Jack of Harts Art (AKA My Little Obsession)

Medron Pryde

Hey all,

I write stories while not contributing to my day (night) job, and I've enjoyed art since I was a kid. Good art tells stories, and while I'd never say my art was good back then, it did tell stories. Now I tell stories and sell them...which is really awesome. :)

I've been playing with Daz studio for years, but it wasn't until the genesis 2 characters started coming out that the quality of renders and figures matched the quality I wanted in my head. So here I am, finally taking some time out of my writing to design some of the characters I write. hehehe.

My little obsession. ;)

I've been posting art on Deviantart ( http://medronpryde.deviantart.com ) for a while, but have now decided I want to do it here too. I mean...why not? You guys love good renders here. Hopefully you'll think mine are decent. ;)

If you are interested, you can also read early versions of my stories at http://jackofharts.com and the final versions are all up on amazon as digital.

For now though...art...since this is an art forum...hehehe. :)

Medron Pryde

The first character piece is Jack Hart. He's sorta the viewpoint character of most of my writing...hence the name and such...hehehe.

He was a college slacker busily wasting his time on girls and parties until the alien Shang attacked. He volunteered to kick their asses to the other side of the galaxy and there we have the beginnings of the stories.

This piece of art is of him AFTER The War, wearing a nice white suit. The good guys wear white after all, and he considers himself a real good man. ;)

The suit is the Yakuza suit.
The boots come from one of the M3 or M4 cowboy outfits.
The necklace comes from Effortless Cool.
His skin is from the character Dan.
I can't remember what model I used for his shape.

In short, he's a bit of a mutt. :)

I rendered this on a blank background with standard character highlight lights. I like how it came out in the end. :)
Postwork limited to removing pokethrough issues between boots and pants and adding a white background so the forum doesn't turn the blank background to blue in Paint Shop Pro.

Medron Pryde

Here is a render of Betty.

She is a cybernetic intelligence born to be the mind of a starfighter in the Republic of Texas Marine Corps Fighter Attack Squadron 112, The Cowboys. She is Jack's partner (some say in crime) and can really make their fighter dance.

She is wearing the Summer Dress for Genesis outfit that does a good job of working on Genesis 2.
I can't remember what model I based her off.
Her skin is either Sophie or Brynn. I always get the two confused. Let's just say that those are some AWESOME skins and I love to use them. ;)

This render was done with standard character lights with a blank background at a scale of 5,000 pixels tall.
Postwork was limited to reducing size to 2,000 pixels and adding a white background.

This render came out very well if I say so myself. :)

Medron Pryde

Another update for the week. :)

Jasmine is another cybernetic intelligence, though subtly different than Betty. She was born in the same way, to partner with a Marine pilot. Her pilot died though. Most cybers who lose a pilot shut down afterwards due to the closeness of their bond. It is difficult to live without the person you were literally born to be with around to talk to. Jasmine is one of the few cybers who chose to continue living after her pilot died. She works with Jack, though her position is complicated. She does not fly his starfighter for instance. As the stories progress she flies drone starfighters in support of his fighter, and acquires a physical robotic avatar that she uses in support of Jack and the other Cowboys.

I believe I used the Lotus figure as her primary base.
Her skin is either the Sophie or Brynn skin. Basically, the one I didn't use for Betty. Did I mention I really like those skins? ;)
Her tank top is from the Vault Rustler set. One of the best tank tops IMHO.
Her jeans are from the J Girl for Genesis 2 Females set. They are some of my favorite jeans for G2F. I wear jeans and these look like jeans.
I don't know where I got her combat boots from. I'm not sitting at the rendering computer now so I can't pull the figure up and check, but I really like these boots too. ;)

This is a straight render of the figure with character lights over a blank background at 5,000 pixels high for good print quailty.
Post work was limited to reducing to 2,000 pixels and adding a white background.

Medron Pryde

Another character update. :)

This is Ken (Buckaroo) Banno. He lived in Los Angeles, in the Empire of Free Japan, and grew up in the Buckaroo Surfing Team until the alien Shang dropped Yosemite Yards onto the city. He's never seen Occupied Japan, but like most of his people dreams of returning one day. He became one of the founding members of the reactivated Cowboy Squadron and has been doing his best to kick the Shang to other side of the galaxy.

I don't remember what model or skin I used for him, but it was one of the Lee 6 characters.
He is shown wearing Cyria G2F glasses and the Tech Soldier for Genesis in military colors. I wish there were more color options for Tech Soldier. Just having a black option without Police on it would be awesome for instance. Camo patterns and other stuff would be nice too.
He is carrying Machine Pistols from Science Fiction Pistols set. That is a nice set, though once again I wish there were more color options for them.

This was rendered with standard character lights on a blank background.
Postwork was limited to changing size and adding white background.

This is actually a render I did for a Card Heroes set I'm working on. Fully rendered characters in armor, front and back renders, printed on either side of a small card that can be placed in a stand and played on the table. Cheaper than buying and painting miniatures for people who like to game. Obviously designed for a modern or future campaign rather than fantasy. ;)

Khory

Great caracters there! Am I picking up a bit of "Buckaroo Banzai" influence here?

Medron Pryde

I may be a fan of a certain movie and I may have named one character in such a way that fans of said movie may smile fondly at. ;)

I like to...recognize the existence of culture in my writing...so there are mentions of people who like Star Trek or think Batman is great literature and the like.

And then there are others who prefer Shakespeare, and some who know that no-talented man merely took the credit for plays that other people wrote.

:)

Khory

Nothing wrong with a bit of homage!

Medron Pryde

The trick is making certain that the homage doesn't become copyright infringement. ;)

A little bit is smile worthy. A lot is lawsuit worthy. :(

So one always has to be careful. But I try to have fun with it. hehehe.

Medron Pryde

Here is Charles Edward Wolf (Hurst)

Born to the powerful Hurst family of Pennsylvania, Charles was the heir to one of the richest fortunes on Earth until he disappointed his father in his life choices. He volunteered to serve in the military after the Shang bombarded America and soon became a founding member of the reactivated Republic of Texas Marine Corps Fighter Attack Wing 112, the Cowboys. He would inherit command of the unit soon after the loss of their commander in combat and maintained his command throughout The War.

He also set into motion what became known as the Wolfenheim Project. Its goal was to build a new colony, further away than any previous Earth colony. To be established in alien space, it was to be many things. A statement that the Western Alliance was not dead. A warning to the aliens that Earth would not always be limited to her own little corner of space. That no matter how hard they sought to bottle us up, we were coming. That we would always be coming...

This render was done in DAZ Studio over a blank background with standard character lights.
I honestly don't remember the base model or the skin used.
The hair is the Elven Hair for Genesis
The base outfit is the new Tau Ceti Overseer for G2F. It works surprisingly well on G2M, though the manboobs were a bit much. So I added the armor plates from Tech Soldier for Genesis.
He is wearing the glasses from Cyria for G2F
He is wielding the La Tormenta hand gun
The boots are Action Kicker Boots for Genesis
And the gloves are Mech Girl for G2F.

Elements of the gloves, boots, and Tech Armor were made invisible to work with the Tau Ceti Overseer.

Once again, I'm impressed with the Tau Ceti Overseer. It is the best sci-fi armor yet done for the G2 frame, though I would like to see a G2M version. As noted, the manboobs are kinda disturbing. One issue I have with the armor is in materials. Even the "subdued" army color is pretty bright. I would love to see new textures for the armor. It really is a very good base.

One thing I would like is a nice set of gloves that actually have full fingers. Almost all the gloves seem to have only partial fingers. *sighs*

Postwork was limited to resizing and adding a white background in Paint Shop Pro 7.
Yes. No pokethrough in all of that. As noted. Very nice armor and a good mix of "stuff" and creative local invisibility to make it all work.

Khory

Looks good. A shame about the gloves. I know at one point one of the figures had a morph to hide the fingernails (make the ends of the fingers smooth) and then you could just change the hands to a simple shader to give the gloves a double layered look. But that may have been many figures ago. It is a bit of a shame about the moobs but I didn't really notice it right off so it is absolutely dire.

Medron Pryde

It may have been me being overly sensitive about it....;)

Either way, this is a very good armor and I'm overall very happy with it.

I hope they upgrade some of the old generation 4 armors to Genesis 2 now. There was some good stuff back then, but getting it to work with G2 is a bit of a bugger...

Medron Pryde

Here is introducing Dorothy.

Dorothy is a cybernetic intelligence born to help Charles. While her mother was not aware of the entirety of his plans when she chose to create Dorothy, the cybernetic families had been watching him for some time. He was not a typical member of the Hurst family and when he volunteered for military service, they were under no misunderstandings as to his true motives.

He had plans that is his family would not approve of. The cybernetic families were happy to help him, sight unseen.

Like all other cybernetic intelligences designed to be starfighters, Dorothy was born only after weeks of physiological testing. Her personality, appearance, and non-combat skill set were all designed from the base code up to make Charles feel comfortable. Everything about her reminds him of family members or friends that he likes on a subconscious level. She was born to be his ally, confidant, and partner in crime where ever his plans took him.

Originally born with only a holoform per United States military regulations pertaining to starfighter cybers, she later acquired a true robotic avatar. She fought many battles over the years with that and successive bodies, saving many Cowboys and other Alliance personnel from what otherwise would have been certain death.

This render was done in DAZ Studio over a blank background with standard character lights.
I honestly don't remember the base model, skin, or hair used.
The base outfit is the new Tau Ceti Overseer for G2F. I added the armor plates from Tech Soldier for Genesis to complement the G2M outfit.
She is wearing the glasses from Cyria for G2F
She is wielding two different versions of the Baradum AR481 rifle from the Dystopian Weapons Cache 2
The boots are Action Kicker Boots for Genesis
And the gloves are Mech Girl for G2F.

Elements of the gloves, boots, and Tech Armor were made invisible to work with the Tau Ceti Overseer.

As before, I am very happy with the Tau Ceti Overseer. Easily the best armored outfit for Genesis 2. As before, I would love more coloring options.
The Dystopian Weapons Cache is an awesome set of weapons. I'm not a big fan of the pistol, but the rifle and HEAVY rifle are truly fun to work with. And they have several fun coloring options. I chose black because...well...tradition. ;)
Even when doing obvious science fiction, I prefer to keep my writing and reference pictures as grounded in reality as possible. People wear real clothing rather than jumpsuits. Weapons are black where possible. Little stuff like that.
The lack of helmets on otherwise military armor and the...unrealistic hair...is there since I intend to sell these as small Card Heroes for people to use in war games or role playing sessions. And for that each figure needs to be easily recognizable. Hair style and color, skin color, and facial shapes are some of the easiest ways to differentiate characters.
The wrap around glasses have a dual use in the universe. The first is to protect the eyes from damage should the helmet be breached. The second is to display information on the battlefield and those in it. They are computer screens that the cybernetic or artificial intelligence can transmit data to for the soldier to read. Contacts are also often used for this purpose, but since contacts can often be uncomfortable the glasses are the military's base option.

Khory

I like everything about that one except those shoes with those "pants". For some strange reason the combo makes her feet look a bit like hooves to me. That said, I really like the rest of her.

Medron Pryde

Yeah, I can see that now that you say it.

I think that is the angle of the render. I never saw it before so didn't notice it.

:)

Medron Pryde

This is Sara, the cybernetic partner of Ken (Buckaroo) Banno.

Old Japan was an early adopter of robotics even before the end of the twentieth century, and continued to create bigger, stronger, and smarter robots and AIs until the Chinese invasion. Japanese robots are credited with slowing the Chinese advance long enough for the Japanese to perform an impressive evacuation and the majority of the Free Japanese would settle near old Little Japan in Los Angeles. There they continued what many considered an obsession with robotics and AIs, and Los Angeles was the most robotized cities in America when the Shang dropped Yosemite Yards on it.

Born to fit in with the Free Japanese still living around the ruins of Los Angeles, Sara became a symbol of Free Japan's acceptance of robotics, AIs, and cybernetic life forms. And their total devotion to kicking the Shang's asses to the other side of the galaxy of course. She fought as a Cowboy(girl?) throughout The War, taking on a robotic body against American military regulations. The Free Japanese saw her decision as natural and blocked all federal attempts to sanction her for it.

She would later become a powerful member of the Post-War Free Japan government, and represented them in many international meetings throughout the century that followed. This particularly annoyed the Chinese and Russian representatives considering their governments' official position on cybernetic lifeforms, a fact the Free Japanese considered to be a most amusing and enjoyable bonus.

Sara is based on the Courtney figure, rendered here in full HD.
She uses the Kyokyo skin with all tatoos.
She has Rev Hair
She wears a Neat Pleats blouse and the jeans and boots from Horror Survivors: Cris

All items are designed for G2F.

I'm actually very happy with the whole ensemble as it looks both realistic for somebody to wear on a normal day and just a little bit classy at the same time.

Khory

I think she looks very good as well!

Medron Pryde

Here is a quick re render of Sara with the Cowboy boots from the Casual Jeans Genesis and G2F.

Some tweaks need doing to the final render if I choose this look for final, but it might work.

Medron Pryde

And here is a look at Ken (Buckaroo) Banno in civilian clothing.

He and Sara are partners, hence the optional second look for her that I'm considering.

Remember...he's from California so the Urban Cowboy look actually works. Remember Marty in Back to the Future 2... ;)

Shirt, vest, and pants are from M5 Casual Male for Genesis
Boots are from Casual Jeans for Genesis and G2F

Yeah...same boots as the modified Sara just with different morphs and materials.

Khory

Looks good. My only thoughts are maybe testing a slightly higher bump setting on her shirt and boots and to adjust the pose on her toes so that the boots smooth along the bottom. Other wise it all looks quite good.

Medron Pryde

I've already tweaked the toe poses for the "final" version.

As for the rest, I'm not all that experienced with DAZ Studio.

How would I do a higher bump setting?

Khory

Easy peasy! First, unless you already have it open, your going to need to open the "Surface" window. This will let you fiddle with all of the surface settings for figure/prop/whatever in your scene. In the scene select the top and then go to the surface window, select the edit tab (Pretty sure that is it and I can't check since I am running a promo that is going to take a long time. Now you should see a list that are parts of the top or in this case only 1 part. Click on those to select them and then look at the long scroll of options. Look for one called bump. There should be a percentage for strength. You can just bump that up a little bit. Maybe 10% to start. Alternately you could adjust the + or - just below it. In this case you won't need to make much adjustment because all that you really need is the specularity on the Bow thingy on the front just a little bit more.

Don't be afraid to fiddle with the surfaces and see what happens. And if you ever have questions about them let me know.

Medron Pryde

Mmmm...

cool.

I'm trying that now. Will see what it looks like when I'm done. :)

Medron Pryde

I modified the bump settings up by around 10% but don't see a lot of difference...

Medron Pryde

Here is Jesse again, this time in civilian clothing.

The model and skin are the same as the previous render shown.

The shirt comes from War Dog for Genesis
The jeans are from StreetWear: Jeans for Genesis
And the boots are from Casual Jeans for G2F

I'm rather happy the final result. It doesn't fully match the reference pictures I had for the character but this is a look I like.

This will be part of a future civilian set of Card Heroes that I intend to put up for sale. ;)

Khory

In theory the increased bump should have broken up the highlight on her shirt a bit more so that the gloss looked less plastic. I'm not sure if a normal viewer would notice it or not. I can be sort of picky.

He looks quite good.

Novica

Jesse looks good- I have always liked the War Dog shirt and your dude rocks it! :)

Medron Pryde

Yeah...I wish I looked that good wearing a shirt like that....:)

Medron Pryde

And here is Mary (Jesse's partner) in civilian attire

Her body shape is based off Janna for G2F
I can't remember what skin I used

The trenchcoat is from Horror Survivors - Cris for V6
The shirt is from Effortless Cool for Genesis
The jeans are JeanZ for Genesis
The boots are from my favorite Casual Jeans for G2F - I almost never use the shirt or jeans from that set, but I love the boots...wierd huh? ;)

I do believe I'm a fan of this look...and I like how she and Jesse look side by side as well. The styles complement but are not copies of each other. I'm happy. ;)

Khory

Like her out fit. The coat especially. Her skin looks supper good in that one.

Medron Pryde

Yeah, it came out very good.

I also am really happy with the trench. This is the first time I have used that trench, though I've used other bits and pieces from that set.

I love mixing and matching stuff for unique looks. :)