This week's theme and brief by previous winner, CBinnsIllustration
Crimson Character of the Week #43
Cloud Cowboy
"In a world ravaged by crippling drought the cloud cowboy’s roam the plains of the open skies in search of the ever fleeting yet moisture rich clouds to sell to the highest bidder. Rugged and tough these lone wolves take to the skies in their unique flying machine/creature to snare their elusive prey. Get creative!"
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!
Guidelines:
No photograph paint overs, must be 100% original work. (See next rule for exception)
3D is permitted and renders MAY be used as whole or in part of a painting, as long as YOU created the work. Pre-made and/or purchased, online, assets are forbidden.
There is no restriction on the character's gender, time period or culture.
Studies are recommended, but not required.
There is no restriction on image formats (horizontal, vertical, square).
Environment backgrounds are optional.
Keep in mind you are not required to stick to what is in the passage. It is more of a guide in terms of mood.
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.
Leo Ki: I thought the same, Chris came up with a great topic here; so much potential and many opportunities to get really creative with this one.
I was flying,lol, but leaping might work as well since you mentioned it =) So #2 is your favorite? Yes, if the the creature is leaping it might be pretty cool to feature a from ground to the sky kinda thing.
Lol, yes, definitely refrain from the world building and just keep it simple and have fun with the topic. The problem shouldn't be not having any ideas, but having too many. Just imagine all the possibilities, and remember also that you can bounce off another artist's idea and just do it your way.
LEGEND'S SKETCHBOOK_001
To all artists struggling to create and are intimidated by A.I. (anti-imagination) "Everything has been done, but not by you"
Yes, sky frog is my favorite, but all your cloud-swallowing animals/machines are a great idea. I kind of stole the idea without actually illustrating it with my first sketch below. I initially thought of a giant flamingo that reaches to the clouds but the cowboy would have been a dot on the picture. Another idea was a giant bat that pushes the clouds with its wings, but again, the cowboy would be dwarfed. Thinking around smaller solutions...
Great start guys! @Lege your thumbs are looking super creative, I too am quite fond of the frog. When I thought of this brief I wanted to see some very not traditional/expected cloud catchers. It’s hard to get away from some obvious ideas and you are definitely thinking outside the box,
Leo your floating blowfish is killer! Envisioning him getting all bloated with some clouds is a great concept. You have a nice start and should push that one more.
For me I’m just still doodling out some ideas, some odd some more cliche, just seeing what sticks at this point. I’m partial to the duck rider wielding a cloud snaring lasso personally but will see what else my imagination can come up with the weekend!
So glad you guys like the brief, it can be just as stressful to think of something unique for others to draw that inspires creativity than it is to actually draw it :) looking forward to seeing what y’all develop these into.
@Leo Ki Thanks so much man and I'll most likely elaborate on this concept more. That fish concept you're onto isn't a bad idea at all. I think if you could get it cooking up in an illustration where its showing more so how it does what to the cloud etc, and work out the composition better, that the overal idea has a lot of potential. Don't fret to explore more though. The Flamingo idea isn't bad at all; I had thought up similar in the form of a dragon but same issue, the rider would be a speck,lol. This is a tricky topic in the respect that we need to try and capture both the rider and what it's riding along with how it's interacting with the cloud. It could just be presented as the rider and rideable, although getting right to the point, it makes for a pretty boring illustration without making the concept more visually interactive. I definitely take the illustrative route more where I can and not just feature the character/ characters.
@CBinnsIllustration Thanks much man and I'm definitely thinking of elaborating on that idea more unless I come up with something I feel might be better. No worries on the topic, it's great and reminds me very much of something that would be featured in a place like Fantasia from the Neverending Story movie =) I think it's very cool that we are up in the sky with things now. I went ahead and numbered your idea mentions to talk about them easier.
1. is a great idea and probably conceptually what I like best. I really like this idea of this vacuum like machine with the bag on the back that captures the cloud.
2. & 4. are fantastical and awesome in it's own way and reminds me of a quirky character that would be featured in a movie like the Neverending Story.
3. same thing with reminding me a subject that would be in the Neverending Story. I like the size of the rideable but this idea makes it so hard to feature the rider as well, but now thinking on it more there could be an illustration of the rider with this visual mention featured in the background which could actually work really well and be move poster esque.
5. This would actually go well together with 3. if that wasn't the plan already and that would conclude more, or less, what I was trying to explain on 3.
6. & 7. are really cool but are the more cliche ones to me. I do like how you featured the craft and driver along with an interactive background on the cause.
8. Is an awesome character design on the cause, something totally unique and other worldly that we wouldn't expect to see in a topic like this and the raining cloud patch on the right shoulder is tops =)
I honestly think that any of these ideas could be made into something really great and possibly flipping a coin or using an online random selection generator could be the way unless there is one you are just feeling that much.
LEGEND'S SKETCHBOOK_001
To all artists struggling to create and are intimidated by A.I. (anti-imagination) "Everything has been done, but not by you"
Thanks for the detailed feedback @Lege1! Yeah your guess was correct the 3 and 5 in your numbering were a zoomed in pic of the rider on the behemoth flyer. Maybe putting both in the pic could have works aesthetically… I’m torn between the vacuum and duck to be honest. Might just shake both trees and see what falls out
@Ddesign - Welcome to the forums! You went the poetic/symbolic way with the cloud hair, nice!
@Chris - Your duck and its rider absolutely crack me up! And Kermit (or a Kermit helmet?) on the sack bike is elegantly funny.
@Legend - To counter the speck effect I played with the thought of a fleet of bats with one of the riders on the foreground, but the brief does say "lone wolf."
I may go back to the puffer fish but for now I'm exploring a different idea:
@Leo I like the idea for the new piece! Could be quite dynamic if you really decide to push the sense of speed of the glider. Although I’m still liking that puffer Fish!
Decided to have a little fun with this one tonight. Who doesn’t like a biker frog riding a cloud vacuum on a moisture barren planet searching for his next score. Still WIP but putting down for now.
Chris - So it was Kermit :) Great rendering, very clear and atmospheric (in both senses of the word), and in so short a time!
Lydo - That's an original take, making the clouds amenable. You're keeping the tale-like aura to it. So we can guess what happens if the clients don't pay for the service!
Great composition, Lydo, with the procession of clouds. Would there be a way to use the clouds' eyes to indicate more clearly that they are spellbound by the music by making some of them stare at the piper?
I haven't done much with the flying machine (not really a glider, Chris, but I fail at showing it as an antique Da Vinci bird), just sorting things out:
@leo I like the very original jelly fish idea! They most certainly would be in tune with finding moisture. Although I like the composition of your DaVinci flyer a little more you could make the jelly fish a fun submission.
I had a wild dream once with psychedelic x ghibli-esque hot air balloon jellies, and never explored it. It's a fun concept, and plays with opposite environments.
@Pocket - I'm sure you would create exquisite jellyfish full of deadly ornaments. If you feel better these days, feel free to take it from where I left, I'm stuck on it at the moment.
@Legend - I too would like to see your frog and other creatures pushed further. I hope you are now settled after your change of life.
Leo Ki: Thanks so much man, and I'm still transitioning here in life. I have been relentlessly trying to get in time for the forum here and should have something soon. Thanks for the good energy and I hope life is treating you well.
LEGEND'S SKETCHBOOK_001
To all artists struggling to create and are intimidated by A.I. (anti-imagination) "Everything has been done, but not by you"
@Leo Ki: Thank you so much man, I just completed my entry today and posted it in the finals as I won't have much time to work on it anymore. I hope you all enjoy it =)
I love your jellyfish concept and see a lot of potential for pushing that farther on the visual end. Maybe adding a rider seat or harness that attaches on to the jellies would help emphasis the rider situation better from a visual standpoint. I can imagine the jellies pulsating over the clouds and extracting the water molecules via their tentacles and using their tentacles to absorb the water into their tentacles and bring the water top more to their storage areas which also double as floating gas reserves enabling the jellies to float and glide effortlessly through the air.
@CbinnsIllustration: Really great work on your piece and I can totally imagine something like this existing and functioning just as seen in your illustration but on another planet. Very cool way to present your work as well in like a print style presentation with the white edges taped off, makes the overall piece look very clean and organized.
@DDesign nice thumbnail and hopefully you continue with more.
LEGEND'S SKETCHBOOK_001
To all artists struggling to create and are intimidated by A.I. (anti-imagination) "Everything has been done, but not by you"
"Everything has been done, but not by you" 
