4, 6 and 8 on the last sheet were great, i think 10 on the last one is the business. Im not a big fan of the whole goliath big monster critter so that disqualifies 9 and 12, and i think 11 just isn't that hot.
Jerry.
edit: i Dig the montage and didn't want to spam the thread.
Since the images are now spread over 3 images on 2 pages and I want to get a better idea of how they all compare, here's a montage! A MONTAGE!
The front runners at the moment seem to be 1, 5 and 8 ... I think tomorrow I'll grab those thumbs, enlarge them and try messing around with them some more, regarding weight/detail and general themes.
5 is probably my favourite right now, since it has a humanoid silhouette which makes it more easy to relate to, but has enough extra stuff to make it weird/interesting without going completely alien.
5 is nice. The very straight horizontal line formed at the critter's eye level seems too strong, but it's a bit early / small to nitpick the abstracts.
I'm no expert but I love the awkward shapes of 3 6 and 10. Theres something about those things that just say I'm awkward but deal with it because I'm gonna kick your ass anyways.
one question, how do you draw those symmetrical scribbles? Symscribble is nice, but looks like paint, your's look smooth like done with PS, so is there a way to do such things in PS?
5 and 8 are both winners IMO. i think you understand well enough from previous years that the humaniform characteristics are important selling points from an identification stand point, but it's been great to see you explore all these funky forms. i hope you end up keeping some form of vestigial lower limb kind of set up, i dig it.
Gauss, yeah, definitely keeping those lower limb things somehow
So uh, I think I went a bit mad tonight and ended up with something a bit ... out there.
I was thinking vegetation so did some image searching and came across some cool stuff like so:
And uh, ended up with this:
While it was fun, I think it's the wrong direction, and generally feels a bit cheesy. Just messing around though, I'll try to get something better
Also I'm aware that there need to be a lot more big forms and volumes visible for it to work better, that sketch is a bit busy especially around the main bulk of the torso.
it's not ridiculous, it's not ridiculous enough. that might be fighting against better developed instincts for your work, but compos are the best time to go out on a limb creatively. most everyone incorporating plant-type matter into their designs are only taking it the first obvious step with some leaves here, color or bark, etc. i think you've only just started on where this idea might take you. i can't think of the name, but there's that one rare, exotic plant that blooms an enormous, horribly-foul smelling blossom once a year. or something like that.
plants, like many animals, have certain qualities that become repulsive if looked at too closely (have you ever looked closely inside a cat's mouth? studied their eyes? hell, held up the tip of your nose and looked down your snout in the mirror? we're gross.)
i say delve into those qualities and come out the other end with something terrific. you've started with that beautifully saturated exotic flower, but only incorporated it in the most obvious fashion. i want that kind of strange texture and over-saturated to the point of decadent color covering most or all of him!
everytime gauss is talking this way, i believe he´s smoking his owne drawings *G* but he´s right.. plant´s are some of the most difficulty tings to do.. but you can come out with something incredible, in form, structure and color
Hey Mop, I like the silhouette you're running with, it's got plenty of room to play around with an interesting mix of textures and colors.
How about a mix of slugs, dirt, root crops, and the magical bits for your guy? Gotta admit I'm curious to see how this texture would look working alongside something more woody:
yeah I agree with Rick, the plant version had more character, was more unique, but I can also understand how it bothers you, it's something really different and hard to get to look right, although I have no doubts you can achieve it, I understand how it can be disturbing(rw?) to work on such an unusual piece.
(*) x monster = (*)monster; where (*) = ice, veg, etc, may not cut it.
Drawing an awesome monstery-thing, and THEN adding the power/artifact idea may ring hollow when weighed against a more well thought-out character who's power-set is more subtely tied, or has a more obvious relationship, to his/her overall design.
I've had a few tonight, so please forgive my bluntness. I say it with a loving heart.
Everyone here is expecting you to deliver something remarkable. No pressure.
although i think there is one that is flatter to the ground, almost like a stinky sunflower without a stalk. and its not so much a camera trick in that link, it is a huge flower, bout 3-4 feet tall, just the flower
the vegetation version is looking really cool MoP ! I'd push this even more with some moss here and there, etc. Unusual design for sure (which is good/fresh )
Just messing around on a zsphere base ... finding it hard to get any motivation to work on this for some reason ... I've been writing import/export maxscripts instead o_O
I think overall the proportions and limbs are too confused at the moment, hard to extract a good idea of what it is from the silhouette. I think I might go back to the drawing board on this whole thing...
mmm you know, when I was looking at the design, I wasn't seeing it that thin...I thought that upper part was waaay further back, with some kind of huge abdomen to balance the weight of the front part of the character...maybe it's nonsense, maybe it will help, hope the motivation will come back dude.
The whole thing is very flat. Every limb extrusion comes out at the same width as the other parts. Push some parts forward and pull other parts back. Try to imagine what a dynamic pose would be for this creature and draw it.
Yep, you're all right ... I didn't think this version was up to much. Definitely could be more substantial and interesting a setup than what I have there. I'll start over from scratch, that one was only about half an hour anyway.
In the meantime I've been thinking about how a 4-armed guy could handle a stabbing weapon, and come up with this design:
Just a quick blockout to test the principle, it doesn't quite work properly yet but I think the principle is sound, basically his "big" arm holds the main handle and thrusts forward with it, while the "smaller" arm can hold or pull back the lever at the same time, making the blade fold out to twice the range of his reach, meaning he can strike with very fast stabbing/slashing motions with more power and range than a regular sword.
Obviously the design and style will change hugely but I think the underlying idea is a cool one and will probably stay similar to this.
Interesting, this year's comp is bringing out the Da Vinci in some of us. :-) Good luck with the character redesign, sometimes a cool centerpiece like this weapon is all you need to kick things off.
Replies
Think 8 is more the Stalker type whereas 5 would represent a Warrior type. Think they are both great
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same thing, all depends on what you want
Jerry.
edit: i Dig the montage and didn't want to spam the thread.
The front runners at the moment seem to be 1, 5 and 8 ... I think tomorrow I'll grab those thumbs, enlarge them and try messing around with them some more, regarding weight/detail and general themes.
5 is probably my favourite right now, since it has a humanoid silhouette which makes it more easy to relate to, but has enough extra stuff to make it weird/interesting without going completely alien.
Great collection of ideas
All really interesting designs, MoP. Loving your work.
-caseyjones
Now build it damnit!
one question, how do you draw those symmetrical scribbles? Symscribble is nice, but looks like paint, your's look smooth like done with PS, so is there a way to do such things in PS?
@stalsby: it's a seperate tool, use the search function, i got it from here so it should be in these boards
So uh, I think I went a bit mad tonight and ended up with something a bit ... out there.
I was thinking vegetation so did some image searching and came across some cool stuff like so:
And uh, ended up with this:
While it was fun, I think it's the wrong direction, and generally feels a bit cheesy. Just messing around though, I'll try to get something better
Also I'm aware that there need to be a lot more big forms and volumes visible for it to work better, that sketch is a bit busy especially around the main bulk of the torso.
plants, like many animals, have certain qualities that become repulsive if looked at too closely (have you ever looked closely inside a cat's mouth? studied their eyes? hell, held up the tip of your nose and looked down your snout in the mirror? we're gross.)
i say delve into those qualities and come out the other end with something terrific. you've started with that beautifully saturated exotic flower, but only incorporated it in the most obvious fashion. i want that kind of strange texture and over-saturated to the point of decadent color covering most or all of him!
my twopence for you.
How about a mix of slugs, dirt, root crops, and the magical bits for your guy? Gotta admit I'm curious to see how this texture would look working alongside something more woody:
Here's Mr. Clich
keep it up man !
(*) x monster = (*)monster; where (*) = ice, veg, etc, may not cut it.
Drawing an awesome monstery-thing, and THEN adding the power/artifact idea may ring hollow when weighed against a more well thought-out character who's power-set is more subtely tied, or has a more obvious relationship, to his/her overall design.
I've had a few tonight, so please forgive my bluntness. I say it with a loving heart.
Everyone here is expecting you to deliver something remarkable. No pressure.
http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/_images/gardens/conservatory/CorpseFlower.jpg
although i think there is one that is flatter to the ground, almost like a stinky sunflower without a stalk. and its not so much a camera trick in that link, it is a huge flower, bout 3-4 feet tall, just the flower
I think overall the proportions and limbs are too confused at the moment, hard to extract a good idea of what it is from the silhouette. I think I might go back to the drawing board on this whole thing...
plug away at it you'll get your second wind soon enough
In the meantime I've been thinking about how a 4-armed guy could handle a stabbing weapon, and come up with this design:
Just a quick blockout to test the principle, it doesn't quite work properly yet but I think the principle is sound, basically his "big" arm holds the main handle and thrusts forward with it, while the "smaller" arm can hold or pull back the lever at the same time, making the blade fold out to twice the range of his reach, meaning he can strike with very fast stabbing/slashing motions with more power and range than a regular sword.
Obviously the design and style will change hugely but I think the underlying idea is a cool one and will probably stay similar to this.
http://al.chemy.org/download/