Jim_Tessier

First of all, Static...

You need to know what you're trying to catch and it's habits. Does the screenshot shy away from local environments? Is it cautious around other heroes, and what are it's feeding habits? Do you have the proper tools to capture one? These creatures can be very devious, and possess an almost, dare I say it, superhuman ability to go awry at the last moment. You need to be very sly and devious to get one from the wild...

What was that? You wanted to get a picture screenshot? Oops... wrong thread. I thought this had something to do with wildlife capture! My bad. LOL

Honestly, silliness aside, I think that Arctic_Sun has the meat and potatoes of what you need for capturing a great image from the game. Just know what you want to capture and set about getting the best image for yourself! I would suggest having a pal along to get the angles right and help each other out for a plethora of great shots for both of you.

Happy hunting!!!

Jim

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Thanks Unicorn! I think your piece is going to be even better with both of them

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And here I thought that the art hunters in MY thread were voracious... I go off to visit family and they swoop onto GillBates!! Poor Gill...

But then again, at least he's getting paid! Keep hunting him, art hunters!!!

LOL

Jim

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Ok. I don't know whether to laugh at this or to take offense... either way I know I don't agree. I can’t say that I see it as a "poor Gill" situation. I’ve always welcomed the players’ "voracity" as you put it. But I don’t perceive their support of any artist as gluttonous at all. To me it is a major part of the fuel that drives MMOART.com and this fan art community as a whole. They have a passion for art, and I have a passion to create it. So the way I see it, we are a perfect match!

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There was no offense intended, man. Just a fellow artist's well wishes for you! If you are getting paid for something you love to do... it's not a job, and you're not working.

As far as "Poor Gill"... Laugh at it... that was the spirit of the comment, as akin to "O, woe is me to be getting paid for something I love to do!!"

Hope that explains it all.

Jim

Static, sorry I've not been active on this forum for quite a while, due to family matters, but I will review this thread again and put some effort into the mix. I hope you don't mind me putting some effort into drawing a few of those creations that your son has mentioned, do you?

Send a PM to me of what the characters are and I'll work on what I can, please...

Thanks! And now.... back to my sketchbook.

Jim

And here I thought that the art hunters in MY thread were voracious... I go off to visit family and they swoop onto GillBates!! Poor Gill...

But then again, at least he's getting paid! Keep hunting him, art hunters!!!

LOL

Jim

OK gang... glad to see that everyone is helping Rowr out for her inking practice. Now using that as a preamble, I am authorizing everyone that I have drawn a picture for on these forums the right to share it with Rowr to practice her skills. I think that she's doing a really nice job, and it's getting better.

That being said, here is a couple of critiques: ::cracking knuckles::

Your work on my pictures are good, but I see that your line weights are very similar in both the inside and outside of the form. I know that I'm working on making my line weights for pencils better, and if you're only mirroring what I've lain down, then I take the blame for the sameness for the line weights.

On the leopard queen: I love it, but it seems like you've made the eye pupils as a single mass instead of how I had drawn it. It could have been the scan, but I know I tried to separate the colored part of the eye from the whites and the blacks from the colored section. Again, if this is due to something on my part, then I apologize.

Angel White: Since this is my first main toon, I have a certain attachment to her. Again, the line weights seem all the same, but it's not that way on the original. I'm looking at my scanned work on photobucket as I type this so, I'm not just spouting out nonsense. Also, the stitching for Angel's outfit from the opening of the top towards the bottom is missing. I wanted to show that her outfit was actual clothing and not painted on. Not putting down those lines in the inking defeats the purpose. See my point? I'm not trying to sound ornery, but If I put down a line, then I have a reason for it. The inking you've done is sound, but if you don't put down the lines as the penciller sees an outfit, which by the way, you've mentioned that you don't want to change, or to change the picture itself, but in essence... you have changed it. You need to stick to what you say. If you do not want to change what the penciller puts down, then put down the inks just as thick and as thin as the penciller does. Don't ignore the small lines of cloth, as they give a costume weight. The tattoo of "TJAW" for Angel... it needed to be inked... you missed it.

The little things make a big picture larger than life and also make it more real for the reader/viewer. In My Opinion.

This is not to discourage you at all. In fact, Rowr, I think that you've got a great eye and a desire to be a better artist, and I'm in your corner. I hope that you continue with your practicing and that you get better with each picture!!

and now... ::stepping off soapbox::

Take what I offer with a grain of salt or to heart, but don't let it discourage you. I wish you all the best, Rowr... I always have!

Your Fellow Artist...

Jim

P.S. I am away from my home visiting family right now, so the hi res scans will not be forthcoming for at least the next 6 days. Sorry guys.

Ask and ye shall receive!!!

Here ya go... Champion

Thanks for the help, man.

Jim

YEAH!!! Can I get one too??

Jim

The_Dart is right, using loose sketching with blue line and then going over it with graphite gets my muscle memory into the drawing and puts me in the mindset to mentally erase the lines that don't work and put down the ones that DO work.

Sometimes I have it done somewhat tight with the blueline, sometimes not. Depends on the amount of detail that I feel like putting into the drawing, or what I'm looking for. For the ones that I've been doing over the past 4 hours (7 by the way), they've been fairly tight, so I can confidently go into the drawings and know which lines are right and which are wrong.

A long-winded explanation of what I do, but any time I have the opportunity to discuss my process, I'm glad to share.

It's getting late (11:10 PM), and I have to get up in 6 hours for work... so, bed time for me!! Will give more updates on the art when I have time tomorrow night.

Jim

Thanks.

UPDATE: ShiOMatarasu, RowR, Katfood, DonnchadH, and Roxstar... I have your pictures done with blue line... Will be working on the pencils after I've finished with Thors_Asssassin with his 2 pieces and Lady_Jade's 1 piece. After that, I'll be done for the first batch of CoX forum pieces!!

Thanks in advance for giving me the opportunity to get better and give you all a smile at the same time!

Jim

Yeah... like I said earlier... sometimes I hit em out of the park, sometimes they're kinda off. But I appreciate the fact that you mentioned Jack Kirby! I loved his stuff, and still do... his stuff is timeless and he's truly "the King" in the field.

Update: KatFood, and Rowr... I have the blue lined stuff done, and will be putting the graphite to the pieces as soon as I get more done. I really think you'll like em!

Jim

Not to worry, Roxstar... I try different approaches to my faces. Sometimes they fly right out of the park (home run)... sometimes... eh... (grounder to 3rd for the out). But only by getting critiques and advice from people who want to see me get better can I GET BETTER.

For this above all, I really appreciate the comments. I've gotten a lot of critiques of how bad my stuff has been from time to time, in times past, but those are getting less and less as time goes on. So... don't worry, I'm trying my best to knock em out of the park.

Jim

Thanks... I appreciate the compliment. Now for the heroes side of the hundred acre wood... My lvl 50 Tanker drawn by me... it's in black and white... Her name's Angel White from Triumph server.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...elWhite104.jpg

Also, as an added bit of fun stuff, here's what Brandon McKinney drew for me on helping him out for some source material. A great piece of work, and I'm glad i got it. Thanks, Brandon!!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../Angelfire.jpg

Enjoy!!

Here's yet another for your viewing pleasure... this is Angel Black also on Triumph Server... a real bad girl.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../AngelB101.jpg

Well, boys and girls... I've received a lot of requests for some CoX artwork and believe me, I appreciate the challenges they're giving me. But before I finish them all, I want to show you all what I have done for myself in the CoX world.

Click on the following and see a toon I play, it's not colored, but his name is Champion on Triumph Server! This art even got the seal of approval from Brandon McKinney (City of Heroes artist) hisself!!

Enjoy!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pionFlight.jpg

Your Avatars are talented... I hate them.

LOL

I call Spike and Flame!!! I wanted in on this 2 pages ago!! LOL

The Neverending Battle Continues... Be Heroes!!

I'll give it a shot too!! I need to get back into the swing of things, and put up more artwork. I'll do whatever I can and post it here, StaticThunder.

The Neverending Battle Continues... Be Heroes!!

The world looks mighty good to me,
Cause tootsie rolls are all I see...

Whatever it is I think I see, becomes a tootsie roll to me...

Tootsie roll, with the chocolately chew,
Tootsie roll, I think I'm in love with you...

Whatever it IS I think I see... Becomes a tootsie roll to meee...

I have either capitalized or added the extra letters to stress a sound...

I cannot believe I'm doing this, but when you asked, Psoma... I remembered it all. Still have that song in my head!!! And it's a Tootsie Roll world baby!