Bayani

Hm. Guess it wasn't as difficult to merge them as it was believed during Pax East?

Just decided to put future Bayani and Planet Girl art into one thread moving forward. Here are a few new pieces that Planet Girl added to her collection over the past several weeks, plus one piece that's about to be inked. Clicking on the images will send you to the higher resolution versions on dA. More art to come soon by David Nakayama, Eric Vedder, Wassy, Joe Dellagatta, Daenji Summers, and David Nakayama.

Planet Girl vs. Winter Lord (Alan Kupperberg)



Planet Girl (Dean Zachary)





Planet Girl (Mike Lilly/Jack Purcell)




Bayani & Planet Girl Team-Up (Ardian Syaf)




Also, here's a sneak preview of the title page for the upcoming Bayani hardcover collection book "Bayani By Trade". Title splash was designed by Frost, with art by David Nakayama and Eddy Swan. This piece was actually the first commission I ever collected from Bayani.

Blackthorn v. Bayani is done as is the accompanying vignette. Ended up revising the mouth during the colors stage, and then going through another revision to add more lighting. Bounced/Reflected light makes a huge difference because it ties objects in the picture together, making for a stronger composition.

No Light from the flames:




Lighting added from Bayani's fire powers:

Nice pickups, Airhead.

15

The creepy one I saw was the room full of dead Lounge Crooners.

My entries on both Virtueverse and OuroPortal are the same, I did it that way in case either site shutdown or crashed, I'd have a backup to pull from. I recently decided to just keep everything on my deviantArt gallery here on out.

There's no faction war, but Virtueverse was established earlier and is more utilized and has much more content than OuroPortal from what I've seen. Virtue's best known for being the unofficial roleplaying server after all, so you are going to generally see more story-writing and activity within the Virtueverse community.

It's the finished pencils. It'll be inked in a few weeks.

"Business as Usual". With appearances by Crey Industries, Starflier's Clockwork Cadaver, Eddy Swan, Frost's Betty Shreds, and LiminalMask's Rubber Maiden. Still a WIP.

I thought that character looked familiar.

If I'm on tonight, I'll try to be Red side to send that invite. Just send me a tell at @Bayani. I think I still have a character left in the VG.

What really peeved me off about the re-design is that I had no idea this was in the works; I'm signed up as a premium member and a beta tester...isn't this something they should've tested before pushing live? What the heck?

Thanks folks. I just made a minor update regarding PayPal due to a recent hiccup with a transaction.

PayPal: There’s been a growing number of artists on dA who have been requesting that clients pay the fees up front through PayPal and selecting the gift option. I highly advise against doing so. Sending the money as a gift means you have no recourse to reclaim your payment if the commission is not completed. I should also add that your commission is not guaranteed/protected by PayPal unless 1) Your payment is for 100% of the commission and 2) It's for the delivery of the actual, physical original. Make sure to specify in the notes of the payment you're sending what it is you're suppose to be receiving.

Colors finished on Heritage. Colors by Tom Chu.

Story here: "Heritage"

I'm expecting a few pieces to be finished in the upcoming week such as colors by Vrykon, Thomas Chu and Pete Pantanzis with artwork by Alan Kupperberg, David Williams, Shaun O'Neill, Joe Delegatta, Eric Vedder, and Ardian Syaf. Planet Girl snagged an interesting piece of art by Dean Zachary




Here's also a thumbnail layout of Ardian Syaf's Bayani/Planet Girl cover. (Bayani and Planet Girl standing by a giant decapitated robot head)



And here's a preview at the hopefully will be finished soon colors to "Webs We Weave". Art by Stjepan Sejic and Colors by Vrykon.

I'm running an 8800GT card. I turned off Occlusion and set the game to only Stencil Shadows, but cranked Reflections/Water Reflections to high. I also turned off Desaturated Effects, Bloom and Depth of Field Effects. Left World Textures on High, Character Textures on Very High, and details to 100%. I've been having alot of lag though when traveling across city zones. Whether it's server-related or hardware-related, I'm not sure. I should probably experiment with the settings more; a smooth FPS is more important to me than picture quality.

Hola, folks.

Ms. Cashoo has requested that I relay her deepest regrets as she currently does not have the funds to continue her subscription to City of Heroes, but would like to assure everyone that she has not abandoned this thread.

...and can be found here:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=222164

Collecting Original Character Art is now available. Written by me.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...07#post2870907

Odds and Ends

Here are a few details you may want to think about before and during the commission process.

Payment Terms: Some artists (usually the pros who have steady work) are going to ask for the entire payment up front. Others will request half of the commission up front and the other half upon completion of the work. There are a few artists who will only take payment when the work is complete. Generally, I prefer splitting the commission fee 50/50, but I’m willing to pay the entire fee up front if the artist was referred to me by a reliable source. I will note that of the twenty times I have commissioned artists who have said they would take payment only when the work is completed, only two of them actually finished the commission.

Turnaround Time: How long is too long to wait? Most professional artists typically promise 6-8 weeks for a commission but I frequently get thumbnail sketches within ten days and the final piece within four weeks. If the artist you’re hiring does not give an estimated turnaround time or predicts something beyond 12 weeks, I advise that you consider looking elsewhere. An estimated turnaround time gives you an idea of when to put your foot down and start taking actions to recoup your losses. Good artists are organized enough to know their schedules and manage deadlines…a lot can happen in three months, which can suddenly turn into six months or even a year. (The longest wait I had was 18 months; I was only successful in getting the art back because I had good relationships with the artist’s peers and they fought on my behalf to get my commission completed and returned to me.)

PayPal: There’s been a growing number of artists on dA who have been requesting that clients pay the fees up front through PayPal and selecting the gift option. I highly advise against doing so. Sending the money as a gift means you have no recourse to reclaim your payment if the commission is not completed. I should also add that your commission is not guaranteed/protected by PayPal unless 1) Your payment is for 100% of the commission and 2) It's for the delivery of the actual, physical original. Make sure in the notes of the payment you're sending you specify what it is you're suppose to be receiving.

Oooh…Shiny: There will be lots of times where an artist’s work will catch your eye and you’ll scramble for your wallet. Take a deep breath and slow down. Give yourself a cooling off period and look at the artist’s portfolio again a few days later. You may find you don’t like the artist’s work as much later on or find some tendencies in his/her style that might be a deal-breaker for you at the going price.

Rule of Three, Part One : Three rounds of revision, max. If your references are clear enough, and you requested thumbnails, and as well as expressed some ideas for the composition of the commission, you most likely will not need to request more than one set of minor revisions. I’d advise against requesting more than three rounds of revisions. Some artists, especially the professional ones, will start charging you extra for the additional work. It can also create some hard feelings.

Rule of Three, Part Two: Three deadlines dates, max. Crap happens and inevitably, some of the artists you hire are going to miss their expected turnaround date. There’s really nothing you can do about that so just ask them when they expect to finish the commission. If they miss that second date as well, I suggest expressing your concern politely and ask for the third date. I also suggest reminding them (politely!) of the original agreement and let them know that you expect any funds paid to this point returned to you if they miss the third deadline. If the funds are not returned or if the art is not delivered, then start going through official channels to recoup your losses, such as the Better Business Bureau or PayPal. (To date, I have failed to have my money and/or art delivered in three instances over the past five years for a total loss of $40. Four if you count the artist dying before starting the commission).

Storage: I own most of the originals to the Bayani art I’ve collected over the years and well, I’m a bit paranoid about keeping them safe from time and damage. You can purchase supplies from brick and mortar art stores or places online like DickBlick.com. I keep my art in Itoya Art Portfolios and archival boxes. My favorite pieces get custom framed. Custom framing is expensive (starting at $80-$100), but makes the picture easier to display while offering good protection. In addition, well-selected mats and frames can enhance the picture as well.

Final Thoughts: So that’s original character collecting in a nutshell. It’s not overly complicated but there can be a lot of details to manage. The keys to a successful transaction are organization and good communication. Both you and the artist should come to a mutual understanding before any money or art is exchanged. Thanks for taking the time to read this overview. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me through here or deviantArt at Division-401.

Special thanks go out to David Nakayama, Brandon McKinney, Suichiro, Zekiran, StormVyxen, and the folks of Division-401. Planet Girl/Atto-Girl references appear with permission of the characters’ owner.