Helzon's SB:In Ever Loving Memory (7/21/33-01/03/07)

[Helzon]

[paperX]

hey man sorry for not posting in so long...the piece "mocked" is simply amazing, did u overlay some textures for the turban (i think?) cuz it worked very very well

[Helzon]

Paper x: yeah boss..more of a gel layer in painter really.
Glad you enjoy!
Cheers!

[bwkeough]

mike, I like the reclining mech pilot a good bit, but I'm not crazy about the mech itself. try to apply the "form follows function" theory. individual elements look nifty, but I can't imagine this machine in operation.

now I have a question for you: I'm a big fan of your pencil work, but you seem to rarely take it to digi-color; is there a reason for this?

[Lone Wolf]

Hey Mike, great post's, haven't been here in a while. What i meant about tightening the piece is, it looks a little blurry. Tha paint needs to focused, i hope that helps.

I agree with bwkeough about the mech. Seems kind of akward. The upper body needs a re-working.

[Helzon]

Sorry for the long draught...replies tomorrow..
best to you all.

[bwkeough]

DOOD! looking hawt! love the head on her and the beatific pose contrasted with the aggressive doomsday clothing and enviro!

since you have until Sunday midnight, I'm gonna whup on ya a little (and I've had 3 beers so I'm not pulling punches!)

1- her left leg is going Gumby on us, consider rotating her foot so it's pointing towards us a bit more and clean up it's silhouette so we can see where the knee is.

2- cut in at her waist to give her more of an hourglass figure to emphasize her gender

3- cut in at her right wrist to show where that joint is bending as well as the cylindrical nature of the sleeve/lace thinggy.

4- shift the pommel & hilt of the sword to the right a little, its off-square with the blade.

If any of this is confusing or disagreeable, tell me and I'll do a quick paintover tomorrow.

-- B

[Helzon]

Hey B..if your in the mood throw some red lines over the mess and
ill take another gander at things. I see what you're saying..just want to be crystal clear.
Cheers!

[Helzon]

Something i noodled in a couple of hours.
Was just a fun practice with variants of a couple
of brushes i had in the bin for a while.
hope you enjoy.
Cheers!

[bwkeough]

alright mike, here's the paintover as requested.

1- simple skew to square up the sword hilt
2- quick cut in to show the bend in the wrist joint
3- rotated her left leg
4- gave her a Barbie waist. I also brought the buttons and braiding of her tunic up and to the right to match the new anatomy. this one is a matter of intention. in your version she looks a bit androgynous. if that doesn't matter to you, leave it as-is. if you would prefer her to look like a svelte female athelete, you should consider doing something similar (but maybe not as drastic) as what I did.

[Helzon]

Hey B: Let me first thank you so much for the paintover and for the good hard look and crit of the old girl here (even if it was alcohol induced)...
I've tackled all the probs with the exception of the cut in on the left side...
maybe it's the old recalcitrant bastard that i am..but my mind kept screaming..if there is a curve..there must be a counter curve. Meh...so i gave in and left her more robust. I'll pass it off as leaning toward Victoria's proportions.
Again many thanks bro.

Cheers!

[Helzon]

Not the time to create this work...just trying to get in to post this pic.
Holy CA Lagstorm Batman!
Now i feel friggin guilty if you spent even a fraction of that time trying to get here to see it. My apologies.

[Dougbot]

great studies! That last batch is awesome.

[Helzon]

Holy mawhatsit...Doug!
Im overwhelmed good sir. Can't thank you enough for that shot
of encouragement. Trust me when i say that im humbled to my roots.
Cheers!

Mack: Aha..i see what you mean now. As for the mech it has been heretofor abandoned and remanded to the scrap heap.

Brendan: Ah...yep awkward and just nasty...see above for the fate of the mech. As for pencils...i said it at the diner..but will answer here as well. It just boils down to speed right now. Getting the concept from my brain to the canvas and sort of giving short shrift to the pencils.
I think i will crank out a couple of traditional pieces soon though. Might be rusty as hell though. We'll see.
Best to you bro.

[AztcFireFlower]

Hey Helzon,

Whaddya talkin about???
Good post. I am particularly keen in seeing people's thumbnails at the moment, and these are very cool. How long it take to do this batch?
I think each of the silhouettes are interesting. I especially like the shapes that have cut in neg. spaces like as in #10 and 14. I'm finding this process to be really enjoyable, so it's good to see other folks' design exercises, for spinning off MORE of me ideas.

I like the mech. Perhaps another view to see it in action?

A comment on the COW. First off, I love the concept and the lighting, kind of like old world portraiture, and there is no question on your rendering technique. Her face is regal and modeled nicely. You got a lot of cool costume ideas.

I wanted to comment on the screaming curve thought...

Just a thought considering BK's suggestions: Thinking of counter curves, its usually offset higher or lower alternating on opposite sides. Is this what your mind was screaming?
Otherwise, what I see, and again, just my way of thinking, is that if her waist had been cut in back, the offset by a the curve of her lower belly would have countered. Not directly in line opposite but lower. Just my dos centavos.
In any case, Love your work, Helz. Letsee dose traditionals!

[Helzon]

Hey Aztc:
Thanks so much for those kind words! I couldn't agree more...it's a blast to just rip at the canvas and see what appears. To answer your question, I try to spend no more than 5 minutes on each one operative word being try. Often i find myself starting to noodle when i should be moving on. So a safe average is about 5, the scratchboard tool is cranked up pretty big and just went to town.
As for the mech..yeah...it needs major ass overhauling. But don't think i'll revisit it at the moment.
As for the black queen yeah you make tons of sense. And the line i was thinking about would be technically running down her back between her butt cheeks, then thinking that the counter curve would have to be between her belly and privates. But when you turn her 3/4 that back curve it's still there though you dont see it and that counter curve still has to be represented. But it was my own pigheadedness more than likely. Im a sucker for voluminous forms. (which you know how to render in your work like no man's business).
I'll be getting on trad in a couple of days.
My best to you and can't wait to see more in your sb!
Cheers

[enthombed]

Hey bro, nice creative stuff you have here, your thumbnails are great, you colors are cool too... hm i just think need some adjustments but your work rules.

Keep working

Cheers

[paperX]

hey man sorry for not dropping in as often as i should....the new updates look really great, especially the thumbnails....i could definitely learn a great deal looking at them...keep up the great updates man

[Helzon]

oh boy ...im sorry about not getting back as fast as i would have liked to have, but didn't want to unnecessarily bump the thread. So here's a couple of trad pencils, and will get to responses on the double.


Enthombed and PaperX: Ahh..you guys are too kind. I appreciate the warm words and
you stopping by to take a gander. Hope all's well on your respective ends. Cheers!

[AmadorL]

something about this tread got's me going

[Sepulverture]

Clean linework and coloring =

[Helzon]

Worked on this on and off while listening to the
good folks of CA on Ventrilo...many 'interesting' topics
were discussed.
Anyway...about 3 hours total...yeah i lagged, when
i hit the fleshtones..Craptastically suck at em.
*EDIT
Ran the color version out of town...it just wasnt cutting it..so here's the
20 min sketch that started it just the same.

AmadorL and Sepulverture: I thank you both very much, not only
for the kind words but for taking the time to write them as well.
Much appreciated!
Cheers!

[Helzon]

This is where we fight! This is where they die!

Just couldn't resist.

[Lone Wolf]

Awesome 300 piece LOL!!! Great work all around Mike. You have to color that last octupus, that is a great piece.

Thank you for all the time you take to crit my work.I wish i had more crits for you, but your just good man.

[Helzon]

Hey Mack...glad you like bro.
No problem on the crits man...i know you bust your hump day in and day out to improve and it's showing!
Ahh as for me...still have a long ways to go..as illustrated by this piece...
I gave several offerings to the gods of Mullins..yet i think they just simply laughed at me. Oh well..will work at it.

[Helzon]

They called him Jimmy Sweets...cuz he was like candy with the women. Once they got a taste they couldn't put him down. Well that was till he did a stint as an accomplice to an armed robbery. The night before he was going to walk, a pair no neck goons on the inside decided to play connect the dots with his face and a shiv. The guards stopped em just before they got to his apples. The inhouse meat stitchers put him back together(what they could find that is) and in mostly the right spots.
There were all sorts of rumors flying as to who paid for it...from his own wife on up to the chief of police himself after he found out about his wife's afternoon 'brunches with the girls'. They said when he got home and after the bandages came off, his dog didn't even recognize him and tried to finish the job. Now he just sits at the back of the club mostly in the darkness sipping his warm bourbon, fogged by his Camels and marinated in Old Spice thinking just one day, one pair of ruby lips will call him Sweets again.

Just a story starter...as Scott Robertson would put it....done in Frank Miller's style.

[Notorious K.A.B.]

Very nice sketchbook here dude,damn,you can even switch your style up,there's not much to say here but keep 'em coming!

[Lone Wolf]

Hey Mike, the Mullins god's answered back, great piece. Haven't seen anything like that from you before. I think some exploration of forms can make the ship more interesting, right now it looks a little glued together. Let's see some more!

Frank Miller would be proud, love the oversized nose and eyes!Gives him great character. Great backstory too.

[Helzon]

Tommy Basci known to the neighborhood as 'The Russian' simply because out of all of his seven brown eyed siblings he came out with blue. To his closer friends he was known as 'Pouts' because of his tendency to hang his lip.
A born sadist and all of a hair over five feet tall, his was the last face you wanted to see greet you in a dark alley. All that changed though when things went bad on a job, turns out the person he took care of was a cousin with the same name as his contract. Word got out and Tommy and his crew quietly slipped away as a blood feud exploded on the streets. For many years his
future was in doubt and still is according to most. So he sits next to Jimmy Sweets in the same quiet club never so much as uttering a word but always keeping one blue eye over his shoulder.

[Helzon]

Notorious K.A.B: hey man thanks for the kind words...went and dropped a few over on your sb. Thanks so much for dropping in and scoping the work.

Mack: Ha...thanks for the encouragement and crit bro. Working with the scratchboard tool on low opacity is how i got most of it to work. There were a slew of other brushes and a multiply and a few overlays involved as well..but am glad you enjoyed it. As for the miller stuff..just love the hell out of his style...though not worthy enough to even carry his pencil bag.
Oh well..just working these vignettes up and seeing if a story coheses around it. Meh..will see. Thanks again mate. Cheers!