Re: Kalon's Portrait Studio

[Bird of Hermes]

It's a Uri! I thought that was only something from my crazed mind.

[Kathryn Lacey]

What's a Uri?

[Bird of Hermes]

What's a Uri?

It is a race I made for a Dungeons and Dragons game.

"The Uri are a scarce race of unicorn-humanoids that live in lesser populated areas of select planes. They are identifiable by the protrusion of a spiraled horn from the forehead, goatish ears, sharp nails, and the bipedal horse-like hoofed flanks as well as tail. They tend to be pure white to slate grey and their hair and eyes are of lighter hues, however, as in all species, dark varieties exist. They can tend to be quite shy and usually live in tribes or alone. The male preferred class is sorcerer having the innate ability to cast spells from their horns as if having the Silent Spell and Still Spell feats. They are lovers of folklore and, thus, the female preferred class is Bard having the ability to sing a song, once a month on the crescent moon, to cure sleep, petrification, enchantments, major wounds, or even death itself. They have excellent memories and are intelligent creatures as well as docile, yet timid. They have low-light vision as well as heightened hearing. They see through illusions, but can allow themselves to be fooled by them. Differences between male and female cannot be determined by height for both average five foot and have virtually the same build. However, males have a small gem below their horns of varying color as well as a strip of fur that goes from neck to back. They may choose one element at puberty which, when cast, will not count against their daily allotment, but will cost 10% of their total HP. There is a sub-race of Uri that have feathered winged appendages sprouting from their back for flight."

[Dax]

Talk about topic deviation xD

[Bird of Hermes]

Talk about topic deviation xD

Don't look at me. I didn't do it. Nope. It couldn't have been me. Not at all. I'm innocent, I tell you. Innocent.

[Dax]

Yah well...

as long as its back on track... xD

So Kalon, how are the portraits goin?

[Kalon Ordona II]

It's taking a while. I've been focusing on my character sheet for Emoria, plus histories relative to that, and I'm also still working on Kathryn's. Not to worry; it'll all get done eventually. xD

Hopefully sooner rather than later, for the sake of everyone's sanity.

Would anyone like to be my apprentice?

[Bird of Hermes]

Would anyone like to be my apprentice?

That would require me to have some skill.

[Dax]

Would anyone like to be my apprentice?

That would require me to have some skill.

Lol.

.... Same goes for me. xD

Oh well, the more artists the better.... ?!

[HawktheThird]

I've been lurking about FOG for a while, so it feels a bit strange to just jump in here, asking for things without really showing my presence prior...

But Kalon, would you be able to do a portrait of one of my characters?

[Kalon Ordona II]

I'd love to! ^^
Just realize that it might be a while, even after I get my net back.

[Gadreille]

Kalon, do you want me to be your apprentice? I might be able to do a couple, if you tell me how you do it.

[Kalon Ordona II]

I would be honored! ^^

I wish I could show you, rather than tell you. But really it's just a process of taking base images, selecting bits you want, and then blending them together. There'll often be cases where you need to play with sizes, and there may often be times when you need to create your own elements, like accessories or who knows what.

One advantage I have, I suppose, is that I've played the games that these character sprites come from, so I'm already familiar with the content on that site. But you don't really need knowledge of the games to be able to use the images effectively. In addition, I can provide tips and suggestions.

As I've made more of these, they've been getting more and more complicated. I started with the more simple images from Fire Emblem 9 (Path of Radiance), while lately I've been using mostly things from Fire Emblem 10 (Radiant Dawn), which has a considerably higher level of quality. GIMP helps. ^^

A good way to start might be to start small. Pick a body and a head, and then try to fit them together. Match skin tones, change hair color and eyes, and change the armor or clothing in some way--usually color, again.

Play around with faces, to get a feel for how the pixels go together. I guess that's pixel art, though I really have no idea. That's just how I did it. xD

Should I assign homework or something? ^^ I could also draw up a quick tutorial, I suppose. However you'd prefer.

[Gadreille]

I used to make dolls (don't ask) online so I get what the procedure is... however, what website do you go to, to get the pieces that you work with? (sorry, I'm not familiar with the game). Also, could you repost or PM me a request to work on, so I know we aren't both working on the same one? (perhaps something you think would be good for a newb lol)

[Kalon Ordona II]

Yeah it is a lot like making dolls, (not that I've done that before, unless you count being a member of Gaia, , but now with Kathryn's it's starting to feel like that, 'cause it's kinda complicated).

That's a good idea, you making some of the easier requests. That way we'll be killing two birds with one stone. You might want to try one just for fun, first, though.

The website is posted on the first page here. FEPlanet.net <--- that URL will take you to the character sheets for Fire Emblem 10, the ones I've been using most recently. There are more if you'd like to just search around. If you click on Spriter's Resource on the left sidebar at the homepage, there's a lot more to be found. The FE10 sheets are just the main thing I'm using now, and probably the best for our purposes. I do still use the ones from FE9, occasionally, though. Sometimes there are things there that aren't in 10.

I'll send you a PM with one or two requests from people.

[Gadreille]

Here is my first "Kalon Avatar". Keep in mind I am new at this and only doing the best I can. That said, I may not be able to cater to those "minor changes" that requesters suggest in the way that Kalon does.

Without further ado, Kail's avatar request:


If you would like, I can make you an avatar signature set as well.

[Kalon Ordona II]

A splendid debut! Well done, Ryona!!

[Kathryn Lacey]

Oh! That looks pretty cool! Were the only things you did colour changes and splices between pictures, or did you create anything from scratch, or tweak any designs a little?

[Gadreille]

Basically, the body and head were from two different images, everything had to be recolored and resized, and I added the tattoo from a seperate image. The tattoo was the hardest part because it was taken from a photo and imposed onto the avatar's arm. It was very difficult keeping the coloring intact...but I do say it would have been harder to draw the thing from scratch!

Dax Avatar:


Edit: I can make your avatar and/or signature set as well, but you'll have to give me details on what you want.

I also completely forgot about the eagle, I don't know if it will work but I will play around with it.

[Dax]

Hah, that is indeed awesome! xD

Especially with that pose, the eagle will look exquisite! And the clothes are amazingly similar to what I imagined (I guess the main body piece would be slightly whiter/silver or whatever color that is, though lol))

[Hello Danger]

Ryona, I'm impressed! Those look like authentic Kalon avies!

You know how much we could make on the black market with those!? Billions! lulz

But, really... Great job!

[Kathryn Lacey]

Yeah. They definitely do look really good. It's a good thing you have background experience in doll making. Is it all that different?

[Gadreille]

I'm going to siphon away all of his customers! buahaha!

Not really. This shtuff is hard.

In many ways doll making is easier. They have makers that you piece together the dolls, and good makers have lots of choices. Or, you can use a naked base and draw your own clothes, hair, accessories, etc, which also gives you a lot of freedom in terms of imagination, if you are good enough to draw what you want.

Kalon's avatars are hard because you are limited with what you can work with, and it doesn't come in pieces like a doll maker.

[Kathryn Lacey]

Ah, gotchya. I've "made" dolls before, but only using simplistic generators where you click and drag or whatever. I've also done pixel recolouring, but only in something like the Avatar Palace where it's made insanely easy. I don't think I could manage it with something like this.

[Kalon Ordona II]

You might want a bit more blending around the collar, Ryona, and you may wish to do a slight burn around the edge to give it a slightly darker outline. And possibly a touch more shadow along the hairline.

Great job on the face and the whole costume! I hardly recognize any of the elements you used. I'm impressed! I don't think I could have made the costume as expansive and flowing as you did!

I've forgotten what color scheme Dax requested, but you might try either darkening the tunic, or else making the overcoat-thingy sort-of gold-ish. All silver-gray like that makes it seem bland.


Edit:
Here's an eagle that might work. I decreased the color depth to 50 colors. It might be tough to make him look hand drawn....

[Gadreille]

Well, I have photoshop, and having photoshop is practically like cheating. I'm sure that with practice, any of you guys could do it I'm just a spoilt little amateur that got her hands on a copy of CS4!

Kalon, he wanted it either all white with silver or gold, and I went with silver. It was crazy hard to turn a dark green outfit into a white one, that is why the outline is faded. When I darkened it, it looked...odd.

As for the rest, I will edit it if dax wants me to, but I already popped out an avatar for him so I don't want to redo everything if I don't have to...

[Kalon Ordona II]

I know how THAT feels. xDDD

Yeah, now that I've downloaded GIMP, I can do much cooler stuff than I could before. xD CS4 is probably even better. (lucky!!)
I'm so glad I had to learn MS Paint, though. Having such intimate knowledge of pixels was probably great for my development. (right up until I learn about vectors.... we'll have to see about that, someday. )

Anyway this is great! I feel like a Sith Lord with a powerful Apprentice!
And you don't want me to be a Jedi, by the way. Otherwise I'll be forced to say things like "my very young apprentice," which would be odd, since you're actually older than me.

[Gadreille]

Lol that would be awkward.

I actually started out with MSPaint too, a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

[Kalon Ordona II]

Cool! Even more of a kindred spirit, I guess. ^^

Oh an hey! I just reallized! You were able to add a raven to yours, so I guess it makes sense for Dax to be able to have the eagle! xD

Where DID you get that raven, anyway? Did you make him yourself? (if so, that's really good!)

[Gadreille]

I cartoonized a picture of a raven I found on the net, but it needed some serious editing because it looked like a black blob. Frankly, I think I did much better on Dax eagle. I sent it to him via PM and he hasn't confirmed if he wants it this way, but here it is since you seem anxious to see it :

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