Cover art for my fanfiction

[Shiroiyuki]

Chapter 1 cover art:
http://img435.imageshack.us/img435/715/coverjpgpsd6yd.jpg (http://imageshack.us)Determination of the Damned (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2884826/1/)--link to story.

The lovely ancient dhampire Icellina, and her young partner Gabriel in a tight embrace. (Vampire Hunter D based)

[ryochan]

Wow. ive gotta say thats gorgeous ^_^
I love her pose, veru sexy. makes me want to read your story

[Animus]

Sexy, very sexy! @o@

[kila]

HOT! They're very gangely and vampire-like, and I love the position that they're in. Sorry, sorry, I have to dish some constructive criticism- the guys arms and one showing hand seem small, somewhat ill-proportioned to the rest of his body.

[Shiroiyuki]

Yeah, I know....I realized that after I colored it with photoshop @_@.

Oh well^_^.

[obake]

weither you made a mistake or not I think that drawing is awsome with a huge capital A

[taramangake1009]

she looks very pretty. I love the colors and the folds!

[DazzleKitty]

I really like that picture, especially how you did the girl's face and hair.

[Shiroiyuki]

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7075/beautyinchainspsd7fy.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Next one up, Chapter 2, Beauty in Chains.

I like this one because of the pose! Her little fidora hat is too cute ^_^.

[Animus]

Wow, too cool! The fidora is a nice touch to it, although it's a li'l dark, hard to see. The consistency of the character is right on. You have awesome talent!

[SlackerDude]

wow ! ! ! this is the first time i m seing your work :-O ...now i know where all that "constructive criticism" came from! is that the main character? (the hot vampire babe) .. i gotta tell you that s some main character :naughty:

the guys arms and one showing hand seem small, somewhat ill-proportioned to the rest of his body.

nah! .. i don't think the arm is small .. it just looks that way because it s lower part is projected tward the interior ... you know ... perspective .. things get smaller the farther they are .. besides theres no way a project of that scale could have such a petty mistake in it

i really have to congratulate you on the clothes design .. they seem so ...REAL! .. and, not only that :naughty: ... if only all chicks dressed up like that - as oposed to ...not waring any clothes at all :D

[Shiroiyuki]

Thanks both of you! Yeah, the chick is Icellina, the main dhampile (half-vampire, half-human) in my story. I really love her design--I tried a new way of drawing for her, Gabriel, and the newest character to join the story, Marle.

The background on the second pic is too dark, so it's hard to see so many of the cute little features, including the fidora and the frizzies in her hair. Next time I make a cover with her on it, I'll make sure to have a lighter background (like in the first pic).

The cover art for chapter 3 is almost finished (must....hurry...up...in...photoshop...) , and I'm already drawing the cover for chapter 4, which is due to come out in about two days.

Thanks again ^_^.

[Shiroiyuki]

Sorry for the double post.

Leader Desslock has recently informed me that the link I posted before for my actual story can only be used by members of Fanfiction.net.

Here is a new link that hopefully will allow you all to read my fanfiction easier. Please tell me if you still cannot view my story. Thank you.

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic/view_st.php/119407

[VidelCoolGirl]

Your art is really good. The face and especially the hair have really nice detail to it.

[Miduki]

Her nose is a bit weird. You might want to make it point downward, and shorten it a bit. Her lips are too close to the bottom of her face, and she dids a bit more of a chin in her profile. I am not a fan of the coloring, but that's personal preference.

[bowaZi]

since you wanted c&c i'll go ahead and do that right now

in the 1st picture:

- too many folds, now while the characters have a rather thin/gaunt look to them there's just not that many folds on cloth no matter how thin you get, it looks like he has a wrinkled shirt that's kinda floating a bit ... you need to see how folds are created when fabric is stretched, contracted, or draped down by gravity

- line quality, the most glaring of which is when you look at the side-boob, it's much too thick, normally it wouldn't be too obvious but you have some very fine lines in your drawing like the strands of hair that stick out of her braid ... when you have very thin lines like that lines that are too thick stick out more

- and back to shading, yes it is rather chaotic with the folds but one other thing is that it's hard to tell exactly where the light source is in the drawing, it also makes details hard to see ... i know that you tried to shade in his abdomen but since the shading is kind of awkward in that area all i see is patches of pubes sticking out of his unzipped pants

what to do :

folds : get some reference pictures, it's very hard to create folds just out of memory sometimes so just have some pictures handy from any fashion magazine

shading : again reference pictures, also it looks like you tried to shade with black in which case i will offer this advice to you ... do not shade with black ... ever (unless the object IS black ... but almost everything isn't), grey is still kinda iffy i'd rather go with a bluish-grey tone for a cool tone or reddish-grey for a warmer feel. i'll assume you're going for the comic book look since you inked your drawing with black lines so try to shade with larger blocks of color ... you put shading rather sparsely and it doesn't go too well with smooth black lines

inking : remember the side-boob, objects within the outline will ALWAYS have thinner lines, objects that are closer will have thicker lines and thinner when they are far away or no inked lines at all even when you're dealing with some background objects (like clouds and objects near the horizon)

anatomy : i could have been picky with this, but i decided not to ... just get a good reference book, there are many because getting anatomy right is difficult for all but the most practiced and experienced artist . when you hear someone say you should practice a more realistic style of drawing, they're probably right because it IS easier to make a stylized drawing when you have a background in realism (i'm in no way saying you HAVE to draw realism i'm just saying you HAVE to "practice" drawing realism ... theres a difference)

and lastly always always practice

oh i could have gone on and on but c&cing is hard work and i'm a rather lazy person

[Daydream]

I like the shoulders and back of Icellina in the 2nd cover, I can almost feel the push and pull of the muscles. Really cool. I'd be careful 'bout the legs though. The top of her inner thighs are curving too much when it gets to her crotch area, it's like she has tight elastic bands on her thighs. I would also like to see more contrast in the images. I don't mean you have to take away from the dark mood, just push the contrast in the shading/coloring and between different objects so that they're easier to recognize. And lastly, careful with the shading on the clothes. Clothes are really difficult, especially when it comes to folds. Sometimes larger areas of shadow define an obect/part of body better than lots of little ones. I find you don't need so many folds on Gabriel's clothes. I like all the little hairs sticking out in the first cover, nice touch. ^_^

(Posted too late, bowazi just mentioned some of this stuff, but I'll keep my post here.)

[Shiroiyuki]

Thank you both for taking the time to critique my artwork! I'm very pleased ^_^.

I will keep your helpful suggestions in mind when I sit down to draw the next cover featuring Gabriel and Icel.

This impresses me greatly--the two of you giving honest feedback. I am truly thankful.

I really hope the idea for the review 'sticky' goes through....more artists should benefit from this kind of posting!!!

Thanks again:).

[Daydream]

No problem! ;)

[Rain]

I think both cover arts are pretty awesome. I can't offer you any serious critique 'cause I'm not an artist.

Did you draw those? You've got some talent, well at least much more than me.

[TheDemonSlayer]

Yeah I agree, and it looks like it definitely took alot of time and effort to perfect the characters. I'll definitely try to read the story when I get the chance, but nice work.

[Shiroiyuki]

Thanks for the comments ^_^.

Here is my next work-in-progress. I've decided to try something different for this cover. Instead of drawing in a regular pencil, inking, and then scanning and using photoshop--I'm doing everything in a blue colored pencil. I like it so far, it's very.....moody?

Well, whatever the case, I like it. It's still very rough, and unfinished (D is so not even there yet @_@), but...because of somebody else's thread, I've decided to show you all the process I go through instead of just the finished piece. Cheers!
http://img425.imageshack.us/img425/1653/coverprogress6ix.th.jpg (http://img425.imageshack.us/my.php?image=coverprogress6ix.jpg)

Tell me what you think so far...but, I'm afraid I can't change anything that is already dark. D, however, is seriously fixable. Oh, Icellina's leg is not bumpy like that. Just view the bigger version. I don't know why it condensed that line....it is really smooth, don't worry.

Btw, D is holding Icellina. She isn't floating there. I know it's light, but a rough outline for his hands are there (one on her leg, the other on her arm).

[shin_gyokakuran]

When i first viewed your drawings i think it was very stylized and unique >that is, in a good way<. :thumbsup: Keep up the good work! :lol:

[SlackerDude]

ok you drew THAT in pencil ? tell me you used something with a thin tip like a 0.5 or a 0.7 or else i m gonna have seizure! damn!

anyway, since you can change some parts of the drawing that aren't well darkened, i guess i can lay out a hand of constructive criticism .. here goes :

the foldings on her left elbow and above are a little exagerated .. if i were you i'd draw the glove more simple from there

that s the only mistake i saw .. other than that it's pretty much flawless

by the way, how did you do in the AN art contest? *defeated T_T*

[Shiroiyuki]

^Nope, didn't win either....

Oh well, maybe next year. Oh, and I did that with a ticonderoga light blue colored pencil...

It wasn't really sharp during most of the art process (since I'm lazy, and the sharpener is all the way in the other room), but I managed ^_^.

[Shiroiyuki]

Sorry for the double post, but I just wanted to give you a little update on my current 'unfinished' projects. I've been trying to multi-task between cover art (chapters 3-6) and actually writing the fanfiction @_@. Right now, I've started each chapter but haven't finished any of them yet. Yeah, I know....I'm getting lazy or something. Again, view the largest size available...the smaller version gets all mangled and screwed up <_<

Anywho, here are chapter's 4, 5, and 6 cover art (each a work-in-progress).
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/3379/coverinprogress15lg.th.jpg (http://img144.imageshack.us/my.php?image=coverinprogress15lg.jpg)
http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6576/victorianicellinatif6ko.th.jpg (http://img92.imageshack.us/my.php?image=victorianicellinatif6ko.jpg )
This one is my baby:
http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/51/familyportraitinprogresstif4yv.jpg

I think I'm going through my blue period right now ^_^. It will end soon--I'm using a Terra-cotta colored pencil for my chapter 7 cover art as we speak. I have to admit that these later covers really don't have anything to do with their chapter's contents, but I just love the designs so much that I'm using them regardless :). Oh, well...I'll finish them soon (hopefully).

[Daydream]

I love drawing with hard-lead, colored pencils! They're just so fun to use. I find your quality of line and shading look really good in pencil. I prefer it to your inking, then shading in Photoshop. But what part are you doing in Photoshop this time? Do you have a tablet? I think it could look really nice if you shade everything in pencil, and in Photoshop: fill in what's not shaded, change your pencil colors, and hilight. But that's just a suggestion and probably simpler with a tablet. I know you have a very stylized style, but I still find the heads rather large for the characters' bodies.
(Shiroiyuki, if you respond to this and I don't respond back, I'm not being rude, it's because I'm gone and won't be back for a while ^_-)

[Shiroiyuki]

Oh, well....I really wasn't going to use photoshop for these last covers. I didn't know how that would go over to tell you the truth.

I'm doing everthing by hand on these last few covers, since I have greater control over my pencil lines and shading if I do it by hand. I might touch them up with photoshop, but for now it isn't going to be used for too much.

^_^

[Katsuma]

Wow, 'Yuki I'm impressed. My favorites are all the ticonderoga pencil drawings. They look so clean and unique. You should put those on 'Deviant Art'. They look awesome, keep up the progress.

[396fire]

I am really impressed with the picture. I wish that i could shade like that. Very nice, I would buy it if i saw it on the shelf.
:)

[Shiroiyuki]

Well, here is my latest Icellina-based drawing. I'm not sure if I want to turn this into a cover or not...but decided that I might as well add it to this thread (since it is part of the Determination of the Damned fandom).


Hmmm....I think I'll try coloring this later. Please tell me what you think!!!
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/6231/prettyicellinapsdaa8.jpg


I'm hotlinking this picture into the thread--if it is too big, please just say so. I'll edit my post and replace the picture with its thumbnail version ;)

[Shiroiyuki]

Hmmm, well I guess no one is going to take interest in my latest creation. That's okay, I guess I'll just double post anyway, to add the previous picture's toned version. Now, I do not have any screentones per se (since they are expensive), so I did this all using photoshop and various techniques. This is my VERY FIRST attempt at laying [virtual] tones, so it may not live up to more advanced standards. My apologies :P Please tell me what you think, how I could improve, anything you might like to comment on, etc. I appreciate it greatly ^_^.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1159/prettyicellinatonedaw3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[kiyomi]

ahhhhhhhhhhhh....Shiroisan!!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is that good enough??

Now where's the 5 bucks you promised me..

Seriously tho..I really do love it!! Can you make a guy pic for me?

Maybe with a cape...**drool** :P

[Tushae]

WOW !!!! what she said , I really really REALLY love that pic ^_^, the first ones great but the second one looks awesome. teach me ! teach me! lol

[kiyomi]

sorry to go off topic here..but Tushae..you actually go by that "schedule" of yours in your sig?? If so..LOL! If I get to bed by 8p.m., I'd consider myself LUCKY. *sigh*

anyway, just had to comment on that.

and Shiroisan..keep up the great work and I want to see MORE of it! :naughty:

[Tushae]

sorry to go off topic here..but Tushae..you actually go by that "schedule" of yours in your sig?? If so..LOL! If I get to bed by 8p.m., I'd consider myself LUCKY. *sigh*

anyway, just had to comment on that.

and Shiroisan..keep up the great work and I want to see MORE of it! :naughty:

lol, i don't follow that schedule exactly but i do try and do a bit of everything from it every day.

I did try and follow that schedule to the letter for a week but at the end of it, i was sooo tired lol ..

BTW Shiroiyuki

Do you have like a website or a deviant art page where i can look at some more of you cool stuff. ^_^

[Daydream]

The screen tone work is good, but I like the first one better. Your lines have a delilcacy that make the drawing a pleasure to look at. The screen tones take the attention off of those nice lines. Of course, it'd be boring for you to never color anything in.

[Shiroiyuki]

Can you make a guy pic for me?

Maybe with a cape...**drool** :P

Sure Kiyomi! Did you want him colored in, or toned? Either way is fine by me ^_^...

Oh, did you want this said guy to be...a vampire *sigh* because that I can DEFINITELY do! :P

Do you have like a website or a deviant art page where i can look at some more of you cool stuff.

Well, yes and no. I do have a website for my artwork, but it hasn't been updated in quite some time--so all my artwork is out of date and looking rather ugly compared to my new stuff. I should really fix it up--add my current works and take down my old drawings, but I don't know if I'll get to that any time soon :(. It takes a lot of work....and the last time I went to update, it didn't save my page *Shrugs*. I *did* have a deviant art account, but I only had two pictures on it--and I can't remember my password or username (I'm thinking it is Shiroiyuki, but it could be a number of things). If I do remember the information, I'll make sure to update that page and save the link in my siggy ^_^.

Thank you everyone!

[SAB-CA]

Very nice for digital tones, especial for ones in photoshop. I haven't tried to do Photoshop tones since 6.0, and I just got upgraded to 9.0, and just started to enjoy coloring with it...

What where the techs you used anywho? I downloaded the demo to Manga Studio 3.0 debut edition, but haven't really taken too much time with it yet. It DOES seem to rock, though, if you have the patience/capacity to wanna learn the thing.

Oh, and in my case, even as much as I love linework, I like the tone pic better in this case ^_^ Probably because the lines are darker and easier to see in the tones one, and on this laptop screen of mine, too-light = just not good for viewing.

So yes, if this is your first tone work, It'll be great to see what your next ones look like!

[Shiroiyuki]

What where the techs you used anywho?

Well, I actually cheated (in a way) and just scanned in actual screentones to overlay and make patterns out of in photoshop :P.

I didn't know if Photoshop had a section of screentones built in or not, or if I needed to go get a program (like Manga Studio for instance) in order to work with tones...so I just avoided the hassel and cut corners ^_^. I'm actually surprised that I was able to do anything at all, considering the novice approach I took!

[kiyomi]

Shiroisan..I want a Vampire Guy!! Long black hair..piercing blue-green eyes, basically, just smoking HOT, okay? And in full blown color!

Thanks! :naughty:

[SAB-CA]

Ahhh, you did quite a nice job for scanning in your own tones. It apparently can be pretty hard to get those to look right (since you have to perfect the pattern to get them to work, as I'm sure you know) so I hear that can be pretty annoying.

Photoshop has the "halftone pattern" filter somewhere in it's list (I know it did in 6.0), but there are loads of brushes online that one can download and use... here's a link to a great list of screentone resources! I haven't been back here since geting CS2, so I dunno how anything not useable on 6.0 works there, yet:

http://psychobob.xepher.net/screentonez/

Maybe you can find some helpful things, there! ^_^

[SlackerDude]

photoshop has virtual tones??? i thought you did those in manga studio 3.0 .. anyway your artwork rocks more than anyone elses and lemme tell you i am incredibly gelous
i would have to wonder though how long have you been using this stile of yours for, 'cause .. well .. ok i'm gonna be forward with this ... i ...don't really like the way you draw lips *quickly puts on bullet proof vest and a frying pan pn head* .. can't really put my finger on it, but the lips could be somewhat more ..um..tender and sexy, you should probably cut back on a few lines, make them more simple and thicker .. anyway i hope you don't feel like striking me down with something heavy and blunt right now that was just an attempt on constructive criticism
ok, that's one .. secondly, would you be interested in an art trade? pm me if you are k?

[Shiroiyuki]

Shiroisan..I want a Vampire Guy!! Long black hair..piercing blue-green eyes, basically, just smoking HOT, okay? And in full blown color!

Thanks! :naughty:

You got it Kiyomi! I'm actually almost done with drawing him (I started last night...hoping you would like a vampire guy), I just need to fix his hair. I'll try finishing up the actual line art part in a little while, and color later on. With any luck, you'll have your artwork by tomorrow (although, no guarantee there....I could suddenly get called into work or something -_-).

Oh! Question! Did you want me to PM you with it...or could I simply add it to this thread? I know, this thread is for my 'cover art' and art revolving around my fanfiction..but I think since the request was made here, it wouldn't hurt anything. Either way is fine by me Kiyomichan!


here's a link to a great list of screentone resources! I haven't been back here since geting CS2, so I dunno how anything not useable on 6.0 works there, yet:

http://psychobob.xepher.net/screentonez/

Maybe you can find some helpful things, there!

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH, SAB-CA! Oh my goodness, this is going to make my life so much easier! Thank you again!!! *bows*

i ...don't really like the way you draw lips *quickly puts on bullet proof vest and a frying pan pn head* .. can't really put my finger on it, but the lips could be somewhat more ..um..tender and sexy, you should probably cut back on a few lines, make them more simple and thicker .. anyway i hope you don't feel like striking me down with something heavy and blunt right now that was just an attempt on constructive criticism
ok, that's one .. secondly, would you be interested in an art trade? pm me if you are k?

Hmm...well, I guess I could try to soften up the lips the next time around ^_^. I just figured they worked with the rest of the artwork (fits into the style or whatnot), but I'll try to make them a little more 'girly' the next time I go to draw Icel in all her glory :P.

Art trade? Hmmmm...well, don't call me stupid, but what is that? Is it just a collaboration or something? O_O HAHA, sorry I guess I'm a n00bie after all ;)

[kiyomi]

Shiroisan..just post it in here..it's okay with me hun! *wnik*

and Slackerdude..she doesn't hit anyone with the frying pan..that was ME, that used to do that. The Pan has since been retired..so..no fear of blunt objects..tho..I do have some Napalm laying around here...somewhere..

muwahaha..

[Shiroiyuki]

Okay, here is the thing Kiyomichan:

I have the rough sketch here for you right now....and I'll try and have the colored version done by tomorrow. I'm so sorry it's been taking so long--I really tried to have it done by yesterday, but things came up <_<. Anyway, hopefully the rough sketch will give you an idea of what the finished version will look like!

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/7386/kiyomipicturebu2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^_^

[kiyomi]

Oh my GOD! ***THUD**

I love it!!

Thank you sooooo much Shiroisan!!

Can't WAIT for the colored verson!!

Now..if only he was real...no..wait..then he'd be prettier than me..

Strike what I said.... :P

But he's just too yummy looking!!***DROOL***

(And so WHAT if I'm acting like a 2yo..I dig the Vamps..so sue me..)

[Shiroiyuki]

Okay--here is the colored version Kiyomi. Sorry if it looks a little funky, I really had a difficult time trying to preserve the original linework, which I really failed at doing @_@. That thing in the background was originally supposed to be the moon, but I went a little crazy on its design ^_^. I really hope you like it--if not I'm willing to redo it (or even simply screentone it--since I need the practice :P).

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2481/kiyomipicture2psdej3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[kiyomi]

Oh dear god..DON'T change a thing to it!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!

Thank you so much for drawing him up!!

Now I can print and save it..******DROOL******

[Itendtolosealot]

Hmmmmmm I dont know but I like the sketch a bit better, the image looses proportioning when its psed you should try to play with the faces more and create better proportions its would make it look that much better nt.

[Shiroiyuki]

Well, it was a debate whether to put these new sketches in this thread or my other art thread...but in the end, this one won. The following pencil sketches are Vampire Hunter D based (when they feature him or not) and are not completed. I still am in the rough phase on pretty much all of them. Plan on inking a few of them, coloring, etc.

Yes, I know her eyes aren't drawn in yet. I wasn't sure whether to have her looking at D or else where. Didn't want to draw anymore before planning ahead of time and whatnot.
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/5038/iceldmc8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/8355/iceldw3.th.jpg (http://img296.imageshack.us/my.php?image=iceldw3.jpg)

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/734/icelposeax8.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=icelposeax8.jpg)

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/9940/icelumbrellavs5.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=icelumbrellavs5.jpg)

[SlackerDude]

Ah! I see you changed your style and put some meat on your characters.Extra points for that^_^ They were a little skinny before.

By the way, when are we going to see some comics from you? Now that I think about it you've improved a lot, so why not go for it? :naughty: