C.O.W. - #070: Snowflake Dancer - Voting!

[Fozzybar]

ROUND #070 VOTING

Topic: Snowflake Dancer

Deadline for the voting: Thursday, 21st December 2006

Posting thread (closed):
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=83630


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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!

3. No voting for your own entry!!! If a participants votes for his own entry, every member has the right to call him a stupid lame moron in this thread! And i will delete his/her vote anyway...

[Fozzybar]

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artist: Sweed
concept:
Basically, the concept behind it is that it's an aquatic invertebrate that's adjusted to living in extremely cold temperatures by taking on the crystalline structure of a snowflake. This, combined with the graceful movements of this undersea fellow, have led some to nickname it the "snowflake dancer."


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artist: Michael Jaecks
concept:
Snowflake Dancers "dance" to stay warm. High up in branches they lurk, bright eyes shining like virgin ice, the Snowflake Dancer rotates its long limbs, standing on three feet at a time and sometimes two. A family group of Snowflake Dancers will perform the routine in unison, giving the appearance of choreography, though its really simply a case of the young mimicing their parents.
Snowflake Dancers are blood drinkers, not unlike the vampire bat. In addition to a simillar anti-coagulant, Snowflake Dancers have a mild, natural anti-freeze in their saliva to keep the blood they drink flowing.
The anti-freeze also prevents this lithe animal to survive the cold without any need to slow its metabolism and hibernate.
Dance, Snowflake Dancer, Dance!


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artist: AyaXiac
concept:
Unlike most creatures which hibernate in the winter, these critters come out of hibernation and take advantage of the slowed cold movements of their prey. Being able to glide through the sky during snowfall with ease, they appear to almost be dancing as they squirm to keep their bodies above their prey before allowing themselves to fall down headfirst directly to their victims.


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artist: Evui
concept:
The blind dancers are creatures of the wind. Only active in the most extremes of cold weather, they emerge in the sky in packs of hundreds in order to mate. They travel at rapid speeds, and in numbers high enough, can even cause small blizzards. Their speeds cause winds that create a current that can pull anything along, and this helps them keep up with one another. They earned the nickname "snowflake dancers" because of their tiny size, and their appearance and graceful movements bear a resemblance to speckled snowflakes.


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artist: redehlert
concept:


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artist: Destinatus
concept:
During mating season the female snowflake dancers flip over and secrete a gas thats lighter than air into their abdomen, to aid them in jumping from snowflake to snowflake. Their leg joints can turn a full 360 degrees, which allows them to flip onto their back easily. As they are transitioning from snowflakes they glow bright green and spin to attract mates, which gives them their name "snowflake dancer." Unfortunately the mortality rate of female snowflake dancers dramatically increases during mating season because their spiky backs no longer protect them and their visibility is very high.


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artist: kovah
concept:
This strange little creature has only recently been discovered floating from the clouds over the arctic. Only able to survive in snowy conditions the comes and goes of it are largely a mystery to researchers, It appears to slowly circle down to the floor from the clouds using its single front extremity that divides at the end into bat-like wings. Giving it the same kind of descent as 'those paper helicopters that you make in primary school' thus it is called the Snowflake Dancer.


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artist: chaosrocks
concept:
Though by the Natiive peoples to be the bringer of snow, the ukumuwah or "snow flakeDancer" performse its mating rituals only in snow. Beating the flurries in to swirling patterns and making a purring coo it calls its mate. They mate for life and migrate 7000 miles before they nest. Due to global warming the species is dieing out because if there is no snow, they don't mate.


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artist: mr-nick
concept:
The Snowflake Dancers (also know a the cloud titans) are supposed to be the source of all snow on our world. It is said that their hooves scrape the clouds themselves during their season long dances, and thus create snow. Snow spend their centuries long lives amongst the clouds, but persistant rumours place them also on the highest peaks of Tibet, and even the lowlands of Norway. The greatest mystery of all perhaps, surounding these creatures, is that modern sience has still failed to prove that these 30 metre giants excist.


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artist: misledtomisery
concept:
Snow Serpents. a.k.a. the snowflake dancer
These mischievous creatures are often called "snowflake dancers" because they only appear during snowfalls, and typically are the size of small cats. They are a form of water elemental, that materialize from the snow. They have no functional purpose, and actually pester anyone they can during their limited time during the snowy periods. Often the cause of missing items, extinguishing lanterns, and misleading innocent individuals caught in the snow.


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artist: mattbyng
concept: The Snowflake Dancer Spider
This beautiful specimen is only found in the coldest regions around the globe. This arachnid is given the name Snowflake Dancer because firstly, its obvious markings on it's rear and secondly, when attracting prey, the spider will seduce it's victim by means of "dance". The seductive dance draws the prey nearer and nearer, until finally, the victim is in reach, then - STRIKE!


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artist: jfwalls
concept:
In the frigid methane blizzards of Saturn's moon Titan lives the frigus peregrinus, or frigid wanderer. When scientists first discovered the frigid wanderer they nick-named it the snowflake, or snow dancer because of it's strange oscillating gait across the frozen landscape.


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artist: walachnia
concept:
Snowflake Dancer is probably the smallest bird species in the world. It is about 3-5mm long. He didn't fly but he is good jumper.
When the first snowflakes appears in the sky he starts his mating.
He hoops from leaf to grass blade to get as high as possible (which is about 10mc from ground)
Then he nose-dive trying to impale as many snowflakes as he can (on his neck)
Snowflake Dancer females are picking out their partners depending on numbers and size of snowflakes that males can catch.
Of course snowflakes are melting very fast, so they have little time to unite


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artist: ikuru
concept:
When the snow starts to fall the fireflies come out to feed on micro bacteria that inhabit the high latitude snowflakes. That’s also when the Gonjo comes out to hunt. They live entirely on fireflies during the cold winter and the hunt is absolutely essential for their survival. The nick name “Snowflake dancer” refers to the gracious, kung fu looking moves they perform during the hunt.
This creature was discovered on a recent expedition in the largely unexplored territory of New Guinea’s Foja Mountain, the scientists discovered a “lost world” of species including four new butterfly species, five new froglike species and this remarkable specimen that they now call Gonjo or simply “the Snowflake Dancer”.


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artist: Supervlieg
concept: Hairy Crab
(Percnon Pilosus)
This distant relative of the horseshoe crab has some strange habits. In the summertime it buries itself in a muddy patch. In the winter, when temperatures drop far below the freezing point, it springs to live like a flower opening in the sunshine. For the short time that the temperature falls below -15 degrees celsius, the Hairy crab needs to find a mate. For -15 degrees is the optimal temperature for Hairy crabs to mate.
The mating ritual of the hairy crabs is one of its strangest habits. When the temperature is right, the Hairy crabs gather on frozen ponds. The males of the species start what is known as the snowflake dance. The snowflake dance consist of a lot of twirling around and kicking up snowflakes with it's hairy paws. This dance is mainly to impress the female hairy crabs that
stand on the side and look at the dancers. The most graceful dancer is chosen by the females as the male of choice. The other males will be without a mate that year. Sadly, the winning dancer will not survive the chain of matings and die after all the females are impregnated. During the course of their evolution the Hairy Crab has evolved into one of the most graceful dancers in the crusteceans kingdom.


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artist: Moog
concept:
An arboreal dweller, the 'Snowflake Dancer is named for the ornate bony protrusions which begin growing from the tail at abdolescense. Eventually resembling the crystalline formation of a snowflake, the appendage is primarily used as defense against predators. The snowflake dancers' mating season occurs in the dead of winter; it is the only time of year that males of the species descend to spar. The females look on from the tree tops above, and choose their mates by their endurance, grace, and how intimidating the flicks of their tales are.


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artist: JakkaS
concept: Farazons Dancer
…Many tourists are visiting the Malag’s Frozen Park to see the Farazons Dancer. These huge ugly creatures are making the most interesting and beautiful performance in the Universe. They are like ballerina with the white sash. They start their performance with sucking the snow from the surface and then they blow it out in beautiful moves and magical patterns. They make the snow dancing….


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[Fozzybar]

not accepted entries:

All WIPs/sketches/not finished yet/placeholder/yaddayaddayadda images...

Leiana
the creature basically is constructed with a few lines and is just too plain simple for being accepted as an entry for an activity which is about creature design/concept. I can see skills in your work, but they don't seem to get activated enough

Sapphire
Congrats to your birthday, and no it's not a bonus for COW, muhaha No seriously, i tried very hard to spot a creature in your entry, but i just saw an organic shape with some tentacles...maybe i am too dumb, but the background, which looked like "filtered" in PS just stopped me after 10 minutes from switching between yes and no...i am tired and your entry made it too hard to decide...so i put the brakes on

N-Mel
looks rushed and i am in the mood rejecting pieces easily

Obson
hmmm, very nice rendering and artwork....but i absolutely didn't get the point...the very short description may have killed the acception, the clothing and characters anyway...sorry it's 2:30 am and i can't think or write...i am dumb.



close to rejection:

none




special note:

mr-nick
dancing on the humanoid rule flakes

mattbyng
watch the design...or more the creating new design idea...

chaosrocks
Why don't you go wild with the creature design? It makes it hard to accept it sometimes

[Fozzybar]

No new round for now, only gathering topic ideas for the xmas round...go here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=84546

[jfwalls]

You got my vote for this Red. It's a cute little creature that my daughter loved.

I liked yours a lot too Superv, but there's a very disjointed feel to the head. The body looks great, but the head just doesn't feel very crustacean like to me.

Jakkas, well, that's one big sack on that thing. Great interpretation of the subject. No crits really.

Ikuru: Cool creature. It has a very fun feel to it. My main crit would be that some of the foreground elements have a very graphic feel, and the creature and background are more realistic.

Walachnia: Very good image. No major crits, but for me personally it just isn't that exciting. I mean, it's just some tiny little birds. Also, I'm pretty sure snowflakes are much smaller than that.

MJ: I really like your image too. It's one of my favorites that I've seen you do recently. I could totally see those things in a classic side scrolling game

These were my favorites. Sorry if I didn't crit your image, but I just got off of work and my fish sticks are almost done cooking. Yum!

[Paolo13]

This was hard to vote, but RED little pink arse made the difference.

IKURU very nice "warm" feeling

SuperV and Jakkas highly professional

I must say that I like them all...

[Sapphire]

...Why am I not on the poll?

[voraz]

Voted for jakkas because it is the creature with bigger balls!

Sapphire- see the second post...

[Einen]

Voted for the fellow Swede Ikuru. Just the sort of picture I like, with a great creature to boot. I agree with jfwalls on the foreground, but I can overlook it. Keep up the good job.

[ikuru]

Wowawiwa! Thanx for the Votes You Guys!
And thanx for the comments.
So my forground doesn´t blend in? Would it be better if I skipped the framework entierly? Here is a link from a earlyer, DAYTIME stage without the frame. Is it better than the final work? Some C,C on this would really help, Thanx!

This was a Hard one for me, no obvious "winner", finally I had to go for the redehlert one, allthough I did find it a lite to simple at first, it still is well executed and mort important gave me a nice feeling and I think it made me laugh.

Runners up:
•Jakkas
and
•Supervlieg

I will write better CC later down the road.
thanx.

[Michael Jaecks]

I voted for Jakkas' excellent painting and interesting take on a creature that makes the snow dance rather than something that dances in the snow.

Ikuru: I think the daytime version is better. The space is more believable, the colors are a little less saturated, and having the creatures fully cast shadow is nice because it sort of becomes his dancing partner. Plus, in winter, the sun is low making shadows always seem very pronounced and long, so a dramatically sized shadow would be very appropriate in that sense as well.

[kovah]

I voted for Moog because it is a great creature design and i'm a sucker for pictures that look like they have come out of a childrens book.

[walachnia]

Thanks all for crits.
My favourites are: Supervlieg and Jakkas.

jfwalls - I tried to make creatures that could exist in the real world... in fact I don't know why. I'm very ordinary this week

[blobs]

Ahh I'm gutted I didn't get the time to join in this time guys :/

Ahh well JakkaS got my vote.. what a totally cool looking freaky creature and excellently realised.. luv it..
redelhert was a mighty fine second place for me, again the humour in these COWs is fantastic.
Lots of great work all round guys, thanks for making my day

[Dragonlady]

I had to vote for JakkaS, looks the most polished, and the idea of the creature it self was really unique.

Allthough, Sweed almost got it for me just because it seems like a critter we would find in the Atlantic or something. Redelherts deisgn and humor was also a close second. All close calls, nice one everybody!

[chaosrocks]

Since I don't appear to have an actuall image on the poll I assume Foz needed a proper outside link... or maybe he decided it was just a bird afterall... its all good. yay Foz for allyour hard work.. I 'll try to be more innovative next time.. that one just came out that way and I decided to leave it. Some times the mind guides the brush and sometimes the brush guides the images...you never know. the rest of these are very cool... for "the gayest topic ever" you all sure did produce some beautiful work.!

I'll vote later
chaos

[ikuru]

Ikuru: I think the daytime version is better. The space is more believable, the colors are a little less saturated, and having the creatures fully cast shadow is nice because it sort of becomes his dancing partner. Plus, in winter, the sun is low making shadows always seem very pronounced and long, so a dramatically sized shadow would be very appropriate in that sense as well.

Hey Michael, thanx for taking the time. I do agree with u that the daytime scenario is more realisic although I wasnt done rendering it, actually, night just happened allong the rendering... I am verry new to all of this and I dont fully control whats happening during the process.
Your allso right about the shadow creating some depht and dynamics, I´s easy to overwork something in the learning process I guess.
/D

[Fozzybar]

chaosrocks
sorry, added your image url

[redehlert]

My vote went to walachnia - you had a great idea, playful execution (composition, color, etc). And the size relationship was a great touch as well. I dig it!

I think I'm actually going to try and give feedback on all entries posted here this week.

Ho ho! I just saw that I've got a few votes - thanks for the support peeps! I had a feeling that a rosy bottom would bring a few smiles to the table (adult and child alike). JFWalls - I hope to make kids giggle all over the world with my illustrations some day. Glad it's a start. That made my day.

Cheers!
Dave

[Paolo13]

wow this vote is going to be so close

[Supervlieg]

Voted Jakkas, cuz I'm a graphic . And his is the most, well, graphic. And very well rendered to. Hopefully I'll get around to doing some c&c soon.

[Moog]

I voted for redehlert, with Supervlieg, JakkaS, and ikuru all being close behind in my book. Ikuru: just wanted to let you know that I for one prefer the darker reworked version. It's just so much more stunning to look at than the earlier version. Kovah: thanks for the vote - what you said was a huge compliment about the style; that's completely what I'm going for, though I still feel I'm lacking a bunch in execution.

[TheDirtSyndicate]

loved sweeds. seemed to me to be the most believable. and it was a beautiful piece. besides, im a texture junkie.
2nd for me was Moog, awesome piece, love the design, but the rendering wasn't quite up to par...
3rd was Jfwalls, awesome design and description, but i think it was the orangeness that kind of killed it for me... it just seems like you could have easily made if more of a blue based image. but then again, i think i liked it BECAUSE it wasn't blue and icy... hmm... anyway, awesome piece.

[Gorgoth of Suburbia]

jfwalls - Blizzard on Saturn...excellent enviroment for a snowflake dancer. I was not quite sure who would get my vote, but that particular detail made the choice obvious.

[jfwalls]

Complete2: Thanks! Sorry you didn't like the orange, but Titan is covered in a thick orangish haze.

Gorgoth: Thanks for the vote, I'm glad you liked it!

[mr-nick]

I voted for JakkaS, awesome redndering and concept, like those before me said: something that made the snow dance instead of dancing itself. especially like the little dude spewed into the air.

JF Walls your a close second mate, its quite difficult making something register as snow, whithout resorting to blues, greys and whites...

[Fozzybar]

voted for walachnia

i love the atmosphere, it's like a ballet where two elegant actors show the magical performance of 2 beauties of nature...i can hear tender music and feel the love

And the feet of the birds made me vote for it as i was thinking about the design, that it might be slightly too ordinary, but the feet showed me that the artist watches for details and i like that. Nice job, walachnia!

[redehlert]

i couldn't have said it better myself, mr. foz.
walachnia, i really enjoyed your piece and the only crit i can come up with on the fly is varying your snowflakes (each one is unique blah blah blah). btw, one of my favorite things of your piece aside from poses/composition/diagram is the dissolving snowflake on the ground. slick...very slick.

and thanks for the votes people - wow....10 votes....too kind. really.
cheers!
d

[Bruce Jensen]

voted walachnia. I was predisposed to liking the most elegant for 'snowflake' dancer.

[Vulgar`]

v - Moog

And dance in the streets.