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KiloTango's Content

There have been 217 items by KiloTango (Search limited from 30-March 23)


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#55209 Drawing Resources

Posted by KiloTango on 27 June 2008 - 12:21 AM in Artwork

Also, this is both educational and entertaining:

101 Photoshop Tips in 5 minutes



#55099 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 25 June 2008 - 06:04 AM in Artwork

Actually, biscuit was from an old topic on the rules of being a Gen, and was one of the names given as examples of what not to do (The other was DiSCO SPARKLYPANTS or something). Then I got bored and actually drew her: http://www.chaoslace...sc/biscuit1.JPG

I don't think it really had anything to do with Amber.

SO NOW YOU KNOW. Don't you feel better?



#54480 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 16 June 2008 - 09:39 AM in Artwork

I shall swap it to grey.


Try just filling a layer with black and changing the opacity for your test background. That way you also have the square pattern of the transparent background to help you see where you've not filled things in and you can change it very quickly to help you see light or dark areas. (Also it's a neutral colour so it won't throw off your colour balance in the way using red or blue might, although if you're going to do a coloured background it may be best to use that colour as your working background to make sure you pick the right colours to go with it.)



#54306 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 13 June 2008 - 08:46 PM in Artwork

Re: Eyeburn, make sure the room is well lit, it really helps.

And take BREAKS. For added glare-avoidance, don't use white as your background colour. Even photoshop's grey and white transparency grid is better. Make a white background layer to test stuff with, but the less white you have going on in general while you work, the less bright the screen and the less strain on your eyes. :)



#53092 Oh, TokyoPop. *rolls eyes*

Posted by KiloTango on 03 June 2008 - 10:53 AM in Community Corner

It's old news to me because artists are always raped like this. Honestly, every artist goes through a company doing this. Sure, the contract itself is new, but every artist usually has to go through losing moral rights. It happens way too many times that someone has to heed to executives to satisfy the public. It's not new to me. Am I saying losing moral rights isn't a bad thing? No; it's awful. But, sadly, published art way-too-often comes from "I'm doing something I love 8D!" to "I'm doing something for money"; whether the artist or executives say that, it differs.


Not every artist gets raped like this, actually. Yes, almost everyone has a shitty first job, but that's not how it always is and definitely not how it SHOULD be. And particularly, not everyone just gives up their moral rights.

I felt like he claimed the same things over and over and picked and pulled at it; plus i was biased since he started it all with 'I hate Tokyopop'. It's only a Pilot; they're bound to be paid more if it picks up, unless I'm mistaken? Again, I'm not seeing this aimed at artists like O'Malley. More like 18-year old, hidden talents that have that one last shot at anything.


He repeated them because they came up again and again in the contract. And he prefaced with saying he was opposed to Tokyo pop because this isn't the first time controversy has come up about their treatment of young creators, and because he's someone that might be expected to like them considering it's really obvious he loves manga and anime if you read his blog or his comics.

You don't suddenly stop having a chance when you get past 18. Where does 'one last shot' come from? And good work is worth money no matter how old the person doing it is.

Also, young artists underselling themselves too much makes it harder for everyone else, because why would someone as mercenary as TP pay a proper rate when they can just capitalise on the army of teenagers who will work for peanuts?

I see what they mean. I still take no offense to it; they're saying it's fancy since it's French, and that's a joke. Albeit not exactly PC; I honestly don't care. You can be PC, PIC, or Racist. I'm PIC (Politically Incorrect). The pact also says that your creation no longer has moral rights, but it seems they'll 'fairly' change it around. That's what they seem to claim; whether they will or not I do not know. We'll have to wait and see I guess. I know myself how important my creations are, but, of course, that is why you do not publish creations near and dear to you. Again, do you think I'd want someone to mess around with my characters'? No. That's why you do not publish it; you publish something lesser. I know that it is pretty bad that they can do this, but a lot of times comic companies will say "You must change this to please ze publicz!" (In a german accent), and you MUST or else. That's just how it is.


I really couldn't care less if they were not PC. I'm not talking about offending people. All that does is make them look a bit lame. The problem the fact they use that as a deflection to belittle a really important thing, in a contract clearly aimed at kids who might not be good enough at critical reading to see past it. Moral Rights ARE a major thing and should be considered seriously, and this bluffs over them as if they don't matter, throwing in a silly crack about the French for people to pay attention to instead. That's really manipulative, far more than legalese is.

If nobody ever published anything they feel really strongly about, comics and literature would SUCK. Editing and making changes to make your project a little more marketable, and dropping your Moral Rights are not the same thing. An editor might say 'I need to you change this'. That's fine, because you can argue against it, and it's up to you to make those changes. Without your moral rights, they don't have to ask you. They can even get someone else to make stuff based on your intellectual property without you having any creative control input on the other project. (They would pay you, yes, but you still wouldn't get a say if you've signed off your Moral Rights.) But still put your name on it to help sell it, of course.

>_> I could get the jift of all the sh!t they meant when I took my first read-through. Again, this Pilot program isn't aimed at adults; more like 18-year olds. Companies are. Sure, maybe not as 100% rough, but they are shifty and secret.


Which makes it worse. They're taking advantage of kids.

The nonsense about microscopic boiler plate at the start of the thing is bull. I've read (and even signed) professional publishing contracts. A deal of my friends have too and we often discuss them. And yes, they are difficult to read BUT they're not in some kind of sneaky code. Through hiding behind fake jovial language, the pact thing is actually more dishonest than a normal contract.

Did I say it was? I know this is unfair, but this isn't aimed at someone like you or the creator of Scott Pilgrim; it's honestly aimed at the 18-year old Weeaboo who wants his stuff published. I don't see he or she reading any form of contracts to begin with.


Which is messed up. People SHOULD read contracts. If they're a minor, their PARENTS should be going through it with them. The whole point of these blog articles and LJ rants on the subject is to expose what's in these contracts, because people should be aware. It's up to them if they want to do it. They can sign up if they want. It might be worth it. But I do think it's important to point out what is actually being said, and that not all of it is as simple and friendly as the pact makes it up to be. The informality is a smoke screen and it's totally worth cutting through.

And "oh it's just weeaboos" doesn't stand. Like I mentioned before, it leads to everyone getting undercut. And everyone has an equal right to their intellectual property. If they do want to sign it away, fair enough. Everyone sells out a little bit, that's now you make enough money to eat. But you need to know what you're doing and just how much you're signing away, which that pact glosses over a bit. I mean, that argument boils down to 'It's okay to exploit their interlectual property by glossing over moral rights, they're just kids.'

Shouldn't we be, y'know, protecting the kids from stuff like this?

I'll read the links later; I don't honestly care much about it, I just wanted to say my 2 cents and see if anyone would fight with me since it's so much fun to argue ^_^. Not like I'm gonna be an artist, not like I'm gonna submit to the program; I'm just playing the bad guy to see what happens 8D. I knew no one would say something if I showed the other side that says it's not right, but if I say something completely controversial, everyone will attack me. That's how trolls operate 8D.

And don't tell me to GTFO because I do have the view of what I said above; whether 50/50 or not, I don't know.


'GTFO' is a rubbish argument :). You don't have to agree with me. I can see where you're coming from, I just don't agree.

It's important to realize if you're gonna publish something, every company wants your art for your money, not your art. Once you get by that hill, you'll realize your friends are the peers, not the company who will toss your art around like it's sh!t. *sigh* Companies didn't use to be this bad anyway.


That's what agents are for. And also, there is a line. Not all companies are as bad as you say. A lot of creators have a lot more control over their product. Yes, you still sign some things away, but not everything. Getting past the 'Getting Published = Selling Out and All That It Entails' idea is another hill that people need to get past. Publishers aren't all moustache-twirling baddies.

Speaking of which, Manga is a forging of Eastern, Traditional Drawings, and Western Comic Books such as Superman and DC Comics; if you dislike manga but love Superman, it's not ironic, but if you love manga but dislike Superman, it is 8D.
And Western culture has an awful lot of influence on Japan after America helped build what it destroyed :3. btw, anyone who says it was a War Crime is full of sh!t; the 'rules of war' allow you to attack civilian cities. It's cruel, but it's war. *tsktsk* Why can't we forget the past and move onto the future?


And thinking you can reduce western comics down to DC is about as blinkered as thinking everything Manga is Pokemon ;). (Besides, didn't manga come more from Mickey Mouse than Superman. You can see it even more if you look back to 50s manga like Osamu Tezuka's stuff. They're also heavily influenced by film in their use of panelling and angles.)

Haha, also a lot of straight up comic fans don't even like Superman, there are far more interesting super heroes (not to mention all the non-super hero books out there, of which there are MANY). Although I hear Grant Morrison's All Star Superman book was good...

The Americanisation of Japan is a really complicated thing. A lot of traditional Japanese values have been eroded by it, for better or for worse. Not to mention the paranoia and xenophobia to come with it. The whole thing as lead to some interesting art and literature. Just watch Paranoia Agent. (And I'm not getting into Nuclear Politics, wtf. XD)

A lot of Manga fans never really bother to look hard at the culture that makes the comics they love so much. There are some really subtle but profound differences in the Japanese way of storytelling (just like European and american stuff is often pretty different as well, though a little less so).

They're all comics though, really.

8D OMFG YES 1/3 of this post isn't even about TP and their contract 8D. See how much I loveith to ramble? Or is it secret trolling? Your call; i'm just being an ass 8D


A little from column A, a little from column b... ;)

Wow, this post ended up kinda epic...



#53021 Oh, TokyoPop. *rolls eyes*

Posted by KiloTango on 02 June 2008 - 06:12 PM in Community Corner

NNR:

I know this isn't their main OEL contract, I never said it was. This is for their Manga Pilot program, which seems to basically be rising stars of Manga under a different name. The mess that happened with the OEL creators is a whole other kettle of fish. One I would need to pull up more sources on, to be honest, but isn't pretty either. And it's not that old news, this contract hasn't been up long and it's one of the first ones they've been candid and allowed people to talk about. I'm close friends with someone who works for TP and they do not let you discuss their professional contracts once you've signed them.

And for the record, the guy in the LJ isn't some whiney kid, it's Bryan Lee O'Malley. A freaking AMAZING indy comics creator. (If you've not heard of him, I'm sure you will soon. Considering there is a major motion picture directed by Edgar Wright and staring Michael Cera in production based on his current main comic 'Scott Pilgrim'. You'll find most of his stuff published by Oni Press.) A good amount of other established comics creators have been up in arms as well. These people know what they are talking about. They make a LIVING out of comics.

I'm not sure what you mean by BAAAWING. He's slagging them off because of the contract. He keeps on topic with that, and has dealt with enough real comics contracts to know what he's talking about. (and also isn't alone.)

If you read through some of the other gazillion journals where people have talked about this, you'll see they've given a sum of $750 for these things, which works out at like $20 a page. For written, pencilled, inked, lettered and formatted art? If that was an advance, yeah, that'd maybe be reasonable. But it isn't. That's flat fee. These people get no royalties on the pilot. That is a crappy rate of pay. (They might get royalties for other formats, and they do for whole books and the like, but that would be down to a full contract which of course we don't get to see. And either way, $20 a page is not good. And I'd have to find a source but from what I've heard doing full books for TP has a royalty cap on it, and a pretty bad page rate as well. But, we're not talking about that right now)

Also, it's not the slight against the French that's the issue for me, it's saying that MORAL RIGHTS aren't important because they're a French idea. The politically incorrect joke might be vaguely funny but they're using it to gloss over something really important. On 'work for hire' (which is when a publisher says 'we have this property/idea, we want you to write/draw it for us') it's usual to waive your moral rights, but the manga pilots are talking about original content here. Moral Rights aren't something just to be glossed over. Signing them away you're basically giving people the right to screw with your creation in whatever way they see fit. Pretending that's something 'silly' and not worth the time thinking about by deflecting with some unfunny line about the French is NOT COOL.

The 'evil' thing about this is by using this patronising, fake friendly tone, they're glossing over stuff that would actually be clearer in legalese. They're still screwing people over with the handling of intellectual property (And for basically peanuts if you're going by page rate). This 'pact' is more honest than any other contract, and is actually less so by the way they gloss over stuff. I've had to work with straight, legitimate contracts and they're not as sneaky as people think. If you can't get your head around proper contracts, you should be going through an agent or a lawyer of some kind.

I'm interested to see what other manga companies are just like this. I actually am, I'd like to see the contracts.

And I'm sorry, but 'It's shady but that's just how everyone does it' does not in ANY WAY make this right. I just can't get behind that attitude. Sure, there are bad contracts around, but the fake 'hip' language TP use in this pact masks that this thing is still a really bad deal, and is going to dupe young impressionable creators. That is what I (and a lot of the people that have blogged about this) find so reprehensible about it.

Anyway, as you asked, this is fairly neutral:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-...ay-legal-rights

As is this:
http://www.digitalstrips.com/2008/05/a-pilots-life.html


A round up from various comics people talking about the contract, which also goes into some of the stuff that went wrong with the OEL books as well. It is however quite negative, but pulled from lots of sources:

http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/20...ly-bad-contract



#52446 Oh, TokyoPop. *rolls eyes*

Posted by KiloTango on 28 May 2008 - 09:48 PM in Community Corner

They're okay as translators (but by no means great; the dialogue could be so much better and often sounds frustratingly stilted after reading a lot of western stuff where the script is better with distinct character voices) but I've heard bad stuff about how they treat original content creators. They have been responsible for opening up the comics market as a whole to some things (the smaller cheaper format, teenage girls as a comic audience, and so on) which is great, but they're making a mint out of the manga buzz word and it worries me they look to be taking advantage of young inexperienced creators with stuff like this.



#52365 Oh, TokyoPop. *rolls eyes*

Posted by KiloTango on 28 May 2008 - 10:08 AM in Community Corner

It's downright evil. They open the thing saying they've written it informally so you don't have to deal with legal mumbo jumbo, when really the way they've written it obfuscates things even more than a formal contract.



#52363 Oh, TokyoPop. *rolls eyes*

Posted by KiloTango on 28 May 2008 - 10:00 AM in Community Corner

I wasn't sure if I should post this here, or in the artwork section where art people will see it.

Buuut, Bryan Scott O'Malley (creator of Scott Pilgrim and other awesome comics) posts a breakdown of TP's 'pact' for their manga Pilot thing.

And it does not look good.

My favourite bit of head-desk inducing rubbish in this contract is:

“MORAL RIGHTS” AND YOUR CREDIT
“Moral rights” is a fancy term (the French thought it up) that basically has to do with having your name attached to your creation (your credit!) and the right to approve or disapprove certain changes to your creation. Of course, we want you to get credit for your creation, and we want to work with you in case there are changes, but we want to do so under the terms in this pact instead of under fancy French idea. So, in order for us to adapt the Manga Pilot for different media, and to determine how we should include your credit in tough situations, you agree to give up any "moral rights" you might have.

Of course, you still have your rights under this pact to your credit.


YEAH EVERYONE HATES FRANCE, RIGHT? So give up your moral rights to your creation, it's only a silly FRENCH idea!

Good grief.

(And for the record, I've read the contract for myself and it is as bad as it's being made out to be in the LJ entry.)

But yeah, thought I should pass this on.



#51969 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 24 May 2008 - 01:29 AM in Artwork

EIGHTY DOLLARS!? That doesn't even come CLOSE to a reasonable commission price


Yeah, it's actually really cheap for a professional artist's work.

I mean, just think about it in terms of hours spent doing them. Times those hours even by minimum wage and that adds up. With a piece that's already done it's a little different, but with a commission, a lot of people have to work for much less than they're worth.

(Also, a whole wall mural for $80!? That would be worth $150-200 at the least. Murals are tough! XD)



#51437 KiloTango's Topic of Piccage

Posted by KiloTango on 19 May 2008 - 12:22 PM in Artwork

WIP, playing with Artrage. Forgot how much fun this program is. Done completely on the computer:

Posted Image



#51436 Foxboy's Signature Art

Posted by KiloTango on 19 May 2008 - 12:20 PM in Artwork

Try giving the text a 'stroke' (using 'layer styles' to do it is your best bet because then you can change it really easily), that will make it easier to read. Also, watch the contrast. The text on the model LX image is very hard to read because it has a very high contrast background going on that kinds breaks up the lettering. You're on the right track with picking contrasting colours, but making sure the light and darkness of things contrast is even more important in a design. You can use a stroke to help this, or a bar of translucent light or dark can help as well.

It might also be worth trying different fonts. Times New Roman (at least I assume that's what it is) isn't too megaman-ish, I bet you could find something more interesting without much difficulty. :wub:

Hope this helps! If you need to explain any of this more clearly, just ask.



#51090 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 16 May 2008 - 12:39 PM in Artwork

There are some colours that CMYK that RGB can't do so well, but not so many as CMYK can't do that RGB can. I've done a lot of CMYK work recently and it looks fine when I convert to RBG to show people on screen. You're always going to lose some things and change some things when you convert from one colour gamut to another so if you can avoid converting, you should. Looking at things on the Lulu site (just google for Lulu and CMYK) it seems they will let you submit CMYK files, and the forum topic I found says you should just stay in the mode you worked up the image in.



#50978 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 15 May 2008 - 11:35 AM in Artwork

Use CMYK if you can. Seriously. It takes a while getting used to but that way you know your print work will look like it does on your screen. That's even more important than calibrating a lot of the time, unless you're just using dull colours (and this is you so like THAT is gonna happen! XD)

Actual printers themselves generally work in CMYK, which physically can't print certain colours you can get with RGB (like neon green and magenta) due to the laws of physics. (RGB is made of mixing levels of red, green and blue light and his how monitors work. CMYK refers to the mix of cyan, magenta, yellow and 'key'/black pigments, which is how normal printing works.) So if you work in CMYK you can be sure you use the most vibrant colours that can definitely be printed, and you can just convert to RGB afterwards without losing that (make sure you flatten first though). You can't do it the other way around so well, as CMYK has fewer colours and will muddy up RGB work. RGB can most of the colours CYMK does, but not the other way around. (I think CMYK might have more really dark colours but generally it IS more limited than RGB)

You CAN just convert from RGB to CYMK but often it won't be half as vibrant as if you work in it from the start because photoshop will just pick the closest shade and it often won't really be as nice as it could be.

Okay that was very technical but I think you get the idea. TL;DR version- Most of the time you should use CMYK for art for print, especially if it's brightly coloured, to make sure you get the most vibrant colours you can and make sure the print will look like it does on your screen. And just converting RGB to CMYK after you've made the art tends to look much more dull than if you work in it from the start.



#50974 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 15 May 2008 - 10:05 AM in Artwork

Silly question but are you working in CYMK or RGB? And have you calibrated your monitor? If you work for print in RGB or on an uncalibrated monitor you risk the colours not looking the same on your screen as on a print.



#50872 KiloTango's Topic of Piccage

Posted by KiloTango on 14 May 2008 - 12:47 PM in Artwork

Oh, because people might have missed it in the resources topic:

http://katycoope.blo...hop-part-1.html
http://katycoope.blo...hop-part-2.html

I put up my speedline tutorial.



#50806 Drawing Resources

Posted by KiloTango on 13 May 2008 - 08:48 PM in Artwork

Told you I'd do this eventually. KT's guide to making speedlines on photoshop.

http://katycoope.blo...hop-part-1.html
http://katycoope.blo...hop-part-2.html



#50565 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 11 May 2008 - 11:23 AM in Artwork

Yeah, I've seen the pointy brackets thing done in a lot of stuff.



#50490 DeviantArt Accounts

Posted by KiloTango on 10 May 2008 - 06:36 PM in Artwork

http://ktcoope.deviantart.com

This be me.



#50461 Batman Gotham Knight

Posted by KiloTango on 10 May 2008 - 02:32 PM in Community Corner

This < is why you shouldn't watch it...


LETS KICK SOME ICE.



#50424 KiloTango's Topic of Piccage

Posted by KiloTango on 10 May 2008 - 02:04 AM in Artwork

Finished that Disgaea commission after a huge hiatus.

Posted Image


Laharl has so much GLEE.



#50215 Batman Gotham Knight

Posted by KiloTango on 08 May 2008 - 01:48 AM in Community Corner

Satoshi Kon is doing one bit of this.

I would buy it just for that even if there was nothing else good on it. (When actually, there's a bunch of cool things in this.)

SATOSHI KON BATMAN DAMMIT *flails*

Also seconding the 'dear god see Batman Begins' sentiment. It's a great film and well worth seeing. The new one looks fantastic too.



#50026 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 06 May 2008 - 11:09 AM in Artwork

That could work nicely. Powers does some great colour use where the really really cop-drama parts of in muted colours but when superheroes show up it goes all bight and primary. That whole series is stunning for mood and colour.

A bw/colour split like you're suggesting could be really striking, especially if there ends up being some bleed between them. Hell, if people 'wake up' like they did in the old version, maybe their eyes become coloured once they do or something.

RE: Coloured tones, that could be cool to play with, you could colourise sections using gradient maps perhaps, or just layers set to 'colour', or turn the toned image into a layer mask and just painting the colours you want into it. Or you could do tones and have small elements of flat colour, which could also be very effective. I would really advise against just laying black tones over/under normally coloured art. For why, just take a look at the Witchblade manga (though god, don't actually buy it.) The screens of black dots deaden the colours and just look bad. You could pull it off with really muted colours, but you've never really been about muted colours. :)

Changing style from dream to dream could be cool too, like how Sandman does it sometimes (Particularly in The Dolls House).



#50015 TRiP's other OTHER art

Posted by KiloTango on 06 May 2008 - 09:49 AM in Artwork

Not everything Image does is in colour, so don't worry about that. And don't worry about being 'Manga OMG'. I mean you're not japanese for a start, and it doesn't even sound like you're trying to pitch it at Tokyo Pop. Just make it how you want.

Doing stuff with screentones isn't lazy, good black and white work takes time and effort. And it's not just a manga thing any more, indy people use it too.

(It's also worth keeping in mind that if you keep the lineart it's not like you can't colour stuff later if you decide it would look better. Or even do a few pages both ways and see how it pans out in terms of time and effort and results.)

Your colour stuff is decent but I've always liked how you did B+W comics.



#50001 KiloTango's Topic of Piccage

Posted by KiloTango on 06 May 2008 - 02:11 AM in Artwork

Preview for that photoshop speedline tutorial I'm working on. Cause I needed an image to put the speedlines on. The tutorial will show how to make the brush and presets, and how to use it to make speedlines like this, or the ones where they all go in the same direction too. (I've just not drawn the image for that yet)

Posted Image

It be Ray. Inked in brush pen. Toned on photoshop. About to kick some ass. Wheeee!

Hopefully should have the tutorial done in a few days.