Team Chow II: Team Baguette

[smokenmirrors]

so the Baguette brothers are back in effect! although 2 men down. Power playas DanielC and D@niel are busy bodys so theyll be sitting this one out. My main man Vorace and my humble self will be handling this bad/good boy chow!

let the games begin!

[smokenmirrors]

So to set up our beginnings: Were shooting for 4 portraits (full body? per the prompt example?)

Race: Human and Elf

Setting: European old forest

Running Aesthetic base: Warhammer

[smokenmirrors]

warming up with some elf sketchery.....*fart*

[Burtzum]

Glad to see that Baguette is back. Even if you are only half a loaf this time. Get cookin! Can't wait to see what you've got in the oven. Take a bite out of the cliche genre! Rise to the challenge!

[Vorace]

Hehe interesting ideas Smokken!

I worked on one of your face. I tought it might be cool to have a mohawk/brutal amerindian look and feel for the elf?

I did also a sketch for the human. I had in mind some kind of ranger with medium armor. I was a bit inspired by Robin hood, especially for the hat .

i think we could give them a grim and dirty look even for the ''good'' version.
For the workflow, i suggest to throw some ideas for the characters for some days, and then we could each work on a different character and different side, and when we are done we complete the portrait of the other. Also it would be cool to do real collabs, painting over each other stuff and not just giving crit !

Some idea for the evil version :
-same characters after the black death (the plague)
-same characters but undead version
-demonic versions (possessed)
-Classic evil overlord look

for the style :

warhammer style = lot of small details, belts, trincklets, talismans, runes, skulls everywhere even for the good guys , somewhat realistic proportions and look for the anatomy for big armor, not to flashy, but really brutal and powerfull. blood and dirt

[smokenmirrors]

yessssssssssss! freshness! love the details on the human! I gots some blue sky (free sketch) sessions to add in a bit. But I suppose we have to eventually start narrowing down our scope of characters ie: story/personality.

I love the "possesed" idea to get the "evil" versions of our good characters and likewise I whole heartily agree with the pushing the degree of collab as far as we can.

...

just some ideas for story/characters:

Warrior priest: heavy tomes, strung with battle relics and vials of holy powders/liquids/ungents.

Evil version seems pretty cake: loses faith and immerses her/himself in the dark powers.

Elvin Ranger: archaic armor, somewhat organic but with sharp edges. Ranged weaponry, arm mounted crossbows... has pet crow/wolf/falcon (i suppose we should try to steer away from any drizzit (r.a.salvatore) action) earth tones, coppery armor, dull sheen. Work in some feathered costume elements, animal pelts and some antlers.........

Evil version: NOW isnt an "evil" elf an ork or goblin???? well I think we can go any number of routes with a "dark" elf look. Possessed to boot!

also it would be fun to push the "opposites" ie: good versions appear healthy and robust... while the evil are wasting away and sickly (plague) but no less commanding.....

so some more open sketch sessions plus source examples before we pick the characters to begin illustrating, and I say we go for the "good" examples first.... then demonize each others concepts!!

sketches coming

[xinranliu]

Hello guys
I'd like to join your team if you don't mind taking a beginner under your wings

[Vorace]

great ideas Smokken!!

hey Ronald, i'll answer you as soon as I got the answer from Smokken!

some ref based on our description for the elf (didnt find any ref for a very ''organic'' armor )

I think we should also define something to hold them togueter (style-wise). They are all living and fighting in the forest, but maybe something more than that. Maybe they are each based/inspired by an animal for their look and feel... or maybe they they all have some similar details etc or just really push foward the forest influence ?

also it would be fun to push the "opposites" ie: good versions appear healthy and robust... while the evil are wasting away and sickly (plague) but no less commanding.....

totally with you!!

[smokenmirrors]

animal refs. I like the idea of infusing animal qualities/features into the character.... and likewise really bringing out the animal in the demon versions... hmm...

in any case Im down with the pumas, ravens, lions, tigers and some baboon action........be fun to come up with faces based off these animals. likewise I included some random elf/ foresty characters.... some j.sweet, v. kovacs and some warhammer action... i think c.kopinski and maybe p.daiton...

now to keep these characters togther... are we imagining them on some type of quest togther... ie: lotr.... or just different characters coexisiting in the forest?

... for the elf to try to steer away from the "fair ones" stereotype, and because im def. down with your mohawk suggestion seems like a "punk" elf is on order. Easy to do with the warhammer aesthetic also given the amount of trinkets and belted items we can string on him.... I think the difficult part is being able to give him just enough edge to look fresh but no so much hell be confused as evil. Obviously juxt opposed to our demon version it will be clear as day, but I think we also have to make sure that when seen alone he can still be a "good" guy.

[smokenmirrors]

heres an idea... what about "elven punk!?" maybe elven warrior punk.... elven thief punk... and on and on.

just seems like that would be a unique aesthetic and ripe full of fresh imagery: ref. japanese eccentric punk style....

also to weave in a bit more story/connection to our human character... maybe hes a bounty hunter.... or enforcer (police) thats tracking down our elven troublemaker....

lil elven teen angst and fighting the man... although he/shes 3 times the age of the human... still a kid by elven standards.

just an idea...

[DIMAGYAN]

interesting ideas! i like the direction you are going.Looking forward for the concepts.

[smokenmirrors]

drew these a few days ago, but didnt scan them in, partly cause my pencils feel like theyve a little too much weak sauce on the page.... which is only to say that my mind is now racing towards the afore mentioned ideas and really tweaking them into that direction. in any case, today is crank time for some high elven punk action.

[xinranliu]

hai guys moar sketchezzz

I like the brutality idea. I remember studying Beowulf in grade 8 and what one learns from the tale is that "there's good in evil and evil in good". Blurring the line between the good and the evil archetypes could be a good way to break the stereotypes. But I think it's also important to find some way to make the distinction between the two evident, through perhaps the use of colors and symbolism (blue vs red, vile green vs noble purple, skulls vs holy stuff, straight line vs crooked line, etc?).

let's make some epic stuff

[smokenmirrors]

welcome to the team brotha! and excellent tribal action going on!
heres some punk source... even if we dont go that route, i just had to get it out of my system.

[xinranliu]

wo let's try to integrate that jap punk style into a high fantasy setting

[smokenmirrors]

thats exactly what Im talking about!

i was aiming for the eccentricity of the style...

that is instead of "bullet" belts, we maybe have crossbow bolt belts..... instead of zippers.... we use buttons and clasps......etc.

we make it old world high fantasy punk....

[Vorace]

haha loving these punks, some really nice ideas for accessories.

A bit more tought about the animal symbols idea : maybe the elf could be more associated with all birds (Especially prey bird), the war-priest with all felines (some big and huge lion mane, with a feral look, etc), and the last character related to wolves or maybe monkey (because those baboon in your reference sheet are just awesome haha).

I like the idea of a ''young'' and rebel elf. But I think it would be easier to make them as an united group (instead of one of the character hunting the other). Maybe the war priest is there to ''convert'' the elf to his more powerfull religion? Or he try to learn the way of the wild by living with this elven punk.

I think for now we have a lof of ref for the elven punk-rebel-etc, maybe we just need to find a bit more stuff for the priest and the new character.

For the third character : I think we should do a female. Every high fantasy setting has sexy females .
We have a ranger and a priest, maybe she could be some kind of magic user. Not a weak magician, but a real fury, specialised in close-combat using her magic power.

[Vorace]

ok I did a fast concept art for the elf punk, based on the last discussions. I directly painted over the pants of one of the japanese punk girl.
My lunch time is over for now, but tonight will try to find ref for the warpriest!

[smokenmirrors]

ingenious composite action Vorace!

i did some quick silouttes of the elvin character type. will do more... and then some human action....

by the by.... what race is the fem mage going to be??

[xinranliu]

ugh my lines are getting wavy =_= gotta sleep

[xinranliu]

this might be interesting
i got this picture i took at the local otaku convention last week and painted over it

if u guys want the psd i have a few layers of different stuff

[Mat Kaminski]

Awesome, medieval punk! Keep it up guys!

[JessiBean]

You guys seem to have this all well in hand, but I wanted to share this one link, it has TONS of amazing costume and texture that reminds me of the look you are aiming for:
http://www.erntefashionsystems.com/s...ive/index.html

Great work, guys!

[Vorace]

wow thanks for the link!! just used it to collect new ref

im a bit in a hurry so not a big post of comments (will try to post more tonight)

nice jobs guys, I suggest we try to find a good base for each 3 character for this sunday, so we could start on the real portrait.

I was thinkin Elf ranger = birds, brutal priest = felines, furs etc, maybe the mage/warlock could be associated with reptiles? It could give a nice feminine look, with a lot of pattern, curves and slick look.
gathered some ref :

[xinranliu]

she's got to be smoking hot mmk
we're heading toward the right direction!

[Vorace]

nice digi sketch ! I like a lot her headgear and face!

I started something more final for the elf portrait since I think the concept is the more defined. I added some stuff based on smokken's silouhettes (especially the feather covered arm). Was talking with Ronaldliu on msn so I sent him the portait to continue it.

I'll continue to merge our different concepts for the warpriest and the mage. I think these 2 needs a bit more concept job before going to the final of the good version.

I think it's important (and fun) that all 3 of us work on each others stuff. So each portraits will really be a true collaborative work

[xinranliu]

^ what vorace sent me ^
working on it atm, i'll update once i've done my pass

[xinranliu]

bump
smoken i'll need your email or msn to send you the bigger files

[smokenmirrors]

BADASS!!! brosefs! sorry that ive been out of the loop for the last couple days. Went out to the wilderness to visit my mom... got limited access... iN any case love the elf action and Ronald: pm'd you my contact info. Isnt it in my profile though??? hmmmm...

I did get to work on some more human sillouttes and then Ill bust a couple for the fem mage. Havent done this type of character setup (sillos), hence why Im busting them out. Fantastic work brothas!

will post soon.

[Vorace]

concept I did based on our different ideas for the warpriest

I may try tomorrow to include more feline aspect into his face and look (a more feral face maybe) what do you think guys?

I think we are approaching something fun for the priest, the mage still need some more solid ideas! Maybe to avoid human and elf, the mage could be a nymph/dryad, with a skin similar to the tree's bark, or with flowers and plant on her kness and shoulder, something like this?