Just thought I’d share some of my favorite Photoshop work.

Josh with an ice arm

Snikt

Demon Spawn!

I accidentally only saved the wolverine one as a jpg, instead of a psd, so I can’t lighten it any, sorry.

A Rocky Planet

Planet of Ice

A Phoenix burns on its pyre

You can see more on my Flickr page.

Jane Castello is a the second member of the Animoids corp to gain morphing powers, and the first to achieve them on purpose.

Jane is from Arizona, and has both Native American, and Spanish ancestry, though it doesn’t show much. She is an was born and raised on a family ranch in Arizona. This started her love of animals, and she later attended college to become a vet. Joining the Army to finance further degrees, she quickly moved into the Veterinary Corps. Her aptitude in this area led to her eventual recommendation to the fledgling Animoid organization.

Jane has since proved an instrumental member, providing valuable medical care. Her knowledge of animals is invaluable as well. For her animal morph, Jane chose a golden eagle. Using this form, she generally provides air support, surveying the battlefield, performing surprise attacks, and giving aid when needed. Of course, because the Sarax boosts the subject to unnatural levels of strength and speed, she is an excellent fighter compared to regular humans.

Jane is usually serious and soft-spoken, with a gentle sense of humor. She is generally optimistic, though this does not affect her excellent strategy skills. Flying is now one of her greatest joys, and she is learning to pilot airplanes as well.

Jane, in half-morph

Previously, I posted about the serial fantasy story I’m working on with my brother. It is up and running, with mostly regular updates. [here]

In the world of the story, there are several races. Specifically, the Crossbred, the results of men mixed with various animals. I created some concept art for them, which I will showcase here. Each drawing was created by creating the basic pose in MakeHuman, adding a photo reference for the animal portion, then tracing and shading the image in Photoshop. The artistic style varies, but my “excuse” is that they were “drawn by different artists” in the “book” these are taken from. *Ahem* Anyway, check these out.

An avian male

The Avians are winged men and women. Due to their obvious height advantage and sharp vision, they are excellent archers. They live in large groups on cliff faces, and are some of the quickest witted of the Crossbred. [More Info]

This was is one of my favorite pieces from the set. The wings were kind of a pain, but I like how cleanly it turned out.

Centaur with crossbow

Centaurs long ago formed an alliance with the Saartur, agreeing to patrol their northern borders in return for a home on the vast plains. The Centaurs are nomads, moving frequently around their various shelters. They are masters of the crossbow, having several unique designs, and able to use the immense strength of their horses body to draw back far more than a man ever could. [More Info]

I’m kind of disappointed with his torso. It seems I botched the shading. Oh well, you knew what a centaur was anyway.

A Drakar, drawing his distinctive double swords

The fearsome Drakar are the melding of a man and a wyvern. As such, they have tough skin, and massive wings, that allow them to leap and glide great distances. They are solitary and live high on the mountain peaks. [More Info]

I like this one a lot. Not sure what I was thinking about that center chest plate though. The swords are awesome.

A Leotaur, keepers of knowledge

The Leotaurs inhabit the dunes of the far south. They hoard knowledge obsessively and are loath to depart with their secrets. [More Info]

The texture on the lions body took forever. It was hand drawn, then duplicated and distorted to fit the body. Also note the neat hair running down the back to flow into the mane.

A Lycan and his wolf counterpart

Lycans are not a mixture of man and wolf, but are able to shift from one form to another at will. These Crossbred are elusive and live deep in the woods. [More Info]

This one looks much less like a drawing than the others. I was in a hurry and simply set the underlying reference photos to the texture. I had to draw the man’s hair myself though.

A Marinian hunter, lying in wait.

Marinians have a number of adaptations that make them perfectly suited to underwater life, since they are melded with pike. Besides the obvious gills and distinctive camouflage, they also have webbed fingers. The biggest adaption, however, is that their knees are double jointed, and their feet can spread apart from the ankle, meaning if they spread their feet, they can form an effective “tail” to swim with. [More Info]

Another of my drawings that I’m proud of. I also like my take on the boring ol’ mermaid tail. This is much more versatile.

A Massive Ursing with mace

These Bear-Men are massive warriors ruled by a matriarchal society. They are peaceable, but are among the most intimidating of warriors. The one pictured is wielding a small (pinecone themed) mace, but these gigantic creatures can wield a halberd like a hatchet.

This is my first drawing, and it kind of shows. It does, however, look the most like an actual drawing. Every texture on this was drawn by mouse, with no duplication.

So that’s it for now. There is another batch on the way, of “rumored” a.k.a. “I don’t if these should be official” creatures.

Hello, all of my like, one readers. Wow, what mighty influence I wield. Anyway, if you see this, it’s just to let you know that I’m pretty busy, but there will still be a post here every other Saturday. (Ambitious, eh?)

Also, the fantasy serial I co-author is updating every saturday, so you can check that out. New pages will be added occasionally.

Enjoy!

This is the Holdar shuttlecraft, a small two man ship, not very maneuverable, and somewhat slow, but highly reliable and excellent defenses.

The first image is a standard view, shaded and textured. This craft is boxy and angular, intentionally.

The second is a simple black and white line view, making it easier to see the shape of the craft.

Next is a rear view, showing the engines/exhaust.

The fourth pictures is a cutaway view of the interior, showing the storage crates in the back, and pilots seats in front.

Finally, a closeup of the features. To the left are the weapons systems. Although comparatively slow compared to other fighter craft, this shuttle has excellent defenses. The long rods on the bottom are for docking and storage purposes. Underneath the window is a series of sensor equipment and jammers. The long prongs on top are for casting the shields of the shuttle.

This is one of my first models intended for the Holdar, and I have always enjoyed the look of it.

Melissa and Christina (called Missi and Chrissi by everybody) Brooks are identical twin sisters, nine years old Because identical twins have virtually the same DNA, they both acquired powers, but because their personalities differ, these powers manifest themselves differently.

The twins are blond, have blue eyes, and are tall for their age.  The girls both enjoy sports and reading, although Missi prefers the former, and Chrissi the latter. Since birth, they have been nearly inseparable. They are both strongly independent, and will often refuse to do something if just because someone ordered them to. They also like to imagine that they are highly sophisticated and knowledgeable.

Missi gained the difficult to comprehend power of manipulating space. She can use this power in a number of different ways. The most obvious use, teleportation, is difficult to for her to achieve, but she does open up “tunnels” by compressing all the space in between her and her destination. There must be a clear path to the end, though, or she cannot pass. By stepping through to the other side of the portal, she is there almost instantly. To other people, she appears simply as a blur as she travels nearly all the space at once, giving the impression of super speed. She can also “stretch” a space to fit through, meaning she could enter a door by the keyhole, appearing to simply step through, or enter through any hole. She can make herself untouchable by similarly distorting space, making it so that objects like bullets or enemies have to travel through virtual miles just to traverse inches. These powers are baffling and confusing, but she seems to have gained an understanding of how they work, but the only way she can explain it is that space is essentially an illusion. It is also suspected that she may have slight glimpses into a fourth dimensional existence, as space and time are inextricably linked. In fact, some of her powers are better explained as manipulation of time rather than space.

As you may know, Convergence began as a competitive chain story with my brother. I would write a paragraph or two describing the battle from my side (the Holdar Supremacy), and he would do the same with his (The Kassis). They were not very polished, because you just wrote your section and that was it, no re-writes. It was fun though, until eventually it stopped because of disagreements. (“My people would never do that”, despite it being a logical conclusion to his prior works, etc.)

Anyway, here are the first segments of the story. Notes will be on the bottom, and more installments will follow.

Date 4.4.3. 34:78 rm

Our forces gathered behind the cover of the primary sun of the Kassirir System. We were going to attack and conquer the fifth planet out, Kassis. The planet was ours, long ago, but had been stolen from us in an underhanded rebellion. Now we would take back what was rightfully ours and begin mining the precious ores we needed. I am Reddis Phinirri, captain of the Holdar Supremacy’s ship, the Telyon. The Telyon may not be the biggest ship in the fleet, but it’s one of the best. As a missile ship, we are armed with light and heavy missiles, torpedoes, and warheads, while still remaining fairly nimble. with my crew of fifty, we aim to do our best in the effort to crush the rebellious little ghiszes.

–Cptn. Phinirri

Date 5.4.3. 36:52 rm

We watched as their forces gathered, waiting for the storm to unleash. Two kinds of storms. The war, and the rain. The clouds had been gathering and it looked like it would start any second. I, Hethim Morvagim, and my men, waited patiently for the attack. I had gotten a report from one of our spies earlier, that there were a large number of Supremacy Ships gathering around the sun. We were also gathering a fleet- our people and the Yemoshé, which were currently at war with the same opponents. They sent us as many ships as they could spare. The Supremacy are trying to take the planet from us. We had lived here for millennia, Then they came. They slowly overtook our planet, until we were forced to evacuate the cities. We had lived in the forests and every other place we could until we had successfully driven them off the planet. The Gorohond Resistance was the largest rebellion in the galaxy. It now was used for spying and sabotaging the enemy transports. For now, it would have to stay that way.

–Major Morvagim

5.4.3. 58:22 rm

One of the lieutenants came up to me. “Sir, Security has found a spy!”

“What!”

“They caught him making a transmission to the planet.”

“Skras! We must contact Admiral Reon.” I nodded to Officer Herrix, who began opening a channel to the Lead Ship, the H.S. Executer. “I assume he’s in custody?”

“No, sir, he killed himself.”

“Skras!”

Herrix flinched. He was uncomfortable with swearing.

“Channel open, sir.”

The viewscreen popped up in the corner of my statistics menu. The Admiral had a stern face, etched with the signs of his sixteen grueling campaigns.

“Greetings, Admiral. May glory shine upon you and yours.” I started with the formal greeting.

“The same to yours.” he replied gruffly. “All right, pleasantries overwith, what do you want? I’ve got a fleet to move.”

Sighing, I said, “Unfortunately, I have news which may delay the attack.”

The Admiral stared expectantly.

“We found a spy.”

“Tesh!”

“He was making a transmission to the surface, and he may have conveyed news of the attack.”

“It’s too late to recall the fleet.”

“May I suggest an alternate plan, sir?” I told him my idea.

“Excellent, Captain, tried and true. Move out the ships. I want you in charge of that division.”

Cptn. Phinirri

Date: 5.4.3. 61:76

I was heading to the briefing room. The transmission by one of our spies was made just a few hours ago. I was hoping that I would find out what this was all about in the briefing room.

“Hello, and welcome. This meeting is to be kept secret, due to what we are about to tell you. I turn the meeting over to General Jak’tan.”

“Thank you, Commander. As you all know, We received a Communication from one of our spies. The message comes from their Admiral Reon’s vessel. Play the transmission!”

A voice came in over the speakers.

“General Jak’tan, This is Nengrahm Cemoed of Gorohond 3. I am in my quarters onboard the ship, but I am likely to be discovered. I found that their fleet has more ships than we thought. It has gorcons of ships, maybe more. I also found out that…”

There was a banging on the door.

“Open up! This is security!”

The sound of a door sliding back.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Just a routine inspection, sir.”

“Like Tesh you are! Get out! Get out!”

One of the security guards spoke.

“A-ha, what do we have here?”

“You put that back right now!”

“Grab him. Bring him to the captain.”

“That is the transmission. Any questions?”

Someone raised their hand.

“Do we have anything from the Lifeline?”

The Lifeline is a gadget that allows you to see the vitals of whoever it is attached to.

“No. We have nothing. They killed him. They cannot allow spies to be among them.”

“This meeting is closed. And remember, This meeting is a secret.”

-Major Morvagim

Notes

My brother is not necessarily the most skilled writer, but it works well enough. I realize there are some inconsistencies, but this is written so that neither of us would know what the other person would do next. Still, I like it, and future installments have more action.

Since I started the Animoids series as a stick figure comic book, I have tried putting it in written form several times, with different tones ranging from serious to humorous, and I’ve since decided that the latter approach is clearly best suited for this idea. After all, the idea of someone swinging around on a twelve foot tongue is just too funny to play straight. As such, I present a (somewhat dated) draft of Animoids as a book. This is the first two chapters of the best draft.  (My earlier writing was clunkier, as you can see, but I will be re-writing this sometime) Chapter One

Henry McCullough walked down the corridors of the Lincoln Medical Research Labs. The Lincoln center was founded to research cutting edge medical technologies for troops.

Henry was working on CR-39, test named Sarax, a Chemical designed to aid in skin grafts by bonding the skin samples together. Today, the test subject was a small Meller’s chameleon. Henry was a scientist that was going to perform another test on it. Henry waltzed into the testing area, giving the guard a small mock salute. The guard grinned and rolled his eyes slightly. There was a kind of in-joke between them.

The security guard, named Larry, frequently talked of his years of experience in the army, while Henry often referenced his years at a prominent advanced college. Brain vs. brawn jokes were frequent, often, and usually fairly dumb.

“So, Henry, off to dump gunk on a lizard with all your expertise?”

“Well I thought you might want to do it.” Henry replied, straight faced. “Make sure that you aren’t pointing the hose at yourself when you turn it on.”

“Aha, aha,” laughed Larry sarcastically. “Say, did I ever tell you about when a buddy of mine back in Desert Storm…”

Henry cut him off. “Yeah, I heard about a million times.”

“Whatever. Hey, need any backup in there? Those lizards can be awfully tough. You should see all the flies he’s mugged.” Larry sniggered appreciatively at his own joke. Henry pushed past him into the testing area.

He was lifting the lid to the cage when a witty reply struck him. He turned around and was about to ask Larry if the flies were personal friends of his when the chameleon snapped. It leapt up on Henrys lab suit, and scurried down his back. Henry, surprised threw his hands up in the air and started scrabbling at his back. Larry laughed, until he saw the tube of Sarax spraying in the air. He ran into the room and tried to grab the hose. Henry could feel the little claws on the chameleons feet scratching him. He whipped off his shirt. The chameleon jumped off. Larry snatched at the writhing hose and almost caught it, but it slipped out of his hands, and fell, spraying black oily Sarax on the slightly bleeding back of Henry as he bent over trying to catch the hyper, crazed chameleon. The Sarax, a significant amount of it, found its way into his blood stream. He was out cold before he realized anything. Larry saw his friend on the ground, with chemicals spewing over him, put two and two together, and hit the alarm button.

Chapter Two

Henry woke up three months later. He was in a secluded hospital bed in a quiet room. Looking around he saw he was under a plexiglas dome with air holes drilled in it. He felt a bit drowsy. He tried to reach up and rub the drowse from his eyes, but found his hands were bound.

This came as a surprise to Henry. “What’s happening?” he muttered to himself. He could understand the restraints, sort of. He was skinny, and fairly strong. He took gymnastics classes in his spare time. But the dome puzzled him. It wasn’t as if he could break the restraints, so why in the world would he need a dome? Was he under life support until recently? If so, then why have restraints? People depending on machines to breathe for them were not generally the ones flailing around. His head was spinning, and thinking made it worse. He lay back on the pillow. Suddenly a chime sounded. Henry heard a door open and close behind him. He struggled against the collar around his neck and looked behind him as well as he could. He saw a windowed viewing area behind him with computers in it. Wires ran from the room to the dome, and into him. He heard footsteps on the other side of him and turned around the other way. He moved his head too quickly, and a pounding headache slammed into his cranium like railroad spikes. Through the glass, he could see Jim Daiken, a colleague and good friend of his.

“Hey, uh Jim,” he squeaked out. “What happened?”

“Well, what’s the last thing you remember?” asked Jim. He had a quiet understated voice that made you want to listen to whatever he was saying.

“Well, I was bending over to get the chameleon, and then I’m here”

Jim inhaled, and let out the breath in a long sigh. Henry recognized this as not a very good sign. “Well, some of the chemicals in the test procedure got into the scratches on you, and then to your blood stream, and from your blood stream to the rest of you.”

Henry noticed Jim’s use of technical term, and realized that Jim was using science to distance himself from the situation. Jim only did this when actually describing something scientific, not when talking to people. Except when there was bad news. That was another bad sign. “So, what happened from that?”

“Well, maybe you should wait until you’re feeling better before -”

“No. I want to know now. Continue with the explanation.”

“Well, okay, just a sec while I turn you around.” Jim wheeled the bed with the dome around so it was facing a large screen. The screen had Henrys vital signs on it. Henry pulled out the video cord and plugged it into a laptop. Henry watched the screen through half closed eyes and watched Jim access the Labs network and pull up a file from his computer. “This is what I used in the briefings about your condition.” Jim said, and double-clicked on it. The file opened, and Jim hit the play button. Surveillance footage of the incident in the testing room began rolling. Henry watched, mildly frightened.

“After the events in the testing room,” intoned Jim’s recorded voice, “Henry McCullough was taken to the Intensive Care Unit. After we observed what was happening, he was moved to a secret location, and all information about CR-39 was classified, and moved to the location as well. In the past two months, [“It’s been three now,” said Jim from the computer,] we have learned more about these substances- and Biology in general- then we’ve learned in the past three years of our studies at LIncoln. Henry now appears to be going through a metamorphosis, and each of his cells has a counterpart chameleon cell, coming from some DNA that got in from the chameleon. It’s all tied to his central nervous system, and if he ever comes out of his coma, he should be able to consciously switch between them.”

Jim stopped the video. Henry looked at the DNA strands that were linked together on the screen. “So, let me get this straight,” he croaked. “I can change into a chameleon?”

“Well, look on the bright side,” said Jim with a barely concealed grin. “You could be part hamster. Or possibly part lab rat. Chameleons aren’t the worst thing to be able change into.”

“Oh, really.” stated Henry rather sarcastically.

The grin on Jims face broke through. “Yeah. Really.”

[Notes]

The chapters are short, but to the point. The re-write will have more detail and length. Also, the accident will be changed to the more plausible “accidentally injected self instead of lizard while distracted.” Technical details, (further developed since this draft was written) will be more explained, and Jim’s “technical terms” will actually be more scientific than  “Well, some of the chemicals in the test procedure got into the scratches on you, and then to your blood stream, and from your blood stream to the rest of you.”

Any comments, ideas, or constructive criticism are welcome. Enjoy.

A quick post today. I don’t draw by hand quite as much as I used to, but I am going to try and get back in the habit. Anyway, here are some of my favorite sketches. Scanned and cleaned up in photoshop. Click for larger view and more information.

In last weeks post, I wrote the ideas that I think would make good Lego video games, but were unlikely to happen. This week, I will list the video games that are much more likely to actually be made. (In no particular order)

• Jurassic Park

Why It Should Happen: Lego Dinosaurs, chasing you around, and all sorts of mayhem = Fantastic fun. Plus it seems Lego had the rights to this series at one time, so licensing might not be too difficult.

Potential Best Moment: Unlockable level in which you play the dinosaur rampaging through the streets of San Diego!

Lego Model tie-ins: There really aren’t too many potential models for this other than vehicles, but the kitchen scene from the first movie would be an ideal candidate.

Why It Might Not: The films, of course, got progressively worse as they continued, and it might take a fourth movie to revive interest in Jurassic Park again.

Alternately: Check out this excellent video

• Back to the Future

Why It Should Happen: This would be more of an adventure game than a fighting one, but running around in the past, future, and past again solving puzzles would make for a great game.

Potential Best Moment: The hoverboarding from number 2 or the train scene from number three. (if you lost)

Lego Model tie-ins: Obviously there’s the DeLorean, but they might have to dig around for other model ideas.

Why It Might Not: Once Again, this series is so old, it make take a fourth installment to make it popular again.

Alternately: Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.

• Marvel Games

Why It Should Happen: Specifically, Spider-man, X-Men, and a sort of Avengers game with other well known characters like Iron man, Captain America and the Hulk. Lego did actually have several Lego sets based on Spider-man. Swinging around the city as Spider-man could be very well executed, and the X-men have an extensive roster that could make free play very extensive. Also, now is a great time to start releasing superhero games.

Potential Best Moment: With a Spider-Man game, it would be swinging through the streets of New York, battling Doc Ock. X-Mens best moment would likely be playing Nightcrawler attacking the president. Playing as Iron Man would rock too.

Lego Model tie-ins: Pretty much any of the battle scenes would make a fun play set. Other vehicles like the X-Mens jet or some tanks for the Hulk would be fun as well.

Why It Might Not: Lego rival Mega Bloks gained the rights to the third film, essentially dooming a trilogy game, unless they can re-acquire the rights. I think the same goes for other Marvel characters.

Alternately: This guy made pretty much every superhero ever in Lego form, and you can watch this video and pretend that you’re playing it.

• The Lord of the Rings

Why It Should Happen: LEGOlas? This was meant to happen. Okay, now that the obligatory joke is out of the way, LOTR is a fantastic  candidate. It has three epic parts, tons of action, and plenty of opportunities for humor.

Potential Best Moment: Possibly the part of the movie where Legolas takes down an Oliphaunt all by his lonesome, but there’s plenty of other great moments too.

Lego Model tie-ins: Minas Tirith. Okay, not really, but Balin’s Tomb or the interior of Mount Doom would work nicely. Also they could make a lot of “battle packs” as well, with a lot of orcs or soldiers.

Why It Might Not: I really can’t think of any reason not to make this, unless there’s some sort of licensing issue.

Alternately: If they don’t make this, Lego’s long-standing Castle line would make an excellent, if less epic, game. It’s already halfway there anyway.

• The Chronicles of Narnia

Why It Should Happen: With Disney’s adaptations of the films coming out every year or so, it makes sense to release Lego versions. There’s plenty of adventuring material in the books. Plus we would get some official centaurs and other mythical creatures from Lego.

Potential Best Moment: The battle at the end of the first movie would be great fun, and sneaking around Tashbaan from The Horse and His Boy.

Lego Model tie-ins: Aslan’s How, the Lamp post, the Dawn Treader, there’s a lot to work with.

Why It Might Not: Once again, Mega Bloks swoops in to ruin the day. It seems they’ve produced sets before and probably hold the license. Even if they did make it, seven movies/books is a lot to cover, and it could be difficult to get some of the concepts across in Lego pantomime.

Alternately: Again, a Lego Castle game is the likely candidate here, but TT games (the producers of the Lego games) made a video game already.

• Pirates of the Carribean

Why It Should Happen: The Pirates series is such a fun-filled adventure, that it’s almost obligatory to make a game from it. Pirates has the potential to be a great game, full of swords, puzzles and action.

Potential Best Moment: Either the wheel fight from the second movie, or the fight in the cave from the first.

Lego Model tie-ins: Obviously all the ships in the series, but there’s also a lot of playsets, such as the first fight between Will and Jack in the blacksmiths shop.

Why It Might Not: Dang it,  Mega Bloks. I will never forgive you for depriving me of a Jack Sparrow Mini-fig. Still, the series went downhill after the first one, so I guess we won’t have to see the games trying to make sense of the nonsensical third movie.

Alternately: Lego has it’s own line of Pirate related adventures, that’s almost the same thing.

• Notable Omissions

Lego Transformers seems awesome, but then you realize it would be a game based on a line of toys based on a movie based on a TV show based on a line of toys.

300 would have a lot of sweet action, but you know they’ll never make it…

Monty Python. Just kidding, but the video is great

Star Trek has a lot of potential, but MEGA BLOKS MEGA BLOKS MEGA BLOKS. I hate you so bad.

I doubt that Lego would make an adaptation of a video game, but Halo could prove to be a very fun game.

Harry Potter is another series Lego has produced sets for, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made a game from it.

Lego Vikings?

And Finally, DuneChaser from flickr has a TON of custom figures from all sorts of movies, books and legends.