Scorp has approved the final version of the contest-winning Mideios’ final illustration, so without further ado, here he is:
And just to refresh your memory, here was the contest entry itself, direct from the HeroMachine:
Many thanks again to all the entrants, and to Scorp for giving me such a fun character to illustrate.
The illustration for Mideios, the contest finalist, is going very well. I’ve gotten approval on the black and white lineart, and though you might like to see how it’s going so far (click the image for a larger, non-pixelated version):
The black and white drawing is done in Flash in layers as I’ve described elsewhere. I fill the inside bits with white, then export it as a high-resolution Adobe Illustrator file. Now I’ll import that Illustrator file into Photoshop for the color work, which I’ll post as soon as it’s approved. This is fun!
I suppose if you’re going to name your super-hero self after a cheap and fruity wine beverage, you ought not to be surprised if your costume also looks cheap and fruity, as if you’ve just staggered out of “your” alleyway after a long drunken night of homelessness:
Perhaps Marvel intended this character as a “What If Batman Became a Wino” sort of thing, but I can’t imagine Bruce Wayne sporting a nifty pencil-thin mustache like that no matter how debased he became. Or maybe this is actually Bruce and Selina “Catwoman” Kyle’s love-child, I don’t know.
Whatever the case may be, you’d have to be pretty hopped up on MD 20/20 to combine black thigh-boots with a plunging, chest-hair-exposing collar like that. The creepy demon face logo and angry manicured nails complete the image of the angry wino looking to get back a little of what’s his. Or at least another bottle of cheap hooch, whichever’s easiest.
(Mad-dog character and image ©1985, Marvel Comics Group, “The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe”™, Vol. 2, No. 7.)
The winner of the first HeroMachine “Free Custom Character Portrait Contest” is … Mideios! Congratulations to Scorp, he did a great job. I’ll be working with him over the next couple of weeks to create the custom portrait, and when it’s completed of course I’ll post it here.
Many thanks to everyone who entered, and especially to the other four finalists.
Maybe you want to see the character you’ve designed in a pose unavailable in the HeroMachine. Maybe you want to try freehanding your own illustration, but you’re not very good at drawing the basic figure. To help you out, I’ve created the following “blank” figure drawings for you to use as a base for your own designs. These are all copyright-free, you’re welcome to use them however you like without attribution. Just right-click on the template you want, and choose “Save As …” or “Save Image As …” to put it on your hard drive. Once you have it, load it into an image editor like Photoshop or MS Paint and start customizing it. You can also click on each image to load it full-size in its own window to see it without pixelation. Good luck!
