Chess piece ideas

Brief, brainstorm and research:
I have been working on the "Rook" for a chess set. I designed some ideas for the piece, using themes that the rest of my group and I had decided on. With influences from "Shadow of the colossus" and Ragnarok from "World of Warcraft", we decided on themes of earth and stone, going for a more natural/fantasy look to our pieces. With that in mind, I drafted the below ideas:

(Top) left: This design takes the base from the original rook piece, but adds spider type legs and a floating eye atop. This gives it a menacing fantasy look. The piece is also weathered, with parts of the bod being broken off (the top of the rook).

(Top) second along from left: The draft takes most of the body of the rook, but changing it to look like the rook is wearing a plate Armour robe. The top of the rook is also damaged, giving it the impression of being naturally worn. There are also vines around both the rook and the shield he is carrying. This drawing is a defensive look for the rook.

(Top) third along from left: Going for a more traditional design, this drawing takes the main base of the rook, but adds a castle-like staircase sprawling around it. This design is also a personified version of a castle, with the face being a small outpost. He is also wielding a weapon, giving the impression that this design is more of an offense rook than the previous.

(Top) right: Using a the silhouette technique to create this design, it is a monster of the vines, having spider legs (much asimilar to the first image) and wielding a small dagger. This is (in my opinion) the most menacing of the designs, and also my favorite.

(Bottom) left: This design brings in the themes of trees and trents. It is a defensive looking piece, with the creature being made of planks and wood. He's wearing a mask to hide his face, further giving the impression of a defensive piece.

(Bottom) right: Using the rook design as the head of the kaiju, this design is a humanoid type, with a hand that has a sword directly attached to it. It is missing an arm, giving the impression of having been alive for a fair while. It is also in a hunched position, hinting at it potentially being conjured by magic that wasn't entirely successful.

Further designs: After some peer feedback, I created a new design that included some colour and shading(green). This is shown below.

This was my second (and final) further designed idea. I really enjoyed the first design of the rook, and decided that I wanted to improve and further stylise it. I removed one of his arms to give him a more worn look, and added further colour and shading. The design is shown below:

Below is an image of the sword that the rook will be holding, facing downwards (left and right side):

Piece ideas (PNG):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzkcEokJmqAoZ1RvVTA3MmxXTWM/edit?usp=sharing


Evaluation:
During this all I learnt a few things. Firstly, I began to understand how having different stages of  creation could aid in the process of making a good design. I learnt that by evaluating my designs at each stage of the process, I was able to see both the positives and the negatives of my ideas, allowing my to change them for the better at an earlier point, rather than having to back once completed and make amends.

I also improved my silhouette drawing skills, making deep colour sketches which I then highlighted with lighter colours. I am going to continue to attempt to improve these skills.