Post/Author/DateTime	Post
DMAC 11-18-04, 02:14 PM	Just a lunchtime quickie: http://www.yodaboys.com/ranger.jpg
ThanisKartaleon 11-18-04, 02:20 PM	awesome as always, DMAC... wish I could have you draw some of my characters...
DMAC 11-18-04, 02:42 PM	You could always post some descriptions and see what happens...
midniteprism 11-18-04, 06:56 PM	Character Name: Widowlander Race: Elf Class: Rge/Asn/Nin Template: Vampire Description: Tall by elf standards. Cold blue eyes, pale white skin. Exceptionally attractive, yet distant. His hair is worn long down his back and upon his shoulders w/ flechings of grey in it. I is usually not far away from his curved elven rapier (Dela'Que) nor his short dagger (Chill). He has been known to don a flowing overcoat and wide brimmed hat upon his hunting expeditions. Naturally his garments are black in color. He appears to wear nothing more than his fairly sharp clothing and the coat and hat into battle w/ very little else in the realm of protection. But it is said that these items are enchanted and are hard as plate mail. There. There is the description. Lets see what you can come up with. :D
Flack Jack 11-18-04, 07:05 PM	How long is your lunch break? That caliber of work would consume a couple hours with the skeleton, and all. But enough of that. Nice job in the lunch room. You have made the shifters proud. P.S. As one artist to another how do you avoid the cancer that is smugging?
jonthegm 11-18-04, 07:06 PM	Heh... I'm just pulling one of the more interesting ones here, because it would be neat to see... Kherraak G'kmaal Goblin - CN - Sovereign Host Cleric (Level 2ish). Middle aged goblin, wearing Sovereign Host vestments. Tries unsuccessfully to groom his messy and terrible goblin hair.
ChronosCrow 11-18-04, 08:01 PM	I like the treatment you use. Are you inspired by anyone? What is the medium you use for your drawings?
Edymnion 11-18-04, 08:17 PM	Background: This is the tale of a Warforged, a warforged without a name. For the ease of the reader, we shall refer to this warforged simply as Blank. Blank, like most of his warforged brethern, was a lowly combatant during the War. He went where he was told, he fought who he was told to fight. Like the others, he did not question why he did what he did, it was simply the way of things. He was not happy, he was not sad, the days simply came and went, and he did as he was told. Until, one day, things changed. His commander addressed his unit, he said that the War was over, and that they were free. But what did "free" mean? All he understood was that, in a very short time, he had been given a small pouch of metal disks, coins, and was put outside, without orders. Blank did not know what to do, he had never been prepared for anything like this. From the day he first awoke beneath the towering Creation Forge, up to that day, he had been told what to do. His life had order, it was predictable, orderly. But now, now things were differant. He did not know what to do, and there was no one to tell him. For a short time, he stayed with a group of other warforged from his unit, who were themselves in equal dissarray. He tried to learn about the new world he found himself in, but the more he learned, the more he despaired. The world outside of his unit was chaotic. People came and went without rhyme nor reason, and more often than not reacted violently to him whenever he tried to speak with them. Emotions, he did not understand why some were happy, while others were angry, when despair was the only thing he found himself capable of. There was no one to help repair him, and as time passed, his body wore down more and more. Blank often found himself wondering what it would be like to no longer exist. In fact, in the later days, he would sit in the alleys, in pouring rain or baking sun, looking within himself, and found nothing looking back. Until one day, a man approached him. Instead of fear, or anger, Blank saw something new in his eyes, pity and sympathy. When the man asked Blank to come with him, he did not argue, he simply rose and followed. He was lead to a large building, made of white stone, and shown inside. There, young men and women in simple robes cleaned the grim of the streets from his joints, and fixed his hurts. Blank looked up to them, and spoke his first words in many long months. "Why would you help me? I have nothing to offer you." They responded with an answer he could not then understand, "Because it is the right thing to do." He was given a small room, which they told him was his for as long as he might need it. Not knowing what else to do, Blank stayed with these people, and came to know them. He saw them labor and toil, grow tired, and be forced to stop. One day, when one of the older men stopped to rest, Blank picked up the man's burden, and asked where it should be taken. "May the Flame shine on you" the old man said. What flame? There was no fire here, just a stone hall, and the wooden bench upon which the man sat. When questioned, the old man simply laughed. "Why, don't you know where you are, metal man? You are within the halls of the Silver Flame, which lights our path and gives us guidence in our darkest hour." Guidence. He had been looking for that ever since the day he was released from the War. That day, Blank's life changed. The old man took him to one he called father, although this man was obviously far too young to be the father of the elder. It was from this man he learned of the message of the Silver Flame. To help those in need, as he had once been. To protect those who could not protect themselves, to be a light in the darkness. Somewhere inside of him, Blank felt something happen, something he could not explain. It was if a spark had flashed inside of him, and where he had seen only nothingness before, now he found something new. It was small, but after so long of having nothing, it seemed great to him. Blank listened, and he learned. The Church of the Silver Flame existed to fight evil, that which was dark and wanted everything else to be dark as well. The more he learned, the more he felt that initial spark grow. First into an ember, and then finally a small flame, like a candle in the night. He finally understood why they had helped him so long ago (long ago for him, anyway). Because it was the right thing to do. Blank committed himself to this cause, because it was right. Although he faced obsticals, Blank pressed himself onward. Even here, there were those that thought him nothing more than a living weapon, not worthy of the same respect as those who had been born, not made. But this drove him only harder to prove himself. His quiet, stoich manner gradually faded away as he became more outspoken, more comitted. He was little more than a weapon when he was made, a sword to be fought with until it sundered, to be replaced at need, all at the whim of another. But not now. He was still a weapon, but now he was his own weapon, and now he had his own cause to fight. Blank wiped away what he had been. The insignia of his old military unit was engraved into his forehead, but that didn't matter, not when it could be covered. Blank endured the process to have the insignia of the Silver Flame permanently attatched to his forehead, over the old engraving. That day, Blank died. The symbol of the Silver Flame being moved into place was like the earth put on the graves of the people that died in the area. When the last screw was in place, a new being sat up. Running his fingers over the shape of the arrowhead he would carry for the rest of his days, he realized that he needed a name. Months passed as he thought. In that time, he studied and trained. He worked his body, not in the same way the humans did, building muscle, but in a more litteral sense. Little by little, he replaced bits and pieces of his composite plating. What he couldn't replace, he reshaped. Finally, the day his training was completed, he walked into the great hall. As he passed the arched windows, the light glinted off of his newly finished armor. The smooth contours of his shoulder plates, the ripple of light playing off the back of his gold trimmed hands, the rhythmic click of his bootlike feet upon the stone floor. There was music in the air now, a somber tune that held an undercurrent of boundless hope. On the proper cue, he threw open the heavy wooden door, and walked down the path to the alter of the Silver Flame, where the man he had once heard called father stood, the man he now called Father himself stood. He was given the blessings of the Flame, was complimented on his perserverance, and charged with the lifelong duty of defending the innocent, helping those who could not help themselves, and to destroy evil wherever it appeared. At the end of the ceremony, Father said "Rise... I'm afraid I do not know the name in which you will serve the Flame, what do you now call yourself?" The Warforged raised his head, and spoke clearly, the light in his eyes growing strong with every word, until by the end, it raged like the fires of his heart. "When I was made, I was part of a greater whole, strong as a great slab of stone. Until, one day, the stone was broken, and I realized I was little more than a pebble, rolling down the side of a great hill. When I hit bottom, I was picked up by a man, and brought here. Here, I was subjected to the Flame, my doubts and fears were burned away, as the slag is burned out from the iron. I became pure as silver, and was then forged, strong as steel, into a weapon of the Light. Now, I pledge to spread the Flame, so that others may be tempered as I was. So I choose my name. I am the crucible, which will burn away the darkness, leaving only the good to shine in the eternal sunlight!" "Very well. Then raise, Crucible, defender of the Light, Paladin of the Silver Flame!" Description: Before you stands a Warforged, although he does not appear quite like any Warforged you have seen. Standing a little over six feet tall, which is not uncommon amongst his kind, he is more heavily armored than all but the giant adamantine warriors. Heavy plate covers his right shoulder, cascading down his arm in scalloped layers to his elbow, while that forearm resembles a large guantlet, the arm guard sweeping up his forearm and capped with the emblem of the Silver Flame. His left arm is less well armored, with a much smaller plate over the shoulder, little beyond the normal armor carried by Warforged, then a guantleted forearm matching the right hand. While it at first appears lopsided, the reason becomes clear as soon as he hefts his heavy metal shield, covering most of his arm in the process. Less plating on his arm means greater mobility to swing the shield into place to deflect incomming blows, an effective setup, to say the least. His torso itself is covered in overlapping plate of shining mithril, while his legs are guarded by yet more plating, right down to his bootlike feet. Covering all of his mithril plate is a fine filagree of gold scrollwork. Upon his brow, above his silver eyes, is yet another surprise. Other Warforged carry the deep engraving of their military unit upon their forehead, forever reminding them of where they came from. Crucible, on the other hand, has covered his engraving with a silver arrowhead, detailed with the emblem of the Silver Flame. Strapped to his back is a sheath, worked in silver and flametouched iron, the hand and a half long hilt his sword clearly visible over his shoulder. Like much of the rest of him, his sword also bears the symbol of the Silver Flame, this time forming the center of the sword hilt. All in all, he gives off one impression more than anything else. His mithril and gold armor shines in the sun, the emblem of his faith displayed prominately upon his shield. He stands as a pillar of the Silver Flame, a Paladin of the faith, and he looks good doing it.Just on the off chance you feel like doing another warforged paladin ;)
Neofish 11-18-04, 08:23 PM	How do I contact you for commisioned work.???
Edymnion 11-18-04, 08:25 PM	How do I contact you for commisioned work.???Click on his username there by his avatar, it'll open up a list. Pick the "Send him an email" link, and it'll display his email address for you. Should be able to just email him to set things up. Out of curiosity, how much would you be charging for a comission, for just a black and white line drawing, generally?
DMAC 11-18-04, 08:30 PM	How long is your lunch break? That caliber of work would consume a couple hours with the skeleton, and all. But enough of that. Nice job in the lunch room. You have made the shifters proud. P.S. As one artist to another how do you avoid the cancer that is smugging? "Smugging"? I am pretty smug. ;) Lunch hour's an hour. The drawing took about 15 minutes, with scanning. I'm not the fastest artist in the world but I knew what I wanted him to look like before I started which helps. I use Sanford Verithin color pencils which seem to give quite a bit of control.
DMAC 11-18-04, 08:36 PM	Click on his username there by his avatar, it'll open up a list. Pick the "Send him an email" link, and it'll display his email address for you. Should be able to just email him to set things up. Out of curiosity, how much would you be charging for a comission, for just a black and white line drawing, generally? I forgot that this forum doesn't give a direct e-mail link. You can reach me at calvertdarren@hotmail.com I'm pretty busy at the moment (should clear up around mid-December) but I normally charge around $100 for a full-figure character portrait. It's pretty steep for the average gamer but for the time involved, charging much less isn't really worth it. I will cut down the cost for simpler portrait pieces like this one though. I've done work in exchange for books/miniatures before too... (finally got a Valenar Commander yesterday :D)
Neofish 11-18-04, 08:54 PM	Im gonna contact you around December 23. for some of these bad boys.
Flack Jack 11-18-04, 10:01 PM	"Smugging"? I am pretty smug. ;) Lunch hour's an hour. The drawing took about 15 minutes, with scanning. I'm not the fastest artist in the world but I knew what I wanted him to look like before I started which helps. I use Sanford Verithin color pencils which seem to give quite a bit of control. Oopsy typo. By smugging I meant smudging. By the way loved the story Edymnion.
Eberik 11-18-04, 10:15 PM	Okay wow damn-it! That's just too damned cool work man, puts me to shame, but when it looks that good, I don't mind one bit. Keep up the good work man.
ThanisKartaleon 11-19-04, 07:48 AM	Man, I hope I didn't start something that'll bug ya, DMAC. However, since I was the first to kind of ask... Keleth T'Vrule Tiefling Paladin12 (non-Eberron game) working on becoming a Scion (A non-wotc PrC similar to the Dragon Disciple, but with the end result being the Half-Celestial template instead). He hasn't taken levels in it yet (lvl 16, so far away....) but oh, I have plans. Keleth worships Moranthagar, a LG god of death. He is now famed (lvl 13 last session) for his grey-black adamantine armor and mithral/cold iron alloy Holy Avenger Scythe, the Final Embrace. (Yes, I am aware that scythes cannot be made of mithral, and that you can't mix special materials. My DM chose to ignore this.) The Armor includes gauntlets and a full helm (it's been slightly modified to account for the horns) Keleth's family tree includes both Baatezu and Eladrins, though the celestial blood is three steps farther back. Basically, Kel is in the middle of the Sin War. A diabolical plan to sire an army of loyal tieflings by a balor was somewhat thwarted by a tulani eladrin who decided to fight fire with fire. And boy did he have a good time doing it. The reason the celestial blood is weaker is because the eladrin found out about the plan years before the balor intended on acting on it. As a result of this, Keleth faces a continual battle balancing out the conflicting bloodlines. On one side, he's got a Lawful Evil fiend. On the other, a Chaotic Good celestial. So he has to depend on both and keep them even to continue being a paladin. (Great fun to roleplay) When he was eight turning nine years old, Keleth's fiendish mother got sick of his do-gooding father and stabbed him in the back... with an axe. Then proceeded to make it look like an accident, that one of the halberds in the hallway had fallen off the holders. Keleth saw all of this from the relative safety of his favorite cubby, and began to get a headache as he lay crying softly in fright. Shortly thereafter, at his father's funeral, actually, his tiefling blood manifested. His mother took him away from the grave as soon as she saw the blood running down his face from his new horns. Not soon enough, though, for the priest tending the ceremony happened to see the whole thing. A quick investigation on his part (Detect Evil) led him to believe that though the mother was irredeemable (though pretty much untouchable), the boy could be saved. The priest (A Moranthagar priest, of course) helped the boy escape his house, then gave him money and a note to gain entrance to the order of holy knights who serve Death. Quite a few misadventures later, Kel teamed up with an unusual group of four, each tainted with a different bloodline: A half-vampire struggling against his alignment heritage, a secretive sorcerer from the southern desert hiding a heritage of gold dragon blood, a street sorceress with an unknown past and an affinity for cold, and a rogue aasimar with a whip fetish and for whom invisibility is a near natural thing. As a result, he has realized that the world is not quite as black and white as it is within his particular family. He has recently paid a long standing debt to a vampire for saving himself and his friends, so he is making good strides. His eyes are an amber shade of red naturally, but when Keleth gets angry (which happens from time to time, though he's getting better about it), his fiendish side acts up, and his eyes become burning coals of rage. The other tiefling feature to him (besides the horns, which aren't all that pronounced) is his skin, which is a tad paler than it should be. His hair is dark with traces of red, kept short and usually slicked back. There is one other feature to him, though it's not noticable unless he takes off his armor and shirt: a swath of ragged, dark flesh, from the one time he was struck by a greater wraith. He has decided to not get it healed; it is a reminder of what he fights for. Well, I can't find his character sheet (found everthing else on him, backstory to mount (Anamartarios, his trusty warhorse who seems to be becoming more like a celestial nightmare.... a dream?)) but iirc, his stats were Str 15, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 22, Wis 16 (periapt of Wis +2), Cha 17. Height of 5'6" I believe, and a medium build for his strength & con. Trim (ya gotta be to run around in full plate... actually he can tumble, too... +1 to tumble while in full plate ^^). I've already mentioned his weapon of choice and armor, he also carries a composite longbow (for +2 str), a quiver of regular and silver arrows, a rapier (though the rogue/sorceress has it so often it's actually written on her sheet), and a heavy flail. Also on his back is a well made backpack (actually a Heward's HH). He has a phylactery of faith (recently gained), and also recently upgraded his holy symbol from regular to silver. (I'm sorry, I don't know what his holy symbol looks like. I've tried for the last year to come up with something good, but I both lack the skills and the proper inspiration to come up with a good one. He's got it on a tabard, etched into his blade, and on his phylactery as well as the symbol itself. It should have some method of conveying that Moranthagar is the judge of souls, deciding who ascends, who burns for their misdeeds, who waits in limbo, and who should not/has not earned the right to die. Something that looks good in grayscale. I suppose a set of scales would be appropriate, but what would be on them? Moranthagar's favored weapon is, of course, the scythe. And yes, he's darn smart. After I finish the Scion class, I'm going to have him take levels as a psion. Yeah, that'll get confusing. But that's a long way away (lvl 27 to be a 1st lvl psion... but by then he'll have a near 30 Int ^^) The periapt of wisdom is a necklace of a long forgotten moon goddess who was an ally of Moranthagar. It features a blue gem set between the curves of two crescent moons. It was made as a part of a set for a female priestess, so it looks slightly out of place, even without considering it's a holy item of a different god. But it was a present from one of his friends, and he cherishes it. That and he loves that +2 Wis bonus ;) Well, I can't really remember anything else, so there's the description of Sir Keleth T'Vrule, Knight and soon to be Angel of Death. Well, soon enough.... when my DM gets back from the Air Force. So, interested? Any questions??? :) Thanks fer readin'
Joni-san 11-19-04, 03:40 PM	:bow: :clap: 'Jøø 'da man DMAC :king:
DMAC 11-19-04, 07:37 PM	Thanks guys. I just updated my site to include the ranger sketch and my recent Changeling piece (for those who haven't seen it yet). I also did a bit of a design overhaul this afternoon and registered http://www.darrencalvert.com and http://www.darrenmacalvert.com which both forward to my existing site. Part of my ongoing effort to turn my site into something which appeals to both my fellow geeks and potential employers...
Xeraph 11-20-04, 08:13 PM	Less cartoon... I like it. :thumbsup:
Kaverael 11-21-04, 06:32 PM	DMAC, What font do you use for your website? It's really cool!!! Thanks, Kaverael
DMAC 11-21-04, 10:44 PM	DMAC, What font do you use for your website? It's really cool!!! Thanks, Kaverael It's called "Caeldera" from www.blambot.com. Lots of cool fonts there.
DwarvinJedi 11-22-04, 06:18 PM	:love: :surrender :uh-huh: :bigeyes: :shocked: 15 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!! That would have taken me about(ok, I could never have done anything of this caliber) :bow:
JabBond 11-22-04, 11:18 PM	Agreed, it's very impressive. Any chance, if you get the inspiration, could you draw a gnome female? It's very hard to get a good portrait for my gnome rogue/inquisitive without delving into halfling pics. It never fails, the short races get lumped together, looking alike. With the talent you've got, wow, I'm just speechless.
DwarvinJedi 11-22-04, 11:48 PM	I have two questions, 1: Have you taken any art classes, if so, what kind? 2: How do you color on the computer, and what program?
DMAC 11-23-04, 08:52 AM	Any chance, if you get the inspiration, could you draw a gnome female? It's very hard to get a good portrait for my gnome rogue/inquisitive without delving into halfling pics. It never fails, the short races get lumped together, looking alike. I drew these three versions of the same character for a client: http://www.yodaboys.com/gnometrio.jpg
Kingpin23 11-23-04, 12:57 PM	I was just wondering if you had any pictures already made that resemble my character. Hes a Valenar elf just over five feet with shoulder length dark hair a slim mucled build and he fights with two short swords. Stats are. Fighter 6 str 14 dex 20 con 16 int 12 wis 13 cha 10 It always helps me picture a char when i know his stats exactly how lithe how hardy he looks etc. Alas i am a poor college gamer and cannot afford your fee so i was just hoping you had somthing alread done. If you dont thanks anyway.
Taelok 11-23-04, 04:02 PM	Nice detail on the gnome trio. I particularly liked the heart-shaped knot belt buckle on the left one and the raised claw boots on the right one. I hopped over to your sight, VERY nice collection. I didn't see anywhere on your site though that lists your resume and submissions history. With this quality of work, you have to of submitted some of this to publishing houses around somewhere. A few of them looked like stills I would have seen in the Star Wars d20 sourcebooks. Your grasp of anime is astonishing! Bravo! Looking forward to seeing some more of your Eberron works.