Custom "Kali" card art

[zuludelta]

I'm doing card art for forum member galen for his custom figure "Kali" (see the Kali custom GI Joe figure here (http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-joe-customs/36056-kali-galen.html#post633466)). Here's a thumbnail of the work in progress:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_wipcopy.jpg

[zuludelta]

More progress:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_wip2.jpg

[daremo]

Custom art of a custom figure? Awesome! I can't wait to see the final product.

[zuludelta]

Custom art of a custom figure? Awesome! I can't wait to see the final product.

I'm having quite a bit blast with this, as it combines three of my interests: GI Joe, digital painting/airbrushing/photomanipulation, and eskrima/kali/arnis (not that I'm any good at it).

With the amount of talent on these forums, I'm actually a bit surprised we don't see more custom card art threads.

[zuludelta]

Okay, here's the final image (more or less):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_no_layers.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/100_1334.jpg

I tried as much as possible to get him to look beyond just "generic Asian," but a more specific "Southeast Asian" as detailed by galen in his write-up for the character. I hope I succeeded.

I might do some more tweaks over the next couple of days.. but right now I just want to get away from the image (I've been working on it for the last 7 hours or so) and come back to it after a day, and maybe I'll see some things that can do with some fixing/changing).

[zuludelta]

can't seem to make up my mind with this image... here it is before applying the brush stroke filter:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_no_layerscopy.jpg

Personally, I prefer this one, but the problem is that it looks more like a CGI model from a Final Fantasy VIII cut scene than the traditionally painted GI Joe card art.

[galen]

nice work! Thanks Z!

[zuludelta]

nice work! Thanks Z!

You're welcome... like I said earlier in this thread, it's a very welcome distraction and a lot of fun to work on since it ties directly into my interests. I studied kali/eskrima/arnis when I was younger (specifically, the Modern Arnis system developed by the late Remy Presas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remy_Presas)) as part of my high school phys ed classes and have had a fascination for the art ever since.

[M_renegade]

can't seem to make up my mind with this image... here it is before applying the brush stroke filter:

*snip*

Personally, I prefer this one, but the problem is that it looks more like a CGI model from a Final Fantasy VIII cut scene than the traditionally painted GI Joe card art.

Don't worry too much, looks good. In any case, do two versions of it, and that's it :)

I suggest that you make the head a bit smaller.
Also, instead of using the brush stroke, you could try raising the contrast slightly, and sharpening a bit (is on the filters options). Or try this after adding the brush stroke. That would make it look a bit more like a drawing.
And remember that a white background "blinds" the eye; you should make the white big bang behind the character more yellowish instead of so many white area.

A tip to look which figure looks better is to throw a bucket of grey in the white background. You'll see better the details. :)

[zuludelta]

I suggest that you make the head a bit smaller.

I actually modeled the image after a picture of myself (not the muscles, of course, but the general body proportions)... and I have a huge noggin :D.

you should make the white big bang behind the character more yellowish instead of so many white area.

I'm toying with the idea of using the "digital" explosion background from the 1986 GI Joe card art, since they have more yellow than the earlier background explosions from older card art.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[zuludelta]

Different filter, reduced the size of his head, upped the contrast:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_no_layerscopy2.jpg

[zuludelta]

cross-posted from Galen's custom figure thread:

Well, the card art is finished. Click on the thumbnails below to view the images:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_no_filters_final_smallest.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_no_filters_final_small.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_card_front_smallest.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_card_front_small.jpg) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_card_back_smallest.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/dltesterzfd/kali_card_back_small.jpg)

[galen]

Great work, Z!

This guy can do both custom figures and custom card art, rare breed of customizer!

Salamat!

[M_renegade]

Looks great, dude. A complete work. :)

Since you seem to know a lot of this, you should do a Cobra guy with Filipino blades (they're awesome). A kind of nemesis to this guy!