C.O.W. - #047: Three-eyed and blue fur - VOTING!

[Bruce Jensen]

My vote went to JakkaS. Killer combination of a nice render and a clever concept. The eye looking to the past looks wistful, and the to the future, an innocent optimism. I love the surreality of this one too.

a few comments:

fuuryoku: When you declared yours 'finished', I almost posted just to egg you on further. There's more you could do with this. Right now the color handling is a bit simplistic. It's mostly done as 3 shades of whatever the local color happens to be. You could vary it a lot more, taking into account a warm (or cool) light source, & reflected light. You could also play with more & less saturation of the same colors. You could easily take it new a new level by taking all that into account!

Tyler_Locket: A Nice style to your piece. Most of the appeal to me is in the way it's painted though....

walnut: I really like this entry. I followed it through your various postings as a WIP, and it just kept getting better.

rudzy: An early favorite of mine. Great concept. I like it enough to overwhelm the rather simplistic painting. I kept hoping you'd update it with a more finished piece.


Lots of great work I haven't commented on too. I did my art school years back in 80-84, so it's great to be mixing it up with so much 'young' talent here. It's really refreshing (and challenging). The topics can offer quite a challenge at times too. I didn't think I could enter the 'Trash Monster' topic. I'm not interested in doing anything urban, or particularly 'monstrous', but in the end found a way in. Commercial art offers that challenge regularly though. Finding a way to get interested in an assignment can often involve finding ways to circumvent the limitations, or parameters set. 3 eyes- easy! All my creature designs I've been working with have 1, 3 or more eyes. Never 2 (or 0) Another parameter I've set for myself is that the eyes are... well, human eyes basically.

Thanks all who've commented (or even voted!) on my entry. I'm off trying to figure 'Beauty and the Beast' out now.


Bruce

[TheGnoll]

my personal favs were the entries of walnut, JakkaS and fozzybar.

fozzybar had a great mood in it, really peaceful ad a pleasure to look at, but i dn't like the lump of hair under his tail (legs?dunno) and his eyes placement doesn't look too realistic.The overall piece looks very nice, but maybe too simple.Stupid crits maybe ?

JakkaS's is very nicely rendered as usual, the concept is very nice, but maybe the design isn't tht great.

walnut's one isn't finished, it isn't totally rendered, its got some problems with shadows and other things, but i just LOVED the concept, and the design and mood of the creature, so he got my vote

ciao

[artiphats]

Voted Bruce Jensen, great rendering and concept.

Doven was a close second for me, great style on that one, would have got the vote but the concept wasn't too original. I guess I'm a sucker for weirder stuff, but this piece still got my attention.

Jakkas was also great, but he's always great. Of course that should not work against him in getting my vote, but I guess I'm only inclined to vote for guys like Jakkas, Mike. C, and Tyranx when they really outdo themselves. For example Mike C.'s Fire Starter was just so awesome, I had to vote for it. This piece from Jakkas didn't make my jaw drop like some of his other work has, and I honestly thought Bruce had the strongest overall piece.

[Ilaekae]

I obviously liked most of these for their rendering, etc., but boiled it down to three...

Cognition and JakkaS really worked at getting a rationale for the three eyes, but in the end, I went with rudszy...

Why? Because he actually made me believe there was a legitimate reason the creature was blue. It's not a color that insures survival in most of the "higher" orders...simple and straight-forward.

[Vulgar`]

Hahahah @ Mr. Joe.

[Oddo]

I penduled quite a while between Tom Garden and Glocklund, but in the end I went with Tom because of the meanacing contour his critter offersand I can totally see it as a computer game enemy in some mines .

Lots of great work this time around .

[Shamagim]

Nice!

The specially awesome ones IMHO: Mike Corriero, Tom garden, Cognition.sb, ceberae, Bruce Jensen.

Glocklund, funny concept. Fozzy´s as an interesting concept too ( but those orange wings are bothering the hell out of me )

My vote goes for Jakkas!!!, excellent expression, flawless rendering and good concept overall. You deserve yet another star!

[MissRaptor]

MIKECORRIERO, loved your color scheme and your pen and ink type style. Something about the piece really grabbed at me. Beautiful forearms.

[Fozzybar]

Something about the piece really grabbed at me. Beautiful forearms.

I think he took his own arms as reference for them

[monotony]

great stuff everyone.
I voted for Oddo. just love the concept and technique, wonderful face especially. but I liked the others as well.

[Tom Garden]

cbartrun

I liked the organic and hunched look of this creature, and i would love to have seen more shading and detail.

fuuryoku

great stuff, reminded me of some sort of DOOM bad guy that you wouldnt want to come across! The fur/hairy part on the bottom of this are great!! good if you had done that all over and around the arms. Also i think if you are putting it into an environment, at least put a little more sky into the white space.

OtterFrenzy

Tho the rendering isnt at its best i really like the composition of this one, in a weird way. There is a neat story going on. I think with more practice you would make a wicked speedpainter, you have very busy brushstrokes.

perineum

The body isnt too bad, and the tension around its jaw looks great. The blue fur looks like a slight afterthought, and could have been more intergrated to the body. Also, i think the body tones get a little muddy and indestinct. Try throwing in some blues and greens. Also the eyes look like there would be another 2 round the side we cant see.

Tyler_Lockett

Great concept and textures, and lovely idea in the description. I would liked to have seen a larger version. Hard to crit, works well as a piece.

thirdeye

Loved watching this come to life through the WIP's - i like the design, the fur looks a bit like a hairdo, and i think a bit of it leaking onto the arms would have helped, or a little beard, i dunno. Also, the semi-transparent wings looks good - BUT, on the left wing, you need to add more of a shadow where you would see the body on the other side, making the effect more impressive and realistic. Also adding some stronger tones in the edges of the see through bits works well - think of seeing through the top of out ears in bright sunlight, you see bright oranges.

walnut

Thats how i was sorat picturing the monster from lost! haha - looks like a 3-toed-sloth! I like the look on its face. And my main crits would be to finish up the background a little more, as its obviously in the shade of the trees. It would sharpen up the image. Especially by the bottom left legs, where you should be seeing the bottoms of the trees, not the purple grey floor.

rudszy

Nice one, as said before, the idea in the concept of how it looks to how it lives is very good! As well as seeing other plants in the background....or wait are they more Flomos!!! hehe. A bit more variation of shading in the fur as well as its thicknesses would have lookes great. And also if some of the other plants in the area looked a bit more finished.

Subsonicgerbil

I think the framing for this one doesnt halp out the design at all. I see what you were going for, but i think the clean cut frame style could have been better. Also i cant help feeling that i want to see more of the creature and not just this bit. Also if you sharpen up where its comming out of the sand, that would work well too!

pvrhye

Short and simple, lol - need a little more in the description which seemed interesting, and i think if you had shown a diagram of what it does - of maybe, it eating some children, that woul have been good Love the expression it has tho!

Mighty5cent

Nice pose, looks like its sniffing the air before retreating to its burrow! I'm not too sure on the claws on the front feet, they are a little big. Also i'd get rid of the other ones in the background, as its hard to tell what they are exactly. The fur was quite nice.

Neorepto

Nice colour ranges in your fur, and i like the pose. My only trouble with this one was that the mouth screamed, DOG! which for me threw me off the rest of the design.

Oddo

Its well painted, and well rendered and very complete. Only trouble is its very much a chicken, and are feathers fur? Liked your character background story tho.

GatorKyle

I like the story of this one! some of the textures on its back are great. I'd only say that the bird like feet are a bit misplaced on the design. Otherwise nice pose and rendering!

doven

Great to see a different bold style amoungst the entries! Great textures and illustrative approach. Again like oddo - its pretty much a horse. I would also question the twist in its head, looks like it is about to break it.

White Wolf

This doesnt look like a happy animal!!! Good rendering and pose, and nice glaring eyeball. I think the floor shadow could have been more distinct. Good backstory as well.

JakkaS

This isnt my favourite from your artworks. Its farily plain - the fur is well rendered, and overall looks complete. The eyeballs i think looked a bit "matte finish" and not very wet. The concept story is very very good.

Mr-Joe

Scary stuff I like the trees, and the fur you have done. One thing to watch out for tho - is that standard photoshop grass brush!!! It gets very recognisable, best to make your own of another one.

MIKECORRIERO

Given your normal skillful renders, i'd say this is a quicksketch hehe - I would have liked to see more varience between the male and female, maybe jsut add some boobies? hehe - as i had said before, would love to see this at full render.

Paul A. Willemse

Nice colours on the fur, tho a little unfinished looking. Also - the white seems to swamp the creature. I love the idea that each eye has RGB

cognition.sb

Found it a little hard to destinguish the various limbs, as it gets very similar in colour underneath it. I like the scale of this one. The fur on its back looks a bit flat in places.

Gloklund

Amusing stuff - though, i thought the alien head was a bit, stuck on for the sake of it The rendering is very good, adn the exprtessions and motions are brilliant.

Fozzybar

Lovely scene, and complete! The seethrough part of the wing is a bit overpowering in colour though.

ceberae

Looked very oily - would have been great if you had picked up on some bright highlights on the oil to make it really slick. Nice work with the fur and shape of the body.

Bruce Jensen

Lots of round shapes and contours here - well finished. I thought, if the body was covererd in slight fur, you would want to make the stripes a little jagged on the edges.

vote went to Tyler_Lockett

[Michael Jaecks]

Hi Tom,

Thanks very much for the kind words. As a new person, i really appreciate the feedback. As for this lil guys mouth, well... he... is... a dog. Or at least kind of a hellhound puppy.

I think basing my concept in an American children's television show isn't reaching everyone. This puppy's mom is "Blue" a blue cartoon dog who appears on a show called "Blue's Clues." And his father is Satan.

Wikipedia notes that Blue's Clues eventually overtook Barney the Dinosuar in TV ratings, but that doesn't mean it plays everywhere or that everyone pays attention... Much of the ratings is attributed to the wholesome appeal of its human host, Steve Burns, who has gone on to do indie music albums and did NOT die of a herion overdose, contrary to urban legend.

[noche]

fozzybar, thats fantastic.

the depth and radiance along originality

its great.

[JakkaS]

Thank you guys for comments, critics and the inspiration!
I agree the design is simple, but I think sometimes it works for the concept. Of course I could be wrong

I think this was one of the hardest rounds to vote. Few great renderings and few great ideas.
Here are my favorites:
Fuuryoku – I like the fur rendering and the concept, but I think the weakest point of your creature are eyes. They look for me more like brain or something. The eyes and the fur were the key to this concept. Maybe if you change the color of the eyes it could help. Try red, black or other colors. Anyway I like the concept and the back-story too.
Tyler_Lockett – I like the painting but why the picture is so small? I want to see more details.
Thirdeye – I think the strongest point of your concept is the head. I love everything in it – the shape, eyes and the fur [great rendering] but the rest of the body is not so well rendered. I know you was hurry but I hope you will change it in the next COWs.
walnut - It looks like a brother of the creature form the “asymmetrical creature” . Hoever I like the painting and the design, specially the head.
Rudszy – You said my that you was not expecting so many votes – but I said you that the concept is very good but you should work on the rendering and I was right. The creature is really cute and the back-story too. Work more with the rendering and you won a star. BTW, the trash monster of yours was also great.
Oddo – I like the rendering and the presentation.
White Wolf - …the eye in the mouse hole looks really funny. Good concept.
Tom Garden – I saw better renderings from you but I think the design and presentation are very good. [Thx for crits]
MIKECORRIERO – hmmmm…..I like your style Mike and I could almost always vote for you [If I good remember I didn’t like your “walking “penis-like creature”- their “flowers or leafs looked for me like a penises – specially this ones after their lunched their fire-works….and the 3 legged creature – but I know you was hurry with that one…..the rest of your work is really great…for me]…The only crits for this one is that, I can’t see any obvious differents between the male and female.
cognition.sb – I like the strange design of the creature and the fact that the eyes are in their legs.
Gloklund – The story and the painting are funny and I like them both.
Fozzybar- the idea, back-story and the rendering are good as always FOZZ. I think your creature was one of the most unique in this round. You got my VOTE Sir!
Bruce Jensen – I like you r painting style and the abstract thinking. The creature is great, I specially like the hands with the fruit. However, I think the round head doesn’t work. I just cant imagine the creature with perfect round head. Anyway, this is one of the best renderings in this round. So soft and melancholic.

Ufffff, … that’s all folks. Sorry for my English…
Cheers
Kuba

[Fozzybar]

fuuryoku
love the creature design and story...with a little more details and better execution you probably had my vote

Bruce Jensen
Beautiful creature design, very unique and strange...though the concept was not on the strong side, leaving the 3 eyes as an alien anatomy form only...

JakkaS
I planned to vote for someone else, but if someone is good and on the top of all entries regarding the concept, design and rendering, what can you do...VOTED! If i look at your creature it's just "3 eyes" and "blue fur"...and a simple but very creative concept...great job...once again!





thanx for all the votes, crits and nice feedback so far!

[GatorKyle]

Thanks for the crit Tom Garden.

[Kian]

Voted for Oddo. Really nice rendering technique and design. And had a nice straightforward concept.

[JakkaS]

THx guys for crits, comments and votes!

Cheers
Kuba

Ps. BTW, How many stars is in the USA flag? Hehe

[JakkaS]

Now I see it.....

[Bruce Jensen]

Congratulations on your 8th star JakkaS!

Tom: Good point about how the stripes are rendered. If I move this forward, I'll be keeping that in mind. The 3 smallest stripes on the hindquarter look particularly 'painted' on.

Thanks again to all who voted or commented on my entry.