Post by Rojo on Jul 25, 2011 17:54:13 GMT -5
Okay, so, as some of you may have been able to tell I kind of like superheroes. A lot.
So, this Super-oic roleplay thing has got me buzzing (FORESHADOWING JOKE LOL) like a 6 year old who's discovered how coffee works. As undoubtedly you've heard, I came up with the idea of the OCTOPUS MAN! (It came from the DEEP! < movie tagline) Or as he would prefer to be known as, Charles Moreau. However, this is not the only 'super' idea I've come up with. . .I at first had the idea for a goggled cocky flying ace with a jetpack but I didn't really feel like ripping off The Rocketeer (Which I REALLY need to get my hands on) and instead I decided to rip off Antman and Morph instead.
So my second character I actually went through with was something a little different. Let't put it this way: Peter Parker gone wrong. Horribly horribly wrong. I thought about it. . .what if there was a kid at high school in America-- quite unpopular, not many friends, naturally gifted, bullied for his intelligence. . .of course, as we know dear old Pete just had to put up with it, regardless of how it made him feel. But what if he hadn't? What if that frustration and anger had built up? What if Peter didn't have old Aunt May there to tell him he was special, that he should ignore them? This was essentially one of the defining ideas when I brought this character to life. I give you. . .
THE SWARM!
The original image was huge by I think it looks better like this-- just ask if you want a HUGE version. I did kind of like the huge one because you could see the little flies better but oh well. Anyway, this is The Swarm. As I said, Peter Parker gone wrong-- bullied and abused at school and having no one to go to, this lad (around the age of 15-17) who's name I have not yet decided on basically snaps. He goes to a shitty highschool where he's picked upon for his scrawny appearance, lack of parents and just for being different-- as usual the teachers pass this off as 'kids being kids' (this is the 50's people) and it gets worse and worse. . .he tries to be a good kid- puts his hand up in class, smiles at people, tries to make friends, but. . .somewhat depressingly and wow it's actually kind of a downer just to think about it. . .slowly, this spirit is crushed all but completely-- he stops putting his hand up in class, he stops smiling at people and he just keeps his head down, wishing to die. Out of some freak accident, not sure what yet, possibly literally snapping mentally and attacking a student. . .aaand I'm not sure what happens after that. Whenever I make up a character with some 'abnormal' power, I always find EVERY OTHER ASPECT of their character easy in comparison to the actual origins of that power. I'd really like some ideas on how you guys think he could come across it! I have a few inklings but it's literally next to nothing. Anyway, the power itself. . .so, after the EVENT, let's call it, ol' Nameless (I think his name would be Johnny or John or something-- once again, completely open to ideas and they'd be muchly appreciated!) wakes up and he can hear, like. . .this buzzing in his head. . .and he can't hear himself over it. He wanders the streets of HometownNameHere or possibly some outlying rural area-- anyway, he wanders around in a daze, unable to hear anything above this buzzing and he finally SHOUTS and the buzzing stops. But then it starts again. . .only outside his head and he looks up and he sees this black cloud surging towards him-- bees, flies, hornets, wasps. . .all manner of small flying insects flock to him, covering his skin, crawling over him. . .surrounding him. They say he has no friends. . .
But now he has more friends than they ever will.
For whatever reason, THE EVENT allowed Johnny NoName McGuffin Pants to. .. well, not allow. It's more like he's in a constant hivemind state with all wing-ed minibeasts within a roughly two-mile radius. I'm not sure what this encompasses yet-- I was thinking a limitation of bees, wasps, hornets. . .dangerous ones, but I'm considering beetles, flying ants. . .all sorts-- once again, SOUND OFF SUGGESTIONS BELOW! So, through this hivemind he can't see what his little flying pals can but. . .he knows what they know, if that makes sense? Like a collective intelligence-- well duh that's kind of what a hivemind is but anyway. . .
So yeah, you may not think The Swarm is a very 'lethal' character but. . .with his ability to control these insects. . .imagine hundreds, maybe thousands of hornets, bees, wasps (possibly of the killer variety- I'm considering that he breeds them) stinging you at once, the pain, paralytic venom (I think some of them have that? Not sure-- must investigate further) and you suddenly have one lethal sonofabitch. Though, if you think he could use any supplementary powers or anything to give him a little more. . .'oomph' or something. . .I'm not sure! Any general ideas you have would be absolutely fantastic. I'm pretty sure I like this character a lot and I think he would be fun to write!
As for the actual drawing itself, it took me AGES-- I took it to work experience with me one day! An experiment in bloody pointalism -.-
Anyway, as you can see, Joe Protagonist here is facing away from us (I hope you can tell from the heavily defined ass lines and the painfully pointed ankles) looking over one shoulder at us, the viewer. Now I look at it, I think the head might be a little bit wrong-- too big and turned so that if any normal person were to turn it that way their neck would surely be snapped. Anyhoo, I'm actually pretty happy with this drawing, like a lot of my recent doodles-- thanks to a friend of mine I'm really starting to build some confidence with my drawing ability and that. It's still not great but I can see that I have definitely improved a significant amount! Anywho, he's meant to be covered in insects-- I can't really portray very well through drawing but they're meant to be constantly moving, to give his 'skin' an almost 'writhing' appearance, constantly in motion. Also, there isn't enough room on his person, so he usually has little 'clouds' of smaller insects flying around him-- I particularly like how I did the ones around his right arm and leg, so they look like they're spiralling around the respective appendages. The insects were a bitch to draw-- each one an individual dot, sometimes with big clusters to give the wispy 'cloud' appearance was a ridiculously lengthly process, but I'm mostly happy with how it looks!
As for the actual body, I'm pretty much happy with that too-- upon very close scrutinization of it only the feet and head really bother me-- I wasn't sure how to draw feet facing away from the viewer but still make them look like feet so it looks a little muddled and flat to me and I've already voiced my worried about the head, but other than that I think I got it mostly right-- the proportions seem okay for a teenage boy. . .yeah, right. Awesome. Remember comments!
Onto the next picture. . .
So there I was, with my awesome dark, gritty twisted Peter-Parker-gone-horribly-wrong character. I felt pretty awesome, imagining what mischief he would get up to in 1950's America. But then I realized. . .1950's America? Did he really fit in with the whole 'camp,' 'brightly coloured' superhero aesthetic of that era? No, I supposed that he didn't-- The Swarm (who speaks in collective and 'always in italics' by the way) was a dark, morbid, depressing character-- to me he seemed to fit in a little bit more with a sort of Alan Moore-ish 80's era full of violence, brutality and gangs! But I didn't really want to throw away my epic idea that I was now halfway through sketching, so I thought why not do an alternate version! Yeah, that'd be real good. . .
And thus I started the conversion of my monstrous little insect king into something more. . .era-appropriate. Cheesy, brightly-coloured and camper than Christmas, my end result was this:
THE SENSATIONAL SWARM!
Yes yes, ladies and gentlemen, far removed from the original concept, this more 'sensational' take on The Swarm is ridiculously different to it's darker counterpart-- no dark origins here, no depressing stories of high school, only that of a professor and his mad experiments!
So, this is the campiness turned up to 11. Note the use of bright colours and an actual costume. I kind of have more of a story for this fine fellow in the stylish blue-and-yellow spandex. Professor Ben Brystone (Alliterative names for the win) is an insectologist (definitely a word) for the CityNameHere Science Community or the University or something like that-- basically, through his research he discovers how to replicate insect pheromones perfectly- even those who don't produce pheromones? Yeah, when I said he was more 50's and campy I meant that it comes with all the extras including shoddly unexplained powers for sheer necessity. Anyhow, the good Doc Brystone has NO clue what to with these fantastic pheromones-- by spraying them on different surfaces he can get different insects to cluster to those areas or bite specific areas and whatnot. Yeah, he's one of those 'Oh wouldn't that be cool!' supers who's powers in actuality, while neat, are not that practical. He decides (for whatever mental reason) that it's TOTALLY NECESSARY to become a crimefighter! Maybe he has some kind of complex, I dunno. Anyway, Ben makes himself a stupid suit out of spandex and he takes to the streets, spraying willynilly and using his handy 'Stinger' gun which is essentially like a tazer but all shiny and retro. His pouches contain different aerosole canisters of the pheromones among other things. He's a whiz at computers and good with electronics too, because he has to have some redeeming value.
The picture itself! A lot less happy with this one- the shoulders are blocky and his right (our left) arm looks STUPIDLY long like he's pulling some Mr Fantastic shit right there. THough the glove/hand at the end of that arm I must say I particularily like. I tried to imply that Ben Brystone is a skinny, gangly fellow by attempting to make his legs and arms look all thin and weak-- whatta wimp! The knees look like they're collapsing and his boots I am never sure if I'm happy or I hate them. However, I will say I am happy with the COSTUME-- I thought hard about how old comic book characters were drawn- ususally in bright, complementary colours. I like the symbol I chose for his chest- simple, yet effective! The 'compact eyes' are also something I like, along with Brystone's stupid, 'Oh-ha-ha-I'm-a-scientist' grin. The 'shine' effect of light coming off his outside underwear failed a little bit but I still like that I put that in and the antennae! They're just pingpong balls on the end of bits of wire by the way, but I just like how stupid and cartoony they look. His body is too short and his legs are too long but to be honest I really wasn't invested in this one like I was with Joe Protagonist up there- this was really just in case you said no, I couldn't use the first idea, plus it felt fun to do a typically comic-y thing and make an alternate version of a character.
So anyway, please tell me which you prefer and why- who you think is cooler, which is funnier, which fits better and any ideas or questions you might have! There is ANOTHER character I have to put in this thread with art but I am a) lazy, b) very tired right now and c) I just thought it would nice to have ANYTHING up right now!
Remember suggestions, questions, ideas and everything else!
So, this Super-oic roleplay thing has got me buzzing (FORESHADOWING JOKE LOL) like a 6 year old who's discovered how coffee works. As undoubtedly you've heard, I came up with the idea of the OCTOPUS MAN! (It came from the DEEP! < movie tagline) Or as he would prefer to be known as, Charles Moreau. However, this is not the only 'super' idea I've come up with. . .I at first had the idea for a goggled cocky flying ace with a jetpack but I didn't really feel like ripping off The Rocketeer (Which I REALLY need to get my hands on) and instead I decided to rip off Antman and Morph instead.
So my second character I actually went through with was something a little different. Let't put it this way: Peter Parker gone wrong. Horribly horribly wrong. I thought about it. . .what if there was a kid at high school in America-- quite unpopular, not many friends, naturally gifted, bullied for his intelligence. . .of course, as we know dear old Pete just had to put up with it, regardless of how it made him feel. But what if he hadn't? What if that frustration and anger had built up? What if Peter didn't have old Aunt May there to tell him he was special, that he should ignore them? This was essentially one of the defining ideas when I brought this character to life. I give you. . .
THE SWARM!
The original image was huge by I think it looks better like this-- just ask if you want a HUGE version. I did kind of like the huge one because you could see the little flies better but oh well. Anyway, this is The Swarm. As I said, Peter Parker gone wrong-- bullied and abused at school and having no one to go to, this lad (around the age of 15-17) who's name I have not yet decided on basically snaps. He goes to a shitty highschool where he's picked upon for his scrawny appearance, lack of parents and just for being different-- as usual the teachers pass this off as 'kids being kids' (this is the 50's people) and it gets worse and worse. . .he tries to be a good kid- puts his hand up in class, smiles at people, tries to make friends, but. . .somewhat depressingly and wow it's actually kind of a downer just to think about it. . .slowly, this spirit is crushed all but completely-- he stops putting his hand up in class, he stops smiling at people and he just keeps his head down, wishing to die. Out of some freak accident, not sure what yet, possibly literally snapping mentally and attacking a student. . .aaand I'm not sure what happens after that. Whenever I make up a character with some 'abnormal' power, I always find EVERY OTHER ASPECT of their character easy in comparison to the actual origins of that power. I'd really like some ideas on how you guys think he could come across it! I have a few inklings but it's literally next to nothing. Anyway, the power itself. . .so, after the EVENT, let's call it, ol' Nameless (I think his name would be Johnny or John or something-- once again, completely open to ideas and they'd be muchly appreciated!) wakes up and he can hear, like. . .this buzzing in his head. . .and he can't hear himself over it. He wanders the streets of HometownNameHere or possibly some outlying rural area-- anyway, he wanders around in a daze, unable to hear anything above this buzzing and he finally SHOUTS and the buzzing stops. But then it starts again. . .only outside his head and he looks up and he sees this black cloud surging towards him-- bees, flies, hornets, wasps. . .all manner of small flying insects flock to him, covering his skin, crawling over him. . .surrounding him. They say he has no friends. . .
But now he has more friends than they ever will.
For whatever reason, THE EVENT allowed Johnny NoName McGuffin Pants to. .. well, not allow. It's more like he's in a constant hivemind state with all wing-ed minibeasts within a roughly two-mile radius. I'm not sure what this encompasses yet-- I was thinking a limitation of bees, wasps, hornets. . .dangerous ones, but I'm considering beetles, flying ants. . .all sorts-- once again, SOUND OFF SUGGESTIONS BELOW! So, through this hivemind he can't see what his little flying pals can but. . .he knows what they know, if that makes sense? Like a collective intelligence-- well duh that's kind of what a hivemind is but anyway. . .
So yeah, you may not think The Swarm is a very 'lethal' character but. . .with his ability to control these insects. . .imagine hundreds, maybe thousands of hornets, bees, wasps (possibly of the killer variety- I'm considering that he breeds them) stinging you at once, the pain, paralytic venom (I think some of them have that? Not sure-- must investigate further) and you suddenly have one lethal sonofabitch. Though, if you think he could use any supplementary powers or anything to give him a little more. . .'oomph' or something. . .I'm not sure! Any general ideas you have would be absolutely fantastic. I'm pretty sure I like this character a lot and I think he would be fun to write!
As for the actual drawing itself, it took me AGES-- I took it to work experience with me one day! An experiment in bloody pointalism -.-
Anyway, as you can see, Joe Protagonist here is facing away from us (I hope you can tell from the heavily defined ass lines and the painfully pointed ankles) looking over one shoulder at us, the viewer. Now I look at it, I think the head might be a little bit wrong-- too big and turned so that if any normal person were to turn it that way their neck would surely be snapped. Anyhoo, I'm actually pretty happy with this drawing, like a lot of my recent doodles-- thanks to a friend of mine I'm really starting to build some confidence with my drawing ability and that. It's still not great but I can see that I have definitely improved a significant amount! Anywho, he's meant to be covered in insects-- I can't really portray very well through drawing but they're meant to be constantly moving, to give his 'skin' an almost 'writhing' appearance, constantly in motion. Also, there isn't enough room on his person, so he usually has little 'clouds' of smaller insects flying around him-- I particularly like how I did the ones around his right arm and leg, so they look like they're spiralling around the respective appendages. The insects were a bitch to draw-- each one an individual dot, sometimes with big clusters to give the wispy 'cloud' appearance was a ridiculously lengthly process, but I'm mostly happy with how it looks!
As for the actual body, I'm pretty much happy with that too-- upon very close scrutinization of it only the feet and head really bother me-- I wasn't sure how to draw feet facing away from the viewer but still make them look like feet so it looks a little muddled and flat to me and I've already voiced my worried about the head, but other than that I think I got it mostly right-- the proportions seem okay for a teenage boy. . .yeah, right. Awesome. Remember comments!
Onto the next picture. . .
So there I was, with my awesome dark, gritty twisted Peter-Parker-gone-horribly-wrong character. I felt pretty awesome, imagining what mischief he would get up to in 1950's America. But then I realized. . .1950's America? Did he really fit in with the whole 'camp,' 'brightly coloured' superhero aesthetic of that era? No, I supposed that he didn't-- The Swarm (who speaks in collective and 'always in italics' by the way) was a dark, morbid, depressing character-- to me he seemed to fit in a little bit more with a sort of Alan Moore-ish 80's era full of violence, brutality and gangs! But I didn't really want to throw away my epic idea that I was now halfway through sketching, so I thought why not do an alternate version! Yeah, that'd be real good. . .
And thus I started the conversion of my monstrous little insect king into something more. . .era-appropriate. Cheesy, brightly-coloured and camper than Christmas, my end result was this:
THE SENSATIONAL SWARM!
Yes yes, ladies and gentlemen, far removed from the original concept, this more 'sensational' take on The Swarm is ridiculously different to it's darker counterpart-- no dark origins here, no depressing stories of high school, only that of a professor and his mad experiments!
So, this is the campiness turned up to 11. Note the use of bright colours and an actual costume. I kind of have more of a story for this fine fellow in the stylish blue-and-yellow spandex. Professor Ben Brystone (Alliterative names for the win) is an insectologist (definitely a word) for the CityNameHere Science Community or the University or something like that-- basically, through his research he discovers how to replicate insect pheromones perfectly- even those who don't produce pheromones? Yeah, when I said he was more 50's and campy I meant that it comes with all the extras including shoddly unexplained powers for sheer necessity. Anyhow, the good Doc Brystone has NO clue what to with these fantastic pheromones-- by spraying them on different surfaces he can get different insects to cluster to those areas or bite specific areas and whatnot. Yeah, he's one of those 'Oh wouldn't that be cool!' supers who's powers in actuality, while neat, are not that practical. He decides (for whatever mental reason) that it's TOTALLY NECESSARY to become a crimefighter! Maybe he has some kind of complex, I dunno. Anyway, Ben makes himself a stupid suit out of spandex and he takes to the streets, spraying willynilly and using his handy 'Stinger' gun which is essentially like a tazer but all shiny and retro. His pouches contain different aerosole canisters of the pheromones among other things. He's a whiz at computers and good with electronics too, because he has to have some redeeming value.
The picture itself! A lot less happy with this one- the shoulders are blocky and his right (our left) arm looks STUPIDLY long like he's pulling some Mr Fantastic shit right there. THough the glove/hand at the end of that arm I must say I particularily like. I tried to imply that Ben Brystone is a skinny, gangly fellow by attempting to make his legs and arms look all thin and weak-- whatta wimp! The knees look like they're collapsing and his boots I am never sure if I'm happy or I hate them. However, I will say I am happy with the COSTUME-- I thought hard about how old comic book characters were drawn- ususally in bright, complementary colours. I like the symbol I chose for his chest- simple, yet effective! The 'compact eyes' are also something I like, along with Brystone's stupid, 'Oh-ha-ha-I'm-a-scientist' grin. The 'shine' effect of light coming off his outside underwear failed a little bit but I still like that I put that in and the antennae! They're just pingpong balls on the end of bits of wire by the way, but I just like how stupid and cartoony they look. His body is too short and his legs are too long but to be honest I really wasn't invested in this one like I was with Joe Protagonist up there- this was really just in case you said no, I couldn't use the first idea, plus it felt fun to do a typically comic-y thing and make an alternate version of a character.
So anyway, please tell me which you prefer and why- who you think is cooler, which is funnier, which fits better and any ideas or questions you might have! There is ANOTHER character I have to put in this thread with art but I am a) lazy, b) very tired right now and c) I just thought it would nice to have ANYTHING up right now!
Remember suggestions, questions, ideas and everything else!
It really makes my day. So, you have my respect for drawing all those insect dots. Stippling is a bitch. I've only stippled a total of two serious pictures in my life (practice squares don't count) and I know how long it can take. Looks cool, though. Stippling with markers especially can have some cool color (no, I will not spell color with a u. I'm American, god damn it.) blending effects, but black and white makes things static and edgy, which really suits your character. Your picture is pretty great. Feet would look about that way from behind. It's a hard angle to draw, because feet from behind have a strange shape thanks to the unusual perspective, but you have it down pretty well. The head is turned a touch sharply to the side, but that's such a small thing. I wasn't thinking that he'd have to have a snapped neck, just that his neck must be uncomfortably strained since it's twisted that far. Still, no big. I think that your picture is pretty great overall.