Writing 5(blog posts) for Crit 4

My last critique held some really good feedback. I got great reviews on my tanky demon, with people saying they could really 'feel' like he was three-dimensional. For my last critique, I've decided to design four essential characters for my story, using what I've learned over this semester.

Here are my versions of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse:

 

 

Pestilence - The White Horse

 

 

 

 

Starting with Pestilence, I was inspired by the plague doctor masks made infamous during the black death. I wanted to have a very limited color palette, so as to avoid the 'children's book illustrations' feel that some of the other monsters had when I used watercolors. I used copic markers instead, in very small areas to draw attention to them.

War - The Red Horse

 War was my favorite to draw, as its horse body is based on a Clydesdale, which is one of my favorite types of horse. Again, I wanted to have a very limited color palette.

Famine - The Black Horse

 Famine was not a fun design to do research for, since I had to look up what emaciated horses look like. I'm pretty pleased with this design, though.

Death - The Pale Horse

I didn't want Death to be 'in your face' scary, but maybe a bit more subtle.  I also didn't want it to be a stereotypical skeletal horse, since that's always what I see this Horseman shown as. When I looked up the original Bible verse, it describes Death as riding a pale horse, which could also mean grey, so I gave it the frame of an Arabian horse and slight dappling. The design for the scythe was loosely based on a Stephen Gammell illustration:

Stephen Gammell - "Bess"

I decided to make them all centaurs since I'd never seen that done with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I guess it's just a much more literal interpretation of "horsemen." :)

I'm really excited to see what everyone else has brought for the final critique, and I'm interested to hear what people think of the Horsemen I designed. I'm also looking forward to seeing what Darah Dawn Miller has brought, as I find her art style really interesting. You can find her blog here:
https://darahdawnmiller.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/writing-4-blog-posts-for-crit-3/
That clay octopus is one of my favorite pieces she's brought so far. The mouth that's visible faintly reminds me of Ukio-e prints, and I wonder if she's ever thought about continuing that motif. It could look really cool.