Art Thread

Bill G. said: It's really hard to do justice to in a static sketch, but your mention of Mercy (and the other angel imagery I collected on Pinterest) got me thinking. If this were an animated show, I'd have her wear a necklace or neck ribbon. When she transforms, a holographic ring would spring out of it, travel up from her neck and across her face, and wind up as a halo over her head. The ring would transform her face as it passed up over it.  This , but a halo rather than mask and up rather than across. Oh, the halo was not an element I had delved into and now it feels like an oversight.  Definitely going to look into that the next time I work on this. Every other observation is fairly spot on to my own thoughts while designing them. [Note: I started writing this at like 9am this morning, left it up when something else grabbed my attention away, and then suddenly saw that I hadn't actually posted the reply.  That has been my whole day in a nutshell.]

It's in character for early designs not to have a halo. It's an element she would agonize about: "it's who I want to be but do I deserve to be it now?" and so on.

Trying out a unified background (it's a bit ugly and the colors need work, but it was a starting point) and decided to use my third favorite villain from the game... Hot Mess . ( Sorry dear, it's some stiff competition and honestly you're beating folks like the Dread Queen and Achilles Chin, which is an accomplishment in itself. )

Was lazy this weekend and spend most of t working on various bits of artwork.  And while that happened, I managed to put together a couple of Menagerie-related characters. I am super happy with how Pietro (THE PLASMA PRINCE) came out.  His suit looks super impressive... until you realize that he can barely move and he put way more emphasis into how cool it looked as opposed to how functional it is. I sort of like Hannibal Lectric.  I used the pictures in the  wiki as a base and then sort of just went with it.  I feel like he could stand another pass to give him more character.

+2!

So after a long week at work and spending my free time engulfed in watching Thor Ragnarok and Tron Legacy and listening to New Retro Wave ( see the general inspiration thread ), is it any surprise that I really wanted to draw some glowy stuff? So here, have a fake comic panel.

+1!

Mike said: So here, have a fake comic panel. Next panel:

Dammit Bill, now I have to make that.  Thanks a lot. </faux anger>  :P (Really, seeing this made me giggle at work, which I think scared some of my coworkers.  I think that's worth some followup artwork.)

Had some fun with this.

So I did a meme because I had enough art sitting around to fill it out. Most likely everyone's going to have their own opinion about this and I want to hear it. Discuss.

I was questioning Jason being a Nerd Goth. I mean, sure, Nerd, but I don't think of him as Goth . Except for always dressing in black. And formerly being Doomed. And moping around a lot.  Alycia as Goth Jock ... sure. I can't think of any of the other First Words that fit better, or that don't have a better candidate in them.

*** Dave H. said: And moping around a lot. Truly, it's that mindset that put Jason into that particular column for me.  He's not horribly out of tone for your classic Byronic hero and that distinction will always put you into the Goth category for me (even if you don't fit the aesthetic). Fun aside: I did come down to who fit better into that slot; Jason or Adam (this came up several times with a couple of slots).  The decision for who embodied Nerd Nerd best came down to a particular question: who can actually make a decision?  Jason can (even if it is flawed and overly wrought) while Adam cannot (literally his major defining trait is ceding decisions to other people).  That makes Adam the Nerd Nerd.

The categories are wide enough that both Newman sisters can probably sit on the Prep/Nerd slot while still being distinct. Otto will probably be insufferably smug on being told he's the Jockiest Jock who ever Jocked. Hot Mess: I'm not a prep, I do prep. Prep time for capers is vital, as the boss has told me many times. Floor plans, guard shift rotations, security systems, all that stuff.

Bill G. said: The categories are wide enough that both Newman sisters can probably sit on the Prep/Nerd slot while still being distinct. Oh certainly.  That one just came down to having a better, more recent picture of Summer than Aria (which I have plans to rectify). Bill G. said: Hot Mess: I'm not a prep, I do prep. Prep time for capers is vital, as the boss has told me many times. Floor plans, guard shift rotations, security systems, all that stuff. It's that desire for attention why she's the Preppy Goth, though I am open to alternatives.  I was thinking about one of the other Ponies, but then who... honestly, half of these gird positions could be filled by various Ponies.

Bill G. said: Otto will probably be insufferably smug on being told he's the Jockiest Jock who ever Jocked. It seems a highly natural fit.

*** Dave H. said: Bill G. said: Otto will probably be insufferably smug on being told he's the Jockiest Jock who ever Jocked. It seems a highly natural fit. It was essentially the free space when making this.

I can't draw, but I can.... look at other peoples' drawings and bookmark them. Concordance (and Void Collective/Sablestar) stuff! And your little cat too! Speaking of cats, this looked too much like the cat-eared Comic Alycia not to save. A more serious picture, that reminded me a lot of the color scheme (and attitude) for Charade. More on Pinterest, as always.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/memesisgmailcom/menagerie-miscellany/" rel="nofollow">https://www.pinterest.com/memesisgmailcom/menagerie-miscellany/</a>

I like both the Alycia pix. Well, I like all of them, but she's the one I'm most "qualified" to judge. :-)

From the same thread, Concord + JC = ???

I am upset that I didn't see these posts earlier, because I love all of these pictures.&nbsp; Thanks Bill. The last one (the Space Paladin) looks like it was done by&nbsp; Sam Bosma , who does some really&nbsp; kickass artwork .

Yeah, this is the source:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sbosma/space-paladin/" rel="nofollow">https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/sbosma/space-paladin/</a>

Oh, I am loving the concept of a Concord / JC team-up. That'd rattle those Grail Knight traditionalists down to their tin knickers.

*** Dave H. said: Oh, I am loving the concept of a Concord / JC team-up. That'd rattle those Grail Knight traditionalists down to their tin knickers. Man, I've wanted a Concord/Grail Knight team up since I realized how the Grail Knight legacy worked.&nbsp; Doesn't hurt that I have thought of reasons why teaming up with the Grail Knights and learning a bit about what they do would be a good thing for Adam.

That gives us something awesome to look forward to in Q3 of 2019! :-)

Maybe to really close the thing, we need two swords, one on both sides of a rift. Leo's not a worthy wielder of Excalibur (he's not willing to wield a weapon of power), leaving Adam. Or Adam remembers his duplication power (used a couple times now) and sends one self to the Sepiaverse to coordinate things. Or JC, who's got that Kyle Rayner inexperienced-last-hope vibe going on, needs a boost of Courage. There's a ton of options. Try poking at Doyce to see if he's on board. :)

Bill G. said: Maybe to really close the thing, we need two swords, one on both sides of a rift. Leo's not a worthy wielder of Excalibur (he's not willing to wield a weapon of power), leaving Adam. Or Adam remembers his duplication power (used a couple times now) and sends one self to the Sepiaverse to coordinate things. Or JC, who's got that Kyle Rayner inexperienced-last-hope vibe going on, needs a boost of Courage. There's a ton of options. Try poking at Doyce to see if he's on board. :) &lt;reads intently.&gt; &lt;finishes.&gt; I have at least 27 reasons this will work and is a cool idea.&nbsp; ... I may be excited at this idea.&nbsp;

So with Leo's biological ancestry apparently figured out, we know why he's got that vague pan-ethnic look. But what about the girls? Pneuma, and Aria and Summer, could give themselves whatever features they wanted. But they would probably be most comfortable looking similar to their childhood memories (which are derived from Leo's). So do they look Asian at all? Well, it's possible. So I went looking. Here's Taeyeon (aka Kim Tae-Yeon), a South Korean singer. A few conventional pictures... But then I saw this one: That's a very Summery face. EDIT: her Instagram is echoed to Twitter and from a few minutes perusing it, it's 33% smart-looking modeling shots, 33% weird shit or travel scenes and 33% "OMG I DISCOVERED FACE FILTERS LOOK AT THIS YOU GUYS".

Thanks Bill!&nbsp; I like using Instagrams like hers for quick ideas for outfits (because I usually fall into tee-shirt and jeans as the norm).&nbsp; A quick scan through that Instagram made me want to draw something&nbsp; based on this (third one in the gallery).&nbsp; So... I can only imagine what Summer's comment for this on Instagram would look like... Got a text from Sis.&nbsp; Just says "halp".&nbsp; Rushed over immediately.&nbsp; Was ready for anything.&nbsp; Anything except her needing help because someone &nbsp;had let too much time go between haircuts and he wasn't cooperating.&nbsp; #newmanfamilydrama

That looks amazing. And the shirt is a very nice touch. I appeciate that level of detail.

So after Doyce's comment and James' posting of the Full Metal Alchemist father figure for AltFuture!Jason, I did some digging around on the character in order to have a few others to use. Then I came across this rather depressing "Jason Wins" (as I interpret it) image ... ... and immediately started trying to assign Menagerie characters to the individuals there. (I figure that's Alycia front and center, and Charlotte to the left, maybe Harry far left and Leo back right, but I just can't make Adam (or anyone else) fit into the figure behind Alycia -- he sort of looks like an anthropomorphized Otto to my eye, but that would be even _more_ alarming.)

*** Dave H. said: I just can't make Adam (or anyone else) fit into the figure behind Alycia -- he sort of looks like an anthropomorphized Otto to my eye, but that would be even _more_ alarming.) I mean, how dark do you wanna get here?

A thread of unhuman, ghost-like photographic effects created practically (without CGI):&nbsp; <a href="https://imgur.com/gallery/ChnPZOP" rel="nofollow">https://imgur.com/gallery/ChnPZOP</a> Possibly of interest in a world full of ghosts.

Bill G. said: I mean, how dark do you wanna get here? Heh. The conflict does seem to have that sort of apocalyptic psychodrama sense to it.

Not new art, but guess who just got their commercial-grade printer and decided to have some fun... Having never printed any of my artwork before (but having a lot of friends who are professional artists and constantly told me "yeah, you'll understand your artwork a lot better once you start printing your stuff") I was not ready for the difference not having the colors backlit made on some of the art.&nbsp; I originally made the artwork in CMYK mode and not RGB, so at least I didn't have to deal with unprintable colors. Still, it was very nice to be able to hold the final result in my hands.&nbsp; Something I plan on doing more of.

Looks awesome :)

And then I learned that I somehow during readjusting the images for printing that I somehow managed to convert it over to RGB and then back to CMYK and then Photoshop let the less accurate printer software handle the color correction.&nbsp; The reaction on the second go around was then "oh, this is a lot more accurate to what I was seeing on my screen." Oh well, things we learn on the way.

Very cool.&nbsp;

So Bill said this over on the&nbsp; Comics By Request thread : Bill G. said: Thinking more about this, there's a neat parallel going on. All three of our team boys seem to have super-strong, super-tough, super-protective ladies watching over them in some capacity (Aria, Superchica, and A10). Any way you cut it, any girl trying to muscle in on that would wind up about like this . Now I'm picturing these three getting together for coffee on Sundays and sharing threat assessments in manila folders with each other. This made want to draw out that trio... but then I added Charlotte and Alycia because this seems like one of those cool temporary team-ups that would happen.

Left to right: Savior, Danger, Freak, Superior, Mundane.

Bill G. said: Left to right: Savior, Danger, Freak, Superior, Mundane Accurate.&nbsp; Not intentional, but accurate.&nbsp; (If I'd flipped Keri and Charlotte, would have matched the order on the character sheet.&nbsp; Missed opportunities...)

That's awesome, Mike. I love this stuff. And you did it defying the comic book convention of "all women's faces look the same." Those are five individuals up there.

Oh that was also part of the exercise here.&nbsp; I know I fall into the "same face issue" occasionally, but having these five together really made me ask questions like "okay, how are their faces distinctive?" and "how tall is everyone?"

Mike said: Bill G. said: Left to right: Savior, Danger, Freak, Superior, Mundane Accurate.&nbsp; Not intentional, but accurate.&nbsp; (If I'd flipped Keri and Charlotte, would have matched the order on the character sheet.&nbsp; Missed opportunities...) But then you'd have missed this better opportunity, because the balance here is great. The girls on either end are waiting to see how this goes down (Keri looking sort of curious/interested, Aria with epic level Resting Bitch Face), the two surrounding Charlotte are clearly Done With Somebody's Shit (A10 showing off the guns, Alycia ready to draw them, as it were), and Charlotte's the friendly face saying "please stop before we are forced to do something unpleasant to you". I have an idea for this that I can write up & post tonight, actually.

Bill G. said: The girls on either end are waiting to see how this goes down (Keri looking sort of curious/interested, Aria with epic level Resting Bitch Face), the two surrounding Charlotte are clearly Done With Somebody's Shit (A10 showing off the guns, Alycia ready to draw them, as it were), and Charlotte's the friendly face saying "please stop before we are forced to do something unpleasant to you". I have an idea for this that I can write up & post tonight, actually.

Huh, apparently I did get the order right, just not where I expected it. That is weirdly appropriate, given the inspiration for this picture.

And now for the slightly more badass (thought more hastily done) version.

I would be so daunted. Again, awesome, sir.&nbsp;

Taking my cues from the Justice League's "Fury" episode, part one of fiction is up at&nbsp; <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/6520886/xwhy/" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/6520886/xwhy/</a> Please leave comments on that thread.