CHOW #313 :: Guardian of the Stairway to Heaven

[Havok Reed]

Character of the Week #313
Guardian of the Stairway to Heaven
Deadline - Sunday, January 20 10PM GMT


It has been said that in your lifetime, in order to reach the highest point of divinity after death, one must follow the "righteous" path. But what if there is another way?

There are legends of a forbidden stairway that only the divine can access. Protecting this stairway is the Guardian of the Stairway to Heaven. Wielding a mighty weapon, the Guardian ensures that no mortal may trespass into the heavens.

Your job is to design the Guardian of the Stairway to Heaven, the one who protects this secret from humanity.

The Guidelines:

• Must be humanoid.
• Can be male or female.
• Include the "mighty" weapon.
• This guardian is NOT evil. We don't want dark or evil designs.
• Think about where the stairway is located

The Rules

• Finals must be posted in the finals thread before the deadline
• Final post must include the CHoW number and the artists username at the bottom of the image
• At least 3/4 of the character must be visible
• Sketches or rushed artwork will not be accepted into the poll
• At least two wips posted in the finals thread
• Background is optional
• Have fun!

[dawnusllaw]

interesting idea here. I really wanted to participate in last week's poll but, alas, didn't have time to get it together with work and all. Damned day job! >

[Craig Paton]

No Stairway? ...Denied!

[Veneq]

It's on like a prawn that yawns at dawn.

[Pixeltuner]

A threeheaded divine beast sporting the heads of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones? hehehe

[Josu-oh]

[kikindaface]

Nice stuff guys ! I wanted to know if any medium is accepted ? my laptop's dead and i wish to do it in pencil !

[Kalumis]

I'm totally in ! Nice beginning Josu !!

[Josu-oh]

Thanks Kalumis.

First really rough sketch. and of course he needs a shield because he just isn't big enought (i think i'll get rid of it)

[Havok Reed]

Nice stuff guys ! I wanted to know if any medium is accepted ? my laptop's dead and i wish to do it in pencil !

Yes any medium is accepted. We only ask that it is a finished piece when you submit your final. WIPS throughout your work is also required still so dont forget to take a breather in between and take photos of your progress.

@Pixeltuner: Lol. To be fair, I was listening to Lez Zeppelin when I thought of how cool it would be to design character based on the song.

@Craig Paton: the stairway is not required in the image. Your are still welcome to include it though!

[SteelCobra]

Cool topic. Also, @Havok Reed, Craig Paton was referencing Wayne's World! Come on man! lol

[Havok Reed]

Oh no! haha, I haven't seen those movies since I was a little kid! Perhaps I should watch them again, I know they are good, I just vaguely remember bits and pieces of it.

[kingkostas]

Ok here i will try to do something for this chow although i am not sure i can make it till the end, time will show . This time i started differently, took time to read somethings, search the internet, brainstorm and then do some simple drawings and some more finished. Now i will have to illustrate him.

josu-oh- Very interesting shapes mate, the more though you put into them the more meaningfull they can be to unify the char with the subject. Surely there is the guardian feeling but maybe some more elements for the "heaven" aspect. These are interesting already . The scale is nice, lets keep up

[DNVN]

Some sketches. wanted it to have angelic features hope thats ok.

[NickyBeats]

great stuff guys!

kingkostas - always awesome seeing your ideation process. very well thought out, i love this dev sheet! really cool ideas!

heres my rough idea so far...

[Dayle]

Kingkostas - great thought process and explaination. The detail and religious imagery fits perfectly. You also have a lovely potential colour palette with the stone and metals.

DNVN - I really like the third wip, very elegant and angelic... I'd like to see a staircase assending into the clouds or something external.

Not sure I have the stamina to do anything else this week, but wanted to explore an idea. A sort of griffinesque creature, head of an eagle, body of a lion. Something strong but just. The interior of a cathedral with a spiral staircase tower and the guardian uses the sword to block the entrance, allowing for the mortals to see nothing but there own reflection. Next I'd get some references to help with anatomy and details.

[ephelan]

Hi there... after lurking for some time, I've finally decided to get my paws dirty. I'm very fresh in terms of digital painting, so I'm looking to increase quality, speed, etc.

I opted for a female guardian with a rather over-sized hammer. I originally tried to make the hammer a chunk of stairs...as if the weapon was crucial to ascending, but I couldn't see the scale working in my favor.

[Josu-oh]

Kingkostas Thanks a lot for the comments and i really like the approach you are taking.

Weapon concept

[jsn]

Cool topic and already awesome lookin characters!

Been paintin mine in Procreate on me iPad!

[Agent Melon]

Inspired by somewhere I regularly visit on holiday. At the end of of a long lake covered in water lilies is a stairway to heaven made of water. A lone statue stands guard, but there isn't much to worry about, since only the divine can walk on water!

Toying with the idea of the weapon being made from 4 different parts also.

[Sillirien]

Hello friends, here are my first thoughts.
my silhouettes (if you only knew how long i'm trying to remember proper spelling of this word. It's almost impossible for me ) led me to some thought about white owls. Now I also remember about "Legend of the Guardians" movie. Snow owls are really like some androgynous heavenly creatures...
jsn , wow, is he some kind of Valhalla guardian? I like that he is from some pagan world!)
Kingkostas, you are awesome. as always!) thank you for sharing your way of thinking, there's already so many stuff to think about!

[Shorinji_Knight]

I have some time off right now, so I'm playing this round. I like the topic, as a Christian I had to do this one. I've tried to keep my representation as Biblically accurate as I could.

I'm about 4hrs in on this. Just have to clean up and render now.

[Lewis]

Hey Agent Melon!
I like your sketch so far. For some inspiration (your sketch reminded me of it), type in: 'chronomancer' on google. Some really cool designs there, which you can use as inspiration!

This is my sketch so far. The guardian uses a long pole to poke people off the stairs if they don't belong in heaven

[Sushy]

Behold my great doodle/sketch file for this xD

[Death Nova]

Already so many great idea's. Loving the topic btw.

Josu-oh : I love your silhouettes man. Looking forward to your finished piece.

kingkostas Your analysis and research is truly wonderful and showed me that I need to work on that aspect a lot more.

I had quite a struggle with my design but I finally got something which I am happy with. I got some feedback that he needed more armor but I imagined this guy (like a few others had thought of) to be quite enormous so I didn't reckon he needed much armor. A few aspects Kingkostas mentioned also occured to me like the the blindness. Anyway, here is my try. You can see I struggled with the armor and stuff so I don't know if I will continue with it. I kinda like the minimal armor and more tribal look than a heavily armored knight. But share your thoughts.

[Renart]

Wow! A buch of good ideas here! Everyone is doing good. Here's my idea: My guardian is protecting a stairway located in Hawai in the montains. There is a place called the Hai'ku Trail (also known as the Stairway to heaven) witch is a long trail with steps and ladders in the montains. So here is my sketch!

[humboldt squid]

Does the 'mighty weapon' have to be a literal weapon, like a sword or a gun, or can it be a symbolic weapon like a trumpet that projects the divine voice or a mirror that reflects the truth or w\e?

[NickyBeats]

this looks like shit now... dont worry i see a lot of crap to be fixed... i got this...

[Havok Reed]

Does the 'mighty weapon' have to be a literal weapon, like a sword or a gun, or can it be a symbolic weapon like a trumpet that projects the divine voice or a mirror that reflects the truth or w\e?

"Wielding a mighty weapon, the Guardian ensures that no mortal may trespass into the heavens." So...a mirror or an instrument wouldn't follow the description given. However, if you are looking for a mirror, well, the weapon could have a very reflective blade. You can be creative with it, but we want it see an actual weapon.

[limsh]

awesome subject! Can't wait to start sketches and share! I already see some cool sketches and it's very inspiring. Good works guys!