Dragonsfoot Magazine Adventures--Call Out

Anxiety mounting... doodle-prep led to this:

___ My First Orc ____

orc1.jpg

Which would you choose to do if you met this fellow in a dark dungeon passage?
Parley? ... or drawn your sword?

(or add him to your daughter's Pokemon collection?)

Winter is Coming!
(ugh)
 
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I was about to complain that I can't do the adventure design contest AND write something up for dragonsfoot. Then I noticed that Malrex started this thread last year... ooops!
 
Honestly, I don't think it would be awful if you entered the same thing both places.
 
Orc#2 --- still practicing for the Earth Temple illustrations

orc2.jpg

Parley?
 
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Yeah. I kinda like the devolved ape-man hybrid look for orcs (a la Franzetta), as oppose to the 1e or Warcraft pig-men. I think that's a bit overdone.
I hope it wwarcraft-orc.jpgill look more orc-ish if/when I learn to draw armor. "Neck-id" orcs are easier (...so are loincloths!).

(<--- not this!)


But if I give it too much hair, then...bam!...gorilla/Planet of the Apes.

Who thought there would be so many tough decisions involved in making beginner/amateur D&D art for free publications?! :)
 
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Its only an issue because you ask. If you just stuck it in the publication, nobody would say a thing.
 
Beoric said:
Its only an issue because you ask. If you just stuck it in the publication, nobody would say a thing.
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I love the feedback.

Here's another version that (maybe) implies some body fur.

orc2a-fur.jpg

Orc as a player class, anyone? ...no? good.


EDIT: The axe sucks---nobody swings it like that. It should have been holding a spear or inverted sword for a downward thrust, with the point coming towards the viewer instead of away. Oh well. Practice. Practice.

GIMP is awesome by-the-way...makes scanned crappy pencil sketches on graph paper look painted.
 
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squeen said:
GIMP is awesome by-the-way...makes scanned crappy pencil sketches on graph paper look painted.
Click to expand...

FYI for anyone who dislikes GIMP (me, for instance, because I learned Photoshop and am just ever so frustrated by how much GIMP has been ...gimped... comparatively), or who can't get their hands on a copy of Photoshop (legitimately or *ahem* otherwise), there's a good website I can recommend that essentially duplicates the earliest versions of Photoshop in-browser (I'm talking Adobe Creative Suite 1 here). Also good if you don't want to download any software.

Photopea | Online Photo Editor

Photopea Online Photo Editor lets you edit photos, apply effects, filters, add text, crop or resize pictures. Do Online Photo Editing in your browser for free!
www.photopea.com www.photopea.com

For what it's worth squeen, that axe swing looks natural (you were going for "caveman", yes?)
 
squeen said:
The axe sucks---nobody swings it like that. It should have been holding a spear or inverted sword for a downward thrust, with the point coming towards the viewer instead of away. Oh well. Practice. Practice.
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He probably wouldn't have swing it straight back, he would have raised it to the side over his right shoulder, but it could be directly over his head like that on the downswing. If it was light enough, or he was strong enough, he could swing it over his head with the haft pivoting the head over his left shoulder, and then move into that position on the downswing.

Either position protects the head somewhat but leaves the belly exposed; you often swing like that using a sword two handed, but that is why samurais wore armour. He could conceivably be in that position as some point during a charge, which is what he appears to be doing, because the weapon would be moving down as he closed with his opponent. He probably can't really block, strictly speaking, but the weapon would be in the way of an opponent's swing, and the opponent would be taking a risk stepping under a moving axe blade if he tried to sneak a blow in before the orc could land his.

Regardless of how he got in that position, an overhead swing with a hafted weapon, the left hand would be further down near what would be a pommel on a sword. The right hand is about right, because you normally let it ride up the haft on the upswing, and then slide it down as you come down.
 
Beoric said:
Regardless of how he got in that position, an overhead swing with a hafted weapon, the left hand would be further down near what would be a pommel on a sword. The right hand is about right, because you normally let it ride up the haft on the upswing, and then slide it down as you come down.
Click to expand...

I think we can forgive the orc - One second he's hanging around a black monolith, the next thing you know he's only just learning the value of tools.
 
I dig it. It does have the Frazetta feel and I love Frazetta art. It's not how I picture orcs, but it would work for me anyways in an adventure. Your art is shitloads better than I can do! I like the hazy backgrounds.
I think my only comment is the hands on the axe haft seem too much in the middle.
 
squeen said:
Please, point me to a picture (if one exists) of your "orcs".
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I'm not Malrex, but I think most people equate orcs to either Lord of the Rings orcs, or Warcraft orcs. Yours is more original than those portrayals, I think - like Homo Habilis Orcs.
 
Thanks DP!

Other than the Jackson movies, which I feel got their look wrong, I'm not sure what "Lord of the RIngs" orc look like.

When I first read LotR at age 7, it still felt "underground" and "cult"...a shared secret society. Hard to remember what I pictured then.
A bit later, from the animated movie, I got a mental picture of ape-like orcs...
lotr-orc.jpg
I like that they are more silhouette than figures.

Jackson's movies always looked too brightly lit to me...
jackson-orc.jpg
Didn't the man every watch a Hitchcock movie? What you don't see is WAY more scary...

Here's the Franzetta print (from a conan story) that I am modeling.
Obvious not an orc, but fits my mental map.
ff00.jpg
What I need to remember when drawing is that the head slopes back. Also, I like the gorilla feet too.
... Next time.
 
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