The Energon Pub

Posted by Dark Monkelus on January 24th, 2008 @ 7:34am CST

I hear now they're only letting people register who agree to vote for Sureshot #2202. It's some kind of Australian by law or something.

The fact it's my piece of art is purely coincidental...

Actually, I reckon the voting system must be a bit screwed. I was looking at the Sureshot entries (simply because it's first in the list) and there are 2 that a fairly clearly better than the rest. Yours (Dark Monkelus) and Richard Bartrop's. And the more I look at them the more I like yours (#2202).

So I don't understand how you only got 3 votes and some others got 11, unless some of the others got a few of their mates to vote. And the fact that it's so hard to sign up to vote means there is just not enough votes cast.

Anyway, if they actually authorise my registration in time you've got my vote. Good luck man.

timshinn73 wrote:

First Gen wrote:The one thing I'd like to learn is how to make the picture (inks I mean) look so crisp and clean. Is it the pen used? I never did inks before, Im a complete novice to it and I dont have any photoshop type programs to work with either.

I do my inks on a lightbox using a separate piece of Bristol paper on top of the pencils. I ink with Pigma Micron pens and a brushpen. I ink most of my work freehand, but do use rulers or french curves from time to time if need be. All of these items can be found at your local art store.

I scan the inks and clean them up and make adjustments in Photoshop.

One thing that will help you achieve a crisp clean look is speed and confidence. Inking slowly causes wobbly lines and the ink can even puddle in spots. Don't be timid. It will show in your inking. Tons of practice will help build speed and confidence. Practice with different size pens. Work on using different line weights when you ink in order to add emphasis and impact.

Since you don't have Photoshop at the moment, I suggest gettin' your hands dirty. If you can learn to ink the old fashioned way, using Photoshop in the future for tweaks will be a snap. There's always the option of using Photoshop at a print or office shop. Not the ideal choice, but still a choice.

Just keep at it. Draw and ink all the time. Use reference. And remember to have fun.

Wow, my first mistake was inking over my pencil. didn't even think to ink over on another sheet.

Im going to invest in some of those pens you recommend and hope for the best, lol.

Thanks a million.

Actually, I reckon the voting system must be a bit screwed. I was looking at the Sureshot entries (simply because it's first in the list) and there are 2 that a fairly clearly better than the rest. Yours (Dark Monkelus) and Richard Bartrop's. And the more I look at them the more I like yours (#2202).

So I don't understand how you only got 3 votes and some others got 11, unless some of the others got a few of their mates to vote. And the fact that it's so hard to sign up to vote means there is just not enough votes cast.

Anyway, if they actually authorise my registration in time you've got my vote. Good luck man.

Thanks man, regardless of the winning to actually have people take time to give my art a go is worth the entry on it's own, I appreciate it alot.

First Gen wrote:Thanks a million.

You bet.

I ink over my pencils too. But that light box idea sounds interesting. I need to see into getting one.

What I do is erase as much of the pencils (after inking) as I can and then scan it. Once in Photoshop, I use the spounge tool (Mode set on saturate)and I clean the image until all I have is crisp clean lines. Sometime the smuge marks are so dark the program darkens them so I go in and carefully erase them.


And thanks First Gen!

Neko wrote:I ink over my pencils too. But that light box idea sounds interesting. I need to see into getting one.

I'm certainly no artist, but... I find that the combination of a clear plastic clipboard and a properly placed flashlight makes a not-bad makeshift tracing setup.

I knew I was doing something wrong, I just ink onto the penil and hope to god I don't spill anything:)

Just noticed this topic now-So passionate plea time.

I really really really needs some votes, i am second place in my group but just barely-so i need all the help i can get.

If u havent voted in the Scourge group yet please vote Brian Donnely, all the info is there in my sig. I am good enough and dedicated enough to make a real career in comics-but first i gotta get off the ground. And to do that i need help from each and every one of u.

Thanks

p.s. here is a tasty pic just to make ya all happy

GrimSqueaker wrote:If u havent voted in the Scourge group yet please vote Brian Donnely, all the info is there in my sig. I am good enough and dedicated enough to make a real career in comics-but first i gotta get off the ground. And to do that i need help from each and every one of u.

You're in luck... I already ended up voting for yours. (And posted some reasonings why and criticisms in that IDW thread, just in case you missed it.)

well if we're getting desperate...

Vote me in sureshot group, go on you know it makes sense makes sense (for reasons I haven't yet thought of, I just want to go head to head in the next round with 'Squeaker).

Nice one though Mr Grim, 2nd, that's enough to get through!

Dark Monkelus wrote:Vote me in sureshot group, go on you know it makes sense makes sense (for reasons I haven't yet thought of, I just want to go head to head in the next round with 'Squeaker).

(looks up Monkelus' pic)

I... didn't vote for yours. :> I thought it was awesomely done, but I have some feedback in the Sureshot thread as to why I didn't vote for it. FWIW, if there was a contest for *interior* art, and you can do smaller sequentials too, I think you'd have a good shot.

And I thank you for the comments, it's kinda true and as I said before, the learning is a big part of why I entered.

I went through hell trying to decide what composition to go for, and after one sleepless night too many worrying about the contest being 99.9% full of depictions of Transformers firing randomly in to the distance deciding on something as far away from that as possible.

Dark Monkelus wrote:I went through hell trying to decide what composition to go for, and after one sleepless night too many worrying about the contest being 99.9% full of depictions of Transformers firing randomly in to the distance deciding on something as far away from that as possible.

I can definitely appreciate that line of thought (doing something different from everyone else). But, IMHO the fact that it's supposed to be a Spotlight is a pretty good dictate of what approach to take. This is what my line of thinking probably would have been:

1. What are the spotlight character's main personality traits/hooks?

2. How would the character react to the other two characters in the prompt (and to a lesser extent, how would they react to him/her?)

3. Which of those traits/reactions is the most actiony/eye-catching?

Sureshot's a pretty easy character, I think... he's an arrogant ace marksman, something that naturally lends itself to some actiony poses. I think Daniel Fogarty handles this pretty well all around - we see Sureshot doing what he does best, with Streetwise just running in after chasing his target, only to be beaten to the punch by Sureshot's sharpshooting. Octane does sort of come off as "random Decepticon", but to be fair, Octane's own personality hook isn't exactly one that is very "static visual".

I just might have played up the arrogant part of Sureshot and had some fun with it. Streewise could be in robot mode, skidding to a stop as if he'd just been running pell-mell, with a confused and/or annoyed look on his face. Meanwhile, Sureshot's still shooting Octane, but he's standing in an almost relaxed pose, a bored/hoity-toity look on his face and one arm held palm out to Streetwise as if to say, "Appreciate the backup, but no worries, I've already got it well in hand."

Or something of that ilk. Every Transformer is unique, so if you take the chance to try and sell their specific angle, you shouldn't have to worry too much about getting stuck with all generic layouts.

My category (Cindersaur)...

http://idwpublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3154

My craptacular image...

http://www.idwpublishing.com/images/TF_contest/cindersaur/Cindersaur_-_Matthew_Brown_-_Large.jpg

See I didn't go simplistic, I went uber detail, and am getting squashed, because of it, and I think the scan is off...

It was fun, but a bit of a confidence shatterer.

0% of the vote and only 1 overall vote--gotta' vote for me...

tigertracks 24 wrote:See I didn't go simplistic, I went uber detail, and am getting squashed, because of it, and I think the scan is off...

You're not kidding, I may be wrong but there could be more detail there than there actually is in real life.

Don't worry about it though, you've got the best name in the world!

Dark Monkelus wrote:

tigertracks 24 wrote:See I didn't go simplistic, I went uber detail, and am getting squashed, because of it, and I think the scan is off...

You're not kidding, I may be wrong but there could be more detail there than there actually is in real life.

Don't worry about it though, you've got the best name in the world!

Thanks, I'm thinking Dark Monkelus is the best name ever...

There's no reason for this post other than to keep this thread alive and remind you lovely people that there is still a week left to vote for your fellow Seibertronians.

Dark Monkelus wrote:There's no reason for this post other than to keep this thread alive and remind you lovely people that there is still a week left to vote for your fellow Seibertronians.

Indeed-Keep jobs local, Vote Sieb!!!!

damn straight, though at this point I'm really wishing I also had me an army

Hello Everyone.. or will only competitors be reading this?

If otherwise, a call to arms to vote. For whoever, but vote.

Us artists'd appreciate it. And many a woman and an ethnic has died for the right

yehh


Sumit Sarkar DoublecroSS (an ethnic)
http://www.kriksix.com

kriksix wrote:If otherwise, a call to arms to vote. For whoever, but vote.

Us artists'd appreciate it. And many a woman and an ethnic has died for the right

yehh


Sumit Sarkar DoublecroSS (an ethnic)
http://www.kriksix.com

Damn right, I'm gonna stop wearing a bra until I'm at least 2nd place. Sureshot, Matt J Brown #2202. Bra-less