Wapsi Square Forum

Since we have a few talented artists here I thought it would be fun to have a thread dedicated to sharing selections of your own non-Wapsi art you are particularly proud of.

Having recently become a fan of Misfile I had to do a rendition of 08/16/2013 panel 5. Despite the simple shading (I was trying to stick as closely to Chris's style as possible), I think it is my most professional looking piece so far. I'll probably come back to it and do some real texture the day I finally get a tablet.

You can download the full size 1920x1036 from my deviantART or click one of the thumbnails for prepadded versions for widescreen wallpaper usage.



edit: @Fairportfan - Yeah, I realized I screwed those up and went back to fix them.

The links over at Misfile don't seem to be working.

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Speaking of Misfile, why is nobody mad at me here or there?

Very nice, shadow. I'm not completely familiar with his arts, but it looks pretty close to me...

Two thumbs up!

Thanks. It is a direct vector trace but with a few modifications for smoother lines. I wanted to use official colors but there is a LOT of variation in his work. I spent a few hours just compiling a reference palette for the main characters of what appeared to be the most common shades that weren't the result of horrible JPG artifacting. The background was done completely by hand, first drawing and blurring the heart pattern, then layering a couple of textures and the gradient.

Looking good, shadow! I support the notion of an original art thread & would be delighted to contribute if I had ever actually made any art of my own.

Fairportfan wrote:Speaking of Misfile, why is nobody mad at me here or there?

Should we be mad at you?

Applause, applause!

To paraphrase Johnny Cash - Just because it's simple doesn't mean it's easy. "Simple" shading is terribly hard to do well because there's no place to hide, and I think you're right on target with this. Well done!

MerchManDan wrote:Looking good, shadow! I support the notion of an original art thread & would be delighted to contribute if I had ever actually made any art of my own.

Fairportfan wrote:Speaking of Misfile, why is nobody mad at me here or there?

Should we be mad at you?

Have you looked in the Main Pub Room recently?

A doodle I did for my son while having a personal day(no phones, no internet, no TV, and he wanted me to do a sketch from his fave episode of Scooby-Doo:
THis one"Mom, you did it wrong. It's a Double triple-decker sardine and marshmallow fudge sandwich." From Hassle in the Castle if anyone is interested in looking up the comparison.


I'm a gamer nerd. I used to play a game called EverQuest, and well, here's my character between raids:
and this one
Winsor Newton Watercolour on Bristol board with Kolinsky sable(gives nice character).

WIll post more later if anyone wants to see my old junk.

Oops! You put the Page link in the Image tags - Fixed that for ya. Linked to your gallery.

DinkyInky wrote:A doodle I did for my son while having a personal day(no phones, no internet, no TV, and he wanted me to do a sketch from his fave episode of Scooby-Doo:
"Mom, you did it wrong. It's a Double triple-decker sardine and marshmallow fudge sandwich." From Hassle in the Castle if anyone is interested in looking up the comparison.


I'm a gamer nerd. I used to play a game called EverQuest, and well, here's my character between raids:

Winsor Newton Watercolour on Bristol board with Kolinsky sable(gives nice character).

WIll post more later if anyone wants to see my old junk.

Good stuff!

....okay. Here is my first and last serious attempt to actually DRAW something: An original MLP character named Whipstich, owned by a young woman named Gina. Gina runs a page on Facebook and I drew some fanart for her.

That's cute! Especially the "WTBF?" look.

I tinker around with CG a bit, and have a few bits here and there, and some have actually been put into my dA. I really need to update that site...seriously it is one of my resolutions, right along with finishing my housework that's piling up...
CG rendering of my ShadowKnight from EQ, done with figuresets from Daz Studios, and using Poser and Vue Infinite for rendering.
Me goofing around with making a Doctor Who render, and well, I could not find suitable items for Baker's version, I had already enough for this one.
Anyone like Tomb Raider? My son took loads of pictures to set this one up, and dummy me goofed up. Let's see if anyone can see it.
THis one turned out better, but not by much. I can't use Photoshop properly in Linux, so the postwork just doesn't get done, and I am so used to it, that GIMP feels alien, if that makes any sense.

My son is a shutterbug, and I bought him a digital camera(after he kept borrowing mine without telling me until the memory card was full).

He's rather scary good.

shadowinthelight I really like that. DinkyInky Your stuff is neat. I looked at your Deviantart page, cool!MerchManDan Nice! You better mean your most recent drawing NOT your last! I like to see what other fans of Wapsi like to draw and read, so I think that this is a good addition to the forum.

DinkyInky wrote: My son is a shutterbug, and I bought him a digital camera(after he kept borrowing mine without telling me until the memory card was full).

He's rather scary good.

This is his work without years of practice and only using a basic camera? When he is a bit older he is gonna have an (almost) sure shot at life as a paid photographer.

shadowinthelight wrote:Since we have a few talented artists here I thought it would be fun to have a thread dedicated to sharing selections of your own non-Wapsi art you are particularly proud of.

Hmmm... tough in a way since each genre tends to present it's own challenges and thus one might derive satisfaction in a number of ways from the result. But here's a couple I can present...

I've always loved that classic "cel" shaded look. Here Xara is doing a Ifurita crossover from a anime called "El Hazard." Keeping the "weight" of a character looking correct is always difficult for me but I thought she looks just about right here.
http://dragonaur.deviantart.com/art/Xar ... -352290578

I've got my own comic I've been working on for about 15 years now! I was pleased with the colors and the perspective with Xara in dragon form. A bit of a re-design of Xara's dragon form adding more and more detail. The action flows nicely.
http://dragonaur.deviantart.com/art/Dra ... -390844548

Lastly, composing a character in a complex background is always hard and I hate to do it! But that doesn't mean one shouldn't try! I scanned this one at 700 dpi! The most pixels I've ever dedicated to one image!
http://dragonaur.deviantart.com/art/Xar ... -402408686

DinkyInky wrote: I can't use Photoshop properly in Linux, so the postwork just doesn't get done, and I am so used to it, that GIMP feels alien, if that makes any sense.

I'm the same boat with you! I think it's simply because I used Photoshop first, so getting used to GIMP means learning new menus and processes.

shadowinthelight wrote: Having recently become a fan of Misfile I had to do a rendition of 08/16/2013 panel 5. Despite the simple shading (I was trying to stick as closely to Chris's style as possible), I think it is my most professional looking piece so far.

Vector art always represents a lot of work. Good work there!

I've done a fair bit of all sorts of visual art: pottery, sculpture, painting, drawing, sewing, leather work, jewellery, woodcarving, prose, poetry, plays and so on. . .most of which is long gone and never to be seen again. Which, in many cases, is probably for the best.

So here are three items still remaining, that are relatively easy to show on the computer:

Sketch done using MS Paint, about seventeen years ago or so. Somehow got a bit blurred over the years.

Bowl, also about a couple of decades old.

And the only recent thing, which I made for somebody for Christmas and they haven't yet been able to get by here and pick it up.

I suppose that my faerie tale enacted with Lego also counts as art, but it's a bit too lengthy to include.

Looks as though we have a fair number of artistical peoples here. MS Paint is basically the most advanced and fancy computer drawing software that I've ever used, so I really have no idea what half the talk about vector traces and such is about (though I have fun making up my own plausible meanings). I did get to play for about an hour with some better drawing program once a number of years ago and made some artwork that tended to make people's eyes cross and brains cry, but I'm not sure if those pictures still exist anywhere.

Mark N wrote:

DinkyInky wrote: My son is a shutterbug, and I bought him a digital camera(after he kept borrowing mine without telling me until the memory card was full).

He's rather scary good.

This is his work without years of practice and only using a basic camera? When he is a bit older he is gonna have an (almost) sure shot at life as a paid photographer.

those shots are amazing

Please consider setting up an account somewhere to upload and share some of his other photo work.

MerchManDan wrote:....okay. Here is my first and last serious attempt to actually DRAW something: An original MLP character named Whipstich, owned by a young woman named Gina. Gina runs a page on Facebook and I drew some fanart for her.

http://i513.photobucket.com/albums/t331 ... 2e6bb6.jpg

With a mane and tail like that I'm imagining her plucking a hair to use in place of thread.

DinkyInky wrote:I'm a gamer nerd. I used to play a game called EverQuest, and well, here's my character between raids:
and this one
Winsor Newton Watercolour on Bristol board with Kolinsky sable(gives nice character).

Sexy blue chick with a knife? Not sure whether to be frightened or turned on...

He's rather scary good.

That's an understatement.

Dragonaur wrote:Vector art always represents a lot of work. Good work there!

I feel it is tedious but easy. Sort of like building a full size Lego Great Wall. It's the only method I've tried I can get results I feel proud of. I swear one of these days I really will get a tablet so I can try more things.

Catawampus wrote:MS Paint is basically the most advanced and fancy computer drawing software that I've ever used, so I really have no idea what half the talk about vector traces and such is about (though I have fun making up my own plausible meanings).

I still use Paint for a few things. You can't beat the simple controls for certain tasks. If you want to try your hand at vector art I use Inkscape. I have used Gimp occasionally but even without a Photoshop background to unlearn I find it a bit confusing to figure out. The trusty standby I always seem to fall back on for coloring, layers, special effects, ect. is my thirteen year old copy of Paint Shop Pro 7 (which is totally legit and I would never, ever share with anyone who asks )

I actually did another, even more complicated picture to accompany a short bit of Misfile fanfiction. Colored the full size version and posted here. Technically turned out great but has no emotional impact like what I feel what I posted above has.

I like all these drawings and pottery and stuff!!!

I don't draw in the real world media very often, you'll see why when you see my physical stuff, but sometimes (twice a year) I have to make my cousin cards... she will not accept store bought from me, so I have to make her one. Occasionally I have the yen for something physical, so that is why the fox girl from the White Board is there. I sketched her on a paper shopping bag and inked her with a flair pen. The cats are because my cousin likes cats and I like always had a short time to get it done so cartoon cats.