I really liked this challenge. I will continue this type of challenge further but also with things other than chests. I forgot to save all the references but I managed to find some. I selected for each day a theme largely. I hope you like it, especially the last 10 chests. Those are a gift to you.
Have a nice day!
Fantastic stuff! You've done an excellent job throughout this challenge, exploring a wide variety of different designs and really pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone. I especially liked the ones where you didn't just draw the chests, but added all kinds of things inside (or bursting out).
I think throughout the challenge, you demonstrated strong construction skills (you were entirely thorough with each construction), so each box/crate/chest/container/backpack felt solid and cohesive. I found the addition of a variety of little objects from other lessons (insects, skulls, etc.) were a nice touch, though they did bring out a few little issues. For example, the... elephant trunk? thing on chest 47 was given a narrow ellipse defining its connection to the chest itself that didn't quite match the orientation of that surface. At that point, the ellipse ought to have been somewhat wider, as that surface was more turned towards the viewer. If we're talking in specifics, then it might have a degree of somewhere between 45 and 55 degrees.
I also noticed that on the "drawabox" chest (the one with the freely rotated boxes exploding out from it), the foreshortening on those boxes was definitely a little more dramatic than it ought to have been, which threw off the sense of scale somewhat. Still, a very interesting concept.
As you started pointing out more direct design influences, your chest designs definitely got even more interesting. I'm actually very happy to see that you weren't just looking at pictures of chests - that you pulled reference from armour, from costume, and from other sources that were somewhat non-obvious. I was especially impressed by the "hat" lid in one of your more anime-inspired chests (the one with the clown emblem). You did a great job pulling the form language of that element out and applying it as something other than what it was as a literal object. This is the sort of thing I hope to get into moreso when I eventually get around to doing a lesson on design. Shape and form language is at the core of the course that taught me most about how to go about creating designs from various references, but either way, you're doing a great job of it here.
Your Gnome chest was definitely a nice touch - I recognize the lock from the page that came out on Friday, and I certainly appreciate it!
Overall, I think you've done a really great job of taking the core of this exercise and taking it much farther than its basic premise. You've explored design here considerably, and while you've done some great work, I see this as being the start of a very interesting portfolio, and I'm glad to hear that you'll be exploring the same sort of challenge with other subject matter, and I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it so far. I think you're well on your way to developing the skills required to be a successful concept artist, so keep it up!
I will go ahead and mark this challenge as complete - and with it, you've gone beyond being a completionist. I look forward to seeing what you use these skills for in the future. Good luck in all your endeavors, and I hope you continue to be part of our community.
Here we're getting into the subjective - Gerald Brom is one of my favourite artists (and a pretty fantastic novelist!). That said, if I recommended art books just for the beautiful images contained therein, my list of recommendations would be miles long.
The reason this book is close to my heart is because of its introduction, where Brom goes explains in detail just how he went from being an army brat to one of the most highly respected dark fantasy artists in the world today. I believe that one's work is flavoured by their life's experiences, and discovering the roots from which other artists hail can help give one perspective on their own beginnings, and perhaps their eventual destination as well.
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