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

[Mao]

Oh. You mean "belongs" as in "Belongs to amber, wears a loincloth and wafts a palm frond."

Yeah. That sounds right.

But... but... I dun wanna be owned.

...

though I do look pretty stylin' in a loincloth. 

[Kipiru]

But... but... I dun wanna be owned.

Who's asking you slave 

[Sunblink]

Thank you once again for the comments, everyone. Sorry for the momentary reprieve from commissions, but I wanted to tack this up. Tapewolf's commission should be finished before or at the beginning of March, so everyone: keep your eyes peeled.

CLICK HERE

Time Taken:
Drawing: About... two hours?
Inking: 2 days
Currently Listening To: "The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty" - The Dandy Warhols

This is actually just a quickie; a semi-headshot. I had a pretty iffy Valentines Day so I decided to sign up for a "Secret Santa"-style Valentines Day giveaway on another RP website. The deadline was March 1st. When I learned that people were already getting their submissions finished, I scribbled this up really fast and decided to ink and color it. So far, the coloring part has yet to happen.

This is the character of an old friend of mine, Oubliette. I figured putting this picture up here would be harmless since she doesn't frequent these forums. Hell, she doesn't even know I'm a member. Haha

To the curious: Oubliette is a quadruped, hence the strange angling. I've been getting better at drawing them since I've been progressively increasing my entourage of characters with four-legged ones. Expect to see some reference sheets after the commissions are finished. Either way, I'm VERY happy with this, art-wise and inking wise. Especially inking-wise, thanks to the wings. I love these tapering lines.

...

I was a shift shake shoe shake child around
I used to live down town down in trucker town
I was the baddest, baddest, baddest around...

[Tapewolf]

I'm curious about the cracks in the ears and face - last time I've seen that effect it was used to denote cybernetics.  Is that the idea in this case?

[Sunblink]

I'm curious about the cracks in the ears and face - last time I've seen that effect it was used to denote cybernetics.  Is that the idea in this case?

I actually have no idea; the intricacies of Vexy's character designs elude me. I think they are hieroglyphics.

Here's her reference sheet, anyway.

[Gabi]

Nice... whoever that is.

[Kipiru]

Awesome inking indeed! She seems a bit sad though!

[Ren Gaulen]

Wow! Great work, Keaton! I'm looking forward to seeing it coloured.

[WhiteFox]

The hair looks much nicer this time around, especially off the back of the neck. One or two of the bangs looks kind of flat, tho.

The expression is great. It's not quite sad, not quite scared.

Man, I love the rumpled fabric around the collar. That's some beautiful inking.

The ragged edge around the collar looks great, too. Love it.

The thing about the linework around the ears and face is that it gives an impression of the surface, expressing the curvature of the face and ears. I know there isn't a whole lot of it visible, but it works really well. (When I was at NSCAD, we did a few surface contour drawings, (called "cross contours" by this guy) to that effect.)

[Yugo]

Awesome stuff Keats. I especially like the wings and the cloak hanging off of her neck. I'm sure they'll love it when they get it. I do look forward to seeing a completed version.

[Sunblink]

It's finished! I tried to get this done as soon as possible so I could return to commissions.

CLICK HERE

Time Taken:
Drawing: About... two hours?
Inking: 2 days
Coloring: 2 days
Currently Listening To: "The Gloaming (The Mana Goddess)" - Yoko Shimomura (Legend of Mana OST)

I'm... pretty happy with this overall. I think the coloring came out very nicely. Especially around the hair and the crystal; I think that's my most impressively-colored hair to date.

This isn't going on DeviantArt yet. I don't want Vexy to see this just now, but I wanted to show off my work. I hope everyone likes it.

[Ren Gaulen]

Great work, Keats. Though, now that I look at the coloured picture, I realize that Oubilette's ears look kinda odd. Or, rather, not the ears themselves, but the way they are connected to the head. The way the left (our right) ear disappear under the hair makes it look like it grows out of the brow. ..I know I should have noticed and pointed it out when you posted the lineart.

[Tapewolf]

Great work, Keats. Though, now that I look at the coloured picture, I realize that Oubilette's ears look kinda odd.

Yes, they seem to connect via a small point, kind of like petals.  One sharp tug and ew, I don't want to think about it.

Anyway, aside from that it's a lovely piece.

[Kipiru]

Amazing work Keaton! I love what you've done with the coloring, especially that jewel on her neck and the shadows on her wings- really nice! 

[Sunblink]

Thanks again to everyone who commented. Ya'll are great.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and you guys are right about the ears. I hadn't really noticed that, which is sort of weird on my part.

Okay, um, I know I promised to upload Tapewolf's commission first, but Zina announced the results of the Secret Santa so I figured I'd tack up my submission.

CLICK HERE

Time Taken:

• Drawing: 2 days
• Inking: 1.5 days? I can't really remember.
• Coloring: Uh, I can't remember this either. I guess it was 2 days.

Currently Listening To: "Cruel Mistress," by Flogging Molly (it's a less suggestive song than you guys think)

Next time out to sea
Bring enough soul to bury me
For I don't want my final jig
In the belly of a squid

lol Flogging Molly.

CLICK ON THE LINK FOR A BIGGER DESCRIPTION. I'll just sit here swingin' mah ball and paddle.

[Ren Gaulen]

Great picture, Keats! I absolutely love your colouring and shading techniques.

[Brunhidden]

interesting eye style, and you did the funky handpads quite nicely.

is it just me or does anyone else think the furfluff on the tail almost has a dr suess look to it?

[Tapewolf]

That is very nice.  I'm not entirely sure what kind of a creature she is, though.   Are those sheep eyes?

[Kipiru]

As I said at the SS thread- pure admiration for the ink,color and shading. But as I looked at it a second time I noticed that her right leg is a bit too high- if it was to start at about where her belly button is it would have looked better. The way it is now, it takes away the waist line.

[Sunblink]

As I said at the SS thread- pure admiration for the ink,color and shading. But as I looked at it a second time I noticed that her right leg is a bit too high- if it was to start at about where her belly button is it would have looked better. The way it is now, it takes away the waist line.

Thank you so much As far as the waistline goes, oh god, that's one of the anatomy errors that bugs me about this picture. Ah well; I'll just have to avoid the same mistake in the next one.

That is very nice.  I'm not entirely sure what kind of a creature she is, though.   Are those sheep eyes?

Thank you as well Octavia is a species of Hoppin's own design. The reference picture is here.

interesting eye style, and you did the funky handpads quite nicely.

is it just me or does anyone else think the furfluff on the tail almost has a dr suess look to it?

Thank you very much! I'm not so sure about a Dr. Seuss style, but I did have a lot of fun doing that tail. At least, up until the inconveniences of shading.

Great picture, Keats! I absolutely love your colouring and shading techniques.

Thanks, Ren I'm still trying to get this coloring/shading technique right, but I think it's a major improvement over my old one.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I should get some Flogging Molly to listen to. ;-]

[WhiteFox]

Very awesome pic. I love the eyes.

Looking at the belly line, her abdomen seems to posed as though her hips are cocked. But her thighs and crotch look as though she were standing upright, and bent her knees. the distance between her inseam and belly button (Which should be about a head height, if I am not mistaken) looks a little short. The shadow on the neck, for the sternomastoids, looks really broad too, like it's more U shaped then V.

Couldn't help but notice your comment on colored lines. Personally, I don't like them, but mostly for the reason that they leech the contrast out of a picture. Definition goes right out the window, details get hard to read, and the image looses a lot of it's overall boldness.

However, with the technique you're using here, you seem to be getting the best of both worlds. The outline is still bold, but the lining on the red fur on the torso is much less distracting then it would be if the lines were just black. It looks really good. IMHO, the face might be better off with more contrast between it and hair, but it would be kind of hard to make black lines look right with the hair.

That silky highlight on the poof of fur on her chest is just gorgeous, by the way.

[Sunblink]

Oh look! I'm alive!

And look!

I finished another commission!

GASP.

Commission #5: Tapewolf

Time Taken:
- Everything: More than what was absolutely acceptable. Sorry, Tape.
Currently Listening To: "Glory" - Twelve Girls Band

Okay, I'm feeling a bit tired since I just woke up, but this is basically Tapewolf's commission. Is it finalized? No, not really. He added the lighting effects, specifically the darkness and such, and it's the completed version that he's using as the cover for his album. In case you guys are wondering about the weird shading, it's because the light source was supposed to be coming from behind the wolf... sort of.

I used to be really proud of this, but now I'm slightly dissatisfied. I think I can do better on the lineart (specifically for the background) nowadays. At least I'm good at drawing guns and pig anthros.

I like the windows and the wood patterns. Tablets are useful for scribbling shit.

I'M TIRED. I WANNA SLEEP. HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE.

[Tapewolf]

Time Taken:
- Everything: More than what was absolutely acceptable. Sorry, Tape.

I think James is still working on the cover for my 2004 album, so it's not like you hold the record there

I used to be really proud of this, but now I'm slightly dissatisfied. I think I can do better on the lineart (specifically for the background) nowadays. At least I'm good at drawing guns and pig anthros.

That's always the way.  I keep meaning to rerecord "Sacred Jaguar" off the first album because I could do a much better job now...

Anyway, thanks a lot for the album cover.  I must get some booklets printed so I can take some copies to Anthrocon.

[James StarRunner]

You also kept changing your mind before I could finish anything.

[Tapewolf]

You also kept changing your mind before I could finish anything.

Actually, that wouldn't surprise me 

[Mao]

Yay!  Keaton lives!

I'm kinda curious, how old is the line art on this?  I'm merely going off where you said you 'used' to be proud of it, and the fact that it doesn't quite look like the stuff you've worked on lately.

Great work as always.

[Tapewolf]

I'm kinda curious, how old is the line art on this?

The oldest version I have to hand - a pencil rendition of the wolf - is dated 22nd of August 2008.

[Nikki]

; A; I have missed a LOT

...*cough* Anywho. WHOO! Lookin awesome, Keaton! Not much crit i can give but dayum, looking back you've improved by...a lot.

[Sunblink]

I don't have any commissions with which to update this topic. So instead, I'll just post my contribution to the DMFA 1000th strip celebratory image. There's not really anything special about this picture other than:
- This is a PNG image; I added a transparent background so PBH could effortlessly move Fi onto the actual project.
- I like how the inking turned out.
- I like the outer glow and the clan marking as well.
As far as simple Warp-Aci drawings go, this is pretty satisfying. I'm posting this here separately since the compression combined with shrinking the actual picture made Fi rather... uh, hard to see.

CLICK HERE

Time Taken:
- Drawing: idk, thirty minutes?
- Inking: Thirty minutes?
- Coloring: THIRTY FUCKING MINUTES
Currently Listening To: The sweet sound of skulls shattering in TF2. Nope, not creepy at all.

Oh, and I thought I'd post this as well. It's a heartfelt letter to the anonymous guy who smashed in my mother's car window last afternoon and stole her pocketbook. Ahem:

Dear Fuckhead,

Fuck you. What kind of loser do you have to be to steal from a car sitting in front of a school parking lot? That is fucking low. After all of the stress my mom has gone through trying to help my school principal during this financial crisis - organizing fundraisers, planning parent-teacher conferences - this was the last fucking thing she needed, even if all this incident amounted to was a minor inconvenience. We're fucking lucky that we have such a good police force in this area and that we live in such a financially comfortable situation, and that my mom was carrying her purse which held most of her credit cards. On a lesser note, this wasn't exactly a good experience for me either, hence my near-homicidal wrath.

But don't worry! Eventually you will be whisked away from whatever pathetic life you're living and shunted into the loving sanctuary of the federal state prison. Because if you so much as breathe on the cards that were in my mom's purse, the police are going to come down on you so hard that your neck will break from the impact. Maybe you'll be discovered with cocaine in your pockets, thus compounding your sentence. Either way, I don't give a shit what happens to you or what sordid life you live outside of being a punk who steals from peoples' cars. I don't care if you have a wife and six fucking kids; if you actually cared about them or thought like a rational human being you wouldn't do something so tremendously stupid that would impede your ability to provide for them.

I anxiously await the fuck-up that will result in your incarceration.

Hugs and Kisses,
Bigelow Tea