CHoW#314 :: The Old Swamp Hermit

[Quinn Simoes]

Character of the Week #314
The Old Swamp Hermit

Deadline - Sunday, January 27 10PM GMT


Nobody knows why the Old Swamp Hermit came to live in the depths of the murky swamp. For more than 20 years he has called
the swamp his home and has learned how to use the environment to his advantage, setting traps, camouflaging himself and
living alongside the many creatures that dwell within the murky swamps. Although he sometimes reminiscences about the
world he left behind and occasionally thinks about returning, one thing is for certain, the swamp has changed him forever.

The Guidelines:

• Gender: Male
• Age: Mid 60’s
• Time Period: Current day
• Think about why the Old Swamp Hermit might have come to live in such a undesirable environment.
  Was he tired of civilization? Was he trying to escape from someone or something?

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 with your final in the finals thread
• Background is optional
• Have fun!

[Lionsketch]

First time on Chow here are a wip for this week

[Benedikt]

Cool topic.
Here's an early concept;

[Benedikt]

And colour:

[funktioncurve]

Looking good so far guys, I'm hoping to get in on this myself. Will do some brainstorming/idea generation this eve.

[jakubvavrik]

Happy to join Here is my sketch so far

[Tawnos]

Awesome Topic!

[Metal Fingers]

Oh man, I told myself I'd only do C.O.W's for a while, but this topic is great!

[IDP]

Haven't done a chow in ages so thought i'd give this one a go.

[Lucassie]

Originally he was going to be carrying a cross-bow but I'm re-thinking that idea to incorporate more swampy characteristics.

[Metal Fingers]

Alright first CHOW! I'm going to continue to tweak this design a bit more before painting I think, but here's a start. Looking good everybody!

[Ros1]

Hi Guys!

My first wip:

[JFierce]

Never done a chow. Kind of want to. A bit exaggerated and more wacky but it's what came to mind so far. Hopefully can continue with it.




EDIT: Might as well edit instead of making a new post for something small. It's funny I was going to add the color and environment roughly then I got into it and kind of started to enjoy it, so now my character doesn't even really fit the scene it feels.

Going to probably redraw him or a new character in the scene. But hopefully it's not too far away since it is called CHOW. It's focused more on the character than the environment. Though might be able to sneak a composition with him in the shade in the foreground or something.



EDIT EDIT:

Been working a bit more on it. Kind of have a different thought process now.
Just really roughly doodling a character, kind of like where I'm heading but it's late. ZZzzz.....

Giving him a cuter pet than originally planning, not all swamps are dark and menacing I realize. It's just a woodland saturated with water. Doesn't mean it automatically has to be dead or void of normal shrubbery.

[VictorQ]

Hey guys here are some quick ideas thrown off late at night, tomorrow I'm up for more idea generation!
And damn Jfierce you had the same gas mask idea haha.
good luck to all =D

[Metal Fingers]

Adding some colors and renders.

[MrFrenik]

Wow, some cool ideas being thrown around so far. Drew up some ideas tonight; had a few more but just went down to the best 2 silhouette ideas and did some variations of those. I'm also going to give him a pet, since it certainly gets lonely out in the swamp.

[funktioncurve]

Some great work here, seems a lot of deigns going for the skinny/toned old man design, mine have been going along the same lines so will try and change things up a bit.

Would have uploaded some stuff last night but teething issues with my new install of Linus (trying to go foss) hopefully will have some stuff being posted this eve.

[Ironbyte]

Just got my head into the topic this morning, some time for a couple of hermits.

An old red-neck prison escapee, paranoid and bad tempered and I was thinking a voodoo practitioner haunting the swamp, having turned his back on the modern world.

[blazingdimensions]

sketchin out an idea(just came up with a silhouette and painted over it)., probably wont finish just wanted to try out one of the topics for once.

the writing was just me forming a basic idea, i was going to make a goofy looking crazy guy but went for the complete opposite of my initial idea for the more wise look.just came up with a quick silhouette and painted ove it.

[fairstranger]

Some great concepts so far. This particular hermit has decided to take some time out from the world to explore inner space...

[fersteger2]

Yeah, a lot of great entries again already! Here's my take so far, I started with a forest photo and photoshopped my way to a swamp, I wasn't sure where it was going but then it became an image of the old swamp hermit who has searched for years and has just now found the cave with the money, after losing both hands to the gators.

[MrFrenik]

Some quick color comps of the selected silhouette. Will finalize design and finish line work tomorrow.

[Ironbyte]

Update, some work on the escapee hermit.

[fersteger2]

Nice color roughs Mr Frenik, what are you going with? My favorite is number 3 in the second row.

[{CKL}]

It was a warm, sticky Spring day in Mississippi, Chris Wainwright stood transfixed to the T.V. staring in disbelief. He flipped back and forth between the different evening news programs, but the story was the same. Kurt Cobain was dead. Something inside Chris broke in that moment. Without blinking, he grabbed the flannel laying over the chair next to him and pulled it on, covering up the grinning smiley face printed on his t-shirt, and with that he walked out of the house and into the swamp....never to be seen again.


Lunch Doodle

[Pixeltuner]

git outta ma swamp all y'all

[Lionsketch]

I have changed some ideas from the original idea, but started to make the image.

[hueonpao]

I really like this theme! Chances are I won't be submitting an actual entry since my computer got bonked, but I did whip this up in MS Paint real quick. It's poopy and probably doesn't even count as a proper WIP but whatevs! If I can get my scanner working I might be uploading some more WIP-ish pics later.

[FlyingPenguin]

Not sure which direction I want to go yet. What do you guys think?

[VictorQ]

I'm working around the idea of having him on a search for his daughter, misguided by wisps and drowned in the swamp. The wisps, however, after seeing how desperate and convicted he was for finding his beloved daughter, felt regret and started aiding him in the swamp, giving him knowledge and showing him paths otherwise impossible to find. After acknowledging his daughter's death, he decided to live in total isolation, thus being known as the Swamp Hermit.
Because of the constant apparitions of wisps around him, he managed to capture one of them inside his lamp, giving him an eternal light, and connection to other wisps on the swamp.

working on general composition


some variations off a chosen silhouette and final design elements, overall forms and few annotations


sorry for the crappy writing! haha