C.O.W. #258. Whiptongue - VOTING!

[Si_Swe]

Round 258 - Voting!

Topic: Whiptongue

Deadline for voting: May 16th, 2012

Requirements this week (Read BEFORE Voting!):

- The creature’s tongue must be a prominent feature of the design

- The tongue must be prehensile

- The tongue should be used for a specific chief function of the creature’s day-to-day life (be that using it as a weapon, a method of manipulating objects or to swing through the trees, it’s up to you)

[ChrisKlungerbo]

Artist: ChrisKlungerbo

Concept: Horn Tongue

The Horn tongue is a predator unlike any other. It preys on very quick animals despite being quite slow itself. But instead of evolving to adapt to it's prey's speed, it has developed quite a unique way of hunting. It fires it's tongue much like a chameleon, but the tip of it's tongue is made of a hardened material shaped like that of an arrowhead. It shoots the tongue which pierces the prey's skin and attaches, before it drops to it's belly. The prey will try to run, but the Horn Tongues belly is made to create extra friction and the prey tires very quickly, giving the horn tongue the ability to catch up.

They have been known to hunt in packs as well, but never seen living as a group.

[daniorrr]

Artist: daniorrr

Concept: Jezik

The Jezik (Croatian for tongue) is a huge creature that hunts using its tongue. It usually grows up to the size of gorilla, it has a tongue that extends up to 3m.
The Jezik is able to control its tongue with ease, it also has a venomous sting which paralyzes the prey, allowing it the reel its prey back in with ease.
Other methods of hunting include headbutting, as seen in the picture.

[Tchuk]

Artist: Tchuk

Concept: Gua'ak

The Gua'ak are mainly found in dense jungles; although other variants have been found in less tropical climes, they all exhibit the same behaviour when it comes to feeding. They are nocturnal predators and will leap from tree to tree using their powerful legs before finding a low hanging branch to perch themselves on, dangling their large tail near the ground,it then lights its bioluminescent tail brightly in the middle of the night to draw the more curious creatures towards it after it carefully lowers it's prehensile tongue into the underbrush.

When its victim comes along to investigate the strange light the Gua'ak will quietly move its tongue into position before striking at the victims next, quickly and quietly suffocating it. Finally lifting it's prey up onto the branch before stripping the flesh off using it's serated fangs.

[Scriar]

Artist: Scriar

Concept: Long Tongued Sloth
The Long Tongued Sloth is a slow creature dwelling in forested areas, it hangs from branches with its long tongue, and feeds using the venus fly trap like tip. Generally preferring small birds, Eggs, and insects for its prey. Its colourful appearance is to ward off predators this however making it have little camouflage in its environment.

[Stinkfist]

Artist: Stinkfist

Concept: Hookshawt
This lackadaisical creature is one of the laziest creatures in existence. At first glance, one would surmise that this creature is a useless organism and is soon on its way to extinction, until you see it's tongue. The Hookshawt's tongue can extend anywhere between a few feet to almost a mile. The glands in the tongue allow for such elasticity and can even serve as a strong binding agent to grip and secure meals. The hookshawt's primary diet consists of birds and other objects made of meat flying through the air.

[jon n]

artist: jon n

Concept: whiptongue
there's always a bigger tongue

[Rob Powell]

Artist: Rob Powell

Concept: Kalak

Found in moist humid environments, Kalaks use their long whip-like tongues to manipulate objects and catch food. They mostly feed on fruits, but will prey on smaller creatures as well. Their stretchy throats and unhinged mandibles allow them to swallow food that is a few times larger than it's head. They are fast runners, but if any predators will chase after them they use their long tongues to swing in nearby trees to help them evade predation. During the mating season they will build large nests using their tongues to manipulate the building materials, the males with the largest nest with the most unique materials gets the most mates.

[Anthis]

Artist: Anthis

Concept: Whiptongue (variety: Hiloton VII)


The whiptongue variety of the recently colonized planet Hiloton VII uses its long and powerful tongue primarily for hunting. Because the whiptongue is otherwise relatively fragile, the tongue can also serve a defensive function. While wounds sustained from the actual hit are minor, the cocktail of toxins in the whiptongue's saliva can cause nerve damage and paralyse prey. The toxins are less effective on humans as they are not originally from the Hiloton cluster. Even so, colonists are at all times advised to stay clear of whiptongues in order to avoid the painful bruises.

[TheAlmightyPillock]

Artist: TheAlmightyPillock

Concept: Paré Lizard
The Paré Lizard glides across the rocky desert using thermals to lift it up upon the stretch of skin attached to two of its fingers and down the side of it body. Hunting in packs of nearly two dozen the Paré Lizard’s are always on the look out for food. However meals in the desert are hard to come by and for such a small animal, even in large groups, your meal tends to spoil before you get to eat it all.

Paré Lizard’s have found a unique remedy to this problem. Named for the French physician Ambroise Paré, these unusual retiles use thier tongue much in the way of medical sutures. Upon landing on potential pray they will use thier long and durable tongues to penatrate thier victems body where upon they will locate important blood vesals and arterys leading to the brain. By wraping around this vessels, thereby reducing oxygen to the brain, Paré Lizard’s are able induce brain death.

The long spins, which are pressed tight against their body’s during flight, raise up when they land preventing other creatures from the prey’s herd or family from dislodging them.

A dead animal rots, but a living beast adapted for the desert can live for several week without expiring. This is when the true nature of their namesake comes into effect. They is still the issue of the pray bleeding to death while it is eaten alive. Many Paré Lizard’s working together can tie off the blood vessels leading to a particular limb, enabling them to dig in without it bleeding out.

The smell of blood however does sometime attract other predators as much as the smell of spoiled meet. To deter this competition the Paré Lizard’s can rattle their spines creating an intimidating display. They can carry out their threat however. What could be more deadly than an animal that can simply tie of the blood vessels to your heart?

Some animals have evolved to mimic the appearance of a brain dead lizard pray. When sleeping the Spotted Hog-fit will lye as if slumped, dark patches cover its fur and it is also able to imitate the Paré Lizard’s spine rattle, though it does this with its tongue.

[N A Johnson]

Artist: Ex Nihilo

Concept: William's Mustache

The Cehir (or William's Mustache, in reference to the explorer who claims its discovery) moves slowly with the exception of its lightning-quick tongue which it relies upon to gather its food. Cehirs will stand carefully still, with their tongue on the river bottom, to snatch unsuspecting fish within the three pronged fork of the Cehirs' tongue. They may also use their tongues to upturn rocks and to grab and break apart rotting logs and stumps in order to find insects to feed upon. The tip of the tongue is tough and not terribly sticky, but further toward the mouth are glands that secret a semi sticky membrane that insects will adhere to. When not in use, the Cehir's tongue rests inside its wide mouth, coiled in a fashion similar to that of a rattlesnake.

[1derboy1]

Artist: 1derboy1

Concept: Small Mouthed Ambusher


The guy lives in the forest and is a relative of the more commonly found Woodland Ambusher. The strange thing about Small Mouthed Ambusher's is that they only feed once a year, during the early spring months of the year when bunnies seem to be in abundance.


BTW you guys are all amazing. I can't wait to do another one of these and hopefully improve my techniques. i have a lot to learn. Enjoy!

[ChrisKlungerbo]

A lot of cool stuff going on I'll try to give some feedback to all and then take a vote!

daniorrr: I love the idea that your creature grabs a hold of it's prey and then reels it in before spearing/butting it to death with it's head. However, when you visualized this idea I don't think you limited the other functions of your creature enough. When I see his massive hands with HUGE claws, I would assume those are used more than the horn on his head, just because that would be more efficient. Except that removes the tongues and horns purpose. So, nice idea, but a bit contradictory in the logic of it all. Easily fixed

Tchuck: The idea is a bit outdated in terms of the light attracting the prey, but still a nice idea when combined with the tongue. I feel you could've pushed it a bit though and maybe refined the details around your idea a bit. Right now the creature pretty much lights up itself and any creature that is naturally moving around at night time wouldn't have a lot of trouble seeing it. I imagine this creature to maybe trick smaller animals who would otherwise hide during the night, by having it's tail at the entrance of their hole/cave/lair, making them think it's daytime, and then grabbing them when they come out. You could even have the tip of the tongue be the light source. I also think the creature needs a bit of width or length added if it's tongue is that large assuming it's supposed to fit inside him when not using it

Scriar: This one was really hard to critique. I'm sort of missing the point of the tongue in your concept. Why does he need it? Would this creature evolve in such a way that he would have use of this tongue? Why not just climb the extra feet and eat the eggs normally. Also, eating birds would mean he had to be really quick to catch them. I think maybe a diet change is in order. If the tongue is really strong like you suggest, have him eat turtles or something That would make it more logical as far as being able to catch his prey, and also the strength of the tongue could be used to crack the shell, or suck out the insides.

Stinkfist: This is a bit cartoony for my taste. A mile long tongue is not very realistic, and by realistic I don't mean it has to exist but it has to at least be based in reality, hehe. The rendering is also lacking. I would say this is a bit rushed, so only critique I have is to spend more time on the exploration/idea period of your process, and spend more time rendering your drawing/painting.

Jon n: Funny and nice style! Moves a bit away from the concept part in my opinion though. This is more of a humorous illustration in a magazine than a concept for an actual creature.

Rob Powell: One of my favorites this time. A very nice description, the idea is rooted in reality and the rendering of your concept clearly shows its form and function.

Anthis: Nicely done, I don't think I have much to critique. I think the rendering could've been pushed a bit. Only other thing might be that it looks REALLY strong even though you say it's fragile. Mostly due to its armored head I think.

TheAlmightyPillock: I sort of like the idea about the tongue being so delicate and precise, but I think the silhouette can be pushed to make it look more interesting. Another thing is, this might actually be a bit too advanced. Think about why a creature would evolve like it does. I would imagine that if it actually evolved too a point where it could fly around the dessert, why would it need it's tongue when it can easily find prey by covering great distances to find them. It makes sense to preserve the animal only if it stumbles upon it's prey in very very rare occasions. So rare actually, that this dude would even have to be slow, despite living in the dessert, for it to make sense.

Ex Nihilo: Very nicely rendered! This creature looks interesting and it's tongues function fits with it's otherwise sloppy physique. One of my favorites this round!

1derboy1: Only feeds on bunnies, haha. Well, as far as critique goes I would say he's too skinny to feed so rarely. Feeding rarely would mean he needs a huge layer of fat the rest of the year right? I realize this is at the time of year when he's feeding and the fat reserves are low, but it still needs to be visualized in such a way that it makes sense. His body would be evolved in such a way that almost every ounce of food would be converted to fat for later use. He would therefore be a hyper non-energetic animal that gathers food in a smarter way than what you show here. Hope that makes sense. Make use of the WIP thread and ask questions to learn as much as possible. A lot of amazing artists roam this forum, so you won't have trouble finding helpful tips and critiques

It stood between Ex Nihilo and Rob Powell. You both have excellent ideas and cool paintings that are interesting to look at. I vote for Ex Nihilo because I find his creature more interesting and unique.

[Scriar]

ChrisKlungerbo: Thanks for the crit, I see what you mean, I think I should of spent longer fleshing that idea out it does seem a bit silly now haha

[TheAlmightyPillock]

ChrisKlungerbo: I would realy enjoy seeing some large herbevor despratly running around draging half a dozen horn Tongue's around behind it. I realy enjoy your action drawings though I would say that its back legs look far too long to be able to draw them up into its shell. It's also a shame you didn't have time to re-adress the issue of it not actuly having a prehensile tongue.

daniorrr: Would have to agree with ChrisKlungerbo on this one, the number of wepons at this animals disposal is abit of overkill, most animals with have one, possibly two ways of dispatching thier pray. It costs resorces to keep so many functioning. I do realy like the action shot of of the headbut though, realy nice touch.

Tchuk: I think other preditors would quite quikly learn just to hunt down light sorces. Enless it is the case that there is some other speacies that your Gua'ak is mimiking. I cant remember if the light was in the riginal idea but I had presumed that it was closer to the old hunter trap. Perhapse it collected some berries places them under a tree and simply waits for its unsespecting victem. As I said before on the WIP I realy enjoy this particuler use of the tongue.

Scriar: I'm going to make some asumptions here so correct me if i'm wrong. The Venus Fly Trap tip suggests that you animal paints for its pray to come to it, insects landing on it then claming shut, and it moves slowly from area to area in search of denser concentrations of insects/birds sometime substituting its diet with eggs. This I dont think is at fault I just think you should have dipicted your Sloth hanging still and catching an unsespecting bird. The problem comes from it both being a slow moving surprise preditore and being britly coloured to deter preditors. Pray will see it comeing jsut as easily as preditors and slow moving it will stand out like a saw thomb. Not only this but what to large preditors have to fear from it? Its tongue can skill birds and insects but is it a thret to large preditors? If so why isnt it killing bigger pray. If you were do show it camopflarged so preditor and pray could not see it and it waighting to catch its next meal it would better show off the mane concept.

Stinkfist: Egnoring the rushed nature of the beast I would sugest putting some indictore of scale with your animal, or at elast saying how big it is. It's body mass would need to be substanchel for its tongue to reach up to such greate hights. I know you said it was stretchy but its body would have to create a kill of a lot of force to stretch it that far. Have you ever thrown elastic while holding one end? It doesnt go very far. Perhapse if there was some sort of waight at the end of the tongue.

jon n: As I'm studying illustration I rather apreciate this more fun image, fun colours, good line work and an eycatching perspective. We do however have no idea about the inimals in question. I perconaly think that the idea is far more important that the persons rendering ability. Perhapse if you designed this foodchain of there always being a bigger tongue and then set those three animals in this same composition.

Rob Powell: A nice succinct concpet that doesnt through up any conceptual problems. I am a big fan of the idea of it running through te forest pulling back branches to comicly thwak preditors in the face with. I also like the way the frills anound its neck match up with the shape of the ealves around it. My only problem is that big black space behind it, the rest of the lighting sugests daylight but there is nothing visible in the distance, even if this was a clearing in the forest there would still be a sugestion of shape. A minore point that makes little differnce to a greate concpet.

Anthis: Again I would ask what size the animal is, it would make sense that it is "fragile" and has a toxic tongue if it is quite small, maby not mcuh biger than a dog. I do like the bear arms, whale flippers etc but it would be could if they were explained why they are around its mouth. The tongue has an excelent feel of movement to it, its rather easy to over do the dribble etc but you've hit the amrk nicely.

Ex Nihilo: Whell you've completly shown up evenryone heres painting skills, I do beleave I need a lot more practice. I especaly like the trees actuly, you havn't done into too much detail but realy show of the shaps and lighting well. You've combined the fish and reptilain bodys niclly. As I said befoer the eyes and mustach have been done well.

1derboy1: The shocked Easter bunny is enough to win me over any day. Nice to add an extra bit of humer. I do however agree with ChrisKlungerbo on the concept not entirly matching up with the body. This looks more like an animal with a fast pace of life, running down pray and if its rabbit tit bits run down a tunnel they can sue thier tongues to drag them out by thier ears. Or at least steal thier eggs full of chocolatly goodness. Don't go crazy on the textures to much to start with, I did the same thing when I started. A more contrasting background might also help to make your Small Mouthed Ambusher stand out more.

Nice work to everyone.

[themonet]

Well done everyone! I didn't finish in time. (obviously) I think that I'm going to finish anyway, I'll post (hopefully) today when I do. It was between Rob Powell and Ex Nihilo for me. I ended up voting for ex nihilo because I liked the "blobbiness" form factor of the creature and how it matches it's tongue so well. Very inspiring work.

[Anthis]

Pretty interesting round, as expected! I think one of the problems was to integrate tongue function in the actual design. Rather than just adding a big tongue to a random creature. I say we came up with some pretty good solutions!

ChrisKlungerbo; Two things are very striking about your creature. First, what first seems to be a nose/horn is actually the tongue. Second is the scaly belly. I think they're great ideas. You got some fantastic rendering on the face, to the point where it contrasts strongly with the surroundings and other parts of the body that seem less well defined.
With regard to your critique; I realise my entry looks more armoured than I had initially imagined. My aim was to create a creature with a single, potent weapon but otherwise a little clumsy and incapable of actually chasing prey.

daniorrr; The croatian name actually suits him perfectly. I always wonder whether I accidently use a foreign word when trying to come up with names. I like the aggressive, dynamic character and posture and I think the strong brushwork is fitting too. I think the only weakness is the tongue, which seems thin and lacking the strength for grasping. You'd expect some more muscle. I do like the anatomy that's distinctly humanoid, still has the 'creature-look'.

Tchuk; Very moody picture. Mixing the tongue (which is the actual subject) with the 'bait' tail is pretty nifty idea. You also made it work very well compositionally. I noticed the serrated teeth straight away. Pretty nice! I think you relied slightly too heavily on the rim lighting in this picture, especially the yellow one caused by the tail. Bit overpowering since it also seems equally strong over the entire piece. You'd expect some more variation. Still, I do like your execution.

Scriar; I can understand how people are confused by your description. But "venus fly like tip" only refers to the form, and the "sloth" name and claws are a clear indication that the tongue is its primary means of catching prey. I like the idea of a tongue with such a strong functionality. Positioning the creature so close to the eggs makes you think he could also reach there from the ground, though . Also, great vivid colours in that jungle!

Stinkfist; I like the idea of a simple, somewhat clumsy creature, with that single, powerful attack. You don't need to be fast and tough when you can reach for your prey like that. A mile may be a bit outrageous, though, haha. I'd love to see it more rendered out. Especially wondering how you would handle the teeth.

jon n; Fun to see something quite different! I love the crazy perspective, and all the detailing in the surroundings. To the point where it becomes somewhat crowded. A shame we can't see more of the creature, and which one is the whiptongue? Or are they the same species?

Rob Powell; Hey again Rob! Let me start with the critique this time. I notice (from your sketchbook too) that you're mostly using texture and line to indicate form. I wouldn't advice against any particular way of working, but I would suggest practising with value/tone. Try adding the details later in the process. Perhaps you've heard it countless times already, though. As for your creature, you did well in embedding the tongue in the design. I noticed the soft throat right away. The unhinged jaw makes sense too. Add that to the lack of arms, and having such a strong tongue makes sense. Nice thoughts on anatomy! Like the grabbing tip too.

TheAllmightyPillock; I love the idea of tongues constricting blood vessels, that's a very original take on the subject. I also like your reference at the physician. Nice one. Perhaps the 'predator' look is a bit too heavy, though I do think especially those jaws fit very well with the tongue. Good action shot too. While I don't mind the use of actual photographs, the contrast with the rest of your piece seems a bit too strong. Otherwise a very fitting environment.
As for your critique; I imagined somewhere between dog and human. So you were spot on. The mouthparts were meant for chewing/dismembering, since he lacks potent arms. Fun to see you noticed the dribble; that was tougher than it looks.

Ex Nihilo; The cumbersome appearance of your creature fits very well with the powerful tongue it needs to hunt. Your creature has a nice 'character' about it. I also love how you handled the head. Those fleshy and scaly shapes, the eyes... The rendering on the tongue is wonderful too. I do think you could have progressed beyond the tongue and head. The rest of the body is somewhat limited in design, and the lines seem very heavy. Perhaps you ran out of time? Because I enjoy your rendering.

1derboy1; Bunnies! And the easter bunny at that. Love the expression of your bunny as well as the creature. Grabbing him by the ears... fun take on the topic. Your creature somewhat has the appearance of an eastern demon. Horns, hair, the frills at the mouth...great character. While I think you could pull off such a slender creature, yours seems slightly too thin. Or perhaps its the uncomfortable bend in its back. Or that one upper leg is longer than the other. Looking forward to seeing you more in upcoming rounds!

[jon n]

some really interesting concepts here. i went for rob powell's in the end. the creature using the tongue to swing up into the trees and out of danger appeals to me. i also really like tchuk's entry, the composition chosen demonstrates the concept very well.

thanks for the feedback on my pic. i got over excited this round and drew a loada bendy tongues. tbh i'm not even sure which one is the whiptongue! woops! bit more focus on the brief and concept next time.

[1derboy1]

I just wanted to say thanks for all the compliments about the rabbit. And I totally agree with everyone about the story not really making sense with the body, and I do see how one leg is longer than the other one, and one leg is better drawn then the other. I really appreciate the genuine critiques you guys are putting out there. I'll have to do better with the story next time so it matches the creature.

It was a tough choice and I've finally voted. And the winner is. . . .

Thanks again for the crits. Keep the advice coming guys, I only have a few hours a week to do this, but hopefully I'll improve.

[Rob Powell]

Interesting round guys! here's my crits for the week!!! Don't feel like I'm being harsh in any way, it's all meant to be good honest friendly crits, that hopefully someone can learn something from!

ChrisKlungerbo: Very nice rendering, especially on the creature's head and legs. The shell looks a bit too smooth, try looking at some references of turtle/tortoise shells since that's more or less what your were going for. Especially for the layout of the scales on it's shell. Another issue that's jumping out at me is the anatomy of the legs. The hind legs suggests that the creature is a fast runner or jumper, while it's front legs and body suggests more of a slower, heavier nature. Once again look at some reference images to get a better look at how a creatures appearance willcoicide with their habits and abilites.

daniorrr: very cool looking beastie. I like the tongue headbutt combo as well as it's head design. The tongue needs to be beefed up a bit thoughso it has more strength and is less vulnerable when it attacks it's prey. Try to experiment with different body types especially one less humanoid, cuz that head looks kinda out of place on that body. Try using different thumbnails, and experiment with silhouettes to genereate more ideas for you to play with.

Tchuk: Very cool scene. The piece however doesn't look finished to me. Also I notice the use of some photo textures. I'm not saying it is bad to use photo textures, but it's improves the look of the image if you actually go in and paint over some of it so 1 it looks like it was painted and two to the textures don't look out of place on the image. The lighting on the creature's tail suggests it has a smooth texture while the scales should show a little more roughness.

scriar: The tongue on this creature is a little too arbitrary. You probably could've benefitted with some composition thumbnails to help give yourself some options to play with for the final image. Possibly to showcase the creature's predatory methods a little better.

stinkfist: I'm going to be brutally honest, but I don't think this should've made the poll since it looks rushed. You could spent a little more time refining it further to help show the design better, because it is hard to tell what material the creature is. Does it have bald skin, fluffy/wooly fur? Hard to tell since the rendering is a bit too simple. The hunting technique looks a little too unrealistic having a tongue that can stretch to almost a mile from such a tiny creature. Even if it did, it would definitly not retain any strength left in it to be able to bring in prey without it being severly damaged.

jon n: I like the children's book look of this. Although as mentioned before, for a concept it is fairly simple. It is very uch possible to produce interesting concepts in this style, but maybe a little more thought in their designs for the future. Another thing that's bothering me is that the piece is looking way to busy for my tastes. The main issue I believe is the tree cutting through the middle so if you removed that it may look better. Also I'm a bit curious about the random creature in the background.

Anthis: Most creative design this round, hence why you got my vote! I'd like to see you take the rendering a little further. Since a lot of your work looks more like speedpaints, not saying that is bad, but a little more refinement may help that little extra nudge in the right direction for your designs and add a little more readablility in some of the rougher looking areas, such as the creature's body in this image. I really like the mouth design though with all those interesting looking boney mouth parts and appendages sticking out as well as the super muscular tongue.

The AlmightyPillock: I'm not a big fan of the rocky photo texturing in the background. It adds a lot of unecessary background information that pulls the eye away from the scene.Also it looks really out of place since no where else on the image shows as much information. The creature's designs are quite interesting, but I'd like to see a bit more emphasis on their tongues since that of course is 'the' most important part of the designs this week. I'm also a little curious how the rest of the tiger cow looks as well, haha. When your developing your ideas try not to work too much in the details but rather put down your ideas roughly and quickly, start adding the details later when you have settled on an idea. Here look at this video (it's in two parts) since it may be useful, Creature Thumbnail Sketching, by none other than Mike Corriero. It should give you a few pointers about generating ideas with thumbnails. I'd recommend looking at all of his vids if your into creature design, I'm not saying follow it like the bible, but it's always a good idea to know how some of the best goes about it his way.

Ex Nihilo: Very cool design, simple, but still unique in it's out way. I can actually picture this guy going all out with his tongue on some poor old rotten loglooking for scrumptious termites or whatnot. One suggestion is that you could've added a bit more cohesion between the body and head in terms of design. Perhaps some appendages, much like it's moustache over some parts of it's body, and since he just sits and waits it would provide some better camouflage for it as well.

1derboy1: First off, welcome to the site! Nowfor the piece. Much of what I see has already been said, about skinniness, legs sizes, etc. But one thing I'm noticing is that it seems to have these weird double elbowed arms. They would actually make the arms fairly frail when in confrontations.

[aburnier]

Voted for Rob this round because the anatomy and the overall creature made the most sense to me. Good work everyone!

I will try and participate some time soon-ish. I've had a lot of work to do which I guess is a good thing. See you all around!

[Scriar]

Thanks for the crits everyone, I cant really comment on the design, its only my third time doing a creature design But ill try and comment on the rendering etc hope it helps.

Chrisklungerbo: Looks good, I think you can improve it with some more contrast in the values and some sharper edges. Its looking a bit washed out at the moment. Since you have a cool coloured shell I think some subtle warm reds, oranges, etc would work well in the shadows and skin to help compliment it and create more contrast.

Daniorrr: Nice pose, I think just spending a bit more time rendering, specifically tightening the edges and showing the form of the arms and legs would work well. Its a bit muddy, try to avoid black with your line work if you are going to paint directly on to it.

A good way of doing this is when you sketch is to use a complimentary colour to your end colour scheme. For instance a burnt sienna would work well for yours. That way if the line work shows through it will work with the colours instead of against it

Tchuk: I like the cat, the problem is the whiptongue is your selling point so I would make him bigger and more in focus than the prey. Like Daniorrr, I think you could benefit from rendering it a bit further showing the form and tightening the edges.

Nothing wrong with leaving it loose but if you do, try to keep the edges tight as it will work wonders on the final outcome. Keep an eye on your values as well everything is a bit flat, if you create a saturation layer above the rest of your painting filled with black you can turn it off and on to see how your values are working in the picture.

Stinkfist: The form could use a lot of work. I think it would help if you pick 1 direction of the light and then imagine how it is hitting the surface of the creature.

The values are all melding into one, think of contrast when your rendering, in this case put some dark tone behind your creature which will pop all of the light value. I would do some studies where you have simple spheres and practice painting how the light would hit them. And then try cones, cubes etc it will really help you I think

Jon N: haha really liked this one, great sense of humour. I would keep an eye on your line weight keep the line in the background thinner than that in the foreground to help give depth to the picture. For the style you are going for I would avoid using black on the interior of the picture as it makes it look muddy.

Rob Powell: Nice work, not much to crit, Id play with your light a bit more bring in a bit more contrast, and perhaps introduce more subtle colours into the skin tones such as some blues and greens to just give it a bit more life

I think you could push your edges a bit more as well, play around with having some of the edges in the shadows lost and others tight, and fading as them move to the shadow: http://www.gregpro.com/forums/Concep...aintover01.jpg a tutorial by greg pro on what I am referring to.

Anthis: Really nice creature, I think the same crits as for Rob Powells creature, just pushing the lighting, edges, and contrast I think will take it to the next level. Id add some saturated reds into the tongue to make it pop a little more.

And increase the value range of the picture, perhaps add some subtle greens and blues into the skin and more saturated purples in areas where the light would pass through the skin and out the other side such as near the edges.

TheAlmightyPillock: Like Stinkfist working on the form and values would help you a lot, I would avoid using photo textures at this moment until you understand form and lighting etc better. The high level of detail is distracting from your main selling point the whiptongue creature design. If you use photo textures you need to match the level of detail for the whole painting or it sticks out and looks jarring.

I think just doing a simple 3/4 view of the creature like Chrisklungerbo has done would be a good idea as you can just focus on whats important, the creatures design and rendering and its not as overwhelming for you then since you are narrowing down the amount you need to keep in mind

Ex Nihilo: I actually voted for this one as I like the way you rendered the tongue and its face I think you could lose the line and carry on rendering the forms, edges etc. Id like to see the same subtle colour shifts you have in the tongue reflected in the rest of the picture it would make for a more striking image I think.

1derboy1: As with Stinkfist and TheAlmightyPillock I think concentrating on the forms, edges, contrast etc would really help. Essentially the same advice I gave to them would really help your final piece. I think it would help if at the beginning of your process you concentrate on having a really fleshed out line drawing, with the correct perspective, anatomy and design worked out. That way when you start rendering its all there for you to work with. You have some nice elements of the design like the face and I like the humour coming through in the rabbits expression.

Quite enjoyed doing this task it was a great learning experience, and challenge. Especially making myself get through the entire process in a day essentially, will spend more time on the initial development in future alot of my decisions for the design as pointed out are a bit odd, and my description doesnt help haha

[N A Johnson]

Great round everyone and thanks for the comments!

Rob- I see what you mean. I have a few thoughts that might fix it, I'll see what I can do.

Anthis and Scriar- I see what you mean about the lines. I am sure I could have made time to push the rendering further so I'll just chalk that up to negligence and admit that I wasn't quite getting the whole picture, so to speak. I'll continue with it later with the critiques in mind.

Now I'll try to give a little back.

ChrisKlungerbo: I really enjoy this concept. My first thought is that he looks kind of clean and unscathed for a beast that gets dragged across the ground from time to time. I see you've added a broken or scratched horn here and there, but I think you could have went further with that--maybe by adding some marks on his shell. A quick note on color: I would think that the downward facing planes should be picking up a bit more of that green from the ground. The shadow on the rear leg closest to us for example leans more toward a red. Lastly, I hope the creature has a way of voluntarily disconnecting its tongue quickly if need be. If not, the creature could become vulnerable.

daniorrr- I like the loose but controlled feel about the image. I think some parts could have been fleshed out a little more, maybe the head and neck area, but maybe that's just a preference thing. I had the same thought about the tongue as Anthis and Rob Powell.

Tchuk- I enjoy the compositional pathway you've set up for your viewer and the overall character in your design. What bothers me about this image is the protrusion from your creature's throat. It looks like you intend for it to be part of the throat-- a place to accommodate the tongue. It reads just a tad flat, like it is another fin of sorts.

Scriar- I find the concept to be very intriguing and I love how the tongue slithers its way around branches. Creepy. I think you could have picked a interesting pose for the creature to make the whole image a bit more dramatic. He seems a little stiff. Maybe having it twist its body around the tree or finding another way to put a bend in it would make for more action in the composition. Also, I have to wonder where he keeps his tongue. Is it out all the time?

Stinkfist- I love the idea. I think the image would be improved with some reference (or more careful observation of what reference you've gathered). Maybe reference from something like a small dog would suit this pose and could make for more believable anatomical structures.

jon n- I think this is great! Sometimes when a composition gets this crowded, I lose interest, but you've managed it so well, and in this case I think it really adds appeal. I am with the others in saying that it may have broken away from the scope of the contest, though.

Rob Powell- This is one of my favorites. I particularly like the head and feet and the way you handled the texture in the legs. The neck looks like it belongs with the yellow breast piece, but then there is a bit of a disconnect between that yellow section and the rest of its body, I think due to an abrupt angle between where the forms connect. Maybe turning the breast piece away from the light a little more and softening a few edges here and there could help also. Its hard for me to explain exactly what I mean so I did a quick paintover, I hope you don't mind my doing so and I hope I didn't just screw it up.


Anthis-- I voted for your entry. The design is just way cool and your explanation is interesting. There might be a couple perspective issues with some parts of the head (the rounded mass at the top with its teeth doesn't seem to quite line up the lower mandibles and facial features), but then a creature's face need not be perfectly symmetrical. Anyway, I think the image works well the way it is.

TheAlmightyPillock- The concept is delightfully creepy, well done. I find the use of the photograph to be distracting. In your wip versions, I noticed you were playing with the idea of including newsprint. I kind of wish you would have continued in that direction, maybe incorporating the texture of the newsprint while building more textures on top. I think it would have fit the overall feel of the image better.

1derboy1- So glad you included the easter bunny. Many of the issues that have been pointed out about your piece could be taken care of in time with study and practice. Study some actual beasts and you'll get a better idea of what you can get away with. Keep at it!

[TheAlmightyPillock]

he question of collage is something I've wanted to ask someone from within the industry for a while. If you look through some of my oher peaces you will see that I use a fair bit of collage and other mediums in my artwork http://thealmightypillock.deviantart.com/gallery/. In concept art however you pritty much only see imagined realisum, even concpet art for Guild Wars 2 which is quite expresive still has a large amount the the traditional concept art. Is this adversion to experimentation something done for purly practical perposes or is it more just a case that within concept art its just considered not to look good. Back in illustration my mixed media is prased, combining photography with traditional teqneces makes my paintings stand out, thats the very point. I thought that perhapse for concpet peaces that were purly asthetic rather than practical that it would be worth while to make images that are visualy interesting. This is a very competative industry so I thaught, I'm competing agaisnt people who possibly have been studying concept art for several years so I need to bring something they don't have. I have the imagination, I dont neccacerily have the painting skill yet but what I can bring is a certen creativity with the art I produce. I'm not throwing a tantrum becouse you didn't like the use of collage but more making an general question about the industry. If you have any opinions or avdvice becouse I feel this may be quite important for my future entries.

I've changed the siloet as people have sugested. I'm having a go at making charicter sheets so thaught I'd post the changes I've made based on some advice.