Team CHOW II - Team Thundercats are GO!

[Adrian Wilkins]

So this is a sketch of a Mantis Warlock or something...isn't worked out yet

[JessiBean]

Hygami - the lynx is an excellent idea, I REALLY like where this could go, and the backstory is FAB, just what we need for each of these guys.

And Sentinel - this is GORGEOUS, I love how you handled the eyes and the hair, it's perfect. I really like her the way she is, but perhaps you are right, we should explore something more animal with them... I was struggling with how to incorporate the beak. I think I might have gotten an idea last night, so let me see if I can sketch it out quickly...

So to recap, we have...

Spider/Goblin - probably a sweet assassin
Deer/Elves - I like this chatacter being something wise like a druid/sorcerer
Lynx/Dark Elves - battle mage (so cool) - very noble, alot like our deer, which is perfect
Crow/Orc - I had made mine a priest, but in the spirit of variation this should maybe shake up... I think crows covet shiny things and mostly hang around waiting for things to die, so maybe a thief/scavenger

I think we should maybe see if we can get a human into the mix - possibly as a warrior? It would be nice to show how they are our oppressor ruling class, too, if we want to go that route. And I might like to turn the fennec fox into a gnome/troll/hobbit kind of creature.

But that is mostly extra credit at this point, we have met the brief's requirements so far. I asked for clarification, and it seems our good and evil versions need to be the exact same character, but I thought it might be fun to show both the male and female of the species... might be too much, but we can cross that bridge when we get there, obv we aim to get the brief's requirements tacked first, then we go further.

Are there any substitutions or changes we want to make to the current lineup?
If not, I say we REALLY hammer out the particulars of what the creatures we have look like and how they would behave (write up our character descriptions, I suppose) cause I know we can push these and make them super awesome sauce.

GOSH, we've been so productive.
Go thundercats!

Edit: ooo, nice mantis creature, Hygami!

[Adrian Wilkins]

great thoughts and Jessi! but from my side we could create creatures like for a week lol and look what comes out. I'm really enjoying this stage

really want to imply human? D: haha jsut joking well we coud

and with the fennec fox..well I gave it a try
was tinking of a hobbit as you said too

so Fennec Fox/Hobbit

EDIT: was thinking the same thing Sentinel
I'd suggest these being the smartest of all: let me try a bit of storytelling about the character.
These creatures spend most of their time studying and gaining knowledge, though their spells are basically weaker then those of others they compensate it throughout hard work, they don't have any so called talent but still, they are the most wise and spell-skilled creatures existing because of their never ending endurance and the ability to memorize the most complex spells. thanks to them a lot of good spells are elaborated to their full extend of power. Unfortunately they aren't able to control battlespells and if they are in life-threatening sitation they tend to use battle spells very distructive though unconcsiously. Because of this reason these usually peacefull creatures refuse to lernbattlespells, they'd rather die then hurting companions.

[Sentinel.]

Good lynx, meet pissed off evil lynx! Just wanted to take a stab at making Hygami's character look mean It's really rough but I wanted to show you all before I went to sleep. The book is totally off, it's more a placeholder than anything - I figure it can be levitating in front of her while she's casting spells from her orb. Still need to figure out some sinister looking clothing tho

I agree with Hygami, this stage is really really fun! I think we could keep this up forever I'd still like to see the yeti visualized so we have a good selection of final characters to choose from (and maybe some humans, or even another insect or reptile like race). With the rate we've been working we can probably get that by tomorrow evening. Then we can tighten up the best designs for the next couple of days and have a solid three weeks to do our entries. I'm really hoping we can do full backgrounds and polished rendering.

The fox looks perfect! He looks scholarly, like a librarian or book keeper or something!

[Adrian Wilkins]

Christian!! great great wonderful job!! just keep it comin' I'm really excited *_*!!! the expression is kickass!

edited the previous post and wrote a little story to the fennec so if you're interested, hope you like it..

ooh I'd like to sketch some enviros like these I studied from Gaser



but that would be too much wouldn't it?

btw random boooks are totally win! uber awesome!

[JessiBean]

You guys! Those are SO AWESOME... the lynx has to be in for sure. I think you've nailed the evil version, sentinel, her expression is brilliant. And those enviros are stunning, hygami! I wonder if you could tackle some late 18th century looking city scenes (like the old house in the top right of the Perfume inspiration board), to go with our sort-of theme? Oh, these gave me goosebumps, they are just lovely! (can you teach me how to do that?!)

And I am sorry I kinda jumped the gun, I just fret about having enough time (not a you guys thing, a me thing... I like to fret ) I am totally cool with working out a schedule where we keep fleshing out ideas for a week and then dive into rendering after - I'm just glad to be setting a schedule so we can really give this tons of polish.

And since Hygami threw down the gauntlet, I say we go into full on world design mode and name the city where they live, and write a back history, a little history and a name for each character, etc. etc., to really round the whole presentation out. I have a feeling we can handle the extra credit work

Oh man, I have to go draw moar....

PS: Oh yeah, Hygami, that little fox dude is just what I was hoping he would be... very cool!

[Jason Rainville]

I really didn't want to comment, and I'm sorry for the interruption but.... everyone is watching this thread

[Aaron Death]

oh............you guys are too....................awesome...............

[Shadow Stalker]

I don't know if I'm suppose to post in here, so I'm sorry if I'm not.... but... holy shit.

[ticktocker]

Sorry for the asspats, but this is so awesome you guys! So many great ideas already, can't wait to see where you end up Keep going!

[¿Dubious?]

hey guys Im a huge fan of all of your work and this thread is looking really really nice so far and its only cause I honestly like your work so much that I say this. Having looked over the main thread Daestwen posted some really specific stuff about this being "high fantasy" and hence late dark ages/early middle ages. This was written specifically in reference to someone's question about early firearms. In any case middle ages ended around the 16th century which would make your 18th century setting a bit too late. I hate to nitpick but it would be a real shame if you guys didnt win or whatever because of the time period. Anyway best of luck. You guys are tearing this chow up so far.

[JessiBean]

Thanks for the heads up, dubious... I've asked for clarification, but I did read the wiki before hand and it says high fantasy is everything from LOTR to CS Lewis to His Dark Materials, and those are all in wildly different time frames. So based on the definition of High Fantasy I think we're kosher, and the brief doesn't specify a time period.

I will let you Thundercats know what I hear back about this...
:/

[Mark Tarrisse]

Hey guys you are all doing awesomeee work ! Sentinel the crow and the lynx are ACE ! And hygami just looovee that fox ! ^^
Anyway, I didn't posted anything, cause I'm still searching. I tried to start a crow thing yesterday, but well it wasnt good at all, now I'm kind of stuck, I dont know what to do, you guys are so quick !! I think I will try to find something for humans.

[JessiBean]

No rush, Markus... just scribble and see if anything comes to you. The crows are proving to be a challenge for us, all, we will work them out. Tackling humans would be awesome... or maybe thinking about the kinds of ways magic is used in this world - maybe it is used to power weapons, light houses, maybe some people control other creatures to control their powers (this could explain why humans are on top of the food chain, as it were...?)

I had a kind of slow sketching day yesterday (Sundays are so busy!) Will see if I can wrap these things up and post them later today...

[daestwen]

Hey guys, just to clear up, I posted in the main thread but I might have been kind of vague, so.

Team Thundercats is in the clear for this.

Just try to keep the modern weaponry to a minimum. :] Thankee kindly.

[Adrian Wilkins]

So here is something new
was thinking of a bat/troll
gave her some rasta hair
tried to work out a bit of subsurface scattering on the ears though its B/W
hope its ok

edit: sorry for the boobs was rushing cuz I wanted to post D: will rework them

[Sentinel.]

OMG, that is amazing Hygami!! Her face is gorgeous! We HAVE to use this character- what kind of class did you have in mind for her?

[Mark Tarrisse]

Ok guyssssssssss !! we are doing reallyyy fine ! Hygami, the bat is really good but you already know that
Well here's my try to the yeti/barbarian class (just a start !!).
Hygami suggested to me to put some horns on it, so I did 3 different horns, you tell me what is better with horn ? without horn ? with hair ? without ha...

[JessiBean]

Markus - The first set of horns is totally win! They look VERY impressive and imposing. What if they curled down on either side of the face, more ram-like? Might give us another wise, sagey kind of race of beings...? I love his face!

Hygami - I am with everyone else, the bat species is totally inspired. I think we should run with it more...

So while I am working out some sketches and since you guys are totally running with creature/species creation, I decided to tackle a little more of the world aesthetic, specifically costume and the costume shape language. I went ahead and scanned a TON of costume ref from one of my favorite costume reference books (this one here: http://www.amazon.com/Fashion-Histor...9319335&sr=1-1 ) and from a book that covers military tech - tried to find something contemporary to the late 18th c. so we can think about designing weapons with this era's kind of materials and shapes in mind...

(these are huge to show detail, but if I am spamming the thread too much I can resize them... I also have the original res if anyone wants these for ref.)

[Adrian Wilkins]

waahaaha Jessi thanks ALOT for the refs!
Uhm I'm not sure yet about the class of the Bat but Markus gave me the idea of a scout!
So uhm... Since we had some problems illustrating the crow...I gave it a try

Crow/Goblin

[Sentinel.]

First I want to say that I took one look at those pictures and bought the book. These references are AMAZING, thank you so much for sharing! I can't wait to get it in the mail and look at it in person!

I was feeling a little stuck but these really got me inspired. I finally decided that rather than looking evil, the fox/hobbit could simply use his intelligence and cunning in a sinister way!

What better than the Royal Tax Collector, or maybe head of the Treasury? He's an expert at devising ways to cheat people out of their money and get away with it. He's wealthy beyond imagination and paranoid about losing it - which has lead to the demise of many potential threats either real or imagined. Perhaps he's a regular employer of our spider/assassin He publicly acts subservient to the ruling classes but often plays them against each other and is the mastermind behind many political scandals. He may appear small and defenseless, but cross him at your own risk.



Markus - Awesome yeti! I agree with Jessi about the horns. The first set is the best out of the three, but I think it would be cool to see what he looks like with ram horns too.

Hygami - I love what you did with his legs and how you incorporated his wings! The legs I think will be especially cool to include in the final illustration.

[Adrian Wilkins]

haha Sentinel you totally brought me into the mood !! Really dig the the sinister Fennec !!!
so I did a Bat sketch

nothing finished just a mood how she might look in 18th century clothing
-the rasta hair is catched together an throwen over her shoulder to give her a more elegant look
-the ears are leaned back, since it isn't necessary to be on guard in cities and nearby civilization

[JessiBean]

HOLY CRAP, Hygami... Sentinel! These things you do to me...


So much awesome.
Sorry for being quiet, super busy. Will post goodness, soon, I am working on things for youuuuuuuuuu!

[Adrian Wilkins]

thanks jessi!!!!!!!!!!!!

well I've created an attack board thing...hope I'm not going overboard with this idea

I really want to illustrate how she fight so here goes!:

She mainly works with two attacks. First would be the Ultrasonic Waves and the secound her wings which she uses to impale her enemies

The Ultrasonic Waves Irritates enemies, bring therir ears to bleed, and extremly thick material like metall and stone can even burst...so she uses the ultrasonic waves to burst open the gear of her enemies and uses her Mortal Strike to impale the weekend enemy

this attack combination takes about 3 secounds to pull off

[daestwen]

Guys, you are inspirational, seriously. :] This is such a kick ass thread!

I like Sentinel's linx a lot, especially, and the deer sketches you were doing on the first page, nice work.

Lemme know if you guys want crits or not, I'd love to give a few. :]

[Sentinel.]

EXCELLENT work, Hygami! I really love how you've thought her fighting abilities through - that will make for a really bad ass evil version!

No rush, Jessi! Your stuff is always amazing and well worth the wait!

daestwen - Hells to the yeah! I would love to hear your thoughts!! Must I beg?


To recap again, so far it looks like we're all in agreement about these character archetypes:

Spider/assassin
Fennec Fox/hobbit scholar
Lynx/battlemage
Crow/thief or scavenger
Deer/elf mage
Bat/scout (ooh, or maybe a necromancer type?)
Yeti/warrior or sage
Human/?? (oppressor)

And possibly more, we keep coming up with great ones

If we attempt all of these characters and don't create one of each gender, we're still looking at 16 full portraits. I think if we really buckle down and work we can get it done, but I don't know if we'll have time for more than that. Especially considering that we want to design and paint their world as well.

We'll have to work at a pace of a minimum four-five portraits finished each week, which is obtainable since any one of us can finish a solid chow entry in a week solo... but just to be on the safe side, we should prioritize the characters so we know we'll get the most important ones finished first. It would also be wise to do the good and evil versions at the same time so they remain recognizably the same character.

I've been up for 24 hours and I tend to get really wordy. Let me know if I'm not making sense O_O

[Sublimus]

Holy tits this team is intense!!

[DIMAGYAN]

Same as Daestwen, really interesting to see the process of your team.
Interesting also how all the characters work well together.

[GriNGo]

looking awesome guys! inspiring team work!!

[AhChu]

nice work guys, very cool idea....gotta stop drooling over ya renders