Odd One #38

Priorities 🕷🕸

Captain America (Endgame)

Finally, after so much time, here's my Endgame fan art! And knowing me and my obsession with Captain America, it's not hard to guess why I chose him! The reference for this drawing comes from Hot Toy stills I found on the Internet. I'm very happy with the final result, especially because I used some new features, such as rim light and thick outline.

This movie was everything I had hoped for, but it also left me a little bit worried. Although the superhero movies fatigue was "predicted" by some movie critics about 3 or even more years ago, new movies and TV shows and MCU "phases" keep popping up, but with the last Avengers it feels like one significant era has finished. I know there are too many stories from the comics to tell, but I'm sorry that some of them will never be told or they were slightly adapted in some of the previous movies. But it's OK, they're called adaptations for a reason and you can't expect to see all your favourite storylines from the source material. I'll live, somehow.

As for the next phase of the MCU, I'm looking forward to Black Widow, Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch and Thor, as well as further sequels of Guardians Of The Galaxy, Captain Marvel and Black Panther, but I'm also interested in Eternals and would love to see The Fantastic 4 one day. And when it comes to "new" characters, among many interesting names, I really hope to see Nova (Richard Rider) and Namor.

DIY Marvel's Tesseract

DIY Marvel's Tesseract, the vessel for the first (at least in the MCU timeline) Infinity Stone - the Space Stone! After making a baseball cap inspired by Captain Marvel's helmet design, I came up with the idea to accompany it with that important glowing cube that keeps appearing through the Avenger's timeline, starting with Captain America and continuing with Captain Marvel. I believe it will be an interesting addition to both of my redesigned baseball caps you've seen in my IG gallery. The SFeraKon convention lasts three days (10-12 May), so there'll be plenty of time to show all these props off.

The YouTube tutorials I came across suggested I should buy some kind of baseball cube display case, but I don't think there's something like that in my country. 🤔 Instead of that, I browsed through some variety shops to find any cheap item (it didn't matter what it was) in a clear plastic cube package.

So, these were the materials I used:

* a clear plastic cube packaging container

* LED micro light string (3x)

* AA batteries (6x)

* white spray paint

* acrylic paint (several blue shades)

* paint brushes

* wax/parchment/baking paper

* Mod Podge or any decoupage glue

* strong glue

First I had to glue the edges of the plastic container, so it doesn't open (the upper part). Then I applied the coat of white spray paint and when it dried I painted it (dabbed, not smeared!) with blue acrylic paint. I finished it with decoupage glue (also dabbed with a paint brush) to seal it and protect it from scratches. I wrapped three LED micro light strings in parchment paper to defuse the light and closed the cube from below (that part won't be visible anyway and I need to open it somehow to turn lights on and off).

Well... It sounds easy, but it wasn't, because not everything went as I had planned and I had to improvise a little bit. The biggest mistake was the white coat, which turned out to be too thick, so the light seemed a bit yellowish. Logically, after I applied blue paint, the light turned out - greenish! So I tried to create some kind of illusion with different shades of blue - darker on the edges, lighter in the center - but if you look at the lit cube, it still seems to emit a little bit of green light.

But all in all, it's not so bad, it'll just have to do. I don't have time to make another, but if I wanted to try again, I know now what I'd change. Anyway, I believe I'm ready for this year's @SFeraKon and I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and maybe meeting new ones and bore them to death with my Marvel knowledge and theories! 😜

DIY Captain Marvel's cap

How to top last year's baseball cap inspired by Captain America's helmet? It's simple - make another cap inspired by Captain Marvel's helmet! 😁

Materials needed:

* a plain red baseball cap

* red and blue thick felt sheets

* knitting yarn (three shades of yellow)

* scissors

* a wire pin dog brush

* a comb

* a crochet needle

* strong glue (or fabric glue)

* a lot of patience!

Oh, boy, this surely took a lot of time! The hardest part was to brush and straighten about 900 yarn strings, but I'm completely satisfied with how it turned out. Captain Marvel's design is one of the most inspiring I've seen lately and I'm a sucker for mohawks, so it wasn't a brainer for me. The main idea was to find a narrow strip of yellow faux fur, but getting it turned out to be a bust, so I was more than happy when I came across YouTube DIY videos with the idea of making wigs using yarn strings. I just adapted it to make a mohawk and - the rest is history! 😜

In order to copy some of the helmet design, I used thick felt (red and blue), which was a very good decision, because the original idea to use foam rubber wouldn't work out this well. As for the center piece, instead of making and sewing or gluing a new logo, I used a badge I had made for the Captain Marvel movie premiere two months ago.

It's no secret that Marvel is my passion. I'm often inspired by their comics and movies and I like making things like props for movie premieres or - in this case - the local sci-fi convention @SFeraKon (May 10-12). If you see me there, don't hesitate to say hello, just beware - I can talk about Marvel endlessly! 

Captain Marvel

Here's my version of Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. I used some elements from the MCU, some from the comics and also added some of my favourite features (it's mostly that wavy cloth thingy - I know, even in the comics it's not that long, but I find it very cool).

I must admit, last week was very stressful for me. I live for superhero stuff and never miss Marvel's and DC's movies, but the witch-hunt that preceded Captain Marvel's premiere was very brutal, depressing and uncomfortable and although I was hyped to see the movie, it shifted my attention to all that unnecessary negativity. I don't know why I constantly give in to reading comments and spoilers, I really have to find way to ignore them and stick to my own convictions.

As usual, all that stress was unnecessary in the end. It turned out to be pretty good and I had fun I usually have while watching similar superhero movies. I know it's mostly the same formula all over again, but it's exciting to see how this giant MCU story keeps developing even with such installments that weren't planned from the beginning. So, let's put torches, pitchforks and butthurt politics aside and watch this movie for what it's supposed to be - just another entertaining movie. 😉👍

Misty Knight

As you can see, I've been slowly (really, really slowly!) completing my drawing list. The idea was to draw something from popular movies and TV shows I watch, but I usually draw it waaay too late - believe it or not, this was my plan for the second season of Iron Fist! Meanwhile, Neflix has cancelled the show, along with Luke Cage, but it doesn't matter, somehow I'll finish what I started.

This is my version of Misty Knight, a New York detective who appears in Luke Cage, The Defenders and, finally, in Iron Fist. I hope that the cancellation doesn't necessarily mean the end for these characters and that she will appear in other Marvel shows again.

She is one of many Marvel characters who got bionic limbs due to some injuries (watch The Defenders) and my drawing is based on several comic versions of the character (she doesn't really look like this in TV show - except for the hair style).

This still doesn't mean I won't draw Danny or Luke some day, but I really liked her character and Simone Missick's performance, so for the time being enjoy this illustration. The pose is inspired by Pam Grier's characters from the 70s, such as Foxy Brown and Coffy.

Black Panther

My Black Panther fan art is finally here! It's all done in Inkscape and I tried drawing some kind of perspective again (which was expected anyway, I guess). I hope I succeeded, but I'll let you be the judge. I used a reference, more precisely it was a photo of a toy or an action figure I found on the internet.

Kao i uvijek dosad, nacrtam i objavim aktualne likove tjednima nakon što je film došao u kino ili nakon što su napustili sezonu neke serije. Zašto bi onda s Black Panther bilo drukčije, zar ne? Istina, još uvijek se može naći pokoji fan art na društvenim mrežama, ali najaktualniji crteži su se pojavljivali protekla dva tjedna. Nadam se da sam uspio "uhvatiti zadnji vlak", ali ako i ne, trebao bih biti zadovoljan što crtam nešto što sam doista i htio.

Inspiraciju za pozu sam našao u fotografiji igračke za film Captain America: Civil War. Zato je odijelo više iz tog filma nego iz ovogodišnjeg Black Panther. Dolje možete vidjeti pojednostavljen proces nastanka crteža, kao sto sam to nekad prije objavljivao - sketch, lineart, flat colours, full illustration. Ali, najiskrenije, veći dio tog konačnog crteža se svede na nagađanja i pronalaženje najboljeg rješenja koje će vizualno najuvjerljivije izgledati. Pozadinu radije izbjegavam crtati i uvijek izaberem neko jednostavnije rješenje.

Npr., zadnji korak - shadows i highlights - je zapravo metoda pokušaja i pogrešaka. Počnem s nekakvom logikom, odredim zamišljen izvor svjetla, ali na kraju popunjavam neke dijelove onako kako mi se najviše svidi, čak ni kad nešto nema smisla. Zato mi ponekad bude smiješno kad me netko (npr. u grupi za Inkscape, gdje povremeno objavljujem svoje radove) pohvali za tu "igru svjetla i sjene", jer kao što rekoh, iza toga se nalazi puka sreća. Ali, ajde-de, očito nekad i nešto dobro ispadne.

Za kraj evo jedan prigodan vic, koji nisam ja osmislio, već sam nedavno pročitao na Twitteru:

"Have you seen the film?"

"Of course! Wakanda question is that?" 😂

Sinara and Kasius

My favourite villains Sinara and Kasius, the Kree (alien race) from the 5th season of Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, sketched by hand and done in Inkscape.

Ovo je crtež koji se "kuhao" veći dio veljače, iako zapravo nije postojao konkretan razlog. Ukratko, moglo je to biti gotovo i prije, ali što je, tu je, konačan uradak je ovdje.

U pitanju su Sinara i Kasius, pripadnici izvanzemaljske vrste Kree, koji se pojavljuju u petoj sezoni Marvelove serije Agents of SHIELD. Dizajn likova je odličan, kao i glumci iza maske, pa iako su glavni negativci ove sezone, vjerujem da su pokupili dosta simpatija.

I ovaj put sam prvo nacrtao skicu rukom, skenirao i završio crtež u Inkscapeu. Poze sam našao na nekakvoj stock fotografiji na internetu, a one dvije lebdeće kugle koje sam dodao su Sinarin zaštitni zrak i smrtonosno oružje kojim često i vješto barata u seriji. Kao što rekoh, ukupno mi nije trebalo puno vremena i nadam se da ubuduće neću toliko odugovlačiti.

Imam nekih novih planova za ovu godinu, ali ne smijem brzati s najavama, jer vjerojatno ću nastaviti ovako polako, korak po korak i to će se, po svemu sudeći, još mijenjati tijekom idućih tjedana. Zato, do idućeg puta i idućeg projekta!

Doctor Strange and Contest of Champions

Finally, my newest digital drawing is over! It's Marvel's Doctor Strange, as depicted in this year's movie (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). In this blog I also present my newest obsession, a video game for smartphones, called Marvel's Contest of Champions.

Dakle, napokon je došao i taj dan kad sam završio svoj prvi digitalni crtež nakon Jaylah iz Star Treka (28. rujna 2016.). Nije ni čudo, jer sam u međuvremenu crtao ili izrađivao nešto drugo, ali i dalje najviše očekivanja imam od digitalnih crteža, pa su mi oni ipak nekako najdraži. Znači, Doctor Strange iz istoimenog filma je gotov. Za pozu sam koristio sliku igračke i slike nekih scena iz filma, odakle sam preuzeo i boje. U početku sam se bojao da je ispalo malo pretamno, ali zapravo sam zadovoljan konačnim rezultatom. U nastavku možete vidjeti WIP (work in progress), koji je isti kao i dosad: olovka, lineart, osnovne boje i konačan crtež.

Ne znam koliko još smijem reći o filmu, iako mi se čini da je prikazivanje u kinima prestalo, ali još je relativno nov i možda će netko htjeti pogledati DVD ili Blu-ray izdanja ili whatever, tako da neće biti spoilera. Mogu samo reći da, iako je dio MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), film se vizualno razlikuje od ostalih i isplati ga se pogledati, čak i ako ništa ne znate o Marvelovim filmovima. Ja sam oduševljen i naravno da ću ga ponovo gledati čim izađe neko od navedenih izdanja.

Marvel's Contest of Champions

Osim Doctora Strangea, htio sam također pisati i o (barem meni) novoj igri za pametne telefone, Contest of Champions. Dakle, igra nije baš toliko nova, postoji već dvije godine, a radi se o međusobnoj borbi Marvelovih superjunaka, koji pod utjecajem Collectora (vidjeli smo ga u filmu Guardians of the Galaxy 2014. godine) nemaju svoju volju, već se u izmišljenoj stvarnosti ili dimenziji pod nazivom Battlerealm bore na njegovoj strani, a protiv vas, igrača, tzv. Summoner. 

Kad sam se priključio igri, tad je još bio aktuialan film Doctor Strange, pa su logo (koji vidite iznad), kao i priča pratili aktualne likove koji imaju veze s magijom (na slici možete prepoznati likove kao što su Loki, Mordo ili Scarlet Witch). U međuvremenu se logo promijenio, pa je sad trenutno u priči Howard the Duck. Igra je poznata po tome da redovito ažuriraju pozadinu, priče i misije, ovisno o tome što je trenutno aktualno u Marvelu.

Ne znam koliko točno ima likova, ali stalno se dodaju novi, čak se neki i kreiraju posebno za tu igru, pa se naknadno pojavljuju u stripovima. Meni je bio cilj da dobijem likove kao što su Captain America, Spiderman i Wolverine, te Iron Fist, iako ću ovog zadnjeg očito još morati pričekati. Na moje iznenađenje, upravo mi je jedan novi lik postao najbolji i najpouzdaniji, a radi se o Guillotine, djevojci koja je sudbinski povezana sa svojim (prevelikim) mačem, kojim savršeno barata i najčešće prilično lako savlada protivnike. Na nju mogu uvijek računati kad zaglibim u nekoj misiji, jer samo jednim udarcem mača dobijem više bodova nego kod nekih razvikanijih superheroja:

Osim nje, još su dva superheroja vrlo korisna - ne znam radi li se kao i u slučaju Guillotine o tome što za borbu koriste sječiva, pa potezi izgledaju moćnije, a rane ozbiljnije - a to su Wolverine sa svojim adamantijskim kandžama, te Black Panther sa vibranijskim kandžama:

Treba spomenuti i ostale likove koji mi pomažu u osvajanju misija i razina, pa sam napravio screenshot najnovijeg poretka:

Kao što vidite, trenutno mi je najjači Captain America, a Guillotine je treća. Imam čak i neke duple, što je moguće budući da likovi mogu imati od jedne do četiri zvjezdica. Naravno da je najbolje koristiti ove s više zvjezdica (čiji je broj fiksan), iako treba paziti i na razinu na kojoj se neki lik nalazi (koja je, naravno promjenjiva). Što se tiče ukupne razine, kao što se može vidjeti gore, trenutno sam na 19. Avatar se ne može birati, već se pojavi onaj superheroj koji vam je trenutno najjači, a kod mene je to u ovom trenutku Captain America. Pa, za kraj, evo onda i jedna slika njemu u čast, također screenshot nakon što je pobijedio u jednoj od borbi:

Do idućeg crtanja (iako ne znam hoću li stići još što napraviti do kraja ove godine),

Grdilicious Art ;-)