CGAN Feb 2017 - A Fantastical Beast - Finals

A Fantastical Beast

Brief: From octoberstormxx in the suggestion thread ( cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/current-...hly-challenge-briefs ) In light of the new Harry Potter film, pretend you are adding a new page to the Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them encyclopedia with a creature you recently discovered!

Deadline: [strike]Tuesday 28th February at Midnight GMT.[/strike] DECIDER VOTING ENDS TUESDAY MARCH 21st

Previous result:

• Valence = 3
• Charlotte = 3
• microscopi = 1

This is where you post your Final entries. WIPs should be posted over here: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...cal-beast-wips#15200

Challenge rules and guidelines:
cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...s/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 vote
• No cheating! Admins may decide to disqualify an entry that does not adhere to the above rules.

(eventual) WINNER = VALENCE

A bit early but I've been deliberately working quick due to the shortness of the month and if I post now I can force myself to do other things in the next week. So...

1: Wingardium Leviosa.
2: Expelliarmus.
3: Sectumsempera.

And here are both versions, with and without the book bits.






2nd Edit: I thought I'd stop being lazy and fix the text properly instead of relying on that shoddy patch-up job that I did. There.

After sort of rush working on this all evening.... I guess I might post a final of sorts. Not happy with her right foot or the background but I certainly have no more time to fiddle and unfortunately not any time to make a mock book page either. You guys will just have to make up your own text

The Swedish Skogsrå is called "Lad of the Forest" in English I believe. She looks pretty much like a woman but has a hole in her back and I'm not sure if she's supposed to have a fox's tail or if that's an idea I added at age 19 or so... Uhm and I guess it's not actually a fox's tail anymore anyhow...



WIP links:
Sketches: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...-wips?start=20#15311
Almost a background: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...-wips?start=20#15335
More bg: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...-wips?start=30#15366
More woman: cgartnexus.com/index.php/forums/challeng...-wips?start=30#15368

Just came in under the wire, woohoo, not really finished but least it's another pic to vote on.

Changed it up into a night scene, very elusive creature, constantly changing colors to adapt to environment, has flashlights for eyes that emit enough light to see in the dark for miles, impossible to catch!

wip 1

wip 2

wip 3

wip 4

Sorry about the delay, voting is open and closes on the 10th of March

I'll try to be succinct with this one as time is of the essence and I really want to get a start on the new challenge.
So...

Val - Beautifully drawn and rendered with a great sense of scale. The wings are particularly good with their attendant veins and they have an excellent sense of translucency. Really digging those blurry hexagons in the background - what lense did you use on your camera?

Charlotte - That pose with its almost 180 degree twist is particularly hard to get looking right (believe me Ive tried and failed on many occasions) and you've achieved a very believable pose here. Excellent shape to those hips and buttocks too . Green and orange is a particular favourite of mine in colour combination too and the whole image has a lovely uniformity to it.

Micro - I wasn't overly keen on the earlier colours on yours but this version is fantastic. It has an amazing ephemeral quality to it that glistens with magical light. I keep finding myself almost mesmerised by the eyes and once again the texture work on his scaly skin and fur is gorgeous.

Micro wins out in this one for me but congratulations all!

Valence: I wish I had snitched that idea first A real dragon dragonfly is a perfect potterverse creature and I love the depth of field effect and the book with the taped photo and text. If I'd do anything differently I think the snorts of fire aren't entirely convincing (they seem almost solid) and the detail of font choice for the text. I suspect the wizarding world would have preferred some more convoluted lettering...

Charlotte: Stick to the brief will you? This is not a "newly discovered creature" Oh well, no vote for me.

Micro: Again I think it's an excellent idea and the mix of sloth and chameleon is a funny one. I think the image as such is rather difficult to read though. The purplish version (last wip or so) was rather blotchy in terms of both color and shading. Making a night version was a good choice and improvement but I think I still feel that the shading could have been better "structured" (hope that makes sense) and I think the chameleon type eyes could have been more clearly rendered as well.

My vote goes (as always, pretty much, sorry for the lack of surprises) to Valence

I always like to get in early with my votes but everyone seems to have voted before me. I must be getting slow in my old age.

Charlotte:
I have to disagree with you, I think your idea fits the brief very well. Just because something is known as a myth, it doesn't mean that it can't be then discovered as fact and photographed to appear in the book. Also I was unfamiliar with the legend so it was interesting to read up on it too.

The composition is a good one with the tree dividing the foreground and background to create depth in the landscape. The anatomy is good too, as Atto said, it's a very difficult pose to get right but that twist is lovely and sensuous, and it gives us an idea about the personality of the creature. And I love the sinuous, undulating line that describes the top edge of the body, especially that edge of the sharp hip bone. People often forget that little shape, and when I say "people", I do mean me.
The only thing I would have liked more time for is the hollow of the back. It currently looks like a dark patch just stuck on the skin. I think a longer month would have allowed you to integrate it more with the structure body perhaps with a bit of bark texture. So let's blame February for that!

And let me finish with one other thing I love and that is those bright painterly strokes in the background. From a distance (well, zoomed out) it looks exactly like detailed foliage yet on closer inspection they're just simple, single strokes. That kind of thing makes paintings really interesting to look at and makes them satisfying at different scales.

Micro:
Excellent work, sneaking in there at the end, and as usual your pic has so much wonderful texture to it. I love that bit at the elbow where the fur blends neatly into a scaly pattern. It all adds so many layers to the surface of the creature and makes the picture visually interesting wherever you look.
The overall composition looks just like some real wildlife footage, as if we're sneaking about in this world and intruding on its home. And with those big eyes staring right at us it's clear we've been found out and it's time to scarper!

I was enjoying the development of the painting all the way through but that final decision to switch to a nocturnal scene was a brilliant idea! It greatly improves the mood with the moonlit glare through the trees, while also making the creature seem more vulnerable and rare. Also it gives you the chance to finish off with another wonderful concept by creating those shining, headlight eyes. Love it.

---

This is a tough one to call, especially with that final change from Micro. On another day I could easily change my mind but today I think I'm going to vote for…. Charlotte. The painterly style appeals to me (and I forgot to mention earlier how much I love the texture of that hair too!) and I think she just about achieved the most in the available time of this foolishly short February.

PS. And yes, Atto, I kinda like those blurry hexagons too but sadly I have to confess that it's just Photoshop's Lens Blur which requires no artistic skill whatsoever.

Val I always delay voting, so we got both ends of the spectrum covered lol. The amount of time and detail you put into every image you make is unwavering, you definitely are my inspiration in that department as mine always look like they were drawn with digital pencil crayons ..not that there's anything wrong with crayons!

Your pic looks very crisp, in that, there isn't any part of it that's unfinished looking. Your dragon creature looks anatomically really great, the color and lighting look really realistic on his body, especially the back end of the body and the wings. The water drops also look awesome, I really like everything as the choice of background and foreground leaf and the design of your creature just all really look great as part of a whole! I like the design of the dragons head also, and the only crit I have in the whole pic is his head. It just feels like if it was smaller it would make your monster seem more realistic, the eyes are a bit large also, with a bit of darkness the flames and eye would look way more realistic and just add to that realism you already achieved with the rest of the pic, including the background. Really cool effect with the depth of field and the octagonal lights have a nice touch for sure. Really enjoyed the book version a lot! I feel bad not voting you first because of all of the extra detail and thought you put into your pic, it's easy to take that for granted as you always put so much effort into all your pics ! But this is definitely one of your best, so you should feel great about adding it to your library of work !

Charlotte, your image has such a nostalgic feeling with the style you used, reminds me when fantasy was first becoming main stream, like frazetta style. I think your creature is in line with the brief, I don't usually see any sexy naked women with wolf ears and a lions tale hanging around in the woods! Poor me

Her anatomy looks awesome, especially with a pose that difficult, you did an awesome job pulling it off, which is half of the difficulty of the pic right there. The lighting on her body is really well done, she has ample curves that really make her seem appealing. And the color of the skin tone is great, matches the bleeding color of the sun and greens of the forest, especially subtle details like her left hand and arm, looks so realistic. The colors all work great together, nice touch with her hair color matching the wisps in the background, the soft edges add to the whole serenity and keeps everything looking harmonized.

If I could give one crit it would be to play with the contrast a bit more on the extreme side, the foreground darker and background lighter, rim lighting around her hair and the trees could have some light rays or just darken the back bushes to bring out the front ones more, that sort of thing, other then that it's an awesome pic !

microscopi wrote: Poor me

Trust me, you're luckier not to meet her