Team ChoW III - Utopian Battleship

[Nike]

mimer, good ketches... I like the second idea more, I think... probably because I can see more relation to our ancient cultures/sci fi topic and it's a bit easier to understand the meaning of the card (for me)

instinct, looking good, I agree with Irrlaeufer though, that the atmosphere was more interesting in the thumb because of the foreground..

back to sketching

edit: ah, I forgot... I looked at a couple of maya vasepaintings to see what forms of vessels they used... might be useful for the cup design (or not)... either way, here are some obviously very common shapes in a bad, rough sketch

[IMG][/IMG]

[instinct]

thanks guys, ill make sure i alter the composition to include the aspects of the original thumbnail that work.

Nice thumbs Nike! I like the third thumb a lot, it tells a strong story.

I'll plan to make alterations to the 5oS and work out a larger thumb for the 2oC for later today.

[Nike]

thanks, instinct! looking forwards to seeing more of your stuff!

some doodles ... mainly to test a color scheme I had in mind for the char ... uh well, will start refining the cups thumbs (3 and maybe 2, too, to see where this one could go, but 3 works better for me, too)

[instinct]

Nice doodles, teal and gold seem to fit the character really well.

Here's a slightly modified thumbnail and an initial colour study.
Its basically just a reference for a future layout at this point, i want to make her pose a little more nonchalant, give it some character, design her suit to strike a better outline, as well as feel much more asian, and i'm thinking of going dirty white with red accents for her armour's colour scheme. Still, I'm fairly happy with how it feels overall.

[mimer]

heres one for two of pentacles. juggling many things at once, balance, often incorporates the moebius strip or infinity symbol running between the two pentacles. a woman standing in front of multiple trnslucent screens, touching various parts and looking up at one of the screens. pentacle designs on the right side made up to resemble two planets onscreen with the infinity loop looking like a trajectory looping between the two.

[instinct]

Cool concept Mimer! That is a very interesting card, I'm digging it a lot.

I don't have much more progress done but I took a leap in how I'm handling colouring and i figured I'd show you all. I wanted to remedy my feelings for the pose and feel of her stance and armour, so I decided to confuse everything and then calm it back down. Finding order in chaos.

The colours wont stay this crazy, but i wanted them there to influence the process, I've only started finalizing the face thus far. Still aiming for white armour.

She's also much more snarly now, hahaha.

edit; added updated version

[Nike]

instinct - I like this I'd make the very left sword a lot bigger though, to enhance the perspective.

mimer - interesting concept - good stuff!

I'm refining the grayscale of the world (mirrored version at the moment; when I'm finished with that, I'll do some colors tests.

[instinct]

I haven't dealt with the Swords just yet, I'm suprised you can still see any in there!

[Nike]

hm, i actually replied to your older update didn't see the new one... that's what happens when you're switching around photoshop and ca

[Irrlaeufer]

here is a quick update on the empress.
The first image is an attempt to include some more of the original meaning of the card. The second one is still the old version, just with a little color and a more asian face design. The third image is an attempt to redefine the perspective a little, but I don't think it worked very well and it's probably not what you guys had in mind, so I will have to make a new sketch when I have made up some more ideas for the design of her dress. I also worked on her "crown" but I figure she now looks like a palm tree or something.

Nike: The masks are a cool idea, thought about including something like that, too. I read the mayas (was it them?) thought that masks could pass devine powers to those who wear them. So this is a cool idea to use for "the world".

Mimer: I dig your design, wanna see more

Instinct: Comparing your last three sketches from the last two postings, I like the second image in the first posting. The last one has a somewhat cool expressionistic look , but the shadow on her neck is too strong

[mimer]

hiya, works been a bit crazy this week, got sunday off, and working more sensible hours rest of the month, so will be able to pick up the pace after the weekend great seeing the stuff from you guys so far

[Nike]

hi... wanted to show you some progress... I'm running color tests now... here's the first one I can live with, will show you more later. Not sure if I'll include masks in "the world"... it kind of makes it less "pure" to me, if that makes any sense. Well, enough time for trying with and without, I think.

Missing: refined details (will do this when I'm sure about the color scheme and materials used); the symbols in the corners. Label and number/frame ideas --> design elements.

[Janos]

The second colour theme is a lot better. Nice joby all of you guys in here!

[Nike]

thanks for visiting and your input, janos!

... I continued with the world and will leave it for a while now... don't know if I like how this has developed... some parts obviosly need more work, but I think I need a break from this now.

Irrläufer - I like your colors! I'm curious to see where this is going!

mimer, no worries - I'm looking forwards to seeing more of your stuff!

[mimer]

fleshing out the character look of two of pentacles some, trying to incorporate some norse designs in jewellery and cloak clasps

[instinct]

well, had a brutal falling out with my previous version, so here she is re invigorated and resketched. starting over puts me back a week but i'm aiming to finish this card by saturday of this week so that i have a good amount of time to work on card 2... i'll pull it off!

edit: updated again

[Nike]

instinct - cool progress! her head is very small, is that on purpose?

well, here's a still very messy update on my cups...

[mimer]

more work on the four of cups, the headdress, the cup and the pose

want to make it look like he is inhaling and loosing himself in the vapour and clouds coming out of the cups. toyed around with the cup design and landed on a levitating cup balancing on a beam of sorts coming from the mase, with an assymetrical bowl releasing smoke into the room.

the headdress is mostly an idea based on traditional mesoamerican headdresses, with lights hoovering like feathers out from the gaps in the edges of the mask.

edit. composition for the two of pentacles. trying to convey the feeling that she is busy controlling several things at once. let me know what you think

[Irrlaeufer]

Howdy lovely people

Sorry, I've not been very active lately. Uni strikes back again on daily bases and the battle won't be over until the end of the month. The enemy is also working on some bad bad plans called exames. Those sneaky bastards. Anyway:

Here is some more Ideas on the 3ofS. I dismissed the group concepts for now. The base design for this one is what I found to be the most common design for the Three of Swords: a heart pierced by three swords:


The card deals with Absence. Sorrow. Disappointment. Strife. Removal. Dispersion. Diversion. Opposition. Separation. Delay. Betrayal. Abandonment. Rejection. A reversal of fortune. And getting in touch with pain and sorrow.

I went for the latter aspect in my sketches, even though in a more physical way than the card probably stands for. If anybody has some ideas for a concept that deals with a more mental kind of pain/lost let me know.
.
The composition of the first sketch looks somewhat classic. But the blood stain is on the right side of her chest and I'd rather want it to be on the left because that's were the heart is. So far I think the second posture is the most credible one. You would probably go for this posture in order to show that you are sacrificing your blood on purpose or that your are harming your own hand deliberately with a clear cut. The blood stain in her hand is a little small and the blood doesn't look like it's having the form of a heart yet. I will have to do some anatomy and hand studies in order to find a good solution for that. The third sketch looks more like an injury that is performed accidentally due to anger or wrath.

The colors don't represent anything. Just used them to give it some structure.


Instinct: Good to see the foreground is back. I think it's really crucial for the atmosphere of this one. Is she carrying four more swords behind her back?

Nike: Cool, now I can see what you had in mind with the mask designs. For "the world" I think it would be more effective to replace the right planet by the moon since it gets a little lost on the right side of the composition. I think in mythology it is quite an important and cool symbol for duality.

Mimer: The head looks cool, reminds me of that robot from Metropolis. The posture fits better, too for compositional purposes..

[Irrlaeufer]

okay, here's another one. (I know I have a weird way of working on my stuff.) I was thinking about coherence. It might be a good idea to achieve some: So tell me what you guys think, especially instinct: *rimes*

[instinct]

hahaha! thats a really cool idea Irrlaeufer. I'll try to push my 5oS further along(ie clean it up and finalize designs) so that you have a better idea of what you're working with!

sorry ive been so afk all, been dealing with a lot lately, I'll try to have some new stuff up tonight or tomorrow!

[mimer]

wanted a strong face to go with the norse designs on her, too masculine?

[Irrlaeufer]

mimer: she definitely looks somewhat like a dude. I'd stick to the first sketch.

here is an update on the 3ofS. I'll come up with a slightly altered design for her armor/battle suit if I find the time.

[instinct]

hey all, finally finished my line work for the five of swords.

There are a few anatomy irregularities that ill fix after placing values, but I've finally got a design i think i'm happy with finishing.

I've also decided on my two of cups idea and it's developing.

I plan on posting progress again tomorrow, for both images, and hopefully I'll be on to the post 50% stage for both of them!

sunday edit: Updated with initial colours!

[Nike]

hey everyone! how's your stuff coming along?
instincts progress is looking good and I'm really fond of Irrlaeufers 3 of swords. Mimer, I'm curious to see how your sketches have developed.

The five of cups caused me some headache. I have changed my concept for the five of cups, since the one I've posted above turned out pretty boring - I didn't manage to transfer emotions into that mask thing at all, the pose looked ultra-stiff, and the more I tried to fix it the worse it got. In the end I started again with something else...
what do you think? The frame is just an idea ... the symbol in the corner is the mayan hieroglyph for cup... nothing that needs to stay this way.

[mimer]

as much as this sucks, I am going to have to realise that I am not going to make the deadline with anything resembling finished pieces. I hope the rest of you 3 can deliver your stuff and I'll happily pm daestwen to say that im dropping off so that your effort isnt dragged off with me. Work has simply been, and continues to be, murder.

[Irrlaeufer]

This is as far as I could push my 3ofS. Sadly, I won't be able to finish in time either because uni is killing me. This is a lame excuse since I should have known better. I've been way too optimistic about my time management. Thx to Bologna! If you know what I mean. I've been excited about the whole team chow-thing since I saw some works from TC2 but the truth is, I haven't got almost anything done this year besides of uni stuff. So sorry guys!

[Nike]

hm, looks like the battleship sunk, unless instinct is showing up really soon

[instinct]

Hey all, I'm attempting to get things presentable but I don't think I'll make it for the deadline tonight.

I had yesterday and today set aside to finish everything but I caught the flu yesterday morning, it makes it hard to look at a computer screen for very long. I was hoping I could fight this off before today but it didn't happen.

I'm really sorry Nike! You're stuff looks great and I feel terrible about letting the team down!

Nike if you want to put your accomplishments into the vote on behalf of our team i think that is perfectly fine, you deserve it!

If you all are interested in trying this again in the future; next TChOW I'd be honoured to try this again with a lot more vigour on my part!

[Nike]

Daestwen wrote this in the other thread:

Okay, no extension.

Poll will be going up on schedule when I wake up in the morning. So i would say between 8-10 hours from now. I'll post a "Hour to Deadline" warning while I do the preparation to put up the poll.

For those that aren't done, or want a couple extra days, you can take them. BUT, you will miss those days from the poll and you won't get any extra votes or anything.

For those of you who have already finished and posted, feel free to do touchups under the same rules. You, however, won't lose votes, because i will simply replace the old image with the new, updated one, so you'll keep all your old votes.

Sound fair everyone?

So, you'd have some more time, I'm not sure though if that is making any difference.

I will not enter the thread with my pics only since this was a team chow. It wouldn't be a team entry, and consequently kind of pointless. If anyone else here should happen to finish his stuff in the next days, feel free to pick up my finals and post them along with your stuff in the finished thread.

cheers, and get well soon instinct - catching the flu always sucks