[Art] Keaton the Black Jackal: Commission Preview~ (21/10/09)

[Cogidubnus]

I think I know what the change is, but I think it'd be cheating if I said something.

Also, it looks awesome, Keats. Gar looks very nice, and for some reason Tikal looks especially badass.

[Paladin Sheppard]

*Agrees with the wolf above*

[Sunblink]

Thanks for the comments, guys. In another spree of summer productivity, I managed to finish another picture which was giving me absolute HELL. I promised I'd get it done, though, and I did! Ha ha! In your face, laziness!

100 Themes #65: Horror
PRESENTED IN SUPER-COLOR

Time Taken:
* Drawing: 2 Days
* Inking: Approximately 3 Days
* Coloring: Unknown... I guess approximately 5 days, if I were to combine all the time and disregarded the days I spent lounging around and spending time on other projects.
Currently Listening To: "The Bird and the Worm," by the Used

I'm copying and pasting the description from DeviantArt again. All that needs to be said has been said already, really, plus, while I've triumphed over laziness once, I'm not obligated to do it again.



This... took much longer than it should have. Sure, this involved a detailed background, which I'm very inexperienced at, but I kept getting sidetracked from this picture and wandered away to other projects. Hence why the coloring took so damn long. Usually, if I were to sit and actually do all my coloring and inking in one sitting, it wouldn't take so long - but I intermittently pause and take advantage of intervals between working to relax and do whatever. Hence, why calculating the exact time it takes to do all the stages in completing my artwork is so difficult.

This was an exceptionally difficult drawing and coloring for me, for obvious reasons. This is the first time I've actually drawn a background which involves scenery - that is, and colored it. I've done a scenic background before (in Out Cold), but that hasn't been colored yet.

Lianna and Keaton were inked individually in Macromedia Freehand, then I moved them onto the background, which I inked in Photoshop. Not a very smart idea - but originally I was planning on adding colored lines to the background, but I decided the picture was too dark and it would be too difficult. Nowadays I'm planning on exclusively inking my pictures in Photoshop, since the process is much faster and cleaner and easier to manipulate and color and add neato-keen backgrounds.

Lianna's clothing gave me a lot of grief with deciding the color scheme, but I decided on orange, ultimately, since that's her favorite color. The design of the clothing is great for me, but I don't like the color. Next time, I'll decide what to color the outfit before I color it. Oh, but Keaton's wearing the same outfit as she did in the Childhood picture.

Lianna and Keaton are eight years old in this picture. This is a dramatization of another scene planned in Keaton's backstory - the first chapter, actually. They'll also be eight years old in the first chapter since it'll basically be an exploration of their relationship and an introduction of the settings, not to mention most of the supporting cast in Keaton's family. As for the nature of this scene... Keaton and Lianna are searching for something, but I'm not going to divulge just what yet.

Oh, by the way. How I did the background was really inspired by some of the recent pages in the webcomic Earthsong, which took place in a similarly-lighted forest. Utilizing shades of blue is a really good way to emphasize the darkness in the scene. Plus how Lady Yates shaded her characters was a great guide as to how to shade Keaton and Lianna in dark environments. However, I don't have the good lady's skill with a tablet yet, even though the tablet made coloring this infinitely easier than the process would be with a mouse.

By the way, I still have yet to count all the layers I used in this picture. BLEH. Trust me, it was a pain in the ass considering how painstaking everything was.

Oh, also, I don't know why Lianna and Keaton don't have wings. I couldn't really fit the wings into the picture without crunching them against each other, so assume that I made Keaton and Lianna Beings in this picture to emphasize their vulnerability in this situation blah blah blah I'm pulling this stuff out of my ass.

Input on this picture would be very much appreciated, since... well, I slaved over it! And I like hearing comments from y'all. I get the most feedback on my artwork on this forum, which is so awesome. As with the Magic picture, I'd really like to hear some constructive criticism if you guys have any to offer - like what you guys like about the picture, and what you think can be improved, and how those pesky flaws can be improved.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Tapewolf]

Personally, I think the highlights on Keaton and Lianna are a little too intense.  To me, it looks like a torch or is being shone upon them.  Maybe there is such a lightsource off-shot, but I can't see it.
That aside, the colouring and shading is magnificent.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

OOo!

*adds Earthsong to his list of comics*

[Ren Gaulen]

Wow! Great work, Keaton! And your previous drawing is great too!

[Sunblink]

Wow! Great work, Keaton! :) And your previous drawing is great too!

Thanks, Ren!  :boogie Much appreciated. *tips hat to you* :3

Personally, I think the highlights on Keaton and Lianna are a little too intense.  To me, it looks like a torch or is being shone upon them.  Maybe there is such a lightsource off-shot, but I can't see it.
That aside, the colouring and shading is magnificent.

The lightsource is... above, I think. But since I'm really inconsistent with highlights because light sources suck for me, I kind of messed it up. :B So... there are probably multiple light sources in the form of the eyes.

But thank you, Tape. ^^

OOo!

*adds Earthsong to his list of comics*

Trust me, it's a good read, if a little complicated at times. :3

Oh, as for why I'm posting again...

I can't decide what to do next in the 100 Themes series again, so I'm asking you guys again - in the form of a convenient poll. There are only three legitimate options. The fourth one was just added because when I'm actually feeling healthy self esteem-wise, I enjoy poking fun at myself.

By the way, if you pick the fourth option, I'll hate you all forever. You'll all be off my BFF lists. >:C

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Trust me, it's a good read, if a little complicated at times.

It was. *cough*

Edit: Severely tempted to vote #4, but decided not to.

[James StarRunner]

Voted for the first one, but if you're still willing to make sandwiches... 

[Brunhidden]

why does the last option make me think of a French maid outfit? in which case its probably a 'hand-burger'



answer probably has to do with the $1.50 wine i just drank

[Ren Gaulen]

Well, I voted for the second variant without even thinking. BOLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!

..I am such a "Warhammer 40K" geek...

[Sunblink]

Oh god I'm finally done with this.

100 Themes #98: Puzzle

Time Taken:
* Drawing: 2 Days
* Inking: Unknown, roughly the same time as the coloring
* Drawing: REALLY unknown; I kept procrastinating
Currently Listening To: "Never Enough," by Five Finger Death Punch

My biggest objective with finishing this picture was to complete it before Sunday rolled around, because that's when Father's Day is and I wanted to send a printed copy of this picture to my grandfather. Last night I managed to finish a great deal of it, then left my computer on overnight so I could pick up where I left off and hopefully finish it before the weekend. I'm rather surprised I got this done. Oo I thought it was gonna take an eternity.

At first this was going to be entirely in colored lines, but then someone suggested I try a new style in which the characters, save for some internalized details like the hair and clothing, have black outlines, while those aforementioned characteristics have colored outlines.

I finally fixed Fa'Lina's clan marking so it's closer to the actual DMFA version, and I managed to duplicate it so I could put very small versions on the diplomas on the wall. Another aspect of the picture I'm really, really proud of is the table. Making the wood patterning was a lot of fun. The carpeting texture on the floor was largely added to prevent people from thinking the floor was some kind of horrid abyss.

Most of all, I think I'm the proudest of how Desdemona turned out. She looks much better in color than she did in black and white. I wish I gave her a serpentine lower half, but since she's Cubi she can probably do whatever the fuck she wants.

I think I'll ink my pictures in Photoshop more often. Sorry, Macromedia Freehand. The layering system really helps with the coloring.

So shiiiiiiinyyyyy...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Ren Gaulen]

...Awesome. Just awesome. I don't know what else to say. I am at a loss or words.

[Tapewolf]

Yes, that has turned out very nicely indeed.  I particularly like the wood effects.
Poor Lianna...

[Cogidubnus]

It looks great, Keats. I like the carpet texture a lot, actually - you can definitely tell the difference when you look at the earlier iterations of the picture. The change in Lianna's sweater is also neat.

Desdemona frankly turned out awesome. I loves her to death.

[Brunhidden]

completing that puzzle somehow seems to have made her disappointed..... but the hammer must have a story, cause thats one damned big hammer

[Sunblink]

completing that puzzle somehow seems to have made her disappointed..... but the hammer must have a story, cause thats one damned big hammer

Oh yeah, the hammer does have a backstory. Its name is "Mister Hammer," and it was Lianna's weapon when she was imprisoned in a coliseum and forced to fight on a daily basis in front of a jeering crowd of assorted Creatures and Beings. Her original weapon was a warhammer of much greater superiority in battle, but it was confiscated from her. Lianna must have Mister Hammer at least close to her at all times, because she reasons, that since the hammer was around when she was suffering the most, it is her best friend. She also thinks she can hear it talking to her, but that's really just her hallucinating. She's crazies.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Zedd]

Hey so late to check but looking awesome Keaton

[Sunblink]

Thanks a lot for all the comments on the last picture, guys! I'm so glad it was really well-received. I'll probably do more pictures in that hybrid coloring style but I'll not overuse it.

In other news, oh man I found the coolest website ever. I wish these cakes delivered to Florida because then I would buy a cake for every fucking occasion.

Anyway, I figured I'd update my topic with an image to hold everything over until I'm done with most of my commissions. All four slots are filled so I'm very happy... the next time I update this art topic, it will probably be with commissionwork.

CLICK HERE
Also leads to an extremely lengthy profile containing shitloads of information about the character; read if you dare.

Time Taken:
* Drawing: 2 Days
Currently Listening To: "The Howling," by Within Temptation

This is Dekuyaketh. He's an original character of mine, and considering I usually work within the DMFA-oriented universe of Furrae you guys haven't really heard much about Dekuyaketh, or his universe. But he's probably a character I'm going to end up writing a serious story about in the far, far future, after his extensive environment's been fully developed and after the basic story's been decided and written. Hopefully by that time I will have matured as a writer - or enough to really tackle the story.

Either way, Dekuyaketh's most prominent appearance is in the Honor Circle Returns RP, where he acted like a douchebag to Cogidubnus's not-so-nice priest character, got in a fight with him, and won (ha ha, Cog).

I rather like this picture of Dekuyaketh, largely because I've tried to draw him before, but because he's supposed to be extremely handsome and feminine I wasn't able to capture that. I think I did better this time around.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Ren Gaulen]

Did I just see a Power Claw? Because I think I saw a Power Claw! Cool character, Keats, and great drawing!

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

That's an awful lot of text, Keats.

Nothing hugely obvious leaps out, since I think I've heard most of that information before...

[Sunblink]

Did I just see a Power Claw? Because I think I saw a Power Claw! Cool character, Keats, and great drawing!

Alas, I do not know what a Power Claw is. So the reference is lost on me. Woe is I.

Oh, but thank you very much on both accounts.

That's an awful lot of text, Keats.

Nothing hugely obvious leaps out, since I think I've heard most of that information before...

Hey, I warned you in advance, dude. I should trim most of this stuff down and get rid of the irrelevant bits.

Though it is true. I recycled most of this stuff from Dekuyaketh's Honor Circle profile. I probably should have posted that.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You did. Both warn, and mention that you copied it from HC.

I wasn't complaining, mind, merely mentioning in passing...

[techmaster-glitch]

He's alot...smaller...than I thought he was. I must have misread his original profile. In my head, I imagined him as a very large, heavyweight demon-thing

But this picture clears that up.

[Tapewolf]

Not someone I'd want to meet in a dark alley.
The only slight glitch I see in this picture is that the legs are somewhat long in proportion to the body.  Other than that, nice work.

[Sunblink]

He's alot...smaller...than I thought he was. I must have misread his original profile. In my head, I imagined him as a very large, heavyweight demon-thing

But this picture clears that up.

But in actuality, he is a man so pretty that I'm surprised he wasn't born as a lady. Though it's easy to mistake that he'd be rather heavyweight, considering he's a Manticore, and the traditional portrayal of a Manticore is a heavyset lion with a human's head and a scorpion's tail.

Not someone I'd want to meet in a dark alley.
The only slight glitch I see in this picture is that the legs are somewhat long in proportion to the body.  Other than that, nice work.

Thank you very much. I do have an explanation for the legs, though. Dekuyaketh's around 7'1" and I'm usually not terribly used to drawing characters that tall (even though I have plenty of them), so I thought I'd make his legs in proportion to his size.

I probably should have looked at some anatomy references. Like... maybe a picture of Shaquille O'Neal would have been the easiest.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Zedd]

Demons..WOO! 

[Sunblink]

I got ShadesFox's commission finished and he gave me permission to post it. He wanted it done before Anthrocon so I ended up doing it first.

CLICK HERE

Time Taken:
*Drawing: 2 Days
*Inking: 1 Day
*Coloring: 2 Days

This was a really quick one. I used colored lines for this one, because that's what ShadesFox wanted - but it's mostly just visible in the pants and blue shirt. I used a new shading style; more similar to Amber's coloring style, with the multiple shades used in the colored shadows. I might use this more often.

No, I do not apologize for the watermark cluttering up the picture. Only ShadesFox gets the non-watermarked version since I'm slightly paranoid about people stealing this stuff. Granted, it's never happened before...

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

No, I do not apologize for the watermark cluttering up the picture. Only ShadesFox gets the non-watermarked version since I'm slightly paranoid about people stealing this stuff. Granted, it's never happened before...

... but it only takes once. :-/

Lovely pic, though, Keats.

[Sunblink]

No, I do not apologize for the watermark cluttering up the picture. Only ShadesFox gets the non-watermarked version since I'm slightly paranoid about people stealing this stuff. Granted, it's never happened before...

... but it only takes once. :-/

Lovely pic, though, Keats.

YOU DID NOT SEE THAT *fixes the link*

And oh, thank you

~Keaton the Black Jackal