C.O.W. #241. cycloptic shark hunter. voting!

[(lark]

C.O.W. #241 cycloptic shark hunter_Voting!

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ROUND #241 VOTING

Topic: cycloptic shark hunter


Deadline for the voting: December 28th

Requirements this week...

- the creature must have only one eye.

- it must be equal to, or smaller than a shark.

- it must have some way of taking down sharks in its anatomy. Get creative!

[Something_Moore]

The holidays are a'comin' so as much as I would like to spend more time on making the shark look a little less 'derpy' I cannot. I am pleased with the texturing though. I flipped it this week. Texturing the creature and solid-ish background.

Artist: Something_Moore

Concept: The Scythe Eel

The Scythe Eel is an ambush predator due to it's inability to move very quickly. It hunts from below using an upright set of spines on its back with iridescent, fish shaped fins at the end to attract the attention of its fierce victims. The spines evolved to snap off easily and grow back, much like the tails of some lizards, or the arms of starfish, allowing the Eel to take non-fatal damage as it's victim thrashes about on the hooked chin as it dies. Also, the back of the creature is reinforced with thick scaly armor-another protective measure. It's singular, large eye sits on the top of its head so that it can scan the ocean above.The claw appendages near the mouth are used in feeding, since the Eel's hooked under-bite prevents it from eating normally.

[AdrianNagorski]

Artist: Adrian Nagorski

Concept: Carcharodon Hunter


This creature enjoys following its prey, eventually going in for the kill by grabbing
its target and biting it to death. Its body resembling a turtle
attracts sharks to itself which makes hunting its prey easier, but its not all hopeless
for the sharks, they have been know to take the Carcharodon down at times as well.

[penciltipred]

Artist:penciltipred

Concept: Red-Tiped Coral Snake
The red-tiped coral snake lays dormant,submerged in coral reefs waiting for its prey,the shark its favorite is the tiger shark
the coral snake lunges its tail at the shark injecting it with a paralyzing agent
then unsheathes the the blade like things resembling sharpened coral on it under-belly and stabs into the shark cutting it into pieces then eating it

[Lloydnewman]

Artist: Lloydnewman

Concept: Goliath Eel
This nocturnal hunter is a member of the eel family. it lurks in the shadows waiting for its shark prey to swim past before ambushing and taking a poisonous bite out of its victim. As the heaviest species of eel, it is freakishly strong.

[Azimuthium]

Artist: Azimuthium

Concept: Carcharhinus Gladius

Although Carcharhinus Gladius lives in groups, it hunts alone, its prey being large shark species. Storing huge amounts of energy acquired from the sea bed ooze, will achieve bursts of lightning speed movement. Restless predator with a sharp blade-like beak, it will easily put down schools of large sharks, ambushing, flanking and ripping apart.

[Rob Powell]

Artist: Rob Powell

Concept: Venacarpia carcarius

This large crustacean is highly intelligent. It uses it's large mandibles to subdue it's favourite prey, sharks. Just one individual is capable of taking down a great white several times it's size. To top of it's already bizarre anatomy, this oversized shrimp has only one eye.

[Ricardo Robles]

Artist: Ricardo Robles

Concept: Stained Fin Eater

Following the dramatic decrease in the shark populations on the Caribbean coast, the marine scientists have conducted some investigations that have revealed the existence of a new species of predator. The “Stained Fin Eater” seems to come from a weird devilfish evolution or mutation, to become extremely violent specie which apparently has only one visual receptor. Judging on the submarine recordings, this creature attacks directly to the shark´s dorsal fin and starts injecting some kind of poison that the SFE has on its tail tentacles before completely eat the prey. Seems like the very own physiognomy of this predators responds only to dorsal finned species hunting judging on their mouth shape.

[Forgemaster]

Artist: Forgemaster

Concept: Patrispolyphemos


Excerpt from the official report of "Aquaria in the Bearded Sea"

"The primitive seafaring dwarfs call these creatures patrispolyphemos, or the son of the famous, believing they are the offspring of one of their cyclopean gods of the sea. How absurd! The patrispolyphemos sit on reefs in large packs with a single feathery sensory appendage drifting in the distance. When the appendage is disturbed the creature inhales water deeply through its four orifaces on its midbody and stores the oxygen in two external lungs on either side of its sunken eye. When the prey draws nearer, the creatures deposit the lungs in a pressurized cone of oxygen as propulsion from the reef and begin to attack, their hind tentacles used as both a steering and secondary movement mechanism. The pack then imbeds themselves deep into the flesh of their prey using their large forepincers and inject the prey with an intense sodium based solution. Studies conducted have shown that obligate ram ventilators are the patrispolphemi only prey. Some of my colleagues believe that the sodium solution in such great quantities dehydrates the sharks before they are able to gleam oxygen form the water. Some of my colleagues are also imbeciles."

-Joheim Strassenblassel. Registered Aquamancer

[Sulk-Sal]

Artist: Sulk-Sal

Concept: Leecher
This creature is truly one sharks fear. It starts its hunt by spraying small clouds of blood taken from it's last hunt. Once the shark is in a blood frenzy it attacks and latches itself onto the shark with it's hooked legs, head and tail. There is no escape as the Leecher uses the many tiny mouths on it's "arms" to slowly eat the shark alive.

[DefiledVisions]

Artist: DefiledVisions

Concept: Cycloptoclawfish


Lives on shark blood. Attacks gills with claws and suffocates shark. Delish'

[J-Sun]

Artist: J-Sun

Concept: Cycloptic Shark Stalker
Until recently this mysterious creature of the deep was only rumored to exist. The Cycloptic Shark Stalker, as its name implies exclusively feeds on sharks, usually two to three times their size. Cycloptic Shark Stalkers live in groups of about a dozen and hunt exclusively as mated pairs. Typically each pair only feeds once every few weeks and there is a cyclical, hierarchical order of feeding. Pairs who are not in line to feed act as sentries and scouts for the other members of the group. The Stalkers have a single, very unusual eye that seems to have almost telescopic resolution. This unique sense of vision paired with an extraordinary sense of smell make these creatures highly adept at seeking out prey. Using their saber teeth and formidable claws, once they set their sights of their favorite shark prey, it is pretty much a done deal. Although fish-like, its distinctive singular eye, leathery hide, arms, grappling claws and saber-teeth have led leading ichthyologists to concede that "we don't know what it is".

[DPFX]

Artist: DPFX

Concept: Cycloptic Shark Hunter
Problems...problems...oh well. I'm sick and the deadline looms.

This creature's body produces a toxic chum. Lured sharks become sluggish and disoriented by the substance, making them easy prey.

[Dranyer]

Artist: Dranyer

Concept: the Jelly-fang
this bizarre creature recently discovered by marine biologists in the shark infested waters near Australia has a very peculiar manner of feeding. when it's solitary eye spots a shark it's bioluminescent tendrils begin to emit specific frequencies of light which confuse the shark and when it comes to investigate it is temporarily stunned by a low level electric current that runs through those tendrils. then the jelly-fang clamps down on it's victims head and it's needle-like fangs inject a deadly neurotoxin directly into the shark's brain. the jelly-fang then spends the next week consuming the corpse.

[Dr. DK Danmage]

Artist: Dr. DK Danmage

Concept: Deadly Frog Fish
The deadly frog fish normally reaches about 17 feet in length. It is known to jump from the ocean floor to catch unsuspecting sharks. The poison in the stingers paralyzes the shark, however it is still alive when it is swallowed whole. The sharks eventually die of starvation or suffocation inside the belly of the frog fish as it slowly digests them. The stomach of the frog fish can hold up to 6 sharks.

[Rob Powell]

crit time...good round guys ricardo, Forgemaster, Defiled, and Dr. DK Danmage were my fav's....

Something_Moore: Very creature design, textures look better on the creature, gives it that camouflaged look as well, try to incorporate some forms to give it more depth, plus it helps give us a better look at the creature's anatomy more precisly.

Adrian: cool take on the subject, althoughI think you could've incorporated the different elements of the creature together better so it doen't look so mismatched. Your colours and forms are getting more solid, but your line work is still a bit on the scratchy side, just keep sketching and pushing yourself to get more confident strokes, and good things will happen

penciltripred: First thing I notice is how close the creature's head is to the left side of the image. Ideally if your subject is looking in a particular direction you want to give it some room on that side cuz the focus shifts in that direction. The creature should've been placed a lot closer to the right side, to centralize the image better. Also the oriental lettering and textures are bit distracting from your creature as well, a lower opacity on the lettering so they don't contrast so much.

Llodnewman: Good sense of atmospheric depth, however the texturing on the skin flattens the surface a bit, remember textures also should follow the forms to help push the depth.

Azimuthium: Very cool looking creature, it has a nice prehistoric look to it. I'm a bit confused about the head anatomy though, does it have a mouth? or is it's head like a giant spike? Also the perspective of the head suggests more of a 3/4 view while the crest on it's head and the rest of the body for that matter shows more of a side view, so it makes it look a bit awkward.

Ricardo Robles: Awesome stuff as always, man! The creatures are almost bird-like the way they fly through the water then dive bomb the sharks. Also liked the graphics at the bottom, got my vote!

Forgemaster: Neat creatures with some nice rendering. They've got a very lovecraftian feel to them which is always cool! And a cool little backstory as well.

Sulk-Sal: Neat looking creature, although i think a better pose would help us read it's anatomy a bit better.

DefiledVisions: Awesome stuff, man! Really like the creepiness of the creature's eye. Only thing I can really say is that it's a bit unfinished but I know your a busy man so good job!

J-Sun: very bizarre in a good way. There are a few anatomical issues, such as the forelimbs not having any sort of muscle for movement, and half a tailfin which would provide poor swimming. It is however quite well presented, though I do beleive you could have gotten away with leaving the two attacking the shark out of the top image.

DPFX: Another interesting creature you came up with. Has a very alien look to it. Both your creature and the shark in the foreground seem to have that pasted on look that makes them seem out of place with the environment, perhaps a stronger sense of colour from the surroundingswould change this.

Dranyer: Cool stuff, man! Very interesting take on the subject. A little too close to a regular jellyfish but a nice piece overall.

Dr. DK Danmage: Easy second placer for me! A very clever idea using the gluttonous nature of frogs to portray your concept. Only thing is, after injesting a few sharks the creature would have a hard time transporting itself with all that extra weight.

[penciltipred]

Thanks Rob originally theres was gonna be a little diagram on how the thing eats but i felt the picture would be to busy so i took it out and i never moved the snake back over

[Ricardo Robles]

Very nice entries guys, my favourites were
Dr Dk Danmage, was a nice surprise to see your concept, very original and cause of it i voted for you. I must admit it was a bit difficult to discern the scene the first time I saw it, it´s a bit confusing but the thumbnail helped me. The best concept anyways, imo!
Defiled, that eel is really scary, second one for me but was hard to choose between you and Dr Dk. I would´ve liked to see it finished, though. Good concept and execution.
Rob Powell very nice one, scary creature and great rendering, the only thing i can critique is that i´m not sure of that creature´s speed (marine locust kind) competing with a shark. But it looks really dangerous and able to kill one!
Forgemaster, that was a very attractive concept and very predator-ish, i loved it.

making a critique of my own entry, i think it´s not very exotic, maybe it would need another revision to make it a bit more "cool" cause right now it seems a bit ordinary creature... maybe it makes it more scary?

[DPFX]

Some quick crits...


Something_Moore: Imaginative concept. The black outline combined with overlayed texture rendering style isn't working for me.

Adrian Nagorski: I like the idea of disguising itself as a turtle. The jellyfish/tail seems to interfere with that idea, and the rendering is rough.

Penciltipred: Your creature has potential, but the rendering is rough, there are structure issues (for instance the centerline of the belly doesn't agree with the centerline of the back as defined the anatomy as you've drawn it), and that background really isn't doing you any favors.

Lloydnewman: Your creature has a great overall impression, looking quite formidable. Your rendering is a bit heavy-handed (like with the stylized wrinkles and hastily drawn teeth/gums) and what little texture you have doesn't follow the curves of the body.

Azimuthium: Some of the anatomy of your creature seems a bit artificial, like the folds on the face and wrinkles under the eyes. On the other hand, I really like some of the design elements on your creature, especially that awesome tail.

Rob Powell: Man, have you improved. Clean rendering, nice structure, nice subtle textures. Your beast reminds me of a mantis shrimp one of my all time favorite real-world critters. I think you could be WAY more adventurous with the colors. The set of feelers that come over the mandibles seem a bit impractible. The little bubble trails look really arbitrary and artificial.

Forgemaster: I really like this one. Neat design with some very nicely rendered surfaces. Not exactly lit like an underwater scene (like I'm one to talk), but who cares...this is concept art and it looks awesome.

Sulk-Sal: Its difficult to crit a piece like this with such a distince graphic style. Neat design, though it doesn't seem to fit the brief, looking much bigger and slower than the sharks. I like the stylized hammerhead.

DefiledVisions: This is a really cool design and a great solution to the brief. Really convincing anatomy and textures, especially in the more finished looking areas.

J-Sun: Fun design, though a bit cartoonish for my tastes. I like the design of your tail fin. The perspecive on the upper and lower jaws don't agree.

DPFX: A big step backwards for you. What happened...come down with a bad cold? The problems in your image are too numerous to list here.

Dranyer: Cool creature with some really satisfying rendering. Not the most adventurous design.

Dr. DK Danmage: What a crazy, awesome concept. Reminds me of stuff from John Carpenter's "The Thing". That eye looks awfully vulnerable on the end of the snout.

Ricardo Robles: How can I crit this without sounding like a drooling fanboy...hmmm...nope, can't do it. I LOVE this freaking creature. Beautifully repugnant design, really intelligent response to the brief, stunning...freaking STUNNING rendering...all packaged in a really satisfying illustration. Where can I buy the "Art of Ricardo Robles 2012 Wall Calendar"? I think I just inked myself.

[Goog]

These are just fantastic, all around. Good work guys!

[emerging]

A lot of good entries but I think the design that i loved the most was DefiledVisions. Needs more votes cuz the style, anatomy, and rendering are absolutely great!