C.O.W. - #079: Lava Swimmer

[Fozzybar]

Round #079

Topic:
Lava Swimmer

Deadline:
Monday, 12th March 2007




- for any questions or help go here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37512

note: The deadline won't be EXACTLY after a week...it can last up to 24 hours more, i am human and have to work also, you know

Post your creature for this week!

[Fozzybar]

thx to Sorknes for the topic idea!



Well, i want to add a note here:
Last round i was disappointed that some artists didn't make creatures which really harvested hearts in the meaning of the organ. I know that i allowed to interprete heart in the symbolic way, but i didn't want to open gates for any interpretation of the word heart.

It was my fault so i accepted all entries

Still i can't understand why you would think of anything in heart shape but not the heart as an organ?

The topics lose their senses with that kind of thinking.

When i say Heart Harvester isn't it obvious that you should think of a creature which harvests hearts (organ or emotional) but not think of plants or anything else which is called heart afterwards?

eg this time the topic is Lava Swimmer...now i could think of a soft drink which is called Lava and my creature is an insect which swims in this drink - voila - done! But is this really the sense and point of doing conceptart when referring to a given topic - turning and twisting every word to have at the end a totally different thing?

Well, i don't want to make any accusations or whatever, just wondering about the wild interpretations sometimes

So, that said...when we have the topic Lava Swimmer we are talking about the hot fluid which is found in the core of our planet and comes out of vulcanoes...ok?

[walnut]

What a pity, i was starting to think about something that wallows around in your er, love lava. Like in the B 52's song.

[yoitisi]

hehe I plead guilty Fozzy my first idea was to do something with the heart and emotions and stuff, but I couldn't get something that worked for me. Then out of frustration I came up with a sketch that became my entry...I agree with what you said and it will hopefully not happen again.

A small note though, I may have interpreted the word heart a bit freely but I must say that the theme of 'harvester' too wasn't present in all the concepts. Just ripping ones heart out I think isn't really harvesting. That's why I went for the agricultural thing

Anyway, nuff said, lets get sketzzin'

[Fozzybar]

hehe, i know yoitisi....but as i said i am not accusing anyone, just farting

[Bruce Jensen]

thx to Sorknes for the topic idea!

Still i can't understand why you would think of anything in heart shape but not the heart as an organ?

The topics lose their senses with that kind of thinking.

When i say Heart Harvester isn't it obvious that you should think of a creature which harvests hearts (organ or emotional) but not think of plants or anything else which is called heart afterwards?

well- I could give you 2 reasons. One is that it's always seemed a given to me on any job to look for a solution that isn't the most obvious. If you state the 'heart' must be of the organ variety, then we're stuck with it, but otherwise it's another opportunity to be 'creative'. The second reason is more personal frankly, I don't have much interest in designing a heart harvester in the literal sense. I'm just not interested in a buckets of blood design. Now, I haven't participated in months, but I thought it worthwhile to give another point of view.

[Fozzybar]

i know that reason for creativity, but if we think this thoughts to the end we would have 10 out of 10 entries with hearts which are not the organ, this is ridiculous, but i know what you mean

[dragon4lunch]

A'ight, enough talk! Bring on the lava swimming monstrosities! This round has everything it takes to make a participating extravaganza!!!

[Woodlandwalker]

Hundreds of years ago Island culture believed that when the ground shook, and a volcano was about to erupt it was due to the gods being angry. The only way to save their villages from certain doom was to sacrifice their own into the fiery pits below. Seeing the fire gods made one go mad… Priests would come back babbling inane words, of living lava, writhing unspeakable masses within the magma… little has ever been found to dispute these godlike creatures.

Until recently that is… for yet again what seemed like a cyclic event, several hundred years have passed and the ground shakes once again… old timers look to the young for sacrifices, yet these newer generations are more scientific minded than ever and wish to explain what is happening.

This is what has been gathered so far…

Glimpses are gained, and instruments record but due to the intense heat one is not actually able to get close enough to study what in fact is a new species, one able to withstand the incredible heat and pressure under the earth. It would seem that these newly discovered lava swimmers stay deep within until it is time to mate… bashing and breaking at fault lines until they have reached the surface in what is to become a fiery cataclysmic mating ritual.

The cooler temperatures towards the surface are apparently necessary for proper incubation of eggs that have been left behind… the whole even lasts no more than a month, and then things are once again calm. With the young apparently already hatched and following their parents into the intense world below.

[ikuru]

this is gonne look sweet!

nice one woodland, I like the way your criter looks, I say focus on that and render it bigger etc.

[ChaoticKnight]

Scrapped this idea. My new idea is on page 2.

[Mydrim]

Hey Fozzy, if you are blabling about wild interpretations, there's no lava in the core- it's magma

[Fozzybar]

aaarrrgghhh...*me beams Mydrim to the core*...

[ikuru]

there is allot of cool humanoid lava swimmers, the Balrog, Terminator 2, Golum, and Ripley all dwell in Lava, well sort off.
Lava rules.

[Nikkatzu]

Im gonna try this ^_^.

[Evui]

Hey guys long time no see!! This is a cool topic and fortunately I don't have that much school work to do, so I'm joining in yey! ^^ here's my WIP.

[monkyd]

heres mine


ESKARA

the eskara is a huge bug-like creature lives in a volcanic planet. in this planet from time to time there are massive volcanic explosions witch no living creature can survive. the eskara cannot fly so it is forced to cross the sea of lava to flee from the volcanic explosions which destroy everything in the surface. the eskaras hard insect skeleton protects him from the lava but only for sometime if the eskaras don't cross the lava quickly they will be consumed by the heat.

[Zhiwang]

I do my best.

This young turtle (500years old) swims in lava...produced by itself...

[cannibalcandy]

I don't know if there is really anything wrong with an outside approach to solving a concept. Playing on words, and visual puns can be half the fun of making a really interesting and creative concept piece. It seems in my off hand experience that to say a concept as open as a two word assignment can only have one kind of solution is like saying that it can only be done in one style. This is acceptable of course, if that's stipulated in the assignment, but putting people on the spot for coming at two words from a creative angle seems a bit stifling.

I, for one, appreciate the variety of ideas, styles, and stories that come from the open two word idea. I've always kind of been attracted to that vast playing field, and seeing what comes of it.

For instance, someone from Blue Sky might solve "Heart Harvester" differently than someone from ID. And I find that pretty damn cool, see what I mean?

Good luck on this round, people!

[yoitisi]

ZHiwang: NOOoo you stole my idea of making a turtle

Cannibalcandy: I'm with you as far as normal contests go, but since this is Conceptart.org look at it this way: if you're working for a studio developing games and stuff, I don't think your boss will be happy if you turn up with the wildest interpretation of his words. Just my thoughts, I should be behind my tablet anyway

[JAG.]

Lava Swimmer:
------------

For a creature to survive such intense heat, its outer surface/shell must withstand great temperatures
and protect the creature's internal organs. It must also allow the creature to move through dense
fluid. The creature most likely has very low to minimal internal heat, which is why it needs to be in
a highly-thermal environment. The shell filters the amount of heat that reaches the internal organs,
always keeping it at a safe temperature.

There aren't many sources of food near lava, so the Lava Swimmer has to survive by other means.

The Lava Swimmer feeds on the solidified lava at the banks of the lava flow. It's rich in minerals the
creature uses to repair and strengthen its shell.

Living in lava, and only surfacing to feed, the Lava Swimmer doesn't have much use for eye sight. It
has no eyes at all, but it doesn't need them. the Lava Swimmer's main function is to regulate the lava's
flow and the volume of the lava pool by burrowing channels for the lava to flow. Only the adults do this.
A lava swimmer doesn't do anything but feed in its youth. Young lava swimmers just float near the banks
almost motionless, constantly feeding and growing. Once it has reached an adequate size and its tentacles
have developed, it can then maneuver itself around through the lava. It begins to burrow almost instantly,
which allows it to control its environment and reach full maturity. It then lays eggs near the banks and
the cycle is repeated.

At the end of its life cycle, a lava swimmer will burrow deeply into the volcano and set itself at the
end of its hole to begin decomposition. It dissolves its shell, causing a build up of pressure which causes
a minor eruption. The eruption launches the carcass out of the volcano and sailing into the sky. We know
this phenomenon as 'fire bombs'.

- JAG

[Tommoy]

Lava Swimmer.

The lava swimmer lives in the deeper earthlayers. Only when there is an eruption they come at the surface. Then they love to surf on the downrolling lavastream. Once down they find there way back into the earth.

[Woodlandwalker]

tks for the crit ikuru... apprech u takin the time! ...I posted an update (further up)... everyones ideas are coming along nicely!

[ikuru]

looks nice wood

[Chuck,mate.]

Once a freak of nature, this evolutionary mistake, now thrive at volcano pits and lairs, gliding across seas of lava. 90% of its body is a solid rock alloy, combined with another 10% of pure methane gas; this creature is unbothered by the 1000 degrees of hit of its surrounding habitat. Reshaping, rearranging constantly, this lava swimmer reproduce at the depths of the earth`s core, making its way to the surface every year for the soul purpose of mating then dying as its fiery river route cools down and hardens.

[jfwalls]

Wow, everybody sure is cranking these out quickly. Woodlandwalker, I think I actually liked the creature better before you added the textures to it. This one still looks cool, but the claws and mouth don't look right. Chuck, very cool creature. I'd like to see a background that shows more depth though. Also, never noticed your Slayer quote at the bottom. One of my favorite lines is "wanting to die is a reason to live." Haha, Slayer rocks.

[cannibalcandy]

Cannibalcandy: I'm with you as far as normal contests go, but since this is Conceptart.org look at it this way: if you're working for a studio developing games and stuff, I don't think your boss will be happy if you turn up with the wildest interpretation of his words. Just my thoughts, I should be behind my tablet anyway

I totally agree. If there were parameters like: you are working on a game with a Gears of War stylistic approach and an art director interested in that kind of thing, don't reinvent the wheel. But what we have here is Two Words, and a modicum of requirements. Hehehe. Anyhoo, time to bust out one of my own.

Z

[Nexus]

Yea that's pretty badass there Chuck. I gotta say this is a hard fucking topic to handle. I mean how the fuck does anyone know what it would look like to swim around inside lava? Im thinking it would be like swimming around inside of a lightbulb. I mean the stuff that looks reddish orange is up near the surface and cooled down. Molten lava is ...well its molten....bright yellow/orange. Tough call on this one. On a side note, I think Pantera has a pretty good line with:
Truly, fuck the world, for all its worth, every inch of planet
Earth, fuck myself, dont leave me out, but dont get
Involved, dont corner me
Eh I think its been one of those days.

[dragon4lunch]

When did this turn in to a nihilistic quoting frenzy?
Instead, bring on some sweet lava swimmer creatures people!

Nexus. The creature could also swim on the lava, like a duck! that's what I'm working on!

[Woodlandwalker]

tks jfwalls... i kinda like the ouline version as well, but didnt want to be accused of only doing line art hehe... ill work on the arms/mouth a bit more and see what i can come up with... tks again for the crit.

Chuck... nice swimmer there...far be it from me to crit (I know my place hehe), but his chin seems warmer than his surroundings... maybe just some hints above him to make it even warmer... course you could just trash talk the helloutta me and keep it as is to hehe.

~goes back to scribbling amongst the gods