playing with composite nodes/ Blender 2.75

I wanted to see if I could composite some image in Blender 2.75. I have mostly neglected this feature- being more familiar to non-linear applications like after affects or combustion. But Nodes are actually what all major applications use to compose pieces- So I wanted to take a crack at compositing  three images representing a foreground, mid-plane and a background. Using the mid plane and foreground element that have an alpha background- so they are more or less cutouts that can see around this was a good test// using Blender Node screen was cool- each image is an inputNode  that are composited together with Alpha Over  ( Color Node)- I wanted some 2d movement in the piece to give it a motion graphics feel- so a added a translate node after the foreground image Node and a rotation Node after the Mid plane image Node...
the node set up looks like this:

I will test this out with movie clips next... The movie can be then linked into the Video Sequence editor and synced with sound for a final output.....cool!

movie test 1

This is a test 2d motion test using #Sketchbook Pro 7 images, #Blender 2.75 for frame by frame animation and #Audacity for sound tracking// the animation and sound we then edited together using Blenders Non linear video sequencer and output into OGV file format- this can be played on many browsers less Safari- I will need to figure how to align this into HTML5 features for mobile out put potential options....

last practice image

I decided to make a pledge to start my FX-mulrooney universe and portfolio for free-lance work instead of practicing- I decided to do one last practice art piece- recreating a comic panel- linework, color and copy- I used an piece created by Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo from"Generation Next" by Marvel Comics...
I created this image in Sketchbook Pro 7... I am thinking how to create the images of my Universe with this tool if my laptop doesn't crap out... I like the copic tools set of this version... It makes coloring easy and fun... so here is the last piece of the practice era....

I do note I am still a fan of Bachalo's style-its hard to duplicate and sweet

practicing with clean styles

The ultimate goal for my push in comics is to be able to be a better draftsman and simplify my style so i can do lots of it without burning out- so figuring out how other artists pose a character and handle rendering is a asset. So this is a test in copying the style from a great French cartoonist Felix Meynet... I found an image online  and went about trying to get the essence of the character and change it up a bit- I made an okay first approximation.... still need work on line weights, but not too shabby... You can find more of his published work on Brand Studio Press web site

pats inkover

I saw this cool Oliver Coipel pinup image of weapon X that another artist posted with his inked version and i decided to do my own to help me master the crazy crosshatch skills Oliver Coipel has- looks like I am failing miserably, but I will keep trying... I did this ink over digitally using Sketchbook pro 7... I felt I did better that I would have expected with this program. I was comfortable enough to ry to embellish more over than just copy.  Maybe if I keep it up I will have a shot at the pros some day- another practice image bites the dust

trace with bernie wrightson

Just trying to understand how these greats understand form by pure tracing over their work- this time I tried to trace over a Bernie Wrightson Solomon Grundy page. This was crazy on how detailed the work was- image it was 11X17 or larger- a lot of ink bottles were emptied on this piece.

I did this with Sketchbook pro 7- and was impressed with the response with the felt tip marker tool. this took me  a couple of hours to trace- image the time it took to ink this one with non digital tools- WOW- still impressed with this work...

My critique: I can tell I need to understand a curved stroke over a straight stroke and how those stroke define form- will keep working...

Tracing to crack the code- Neal Adams

was listing to interview with Neal Adams on Kevin Smith's Smodcast: Fatman on Batman and was inspired to learn many professionals use reference and maybe even tracing to increase there speed to complete artwork and  their production quality in some cases. Looking at Neal's stuff, I see a lot of reference but also an eye for art being exercised.. Noting he knows how to render shapes with a line and indicate depth like no other- so I am going back to school and tracing over his stuff to help me see how he sees in defining  and rendering his shapes- so I used sketchbook pro to produce this inking trace- I learn a lot about how he renders hair and volume.... more to come...