Michael Hussinger's Sketchbook

VN character: Lady with basket

2012-01-26T14:50:00.001+01:00

Another one-off character artwork. Like last week's entry, this would work as a VN portrait for dialogues.
Click to see the full image, and there's also a small WIP sketch!

Again, this has been made in Paint Tool SAI, with some color correction afterwards.
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!

In lieu of an actual Making Of, here's the lineart and basic coloring:

(click to enhance)

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.
Hope you like it!

Any comments, please speak below!

VN Character: Flight attendant

2012-01-09T12:11:00.003+01:00

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 some 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.

Click to see the full picture, and there's also a small making of showing the various stages the image went through.

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.

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.

(click to increase)

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.

(click to increase)

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.

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.

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.
A good strategy is to change the temperature of the image - areas with warm colors (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.
In this case, I overlaid a simple red to blue gradient at about 20 %.

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.

(click to increase)

Hope you like it!
And if you have any questions or comments, feel free to add them here!

Two pixel artworks!

2011-11-08T00:15:00.003+01:00

Click the images to view at full pixel size. Trust me, it'll look much nicer!

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

Hope you like them!

Pixel art: Units!

2011-10-18T17:51:00.002+02:00

(click to enlarge!)

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!

(And if you were wondering, the inspirations for each faction are Indian/Sikh/Khalsa and 19th century Russian infantry.)

Character: John Charity Spring

2011-10-01T00:32:00.003+02:00

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.

Click to see the entire image, a few making-of sketches and a bit of information about the character (and books!).

For those interested, here's a rough and messy overview over the various drawing stages, with a few annotations included!

(click to enlarge)

(Boring book part!)

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).

Captain Spring makes his appearance in the Flashman 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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Boo!

2011-07-02T14:53:00.003+02:00

Sorry for the long silence, I've been terribly busy what with life and all.
Trying my hand at concepting, this time with actual lighting and stuff.

Enjoy! ...Or hopefully, don't!

(Deformed fantasy monsters are Easy Mode anyway, this is beginner's class...)

I don't normally post my animations, but...

2011-04-05T00:15:00.004+02:00

...this here made me a bit proud :)

From top to bottom: idle, run, (idle again), walk, talk.

Angelito!

2011-02-21T21:08:00.010+01:00

Here's another little illustration - something I made for a friend a week ago.
Click to have a look at the final image. But what's more important, I included another little Making Of in case you want to see how the piece came to be.

In any case, have fun viewing :)

(click to zoom)

The first sketch was done in two layers of pencil.
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.

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.

The block-in phase was done with the pencil sketch laid over it in multiply.
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.

Note the light sources in yellow and blue.

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.

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:

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.

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 :)

This is a little closeup of the picture above.
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.

Well, the rest is pure painting work, nothing immensely creative. Just pick colors frequently, and check for values.

Please let me know if you'd like to have something explained more in detail.
In any case, thank you very much for reading. I hope you like it :)

Indie space marine

2011-02-11T21:49:00.007+01:00

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.

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.

(click to enlarge)

It's not easy being indie, and a space marine.
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...

For anyone interested, here's a small WIP:

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.

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.
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.

Anyway, hope you like it!

Character: Caffeine Fairy (+ making of)

2011-01-17T08:10:00.016+01:00

So here's a "real" piece of concept art this time, not just some doodle.
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.

Click to see the full image, and a making of including sketches and a wallpaper!

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.

Have fun!

As you probably will have guessed by now, her design is based entirely on coffee, espresso, sugar, cream, mocca beans and so on.
The main factor was the classic Italian macchinetta, those little metal stovetop pots you use to brew your morning coffee.
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.

Other elements include the single black glove (see: macchinetta handle), the sugar cube handbag and the cloud/vertical tunnel motif on her top.

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.

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.

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.
Lastly, some basic shadows were added with a soft pencil, and the hand-drawn part of the image was done.

(click to enlarge.)

The coloring stage is pretty much self-explanatory, if only because I don 't think I've discovered great, time-saving tricks yet.

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.

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.

The third step is rendering and refining.
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).

(click to enlarge.)

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:

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.

I hope you like it!
If you're interested in how the picture looks at working resolution, here's a wallpaper-sized sample at 100 % zoom!

1600 x 1200

1600 x 900

Thanks and see you soon!

Dumb fun.

2011-01-12T23:00:00.004+01:00

Yeah, I got nothing.
And for the people that don't get the joke, see below. :)

A handful of sketches (January update!)

2010-12-22T17:07:00.014+01:00

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.

Also, I added a few new ones to the post!

Hope you like them.

Project: Find a suitable henchman uniform design for when I'll be dominating the earth.

Warped proportions...

...and proportions warped in a slightly different way.

Um... Figure drawing! Yes. Er.

Softer shading than usual.

Planned as a monkey, came out as a rat...

Definitely a final boss in a videogame. The game just needs to be made...

Sketch: Soldier Guy!

2010-11-09T00:55:00.005+01:00

Just a small update, but a nice spot of green in this drab season nevertheless.

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).

Click image for huge version (working size!)

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.

The inspiration for his uniform is actually a quite old picture from pre-WWI.

Hope you like him!

Mythical creatures - a sample!

2010-10-05T10:19:00.016+02:00

Just a little preview of things to come. There will be many more Pokém... ehm, creatures added to the pool. Stay tuned!

TEAM POLAND! I CHOOSE YOU!

Polevik! - Rusalka! - Noctitsa!

(click to enlarge)

We're not done yet! Click to see more of them!

★

TEAM IRELAND IS GO!
Púca! - Moss Knight!

★

YOUR TURN, TEAM SCANDINAVIA!
Lindworm! - Bysen!

(click to enlarge)

So laborious, but oh so rewarding - digital painting rules :3

Digital painting collection 1 (Also: Photoshop versus Paint Tool Sai)

2010-10-04T10:31:00.009+02:00

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.

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.

Click to see the full image (+ sketch) and more works!

Photoshop vs. Sai

As indicated in the lower corners, these two charming people were colored in different programs - the guy in Photoshop, the lady in Paint Tool Sai. 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.

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).

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.

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.

Back to the image itself: 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 sketch 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.

Anyway, I gotta study my drapery and lighting, and should try adding a background some time. Hrmph.

So, after this long-ass text (a first-timer, I think), here's some more paintings:

MANLINESS!

(click to zoom)

Linework:

Less manliness (and more suck):
(click to zoom)

And a little preview of things to come - mythical creatures!

This image is actually part of those mysterious projects I mentioned. Stay tuned!

And thanks for reading, I hope you like it!
Leave a comment on this webzone if you want a Pizza Roll etc.

Mortadelo y Filemon - Hardcore!

2010-08-16T09:44:00.013+02:00

If you're reading this and you're not Spanish or German, you probably don't know who Mortadelo y Filemon (or Mort & Phil, or Clever & Smart) are. Imagine the silliest, goofiest slapstick comic, bar any deeper substance, consisting of 100 % comic violence and sight gags.

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!

(click to enlarge)

People that know the comic will possibly get the joke. These are not meant to be sooper serious, but more of a play on the comic's general silliness. Like when Tarantino did the smurfs, remember?

Hope you like it!

And muchas gracias to all Spanish fans of Mortadelo y Filemon visiting from El rincón de Mortadelón!

Thank you for featuring and for viewing this!

Mortadelo and Filemon

(click to enlarge)

The two protagonists. Secret agents. Crazy guy and foil.

Filemon 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.

Mortadelo (yes, named for the sausage) is a clinically insane master of masquerade. He's very 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.

Profesor Bacterio

A massive failure of a scientist and the inept duplicate of James Bond's Q, Profesor Bacterio 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.

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.

El Súper

Superintendente Vincente, head of Mort & Phil's division. Short-tempered and slightly insane. Prone to violent outbreaks. Butt of many jokes.
As a middle-ranking government official stuck between the gears of bureaucracy, I had him dress a little too well for his circumstances. Compensating for anything?

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.

This is also a good idea to keep the proportions and perspective in check (damn foot positions).

Character: Erkan

2010-08-06T21:13:00.007+02:00

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.

Click to see the whole image including preliminary sketch and lineart!

Yes, this guy would probably be Keyser Söze - if he existed, that is.

Anyway, I wanted to try some folds and drapes for once, so a loose and gaudy suit would probably do the trick. Photo reference was used - Gary Oldman in "The Professional", in case you weren't aware (and shame on you!).

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.

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.

I really need to do some nice background next time.

Hope you like it!

Character: Susanna (+ sketches)

2010-08-05T22:02:00.011+02:00

Other than lovely Susanna here (inspired by the artwork for a certain strategy video game about... wars of the advanced kind), this time you'll also find her earlier versions and a handful of shapely figure sketches.

So this is her, done in ink and pencil (not erased, but kept as part of the linework).
Hope these are beginning to look less flat than my earlier ones.

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...

And now for something completely different - walks and the figure.

(click to enlarge)

Sketch Collection 2 (digital drawing edition)

2010-08-01T20:43:00.008+02:00

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.

Both faces are done digitally with a rough line sketch. Reference was used for the lighting.

Here's a version with the line sketch included.

Click image for making-of sketches!

...And that's it for today. There are some more truly awful attempts which I'll refrain from uploading this time. Maybe when I'm posting a "Terrible Crap Collection" or something.

So these are my first honest attempts. Hope you like them!

Sketch: Flowing skirt

2010-07-27T01:13:00.009+02:00

Nothing fancy this time around, just a little sketch. Full version inside!

Yes, nothing much to add. Hope you like it!
Quick and lazy, I know, but I'm currently working on other stuff as well ;)

Character: Turbo Granny!

2010-07-24T15:26:00.011+02:00

Say hello to Turbo Granny, 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.

Read on to find out more about Granny, the legend, the illustration, and the weird thing she's doing with her hand.

Includes a "Making Of" article with rough sketches, multiple character designs and lineart!

(click to enlarge)

So who is Turbo Granny anyway?

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.

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!
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.

Congratulations, you now know who Turbo Granny is.
Also, you've just died by planting your car into the next wall, truck or pillar.

...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.

Well, consider this her first appearance. Be sure to look out for Granny when you're on the road, and give her my regards!

MAKING OF

So here's how Granny came to be, because that much beauty doesn't come easily. First, a couple of half-interested granny sketches:

Note how the first one even kind of tries to keep her a bit Japanese-ish.
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.

Speaking of mechanics, the next question would be how exactly she moves. Would she run, or maybe fly, or skate?

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.

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.
So, new faces!

Now the term "scary" should not be taken too strictly here. I did 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.
In the end, I decided to go with 5, adding the teeth from 6. (Note the hiimdaisy pupils on 3!)

With that done, the only thing missing was the pic itself. So here we go!

Lineart:

(click to enlarge)

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.
Pointy magical skating shoes are there too, and for the rest our Granny seems to dress in a decidedly normal (and non-Japanese) way.

And for the final piece, just scroll back up to the top :)

I hope you enjoyed the read! Any comments or questions, I'd be happy to answer them right here below.
Thank you for playing!

Character: Rosie the Necromancer

2010-07-04T21:09:00.019+02:00

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...

...Aw, I can't do it.

Basically, there was another nice CHOW contest over at conceptart.org, and while necromancy is certainly a more than trivial social issue, I didn't really want to go the dreadfully serious route...

Click for full image and huge "Making Of" article!

click to enlarge

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.

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:

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.
In fact, the color sketch was so-so, and pretty boring, so I didn't even bother to finish it:

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:

Yet the whole thing looked actually not bad. Here's a quick run-through of the various coloring/shading phases:

(click to enlarge yet again)

And the rest is history :)

Oh, and one more thing.
While this image might seem perfectly harmless and cartoony (hell, it even seemed that way to me until the final stretch), don't try to think of the unfortunate implications this image might or might not have. Don't overinterpret the context, and most of all, don't go around looking for any seedy innuendo that might or might not be hidden in this image.

Because there is none. I'm not a weirdo or anything. Ahem.

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!

And I hope you enjoyed the read. Comment if you like it, I'd appreciate it a lot!

Sketch: Dancers

2010-06-23T02:01:00.007+02:00

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.
I went for a crayon effect this time, not sure if I like it.

I'm getting the impression that the dude looks an awful lot like a chubby version of Japanese rock star Tomoyasu Hotei, even if the similarities weren't intended at all.
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.

Characters: Three sketches

2010-06-22T10:25:00.004+02:00

Here's a little something from my trip to Berlin - the fashion there is really astounding and it's very nice to see a city with a different style.
These are not real people from the streets, but rather a collection of little elements I noticed while I was walking around. There should be enough ideas for a couple more rounds, too.

(This Blogspot template is rather iffy with wide images, click the image to see the full resolution!)

As usual, the lineart has been done in ink and the colors laid on digitally. There's some slight shading - I'm still working on achieving the optimal "marshmallow" effect - and a harsh white line of light from the side, just to give a bit of contrast.

I might need to work on giving the bodies more depth...

Sketches collection 1

2010-05-27T23:05:00.014+02:00

Fun new game: Suggest me three random words and I'll make a character out of it. My pal Thorsten went first - cactus, iron mask, suspenders.
The luchador angle came from me, sort of.

I'm beginning with the lineart with values only, because in my opinion it looks so much better than the colored version. Where did I go wrong?

Looks... chubby and marshmallowy, with some nice, recognizable bulk.
And then, we have this:

(click to zoom)

Dull and lame, if you ask me.
If you can point which errors I made, I'd be very happy to hear them.

As a bonus, here are some random quick sketches I made over the weekend:

(click to zoom)

Late night character: Green Pixie

2010-05-15T03:35:00.011+02:00

The famed green pixie, said to bestow lucid visions on the creative and delirious, though not necessarily by entirely painless means. Has a habit of making brash entries.

(click to see the whole thing.)

Method: Very uncomplicated, just some scanned lineart in ink, digital colors and some texture (using the usual paint splatters).

Possibly the only noteworthy thing going on in this picture is the combination of brush-, i.e. color-based shading and line hatching. Personally, I'd use either one or the other, but as the whole image has a "Just don't care" feel about it, it fits pretty well.

If you want to try it for yourself, I've uploaded the image's lineart. Feel free to beautify it, and let me see the results! (Please don't use for profit, and if you use it for anything non-profit, I wanna see it :) )

Only to show that I'm not dead yet.

2010-05-10T10:35:00.008+02:00

Method: Err.

Content: Umm.

(Click the image for triple beefcake.)

"I bag you" Girl

2010-03-02T12:52:00.006+01:00

This is another piece I made as a reference to my friend's blog at Ibagyou.blogspot.com. It's been awfully nice of her to link to my site and I wanted to return the favor. Plus I had been planning to do something similar to my picture from February 21, but more stylized. I have to say that she's incredibly talented, and as you can see, I find her work very inspiring.

Method: This one has been done a bit differently from the rest. The lineart for the character is done in ink, but polished digitally. This time, I did the shading using a "scratchy" brush, throwing a lot of lines and stripes on the character.
The background is a lazily traced and modified picture of Amsterdam, with the border "scratched away", again.

Even if it certainly doesn't look like it, this lady actually had a lot of preliminary sketches, even though the pose is extremely basic and simple. I suppose I should pay more attention to walks in general. (I might upload some of these later, even though they look awful!)

Her clothes are based on a photo I found on one of the many street fashion blogs (with the perspective shifted from frontal to side view, among many other changes). These are very good for finding clothing reference, especially if you have trouble with folds and drapes, like I do. I find this page the best source for photo reference: The Sartorialist is about the best-known fashion blog, and thankfully a lot classier and less hipster-infested than most others.

If I just need some reference for a specific fold, a quick search on flickr or Picasa usually does the trick.

Reference:
Spanish Moss Vintage blog

Sketch: Zoot suit guy

2010-03-02T12:04:00.007+01:00

Just one more character in front of a very lazy white background before hitting the bed.

Much like the previous entry, this one is based on actual foto reference. This time I mashed together two photos - one for the face and torso and one for the pose. As the pose was only a half shot, the lower part is sort of improvised.

Method: Nothing fancy this time, linework in ink as usual, then colored digitally. Originally, the whole guy was blue-grey (much like in the first photo), but after a bit of dabbling with hue overlays, I kind of started to like the purple-red transition. Might look a bit cheap, though.

Reference:

The Style Scout

flickr

Sketch: Girl with bag

2010-02-21T20:05:00.005+01:00

After some downtime, here's a pencil sketch with some loose digital coloring. I used photos as a reference for the body, trying to get the anatomy mostly right (even with the loose skirt), and added the head with no reference.

Scene: Dream

2010-01-23T01:45:00.009+01:00

Weird and a bit hard to describe. Oh well.

Method: Linework in ink, colored digitally. Background added digitally and rather quickly, will need to work on the environment a bit more...

Character: Man in Gray

2010-01-20T00:20:00.005+01:00

Another one much like the one from yesterday's post. Again - no ink, all digital. Gone crazy on the filters afterwards, but it kind of works.

Character: Ballsy!

2010-01-19T01:48:00.008+01:00

Woo, something new - this time, no ink and no lineart. Done entirely on PC, and of course the newb factor shows. Things like lighting, shading etc. still need a lot of work. But as a first attempt, I think it's acceptable :)

Method: Sketch, coloring, shading and everything done digitally. Listening to: this man here, whom I can thoroughly recommend for inspiration. Great stuff!

Character: The Hobo King

2010-01-08T12:21:00.010+01:00

Method: Ink drawing scanned into Photoshop, then massacred with an inordinate amount of filters (weee, filters!). Just trying to get back into the groove.

Lots and lots of cute.

2009-10-03T12:37:00.032+02:00

Older work: Autumn postcard

2009-08-12T01:13:00.010+02:00

Yet another piece from many years ago (when Katamari Damacy didn't exist yet, I swear!). This is just a little autumn-themed postcard made for a website.

No sketch, all done very quickly in Flash. And it's ooold.

Older work: Totally not Kane and Lynch

2009-08-12T00:52:00.009+02:00

This is an older piece from simpler times, when people still liked lineart and no-one cared about volume and proper shading.

Method:
These two fellows were drawn rather quickly in ink and barely colored at all in Photoshop. Lazy, but effective. Also, drawings like these are when you can just let loose, start with the eyes, draw a random line as a mouth and see where you go from there.

Character: Killer Prom Queen

2009-08-11T23:55:00.011+02:00

Done for a community activity over at conceptart.org. Theme: "Killer Prom Queen".
Tried to keep it a bit tasteful, no weapons, no blood splatter, no random heads or severed body parts. Though at second glance you might notice the strange necklace and tiara, or the suspiciously pale leather the handbag is made of...

Method:
Linework in ink, scanned and colored in Photoshop. Went with an appropriately "dirty" look, watercolor brush, clashing shadow colors, no clear light source. Accentuated the speculars on the face to highlight the "sweaty crazed" look.
I originally intended to change the skin tone later on, but the unrealistic purple sort of grew on me and gives the composition a welcome, schizophrenic note.

Oh, and the period is thought to be the 50s. I actually went through several hairdos, but the classic, massive beehive is still the corniest/best.

Character: Skeleton

2009-08-11T23:39:00.016+02:00

Tried to put my anatomy studies to work. My critics have informed me the skeleton is missing the right femur, but I'm just not going to mention it here.

Method:
Linework with black marker. All coloring done in Photoshop, using a wet edges brush with a watercolor effect.

Oh yeah, here's my reference image - when you need a model, it can't hurt to look for the best...