C.O.W. - #010: Sirens - VOTING!!!

[Fozzybar]

ROUND #010 VOTING

Topic: Sirens

Deadline for the voting: Monday, 25.04.2005

Posting thread (closed):
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=42204






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Carnifex:
concept: One vicious creature that lures sailors and any kind of boat-lover into its home,mostly consisting of sharp cliffs. it does so by pumping air into it's "breast" and then emmiting strange and wonderful melodies through the "nipples". generally this is pleasant to hear,but not at all pleasant to see,as those "breast" shrink and wrinkle towards the end of the song. though when one of them is finished, the others continue the hum. after having brought their victim to crash,they fly down from their nest and starts feeding on the corpses. noone knows where these creatures came frome,but certain scientists believe it's the result of animal love gone too far(those damn duck lovers). others believe it's their dead grandmothers coming from heaven to haunt them,which has brought the creature the nickname "granny horror".

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Fozzybar:
concept: The Undead Flummox Siren
The species of the Undead Flummox Siren evolved from the classical Sirens of greek mythology. Like every Sirens they sing infatuating melodies to lure passing seamen...with time the danger of sirens were known amongst seamen and they protected themselves from the sirens deadly melodies by pluging wax in their ears - just like Odysseus did...now the Undead Flummox Siren tricks their victim with another phenomen...
Though their appearance is absolutely repelling as measured by human beauty standards, their wings are magical. Everything behind the wings appear in a mostly beautiful way, so the victims see a banging sexy female body. The Undead Flummox Siren is flying next to the passing ships, just a few meters away from the numbed seamen - always with her back turned to the ship...This visual impression paired with the infatuating melodies are mystifying the seamen for a certain period - time enough to turn around quickly and grab one or two of this poor wayfarers and fly away to the nest, where other sirens are waiting for the feast...

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Uziel:
concept: This type of siren can take over a ship in no time.
Once she is on board she will enchant all hens on deck with her wonderful sounds. When she's got everybody under her influence she starts breaking some necks by sweeping her strong tentacles around. Then she can easely pick out the sweetest piece of man to nibble on.

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Stokes:
concept: Jannete "pirate eater " McUmphry
Like most Sirens, Jannete loves the taste of raw pirate flesh. Unfortunately for Jan its just harder and harder to find quality pirate meat these days. Her nonfunctioning gimped wings dont really help her get around either. She basically just sits on her rock all day and sings some of her favorite Billy RaY Sirus tunes. Now everybody knows pirates cant resist them sweet Billy Ray melodies. Once them swashbucklers get ear of the music they come sailing on over. "Oh whats this, a crazy bird lady with a nice set a tits." I think Ill go ivestigate. Arrrrrrrrr them be rocks ahead. Craasssssshhhhhh. Pirate chowder.

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Matt Dixon:
concept: Chromaticiae Mariahcareyum.
Also known as the 'Pale Mariah', this mythical beast is famed for her ravenous appetite for seamen. Clearly, her appearance makes it difficult to attract all but the most drunken mariners into striking distance, so she lures them close with spellbinding renditions of pop tunes and hypnotic jiggling of her silvery-fleshed mammary glands that glitter in the moonlight like two C cup lighthouses.

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carnalizer:
concept: The rare Giant six eyed rocklemming, a k a Furry siren, Sailors fear or Wetass, use potent pheromones and multifrequency vails to numb the minds of seamen. Stupefied they get drawn in and loose their lives in the wide maw of the rocklemming.

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leckronium:
concept: For centuries Sirenows have been looked over in legends and folklore. Simply because no one knows much about them. Their full-size cousins from Greek mythology have taken a lot of the heat for crashing ships and seducing mariners. These hummingbird-sized music boxes are ten times more enchanting and more dangerous when grouped in choirs. Not only will they enchant you and cause you to wreck your ship, but will fly aboard and take your food, jewelry, and any other shiny valuables completely undetected. This leaves many seamen stumped and wondering what happened when they come out of their hypnotic sleep. No one has actually seen one so it's hard to place blame on something that looks like an ordinary bird from a short distance. But the experience afterwards is not one to compare to the beauty of it's song. It's also not clear if both the Sirenows and their cousins worked together to amass their fortune hidden throughout the island. There have also been stories telling of seamen who traveled for days with nothing on their ship just to hear the captivating melodies that give them such wondrous dreams. Unfortunately, those men are never heard from again.

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salaryman:
concept: Mastigoteuthis Vocalis, Song Squid or Siren. Believed to be part of the cephalopod family, ability to mimic form of its prey: mainly sea birds, fish, crustaceans and occasionally the unwary fisherman. This lure is compounded by hypnotic low level sounds that act upon the preys’ lower brain resulting in trance-like 'euphoric' state.
Paris, 1894. Bonaparte Bon-Bon Baptiste, proprietor at the Red Cat seafood bistro was having a good summer. His clientele were braving his poorly prepared, overpriced dishes for one reason only: The Green lady.
Sitting in her tank of water normally reserved for fresh lobster this mysterious creature floated elegantly and beguiled the whole of Montmartre with her melancholic song.
But on a fateful night, one particular customer could withhold his ardour no longer: he approached the Lady's tank, her green glow reflecting in his glossy, mesmerized eyes. The lady, more accustomed to customer leftovers seized her chance and the hapless punter. In a flurry of tentacles and stagnant water she revealed her true self, and snip-snap, the customer lost his head.
This was The Green Lady's last performance. What happened to the creature we can not say, but on an interesting side note, The Red Cat had an abundance of calamari on the menu in the following week.

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Helzon:
concept: Pugetonia Revennica Horrifica
It has long been assumed that the those of the genus 'Elttaes" were infatuated to near obsession with the screams of men and the sound of wood grinding against stone. It was no different for the Pugetonia Revennica Horrifica, also commonly known as the Crush Siren.
The siren posseses an eerie talent of psionic mimicry. First honing in on it's prey, it plucks from long term memory the various ranges and timbres of the voices of those most loved by it's victim. And by simply vibrating great sacks of gelatinous oil that line it's throat it can reproduce perfectly every singing note. Countless scores of men aboard the fleets of flying vessels have often dropped to their doom or drifted to close to the craggy cliffs of floating islands the siren inhabits in a desperate attempt to be with those that they so painfully long for.
And once mesmerized the Crush Siren slithers upon it's prey with uncanny speed. First it devours what soft bits of humanity it can find, then in a spasmic orgy grinds the ship against the stones until little more than splinters rain down hundreds of miles to the dessicated world below.

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Sok N Wett:
concept: Serpent Siren of the Sea
Myrian was the most beautiful mermaid in the ocean, every merman would kill to have her. She was the only mermaid that had refuse to marry the Prince Pacifik, as she was in love with another. The jealous and spiteful aquatic prince seek revenge by ordering the village's witch mother to cast a spell that would enslave her forever. The spell had changed her voice only to harmonic tones that can be heard through the great ocean, causing coastal storms. Afraid to hurt the ones she loved she swam to the nearest rock formation. Her loved follow her, only to be the first victim of this trecherous curse. She tried to tell him to stay away but her voice were no more, only replace by sweet music coming out of her lips. He was too close and 4 snake like creature came out of her sides and dive into the heart of her love. There is no way to lift her cursed for she has lived through eternity, and have not found a way to kill herself. Her beauty has caused many sailors their lives for a second of fantasy. Beware the ocean for the Serpent Siren of the Sea.

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vaughany boy:
concept: Greater Rock Cameleon
This monstrous creature has the unique ability to transform its upper body into any shape imaginable. Using telepathic abilities to read the minds of possible prey, the Cameleon decides on a form that would most likely attract this victim. Using a combination of it's disguise and it's unique vocal abilities, this creature lures lesser animals towards it and then crushes and devours them. When there is no interesting life nearby the creature hides itself and when humans near it, it transforms, so, the true form of the Cameleon's upper body is unknown. It has been speculated that this animal is the foundation for the Mythical Sirens from Greek Legend.

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lukavi:
concept: The Fishwife
The witch of the sea, this ancient beast has enticed countless men to their deaths. Bones beaneath the ocean mark the watery graves of those who fell for the Fishwife's maddening melodics. Much like the parrot, this creature has learned to imitate the human language, and delivers in song a promise of one night of lust and depravation. Often seen riding a jurassic tuna, it emerges from the boiling waves of the sea all the time mimicing the goddess Venus as seen in an old painting owned by a pirate victim. It does this in hopes of tempting the men even more through artful suggestion as well as to make up for its own apparent ugliness. This nympho's hypnotic warble coupled with words that ignite a hetero's weakness instantly causes one to fall into a trance, and helplessly make a bee line for a not-so euphoric doom.

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[Fozzybar]

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young paddy1:
concept: The song of the "red crested mask bill" is visible yet not audible until directly underneath like breath on a frosty morning painted by van gogh in a swirly mood the song hangs in the air attracting the attention of passing sailors, once the first notes are heard the sailors are compelled to follow the spiralling melody to it's source. The problem for the sailors is that the "red crested mask bill" hovers over jagged rocks waiting for it's song to bring it it's dinner.

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Shamagim:
concept: ........After we successfully robbed six of the ships of the queen, we were loaded with enough to retire from our days fighting on our beloved ship....We planned to pass a route that was supossed to be fordibben, not as a rule of the queen, it was a rule of the sea itself. Our overconfidence made us fearless, but not fearless enough to fight the entire queen´s armada, so we decided to cross.....
.......five days had passed since we lost the queen´s ships and entered the fordibben seas, along we encountered various wrecks of other ships that dared to do the same as us, i have to admit that the idea of turning around passed my mind while i saw all the ruined crafts, but i knew that it would seal our fate as well if we did turn, because the armada would be waiting for us on the other side for sure...
.....Today the air is weird, theres a strange sound, it was a pleasant sound if i were to describe it.. but i had a strange feeling about it...
.....We saw what appeared to be, a girl. soon we found out that she, if it is in fact a she, wasnt quite what we saw.....We felt compelled to approach, we regretted it, but we coudnt help it, the sound was to sweet, it gave us a strange calm. As soon as we were close enough, she changed completely, her limbs expanded in a hideous way, and we saw her true face.....As soon as she jumped in our ship she screamed, at least i think she did, because i coudnt tell about nothing at that time, the sound was to loud, i saw the ones closer to her when she screamed, their eyes and ears were bleeding....and of cource,they coudnt fight her at all.........She took five of our men, and killed ten with her sharp and long claws, ripping their nerves and flesh while they remained helpless because of the sound....
Me and a few of my men took some pistols from the armory, we coudnt hear anything, but we werent as helpless as the ones closer to the sound, so we started shooting, we were expecting yet another scream, but it seems she wasnt able to, the spinacles on her back must take a huge amount of air first it seems....she fled with some corpses, and some pieces of her armour remained inside the ship...
....Once it was safe again, i inspected the pieces of the armor, it was some kind of coral, constantly changing, probably the secret of her transformation...
... As we ran out of crew members we decided to turn around and surrender to the queen´s guards, but when we arrived at their location the ships were empty, i coudnt believe my luck..beside all the misfortunes i had, nobody did survived any of the dangers i faced this month..

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Negrotuerto:
concept: Dark Siren
The Dark Siren can be found primarly in Madero´s bay, a little fishers city near Uvasal island. This creature rarerly is seen by the local people on Madero´s bay, but can be heared when the night falls; specially on raining nights and fridays (no mondays, fridays). The signing of this ominous creature has been listened with clarity just for its victims. Little boys most of them *yes, again, they are too easy to catch* running freely on Madero's bay, specially when night falls and raining nights (kinda stupid, but they are like that on Madero's bay).
The music that the dark siren sign is so hipnotic that little kids just fall into its claws. This creature doesn't eat them right away, instead it takes away to its nest and start saving them for the winter.
In may of 2002 police found on a single dark siren nest more than 200 victims piled up. Of course, most of them was death, but police find a couple of half-eated kids alive. When a human is bitten by a dark siren has to be killed or his sons will be dark sirens too. They put eggs on little kids reproductive systems you see, specially on cute ones. That's the way they reproduce on our world.
If you are walking with your kid on Madero's bay, on a dark night, a raining night, and you hear a beautiful song on the wind; start running, if your kid can't run fast as you just forgeth about him, save yourselve. They eat small childs but attack adults too.

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Chia:
concept: Serenade Siren
She can be found on the rocky shores of tropical islands during the summer. Her beautiful singing can be heard from miles away, luring sailors and weary travellers to their deaths. Despite her outward beauty during the day, at night she transforms into a large hideous beast to devour her prey.

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redehlert:
concept: Tiggo Bitty
Yep....Tiggo Bitty, a beast of lore that all scurvey sea dogs panted and dry humped over once they heard the melodic lure and navigated within sight of those huge racks! Tiggo flaunted and teased those spellbound, foolish mortals until they racked themselves (figuratively and literally) on the rocks. Dinner served. Arrrrrrrr!

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BlkCelebration:
concept: This creature lures men of the sea with its captivating harp. Its body is attached to the small island with jagged rocks. These rocks serve the purpose of sinking ships allowing the Sirena to feast upon the drowning men.

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oomgawa:
concept: Rain Forest Sirens
Legend has it that a wagon train carrying domestically inclined women, bound for Seattle to be brides, and exotic dancers bound for San Francisco, met with trouble as they crossed Yellowstone. Tragically, several of the Conistoga Wagons, ships of the desert, cracked through the thin crust of the mud pits and sank into the bubbling primordial baths. The men worked frantically to save the women and salvage the wagons, in particular the one with the expensive pipe organ and feather fans designated for entertainment. Most of the women crawled or were pulled out, coated in sticky mud which had seared their skin.
While the wagon train was able to reach the West Coast successfully, the women never quite recovered. Because of their disfigured skin, they kept to themselves and were rarely seen again. Rumor has it that one of the women worked briefly as a carnival sideshow freak, exhibiting apparently the beginnings of feathered growth on her arms (probably something in the mud in Yellowstone triggered the dna mix-up).
Years after the incident, sightings of strange feathered woman were reported near the Ho Rain Forest in Washington State. Witnesses described the creatures as having the bodies of women adorned with exotic feathers which seemed to catch the wind and sounded eerily like a pipe organ. Apparently the creatures would stretch their wings to full length, then protrude the hollow feather shafts into the wind, twisting them in different directions to produce a variety of sounds. Because the shaft tips had holes in the ends, the wind passed over them creating hauntingly beautiful sounds.
While the creatures, now known as Hoh Sirens, were considered gentle in their behavior, they did cause the destruction of many schooners leaving the Northwest with their cargo of old growth logs. It seems the resemblance to the Conastoga Wagons was an allure for the sad beasts who simply went out to the sea cliffs to watch these distantly familiar ships sail by. Unfortunately, the melodies played on the feather shafts lured many men to the rocky shoals and destruction.
Oddly enough, the Hoh Sirens would fly down and pull out the tangled ropes from the debris and carry them back to the rain forest to use as nesting material. Unfortunately the Ho Sirens could not reproduce, as they were all female, but their strong domestic sensibilities forced them to keep a tidy nest all the same.

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xia:
concept: Siren of Ancient Sumatra:
Long long time ago along the coast of Sumatra, they live and feed of human's soul so they can be young for centuries. They scream sound so heavenly beautiful, like irrisistable hynotizing chant to lure you out. They can spot their prey from great distance with their supreb eyesight from up above. Their craws are deadly strong, no victim ever can escape once caught. Tenticles inside its mouth will wrasp around your head and suck you dry.
Additional Note: These creatures are highly intelligent, they can also use spell and magic. Tattoo and peircing are some kind of protective spell to protect them from any physical attack.

[Fozzybar]

OK - before voting/posting read this!!!

1. Please give c&c or a reason why you voted for the image!

2. Feel free to comment on any or all entries, the artists will appreciate it!

[Fozzybar]

New round has started:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?p=457881

[Fozzybar]

It was a very tough, maybe the toughest decision yet for me...

My favs were salaryman, lukavi, oomgawa, xia and Negrotuerto...

At the end i decided to vote for xia...i love the overall design and atmosphere you catched on this image...much better than on your previous entries...and if you didn't add the sirens head on the background, showing her evil side, i maybe would have voted for someone else...great image!!!

other comments:

Kaoki
(he/she has withdrawn his/her entry) I don't know why you did this, your second entry was ok...i try to keep things in line and i know that this is a crappy job, since i can't satisfy everyone and there are members who dislike me because i am saying something, when i think it's not for the sake of this activity...but that's the situation now and you should just try to see this as a motivation, don't take it personal...i can't change this otherwise C.O.W. would die in a short time...sorry.

salaryman
Sweet rendering there you have...i love the smooth value transitions on her body! Also your concept was lovely and i could imagine the tragic happenings with your siren...keep it up...your first entry was great, this was awesome, wondering what comes next though something related to gastronomy for sure

Negrotuerto
This entry shows, that you don't need to color your piece to get a great image...it's not required for this activity, and Negrotuerto showed why...Your concept reminded me of a scene in the movie "Fright Nite"...a vampire hunted 2 guys and a girl in foggy alleys at night and i saw your creature doing the same thing with the kids...creepy concept...while you're telling us that you didn't have time to color your piece, i think the black/white look underlines the scary concept perfectly...happy accident there
My only crit is that her left arm is exactly covering her left leg, which is bothering and makes the viewer think there is something missing or weird going on...

oomgawa
Beautieful painting!!! I love the colors and the design of her head...my crit is that your concept is to unbelievable...women sinking with wagons in a mud and therefore getting feathers and pipes (which were on the wagons) on their bodies??? No offense, but it looks if you draw a cool sirens and thought of a concept afterwards...if not so, kick my ass and i will apologize...

lukavi
SOOO COOL! This Venus pose idea is absolutely great, not only that she has the same pose, also the shell of the original painting is visually implemented with the tunas tail behind her...brilliant!!! I also love hte way you implemented the Venus-idea ("as seen in an old painting owned by a pirate victim", haha)...very cool rendering and creature-design as always...thank you!

Chia
I like your entry, but you missed a very important point...you should have added an image of the siren how she looked when transformed "into a large hideous beast to devour her prey."...currently we only can see her standard look which is like the...errr...standard look of a standard siren...

redehlert
Oh wow, this breasts are the greatest i've seen for a long time Really i like the body of your siren very much, but the head doesn't fit inmo...it looks cute and naive, not quite fitting the concept...but cudos to your traditional approach this time!!!

Carnifex
Your best entry so far!!! I like the concept, tits as bagpipes - YEAH! I imagine this on women...though it could getting on your nerves after a while when sucking them during a hot nite...well, i think you should keep on this track, since your drawing is much more solid than the work i saw from you yet...

Uziel
The duplicated image on the background doesn't help your entry...it's confusing and looks like a fast way to generate a background for your image...also it looks like cropped too much...

Matt Dixon
As i already told you, i really like this image! Ok, it's not THAT original, but you're compensating for this with your fabulous design and rendering skills...

carnalizer
Thumbs up for the strangest visual interpretation of a siren (i mean this in a positive way!)...

Helzon
Man, man, man...what can i say...it's the same issue again, i don't want to get on your nerves, but your colors are really distracting from the quality of your entries...i had hard times to figure what's going on...i think for the next round you should post your finished line-work first...I would like to see the only the line-art, then you should color your piece and post the colored version also, so we can see both...

[salaryman]

I voted for lukavi. Love the reference points and overall the dark quality mood-wise. The here be monsters style tuna is perfect too! Nice details in the description, and as I've stated before, love your draftmanship lukavi!

MattDixon, Great work, she's nasty!

xia, lovely work, beautiful rendering.

Negrotuerto, the greyscale works for me!

Fozzybar, nice idea with the wings of deception, it'd be great to see some more treatments of that idea.

[Matt Dixon]

Tough topic, and just as tough to choose where to place my vote. I finally settled on Negrotuerto because the visual design was pushed ( a little ) further than some.

[Carnifex]

well well...this sure is the most difficult voting thread so far. if i could i would probably vote for everyone's entries,but as this is not the case i vote for helzon. the colours may be irritating, but i just love the sense of movement, the texture, mass and total not-your-typical-siren-take on it.
keep rocking!
fozzy,thanx for the comments-heh,it's not only my best entry,but my first also
great round!

[Fozzybar]

fozzy,thanx for the comments-heh,it's not only my best entry,but my first also

oh...ok, then i meant your work in general

[Shamagim]

I voted for Xia´s, i just loved the siren and the transformation ( despite not being able to see the full transormation), a really nice work in there.

Nice work everybody

[Uziel]

Not so many entries this time I hope non-human like creature again next round...

Xia and Negrotuerto I both like your concepts.
I voted Xia because his send in was both scary and attractive due to the transformation.

Thnx Fozzy for the comment but I didn't put much time to work in it. I had a lot of papers to write and other work.

[Wishes]

I voted for Matt Dixon, because I love the coloursheme, the pose and her creepyness . Her skin looks really scary and I just love it!

My number 2 is Spokes, because your colours are very well done. Nice view also and I like her 'outfit' a lot. A very cool piece too, but Matt's pose attracked me more.

BlkCelebration, I love your colours! You would be my third!

[Helzon]

HOLY SHIT...I got a vote!!!
Thanks Carnifex!

Ton of thanks to redehlert, leckronium, and Amish Commy for their comments and crits.

Speaking of redehlert..he got my vote for two reasons...
1)It didn't look like either a harpy, or a deviant mermaid.
2)the fact that you worked in Tigo Bitty from Big 'ol Titty, nice!

Fozzy: Will do as you said..and post up the line work...so you can see side by side the difference. Will work a monochromatic/ or severely restricted palette for dream/nightmare eater.
If i get a bit more time I will edit this and give a comment to everyone.

[Sok N. Wett]

I voted for Xia, I love the overal design, come on a girl with tattoos and a nipple ring, it'll drive any sailor nuts. The background mixed with the transformation pretty much sold me on the idea.

[winwinja]

Xia man!
Even you did not squeeze my troat, I was going to vote for ya! anyway.
very nice design and color

[Sok N. Wett]

LOL i just notice my name being Sak N. Wett....lol that's a keeper

[oomgawa]

My favs were salaryman, lukavi, oomgawa, xia and Negrotuerto...

oomgawa
Beautiful painting!!! I love the colors and the design of her head...my crit is that your concept is too unbelievable...women sinking with wagons in mud and therefore getting feathers and pipes (which were on the wagons) on their bodies??? No offense, but it looks if you drew a cool siren and thought of a concept afterwards...if not so, kick my ass and I will apologize...

Fozzybar, just being one of your favs makes my week!
As to the concept, it was somewhat of an inside joke for the Seattle crew, as there is a fairly large number of my previous and current students either lurking here or participating. I was hoping to detract from any lack of skill with a large dose of humor!

The story of the wagon trains moving across the American West carrying the Brides bound for Seattle is fairly well known here. Two type of women made the trek, women looking for husbands, and prostitutes. Believe it or not, I actually did have the concept in mind early on, as I wanted a combination of a domestic, gentle creature with vegas show girl feathers. The feathers being open ended to catch the wind like blowing across the top of a coke bottle. Hence, the pipe organ. So like the movie The Fly, the two types of women and the pipe organ get morphed into one creature due to the myterious muds of Yellowstone. (Went there last year so it was fresh on my mind)

As to my vote, gee this is a hard one. I think the ones from Stokes and Salaryman will stick in my mind the longest.

Salaryman excellent use of "graphic design" and Typography to further the concept, having been to the Moulin Rouge in Paris to see a nude woman swimming in a large fish tank, this one worked well for me. Beautifully rendered.

Stokes painting the creature AND a background caught my eye early on. The double light source does not bother me. Just figured it is the setting sun on one side, and the moon rising on the other, right?!

Fozzybar Enjoyed the idea of an illusion, nicely done. Something women have learned through the years, the reason lingerie is such a huge industry

Lukavi your style and sense of humor always put you at the top of my list. I vote for a tutorial from you!

xia Powerful in all aspects. Particularly liked the before and after idea.

Was hoping that typing this out would help me make up my mind. sigh.
Ok, final vote goes to Salaryman

Excellent work from everyone, hope to post more feedback later.

[Fozzybar]

oomgawa
I apologize!

[oomgawa]

BTW, there actually is a Rain Forest on the Washington Coast named Hoh (pronounced Ho). Hence, Hoh Sirens I have hiked there many times, but have yet to spot even a nest.

[redehlert]

I was going to post - "if anyone votes for me, you need to be taken out back", but I'll gladly take the vote, Helzon. Thanks, man. I agree with Fozzy - I'd love to see just your line work for starters - I belive that is where your 'wow' factor is.
Fozzy - thanks for the crit, hoss. I went through 10 heads and probably should have kept goin'...I guess my head was up me bum. Speakin' of me bum, I must add that my creature originally started out as a section of large intestine (mostly the sigmoid colon and rectum)....ah, the medical illustrator's life. Now that I think of it, Tiggo darn near wreck-em all!
Okay, vote - Matt Dixon get's mine! I heard that Maria Carey is making a come back - perfect timing! I hope your version of her gets used in her mass marketing. Your pose was dynamic and extremely dramatic - coloring was spot on in my humble opinion and your concept copy just had me LMAO.

I'll be getting crits out this time to all. Coming this week.

Cheers! D

[oomgawa]

Apology accepted, Fozzy! although not necessary, as my feathers were not ruffled

[Fozzybar]

Tutorial anyone? go here:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?p=458307

[vaughany_boy]

I voted Xia because it's so beautifully atmospheric. Just wonderful to see. And I just know that even with the knowledge of what it is, I'd still be lured in.

I really thought I'd end voting for Negrotuerto, oustanding pose and rendering there.

[Prehistoric]

my vote goes for salaryman this time.

it's an excellent design. great drawing, rendering, use of background, typography, simulated paper texture, etc. etc. it just really does it for me.

i also really dig redehlert's, but bro, i think you went a little overboard (no pun intended) on the white chalk/pencil. it's a little too busy around the head. love the traditional approach, and the above/under water composition.

young paddy and vaughn boy - think we need some more life drawing. your sirens look like men with breasts.

nice job everyone. sorry i missed this one, but i'll be back for the next COW.

[Flavius]

I voted Dixon because the image is cool but the text just hit the spot

If it was multiple choice I would have chosen also BlkCelebration for it's great linework and Chia...well..for the great, round....work

[DernierCri]

salaryman is the man.. unless it's a woman, of course..

I voted for that one because of the concept was very unusual and because I loved the old-fashioned poster-like freak-pin-up long and lean image of his.. plus the knee detail and the smoothness just got my vote at once... she almost feels all sleasy... excellent!

[Johann de Venecia]

Tough decision, I was juggling between these 5 people, so in the end I seriously had to pull a russian roulette.

Oomgawa: Who can't love a Ho-Siren. lol. That's a comical take on the topic. Now all that she needs is a mech and pink paint. I like all her head paraphernalia. Delighted to see character designs from you, Oomie.

Fozzy-Fozz: Very creepy, the bold color scheme is well chosen (the flaming red of the wings against the charred black of the skin, and then that white streak of hair). She looks like a reptilian harpy. You got my vote by the way!

Xia: Awesome rendering, man! The desaturated hues are handled well, the tiny highlights are well-placed, the figure itself is pitch perfect. Youre great at what you do. Just a slight issue on her accessories being too inorganic and man-made. The body tattoos has this contemporary look and the nipple ring kind of uncreature-like. I know for this topic, the non-humanoid rule is already stretched, but I think the accessories made it a little too human and a little less creature? Just my C&C, Xia fans don't kill me!

Matt: One of your best COWs (imho). You were one of the few who actually showed the creature singing, and you pulled it off smoothly.

Salaryman: I love how you render skin and muscle, it feels organic and animated. But the crowning glory of the piece is the treatment. So unique, from the write-up, to the creature, to the overall presentation --- its flawless. VERY avant-garde.

There is a lesser number of entries this week, but they definitely didn't lack in quality. The oldies gave their usual first-rate performance and the newer participants kicked ass. Good job to everyone. Thanks for the comments and the vote btw!!

[GomenNasai]

I really regret I didn't have enough time and skill to present my siren, I hope I'll do better next time. I decided not to vote this time ( I really want a NONE option in the poll) because I don't agree with the way the poll selection was conducted.

Sirens are known from the greek mythology, basically they are defined as creatures with an appearance resulted from a mix between woman and bird. They infatuate passing seamen with their melodies...


That means feel free to make a creature, which fulfills the description above...and don't worry about the "non-humanoid" rule that hard this time *sigh*

If you have any questions regarding the topic post them here (i am sure there will be some)...

(emphasis mine)

I think that once you made such a statement, Fozzy, you have to stick to it and dismiss off-topic entries, hard as it may be.

as an aside, I wonder why english-talking people would draw a "mermaid" when asked for a "siren"... after all, english is one of the few languages that differenciate the two...

[Sok N. Wett]

GomenNasai - Well I really thought it was suppose to be make your own siren, it would have been boring if everyone did a half woman, half bird, and at least half of the people would get the same concept. Well i've check out pictures of concepts of siren on googles and there were different pictures of what sirens were, and some were mermaids for whatever strange reasons. Remember all the other COW that we've done wasn't aimed at making something out of an original, but to make it your own, with your own flavor.

[GomenNasai]

GomenNasai - Well I really thought it was suppose to be make your own siren, it would have been boring if everyone did a half woman, half bird, and at least half of the people would get the same concept.

That was the point, IMO, of a narrow topic. Make people struggle for differentiation. that's what makes cow so better than DSG. the strict rules.
and anyway, you have thousands of birds, and millions of human faces, and billions of variations in the way both are mixed, and trillions of ways of showing it... I don't think it would've been boring

Well i've check out pictures of concepts of siren on googles and there were different pictures of what sirens were, and some were mermaids for whatever strange reasons.

at least in french, they only have "Sirène" for both "siren" and "mermaid"... They WILL mixup the names when they translate... That's what you saw on google, I guess...

Remember all the other COW that we've done wasn't aimed at making something out of an original, but to make it your own, with your own flavor.

it's not about all the precendent COWs, it's about this one. It is interesting to vary the rules from time to time, to jump to something that is very visually binding, and you have to struggle for difference, either in the concept or in the rendering... just look at COW#1, you'll see what I mean