Monster Workshop - full sketch due tonight (Monday)!

[SookieSock]

Added some simple sketches of tree monsters
Bump

[Misj']

The story and character are slowly fleshening out and getting some dimensions, so I added some more character-studies here.

[Kasander]

Step 2 - sketches (with co-existential ad break!)

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Had some time to do a test sketch:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48175.msg636453519#msg636453519

[Cerno]

Mammalian Dragon, step 4: corrections, details and shading first pass

[selmiak]

I wouldn't mind reading only the updates in new posts (and see them added to the huge first post as well) as the collective first post will soon be getting huge and when making comments to these updates withing the flow of the thread it is easier to know what the comments refer to

[Andail]

Distant monster, more sketching
Made some speedpaintings, still no clear vision in my head. I think I want a huge monster towering in the distance, almost featureless, with someone fleeing in the foreground.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=48175.msg636453580#msg636453580

Also, what's the general opinion so far on having a collective thread like this? I find it rather cozy myself, to have everyone gathered. I think having separate threads for everyone would make it easier to keep track of an individual member's process, but maybe people would be conscious about having few visitors/posters in their threads, and it would perhaps be more competitive. Thoughts?

[miguel]

I'm having lots of fun with this collective thread Andail. It's really cool to see WIP of several people on the same subject. Selmiak post makes sense as well.

[Calin Leafshade]

I think the collective thread is good but it lacks chronology a little.. maybe updates should be in new posts to dhow the progression and for posterity.

[Andail]

Ok, so from now on we'll publish the entire update in the bump-post as well.
This will make it easier to follow the chronology of the whole thread, and it will also let us comment on updates easier.

The original post should still display all updates, preferably with dates added.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Now that I have a plan, I've gone back and made a larger sketch of the Elder God, refining the initial design and bringing it closer to how I want it to look.

[imgzoom]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/rr218/ProgZmax/godsandmen_zpsa1af735e.png[/imgzoom]

Some things I've changed:

1.  Gave it a more defined (less bulky) body.
2.  Reworked the mouth, adding a beak (which I think looks pretty cool).
3.  Made the wings a bit larger, probably will need to make them a bit wider as well.
4.  Adjusted pose to make it look more like it was moving forward and also reaching DOWN.  In the original sketch I have the God reaching up towards the Necronomicon but what I really want is to show his size so in the final version the cliff will be lower and he will be reaching down for the book.

Now that I'm relatively happy with the basic design for my monster I can start on the actual final piece which will include the changes I've made here as well as some more as I improve his anatomy and musculature for the final sketch.

[Misj']

Also, what's the general opinion so far on having a collective thread like this? I find it rather cozy myself, to have everyone gathered. I think having separate threads for everyone would make it easier to keep track of an individual member's process, but maybe people would be conscious about having few visitors/posters in their threads, and it would perhaps be more competitive. Thoughts?

I like the fact that all participants are in the same thread. I also like all the work-in-progress posts. But personally I find the continuously updated posts a bit difficult to read; especially on my tablet (on my desktop it's a bit better, but I still tend to just scroll over everything). For myself I chose to have different posts on different subjects (one on reference material, one on character sketches, and each new step will get it's own dedicated (but updated) post).

[Kasander]

Ok, so from now on we'll publish the entire update in the bump-post as well.
This will make it easier to follow the chronology of the whole thread, and it will also let us comment on updates easier.

The original post should still display all updates, preferably with dates added.

I like this idea. With the original posts getting bigger and bigger it will be increasingly more and more frustrating to find updates in them. So updates in the bump post should fix this... and they will instantly show who's got something new to show. Also, I don't mind having everything in one thread. Sure, it's messy, but the monsters should learn to coexist with each other in this environment  

[Vukul]

Hope it's not too late for me to join in the activity. Certainly, there are a lot of people to learn something from - and also the opportunity to show that you've learnt something. But enough blabbering

After some consideration and seeing the really great variety of interpretations of the subject, I decided to give a little revamp to one idea that has been haunting me for some time (of course, it was a kind of monster, why else would it haunt me). I'd call it Guardian of the Veil. So...

Guardian of the Veil, Step 1. Concept
First of all, I need to pin up the idea of the monster in question - of course, it can change over the course of working, but still there should be some starting point.
So, as I see it, the Guardian is a cross between the Death-like figure (with maybe some attributes like scythe, cloak, bones and such) to deter travellers from crossing the Veil and the Cerberus to fight them back (hence I could need some canine features added as well)... Originally, the Guardian was a masked floating figure with a weapon and armor, which existed partially in physical plane and partially in the ghostly realm. But in order to make it more 'monstrous' I decided to re-work it and try to combine with a Cerberus.
Thus, the keywords for reference should be 'death', 'cerberus', 'scythe' (or maybe some other weapon), 'mask'.

Now let's start looking for and gathering references (the thing I never did before, but I'll give it a try - why not?). To be continued...

[loominous]

Main thread

Started sketching on my monster intellectual and tried some lighting. The 'monster' label will be used in a Quasimodo fashion, where it denotes freakish qualities, rather than scary.

Still a bit too harmless human like, so the plan is to push the extremes further.

The character is supposed to be standing on a shelf ladder, in a library, which is hardly readable atm. The designs are quite generic, so I'll be researching and trying to come up with some nifty ones. The angle of the shelf and ladder will probably change as well, to better suit the back lighting, and making the character pop.

[Misj']

I think it's time for some feedback.

I'll try to drop a few lines on each of the designs, but I'll start with ThreeOhFour. I hope it's useful.

[miguel]

9th May 2013, update 7
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drawing 7 - Vicar in a Tutu


Okay, Nitro is looking more and more defined into his final state of ugliness.
Next I'll sharpen my pencil and do stuff on Nitro.
Updates will be at least 800 pixels wide from now on as well.
I'm still waiting for the food I was promised.
Word of the Day: Testicle


Original Post with step by step drawings here

[Kasander]

Monsters like these.

Suddenly it occurred to me how geometrical Frazetta's compositions are. The shapes form triangles, circles, rhombuses even. That's one of the things that make his paintings dynamic and so powerful. This is something we could all learn from. I watched his works hundreds of time in the past, but it broke through my skull only today (with the power of CtB's/Deathdealer's axe though), when I was looking at them all at once.

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/5v95Qek.jpg[/imgzoom]

Triangles, trianges, triangles everywhere!
Great idea to post that link Andail.

[Misj']

Miguel, those human reptiles do walk among us. Please ignore my drawing-style...

[nihilyst]

Week 1, inspiration


Week 1, Sketch 1: general idea


I want to make a gigantic undersea creature, maybe some kind of mixture between plant and animal in a way that it resembles an animal with tentacles, a mouth and stuff, but that it grows and spreads like a plant. I want to display a creature that has taken an enormous amount of the floor of a lake. Spreading like a giant fungus and to show its hugeness, many instances of the same thing should be seen, like many mouths, tentacles and stuff stretching into the background. The water surface should be seen from below, maybe with a small boat on it.

Ideas: Some bioluminescent parts of the creature to get some illumination down there.

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Week 1, Sketch 2: two ideas for composition; one already with rough values

This one shows off the entire lake's floor with the creature growing out of a huge mess of a blob that covers the ground. On top, there's a boat visible to showcase the hugeness of the 'thing'. The tentacles reach out for it, but can't reach it, as if they were trying to break loose and escape their body, but they are stuck. They have to wait until they have grown even more. I'm not too happy with the right side yet; I'll have to revise it.
In the value sketch I tried to capture a rather tranquil feeling, with patches of sunlight shimmering on the floor, showing that this creature is part of the normal world and not evil at all.
Ideas: Cover the ground with some pimples and other gross stuff. No one should ever feel comfortable diving down there.



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Week 1, Sketch 3: revision of the first sketch



Changed the right side to achieve a better flow. Changed values and set up some colors to establish a mood.

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I really like what all of you've done already. Great stuff! And so many different approaches.