CGAN Sept. 2014 Challenge - The Wrath of Kat

Title: The Wrath of Kat

Brief: Captain Quack and his trusty crew, including science officer Mr Stork and communications officer Uhurowl, are charting uncharted territories when their starship USS Enterpond boldly went where no man (or duck) ever went before. Except for an old arch enemy, that is... This is a character design challenge - make a full figure design of Kat, a genetically engineered tyrant, out for revenge!

Deadline: Tuesday September 30th, by midnight GMT.
Your final entry should be posted here, and all WIPs should be posted in the WIP thread:
cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...the-wrath-of-kat-wip

Challenge rules and guidelines:
cgartnexus.com/forums/challenge-rules/39-challenge-rules

Rules in brief:
All challenge entries must be your own work.
You should post at least two WIP images that are clearly different from your final entry and each other.
Your final entry should contain your image (inserted so it shows up full size) and at least two links to your WIP posts on the forum.
No chatter in the finals thread – if you have questions, post them in the WIP thread or PM an admin.
Feedback is allowed & encouraged together with the voting and in the WIP thread.
Deadline is given in UK time (midnight GMT) with a grace period of 5 minutes for getting the post sorted.
Each member may cast one set of votes, for their 3 favourites.
No cheating! Admins may decide to disqualify an entry that does not adhere to the above rules.

I am posting now because I am starting to fiddle with it and will end up totally ruining it. Good luck all.



Wip's cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=30#6210
cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=30#6211
cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=40#6278

I don't know why I can't directly insert an image without using DA.

This is The Wrath of Kat Strikes Back. Kat found the helmet and the cape on a space yard sale. He was looking for a new look too start his own empire.

cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=10#6085

cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=20#6163

cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=40#6293

Enough, I say.

Here's my Wrath of Kat starring Ricardo Montal-lion

There's plenty wrong with it but every change I now make is for the worse, which is my definition of finished.





Now let's see if I can link to the Wips. Apologies in advance if this goes wrong.

One-a....
Two-a....
Aaand Threee-a....

Kat Nanoo-Nanoo Singh.

WIP 1: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=30#6189
WIP 2: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=30#6214
WIP 3: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...at-wip?start=50#6321
Final:

So here is Kat Meowing Sing the evil cat from the Neutering War and the archenemy of the Enterpond crew.

WIP_1
WIP_2

Great entries everyone! So let's start the vote. As usual, everyone can vote regardless of whether they've joined the challenge or not. You vote for your 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourites.

The entrants are:
AngieA
SchizophreniaWolf
Valence
Banj
Kodabble

I'll give you until Saturday night (midnight UK time) to vote and will try to remember to tally up the votes on Sunday. If I forget, feel free to drop a mouse through my letterbox. I like mice.

Great entries!

Ok here is my voting:

1. Schizo - I really love your character design!
2. Banj - with the hint of khan from the jungle book you hit my disney-heart.
3. Kodabble - good style - the pose is really powerful

Valence - this reminds me of a movie poster from athe 80s. or miami vice. is this 80s? ^^. it looks really nice!
AngieA - his face looks really human - good work!

I've never voted in a challenge before and now I'm about to I suddenly don't like it. Putting pictures in order seems a little ... rude. But that is the nature of challenges and I've played along up to this point so here goes.
For me there's one picture that really stands out from the others and that is...

1:BANJ
This one really nails every aspect of the brief and every design choice is a good one: the outfit, the pose, the attitude, the skull prop and the subtle Shere Khan reference all hit the target. Add to that the crisp detailed shading and the solidity created by the rim light then you have my winner.

2:ANGIEA
As I said in the WIP thread I was really impressed by the final stages of this picture. Whereas all the other finals went for the usual plain gradient background (that always screams Character Concept) the background in this picture gives it a little something extra and is all the better for it. It ticks all the boxes required by the brief but also offers a context that makes it stand on its own as a picture in its own right independant of the challenge or the character. As well as the technical details of the character's appearance and clothing, the mood and texture offer an emotional intrigue that makes you ask questions about the character's origins, his motives and ambitions. Because of that I found myself wanting to look at it again and again.

Now here it gets very tricky and I feel a little uncomfortable choosing the third because both seem deserving in their own way but I'm going to lean towards...

3:Kodabble

Schizos picture is excellent in both idea and execution, the overt StarWars reference was provocative and potentially confusing but the amusing ears and the big eye contact made it work where I thought it wouldn't. So it seems wrong to not have it in the top three but I am going to edge with Kodabble's due to the aggressive dynamic pose and that extra layer of detail that was put in at the end. The sort of thing that requires the kind of skill, patience and hard work that I always find lacking in my own efforts.

Also a mention for oaktree who didn't quite finish. Like everyone else I was sorry that it didn't progress to your own expectation. I kind of felt guilty, as if I hadn't offered the correct advice. With hindsight perhaps you got a bit too obsessed about the choice of background too early in the picture's development and this stalled the progress on the character. Thinking about this reminded me of a post I read on MuddyColors a few weeks back which said that whenever you're faced with a decision during a painting, the important thing is not to worry too much about which option is right but instead to make A decision and then MAKE it work for you. Here's hoping your next picture reaches the standards you set for yourself.

And after all that tedious rambling and selfjustification, let me recap...
1 Banj
2 AngieA
3 Kodabble

1. SchizophreniaWolf - Could maybe be a touch more Trek, but actually I like the idea of some Trek inspired characters fighting a Star Wars inspired villain. Nicely done too.

2. AngieA - He's possibly a touch more ratty like than catty to me, but other than that he's pretty cool.

3. kodabble - Someone mentioned a He-man vibe in the WIP thread which I also see and like. He could use some legs though.

er... 4. Valence - Like it a lot, but I think you said yourself that he doesn't really fit the brief of the challenge. Now take part in more challenges