Off hiatus

Is this an actual interrogation or intimidation tactics. Both?

You decide!

Page 18 is here!

Group Photo

To celebrate my return from hiatus, I did a quick doodle of

the FINDRs crew! But what IS FINDR? And

are they competent? We'll just have to wait and see.

Friend ship

I really question the connections between

my own characters before realizing  what's what.

Page 17 is up!

Muuuunch!

Can I just say I've grown to like this guy more?

Page 16 is here!

Fun... with Fire!

Today, I'm gonna teach you guys how to make fire- digitally.

In Photoshop. A way that's safe for the environment. Maybe.

First, start with a sketch of the fire itself. A big area

for the center and a longer area for the trails.

Note: Lighting anything the fire may interact with is pretty important,

but I've already covered lighting many times!

Next, color in your area with a base color on a normal layer.

Easy, peezy right?

On a new Layer, draw some lines for the stream in a complementary color

to the first one you started with. I started with orange and added a 

yellow to orange gradient here. Set this layer to linear dodge. Then, 

copy this new layer and make it slightly larger and transparent if wanted.

As many times as you feel neccessary-you'll probably see

the fire unfolding by now!

So, go back to that base color layer, copy it, and make that an overlay

layer above all of the other layers I'll even list. Also copy the

complementary color layer you made before (the first one) and

make that an overlay as well to really push out that condensed fire feeling!

If your fire isn't condensed, you can probably skip this!  :P

Now, copy to bigger complementary color layer and make that one a

dissolve layer just above that one. The same with the original as well.

Make any last minute changes to the bg as well- I added orange tints to 

my character's lighting so it looks like it effects him. Though I purposefully

left out an actual outer glow, that can be done with the gradient tool if you

actually want to do so yourself. But that's it!

Also, if this character looks familiar it's because it's a redisign of a

previously existing character I designed a while ago!

hype?

This is fine. Really.

Page 15 is up!

Super Inferior and Superior

I've actually been really busy with my web comic

in the midst of Finals- Master's division! If anyone

wants to see how THAT's been going...

http://salphabomb.blogspot.com/p/14.html

Aries Knight

Hey, it's been a while, but I finally have a reliable tablet, and a new piece!

This one I drew a bit differently, sketching as many times as needed

to get the right design I had in mind. Proportions are a bit

easier now that I have a directional guide line drawn in

the earlier stages.

Once my sketches are done and my idea is solid, I outline

once in red and then again in the actual outline color,

to make sure I have it just how I want it. I even

previewed my lighting idea somewhat.

When it came down to coloring, I'd seen an Aries-themed color scheme

and decided to run with it since that's my zodiac thing! Also, by this time

I actually decided on where the sun would be and drew a little

indicator to keep in mind before I start lighting.

Once the highlights and shadows were where I wanted them, I'd added textures

to the different parts of the armor while keeping distance and mind. Then, further

implemented a newer technique I picked up during my down time.

Coloring the lines, shadows and highlights really makes things pop

when done correctly! I've recolored this guy a few times because of it!

And to be honest, all of the zodiac color schemes were great

so I might do a piece for each of them.

As far as Superior Alpha Bomb goes, I still want to finish it!

I haven't given up hope!

Just give me a little more time and I'll post

some pages. Thanks for sticking with me, everyone!

High hopes

Oh man, have I been busy! I'm finished with school and am

now looking forward to whatever comes next. That, however,

has nothing to do with this. I just wanted to try this style out.

For those of you who don't know, there's a rule of thirds that

comes into designing... pretty much everything. The

red lines help me graph my page so that I can be sure

it follows well while I color.

For shading, it's best to stay away from black. Same

goes for lighting and white. Just use complementary

colors and contrasts for a real popping sensation.

Then set it to multiply because it looks weird.

This is trickier. The same rules I just explained before

are done here but in a smaller, more tedious fashion. You

just have to feel out where which color goes (its best

to look at the light source for what goes where).

Also, cloud. Enjoy.

Then I threw on some home-made lense flare, added

a light gradient over the whole thing and some text

and viola! The whole thing!

Lastly, the comic is kinda on hiatus for a bit while

I look for another tablet. Having graduated from school

I don't have access to the best of tech at the moment.

That may change in 2 weeks, but we'll see!

The Battle

This is a pretty intense scene that I couldn't help but finish and share.

The outline I had was pretty rough. And I wasn't

entirely sold on the idea of an eye... cannon... thing.

Once I started the actual linework I noticed

that the creature is a blob, and as such cannot have

black outlines (unless it was tar)

Once I did the linework I kinda knew that red was going to be the theme

color of this piece so I complemented it as best I could.

The glowing effects from the lava slime was essential.

It helps sell the hopeless look on the young hero's face.

Heh...

And then I added some color passes under a soft light

layer just to make it all pop just a little more!

I hope this guy lives.... but maybe not.