CHOW #313 :: Guardian of the Stairway to Heaven

[aye-lyke-pi]

sounds fun i think i'll take a crack at it!
this is what i got so far, needs more color, will add more WIPs before i finish

[Bnoch]

First shot.

I think my favorite "gates guardian" (of any gates, or any guardian) still lies with the badass glowing nude sphinx in 'The Neverending Story'. The film makers made those things seems so menacing for a couple of half naked statues.

Similarly, Falcor is still my favorite flying dragon dog. He's unmatched.

[Renart]

I'm stoked to see everyone's work! Here's an update of what I'm doing.

[MrFrenik]

Quick sketch

[kingkostas]

nickybeats- Yo mate thanks!!!In your greyscale work i like very much the values, they kinda give me a really nice moody light. Be careful of the strokes. If you check the overall shape direction you can see the most of them going horizontally. Actually it may not be necessarily the strokes but since the character consists of a lot of horizontal lines, you may want to make the background simpler[more smooth and with less obvious horizontals]. Put the highest contrast to your most important spot, put the most detail in your most important spot, smooth out less important areas. These changes if made subtle will help lead the eye where you want.Lets keep up . Ok now i saw the more worked version. Keep playing with
values. Also maybe you want to make the whole stairway a lot wider to frame the characters body. Try to solve why you feel like that about it. Check the shapes, check the values. If you definitely want to have him in shadow check how you can make the best out of it. I think the best silhouettes are found in these conditions. So make the silhouette strong, more defined . The landscape that goes further behind, make it even more softer, after you soften it, add on mildly the white horizontal highlight.Its in the values and the arrangement, keep playing with it .
Dayle- Interesting idea mate. Before starting to flesh out things make sure the composition reads well. The most important figure will be the guardian so make sure everything supports/supplements this figure. The bad thing with side views is that it cant offer lots of depth and it may appear more flat in overall. Anyway just play some more with different compositions. Maybe you don't need all the elements you mention. So far i think you have a challenging idea for composition.You will learn something from it i am sure.
ephelan-lovely anatomy, maybe make the weapons overall handle/rod a little thicker so that it doesn't appear to be easily breakable. Keep up
josu-oh-Mate the weapon is awesome!!!great effect
jsn-Hello mate, interesting idea. Pay more attention to how you will render the light and shadow rather than color etc unless you will go with cell shading. Keep this as a color rough and work on your values, you will be able to apply the same color relations later.
AgentMelon-Interesting design mate, and the construction seem to be going well.Keep refining
Sillirien-ahhaah mate i feel the same about this word!!! Thanks man. I like the overall owl idea and the sword with the cross and circle. The whole body gate idea could work. Heheh like a kind of boss in a final fantasy game. Keep it up
Shorinji_knight- Hello mate, nice blocking . Be careful maybe because her overall direction looks outside the compo and also the sword does the same, maybe you want to play some more with that. Try having some element on her pointing towards the inside of the compo. Maybe even move her a little more towards right without changing anything else.
Lewis- Yo mate keep working more on it and keep the surrounding environment simpler.The contrast places the eye on the figure and thats good. It may be a challenging light condition to show the character.Keep it up
Sushy-Lovely sketch so far mate, cant say more at this point, just keep up thinking and making decisions.
Death Nova- Thanks mate . Nice exploration with the silhouettes . The equipment in his wrists seem to flatten the left[as we see it] lower arm. Maybe rotate it a little so that it helps depict the 3d form. If the figures ends up having simple forms and looks simple overally just make the background more busy to create contrast. But the attention should still go to the character. Keep up
Renart- Interesting mate, although i think the facial characteristics and the horn like stuff in the head make him appear evil and according to the brief we dont want that. Just something to think about . Keep up.
Bnoch-Lovely work as usual mate, cant wait to see more.
MrFrenik-Hello mate nice start with strong value contrast. However be careful compositionaly. Your topic is the guardian . Make him dominant. Even if you show a couple of stair levels, if the composition is dominated by the guardian we will fill the gap with our minds. If the brief asked for a staircase design then we would have to consider how we would depict the staircase. So i think you should let the figure dominate although these are just my thoughts . Keep up


Ok here i played some more with my concept. I will see how i will approach it. Its already a good exercise for me because i am thinking lots of stuff.

I would like to offer better feedback but my time is a little unstable now, by the first chance i will do.
Lets all keep up

[Betty86]

great topic! and so many awesome wips already!
when it comes to guardians i can't stop but to think 'mighty knights'. full shiny metal armour, helmet, spear or sword as a weapon (in case of this challenge glowing).
3 different ideas for guardian i came up with. they're very rough, just trying to get into the mood. my personal fav (and i will probably go with this design) is no 2 - massive guy guarding the stairway, a bit clumsy, holding a massive sword.

any crits/comments are more than welcome

[Havok Reed]

@Renart: Kingkostas is correct in saying that you are straying away from the brief. I recommend exploring different ideas before you get ahead of yourself. There's still plenty of time!

@Bnoch: stunning! For a first shot this is amazing. How much time do you spend on these? I would live to see some progress shots of your work!

@Kingkostas: looking really awesome! I'm glad to see how much thought you are puting into this. Also great crits for the others. I'm sure everyone appreciates the input.

@Josu-oh: great stuff so far! Good to see your thoughts and directions. Excited to see a final version.

[Sushy]

sketching some more, I think I decided on a pose now. Drawing a stairs is hard btw o_0

[Dayle]

Kingkostas - I really like the wip of the guardian stood with the columns radiating out from the wings but the second last 'static' pose really sells it for me, towering figure of strength and might. Thank you for the feedback, I guess it would be rude not to participate now!

[NickyBeats]

KingKostas - you encapsulate the best that these CHOWs represent! learning and progressing with eachother. i really appreciate you taking the time to do all of these crits (not just mine, but everybodys) that is so humbling and makes me really happy to see that! probably just inspired everybody who is participating. i know i am fully pumped up to get back into my own! should have it reworked by tonight! but seriously man, much respect for your thoughts and input! your piece is coming along great!! im sorry to see the linework go, but i do love the final compisition you have landed on. the wings just make him stand out. i love it! keep it going man!

[Renart]

@KingKostas and Havok Reed: Thanks for the advise! I tried something else. I went for a old hawaiian man, still really in shape. I kept the same weapon and also I tried to put it in my environnement but I don't know, I think that something goes wrong with it but I don't know what. I'll try an other camera angle I think.

[Stuart DeViva]

Since I got in on this one early, I wanted to slow it down a bit and pay a bit more attention with some concept practice. ^_^
The concept is a Viking style Guard. So it could be Asgard. Still haven't decided what to do about wings and what not.

[wuzzle]

Hey there, first post here ...

Also my second or third approach on doing art with photoshop.

What I've got so far:


To the rest of participants: You're awesome! I hope that one day I'll be at the same level

[limsh]

My progress here! I've been struggling a lot with this piece...X) hope to find solution soon.

[Dayle]

Still figuring out basic values, shapes and lighting, need to sleep now but here's where I am at. Might redo the pose to be more vertical, I should get all tomorrow night to get something fleshed out.

[aye-lyke-pi]

@ Limish - i think it would be cool if you added some plant life, or some small animals to your peice, in order to show just how massive that guy really is, also you did an AMAZING job with your metallic sheen

[Havok Reed]

@KingKostas and Havok Reed: Thanks for the advise! I tried something else. I went for a old hawaiian man, still really in shape. I kept the same weapon and also I tried to put it in my environnement but I don't know, I think that something goes wrong with it but I don't know what. I'll try an other camera angle I think.

That's better. I think your heading in the right direction with it now. However, as you recommended to your self, it would be a good idea to explore some other poses and angles. Also, watch your anatomy and proportions, use reference! When you do hair, it isn't stringy like that, block it in with a solid shape first and then paint over it. Look up some tutorials, there are a bunch out there.

[ephelan]

Got carried away being indecisive. Not sure what's going on with the armor yet. Normally I like obscenely huge/unrealistic weapons, but I'm not sure this is working.

[vatteh]

heres my line work

[Anthis]

WIP

Decided to go for an eastern type of heaven instead. I wanted to avoid the classical approach. The stairway will be a steep and narrow path in the background.

I started out in grayscale to get the values right. But now I've got to try and colour it, which is quite a struggle :| Colour layers are messing with the value which kind of defeats the purpose of my original approach.

Some promising entries already! will do some crits if time allows.

[Tawnos]

Holy Shmau, Bnoch...

Kingkostas, I like the middlerow best, and limsh, that piece is awesome!

[Havok Reed]

great stuff guys! I love seeing new people participate!

@Dayle: keep an eye on your anatomy, the legs and feet stick out the most for needing work. I like your idea though!

[kliest]

Guardian of the Stairs (behind the door)

HB Pencil

[fersteger2]

Awesome work so far. I hope to participate myself!
kingkostas - love your design, especially the wings on the sword, I could see them open up as he raises the weapon, it'd be a great scene right before a boss fight, for example.

kilest Fantastic drawing! Are you going to add color?

[NickyBeats]

kliest!!! awesome seeing you in the weekly challenge! dont think ive seen you enter before, but i absolutely love your sketchbook! awesome stuff! love the lines!

[aye-lyke-pi]

has anyone else noticed that all of the males ( except for Vatteh's, whos has AMAZING hair ) are either bald or balding?

[Sushy]

Here is an update on mine oh goshhh



I remember I hate drawing wings XD

[Eph]

I apologize beforehand for the horrible quality of these (scanner is dead). Also, does anyone know if the final piece can be in black&white (tablet-pen is dead)?

After the train wreak of a design I made last week, I decided this time to stick closer to the character description, and not get too loose with it.
A quick word-web to get some direction with the design:

( Click to show/hide )

Sword designs. Ended up going with the big one in the center; the hilt-handle part is made to sorta look like a part church and part cemetary with a bell close to the hilt, the blade is pretty standard, and then there's a flamberge-blade inside the bigger blade:

( Click to show/hide )

Was trying to mix a lion with a templar-helmet (...ended up with that horrible mutation on the top-right). Decided instead to go with a mask-type-thing with a long mane, leaning towards the one on the bottom left:

( Click to show/hide )

[Sillirien]

here's mine...can't name it progress but attempts to color it. Unfortunately my colors are still dirty. and to many useless movements as always!)

[Havok Reed]

I apologize beforehand for the horrible quality of these (scanner is dead). Also, does anyone know if the final piece can be in black&white (tablet-pen is dead)?

After the train wreak of a design I made last week, I decided this time to stick closer to the character description, and not get too loose with it.
A quick word-web to get some direction with the design:

Sword designs. Ended up going with the big one in the center; the hilt-handle part is made to sorta look like a part church and part cemetary with a bell close to the hilt, the blade is pretty standard, and then there's a flamberge-blade inside the bigger blade:

Was trying to mix a lion with a templar-helmet (...ended up with that horrible mutation on the top-right). Decided instead to go with a mask-type-thing with a long mane, leaning towards the one on the bottom left:

Yes, the final image may be in black and white, But keep in mind that we are now enforcing quality control. We will not put sketches or unfinished work into the poll. So make the B/W as best you can, you could always put in a monotone color over it to give it a mood as well. Keep up the good work! Also, try not to use lined paper when you sketch, it's distracting and causes us not so see things how you intended (well, it distracts me....)
@ aye-lyke-pi: Glad to see you join in A couple things to mention. Next time, just post a new reply instead of editing your last, because chances are, no one will see it or say anything about it. Now, about the direction with your piece; I would keep exploring the design some more. There isn't much of anything that really shouts "guardian" to me, the "blind" guardian seems to be a popular choice by many so far... You need to work on the underlying structure of the body as well as proportions. The main thing that sticks out are the shoulders/arms and the head. Keep at it!

@Sillirien: Well so far you don't have a design going, just a ghostly figure. I recommend you keep exploring design ideas as well. It may be too early to really offer any feedback.

@Kliest: Very cool. I love that style with the detailed line work there. Can't wait to see where you take it.

@vatteh: yes!