The Scholars of Shen Zhou

Thanks!

I'm working on color schemes for my character designs, which is a whole new level of pain. Being a R&D software engineer is good practice for concept art. A day's worth of head-scratching might leave you with a pile of Not Its and little else to show for your trouble. And then you get that glimmer of inspiration that actually goes somewhere. And sometimes you look back on the whole process and wonder why you hadn't thought of your final idea at the get-go, as it seems so obvious in retrospect. Perhaps I should take a break in favor of my almost-finished historical fiction projects, which I have been managing to brainstorm amid the visual artsfest of the past few months.

Sheesh - I didn't realize this went over a year and a half without an update. Which is especially silly because 2012 was a fantastic art year for me in which I made some incredible progress. Turns out my Photoshop setup was terrible for what I'd been trying to do. I switched to Manga Studio, which supports a wide range of natural-feeling ink widths out of the box, and pored over pro artwork to get some sense of the nuance I was missing from my own drawings. Sadly I intimidated myself from getting back in the saddle again after a few months off from drawing, but I'll be kicking myself in the rear end soon enough.

The following are my best general audience pieces. Go to my deviantArt for the rest, including partly nude fan service. I maintain that it all has value as anatomy practice.

Shoot That Poison Arrow - Lu Meng and Xiahou Yuan portraits in their DW7 fairy tale downloadable costumes. I imagined they'd have a friendly rivalry over the merits of bullets vs. bows. I gave Yuan's costume more detail and texture for me to work with. This piece helped me push my line range and learn how to use thick lines to enhance form instead of squishing it flat.

Just a Dance (lines, colored) - Cai Wenji and Cao Ren. I am a rank n00b at this coloring business because it's so different from the traditional media I learned in high school, but this was a good enough start for now.

The Scars of War - Cao Ren portrait, which doubled as a study of Andrew Loomis-style face construction. These are the best lines I've ever done.

Not that I know anything about art but I think that first picture is awesome. I especially like the way you've done Xiahou Yuan. His face looks much thinner than usual which I can't say is a bad thing. I think the hat you've given him has a better design than the DLC one which doesn't seem to have that kind of stripey pattern in the middle.

Thank you! I was struggling to make the hat look good as it was originally designed, so I searched for Robin Hood costumes to give me some ideas for changing it up. Glad you liked my version.

Two...years...later...

Ah-Meng of Wu (March 2013) - Because Lu Meng and Lu Su have fantastic designs in DW8. I'm not sure if Lu Meng is avoiding his homework or trying to get away with writing "fire attack" over and over again.

Our Brotherhood (August 2015) - Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan in '80s Miami gangster style. This took me about 3 semi-dedicated months because I tried to improve as much as possible in the process, and I did a fair amount of stylistic experimentation. Yuan's M16 was a project of its own.

Rydain wrote:Two...years...later...

Ah-Meng of Wu (March 2013) - Because Lu Meng and Lu Su have fantastic designs in DW8. I'm not sure if Lu Meng is avoiding his homework or trying to get away with writing "fire attack" over and over again.

Our Brotherhood (August 2015) - Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan in '80s Miami gangster style. This took me about 3 semi-dedicated months because I tried to improve as much as possible in the process, and I did a fair amount of stylistic experimentation. Yuan's M16 was a project of its own.

I dig it. Man now I want Three Kingdoms looking all GTA V style lol

PeanutButterToast wrote:

Rydain wrote:Two...years...later...

Ah-Meng of Wu (March 2013) - Because Lu Meng and Lu Su have fantastic designs in DW8. I'm not sure if Lu Meng is avoiding his homework or trying to get away with writing "fire attack" over and over again.

Our Brotherhood (August 2015) - Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan in '80s Miami gangster style. This took me about 3 semi-dedicated months because I tried to improve as much as possible in the process, and I did a fair amount of stylistic experimentation. Yuan's M16 was a project of its own.

I dig it. Man now I want Three Kingdoms looking all GTA V style lol

Thank you! That would be awesome, but it's well beyond my ambition and time frame, especially because I'm currently head over heels for a different fandom.

I did wrap up another 3K-related piece, at least -

Precarious Perch (December 2016) - DW8 Rescue Ranger Cao Ren saves a cat. I actually started this in late 2013, got stuck, and put it away until leveling up a bunch more on the Cao/Xiahou gangster project.

And I might as well link my current obsession -

We are the Music Makers - Redd Rockridge playing piano for Tequila Belle. These are two of my favorite characters from The Sexy Brutale, a time looping murder mystery game which I originally enjoyed as a good few hours of solid mechanics, pervasive humor, and stunning Carnivale dollhouse theatrical "it" factor - and ended up wrecking me because I fell too hard for its cast. There's much more I want to draw and write for this, especially because the developers love to see and share what fans come up with.

I remember this thread from way back when.

Your work is smooth, clean, solid and confident. It's beautiful, I love the realistic style. Thanks for sharing!

Rydain wrote:Ah-Meng of Wu (March 2013) - Because Lu Meng and Lu Su have fantastic designs in DW8. I'm not sure if Lu Meng is avoiding his homework or trying to get away with writing "fire attack" over and over again.

That is *adorable*! I'm so sorry I missed this thread for so long. "Fire attack" lol. The true spirit of Wu!

And yes it is very fitting for Cao Ren to rescue a kitty.