Artist AG88's SW images***UPDATED 30 March 2013

LMAO over the "romance novel cover!" wick's reference to "cheeky" really fits his expression there--sort of an "I'm so fantastic"-sort of Fabio-kind-of-look, lol!

And I really like the Mara w/temple picture--it has a wonderful, sort of "brushstroke" look to it, as though it' painted in oils or some other rich medium. Lovely--and love the image of Mara (besides wick's depictions, one of the best I've seen!). Great stuff!

FF

 

I am extremely flattered, especially to be compared to Wick, who I believe is the best Star Wars Artist ever!! And I feel I am completely undeserving of such praise. Wick is a true artist. I just cut and paste pictures and run them through a watercolor filter. But I am extremely thrilled that you like my work.

I have done a lot of cheeky Luke photos, but I really don't think all of my cheesy romance cover art is appropriate in this forum. I did make a PG version of one of my photos for the Literature forum's "Sex" thread. They just celebrated their one year anniversary. Can you imagine we have spent a whole year talking about sex in the Expanded Universe?

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5742/pgversionofmyphoto7wx.jpg

But if you want to see all of my photos just check out the link in my sig.

AG88

 

I really liked the cover for the upcoming book, The Swarm War, that I made up my own version of Luke. This was my first time trying to create lightning. It is okay, but I need more practice.



http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/1685/luke36rq.jpg .

AG88

 

For a first attempt at lightning, that's really solid work. I like that you don't just cut and paste a head on a new body, but instead put together a variety of different things into one image so it seems very unique.

 

Thanks Wick. I decided to try something different. Sort of a fantasy type of photo. Unfortunately, I think it is too busy. My eye seems to wander on this photo. Oh well. Here it is.


http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/3058/lukepartingtheseaonyavinwaterc.jpg .


AG88

 

Interesting! Is he parting water or am I mistaken? Looks great but maybe either tint the waves a bit more yellow or tone down the lighting. And maybe give a bit of a shadow underneath the man's feet and around him to ground him within the image a little more? I'm not sure but there's a few suggestions. Great work though...very different! I like your style!

 

Thanks CR. Yeah you are right. The water is too blue. I should put a little yellow highlights in it. And darn it, I did forget to put in his shadow.

Yes, he is parting the water. I thought that would be a cool photo.

I appreciate your feedback. I will work on this photo a little more.

EDIT: I redid the photo. It does look better.

[image=http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/8884/finaldraftofupdatedluke1sp.jpg]


Thanks,

AG88

 

That's a very cool idea to have him parting water. I've never seen it done before, either. The whole image seems to have a 'mystical' vibe to it.

The redone version does look a little more 'solid' and the shadow helps to incorporate the character into the scene better.

This one has a kind of 'painterly' result to it that I like. It seems like you're changing up your style a little, AG.

 

Thank you for your compliments, Wicktone. I don't know if I am changing my style as much as searching for one. I am a beginner at this and still learning how to work the program. Eventually I will figure out what works best for me.

Thanks for your feedback.

AG88

 

I was reading a really great fanfic called Point of No Return where Luke was a Sith Lord and Mara was his apprentice. Anyway, that got me thinking how Luke would look in his Dad's Leather.

[image=http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/6549/darklukedrybrush5ht.jpg]

.
AG88

 

Nice composite of his face again. It must take you ages to find pictures that perfectly match the angle and perspective of the bodies you choose...

Also, very nice work picking out the robe from whatever background was there originally. The vertical blue shaft-things add a lot of colour to an otherwise nearly monocromatic image; works great!

 

Thank you Wicktone for your kind comments. I appreciate you taking the time to give feedback.

I have some new coverart for a fic I read recently.

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/4759/mastercoverart2sk.jpg

It is a Dark Luke fic... sorta. LOL

AG88

 

Boy, you're really beginning to stretch with your compositions, aren't you? I really like the "parting the waters" painting--a very cool image (can Jedi do that...?)! The "Luke in Vader's clothing" is also very cool (and I agree with wick that you did a great job pulling out the image that you wanted to use there)--it looks very good (and I love that series of promo images of Vader--those were awesome!). And the "Master" cover... shivers Eeesh...sort of gives me the "willies!" Nicely done--but sort of an unsettling image--I guess I like my favorite Jedi Master as a good guy, lol!

FF

 

That "Master" cover looks great, AG88...very creepy...

 

Thank you FalconFan and JadeLotus for your comments. Luke is sometimes hard to manipulate because his face is not very symetrical. I cannot flip his face from left to right and have it still look normal. This is because of Mark Hamill's horrible car accident and reconstructive surgery he had to endure in the late 1970's. The left side of his face is very different from the right. So I often have to flip everything else to fit his face and sometimes that is difficult if there is writing or graphics in the picture.

As for Dark Luke. Once you read some great Dark Luke fanfics you sort of warm up to the idea of Luke as a Sith Lord. My favorite is Drive you Mild, by Obaona. That story won a ton of awards over in the fanfic forum and Obaona won best author (and it is well deserved). Another great Dark Luke fic is You Eyes Aren't Blue Anymore by Knight_Aragorn. Wonderful stories.

Thanks for your comments. I really appreciate your feedback.

AG88

 

I recently bought Poser 6, which is a 3D-figure design and animation program. It is a fantastic and powerful program, but it is really hard to learn (at least it is really hard for me). So anyway, after hours and hours of screwing up and refusing to read the manual, I finally produced a halfway decent figure. http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6175/swordsman4er.jpg .

I then put him into my Microsoft Digital Image Pro program (similar to PhotoShop) and added a lightsaber, background and ran it though a watercolor filter. I ran it though the filter because this computer generated fellow looks exactly like that? computer generated. This is what I ended up with: http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4649/poser18ub.jpg .

Okay, I know it looks stupid, but I was just ecstatically happy that I was able to finally produce something. I just hate reading the manual and I am computer illiterate, so I am sure everybody else in this world probably can do this stuff in a snap. What I am really happy about is if I can finally master this program I wont have to scour the internet for just the right photo and pose so I can manipulate it. With this program, if I need a photo of a guy laying down on the ground shooting a gun I can pose the fellow in that position. It is amazing.

AG88

 

Wow, that looks pretty cool, AG88...except that, in the finished version, it sort of looks to me like we have a Jedi in his skivvies, about to "fwicassie a witto wabbit" or something of that nature...

Seriously though--this looks like it's going to be a really fun and creative program for you, and I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with (and yeah, sometimes you just have to break down and read the manual--and with complex software, sometimes it's just the only way!).

FF

 

Very cool stuff! I like the pose on this guy quite a bit; it's very dynamic. And kudos for having the guts to try Poser... I hear it's pretty tough to get the hang of.

You did a good job adding a lightsaber and placing him in an environment. The lighting even seems to match. My only crit would be on the feet. It appears to be that he's floating over the ground cover, instead of set down on it. The weight of his body would make him sink into the soft ground, and some of the leaves would be in front of the plane of his feet.

I'm not sure if that made any sense the way I wrote it, so I did a quick paintover to show what I mean:

http://www.sharpfish.net/poser18ub.jpg

... I just painted a couple three leaves above the bottom of his feet, which helps 'set' him in the environment.

 

it sort of looks to me like we have a Jedi in his skivvies,

Hey, what is wrong with a Jedi in his skivies? Some of my favorite fanfics involve Jedi in their underwear.

Just kidding. No, the reason I put him in shorts was I was having so much trouble with the clothing. I think I have since figured it out (I broke down and actually read the manual). I was getting so frustrated with the clothing that once I got his shorts to look right I said, "Heck with it I will have him fighting in his underwear."

The program has a small library of premade clothing, but it also allows you to make your own clothing. Hopefully I will be able to make Jedi Robes or easier yet, perhaps there are Jedi Robe Poser 6 accessories that I can buy premade. I looked today, but everything seems to be made for the older Poser 4 & 5 programs and I am not sure if they are compatible. I am sure in a year or two the market will be flooded with Poser 6 accessories.

If anybody out there has experience with this program I would love to hear from you.

Thanks wicktone for the advice. You are completely right. I kept looking at his feet and thinking "Something is wrong here." That touch up you did is fantastic. I will go and redo my guy just like you suggested. Thanks!! And yes, Poser 6 is HARD! But once you get the hang of stuff it goes so much smoother. This fellow took me hours, but I am pretty sure I could do him up again in a fraction of the time now that I know a bit more about the program. I really like being able to pose the figures. The program also allows you to put on the faces of real people. All you need is a side photo and a front photo. The computer then puts that person's face on the poser model. I am still working on getting that right. It is a cool program though.

Thanks for your comments and feedback!!

AG88

 

Okay, I know I screwed up this picture, but I am still learning this program. I tried using Poser 6 so I can make a Luke carrying Mara in his arms. But I screwed up and made the arms angled too high. So when I put Mara in his arms it didn't look right. It looks like she would be inside his chest. LOL. I went to fix Luke but I messed up and I didn't save Luke in the correct format and now I couldn't alter his body anymore, and I was too lazy to do it over again. I also don't like how Poser 6 makes his hands look so huge. Maybe there is some setting I can change. I mean, his arms and hands look like a Praying Mantis. Oh well. I will get the hang of that program eventually. I ran it though a poster paint filter to give it a poster like look. Other than the technical flaw I think it looks alright.

[image=http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/5333/deathofmara9js.jpg]

AG88

 

I like your work. keep it up!

-AnakinSkywalker61290

 

EDIT: I hated the photo I posted here earlier that I redid it and took out the previous picture.

[image=http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/9996/updatemarajade23un.jpg]
http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/9996/updatemarajade23un.jpg
Okay, I am still practicing with Poser 6. I made the body of Mara using Poser 3D computer generated program. The head is Angie Everhart (who I think should be the model for Mara Jade for the novel covers). I actually painted the lightsaber myself using Microsoft Digital Image Pro. I also painted in the shadows for the background. The background itself is a combination of a couple photos I snagged off the internet. I then ran it though a poster filter.

AG88

 

I've checked this a couple times, but your image is showing up as the dreaded 'red-x' for me. Is the link correct?

 

That is odd. I can see it on my computer. I am not sure as to what to do about that. I did send you the picture by email to the address listed in your bio.

AG88

 

[image=http://img275.imageshack.us/img275/5026/tfnjpeg3no.jpg]

This is my take on the scene in Vision of the Future where Luke and Mara are fighting the Sentinel Droids.

Mara and Luke were created by my Poser 6 program. The background I made by splicing photos together and manipulating them. I made up the droid by slapping together three droids I found off the internet. I drew in the blaster bolts myself. I then ran it through a filter to give it a comic book type of feel to it.

Any feedback or suggestions would be appreciated.

AG88