More art from Ladi

[Skulkraken]

I got a new fan for our computer, so I've been able to get to some of the files that Ladi was working on before she left.  Unfortunately, I can't remember which ones I've already posted for her and which ones haven't been shown before.....  In any case, here are some portraits that I'm fairly certain are new.

[Joseph Hewitt]

Excellent work. Fantastic. These portraits especially fit in with the performance content I've been adding to GH2. Thank Ladi profusely, and tell her that she's brilliant. I'll try to pick up something for her when I'm in Japan next weekend.

How's Ladi doing now? I hope everything's going well for her, for you, and the rest of her family.

[Sabin Stargem]

I definately like the latest set of portraits.  Kudos to Ladi for them.

[Joseph Hewitt]

I'm trying to improve my own portrait drawing, and here Ladi goes and raises the bar once again.





With these two, the shading is better than on my previous attempts, but still not really good. Also, the characters don't look cartoonish enough- I should exaggerate the curvature of the face, and abstractify the nose and mouth. Also, I need to learn how to draw hair.

One very important thing is that Ladi always draws characters with cool urban clothing... my characters either have boring clothes or look like they're wearing potato sacks.

It seems that Ladi only uses two colors for shading. This gives the portraits a clean, sharp look. I should try that.

Once again, fantastic work on the portraits.

[macksting]

It seems to me that this game has a shortage of boring clothing. Businessfolk wearing their clothes and hair in the style of Oasis is very anime, and yet I'd like to be able to play my salariman with a dress-suit flair.

Edit: However, if you want a good project, try drawing a monk with prayer beads.

[Anticheese]

Quoting: macksting

It seems to me that this game has a shortage of boring clothing. Businessfolk wearing their clothes and hair in the style of Oasis is very anime, and yet I'd like to be able to play my salariman with a dress-suit flair.

(For those who don't know, Oasis is the girl in the armour.)

Yeah, it has always bothered me that you can go up to a shop and buy a sub sandwich while wearing full Maximus armour, holding an AWC and a plasma cannon.

Heh, I dare you to draw that.

[Lonie]

There is going to be some serious chafing with the strap for the shoulder pad in the third picture :O I suspect the infamous chainmail bikini would be more comfortable...

[Anticheese]

The best part is, it also gives +1 to charisma.

About the bikini, I think that it should just give protection VS critical hits as opposed to armour value.

Heck, if anything it should be negative armour value!

My reasoning is that it is simply a piece of material that *slightly* covers the heart, but leaves 70% of the torso exposed to enemy fire.

SUGGESTION: Armour VS Critical hits

[Varil]

I dunno. If *I* saw a guy walk into a subway with full armor, and a couple of weapons that cost more than the building, I'd sure as hell give him whatever he wanted, whether or not I worked there.

[SharkD]

I have to say that I prefer the more realistic style of Josephs newest portraits to the anime style of Ladi's. I think the realistic style goes better with the post-apocalyptic setting and causes more attention to be focused (deservedly) on the writing found in the game.

But then, I'm the type who likes 75% realism and 25% fantastical (kind of like the old Sesame Street game, 'Which of these things is not like the other?', where you have three objects which are alike and one that is different).

[macksting]

I'm rather fond of the anime style, myself; I'd find the comparative capabilities of battroids vs. arachnoids trite and frustrating if not for that context.

[Joseph Hewitt]

After visiting Japan, and seeing the hair there, I can honestly say that anime is drawn more realistically than I ever feared. :O

Honestly, you should've seen the hair. And the eyeshadow. On the men. Also, the people who looked like they were going to cosplay conventions, but weren't... and the huge flocks of schoolboys and schoolgirls wearing their uniforms even though it was a public holiday. Purple fur jackets. Hair in every color of the rainbow, and big, like magnficient goldfish growing out of their heads...

Ahem. Anyhow, I want to use a slightly more cartoonish style than in the two portraits presented above. My style isn't ever going to match Ladi's, and I don't think it'll ever be as polished either, but I do want to make things so the two styles harmonize with each other. She does a lot of things I said I wanted for GearHead's appearance- her artwork is crisp, clean, and modern.

After some more portraits get added, I may do something that was suggested earlier and remove several of the old, poorly drawn portraits from distribution. I will likely make them available as an optional portrait pack.

[Skulkraken]

I just talked to Ladi a few days ago on the phone, and she's doing fine.  She's almost done with her basic training, and is going to get started with her advanced training in about a month or so.  She's a bit irritated, however, because she keeps getting put into newscasting classes even though she's taking graphics design as her major.

[macksting]

What's this "basic" and "advanced training?" I'm used to these being applied to military personnel, but I can't seem to reconcile graphic design with military service at the same time.
National Guard?

[Joseph Hewitt]

Glad to hear that she's doing well. As I mentioned in the Japan thread, I picked up a Japanese street fashion magazine for her while over there. It's actually some kind of women's ski/snowboard magazine, but the first half is all about clothes and the last quarter is horoscopes and personality tests. Anyhow, it looks cool, and after we got on the boat the four women I travelled with decided they wanted one too, so I think it's pretty good.

Here's an idea for portraits: I could add tags so certain portraits are linked to certain job types. Currently every job is categorized into one of 13 categories: Academic, Adventuring, Corporate, Craftsmen, Religious, Labor, Media, Medical, Military, Politician, Police, Criminal, and Trade. Certain portraits (such as those wearing uniforms or carrying tools) could be assigned to a job type.