FCCP Behind the scenes: Making pictures fit (Fallout 76 coloring pages)

If you've been following along, you know that I'm the artist who started the Fallout Community Coloring Project (FCCP). I've drawn well over 70 free coloring pages so far with requests to compile into a coloring book. The community response has been awesome and lots of people have contributed their in game photos for me to potentially draw.

Most of what I get I can draw and fit in the frame for a coloring page pretty easily. Sometimes, however, the best results come from a few alterations of space and detail. Today I'm going to give you a couple of examples. Let's start here:

BEFORE

AFTER

Whoa! There are some major changes going on there. I draw in photoshop and utilize tricks to bring things together. I brought everyone closer, added some baubles to the tree, omitted suit guy's backpack, and corrected her wardrobe malfunction. Click on images for closer view. To break those down on the last two, the seated guy in a suit had a backpack on that was digitally  merging with the couch. The lady's hand was merging through her dress into her lap. That's just how Fallout objects go when they are close to each other. It's not a perfect system. It's easy enough to correct when drawing the picture. 

BEFORE

AFTER

As you can see, after I drew in our dancing couple, I zoomed in on the tent and made for more active background to color. The giant rock is nice and all, but comes across as blank ground after you draw it in and thus dead space.  So now there is something active to color in the background without losing the action of the scene.

I have to say the community has been wonderful and I am still working on the ways one or more coloring books may happen. The update on that is that I am in process of moving across states, doing the FCCP coloring book will have to wait until I finish moving. I will update on that more as time draws near. Hopefully you will have a book by this summer. 

As for the rest of the images, if you have not seen them all, you can view them at my page HERE. Just click on PHOTOS and there are two albums. 

If you really love my work and want to help me keep it going, consider ways to support your favorite artists HERE. 

Until next time... thanks for reading and I am still accepting new images, just know that it takes about 3 weeks to get to a new person on the list. In about 3 weeks I will be restarting on my list of people unless new folks add in.

The Fallout Community Coloring Project (FCCP)

Do you play Fallout 76? Are you a Fallout shutterbug? Then boy do I have news for you!

As many of you know I am a published coloring book artist with 6 books under my belt and available on Amazon under DJ Wilde. Yes, I'm also a published author of heroic fantasy tales and novels and I'm something of an amateur game designer (also with games available online).

I have started a currently unofficial unauthorized project with no expectation of profit unless Bethesda wants to talk to me (wink wink). But that's something I'm not expecting really. We'll see what happens.

Right now I just want to give the Fallout community something new, positive, and fun. I'm giving what I can do best in the way of these amazing coloring pages with the help in contributions by you my fellow Fallout player. What is that contribution? In game photos. Yep. That's it and over 40 of you have already responded on Fallout groups to pitch in. It's amazing so far and I can only see it getting wilder from here.

What do you get? You get image credit posted right on the picture with either your gamertag or your first initial and last name (your choice but if you don't give me your gamertag, I will go with the latter).  And of course you get your very own copy of your art as well as full access to all of the images I do on this. In this post I will give you a direct line to send me your images. That would by my email Galaxyzento@gmail.com so there you go!

Every Saturday on my pages I will post updates of new completed images. Contributors get first view of how I used their photos before release days.

I can't promise to use everything you send, but you have the best chances the clearer and brighter your images are. Why? Because I have one complication, Multiple sclerosis and it is a fight for me with vision focus and my hands. It's why I have become strictly and digital artist. But just know that while you help with this project, you help me to slap MS in the face. So thank you for that.

This project will continue so long as I have things to draw, so keep em coming. In between these I will of course be doing my planned works for more coloring pages and coloring books.

Thanks to everyone who has already contributed their amazing photos!

Changing covers

Yes it's time for me to make some changes. I've been rehashing how I'm trying to sell my books and I've gathered some tips. Fact is, even if you are a respected or reputable artist, you need to know a few things about how layouts are done. You also need your cover to accurately convey your story. It also helps if it doesn't look like a child drew it. I've come to the decision that the critics I recently spoke to must be right. So it's time to make changes and recirculate. On top of that I will be adding quite a bit of extra advice like setting up a mail list. I have some ideas for it and I will be looking to make getting my email a fun thing to do.

As for the covers, well, let's take a look at the first novel of the GZ series, Chessmen.

I've realized that the problems are almost too many to list. My book isn't about Chess rather a royal guard of a distant planet. They come to be called "Chessmen".  They are heroes. That's what I do. Heroes. I wanted a near comic book appeal for the story while accenting the planet they are from. Well, I should have sought more advice at someplace like KBoards.com a long time ago. Still I will with this new cover.

Well, what do you think of it? I'm hoping that showing two actual characters from the book will make it clearer what they reader is getting into. I'm quoting a reader in a blurb at the bottom. I think that should be okay. It has the comic appeal I'm going for and simplifies. I'll be looking for what people think of it. Do you like it? Is it appealing? Tell me your thoughts in comments.

The Art Process

Once in a while I get asked what my process is to my artwork. Today, I'll answer that question. I have several steps that I use to put my artwork together. Sometimes I work on a Wacom tablet, but my true love is pencil to paper. I'm going to use a pic I was just working on for a special prize set to go with my board game. This will be the art for the Horseman of Apocalypse called, Plague (or Pestilence if you must).

First I start with pencils. I just use a number 2 and sketch away with basic shapes and refinement.  I work on paper that's at least 50 lb weight. That means it's sturdy and less likely to crumple when I erase pencil marks. I do have a tendency to use what's on sale if what I really want is too expensive. Hey, artists have a budget after all. I don't get into a lot of ultra small details at this level because my hands simply can't do it. On today's pic, I was having an exceptionally good day. Any other time and smaller details get added digitally.

Next is inking (photo above) This is the hardest part for me. I have to ink when my tremors are at their calmest. That's usually first thing in the morning because I haven't done anything to tax myself yet. For new readers; I have MS and my work is part of overcoming that. I have a cup with more than one set of drafting pens in it. I use several tip sizes to preserve the detail I'm aiming for. Even so, some errors will have to correct in the digital step.

Digital. I take the photo that you see from the ink step and load it up in Photoshop. I crop the image and use a layer called 'threshold' to instantly make it digital black and white. At this point, I can use tricks to zoom in on lines and correct them or make sure they are all connected where I want. I can add small details (see if you can spot the changes) that my hands weren't letting me do before. Once I have all the lines fixed and have added details I want, I get to my favorite part.

That would be coloring. I use the filler tool for the flats and then brushes for all the other details. I can zoom in and add all sorts of neat details like bloodshot eyes. I'll be the first to tell you that I'm not the most tech savvy guy. I still don't know a lot of tricks and even videos don't help with my specific programs as much as I'd hope. But I'm learning and that's what is important.

Now that you see Plague in color, you might be wondering what he's holding. Well, it's not his sneezy cloth. It's the Scarf of Pestilence. The nasty looking end can give you any disease while the clean end can cure any ailment. On second thought, maybe that's how he fuels the thing. Nah. Hope you enjoyed the simple breakdown. I have more drawing to do!

Pre-Summer Update! Seriously Good!

There is a ton of stuff going on and it is seriously good. Let's kick things off today with the drawing that is still gathering names for this pile of goodies (plus a sweet black coffee mug!). I've decided there will be runner ups for additional prizes because this has gone pretty well in gaining interest! To spell out what's in the picture (or what you get so far) it's a copy of each of my games; The Galaxy Zento Adventure game and Marshmallow Fight (the links will take you to their Gamecrafter pages), a complimentary bag of marshmallows, a sample card for GZ's first expansion set, a cool magnet, and all four of my books that set the lore for GZ. The edition of Marshmallow Fight is a prototype edition but it still looks and plays great.

HOW TO GET IN ON THE DRAWING: You just visit the GZ Facebook page and follow the instructions in the pinned post. It's really simple. You make sure you hit "like" for the page and share the pinned post. That's it! I'll get an alert and put your name in! Sorry, for US residents only this time.

If you don't want to deal with all that but Marshmallow Fight looks like crazy fun to you, it's on sale NOW for 23.99 on TheGamecrafter. Just hit the link above to order your copy! Of course, I'll be signing everything from the giveaway (wink). You do get an improved game in several ways with ordering though, I must admit. Only in a few small ways though.

So let's talk about Marshmallow Fight for a second. What is this? The name alone sounds like crazy fun. Well it is! It's a game for 3-6 players (but you could feasibly have more than that) ages 6 and up that last for about 15 minutes per game. The win condition is achieving 10 points before anyone else. You do that, by completing stunts with, you guessed it, marshmallows. Each player takes a turn revealing a card from the 36 card stunt deck and doing the stunts that they reveal. It's just that easy! There are two things that the game calls for that don't come with it; a bag of marshmallows and a clean dry coffee cup. But marshmallows are cheap and everyone has at least something like a coffee cup right? Oh, I neglected to mention that you will be throwing them at each other at some point in the game, possibly more than once. Hence it's name!

The game is easy to learn but the stunts may just have you rolling.

In additional news, I'm nearly finished with the first draft of Chessmen book two, The Queen's Gambit where the Chyssian solar system is in greater danger than ever when a plot to kill the Chessmen backfires. If you read the first book and though it was packed with action, book two will positively blow you away.

After that it's time to get to work on the first expansion for GZ the Adventure game to make it even crazier than it already is. That's the awesome thing about making this game customizable. This set is going to add so much to play.

That's it for this update, stay tuned, there is always more on the way!

New Art November!

Heck yeah! I'm doing  new art while practicing my female forms. You can see three of these pics right here. More to come for sure. I have to admit, drawing the female form has been super tough for me. But then when my hands come into the mix with my cognitive state, things get screwed up. That's why my artwork is so simple in its form today. But I am putting in extra efforts, I do want it to look good. So I've added backgrounds to liven up the pics. I think the best one I've done so far is Lypsii the Althamite as she bursts through the faceplate of a Rotanian soldier. Second best goes to Traveler with  her fire staff. Of course I'm drawing straight from the stories.

Speaking of the stories, I have some junk to clear out of my laptop and I'll be forming up PDF files of the books done so far. Those will be going out to people for free in certain places. You have that to look forward to. The second book of short stories is coming SOON. You can bet there will be a giveaway to commemorate the occasion.

I'm quite a ways into the writing of Chessmen 2 as well. Over 40k words! The action is way over the top and more than anything seen in the first Chessmen. It's a gathering of characters that will blow your mind. Characters are coming in that will show up in future stories of their own.

Speaking of future stories, the baddest of the bad villains of GZ make his official book debut in GZ Tales vol 2. Maestro is the highlight attraction of the book and he will bring an evil to the table that is undeniable and menacing. More excerpts will be on the way this month from all the books.

Trying to use social media is not easy. Trying to get my stories out to people is also not easy. I've managed to increase Twitter numbers significantly, but it's a slow slow process. When I have those PDFs ready, I hope to get them out to reviewers. I also hope that's easier than getting reviewers for the board game because that's proven nigh impossible. Won't stop trying though.

As for the board game, remember that the special custom card offer ends on Thanksgiving. I do have some cards going out. You can still get into it. It doesn't matter what you want as a character (except I don't do porn). You can have super backwoods lawnmower dude if you want. But really, this game just needs to get into peoples hands.

That brings me to the awesome news announced by Geekonomicon that Galaxy Zento will be demonstrated there. It's cooler news than I've had all year. Big thanks goes out to Steve Huckabee who is running those demos. I'm going to make sure he has a little something extra to hand for free.

So there are good things coming up in GZ. Bit thanks to all you awesome readers for being there.

Board Game Quandry: Reader's Advice?

Yes, I'm asking you, the gaming reader, for your advice. Consider that what you post here may become the advice sought out by other game creators like me.

Points to consider:

-I'm not just a game creator, but also an author and I'm trying to make GZ it's own standing universe. It has a long way to go with hopes for apps, graphic novels, and maybe even video games. I'm not just looking to take GZ one direction, but many.

-No matter what is available, everything will get future improvements. New editions with improved art and function are always in consideration. For that matter, I'm collaborating with an exceptional artist and the image is his drawing and my coloring. People are already digging it.

-If I do this, it will put games in players' hands. Players will also be able to rate my game on site.

My board game is fully playable. I'm working on a tweak here and there, but essentially it's ready and I'll have those improvements done first.

What I'm thinking of doing is going ahead and making my game available to order on The Game Crafter website for 45 dollars a copy. A few of you wonderful people were willing to back it on Kickstarter at 50.

Not only will this put my game out there for you and other players, but it will provide me with a modest business income that I can grow with.

So what do you gaming folk think of this idea? If you want to look over the information on my game you can do so at this LINK.

I value your input and appreciate it. Rock on gamers! Keep those dice a rolling!

Guest Artist: Billy Barnette!

Anubis looking tall and strong

It's been an awesome lineup of guest artists lately and today is no exception. Billy Barnette has actually done three GZ characters; Songcutter, Yxee and Anubis. Billy is man making a breakthrough comeback into art as you wills see from our discussion. To check out more of is astounding work you will need to go to Genesis Studios on Facebook.

GZ: So, Billy, how long have you been doing your art?

BB: Been back at it for 3 years after a 10 year hiatus from drawing altogether.

GZ: Wow. Safe to say your art hasn't suffered from the hiatus. What inspires you the most?

BB: My son. Always has been and always will be.

GZ: I can understand that as I feel the same way about my son. Do you have any upcoming projects?

BB: My buddy, Jeremiah Ciardullo, and I are working on a little something something. We're in the process of getting some pages stacked together and we'll be releasing it later this year.

GZ: Sounds a little mysterious and that makes it cool right there. Are you currently for hire or have commissions open?

BB: Unavailable for hire due to our current project but pretty much always open for a good commission piece.

Yxee with Songcutter in back

GZ: So essentially, long term projects are out, but one shots are a possibility. I know the feeling. I think we're definitely looking forward to what you have coming next. Now, is there any advice you have for budding artists?

BB: It sounds so cliche and I know everyone's heard it all before, but the advice I'd give is  draw, draw, draw. Whatever it might be. And whatever you do, don't go on a ten year hiatus!

Excellent points but, I still stay that hiatus hasn't hurt your work (but we are our own worst critics when it comes to art). Thanks so much for being involved. As the rest of you can see, Billy has his own personal and powerful style that shows in all his work. Captain America here is looking expressive and has a strong jaw profile.

And if that's not solid enough for you, take a look at this. That's some awesome detail and expression if you ask me!  Be sure to add his FB page and check out what's going on for current action.You won't be disappointed. And thanks for tuning in, heroes! See you next time!

Guest Artist: Amie Key!

Today I bring you a talented young lady from Columbus, Ohio. Her guest artist submission was none other than Bast of Ankhforce. Wow, what a job she did! Just look at that! From the interview, I think you'll agree that this lady is up and coming. I think we will all be on the look out for what she comes up with! As always, you can click on an image for a better look!

GZ: So, Amie, how long have you been an artist?

Amie: I've always been doodling. When I was younger I traced stuff by using the light through sliding glass doors. In '94 Lion King came out and I tried drawing those free hand. I had really good art teachers. They taught me a lot.

GZ: Far out. So what kind of career do you want in art?

Amie: I've never really sought out a career in art primarily because I like drawing what I want. My career has been working with animals. I would love to find time to draw and sell art on the side though.

GZ: I think working with animals is really cool. But then, you aren't for hire yet?

Amie: I am coming back into drawing after a 10 year break. Trying to get a tablet/scanner and photoshop/manga pro. So currently not for hire. I'm fast at doing line art and drawing characters, so in the future I will be doing those at least.

GZ: We can see that by the examples here. So what is your favorite style?

Amie: My favorite style is Anime/manga. Jim Lee's pencils I adore though.

GZ: From all of this, do you have any projects you want to pursue?

Amie: Right now I'm writing a story I will make a comic out of. I've been primarily a writer for the last 10 years.

GZ: I bet that will be something to look forward to. What inspires you most in your work?

Amie: I'm inspired mostly by seeing other really nice work and some of my older stuff. I'm hoping to put out a comic worthy of being seen and read.

GZ: Well you seem to be off to a good start. Lots of luck to you!

Big thanks to Amie Key for being a guest artist today! While she's currently not for hire, keep an eye peeled! This young lady is a future talent just waiting to take off!

Guest Artist: Jack Lopez

Usually, guest artists draw a picture of an already existing GZ character and I post about them and their work. Jack Lopez had a different approach and challenge. He drew up a made up character ( no name or powers yet, just looks) and said, "Here, see what you can do with this". I thought, "colab?" sure why not? So I set to work on digital ink and color to see what would pop out of my brain. The results are below.

Before we get to that, let's talk about Jack. He's an aspiring comic artist with a cool page of work for you to check out at COMIX Illustrated Studios. On page he has over 300 posts of artwork. His style varies based on what he's drawing. He can duplicate looks or use his own flair. I picked a couple of my favorites off the page to show you. He's equally talented from pencils to inks to colors. I think you'll agree.

This is Ironman of course. Colored pencils. He says this was his first run this way and I say he knocked it out of the park.

Venom! Strong inking work. Click on any image for a closer view.





Now for what he sent me. Here are his pencils on this randomly put together guy that he just drew while messing around one day.

Here is what I did with the digital work.

This is the first guest artist colab I have ever done. Was kinda fun really. So there you have it, the work of Jack Lopez. Be sure to like his page (he's only at 100 right now so let's give that a boost). Remember to enjoy independent artists. They are the untapped talent of the comics universe and you never know what you'll find. Be a fan, I am!