Just to be different, this week I am going to list all the Finalists (including the winner) for "Character Contest 49: Scorpio", and then at the end just say which one won. Because that's the way rock and roll rebels like me like to roll. And rock. Or something.
Anyway, off we go!
Asder was on FIRE this week, and as proof, here's his "Man vs. Scorpion King" complete with a sword that is on fire. There's a lot to like about this illustration, from the design of the characters themselves to the cool flame effect to the nice way he's pointed the toes on the human figure. A great example of "set design" in action.
Asder's second Finalist is "Scorpion King". He (it?) looks totally cool and I think shows a lot of creativity in how it's assembled. The mace and spike tail in particular is wicked.
Finally, Asder gives us "The Scorpio Whip". I love that he uses "scorpio" in the name of the weapon instead of the character, just the kind of left-field thinking I cherish. And the whip itself kicks ass, a very cool concept well executed. The color scheme is tight as well, and supports the entire illustration perfectly. Excellent job, Asder!
Atomic Punk's "70s Scorpio", a musical genius from the Age of Aquarius generation, makes great use of non-traditional elements in the sky and background to sell the story. I think it's a real hoot.
I love Cliff's imaginative use of pieces to build his "Scorpio BioMech". The planetoidal (I just made that word up!) surface is also very convincing and helps bring the entire concept together.
Galahad's "Scorpio" doesn't do anything crazy, but is a solid and interesting character nonetheless. You don't always have to push the program to breaking (literally in all too many cases) to get something cool.
"I forget what name I use" put together a very cool "Black Scorpion" image for us. The purple-to-black gradient in the background works great, and the back-lighting that I think MMI introduced us to in his "Cemetery" series is also a wonderful touch. Very moody and effective.
Speaking of MMI, his run of great characters continues this week with "Femme Fatale du Scorpion". I love the vaguely "Zorro" vibe, tight color scheme, and overall character design.
MLS promises a series of Zodiac-inspired characters, and that's the thing most likely to prompt me to actually doing the series each month. I like the improvised blade-gun Scorpio wields here a lot. The knife is also cool.
Like Cliff, Rancid assembled his own figure out of bits and pieces, and I love it. The face in particular is both eerie and intimidating, with the unusual flat-plane orientation. I think the background rocks too, an excellent energy-portal type of effect. The colors chosen also work great together and help bring it all home. Nice job Rancid!
Finally, Sandcat makes great use of the two-color gradient and a hand-placed constellation to perfectly complement the innocence of "Scorpio".
Which brings us to the announcement of our winner. Namely, Asder! With that many great entries I couldn't deny the guy, and from the beginning I though "The Scorpio Whip" was a fantastic illustration.
So congratulations to Asder for the win, to all the Finalists for their great work, and to everyone who had the courage to share your work with the wide world!
Way to go Asder; congradulations! Posing characters with HM3 can be rather difficult and you pulled it off wonderfully with “Man vs. Scorpion King”. The color scheme for “Scorpio Whip” is fantastic.
I forget what name I use, your backlighting was very well done.
MLS, you also pulled off a great pose that. I like what you did with the finger holding the gun. I assume you just used the circle insignia and resized it to look like an oval or something like that. In case noby can tell yet, I’m really picky with details so I appreciate that you considered that detail as well.
Atomic Punk you have a lot of off the wall entries and concepts (this one included). Sometimes thinking outside the box works well, sometimes not. Good for you for having the guts to do so. In this case, of all your entries, your 70s Scorpio is likely my favourite. In fact, not trying to take anything away from Asder at all, I would have selected this to win.
I WON!!!
this is awesome, i also think the 70s scorpio is amazing, the background is totally perfect for the concept.
You did a great job Asder 🙂 Let me know what you want for your prize when you decide. No rush.
All very nicely done- and jeff gets 11 more contest themes!
All I can say is Wow to all the finalists. Great job all, and congrats Asder. Just looking at these gives me ideas of how I can improve my own creations.
Man vs. Scorpion King: I think we all saw that one coming. Asder, I think you scared a bunch a people away from the contest with your entry. Congrats!
Favs (No Particular Order):
Scorpio Bio Mech
Scorpio (Imp)
Black Scorpion
Alya
The Goddess Scorpio
Lady Scorpia
Scorpio 70’s
Skorpius
Scorpio (Atomic Punk)
Favs+ (No Particular Order):
Scorpio Walker
King Scorpio
Scorpio (MMI)
The Scorpion Whip
Femme Fatale Du Scorpion
VII
Scorpion King (Asder)
Scopio
Commando Scorpio
congrats Asder, I think the next contest should be to make an alternative version of an existing super hero/villain team, whats everyone elese think?
@Asder: Congratulations, well done with “Man vs. Scorpion King” and “Scorpion Whip.”
@Jeff, MMI, Asder, VonMalcolm: Thanks for the props. Truth be told, I was stuck for a concept and was listening to Gordon Lightfoot’s “Don Quixote.” Gordon was born on November 17th, a Scorpio! The rest filled in as I thought about other 70s goodies.
I wasn’t too thrilled with my other Scorpio entries. They were cookie-cutter.
@All: I like ALL the entries. Can’t wait for more Zodiacs. I think the more “open-ended” contests bring out the best variety.
Some notables(no order):
Galahad – I like the simplicity
Rancid – I like the complexity
MLS – looking forward to the rest of the Zodiac team
This was a great contest! I’ve already got some ideas for a few of the other Zodiacs. It was awesome just to be a finalist. I’ll be honest, though — I almost didn’t post after I saw Asder’s. They were all great this week, but his just blew me away. I think I actually swore when I saw it!
thanks everyone for the good comments 🙂
Asder, I have to say that your “Man vs. Scorpion King” looks awesome. I can feel the intensity of the scene.
😀 When I saw mine was a finalist I went crazy! Thank you so much! Everyone did an amazing job, I’m so lucky to have been chosen out of all the amazing entries!