Dominance War V - 2D - rickardwestman - God of Judgement

[rickardwestman]

Abrvpt - That Curator was one cool guy! Really nice for inspiration. Thanks a lot for that inspiration! Always like to discover new things and I can appreciate the music but at the moment i am more into some of the melodic crust metal, oh music genres these days... always a debate of how to categorize stuff, if you like it you like it i guess Yeah, i think that the only thing in the end that will feel human is the arms, torso will be a lot like in the first sketch, probably with some more symbolic architecture in the shape of the sign of Pluto or old an ortodox russian cross that depicts both heaven and hell, as this is the god of Judgement.
So, in thanks for your music. My soundtrack to this thread is:
SOAP&SKIN: (Named the character from this song, great mood. lyrics are nice too.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmJqdISO9Bk
ICTUS: (a great crust band, d-beat ftw! lyrics - i don't know a word in spanish.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZz1AiTjVm4

Razvan-Sedekiah - Hahah, so now we are two. Could turn out nice with some staind glass windows and stuff like that. It fits my latest sketch so i think i will kepp the head

Filip Burburan - Thanks man, yeah send them the wall or send it to me, i would defenetly blow out a wall in my apartment to put your wall piece in there instead

ACap - Thanks! I will add birds, or some sort of flying creature, could be good for size reference. I will most likely have a top down perspective on my final illustration (look at the sketches below) so i need stuff to enhance scale so that you really feel the perspective.

So, finally got that composition roughly out of my head, i think i will try to move the scale (the two circles to the left) to the right side of the image later on to go more with the diagonal composition.
I did a quick colouring too, but that is just a test. The red dots are cloaked servants of the God, another size relation reference that will be important later on.
I will loose a lot of time in the middle of this comp as i am going on a trip so i have to speed things up a bit. Hope you like it so far! Keep up the cool work everyone!

[Nether]

I'm really digging this idea of a judging god who one has to go through to be judged. Reminds me a lot of surrealist paintings which I like very much and also King Minos from Dante's Inferno.

Very cool perspective and I can see why you chose it as it showcases a lot of the gods features very nicely. A lower point of view might give the god a bit more presence and oomph, but then we wouldn't see all those lovely details of the cathedral so well. I say keep this point of view.

[Daniela_Bara]

wow is so original!! good luck!

[Gyorkland]

crazy idea man, I like it a lot!!

[Hito]

this is gonna be Epic!

[rickardwestman]

Nether - Thanks! Yep, i am a huge fan of surrealistic stuff, and i have researched some symbols that will be implemented in the detailed design of this character later on, all that in my mind have some connection to a final judgement as well as the end and the beginning of the world.
I feel kind of confident in the composition and perspective with the new update, so i will probably stick with this and just keep at it.

Daniela_Bara, Gyorkland and Hito - Thanks a lot people!

So here is an update. I put Thanatos scale of judgement in the top right foreground. Hopefully i can pull off the depth of this composition later on while going in adjusting contrast and saturation. Looking forward to go more in to details on this one.

[macattackk]

wow... one of my favorites

[walrus]

It's a really interesting idea so far - may gods are considered gate-keepers and this realizes that idea in a novel way. However, I worry that you're going too much towards painting architecture and have avoided giving him more personality or more recognizable godlike aspects. I also worry that your take on him reminds me a lot of one of the winners from last year's Unearthly Challenge, which was architecture with human parts incorporated instead of the other way around. (It was a while back, though - I could be wrong.) Anyhow, absolutely not claiming you stole it, just hoping you'll keep pushing the idea and seeing what else you can do with it! Good luck! :thumb:

[rickardwestman]

macattackk - Thanks!

walrus - Thanks, good luck to you too! And i don't know, what is a godlike aspect, a big white beard? 6 arms? In my mind i consider my god a god. My idea was a god of judgement that you have to pass trough to be judged. To implement architecture into the character design felt fitting to that idea. And the loss of personality is kind of what i wanted, my god does not laugh or cry, it is the judge between life and death, he doesn't speak to you he judges you.
And i would appreciate if you would have a specific UC entry to point to when you imply such a thing. Would be easier for me to know where you are getting at. I know you wrote you are not claiming i stole it (?) so why even wright a thing like that? I don't know why i am reacting to it the way i am but comparing stuff like that felt like a punch in the stomach, unprofessional in a way.
I went to look at the UC entries and I think you are refering to Acapulcos entry where there is a building standing on the statue of a man. I see how you could make a small connection to my god but i feel it is two different ideas. And i bet that there will be a lot of entries even only within this challenge that resemble eachother a lot without the artists even knowing about eachother. And i guess everyone probably have an unconcius library of images that sums up what they like and they implement that in their images.
Ok, i didn't mean to sound like an old fart but just needed say how i felt about it. :thumb:

[rickardwestman]

Small update, here are some different desings for the entrance of the god. The "animals" are holding the sign of Pluto.
Pluto is associated with renewal and rebirth. It represents endings and new beginnings, as well as spiritual growth and rebirth. Negative expression of Pluto is an obsessive desire for power and control and general destructiveness.
Pluto is also one of the names for the greek god of death (Thanatos! or Hades).

Not sure which design to go forth with yet so if anyone has any ideas

[rickardwestman]

And some close ups:

[Amethyst]

:think: I prefer A. You have something really interesting going... Keep them coming and Good Luck in the War!:thumb:

[walrus]

Rickard - I apologize, I didn't mean to upset you with my post and I didn't mean to come off as unprofessional. I should have been more clear about the Unreal Challenge entry I referred to (yes, I meant Acapulco's): I only meant that you two both took a similar approach in combining character art with architecture, not that you were in any way copying from or in any way borrowing from that entry. And the comparison came to mind because your entry feels like it could easily be an 'Unreal Challenge' entry in addition to a 'Dominance War' entry.

Personally, I happen to find character and personality more interesting than buildings. The point of my comment - and again I'm sorry for not being more clear about my subjective viewpoint in what I typed - was only that you might be able to keep the feeling of an impartial, judging god while still adding more character. Of course there are all sorts of shades of grey possible when if comes to adding character; No need to twist those words into any insistence that you put "a big white beard" on your god. Please don't read my previous post as an attack. I just thought it might possibly be an idea worth exploring. You didn't. It's your entry so end of debate. So back to being friends? And back to hopefully more helpful feedback:

With your latest post, if you're shooting for an impartial god with "loss of personality," I feel that the mouths on 'A' convey a definite personality - they're mean! - so the other 3 might better fit your concept. I personally like the shapes on 'C' because they feel the most novel to me, but I also like the strong silhouettes in 'B.' Nice work on the designs, whichever you choose!

[rickardwestman]

Walrus - I kind of overreacted a bit i guess, i am sorry for that. Back to friends! And now that you have clearified it, i see your points. And they are good feedback! After some thought, of course no personality is a bad thing, all cahracters need personality. I'll take all of what you said above into consideration, it will defenetly help my character! Thanks! :thumb:

[Razvan-Sedekiah]

It's looking good!

Very godlike to me!
Doesn't seem like a normal monster, power-suit person, or human.

I really like the amount of creativity you put into just about everything you make (that I've seen anyways! XD), I admire your ability to push so far out of the box and into more unusual shapes and ideas.

I like "B" best so far, because it feels otherworldly. The other designs made me think almost instantly that these are "Egyptian" designs of "Egyptian" gods. But "B" didn't read that way to me, and I feel that is a good thing. It seems godly and mysterious; but it also feels new to me. The longer I look at "B" the more I wonder why I don't instantly think of Anubis, I think it's the lack of pointy ears. (Which is good, IMHO.)

I'm not sure if bringing more personality into the character will be useful or not....
Does the character enjoy judgment?
Does it enjoy punishment or reward or both?
Does it have any enjoyment in it's existence at all?
Does it have a bit of attitude, like a stuck up king?

Maybe it could have some eyes with knowing look?
Or maybe so few can pass judgment that the god is constantly weeping?
Maybe it's arms holding daggers could be readily posed to violently kill those who are judged guilty (since it is almost always the case for him?)?
Or maybe lots of people get an innocent verdict and it's bored? (Probably not good for a DomWar entry.. but who knows!?)

That's all for now! Keep up the inspiring, interesting, unique work!

[rickardwestman]

Amethyst - Thanks! Hope i can keep it interesting. So much fun to be at war again Hope all is well with Fred too! :thumb:

Razvan-Sedekiah - Thanks, lots of good points and questions! And yeah, i kind of wanted to do something that i hadn't seen before, something that did not entierly feel, human, animal or building, but still something with power Most of the time i just try to think of something i find cool at the moment and then find a way to implement it. Anything goes
Yeah, you have a good point with the otherworldly feel, i should defenetly try to push it away from being too egyptian. And i think i will do two different beings/animals, one savior and one opposite to that (couldn't find the word for it). To get the dualitiy from the judging theme in there.
The thing is that i think of my god as something without feelings, he doesn't care if he punishes or saves. He rings in the judgement day, judges everyone and then he leaves the remaining people to start from scratch again, good or bad doesn't matter to him. He appears, does his thing and then vanishes until the world calls for his judgement again.
Good ideas with the eyes, i think i will have eyes on some different places of the body, mainly looking at the entrance to the pyramid.
I guess we will see where it goes, i think i will try to put some explaining text into my final images, that talks about symbolism and features and the purpose of the character. Thanks again for the good advice!

[Gyorkland]

I would go with A, man this is looking awesome

[g8crasherboy]

Great originality and fantastic realisation. Looking forward to more! I like D btw

[Amethyst]

:think: Reading your latest entry, it hits me: You have created a computer (sort of) that analyses the input data and spits out a verdict - totally based on the input and no emotions for the results whatsoever. Is this justice? Rickard, you raise quite fascinating aspects...... and I love to think a bit outside the box....... Looking forward to more brain teasers. (Fred is fine, but overworked like most people these days) :thumb:

[REGINA REICHERT]

i dont know i've always imagined Judgement with a really big (and really powerful-looking) halo on top of his head.. i love your design!.. maybe the ringing bell is to announce when the time comes?