RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes

sanguineFenrir · **08-14-2013, 11:58 AM**

Posting again to update the queue for you all and provide some updates on my schedule. The current lineup, in order, is:

1. Finishing Poe (which shouldn't take too long)
2. Portrait of Rogier LeCard
3. Murlona, in the Scholar AF, looking morbid
4. Ryanti, being meditative; ethereal watercolor

You may still request, but if you do it right now, you'll be at the bottom of the queue. There is a possibility that these four may take a while, particularly the last two--the good news is that I'll likely be working on them straight from today until Friday/Saturday, if necessary.Â

With the thinning out of news and forums, I shouldn't have too many distractions. I included Friday in the work schedule because I don't expect to have Friday access to the beta, but if I do, I'll let you know.

Saturday through Monday I will periodically check the forums, but I'll likely be on Â the beta with the rest of you, laying the groundwork for my character and meeting everyone. See you on Balmung!

The week of the 20th-27th is an excellent time to put requests in because it's the week before launch, and a very boring one for me. I don't have Early Access at the moment, and won't unless a last-minute preorder miracle happens.Â

I hope to have these four pieces done before beta, but I don't know how long they will take. If your request falls on beta, you will have to wait, but you will still receive it.

After launch I will still do artwork, but I probably won't be able to handle much load for the first month or two. I expect to constantly be playing the game during that time, but I'll make allowances for art on slow or break days. I'll have more information on this after launch.Â

I appreciate all the compliments and encouragement the community has given me! This is the closest thing to actual work that I have, and it's nice to have quite a bit of demand that I didn't expect to.

Murlona · **08-14-2013, 03:35 PM**

I'm looking forward to your work as you progress. Thank you for letting us be a part of your experiments -- er.. practice.

Poe · **08-14-2013, 03:39 PM**

Very excited!!!

sanguineFenrir · **08-14-2013, 04:51 PM**

Show Content

Apologies for it taking so long. It might not be the best, which disheartens me, but it's better than what I had last night.

Murlona brings up a point that I'd like to touch on, and that would be that "experiments" is actually more apt of a word than practice. Some of you might disagree and claim that you can notice subtle improvements in the images, but practice usually implies "getting better", which I can't do thanks to the lines.

Yes, it would be nice to be able to draw semi-realistically and independently (or, more so, on a CG graphics scale,) but I don't foresee myself getting to that point at any time in the near future. Worse yet, changing around my line style to something more suited to sketching would probably invalidate my style (it wouldn't look the same with bolder lines.)

The reason I scrapped Poe's previous image was that pastels wound up looking too generic and flat. I wanted that to be a sort of "premium" option and I knew it would take many, many hours, partially because of having to use a separate brush for blending (Lay down a hue, blend back and forth, lay down another hue, blend back and forth...). The colors were still there, to a degree. But it wound up looking very "generic", flat, and gradient based. I've seen a lot of tutorials for Painter CG coloring use pastels, simply because they mimic Photoshop brushes for people that don't have or don't want to use Photoshop itself.

And it's possible to do some great things with that sort of method, but it's not something I'm interested in doing. While I want to be able to do art very "well" or be able to draw the fantastical in a realistic manner, it probably won't come that way, because I'd like my works to at least retain an artisanal, non-digital feel. To some degree, my skill with colors comes at a detriment to the lines. Some might call them too wild. I might discover a new brush or I might be able to vary the width, opacity and frequency of my lines for cleaner appearances, but I don't see them at all looking "better." There's just not a lot of potential for improvement without changing everything about the way I do things.

A lot of animes, even, only use two or three shades per color and lots of flats--whereas I'm comfortable with about four to six, plus three other colors. When something is orange, I throw in three shades of orange... and some yellow, and green, and red-violet. I go absolutely crazy with it, which is kind of the point.

And I think that's part of what makes my work so "distinct" as Poe said: the scratchy lines, the blotted paint, the white space, the heavy grain. It doesn't win awards or featured status on sites, but I don't think people forget it, even if they dislike it. I've partially realized that I'm a "niche" artist, if I could be called an artist, and I'm one step closer to accepting that.

Ari Kagon · **08-14-2013, 05:26 PM**

I think your art style is very unique and very pleasing to the eye. It can be intimidating posting on these threads for everyone to see since there are many very talented artists. I myself, was worried if anyone would think my art was "good".Â
But art being "good" is all in the eye of the beholder and as long as you are happy with what you created, then the goal is accomplished already.
Â
Awesome pics! Keep 'em coming!

Moogle

Â <-- Here's some Moogles to cheer you on!

Poe · **08-14-2013, 06:37 PM**

I for one absolutely love your style. And yes, unique and distinct, but I prefer that by nature. Thank you again for this beautiful piece! Big Grin

LeCard · **08-14-2013, 07:02 PM**

your picture of poe makes me think of Van Gogh if he tried to do anime style art.
example of point

Eckzein · **08-14-2013, 07:30 PM**

Awesome stuff, keep it up Big Grin

sanguineFenrir · **08-14-2013, 07:37 PM**

Thanks, Poe. I'm really glad you like it.

I'm posting to mention that that very comparisonÂ was something I heard a lot, particularly in my last two years of high school. The only art teacher who truly enabled me to do even passably well at art was convinced I was destined to be an Impressionist, and the way the colors "swim" in that style is vaguely of interest.

Generally I received poor to average marks for being unable to replicate grayscale values or crinkling the paper, and as anime is the bane of most instructors I did not receive much encouragement.Â

I actually don't care much for anime at all much anymore, especially the overly stylized, colorful and cutesy type that omits a lot of details. I'll enjoy watching the darker or more serious series, and I like the way lines, colors and features are done in that particular serious style--but generally my style is meant to be a sort of unlawful hybridization of anime and realism. I do unreal colors, and I'll omit certain features I find to be unsightly like wrinkles or noses or defined lip lines. However, I tend to follow realistic proportions whenever I can.

The fact that these character works skew towards anime as you notice is probably because of the animesque style of the models themselves, which I find tolerable--but I'd probably do things a bit more realistically if I wasn't limited to tracing all the time.

I'm starting on your portrait now, by the way.

Ryanti · **08-14-2013, 09:34 PM**

(08-14-2013, 07:37 PM)sanguineFenrir Wrote: Generally I received poor to average marks for being unable to replicate grayscale values or crinkling the paper, and as anime is the bane of most instructors I did not receive much encouragement.Â

I actually don't care much for anime at all much anymore, especially the overly stylized, colorful and cutesy type that omits a lot of details. I'll enjoy watching the darker or more serious series, and I like the way lines, colors and features are done in that particular serious style--but generally my style is meant to be a sort of unlawful hybridization of anime and realism. I do unreal colors, and I'll omit certain features I find to be unsightly like wrinkles or noses or defined lip lines. However, I tend to follow realistic proportions whenever I can.

The fact that these character works skew towards anime as you notice is probably because of the animesque style of the models themselves, which I find tolerable--but I'd probably do things a bit more realistically if I wasn't limited to tracing all the time.

I just want to say that I notice this trend of frowning upon artistic styles that border on the lines of Japanese or Korean or Chinese animation. Basiclly animation in general.

I could perhaps understand what you're talking about in the sense of frowning upon 'moe' tenancies, but I really dislike those shows as well, and prefer more serious, mature anime, but I really despised (at least, back in my high school) how universal disdain followed any time anime was discussed in the sense of artistic style. I gravitated towards that style because I felt like it suit me as a sense of expression far more then any other. And I felt, in a way, discriminated for my preferences.

I think anime in general is an absolutely beautiful medium that deserves more praise from the bigoted viewpoints of western artists.

sanguineFenrir · **08-14-2013, 10:18 PM**

Yes, that was pretty much what I went through in school. Most instructors abide by a "know the rules before you break them" doctrine, which has its merits, but it becomes questionable when you have outlier students (such as myself) who can't grasp those "rules" because of how they are presented.Â

For reasons like these, I actually wind up hating most art (or artists) in general. I think part of the reason anime is looked down upon, besides the "animation is for children" viewpoint, is because it's relatively abundant in modern culture and a lot of students have interest in it. The amount of anime-styled art seen on places like DeviantArt is staggering. Anime's not a bad thing, but eventually every artist I see looks the same after a while. (Another big reason I left, besides dissent from people elsewhere, was constantly having that sort of art shoved in my face.)Â
Having no place in the fine arts community and no real desire to, I avoid that as well.

I have a deep, deep aversion to looking at other people's work or reading their writing, which is why I avoid lingering in this subforum if I can at all help it. Because of my current methodology, my art process is largely mechanical. (I do it so other people can have colored images, if they like, not necessarily to improve.) I can do these colors without really trying or having to think about it, just like I could, some time ago, write dissertation-grade, highly descriptive, classical air prose without thinking about it.

An update on the queue again:

I am waiting on LeCard's avatar for reference so that piece is pending. For Murlona's piece, and possibly Ryanti's (but not necessarily) I will need CS5 to make a composite. Corel Painter does not have the sort of image-warping tools I need.Â

EDIT: Photoshop is working. We're in business.

Situations like these make me loatheÂ my dependence on software, because I can't produce things that are high-quality or complex enough without it. I don't want to produce anything that isn't of reasonable quality.

sanguineFenrir · **08-16-2013, 09:00 AM**

Posting an update regarding yesterday and the future schedule:

Yesterday was an entirely wasted day that was mostly spent completing the client install, and then frantically refreshing the beta forums in hopes of receiving news about the "No Valid Service" account issue. Unfortunately, I went to bed sometime after 11PM and woke up now, 7 hours later. No art was done yesterday.

As the issue was resolved, I am happy to report that I am now downloading the beta update, and that I'll see you all in about four to five hours if there are no complications (DSL is a pain). I should have some time to work on art once I have breakfast, but it is entirely possible that I may have to go back to sleep due to waking up so early--in my current situation and waking cycle, I require slightly more sleep than the average person.

Art for the three people that put in requests should be done sometime after beta, but before the early access period. Having to wait until beta is over is actually a good thing for you, because I can screenshot your characters wearing better armor and in better positions if you so choose. I'll also be taking some scenic screenshots, which should provide new material.

Here's the status of individual requests and any projected issues:

1. Rogier: Should be easy to get the linework done today if I can stay awake, at least. We are in the same guild, so I may be able to find you and take a picture of you wearing actual mage armor once we both level. May not be a portrait, so it may take longer--but should be easy.

2. Murlona--Easily the most difficult of the three. Unfortunately, Photoshop was not as helpful as I'd supposed--and I'm probably going to use the female concept art of the scholar and draw Murlona in myself with some extra details manually. Since this is an armor set whose details we don't have freely available, I don't mind tracing SE's concept--it's SE's anyway, and about the best reference one could ask for.Â

I had hoped that using multiple references would be easier, but I may have to impose an additional restriction on that for now. Fear not, you'll have a book andÂ some bloody scissors.

3. Ryanti--May be harder depending on the details of the references, but the extra details should be very easy to add. The link to the blue linen coat on the wiki is broken or otherwise edited, so I may have to improvise a color scheme in blues. Hopefully I can get a pose down.

If any of you would like new references, or if future requests would like live references that aren't very old, you can find me in Gridania most likely. Send me a /tell and we can set up a meeting so that I can take new screenshots.

Murlona · **08-17-2013, 03:39 AM**

Oh, dear. I'm sorry to be the complicated one. I'm not on Balmung but I'll gladly take extra screenshots if it'll help any in referencing her. The little details of the AF don't concern me, if that's an issue.

sanguineFenrir · **08-19-2013, 11:53 AM**

@ Murlona: I just saw your post now, due to beta. It should be alright, and as I said before, I've worked out something Â to use--better yet in that it won't be a total trace.

I am posting yet another update to let everyone know that I preordered and have early access now. I'll see all of you on Saturday, and hopefully the restrictions will calm down by then. This means that I will be able to take requests and finish them soon within a day or so until Friday evening. After that, the time will drop off for a bit. I'll still respond, but expect it to take substantially longer, especially since I am sharing a keyboard between my computer and PS3.

The three of you that have posted requests are currently my top priority, and I should have you all done by Wednesday at the latest. Unfortunately, my plans to gather screenshots did not work out very well because Balmung was locked down so much.

sanguineFenrir · **08-19-2013, 07:58 PM**

Here's LeCard; not as best as my usual, but I'm getting back into things. I experimented with shadows around the face, which looks better from far away.

Show Content

Murlona is next.

« Next Oldest \| Next Newest »
Pages (3): « Previous 1 2 3 Next »

sanguineFenrir's Strange "Art" Thread & Long FAQ (Taking Requests!)

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes