C.O.W. - #063: Hypnotizing - Voting!

[Fozzybar]

ROUND #063 VOTING

Topic: Hypnotizing

Deadline for the voting: Thursday, 19th October 2006

Posting thread (closed):
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78722


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OK - before voting/posting read this!!!

1. Please give c&c or a reason why you voted for the image!

2. Feel free to comment on any or all entries, the artists will appreciate it!

3. No voting for your own entry!!! If a participants votes for his own entry, every member has the right to call him a stupid lame morone in this thread! And i will delete his/her vote anyway...

[Fozzybar]

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artist: Supervlieg
concept: Lurnuk
Turpis Vegrandis Noctis
The Lurnuk is an intriguing creature. It is not really a hunter yet it stalks its prey, going largely unnoticed. They sneak up on their victim and when they catch their glance they use their large eyes to slowly hypnotize the prey. Once the prey are under the spell the Lurnuk use their tail to spit out an anesthesic gass to knock out the hapless victim. Depending on their moood, they might also use their spiked tail to knock out prey. They proceed to eat their catch, usually when it's still alive.


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artist: Durin/Piru
concept: Tanzanian Eggbite
Is an unnoticed insect, first discovered in June 2006 by a deaf scientist in Arusha. This critter uses the sound of it’s wings to hypnotize any creature responding to sound, this is a natural stealth system. This insect utilizes it’s prey to lay eggs (through the “mouth”, helped by the “Needle Horns” as insertion tool, most uncommon) directly under the skin of the chosen victim, without the latter being conscious of it. If his “wing-trick” doesn’t work, it can still use the venom stored in the sting, to anaesthetise the prey.


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artist: Chuck Wadey
concept: Truncal Hypno-Trap of the Amazon Basin
Prominent resonator disks at the front of this monster's shell form the eyes of a tribal mask illusion. A hypnotic brain wave then generates an artificial devotion so steadfast that any beast will offer itself up for sacrifice. Its vine-tentacles produce hallucinogenic polyps that look like berries and compound hypnotic control when ingested. After the hypnosis is in full effect, the creature's real head will stop posing as a tree root and begin to feed. The commanding effect of the hypnosis is so powerful that victims rejoice in the consumption of their own flesh.


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artist: marak24
concept:
The East Indian blind laternfish lulls in its prey by slowly waving its hypnotic light back and forth, closer and closer until the smaller fish is close enough to be chewed in half and swallowed in pieces.


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artist: navarrot
concept: Narb
The best-known Narb species are the Black Narb and the Brown Narb norvegicus. The group is generally known as the Old World Narbs or true Narbs, and originated in Titan. Narbs are bigger than most of their relatives. The common term "RB" is also used in the names of other big brain controllers which are not true Narbs.
To be a victim of a narb can be very dangerous. Taking mental contact with a narb for more than 30 minutes always produce serious after-effects (dementia, paranoia, schizophrenia...) Fortunately narbs secrete a particular smell that helps its detection. Probably a human being attacked by a veteran narb coldn't scape from its brain hypnotising power and suffer a brain deadh in a few hours.


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artist: Moai
concept: G'nuru
Said to be the wisest race in the land of Hu-Huffle, wiser even than the ancient Speaking Trees, a G'nuru is a mysterious and contradictory creature. It has great wisdom, yet it never speaks. It has wings, yet cannot fly. It has opposable thumbs, yet it never thumb-wrestles or needs to turn a doorknob. It spends its days ambling solemnly across the blue hills of Hu-Huffle, searching for its favorite source of food: the fuzzworm.
Fuzzworms live in great knobby hives, and retreat into their burrows much too quickly for any creature to grab them. Any creature, except the G'nuru. When it discovers a fuzzworm hive, it whistles an eerie melodie and taps its three-clawed feet in a compelling rhythm. The fuzzworms are intrigued by the sound, and peek out of their burrows. The G'nuru then spreads its wings to display its brilliant, eye-like wing markings. It waves its wings sublty and moves slowly from side to side. The combination of the rhythms and subtle movements send the simple-minded fuzzworms into a deep trance, so they do not retreat when the G'nuru approaches to feed. After eating, the G'nuru utters a long, complex belch and moves on. Some attempt to interpret these belches and learn from the G'nuru's wisdom.


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artist: Stephan_R
concept: Giant Bleeding Goldfish
These rare creatures are found in Asia amidst the shallow waters. They hunt in a very similar fashion to sharks, by grouping together and circling around any slow or helpless animals. The thing that makes these amazing fish unique is the ritual before eating, where they swim close to each others' bodies with their long tails causing their scales to flake off around their unsuspecting prey. This confuses, blinds and temporarily hypnotizes the prey before they attack, making for an easy meal. During this ritual is where this animal's brain works the hardest, and you can actually see the synapses firing through the thin membrane surrounding their heads, causing a flickering but calming glow. This effect in addition to the floating scales makes for a beautiful and mesmerizing display.


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artist: Joey-b
concept:


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artist: Cloister
concept:
Watch out! The Hypnoticus Rodentus Caninus has found the earth. All who look into the eyes of these creatures are instantly hypnotized, and never ever snap out of it... Nothing is known about the species, and do not try to find out. It will stare you down in a second! Oops.. now it's in your mind... Be glad it is only a picture, and not the real thing... I dare to reveal it is the offspring of an ancient hindu goddess, who got tired of the realm of Devas, eloped to earth, reproduced in masses (by raping a lot of bulldogs), and is clearly seeking world dominion. Time to get yourself one of them mirror shields... They're coming.


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artist: xgabo
concept: Hamelin Dragon
Someone told me once about this prodigious creature, and even though I have never seen one, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I had this very vivid image in my head: 8 or 9 meters high, moist red skin like a salamander, but no tail except for a vestigial appendix. It had six legs, four to walk and two less developed members to handle prey, and a large head with a strange bone protrusion shaped like some kind of primitive blowhorn.
I did not remember who had desbribed me the dragon; it could have been a dream for all I know. But the image in my head was so alive and detailed I decided to check. I could not find any mention to it until I stumbled into a book of an obscure 19th century poet called Robert Madagrava, in the returns section of the library. And there it was, etched in the leather book cover. Exactly as I imagined.
The Hamelin Dragon is not described as a real or even mythical creature in the book, but rather (like in my case, I was sure now) a product of a dream of the author, something that recurred to him for years. He describes a swamp dragon which wandered the wetlands of Southern Asia, hunting prey using the strangely enticing sounds emanated from its horn. It literally hypnotized the prey into immobility until it as too late to escape.
It liked humans too, but even more bizarre, the Hamelin Dragon did not eat people: it only attracted someone (mostly females) within its range to play with them. The Dragons found us curious, like dolphins when they follow a boat. After it was done playing, rolling us in the mud and shaking us about, it would just walk away and let the person live. Provided, of course, the person in question survived the ordeal.
The author says many cultures in early times offered sacrifices to the Dragons in exchange for a good rain season. Puzzled to why (even being aware the Dragon was a product of his imagination) the author still wrote about it as if it was real, I skipped to some of his final thoughts. He says: "The Dragon, like elephants, always marched into a secuded haven to die, And no human ever found these places for a single reason: We never really looked for them. The Dragons for us don't exist, and they never did. In theis path to the grave, the Dragons always played their last song, a song so poignant and sad that made everyone who listened to it forget everythng about the Dragon's existence. They only remained in our subconscious, and resurfaced as dream and allucinations.
The author seemed very certain of his story, but checking on his life I find he was a drunk, having spent a decade in the madhouse for killing a man with a candelabra. A rambling poet, mad with stories of hypnotizing dragons stealing virgins.
But then again, what should I make of my own delirium?


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artist: Artifex33
concept: Wispwolf
The wispwolf has adapted to its prey's vulnerability to bright light sources. The Wispwolf uses its bioluminant tail to beguile its prey while it closes distance. Once within striking range, it rends the hapless animal with its similarly glowing jaws.


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artist: Hammywammy
concept:
Traphosite are just as harmless as any other tropical spiders, except, the females has the ability to hypnotize other insects and creatures during their reproduction period. They are basically helpless during the time they guard their eggs and are incapable of leaving their nest to hunt for food, hence using it's ability to lure other insects to it as food, while driving bigger preys away.
However, after the eggs hatch, the mother Traphosite dies. They do not live for a very long time after using it's hypnotizing crystal shell to protect themselves.
There was a belief that witches used to use their shells for their rings, while using black magics to activate the hypnotizing glow to hypnotize other mortal beings.


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artist: cotron
concept: The Desert Rose of Neo Las Vegas
After years of secret government testing of nuclear weapons in the barren Nevada deserts, radiation has saturated the earth for miles. A mathematical, logistical error has accidentally left the testing sites far too close to populated areas- one such place in particular is sin city herself, Las Vegas. As the majority of people in the vicinity succumb to the effects of radiation poisoning, strange creatures begin to appear from the murky wastelands around the Vegas strip. One such creature is the one featured; it is a strange mutation of insect, flower, and neon tubing that draws its prey (pets, humans that have survived) with its dazzling display of irridescent light and color. A true freak of nature, it is quick and deadly after hypnotizing its meal. The creature is nocturnal, and stands at a height of around 5 feet.


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artist: Michael Jaecks
concept:
At first glance the strange Booblebar looks like a tiny octopus. It is actually an alien mammal, closer genetically to Earth's small primates than anything else. The Booblebar navigates the thick jungles of its home planet with gymnastic ease. Apart from its agility. the Booblebar is nearly defenseless having no claws and only tiny teeth for chewing leaves. The Booblebar would be easy pickings for predators if not for its single defense mechanism, a low, nearly subsonic, hypnotic purr. The sound of the purr entrances a would be predator and allows the Booblebar time to escape. More intelligent creatures, like the indigenous humanoid tribes of the Booblebar's planet are less affected by the Booblebar's sonic spell, but are not entirely immune. They consider the Booblebar a sacred animal. Shamans keep Booblebars as familliars to facilitate their religious trances and visions. Booblebars that have been captured and transplanted to Earth have even been used in interrogations, as anyone who handles the purring creature becomes highly inclined toward suggestion.


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artist: JakkaS
concept: COD-COD
COD-COD are small furied lizards that live deep in forests of planet Y'tudfollac. They are small and very slow but they have very effective way of hunting. They use their throat's membrane to catch insects. This membrane is sticky fluorescent saliva that hypnotizes insects and other small organisms. All the butterflies, flies, wasps and other insects just can't resist to this glowing light. It works similar to spider's web but it is much more effective.


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artist: BlkCelebration
concept: Clo-Tildeh
After a bloody war battle has finished many wounded warriors are left in the battlefield to die. The Clo-Tildeh takes this oportunity to feed... It uses the spikes on its back to produce an intense swirling light. This light has an hypnotic effect on the weak drawing them to her. Few have survived, those who have, say that the light they saw was a sign from their companions signifying triumph. They followed the light in hopes to reach their victorious land.


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[Fozzybar]

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artist: redehlert
concept:
The Iris - hypnotic to look upon and deadly to be near. A member of Class Scyphozoa, this jelly arrests its onlooker with the 'eye' that can be seen from above or below. Mesmerizing, this creature arrests all motion allowing the tentacles to ensnare it. Here we watch the detachment of a young Iris as it prepares to depart and exist in the watery blackness. A smack of Iris Jellies is almost too much too resist and can cause blindness.


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artist: Chris Noeth
concept: Momcarab
The momcarab species was first discovered by german explorer Dr. Thomas Krueger in 1932 on an expedition to the deepest areas of the amazonian rain forest. The momcarab, a spiderlike bug, is using it's tentacles to hypnotize small animals. While the animals are in trance the momcarabs brood is feeding on the hypnoticed animal which can't defend itself and is eaten alive by hundreds of maggots which prefere to eat bowels first.
Dr. Krueger took some of the species to Germany where they were set loose by accident in a WW2 attack. Since 1932 the species found a new 'home' in the german forests where they find much of food.


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artist: ceberae
concept: Aru
In the dark of night, Aru preys on orphaned souls. Those who are deprived of and desperately seeking compassion and understanding, are those who'll fall into her cunning trap the easiest. The gentle warmth of her feathers and the subtle melody of her song draw the poor souls like moths to a flame, it's hypnotic light hard to resist.


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artist: Ostrander
concept: Wrightson's Galoote
The Wrightson's Galoote is named after Dr. B.A. Wrightson who first discovered the creature in 1867 grazing on the open prairies on the remote Island of Kaluta in the Met'al Hur'lant Sea.
Dr. Wrightson observed a unique defensive trait of the Galoot whilst witnessing a chase by a rather large uncatagorized predator. As this predator gave chase, the swift movements of the Galoote and its "hypnotic" striping pattern on its posterior, or hide quarters in fact disoriented the predator into a "trance-like" state. Thus giving the Galoote a distinct advantage in its escape.
Another remarkable event was witnessed as these same patterns also had a somewhat similar "dazing" effect on the opposite sex of the species, as a female Galoote moved in front of a group of competing males.
Dr. Wrightson himself tried to make contact with one of these creatures. Having quietly moved close to one on the prairie, as he drew ever closer, the Galoote turned and stared with an eerie "hypnotic gaze".
All Dr. Wrightson can remember is awaking moments later, lying on the ground, with not a Galoote in sight.

[Fozzybar]

not accepted entries:

All WIPs



close to rejection:

none



special note:

none

[Fozzybar]

didn't have time to read through the concepts, sorry...

[Piru]

My vote goes to Supervlieg, very funny and maximum respect for how the light shines through the ears! Ofcourse Chuck Wadey's is splendid also! More crits tomorrow, it's late!

[redehlert]

stephan_r gets my vote for an incredible execution with drama, to boot! nice job! second up was ostrander - i loved it! mesmerizing from eyes to ass.
cheers and good job to all!

[Fozzybar]

btw...another beautiful TUTORIAL is now up for your pleasure!

This time it's done by Chuck Wadey!!!

Thank you very much Chuck

Here ya go:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79449

[Supervlieg]

Durin/Piru - Nice creature. The colors in the body are a bit monochromatic.

Chuck Wadey - Your poured 100% pure love into this pic. Excellent. Got my vote. Youve been having quite a high production this week!

marak24 - Nice colors, though at first glance the creature appears to be floating in space rather then underwater.

navarrot - Nice creature, although the guy in the pic steals a lot of thunder. The creature could have used a bit more highlighting.

Moai - Nice, the fur is well done. I think you need to work on blending the colors in the skin a bit more.

Stephan_R - Love the viewpoint. Although the water is a bit too opaque to look like convincing water. Since everything is sharply rendered, the eye doesnt know where to look first. It lacks a clear focal point.

Joey-b - Nice rendering on the creature. Although it looks a bit like an attacking creature then a hypnotizing one.

Cloister - Love the eyes. The perspective on the body is a bit weird though. His feet might be a bit too blurry.

xgabo - Love your rendering style. The creature looks very menacing, and if it wasnt for the musical notes it would have been very hard to see it as hypnotizing.

Artifex33 - I like how you tightened up the rendering. Maybe add a little more color variation next time. And try working in more shadows to get some mass in the trees and body of the creature.

Hammywammy - Nice and effective concept. Could have used a bit tighter rendering imo. Maybe try working at higher res next time.

cotron - Love the head, but the body could use a bit more detailing to make it stand out a bit more. And I dont know if the background coloring fits the creature.

Michael Jaecks - I like the creature, definitely very original. The color varation in the hand helped. Maybe try more shadows next time. Dont be afraid to put in darker shadows. And dont burn them in, choose your colors by hand.

JakkaS - It's amazing how you keep coming up with these great concepts. Im looking forward to your book of "The natural world of Jakkas". Only gripe I have is that the round membrane thing looks to round to be natural. And maybe the forward bending front legs are bit too odd for a creature with such a large thing attached to its head. The membrane looks like it might seriously hinder the walk cycle of the creature. Other then that top notch!

BlkCelebration - Looks nice, I like how you tightened it up a bit. The creature still is a bit hard to read. Did you try thumbnailing a few poses before you start? It might help you in the composition. Also try flipping the pic to spot those weird perspective things on the head and front legs.

redehlert - Wow nice take on the subject. Looks very viral. Hard to connect with such a thing though. And I had a look at some other work of yours, you rock at rendering creatures. Lets see more of that!

Chris Noeth - Nice, I like the story book like feeling of the pic. The worms look very flat without shading though. And the cave could use more shadows.

ceberae - Very hard to read, the creature appears to be almost ethereal.

Ostrander - Wow, love your concept. It has that "why didnt I think of that" thing you often look for in a concept. A very close second for my vote, but alas Chuck dropped a very Wadey bomb. I love the little detail of the curled horns as well. Great job!

[Fozzybar]

new round is on btw:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=79453

[dragon4lunch]

Lurnuk is my choice. Eh, I mean Supervlieg. Chuck Wadey of course has the most dazzling image with ultra paint-skills demonstrated as usually - mad cudos for you. But I do think your creature is hard to read (I guess it's supposed to be that way) - and Lurnuk has the cuteness factor working for it. Chuck, your creature doesn't really seem to be able to move or exist realistically. I mean, does it's ass fly and the head lurk on the ground, trying to keep up with the ass? lol

[Bruce Jensen]

well it does have a nice ass.

[Michael Jaecks]

For me it came down to SV or Chuck: chewed up backlit ears or near nekkid dudes. It's a difficult choice....

[Stephan_R]

redehlert: Fantastic textures, colors and idea... although I wish it felt a little closer to a larger creature than bacteria personally. I like originality and you nailed it!

Chris Noeth: I think you have a really cool style, and I was really impressed until my eyes panned over to the creature design. Overall great scene, colors and idea... but the execution of the creature itself didn't win me over.

ceberae: This mood is outstanding, I love the glowing white child with the wings surrounding it!! If you had polished the creature a bit more and shown more of the body it would have been great for me.

Ostrander: You played the funny card, and it's such a polished piece of art it truly is hypnotizing. The idea of the creature design felt a little too forced to get my vote, but I love this type of stuff. Amaing execution


Supervlieg: For some reason this guy felt a little flatter than your normal submissions. It definitely has strong focal points though. The eyes feel a little like shiny apples as aposed to wet eyes to me. Great idea, colors and design.

Durin/Piru: I really enjoy your black and white piece, with the whole magnifyed look to it. Bugs always seem to be so intricate in their bodies, and how light affects each surface (hairy, shells, eyes) that I felt you could have pushed more variety in the body surface rendering.

Chuck Wadey: Great illustration The design felt a bit chaotic, but I love the "idea" itself.. and especially like the tongue! As always, wonderful colors and a convincing scene.

marak24: I loved this the moment I saw it, great idea and mood.... even if it's similar to a real creature. I felt like you could have polished the creature itself a bit more and shown more of the body.

navarrot: The design of this creature felt a little cobbled together just to suit the topic, although I'm a little guilty of it too. To be honest the main issue I had was the person took up too much of the page and took away from the focus which is the creature.

Moai: Interesting design, I like the colors and idea. He doesn't scream "hypnotizing to me" but keep at it You can play around with keeping your sharp/tight lines around the creature and blurry/unfinished lines for the surrounding areas?

Joey-b: I think you're really improving, but your creature designs (not execution just the ideas themselves) seem to be rushed. The lighting feels like a photography studio rather than outdoors, and the hypnotizing light is casting on the turtle's shell rather than his eyes, hmm. Keep it up, and take your time!

Cloister: hehe, this guy felt more like a B-movie monster than a believable creature to me. I like the colors and compositions you always have.

xgabo: Great scene! I like the music touch to it as well. The one thing that always bugs me about your renderings is all the black you use. I'd love to see your pallette lightened up a bit. Great ideas, detail and proportions though keep them coming.

Artifex33: I love the tail, the tree and the idea... but the "cat" design didn't win me over. It felt a little too much like two real creatures cobbled together rather than a creature that would evolve into being.

Hammywammy: I think the colors and viewpoint are nice. It came off a bit muddy to me though, and the design didn't feel too unique.

cotron: Something about your color palettes are so pleasing to the eye For some reason though the design felt a little more robotic and less creature-like to me.

Michael Jaecks: "Flight of the Navigator" popped into my head when I saw this I like everything but the head design a lot. The head felt like a B-movie creature where the creators needed a mask very similar to humans for someone to wear. What if the pointy object sticking out was a horn?

JakkaS: Does the creature absorb the bodies through the membrane? Maybe I didn't read close enough, but it looks like no food can escape through it. Great rendering and idea, as usual !!

BlkCelebration: This guy felt a little cobbled together like some of the bugs in this thread... but i like the scene itself, and the colors.

I have to vote for Jakkas yet again (sorry Chuck even though you have an amazingly detailed piece and a wonderful tutorial) Jakkas has a creature design that feels the most believeable in addition to being well executed. It was a hard choice between Chuck, Jakkas, SuperV, Ostrander and Redehlert for me.

[xgabo]

Stephan R - I noticed how my paintings look very dark in some monitors... probably the fact my own monitor is currently calibrated for some printwork I've been doing, which requires a specific gamma. my palette is much lighter than it looks, I swear

[Ostrander]

Thanks everyone who had commented on my entry this week. I appreciate it greatly. You guys are too nice.

Now on to the real stars of this show.
SuperV- Awesome attention to lighting, pallet and detail! I think you could have maybe pushed the design a little further, but it's still a great piece.
Stephan_R- I was so close to voting for this. The technical execution is superb, like most everything I've seen from you. You machine you. I love the POV. It's gonna be a battle between you and Chuck I think. Good luck man, awesome work!
JakkaS- Very clever concept. I dig the whole bug zapper attraction. Execution is top notch as always. It would have been cool to see you have another version of the creature with its mouth closed. Great job!
redehlert- Very hypnotizing design. I really like how you pulled the science card out on this one for your design. Great job!

Noteworthy mentions-
Big kudos to Joey-B, you're improving with every entry there buddy. This one is great. Your execution is really well done this round. Keep up the good work!
xgabo- I really like the direction you took with your entry. I think some of the best ideas are the ones that are not obvious to the viewer. And hypnotic sound is not something that comes to peoples mind first and foremost. The only thing that bothers me is your color has that "digital" look to it. I know we all use digital pretty much but most try to get it to not look so "hard". I hope I'm explaining myself ok. If not PM me.
Artifex33- Awesome lighting on the tree and creature. I think some more work could be done to the actual light at the end of the tail though.

In the end, I had to give my vote up for Chuck Wadey. For a technically fantastic illustration and a very intelligent, psuedo-historic, believable concept.
Excellent job my friend! I think it's gonna be a tough round between you and Stephan_R. You guys both have that "eye of the tiger"

Awesome round folks, see in the next!

[Hammywammy]

Woah, impressive entries everyone! And thanks Supervlieg and Stephen_R and for the critiques, please keep them coming, the harder the better!

I wish I spent more time on mine, so I'm definetely going to try harder on the next week's topic now that I have a week to start than a few days before the deadline to start.

My vote goes to Chuck Wadey as well for the beautiful execution and design.

Orstrander's design made me laugh! Can't stand looking at those butt.
Xgabo's concept is really neat as well, highly disturbing, but I like it!

More comments later.

[Artifex33]

Major props to Chuck Wadey for his excellent take on the subject. Extra props for jumping outside the typical European mythos. Excellent render and colors. Vote cast!

Jakkas, very nice concept. Love the pic. For some reason I just love the tree trunk like legs. Almost got my vote.

Supervlieg, wow. Another awesome one. Excellent transparency on the ears. Watching a lot of Yoda in ep. 3?

Crit thanks to Supervlieg, Stephan_R and Ostrander. The value of conceptart.org never shines brighter than in the honest critiques.

[jfwalls]

Wow! Some great images this round. I went with Chuck because the idea behind it was so cool.

You almost got my vote Cloister because your image has some actual hypntozing power.

Ostrander was close too. Great butt on that beast!

[Simon Boxer]

Outstanding work here! I ended up voting for Chuck W, but Stephan's was a very close second.

LOL @ "...victims rejoice in the consumption of their own flesh."

[Johnnyhorse]

Hmm, tough choices this round.
My vote went to Stephen_R because it was just such a mesmorizing creature (which was the topic) that also looks somewhat like a natural creation. Very eerie to top it off.
I can find atleast one thing in almost everyone's piece that I really love.

[cotron]

I voted for jakkas, love that creature... makes me chuckle every time

Stephan_R's is so close to my vote though, sat and went back and forth between the two.

good stuff everyone!

[j a k e]

Went for Chuck, but it was a mental fight between him and Stephan for me.
Great stuff everyone.

[Piru]

Supervlieg: got my vote; funny nicely rendered and thos damn fantastic ears.
Chuck Wadey: Cool rendering of the rainforrest and well.. all the rest in the piece too. Very nice.
marak24: I'm missing some more definition, like eyes etc. Nevertheless a creepy hypnotizer!
navarrot: I like the design of the narb, there are some volume problems for me, when reading the face.
Moai: a weird pose on the critter's right arm, love the little heaps with the little eyes on the surroundings
Stephan_R: I like the way you take on those POV's, nice design and love the tightness of the rendering
Joey-b: hilarious
Cloister: his mouth is really funny, some weird anatomy, but hey it's got 6 eyes
xgabo: impressive design, but like I said before, those blues on his horn are off imo, but that's a little crit on a great design
Artifex33: That tree is very nice lit. Like the creature, but the overall quality of the picture doesn't feel finished imo.
Hammywammy: no crits really, very cool!
cotron: lol yet again 100% originality, love the design!
Michael Jaecks: cool creepy critter keep em comming man!
JakkaS: nice coloring, interesting concept!
BlkCelebration: I think your shading and lighting needs some reviewing, other than that, nice concept and idah! Keep participating
redehlert: this one almost moves when staring at it! love the colors!
Chris Noeth: hehe lovely disgusting. The picture is a bit flat here and there.
ceberae: having a bit of trouble when reading this piece :s
Ostrander: one of my favos this round!

[vigostar]

Had to vote for Ostrander because i found myself zoning out when looking at the picture... job well done

[Joey-b]

Ahrck.. i dont know stephan, chuck.. _R, wadey...


.... chuck_R, stephan wadey ARCK its driving me nuts

okey stephan u got it cause ur idea's is (imo) a bit more original and i gotta love all the little fruit u got on the boat

[redehlert]

woo-hoo! got a vote. score.
thanks for the comments - really appreciated!
and with that, exit stage right.
cheers!
d

[BlkCelebration]

First off, thanks for the crits. You guys where spot on. I had some troubles putting this one together. I believe what gave me some complications was the perspective. I had a clear image of the creature in my head but when I translated it into a frontal view, I couldn't find an effective way to portray the shell and front legs. Perhaps the shadows could of been more intense too.
Thanks Supervlieg, Durin/Piru, and Stephan_R.

Welcome back redehlert

Voted for Chuck Wadey. So much time invested into this piece (or was there? I hope it wasnt a 30 minute thing for you. ) really shows through. An awsome complete image that is well rendered and has a great concept behind it too. Remind me of a Miyasaki image (princess mononoke, spirited away).

Supervlieg: Love the translusence of the ear, and that stare hes giving off. My only crit would be that the ears kinda draw attention away from the eyes. Perhaps if they had a certain glow like the kind cats give off when light hits their eyes in the dark (not sure if I'm explaining myself properly).

Durin/Piru: I like the fact that you went with something a little more credible in design. The diagram on the left is a good touch. The drawing feels like it might have benefited with a little more time on it (maybe some hint of an environment) would have helped the concept as a whole.

marak24: Seems like you like to work fast. Even still, it looks very good, The deep-sea aspect is carried out well. I really like the lighting on the creatures lure. I would of liked to see more of the creature's body.

navarrot: I like the glowing eyes and how they reflect back on the guys face. The shapes its composed of work really well with this creature. Some more tightening up on the creatures skin, looks like he'd be a bit more slimy lookin.

Moai: Love concept, the description is very vivid. I like how the fur was rendered, but I would suggest some darker shadows on the creature. Nice pose too.

Stephan_R: Was close to voting for this one because of the overall image. It's very nicely presented and clean. I love the flow the creatures (tail fin especially). Only crit, wish the creatures were more of the focus, more like a nitpic

Joey-b: I really like humorous images like this. The slimy texture is nicely done, and I like the expression on his face.

Cloister: Another awsome pic. It's very intense (like the look in his eyes). Great lighting on it. Pose seems a bit off though.

xgabo: Great concept, I like the use of sound in it. I like the style you used for the coloring (as well as the one in your previous entry). Background works well too.

Artifex33: Sweet looking tree! I think thats my only real complaint, simply because I keep going back to it. Nice ligting on this one and the pose is well done.

Hammywammy: Very nice insect design, it looks believable. I like how you show its prey. Would like to see the creature with a bit more sharpness to it.

cotron: Nice flow to the design. I like the painting style but maybe for the COW it could of used a bit more work on surface textures for the creature's body.

Michael Jaecks: This one's very creepy, I like how his tentacles coil around the hand. Great concept and nice rendering.

JakkaS: Always pumping out solid work. I like the composition on most of your images, and this one is not the exeption. The way the background fades is great. I like the concept of a fury reptile. Great skin texture.

redehlert: Nice to have you submitting again! This one was another close vote for me. I like that you went with something completely different from everyone else. The rendering is great (it's almost hypnotic ) Keep em' coming!

Chris Noeth: Good over-all image presentation, but The creature is too far back in the background for me. Maybe a close up version of it, so we could appreciate the creature more.

ceberae: Nice image, but the creature is kinda lost to me. I like the moodiness to it.

Ostrander: I like the ink-style used on this one. The humorous aspect is used very well. The hypnotic eyes look great, and the ass is smootly rendered.

I probably repeated some stuff others have said, but these are just some of my observations (hope I didn't come off as to harsh). I still have a lot to learn myself, but just participating and watching other people's work has helped me out a ton. Now on to round 64!

[Jabo]

Supervlieg: Still laughing from the striking similarity to Cornholio. Every aspect of the creature makes me laugh. Awesome lighting.



Durin/Piru: The creature design itself is a little generic, and illustrating the wings in idle state is a little minus IMO. Would have been cool to show the wings in motion and shock/soundwaves emitting. No background, but that's personal taste.

Chuck Wadey: Killer concept. Reading your tut made me realize how much effort was put into this painting. The butterfly appearance in addition to the eyes is awesome. The scene is very well composited. Little crit: The snake-trunk is bend in a disadvantageous way behind the forceps. In your tutorial, the image was flipped back and forth. This revealed to me that the trunk is not leading the eye correctly. Maybe it's intentious, but the trunk is hardly visible at first glance. Other than that: Made my day, you got my vote.

Marak: Creepy. Wouldn't want to meet this guy. You were the first to post a pic in the thread and I think you could have pushed this a little further. Especially the antenna doesn't do the trick IMO, it's out of shape at some spots and the bent isn't the best.

navarrot: I liked this, but the overall lighting didn't have enough impact. Not much else to say.

Moai: Very close to a character design. Like the creature itself, but it's too humanoid.

Stephan_R: Wow. The perspective is awesome (could have been a winner in the previous ocean-themed COWs, say Orange Sea Leviathan or Bermude Trinangle). The shading on the boat and the lower left fin is so nice. ++

Joey-b: I like this one. The colors are a little poor, as is the lighting and rendering on the turtle.

Cloister: In terms of "Hypnotizing", this is the winner. When I look at it, a voice in my head says "burn it all down". Where's my light...

xgabo: Great creature. A little too colorful, an overcast sky would have fitted the swamp/desert theme better. Like the sound-idea. The linework shouldn't be black I think.

Artifex33: This is cool. Not to keen about the lighting, and the deer could have been put better to stand out and convey "hypnotized".

Hammywammy: Cool rendering, nice concept. A little flat converning color, esp. hues. Cool reflections.

cotron: Liked it in the thread and still do. Nice rendering. A little unfinished.

Michael Jaecks: Spider-monkey-octopus. The colors don't strike me, but the concept is cool.

JakkaS: You did it again. Your creatures always have the nicest and most authentic design and this one is again very well executed. Crazy stuff.

BlkCelebration: Hm, not sure about it. Could use some work, it looks half wip-ish. The creatures head is cool, but the lighting needs some further pushing.

redehlert: Well done. Love the rendering and color.

Chris Noeth: This is gross. As a former mice- and rat-owner. The hypnotizing creature's rendering isn't too well done. Some blue light from the hole would be cool. The worms are all the same color and value, no lighting applied.

ceberae: Designwise, I like it, the abstraction is cool, but doesn't render the beast well.

Ostrander: Nice ass. Funny as hell, plus near-perfect proportions. A background for this would increase the quality even more.

[Cloister]

Supervlieg: Really nice rendering! Looks a lot like a photographic close-up, with the blurred background and nice sharp details. I very much like these sort of life-like images, even though I voted for Chuck this week. The light-source seem to shift a bit. It is clearly lit from the left behind when I look at the ears. But the eyes look lit from the left front (two light-sources perhaps…?) But then the end of the tail (the part that breaks the photographic illusion the most) seem lit from right, if I look at the highlights.
Perhaps the teeth are too monotonously placed, and perhaps the restriction to two colours only (green and red) makes it somewhat too graphical for me.
The tail looks as if it is lying supported by a flat surface, but I think the creature sits on a brown stone. My first thought was, that it would look really good sitting on a mirror. Anyway, a really inspiring picture!

DurinPiru: Insects look like insects… To make them interesting (beyond what they aldready are), new, fresh, cool, funny and so on requires some very distinctive parts, I think…. Some sort of characterestic that makes you look again, and realize that this is something beyond your every-day insect.
Your insect look fine, but is too normal to catch my attention. Perhaps the shadow is too raw, and steals some focus from the creature.

Chuck W: Thorough, sensitive, balanced detailing, and a crazy creature that becomes believable in such a convincing environment. That’s a vote! Hell, my predictions must come through…

Makak24: I like this evil-looking one-coloured creation a lot. Makes me wanna put on a Morbid Angel record. Very nice hypnotic light at the end of a tentacle that could have been better defined, I think.

Navarrot: The idea works. The rendering’s a bit stiff/simple. The hard angles in the face steals all the attention from the creature.

Moai: Your images always have a sort of dotty surface which doesn’t really agree with me. But I always love you sketches.
I like your creature, but I think you flipped it towards its bad side. It now stops the eye early in the painting (on its way from left to right), and once you follow its arm rightways you fall off the canvas. It would have been better if it had stopped the eye later on and directed it back towards the beginning – keeping it in the painting. When applying shadows, try at times to change the colour instead of only darkening them. Light receives the colour of the object it reflects upon, which means that object shadows often hold other colours then the directly lit areas.

Stephan_R: Very soft and ever so sweet. Can I buy one of those fish? I would like make love to it… emotionally, of course. The bluish light on the brown wood of the boat is splendid.

Joey-B: Nice, but as you now know – very Simpsonish. Obviously, if you had made square-like pattern on the shell of the turtle smaller at the top and larger at the sides , it could have come out more round. I dig the beam.

Cloister: Little time, focused on gaze, eyes and light work, else is crap. It is okey to do bad when you play.

Xgabo: I don’t like this one. I’m not sure why… something about the colours and the light. It is still a good entry, but the beast is really revolting (strong expression). Keep thinking about Jurassic park when I see that flute-head. The way the trees thins out from trunk to twig very quickly looks unatural, I think. The feet are really well done, and the claws/nails are great as well.

Artifex33: Good pose. Nice little story. The tree looks really good. But there is something about the way you rendered the image that makes everything look a bit plastic. I looks more as if the surfaces mirror the light, then being lit by it.

Hammywammy: Look at what I wrote for Durin/Piru. Nice black and white banding on those legs.

Cotron: The heavy white outline flattens it out, and makes me think of graphical/industrial design, rather than a creature. The head has some merits.

Michael J: Very original and expressive. Imo there are too few hairs in that fur… and the colour of the eyes do not fit with in the rest.

Jakkas: The presentation, the texture, the colours are really outstanding, as always. The big blue disc doesn’t really convince me, and the pose is somewhat uneventful.

Blk Celebration: Thanks for the vote on From Above. Your creature has som god-entity qualities about it that I like, but it took me quite some time to see that the legs where… legs. I thought of them as some sort of creatures or sculptures sticking up in front of it. Different colours. The victim is well done.

Redehlert: Nice abstract! I like the surface and colour a lot. If you say it’s a creature, I believe you.

Chris Noeth: Nice fairy-tale image. The main creature is too small to judge, I think. The rat is rather flat, and the worms look as if they’re crawling upon the image instead of in the image.

Ceberae: Where is the creature? Sorry, but I can’t make it out…

Ostrander: Clean, slightly amusing, and quite cool. The joints in the forelegs look more like swollen infections than joints, and the hindlegs (”heels”) seems to point to the right, instead of backwards.) But I like it.


I voted Chuck W because he managed to get all his detailing into balance (for once… ) and the atmosphere of the jungle is very attractive. The surroundings are very well done, and the creature fullfills the archetypical imagery of hypnosis, without being boring at all. The snable/tounge thing could have been a creature by itself. The light on the tree to the right and the worshippers keep the beholder´s gaze on the painting.


Thanks for the comments, everyone! (jfwalls and jabo: I'm glad you appreciate the hypno-gaze... just stay calm, and you'll be okay )