C.O.W. - #076: Dungeon Cleaner

[Fozzybar]

Round #076

Topic:
Dungeon Cleaner

Deadline:
Sunday, 11th February 2007




- for any questions or help go here:
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=37512

note: The deadline won't be EXACTLY after a week...it can last up to 24 hours more, i am human and have to work also, you know

Post your creature for this week!

[Fozzybar]

thanx to Tom Cardin for that hilarious topic!

[Helsvon]

sweet hope to do well this round

[Larkin2]

Cool topic. I'm definitely up for this one.

[dragon4lunch]

Nice topic! Maybe I'll do some sort of voracious rats that eat everything...

[Rabid]

Nice idea! I got a couple sketches trapped on paper already!!!

[4our]

i'm in.

[cotletan]

Hi, I'm new here so this will be my first entry. Nice topic, hope to do well. Can someone help me? I f##ked up my sketchbook by posting large pictures (larger then the screen), can I edit my SB to meak them fit the screen, or do I have to edit them on my PC and THEN post them?
I love the site so far, hope to get beter with your help!

[calebgresham]

Sounds Fun. I'll give it a go.

[TomCardin]

woot! Thanks Fozzy...hope you are feeling better!

[ChaoticKnight]

I just wanted to ask, can I do these completely in pencil? Id like to actually compete in this one and Im not at all as proficient in ps as I am with pencils. >.<

[Michael Jaecks]

I think this is a great topic. I've got thumbs going already.

ChaoticKnight: of course you can do pencils. There's no rule about using a computer. Scan it in, crop and fixerup all you want in PS. Great pencils are always a pleasure to see.

[Helsvon]

btw Fozz...your deadline should read "February 11" not January

got some WIPs but im not sure i'll post 'em

gl all

Max

[dragon4lunch]

ChaoticKnight: Yes you can use pencils. Rule three up there (scroll to start) says black/white or colour. But it would have to be one insane pencil sketch, because I have never seen a black and white pencil sketch win here. I have seen some almost black and white digital paintings win though (look at one of the most successful entries of last round - Tyranx's piece is almost black and white).

[ChaoticKnight]

I saw that it said b+w or color, but that could have meant digitally or in a medium more acceptably traditional for finished works. # 75 was only my second C.O.W. Just a question.

[kovah]

this one sounds fun, hopefully i might get chance to have a go with it before uni work gets in the way

[Fozzybar]

TomCardin
thank you...yeah getting better with time...i am already playing games on the pc

Helsvon
thanx

ChaoticKnight
traditional is ok, but stay away from that ugly borders you had for your last one...argh...

[hurricane]

Still wip

Inficio formidonis - Dungeon Cleaner or Poisonous terror
Theese small, blind critters live on the ground in dungeons and caves.
They are commonly used as a distance weapon by picking them up by their arms and shake them violently until the start to make a highpitch sound and then they need to be thrown, far.
The Inficio Formidonis opens up it's rear and lets out a poisonous gas that immobilizes the lungs and killing everything in a short amount of time.
If you hear the highpitch scream of the Inficio Formidonis...RUN!

[rushwolf]

Excellent start as far as quality and color goes, Hurricane.

Im just not so sure about how much the creature relates to the topic. It's dungeon cleaner. I'd love to see you not get rejected from the voting, dude, you do nice work. I'd just try and revamp the creature to make it something that both dwells and somehow cleans a dungeon. Your description makes it seem simply like a living bio grenade.

[hurricane]

rushwolf, don't you think it would be "clean" from whatever habitant the cave might have?

thanks for the input

[Helsvon]

here's my WIP

[Corrick]

Stuff of nightmares... I'm in.

Sketch

Dungeon Cleaner

Often a tedious chore for even the lowliest of prison guards, cleaning the dungeon became easier, safer and faster with the discovery of the Corpse Bug's very useful habit of dissolving it's meals before it ate them. This odd mix of crustacean and insect is known to disengorge acidic sacs from it's stomach, which it forces out of a seam in its carapace come feeding time. It uses its spade-like forearms to carve a hole in a corpse's rotting flesh, whereupon it deposits a number of sacs into the fresh cavity. It then punctures the sacs, allowing a thick cloud of acid to envelop the cadaver, which dissolves in hours. The Corpse Bug then absorbs the dissolved matter through large pores in its tail.

Unwilling to carry out diseased and rotting human corpses, guards need only place one Bug in a cell that needs a thorough cleaning. One of the more disgusting sights in the dungeon, far from the daily whippings and carving of flesh by human hands, is the sight of a slowly dissolving, once-human carcass, with a Corpse Bug waiting anxiously nearby for its meal.

[ChaoticKnight]

Helzon: I lol'ed irl.

[rushwolf]

I thought I'd post my long-winded idea or tips on creature concept art. I hope it can help someone! It helps me at least.

It's a bit long, I apologize! [Sort of]



- This is a concept art community. I'd just like to see aspiring concept artists learn to focus the designs of their creatures based on the concept and or world that it is intended to be in. Not just paint pretty pictures.

There are better ways of doing concept art than randomly drawing a critter with random shit on em. Especially when the outline of the topic is relatively specific. Ask yourself "why" you're adding "X" attribute to the creature when you're designing or brainstorming it. Be smart about your designs, ESPECIALLY with something like a creature.

Creatures evolve, they are not like designing a car or something, cars don't evolve on their own to adapt. When you design a creature, in your mind, you must AT LEAST partially develop and consider its ecosystem. Creatures have purpose beyond their control, these are not characters that manage and develop themselves as unique individuals.

If it's a creature that somehow cleans dungeons, then you have to ask yourself several questions relative to why it needs to clean that dungeon, or what attributes it has that made someone decide to use them to clean dungeons.


Concept art is an art itself. There is crap that just looks cool and then there are tours de force: excellent designs that achieve both visual and conceptual quality. People are more intrigued by something that makes sense, has reason, and looks amazing.

Developing and fleshing out a compelling concept/design for a creature is sort of like sculpting. You have to push around the conceptual clay a bit, make sure all the elements of the creature fit in and harmonize with each other before you consider it done. You can start from either random thumbnail sketches or a very specific outline. If you are doing sketches or thumbnails and find one you like, then you can sort of do reverse concept art engineering on it. Ask yourself all the applicable questions about the creature, and then tweak its design to make it more compelling and functional.[/COLOR]


-What is this creature's natural environment? [In this week's case it might be a dungeon]
or
-Is it a creature that is just sent into the dungeon to "clean" it? [i.e. cat hunting mice on a ship]

If it is a creature used because of its pre-existing qualities to clean the dungeon, then that is completely different than a creature that developed and evolved inside a dungeon: Domestic cats didn't evolve on a ship, however cats were the only readily available creature that could survive on a ship AND have a natural instinct to hunt and patrol their environment. They are small creatures, very agile and can climb/jump extremely well. A cat could probably makes its way to almost any part of a ship that a mouse would live in. Cats are also cool pets

In general, ask yourself these, and similar, questions about your creature.
Learn to ask yourself basic and or complex questions about the creature, depending on how fleshed out you want the design to be in relation to the concept.


Is it a carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore?
If carnivore/omnivore -- Does it hunt or scavenge?

Note this - carnivores, in the megascope, are means of population control. If plant life is very scarce for the local herbivores, then there won't be many big 'ol herbivores around. Due to the lack of prey, there won't be too many predators around. The size of creatures is also extremely relative to eachother based on their relationship. Big hunters don't always hunt big prey. Blue whales hunt wittle shrimpies, mosquitos hunt large mammals. Base their attributes logically on their relationship. Remember that creatures function mostly out of necessity, they won't typically waste much on purpose. But if they do or need to, then there are scavangers and etc that prosper.

Is it a symbiotic creature? Like those fish-tank cleaner fishies? Do both the environment and the creature need eachother?


What has this creature developed to survive?

There are virtually infinite things that could kill or hurt a creature and virtually infinite amount of ways the creatures evolve to defend themselves. However, creatures are not subject to coming in contact with virtually everything. Your job as a concept artist is to make sense of their design and function based on what they come in contact with


Creatures evolve out of necessity of survival, though no creatures are 100% perfected beings.



They adapt to the means of obtaining their food sources.

Creatures will adapt to whatever means they can to get the food they need. Whether the obstacle be fruit at the top of a tree or a running gazelle, creatures will slowly evolve to their food sources. Just remember that there are many different ways that creature overcome these obstacles to get their food, and there are many different obstacles. You're the artist, so be a bit creative, but have purpose!

Saber tooth tigers didn't have long teeth just to look like badasses. Those long fangs helped them pierce the thick fur and hide of those iceage mammals, it also helped them hold onto the often massive herbivores.

Here is a few random attributes that real animals would develop to adapt to their food sources. These are just specific, primary attributes.

Most hoofed herbivores have longer necks to reach the top of trees, or grass on the ground.

Birds of prey often have long talons to snatch up and hold onto small rodents, fish, etc.

Anteater have long, thin sticky tongues to reach down into anthills.

Elephants have a trunk to use like an arm to grab vegitation, suck up water, move obsticles.

Many spiders have venom that liquidates flesh so it can be drank through their fangs.

Some snakes have venom that paralyzes prey, allowing them to take their time to prepare to consume it without being harmed itself.

Mosquitos have long needles to pierce skin and drink blood.

Sharks have several rows of serrated razor-sharp teeth because they have no arms or means of leverage to bite and pull away from their prey. Sharks must bite then shake their heads to remove the flesh, thus their teeth are designed to be able to "saw". That's a pretty solid example of "why" a creature would have a certain attribute.[/I]




They also adapt to their environment, the temperature, etc.

There are very obvious reasons why the wooly mammoth was wooly while modern elepants only have skin with sparse hairs. Its the difference between living in the subarctic to living in midst hot arid African deserts/humid Asian jungles. Even modern elephants' skin differ due to the amount of moisture in jungle versus the desert.

Most deep sea fish are bioluminescent. The bottom of ocean is or is almost pitch black, these fish develop very large eyes to help see. Sometimes the fish develop other means to sense, like long feelers or sonar, etc. Due to the lack of food down there these creatures are often rather small. The intense water pressure causes the fish to evolve with less and less bone structure and they become more jelly-like. [/SIZE]


Again creatures adapt to their predators, or whatever other creatures might cause them harm. Sometimes what could harm them is obvious, like a tiger. Sometimes small like a bee, or ant.

Bee's stingers cannot pierce the skin of a bear, so the bear is a-ok when grubbing that honey. Same thing with the hide of an anteater.

Turtles and armadillos can retreat into their armored shells to protect themselves from attacks that they cannot avoid.

Many creatures develop camouflage, to both trick hunters and prey.

Sometimes the defense mechanism is a social evolution...

Small fish often travel in schools of hundreds or thousands or more. They've evolved to work as one entity somehow. If one of the fish spots a predator it can almost instantly communicate that to every other fish and the school moves as one.

Migratory birds do this to defend themselves from getting lost during the flight.

Plains herbivores such as bison or gazelle stay in herds as well.

Male penguins hold onto their eggs and huddle into one massive group during blizzards to keep warm.




Remember, creatures DO NOT just have RANDOM anatomy - They've evolved and adapted to both their environments AND the other living things around them for a reason. Real creatures live in ecosystems. The bobcat needs the jackrabbit for food. The jackrabbit unfortunately needs the bobcat for population control, or else the little bunnies would eat all the food and starve to death. Everything fits together into one massive cycle within the ecosystem that your creature lives in.

Real life isn't a video game, lions don't needlessly kill gazelle all day for the fun of it. Instinct lets them know the gazelle isn't going to magically spawn from nothing. They hunt down the weakest, and only eat as much as they need. The stronger, or lucky, gazelle move on and live. They survived, and in the future the ones that don't die will mate and create more adept generations. This is true of all living things.

However we're concept artist, or we hope to be. We sometimes might need to design a some magical creature or some terrible mega-super killer beasty. Just remember to consider all of these concepts when designing. Even a mega-awesome super beast has things that could hurt it, and it has evolved to stay alive and do its mega-awesome thing. The random ass apocalypse demon somehow NEEDS to kill a billion people for a reason, or else something negative would happen to it. And for some silly reason, those billion people might need to die. The extremes of ecosystems, balance, etc.

Learn from real life to make these fictional creature that we design compelling and interesting!




Wow I cannot believe I took the time to write that.

[Helsvon]

i can't believe you did either 'cause i dont think i read it....

'cause i think a lot of us already have that in mind and you dont need to moderate what other people do for this....

look after yerself

[Helsvon]

sorry about the above post (And the Double post)

i was being a douche bag..

it really was helpful that you wrote that and i think that it'll help a lot of people see and find clever ways to design their creatures

i apologize for my prior asshole ness!

[ZebraHDH]

After looking through the past COW's I realized that alot of emphasis is put on dark, evil creatures. Not to say they all are, because they are not, but I felt like the topic of a dungeon cleaner would most definitely be taken darkly. So I tried to take in influences from movies and stories like Labyrinth and Alice in Wonderland, to come up with this cute creature with a dirty job. Comments and Critiques are, as always, more than welcome. Good luck to all other entrants. This one is my final, I will be sure to get some practice and step it up a notch for the next COW.


This obsessive-compulsive creature is known as the Scrubblewocker. It cleans as it drags its sponge-like mouth across the floor eating anything it moves over. They spray a mixture of water and digestive juices that it recycles and reproduces within its body. The mixture breaks down most organic materials almost instantly.

Dungeon Master Filmore-- "I got mine from a dwarven mage named Hedo. After about two weeks of the cleanest dungeon I've ever had, the damn thing up and died. I made sure to slaughter that dwarf for ripping me off. Little did I know, he wasn't lying when he told me they reproduce by releasing a cloud of spores. Now, I have 6 Scrubblewockers, and the extras didn't taste too bad either."

[Helsvon]

hope to see more work on this guy its so cute i'd love to see more details!

Max

[Sepulverture]

ZebraHDH - Cute entry, man. What you might want to think about doing is using harder edged brushes. Right now with all the soft edges the whole thing looks fuzzy.. but not in a furry kind of way, it feels like I'm just nut able to focus on it. Harder edges, and a more defined lightsource.

Fozzybar - I know that in the COw rules it says that the creatures can't have any accessories, but in the case of lets say - a monster in captivity for the purpose of cleaning corpses from dungeons, could things like shackles, chains, leather straps, etc., be acceptable?

EDIT: This entry was removed because I posted a different one.

Rushwolf - Great summary of the how's and why's of thinking up unique and believable creatures.

[EDD]

kool! i'll try this one hope i finish in time to post it