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ARTWORK: Zolo's Gallery, now back in action!


ProfessorZolo

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Another sketch! I recently bought The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy and Megaman Complete Official Works. Having flicked through both books, I started wondering how Megaman X would look if he was a classic Final Fantasy character and... Well, this was the result!

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I feel like I goofed up on the face and buster, so I'll probably redo this one at a later date.

Also, I do occasionally finish my pics in Photoshop, but I haven't been able to get to my PC lately as I'm moving. However, once the move is done, I'll make sure to improve the quality of these pics!

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Amg I rarely get gift art of my non-girly characters so the Chin meets Zolo pic is a super cool surprise!  Love em both, awesome job.  Your style is so cool and unique, I'd love to see how you colour if you have any such works (assuming you do like to colour pics).

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Amg I rarely get gift art of my non-girly characters so the Chin meets Zolo pic is a super cool surprise!  Love em both, awesome job.  Your style is so cool and unique, I'd love to see how you colour if you have any such works (assuming you do like to colour pics).

No worries! I love working with other people's characters. It's always interesting to see how differently people can approach a subject, y'know? And hey, when a character is that cute (Alice) or fun to draw (Chin), I can't resist the chance to draw them!

Speaking of colouring, I do indeed colour things. Well, used to. The way I colour is... I guess I consider it a little disappointing. I can never capture the energy of the scene in the same way I can with a pen. Real shame. I keep trying though!

It tends to look something like this-

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Or more likely, this-

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Those look great to me!  I can see why you don't like them as much in the sense that they don't have the raw "energy" of your sketches but they still look really solid and well coloured to me.  Awesome stuff.

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Thanks. Hopefully the next time I manage to colour one of these things, it'll turn out the way I see it in my head!

And now, for no real reason other than I was browsing the other art topics, here's Makronette's OC, which I didn't see a name given for-

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Got another couple of sketches.

First, a group shot of the Mario 3D World playable cast. Mostly drawn because I tend to suck at drawing Mario characters. Something I just can't quite get right about them...

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And secondly... I don't know how to phrase this. The term "fan character" has such a feeling if negativity associated with it, and calling this such makes me sound awkward, but...

Here's a "fan character" I made for, erm, Phantasm Dyad.

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The guy's name is Cole Hudson. He's a ghost, but doesn't know it. As far as he's aware, he was knocked unconscious and then gained super powers.

I'd go into more detail, but... This really does feel awkward.

For the last year, I've been losing interest in drawing. But discovering Jez's comic, and seeing his work go from strength to strength... I feel like that's inspired me to try again. To do more.

Jez, I know you weren't expecting it, but cheers mate. Nice one!

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Dude I really appreciate it!  It's an unreal feeling that something I've made could inspire someone to that degree since I still feel really low-grade and busy being inspired/motivated by other artists in the same way lol, yourself included!  I just adore your dynamic poses, even when standing straight up like Cole there they're like, BAM, presence.  Hard to put into words but it's something I still struggle with so yeah.  It's a really cool character design by the way, the concept of a ghost that doesn't realise they're a ghost has obviously been done before in a ton of mediums, but the concept that they're aware of their ghostly powers but not that they're a ghost is really neat and original.

 

Love your take on the 3D World cast by the way too, everyone looks super adorable.

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I don't normally comment on other peoples work due to my own disdain for my own work whenever I see someone to be envious of, but I'm impressed with your sketch work over anything you've done previously, I'm envious that you've grasped what seems to be your own style, something I've yet to achieve in my own work frustratingly.

 

I really, really dig the 3D World sketch, you merged existing characters into an amazing piece each with their own body language and personality shining through them, you also have a softness to your style, everything seems so round and bubbly, very crisp and consistent, especially with how you drew the girls.

 

Onto your PD fanart, very cool take on Alice and Chin, you have an incredible skill of making dynamic poses, when taking a closer look at them, and comparing the incredible varying heights between your character to Alice, I can really see One Piece influenced your work, thinking of the wide variety of body mass and height in that series, Zolo reminds me of something of Franky's build, where as Cole's height is something of that akin to the Marine Admirals.

 

But that's just my observation, I could be wrong, but judging by your avatar I guess I'm not far off the mark, please keep it up?

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Thanks guys!

Jez, your work is anything but low grade. I know a few people with 'low grade' art and... Well, long story short, you are miles ahead of them.

And Soniko, you seem to have hit the nail on the head there with my One Piece influence. That said, I wasn't intentionally channelling Franky or the Marines, but I can definitely see what you mean about their builds.

And on the subject of keeping it up, here's a quick look at the three main characters from the comic I'm currently working on-

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On the left we have Boris, the Professor's assistant and best friend. Boris is more like a packhorse than an adventurer in his own right, but loves being part of the journey all the same. He has a very similar attitude and sense of humour as Ebineizer, so they get along incredibly well, often finishing the other's sentence.

In the middle is Professor Ebineizer Zolo. He's probably insane, and stops at nothing to achieve his frankly bizarre goals, ignoring physics and public decency in the process. Despite this, he still acts the gentleman whenever the situation calls for it. Carries a hip flask of tea in his left breast pocket.

And on the right is Mrs L. Her full surname is long and difficult to both spell and say, so she reduced it to L. She tries to be the voice of reason, but often gets ignored. As such, she tends to wander off and try to deal with things in a sensible way while Zolo and Boris are doing their own thing.

The comic I have planned will also be drawing on my One Piece influence, but also webcomics like Doctor McNinja, in that there will be tons of secondary characters, and the stories will all be short, self contained yarns.

I hope you look forward to it!

I'll also add that Mrs L doesn't usually wear that. To hang with Ebineizer, there's something of an unwritten dress code, meaning you have to look a bit odd. When they first meet, she looks like this-

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She's actually a teacher, y'see. I'd explain more about all of them, but I'd like to keep a few things as surprises for the comic, so... Yeah.

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Another couple of sketches!

First, my mascot character in DeviantArt disapproves of the type of artist I'm becoming.

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His name is also Zolo. I have a naming system for my characters y'see. The main hero is always named something based on 'Zolo'. However, for Ebineizer, it's his surname. For this Zolo, it's his forename, with the whole shebang being Zolo Coolguy. Yes, it's intentionally awful.

The light haired girl is Natalie, a humanisation of a Sonic fan character I made years ago, and the dark haired one is April, a recent addition to my increasing cast.

And secondly, a doodle I've put next to my bed to remind me about the hourly comic day thing going off soon.

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Nothing much to add about this one, other than that's probably how I'll represent myself in the aforementioned comic.

Also, I'd like to ask for ideas regarding Mrs L- the woman in my previous post. I'm not entirely happy with the design of her costume. I feel like it maybe doesn't fit alongside Ebineizer and Boris.

So, if anyone has any thoughts about what I could do with her design, please do let me know!

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Introduction of more girl characters of yours can only lead to great things regarding thanks for the awesome pics you drew me.  8B

 

 

Regarding Mrs L, I think she maybe just needs something a bit more striking and memorable than a plain jumpsuit type dealie?  Boris has his poncho and criminally unfashionable lack of anything else on top, Zolo of course, the lack of bottoms further exaggerating the awesome presence his deluxe business suit provides, while Mrs. L's most memorable feature for me would be her fluffy ponytail.  Since you said she's the straight-woman of the three, she doesn't necessarily need something wacky, but perhaps brainstorm some ideas for something that stands out more so she looks less like a nicely-designed-but-plain lamp-post next to the two carnival game shacks of Boris and Zolo (I mean that analogy regarding their designs nothing but affectionately of course lol).

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After a few revisions, I think this might be somewhat closer to Mrs L's final design.

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Still not 100% sure (despite how it says 'perfect' on the picture), but I'll keep messing around and see what sticks.

I went with the jumpsuit because that's what her original version wore. I figured, since Zolo and Boris have the same design as their initial versions, why not her too? But of course, not everything turns out great the first time you try it. I guess Zolo and Boris have changed slightly too, but the differences they have now are only very minor (Zolo was skinnier and has 3 buttons instead of 6, and Boris was taller).

Anyway, since Zolo and Boris have slightly old fashioned clothing, I decided to go even further, and based Mrs L's gear on traditional Victorian clothing. Erm, well, the men's clothing to be precise. I'm not sure she's much of one for dresses, y'see.

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Been doodling Smash Bros characters as a way to practice poses and scale. Figured I'd post 'em here!

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Some time ago, I had planned on drawing a Smash Bros based comic series. But then, that's not a very original idea, is it?

Might still draw humorous mini comics about it when I can think if them though. *shrug*

If there are any Smash characters/ scenes you'd like to see, drop a comment. I could use more practice!

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Nice dude, as someone who is trying to develop an art style, I definately give you a thumbs up

And actualy I had an idea I wanted to do myself, buts out of my skillset, but might as well share it with you, and its doing an expanded version of the original SSB commericial, but with more characters, and having it be at a picnic with a larger chunk of the cast (and imagine the chaos a robo-ROB would do on the res of the cast XD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K783SDTBKmg

 

Oh, and perhaps wolf, though if you wanted have an interesting bit of fun you could draw him StarFox2 style

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Some time ago, I had planned on drawing a Smash Bros based comic series. But then, that's not a very original idea, is it?

Might still draw humorous mini comics about it when I can think if them though. *shrug*

 

I wouldn't worry too much about being as original as possible, if you can do it better or funnier than the other guys then go for it. I would like to recommend you watch a series called "Everything is a Remix". It consists of four parts and explains that ideas aren't original, everything requires inspiration.

 

Also I love your art!

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That... Sounds like a lot of work for just a quick sketch, Mando. Wolf though...? Yeah, maybe. Possibly later.

But right now, here's a sketch of some of the odd characters the professor and crew will be encountering!

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You might notice they look an awful lot like trees. That's because they ARE trees.

None of them are to scale. The central one is probably a lot larger than either of the others. None of them have names yet (although I'm calling the one on the left "Fern" for now).

Sadly, I can't really give you much more info about them because... I haven't written them into the plot yet!

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Have you got any names for them yet? Cause I just thought of some. The girl: Oleavia. Big guy: Treevor. Thin guy: Stumpy. (Edit: no wait! Woodrow!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've decided to start as I mean to go on with the professor's story. As such, I want to do a practice comic with a different character/ subject, so if I ruin it, it won't ruin the rest of Zolo's adventure.

So here's the plan- I'm going to do a short comic starring Cole first. Yes, the fan character. Him.

I realise there are potential issues with doing my own thing if it's based on something someone else created, but here's the other part of the plan- it's set far away from the events of Phantasm Dyad, so Cole will not cross paths with the real cast, and my story won't get in the way of anything Jez may write.

At least, that's the plan.

As such, I've redesigned Cole a little, and added two new characters to the main cast.

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Cole Hudson. He's received a height and detail buff. I've also gone further into figuring out what powers being a ghost may provide. Given how he was killed, he's gained ice based skills.

I've used Alice as the rough height reference again. It seemed appropriate, given that's who I compared him to last time.

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Currently unnamed scientist. A woman studying the island Cole lives on, as it has an unusually high concentration of the undead on it. She usually wears a sweater over the shirt, but since Cole got a more One Piece style look, I thought I might as well do her in the same style.

Similar height to Cole's original height. Colour sceme isn't set yet, but I envisioned her to be ginger.

...And there is a third pic, but apparently it's too large to be uploaded to the message board, so... Err...

UPDATE: Actually, having had time to think this over, maybe it's not a great idea. I shouldn't be trying to copy One Piece's style intentionally, and I definitely shouldn't be using Jez's universe without permission, regardless of what I do with it.

I'd like your opinions, guys. Keep going with this as practice, but drop the One Piece influence, or drop the comic and fold this particular story into Ebineizer's at some point?

I'm thinking the second one, personally.

...

I guess that's my major fault- when I'm impulsive, I tend to make decisions I regret, but when I think about things, I think for too long and nothing gets done.

Damn.

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Your sketches are wonderful good sir.  I love the form of the characters as well as the way you pose them, and all the designs are really stylish and interesting.  It's all just brimming with charisma.  I can't believe I only just stumbled upon this wonderful thread.  Keep up the amazing work.

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I was just about to frown and scoff at the obvious One Piece influence in your re-designs, but you acknowledged it first.

 

Definitely drop it and just stick to your own style, it's never healthy to directly influence your work knowingly with an existing franchise, I kinda liked Cole a lot more before, and the ginger chick, after reading about ice powers (I know it's not the same character description but this is honestly how I seen her afterwards) just looked like a gender bend of Kuzan, with goggles instead of a sleeping mask haha.

 

Not unintentionally trying to bring you down, but I hope I'm knocking you down a peg back into your own ability to deliver your style without directly putting One Piece into your work.

 

I'm also sure JezMM doesn't mind you using Phantasm Dyad as long as he's getting awesome fan art and someone being inspired to your level by his daily comic, he really loves your stuff and admires you dude, so don't stop the phantasm dyad worship pls, because of you I want to jump on the bandwagon and make a ghostie OC or something : P

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First up, thanks Silent- I hope whatever I do next doesn't disappoint.

Second- also thanks, Soniko. I appreciate the honesty. I've had ice powers in mind for Cole for a while, but that too was probably, as you say, inspired by Kuzan (favourite character on Pirate Warriors 2!). Out of interest, what is it you prefer about Cole's previous version?

Down a peg... Hm. I see. Fair point.

Hmm... Maybe I'll send him a PM with a few details about the comic then? Get his go-ahead, to confirm I'm not stepping on his work...? Hm. Oh, but you should totally make a character too! Who knows? There might even eventually be a chance for some kind of crossover!

...That's getting a bit ahead of myself though. Focus on what I can do NOW first, eh?

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His height and build were fine as you had them, also the more expressive facial structure was much more appealing on your initial design, you seemed to have down played it a little in the re-design. I just think your initial design is more "you" compared to your revised design that is more akin to a One Piece admiral.

 

Ohhhhh... You play Pirate Warriors 2!? I got it for Christmas and I luuuuuuuuurve it, I tend to use either Mihawk, Kuma or Kizaru, I want to use Law but god damn I can't use him, his move set is so precise and hard to master with his gameplay style, we should play sometime though! My gamer tag is in my description if you're interested!

 

I might also do that OC, but I'm very lazy and procrastinate way too much lol, we'll see!

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Soz for slow reply, didn't have time to give thoughts (hence my Like and run).  I have no problems at all with you wanting to set a practice work in my universe, you've more than proven you're the kind of cool dude who'd give credit whereever it's due and your designs are definitely your own, I love em but can't imagine them as something I'd have ever come up with for PD myself.

 

I think you shouldn't feel limited though either, I love your stuff so I imagine I'd like it anyway.  If it was very PDish then there's an awesome unofficial side story, if it wasn't very PDish then... well it'd still be an awesome unofficial side story, just extra unofficial?  Haha.  But yeah I wouldn't want you to feel limited in the concept of, if you're really proud of it, you shouldn't make it too hard to distance from PD and call it completely your own if you chose to.

 

 

Into critical mode though, I agree with Soniko's comments that your first sketch of Cole felt a bit more expressive, I liked the squareness of his design, and I feel he looks better with the larger head (compared to the rest of his body).  Though it also depends on what you want to do with the character of course.  Cole #1 is firm and sturdy looking, like he's strong and if you ran into him it'd be like running into a wall.  Cole #2 still looks strong, but more like if you ran into him he'd jump out the way with an athletic leap.  I do love Cole #2's clothing design though.

 

 

 

But yes my loyal fans continue making me fancharacters to fawn over.  C8<

 

xvi.gif

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