Portraits Discussion

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: xpace

The Aizek portrait is OK, except... his chin is perfectly square (a 90 degree angle) on one side only!

He has a deformed chin, which is described on his concept sheet as an ill-fitting cyberskull. The square bit juts outward and is a bit to the left. His "armor" is meant to look like half an oil drum with a hole for his head; you're right that it does look like stocks. Here are some other pictures so you can see the whole thing, nipple-nuts and all:
http://ataraxiatheatre.com/2008/08/08/living-in-a- fog/
http://ataraxiatheatre.com/2008/08/12/ultimatum/

Quoting: Phil Munoz

I think I'm finally starting to understand JH's style. You sketch it freehand with a pen tablet... and then you go over it with black lines using a line/curve/path tool... maybe a vector tool.

Actually I use the same tool for the rough drawing as for the finished drawing, but doing a webcomic really gives you a lot of practice at making smooth lines. I believe Ladene uses the path tools for hers, though.

Depending on what program you're using, there may be a way to smooth the lines as you're drawing. The Gimp doesn't have this feature but PhotoShop and ComicStudio do.

[Phil Munoz]

Quoting: xpace

Note that I also cleaned up the edges a bit, too. But if you don't like my doing this, just say the word and I'll take it down.

I don't mind at all.  I was gonna darken it a bit myself, but I was preoccuppied with stuff and forgot all about it.  Thanks for doing it for me.

Quoting: Joseph Hewitt

Actually I use the same tool for the rough drawing as for the finished drawing, but doing a webcomic really gives you a lot of practice at making smooth lines. I believe Ladene uses the path tools for hers, though.

Depending on what program you're using, there may be a way to smooth the lines as you're drawing. The Gimp doesn't have this feature but PhotoShop and ComicStudio do.

Oh.  You must have really good control.  I tend to sketch my lines bit by bit, but it seems you do yours in a single stroke.

[Joseph Hewitt]

I do the rough lines bit by bit, but for the inks I try to keep to a single stroke. Right now I'm reading some art books by Andrew Loomis and he's quite big on the single stroke thing, even for rough sketching.

[Phil Munoz]

I've reduced the wrinkles, and made it game sized.

[Ladi]

For lineart, I typically do a sketch on paper which I then scan and trace over in PhotoShop.  I haven't actually used the pen tool since getting a tablet.  I just trace everything over with a 1-2 pixel brush.  I also don't use pure black for any lines.  I use dark green for hair, dark red for clothes, etc.

Of course, my tablet just happened to die on me right as I was going to finish a batch of new portraits...

[xpace]

[sigh] I wish I had a tablet...
It is on my to get list. :-)

Carter looks cool, Phil. Nice job!
Here's in-game:



Still, no offense, but I think that horizontal line on his neck looks more like he had a buggered tracheotomy procedure, rather than a wrinkle or Adam's apple. I suppose it could be a scar, though.

[Phil Munoz]

Quoting: xpace

Still, no offense, but I think that horizontal line on his neck looks more like he had a buggered tracheotomy procedure, rather than a wrinkle or Adam's apple. I suppose it could be a scar, though.

Yeah, I'm finding it difficult to do a convincing adam's apple.  I'm largely dissatisfied with the result of that one so I did another attempt of carter...



... and now that I see the thumbnail, the head looks too small.  

Plus, a number of other guys...  because we need to balance things out.  I normally prefer drawing girls than guys, too.



EDIT:

Coloured a few...

[xpace]

I did not think it was necessary to redraw Carter. I honestly thought he was good as is. I was just hoping the Adam's apple could be edited to be understated a bit more.

Like... looking at your redraw, I can see that the Adams apple 'wrinkle' on the new Carter is smaller. And it seems to be thick on one side (hinting at the windpipe) and thins out to the other. If you could just flip it horizontal and "transplant" the Adams apple from the new to the old (without adding too much shading), I think it could work.

Ooh! A cybernetic guy! Nice!
That will go great to balance out either Mullins or my younger, failed attempt. I like balance. That cloak is well done, too.
:Thumbsup:

BTW: That "Studded" guy looks like he could be a distant relative of Goku, Gohan, or Trunks. (I like it. That was just an observation. ;-) And we already have a couple Punks. But that's fine. I imagined the GearHead universe like a sort of Mad Max meets Space Cowboy meets Cyberpunk, but with mecha.

[Joseph Hewitt]

I still don't really like either portrait of Carter. In the final version of the first one I think the shading is too deep and realistic-looking; most of the game portraits are closer to cel-shaded.

The additional male portraits are really nice. I like the first guy in the hat. I need to work on my armor/adventure-wear. I think it's clear from my ubiquitous shoulder-pads-and-bracers look that I spent far too many hours as a teenager drawing WH40k characters.

[Phil Munoz]

I think I'll need to re-examine Carter's design.  I'll try and dig up his appearance in the comic.

... And here's the rest of the guys.

[EarthquakeDamage]

Quoting: xpace

Ooh! A cybernetic guy! Nice!

Maybe it's just me, but it looks a bit like we have no chance to survive.  Make our time.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Quoting: EarthquakeDamage

Maybe it's just me, but it looks a bit like we have no chance to survive. Make our time.

Ha Ha Ha

[Phil Munoz]

Quoting: EarthquakeDamage

Maybe it's just me, but it looks a bit like we have no chance to survive. Make our time.

Haha.  Don't go taking off every 'ZIG' just yet.

This was not done intentionally.  But now that I've compared the two, it looks like the operator and the CATS dude got fused and resulted in that.

[magic.coding.fairy.peridot]

I'm not an artist, and it's hard to argue against more portraits = better, but... can we please do something about por_f_ladi_mischa.png? I realize women in revealing costumes and men in practical ones is a genre convention, but that one is just... ew. Makes me think of those cringe-inducing first-generation Star Trek alien outfits the actresses had to be glued into. Maybe filling in all the gaps with cloth would yield a not-too-bad halter dress?

[Joseph Hewitt]

Ladi- Sorry to hear about your tablet. I dread the day that mine needs service; after having it for so long, going without would be like trying to live without thumbs or something.

Phil- Your new portraits look great in the game.

...

Here are some of the NPCs who still need portraits, along with brief descriptions. There are probably many more than these.

Jondi Syd- Rocket Star weapon master; slightly sleazy and villainous looking. Should be kinda based on Johnny Ramone (Vannis was based on Tina Turner, Kynan was based on David Bowie).

Zako- Low level arena competitor. 19 years old. She's basically a low level cartoon villain, up to no good but nothing seriously evil. I'm imagining kind of a Nefaria/Sentai-show villain look. She's using Phil's mechapilot now but could use one of her own.

Ritzi- Parshall's sister, 28 years old. Very smart, capable, tired, overworked, and no longer able to contain her sarcasm. She doesn't have her brother's people skills (or at least, can't maintain her people skills for longer than an introduction) and so works behind the scenes. She is wearing a bunny-eared loligoth casino uniform of her own design. Currently she uses Ladi's loligoth image, but I think she could use one of her own.

Galena Hodges- doctor, over 100 years old. Kindly and wise. Previously she used the knowledge portrait, but that one has been deleted.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the only ones I can think of off hand.

Edit- Another one. Fuschia: 22 year old female pop singer. Currently she uses Vikki's portrait, but again she could use another one. She's taking part in a mecha tournament as a promotional stunt. Her image is "Cavalier Style"- imagine a J-Pop or K-Pop singer dressing up like a scifi adventurer. Cheerful, sociable, and easygoing.

Onawa could probably also use a portrait of her own; right now she's using Brianna's portrait. 25 year old female corporate pilot. Originally from Earth, where she was a mercenary recon pilot. Her hair is tied back in a pony tail. She has a serious expression on her face; personality traits are melancholy, shy, easygoing. Her specialty is stealth/ninjitsu.