Crimson CHOW #58 Elemental Mage

[Lege1]

Crimson Character of the week #58

-=  ELEMENTAL MAGE=-

This week's theme and brief by previous winner, Lege1

This rounds challenge will be to design a unique and dynamic Elemental Mage. Design a character who harnesses the powers of all elements or just one. They could have a flowing robe adorned with symbols of fire, water / ice, earth, and air, or they could just represent one element. Their staff or wand could emit energy representing the element, or elements, they are controlling.

Your character can be male, or female, adult or child, but must be human. The idea of the character being dynamic is to show the character wielding its power element in the most dynamic way, think of the character in a sense where they might even be losing their gravity. Also, be sure to take advantage of the drapery aspect of this challenge regarding the costume, dynamic costume going along with some really energetic and dynamic anatomy; try to create an image that seems like it is moving although it is still. 

Let's see what you all can conjure up and who comes out in the end as the grand wizard!

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.
  
• AI may be used in the ideation process, but the final image must be 100% hand-drawn.
  
• 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.
  

[b]-+|| WIP THREAD ||[/b]

Deadline is Tuesday, December 17 @ UTC: 23:59

[Lege1]

I'm interested in using one of these poses for my entry. Which one do you favor most?

[JosephCow]

I really like pose number 1 Lege. It has a good line of action

I think I'm going to get in on this one, I like the simplicity of this idea. i kind of ran out of steam on last one because I was so busy but bow I'm not. Plus I have this cloak I've been meaning to use as a reference someday so now's the time!

[CBinnsIllustration]

I agree with pose 1 Lege! Nice and dynamic.

I’m gonna work on the art block today and get something going. Got a few sketches. I’m liking the idea on #1 I really wanna try for a fire/molten effect and see how it comes out. Might be an epic fail but that’s ok too. 

Would be good to see you joining in on this one too Joseph, I’m sure that cloak reference is gonna kill! Can’t wait to see it.

[Lege1]

JosephCow: Thanks so much man and that is awesome you're going to jump in here; can't wait to see what you conjure up.

CBinnsIllustration: Thank you also bro and I see you are off to an amazing start! I really love #3 but it is not at least 3/4 of the character. There is something about #1 that is really graceful and elegant and I like that, so I'm gonna have to say that one, but the other are great as well, just more in a static pose that #1 where it is like they are walking gracefully just setting everything on fire as they stroll by.

[TrashPanda]

I agree I also like the first pose the most Lege it conveys well that something big is charging up there.
@CB, I think they all look dope but I personally like the 3. thumbnail the most. Depending on the scale
it seems like some type of molten giant who has grown together to a volcano.

Even though I mentioned that I wont participate, I decided to give it a try because Im a sucker for
fantasy themes. For now this is as usual just a rough idea, gonna have to optimize negative shapes, flow of the comp, the character design and push the scale of the flowing landsides.

[darktiste]

Cb thumbnail are always a pleasure to look at such effective use of value.

I like idea 3 from your thumbnail it as that ''i am a bit more then one with my element vibe i am the element''.For me number 1 is a bit to balance between character and background the subject matter kind of get overwhelm also i find that the rest also suffer as just have the from that problematic of the subject matter being at the center and that less interesting for me than something a bit more visually asymmetric in term of composition.

[Lege1]

TrashPanda: Great to see you jump in and really great start here! You seem to have an Earth element here which is the same idea of things I myself was going. Lots of potential and it will be very cool to see how this all further develops.

[CBinnsIllustration]

Cheers Lege your depiction on #1 was what had in mind also, as in him just going on a nice leisurely and arson-filled still in the Forrest lol.

I very much appreciate you saying that @darktiste, I do very much enjoy the rough stages of creating a piece. For my process I actual start from mid tones and push and pull from there. I tend to get stuck if I start too dark or light. 

Thanks @trashpanda that’s exactly what was thinking for 3. To have him growing out of a volcano like some kind of god, but like Lege said i would struggle to cover the 3/4 requirement. Might save the idea for a side piece and flesh out the idea a bit more for my next one . Your piece is looking great. Would love to see you push this one further dude. 

For mine I got some hours over the weekend to hit this with some paint. I’m mostly happy with how it turned out, i might just let it marinate for a bit and revisit for final tweaks. It was fun trying to get that molten lava/fire effect. Not sure I pulled it off completely but I’m happy enough to put the pen down for a bit. 

[JosephCow]

sketches of fire wizards, just exploring poses


yo c binns that looks crazy!

[Lege1]

CBinnsIllustration: Very strong and powerful piece this round; great to see you finally get a few ticks to release and destroy! The fire effect came out great bro and the overall piece looks amazing, really loving the overall mood of this one.

JosephCow: Very cool exploration and I really like the bottom right pose a lot. Great to see you jumping in on this one!

[JosephCow]

Thanks! Yeah that one seems okay, I read over the prompt again and I wanted to try one more pose to try and capture the part about it being dynamic and almost losing gravity.

Not an awesome drawing....yet, but maybe something like this is getting closer to epic. Although I kind of like the understated poses

[Lege1]

Really nice new character JosephCow; I like this one a lot, it has a lot of potential especially for lighting. 

This is what I currently have.....

[darktiste]

JosephCow - There something about that pose that remind me of gandalf shining light it almost like a light spell as if he surrounded by darkness. Almost like he making a circle of protection because of how he as the staff over himself like he spinING the thing around or writing magic rune.

[JosephCow]

@darktiste yeah that's basically the idea!

Roughed out colors/values and rest of the scene. I guess he's trying to fend off like shadow fiend kind of creatures. I feel like this entire thing is not super original, like it's very D&D, which makes sense because I've been playing baldur's gate 3 lol. But yeah ordinarily I would probably try to come up with something a little different. Idk it's fun to kind of play into that though.

[JosephCow]

update on the sketch, I actually kinda like this now, I do need to focus on drawing now though

[Lege1]

JosephCow: That's looking very cool and I like where it is going. I really like your color palette a lot on this the latest post.

[TrashPanda]

Thanks Lege and CB for the kind words!

Crazy that both you guys have already a finished piece, while I spent like 
2 working days to fix basic composition and design flaws haha.
 
I think its cool that you went for a mage who is the master of all elements Lege.
There is a neat fight scene from the show avatar Aang the last airbender.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXShLPXfWZA 

Around the 7minute mark he uses all elements in some type of sphere.
Maybe you get some ideas and inspirations from it to push the piece further.

I experienced a bit in blender to come up with a alternative environment,-
based on the first thumbnail.
Im still not satisfied but Im gonna finish one of the 2 thumbnails
in a more inked style because I still have a hard time with painting.

[Lege1]

TrashPanda You're welcome and keep pushing forward with your entry. It doesn't matter who finishes first, it just matters that you try your best to finish. You're spending more time because you are most likely learning your way and processing the information slower. Once you have created hundreds or thousands of images it will all start to become second nature and you will work faster.

Thank you and I figured I'd serve myself the challenge of trying to include a full element character. I hope I served well. Very cool link by the way with Aang, I watched the whole thing and if I would have seen this earlier it would have definitely influenced my entry in different ways.

Very cool you are utilizing blender to help aide you in back ground developlment, but keep focused on the idea that the challenge is based around the character, so technically you don't even need any back ground if you don't want. Working in the inked style is a good decision is you are strapped for time and not understanding the painting ways so well. Consider watching tutorials on digital painting on youtube along with doing many practice studies in your spare time to get better. Good luck!

[Lege1]

A FRIENDLY REMINDER TO ALL THAT TODAY IS FINALS DAY!!!
I look forward to seeing your entries soon in the finals. Keep working diligently, and good luck!