I would like to dedicate today’s comic strip to all you artists out there. Have you ever worked very hard on an image only to hate it to death as soon as you’re done? Well… that’s pretty much every image for me.
In any case, I’m finally done with the COMMISSIONATHLON, and let me tell you: I am beat. Seriously, I’m still tired. So I’ll be taking the rest of the week nice and easy and we’ll get back to our RPG campaign next week, if you don’t mind. In the meantime, I’ve been planing to build a portfolio with my artwork and sending it over to some of the larger gaming companies… I mean, why not give it a shot?
But that means I’ve got to decide which images should be on the portfolio and which ones I should just leave out. And if today’s comic serves as any guide, you know I just can’t decide on my own which ones are actually of high enough quality to build a professional art portfolio – so I need your help deciding.
Bellow, check out the gallery for all the artwork in the COMMISSIONATHLON and if you’ve got a minute, post a comment saying which ones you think should go in the portfolio. Please, don’t say which ones you don’t like, remember people paid me for these things and it would only make everybody feel bad to have a bunch of people agreeing that your image sucks. So just say which ones you think are the best and that would really help me build my portfolio.
Also, if you have another couple of extra minutes, why not go through the older gallery as well and see if you consider any of the images there to be portfolio-worthy? You can check out the gallery bellow.
Good hunting;
O
I really like days 9 and 13 for the portfolio, but that’s just me.
I would chose pictures 3-6, 9-11 and 15 of the COMMISSIONATHLON
just a small list, hope it helps
day07 battle maggot thingy
day09-a the steampunk thing
day04
day10
and from the older stuff:
alatariell024
024
005
golem-fixed
steampunk
tanktop
013
014
025
030
‘Thlon
day11 -artemis
day 07 – maggot rider
day13 – wild
day 01 – the exalted
day 05 – anachronistic higlander
And from the older gallery:
002
005
samus
011
golem-fixed
013
025
012
Man, I feel you! For me it’s usually on the next morning when I don’t like my art anymore. “The morning after” effect, hehehe. I really like Day 1, 2 and 13 from the newer stuff!
Heheh, yeah.. For me, I get very excited about an image, that I’ve just created, and show it to everyone, and a week after, I hate it..
I would try to pick images that show different styles, moods and techniques. So I would pick:
6 (day 13) – for outstanding colouring
10 (day 1) – a human (well mostly) figure with lots and lots of small details on it
2 (day 11) & 9 (day 3) – for different kinds of detailed background (that and the kitty is immensly cute – you can’t go wrong with that)
I also just noticed, that the guy in 15 has a real coffee-maker. ^_^
Ok, went through the bigger gallery. My bet would be on:
30 – so they know you can do vile monstrosities
15 (steampunk) – panoramic view with interesting clouds and lightning effects
9 (dragons at the table) – for all kinds of awsome
I can’t decide between 2, 8 and 20 – I adore the colouring on all of them
Wow, looking back at the older images, I just realized that you’re coloring, especially when it comes to metals, is a very noticeable improvement. I mean, it was good before, but in a side by side comparison your older stuff looks kind of dull.
For a portfolio, here would be my recommendations and the reasoning behind them. I’ll be listing them based on the names they have in the gallery.
Day 02 for more recent work with urban backgrounds
Day 09-a for a more recent… “atmospheric”? piece.
Day 01 is one of the better examples for your style and your character artwork.
Day 12 Pretty much the same as 01, but now including a non-human character.
Day 05 Again, pretty much the same as 01, but it’s a much simpler image than most of your work, so it’s good to add for variety.
Now, for your older work
dahkar This image simply has a very strong presence to it. Very memorable.
024 Is the only image showing the whole of a city.
steampunk I’ve retyped this bit twelve times. I just don’t know how to put my reasons for this one into words. Details on the ships though.
018 Is one the older character images where the now/then difference in coloring isn’t as drastic, but still noticeable. A good image for displaying your improvement I think.
021 Same as 018, but with the added bonus of displaying the sorts of details you do with clothing
029 The exact same thing as 021. I’d say probably include either 021 or 029, but not both.
015 For a black and white image. Really, I’d recommend having more of these, but considering the colored vs black and white ration in what you gave us, I chose to only recommend one.
I’d also recommend doing another black and white image, as well as a pencil image to represent more recent works like that.
My little list:
day6 – for scale thingy, panther, background
day8 – WoW based work, armour
day14 – manage to fit in all of this
day1(!) – dozens of little details
day10 – comic style based commission
Older works:
samus – game based art, dirty, worn out and cool
steampunk, 024 – landscape
025(!) – gore
015(!), 008, 002_0, 001_0 – different then others
dahkar
(The pictures with “!” at the end of name are strongly recommended by me)
For the commissionathlon, I would suggest day01, day02, day06 and day13.
I admit I haven’t watched all the older gallery but I have been impressed by dragons-at-the-table (i quote the awesomeness of this image!), steampunk (marvellous landscape, very particular) and alatariell (that’s fantastic!!!)
Without further ado- Thlon ’10 days 2, 11, 10. 6and 12 are also very good, i just like the previous ones better. As for the other gallery – Dahkar, 008, 005 , Golem Fixed (F-in EPIC ^^) samus (colors make her armor less candy and more believable), 002, 013, 013_0 and 015.
PS. Good work on the thlon. We love you for it every year a bit more
My favorite 4(in no particular order):
day 05
day 09-a
day 13
day 14
Honestly, though, I think they’re all great.
COMMISSIONATHLON 2010
day08-a (Steel)
day07 (The axe the pose)
day01 (I just love the detail, and the character)
day10 (the turtle makes my day)
—
The rest
008 (I got a thing for sketch)
002_0 (same as above)
024 (come is a live island, what else do you want)
005
dragons-at-the-table (hehehe love it)
steampunk
002
014 (necro elephant)
022 (find wally)
025
003 (destruction of the armor)
I like Your drawings more without digital editing.. Sophistication is totally lost for me, details too.. And too much war of warcraft everywhere…even here..but luckily I see You have a lot of fun with drawing tons of armors
I liked days 2, 4, 11, and 13, but I think 5 was also really good. Shows your ability to do amazing cloth.
Actually, put Day 7 & 1 in there too. Both are fantastic examples of detail in your work.
4,5,6,8, and 9 of the new set. They show off both your grasp of anatomy and your use of color and shading. 2, 8, and 14 of the older set for the same reasons. 29 for a detailed scene.
I really don’t understand how you can hate any of your pics. they are AWESOME!
But I certainly understand the feeling of hating your own work, haha…ha
First sET
1,4,5,7,8,10,12,13,15
Second set
1,2 ,6Just saw 1-6
Day 1, 5 and 9 from the commissionathlon, I don’t know why but the faces of the others seem a bit off to me :s or they are too WoW-centric which imo (from a port-folio point of view) isn’t a positive thing to have.
To be honest I don’t have time to check out the second gallery cos it keeps putting me to the top of the page when I hit next, and then I have to scroll down. Big pain in the rear end.
The day you stop finding faults in your art is the day you have learned nothing from what you just made. But, reminding yourself of how far you have come since earlier days is equally important.
I really loved Days 2, 4, 14 and 15. Beautiful artwork all round, incredible detail
From this year:
Day02 – nice detail, really tells a story
Day08 – nice composition
Day13: great use of light
Older gallery
Dahkar: awesome colors, very striking
002_0: great movement
Samus: awesome
Steampunk: really shows your imagination
Wow addict: great expressions & color
003: love the detail and action
Alatariell: of course i love this one, but i’m a little biased.
They are all awesome, O. Any game company would be crazy not to hire your talent. Best of luck to you.
002 from the older stuff was my favorite
day02; day11; day06; day13; day14; day09; day01; day 04 of the commissionathlon. They’re plain awesome, for their character renderization and great atmosphere and lighting effects.
of your original portfolio, 008 is gorgeous and greatly illustrates your ability do draw cloth.
I also choose Thaimor, Jedi Raccoon, the Monkey Cowboy Hacker.
Sorry. when it comes to art, as long as the skill is there, I tend to see the emotion/back story. And, though it took a ton of clicking, I loved most if not all of the pics.
I know that sounds cheesy, but that’s what I look for when I enjoy something. It’s the emotion behind it, and how much my mind is able to “read between the lines” and come up with/see the back story. I really need to make sure I save up and get in on the next commissionathlon…..
Hello O, of course, I would gladly say which ones I prefer! I hope it would help you a bit…
I realised too late that images’ titles are displayed, so I named them after their number in album (like day02 is picture 1 of 15 in Commissionathlon – so I named it “1″)
All right:
Commissionathlon album
1&2 – because they show how well you can design “normal” scenes (and they got great backgrounds)
7 – because it shows you can give your characters distinguish features and yo ucan make a group “photo”
9 – because it show how well you mix colors
10 – because it shows how many details you put in your characters
11 – because it’s very static and still has some “power” in it, also symmetry
13 – because it shows different, a bit humorous style
The rest (but it was hard to choose!)
2 – great character art
4 – black and white, a bit simpler yet still great, dynamic, one of your “clearest” b&w works (and also a beautiful woman!) – sometimes they’re looking for good b&w artists that know how to detail for example for manual book arts
7 – so peaceful
9 – it’s just so funny
14 – little colors, simple work but got its potential
15 – huge and still detailed, reminding some great movies like Mad Max or Waterworld
21 – mysterious!
29 – massive scene!
31 – some ancient, orient spirit
35 – another good, simple and very dynamic b&w art
39 – quite a different style
Really like Day 09 “The Steamboat”.
another thlong in december? signe me up, please
I just found this webcomic, and had to read it all. In two days. Good thing my work load is light right now.
My condolences on your loss of Arawn. I’ve had several cats in my life, and cared for them all, but one was special. He died four years ago, and I still miss him a lot. Your comic and words for Arawn express my feelings for my cat better than I ever could have myself.
In terms of your portfolio, I like the following. In thinking about why I liked them, I think there were two reasons. First, in many of them, I felt the characters were “more real”, they had an individual personality. Second, some were chosen to show off your expertise in a wide range of styles, from austere black and white to bright, cartoony color.
Day06
Day13
Day01
Day05
Dahkar
005
Dragons-at-the-table
Samus
013
001_0
I think a couple images from The Adventures of Dwarf and Elf (and Weretiger) should be added, too. You’ve been doing some good experiments with color over the last few months (or maybe more), and some of those are quite nice.
And, given the gaming world, you may want to add some rather more explicitly sexy images to your portfolio. No, not Carlos! But, for example, the second panel of 2010-02-05 (Perky).
Good luck!
Steampunk boat, undead maggot rider and sigil are probably the best.
Ultimately, I just went to this URL to see the second gallery, because it was jumping to the top of the page whenever I clicked “Next”.
http://www.commissionedcomic.com/wp-content/gallery/portfolio/