Curse

Thistle Xandra · Oct 02, 2010, 10:43 PM // 22:43

Instead of pencil art, I decided to go the costume route

I'm going to try to do
Vekk

Step 1: Find model

Step 2: But, will he wear a costume??

Looks like he'll wear a body and head piece so now on to turning that pic into an actual costume!

Death By An Arrow · Oct 03, 2010, 12:17 AM // 00:17

I think I know what I'm gunna draw; or atleast attempt with first.
The idea is sort of like a bunch of pumpkins are all piled togethor, and it's a close up shot to find that Mad King Thorn is stuck in the stack. So you see a bunch of other pumpkins around the screen and then inbetween them is MKT's face (and probably the cape's collar and whatnot).

Its not a very serious idea, quite silly in fact. I'm not sure if it'll actually turn out very well or if i should just dump the idea but its the only one ive got (other than MKT cosplaying starwars..) and it seems to be the perfect level of difficulty for me; not very :P

I'm working on the sketch right now, so once the rough sketch is done ill upload it to my deviantART and throw down the link here

Silverfire · Oct 03, 2010, 12:40 AM // 00:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minami

Silverfire: Looking good with the colors! My suggestion would be to study her pose more carefully, and how she fits into the background. Right now she seems to be pasted into the picture, because the way her body is positioned doesn't correspond to the slant of the ground. (More specifically, the leg on the left side of the pic.)
I tried to use the puppet warp and some other things to show you a bit better how she's look more in synch. Please excuse the wobbly looking legs, puppet warp has a tendency to do that.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: I just checked that pic again, so sorry for cutting up your figure there like that >_< Illustrating something with a quick work is still not something I can do very well yet. :S

Ooh, spaghetti limbs! Thankyou very much for your input though. I've been fiddling around in Photoshop, manipulating the layers I have her on with the Free Transform ----> Distort ----> Perspective tools, trying to "cheat" her into a different position. I can't do it extensively without making her look squished and misshapen though, so I haven't moved her as much as you illustrated. (See below.) Short of repainting her entirely I'm not sure how to go about it.
Maybe I should try changing the slope of the ground instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minami

My progress for today.

Blended a lot, especially on the face. Fixed a shine in the left pupil. Made the background visible. Ambient color is not added yet anywhere, so she still looks pasted in. Drew and colored the candy corns.

Any C&C is welcome.

Yours is looking good. Only thing I would say is that she feels just a bit too perfect in some ways, like how people are saying with her hair being too straight - she'd feel more real if she was a little mussed up/rumpled/tousled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death By An Arrow

Silverfire: I really, really like you're background. The way the colours bounce off the silhoutes of the trees without giving or removing any extra attention is nice. I also really like the pumpkins, but I feel like they're highlights are inconsistent with the sky... I drew over your final piece (sorry Dx) to illustrate what I mean a bit better.

Sorry for being really maticulous, but I'm probably the most anal (dont even make that joke...) artist about details I've ever met. When I'm drawing pencil/paper, i tend to shade the tiniest nooks and crannies until they're exactly how i envision them. Which can take anywhere from 5mins-30mins... I'm just crazy like that. But seriously, you're piece is beautiful and i think the colour choices play off eachother and makes the piece that much stronger

Thankyou for the detailed explanation and illustration of advice. I see what you mean about the inconsistency with the light source.
I'm not sure about changing all the highlights on the pumkins though. Might it be better to change the sky instead? (See below.)

Death By An Arrow · Oct 03, 2010, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverfire

-snip-

Hmm, changing the sky is a much better idea than changing the pumpkins. I like what you did. I put them side by side (i had the first one saved already ;P) to see and didn't notice a huge difference, however when they're apart I feel like your changed one works better. I can't really explain it, but what you did deffinatly helped. LOL I would perhaps play around with how bright and dark you can make the sky before the mood of the piece changes, because while a brighter "bright sky" would make things a little more dramatic, it would essentially take the eerie out of the piece. Plus, with so much brightness you wouldnt get as-rich shadows.

So it's kind of a delicate change. I like what you've got, but if you've got the spare time open up a seperate copy to see if you can make it more dramatic while keeping the mood. If not your piece already benefits from the change, and if it works than itll be even better ^^

I think I'm only being so finicky with your piece cause yours inspired the concept of my piece (dont worry, they aren't really anything alike. Yours is just really pumpkin oriented) and I'm thinking of ways i might highlight my pumpkins. I work at a golf course at nights too, so I'm always surrounded with changing skys and know how they look in settings at different times; so its nice to be able to apply my absentmindedness to improve things

Konig Des Todes · Oct 03, 2010, 01:07 AM // 01:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by ` Marshmallow

ogodthisthreadisspeedingup D':

I can't keep up ,___,~

Imagine how I feel with a bloody headcold and inability to concentrate on drawing for more than a minute.

Death By An Arrow · Oct 03, 2010, 02:11 AM // 02:11

Alright, so heres my sketch. Im really liking how it turned out ((and im even becoming more akin with my tablet pen q.q). Some of the pumpkins look flat or awkward but I think its just because there's no colour.

Heres the direct link to it on DeviantART.

It took me like, 2 and a half hours though.... so im gunna take a break from it for the night. heh :P

What does everyone think? ^^

Edit: Hrm... I don't appear to be able to post the image here from my deviantART... so ive got the link in while i find a temporary fix.

Silverfire · Oct 03, 2010, 02:51 AM // 02:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death By An Arrow

Hmm, changing the sky is a much better idea than changing the pumpkins. I like what you did. I put them side by side (i had the first one saved already ;P) to see and didn't notice a huge difference, however when they're apart I feel like your changed one works better. I can't really explain it, but what you did deffinatly helped. LOL I would perhaps play around with how bright and dark you can make the sky before the mood of the piece changes, because while a brighter "bright sky" would make things a little more dramatic, it would essentially take the eerie out of the piece. Plus, with so much brightness you wouldnt get as-rich shadows.

So it's kind of a delicate change. I like what you've got, but if you've got the spare time open up a seperate copy to see if you can make it more dramatic while keeping the mood. If not your piece already benefits from the change, and if it works than itll be even better ^^

I think I'm only being so finicky with your piece cause yours inspired the concept of my piece (dont worry, they aren't really anything alike. Yours is just really pumpkin oriented) and I'm thinking of ways i might highlight my pumpkins. I work at a golf course at nights too, so I'm always surrounded with changing skys and know how they look in settings at different times; so its nice to be able to apply my absentmindedness to improve things

Thankyou! I was thinking the same thing about not wanting to make it too bright, because it is supposed to be evening and I want to keep the atmosphere of twilight verging on dusk. I'm sure I'll play around with it a little more before the end of the contest. I'm keeping the whole document with all layers (all 313MB!) so it's possible to just tweak sections.

Ooh, I inspired someone

That's a first! Yay pumpkins.

Actually ingame some of my guildies often nickname me "Pumpkin after midnight" because I always seem to fade faster than everyone else when staying up late.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death By An Arrow

Alright, so heres my sketch. Im really liking how it turned out ((and im even becoming more akin with my tablet pen q.q). Some of the pumpkins look flat or awkward but I think its just because there's no colour.

Heres the direct link to it on DeviantART.

It took me like, 2 and a half hours though.... so im gunna take a break from it for the night. heh :P

What does everyone think? ^^

Edit: Hrm... I don't appear to be able to post the image here from my deviantART... so ive got the link in while i find a temporary fix.

I'm liking your composition, and the variety of angles that you have your pumpkins jumbled at. I think it's such a good idea, because all you can really see of Mad King is his pumpkin head, but it's instantly recognisable compared to the rest.

Minami · Oct 03, 2010, 05:39 AM // 05:39

Death by an Arrow, I like your sketch! I think it's a fun idea

Can't wait to see the progress ^_^

Silverfire, the sky changing made the pic look better. Good job!

Thistle, Such a cute doggy! ^_^ I hope you can make him sit through the costume making and photo session, it's a very cute idea!

Marshy: OMG cuteness overload again! *flops* More more!!! I like the rock too, don't see anything wrong with it.

My progress:
Ok, did many smaller things today, and a big one.
Made the hair a bit more unruly, and the bottom of the bangs a little more "torn". I'll try and work some more on it, it doesn't show so good on this small pic I link here. (Original size is 4500x3730)
Added ambient color on the skin and lightened it a bit too. Added a bluish hue to the lips, so it seems more necromancer-y.
Did the black part of the armor and added ambient color to it.
Lifted the bust a bit, since it's a harder armor.
Started blocking in the armor's green metallic color. It's only a very rough version, lots of blending to follow, and will also fix the green line edges to be smooth (before I blend of course). Right now I didn't pay too much attention to the smoothness of the lines yet.
Also change the perspective of the armor, the other one didn't sit quite right. Liquify tool FTW...

Added the Vabbian scar to her face too, textured and shaded it.
I haven't done the mouth corner lift yet, I'll do that once all the skin layers are merged. I have about 5-6 skin layers now, some at different opacities and settings, it would be a paint to try and do the exact same lift on every layer

I think that's it... Difficult to keep up with all the changes I do, cuz it seems like I like to work on different things every 10 minutes D:

Workflow goes something like this:
Color blocking the black of the armor -> gone to draw the scar -> outline the green armor parts -> back to the black part, blend some -> work on the scar -> fix something in the background -> block in green colors -> blend black -> create the green color palette -> put ambient color on the skin..... etc etc... I have so many layers.... *sigh*

EDIT: I hate jpg compression artifacts in pictures V_V

Ok, here it is...

Charlie Dayman · Oct 03, 2010, 07:42 AM // 07:42

Yeah, there's way too much going on in this thread for me to keep up with. I'll try to comment tomorrow.

More wippee.

Tommy's · Oct 03, 2010, 07:55 AM // 07:55

Omg I love the expression of this new girl. Cool how they both look so unique. Tbh I would leave it so light, it looks quite natural, more then the lightning on the other (but perhabs upcoming ambient lights will change that^^) And she looks like someone I know in real life

.

Operative 14 · Oct 03, 2010, 07:59 AM // 07:59

Gah, I NEED to stop looking at Charlies piece just before I go to bed. >_<

Charlie Dayman · Oct 03, 2010, 08:03 AM // 08:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommy's

Omg I love the expression of this new girl. Cool how they both look so unique. Tbh I would leave it so light, it looks quite natural, more then the lightning on the other (but perhabs upcoming ambient lights will change that^^) And she looks like someone I know in real life

.

I'm still figuring out what setting I like the most - it's set to color dodge at the moment. I might lighten the left one's face a bit on the shading. Though for the most part, her face will definitely have stronger shadows since her head doesn't have that slight backwards tilt like the others'.

Sephios · Oct 03, 2010, 01:07 PM // 13:07

Hello, I don't think any of you know me. I noticed this thread last year just after the contest, so I thought I might as well join you this year!

I always try to come up with virtual originality in my entries, I won a honorable mention with it last year (click to see entry).

I hope it's still possible to enter for this though?

Name: Sephios
Art Form: illustration
Idea: undecided
Progress Gallery: none yet
Real Life Prizes: [_]
Official Contest: [X]
Workshop Awards: [X]

Tzu · Oct 03, 2010, 02:07 PM // 14:07

Added new artists to the list!
Darcy's 100k donation was split between Most Amusing and Pure Evil, the dyes went to Most Original (black) and Muse (white)!
A notable donation from Kiya was split as follows: 1st Place Best Progress (Everlasting Macabre Tonic), 2nd Place BP (250 Mysterious Summoning Stones), 3rd Place BP (200 Mercantile Summoning Stones), Guru Halloween Artist Extraordinaire (Demonic Aegis Of Fortitude)

Charlie, your work looks absolutely fantastic so far. Bonechilling awesomeness. <3

Kiya, I really like your MK costume progress! The difference in textures shows an eye for detail I wish more cosplayers had, it makes a big impact on the final outcome. This costume will be so epic!

Loving the amount of Literature artists we have so far too!

I like your progress so far Xandra! You can submit your final story whichever way you want; via PM or e-mail to me, post it here in spoiler-tags, put it up on a fanfiction site, Wordpress, Blogspot or Deviantart. I would personally reccomend Wordpress because you can post your progress as different blog entries, and you can give the story a fitting backdrop to create a good reading atmosphere.

Ravenhawk · Oct 03, 2010, 02:29 PM // 14:29

Okay I have been in lurk mode in this thread for awhile now, drooling over all your progress! So glad to see new faces as well!

I am done with my piece but would work on some improvements today (I had a friend in DA look at it initially because I felt like something was lacking and couldn't pinpoint it. She got it spot on lol)

Then I will probably post it here for further critique

Death By An Arrow · Oct 03, 2010, 05:12 PM // 17:12

Alright, today I threw in some base colours. I made Mad King a little darker than the other pumpkins to make him stand out more. What do you guys think? Good idea/bad idea?

Heres the direct link if the image doesn't work again.

So deviantART image posting doesnt work... is there a reason for it? I might upload them to imageshack or photobucket to post them here if the link is inconvenient.

stouda01 · Oct 03, 2010, 05:33 PM // 17:33

wip2

deviantart link

okay so i totally graduated (finally yay!)..i had my appropriate amount of celebrating over the past 2 weeks and so i finally found some time to continue on my drawing..It's still just a photo sorry i will scan it next time i promise

It got much more comic book like style feel to it than i previously wanted :/
also i cant really place remaining leg of that hellhound properly it just looks bad wherever i place it. I would really appreciate some tips on this

Death By An Arrow · Oct 03, 2010, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by stouda01

snip

Thats amazing, i really love the pose! Are you planning on adding colour or leaving it black and white? If you're planning on a landscape I really think a moon should go in behind his hand. SUPERDRAMA!

Oh_Frustration · Oct 03, 2010, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Stouda, darn great if you ask me. I like that comic book style, and the hellhound is simply amazing. My opinion for the "right" (our left) rear leg would be as close to the right front leg as possible without touching - as the left rear leg is far back and the left front leg is most probably going to stretch forth a little. Or however you have planned it, but I think that as the legs on the hound's left are far from each other, the right side ones should be close to each other in the picture.

Thistle Xandra, did I understand correctly that you're making a dog costume like this one?

If yes, then I'm quite excited to see the outcome

Looking good, keep up the good work, fellas

/E: Tzu, my name is not on the list

My parttaking info is on the second page and my progress gallery is here. Thanks

actionjack · Oct 03, 2010, 05:58 PM // 17:58

Woot.. its done (well, atleast stage 1, will try to progress it to stage 2 if have time)

I will go for the orginality... since I cann't compete against all the other amazing artist here

Name: Actionjack
Art Form: digital media
Idea: old school
Progress Gallery: none yet
Real Life Prizes: [X]
Official Contest: [X]
Workshop Awards: [X]

Mad King Boss Fight