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x_project2006-02-10 03:06 pm
dexfarkin.livejournal.com) wrote in x_project2006-02-10 03:06 pm
Entry tags:
Images
These are the first three completed XP commissions for your enjoyment. They aren't 'officially' done, since the final versions all need some more computer refinement and modifications. It will be up to the owners of the pieces whether or not they want to post them. However, these are 95% finished pieces.
One thing that people may notice is that the characters aren't identical copies from their actor models. There are two reasons for that. One, direct representation in full colour is an absolute bugger to do, takes too long, and is fairly blah in general. Two, the fact is that, for example, Doug Ramsey isn't Ryan Phillipe. There are elements of the characters that can't be captured in the a transposed celebrity photo. What I tried to do was use the player models as the base, and then finesse in elements of their comic origins and characteristics developed in the game itself.
These drawings the most complex that I've done in the last five years. Part of the reason it's taken so much longer than I anticipated is because I've had to go back and relearn skills I haven't used since college. On the plus side, I'm quite happy with them so far. For all the people still waiting, I have the principle pencils done on all your art, which means I should be finishing them rapidly. I'll post them up here everytime I have a set done, unless you say otherwise.
This is the part where I talk a lot about the drawings. I'm often very boring. Feel free to skip past to look at the pictures. As well, if you have any questions about the drawings or the process (creative or technical) involved, drop a comment.
With Doug, Frito asked specifically to see the duality of his roles (much like with MA); the split between hacker geek and singing star. Both items are represented in the computer and the microphone, but the real split I wanted to show comes from the televisions and Doug himself. The tvs show an idealized Doug, in the form of the direct Ryan Phillipe images. However, the computer 'natural' Doug is the opposite; rumpled clothes, mussed hair, comic book t-shirt and glasses on. Phillipe is too pretty to actually represent Ramsey, so I twisted things a bit, making him more 'cleans up well' cute. This was the first drawing done, and shows it in some of the artistic inconsistencies.
Marie-Ange, like Doug, was about the difference between artist and trainee; X-Man and oracle. I settled on the leathers but in an environment of the tools of her power, Tarot cards. MA's art side is shown by the exact graphical invocations of the cards, rather then more 'comic' like images. The images are Pamela Colman Smith's work from the Rider-Waite-Smith Major Arcana, the most popularly available deck. The faux-woodblocked line art is both crude and remarkable, and I tried to capture all the elements, down to the slightly offset and bleeding colours, faithfully. The three cards used are the Tower, the Hermit, and Strength. Yes, there's a meaning there.
MA's leathers are based directly off of Jean Grey's, and are possibly the single most annoying outfit in the world to ink properly.
When I got the Amanda/Manny 'London Calling' commission, I nearly gave up and churned out a standard piece. How to represent both the complexity and the damage of that relationship? I basically left it while I worked on the other sketches, hoping something would come to me. One night, down at the Griffin, I'm having a pint and working on some detail sketches for one of the commissions when the pub stereo has one of those random 'volume to ten' moment, jarring everyone. Melana fixes it, but not before the Sex Pistols come across. Suddenly, the idea was there.
In the 80s, there was a famous movie made about the life and death of Sid Vicious, fuck awful bassist of the Sex Pistols, and his whacked out true love, Nancy Spungen. Their relationship, soaked in drugs, booze and violence, and yet supposedly held together by their true love, ended with the stabbing death of Spungen at Vicious' hand and his soon after drug overdose. That same manic lunatic love; corrosively magnetic was the kind of vibe I wanted. As well, Amanda and Manny's 'London Calling' plot (otherwise known as Club Guy and Punk Girl Dating) connected back to the basic idea, so the picture is modeled directly off of the poster of 'Sid and Nancy'.
So, there's the flip. Amanda is Sid: the angry, self-destructive rebel, and Manny is Nancy: the manipulative, yet needy companion, both master and thrall. It's also about contrasts. Early Amanda is not yet cleaned up. Awful hair, piercings, scars, and the half mile of bad road look about her. Manny is boy model; darkly handsome, stylish, but also sly. You can see the original poster here: http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004ZBVO.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
On a purely self-indulgent note, I also think it's funny to picture the poster as Nathanial Essex and Emma Frost at 20 in a mutually destructive love affair. I'm just strange though...
One thing that people may notice is that the characters aren't identical copies from their actor models. There are two reasons for that. One, direct representation in full colour is an absolute bugger to do, takes too long, and is fairly blah in general. Two, the fact is that, for example, Doug Ramsey isn't Ryan Phillipe. There are elements of the characters that can't be captured in the a transposed celebrity photo. What I tried to do was use the player models as the base, and then finesse in elements of their comic origins and characteristics developed in the game itself.
These drawings the most complex that I've done in the last five years. Part of the reason it's taken so much longer than I anticipated is because I've had to go back and relearn skills I haven't used since college. On the plus side, I'm quite happy with them so far. For all the people still waiting, I have the principle pencils done on all your art, which means I should be finishing them rapidly. I'll post them up here everytime I have a set done, unless you say otherwise.
This is the part where I talk a lot about the drawings. I'm often very boring. Feel free to skip past to look at the pictures. As well, if you have any questions about the drawings or the process (creative or technical) involved, drop a comment.
With Doug, Frito asked specifically to see the duality of his roles (much like with MA); the split between hacker geek and singing star. Both items are represented in the computer and the microphone, but the real split I wanted to show comes from the televisions and Doug himself. The tvs show an idealized Doug, in the form of the direct Ryan Phillipe images. However, the computer 'natural' Doug is the opposite; rumpled clothes, mussed hair, comic book t-shirt and glasses on. Phillipe is too pretty to actually represent Ramsey, so I twisted things a bit, making him more 'cleans up well' cute. This was the first drawing done, and shows it in some of the artistic inconsistencies.
Marie-Ange, like Doug, was about the difference between artist and trainee; X-Man and oracle. I settled on the leathers but in an environment of the tools of her power, Tarot cards. MA's art side is shown by the exact graphical invocations of the cards, rather then more 'comic' like images. The images are Pamela Colman Smith's work from the Rider-Waite-Smith Major Arcana, the most popularly available deck. The faux-woodblocked line art is both crude and remarkable, and I tried to capture all the elements, down to the slightly offset and bleeding colours, faithfully. The three cards used are the Tower, the Hermit, and Strength. Yes, there's a meaning there.
MA's leathers are based directly off of Jean Grey's, and are possibly the single most annoying outfit in the world to ink properly.
When I got the Amanda/Manny 'London Calling' commission, I nearly gave up and churned out a standard piece. How to represent both the complexity and the damage of that relationship? I basically left it while I worked on the other sketches, hoping something would come to me. One night, down at the Griffin, I'm having a pint and working on some detail sketches for one of the commissions when the pub stereo has one of those random 'volume to ten' moment, jarring everyone. Melana fixes it, but not before the Sex Pistols come across. Suddenly, the idea was there.
In the 80s, there was a famous movie made about the life and death of Sid Vicious, fuck awful bassist of the Sex Pistols, and his whacked out true love, Nancy Spungen. Their relationship, soaked in drugs, booze and violence, and yet supposedly held together by their true love, ended with the stabbing death of Spungen at Vicious' hand and his soon after drug overdose. That same manic lunatic love; corrosively magnetic was the kind of vibe I wanted. As well, Amanda and Manny's 'London Calling' plot (otherwise known as Club Guy and Punk Girl Dating) connected back to the basic idea, so the picture is modeled directly off of the poster of 'Sid and Nancy'.
So, there's the flip. Amanda is Sid: the angry, self-destructive rebel, and Manny is Nancy: the manipulative, yet needy companion, both master and thrall. It's also about contrasts. Early Amanda is not yet cleaned up. Awful hair, piercings, scars, and the half mile of bad road look about her. Manny is boy model; darkly handsome, stylish, but also sly. You can see the original poster here: http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004ZBVO.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
On a purely self-indulgent note, I also think it's funny to picture the poster as Nathanial Essex and Emma Frost at 20 in a mutually destructive love affair. I'm just strange though...
no subject
In the 80s, there was a famous movie made about the life and death of Sid Vicious, fuck awful bassist of the Sex Pistols, and his whacked out true love, Nancy Spungen. Their relationship, soaked in drugs, booze and violence, and yet supposedly held together by their true love, ended with the stabbing death of Spungen at Vicious' hand and his soon after drug overdose. That same manic lunatic love; corrosively magnetic was the kind of vibe I wanted. As well, Amanda and Manny's 'London Calling' plot (otherwise known as Club Guy and Punk Girl Dating) connected back to the basic idea, so the picture is modeled directly off of the poster of 'Sid and Nancy'.
So, there's the flip. Amanda is Sid: the angry, self-destructive rebel, and Manny is Nancy: the manipulative, yet needy companion, both master and thrall. It's also about contrasts. Early Amanda is not yet cleaned up. Awful hair, piercings, scars, and the half mile of bad road look about her. Manny is boy model; darkly handsome, stylish, but also sly.
*grins* I'm finding the commentary as nifty as the art itself - we've talked about this as you've been doing the piece, but it's interesting to see it all in one place (and without the third pitcher of beer making everything fuzzy *g*). You've captured, with the Sid and Nancy analogue, the essence of the World's Cutest Dysfunctional Relationship. I especially like the expression "corrosively magnetic" as a way to describe it, since it's so very true.
As for the picture itself... well, I already squeed in person when you showed me the original, but let me repeat for the general audience how much I like this. The little touches especially - the smirk on Manuel's face, the "Sarcasm - yeah, that'll work" button Amanda's wearing on her jacket, along with the Global Frequency one, the way that while Amanda's in the front and the overly more aggressive, you get the impression that it's Manuel controlling things...
As for the other two... I adore the Marie-Ange one, especially since I've been watching these from the initial sketches. The way you've constructed it just works so well, as does the Doug one. And I think you need to tell the story about the Ryan Phillipe nightmares. ;)
no subject
The “sarcasm – yeah, that’ll work” button is especially nifty, and I love the look on Manuel’s face – he looks like he’s holding Amanda by a string, and he did in game-canon, on a lot of levels. The body language and expressions are absolutely dead on. “Manic lunatic love” and “corrosively magnetic” are brilliant turns of phrase. I have never seen the movie, and had previously never seen the poster. The mood of the movie, as you’ve evoked it, matches the relationship perfectly. It’s brilliant. The whole concept to this leaves me awed, because it’s perfect on every level, and the art carries it off gorgeously.
I keep scrolling back to Marie-Ange’s face right now, because it’s so lovely and the lines are so strong and clean. And like I said – the symbolism.
This is fantastic. I’ll just be over here squeeing.
no subject
Made doubly so by the utter awesomeness of the Marie-Ange art, which I hadn't seen yet. Holy CRAP. I'm going to take my incoherant self off to get breakfast now and try to come up with some kind of intelligent response later that isn't "OMG GUH."
no subject
I keep coming back to peek at the MA one; the detail in her leathers is stunning. A+.