Robin Goodfellow

[Teuthida]

http://www.deviantart.com/view/16156136/

Where the name hobgoblin comes from. Actually colored something without celshading.

[Typhoid]

I like it.



He looks Italian for some reason.


*shrug*

[GameMaster]

Your talent really shines in the faces.

I'd really love to see pictures of the development process you went though to make this picture.

[Crash]

awesome art.. really is... why dont you make a GT comic strip?

GM: nice sig

[MuGen]

the italian feel is from the slick back hair.

nice work.

[Teuthida]

awesome art.. really is... why dont you make a GT comic strip?

That's an idea. A while ago I did a sprite comic for GT where Mega Man and Bass would comment on screenshots. http://www.n-insanity.com wanted me to do comics for them but they paired me up with a "writer" who I didn't find funny at all so I didn't do it.

[MuGen]

thats a great idea... we'll show penny arcade whose boss

[The Germanator]

Dan, you should just do daily comics for http://www.spintonic.net


:sneaky:

[Crash]

That's an idea. A while ago I did a sprite comic for GT where Mega Man and Bass would comment on screenshots. http://www.n-insanity.com wanted me to do comics for them but they paired me up with a "writer" who I didn't find funny at all so I didn't do it.

we need to do it now, seriously...for specific reasons I can't reveal right now... DO IT DAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Teuthida]

Working on a Mr. Driller pic that might be able to be worked into a comic. You do know he has psychological problems...stressful job drilling and all.


And Germ...the comics on your site scare me...in a good way...i'll do one once i think of something.


Edited Robin Goodfellow (http://www.deviantart.com/view/16156136/) with more dramatic lighting. Is it too dark now?

[Vampyr]

That is really really awesome, Dan. And isn't Robin Goodfellow also The Puck from Shakespear's a Midsummer Night's Dream? I'm pretty sure he is...that being my favorite play ever and The Puck being my favorite shakespear character. I think I remember reading this big background story about how Shakespear used the mythology surrounding Robin Goodfellow to make The Puck.

And I like both versions...the darker one sets a better mood for the character though, in my opinion.

I have a question: What do you use to draw your pictures befor scanning them? I'm guessing a pen, but what kind of pen? And what kind of paper? Is it the normal white computer paper, or do you use a thicker kind?

Edit: And I think a GT comic strip is briliant.

[Teuthida]

Yup, Puck is a Robin Goodfellow.

http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/images/RoxPuckS.JPG

I sadly haven't read A Midsummer's Night Dream but I did read up on Puck's history.

I have to do a series of four related pictures for my digital coloring class so think I'm gonna do three more pics of mythology creatures modernized.

I use Bristol paper or any other thick paper made for ink. It's white, smooth, and heavy...just how I like my women... I use Micron pens. Mostly the size 01 ones which has a .25 mm line width. So even the really think lines are done with the small pen.

[Vampyr]

Thanks for the help, Dan. +rep for your detailed answer.

More questions:
Once you upload it to photoshop, is the only thing you do color it and maybe add some lighting? I remember you saying once that you use the pen tool...but for what? I don't really understand it's purpose.

[Teuthida]

Robin Goodfellow is the first pic I've done without the pen tool. (Well just realized I used it for the highlights on the watch.) Usually I scan the lineart and then use the pen tool for all the colors including the shadows which take on solid shapes giving it a celshaded look.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/15639599/

^ That pic is entirely done with the pen tool. I didn't even ink it before I scanned. Was just a pencil sketch. Took me 4 months of on and off coloring to finish it. Doing line art with the pen tool was painful. Basically with the pen tool I outside each shape I want. I do it very carefully to make the shapes appear round. So imagine each line is an shape that I outlined. Trying to kept the lines even and round was hell. Was scanned in at 720 dpi and I zoom in at 400% for the lines. So when I was working on it, the guy's eyebrow would have taken up my entire screen. If I had a wacom tablet (like that bastard Gabe at Penny-Arcade has) would have been a sinch. Had well over 100 layers.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/9538067/ had 425 layers with a width of over 8000 pixels and a size of over a gig if I remember correctly it making it the biggest piece I've worked on.

[Vampyr]

So how did you color Robin Goodfellow?

And how are all the lines so smooth and pretty? I would think that the ink would bleed out a little bit.

[Teuthida]

First just fills in flat colors on a level under the lineart. I used a really large brush set at the softest level and shaded over what I wanted to be shaded. Erased anything the dark color went over it wasn't suppose to and then used a soft eraser to blend the dark shade with the color I went over. Used a lot of layers so if I made a mistake would be real easy to fix.

Micron pens hardly bleed and especially on the smooth paper I use. That's also the main reason I use such small pens. I very carefully go over the edges of the lines to smooth out any little bumps or distortions that could have occurred. Which is also why my lines are so thick...they don't always start out that way but grow because I made a mistake. Use photoshop to make the lines darker and look more flat. Also erase any stray lines or dots that might have happening during inking.

[Vampyr]

Thanks for all the help. :)

I'm going to get some supplies and start drawing, but needless to say I'll have more questions then. heh

[Teuthida]

No prob.

I'm such a n00b when I comes to digital coloring though. Hopefully I'll reach this guy's level some day:

http://www.deviantart.com/view/5927431/

He did a lot of the coloring for the SNK Vs. Marvel games.


And here's a side by side spread of inks and the colors of a cover by one of the big fellas at Marvel, Mark Brooks:
http://www.deviantart.com/view/6760985/

[Vampyr]

Yeah, that stuff is just amazing.

But it must be taken into account that your stuff is a different style than his. :)