Print

[Windrider]

I am surprised nobody jumped in immediately and claimed the right to draw Chitter for the calendar!

The tail is just great if this is a young adult Chitter - about the same age as Ember when she had to lead her splinter group of Wolfriders during the Shards war.  She may be pictured as a bit older than that, as she is a little more... developed.  But in any case, youngsters often do fun, silly things - it is part of the appeal.  I myself often sported a fake tail as a kid.  A friend of mine so identified with animals that her memoirs of all her animal adventures was titled "Born Without a Tail."

Oh, and dying things two-toned isn't that hard.  Haven't you guys ever done tie-dye?  (geez, feeling like an old hippie, here)

[Treefox]

Does that also work for leather?

[Eregyrn]

Heh!  I was just leaving a similar comment over in the thread on SoC, Windrider -- my only "problem" is that I don't have a good, practical sense of how leather dyeing differs from cloth dyeing!  I'm with you in the "old hippie" category (here, let me show you my tie-dye collection ), so it's only that I wasn't sure if leather would wick up color in quite the same delicate way that cloth does.

Maybe it works just the same on nice, soft, thin leather!  I'm just curious to know.  I've home-dyed more fabric than leather (meaning, no leather at all), so I just don't know.  

Or hmm... I wonder if those could even be cloth pieces?  *looks again* No, they've got the ragged edges that usually mean leather.

(I personally quite like the tail!  For the kind of crowd I ran with in my 20s, it wasn't that unusual a decorative item on clothes, in a certain context.  So it feels like it fits the wolfrider context, to me; especially for a young-adult like Chitter.)

[Multimedea]

Leather dyes are more intense than typical cloth dyes. They act more like a paint stain and last a loooong time. Buff or white leathers take the dyes the best and most intensely but pretty much any leather can be dyed, though very, very dark leathers you're better off painting.

Think of it like tattooing (but without the needles). I'll upload some examples of dyed/painted leathers, if anyone's interested.

[Emberra]

Really needs to get to work on this. I haven't started yet. I'm just so nervous of making it look like crap and insulting Wendy and Richard with my art. T_T Nerves....

[Multimedea]

Is it just me or does the outfit actually look like she has wooden ornaments on her sleeves and boots? How does that work?

Don't think it's wood, just puffy buff leather. I've seen motorcycle boots patterned that way.

[Eregyrn]

I figured it was just a kind of fringe made out of leather?  Although in a way, it looks more like a ruffle than a fringe... but yeah, leather decoration.

And yeah, the concept of dyed leather, I'm down with.  It's the delicate two-tone effect that I was unsure you could get with leather and the primitive state of technology that Moonshade has available...

[Multimedea]

Yeah, native Americans did it all the time using vegetable dyes, alkali dyes, shellfish dyes, etc.

[Eregyrn]

Oh, cool!  Do you know of any photos that would show that kind of thing?  I can't recall ever seeing it before.  But it's really neat-looking.

[Jeedai]

Hmmmm...I said she reminded of Jink.

Jink's eye color changes, too. Wendy givers her baby blues, the comics give her green.

[Treefox]

I have the need to point out that I don't dislike the tail. I was having more issues with things that seemed made out of wood to me. Actually that you guys think that it's leather makes me like it more.
And I would like to see your leather dyeing stuff, Multimedea! Interesting, I have never met a person who can do that.
@Emberra: Oh come on, I am sure it won't be that bad. You can do it!
If you feel you need help, Foxeye and Windrider are a great supprt.

[Startear]

I'm not religious, but i do feel the urge to cry out hallelujah! Minyah's "sexy" pose has proven a great challenge, as I've had a hard time figuring out which to use. Head-shot and action one was fairly easy to figure out. Now I found not only what pose to use but refference as well! 

[Multimedea]

I don't have any pix of stuff I've done (in storage). Here's a link showing a few Native American techniques. http://www.womenofthefurtrade.com/wst_page18.html

Although North Americans did trade with Central and South Americans for indigo, the real intense blues (like the Navajo used) came along when settlers traded artificial blueing with them.

[nilla]

Minyah's "sexy" pose has proven a great challenge, as I've had a hard time figuring out which to use.

[Treefox]

Hey, I can totally imagine Minyah sexy! Especially using harvest related things to cover up the non-PG parts.   

[Matsurin]

Ooooh I'm so excited to stumble upon this calendar project! All these past years I've wanted to pariticipate but somehow the planning and dates just slipped by... It's a also a good change to get back to drawing after a looong break. Already PM'd Windrider and hoping to claim Huntress Skyfire, I have an awesome sketch and idea for her.

Also would've loved to get Nightfall, but all her costumes seems to have been claimed already.. :/ Oh well, that's what you get for coming in too late.

[Treefox]

Welcome here!
Of course, I don't know how Windrider thinks about this, but there is still Nightfall's Original Quest outfit... The other question is how much Nightfall we really need...
But I am sure a Skyfire would be awesome from you, judging from your avatar.
And I also hope you will post your drawings here, too.

[Tevokkia]

Hey guys! I'm back! Been kinda' sick and in an art rut, so today is the first time I've worked on my pieces in awhile. I finally had to give up on digitally inking them (I find the process entirely nerve-wracking) and printed my sketches out in pale blue so that I could ink them by hand. (This was a bit of a production, as my printer seems to think 8.5"=3", no matter what program I'm printing from). Totally rocking out on Greywolf's pinup today, and very happy with the lines I'm getting. Nearly ready to move on to his headshot.

[Windrider]

Yeah, welcome Matsurin!  Glad I could get you set up with three character choices you are happy with.

I am also glad to hear that a few artists here (at least) are working diligently on their pinups.  I wish I could say the same about my own, since I seem to be so busy with real life stuff.  Got some pencils I really like, but that's as far as I've gotten as of yet.  I've also got the self-printable calendar layouts in the preliminary stages.

We are already up to 21 entries submissions, which is often the total number of entries during a normal year.  And we still have two months to go!

[Treefox]

I still hope we'll get to see your interesting choices drawn!
I myself haven't been doing anything lately, because I'm seriously sick. Getting better but still... it's frustrating.

[branchscamper]

I've been really sick as well and had put my art aside for a short bit *shame* but I am determined to catch up with month and finish them! 

[Treefox]

Here's to getting better, branchscamper!
I am definitely going to pick up my pens from tomorrow and maybe at least can ink the first Vaya pic.

[Windrider]

Okay artists.... we've got about a month and a half to go before the deadline.  It is about time for people to reassess if they have time to finish their selected characters or not - or if they are in really good shape drawing-wise and want to take on a couple more!

PM me to let me know how you are doing, if you need help, if you'd like taking a different character, etc.

Those who are interested in picking up more characters, keep an eye on the master list since more characters may suddenly become available if artists find Real Life hasn't given them much time (like me, who do I ask for help?  Foxeye!  )

[Multimedea]

I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to finish in time, but it's iffy.

My problem is that I saved my cg program from my main pc to a flash drive so that could use it with my laptop after I moved. I tested it out and everything before I left and it was loading up and working fine. But now that I'm in AZ, it's saying it can't find the release key and it's acting like it's a trial version of the program. No saving, no printing, no fancy stuff. I do have the key boxed up with some art supplies in a care package that my brother should be shipping to me sometime this week, so if I get that, I might be able to finish in time.

I know, some might think the obvious solution is to use Gimp or some PS-type freeware, but I've tried those before and found them to be little more than massive exercises in headache and frustration. I need a more intuitive, painterly-style program. :'(

[silentleaf]

i'm just about done with my 4th  his pin up is done and the action is about half done. still need to do his close up.. I'm hoping i can get done with enough time to do another but I'm not going to risk taking on any new ones until i finish this 100% i am so so very excited to see what everyone has done.