Storn Art from idea to full picture

[death tribble]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Await developments over the weekend or Monday

[Storn]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

I tried to post last night, but maybe because of storms in my area... or perhaps the boards where down... I could not get through.

 

DT. Resend the quote for that bear of a commission you have me doing. The inks are done. color is next. But I can't find the quote.

 

Anyway, back to the main business of this thread. I chose to do Cyanide. Here are 2 steps and I'll go thru what I was thinking and why I made the decisions that I did along each step.

 

First: Rough Pencil Sketch

 

A lot of decisions happen during scribble time. Cyanide is an assassin. Assassins like to keep their identity hidden... safer that way. Hence full mask. Assassins work at night, okay... night goggles. Since this man has force fields and can hurt you by making you touch them... I decided on a relentless stride forward. So I picked the pose that I did, roughly shaping with pencil, very lightly (the sketch is punched up considerably in its darkness via photoshop so y'all can see it).

 

I'm making decisions on the force fields already in this stage. I'm not going to try and pencil them or ink them. I will do that all in photoshop on layers, to do the overlapping forcefield shielding that I envision. But it is in my mind as I go about sketching.

 

Also, I've made decisions about color. Cyanide is a poison. I decide that the dark parts of the costume will be almost black-green. Green is kinda poison-y color. I sorta suggest a "C" with the negative space on the torso. Thinking of Cyanide gas cannister... I'll make that part of the costume a light gunmetal gray. Everything works with gray . The forcefields themselves will be various hues of green-blue... a color I think feels like "energy", yet in will be close in key to the costume. The goggles will jump to the other side of the color spectrum and be glowing red... giving that ominous, relentless look.

 

Second: Tighten up the pencils.

 

Not much to say, but here is where the rubber meets the road. Note, the tilt difference between the two stances that I just noticed was due to slightly different positions when scanning. I didn't change it in on paper .

 

Coming Up Next.

 

I've inked it already, but I have to color it. I will do so and post hopefully today.

[Storn]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Inks

 

Not much to tell here. I changed the position of the lead foot at the last moment to something a bit more concrete to re-emphasis the walk. I use a brush for 90% of the inking. I like the elegant, organic, curvey line that I can achieve with a brush. I do use a quill (or dip pen) to do some detail work like fingers and the goggles.

 

Color

 

I did the shields in Illustrator and brought it back to photoshop for some airbrush effects. Pretty much everything else is done in photoshop. I build a main color, then work shadows sections and highlights on top of that. I tend to work in layers, so if I make a mistake, I clean up a small portion easily. The "gray" of the negative space turned to a green-gray when I went to actual play with the colors. The gray just wasn't quite working.

 

I was really rusty in Adobe Illustrator, so doing the curves was a bit time consuming as a fumbled around for the right way of doing many of them. but trying to draw a curve with a wacom stencil in photoshop would have been a real study in stoopid frustration. The lines would have looked shaky and ridiculous. The mechanical feel of the Illustrator vector line, I think, actually works in the context of Cyanide's overlapping force field.

 

So. There you have it. Cyanide.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

that's pretty damned cool.

 

A thanks to DeathTribble for shelling out the bucks, and to Storn for throwing down the art for us to see.

 

Way cool. I always enjoy seeing how an artist gets from 0 to finished.

[Enforcer84]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Thanks to everyone involved. This was a really neat project.

[RPMiller]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

that's pretty damned cool.

 

A thanks to DeathTribble for shelling out the bucks, and to Storn for throwing down the art for us to see.

 

Way cool. I always enjoy seeing how an artist gets from 0 to finished.

And the speed is remarkable! That was very cool now if we can save Storn's talent in a can and market it...

[death tribble]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

I hadn't envisioned Cyanide in the way it came out. I hadn't thought of a covered head for example.

I would be interested to see what crackerjack now says.

[Pegasus]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

And the speed is remarkable! That was very cool now if we can save Storn's talent in a can and market it...

 

I'd buy a six-pack!

 

Add my appreciation to the rest, very cool. I was amazed to see the raw sketchiness of the first pic. The second almost looks like it came from somewhere else. The negative space 'C' is very subtle and works really well, and the lethal force fields are a great visual. The Illustrator maneuver is a good idea. I've used both and I know exactly what you mean about curves in Photoshop, frustrating as heck.

 

Thanks, he looks great. Now, who's doing the .hdc?

[Crackerjacker]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Storn, thanks to you, Cyanide has now become the most badass Canadian of all time. (yes, David "Cyanide" Shaw is Canadian, or did I neglect to mention that?)

 

Truly, badass. Great job, Storn, and thank you DT for choosing my idea.

[SteveZilla]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

JT, thanks for posting your characters. Because it allows me to state something about commissions in a public forum. Those briefs? Too much information.

 

I don't OFTEN need childhood traumas, long backgrounds and secret origins in order to do a picture. Sometimes it helps, but rarely. I know folks have passion for their creations... but I'm trying to add to that creation, throwing a lot of info at me obscures the forest thru the trees.

 

{snip}

 

In fact, I got a GM's understanding of Mirror Man and NO description of what the character looks like in action... or costume. It is fine if folks have no idea what the costume should look like...but I need to know when I have this carte blanche room to operate. From what I've gleaned from charlie, he could wear anything from plaid to leather bomber jacket to 3 piece Saville Row suit to spandex... I didn't get a description of his gear. Is Mirror Man part of a super team? Or is he a loner? Does he fight crime? Does he have a radio comm to communicate with his team? Is he a PC or supporting cast NPC (that can have a visual difference)?

 

Storn' date=' what is the usual procedure for getting a piece of (superhero) character art done? I'm seriously considering comissioning one, but have never done this before.[/quote']

 

This is like what I was asking. Other questions I would have would be:

 

1. How much say do I get in the character's appearance -- like particulars of the costume, pose, expression, powers in use, etc?

 

2. Do I only get one "shot" at describing him, or can there be a little dialogue to convey more of the character? I might not think of everything all at once.

 

3. Since this is for a Superheroic Champions game, I would want a "comic book" feel to the art -- does that require a certain format & materials (like paint, pen & ink, or something else)?

 

4. I have some pieces of art (using the term loosely ) that I have used previously for the character. Would it be okay to submit them along with the usual info on the character?

 

5. Would also having the character sheet be helpful?

 

6. Am I forgetting anything?

 

Thanks in advance to any and all who help educate me on this subject!

[death tribble]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

This is like what I was asking. Other questions I would have would be:

 

1. How much say do I get in the character's appearance -- like particulars of the costume, pose, expression, powers in use, etc?

 

2. Do I only get one "shot" at describing him, or can there be a little dialogue to convey more of the character? I might not think of everything all at once.

 

3. Since this is for a Superheroic Champions game, I would want a "comic book" feel to the art -- does that require a certain format & materials (like paint, pen & ink, or something else)?

 

4. I have some pieces of art (using the term loosely ) that I have used previously for the character. Would it be okay to submit them along with the usual info on the character?

 

5. Would also having the character sheet be helpful?

 

6. Am I forgetting anything?

 

Thanks in advance to any and all who help educate me on this subject!

 

Well as someone who has asked for Storn to do stuff here's what I can tell you.

 

1. Everything. If you want them in flight, then yes they will be in flight. When I asked for a modern day Medusa I asked for multi-coloured snakes with one black strand nearer normal snake size coming down on the right side. I asked for glasses as well. And that is what I got. I asked for her to be good looking and not like a WoTC/Hasbro or Ray Harryhousen look. And again this is what I got.

 

2. The more detailed you want it the better. Try and get all the bits together before submitting your idea. If there is something that the artist is unsure of or wants to suggest they will get back to you.

 

3. Storn has done digital work and paint work. The digital is the default. Check my commissions. That's digital. Where he has not done digital he says so. He has also done Fantasy work which is in the Fantasy hero forum.

 

4. Yes. I am going to for some of the Protectors (home brew not the Hero Games team of the same name). And others have done this before.

 

5. Possibly. depends on how much info is there and what it says and how legible it is.

 

6. Payment is in advance via PayPal for Storn.

[Storn]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

If I could afford him, I would make DT my agent in a heart beat!!! .

 

Steve, you ask good questions. DT answered most of them as I would.

 

On #2... yeah, I'm afraid you really only get one shot at describing these. This is a sideline biz for me. I've got constant deadlines from publishers. So I don't have time to kibbitz over a sketch for a private commission. Of course, this can be overcome by throwing lots of money at me! . I jest, but it is true. If you REALLY want all the attention and rights a publisher gets, then you have to pay for it.

 

#3: I do get requests to do supers in media other than digital... but it is my preference FOR supers. For fantasy, I like coloring over pencil and having a bit of the line and sketchiness show thru. That *feels* more fantasy to me than inked work, digitally colored.

 

#4: yes. Having previous pics is a HUGE help, especially if you tell me succinctly what you like and don't like about the pic. Maybe the pose is off, but you love the costume. If I know that, I won't change the costume on ya.

 

#5: character sheets tend to be more useful in fantasy pics, where it would surprise you how much "visual" equipment is forgotten in the character descriptions sent to me. It can't hurt. But it isn't necessary. I would review your character sheet for equipment or things that would have bearing (disads too) on the visual before sending off the description to me.

 

#6 My turnaround time tends to be a bout 1 week to 3 weeks. I've slipped of late (sorry y'all), but I'm making progress in getting to them. Unfortunately, the next week is all publishers, baybee.

[Enforcer84]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Glad to hear the work is still Rolling in Storn. Just hope I never win the lottery...

[SteveZilla]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

On #2... yeah' date=' I'm afraid you really only get one shot at describing these.[/quote']Then I won't worry about giving too much information up front -- I can be fairly verbose when describing a character. I didn't want to come across as nit-picky (even though I may be ).

#3: I do get requests to do supers in media other than digital... but it is my preference FOR supers. For fantasy' date=' I like coloring over pencil and having a bit of the line and sketchiness show thru. That *feels* more fantasy to me than inked work, digitally colored.[/quote']Okay. So a Comic-Book Supers look = Inked, digitally colored.

#4: yes. Having previous pics is a HUGE help' date=' especially if you tell me succinctly what you like and don't like about the pic. Maybe the pose is off, but you love the costume. If I know that, I won't change the costume on ya.[/quote']Okay, I'll include all 3 pics along with a verbose description. Are you sure your mailbox can handle it? ;)New Questions:#7: I am not a costume designer, so I might overlook something, or pick something that looks bad (like the patters or colors used). Would posting the description & previous pictures for feedback before the actual commission be worthwhile? NOTE: One of the pictures was made with a tracing of another comic-book character's form, thus I am unsure of the technical legality when posting that pic. #8: If I am unsure of how a piece of equipment should be described (or I just have a vague idea of how it looks), should I just pile on some adjectives and a few "but not like this or that..." statements?#9: If I see another picture you did and I like something about it, I should add that info to the description, right? I think I can pinpoint the specific piece with a link in each instance, but I am unsure. Would a link or description (character's name, person who commissioned it, etc.) be preferable?Thanks for all the answers, everybody!

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Then I won't worry about giving too much information up front -- I can be fairly verbose when describing a character. I didn't want to come across as nit-picky (even though I may be ).

 

Verbose and nit-picky don't begin to describe it. You should see some of Steve's character sheets.

[Storn]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

#7: I am not a costume designer, so I might overlook something, or pick something that looks bad (like the patters or colors used). Would posting the description & previous pictures for feedback before the actual commission be worthwhile? NOTE: One of the pictures was made with a tracing of another comic-book character's form, thus I am unsure of the technical legality when posting that pic.

 

#8: If I am unsure of how a piece of equipment should be described (or I just have a vague idea of how it looks), should I just pile on some adjectives and a few "but not like this or that..." statements?

 

#9: If I see another picture you did and I like something about it, I should add that info to the description, right? I think I can pinpoint the specific piece with a link in each instance, but I am unsure. Would a link or description (character's name, person who commissioned it, etc.) be preferable?

 

7. Whatever you are unsure of color, equipment... just say so. I've done hundreds of superhero characters... I will have an opinion and a visual solution. Trust me, when there is wiggle room, I will make the best of it. If you traced another's artwork, its okay to send to me as reference.. that isn't public display, nor am I getting paid to do *that* character or pose. So it isn't even unlawful. For the record, I will not trace anyone's work. I don't mind doing something close, like reworking a pose in my own style.

 

8. Yup, see above. The clearer you are about what you are un-clear about (if that makes sense), the more freedom I have in coming up with something that will be cool, will work.

 

9. Yeah, if there is something I've done in the past and you like, it would be great if you can include where I can find it. I might remember it. I might not.

 

Just to recap.. knowing all the psych lims and the long history of the character is NOT necessary. Knowing the body language, expression you want, the equipment carried, the general color schemes, the salient psych lim... that IS nice to know if you have concrete vision of what that is.

 

Its funny, I often get hair color, but the figure wears a full face mask. Then I don't need to know the hair color, do I?

 

And where I see ways of paring down, yet keeping the integrity of the story and concept... I will. An artists job is to exclude elements as well as include. That is why it is an art, and not a science.

[SteveZilla]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Verbose and nit-picky don't begin to describe it. You should see some of Steve's character sheets.

 

Being precisely detailed is not the same thing as being nit-picky. And *I'm* not the one that came up with the following construct (particulars may vary):

 

Dispel Knockback Resistance 10D6, Does Knockback(+1/4), Double Knockback(+3/4).

[SteveZilla]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

One more thing, Storn. I want to use this picture for a PBEM site that has some of it's own "legal wording" to it. I would like to make sure that your legal requirements and this site's don't conflict before the final O.K. (and payment).

 

Should I post a link, copy and paste it here, or something else?

[RobCRogers]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Being precisely detailed is not the same thing as being nit-picky. And *I'm* not the one that came up with the following construct (particulars may vary):

 

Dispel Knockback Resistance 10D6, Does Knockback(+1/4), Double Knockback(+3/4).

Man, that's one of my favorites!

[Storn]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

One more thing, Storn. I want to use this picture for a PBEM site that has some of it's own "legal wording" to it. I would like to make sure that your legal requirements and this site's don't conflict before the final O.K. (and payment).

 

Should I post a link, copy and paste it here, or something else?

 

as long as I get credit... I have no problem with it.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Being precisely detailed is not the same thing as being nit-picky. And *I'm* not the one that came up with the following construct (particulars may vary):

 

Dispel Knockback Resistance 10D6, Does Knockback(+1/4), Double Knockback(+3/4).

 

Yeah, that was me. Guilty as charged.

[JmOz]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

You know if I ever win the Lotto, I might have to get you to do my centurians team pic, so how are you with Perez style 100 character pics

 

sorry just playing around

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

as long as I get credit... I have no problem with it.

 

Storn, regarding you getting credit... my plan was to have you credited on the specific pages upon which your art appears, and the credit will include a link to your own website. Is this sufficient?

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

You know if I ever win the Lotto, I might have to get you to do my centurians team pic, so how are you with Perez style 100 character pics

 

sorry just playing around

 

 

Maybe, maybe not... I talked to Storn about getting every villain in Tarot (50+ villains, at the time) done, as a group pic.

[Storn]

Re: Storn Art from idea to full picture

 

Storn' date=' regarding you getting credit... my plan was to have you credited on the specific pages upon which your art appears, and the credit will include a link to your own website. Is this sufficient?[/quote']

 

Absolutely.