Master and Servant 2D Entry: Michael Dashow

[sgw]

Loving the calender.

[Harry D'Amour]

Necronomicom.. :scream: "Necronomicom the only company endorsed by the Old Ones" ..hehe. I love those details, nice Dilbert comic strip, I wonder what it says? Beautiful colors and shadows.

[dloots]

Amazing, what else is there to say. Great work a winner for sure

:thumbsup:

[Eterna2]

haha this is good!
i like the obedience poster behind... hahahaa

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113238711_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113238711_large.jpg)

Hey, all! Got some work done on the guy's face this weekend. Here's a detail shot.

Thanks all for your comments. Glad you all are liking the small details, like the calender. I liked it so much I used the same theme of sheep on the guy's tie, too.

Harry - I forget exactly what the cartoon says, but it's something about the Pointy-Haired Boss plotting that all of his employees will become sick and die in time for the company to not have to pay out retirement or pension money. I tried to find the most appropriate strip I could, as what disfunctional office would be without some Dilbert strips somewhere.

I've also started adding some color to the line art to make it blend in more. Here the lines around his face are now orange themsleves, and set at the moment to 40% opacity Multiply.

-mike

[Tris3d]

Hehe, fantastic I know you have been colouring but I just love the expression on his face hehe! Really good update! Sheep tie looks great hehe!

[Kraull]

It's getting better at each new post! Great work so far Walrus! :thumbsup:

[Tommy Lee]

That's getting better and better. The guys face is hilarious:applause:

Cheerz

Tom

[Einar]

Very nice idea and great perspective! I really like your style and color work and how you integrate the pencils into the piece. Nice way of doing things. Great character designs, too! Best of luck to you.

[W-I-L]

loved watching u buld ur piece last time... the way u paint is great... love the detaisl and expression... all in all a very original, unique, hilarious piece. the tiw is fantastic

[pm_ceglowski]

I love Your Cthulhu-boss idea
hope to see more soon :D
:thumbsup:

cya
PI

[Arc80]

No critzs here... Just want to say very nice expression on him. BRILLIANT

cheers,
Archie

[Vectorius]

Thank you very much! You're advise is like your picture.. i mean creative and instructive...
I will do a machine above the character... and make arm with the machine in this WIP...I work on it now!

[Vahn]

i cant give any crits, not only because i amire your skill and experience, but because your entry is fantastic and very well executed :thumbsup:

You and many, many, many others make this contest so enjoyable, as there is so much to learn from :D

hooooraaay

[walrus]

Gee, thanks, everyone!!!
I'm really excited that my piece has resonated with folks and that you like how it's coming along. I promise that next time I update I'll show a full image shot of how it's progressing instead of just detail shots like this, 'cause sometimes it's really hard to see how things all fit into the big picture. I plan on doing all the runes soon, and some of the minor characters. (I think I'm going to draw the woman on the left all over again from scratch.)

Fiolka - I wasn't sure that what I'd posted would make sense or be helpful, so I'm really glad to hear that it was and was taken in the spirit with which it was intended. Good luck!

More as I have more to show. Thanks everyone for posting!

-mike

[yoff]

I fixed it to be within the lines a while back, I just didn't realize that I hadn't posted anything more recent updating that part of the image.
-mike
Ok, then :)

Brilliant update on the face. Very expressive, very scared. Be sure though, that it still also reads surprised. The whole piece is so much more dynamic and comical if the boss has just appeared. (A fog might add to this impression :)

Are the pencil lines under his mouth still a bit to strong, perhaps?

[NOOB!]

whoa looks awsome!!

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113324404_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113324404_large.jpg)

Thanks for the notes, Yoff. I have toned down the lines under the mouth as you pointed out, and tried the first pass at some fog underneath the boss. It's not there yet, but with some effort, I think it could work well.

So, let's see, what else is new here?
The man's face looked good in the last post all by itself, but in the larger scope of the piece, it needed more work to make him look overshadowed by his boss.

I've obviously added "text" to all of the paper, as well as the big-red-marks-of-doom, giving the whole interaction a bit more of a context.

The lights and stuff on the ceiling are NOT final by any means! I took some photos of the ceiling of my office and skewed them into place to see how they'd look. What do you think? I kinda like them, and am planning on using them for reference awhen I paint the ceiling details from scratch.

I'm definately going to repaint the woman. Did some good sketches for her yesterday.

And that's about it for now. And you can now see how everything is looking all together. Hope you like it!

-mike

[Arc80]

BRILLIANT, absolutely brilliant on your add ons. I know you are not done with it, but the fog is looking like a smoke. I think because its too dark. Keep it coming bro. I'm eager to see this in finish stage. :thumbsup:

cheers,
Archie

[NOOB!]

whoa! whoa! whoa! whoa!.....



...

whoa!

[Squibbit]

"no exit" hehehe

[BlacKeri]

Hahah this is one of my favourites in this contest! It's humorous and to boost, your technique is simply great. And all of the cool little "fantasy" details you have added, oh my gosh XD
Seriously, I am staring and staring and staring at this piece and I'm in awe :)
I definitely think you deserve to be among the winners! <3

[Aniii]

Wow, like your concept and drawing a lot !! The situation is very funny.
My only (little) crit is about the left hand of the monster (his left hand). But it's a detail :)

[walrus]

Ani - Thanks. I still have more work to do with the Boss's skin, but I'm not sure what you think isn't working about the hand. I know it's a detail, but I might as well get everything right, it's not like I don't have the time to get to it! :-) I'm not seeing it - been starting at it too long, I guess, so could I trouble you to be more specific? Thanks!!!

BlacKeri and Squibbit - Thanks so much! :D

Noob - you know, you sound kinda like Keanu Reeves when you do that.

Archie - You're right, it's not fog, it's black smoke. But I dunno, it does look kind of cool anyhow... like Fire and Brimstone, appropriately enough. Do you think a softer fog would look better?

-mike

[RichTee]

Well after offering such helpful advice regarding my post, i though i'd do the courteuos thing and check out your entry....low and behold its the same thread i was admiring earlier today at work. Love your concept mate, a refreshing take on a subject matter which seems populated with very similar ideas.

Kudos has to go to the way you've portrayed the hands (the bain of my artistic life)...you've even nailed the webbed hand in the background.

Lovely image, i like the blue backlight hitting the masters suit. Hope you'll carry that through onto the tentacles.

Excellent stuff....happy days

[marcheen]

this is nice piece of work. very eyecatching and fun. i very much like the creature's suit and also how you have managed to catch the moment.

good luck to you;)

[dougbot]

LOL. What a great piece. I really like the layout of this. Good fun.

[andreasrocha]

Yo Michael...Astonishing! Your rendering technique is flawless. Wondeful work! One small suggestion. Perhaps you could drop the girl behind the employee or place her somewhere else.
Two reasons:
1. The viewer's eyes go from the boss to the employee to the girl, exiting the frame, which you don't want to do.
2. She looks too similar to the employee taking away his uniqueness in the image.

Keep it up, Mike!

[Arc80]

Wa up bro,

Do you think a softer fog would look better?

Actually, i really like what you have here, the smoke effect. It goes with the environment and with what you have around and the subject. You have candles and pentagram signs and what not. So i think the smoke is a lot more appropriate than putting a light fog. It adds up to the mood of the piece. More updates...more...HAHAHA

cheers,
Archie :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[walrus]

Dang, you have a really good point there, Andreas. Having her not there would improve the eye-flow of the piece. But I'm also torn: I like having another human in there because it shows that there are humans (not just the main character) working in the office, not just monstrosities. Only problem is, there's no other place to put her! The composition is so jam-packed that there's no immediately obvious place to stick someone else without removing one of the existing creeps. I may try juts making her bluer and fading her into the background more. (Well, that and redrawing her from scratch.) Or I could ditch candle #3 and place her down there...

Thanks for the suggestion, it's great to hear your feedback, and it's given me something to think about!

bumphluff - Thanks! Yes, I'll be bringing some blue light into the tentacles... I'm saving rendering them for last: They'll be the most fun, and I want to keep folks tuning in so I'm saving the best for last! :-)

marcheen, dougbot, and archie - thanks much for the comments!

-mike

[W-I-L]

very nice.. whoa! whoa! whoa!... my name is NEO!

Sorry..anyway.. love it... yes i think the girl does pull some focus.

I like that fat dude in left bottom corner. is he supposed to be reaching dramatically for the fallen doughnut (like that is his only worry right now, oblivious to te rest of the goings on?) maybe you have said that already buit i can not be bothered ot look thru to search.. sorry!

[arkinet]

got the same concept at first, but changed it down the line. i like your cartoonish approach, all your color tone looks great. you might have answered this already, but I dont know whats the purpose of the candles though. Overall, great job!!

[olya]

great work!:thumbsup: Also details are excellently made:applause:

[walrus]

olya - thanks!!!

wil - I actually never explained anything about that guy down there. In genereal, I don't like to talk about my pieces all that much: If they're working, they stand on their own, and if they're not working, no amound of verbiage will explain it away. But for you...! That guy at the bottom is a Deep One, an aquatic servitor race that aided and abetted Cthulhu and other dark gods. Not that it's really important to the piece, just kind of an in-joke that no one except Black will get. He's mostly there for humor value - I like the idea of other creepy folks all dressed up to work in an office. And yes, he's reaching for the dunot. I know he's actually a ways away from it, but even so...

arkinet - I wanted the candles there because they're the sort of thing you might find in dark rituals to summon evil creatures or such... or at least, so I imagine, I've never actually performed one of these ceremonies myself, you see. And they serve the additional purpose of a warm light in that corner, which i like from a color stantpoint. But you're not the first to question them.
So I have to ask: Do they work? Should they go? Or maybe would they work better if they were a different color: Like black or red candles, maybe they would look more appropriately evil than plain old white candles...?

What do you all think?

Thanks!

-mike

[Jezzarts]

This is looking fantastic.. love those buttons! :bounce:

[duddlebug]

Looks great!!

The details make it... really clever stuff...

With him being a bit 'octopussy', is the fog gonna be a cloud of ink..?

[W-I-L]

ahh. thanks... the fact that he is far away from the doughnut gives alot of comey.. i have this mental picture of him in slow motion diving for it, and shouting noooooooooooooooooo in an extremly deep, slowed down way. greatness.. candles are great.. they made sence why they were there really... change colour if you want, but no need.

[arkinet]

about the candle...hmmm... to make it devilish maybe black-purplish, u know just a tone of it so that it wont steal the show, jst a thought...

[THE Wizard]

Man this jacket looks, freakin' real... Fantastic job!

[liquidwerx]

Ha ha, great idea! Nice execution too.

Good luck to you!


M

[LuisNCT]

Your paint remembers me Lovecraft but in funny-way

[walrus]

Jonny - I hadn't even thought of that as being ink. Not quite sure how I'd approach it, but I'll mull that one over some.

Wil - I kind of picture the deep one doing more of a Homer Simpson thing - "oooooh, donut!" Though this is definately a guy who obeys the 4-day rule: If it's been on the ground for 4 days or less, it's still safe to eat. But hey, it is a donut after all... You should see what Deep Ones usually eat!

arkinet - I gave it a shot and it looks pretty good - much more evil, and i hadn't noticed how the white in that corner was grabbing the eye 'til i got rid of it. Still, too small a single change to bother posting now, so you'll see it with the next post.

jezzarts, wizard, malachi, and luis - thank you!! Glad you're liking it, in funny-way. :-)

-mike

[digital-bobert]

hahaha... the octopus boss just shat ink all over that poor fellow. Thats looking really good Walrus! I like all the characters. I'd convert that to black and white and check out your tones tho. maybe darken up some shadows on the creatures eye sockets.. a bit scarier. but then again it all depends on what youre going for. good stuff

[beelow]

I wish my boss was an octopus. Good Hustle.:thumbsup:

[spacesnail]

Hi Michael

Quote : So I have to ask: Do they work? Should they go? Or maybe would they work better if they were a different color: Like black or red candles, maybe they would look more appropriately evil than plain old white candles...?

Black candles with red cabalistic signs ?
Awlays loving your entry:love:

Snail

[cabertevon]

Michael... Now i am speechless. Congratulations!!!

[jugeras]

youve really got an eye for detail. i really like the color especially the 2 light effect.

a bit more realistic smoke/mist perhaps? tnx for passing by.

[Goro]

woaaah looking awesomely cool man!

One thing though...I don't know if the blurry smoke fits with your style.
It's more a comic style and I think the smoke should look more....hmm how do I say..
sharp...

[cheeeng]

a funny piece at last hhhahh. well MR.walrus looks like having fun. you piece works best now as you have change to a lower angle depicting this mighty octopus boss. Add some black inks splitting out of it's mouth and on the staff that would freak them out hhaaaa:shrug:

[BlackDidThis]

Damn it, I come back from my holiday simply to log on, chek my email notifications simply to see you kicking some serious arse!!

I get your friends point about the tie. And he is absolutely right on that. I think you did a very good job on spreading the warmth. It was just unexpected on my part, thats it.
Woow perfect wife and clever friends :) You are one lucky guy!

I am loving the new updates on how things are going to your part. There are so may little details that are just TOO much. The sheep desighn on the guys tie (pun intended?) the smog rising from around the boss. All of it. I actually was wondering about the darkening of the boss in such office lighting. Well you seem to have pulled it off just fine.

I was intending on asking you if you would concider sort of darkening the girls eyes and having them point a bit more down. Because with your darkening the environment and all, the eyes seem to have really popped out and shown vivid. Sort of like they are a dupliate of our poor guy's eyes. But as I get it there is going to be some radical changes on her. I believe that Andreas has really pointed things out better about her. I hadn't noticed it such.

To follow my typical tradition of always saying something until you start to get fed up with me; Walrus, I think you have to sort of keep up to the fact that he has three fingers other than the thumb. So one sort of searches for a diffrence in the matacarpals as well. Though you have things correct looking. They don't feel four fingered. I read you were going to be working on that also, so well I just hope it compliments your work as good as everything else you have done.
The other thing is, that the writtings on the strips of paper just don't look like they are following the paper even though you have shown good effort on it. Have you tried texturing a surface in a sort of 3D package and bending the surface into shape, and use that as a ref?

I think the lights you skewed look just great! I really think you should go for it. I am sure you will pull it off very well.

All that said, your image is turning out VERY good.. VEEEEERY good!


Black

[walrus]

Wow, I check out this thread right before i go to sleep and then first thing in the morning and there are all these new posts! Cool! Thanks for dropping by, everyone!

Bobert - I haven't really touched the Boss's skin yet, so expect many changes in that before I'm done. Including the eye-sockets.. and the eyes themselves, come to think of it. And that's a great tip to convert it to greyscale and study values part-way through a piece. simple and obvious, yet I hardly ever do it... I'll give it a shot. Thanks!

Snail - I've given it a try and they're actually looking pretty good as dark candles. Whew, no need to eliminate them from the picture after all! You'll get to see in the next update.

Jugeras and Goro - Thanks. Yes, I have to confess, I was about to post this picture and just decided to airbrush in the clouds at the last minute to see how they'd look. I liked them so they stayed, but you're right in that it needs a much more sharp rendering to work. That is, if they stay clouds. I'd always pictured them as black smoke clouds, but now duddlebug, bobert, and cheeeng's comments about it being ink has me thinking about different ways to render it altogether, making it look more like ink. So I'll get around to messing with that at some point, too. Plenty of time!

Beelow and Cabertevon - Thank you!

Black - Welcome back from your holiday! Yes, of course the sheep pattern on the man's tie is intentional. Nothing in this piece is an accident... Except, that is, for all of the mistakes and unintentional goof-ups. But the tie - yep, what better theme for a Servant than 'sheep,' an idea I liked so much I've used it twice in this picture already! As fore the hands, if they function just like ours, would he necessarily have different metacarpals, or just fewer of them? As for doing the text on a 3D sheet - that's a heck of a lot of work for a very little gain. I definately see some places where I could edit whay I've got to fit the curve better, and that's probably just as effective a solution. But I don't mind your pointing it out at all, I'm really quite happy that you continue to challenge me and point out things I've missed. Feel free to keep doing it, I'm not getting fed up at all!

But it is time to get fed... as in time for breakfast. :D Catch you all later...!

-mike

[Harry D'Amour]

Wonderful piece, but I would rather see that you didn't turn old Cthulhu into too much of a octopus, so please no Ink. I like the smoke stuff, it shows that he suddenly appeared and scared that poor? guy senseless.

[pushav]

Hopefully walrus you will post this final image on the shane glines forum. Nice job on this and that woman you drew on the other froum. Keep it up.

[fooxoo]

Neat style! It is funny! The guy's expression is so neat! And you ve managed to portray the boss in a fab way! Good luck! :D I like it.

[MDN67]

always a very good pic, the realization is very nice and the expression of the characters is fantastic, only one crit, the smoke is too flooted by report at the rest of the compo

[APHA]

Realy nice illustration, playful

GoodLuck!

[APHA]

Realy nice illustration, playful

GoodLuck!

[walrus]

Harry - It's interesting, the folks who know who Cthulhu is have no trouble with it being smoke. The folks who don't assume it's an octopus-man and thus it's ink. You're right, though, that the former stays truer to what I'm trying to achieve.

PushaV - Yes, I will definitely post this on The Drawing Board when I'm done. Oh, and glad you liked the woman too!

fooxoo and apha - thanks!

MDN67 - Yes, I just painted that smoke in very loosely to see how it would look compositionally. I plan on refining it more later. Stay tuned...

And I think I'll actually have some time this weekend to work on this some more, too! :-) In the man time, thanks all for your posts and for checking out the thread!

-mike

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113685875_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113685875_large.jpg)

Hey, all!
I've had the chance to make a bunch o' small changes in this corner here, so I thought I'd post 'em up here.

I completely redrew the woman's head and reshaded it to add a lot more neutral blue. This way she sinks into the background a lot more, and is hopefully less intrusive into the composition. I know, the real test will be seeing her in the whole larger picture and judging. I'll post that soon.

I also painted the man's hands - they were still sloppy before, and did a whole bunch of touch-ups on the Deep One reaching for the donut.

Lastly, I recolored the candles black. Now they look more like something that would by used in some dark, arcane summoning ritual... which is their actual purpose. (Let's just hope they don't end up summoning He Who Must Not Be Named... Yes, you know who I mean: The head of the H.R. department! It's aways a bad omen when she shows up.)

Just for the record, I have not started painting the cloud on the ground or Cthulhu's skin yet, so that's why they're still looking unfinished!

-mike

[keko]

I like the expression on his face a lot. it can read very well. The color is very nice too. I like the lighting hit on his shirt from candle. I think this is a really good pic. best of luck!

[Arc80]

Dude, those are really nice improvement. Getting better everytime you post your updates. The woman is definately looking good and blending in with the background and the style of your piece. I like the darker candles too with a little hint of purple. Awesome dude. Keep it coming :thumbsup:

cheers

[RichTee]

I'm loving the details you've got going here. The candles look great. As a suggestion, it might be an idea to angle the flames off the left of the image, giving a greater sense of presence from the looming Cthulhu, like a strong gush of wind...?

quality stuff mate, look forward to seeing more. Keep at it :)

[arLutiK]

Wow man, what great artwork it's becoming, the lighting and details are amazing, that scared expretion is perfect, I love the little details everywhere.

Very nice and wonderful work you're making/

:applause::applause::applause:

[Vahn]

"(Let's just hope they don't end up summoning He Who Must Not Be Named... Yes, you know who I mean: The head of the H.R. department! It's aways a bad omen when she shows up.)"


waaah dont name the "mother of Lies" plzz...the dark one must not be named ....in some offices they believe that it brings bad luck! :scream:


nice update :)

the woman is much better now with this mouth and shading.

[ms@zx]

yo mike,i see u r quite there already,the details and all.i like especially the exaggerated expression of the guy.the comical approach seems refreshing to me too:)good luck mate.
anticipating for more of urs:thumbsup:

[xric7]

good evening
beautiful colours :thumbsup:
i realy love it's emotion & composition
:bounce: :bounce:

[nailuj]

the creases are really looking good!.
Just one comment, I feel his little pinky on the man is a tad too rotated and slanted to the right. Apart from tat..all's looking great!

[walrus]

keko and xric7 - thanks! glad you like the colors. I'd have gone for a different color scheme if everyone here hadn't voted me down! ;-)

archie - Getting better everytime you post your updates. Well, that is the general idea, right? :-) I would hope you could say that for everyone in this challenge! Glad you like the candles, I was happy for the suggestion, it's a big improvement.

bumphluff - great idea about the flames responding to the environment and boss! I'll definately have to do that!

artlutik & ms@zx - Cool, glad the expression is working! it's great to get the chance to do something over-the-top like this... and that's about the most over-the-top face I've ever done!

vahn - yeah, at my wife's old company, they used to have a nickname for the head of Human Resources: They called her "The Angel of Death." (Not to her face, of course!) If she showed up in the office, you just knew something bad was going down. But I would say it's pretty similar in places I've worked too. Unannounced visits from way-upper management and Human Resources is never a good thing. (It's worth noting that the company in this image does not have a Human Resources department: It's hard to read on the phone list above the calender, but it's "Inhuman Resources!")

nailuj - I see your point. I think it's mostly the creases in the finger than makes it look rotated wrong, so I'll start be eliminating them and seeing how it looks. Thanks for the note!

Oh, well, I should go work on the smoke so that people stop asking me why it doesn't look like it matches the rest of the rendering style! :-)

-mike

[Matt_Forcum]

Welp. thats it. stop the contest, its over, we have a winner!

:thumbsup:

[sidchagan]

The expression on the guy's face is just classic- he looks truly scared, and at the same time its just so hilarious, especially thinking of the big squid thing. Colors and lighting are looking better everytime.

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113840214_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113840214_large.jpg)

Ephesus - Well, of course we do! But all the rest of us should still keep working anyhow just to try and give Linda some competition! :-)
In all honesty, I'm really flatterred. Really, just thanks.

Sidchagan - Thank you, too!

Okay, here's the latest update:
I took bumphluff's idea of the moving flames and did a really quick pass witht he smudge tool. I like the effect, but now I'll probably paint over them a bit more.


I colored in just Cthulhu's eye and increased the saturation on his skin a bit (maybe TOO much!) but I still have yet to really start painting that part of the image. Wait for it..... :-)

Did some refinements to all of the background characters and the foreground printer, the "HP Lovercraft 4500."

and the big change, of course, is the smoke on the ground. NOW you can feel free to C&C that all you want, i need the feedback!

An' there we go!

-mike

[JimmiMak]

Love the concept you cheeky long toothed mammal!!:D

Only real crits I have are:

1) the boss' collar on "his" left hand side is going a bit wierd on the inside:surprised:
2) the little gremlin in the shirt and tie that 'appears' to be reaching for the doughnut... is he small or just miles away lol?... just something about it feels a bit naughty..:shrug:

Other than that the look on the guys face rocks!... I love the satanic paperwork lol... and the cheeky reeper hanging over the partition... I work in an office like this and I'm sure that my boss can float:surprised:

Let me know if you agree with my crits... or not as the case may be lol:D

Top ten material I'd say...

Cheers
Jimmi:thumbsup:

[Vectorius]

Good job! that seems finished ?! Good luck for the final one!:bounce:

[grafik]

Hi

eh eh eh very funny men!!! and more, this is very well done... concept, colours, characters!
good luck!


my MASTER & SLAVE:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?p=2138465 (http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?p=2138465)

[WyattHarris]

Well I've come to this post late but man is this a hilareous concept. I can identify with every aspect of it. (except the Dark one part) Casting Cthulthu in the part of Lumburg is a stroke of genius. Each little detail just adds that much more to the whole believablility.

You could write for despair.com with that obedience poster.

Great

[arLutiK]

Dude, once again great work love that monster trying to catch the doughtnut

[learner88]

Ah!this is the 1s time i see ur wip!very original!Nice style..no crits:thumbsup:

[Arc80]

It looks like you're almost done. I also like the effect on the candle lights. It really show some nice secondary movements. Just to be consistant, maybe do the same thing with some of the papers. Looking really nice dude. :thumbsup:

cheers :buttrock:

[BaronImpossible]

Superb, you've got a huge amount of detail in there without being bitty, and smooth shading without looking blurred. I'll buy a tutorial on how you do that for a $ :D

Just a few (very) minor crits ~

First, the big guy's hand looks a bit flimsy. Something in the way his fingers bend outwards at the top-most joint, I don't know. Just appears odd. I suppose it's pretty difficult to render octopus hands, though :D

The small guy's right hand (his right) - his little finger is at too much of an acute angle. It's too separated from the rest.

The big guy's eye is great, but because the light is behind him it looks like he has a hole in his head.

The HP Lovecraft thing really cracked me up, brilliant! (and I very rarely find anything funny in humorous artwork, I'm too miserable). But have you considered that HP is a trademark? I don't know what the rules are here, but I do know a number of sites don't allow trademarks in hosted art (Epilogue, for example) and I would hazard a guess that if this artwork was to be printed (it certainly should be) then Balistic might see it as a problem. If I were you I'd double-check with the powers-that-be. It seems stupid but it's better to be safe than sorry. It would be a total shame if this didn't rate because of some faffy legal issue.

[HOON]

certainly one of my favorite entry so far.
great characterization and style. i really enjoy seeing the line art inbetween colored volumes, unlike majority of entries here.
i would say that the concept isnt the strongest point of the image, (in my opinion) but your execution is bringing up the whole image very nicely.
great work, and seeing your work nearly finished makes me wanna go work harder and faster!
i will be looking forward your progress from here on! keep rockin man!

[Speaky]

Hi Walrus, I've really enjoyed looking at your pic - so many great details and I'm loving the way you rendered the boss' suit. I noticed the office boy's right hand pinky isn't quite right, which someone pointed out already I think. I'd also think that having the distant areas even darker would really pop the office boy out a bit more and show off the candles which are a bit lost currently. Very nice job so far, keep it coming! :thumbsup:

[walrus]

Thanks for all of the posts, folks! All those replies and not a sinlge one commenting on the smoke: I'm going to assume no news is good news. Surely someone would have said something if it weren't working!

JimmiMac - Which collar do you mean, his shirt of his suit? I'm not seeing anything wrong, so if you could be more specific about what's bugging you...? As for the "Deep One" on the bottom, he's really way in the background, far too far away to reach the donut. But he looks boring not doing anything. What do you think, should I ditch him? He's funny, but he's pretty exaggerated in scale. (At least Artluk likes him - thanks Artluk!!!)

Fiolka - Thanks! It's not quite finished yet - I still have to paint the boss's skin, and the ceiling, and fix a lot of small details. I have a month, I'm taking my time.

Grafik, Wyatt, learner88, Arc80, and Hoon - Thanks!

Baron Impossible - Not sure there's all that much to say about how I work. I fill in the areas with solid colors and the hilights and shadows on another layer like I detailed earlier. When it comes to final renderring, I start with a soft airbrush to rough it out and migrate to a brush tool set to about 50% hardness and stylus-controlled opacity. (This is in Photoshop.)
I think you're right about that hand, it may entail a redraw. And you're also right about that man's pinky. Several have mentioned it, think I'll have to redo that one too. Thanks for pointing them both out! Hmm, you're right about the eye looking like a hole too. For a while it WAS just a hole in the layer and I didn't even notice it! But now it's a pale yellow... maybe TOO pale. I'll have to see if it looks better darker and yet still reads.
As for the legalities, I hadn't thought of that either. I suppose I could use a different HP logo, not the one stolen from Hewlette Packard. But I should ask on the question page too just to be safe.

Speaky - Thanks! Yeah, I know I have to work on that pinky. As for the background, I'll see how it looks. I don't want to go too dark because I don't want the piece that creepy in mood... Or ratehr, I want the creep factor to come from the contrast of the Boss with the conventional office, not from the moody lighting. But if I can make my color composition work better... Anyhow, I'll give it a shot later on, thanks for suggesting it!

Okay, back to work work. See y'all later...

-mike

[AlyFell]

Really enjoying your work Michael! No crits, but I'm finding it difficult to believe you can actually get anymore detail in this! As you say though, we've still got a month, and it is fun to take your time! :) Wonderful!

[Harry D'Amour]

Yes, I love that smoke, it's precisely how I envisioned it. Now it really looks as if he suddenly appears from nowhere giving the guy a midly heart attack.

[ciscoleal]

I really love your work. Really pro stuff.

[Nigel-Q]

this is looking awesome. super clean style and great colours and rendering. your warms and cools are balancing nicely.

[SteelPixel]

Nobody's commented on the smoke? I think it looks great, the blur effect gives it an otherwordly feel, as if it was sort of half in this dimension and half in another.
Great details overall, sure it's been mentioned by now but is that a walrus calendar behind the candles?

like the cufflinks too..I want those

oh the only crit I have is the collar of the suit behind cthulthu's neck, suit collars have a sharp crease not a roll when they flip, however everything else is so nicely done that I guess you must have done that on purpose, in which case I think that bugs me a little

anyway very clean & clever piece ...nice job

[ilusiondigital]

Wow, love it this image, great concept.

PS: I have a boss like this. =)

MY M&S http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=229417

[JimmiMak]

Hi Walrus.. I just want to retract my earlier comment about the collar... the more I look at the dimensions of the boss' head, it probably would cause the suit collar to corner bend like that.. Sorry... I'm just so used to wearing a suit everyday and not having a 38inch green neck lol..

As for the little doughnut monster.. I just get this dirty feeling that he's nowhere near the doughnut... I WANT HIM TO EAT IT:twisted: ...

But then.. he does add a lot to the piece... hmmm... dilema time.. err.. Can you bring him into the foreground a bit?... Come on people.. am I just nitpicking here?:shrug:

I think I might be... but I only do this when I really like a piece... are you aware that almost any corporate illustration house in the world would buy this piece from you in order to print it in a reference catalogue?.. I used to use them all the time in college and they cost a small fortune to buy.:D ... just a thought... maybe you were gunna do so anyway?..

Could you perhaps do the gremlin with a half eaten doughnut in one hand.. (crumbs falling from mouth etc..) and him being a greedy mofo and running for another one?... just a thought..

Let me know... am very interested to see where this ranks as I've yet to see a similar piece of work on here... which is saying something!!

Feeling the love
Jimmi:thumbsup:

[PeterSanitra]

one of the best here.10ten sure :thumbsup:

[the-mighty-m]

Love the pic of Cthulu, reminds me of my bosses!
Nice touch on the printer name.

[TeemuR]

Heya, Walrus! Cool boss you have there! :scream:
Maybe you could bring even more mood and atmosphere if you try to darken some areas a bit more. You could even try to darken the top left corner even there's your light source. :)

[walrus]

'Morning all! ... Or whatever time of day it is for you whereever you are. For me it's morning... yaaaawn! (:-O

Posh, Harry, ciscoleal, and nigel - Thanks so much!

SteelPixel - The calender behind the candles is not a Walrus calender. There's a close-up of it one one of the earlier pages if you feel like digging, but it's one of those "motivational" calenders you sometimes see in offices, with maxims about "Teamwork" and "Synergy" and a beautiful landscape photo. Only this calender extolls "Obedience" and has a pretty picture of sheep.

As for Cthulhu's collar: Every time I've seen a drawing of a Mind-Flayer (like in D&D Monster Manuals, etcetera) they always have this high-collar that goes up over their head, like this:

http://www.castle-grounds.co.uk/nb/chapters/i_chap/c83_mindflayer.jpg

So what I was trying to do was create some sort of way to duplicate that effect with a business-suit, to find some way to make his attire feel more Cthulhu-y somehow. So it was intentional. Sorry it bugs you, but maybe at least now it makes a little more sense? ( or not :-/ )

ilusiondigital - Thanks, and I'm sorry!

JimmiMac - Don't be silly, I'm this far along and I have a month to go, I'm really quite happy to get posts pointing out small details to fix! It gives me something to do, and gets my image better. I'm glad I have a lot more time this time 'round to be able to respond to and act on those kinds of small details, so feel free to keep 'em coming!

As for the guy on the bottom, no, you're right, he's way too far in the background to have any logical interaction with the donut. I'll mess with it a bit later, maybe up the scale, or see what I can do to tie them together. I'm not above taking him out and drawing him from scratch, but overall I'd like to keep in the donut (donut-days are a mainstay at my office!) and the idea of the non-human in an oxford shirt and box tie, even though it is hard to read.)

I had never thought about selling this image to an illustration house or anywhere else. I was really just concentrating on it as a contest entry. I'm not even sure, doesn't CGTalk end up owning a piece of it when I'm done anyhow? But it's certainly something to consider, which I never have before. If you have any more info on that avenue, please let me know (here or offline. ) It's all new to me!

Darkone and Mighty_M - Thank you! (and again, apologies about your boss. You could recommend Clearasil and Dale Carnegie classes, but only if you don't value your job all that much.)

TeemuR - I'll see what I can do about the mood. I don't want to make it too moody because I want ti to still feel like a (well-lit) office, but maybe it could use some tweaking. I'll see...

Thanks, all! You folks are too kind!

-mike

[JimmiMak]

First of all, I have to say, I am totaly feeling the collar now and would advise against changing it... just took me a while to get used to it.

As for the Corporate illustration, with you being in the USA.. it may be a different ball game. Over here, the first thing I would do, is to phone all the biggest newspapers (ie:Financial Times, The Guardian etc...) All the High-Brow Broadsheets, that use things like this... and ask them where they get their illustrations from.. It may be from a resource book or a website or inhouse... Either way it will give you a first point of contact. If you get in touch with the main supplier (there will be very few) You need to submit a few of your (Copyrited by mailing to yourself) pieces of work similar to this. You're good with concept and your work rate is immense, so you should have no problem with this. People make a tidy living from political and corporate based art work... so start there. The other avenue is to get in touch with a publisher of corporate illustration resource books (Google it) and submit some copyrited pieces.

Drop me a line if you need some research doing, always happy to help, and I will have a look:D

Regards
Jimmi:D:thumbsup:

[Smyk Vitaliy]

Hi dude! Excelent work. I like your style, angle view, monster etc. Very expression. Good luck man. Best regards !!!
My master & servant
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?postid=2185211#post2185211

[TheFirstAngel]

Just an excellent work. love it a lot. he looks exactly how i imagine billyboy without glasses :p
jk. great work walrus, no crits so far, cuz your piece simply rox

[WyattHarris]

HP Lovecraft 4500!

Brilliant, I'm lovin this.

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113968498_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1113968498_large.jpg)

Jimmi - thanks for the info about freelance art sales, I really appreciate it. It's something I mentally toy with the idea of doing fulltime on occasion, or at least when the day job is a drag. And the day job lately? Well, let's just say that the theme of this painting didn't come from nowhere! :-) Anyhow, I may ask you more later offline...

Smyk, Angel, and Wyatt - Thanks for dropping in!

Okay, onto the update. It's pretty small: I spent a little time this evening working the two front hands, one on the human and one on the boss. Nailuj, Baron Impossible, and Speaky pointed out the wierdly-turned pinky on the man. I turned it in more, but not a ton. At this point it's looking pretty close to my hands, which I took a lot of good digital shots of. But better than it was before, I hope.

As for the boss's hand holding the folder, which Baron Impossible also pointed out (thanks, Baron!) it may still be awkward. I think it works better than the one before, though. For some reason I'm finding it a kinda tough pose...

But at this point I've been looking at it for too long tonight and need to get home. So drop me a line... Do you think the new hands are working okay?
Thanks!

-mike

[SteelPixel]

aww too bad no walruses but the motivational thing is cool too, sorry 25 pages of postings to wade through and with so many entries makes it hard to keep up! wish I'd seen it first :)

as for the collar thing, you have enlightened me and now I see where it comes from, sorry if I sounded snotty in my ignorance and/or honesty (wasn't trying too), anyway now it makes perfect sense and you have my approval :) just kidding,

anyway it's a great entry
good luck

[mybutterflyiris]

wow this looks great...I think the hands look fine...in fact i wouldn't change a thing. Congrats on an awesome job well done! I really like the style as well.

[Squibbit]

yay u finished? pic looks great! the fluttering candle flames ,nice touch, I mightn't
have thought of that!

[Slav]

very well done very clean and defined. nothing more to say. :thumbsup:

[BlackDidThis]

What your finished???!!

Hey I didn't even get to nag a bit more on the metacarpal bit I had brought up (And forgot about.. I am SO sorry)

What I had meant was the fact that when you have the same demanding tasks to three fingers. the hands live through a sort of mutation, thus the musecles having to connect diffrently in order to gain more leverage on the activity. Your earlier hand was sort of like a regular had that just lost one of it's fingers.
I really liked what you did about the new hands now though. They are definately more convincing and they really fit perfectly into the general atmosphere you have all through out.
About his right hand holding the paper up, I think you have gotten that one fairly good. The distances the bones would allow for such a pose seem very correct. The only problem here is the fact that such a hold would not really produce such a stance on the paper. But when you think of it, he is VERY pissed off. So I think it could be that out of his rage he is really tencing his fingers, though being gentler to such an important document.

I know it is a bit late now, but in your over all composition I am having some 'Escher' type depth issues. Like when I look at the manner that he is looking, the way that he is tilted to a fall.. thus having his legs more up front, I personally expect the boss to be behind. The ink smoke being more behind the guy than infront of him.
Or like once again how the guys right hand is one of the closest element of him to us. so the donut should be very close aswel... so his colege jumping to grab the donut from so far back just add's more to the 'Escher'ness.

When I think in another level, it seems fitting, but then again it also feels wrong.
None the less the image all together is a hell of a job. And your finishing is a hell of a disapointment. It was great pleasure to come here and tear your updates apart :sad:

Good luck Mike..I don't think you are really going to be needing it!


Black

[BaronImpossible]

Brilliant in every respect! :thumbsup: I just hope you can keep the HP thing - I still laugh every time I think about it :D

[E.T]

Hey Walrus, this is SO funny in so many ways.
Nicely executed too.
:thumbsup:

good luck to ya!
I think as good as all the entries look this time EVERYONE is gonna need it. :)

[pcpower]

I hope this wins. IMO, it can easily stand up to Enayla on its own, although it's in a different style class. Both are mastery, this one is hilarious! ;)

[Arc80]

Looking mighty sweet dude. Thanks for dropping by again at my thread. I took your advice on the characters issue.
Just a small critzs, i think the wringkle on the guys left hand is a little too much. Other than that, i think everything LOOKS AWESOME.

cheers

[fensterer]

Well I can honestly say I never thought I'd see Cthulu in a business suit. lol I like this idea, very cool stuff! Nice work!

[walrus]

Wow! What a surprise to log on in this morning and find out that I was finished with this image! News to me! I was having some troubles posting last night and I guess somewhere along the way this accidentally got set to the wrong milestone. Let me state unequivocably that I am NOT FINISHED with this painting!
It was an accident! I still have a lot more feedback to get, and a lot more work to do. I haven't even STARTED detailing Cthulhu's skin yet! So let's just forget about this boneheaded maneuver and get back to commenting on and fixing my piece, eh?

SteelPixel - no worries, I don't expect anyone but me to wade through all of the posts here. And it's a perfectly valid comment: You shouldn't have to read my written explanations for the art to make sense. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, and no amount of explaining can make it better. (That being said, it does happen to work for me! :) )

butterflyiris - Thanks, but i still have a thing or two to change! :-)

squibbit - i wouldn't have thought of it either! fortunately, bumphluff did and commented on it. (thanks again, bumphluff!)

slav - thanks!

black - hmmm, you're right about the paper needing to crinkle a bit more. I think the hand is left over from some of my earlier sketches (ie. on page 1) where he was daintily holding a coffee cup. That didn't work, but the hand stayed... But you're right that the paper need to "respond" to that better.
As for the "escherness," yeah, i tend to do that a lot. My compositions are in a way more emotional than strictly perspective-correct. If I want a looming camera angle, i just stick one in. It gives the layouts more of an emotional impact even though it's at the same time a bit wacked out. I'm still stressing over what to do with that guy on the bottom there: Half the people call me on the fact that he'd be yards away from the donut and how could he possibly be reaching for it? And I could have him not reaching, maybe just looking scared or something.... But then I'd get hell from all the people who have posted to say that the guy down there cracks themup. So I don't know... I still have a few weeks to mess with it if I decide to...

Baron - I have a post about the legalities of the HP logo on the questions page (just a few posts after is my question, "This 'Final' image doesn't have to be the final fianl image, does it?" I hope I head back something about it and can somehow keep it.

E.T. - thanks! There are some great entries this time around... And if the last CG-Challenge is any indication, we'll see a lot more before the end, with people finishing up theirs surprisingly well, or coming out of the woodwork 3 days before the end of the competition to post all tehir milestones withing a single day! So it ain't over 'til it's over!

pcpower - I love Enayla's technique and painting, but maybe I can keep my fingers crossed that "humor" will be one of the secret judging criteria... that is, if I even make it through the popular vote into the final round of judging. I'm not holding my breath just yet.

Archie - glad I could be of soime service. I think you're right about the hand wrinkles, and that's an easy fix...

fensterer - neither did his mom: he was such a slobby child...! :-) anyhow, thanks!

Okay, now back to work on this unfinished painting! Keep posting! :thumbsup:


-mike

p.s. In trying to post this posts and it's vehement denial of completion, i just discovered that CGTalk weeds out messages that have too many exclamation points in a row... seems kinda weird, 'til i think about posts i've seen on other forums, with entire rows of punctuation. On second thought, I think not letting people post that is probably a good thing! :sad:

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114015723_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114015723_large.jpg)

See! Just to prove I'm not done with this painting, I'm still working on it!

I fixed the eye so it doesn't look like a hole in the head anymore (and I also made them squint a bit more so that he looks even more displeased) and I took down the human hand's wrinkles some, too. (Toldja it was an easy fix!)

I's always wanted to put something hanging on the cubicle wall on the right side to balance out the left, but then ended up mostly covering that area with smoke. Originally it was going to be a poster for the company picnic - manditory attendance and you had to make up the time, IT Department Sacrifices, monsters playing softball the works!) but it just didn't fit.
Now it says "EMPLOYEES MUST SUBMIT ... expense reports to the accounting office on the 7th floor." Mostly you can only read the top. :-)

-mike

[arLutiK]

Well to quote Picasso, a painting is never finish heheh

great work, where can I get cufflinks like your beast have.

Great work love your image

[snowkiwi]

I know this is not the reply your expecting: It's cute.

I really like how the suit looks, and the proportions for the octopus boss.

Good luck Walrus.

[clayeraser]

Great painting... Iam new here and I love the quailty of the members work.
Good Luck.

[PascalR]

Great idea! And really nicely done.
Impressive work!
Pascal
:thumbsup:

[eRDe]

Super! Super! Super! :)

[overcontrast]

wow great idea! great colors! great compostion and great work!!... i love this one.. very funny and totally unique... keep it up mate ur gonna do just fine!! :thumbsup:

[Agent-Orange]

I must say I love this one, it is one of my favoratesThe piece of paper in its hand is awesome

[spacesnail]

Congratulation for finishing your picture!!! Noooooooooooooo, i'm joking :scream:

The octopus boss imho seems very clean... perhaps some slime ?

Anyhow, perfect picture waiting to see the tweakings to come

[jugeras]

yup. still going. and going great it is. cheeeeeeers maaaaaaaan!

[walrus]

Hey, everyone! Yep, still going... I checked on the FAQ/Answers page, and Mibus said that we're all allowed to enter miltiple "Final Images" just like we can enter multiple "Color WIPs" and "Concept Sketches" and such... So I'm cool.

arlutik - try The Bone Room (http://www.boneroom.com/). It's a store near me that sells bones and skulls and bugs and stuff. Couldn't find any actual cufflinks on their site (I made mine up myself) but you might find their site cool.

snowkiwi - Thank you! I am in no way offended by having my art called cute, 'though I would hardly call this the cutest of my pieces. (I also do Children's art. (http://www.michaeldashow.com/childrens.html))

spaceSnail - Grrr! :D
But yeah, I only just last night started detailing the Boss's skin. A lot more specular hilights to make it look wetter, and a lot more bumpiness all over the skin. I aim to get the tentacles looking very slimy! Nothing to post yet, but soon...

eRDe - Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

Everyone else - Thanks to you all too for dropping by and being so supportive. Glad I'm still actually in this challenge! ;-)

-mike

[GhostInTheMachine]

this is lookign very good. i like all the detailing, watch etc. it adds loads to the image.

[Cregar]

Great Illustration :)

[dougbot]

Ah, this is looking great. Being a long time Lovecraft fan, I'm loving this piece. Great humor in it too.

[HomeBody]

Michael first let me say this is super work, and I really love what have done here. I just noticed a couple possible tangent problems and have made a drawing to better describe what I mean. The printer's vent being right on the edge there bugs me some. Perhaps, moving it back the in other direction so that only half the vent is seen could work too. I think there also some slight issues with that of the monster's suit jacket tail, and the shoulders of the two main characters. By just moving them ever so slightly you could really punch the visual space back in those areas. I really love the line of the monster's shoulder as it now, but it seems to conform to the line in the ceiling tiles a little too much for me. Take these with a grain of salt plz. I may be full of crap, and often am. As it is now this piece is super cool! Masterful work on the lighting, and excellent concept sketches :) That calender is soooooo awesome lol. Please let me know if you feel me drawing on your drawing is too evasive and i will remove this promptly.
Sincerely,
HomeBody (aka Josh)

http://www.angelfire.com/art3/homebody/tangents.jpg

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114186263_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114186263_large.jpg)

Ghost, Cregar, and Dougbot - thank you!

Okay, lots of people have been commenting on how the guy in the lower left corner is funny, but he totally breaks all laws of perspective and distance. The main problem is that he's reaching for a donut which would by all rights be 20 feet away from him. So I've been doing some doodles to see if I can come up with something better, someone who fits the general theme of "the undesirable coworker" who is somehow taking pleasure in the main character's plight and discomfort. Here are a bunch of little, rough doodles I did to try to work something in which would relate back to main conflict central to the piece.

Please let me know what you think, and if certain ones work for you (or not) and why... Thanks!

-mike

[crowley]

I really dig number 3. Good luck :)

[Falcorr]

i choose the last one.. Number 5 ... and why?

Because he looks like such an arse kisser for the cthulhu boss and looking like now he is gonna get it *chuckles* look :D

Best emotional context in my book.

and here are the nominees for the worst ideas.. Worst being last.
3.
4.
1.
2. worst

[sidchagan]

I think #4 would be best, the perspective and expression are perfect. #2 is the weakest in my opinion (I actually dont like any of the ones with the skeleton, he just seems too out of place with everything else so...full).

[frak3]

I like 3, b/c it goes with the clique of the fat office guy who is more smug than he is heavy. ANd the coffee cup HAS to stay in!

[ebrowning]

I vote for #3, but instead of making him with the angry eyebrows, what if he was pleased? like really enjoying what was going on, juxtaposed against the obvious displeasure of the main guy? Just a thought.

[arLutiK]

Number 3 is cool

but you could still keep the one that is reaching for the doughnot if you make him drewling would make him seem like he wants the doughnot more then he's catching it.

[Harry D'Amour]

I love Nr 3, yes it looks so good. He stands there holding the mug and thinking to himself "hehe now he's really going to get it".

[BlackDidThis]

I really couldn't decide personally...
But I really liked Falcor_'s reasonings about #5

And actually Sidchagan does have apoint about #4...


Come on Mike.. you know I am bad at this.. I always choose the wrong number:cry:
Naa now seriously, they all have a diffrent story in them that offers a better catch (no pun intended) than the donut grabber.

I guess I actually just posted out of habbit.


Black

[Ilikesoup]

I like Pudgy from #5, but what if he were tiptoeing around the corner to the right stealing a box of donuts, office supplies or something while wassisname is being chewed out?

Love what you've done with the place since I last saw it. The Lovecraft laser printer is awesome!

[ThierryS]

Hi Mike, I'm dicovering little by little all the entries of the contest. I like your's, it's very funny as is the rest of your art I saw in your links. Great illustrations really!:thumbsup:


All the best for your entry.

As for your last post I would go for number 3 are adapt the perspective of the mug he's holding.:)

Thierry

[walrus]

Hey, all! Thanks for your thoughts. I'm liking #3 as well, except for the fact that it also could be misconstrued as a really small guy poking the human in the back of the leg. #5 is good too, but as a friend of mine pointed out, it looks like he's thinking "Ha! Got you!" as if he set up the human. I will likely doodle some ombination of the 2, tending more towards #3. But I'm going out of town for a day or two and don't know whether I'll have web access, so see you soon and have a good weekend. Back Sunday night or monday with a hopefully final sketch for the little guy! :-)

-mike

[Tris3d]

Hiya, well i'm going against what everyone else seems to be going for! I really like number 1! I'm not sure whether its because he looks really satified and excited about whats going on or whether its just because I like the character design! I think its a combo between the two! Anyway, I can see other peoples reasoning and they make a lot of sense so good luck with what ever you go for!

[minduinho]

actually i would chose the 2nd, cause its more funny.
look like he is saying "YEAH BOSS! KICK HIS ASS!" as the human was new at the job, and no one can handle his mess anymore.

[Vahn]

my favorite is nr 1 .....every office has a malignant dastard bitch and he just looks like it :D

i like that hes peeking out of his cubicle... it somehow fits best imho

[vilius]

the third is my favourite;]

[liiga]

I really like the first one, although the fifth is particularly Evil looking. Very nice work so far! :)

[TheFirstAngel]

Pose 1 and 5 with the separatonwall work both fine. since the boss already is an ugly bastard, i like the subtile "slimy shitty piece"-way 3 and 5 look like, they have something cute in being evil... if that makes sense. hehe, of course thats just me :)
lovely characters... keep it up!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Arc80]

1 and 5's facial expressions looks good...but then again, they all seem to cool to me. :banghead: can't really decide, but you have my vote on 1 or 5.

cheers :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114413313_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114413313_large.jpg)

Wow, so many responses from everyone! And no clear consensus... For a while it looked like everyone was into #3, but then I started getting votes across the board. I guess that means that they all had something going for them. Thanks for dropping by to tell me what you thought.

Generally, it seemed like people were mostly into sketches #3 and #5, which all in all were my favorites too, aside from the problems that I mentioned last post. So I kept working on doodels along those lines and came up with something that captured what I think were the best parts of both. Once I inadventantly doodled two different sketches that looked almost identically, I knew I'd arrived at where I needed to be.

1stangel - I liked the idea of the cubicle wall being there, but when I put it in, it made it look as though the entrance to the main character's cubicle was only 2 feet wide. It didn't work, so it had to go.

And so anyhow, here's what I ended up with. The little tufts of hair over the ears were a happy coincidence that worked well for the character. I still could do some tweaking to the whole thing. You'll see I finally got in that coffee mug from my earliest sketches! But the mug may be calling out for some logo or cartoon character or something.

Anyhow, thanks again for the input! Really appreciate the extra eyes and brains...! :-)

-mike

[THE Wizard]

Ok, I have a suggestion - why nt add something like a red smoke on the (what's the word - opposite of floor on top) cealing I think, above the squid dude that's coming down to him, that will make more evil effect, something like *puf* I'm here and I'll make your life a living hell

[Squibbit]

argh dude you got some of those spells wrong the papers!
o well, guess it don't matter since it's just a pic.

super detail, excellent pic!

[the-mighty-m]

Looking really cool!

[Harry D'Amour]

Yes, oh yes. So goood! :thumbsup:

[walrus]

The Wizard - Thanks for the idea! Yes, 'ceiling' is the right word. It's an interesting idea, but I also want to keep this piece from being too overdramatic: The more smoke and flashy lighting I add, the less it feels like an office to me, which I want to keep.

Squibbit - Good eyes! But of course I intentionally got that spell wrong: It's to keep people from trying it at home! :-)

'M' and Harry - Thanks!

Looking at it this morning, I realize that even though the warm lights from the candle are subtle on the coworker's face, he's far enough in the background that they shouldn't be on him at all. Oh, and speaking of the candle, that flame will be repainted a bit sharper, too.

Thanks for tuning in!

-mike

[xric7]

wow..
realy cool character.:bounce:
wait to see more

[Arc80]

That's cool. It matches the overall piece. That ghost vapor is cool too. i'll check back for more. :thumbsup:

cheers

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114467712_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114467712_large.jpg)

Thanks, guys. But truth to tell, thee's just not all that much to wait for at this point. I'm pretty close to being finished, i think.

Here's a bunch of work on the Boss's skin texture. This is more where I wanted to take it earlier, something wrinkly and a bit slimy. 'Though if anyone has some more tips on what I can do to make him look more slimy short of actually having slime drip off him, which would ruin the suit, which is bad. But 'side from that. I'm all ears for techniques.

I also am trying out some ceiling tile patterns. What do you think of what i used and how it works? Too "realistic" Not painterly enough? Too distracting? Let me know...

Thanks!

-mike

[Agent-Orange]

Not really any crits. The ceiling tiles look good, maybe darken the spots a bit.


Just wanted to say goog job:thumbsup:

[eclipson]

great details on the octopus's head :eek:

[cha0t1c1]

omg, just dropped by to send some congrats on such an effort, gorgeous...

[MKStudios]

:thumbsup: Good Lord, Mike! That's awesome, what a concept, and so well executed!

Yikes. I need to get out more. When's the deadline? I better get busy! :banghead:

Great work!

[ravioli_rancher]

walrus,

Your entry is by far my favorite. The level of detail and thought put into each character is remarkable.

Just as a counterpoint to your wicked humor, have you every seen a horribly gruesome movie called Dagon. It's supposedly inspired by the H P Lovecraft story of the same name, but is about as far from it as a fish holding haunted coffee (mainly becuase of an intensely graphic flaying scene near the end). Bah. Anyway, its a movie about an octopus head. That's why I bring it up. You draw an octopus head. I think, Hey! Once I saw a movie all about mean fish heads. Me numb.

:banghead:

But your skills are incredible. Yet another CGTalk member to admire and learn from. :bounce: :cry:

[MVP]

Been watching this entry from the start and have loved every update.


Why don't you put some slimy strands between his mouth tendrils. ...like chewing gum but thinner and more opaque?

Love your work.

[Nightwing]

Awesome work Mike!

Love the slimy look to the boss's skin. MVP makes a good suggestion, perhaps some strands of slime? I don't know if this is nitpicky or TOO much detail, but perhaps his shirt collar and around the knot of his tie could be slightly damp to reflect his slimy skin texture?

Love the new co-worker, particularly the death's head in the coffee steam....great little touch!

[kaparo]

Hi Michael! This is getting better everytime I see it! I love the way your image took. It has lots of little stories around the main one. This master is awesome! Congratulations!:eek:

[Nerd_Pack]

the idea's looking good, the texture definitely helps to enhance the boss. The composition is good overall too.


Good luck!

Josh

[fensterer]

Wow, the skin looks great, and it looks finished to me. Again, great work!:buttrock:

[walrus]

Everyone - Thanks for the comments! Glad everyone's liking it. Thanks for the enthusiastic posts! It's starting to feel pretty close to finished, but I appreciate whatever observations you can offer. I sure have time...

Phil - thanks! But I've got 3 weeks to make small tweaks and pick nits, might as well do what I can.

MVP and Nightwing - THanks for the ideas! I'd love to get the boss looking even slimier if I can. I think the idea of adding some strands of ooze are a good idea, I'll give it a shot. No need to apologize about being "too" nitpicky, as I don't think there is such thing... especially given how much work is left to do and how much time I have left to work on it. (i.e. not much and lots respectively.) However, while I want to make him slimy, I also want to convey the dapperness with which managers always are able to carry themsleves. Always so tidy and spotless, I've never had a manager in an oxford with big stains on it. So I'd like to convey that with this guy: He may be slimy, but his clothes will be perfect.

Ravioli - I've heard of 'Dagon' but never seen it nor seen clips or stills from it. Maybe I'll have to check it out soem time.

MK - THanks! You still have something like 3 weeks 'til the deadline, plenty of time! Don't leave it all 'til the last minute, though...!

Agent Orange - Really? And I thought the ceiling tiles were too unsubtle! :-D

Okay, so like I was saying above, I'm at a long finishing-up stage, so feel free to be as picky as you want. Sometime soon I'll post a shot of the whole thing so that you can see how all these little parts look all strung together. 'Til then, thanks for tuning in and thanks for the comments!

-mike

[cheeeng]

Keep the tiles man. DOesn't really distracting at all infact it adds interest to it. Love how the octopus face turns out now. It's more solid.Keep going dude.

[THE Wizard]

The only thing I might add becaide GREAT is (oh, you must hate me with all this suggestions) I think that the Boss's face is a little brighter with lightning... I know there are neon glows abowe him, but, just, oh.... who am I to tell...

[SavageCreature]

Nice piece. I wouldn't comment at all, 'cept I saw you asked for suggestions to make him look slimier . . . .
Smaller (though not always small), sharper, pure white specular highlights (with little or no falloff) combined with reflections make a surface look wet. The ones you've got now , I think, are softer and are picking up just a little too much of the surface color of the ugly boss' skin and there's no reflection off the surface. Just a thought. You've done great work in any case.
c.


kinda like this:
http://www.esa.int/images/DSC01475-nd,1.jpg

[eparts]

nice skin detailing!
I think it could get more slimy ;) add more highlights .. and perhaps a bit dripping drom his tentacles.. Have you ever seeen Venom in the spiderman comics? thats really some extreme slime dripping. i love that wild almost dancing slime. gives alot of movement

http://www.catskillcomics.com/davidbeck/venom.JPG
sliiime

[W-I-L]

looking fantastic.. and disgusting... use of colour is great.

[Mordalles]

wow, simply amazing skin texture youve got going there!

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114561427_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114561427_large.jpg)

Okay, I promised I'd post a version of this with all of the parts in one place so you can see how the whole piece is looking. Plus I've made a few small changes here and there, additions to the printer, new candle flames, fixed to the ceiling hardware, glows from the lights (maybe too much so!), a logo on the mug (hard to read that it says "Miskatonic U" from here, though.)


Wizard - Thanks for posting. I'm not really getting the point you're making, though...?

SavageCreature - thanks for the concrete suggestions and great photoref! Hmm, I may have to go back to an earlier version of the Boss's head and take a new stab at the hilights: I lightened them from the top and then added the hilights, maybe I should just add strong hilights without also lightening the skin...

eparts - thanks for your reference too! That is sime slimey slime all right!

W!l and Mordalles - Thank you! Hopefully i'll be able to make it even better...

-mike

[arLutiK]

I love it, great details on the head of your creature.

Dude your image rules. :cool:

[MKStudios]

That's looking AWESOME! The details are the best!

Where can I buy an HP Lovecraft printer!?! :scream:

[Harry D'Amour]

Wonderful!! Miskatonic U, hehe I wonder what he majored in?

[jeromoo]

HP Lovecraft printer?!!! LOL!:applause: That was a very smart 'easter egg'!!! i wonder if there's anything else like it. I spy the sheep calendar... is it another parody? Couldn't tell from here, too small.

I really like this alot! It is so smart and funny and represents actual office politics. You are almost done here. Colour scheme works very well together here. There's very little to crit!

By the way, why is that 'OctoBoss' squirting ink all over all the time? Is that supposed to be black smoke or octopus escape ink?

I would like to read what's on the paper being printed out from that HP Lovecraft printer!!:D

[walrus]

I would like to read what's on the paper being printed out from that HP Lovecraft printer!!
Just trust me on this, but no, you wouldn't. You wouldn't even want the printer either, MK.

And yes, the calender is a parody of business calenders that espouse things like "teamwork" and "synergy." There's a close-up of it on an earlier page somewhere in the first half of this whole thread.

As for the ink, it's really just smoke. "Fire and brimstone" and all that. Just so long as it reads as kinda evil...

And the Deep One at the bottom majored in business, of course.

:-)

-mike

[Tris3d]

I think this is looking so damn good! My only one problem with it ( really being picky now ) is the amount of space on the ceiling that is bare! I wasn't sure whether you could crop a fraction of it off or possibly add some type of creature suspended from the ceiling? ( That could become something that takes your eye off the main focal point though so i'm not too sure! ) Anyway, even if it was kept like this you have a superb piece! Cant wait to follow your work on the next challenge!! :bowdown:

[Tris3d]

You know what! I just looked at the space at the top again and I think i'm probably wrong! I would ignore the last comment! :blush:

[JasonChan]

Looks great! Everthing looks dead on! All of the little details you have everywhere are great. No crits. Are you done?

[jugeras]

the demon looks really great. colors setted in great as well. :applause: :applause: :applause:

[walrus]

Tris3d - Good, glad you came around. :-) 'Cause I'm pretty happy with the room on the top. I'd rather not add too much of anything - creature-wise- at the top, as I think it would distract from the main focus. And I want the boss to be the tallest thing on the page. But hey, thanks for the post and thoughts!

Gerbil - Thanks, Jason! I'm mostly done, so now I'll just spend a week or two noodling. I did some repaints on the woman and the candles yesterday. I'm thinking about completely repainting the skin on the boss to see if I can make it look slimier. Savage Creature had some good tips and reference, and I cetainly have time to start over on that one part and see if I can make it work better. I seem to have a bit more time at the end than in the last chanllenge, which was longer! :-)

jugeras - thank you!

-mike

[arkinet]

what can i say dude? hmmmm... go criticize people's work?:D awesome details dude, creepy & funny:thumbsup: e

[ravioli_rancher]

Walrus,

Eventhough it's nearly time to take a bow, I think in addition to repainting the boss's skin, you should try adding more blue to the shadows on the terrorized worker (to indicate his shirt is catching some of that evil midnight blue light from the 'pus head's netheregion pyroclastic plume.

The added tint might also enhance the dimensionality of his shirt.

Just something else to noodle with.

And don't cut anyone's throat during an eclipse to get it done. That's cheating. :p

[gu]

Wow, nice nice nice, one of the best cartoon I ever seen.

I like the HP Lovecraft on the machine!:buttrock:

Congrats

GUs

[demonicoz]

Congrats on a brilliant piece of work, I love the concept, and the viewer's angle is really cool. Very funny and very cool. Keep it going, Good Luck!!

[marcheen]

excellent work!! great detailing!

[ArtisticVisions]

Haven't seen this thread in a while - all I can say it, WOW... :eek:
I think we've found one of the winners here. :D :thumbsup:

[camtheman]

LOL! So fun to watch your progress on this man, keep up the great work. I love it.

:bounce: :bounce:

[birdybear]

Your piece is going really well. I keep checking on it... wow. For some silly reason I really love the paper coming out of the machine. It looks really convincing! The whole thing is really great so its hard to find much to crit. I was thinking though, what if you had a tiny bit of that smoke/ink clouding around and uptowards the candles (from behind them)? Oh, and I really love the guy in the background with three eyes. Nice touch. Really love your art. :thumbsup:

[pogonip]

Nice that's an awesome illustration ...could totally see that as like a Dragon Magazine cover .

[xric7]

wow.
.........
this is amazing.:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: ....
great work.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[walrus]

arkinet - 'criticise' others' work? that sounds so negative! I prefer to think of it as 'helpful suggestions baed on entirely-subjective and therefore unreliable observations.' :-)

ravioli - thanks, that's a good idea! I'll try to work some more blue from the right into the shirt, that should look good. And "'pus head's netheregion pyroclastic plume?" Wow, I don't think i've ever seen those words strung together quite like that ever... Nice...! :-)

gus, demonicoz, marcheen, ArtisticVisions, & Cameron - Thank you very much!

birdybear - Thank you! Good idea about the candle smoke. That's a tough one - I'm good at big billowing clouds but not so much as small wisps. Still, gotta give it a try: that's why it's called a CG challenge!

pogonip - really?! I'm flattered! But I don't think this carries the same weight as a really good Todd Lockwood dragon. But really, thanks!

xric - thank you, too!

Anyhow, I started repainting the skin again last night, with a bunch of slimy reference in front of me... er, PHOTOS of reference that is, no mucus on my computer desk, please! More time this weekend, so we'll see how it comes out!
Thanks again to everyone for your encouragement and good advice!

-mike

[arkinet]

nah, jst kidding... i think i should use the word "critique" :D ....coz it looks like you have nothing left to do :) ... anyway, love your work:thumbsup:

[BlackDidThis]

hehey.. things are going great!

I love alot of the new touches you put yourself through. And there has been a series of very good suggestions. Gonna try and not repeat any of them.
Are you going to make the boss's final epiderm moist and sort of like 'covered' in a gel like thin coat? Or reptilian like but just not scaled?

Actually what say you have a wet'ness (sort of) and have them splatter all over as his tentacles wave around with his shouting... You know the classic 'Spitting boss' cliché :)

Well not much to say but complimentary stuff. The image is turning out very impressive!


Black

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114893397_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1114893397_large.jpg)

Well, it took some doing but I finally got the boss's skin to look slimier. The problem was that it was just too light before. The hilights were pure white, but it was hard to tell on light-colored flesh. Now that I've tweaked the skin some, it reads a lot better. Or at least I think so. Feel free to post and disagree.

-mike

[NOOB!]

damn this image has come a long way!



excellent piece!!

[spacesnail]

Wow Wow Wow Mike :drool::bounce:

It has been a long since i visited your thread. It's getting better and better... the Boss i mean. Just a little crit : beware of the Giger's Alien look with the Boss skull
And add more slime, pleeeeeeaaaaase

Emmanuel

[DaniloR]

Great materials, but I have feeling that image is not unified. Maybe because u work lot on details, and cant see whole piece.

[.:ZRDwD:.]

I first spotted this thread when I couldn't sleep last night/this morning. This is one bad project!

I like this latest update. Mr. C. Thulu's skin now has a wet gloss to it. But... I think those light areas are a bit too white (top-most bridge/nose tentacle). It seems like it could use a slight blend into the shadows or skin tone.

Besides that... feels like I'm watching a brand new edition of Crypt Comix being created. :thumbsup:

[Vahn]

uarrghhh ... i think it looks very good... i light the white highlights as they seem to fit in this bright office light ... and enough slime! *Yuk*

:applause:

[MKStudios]

Yep, it's lookin' pretty slimy! The highlights do read better. Cool stuff.

[SavageCreature]

He definitely looks more "wet", and consequently, much grosser. I like it :) Did you or someone else mention making his collar obviously wet as well? I had thought that that was a mighty good idea, too. Nice stuff :bounce:


c.

[weslouie]

Hey, walrus....very cool image. I think it does look slimy and like you said, that can be pretty hard. Especially when you're trying to put a really hot highlight on top of a light color. At first (and this is just me) I got confused with that one tentacle that goes in the back of his hand. When I glanced, I thought it was a tongue, but I know I thought that just because of how the tentacle is mostly showing the red, fleshy side. But again, looking nice!

[walrus]

Hey, all! Thanks for the feedback!

Noob - thanks!

'Snail - 'Beware' of looking like Giger? I would think anything i could possible make to look like giger would be a good thing, as I'm a big fan of his! :-) Anyhow, we'll see about more slime...

DaniloR - I'm working on details now because I spent the first month working out the bigger whole-piece issues like composition and lighting and palette. I felt I got them settled, but what part isn't working for you?

Funeral Laugh - Looking at the bridge of his nose, I reckon you're right about the intensity of the hilights. Thanks for pointing that out, I'll have to get to that.

Vahn & MK - Thanks!

SavageCreature - It has been mentioned before, but that's okay. I'm still torn about whether to add slime to his clothes. On one hand, you'd think some would spill over, but on the other hand, I wanted to portray the way upper-level execs manage to keep themselves looking so clean and spotless, too. Who'd take a manager with crud all over his suit seriously?

wes - yeah, it is really hard to hilight a light skin color, so i was forced to make it a bit darker. I don't mind that it reads a little tongue-like, as long as it's disgusting and menacing!

So back to work for a bit. Think I'll touch up some more highlights as Funeral Laugh pointed out. And I think I need to head back for a third pass at the woman peeking over the cubicle, as she's still not doing it for me. But I'm getting hard pressed to find too much more to adjust, so if you see anything, now would be a good time to tell me...! :-)

-mike

[unitstudio]

Hey Michael, just thought I'd drop by and see the progress. It looks totally amazing - the boss looks absolutely gruesome, and in terms of the composition, with the focus on him, looming over his workers, I think you've pulled it off.

Once again I couldn't continue - E3 and all that...

nice one mate:thumbsup:

grant

[BlackDidThis]

So i guess the spitting boss was a bad/difficult idea?


Other than that...

Not able to see too much that may need tweaking. I guess you could play with the 'holum' of the boss's tie to be able to match the realistic shading of the shirt and jacket.. Mostly on the knot.. sort of the same on the BG guys tie.. but well there are really not many to point out other than little tweaks to taste or things like "I would have done diffrently". I think the picture is all up to you from here on.

Good Luck!:thumbsup:


Black

[TheFirstAngel]

haha, finally made it to check back, the lil background guy is so funny. great add. tweaks on bossskin look fine, the whole image is bursting of power and is funny. love your work :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[aBlackEgg]

Very nice entry if you ask me - creature has got some ressemblance with the ancient entity named chtulhu -- is that intentionnal or is it just some kind of evil squid ?
Love the effect you ve put on his jacket - its a bit shinny -- very precious

[eparts]

whaha thats slime alright!!

good job on this update. maybe it would look more realistic if you make the lamp above his heard stronger, because the head of the boss is pretty dark now. but that wouldnt look good if you do that :P so, nevermind

[walrus]

Whew, just repainted the woman for the third time, and finally I think i'm happy with it... At least until i change my mind again. Fixed some of the hilights and stuff too, but all too miniscule to bother posting a new image.

Grant - Well, it sure would be nice to see new art from you in this thing, but I know how it goes. What are you showing it E3? I'll be heading down to L.A. for that, I'll have to keep my eyes open for whatever it is. I'm not on an E3 crunch this year... A mixed blessing as I have time to do this challenge and have a life, but nothing fun to show at the show. Anyhow, thanks for the post!

Black - Thanks for the note, I just did a little more with all of the ties. But as for things you "would have done diffrently," well of course you would have! Like for starters, maybe instead of doing a scene of a wage slave working for a demonic boss, you might have done, say, a man who is the servant of his alcoholic addiction. :-)

angel - Thank you! Yours is looking great, too!

BlackEgg - the resemblance is not coincidental. If you could see the higher res version of the image, you might notice a lot of other give-aways, like the HP Lovecraft 4500 printer, or the company's name on the phone lest: NecronomiCom. The guy in the bow tie is a Deep One. anyhow, thanks for dropping in on both of the threads!

eparts - I'd still like to add some more glow from that flourescent light overhead, so we'll have to see if that helps.

Later, all!

-mike

[BlackDidThis]

Mike... you know what?!!

Thats a FANTASTIC idea!!:bounce: Infact I will get to work on that right now!


:)

So your finally finishing things up eh? Gosh did you put alot into this.. And man does it show:thumbsup:


black

[unitstudio]

Grant - Well, it sure would be nice to see new art from you in this thing, but I know how it goes. What are you showing it E3? I'll be heading down to L.A. for that, I'll have to keep my eyes open for whatever it is. I'm not on an E3 crunch this year... A mixed blessing as I have time to do this challenge and have a life, but nothing fun to show at the show. Anyhow, thanks for the post!

Yeah, I'd love to actually complete one of these challenges some day. Actually I've decided that I'm going to complete the Grand Space Opera one for myself in the coming months...

As to E3 - unfortunately I won't be attending - otherwise it'd be great to catch up. I'm working like a crazy man on Age of Conan atm...Funcom will be demonstrating given they've just made an announcement about the game....

Have fun mate, and we all expect a full report ;)

-g

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1115175201_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1115175201_large.jpg)

Okay, here we go then: Final Coloring!

I've never been totally clar on what the difference is between this and the final image, but they both have to be submitted, sooooo. . .
anyhow, i figure, I still can do all sorts of tweaks between now and submitting the Final final image next week sometime. So if anyone's got any last minute notes, let's hear 'em now!

Eparts - you were right about the lights and the dark skin. My Mac and PC monitors are really different, so what looked good on one really WAS too dark on the other. I've made the skin on the boss a bit lighter now, hopefully without ruining the effect of the shiny hilights. Plus I did indeed add a sort of overlapping glow from the lights overhead.

Plus a few small tweaks here and there, and a new face for the woman on the left.

So like I said, for me it's pretty much down to the end. But keep those cards and letters coming! If you see anything bothering you, now's the time to post... Thanks!

-mike

[Vahn]

clap clap :applause: :bowdown:

grats walrus ... you made a very fine piece there :D :D :D


(and i'd say its done)



:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Arc80]

Looking great dude. This is looking mighty SWEEET :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Mad props bro...MAD PROPS :applause:

cheers

[liquidwerx]

Nicely done. Very solid piece.


M

[Vectorius]

What a very good job! i suppose that's your final image...Octopus look very good!! shiny effects look great!!:applause:

Good luck !!

[Art Renderman]

You have a really fun style. The expressions are great. I like how you stylized the characters yet still kept a clean execution.

[walrus]

Thanks, everyone! Glad it's looking good.


Oh, hey, I forgot to mention: BirdyBear - you'd suggested doing some smoke on the candles. I looked into doing it but it didn't seem right. I don't know if it's universal, but the candles I lit up didn't smoke, at least until they were blown out (really cool smoke effects then, but I'm glad I don't have to render them! :) )

But anyhow, anyone see anything else?
Thanks again for the kind words! Hope yours are going well, too!

-mike

[GhostInTheMachine]

looks awesome. i know your nearly done but since you have time i think you should consider working in one more terrified office worker. maybe you could have someone cowering behind that printer, just their head showing - classic 'back to the wall' horror movie look. a little better than the filing cabinet i think. just an idea - good work dude! :D

[Lilya]

that looks excellent!

[Tris3d]

Superb! Really enjoyed following this! Great for learning and inspiration but above all good to see some top quality work! Good luck with the voting! :)

[xric7]

hi walrus.
congrat.:bounce: :thumbsup: :buttrock:

[W-I-L]

i am guessing that final colourint is final colouring as in finished brushing and final image is if you wnat to add any other things on through filters, borders . . whatever.

Looking really good. Another succesful piece. I hope this gets somehwere this time... you really stick out amongst the crowd. nothing to crit.

[camtheman]

So you're done? Sweet image dude! Good luck to you! I wish you the best of luck in the challenge, it's been so cool to watch you pull this together...you've got my vote on this.

:applause:

[.:ZRDwD:.]

I would love to have a print of this for the bossman. :thumbsup: He may or may not like it, but I'll still hang it up on his door just for kicks.

[T-lapia]

this looks really good!

[jeromoo]

Oh! I want point out that there's no lighting from the candles on the octoboss himself. It is reflected on the terrified male worker, but not on the boss as well.

I may or may not be able to see your final piece on all its glory because I'll be away on vacation (unless I can borrow a computer and internet from my relatives and friends overseas). So I wish you all the best!!

[cuppacam]

Love it love it love it!! :buttrock:

[MKStudios]

Looks utterly terrific, Mike! :D

[walrus]

Thanks, all! Glad you like how it's come out. There's one more thing I'd like to try with some key-lights, think I'll give it a shot this weekend. Either way, looks like I'll be uploading the real final image sometime next week, before I go off to E3. (Hey, with so many game artists around, who all is going to E3? Anyone want to meet up?)

GhostInTheMachine - Sorry, office's full! :-) No, seriously, I just can't see squeezing in more coworkers. Even as is I had to make them disproportionately small just to get in the three I have!

Lilya. Tris, & Xric - Thanks!

Wil - That makes sense. Oh, yeah, I did at one point talk about adding some post-noise or something to this piece, didn't i? I think I've changed my mind - it doesn't seem to need it.

Cameron - Thank you!

Funeral Laugh - Thanks for your suggestions. I should be uploading the large version next week, so you can make a print from that. Are you going to sign this when you leave it on his door? Hey, just don't get ME into trouble, okay?!

T-lapia - Thanks!

Jeromoo - Thank you for pointing that out. I didn't want the candles to have too distant a range, but if they're lighting up the man, they probably should hit the boss a little, shouldn't they? I'll go in and add a little of that. And you'll definately be able to see my final piece. Once it's up, it's up for good: You can even go back and look at everyone's final images from the last challenge on the Grand Space Opera thread. So you might not be able to see it soon, but it'll be around. Have a great vacation!

cuppacam - Thank you thank you thank you!

MK - Thanks, Patrick!

Okay, off to go play a bit more 'Psychonauts.' (This game rocks!) I'll post more comments tomorrow, and likely a new revision - the last one? - Saturday.
See y'all!

-mike

[paulwdavidson]

Fantastic, mate. You've really put a lot of effort into this, and it has totally paid off.....wonderful piece.


Well done

Paul

[Goro]

Fantastic mate! I love it!

Well done! And good luck!

Cheers!
Goro

[authentic]

Like this picture. Classic but efficient and funny. :)

[MDN67]

now than you are at the final coloring, it's always a good pic, very funny with a very good realisation, good work:thumbsup:

[paperclip]

I just love this one-- I've been watching it from the early days and it's in my 'top 5' for winning!

Very funny and executed beautifully.....may I please worship you?

[AlyFell]

Smashing Michael! I think you would do well to make up an animated gif off all your WIP's and we could then see it evolve, like Enaylas eye tutorial. Love it ALL! :)

[NinjaA55N]

With one word awesome man! Love all the details u've made.. that sticky drooling, all the lights and shadow play, characters in the back... I see that u r at the end with the process and it looks truly fantastic. The theme is also great, I loved the idea from the begining.
I wish u all the best with this piece! :)

[TheFirstAngel]

Funky fresh and rocking! well, congrats on your great piece, looking forward to your final tweaks, even thought i cant find anything to crit, just looking forward to your final entry! keep on rocking Michael!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[walrus]

http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1115500142_medium.jpg (http://www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/8/5662/5662_1115500142_large.jpg)

Hey, all! So what did I want to tweak, you ask? Well first of ther was adding some more candle-light to the boss, which jeromoo and my friend Eric pointed out.

But more importantly, I added a crisp hite hilight to all of the back-lit characters. (Can SOMEONE please tell me what this kind of light is called? A key-light? A back-light? The technical name has totally slipped my mind and it's driving me crazy!) Anyhow, a big tip of the hat to JoseArt and Racrufi - they added this light to their illos and it just lookd fantastic, and I saw that and thought to myself, Hey, I'm using backlit characters too, that might be appropriate for my piece too. So I threw it in and am pretty happy with it... What do you think?

Theresa - you may not worship me but you may worship the Dark Master whom I serve. Bw-ha-ha-ha-haaa!

Okay, NOW am I done? :-)

-mike

[demonicoz]

Hey bro looks like you are done after all, its a brilliant piece of work, the detail is staggering man. I love the concept, love the colour and love the humour...Top marks from me bro. Well done. However dont think of going away, you have to keep encouraging lazy sods like me so I can give it more than 100%.

I hope you have a few seconds to Check out mine and let me know what you think :
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=234420 (http://showthread.php/?t=234420)

All feedback very appreciated!!

[crowley]

Funny how such a tiny subtle trick can make a piece of art even better than it already was. I really dig this.
Just a little (little little) thing though: it never hit me before today but the smoke that surround the master looks a bit blurry compared to the overall "crisp" feeling of your picture. Nothing critical, but I thought I'd tell you (hope this has not already been discussed in this huge thread of yours).
In any case, awesome piece.

[AlyFell]

Looking really tight now Michael! I think it's a rim-light! Do you know what I love about this...? Not the bits we see, more... the spaces in between! (Obscure Lovecraft reference number 418)! Heh heh!

[Miyagu]

ooooohh! so many new details!!! :eek:

and.. hahaha! soo brilliant! necronomicom! cool.. and the sheep.. :applause: i wish you the BEST for your entry! this is great! :thumbsup:

[BlackDidThis]

Damn!

As happy as I am in your name.. I just can't believe that it's finished!.. I caén't believe that it's all over :sad: I was having so much fun having you work more and more on it.

Michael, what can I say that I haven't before?...
You are very talented and your entry shows great traces of it. It was a long journey with alot of work and the final image I am looking at here sure displays it all!
I am so happy that you made people such as us able to take part in it through this journey.


Good Luck my friend!.. I don't think you will be needing too much of it.. but every little bit helps! :)

:thumbsup:


Black

[O.Martin]

Haha! Unbelievable great painting! Very funny! Love the style and the expressions! :thumbsup:

[RichTee]

A Quality Image mate, well done!!!

Me likey a lotty

Good luck

[Art2]

Fantastic image Walrus!

[cyberarts]

Your work really looks good! Since, the last time that I saw it, you improve your image a lot. The light and shadow the detail on the octopus. Really, I don't want him as a boss. ;0)

You are talented.

Good luck!

[walrus]

demonicoz - don't worry, I'm not going away just yet. For one thing, I still have to finish this piece, and as long as helpful comments trickle in (like Crowley's), I'll keep pushing it. And commenting on others' works as best I can.

crowley - That's a really good point about the smoke. I like the softness of it, but maybe some of the front parts of it can be tightened up a bit to work better. I'll give it a shot!

aly - RIM-light, that's what it was! AH, thanks, that was bugging me. Guess I'm just getting old. :-)

benita - not so much new details, as much as I finally thought to post a larger version of the pic! :-) Anyhow, thanks, glad you like 'em.

Black - thanks for all your feedback along the way. It's [i]almost[/] finished, I'll keep teaking for a few days. I'm out of here for E3 the week these things are due so I have to get this done and uploaded before I take off for that anyhow. But anyhow, Thanks!

O.Martin, bumphluff, Art2, and cyberarts - Thank you all very much!

Back to work now...!

-mike