C.O.W. #284, ancient rainforest protector. WIPS

[(lark]

For more info and details about the rules go here:

http://www.concepyart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=110879

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ROUND #284, ancient rainforest protector

topic:

ROUND#284, ancient rainforest protector

this week is pretty straight forward. the creature you'll be designing is the protector of the rainforests of the world. it is a one of a kind creature (so it is a species unto itself), it is immortal, and it is extraordinarily old. maintaining a nearly god-like status.

there will be no physical requirements this week other than being old looking. so feel free to show us whatever you feel fits the brief.

requirements this week...

- the creature must be very old looking.

- you should place the creature in a rainforest setting.

Deadline:

January 15th 7:00pm PST (GMT -8 )

finals go here... http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...89#post3618289

[Rob Powell]

rough sketch so far, me thinks I need to make it look less like a lion...

[Deathnite]

Awsome! reminds me of "Entei" from pokemon
I'm going to join this one too!

rough sketch so far, me thinks I need to make it look less like a lion...

[Deathnite]

Awsome! reminds me of "Entei" from pokemon
I'm going to join this one too!

rough sketch so far, me thinks I need to make it look less like a lion...

[JordyLakiere]

Had some fun with this one, bit sketchy still but I hope thats okay

Struggled most of the way with something very crappy, but then I managed to save it at the end.

References are komodo dragon, orangutan, sloth and some flowers/fruit

[JordyLakiere]

<oops double post>

[ricardops]

Hi guys!

I couldnt do nothing for the latest cow because the holidays but now im working alot in these one, here is my wip GJ all and lets keep working:

[ricardops]

Hi guys!

I couldnt do nothing for the latest cow because the holidays but now im working alot in these one, here is my wip GJ all and lets keep working:

[(lark]

hey dudes.

the site has been pretty sketchy so I'm going to extend this round one week.

the new due date is the 15th of January.

[Daniel Hurd]

Cool, I had worked really hard on this weeks cow and was worried CA wouldn't be back up, or COW would be gone either way. I'm glad to see things are back up.

[Rob Powell]

i can see we're back, hopefully it'll stay that way, but who knows...

here's my current progress atm...

[Si_Swe]

Hey Rob, very cool design. I just wanted to give some friendly encouragement in terms of something I've noticed your creature designs tend to lack. You've got a really nice sense for the design and the anatomy of your creatures, but it seems like you struggle with colour. The red cherry-type of formations are a good start, but looking through your past creatures, I've noticed a strong tendency to avoid highly saturated, or vibrant colours. That works very well for some things, but I think it's important to explore both the earth colours/neutral hues as well as the intense palette we often see in birds/fish/lizards (not to mention all manner of alien and fantastical creatures). Here we have a creature that is native to a tropical environment, and it tends to be in the tropical environments that we see some of the most intense and beautiful colours in the animal kingdom, so I believe that this would be an excellent topic for you stretch your colour muscles. I love your design, and it's been fantastic to watch you improve by leaps and bounds since you've joined COW, but this is the one area I really think you could work on right now. Right now the creature is great, but it feels more like it belongs in a temperate environment than a rainforest.

[Daniel Hurd]

How do you resize for this site again? I am having trouble with my image size. Got it pretty small 650k and still won't allow me to upload, if I go any smaller the viewer loses out on a great amount of detail.

[pangketepang]

@JordyLakiere: Cool Man. It's looks old already. Can't wait to see the final.
@Rob Powell: Nice design and concept. Remembering me of the forest gods from Princess Mononoke.
@ricardops: great dude! really love your idea.
@Daniel Hurd : Try to use some images uploader like photobucket or sta.sh (if you have a deviantart account). Then use the [ IMG ] tag.

Here's mine. My concept is that this creature is protecting the forest with the ability to mimicri. It's weapon are moving branch and poisonous breath.
Which one do you guys think the best?

[pangketepang]

@Daniel Hurd : Try to use some images uploader like photobucket or sta.sh (if you have a deviantart account). Then use the [ IMG ] tag.

[spiralout]

Hey guys! First time I post on a COW challenge. Hope you like it!

I didnt know the site was down, so i've already finished everything, but il put some WIPs on aswell

[Sjuu]

Ancient Rainforest Protector

Had this kind of a ancient elk idea, but then again a bit alienated
Was looking for some ideas. Kinda liking number 3 so far.

-Sjuu

[Daniel Hurd]

Well because I can't get my image smaller than 640k I have to link it. Sorry guys.

BTW, great work everyone, really digging the designs everyone is coming up with.

Here is my go-
http://sta.sh/02gcziojmjsa

[zoukka]

Here's mine. My concept is that this creature is protecting the forest with the ability to mimicri. It's weapon are moving branch and poisonous breath.
Which one do you guys think the best?

I like the third one the most. Nice details all around and very creative.

[j-ang]

great work so far guys, love some of the designs,
WIP, design is still a bit generic, might tighten up and add a bit more if I have time before the submitting in finals.

[Daniel Hurd]

Holy cow J-ang! Thats an amazing design!

If I may ask how did you resize for the attachment manager? My image is about the same size as yours (1000x800pix 300 dpi) but I am coming up around 650k which is too large for the attachment manager. I have done this before without issue.

[Daniel Hurd]

Finally think I got this. Use a website to resize them. Enjoy!

Really digging some of these designs. Everybody seems to have an awesome take. Really enjoying papang's, J-ang's, and Rob's.

[Daniel Hurd]

@Sjuu, cool designs, all of them remind me of prehistoric versions of deer/elk. My only advice would be maybe to try some large old looking antlers or even a beard/mane of hair.
@Ricardops, as always looking good! Not sure how I feel about the photo background, it definitely works for the idea, but I think a hand drawn/painted background might look stronger.

[Sjuu]

Thank you Daniel!

Here is a small update, its getting his chestbear, haha

[Si_Swe]

Daniel Hurd, watch out, you're venturing a bit too close to Rule #1a: no humanoid creatures.

[Daniel Hurd]

Thanks Si_Swe, I was going for an ape-like creature. Should I maybe try to make him less humanoid looking?

[Rob Powell]

CRIIIITTTTSSS!!!!

Sjuu: try pushing those shapes when working with silhouettes, a creature's design should be readable from it's silhouette the more unique the silhouette the more unique your final design is going to be, like Mr. Hurd suggested try some interesting looking antlers, or try using other interesting organic shapes on your creature, the main idea behind silhouetting is what is often refered to as 'happy accidents', rather than saying 'I want something that kinda looks like a deer' say 'let's see what I can come up with' scribble some random shapes and try to look for certain shapes and forms, a good example are inkblots everyone has their own ideas with inkblots. One more thing when doing variants, rather than using the same body with three different heads, try three different bodies with three different heads, then you can mix and match between them!!

Daniel Hurd: Looking good so far. If you wanna venture away from being humanoid, try using some postures found in some primates, such as Gorillas and Orangutangs. Try to hunch it's back a bit, to make it less upright as well, that could help as well.

j-ang:

spiralout: really cool this one, very neat style as well. I'm those branches on the critter are cast shadows, try to soften them a bit more, they would only be so harsh whenever the branches are very close to it's body. Don't forget to follow the forms as well, so it doesn't flatten your creature. Anatomy seems a bit weird, but it could be due to the unique style of the creature.

pangketepang: Three is the best to me, mainly becasue it looks more like an actual creature rather than a tree with a face. Interested to see where these go nevertheless

Si_Swe: I totally agree man, I've been trying to avoid those over saturated hues so my pieces don't look too cartoony, however I was planning on adding some nice bright colours to my creature this time. The rainforest is afterall one of the most colourful places on Earth. At this point the image is still mostly a dark halftone so more colour will be added! Appreciate the advice as always Simon!

ricardops: your creature looks way humanoid, I'd also suggest losing the sword since accessories are usually not allowed, what you do is make the sword part of the creature's anatomy, I'm you could get away with that. I'd suggest when using a photo is to try to paint over it a bit, giving it a matte look, while also balancing the details between the background and the creature. And try to push teh contrast around the creature's head as well, it kinda gets a bit lost within the background. Try zooming out when painting and viewing your image in black and white to see how things read. You should be able to tell what's going on in an image when it is a small thumbnail and in black and white. An easy thing to do is to put on a seperate layer that it completely black and set it to color, flick it on every now tan then to see how your values read. I assume you intend to add some more vibrant highlights, some bright yellows on the face area at least.

JordyLakiere: Like the idea, I wanna see this with those big puffy Orangutang cheecks!!! I'd also make it more hunched over with it's right (our left) arm a bit longer and reaching forward a bit, I think that will make it's pose a bit more interesting and improve the composition a bit

Haven't really worked on mine since my last update, but plan to do so over the weekend! Been working on some personal projects lately, so the weekly activites have been lacking a bit as of late....hence the reason I didn't finish my storm dragon...

[marcoferrigno]

Heres my progress so far.

[ded]

the unicorn or the chameleon dragon

[Deon]

Some nice work so far - here's mine - its a prehistoric antelope/buffalo creature. I hope its not too similar to Sjuu's