Gosin of Fading Oasis...

[JoshuaTheJames]

Hey Guys,

Here is a Character from my Up Coming Graphic Novels. The Design will still need some tweaking for the Final Comic but, I still thought it was fun enough to show(it's a couple months old). Also the rendering style isn't quite what I was going for but, it's cool since it's just a concept.

For my first story I am going to be using a style of rendering and design similar to this piece but, for my next story which is more drama based I plan on using a more ornate and Sargent-esque style of digital painting.

I'd love to hear your thoughts... :)


http://www.joshuathejames.com/FadingOasis/GosinFinalSadly.jpg

-Joshua James

[JoBeSu]

Cool concept! I like the desig and the cool colors.
Minor crits.
I dont know his background but His eyes feels empty like his face is a mask.
Maby thats the point ?
And its a bit annoying that his sabre is fading away..Otherwise great!

[thebluepuppy]

i love the color scheme

[Punchy]

wow. I love the color, the blues in the shadows are really cool.

it does seem like it would be a time consuming technique to do a whole comic in, I could see maybe doing the backgrounds in a less taxing style giving the whole thing a sort of animated feel....

good luck with it, I'd love to see some of the pages as you go.

[nicolas]

Wow Joshua! Nice one....no crits. I want to see some pages!!Now! You cant write about your graphic novel without showing at least one or two pages...thats like torture (Especially when the character concept looks as good as that!!)...c'mon we're starving here.

NIC

[JeffZNY]

Dude, your style is so unique...even when you post stuff that I don't particularly like, I am still in awe of the unique look and in particular, the feel of your pieces. In this case however, I'm in awe of the look and feel, AND in awe of the piece. Fantastic design, and as usual, your rendering technique is so soft, I just want to reach out and touch it. I've seen some WIPs/tutorials from you, but I still have no idea how you achieve that soft, smooth look. It's probably better that way since there's only one Joshua the James!

[Blitz]

Great character man
Id love to see some action sketches of him...
love the blues in this

[McNallyism]

man, this piece turned out niiiiiice. Can't wait for the book, Josh.

-Sean

[Rusty]

smooth as a babys bottom man,smack!!!...such a unique style/technique!,i hate you ;P...

keep us updated on your novel too josh,ill start saving my pennies now ;)

..Jace

[M!k3]

Now that I like! Realy love the style you have! Awesome work!. nothing realy to crit. Great work!

[Dougbot]

Holy gorgeous piece o' art. Nice work.

[Aly Fell]

I love the palette on this piece! A pleasure to look at! :)

[defcombeta]

very nice tight defined piece, the colours are very striking, i love the asian elements mixed with some more tradional high fantasy parts. great stuff, just curious, photoshop or painter?, wanders off to check out the website 8)

john mac

[magicgoo]

JoshuaTheJames How do you ink the black outlines? They're really smooth! Is it real ink or digitally done? I'd appreciate knowing how you did this. Thanks!

[JoshuaTheJames]

JoBeSu- Thanks Dude. He has no eyes that's why there are black holes. Also the sword is just stuck in the snow.

thebluepuppy, Blitz, M!k3, Dougbot, Poshspice- thanks everyone!

Punchy- Thanks! Yeah the rendering technique will take some time but, I'm sure there will be a point when it will speed up. I want to make sure this book is really flushed out. I'm really sick of picking up a book with a cool or ok cover just to find the inside is either some quick trash or just trash in general.

nicolas- Hah. Thanks dude. I'm glad you are diggin it. I'll keep you updated.

JeffZNY- Thanks man. I really appreciate it. I used the "Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow(19)" in Photoshop for this type of look.

McNallyism- Thanks Sean. NOW POST SOME BLUR WORK NOW! ...pretty please :teeth:

Rusty- Thanks Homie-I hate you too...soooo much!!!! :^^:

defcombeta, magicgoo- Thanks a lot. It's Photoshop 7. "Airbrush Pen Opacity Flow(19)" I just used basic painting approaches with that brush..no secrets.
Also I did a Pencil Line Drawing then scanned that.

thanks everyone,

-Joshua James

[Erzengel]

where can ppl buy it? amazon?^^
nice work

[JJH]

nice solid design!
just a thought. maybe u want to show the sword stuck in the snow by hinting a some snow bumps or something around the bottom... just a thought. =D

good job good job =p

[Gezstar]

hey, i missed this. great colours man, and i like the design a lot. i actually like the rendering style, even if it isn't what you were going for - it's got a nice korean styley to it. i enjoy how you did the fur too.

i think that what's really missing from this is something to connect the viewer to the character. even if he's a dark mysterious character, we should identify with something about him - a facial expression, some indication of who he is as a person.

show us some more!

[D0Z3R]

Holy Jesus... that is beautiful. I stared at it for ten minutes straight... just wow...

[Ninjor]

Saw it in CGtalk and voted high. Didn't really make a difference there... but it doesn't change the fact I love it :D

Don't take offence when I say "it reminds me of"... because it really reminds me of Squaresoft's concept artist for the FF games. Similar use of lines and color. Maybe that's one of the reason's it's so appealing to me.

Great job :) /m\

[JoshuaTheJames]

Erzengel, JJH, D0Z3R- Thanks Guys. Very much!

Ninjor- Thanks a lot! It's cool no matter what we look at it will remind us of something. Btw I love the Final Fantasy series. FFXII looks great!

Gezstar- I agree. That is something definitely applied to my others. Thanks man!


-Joshua James

[Johann de Venecia]

Well Hullo! This is beautiful. Love your linework, it has a good flow to it, and always so sharp and confident. Good stuff always :)

[Bryceart]

Man, I wish I had your skills when I was 25, hell wish I had 'em now!
Bryce

[Chuck,mate.]

awsome.
i like your smooth yet not artificial execution of colors and textures.
the concept is nicely done and thought out too.

keep `em coming pal.
:)

[Tad]

Very cool drawing/painting.

I like the character too,
but to give you some crits,
I find the blue hair to kind of blend in a bit too well with the rest of his outfit,
and the image itself,
that may just be due to your choice of shading/lighting for this particular image of this character though.

And i'd say his whole head just seems to lack a bit in the expression
department, for a main or iconic character that is.
He seems more like a pawn instead of a king or queen, if you catch my drift?

All in all i'd just say the head could be more "exciting"
visually and technically, it's drawn great! Just as design goes..

[Interceptor]

You blend color very well.

[JoshuaTheJames]

Thanks Guys!


Tad- His face will make more sense in contrast with the many other characters. Thanks.


-Joshua James

[Mono]

no critique from me. The usual solid art from you. GREAT Design! Great JoB!

-mono

[Eyal]

joshua james,

your artwork has always been fantastic,
unique style executed with a strong technique,
and your ideas are genuine, not a remake.
very nice :)

about this piece,
whether this guy is the main characer or not,
i find his *character overwhelmed by your representional technique. his personality didn't create the look of this piece, its your technique.
so, if you were focusing on create a character, with personality and all, i think you should look for it deeper, dig it out and plaster it all over so it reads " this guy is a xxx, he is a strong personality", rather than "this guy was painted by joshua james, he has strong rendering".

which doesnt make a lot of sense
do i, anyways?
hope i do..

[JoshuaTheJames]

Thanks guys..


Eyal- Again' this was a Techinque Study rather than a piece of finished art. I really appreciate your post it made me think. Also like I said before this guy's design will be tweaked and will make more sense in context - contrasted against the other many characters... Thanks a lot.

-Joshua

[foster]

joshua, i missed this one. i seem to miss allot of cool threads though.

man this is very clean and superbly executed. maybe, and this is just a thought as i am searching as well, you could try and loose some of the line work in the head area. it looks great but is a little too pushed in line and value. that makes it seem just a tad different in the piece. but to be truthful i'm not sure what it is that makes it seem just a bit less graceful than the restor even if it is less graceful. search for it, or perhaps i am missing the point to the whole thing which is also very possible.

anyway best to you my friend.

Jon

[ozan]

josh. the coolest thing about your best work is that it really doesn't remind me of anyone else's work. and yet works really well. this one is no exception. it's great.