The best of the CHOWs will be picked by an anonymous poll in the Finals thread and the winner is given the opportunity to pick the theme of the next CHOW's design, as well as becoming the title banner for that week! So go hard, design something interesting and unique!
Rules:
You must post at least one WIP in the WIP thread to be accepted into the final poll.
Finals must be posted in the finals thread before the deadline.
At least 3/4 of the character must be visible (minimum from the knees up).
Only ONE submission per person in the finals thread.
No fanart. We want to see your original, unique interpretations!
Voting will be held for 5 days after the deadline.
In an event of a tiebreaker, a winner will be chosen through a randomized name picker.
Pupper turned out great. Nice texturing and highlights. Love the comic touch of the torn collar, too.
Since Lovecraft's stories often have very vague and evocative descriptions, and sometimes no described monsters at all, I was thinking I'd be real clever and make something that's just a LITTLE weird. But I may have gone too far and left the "eldritch" zone for the "mildly spooky" zone. Oh well.
I really like it, I find the simplest or more familiar designs with just that little bit off about it, are the most unsettling. It's a cop out to limit eldritch to sterotypically lovecraftian designs but I just enjoy drawing it. The ghost dog is probably more by definition than you think.
I have Allen Williams' SunDogframed, it feels very much of the same realm.
@publicenemy I also really like the creepy dog. It's the little details that make it unsettling , like the bulging eyes and the ever so slightly too long limbs
@rottenpocket great texture and details , and I like the connecting bits of sinew on its hind leg
once again I'm going to find it hard who to vote for between the two of you, I really like both of them
Anyway I'm going to stop working on mine now as I have some other stuff I need to cram in this week, here's a short description setting the context. As always, crit is welcome.
"The adventurers, having slain the spider queen that lay at the end of the cave, were making their return. Exhausted and injured, they wearily plodded forward, the cavern becoming lighter as they neared the exit. Just when they spotted the light of the cave entrance, the paladin motioned for everyone to hide. For blocking the exit, was a gigantic, fearsome beast, almost the height of the cavern itself, slowly advancing forward. It's long spiny, feeler was lashing back and forth, and as it did so, they saw the serrated edges slice deep lines into the crystals that littered the floor of the cave. Its undulating tentacles writhed and wavered, and it had a strange, shining, green core embedded into its torso that was foreign to them. But the most unsettling part was the gaping maw that formed the creatures head, for from it shown a strong beam like a torch that illuminated even the darkest crevice, and as it methodically swivelled the beam around it's surroundings, they prayed that the light would not betray their presence"
RottenPocket: Thanks, I'm glad to hear it feels on-theme. I agree that the most unsettling works tend to be the more subtle ones, though I enjoy the stereotypically lovecraftian stuff also, mainly for the cool factor. That Sun Dog piece is quite beautiful, so I appreciate the comparison.
Skeffin: Thank you. Your beastie turned out quite cool and I enjoyed the description; that barbed tentacle in front frames it nicely. As for crit, the only things that stick at me is the light beam and the lack of shadow around its feet. I think the light beam would look better with soft edges all throughout its length, so it looks more like it's illuminating particles. Regarding the feet, I think a shadow from the rear light source would help it feel more grounded. Here's a super quick and crappy paintover to show you what I meant regarding the foot, let me know if it's totally unhelpful:
hey @publicenemy, thanks for the crit, you're right I totally forgot cast shadows are thing - it does look more grounded in your paintover. and good point about the light beam, probably should have found reference for that
OK, I'm glad I wasn't totally off base with that. Don't worry too much about finding references for stuff while you're working on a personal piece, unless you want to. Mistakes are inevitable, and you may learn more effectively for having made them. You gotta do your own thang.
Jana, that looks like a great concept for a video game level or film scene. Very spooky.
I don't have any ideas for the next COW that I'm crazy about, so if you guys wanna suggest any themes or briefs, I will use one. I'll make the thread later today.
@Jana: Great atmosphere, reminds me of the Thing (the movie). Would’ve liked the see the creature closer up though.
@skeffin: I prefer this participation to the last one although I would do away with the light beam which I find distracting. I dig the atmosphere though, very foreboding.
@pubic enemy: I enjoy that you went for the uncanny valley to express dread instead of going full out grotesque aberration. Probably would’ve gotten my vote but the background looks unfinished compared to the creature which draws it back in my opinion.
@Rotten Pocket’: gets my vote this time around. I don’t feel like it breaks the mold but it respects the theme and is well executed. The dog collar is a nice touch too.
It's too bad you didn't vote before the poll timed out, Ziz! Then I would've tied with RottenPocket and I could've offloaded the theme-writing duty to her like a lazy bum. It's all good though. Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate it.
![[Image: ecaaCvgl.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/ecaaCvgl.jpg)
