[lostpapers]

I'm a fan of the FF serie, but FFX was not really interesting me for the moment. This is the first pic I see that amazed me about FFX!

Excellent work!!!

I'm really impressed by your technique. how you go from simple patch of colors that describe lighting ( light the right arm of the man on the picture ) to this result is a mystery I would like to solve!



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- Ben
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http://lostpapers.free.fr

[A. Mount]

Certainly not your average Joe Mad. Good to see he's playing around again.

Nicely done, Chris. Just abstract enough to make it organic, but it's got those stunning Liquid! flats that you don't get too much of around the digital art parts. Brilliant job conveying light on parts like the sword handle.

Cheers,

a.

[Morbid Guy]

That is some gorgeous colouring job Liquid!
Looks really class man. Awesome.

[Tovart]

Waaaaay cool! though his face seems much more muscular then in the CG's. amazing nonetheless.

...Pity you can't see tida's (the guy) kick ass sword!!!

[agent44]

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. This is one of my favorites to date from you.

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agent44

[Chapel]

Chris: Was the pic posted on joemadureira.com an earlier version? The colors are so much richer in yours and the arm looks more finished here than on the other one.

[Dthind]

to quote Keanu Reaves "Whoa"

way cool man

[micke]

perfect

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Mikael's artwork

[Rinaldo]

Top Stuff.

a few quick comments if I may.
It seems that you are maybe in "line art mode" a bit too much (for lack of a better description). a few places are loosing definition and readability due to the edges not being defined. areas like where his hand is on her shoulder (around tha area with the hair decoration etc.) and where her hand is on his chest are good examples of this. if the lines were there is would read beautifully. and it's doing just fine like it is. However...I would (and this could be attributed to style I suppose but I'm thinking of it from an objective point of view) have played the edges off each other more. make the different elements receed or pop out etc. like the hair decoration thing. to me it's getting lost with what's behind it. that whole area confuses me. not enough emphasis on what's most important. again if the lines were there it would work fine.

you probably did it like this on purpose it works as a style I suppose. but it is loosing definition in places which is something that is above style (in my book anyway) you and Joe probably have it all worked out as well so I'm missing the bigger picture no doubt.
just something that came to mind while trying to nitpick

her hand looks too dark to me on another note. possibly the hue is too simmilar to his chest.

but yeah, Kewl shtuff

[Tree Merchant]

So inspiring!

I literally look forward to seeing the Liquid! name on any item of print. When I go to the comic store I just look for the Liquid! signature on the cover art. That seriously dictates which books I even pick up. I love you.

(kidding about that last part :P)

-TM

[digitalmar]

Man, you have to convince Joe Mad to do either a whole issue of Battlechasers in this "painted" style (sorry inkers) or at least a one-shot.

I'm sure Joe creamed when he saw this. . .

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We were born to create. It is our lot in life.

[Liquid!]

Holy mother of god... I post, go to bed, wake up, and BAM! a slew of responses... wow.

Thanks for the overwhelmingly positive comments! The piece is obviously quite a departure from the usual, so not getting completely slammed is really nice.

I didn't expect this many comments. I'll sit down later tonight and try to respond as best as I can. Regardless, a sincere thank-you for all the kind remarks.

-c

[Seraphire]

Well, that just kicks my ass. Pimpage. Perfect word for it. Bigger version, please!

Chris,
How about more of a background? Text will probably fill up the white area, and is probably why you left it that way. But it looks kindof empty to me now.

The lighting is very unnatural. Typical Liquid. I think with these characters, colors, and style, a more natural lighting may work better.

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The Groove is in the Heart!

Seraphire
Michael Jon Birkhofer
Seraphire's Cafe/ Digital Evolution

[kombosagi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lukias:
Joe Madureira.......he's not a bad artist.......

---

r u f#$kin crazy? not bad. either you're trying to be subtle or you've lost your mind. He's the one!



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kombosagi!
"wun-sik-puppy"

[Imhotep]

Wow. Wow.
I don't post much but damn, this is an awe-inspiring image. Incredible!!! My favorite Picture by Mad with your beautiful colors.


I love this new style, I even like it better then the cuts stuff. IMHO if you guys at Liquid changed style every other comic colorist would change to, then it would be boring.


Again, one of my all time favorite images!


[This message has been edited by Imhotep (edited February 07, 2001).]

[phreaknasty]

sweet jebus....

this is certainly my favorite work of yours to date. if it were any larger i'd follow francis's lead and make it my desktop pattern, but alas its is so ennsee. i wish joe's site had posted the original sketch (as they often do) rather then just say they got a new drawing and then post your work. seems you guys have a great working relationship so i'm sure its not a problem, i'm just bumbed that without his sketch my attempts to reverse engineer the process will be greatly hampered . i'd be my fondest dream to see the process for a painting like this from start to finish (original sketch, final pencil, ink (or not), a couple of coloring steps and the final product. . oh how we dream.

anyways. sweet. keep em coming. i dig seeing your "off-beat" stuff

"he beat me"

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www.pixeljock.com

[This message has been edited by phreaknasty (edited February 07, 2001).]

[McSteed]

One thing I noticed is that everything has the same shine to it. Like everything is made from the same material just different colors.

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Chris the Great
www.mcsteed.com

[Seph|roth]

Man, just when I thought that you couldn't possibly get any better, you show us this. what can I say, I love it. Its beautiful work.
I'm a huge fan of the FF series and well, to be honest, FFX didnt seem to intrigue me, but after seeing this, my god, you'll be sure that I'm gonna pick up a copy of PSM this month or the next, whenever this issue comes out

Seriously, great work man, you got a lot of praise and compliments here, dont think we're going easy on ya, its just cuz its so damn amazing..

Keep up the amazing work man, you and Joe make an outstanding team !

Cheers

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- Seph -
Listen Without Prejudice

[Francis]

Yeah, Chris, when you get back to this I'd love to hear a little about how you guys worked together, discussed, tested, etc. I love this piece A LOT. It's my desktop at home right now.

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Francis Tsai
TeamGT Studios

Conceptual Design Forum

[SporQ]

i agree with phreaknasty. i'd love to see the sketch you got, just to see how much it changed.

SporQ

[CeRbErO]

I wanna learn to colors like that! I wanna learn to color like that!!!

That's one of my major problems with my drawing, I get less motivated for doing drawings when I can't color it...
This makes me even more sad...

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Johan Sahl�n aka CeRbErO
www.cerberodesign.net

[Liquid!]

Sorry for double-posting.


[This message has been edited by Liquid! (edited February 08, 2001).]

[Liquid!]

[EDIT: Since this is such a monster ramble I waaaaaay exceeded the smiley allowance. So please insert your own smiley's at the appropriate times... If in doubt err on the side of my terribly dry humor. OR... just GRIN throughout the entire post as you read it.]

Ok. I got deadlines up the ying-yang, but I'll try to do the best I can here. First off, as mentioned before, thanks to everyone who took the time to post.

I can't really post a bigger version of this, since this image is owned by PSM. They're already being very kind to let us post this one. There is a slightly bigger version at Joe's site, but if you really want a bigger version of this I would recommend that you email them at PSM and tell them to make a poster out of this or ask them to post a bigger version at their website. I'll check in with them myself, but I don't want to impose upon them too much. Either way though, they're really supercool over there, and truly care about their readers. So I'm sure if enough people show interest it'll make a difference.

Onwards.

SOCAR � I agree. Joe has a much tougher take, and seems to know what to emphasize or what not to, to maximize the coolness� Joe's been wanting do to a Final Fantasy cover for a while. We did a cover for IX, but through some sort of mistake it didn't get printed�

CHAPEL � Coffee?! Just kidding.

CAP� Thanks! This is actually more time consuming for me. But that is mainly because this is somewhat of a new way of doing things, so there is more of a learning curve. I sort of have a picture of what I ultimately want in my head, but I still have to find ways to get there. If I get a chance to do more of this sort of thing I think you'll see a progression in style. Hopefully ability too! Plus, when you're putting this much information down in color, it is a very delicate balance to make sure that the original artists work is still distinguishable. The last thing I want to do is steamroll over Joe's work. Also, there is the added burden of working for print. To me that is the most difficult part, because making things look good on screen isn't all that hard. Paper is a different story all together.

FLINT/AKOLYTE � Pimpage!

RAGE � I think Joe slightly drew it differently than he normally would, knowing this would be a different approach.

WALDO � Her hand was a conscious decision, and so was the lesser work on his lower torso. This is an image for the newsstand, so you're really aiming to play up certain parts. Same reason for some of the color. That is not to say that you aren't right. Just a choice I had to make. As far as his jaw is concerned, I'm still learning�

VORTX � Feng, I'll check with the PSM guys, but I don't want to push my luck! They might be more agreeable once this cover has hit and they've gone onto other things. Maybe I can make a bigger print and bring it up sometime� That's if you guys will have me again. I'd love to see more the stuff you've been working on, but I'm guessing you can't release it yet�?

PS: Say hi to Tim for me please � he was very kind to put up with us for such a long time. Great host � and its much appreciated!

EDLEE � I saw your posts earlier, they're awesome. Sorry I didn't get a chance to drop a note in the thread, but I really dug them a lot. Damn you blur guys� TOO GOOD! Argh.

You got it. I'm not too familiar with Cornwell, but I really love Leyendecker, the man was pure genius. I was turned on to his stuff fairly recently and its been really inspirational. So if there's a little influence showing I couldn't be happier.

POPPY � Thanks! I'm, not sure. I don't do anything special with reds. As you may have noticed though I have a natural tendency for a brighter colors. Although, I always try other stuff too� And yes, you should post more of your comic art! I loved the Hellboy you did!

JASON �The reason there isn't really any rendering, was on purpose. Joe drew this piece knowing that we were going to do this, so he left it pretty open for us. However, all the information needed was fully there. We had been planning on doing something a bit different for quite a while now, but we were just trying to figure out when and where. Lucky for us, the guys at PSM are really cool, so they gave us a lot of freedom to try new stuff. Why not just do this stuff on BC you might ask? The problem is that even though BC is his book, its difficult to suddenly do a 180, because you don't know how the fans will react. Afterall, they come to expect a certain thing, and you have to maintain a certain consistency for the sake of the story. So while doing smaller nuance changes is ok, big ones is sort of tough and risky. As mentioned before we knew we'd get a kick out of this, but really had no idea how others would feel.

NOVA � I feel the same way. You should let them know that, since I think they may start using more CG Characters on their covers, rather than drawings.

MILK � I've told joe about the board, but feel free to go to www.joemadureira.com, he frequently pokes his head in when deadlines allow, and I think emails are forwarded to him too. As far as the BROM character goes, I don't think it was an homage, but I'd have to ask him about it. Personally, I think he's truly incredible, one of those guys I never get tired of looking at�

FREDDIO/BUTTLE � Thanks! It is more painterly and less plastic� I still really like doing shiny stuff too, this is just a different animal. I like them both for different reasons. I didn't save the intermediates of the pic, but I went through a lot of trial-and-error to figure out what looked good to me and what didn't, so I doubt they would have made much sense looking back. But the overall approach wasn't any different from what I imagine most guys on the board do here. I put in the basic colors and started rendering them.

LIQUIDMTL/ARTKEO � You guys are being waaaay too nice. But thanks!

JOACHIM � Thanks! Still not what I have in my head, afterall people in real-life don't walk around with Black halos, but trying to get there�

DINO � I like Painter quite a bit, but this piece was done in PhotoShop. I'd like to do more in the future, but its very much up to Joe if he feels like doing more of it� I don't ever want to overpower his work.

BEN � Thanks, but when I figure out how to go from a simple patch of color to light, I'll let you know� Something I continually struggle with, and when I see people like Craig masterfully giving shape to the complex in a few simple strokes I have nothing but complete awe for it�

TOVART � Cool! The first Tida figure that Joe drew looked much older and was even more defined� but they wanted him to look more like his 17. So he changed it.

CHAPEL � The other version is the one that Joe prefers. Also keep in mind that most likely we all see something slightly different depending on the color calibrations on our screens. I know the pics never look the same between my 3 monitors� ARGH. Then add paper to the mix and you have true disaster.

RINALDO � Great points! I'm not sure if the readability will be increased in print, it might since there is a bit more detail than what you see, but I think you're right about it. Especially the hair decoration. So I doubt your missing the bigger picture� Her hand on his chest is a conscious decision.

TREE - Thanks so much. Actually means a lot to us!

DIGITAL � We've been talking about an ultra-top-super-duper-secret project , but we're not sure exactly, how, when and where� The positive feedback on this is no doubt a boost, and I think when people get a glimpse of that, they'll have another take on his work. Ultimately, its up to Joe. I just show up where they tell me to�

FRANCIS � Francis, thanks! I'm not sure what exactly you'd want to know. You can ask me in person when I visit Presto. But overall here's the process. Joe and I are pretty good friends and seem to have pretty similar ideas and tastes about art in general, movies and other junk� We've been working together for quite a while, so we're usually on the same page. On this piece he had seen a superman I had painted a while back and thought we should try something along those lines. We discussed how much he needed/wanted to put down on the page in terms of drawing, and whatever preferences he had in terms of color. There's not much to it since they are established costume colors, and for covers of this nature you really can't take liberties, since the average fan needs to recognize these characters. I think shadowing out the front of Tita's face was already more than most magazines would let you do. Again, credit goes to PSM for letting us do it. Personally, my main concern was to make sure that the drawing remained as true as possible to Joe's initial outline. Hopefully that worked. We really didn�t end up tweaking it too much. We weren't allowed to put a background in since they prefer white. I put in the "strokes" in the white, but wasn't sure if they would/will leave them in or not. That's about it.

SERA � Thanks. I can't as mentioned before. Maybe they'll let me do it later. The background wasn't our idea. They actually wanted white. I just thought white fading into strokes might be cool� I guess my homage to Leyendecker It's going to look more crowded with all the text and the sidebar on the left, that may alleviate some of the emptiness. I'm not sure what you mean by the lighting. In general, the most important thing about magazine covers is that they catch your attention and make you buy the magazine. In other words, it really isn't about what is cool, right, pretty, or anatomically correct, rather what grabs your attention. If it grabs the attention AND does the aforementioned then that's gravy. So if different lighting could achieve that then it would be awesome. You'd be surprised at how many changes I've made over the years to pieces that ROCKED � because an editor-in-chief had a different opinion of what will sell more magazines. In other words, when someone else is paying the bill, then you don't necessarily get to do what you want, but what they NEED. That is true of all commercial art. I wish my only constriction in doing this was to make things look cool. It never is. I have editors that tell me I can't use whole ranges of certain colors. Regardless of what the drawing necessitate. I have editors that tell me to only use bright colors, and others that demand a grayer palette, some that want less rendering, some that want more on certain parts, but less on others, Etc. The list is endless. Sorry about the rant. Just want people to know that we very rarely get to work in a total creative vacuum.

PHREAK/SPORQ � I didn't really notice it. While Joe has a lot of input and participates in the site, all the nitty-gritty is run by several volunteers. I think I noticed in the past that their emphasis is less on coloring and more on drawing and inking � that might have something to do with it. Either way, its not a problem. I asked Joe about posting the lineart, however he asked me not to. I think he is planning on putting the actual penciled image on his site. So I guess check back on his site�

MCSTEED � Point well taken.

SEPH � Thanks man! It's REALLY nice to get all these compliments. More so, when its something that is sort of an experiment. So its doubly appreciated. Although, criticism is always welcome� just try to spare my feelings�


Phew. That took a bit. I hope my ramblings made sense. It's late, and I'm sure when I read this in the morning it's going to sound really, really goofy.

Anyhow, thanks again to everyone for taking the time to type all the nice remarks. It's truly appreciated. I don't ever mind critiques and criticism, but praise always seems to go over a bit better�

-c





[This message has been edited by Liquid! (edited February 08, 2001).]

[Chapel]

I'm not sure about that coffee remark, but I can't make it.. I make a vicious Alabama Slammer though.. doesn't keep you awake but after 2 of them you don't really care anymore.

[::Dino::]

Oh WOW I had actually thought you had done this in painter. The fact that you achieved the oily look in photoshop is even cooler. Bravo

[Cuddly]

I love it!

[This message has been edited by Cuddly (edited February 08, 2001).]

[Seraphire]

That was a huge post...

On my topic. Good point.

As for joemaduriera.com, well it is joemaduriera.com, not joemadurieraandliquid.com. So it tends to focus on Mad. Everything on the site is done by Blade, Karl, Dragonfly, etc... Joe just posts there, and becuase it is a site devoted to him, he gives imput.

I don't think anyone has said it yet. So...
As for the character, why did they go with a blond Squall? What were the character designers and editor's thinking? They couldn't come up with a more original design?

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The Groove is in the Heart!

Seraphire
Michael Jon Birkhofer
Seraphire's Cafe/ Digital Evolution

[Liquid!]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Seraphire:
That was a huge post...

On my topic. Good point.

As for joemaduriera.com, well it is joemaduriera.com, not joemadurieraandliquid.com. So it tends to focus on Mad. Everything on the site is done by Blade, Karl, Dragonfly, etc... Joe just posts there, and becuase it is a site devoted to him, he gives imput.

Absolutely right. Isn't that what I said? However, as I stated before, they usually play up the penciling AND INKING, not the coloring. So by your own argument it isn't joemadureiraand[insertinker].com either is it? That's all I'm saying.

At no point am I saying it should be anything BUT JOEMADUREIRA.com. Why do you think I don't post on his boards? It's because they are HIS not mine. I respect the fact that it's his site with his fans. I have no business capitalizing on his time with his readers. That's also the reason I am VERY reluctant to post "coloring" to this site. Generally speaking I don't consider filling in spaces, an artform per se. So I prefer to post things that are my own drawings, however meager they might bew.

The few times I have posted others (PSM_SOULREAVER, EVE_TRADE, PSM_FFX) I thought people might enjoy it for the difference in technique. However, I doubt I will do that in the future again.


I don't think anyone has said it yet. So...
As for the character, why did they go with a blond Squall? What were the character designers and editor's thinking? They couldn't come up with a more original design?



Your guess is as good as mine.

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[This message has been edited by Liquid! (edited February 08, 2001).]

[Chapel]

quote

Quote:

That's also the reason I am VERY reluctant to post "coloring" to this site. Generally speaking I don't consider filling in spaces, an artform per se. So I prefer to post things that are my own drawings, however meager they might bew.

I feel the same way about coloring, but unfortunately there are not many forums that I can get a serious critique to help me improve. So, I post them here. I feel that I have shown I could do other things (not that great), but I have at least attempted. But hey.. if you got it.. flaunt it.

[Belmont]

I'm just a big fan of both of you guys, Mad and Liquid!. I don't have any coloring knowledge, so its all just really pretty to me. I'm very impressed with the change of technique here. Excellent work, Chris, i hope to be working with you within the next three years