Acyl Art (Update: C.Flame, Space/Marcus)

[Sofaspud]

Oh. My. God.

Acyl. You nailed it. I couldn't have asked for better!

A detail I especially appreciate (as someone who wears glasses myself) is how you captured the distortion effect glasses have on someone's eyes.
That's just a brilliant bit of attention to detail, and you nailed it, right there on her right eye.

Mr. Whiskers is perfect, and I see no problem at all with the coloration or skin tones of either of them.

My god, man. I'm... I'm awestruck. THANK YOU.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs

[The Hunterminator]

Acyl wrote:

---

Glad you like it, Hunt. Yukiyo was fun to draw - the proportions, the pose, the expression, pretty much everything there was great to work on. The fact the
costume's all shades of brown drove me nuts when colouring..but I think the final result works.

I'm sorry for the trouble with the colours. I tend to pick a colouring style and stick with it and, for example, this costume is mostly like
Yukiyo's hair. That is, subdued and dark colours with very slight hints of orange and red in the tint. And I have to say that the colours are spot on.

[Acyl]

Yeah, I know, I'm not actually doing these in order anymore. I've got quite a few pieces at various stages of completion currently - finishing touches as the muse takes me. And the muse was feeling bloody silly today. =)
So - for Rev Dark, it's Bella Fuego and Jackie Frost:

High res version also available. Well, higher anyway.
The complex part here is the poses - complex enough, in fact, that I didn't really do much in the way of colouring and shading. Partially because I felt it'd detract from the picture, partially because my brain tried to work out how to make Bella's hair glossy and promptly blew a fuse. =P
-- Acyl

[Rev Dark]

Hey Acyl!

Great pose and I love the expression on Jackie's face.

(If I have one comment, it is that Jackie's breasts are rather small - they should be unreasonable in size and scope)

Fabulous work!

Shayne

[Acyl]

Rev, it did occur to me that Jackie's assets should be more...er, pneumatic, but I'd already put the wheels on by that time, and installation of wider rims would have been difficult given the existing tire size. I do admit I have issues doing overly bling hubcabs anyway...possibly because my style's more modest.
Ahem. Next, we have Gamma Emission for Sweno. Done in a like fashion to the Emerald Blast picture, for obvious reasons - if I ever do Terry, I imagine it'll take cues from these two.

High res version also available.
The pose isn't the best, but I did the initial linework while I was out, doodling on a sketchpad. I was just trying to see how the head
and hair might look, but the test sketch worked out so well I decided
to scan and finalise it at the computer. However, that meant I had a piece with her looking straight at the camera. That's
not ideal from an aesthetic point of view. Tried to give it more depth
with the CG ink and colour. Hope that offsets it - I dunno how
well that turned out?
The arms could be better. If I go back and edit this, that's probably what I'd change. The fingers/glove could also be improved, the elbows and forearms could use more definition. I do like the background, though, also the hair and goggles. I think that turned out fine.
-- Acyl

[Wiregeek]

Rev, it did occur to me that Jackie's assets should be more...er, pneumatic, but I'd already put the wheels on by that time, and installation of wider rims would have been difficult given the existing tire size. I do admit I have issues doing overly bling hubcabs anyway...possibly because my style's more modest.

owwww.. I laughed coffee onto my monitor.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

[Acyl]

Put it this way - I'd rather not pimp my ride.

EDIT: ...though, considering where Gamma's arms are folded in the latest picture, and the fact almost everything I've drawn so far has been female
characters, I may need to amend that line of thinking...
-- Acyl

[OpMegs]

You realize I now have the image of any given implant surgery taking place with the "FZZ! FZZ! FZZ!" of a NASCAR pit crew in the foreground.

*edit-move*

(Whoops, wrong thread. Aheh)
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Sweno]

I love it!

"I'm tolerating you because I can't legally irradiate your ass"
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Acyl]

This is very technically off-topic for the forum, because this isn't a CoH character. This is, however, one of my favourite RP characters, and I've toyed with making a CoH version (well, CoV, since she's a villain).
This is also an experiment. First off, the original drawing isn't mine. This is an inked and coloured version of someone else's pencils - this sketch by my old buddy CaitSith4. Dude threw it to me yesterday as random gift art (ain't that ironic? my chance to go squee-ART!!!). He was cool with me messing with it. I also wanted to try out some PhotoShop colouring techniques courtesy of another friend, A.Germain (AG: "ur doin it wrong").
So: Riko Koganei

I've considered rolling a version of her as an Elec Melee stalker...yes, she's an urban electric ninja. In a yellow raincoat. Her fighting style is really impossible to simulate in-game, but her powerset is now properly doable thanks to powerset proliferation.
I'm not sure how well she'd work out in CoH RP, given that there's about a snowball's chance in hell her partner in crime will turn up here - Seishirou Ryouhara, played by the guy who drew the original lineart for this picture. The two characters are a paired set, but Seishirou's player doesn't have much interest in pay-to-play MMOs. Still, it might be worth trying as a challenge...to see if the persona really can stand on her own.
This diversion aside, I'm still working on the requested pieces. This was just...actually a whole lot easier to do, and I needed a change. Working with someone else's lineart is fun stuff - I might vandalize more of my friend's sketches. =)
-- Acyl

[Acyl]

So, typically I put in-line images. This one...isn't. Because while it isn't actually explicit, certain naughty bits are only barely covered up. And,
y'know, NSFW picture is NSFW. Rawr.

Not my fault, I assure you. Blame Morganni - this is as requested, to the letter and law. Admittedly I probably had too much fun doing this. It's supposed
to be the cover to the (fictional) doujinshi referenced in this story post

• Alexis Doujinshi Cover - Web/Preview Version
  
  
  
• Alexis (High Res Version) - Sized for printing at 300
  dpi, approx manga size
  

Note, given the oddities of jpeg compression, the two images are pretty much the same filesize, even though the
second is twice the size of the first and has a hell of a lot more fiddly detail. Go figure.

This image was dubbed by a female friend..."ATTACK BOOBS". She repeated this three times, while staring.

Next in line for completion, probably Lady Nogi, Corrupted Flame, Jelidan, Just Another Archer. Basically, what I've got lineart for. I know I said Lady
Nogi would get finished next, but I figured out how to do a couple bits that were bothering me on this one. My muse is, you see, fickle.
-- Acyl

[OpMegs]

....well, damn. Now I'm curious what the reverse cover was.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Matrix Dragon]

*Whistles* Wowza.

[Foxboy]

*blushes* Story post says it's Nogi *blush*
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Acyl]

...

Goddamn I didn't realise that. Okay. I'll complete the planned Kitsune-mode Nogi pic at some future date. What I am doing now is doujinshi back cover Nogi.

Yes.
-- Acyl

[Sweno]

wow, now that was unexpected.

Very appreciated, and highly approved of, but NSFW wasn't something I was expecting.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[Morganite]

Acyl wrote:

---

...










Goddamn I didn't realise that. Okay. I'll complete the planned Kitsune-mode Nogi pic at some future date. What I am doing now is doujinshi back cover Nogi.










Yes.

Well, that wasn't something I was expecting to precipitate... '.'

I have to confess that it's not exactly the way I was picturing it, and there's a few details off, but it still looks good. (And this could be the
first time anyone's ever gotten the hair right on a drawing of one of my characters. '.' )

... Attack boobs? o.O

-Morgan.

[OpMegs]

Acyl wrote:

---

...




Goddamn I didn't realise that. Okay. I'll complete the planned Kitsune-mode Nogi pic at some future date. What I am doing now is doujinshi back cover Nogi.




Yes.

Ironically, I meant I was well aware it was Nogi.....I just wondered what it looked like.

I have precipitated this and thus it's all good.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

[Morganite]

I hadn't even begun to consider what it would look like. '.'

After all, I don't know what would be in character...

-Morgan.

[Acyl]

I hadn't even begun to consider what it would look like. '.'

After all, I don't know what would be in character...

Fanservice, of course.
What were you expecting, Mary Poppins?
Update: pencil lineart for Lady Nogi pinup versi---I mean, doujinshi back cover complete. Needs ink, flats, shades, highlights...pretty much all the brute CG work really. But the basic lineart's done. I'm rather pleased with it. Final version sometime tomorrow (or possibly very late tonight, etc - but I'm going to see Wanted later).
EDIT: The 'ATTACK BOOBS' comment... nobody's explicitly pointed it out, but I actually made a mistake with Alexis' assets. The topmost lines shouldn't have been inked. I'd penciled them in as a shading guide, but forgot by the time I did the final CG work. It's not a killer, but it's not how I usually draw 'em, and sans support breasts shouldn't be well defined along the TOP like that. On the other hand, anime physics...
-- Acyl

[Foxboy]

...

...

Now I'm gonna hafta clean blood offa my lappy keyboard in antici...

{SAY IT!}

... pation.

{Thank you!}

^_^
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Morganite]

Well, of *course* it's fanservice. But not every kind of fanservice is in character for everyone. '.'

And yeah, I think "anime physics" pretty much covers it. (Possibly along with "magic"...)

I can't decide whether the way the shading there seems to come to a sharp point looks odd or not. '.'

-Morgan, takes her fanservice seriously!

[Acyl]

Morganni wrote:

---

I can't decide whether the way the shading there seems to come to a sharp point looks odd or not. '.'

This is in part a function of how I shade. What I'm doing currently (the older pictures had more primitive techniques) is drawing darker tones on a
multiply layer. That gives the shadows and darker areas, keeping the same hue. They're essentially blocked in. Then I typically blur 'em out somewhat
for better blending and adjust the opacity of the shading layer...so the transition from light to dark areas isn't as jarring. However, I do miss spots,
and then there's occasionally bits where I'd like to leave them reasonably sharp and stark.

My eye for shadows and 3D definition also isn't fantastic, so occasionally I'll choose the wrong areas to
block out as dark/light, or do 'em in a less than elegant fashion. I'm trying, but I'm not there yet. This sort of stark shading is new to me;
previously what I did was essentially pencil gradients. Which is fine for...say...still life, but not so much here.
-- Acyl

[Acyl]

I've given Alexis some surgery---I mean, adjusted the lines and shades, following comments here and a long lecture from a friend over coffee about how
breasts are supposed to be shaped. (Same lady who provided the 'ATTACK BOOBS' comment - she's a
biologist...) The edit doesn't entirely fix the situation - that'd require a more extensive retake of the shading layer - but I killed some of the
excess linework and blended the tones more.

Re-uploaded Versions (Same URLs): Web/Preview Image (409kb) and High Res Version (820kb)

Might need to refresh if your browser cache still has the old versions. Note that high res version is now better quality and a considerably large image.

Now, moving on, I have finally finished the Lady Nogitsune piece. It's the
matching 'back cover' for the faux Alexis doujinshi. I think it's less explicitly NSFW than the Alexis pic, but I'd still consider it tagged as
such, fair warning:

• Lady Nogi
  Web/Preview Lo-Res (220kb)
  
  
• Lady Nogi
  Hi-Res Full Version (734kb) - Once again scaled for manga-sized print at 300dpi
  

The smaller version is included for completeness (and bandwidth considerations), I prefer how the full image turned out, but the smaller size ain't
too bad.

This one took much, much longer than expected - over 10 hours across the last three days. The file in Photoshop has
twenty-six layers and comes up to 11.4 mb filesize. I don't think I'll be topping that for a while. It was an utter blast to do, though - half the time
was figuring out how to best color or ink some bits, like the kimono floral print and the hair.

As in the aftermath of the Emerald Blast pic, I'll be taking a break from art stuff for a bit. Regular service resumes when my batteries
recharge. Whew!
-- Acyl

[OpMegs]

Dammit, Acyl, every time you do one of these, you make me more curious what the interior is like. The caption in the corner especially.

"Her greatest challenge yet" in a doujin series? Is she making a habit of this sort of thing?
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."