Zeth Bond Poster

Posted Jul 18, 2008, 12:03:12 AM UTC

Final version of this picture. I'll just overwrite the last WIP since they're not *that* different.

Anyways- taken everyone's critique into consideration, and I've pulled out hair, drink myself drunk on tea (Yes- this is POSSIBLE onthe tea I have *u* :drool:), yelled at both my laptop and my desktop MANY times, and cursed vista in 20 different languages for its incompatability with Adobe CS2 programs. Nearly lost the file abotu 20 times, but it's all done. Thank goodness ^^

Anyways- the deal with the pic. You all voted for my to make an actiony poster for the poster, so this one is of my character Zeth Gant from [writing2767] He's a hard core gambler with both money and the way he lives, he's arrogant, and has the mind of an analytical genius. In this poster, I wanted to bring out the feel of gambling, with a bit of the mafia and spy type feel for it. I wanted a Noir theme- not sure if it entirely pulled off, but that's ok :)

My BIGGEST thanks to all those wonderful people that gave me critique on this. I'd list you all, but there was so many usefull tips that people gave me for this ^^ It's made making this poster alot more tolerable and easier to finish in the given time frame ^^

Credits-
Inspirations- Sin City and James Bond- Casino Royale
Referances- Pose by Jademacalla - This pose just ROCKS the picture ^^

Comments

pariahsdream
Oct 9, 2008, 2:57:53 PM UTC
You did a spectacular job on this. There is clearly a ton of thought put into it and the only tiny nitpick I'd even have is the sharpness of the cards as they fall into the background and frankly I don't know how you'd 'fix' that. I love the sharpness of the gun (awesome job giving it weight and depth while still having that black and white cut out) and the broken up tie. The face is well done too.
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- ArkillianDragon
  Oct 9, 2008, 4:27:31 PM UTC
  The sharpness? You mean cause they're too sharp? The problem with that is two fold- You wont recognize it as a card, and illustrator can't do blur... well... I haven't' found the function yet XD Lol. I know what you mean though- atmospheric distortion, right? I put the blue into it for that. It looks alot more effective as a poster rather than a hatchy JPEG XD
  
  I did a heap of research for the gun. Originally, the gun was abit hit and miss looking cause my reference was so heavily shaded [thumb19631] in the sketch, the gun is quite different cause of that and I just went "Ew- the gun is shit, the rest is cool. I can do better than this" So I researched the gun the reference was a replica of and went off a few angles of that instead.
  
  Noir is something I was recommended in trying out cause even though I hate colour, I've always been a fan of lighting effects. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Crime-Noir-Comics-Graphic/dp/0823023990">I got this book </a> from boarders, and it's actually a REALLY good book Most of his books are meh, but this one had alot of REALLY good stuff in it. It inspired me to try Noir a bit more. Since then, I've purchased about 5 noir DVDs, and kicked my Phoenix Wright fic towards that genre more and more. It's always fascinated me. I'm glad I'm more aware of it now ^^
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Shalashaska
Sep 16, 2008, 11:35:43 PM UTC
Watch out Frank Miller. We've got a new artist on the block.
I absolutely love this.
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- ArkillianDragon
  Sep 21, 2008, 5:17:42 AM UTC
  Thanks I totally learnt a HEAP about vector art with this ^^ I'm really lucky too, cause I had a strong vision of how I wanted this to look. That's why it turned out so well. I'm not always blessed with that kind of inspiration ^^ Thank you for the comment
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Tacom33t
Aug 5, 2008, 9:14:35 AM UTC
Nice. I think this ones good. I like the whole tie and dimonds thing lol. Also The whole city in the backround makes it seem better idk why though lol. Still nice job ^^.
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- ArkillianDragon
  Aug 5, 2008, 2:40:40 PM UTC
  It's cause the city gives the picture flow Without it, the eye would get bored and wander off somewhere ^^ Glad you like it ^^
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  Tacom33t
  Aug 5, 2008, 8:03:35 PM UTC
  Looking forward to next one ^^
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cruffins
Jul 19, 2008, 5:33:02 PM UTC
I think it's well balanced. Zeth is such an attention-grabber that the viewer doesn't notice the blank spot.
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- ArkillianDragon
  Jul 20, 2008, 3:36:46 AM UTC
  Heh- thank you ^^ I've done some enhancements anyways I hope they're even better ^^
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  cruffins
  Jul 20, 2008, 7:46:44 PM UTC
  It does look much better now. I think the gray areas add much more to it than the black did.
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  ArkillianDragon
  Jul 28, 2008, 5:39:05 PM UTC
  Sorry I've taken so long to return this comment- Yeah- sometimes there can be too much contrast in a picture ^^ A bit of separation can make or break an image. I sometimes forget atmospheric distortion too ^^; I should remember something like that cause it adds SO much mood ^^
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  cruffins
  Jul 30, 2008, 8:49:30 PM UTC
  atmosph...hmmm *googles* ah. Forgives meh, I hasn't been to college yet. But, even the greats make mistakes. You just get too caught up in the image. I found a discrepancy in one of Brian Froud's paintings once. I think it was like he forgot to continue some fabric in behind a figure.
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  ArkillianDragon
  Aug 3, 2008, 5:38:04 AM UTC
  Lol- those kind of mistakes are like Where's Wally pictures XD I think even the greats forget that kind of stuff. I put hand on the wrong way ALOT still XD
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  cruffins
  Aug 4, 2008, 2:02:08 PM UTC
  Oh, the hand, why must thou always be the downfall of dear, sweet Ark?
  
  i have no clue why that sounded so lame and antiquated.
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  ArkillianDragon
  Aug 5, 2008, 2:47:23 PM UTC
  It's cool. I put 6 fingers on a character once. It elduded 4 people- 2 which were anal artists (me being one of them ) XD I only noticed it when I sat down with the printed comic and read it withotuh stressing for the first time. IT was all like... 'he's got a full hand- hmmm' counted the fingers... 1,2,3,4,5... that's five... waaaait- I didn't count the thumb! Or fail... http://www.paperdemon.com/comic/page/5/3.html Find the 6 fingered man XD The new version of the comic is 5 fingered luckily
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  cruffins
  Aug 5, 2008, 7:46:41 PM UTC
  yah, that should be like your art battle scar. wear it with pride my friend.
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Sleyf
Jul 18, 2008, 3:09:10 AM UTC
I think it's great actually, I especially like the way his tie is turning into diamonds, though the background is a little empty, it doesn't matter because it looks better that way!

I think if you were to add something there, like you said, it would just be cluttered
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- ArkillianDragon
  Jul 20, 2008, 3:37:58 AM UTC
  Very- I had a girl there before- she looked great, but there was just too much information. I knew right from word go too T.T Oh well. I've updated the picture to an actual final if you want to check it out
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  Sleyf
  Jul 20, 2008, 4:26:12 AM UTC
  You could always upload the girl as a separate picture
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  ArkillianDragon
  Jul 28, 2008, 5:41:09 PM UTC
  Sorry I've taken so long to return this comment- Probably not. She doesn't make it as a stand alone image. She was just a silhouette. Thanks for the thought though ^^
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  Sleyf
  Jul 30, 2008, 3:04:18 AM UTC
  Oh oh that's ok I only just got back anyway!
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Jilly
Jul 18, 2008, 12:51:05 AM UTC | Total Edits: 1 | Last edited on Jul 18, 2008 by Jilly
It's coming out great. I think taking out the girl was a good choice overall.

Though I have to say I'm not a fan of the gradient on the gun. it's kinda just blending into the BG and not looking at menacing as it should. And maybe change the queen to a joker or a silhouette of the girl like WildKarde said cause right now the queen stands out like a sore thumb because of its different colors compared to everything else.

Overall though I think it's gonna look awesome once you're done with it
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- ArkillianDragon
  Jul 20, 2008, 3:40:24 AM UTC
  Yeah- I didn't want to take her out, but she did clutter the page up :<
  
  I've changed the gradients around so that it goes in the other direction and it's darker. Updated this picture with the new version- hope its alot better ^^ Didn't want to put a joker in though- it's not a poker card ^^; I have knocked the Queen back thoguh Thanks for the comment Jilly ^^
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  Jilly
  Jul 22, 2008, 1:41:26 AM UTC
  Anytime ^_^ btw this came out beautifully I'm sure it'll make an awesome print for sure
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  ArkillianDragon
  Jul 28, 2008, 5:34:46 PM UTC
  Sorry I've taken so long to return this comment- Yes! It turned out excellent! It was really well received by the con. Everyone thought it looked very professional. I'm gonna have to try hard to top it with my net print XD *dies*
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  Jilly
  Jul 29, 2008, 12:20:56 AM UTC
  It's cool I know you were busy with the con ^_^ but I'm glad it did well though congrats on that
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WildeKarde
Jul 17, 2008, 7:52:15 PM UTC
Its coming along great. James Bond a girl go hand in hand.
You might try changeing the queen of hearts and putting a girl in there. Change it to a Joker and have a female Siluette. I
see where your going with the Gradient. But it plays a funny game with you. Things that are farther away are ussually lighter Like mountains in a distant. I would change the gradient so The gun is black and fade to a dark gray.
One last think that is playing with my eyes. Can You drop the city down.

See if you bring the cityscape down a little. you'll create a circle thats easier for eye to travel.
Image attached
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- ArkillianDragon
  Jul 20, 2008, 3:44:05 AM UTC
  Nah- I think the female silhoette needs to be more promenant then that... I think I'd also be taking too much away from the underlining themes. I realise now that the girl didn't add to the theme of the picture in the first place XD Besides, there's no Joker in poker You bring up a VERY good point with the atmospheric distortion (Man- I've gotten SO many usefull comments here on PD on this *grovels*), and dropping the city down worked a charm too. Some awesome advice WildeKarde- thank you sooooo much!!! I hope you like the new changes to the pic- I changed the old pic around to an updated one ^^ Thanks for the critique ^^
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  WildeKarde
  Jul 21, 2008, 12:30:28 AM UTC
  Looks good. I like what you did with it. STill think the Joker is a good idea thou. Of course the women is one of my main reasons for likeing Bond. Now you need a Cool Bond Movie Name, like Diamonds are Forever.
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  ArkillianDragon
  Jul 21, 2008, 1:36:20 AM UTC
  Diamonds are forever is a Bond movie name ^^; The bond theme was only inspiration anyways Zeth is much more heavily on the gambling side ^^
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  ArkillianDragon
  Jul 28, 2008, 5:37:20 PM UTC
  Sorry I've taken so long to return this comment- Hehe... maybe. I didn't want to be too James Bondy with this- it isn't a fanart, and Zeth isn't really as suave as Bond is. He is alot more of the gambling type. I imagine him being either a pointman or a snoop with lawyer skills. He's alot more noir. IT was an awesome base of inspiration though ^^
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  WildeKarde
  Jul 29, 2008, 9:34:58 AM UTC
  Ok, great poster thou. Glad it went well, at the con.
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BogusRed
Jul 17, 2008, 5:12:16 PM UTC
Hi Ark.

I think taking the girl out was a good choice. She was drawn well but didn't fit the composition. What you've got now is looking much closer to finished. The city silhouette and background gradient is working nicely.

A couple things, I'm not sure if its intended but it kind of appears like the right side of the guys head is being sliced off because of the large white strip across it.

Also the gradient starting on the mans hand, perhaps try and make the lighter color in that gradient a little darker. His gun doesn't look quite as menacing at the moment and its starting to blend with the background similar to the way the girl was.

I like how the bg is a cooler colored gradient while the forground gradient isn't. maybe push that further and make the gradient warmer shades of gray.

Excellent work!
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- ArkillianDragon
  Jul 20, 2008, 3:47:15 AM UTC
  Wow- another awesome crit- thank you Susie! Paperdemon has given me the BEST crit on this
  
  I've replaced the old version of this with the final version, and I've heavily taken yours and Wildekardes advice in consideration (along with 2 hours of comment responding everywhere else- omg- I'm so honoured that I got so much feedback on this *u* )
  
  I hope the latest version of this is more up to spec ^^ It's going to the printer tomorrow. Should come out great! Cross fingers that it sells thoguh I've wanted to do an actiony poster for a long while ^^
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  BogusRed
  Jul 20, 2008, 8:36:54 AM UTC
  The final looks great! Nice work. Glad the folks at PD were helpful ^.^
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  ArkillianDragon
  Jul 28, 2008, 5:40:13 PM UTC
  Sorry I've taken so long to return this comment- Me too Y!g were all "Cool pic!" and DA were all "Yeah! Do that to it!". PD actually looked at stuff I didn't consider ^^ I'm very thankful for that
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