Concept art from my new superhero comic

[Michael Anden]

If you say so, Shiner.

[Shiner]

If that's your attitude to someone wishing you well....

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Michael: I like the 'glow' effects you are using, mostly because I've never been able to do it myself on the computer..I ain't too bad in some other respects [layers/composites, etc]

Is the 'glow' effect done with some sort of double-exposure, [like the glowing lights in the Hyperion colour study]...basically, which option is required to achieve this? I fancy trying this on my own artwork.

Other than that, your comic is lively and vital-looking, and you have obviously put a lot of effort into it.

[Michael Anden]

If that's your attitude to someone wishing you well....

Not someone, just certain people.

[Michael Anden]

Michael: I like the 'glow' effects you are using, mostly because I've never been able to do it myself on the computer..I ain't too bad in some other respects [layers/composites, etc]

Is the 'glow' effect done with some sort of double-exposure, [like the glowing lights in the Hyperion colour study]...basically, which option is required to achieve this? I fancy trying this on my own artwork.

Other than that, your comic is lively and vital-looking, and you have obviously put a lot of effort into it.

Thanks, ISPYSHHHGUY. For the glow effects I use the lens flare option of Corel Photo-Paint 10. It's probably available for next to nothing on the web these days.

It allows you (to a point) to choose any size or colour for the glow, and to 'mask' it off so that you can either have it bleeding across the entire image, cut-off abruptly, or soften its reach.

Not sure if the latest versions of Corel Photo-Paint (or maybe it's just 'Corel Paint' these days) have exactly the same options, but I expect they're even more flexible now. I believe Ryan Church uses the latter, and his stuff is as good as it gets with this kind of thing.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thanks Michael---I use the free GIMP service [cheapskate that I am] and that has a 'lens flare' option I have yet to explore properly, that hopefully will get the same sort of result.

I love the light spilling/bleeding effect from behind the character/object [it's used a lot in 2 000 AD, Batman comics and many others] and if there's one technique I would love to embrace, it's this one.

Thanks for your help on this---youtube tutorials on this subject always sent me on a wild goose chase.

[Al]

Woah! there Michael. No need to get so aggressive because someone gives you some negative feedback. Jeeez!

You're not going to please all of the people all of the time, fella. A simple life-rule. All you needed to do was reply to the comments that she made, without attacking her work and place in the industry. No need for that. Everyone else likes your work.

Most of us here are just fans of the medium and are effectively, your customers. And you shouldn't go insulting 'potential' customers. We also like to keep the forum expletive-free please. We'll leave all that stuff for YouTube-et-al.

Cheers,

Al

[Michael Anden]

Woah! there Michael. No need to get so aggressive because someone gives you some negative feedback. Jeeez!

You're not going to please all of the people all of the time, fella. A simple life-rule. All you needed to do was reply to the comments that she made, without attacking her work and place in the industry. No need for that. Everyone else likes your work.

Most of us here are just fans of the medium and are effectively, your customers. And you shouldn't go insulting 'potential' customers. We also like to keep the forum expletive-free please. We'll leave all that stuff for YouTube-et-al.

Cheers,

Al

If Marionette's responses were 'negative feedback' I'd hate to see what your idea simple trolling would be, Al - but I think I can read between the lines here, and I agree with what you're getting at.

[colcool007]

To be honest, I thought Marionette's critique was close to what I was thinking.

The colours are very busy and seem "off" to me. I prefer a cleaner line and quite often, less is more.

Michael, you seem to be using lined paper for your sketches. This seems to make them more like doodles than concept art. I will say that I have never seen any other artist using lined paper unless we go back to their teenge days and they are displaying how their style developed.

We are here as fans and very few of us are professional artists, so we attempt to give an honest opinion of any art put up. This is not to "troll" anyone, but in an effort to give you as much feedback as possible. And I have to say that we are a lot more courteous about rejection than some of the editor letters I have seen over the years.

[Michael Anden]

To be honest, I thought Marionette's critique was close to what I was thinking.

The colours are very busy and seem "off" to me. I prefer a cleaner line and quite often, less is more.

Michael, you seem to be using lined paper for your sketches. This seems to make them more like doodles than concept art. I will say that I have never seen any other artist using lined paper unless we go back to their teenge days and they are displaying how their style developed.

We are here as fans and very few of us are professional artists, so we attempt to give an honest opinion of any art put up. This is not to "troll" anyone, but in an effort to give you as much feedback as possible. And I have to say that we are a lot more courteous about rejection than some of the editor letters I have seen over the years.

'Busy' and 'off' I can handle, and help me to appreciate your take on my work. But there are certain kinds of people who just like to tear things down just 'because'.

You're welcome to be in full agreement with all Marionette's opinions, and I'd happy to apply them to my attempts to grow as an artist/writer.

But if you had worded your feelings like her- just to be catty as opposed to elicit improvement, I'd quite rightly disregard your opinions and move on.

As we are all, I'm sure, perfectly aware at our age (I'm assuming the non-preschool young of his country have moved on far, far away from comics both because times/media change, but also because of the interestingly near-universal negative stereotype of comic enthusiasts- no smoke without fire?), life's too short not to.

[Michael Anden]

Concept sketch of Gods druid Halsen Archard

'Actually, I think you'll find this is exactly the right time for one of my lame parlour tricks.'

Concept sketches and paintings of battlesuit for Gods antagonist 'Nargun'- an incorporeal demon from the planet Aldar's Dark Age. Interesting note about the lined note paper- most of these babies weren't really whipped up for public consumption or intended to be formal concept art, just side scrawls beside my script notes- but hopefully they're interesting enough for those who are big into pre-production stuff.










'No-one conquers death. Death conquers you.'
'And what's wrong with that?'

[Michael Anden]

Medical droid 'Jeeg' whips across roiling battlefields either patching up the greviously wounded or putting them out of their misery, depending on the severity of their messed-upness. The Hypocratic oath doesn't get much of a look-in when half the dying are likely to Turn (into)...




...lifeless, soul-sucking Gaunts. You may know some of them.











Master sergeant Vansonn 'Vance' Hillbrandt performs the blunt, heavy-duty frontline wetworks that could be termed as mass personnel demolition.

Discovering his own culpability in running security for the horrific false flag operations of his nation's political demagogues, Vance finds himself poised to take his own life, until his protege Kara Flynn evinces he has no business getting off that easy.

[Michael Anden]

Some more sketches, apologies for the lined paper- these were done as sidebars to script notes, prior to figuring they maybe turned out interesting enough for display.


Cade's battleblade is enriched by sorcery, enabling it to be ‘sawmilled’ in the direction of incoming debris or enemy artillery, providing a defensive canopy of whizzing metal.





Odds n' ends





Infirmary med vorg; Cade Cyger's Diamondback Interceptor; Light Council twin-engine Skyraider; Slayer Rayken Shorde (close-up); thumbnail study of Theeldoran Library lobby.

[Michael Anden]

Early sketches of Gods' protagonists' main junkbucket, the Starstriker







Starstriker in flight - test 'comet tail' effect for dogfights etc



Some more early vehicle concepts

[Michael Anden]

Top tenth of the twenty-kilometer tall mountain fortress exterior of the great dark god Ryzar. The charge bolts of the summit's towergun have a range far beyond the cannon's already extensive visual range, winning the weapon little popularity with Ryzar's scattered opponents.

"Mag bombs ineffective- it's cycling up! Where's our freaking evac? Stiers!! You raisin' dust-off on that comm or making love to it?"





Some variations (plus defense screen craft designs) and close ups









Towergun studies