tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73545129136522843802024-02-08T07:14:03.116+01:00Michael Hussinger's SketchbookMichael Hussinger's online sketchbook.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-67132377361788293442012-07-24T01:51:00.002+02:002012-07-24T02:02:03.840+02:00Run cycles!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After another little absence, here's some more animation!<br />
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This time, we have a run cycle for 8-way top-down movement, 16-bit style. For more details and a little making of, look inside!<br />
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This cycle is for an ongoing project I'm currently creating with a coder friend of mine - I'm guessing a presentation will follow shortly. Roughly spoken it's something of a top-down horror-style affair - at least as far as something like that can work in a 2D game.<br />
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As a first step, we needed basic a character layout. The idea was to use someone who wasn't an efficient fighter (big surprise, I know), and who wasn't very athletic. Perhaps even worse, someone with bad health. Also, the character had to fit the time period we chose - sometime around the Edwardian period.<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/protagsketch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/protagsketch.png" width="284" /></a></div>
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After picking who we thought looked best (and slightly like Stanley Kubrick too), a basic proportion sprite was created to ensure the character didn't look wildly different when facing different directions:<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/testsprite.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/testsprite.png" /></a></div>
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Detail work was obviously completely unimportant here - just the seams between the different body sections and a few placeholders (nose contours, hairline) were needed at this stage.</div>
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(By the way: Other than the general scale, it's also important to decide the angle you want to use for displaying the game world. When it's not absolutely necessary to do clean squares, I prefer to work at a 3/2 ratio, which is relatively easy to divide and tile:</div>
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While the tileset remains square-based, anything depicted in perspective would be scaled as pictured.)</div>
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With the rough model sprite done, the first simple walk cycle was created - keyframes only, meaning precisely four frames:</div>
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/runsketch.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="87" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/runsketch.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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...which where then "dressed up", so to speak, according to the initial sketch. This was actually done on a pixel level, and very roughly to boot. Here you go:</div>
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/they-told-me-i-could-become-anything.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/they-told-me-i-could-become-anything.png" width="286" /></a></div>
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So while the cycle is <i>technically </i>pixel art, it's hideously rough and dirty, for two reasons: One, because it's done at 200 % size initially anyway and will be scaled down, and two, because a bit of roughness can actually make most things look better. In the end. The hard part is soldiering on even though everything looks hideous right at that time.</div>
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Animation.wise, just two inbetween frames were added, for a total of six frames (lazy!).</div>
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The interim version looked like this:</div>
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/protagrun.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="64" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/re/protagrun.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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This, obviously, looked hideously janky, especially when placed in the game - even at this small resolution, there's a sharp contrast between the (faux) detail on the character and the cheaping out on the inbetweens.</div>
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So in a few evenings' work, I doubled the frame count from 6 to 12, adding one tween per existing frame - leading up to the final cycles you see above.</div>
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It can really pay off to leave something for a few days and return with fresh eyes, I guess.</div>
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This project is in full steam right now - hopefully there'll be something neat to announce soon. Stay tuned!</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-26090542628371674362012-04-22T22:07:00.000+02:002012-04-22T22:07:48.016+02:00Animation: Walk Cycle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/walks_scene.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/walks_scene.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is just a quick update with a walk cycle I've finished just now, intended for a theoretical point and click adventure.<br />
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Click for some background and sketches!<br />
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This is a 6-frame walk, which should be the minimum for things not to look absolutely awful. Also, with six frames, you have pretty much the entire motion set - if you really need more frames, simple inbetweening will do fine.<br />
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As a little bonus, here's how this character came to be. The basic idea was a "slacker" guy, which made me draw up a few possible options (first row):<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/sktchs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/sktchs.png" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Obviously, the one looking most like Lebowsky fit best after all, because you can't go more slacker than that. Still, if you look closely, he doesn't have many similarities at all with Jeff Bridges in his Dude role - facial structure, hair and body type are very different. Only the clothes are a giveaway, the rest is more something you feel than outright see.<br />
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A few possible color schemes:<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/colors.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="117" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/colors.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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...aaand a finished character sheet to get the proportions down. The righmost part is probably interesting, because you can see all the filters and overlays used to achieve the paper feel of the final piece. The totem pole-thing in the center of the picture is actually the basic color scheme used for the character - originally, his shirt is dark purple.<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/charsheet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/dude/charsheet.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hope you like it!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-58963871868325121312012-01-26T14:50:00.001+01:002012-01-26T14:57:16.427+01:00VN character: Lady with basket<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2012/01/vn-character-lady-with-basket.html#more" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/flowpre.png" /></a></div>
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Another one-off character artwork. Like last week's entry, this would work as a VN portrait for dialogues.<br />
Click to see the full image, and there's also a small WIP sketch!<br />
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Again, this has been made in Paint Tool SAI, with some color correction afterwards.<br />
SAI is pretty good for these soft, flowing lines - it has amazing brush behavior, seems to interpolate much more finely than other programs, and it's lightning-quick! You're probably not even noticing the input lag in heavier programs, but I seriously recommend giving it SAI (or another lightweight, painting-only software) a spin!<br />
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In lieu of an actual Making Of, here's the lineart and basic coloring:<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/flowwip.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/flowwip.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Honestly, the reddish shading was probably a bit of a waste, as I just painted over it all. Still, it's a neat exercise, and for darker/grittier images, it definitely pays to have the shading done on paper.<br />
Hope you like it!<br />
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Any comments, please speak below!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-60994639834911859402012-01-09T12:11:00.003+01:002012-01-14T01:31:28.308+01:00VN Character: Flight attendant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2012/01/vn-character-flight-attendant.html#more" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/stewpre.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Happy new year! I'm starting this year off with a still illustration designed for use in a VN-style game, meaning: has to be nice to look at, has to show <i>some</i> personality at least, doesn't need to be animated. In practice, a still that's more or less facing the viewer and can be used for dialogue scenes.<br />
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Click to see the full picture, and there's also a small <b>making of</b> showing the various stages the image went through.<br />
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The goal of this image was pretty simple - other than getting back into drawing a bit (and especially painting, as opposed to pixel art), I just wanted something nice to look at, with a stated purpose (VN illustration). I might expand the whole thing a bit and add more characters - even without having planned an actual storyline.<br />
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If you're interested, here's the first batch of WIP images - everything from rough sketch to lineart. Of course, thing like pose and anatomy could definitely use some more work, but as a rough attempt, it should be fine. At least it's not run-away-right-now hideous.<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/stewip1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/stewip1.png" width="320" /> </a></div>
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I proceeded to coloring/modelling even with the face somewhat undefined and unsightly - facial features are pretty much impossible to properly define in a tiny lineart sketch, and will always look better if done during the modelling step.<br />
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/stewip2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/stew/stewip2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's the shading and coloring process. The first step shows the rough areas of shadow, and while practically all of it is lost during colorization, it's still useful to do just as a mental exercise. One of the weak points of this image is that outside of a few speculars and rim lighting here and there, there's no fixed light source - by repeating and repeating the pre-shading-by-hand step I'm hoping to improve in this area.<br />
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Next up, of course, the flip. This is a pretty flat picture and has no real depth to it, so it's especially important to flip the image several times in order not to screw up all the propoertions. If you're working directly from a reference, this is still nice, but I'm imagining not as crucial as when you do the whole thing from scratch.<br />
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The last image in this sequence is the "final" result, but without contrast balancing, color filters, temperature tweaking etc.
This is the step where it pays off to look at the whole image and decide where to draw the eye. Usually, the facial area will have a lot of detail already, and the eye, being very lazy, normally moves to areas with large, flat colors.<br />
A good strategy is to change the temperature of the image - areas with <span style="color: #cc0000;">warm colors</span> (red, purple, orange) will usually attract the eye and become the focus of the image. Adding more red to the facial area (or wherever else you want the eye to look) is a pretty efficient counter to the "too many lines" problem.<br />
In this case, I overlaid a simple red to blue gradient at about 20 %.<br />
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If you'd like to have a look at the original working size, it's actually pretty small. I'm sure professional illustrators will work at much higher sizes.<br />
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Hope you like it!<br />
And if you have any questions or comments, feel free to add them here!<br />
<br />Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-46676239369624318982011-11-08T00:15:00.003+01:002011-11-08T00:27:07.814+01:00Two pixel artworks!<div style="text-align: center;">
Click the images to view at full pixel size. Trust me, it'll look much nicer! </div>
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/2D/unit_AW_4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="551" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/2D/unit_AW_4.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Two samples of pixel art, fresh from the presses! It's a set of more than 20 pieces, so patience is needed in case you're looking to see more<br />
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Hope you like them!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-49569826756088954062011-10-18T17:51:00.002+02:002011-10-18T18:30:43.970+02:00Pixel art: Units!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/2D/unitwalks2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/2D/unitwalks2.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is part of a bigger thing, and I thought I'd post some of it here.
Four-way walk animations in 32 x 32 pixels. Character designed by myself, and there's a stack of other animation and characters in the same set. The whole thing should come out in due time.
Hope you like it!<br />
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(And if you were wondering, the inspirations for each faction are Indian/Sikh/Khalsa and 19th century Russian infantry.)Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-75270362554872851312011-10-01T00:32:00.003+02:002011-10-18T18:29:54.653+02:00Character: John Charity Spring<br />
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<a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2011/10/character-john-charity-spring.html#more" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/spring/springpre.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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After another lengthy absence, here's another full-body piece, this time based on a non-central but extremely interesting character from a great series of novels.</div>
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Click to see the entire image, a few making-of sketches and a bit of information about the character (and books!).</div>
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For those interested, here's a rough and messy overview over the various drawing stages, with a few annotations included!</div>
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<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/spring/springsket" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/spring/springsket" width="400" /></a> </div>
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(click to enlarge)</div>
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<b>(Boring book part!)</b></div>
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As stated very unmistakably in the picture itself, this pleasant gentleman is Captain John Charity Spring, one of my favorite characters I've ever encountered in any "light" novel (not that I read difficult stuff anyway).</div>
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Captain Spring makes his appearance in the <b>Flashman </b>books by George MacDonald Fraser (who has sadly passed on in 2006). A wonderful, innovative and hilarious piece of literary work in itself, the series focusses on the titular Harry Paget Flashman - eloquent, charismatic, proficient in many-- err, very certain disciplines... and possibly more evil, cowardly, lecherous and reprehensible than any other fictional protagonist before him.</div>
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While Flashman is the star of the show (and a great protagonist), one particular character manages to steal the spotlight with each appearance - at least for me, that is.</div>
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Without spoiling much of the plot itself, John Charity Spring (a fictional British sea captain) is a delightful villain in a book about villains, a murderous, insane, cultivated, educated and hilariously ignorant sea devil who is quick to administer stern moral lectures (and quotations from Ovid and Vergil), flogging innocents a minute later - and then visiting church and having tea with his accordion-playing wife in heart-melting harmony.</div>
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This summary, and the image, mostly show his wicked side (as I wanted to capture one of his lovely sudden glances that silence men a head taller than himself), but rest assured that staying in the tone of the books, all wanton cruelty and schizophrenic behavior is played for laughs and delight.</div>
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And if you think you're able to follow a "true" rogue protagonist for once - not a goody two-shoes with a gun, but a truly disgusting and lovable fellow - then I definitely recommend you give the series a try!</div>
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<br /></div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-51184429094585433482011-07-02T14:53:00.003+02:002011-10-18T18:31:02.695+02:00Boo!<a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/conc_monster1.png"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/conc_monster1.png" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 800px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 534px;" /></a><br />
Sorry for the long silence, I've been terribly busy what with life and all.<br />
Trying my hand at concepting, this time with actual lighting and stuff.<br />
<br />
Enjoy! ...Or hopefully, don't!<br />
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(Deformed fantasy monsters are Easy Mode anyway, this is beginner's class...)Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-51251261243291120182011-04-05T00:15:00.004+02:002011-04-14T00:33:56.603+02:00I don't normally post my animations, but...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/spyrunbig.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 727px; height: 184px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/spyrunbig.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/spyrunbig2.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 723px; height: 267px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/spyrunbig2.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />...this here made me a bit proud :)<br /><br />From top to bottom: idle, run, (idle again), walk, talk.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-54625515795325666022011-02-21T21:08:00.010+01:002011-02-21T22:14:46.953+01:00Angelito!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2011/02/angelito.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_pre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Here's another little illustration - something I made for a friend a week ago.<br />Click to have a look at the final image. But what's more important, I included another little <span style="font-weight: bold;">Making Of</span> in case you want to see how the piece came to be.<br /><br />In any case, have fun viewing :)<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_final.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 599px; height: 410px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_final.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to zoom)</span><br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/makingof.png"><img style="display: block; border: 0; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 326px; height: 100px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/makingof.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>The <span style="font-weight: bold;">first sketch</span> was done in two layers of pencil.<br />Basically, the very general lines were laid out in normal pencil (meaning, the sheet pretty much ended up covered in grey...), with the final lines laid out in color - light blue for the body, orange for the dress, green for the wings, red for the hair. These aren't too visible in the scanned image (what with the contrast and brightness increased), but absolutely dominate the grey lines on paper.<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 496px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_sket1.png" alt="" border="0" /><br />You can also clearly see how I was too lazy to fully ink the image this time. But as a rule, it's a good idea to ink the focal point of the image at least. And by that, I mean her face.<br /><br />The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> block-in</span> phase was done with the pencil sketch laid over it in multiply.<br />I'm currently using SAI for my painting, and only the basic brushes and tools. The block-in was done with the pen tool, brushwork with the basic brush tool, middle round, no texture.<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 496px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_sket2.png" alt="" border="0" /><br />Note the light sources in yellow and blue.<br /><br />Here's a little close-up of the same image, more or less. It's nice how you can see how I started modelling the face first and worked towards the rest.<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 496px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_sket1b.png" alt="" border="0" /><br />You may have noticed how I painted the unused space in grey by hand instead of using the eraser tool. This was pretty much an experiment, but I think I'll keep doing it like that for things with a clear silhouette. Here's why:<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 496px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_sket2b.png" alt="" border="0" />It's a lot of extra work, but I feel there's more control over the outline if you first draw towards a neutral tone, then add an outline (if desired), and then finish it off by erasing the outside. It basically means you work at any outline from both sides, but it makes for a cute "blotchy" effect and leaves you more control over the line weight.<br /><br />Of course, if you're great enough to draw perfectly weighted lines digitally without help, then feel free to ignore this suggestion. And let me know how you do it :)<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 496px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/angelito/an_sket2c.png" alt="" border="0" />This is a little closeup of the picture above.<br />You can see pretty clearly how the image actually isn't detailed at all. I'm still hoping to develop a good consistency when it comes to masses and areas - meaning that I don't want certain spots to look overworked while others seem barren.<br /><br />Well, the rest is pure painting work, nothing immensely creative. Just pick colors frequently, and check for values.<br /><br />Please let me know if you'd like to have something explained more in detail.<br />In any case, thank you very much for reading. I hope you like it :)Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-10036120672764616682011-02-11T21:49:00.007+01:002011-02-11T22:23:05.102+01:00Indie space marine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2011/02/indie-space-marine.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/brown/marinepre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The unsung hero of the current gaming generation. Poster child for truly modern aesthetics, originality and a profound need to voice an individual artistic message via the medium of gaming - The space marine.<br /><br />Hero of countless AAA big-budget titles, this bold fellow with lots of personality has been making his entry into the independent gaming scene as well. Alas, with short budgets come... economic restrictions.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/brown/marine.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 598px; height: 854px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/brown/marine.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /></div><br />It's not easy being indie, and a space marine.<br />By the way, have you noticed how in all space marine games they have these really, really gigantic Mega Man boots? Seriously, those feet must be huge...<br /><br />For anyone interested, here's a small WIP:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/brown/marinewip.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 850px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/brown/marinewip.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This being a rather quick painting, there was no need for many sketches - I just used the first one. With the color palette being naturally... restricted by the subject nature, I started by superimposing a nice dirt texture and working myself through various shades of the mud brown and gun gray spectrum.<br /><br />What's semi-interesting is that I've been trying to add a few vector curves here and there, as seen in the bottom image. They're only used for areas which are really in focus, and ought to make stark contrasting lines appear less blotchy and more exact.<br />Also, I've noticed that blending whites on brown via Overlay mode is really good for achieving a bronze shine on surfaces. I should look into that a bit more.<br /><br />Anyway, hope you like it!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-64311536075936762412011-01-17T08:10:00.016+01:002011-02-21T22:14:24.574+01:00Character: Caffeine Fairy (+ making of)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2011/01/character-caffeine-fairy-making-of.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressopre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So here's a "real" piece of concept art this time, not just some doodle.<br />This is the Caffeine Fairy, a lovely and helpful spirit that gets you going in the morning. Or afternoon. Or whenever you need a good shot of wake-up magic.<br /><br />Click to see the full image, and a making of including sketches and a wallpaper!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressomini.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 557px; height: 908px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressomini.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So here's a few more details regarding this illustration, for everyone that might be interested. If you can suggest something better, then please tell me, and if this teaches you something, I'm all the happier.<br /><br />Have fun!<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; border: 0; width: 146px; height: 88px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/ico_design.png" alt="" border="0" />As you probably will have guessed by now, her design is based entirely on coffee, espresso, sugar, cream, mocca beans and so on.<br />The main factor was the classic Italian macchinetta, those little metal stovetop pots you use to brew your morning coffee.<br /><img style="display: block; border: 0; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 115px; height: 152px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/ico_macchinetta.png" alt="" border="0" />The obvious parts are the hat and the skirt, which are pretty much just faux-metal imitations of the macchinetta elements. A less obvious idea would be her hairdo: Considering how the air and liquid inside these teapots pushes the coffee through a narrow funnel, I thought it would be cute if her looks represented that. So she got her narrow neck and the big, cloud-like hair, "pushing" against the hat.<br /></div><br />Other elements include the single black glove (see: macchinetta handle), the sugar cube handbag and the cloud/vertical tunnel motif on her top.<br /><br />Bonus tidbit: Her face is loosely based on that of Sofia Loren. You can still see it in the early sketches, but later I decided to change the shape of her lips around a bit.<br /><br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; border: 0;height: 73px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/ico_workflo.png" alt="" border="0" />After some failed attempts at copying from a photo, I tried modelling the whole image from scratch as a two-layered pencil drawing. The second, red layer works as a pre-inking stage, allowing to determine lines without the finality of ink.<br /><br />The ink pretty much follows the second pencil layer, but still contains a lot of problematic areas (right hand, both feet, bag makes no sense). Not a problem though - there are always areas that need to be created from scratch when doing the lighting.<br />Lastly, some basic shadows were added with a soft pencil, and the hand-drawn part of the image was done.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/wipsket.png"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/wipsket1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 596px; height: 391px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/wipsket1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge.)</span><br /></div><br />The coloring stage is pretty much self-explanatory, if only because I don 't think I've discovered great, time-saving tricks yet.<br /><br />As a first step, the basic silhouette is colored in, with the ink layer set to multiply. This is going to be the only color layer for the character.<br /><br />After locking opacity, the basic and general shadows are blocked in. (I wanted to keep the image relatively dark and brown-ish, so I saved the highlights until the end.) The broader your strokes are in this stage, the better. This is also when you should think about the materials and surfaces, and of course the primary light source.<br /><br />The third step is rendering and refining.<br />Many people decide not to stray away too far from the colors they blocked in, but I'm not an expert with values yet and like to play around with the contrast a bit more. I wanted her face to attract the eye first, her skirt second, so I gave those two areas the only blue tint in the image (blue on brown is extremely attention-grabbing).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/wipsket2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 596px; height: 415px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/wipsket2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge.)</span><br /></div><br />Note how I kept cheating around her neck. Also, the position of the arms and size of the hands have been modified ever so slightly in the final image:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressomini.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 358px; height: 583px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressomini.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The background is relatively lazy, but sufficient as a means of contrast. Also, I have to say that I like the "soft" feel of the mocca beans, and they help close the image pretty well.<br /><br /><br />I hope you like it!<br />If you're interested in how the picture looks at working resolution, here's a wallpaper-sized sample at 100 % zoom!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressopaper_1200.png">1600 x 1200</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/silhouette/espressopaper_900.png">1600 x 900</a><br /><br />Thanks and see you soon!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-39213954785219293972011-01-12T23:00:00.004+01:002011-01-12T23:08:36.291+01:00Dumb fun.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/cookmamamini.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 500px; height: 695px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/cookmamamini.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yeah, I got nothing.<br />And for the people that don't get the joke, see below. :)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLqVz1NASnoCD_OEeKgdDeC0WcEUoP_fLr3Wo8kZKmDgDmiGMld9F9oi-kqentywq4JEDpptyyPW4G_HBYmJCvlKaIstYGJ_E-M7iOVVeoVp12u7j2C-A-oW9etJjjDwco3gWSLEvLn_-/s1600/cookmamacomp.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 199px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLqVz1NASnoCD_OEeKgdDeC0WcEUoP_fLr3Wo8kZKmDgDmiGMld9F9oi-kqentywq4JEDpptyyPW4G_HBYmJCvlKaIstYGJ_E-M7iOVVeoVp12u7j2C-A-oW9etJjjDwco3gWSLEvLn_-/s400/cookmamacomp.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561424179320962946" border="0" /></a>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-44120673902723199842010-12-22T17:07:00.014+01:002011-01-10T18:06:16.580+01:00A handful of sketches (January update!)<a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/12/handful-of-sketches.html"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/shockchick.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Again, I'm actually a bit busy at the moment, but here's a handful of sketches. Read the post to see more pics, even more cute and cuddly than the one above.<br /><br />Also, I added a few new ones to the post!<br /><br />Hope you like them.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_ladylady.png"><br /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/1001_purpleguy.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/1001_purpleguy.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Project: Find a suitable henchman uniform design for when I'll be dominating the earth.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_someface.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_someface.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Warped proportions...<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_ladylady.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_ladylady.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>...and proportions warped in a slightly different way.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_walk.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_walk.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Um... Figure drawing! Yes. Er.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_punk.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_punk.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Softer shading than usual.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_suit.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/10dec_suit.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Planned as a monkey, came out as a rat...<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/brainbosstest.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 545px; height: 625px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/stuff/brainbosstest.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Definitely a final boss in a videogame. The game just needs to be made...</div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-75577227880107557572010-11-09T00:55:00.005+01:002010-11-09T01:09:48.699+01:00Sketch: Soldier Guy!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sold/soldo66.png"><br /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/11/sketch-soldier-guy.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sold/soldierpre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Just a small update, but a nice spot of green in this drab season nevertheless.<br /><br />This was done on request, otherwise I wouldn't have made him so extremely generic (and unfortunately resembling the TF2 Soldier, who is something of a wonderful archetype).<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sold/soldo.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 530px; height: 838px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sold/soldo66.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">Click image for huge version (working size!)</span><br /></div><br />I noticed how I've never drawn soldiers, tanks, weapons, brown epic post-apocalyptic cyborg warrior guys with big shooty guns and red glowing eyes and gas masks... So when someone asked me to "draw a soldier", I honestly had to look up some of the finer details.<br /><br />The inspiration for his uniform is actually a <a href="http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/lt-horse-pics/1st-horse.jpg">quite old picture from pre-WWI</a>.<br /><br />Hope you like him!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-75183759300016586412010-10-05T10:19:00.016+02:002010-10-05T13:46:25.398+02:00Mythical creatures - a sample!Just a little preview of things to come. There will be many more Pokém... ehm, creatures added to the pool. Stay tuned!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">TEAM POLAND! I CHOOSE YOU!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polevik">Polevik!</a> - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka">Rusalka!</a> - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocnitsa">Noctitsa!</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_poland.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 336px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_poland.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We're not done yet! <a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/10/few-creatures.html">Click </a>to see more of them!<br /></div></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);font-size:180%;" >★</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">TEAM IRELAND IS GO!<br /></span><span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%BAca">Púca</a>! - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Bones">Moss Knight!</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_ireland.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 554px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_ireland.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">★</span><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">YOUR TURN, TEAM SCANDINAVIA!</span><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindworm">Lindworm!</a> - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bysen">Bysen!</a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_scandinavia.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 363px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_scandinavia.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">(click to enlarge)<br /></span></div><br />So laborious, but oh so rewarding - digital painting rules :3Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-3323996735997662892010-10-04T10:31:00.009+02:002010-10-04T12:17:18.765+02:00Digital painting collection 1 (Also: Photoshop versus Paint Tool Sai)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/10/digital-painting-collection-1-also.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/labguys/labguyspre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I haven't been updating for a while now, but I'm actually quite busy with *gasp* art projects. These are a few digital drawings I did on the side. It's a really, really tough learning process, but it seems to pay off. Slowly.<br /><br />I'm doing the switch from Photoshop to something simpler as well. I'm currently trying out Paint Tool Sai, which is far less bloated (for drawing purposes) and less laggy. The above picture is actually a direct comparison between both programs.<br /><br /><a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/10/digital-painting-collection-1-also.html#more">Click</a> to see the full image (+ sketch) and more works!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/labguys/labguysmini.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 588px; height: 716px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/labguys/labguysmini.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Photoshop vs. Sai</span><br /><br />As indicated in the lower corners, these two charming people were colored in different programs - the guy in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Photoshop</span>, the lady in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Paint Tool Sai</span>. I've recently got fed up with Photoshop for sheer bloat and lagginess. I don't fault PS for all the bloat, because it really is a fully featured photo and image suite. For my purposes, I'm using only about 10 % of its functionality, so it's not really the right choice. Also, the distinct lag between input display when drawing can really get on your nerves, though this can possibly attributed to my 3 GHz, 2GB RAM PC.<br /><br />My first replacement candidate is Paint Tool Sai, and I'm really enjoying it so far - drawing is nice and snappy, the brushes have a great feel and the interface is fantastic. The only downsides is that Sai apparently doesn't support exporting PNGs with transparent background (what the hell?) and that there's no built-in scanning plugin (so you need to open another program to scan your linework).<br /><br />Other than that I don't have anything negative to say - the one crash I've had probably had more to do with all the junk programs I had running on the side.<br /><br />I'm hoping they'll fix the above points some time in the future. For the moment, I'll continue to explore the possibilities Sai has to offer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Back to the image itself: </span>I think I'll need to revise my opinion that digital painting adds nothing to an image that can't be expressed by good linework (other than color, duh). While the <a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/labguys/labguysminisket.png">sketch</a> is admittedly very shoddy and bland, even the best possible linework base would never have reached the same level of personality the colored image has. Maybe it's not that modeling will improve an image, but rather that it will evolve it in interesting and often surprising directions.<br /><br />Anyway, I gotta study my drapery and lighting, and should try adding a background some time. Hrmph.<br /><br /><br />So, after this long-ass text (a first-timer, I think), <span style="font-weight: bold;">here's some more paintings</span>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MANLINESS!</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/fasket1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 601px; height: 341px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/fasket1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">(click to zoom)</span><br /><br />Linework:<br /></div><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/facesket1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 384px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/facesket1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Less manliness (and more suck):<br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/digidigi.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 369px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/digidigi.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:85%;">(click to zoom)</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />And a little preview of things to come - mythical creatures!<br /></span></span><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_scandinavia.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 363px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/Stratego/team_scandinavia.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This image is actually part of those mysterious projects I mentioned. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Stay tuned!</span><br /><br /><br />And thanks for reading, I hope you like it!<br />Leave a comment on this webzone if you want a Pizza Roll etc.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/facesket3.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 395px; height: 404px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/facesket3.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-33174817196919589412010-08-16T09:44:00.013+02:002010-08-20T09:40:20.305+02:00Mortadelo y Filemon - Hardcore!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/08/mortadelo-y-filemon-hardcore.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/filemonpre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>If you're reading this and you're not Spanish or German, you probably don't know who <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mortadelo y Filemon</span> (or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mort & Phil</span>, or <span style="font-weight: bold;">Clever & Smart</span>) are. Imagine the silliest, goofiest slapstick comic, bar any deeper substance, consisting of 100 % comic violence and sight gags.<br /><br />If there's one series that never needed a hardcore, dark 'n' gritty makeover, it's this. So I made one. Read on to see the full image and closeups of each character. Bonus sketch included!<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/mortadelofilemon.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 599px; height: 514px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/mortadelofilemon.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /></div><br />People that know the comic will possibly get the joke. These are not meant to be <span style="font-style: italic;">sooper serious</span>, but more of a play on the comic's general silliness. Like when Tarantino did the smurfs, remember?<br /><br />Hope you like it!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And muchas gracias to all Spanish fans of Mortadelo y Filemon visiting from </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://mortadelon.blogspot.com/">El rincón de Mortadelón! </a><br /><br />Thank you for featuring and for viewing this!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mortadelo and Filemon</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/mortfil.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 599px; height: 522px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/mortfil.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The two protagonists. Secret agents. Crazy guy and foil.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Filemon </span>is pretty much the one sane guy in the comic, but as he generally takes the brunt of Mortadelo's failures, he's developed a very short temper and is suspicious of everything and everyone around him. So I tried to give him a nice, beaten up "I don't give a fuck" look.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Mortadelo </span>(yes, named for the sausage) is a clinically insane master of masquerade. He's <span style="font-style: italic;">very</span> carefree and happy-go-lucky in the strip, which I decided to completely ignore here. Dark 'n' gritty, remember? Also, he somehow looks like Todt from Raiders of the Lost Ark.<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Profesor Bacterio</span><br /></div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/bacterio.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 365px; height: 631px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/bacterio.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A massive failure of a scientist and the inept duplicate of James Bond's Q, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Profesor Bacterio</span> merrily invents Bond-style gadgets which inevitably become instruments of doom for the user - in this case mostly our heroes. Responsible for the loss of Mortadelo's hair.<br /><br />Nothing much to say about this guy, other than that I wanted to make him a hunchbacked, cackling, well-meaning lunatic. Of course, he's a communist as well.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">El Súper</span><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/vincente.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 454px; height: 626px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/vincente.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Superintendente Vincente</span>, head of Mort & Phil's division. Short-tempered and slightly insane. Prone to violent outbreaks. Butt of many jokes.<br />As a middle-ranking government official stuck between the gears of bureaucracy, I had him dress a little <span style="font-style: italic;">too</span> well for his circumstances. Compensating for anything?<br /><br /><br />Also, here's a sketch of Vincente and Bacterio. I don't know how, but when I did them back to back (like, literally), I kind of noticed how the Super with his stocky, pear-shaped figure and Bacterio with his lanky, hunchbacked built complemented each other really well. I don't think they would have come out as they are had I not drawn them together in exactly these spots.<br /><br />This is also a good idea to keep the proportions and perspective in check (damn foot positions).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/mortadelosket.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 529px; height: 500px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/mortadelo/mortadelosket.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-70289409822480468882010-08-06T21:13:00.007+02:002010-08-06T22:40:46.258+02:00Character: Erkan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/08/character-erkan_06.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/erkan/erkpre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Nothing fancy this time - although I tried to get the idea of a loose, badly fitting leisure suit into the picture. This guy is a concoction of all the standard mobster clichés you can think of, with a bitchin' mustache to boot.<br /><br />Click to see the whole image including preliminary sketch and lineart!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/erkan/erkan.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 620px; height: 606px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/erkan/erkan.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Yes, this guy would probably be Keyser Söze - if he existed, that is.<br /><br />Anyway, I wanted to try some folds and drapes for once, so a loose and gaudy suit would probably do the trick. <a href="http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/3600000/Leon-gary-oldman-3670378-385-477.jpg">Photo reference</a> was used - Gary Oldman in "The Professional", in case you weren't aware (and shame on you!).<br /><br />This is the embarrassing first attempt at a sketch, without the slightest idea of form and dynamics. With the base sucking so hard, I abandoned the whole idea of realism like a champ and went with the usual silly comic style. Ah well.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/erkan/erkasket.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 604px; height: 333px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/erkan/erkasket.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The final shading is half based on the pencil shadows I left in on purpose, with one additional light source added, some slight shadows added digitally (especially to reduce the stark contrast on the folds) and a big ol' gradient thrown over the whole figure.<br /><br />I really need to do some nice background next time.<br /><br />Hope you like it!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-86559911128847536942010-08-05T22:02:00.011+02:002010-08-05T22:42:36.964+02:00Character: Susanna (+ sketches)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/08/character-susanna-sketches.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rotkap/prepre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Other than lovely Susanna here (inspired by the artwork for a certain strategy video game about... <span style="font-style: italic;">wars </span>of the <span style="font-style: italic;">advanced </span>kind), this time you'll also find her earlier versions and a handful of <span style="font-style: italic;">shapely </span>figure sketches.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rotkap/rotkap2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 615px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rotkap/rotkap2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />So this is her, done in ink and pencil (not erased, but kept as part of the linework).<br />Hope these are beginning to look less flat than my earlier ones.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rotkap/rotkapsket.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 462px; height: 407px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rotkap/rotkapsket.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is an earlier version for her, a lot simpler and more cartoonish. I have to say that the extra work can really pay off - who knows what she'd look like after her tenth makeover...<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And now for something completely different - walks and the figure.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/girlsketch1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 472px; height: 506px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/girlsketch1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/girlsketch2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 596px; height: 457px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/girlsketch2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /></div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-40898730726881342192010-08-01T20:43:00.008+02:002010-08-01T20:56:08.286+02:00Sketch Collection 2 (digital drawing edition)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/08/sketch-collection-2-digital-drawing.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/sket2pre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />And in my neverending quest for some decent ability with "light" drawings (I won't dare call it realistic), here's a few sketches. From latest to most awful.<br /><br />Both faces are done digitally with a rough line sketch. Reference was used for the lighting.<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1031638&stc=1&d=1280679441"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 467px; height: 504px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/skety1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1031638&stc=1&d=1280679441">Here</a>'s a version with the line sketch included.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/soldsket.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 439px; height: 506px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/skety2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Click image for <a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/soldsket.png">making-of sketches</a>!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/skety4.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 496px; height: 342px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/skety4.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/schnappi1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 427px; height: 506px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/schnappi1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/skety1.png"><br /></a>...And that's it for today. There are some more <a href="http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1030637&stc=1&d=1280522733">truly awful attempts</a> which I'll refrain from uploading this time. Maybe when I'm posting a "Terrible Crap Collection" or something.<br /><br />So these are my first honest attempts. Hope you like them!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-33820735515283035812010-07-27T01:13:00.009+02:002010-08-01T20:56:47.533+02:00Sketch: Flowing skirt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/07/sketch-flowing-skirt.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/flowpre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Nothing fancy this time around, just a little sketch. Full version inside!<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/flow.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 1006px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/sketches/flow.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, nothing much to add. Hope you like it!<br />Quick and lazy, I know, but I'm currently working on other stuff as well ;)Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-4110850845314804962010-07-24T15:26:00.011+02:002010-07-24T20:27:46.251+02:00Character: Turbo Granny!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/07/character-turbo-granny.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/omapre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Say hello to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Turbo Granny</span>, who seems to be a bit out of her usual territory in the above illustration. To be precise, Turbo Granny (ターボばあちゃん) is something of a Japanese urban legend, and I found the idea so hilarious that I decided to translate her into a picture, slight cultural shift included.<br /><br /><a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/07/character-turbo-granny.html#more">Read on</a> to find out more about Granny, the legend, the illustration, and the weird thing she's doing with her hand.<br /><br />Includes a "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Making Of</span>" <span style="font-weight: bold;">article </span>with rough sketches, multiple character designs and lineart!<br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/line2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 311px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/line2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So who is Turbo Granny anyway?</span><br /><br />Well, the story is this: Imagine you're driving on the highway, maybe by night or through a tunnel. Maybe you're sleepy, possibly you're half-hypnotized by the repeating visual patterns and the monotone humming of the engine. Feel it? Good.<br /><br />Now while you're in that semi-trance, in your car at very high speed, imagine a CRAP WHAT IS THAT -- "knock knock!" sound RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. Someone knocking at your car window from outside!<br />Not even thinking clearly, you turn your head and see... a little old lady moving at the exact same speed as your car, knocking at your window and grinning at you like mad.<br /><br />Congratulations, you now know who <a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9C%E3%81%B0%E3%81%82%E3%81%A1%E3%82%83%E3%82%93">Turbo Granny</a> is.<br />Also, you've just died by planting your car into the next wall, truck or pillar.<br /><br /><br />...And that's it. Looking at Wikipedia, the character seems to be all but unknown in the rest of the world, as there's not even an English page about her.<br /><br />Well, consider this her first appearance. Be sure to look out for Granny when you're on the road, and give her my regards!<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MAKING OF</span></span><br /></div><br />So here's how Granny came to be, because that much beauty doesn't come easily. First, a couple of half-interested granny sketches:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/skit1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 562px; height: 369px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/skit1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>Note how the first one even kind of tries to keep her a bit Japanese-ish.<br />Of course, that one completely lacked the "Turbo" bit and had zero scare potential to anything other than a tea biscuit. So the next iteration, while abandoning every bit of Japanese-ness, had her sporting an appropriately maniacal grin and the knock-knock gesture. Also, I added a few mechanical touches.<br /><br />Speaking of mechanics, the next question would be how exactly she moves. Would she run, or maybe fly, or skate?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/skit2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 462px; height: 450px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/skit2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>While I'm 90 % sure that the original urban legend had her running on her legs, or maybe on all fours, the "skating" idea looked far more promising in connection with some exhaust pipes, a few tons of machinery and a pair of wicked, ferrari-red custom demonic turbo shoes.<br /><br />OK. So far, granny had this "Jean-Paul Belmondo in drag" face, which was first a bit too cartoon-ish and secondly looked a lot like Groo the Wanderer, for some reason.<br />So, new faces!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/skit3.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 539px; height: 300px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/skit3.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Now the term "scary" should not be taken too strictly here. I <span style="font-style: italic;">did </span>decide to take the comic route, so there was no point in doing a crazy demonic monster face. It should, however be something that would give you a nice jolt if it stared you right in the face without warning. So... big, crazy, maniacal eyes and some teeth.<br />In the end, I decided to go with 5, adding the teeth from 6. (Note the hiimdaisy pupils on 3!)<br /><br />With that done, the only thing missing was the pic itself. So here we go!<br /><br />Lineart:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/line1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 599px; height: 362px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/line1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(click to enlarge)</span><br /></div><br />Note the good-sized machinery on her hips, chopper exhausts, and a freaking stripped jet engine thrown in for good measure, all done with some photo reference. I'm kind of happy the parts did turn out to look mechanical while still keeping their cartoon-ish feel.<br />Pointy magical skating shoes are there too, and for the rest our Granny seems to dress in a decidedly normal (and non-Japanese) way.<br /><br />And for the <a href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/bachan/line2.png">final piece</a>, just scroll back up to the top :)<br /><br />I hope you enjoyed the read! Any comments or questions, I'd be happy to answer them right here below.<br />Thank you for playing!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-84795778830878611432010-07-04T21:09:00.019+02:002010-07-24T21:20:55.279+02:00Character: Rosie the Necromancer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/07/character-rosie-plus-making-of.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/rosiepre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Rosie, the most powerful, ruthless, twisted soul on the Obscura Academy of Dark Magicks. Befitting her vile profession, she uses her macabre talents to make the dead her puppets, defile the sanctity of the last repose, and...</span><br /><br />...Aw, I can't do it.<br /><br />Basically, there was another nice CHOW contest over at <a href="http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=191200">conceptart.org</a>, and while necromancy is certainly a more than trivial social issue, I didn't really want to go the dreadfully serious route...<br /><br /><a href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/07/character-rosie-plus-making-of.html#more">Click</a> for full image and huge <span style="font-weight: bold;">"Making Of" article</span>!<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/rosie.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 600px; height: 576px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/rosie.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">click to enlarge</span><br /></div><br />So this is Rosie having a chat with her secret tutor, because to be an ace necromancer, you have to know the right people... Like, the people who know a thing or two about being dead.<br /><br />Anyway, these two seem to get along well together (expect more saucy details further down in this article), but this wasn't always the case. In fact, Rosie might have been the sweet, bookish type all along, but originally she thought differently about our reanimated friends:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/xituro1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/xituro1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This was her first sketch, and while the personality seemed quite right to me, the whole necromancy aspect seemed to begin and end with the one prop she has under her butt.<br />In fact, the color sketch was so-so, and pretty boring, so I didn't even bother to finish it:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/xituro2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/xituro2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Ready to give up, I sat down another time (grazie mille per incoraggiarmi, Ambra!) and tried one last approach - which came out surprisingly well. Not that anyone'd be able to tell from this messy scribble here:<br /><br /><img src="file:///C:/DOKUME%7E1/Che/LOKALE%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/xituro3.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 280px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/xituro3.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yet the whole thing looked actually not bad. Here's a quick run-through of the various coloring/shading phases:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/CHOW203_Xituwip.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 601px; height: 450px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/CHOW203_Xituwip.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">(click to enlarge yet again)</span><br /></div><br />And the rest is history :)<br /><br />Oh, and one more thing.<br />While this image might seem perfectly harmless and cartoony (hell, it even seemed that way to me until the final stretch), <span style="font-weight: bold;">don't</span> try to think of the unfortunate implications this image might or might not have. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Don't</span> overinterpret the context, and most of all, <span style="font-weight: bold;">don't</span> go around looking for any seedy innuendo that might or might not be hidden in this image.<br /><br />Because there is none. I'm not a weirdo or anything. <a style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204); font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/rosie/rosiereveal.png">Ahem</a>.<br /><br />Anyway, I really like the Rosie character and will certainly use it again, maybe in a different context. I have at least one composition waiting to be done with her in it. Stay tuned!<br /><br />And I hope you enjoyed the read. Comment if you like it, I'd appreciate it a lot!Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7354512913652284380.post-29780311385358702262010-06-23T02:01:00.007+02:002010-07-27T17:03:48.000+02:00Sketch: Dancers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hussinger.blogspot.com/2010/06/quick-drawing-with-no-anatomy-reference.html#more"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 160px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/tango2/tangopre.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Quick drawing with no anatomy reference, or intention to be realistic. Like in the previous image, I tried to round the bodies off a bit and have them appear soft and spongy.<br />I went for a crayon effect this time, not sure if I like it.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/tango2/tango2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 604px;" src="http://www.electric-zombie.com/ca/tango2/tango2.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I'm getting the impression that the dude looks an awful lot like a chubby version of Japanese rock star <a href="http://www.mp3ninja.com/images/artists/t/tomoyasu-hotei/tomoyasu-hotei.jpg">Tomoyasu Hotei</a>, even if the similarities weren't intended at all.<br />I think I nailed the shading on her hair and his belly (or at least, I'm satisfied personally), even if the whole image could use a lot more work, of course.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10139974736714622146noreply@blogger.com0