconic with the sun and the moon though, make them look not just opposites because of what they represent but because of their mood and personality. For example you could make the moon look tired and sleepy while the sun could be eccentric and fun. Just a thought, keep goin with it though

zephyri The mood of the piece looks great as well as the characters, can't wait to see more

benu The idea is definitely unique, I like the creativity. You might want to make the electron girl bigger, the focus is design and you can't see much of her at the size she's at. Hope you can get it done in time We all kind of seem rushed ha

JanJager Beautiful work and rendering so far Jan... Damn... I have a feeling this one is going to be a winner ha

nim well you won't finish in time with that attitude! And get some more color in there looks a little too midtoned

davidfisher Awesome sketches so far dude! The exorcist is looking like dark magician girl from yu-gi-oh, maybe that's why it looks so sexy. I hope you can finish it in time

jsn woo! both doing elements hell yeah! Alright as for critique the earth guy's torso seems to be at kind of an odd perspective though I can't see exactly what's wrong with it. The water girl is a bit too... busty. For the size of those breasts they are much too perky, in reality ones those large would sag at least a bit. Look up some references get some natural looking boobs on her ha. Also her face seems scrunched due to the head being at a downward tilt, the neck also looks too long due to this. Try and fix that and use the fact she's made of water to your advantage; make her reflect things around her

Noctisette I'm afraid I'm not sure if these would be represented as total opposites, maybe if the knight looked more barbaric. Other critique though, the proportions of each are off as well as the perspective. For example the knight's knees are both in line even though one is bent and and farther back in perspective.

[Saleem]

heres mine but still needs alot of work. great work u guys. will try to crit some of em later

[jPerols]

Lots of great work here.

Won't get any more time to work on this so I'll guess this is as finished it will get:

[Dayle]

It's just a privilege to see the quality of work here, some stunning pieces. Lots of people taking the time to give crits too, well done all!

After a week of watching these develop I had to have a go myself. Really rough wip so far, the idea of king and queen in love but the duality of war and peace. He has returned from battle, scarred and tired, she disaproves but is just glad to have her king back.

I'll work on it all weekend to see what I can do. Goodnight.

[Metallurgist]

@Rhdnor: I didnt really consider composition or body language for this. Its to late for me to start over, but something to think about for next time.
I like your concepts, especially how the two look like they are being wed. They do, however, look a bit flat. I look forward to seeing the final. It reminds me of Jan Van Eycks Arnolfini wedding.

@Dread_reaper/Dranyer: Thank you for the suggestion. After I painted it up a bit the shoulders seem a bit boring. He will definitely benefit from some arrow and sword wounds.

@Dread_reaper: Loving your death concept. plague masks. Your woman's hips look a bit wonky, but maybe its just the pregnant belly.

@Dranyer: All of your sketches look awesome. I am anticipating your final the most.


Not sure if I will have this done on time. If I do, it will be in the next few hours. Looking at it now, justice and cruelty seem like a better fit for these characters, but alas, it was not my intent. I am pondering Wars shield, the circular viking style doesn't really fit in with the rest of his bone garments.

[Arhan]

Update-- still long way to go.
Redesigned the King, I think this looks/works better, less 'digruntled noble/courtier/servant' looking. Queen has a face now, but background perspective is still rather all over the place.

[Rhdnor]

JPerols: Lookin' gooood!!!
Metallurgist: Yes, I referred to a book on costumes and the Van Eyck painting was there, I hope he's not rolling in his grave

I added a head dress to make her look more regal. BG looks a little flat, need to work on that.
QUESTION: I want Dame Life to look pregnant, I hope she does, or do I need to make the protrusion more obvious? The problem is that protruding belly looks like a middle age aesthetic, and I'd sort of expect people to know that.

[Dread_Reaper]

@Santiago_Ibarra
Definitely liking where its going now. I was really having difficulty picturing it before, but now I am seeing how it goes together. I really like the flow of it and the direction that the eye moves throughout the piece.

I don't think I'll have time to finish, since I'll be out of town this weekend, but I am trying to finish it somehow. Now really happy with much of it right now, but I'm trying to hammer through somehow. Have to add a lot of flowers to the girl especially to tie the concept together like I want to.

-Dread_Reaper

[Metallurgist]

I just might pull this off.

[Metallurgist]

Still iffy about the shoulders. I really wish I had more time to work on this.