Custom Avatar Gallery 1 (updated 29th May, 2014)

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Zahndethus wrote:

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marremurt wrote:

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Meridin wrote:

Hmm... I guess I never found out who actually drew my avatar. Maybe the process has become less personalized over the years. Or maybe it's simply because I didn't ask explicitly.

Welcome to dragon club :P

best club 2014

This, I confirm. Twice.

Thanks Charan as always!

Updated with Praf's title and description. Really looking forward to filling these out.

Added MonopolyLegend, Covert, Ocylix, Xenest and Hrishi.

A quick note to avatar owners: getting at least a title to me is a good idea, since it will entice viewers to click that spoiler link to see what the title signifies. :)

The one with ??? is Rays.



The new structure is nice in it's own way but I will definitely miss the old showcase version's visual density.

Charan's about to edit my snippet in the OP. Meanwhile, this is for those who are interested in more details about my avatar.

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My avatar was painted by the talented Kevin Hsu. Kevin did really fine work and was really patient with me as I provided lots of specific feedback... nevertheless worded as a non-artist.

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Firstly, some backstory detail.
The woman in the avatar is a Witch, but not specifically Alira. The circlet is intended to give that away, of course. Her assassin is intended to be a Shadow, who actually specializes in Damage over Time -- the copious amount of blood is a reference to Puncture, and the facial expression on the Witch is supposed to be the effects of a Poison.
I originally thought to use a Heartbreaker as the dagger, but it wouldn't have made much sense as it's a caster item. And Bino's is, well, pretty much a butcher knife, and that didn't seem particularly graceful to me (it's really closer to an axe than a dagger).

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The avatar is really a combination of two pieces of artwork that I like.
The (potentially) more obvious reference is the art for the Magic: the Gathering card, Assassinate.
Here's the artwork in greater detail:

For the less MtG-inclined, It's actually a reference to another card in both mechanics and artwork, called Royal Assassin. In any case, I really liked the vertigo-inducing perspective employed in this art work and knew I wanted to replicate it for my avatar.

The second influence is the macabre photography work of Jenni Tapanila, the Finnish artist known as suzi9mm. Back in 2004-05 I used to visit deviantArt regularly and suzi9mm was one of the top artists there. Her work is very inspiring, and the way she uses gore can sometimes be outright discomforting. I still squirm occassionaly when I view her work today.
Here's her gallery site.
The specific artwork I reference is one of her "scraps" called Kitty's selfportrait.

It's pretty obvious how this one influences the avatar! But moreso than the blood -- which is really rather excessive in this image -- I was struck by the woman's fairly calm, sedated appearance. So I wanted the Witch to possess a similar expression, while slightly toning down the amount of blood so that it didn't dominate the image's color distribution, which revolves around shades of dark gray, white, and red.

hmm. you could call it 'The Last Stand'..maabe? (I am sure i can change it later right?

I am a fan of H.P. Lovecraft and Path of Exile. So I wanted some kind of showdown.

I used this Image as reference.


The Old One awakened and the only thing left standing in his way, is one big mutant teenage ninja turtle Kiwi.

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peachii wrote:

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Sneakypaw wrote:

hmm. you could call it 'The Last Stand'..maabe? (I am sure i can change it later right?

I am a fan of H.P. Lovecraft and Path of Exile. So I wanted some kind of showdown.

I used this Image as reference.

Spoiler

The Old One awakened and the only thing left standing in his way, is one big mutant teenage ninja turtle Kiwi.

You should leave the "ninja" unstriked. Ninja Kiwi!

That's what I was planning in the beginning. But the kiwi doesn't look like a ninja...so I would feel light lying? :(

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Sneakypaw wrote:

I used this Image as reference.

Spoiler

Like that Godzilla and Gamera picture. Classic favourite! (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

@ ephetat, after reading that little bio about your avatar i would say it was most definitely successful.

Really nice one.

Will love to keep reading the story's behind these avatars :).