Mondays with PHN: A Introspective on Slaying
26 July 2010
Allo', all the allied allosauruses out there! PHN here, with a special Monday post, looking back at the Lina Inverse Dragon Slave artwork. Today I'm going to detail the process of it, so sit back, and let's take a look at how these shenanigans shook things up in the shephards glen!
Thumbnailing
This isn't the first thumbnail, just the one I went with. Just scratching it out in Photoshop, I'm looking to see what elements of the work I wanted, along with the position of shapes. This thumbnail was a combination of two other ones, the angle from one rejected idea, and the moon positioning from another. Putting them together, I got a compromise that worked out for everyone!
Initial sketching
This is me blocking-in all the elements of the work on the actual artboard. Here I'm making sure everything fits correctly, and some quick decision making needs to get made, because some things that work on the thumbnail don't work when it's blown up, such as the width and spread of the cape. I bring it in tighter so that more of the background can be seen.
Finished penciling
Well, that's kind of a misnomer, because the penciling isn't "quite" finished, but it's pretty much done, as far as decision making goes. Next up, it's time to tighten up the lines and add the final touches...
The inks
Add in those phat blacks and put on the ol' John Hancock. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not an inker, so mine look sort of amateurish, but that's all good. Everyone has things they need to work on. This is just one of my many.
Base Coloring
I think it's pretty well known, but for those not in the know, I like to work from dark to light. Thus, in my initial color seperations, I like to put in the darkest colors first. It helps with the depth and color harmony. So now, it's time to start cutting in the...
Highlights
If the potatoes of the meal is in the base coloring, the meat is in the highlights. It's here you establish form, color, and pretty much everything that's important. This is the main dish, and you've got to do this part right. Because the next step, while being fun, is just the window-dressing. The desert, if you will. And that step of course being...
Special Effects
Special Effects is something I love doing. It's me, playing with Photoshop, to come up with all sorts of neat tricks. And that's what me doing special effects really is: playing. It's like having all these fun toys at your disposal and you're putting them together or making them do things that might be intended, or heck, you might just have a fun accident. It's what makes every piece unique and different, the journey towards getting the effects you want together. And once it all comes together, you've come around to...
The end!
And that wraps up another piece in the wide, wacky world of PHN! I hope this has shown that every artist has a process, and some (better) artists have their ideas laid out long before they even pick up a pencil. And some other (read: coooooool) artists have no idea where their work will take them. I am the latter. I go in with a general idea, and then I just let the balls fall where they may. Impractical/pedestrian? Maybe. But it's definitely a lot more fun that way! So bring it back next time, for when we bring in the wacky fun slide! This is PHN, signing off!
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Youtube Tuesdays: Slaving Away At Dragons!
20 July 2010
It's not easy to get insured,
when you're in the DANGER ZONE.
I'm trippin' trumpets, cuz it's Youtube Tuesday! It's Lina Inverse, back from Sunday to get back in your face! She's revving up those spellbooks, ready to cast another one of her world destroying, day-the-saving, all-purpose "don't attack me while I chant this long-ass incantation" Dragon Slaves. Set to the music of the flashiest dancer I know, Mr. Footloose himself: Kenny Loggins, today's update is definitely over the line of safety.
Here at the site, we're not
afraid to get a little dangerous.
So game faces on, and let's rap about vidjas. One thing you'll notice is the work that I put into the background. Lava spires erupting, mountains in the back, a bigass moon and some clouds: all obliterated when I put in the fire special effects. It was one of those things I didn't plan on but just.....got a little out of control. But that's ok. We here at PHNdustrial Combustable Applications are all about losing control. It makes every application a surprise, an extra little bang for your buck. Figuratively, of course. But if you want to make it literal, you can always bang your bucks over at the store up there in the menu bar. It's full of prints and all sorts of wonderful things! (wonderful things not available at this time)
Support starving artists,
such as myself. Buy a print!
So check out the video, check out the store, and check us next time for another riveting, double-speak filled edition of The SITE! This is PHN, reminding all of you that just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I can't tell when you're making collages out of the moveable images! Adieu!
Slayers Sunday: Slave to Dragons!
18 July 2010
Asbestos Leggings are REQUIRED
on any high fantasy LARP.
Hey PHN-time lovers! It's PHN here, with a Sunday update so hot, you'll have to go to Sears and smack their AC unit installation expert supervisor! Speaking of hot, man, this Southern California heat has been roasting my studio space something fierce! My fan keeps me cool, but it does nothing to the table, which is all clammy and ugh. Normally I'd go out to Starbucks or a teahouse to draw, but right now I'm doing some coloring on the computer, and I can't exactly haul the two monitors, tower, flatbed scanner, tablet, keyboard, mouse, et al there..........or can I? I guess I never bothered to ask.
Or I could just take my new Cintiq.
...wait a minute...this Cintiq is used!!!
So today, it's Lina Inverse, the titular-less title character from Slayers. This piece made it's debut at Anime Expo at the LA Convention Center, to a very receptive crowd. Well, almost receptive. There was one guy who refused to buy it because I made Lina's boobs too big. Hey, I can't help it: I'm a man who loves lovely ladies! And relative to my other artworks, I think I held back a good deal on those diddley doodlies. All the same, it's pretty much a re-make of an earlier Dragon Slave artwork, to which I took the concept of "Dragon" a step too literal. I was actually considering leashing the Dragon via an energy chain to the plasma bolt in Lina's hands, but I figure that was taking it too literally once again. For those of you not in the know, the Dragon Slave is an extremely powerful spell in the Slayers universe, and the Deus Ex Machina device the writers use whenever Lina is to defeat an enemy and move the cast on to the next wacky adventure, scheduled for the following week during the same time slot. Being that it is a spell, I took some creative liberties that I picked up from doing the Warcraft Paladin, seen a few weeks ago. For one, the spell is literally being summoned from the netherworld beneath Lina's feet. The symbol was done in Adobe Illustrator, and depicts a septagram. 7, because 6 is to "hardcore mallgoth" and 5 would get me in trouble with the government.
A powerful man such as myself
is bound to have made
very powerful enemies.
But enough diversionary tactics! Bring it back next time for vidjas and music, which is what we do, we love, and what we demand, here at The SITE! PHN, signing off! Excelsior!
Studio XEON @ Anime Expo 2010
07 July 2010
Time to talk about the pros and cons about pros at cons, with PHN, the professional con artist. This post is dedicated to everyone who visited the table at Anime Expo in LA this past weekend. Thanks guys!
Hey look, it's this shit again!
It was a real blast. It's always fun to get out of my denk, dark cave and mingle amongst the peoples. The dirty, unwashed peoples. You know who I'm talking about...but the lower castes of society aside, it's was a lot of fun and I can't wait for next year. The question is, can you?
I could probably wait...
But no worries, it'll come sooner than later. Just make sure that you save up your money for the con, and do it honestly. Cut spending and cut out unncessary finances, and try mooching off your friends. That'll show them how fiscally responsible you are! And it'll just save you up more money to spend on crap, like at our new Store! Check it out in the menu bar. Buy prints, and be the first to test if I set it up correctly, cuz I seriously don't know. It does Paypal, which you would think was idiot proof, but little do they know: I'm no ordinary idiot!
Wait a second...I think I just insulted myself...
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video, and I definitely hope that by the time you see this, UMG hasn't taken down the video because of the song. But I've clashed with them before, and I've won! Well, sort of. There's ads on it and stuff, but that's fine. I'd rather have ads on a video using music that I didn't make myself then to have it taken down entirely because a faceless corporation has decreed it so. But enough ranting, I hope everyone enjoyed AX, and now that playtimes over, it's time to get back to work! Excelsior, said PHN!
