1. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man

Besides this piece being off the heezy, this piece does a great job of showing Venom how he should be shown…huge!! Love how he’s casting a shadow over Spiderman and Spiderman’s expression. Well, whatever expression he can have under the mask. I mean…you know what I mean!

2. Venom

I absolutely LOVE this shot of Venom. The perspective and that oh-so-famous Venom tongue – just priceless. Francis001 really nails Venom perfectly every time he draws him. Definitely check out his site.

3. Venom by Ryan Ottley

Oh good gosh. This piece captures another characteristic of Venom that is quite obvious. He’s freakin’ scary!! Imagine what Spiderman 3 would have been like with a shot like this in it with Venom roaring? It would at least double the coolness factor. 

4. Venom

In the mult-faceted being that is Venom, we come upon another complex and intriguing aspect of his character. He’s frickin’ INSANE. Like looney bin insane. White padded walls like Britney – yeah, that kind of insane. Except that Venom can sing better.

5. Thunderbolts 114: Venom

The lines for this one were done by Mike Deodato and the colors by Summerset (Wain Bewedo)  for Marvel Comics. Mike does a great job of showing that Venom is huge, scary, and frickin’ insane! The perspective on this shot is amazing – a definite slam dunk by Mike and Wain on this one.

—

Well, that concludes are Top 5 list. Until next time, remember that with great power comes great res…oh never mind.

If you thought that was bad, check this out. 

Do you remember the toys? I sure do. I have a turtle that transformed from a regular-looking turtle into a full-fledged mutant dynamo. I also had power jump Raph – you could bend him all the way down, and springs in his legs would make him jump a few inches. I also think I had a turtle that swam in the bath tub. I’m sure they made a turtle for every occasion. Bar Mitvah Mikey sounds like a hit to me.

Anywho, the reason I bring this up is because it is hiiiiigh time for another art feature. Turtle Time! In my wanderings about the site called Deviant Art, I have stumbled across many homages to our half-shelled friends. So I took it upon myself to gather together the best of the best. The most awesome kick-butt turtle art I could find. And I have done just that. For your viewing pleasure, here they are:

1. Leonardo

Leo was always my favorite. The leader of the team, he knew what was goin on. Plus he had two monstrous blades. What kid doesn’t like that? 

2. Donatello

Let’s face it. Donatello’s the man. The smart one, Donny’s who you run to if there’s a problem that needs to be figured out. And the bo is just a weapon of sheer coolness.

3. Raphael

If you look at Raph the wrong way, he’ll kill you. Dirty Harry has nothing on Raphael. A total hot-head, Raph’s the only one who cursed in the live-action movies. Mad props for that.

4. Mikey

Oh Michaelangelo. The fun-loving, wise-cracking, youngest of the bunch, the team just wouldn’t be the same without. Cowabunga dude!

5. The 5th Turtle 

The 5th turtles that got left behind. Love this one! 

6. Slash

Slash is one bad mutha…what? I’m just talkin about Slash? In case you don’t remember, a quote from the almighty Wikipedia:

"In the 1987 TMNT cartoon, Slash was originally a pet turtle owned by Bebop. Slash was mutated with experimental Super-Mutagen, which Shredder and Krang were devising, by Bebop and Rocksteady. They were tired of doing all the work in the Technodrome, which was located in Dimension X, and wanted to make a new mutant who they could pass the jobs onto.

Unfortunately for them, Slash was much more powerful and dangerous than they were."

7. The Originals

Love this original look of the grim-n-gritty turtles when they all wore red. Hard-core my friends, hard core.

8. The Team 

Ohhhh yeah. Seriously. Ohhhhhhhhh yeah.

9. The Team 2 

This piece makes me want to run and cry. And hide under my desk. The turtles are coming, the turtles are coming! 

10. The Team 3

Patently awesome. I mean really. The patent on awesomeness? This piece of art owns it. Check the records.

Ah, well all good things must come to an end. Hopefully this stroll down turtle-memory-lane was as good for you as it was for me. We had to skip some classic greats like April O’Neil and Casey Jones (not to mention the most revered Master Splinter!), but perhaps another time. Until then, same bat time, same bat channel. 

cover image courtesy of MovieWeb 

1. Batman

Holy rusted metal Batman! This piece is just plain sweet. How cool is it to see Batman AND Batman Beyond side-by-side? I’m totally geeking out there. Not only is there a big-ol’ menacing Batman standing there ready to kick you in the face, but there’s his futuristic counterpart with enhanced kick-butt technology waiting to kick you in the face once Bruce is done! Awesome.

2. Superman

I love this take on Superman. It makes me think of a young Superman right after he dons the cape. He’s a little arrogant and cocky, and wants to show off to the world that he’s totally bullet proof. I also like the painterly feel to this, it gives it more of an iconic feel.

3. Batgirl

Batgirl doesn’t get enough props. Well, here’s you go Batgirl – I’m here representin’, just for you. I like this piece because it pulls together detail and simplicity so easily. She looks playful, but look at those muscles – she can probably bench-press you a couple of times and then drop-kick you off a skyscraper. You have to stay in shape if you’re going to be throwing around batarangs all the time…

4. Catwoman

This one totally encapsulates what Catwoman is – feisty, strong, sexy, and dominant. If anyone were a dominatrix, it would be Miss Selina Kyle. She also seems to have a bit of the split personality thing going on like Batman. I like this piece because it really gets who Catwoman is and has a simple flair to it, sort of like a fashion shot.

Continued on the next page…

]]> http://www.thehomeofjon.net/artwork/2007/10/recent-dc-comics-features/feed/ 0 http://www.thehomeofjon.net/artwork/2007/10/top-10-fantasy-art/ http://www.thehomeofjon.net/artwork/2007/10/top-10-fantasy-art/#comments Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:49:01 +0000 Jon http://www.thehomeofjon.net/blog/title/top-10-fantasy-art.html THE top 10 recent angel & demon and fantasy art on deviantArt – courtesy of yours truly. All of these pieces absolutely rock. That is fact. So these are my picks for the most awesome angel and fantasy picks that I found while browsing around deviantArt. You’ll find all of these picks in my deviantart favorites list. Each pick is by a different artist. Most of the artists here are not the “famous” ones you’ll see around deviant art. No, these are fresh, new and creative pieces whose brilliance some have recognized and some which have been passed over. Since that would be a travesty, I hereby take it upon myself to make THE ONE LIST TO RULE THEM ALL. So it is written. So let it be done. Drum roll please! Here they are in no particular order:

1. Belcheresk

Belcheresk by *nJoo on deviantART

How rockin’ is this? Reminds me of a Balrog. The colors and anatomy are just out of this world. What is so impressive about this is the dual sense of fantasy and realism. You get a feeling that this creature really could exist! The character has weight and volume and advertises strength. A definite on this list.

2. Rhashaak of Haka’ torvhak

Rhashaak of Haka’ torvhak by *francis001 on deviantART

This is similar to the last pick in that it is a fantastic beast, but looks so real that you pee your pants. I love the wings on this – it really adds to its creepiness. That plus the Venom-like drool makes it a mst on this list.

3. Spiral Demon Girl

Spiral demon girl by *henning on deviantART

Now that is hot. It gives a whole new definition to the term succubus. The wings on this are awesome and textured perfectly. The shadows on the body are incredible as well – they really give the body volume and make it seem like she’s about to leap out the page. That plus the sassy pose really puts this piece on another level. Awesome work and a must for this list.

4. Ascension

Ascension by *MichaelO on deviantART

Now this is right up my alley. The wings are awesome and realistic on thsi piece. It’s the background and environment though that really make this piece great. I’m sure the perfect anatomy helps as well. Notice the use of light as a focal point, and how the spiral background makes your eye move around the picture. Classic greatness!

5. Halcyon

Halcyon by *Keitaro333 on deviantART

Not sure if beautiful could describe this painting. Gorgeous? No. Lovely? Nope. Exquisite? Nuh uh. I think you get my point. The composition in this piece is awesome, and the placement of all the objects in this piece is what really makes everything pop. That plus the lush use of light really makes this piece a satisfying dessert instead of just some eye candy.

]]> http://www.thehomeofjon.net/artwork/2007/10/top-10-fantasy-art/feed/ 0 http://www.thehomeofjon.net/artwork/2007/10/how-to-place-a-character/ http://www.thehomeofjon.net/artwork/2007/10/how-to-place-a-character/#comments Sun, 21 Oct 2007 17:16:27 +0000 Jon http://www.thehomeofjon.net/blog/title/how-to-place-a-character.html How can you create artwork digitally that mimics how a photo might look if the subject is set in an environment with objects in the foreground and background? That is indeed the question! I wrote this tutorial to hopefully give you some answers. For this tutorial I’ll start with a custom character I did for a friend. I like to call her Rakko.

This is the version of the character completely drawn and colored. She is basically finished. Notice that I have basically selected a light source (upper right) and colored and shaded appropriately. So now that we have this awesome character, I must admit, she looks a bit lonely on a big white background. We can remedy that! What sort of background would look good behind her? I chose a forest for two reasons. One, it would be a nice compliment to the reds and neutral grays in the coloring. Also, it would be nice to have trees behind her AND trees in front of her to give her the illusion of being somewhere.

So let’s get started!

1. I found a nice forest background from the Stock Exchange. Copy a picture and paste it on a layer below the character.
2. Now, the portion of the image around the feet of the character aren’t going to look very realistic just sitting on top of the stock image. To get around that, create a background layer that is filled with the color green. Choose a green that matches your picture.
3. Put this background fill layer below ALL the other layers. You should now have 3 layers the character on top, under that the stock image, and under that the green fill layer.
4. Now, add a quick mask to the stock image. Use a gradient to fade-out the portion near the character’s feet. So instead of the stock image, it will be showing the green underneath.
5. Pay attention to this trick! In order to make it seem like we’re focusing on the character, we’re going to blur the background. The trick is to blur it enough to make it seem distant, but not too much so that you don’t know what it is. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian blur and choose a setting that looks right for you.

   Here’s what it should look like:

   

   Good work! Are we done? I don’t think so.

6. Since the character has a light source, that should be evident in the background as well. Ours is coming from the top right. In order to simulate that, choose the gradient tool and choose the colors black and white. At the top of the screen you should notice a drop down menu specifying what sort of gradients you can choose from. Choose the gradient type that is only white, like this:

   

7. Create the gradient going from the top right down to the bottom left. Only drag it a little ways but adjust it to your liking. Too much and you’ll drown out your character. Not enough and it won’t be dramatic enough. You can create this gradient on the stock image layer, or you can create another layer either will work. Your character should now look like this: