CGAN Zodiac - Scorpio challenge - Final Entries

Scorpio (October 23 - November 21)

The zodiac challenge will aim to run for the entire zodiac year and work with the timescale of each zodiac sign. This is a 'just for fun' challenge, but you will have a lovely set of horoscope images if you choose to take part. Kazky will be the main moderator for these challenges so contact her if you have questions or issues.

We will be sticking to the western zodiac, apologies to other zodiacs
Research each sign and depict it however you interpret it.

Deadline: November 21st
WIP thread: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...challenge-wips#12674

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 vote.
• No cheating! Admins may decide to disqualify an entry that does not adhere to the above rules.

WINNER (eventually after 2 tied votes and a decider) - Atto

I seem to have run out of time with this one (I was sure I had a few more days but the calendar says no.) I blame all those hours learning to draw smooth lines!
So I didn't get chance to make the changes I wanted (especially a redesign of the simplistic clothing) and the background has ended up being a little rushed and gimmicky but it's just about presentable.

1: Scribble A Pose.
2: Life In The Slow Line.
3: First Bit Of Colour.

And the final... Scorpio Girl Manga-style.

So here we are, the first of my Zodiac challenges. I wanted to do something different here, I had 1 day and spent about 15 hours from initial idea to finished piece. I did no prep sketches and after the initial layout sketch worked on a single layer. I used no undo, no marques, no brightness/contrast adjustments and no layer effects. I attempted to just paint. I recently read an interview with Phil Hale where he described his process (traditional media) and discussed the pros and cons of creating something in a spontaneous manner, he likened it to live music where there are no reruns or second takes and it inspired me to have a go.
Here it is, warts and all, with no apologies and no post production polish:
Scorpio Live.

Wip 1
Wip 2

Voting time y'all. The poll is open and closes on the 29th.

+1 for Atto.
An interesting idea in terms of concept, process and execution. The limitations you imposed on yourself have resulted in something fresh and stylish.
The combination of surrealism and painterly expression is very appealing and worthy of many a vote.
And if you didn't use any UNDO then I can balance that and state that I more than compensated for that absence during my own hapless attempts at linework. My CTRL-Z keys have eroded away to nothingness.

Right back at you Val - you get my vote just for naming a Wip 'Life in the slow line'
But seriously, I knew you weren't overly happy with the result and wished you had more time but I think the image works very well. I think her legs are rendered particularly successfully and you have achieved a nice sense of depth not only to her pose but across the whole image. Nice to see you got that dynamism into the whipping braid and I actually really like the background.
The real winner for me here is the creation of perspective between the two hands and the rendering on her face, especially the nose.
Congrats on a very successful image that was entirely out of your comfort zone.

Well, Atto and Valence were nice boys and voted for each other giving them 50 % of the votes each. Now I'm hoping the rest of you will be nice and vote too! Or there will be no christmas cookies! :angry:

So, poll is reset and you have until Dec 8th to vote! Go go go!

(I can't decide who will win because I like both images equally so that's why I leave it to you guys! )

Sorry about the delay in wrapping this up, but looks like Charlotte has swiftly reset the poll to extend voting and solve the tied vote.

A tie? I demand a recount! 1... 2... Oh yeah, it was a tie.

If it's still a tie second time around we should decide via Rock, Paper, Scissors.
And I always choose scissors! Always!

It's rock for me then! or are you just lulling be into a false sense of security with such an obvious bluff?