One of the objectives for the HeroMachine Expansion was to provide a way to get the figure’s hands in different positions. It always bothered me that even when holding a gun, when you’d expect a trigger finger to be extended, the character still was shown with a fist. I also wanted you to be able to show the hands splayed, as if they were getting ready to throw firebolts or whatnot. To that end, I introduced a skin with no hands at all, so you could affix other items to the end of the forearm without having to worry about covering up the clenched fist that’s there by default on the body. It’s the last item in the “Skin-Expansion1″ set, and it looks like this:

To go along with this skin, the Right/Left Hand Expansion 1 sets also contain items that have hands integrated into them, so they look more natural. You’ll find a hand holding a pipe, some cards, a protester’s sign, a hand with the index finger in trigger position, and more. I put together an image that uses the “no hands” skin and two of the integrated hand-held items to give you an example of how they might work together:

Since the basic pose can’t change (too many items depend on its exact positioning), shifting the hands around is a good way to add a bit of life and differentiation to your character. If you find yourself with one of these integrated items in the right hand, but nothing in the left but a stump (or vice versa), you can also choose a glove that will do as a stand in if you prefer not to use the blank one provided in the expansion component set.

A long time ago, I had a request to make a color guide for the standard color swatches in HeroMachine 2 for someone who was color blind. I just stumbled upon the file on my hard drive, and thought I should re-post it here so it would have a final home in case other color-blind users might find it useful. Click on the image below for the larger, more legible sized version.

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!

(more…)

A while back I posted a quick tour of how you can use layers to improve your digital illustrations. But not everyone has a Wacom pen tablet, Photoshop, and Flash. Or even a computer. So how can you improve your drawings without those things?

You go old school, baby! You need a pad of tracing paper, which is thin and see-through, a pencil, and some regular paper to start off with.

(more…)

Browsing through the UGO HeroMachine forums, I’ve seen a number of “group shots”, characters all built around a common theme and then assembled together in Photoshop. But I think this trio from “Count Libido” (don’t let the name scare you, it’s all clean), called “Linkin Green”:

All of the Count’s character images are really well done, even stretching back to 2005 (!) and the earlier HM versions. Note in this Linkin Green group how well the color palettes match. They’re obviously three individuals, but just as clearly they’re part of a group, and it’s done by setting a simple four color palette and sticking with it. A common mistake when making characters is to load every color in the rainbow onto their outfits, but that just looks like a peacock exploded on them. Keep it to a tight group of colors like Count Libido and you’ll end up with a much better design.