Summer of Love: Xeon Special Pinup!
27 June 2010
I don't care how in love they are,
he's probably crushing her spine with
all that armor on.
Ahoy, cabana boys, we're about to enter PHN-ternational waters! So hold on tight, the coast guard doesn't care to go this far. But there's no holding us back here at THE SITE! Today, it's another stellar artwork by the Ric of Ceds, Cedric Nocon! He's the real deal, for sure. Pictured above is the proactive protagonist, Enzo (of XEON fame), holding in his hands the hot Haze! Can amnesia annhilate the truest of loves? Or will it be the enormous armies of enemies that await Enzo? Find out when Xeon launches!
Like my alliteration?
It's clever, like you!
As usual, Cedric's tight pencils leave nothing to the imagination. Every leaf is detailed, and every line is in place. It's only my job to make armor shine and hearts break. Oh, and put special effects everywhere. Cuz we dope like 'dat yo. This is the first iteration of Enzo's new armor, but it's not done evolving yet! When he enters battle mode, watch out! He uses a fighting style not seen in conventional comic books. An unorthodox hero for an unusual age, XEON is going to be nothing like you've ever seen!
Explosive fighting technicals!
Anyhow, that wraps up this post. But bring it back on Tuesday, for you know whats! This is PHN Griffey Jr, telling you to buy my new shoe: The Nike Air Griffey PHN!
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Youtube Tuesdays: Asuka & Nadia, Roll-Out!
22 June 2010
This video got music by Mötley Crüe,
who got Tommy Lee as a drummer
who got Pamela Anderson as a girlfriend
who got Hepatitis C on a boat.
Hey you smexy smurfers! It's PHN with yet another incorrigible Youtube Tuesday! Today it's Asuka and Nadia, being in front of a car, acting like they own it! But the SITE belongs to everyone with a skip in their step and a song in their heart.
It doesn't matter, race, religion, or creed.
All dogs wearing banana costumes are allowed.
So let's talk about the video. In this one, we've got a very red car sitting on a very blue backdrop. It's important to contrast the elements, so the blue base tones all over the place pop-out the bright red very nicely. It gives the work that strong, "in your face" attitude that I so love. Because feisty ladies deserve fiery colors! The green "shock" colors are there to just add some highlights from within the red (you know, red Asuka in front of a red car? Gotta pop out a little bit). I also worked on a few new flare/lens blurring effect on the headlights and background. It gives it a sort of photographic, field of depth sort of look to it that I think came out rather nicely. But that's the last "nice thing" about this street monster. It rides fast and rides hard, even in park.
Mean racing!
Anyhow, that wraps it up for this week. Get ready for some new artwork, because Anime Expo is coming up! Gotta get ready for that show. So this is Conventional Wisdom PHN, signing off!
Asuka & Nadia in: Car-mageddon!
20 June 2010
But if the engine is running, the lights are on,
and the girls are outside...
Start your engines, PHN--vu-zelas! It's time for the World Cup of coloring, and I promise you don't even have to adjust the equalizers on your TV sound to not go insane! Today, it's Asuka and Nadia, the first ladies of funk, with a shockingly red Mitsubishi EVO Lancer-X! No stock parts on this bad boy: we're talking custom wide-body, new front air dam, side skirt, custom spoiler, mirrors, and I'm pretty sure the engine inside is like, changed too. Probably. Wheels by Konig, and carbon fiber parts wherever fine carbon fibers are sold! You may recall I did a similar piece two years ago, and that one was more outlandish in the mods I did. This time, I went with a more conservative, "I wouldn't be embarassed driving this car around" bit. It's less of an EVA mobile, more of a street demon. And the racing queen outfits are, once again, based on what the lovely ladies wear in their outlandish animes. Because authenticity is always in style.
Because if there's anything PHN knows,
it's style.
So let's "rap" about the artwork. I wish I could say I was a master of perspectives and was able to nail that car in one go, but I had to use a lot of reference art/toy cars/catalogs and magazines to get it down. Even now I'm not 100% confident everything lines up where it should, but I can't say that I'm disappointed in the work. The coloring is standard for me, but you might take notice of the fog/dust in front of the headlights/fog lights. The lights on the water front were fun too, as well as sneaking in stars as they fade away towards the overpowering lights in the city. I'm also working in color overlays into my work more, a trend I'm noticing in a lot of Japanese fanarts. I don't want it to be overpowering, so I do it subtly, but as I get more confident in how I want the work to look, I'll try to push it out more. They tend to make the work look more...otherworldy. A sort of capricious look that I find to really compliment the whimsical nature of my work.
Today's post has been to you by
a Thesaurus: The deadliest dinosaur there ever was.
In summation, I really enjoyed this work. I hate drawing cars, but I certainly like painting/coloring them in. That polished metal is a real challenge/fun ordeal that once you get it, it makes all the difference in the world. Plus I love Nadia and Asuka, and drawing them is like drawing two friends who I never met, nor did they ever exist. Whoa......that's heady. This is Philosophical PHN, foregoing the usual frivolities to foray into philandering frothy females from their frightful fathers! Adieu!
Youtube Tuesdays: Paladin the House!
25 May 2010
Get ready, this is a long one...
Ah hoy hoy, girls and boys! PHN here, yet again around the bend, with another update for your dinner plate! Today, it's the World of Warcraft artwork's official video, located so conveniently up above. I swear, I make it so easy for you folks. In my day, we had to download .rm files off of our 56k modems, buffering all the way! But I don't do it to spoil you, but because I love you.
Love hurts.
Anyway, let's talk about the artwork now. Last time, we got off on a bit of a tangent, but our trolley conductor went zing-zing-zing with my heart strings and brought us back on track. Firstly, this was not an easy piece to plan out. Aside from the difficulty in lighting up a piece where there are energy effects to the left of the paladin, to the right, up above, down below, and all around (JEEZUS!), there was also the question of her red amor, and how to differentiate it from her red cloth, and the blue light coming off the sword, and many other creative problems that would traumatize any man lesser than a true love warrior.
Love scars.
So I decided on the sword being the conduit of her powers and the primary light source. I don't play the game, so I'm not entirely sure that's accurate (maybe, like the power of true love, her strength comes from within?). But, He-Man's sword gave him his power, as it channeled the power of Grey Skull. And there are plenty of grey skulls around our heroine to garner that power. The rest of the energies are rim lighting her, making for a nice contrast with the black ink background. Her sword is made of bone and stone, the fiery energies emit embers as they crackle through dead zombie flesh beneath her, and her rune blade is activing it's incantation through the chained words and exclusive "glow in the dark" gems that she got from 10 proofs of purchase from Froot Loops cereal (plus 6.95 s/h).
Love wounds and mars.
Other cool details to check out are the gold armor weatherings, the weathering on the pages of the tome, and the weather around her (no need to check the news, forecast: hot). The wings were a labor of love. This whole project was just......love. I guess you could call me a Soldier of Love. Whether that's by Sade or Donny Osmond, that's for you to decide. Personally, I love both. Today's post was also filled with references to Joan Jett and Judy Garland (how's that for obscure?). Anyway, hope you enjoyed this, and bring it back next time for another PHN-filled post full of nonsense and non-sequitors!
