# Avatars by Sialia



## Sialia (Aug 4, 2003)

Welcome to my Avatars thread. If you are interested in getting an Avatar, please post a nice request with a clear, clever concept that is not a portrait.

I don't charge anything, but I do love constructive feedback and a nice credit line.



-----------------------------------------

 [original post starts here
Ok, so, it's 1 am, and I just finished my last final for the summer semester.

Yee frickin' haw.

I am going to go fall down hard now and sleep for a very long time. Then i'm going on a week's vacation, way the heck offline, preferably in a place with no electricity, plumbing, or phone access where I can dip my naked toes in a stream and get some sun on my face.

When I get back, I might finish up my Defenders website. or I might write up the Greatest Pulp Fantasy Storyhour of All Time.

Or, I might draw you an avatar.

So, amuse me. Send me a concept for an Enworld Avatar you'd like me to doodle. Remember, we've only got 64 x 64 pixels here to work with so _keep the concept graphically simple_. Anybody asking for full character portraiture will get sneered at.

If you want to see what I can do, go take a look at Ashy's brand spankin' new face. Shiny, eh?

You know you want one.

Make me want to give it you.


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## Sonikal (Aug 4, 2003)

Could you draw me a close-up of a terrified, bloodshot eye. Just a freaky request...


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## veinglory (Aug 4, 2003)

*avatar?*

My names 'veinglory'

I would love anything that goes with the general gothy vampiricicity suggested by the name.

pleeeeze


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## Sialia (Aug 4, 2003)

Veinglory, I _really_ like your art.  

I can't imagine doing something for you that wasn't at least based on one of your sketches. Your line is as good as a signature--it has immense presence and character. Your avatar needs that.

(Well, I can _imagine_, but it would look like one of Georgia O'Keefe's morning glories, only done in the black and purple she used for her petunias. Morning Glory. Veins. Gothy Black. Veinglory. But I'm not sure that would be as good as adapting something you began.)

Is it ok if I fool around with one of your pictures for a bit? 

If so, feel free to put anything up in your art thread that you want me to think about.

Sonikal, I think I can do that eye for you, but it might have to wait until I get back from break.  I like your current Avatar just fine, and haven't thought of a cool way to top it, so I'm gonna fool around with Veinglory for a bit first. Hope you don't mind!


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## Ferret (Aug 4, 2003)

Could you draw My Ferret in a hat, like the one I've bodged together, seeming how I already have one it isn't as important, but it would be darn cool


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## Sialia (Aug 4, 2003)

but . . but . . that's a terrific avatar!  I've always loved that ferret in a hat!


I'll think about it, but I'm not sure I can realy improve on it--it's simple, reads well at small size, and expresses personality and humor in a striking way.  

It's a _good_ face. 

I like the rough quality of it--smoothing it out wouldn't increase the amount of character you get across. 

It's got kitch.


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## veinglory (Aug 4, 2003)

*happy me*

I have a really crap avatar I use at devainat art (http://patter.deviantart.com/) which is actually based on a picture of mine call 'lucifer morningstar' -- how's that for syncronicity.  My trouble with avatars is their 'littleness' -- I just can't cope with it for some reason.  I would really appreciate your help with this!  let me know if I can return the favour somehow.


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## Sialia (Aug 4, 2003)

hmmmm.  How about something like one of these?

If none of these work for you, give me an idea of what colors you like.

I actually really like the grayscale of the pencil--I particularly like your use of white over the graphite--but I haven't quite found a way to make it "pop" on the gray background. yet.

The gray is defiitenly grittier, more lower Manhattan and less Hawaiian.


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## Sialia (Aug 4, 2003)

or these--these are better, I think. 

more you, less me.

I especially like the tan and white in the amulet--when i have more time I think I'd try to use the headshot one and make it look more tan and white than gray and white, maybe.

Or maybe you should do it . . .


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## Knightfall (Aug 5, 2003)

*Re: Who wants an Avatar?*



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> *Or, I might draw you an avatar.
> 
> So, amuse me. Send me a concept for an Enworld Avatar you'd like me to doodle. Remember, we've only got 64 x 64 pixels here to work with so keep the concept graphically simple. Anybody asking for full character portraiture will get sneered at.
> *




Ok, I'm game.

The concept - a knight's helm fallen to the ground - it should appear cracked, worn and tarnished.

The colors - black and red with some white.

Cheers!

KF72


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

Ok, I think I've got it this time. I adjusted your values slightly to make it pop a little more at the teeny size, and worked in a little tint from the amulet piece because I looove the way you work your highlights and shadows in that. Other than that, I tried to leave it as much your piece as possible.

Let me know if this is good enough.

Hope you like it! I sure do.


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## Smoke and Mirrors (Aug 5, 2003)

hmmm avatars huh... I'd love to have one done by you. I'm not picky, I go by smoke and mirrors on the boards so whatever comes to mind that fits the name! Awesome work by the way!


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

*Sonikal*

I'm not sure about this at all.  I'm not certain I'd want this staring at me while I was reading your posts. And it's hard to make anything feel huge at 64 x 64. And, as I said, I like your current Avatar.  But here goes.

Let me know if you want the iris a different color--that's easy to arrange.


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

Smoke, I think what I have here may be a total failure. I was just trying to mess about with smoke on the page, in an abstract way, and what came out was a rather nice figure standing before a mirror wrapped in equal parts smoke and mists. 

Terrific. 

Only, it might be kind of a female figure. 

I'm gonna post this just cause I like it, but don't feel obligated to use it if you are in fact the kind of guy who doesn't much want a possibly gender identity blurring avatar.  Maybe someone else will find a use for it--I know we've got lots of folks on the board who enjoy gender identity ambiguity, I just don't know if you're one.

(Mind you, if I've pegged you wrong and you like it, you certainly get first dibs.)


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

Aggh. It's probably too small to read as an avatar anyway. Moving right along.

Here's a view of it big for those who were curious--it really was a nice piece and maybe I 'll think of soemthign to do with it. Eventually.


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## Sonikal (Aug 5, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *Sonikal, I think I can do that eye for you, but it might have to wait until I get back from break.  I like your current Avatar just fine, and haven't thought of a cool way to top it, so I'm gonna fool around with Veinglory for a bit first. Hope you don't mind! *




Thats fine with me pal. I just feel like something different...


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## Sonikal (Aug 5, 2003)

*Re: Sonikal*



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> *I'm not sure about this at all.  I'm not certain I'd want this staring at me while I was reading your posts. And it's hard to make anything feel huge at 64 x 64. And, as I said, I like your current Avatar.  But here goes.
> 
> Let me know if you want the iris a different color--that's easy to arrange. *




Whoops, i've just noticed it. Thanks mate!. Im gonna put that in my avatar right away!...


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## Sonikal (Aug 5, 2003)

Thanks Sialia, i've got in my Avatar right now. What do you think?...


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## veinglory (Aug 5, 2003)

*great!*

I don't know where you are -- I only went quiet because I'm in Scotland and was asleep...  I think most of those avatars are brill.  The bits of detail out of the fox boy are great -- especially the ones with the coloured edge -- that red/blue one has a jewel like quality.  The last head shot is also great.  I have popped them on my harddrive and will have to decide which to use!  I guess the elf head is better advertsing for me, but I think the red one actually looks better.

Sadly the amulet was not suitable for the game I was drawing it for... the wanted a 'classier' amulet that a knight might wear -- back tot he drawing boeard (which in my case is a magazine on my knee).

let me know if I can draw something for you?


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## veinglory (Aug 5, 2003)

**

hey man, that was 66 pixel wide not 64!  Well, actually even I can shrink off two pixels -- happy happy me.  I would like the red & blue one too, how do I split if off from its friends?  I tried the elf avatar at rpg.net where the limit is 50 pixles and it looks a bit odd, but I though the red and blue feather one might still work at that size...


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## BOZ (Aug 5, 2003)

you can do one for me if you're really that bored.  

why not make it a monster?


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

*Re: *



			
				veinglory said:
			
		

> *hey man, that was 66 pixel wide not 64!  Well, actually even I can shrink off two pixels -- happy happy me.  I would like the red & blue one too, how do I split if off from its friends?  I tried the elf avatar at rpg.net where the limit is 50 pixles and it looks a bit odd, but I though the red and blue feather one might still work at that size... *




Here ya go, at 50px. Actually, now that you mention it, I am in need of an illustration of a vampiric nature, but it's a bit of a hush hush project. I'll email you seperately about it. . .


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

BOZ said:
			
		

> *you can do one for me if you're really that bored.
> 
> why not make it a monster? *




Can I do you a Uakari? Can I huh?  They are the bomb as far as I'm concerned. I want to play one.

Heck, I wanna _be_ one for a day or two . . .

matter of fact, since I'm about to go off camping tomorrow, I think I may go indulge in that fantasy for a few days.

I'll get to work on the sketching when i get back . . .


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## BOZ (Aug 5, 2003)

hey, sure!  you've been paying attention!


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

BOZ said:
			
		

> *hey, sure!  you've been paying attention!   *




blue sloths. how could I not?


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## Sialia (Aug 5, 2003)

Knightfall--I promise I will work on yours while I'm on the airplane. None of the eletronic doodles I've tried have worked out, so I'm going back to pen and paper for this one.

Ferret--last night's work wasn't nearly as good as yours so I'm not showing it to you. If I come up with anything half as cute, i'll put it up when I get back.

Have a good week, all!


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## BOZ (Aug 5, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *blue sloths. how could I not? *




WOOHOO!  i've been slothed!


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## Ferret (Aug 5, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *but . . but . . that's a terrific avatar!  I've always loved that ferret in a hat!
> 
> 
> I'll think about it, but I'm not sure I can realy improve on it--it's simple, reads well at small size, and expresses personality and humor in a striking way.
> ...




Thanks.


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## Smoke and Mirrors (Aug 8, 2003)

hey sialia. I've got an avatar of a character I'm playing called mutt. It's just a line drawing, so if your interested and have time could you spice it up with possibly more color and form? Thanks alot, and most excellent work by the way!


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## Sialia (Aug 14, 2003)

Hey S&M --I like that!  I'll see what I can do with it. Any preferences about hair color, clothes colors, etc., or should I just go for it?

All--I'm only just back--I'll need a little time to get organized and settled in. 

It was a fabulous trip!

Be in touch shortly!


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## Smoke and Mirrors (Aug 14, 2003)

Thanks siala! I loved the first one... ended up using it as my avatar on exalted compendium. The only thing pressing about mutt is the hair is a dirty blonde red mix. All in all feel free! Thanks again!


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## Sialia (Aug 14, 2003)

Smoke--I've got a cool idea for this, but it'd be easier to implement if I had a higher resolution version of the sketch to work from. Can you give it to me at about 200x200 pixels, give or take?

This should be good. Smoke AND mirrors.


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## madriel (Aug 14, 2003)

I'd love an avatar, Sialia.  I'm a bit stumped for an idea at the moment.

The _official_ symbol for Madriel (Goddess of healing, mercy and redemption) is a winged sunburst bisected by a spear.  I think I'd prefer something more...unique.


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## Sialia (Aug 15, 2003)

*Re: Re: Who wants an Avatar?*



			
				Knightfall1972 said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Ok, I'm game.
> 
> ...




ok--so I took some liberties with this. Cracks were hard to get across legibly at that size--I needed a bigger . . . um . . . detail to work with.  Hope you don't mind.


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## Sialia (Aug 15, 2003)

madriel said:
			
		

> *I'd love an avatar, Sialia.  I'm a bit stumped for an idea at the moment.
> 
> The official symbol for Madriel (Goddess of healing, mercy and redemption) is a winged sunburst bisected by a spear.  I think I'd prefer something more...unique. *




Give me a little soemthing more to work with . . . a vsriation on the above theme? something completely different?


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## Sialia (Aug 15, 2003)

Just foolin' around w/ S&M. This is about as far as I can go without a higher resolution version of the sketch-- it's just too pixelated for me to get much clarity. Two versions, one w/ smoke, one w/just mirrors . . 

Can I just say by the way that I love the sketch of Mutt and that if I didn't already have a couple of good shots of my character Dylrath, I would completely want to lift this for him? The look in his eyes is priceless--and as soon as I combine that mop of hair and grin with mirrors, I can't help thinking about my favorite boy . . .


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## Sialia (Aug 15, 2003)

no smoke.  trying to match the enworld background so it would look like the angled mirror was popping out of the page . . .


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## Smoke and Mirrors (Aug 15, 2003)

thanks so much! I love this... and the colors are perfect.... most excellent work!


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## madriel (Aug 16, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Give me a little soemthing more to work with . . . a vsriation on the above theme? something completely different? *




A variation on that theme is fine by me, Sialia.  The blackout's screwed up my schedule so badly, I haven't had much time to think about it.


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## Sialia (Aug 16, 2003)

Ok, I cannot cannot get this to read well at a small size, but I do love it so at the large size, i just gotta post it before I crumple it up and start over. You should see it in red-- maybe I'll post that version too. I know they're supposed to be indigo, but the red is . . . special.


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## Sialia (Aug 16, 2003)

red-gold variant


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## Knightfall (Aug 16, 2003)

*Re: Re: Re: Who wants an Avatar?*



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> *
> 
> ok--so I took some liberties with this. Cracks were hard to get across legibly at that size--I needed a bigger . . . um . . . detail to work with.  Hope you don't mind. *




WOOHOO!

Thanks Sialia!


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## Ferret (Aug 16, 2003)

Could you post the attept at my avatar? I'm sure I read that you've drawn one, but thought it wasn't any good, or I'm loosing my memory again.......


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## Barendd Nobeard (Aug 16, 2003)

*Re: Who wants an Avatar?*

If you want another challenge, I need a beardless dwarf.   The one I currently use is a very crude cut-and-paste of the half-orc chin from the PHB pasted on the PHB dwarf's face.

I've been watching this thread, and enjoying your art work!


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## BOZ (Aug 17, 2003)

*Re: Re: Who wants an Avatar?*

woohoo, all that work for me?  



			
				Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> *The one I currently use is a very crude cut-and-paste of the half-orc chin from the PHB pasted on the PHB dwarf's face.*




i never noticed before!


BTW all, see you soon!


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## Sialia (Aug 18, 2003)

Ok Madriel--I've doodled around with this, and there's just so many options. Really depends on whether you're looking for soemthing to wear as a tattoo while you bike, or pin on your airline uniform as you fly your plane.

So here's the questions I need answered"

1. rapier, broadsword, sabre, or scimitar?
2. curly wings or angular wings?
3. Bird wings or bat wings?
4. Sword point up or sword point down? (This may have some heraldic significance and I'm sure I don't know, but one of us should look in to that.)
5. Sword in front of the sunburst or behind it?

Below are some rough sketches. Let me know if any apppeal.

I'm kind of partial to a bat wings and sabre treatment . . . it's not just a logo, it's a character concept.


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## Sialia (Aug 18, 2003)

Honestly Ferret, I still like yours better. But here's the best draft to date.

I'm still pondering this.

I haven't given up yet.


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## KidCthulhu (Aug 19, 2003)

Hey Si.  This thread makes me wish I wanted an Avatar.  I like the one I've got, but man, to have a real Sialia..

Here's an idea for the madrial thing.  Instead of a holy symbol concept, how about something more like your smoke and mirrors work (which I loved).  Something that conveys the idea of angel wings, without being a picture of anything.  I keep thinking of the Sandman issue "The Sound of Her Wings" and that image of the wings sweeping in.

Just a thought from the non-artist who wishes she could draw.


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## Sialia (Aug 19, 2003)

Thanks for the ideas KidC--I worked on Madirel for about three hours last night, and by the time Bandeeto got home from singing, I was referring to it as the "fried egg on a stick" I hated it so much. 

He gently reminded me that it was a "winged fried egg on a stick."

The real problem is not so much with the sunburst, as the way when it's 64 x 64, the wings look like somebody's lungs with a freid egg caught in the trachea.

So it's prbably time to start over. 

I never could lose the sense that it looked like a motorcycle decal at full size--something from the era of Electrawoman and Dynagirl.


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## Sialia (Aug 19, 2003)

OK, since KidC narrowly averted me doing a full sendup with butterfly wings and deelie boppers on the sunburst, here's what I got using the method she suggested. Still a bit too literal, perhaps, but it's what came out.

Still haven't tweaked it sufficiently to get it to read at 64x64--it only just barely legible at that size and needs more fine tuning, if Madriel actually wants to go this way.

Give me some feedback, Mad.


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## Ferret (Aug 19, 2003)

Perhaps this will help, the name came when someone offered to put santa hats on avatars.


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## madriel (Aug 21, 2003)

Sorry not to get back to you sooner, Sialia.  Family problem, unfortunately.

I thought I was giving you something simple to work with.  Sorry .  

I think the holy symbol idea may require too much detail for 64x64.  How about we try something simpler and probably easier for you.  My cleric of Madriel has a pet mooncat and I have three cats.  Try a spooky smoke & mirrors cat.

Thanks.


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

Truly sorry to hear about your family problems. I hope everything works out for you.

It's not that this one is too hard--it's that it's a lot of fun and I just can't seem to give it a rest.

For example, here's me blowing off some frustration while the office servers were down with a virus for 2 days straight . . .


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

For those of you who couldn't quite catch that at 64x64 . . .


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

And here's a kitty . . .


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

Ferret, I haven't forgotten you . . .but I haven't found the "hook" yet. I'm open to suggestions . . . what is it about ferrets that makes them yours?

so far, all i get is ferrets.


and your ferret in a hat was better than that.


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

cat, bigger.


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## El Seso (Aug 22, 2003)

If you're still bored, I'd like something with a smurf. Not a mirror image of the cartoon, but your interpretation of a smurf. A smurf playing hacky sack or something.
I think the work you've done is awesome.


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## KidCthulhu (Aug 22, 2003)

Or perhaps a smurf in a blender.  Or a smurf learning the meaning of the word abbitoir.  Or a smurf being eaten by great Cthulhu.  

Sorry, not a big smurf fan.  Bad 80's flashbacks.


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

Ach, I've always been kinda fond of the wee bastards.

I'll see what I can do with it, bigjobs.


Meanwhile, here's one last go at the Madriel sun/sword/wings/phoenix motif.  Really, it's my far and out favorite, if I can just get it so folks can see the bird.







nac mac feegle!!!


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

trying again. 

Somebody swiped me bird before I could get it up.


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

here's the big version of the phoneix, just for those who want to see the details


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

Wow. Channelling some serious Ketih Haring 80's nostalgia on this trip. La la la la la la walk like an Egyptian . . .


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## madriel (Aug 22, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *Truly sorry to hear about your family problems. I hope everything works out for you.
> 
> It's not that this one is too hard--it's that it's a lot of fun and I just can't seem to give it a rest.*




I thought you were frustrated, glad to hear you were having fun with it.  They both look so good.  It was a hard choice.

As for the family thing, I was trying to reconcile with my father.  I'm a little bit sad and a lot wiser.  I am happy for the closure.

Thanks for the lovely pair of avatars.  Now off to the user cp to put up my genuine Sialia!


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

* This post has self-destructed. It would look more impressive. but we ran out of budget here at Mission: Impossible. *


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

*Re: Re: Who wants an Avatar?*



			
				Barendd Nobeard said:
			
		

> *If you want another challenge, I need a beardless dwarf.   The one I currently use is a very crude cut-and-paste of the half-orc chin from the PHB pasted on the PHB dwarf's face.
> 
> I've been watching this thread, and enjoying your art work! *




Ok, so, I haven't forgotten your request. I just got distracted for a while with Madriel's tattoo.

Now, the problems here, as I see it , are that 

1. Beardless Dwarves are an obscenity. Which is ok, I'm cool with that, but I just thought I'd mention it. It's an inherently kinky idea, of which I'm not sure Eric's Grandma would approve.

2. Beardless Dwarves, at 64x64 are going to look a lot like little fat men, easily confused with smurfs, gnomes, halflings and little fat men. I'm not quite certain how to make it clear that it's a Dwarf.

3. (and this is probably the real sticking point) Your current avatar is a better sketch than I'm going to be capable of doing at any size, just so you're prepared--I'm not going to be able to do that kind of detail or personality or delicate line. That shot was done by an artist that was a whole lot better at that sort of thing than I am. Which is not to say that I won't try, but don't expect what I do to be better, just different.

Ok?

If you think of anything you'd like that isn't a face shot, I'd be much happier giving that a try--haraldry, iconography, concept . . it's much easier for me to do that sort of thing. Ashy's for example--I didn't try to literally show a tiefling, but I chose the "A" for "Ashy", gave it horns and a red and gold treatment that I thought looked nicely demonic (or is that devilish--I never can keep those lower plane folks straight. All look alike t'me.), and replaced part of the A with a quill pen for Ashy's dramatic writing flair. It works, captures the essence of the thing, and reads easily at small size.

Faces . . . faces are really difficult for me.

But I'll see what I can do.

 As you can see with Madriel's, sometimes it takes me a couple of tries to find just the right thing.


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## Sialia (Aug 22, 2003)

Barendd, something like this?


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## Sialia (Aug 23, 2003)

or this


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## Barendd Nobeard (Aug 23, 2003)

Sorry for requesting the obscene, but I gotta be me.  

As for what you did, Wow.

I love the shiny chin.

I think I like the second one better.  The first one looks more "in shadow" (which is cool), but maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you in the shadow and you can't see his beard.....  But with the second one, there's plenty of "light" and no doubt about it.

The only tweak I could possibly think of (and I am no artist, so feel free to disregard) is the nose.  Could it be less round/bulbous and more pointy/"normal"/crooked/pug/whatever?  The round/bulbous nose says to me "gnome" whereas any other style could be more dwarven.  At least in my little mind.

If you wanted to do something more abstract (and not involving a face!), he worships Obad Hai, wields a large silvered scythe named "Reaper's Foe," and hates undead with passion.  So a silvered scythe is always an option (don't think 64x64 is enough room to show it cleaving a zombie, unfortunately).

Again, Wow.  And thanks!  You've done stuff a zilllion times better than I ever could.


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## Sialia (Aug 24, 2003)

I'll see what I can do about the nose.  Tell me though, what kind of expression should be on the face?

I need to know something about the personality to really put this across. 

And I think I have an idea about that scythe.

Thanks for the tip.

Also, any preferences about color scheme?  All colors are negotiable in Photoshop.


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## BSF (Aug 24, 2003)

Wow!  You are incredibly generous with your time!  

I wish I had artistic talent.  

Anyway, if you are looking for something else to do, I would *love* an avatar done by you!

A couple of ideas ... I do play a bard so a few ideas that fit in with my character ...

A magical harp, mandolin, lute, violin, tin whistle, or pan pipes.  Any of them would be cool and Stephen is very competent with all of them.  

Or, if you want something a little different,  the adventuring group's name is the "Company of the Winged Fox".  (The founding characters are all distantly related.)  A fox that is smiling, or laughing, and has wings would be cool.  

If any of my ideas strike your fancy, it would be great to use an avatar done by you.  But really, don't feel obligated to do it.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Aug 24, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *I'll see what I can do about the nose.  Tell me though, what kind of expression should be on the face?
> 
> I need to know something about the personality to really put this across.
> 
> ...




Color scheme:  As a follower of a nature deity, I would think earth tones (especially "forest-y" greens) are appropriate for this character.  (I myself prefer blues, but I don't think that's very nature-like.  Well, unless you're an aquatic creature)  I like the white hair on the avatar, but I think his character sheet says his hair is black.  We'll just say he saw a ghost and it's premature gray!  

Facial expression - the current avatar almost looks too wise for this character.  A few ideas:  

Something "combat-y"--a fierce scowl or horrible grimace as he's raging in the heat of battle.
Social awkwardness.  Not sure how to say this but, the look of someone who thinks he's just told a really funny joke but has actually insulted someone else.  You know--that awkward moment when a social incompetent's face has a combination of (a) expecting a positive reponse, but it's tinged with the (b) confusion of "what did I say wrong?" and a little (c) fear that he's gonna get his head bashed in for what he just said.
A look of shame and disappointment as someone (probably a dwarf) has mocked him for being a beardless dwarf once again.
A look of awe and wonder, as he gazes at the splendor of nature
A look of horror and disgust as the undead advance and try to rip his party to shreds.
[/list=1] 

General personality stuff (just FYI): Being an outcast from his own dwarven clan initially made him very bitter.  Living in the wild, and actually surviving, turned him to the worship of Obad Hai.  Yet he now lives in an area infested with the worshippers of Ehlonna, so he has learned to make friends (temporarily, if needed, to achieve a short-term goal) and avoid theological debates.  He has moved "out of the wild" and "into town" (literally), so he must try to get along and follow the rules.  And while sometimes he thinks rules and laws are stupid, he has seen and acknowledges the need for some structure in society to keep everyone safe.  I guess has pretty much developed in a pragmatist.

Even though he tries to get along with everybody, he is a fighter-type with a gruff personality.  So, sometimes he may lose his temper.  But he has become friends with some half-orcs, elves, humans, and even an occasional dwarf.  Nothing against halflings and gnomes, he just hasn't travelled much with members of those races.

He is heroic, but not to the point of stupidity.  For example, he has given others his own healing potions to save them, and run through a fire to save someone else, and sent someone else to get help while he started to tackle two dire lions.  But, once or twice, he did have to run from a battle so he wouldn't die.


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2003)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> *A couple of ideas ... I do play a bard so a few ideas that fit in with my character ...
> 
> A magical harp, mandolin, lute, violin, tin whistle, or pan pipes.  Any of them would be cool and Stephen is very competent with all of them.
> 
> ...




Ah--a winged fox!  Now that is something I cannot resist. I'll probably wind up doodling these all week. 

This is the first thing that popped into my head. There will be others I'm sure. Maybe one playing an instrument if I can work it. Feel free to give me feedback if this brings anything particular to mind (like "Not red!  I hate red!" or "aww I wanted it fuzzier . . " or whatever)

Barennd--apologies, I made another go at it tonight and it was beyond dreadful.  I scrapped it and will try again when I am fresh.

13 days left to play with this stuff before school starts. 

Yummy.

Keep it coming guys!


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2003)

for example . . .


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## BSF (Aug 25, 2003)

*laugh*

I'm glad you like the Winged Fox.  We spent a good portion of a game session coming up with the groups symbol.  I would have to look through all of my notes if I ever wanted to find the full scheme as we soon ended up shipwrecked and more worried about survival.  Anyway, I am not worried about the groups symbol.  I want mine!  

I like the blue better just because it has a little more feeling of depth.  I always imagined it flying the other direction, but that is a simple flip of the graphic.

Cool!


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2003)

The rendering is completely seperate from the color sheme. I like the rendred look better, too. But we can make it any colors you like.

Do let me know what colors you want, 'cause I seem to be using a lot of blue and slilver and beige these days. Don't want to wind up with all of them looking the same.

I can do various metallics --gold, bronze, silver . . . or make it look like an ink drawing on paper, or a design etched into stone, or burned into wood. Batiked on fabric is probably not beyound possibility either.

All I need is to know what mood suits you.

Do you like the geometric effect, or should I go for something more organic?

I'll work on personalizing it as I go, but I want to pick out a style and scheme first.


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## BOZ (Aug 25, 2003)

some nice work here, sialia!  but the best avatar of all is your own.    (well, it's the cutest picture of a flumph i've ever seen... or maybe the only cute one!)


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## carpedavid (Aug 25, 2003)

*oroborous*

As you can see from my current avatar to the left, I like the oroborous. Unfortunatly, as I cannot draw to save my life, I had to poorly cut out a snake from an image I found on the web. Soooo... if you're feeling particularly...um...circular (?), perhaps you could take a shot at making one that looks somewhat nicer?

For cool pictures and ideas to draw from, you can visit this site: http://abacus.best.vwh.net/oro/ouroboros.html.

Thanks in advance for your time!


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## BSF (Aug 25, 2003)

OK, first of all, I am just excited that you would even work on it.  So, just about anything is great!  

Heck, my artistic talent runs to straight lines.  I once did a real nice brick wall drawing with a doorway and a light above.  It took me days and I was proud of it, but nobody will ever give me more than funny looks for it.  

Blues and silvers are cool, so don't feel bad if that is where you find your inspiration running.  Actually, I am happy with just about anything that your inspiration runs to.  The geometric affect is nice, but if you wanted to go for organic, it would be cool to see!  Maybe some reddish-browns?  And laughing.  Laughing Fox has a significance for Stephen.    I would be proud to use anything that you come up with.


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2003)

*Re: oroborous*



			
				BOZ [/i]some nice work here said:
			
		

> *As you can see from my current avatar to the left, I like the oroborous. Unfortunatly, as I cannot draw to save my life, I had to poorly cut out a snake from an image I found on the web. Soooo... if you're feeling particularly...um...circular (?), perhaps you could take a shot at making one that looks somewhat nicer?
> *




Hmm. . . this is gonna be another tricky one, since (like Ferret's) I've gotten used to meeting you with this face on and I like it. The simplicity of the circle is so clean and strong--it's hard to improve.  But I'll think on it and see if anything happens.


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2003)

Cool ouroboros site. Much to think about--especially as an overview of differnet graphical styles over a huge amount of geopgraphic and temporal range.

You know, in my college campaign, I once played a 50 foot snake, for several sessions, as a result of a bad polymorph accident into a mirror image of jormungand.

Only got out of that by agreeing to become the sapling of a new world tree in a new universe. Body and boundaries of existence.

After having spent most of the campaign as a mouse being carried in the pocket of another PC, it wasn't such a bad deal.


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## carpedavid (Aug 25, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *Cool ouroboros site. Much to think about--especially as an overview of differnet graphical styles over a huge amount of geopgraphic and temporal range.*




I've always been impressed by the geographic diversity of the representation of the ouroboros. Sorta like the pyamid, but snake-ier. Add in the green man and the butterfly, and you've got my three favorite symbolic images.


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## Conaill (Aug 25, 2003)

I kinda like this one:


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## Sialia (Aug 25, 2003)

carpedavid said:
			
		

> *
> 
> I've always been impressed by the geographic diversity of the representation of the ouroboros. Sorta like the pyamid, but snake-ier. Add in the green man and the butterfly, and you've got my three favorite symbolic images. *




Nothing could be simpler. Et Voila! It is yours.


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## Conaill (Aug 25, 2003)

This one's pretty nice too...


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## KidCthulhu (Aug 26, 2003)

You know who needs an Avatar?  Jobu needs an avatar.  You know her.  Think of something appropriate.


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

Could be any color.


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

for example


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

or


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

or, what the heck--any color you like, really . . . why be literal?


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## carpedavid (Aug 26, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Nothing could be simpler. Et Voila! It is yours.
> 
> *




How very cute. It might be a tad too busy for 64x64 pixels though  Any chance I could see the snake by his lonesome?


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

oh yah. no prob.  I was mostly kidding.



Note: Get your requests in by tomorrow kiddies if you're still lurking and waiting. After tomorrow, no new requests. I gotta finish up the ones I got before class starts Monday. 

I might take a last week or so to finish up outstandng items, but I don't want to start anything wholly new once classes begin.

Thanks!


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

ok--rough draft--not ready to read at 64x64 yet.

Give me feedback.


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

nother version


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## carpedavid (Aug 26, 2003)

Oooh, very nice. I like both quite a lot. Obviously, since it was created on a light background, the cut-out version has a bit of aliasing, but that's no big deal.

Um, yeah, rock on. Those are great


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## Conaill (Aug 26, 2003)

Very nice, Sialia. Let me see if we can do something about that border...

How about this:


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## Sialia (Aug 26, 2003)

Nah, it was just sloppy cutting---I was rushing and it was a draft. I'm gonna do some other stuff to think before I shrinky dink it.

Here's a cleaned up version if you like . . .but wait a bit--I'm not all there yet.

[deleted--rushing too fast--badness. more better when slow--later . . .]


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## Malessa (Aug 28, 2003)

Sialia, your awesome as always!  I'm still a big fan of your work!  Sorry I haven't been around of late to tell you as much.  Draw on!


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## BSF (Aug 28, 2003)

Sialia,
I dig the sitting fox with the Lute.  Initially, I wasn't too sure about it, but I thought I would give it a little bit and see if it grew on me, which it has!  

Pretty groovy.

Though, I could see someone interpreting it as a cello or bass.  Would it be possible to change the angle a little so it looks a bit more like a lute?  It isn't a big deal, so if it is going to a big nuisance, don't worry about it.  

As far as the colors go, the browns look good, but I just can't get past my blue bias!  They all look great and I am actually thinking that maybe I will just shift between them periodically.  

Anyways, thanks!


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## las (Aug 28, 2003)

Sialia can you make a tiny spellcaster with casting a spell it would just be so nice of you.


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## KidCthulhu (Aug 29, 2003)

Hey Si, if you want a photo of a flying fox, I have a good picture of Finney jumping you could mess with.  Red, furry and flying.  Who's gonna quibble about species?


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## Sialia (Sep 3, 2003)

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Hey Si, if you want a photo of a flying fox, I have a good picture of Finney jumping you could mess with. Red, furry and flying. Who's gonna quibble about species?



sounds good--send me the shot and I'll see what I can do!


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## carpedavid (Sep 3, 2003)

*Absolutely fantastic...*

Sialia,

Absolutely lovely - better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you so much.


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## Sialia (Sep 3, 2003)

carpedavid said:
			
		

> Sialia,
> 
> Absolutely lovely - better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you so much.




Two minor tweaks, now that I see it in place. Probably nothing anyone would notice. I might take one more go at the spot where the mane blends in to the back a little later if I get a chance.

Always hard for me to know when to quit . . . your choice as to which version you like best.

Glad you like it!


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## Sialia (Sep 3, 2003)

trouble attaching it before. trying again . . .

(three tiny differences: the mane hits the ring better, the eye is darker and bigger, and the overall tone is a bit redder)


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## carpedavid (Sep 4, 2003)

Very spiffy. As you can see, I'm using the updated ouroboros. Thanks so much again. This is very, very cool.


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## Brother Shatterstone (Sep 5, 2003)

Sialia, wow it's werid to be a member of the board for some lenght of time while seeing so many avatars on the board only to find out alot of them came from you...   Is their a chance you could so something bugbearish?  Maybe angry, primal, brownish and smeared like...?  (smeared like as in a sense of movement.) Or anything you can come up with.


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## Sialia (Sep 6, 2003)

Ok, so, this is probably my last night working on this for quite some months. I love doing this, but classes have started and I really need to focus on that until the end of November.

So here are a last few before I check out. Thanks to all of you who participated and tried on faces for me. I've really enjoyed doing this--and learned a lot from it.

Apologies to those of you who dind't wind up with usable avatars this go round. I hope I will be able to reopen this thread in November and revisit things then. Please, please don't tempt me by posting new requests until then. If you think of something cool, write it down but don't post it until I say it's ok to--I really need the time to concentrate on my homework, and I'm very bad at keeping myself from doodling when I should be working. Please help me by waiting, and I'll get to you when I get back.

Many thanks!


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## Brother Shatterstone (Sep 6, 2003)

Sialia that's cool!  Good luck with school!


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## Sialia (Sep 6, 2003)

another


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## BSF (Sep 6, 2003)

Sialia, I love it!

That's great, thanks a bunch.

Major Groovy


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## Sialia (Sep 6, 2003)

One more go at Barendd, black hair this time.

Can't tell you how hard this is, or how much I've learned from trying to do it. I know it's still not perfect, but it's better. I hope.


Best I can do for tonight. It's 12:30, and I'm a pumpkin.

Love to you all.

G'night!


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## Barendd Nobeard (Sep 7, 2003)

Sialia said:
			
		

> One more go at Barendd, black hair this time.
> 
> Can't tell you how hard this is, or how much I've learned from trying to do it. I know it's still not perfect, but it's better. I hope.
> 
> ...



Wow.  Thanks!  It is *several* quantum leaps above anything I could ever do myself. 

Thanks for sharing your talents with us.  And good luck in school!


Kent


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## BSF (Oct 15, 2003)

Hey Sialia!  

I just wanted to thank you again.  I've been having fun with all the avatars.  You rock!


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## Ferret (Oct 16, 2003)

las hows this? Should work as an avatar.


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## Sialia (Sep 4, 2004)

Holiday Weekend Special


Sialia has had no time to draw for months and months.  Weeks at least.

Sialia blue about this, and needs some smallish projects to fit in to small spaces in her life.

So a short time offer to do some more avatars, until life whomps down on top of me again. Probably Monday.

Get yer requests in now.

Requests for avatars should
1. Not ask for a portrait of a character. 
2. Include a cool concept.
3. Not ask me to improve upon a perfectly wonderful avatar of a Ferret in a Hat that is too cute to mess with.

Preference wil be given to requests from folks I haven't done one for before.


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## Ferret (Sep 4, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> 3. Not ask me to improve upon a perfectly wonderful avatar of a Ferret in a Hat that is too cute to mess with.





Was that aimed at me? I wouldn't want any messing with it anyway . It's perfect.


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## DMAC (Sep 5, 2004)

I did this one for someone on the WotC boards who goes by "ieattrollsforbreakfast".











Unfortunately, they don't allow custom avatars.  :\


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## BSF (Sep 5, 2004)

Yay!  Sialia is doing avatars again.  My avatars are groovy and I cycle between them.  Go ask for a cool Sialia avatar.  

Oh, if Sialia ever needed material for a portrait, BardStephenFox would be thrilled if she were willing to consider any of his character concepts.  Not that Sialia needs ideas for art.  Sialia has kick butt art.


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## FireLance (Sep 5, 2004)

Hi Sialia, I got referenced here from your post in the EN World name and avatar thread in Off-Topic. The long story of my user name can be found in that thread, but essentially, Firelance is the name of an NPC hero in a long-abandoned homebrew world who best embodied the philosophy of fire. He was formerly human, but became infused with the essence of fire and evolved into a phoenix. The Fire Lance was also the name of his weapon, which in 3e terms would be a holy, flaming lance (more a longspear than a jousting lance).

I realise that this is skirting the issue of character portraits, but if the concept strikes your fancy, would you consider doing an avatar of a holy, flaming lance or a phoenix wielding a holy, flaming lance? An avatar of a phoenix by itself has probably been done to death.


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## CrusaderX (Sep 5, 2004)

Very nice work, Sialia.  If you have the time, I'm looking for an avatar similar to my current one, only with a cooler, bolder, and more stylized look.  While still being fairly simple.  If that makes any sense.    The concept would be a Paladin's shield to go along with my Crusader X nick - so I'm thinking a holy shield that incorporates both a cross, as well as an "X" symbol somehow.


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## Angcuru (Sep 5, 2004)

Well Sialia, I wish I'd seen this thread earlier.      If you could, I'd like to see a re-working my my current avatar, who is a serious cropping of this pic right here.

EDIT : Dang, image link didn't work right.  Well, my current avatar should be reference enough, I hope.  

If you'd like to take the time to work on it, I'll give a general description of what I'm going for.  First off, it would be a facial portrait, not a torso shot, so don't bother focusing on anything below the neck.  The pic I post here would be used as a reference of facial structure instead of a pic to be edited, so you can be as creative as you want.  The facial tattoos would be removed, and the ears would be human, not elf-ears.  I'd like for the pic to have kind of a misty, semi-mysterious air to it, and his expression a sort of melancholic boredom, facing slighty down and to the side (preferance given to the right).  Other than that, feel free to do whatever and take as long as you like.


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## Temprus (Sep 6, 2004)

Is it possible to get 2 avatars: one with a d20 with the 20 being center and one of 3 six sided dice?


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## Krug (Sep 7, 2004)

A Stormhammer symbol for this old, gnarled dwarf?


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## Sialia (Sep 7, 2004)

OK, that should be enough to get me started for a bit. 

We'll see what comes over the next month or so. 

Please hold off on further requests until I am caught up on these and decide whether I can handle any more.

I am not going to do any facial portraits of anybody. Portraiture is just not my forte, especially not at this size, and not for characters I haven't run with. Even with people I know well, it is very difficult for me to capture the essence of a person's soul and attitude and expression. That gift comes to me so rarely, I can't count on calling it on demand.

I will work on all of the others, all of which sound do-able.

I would like Krug to tell me more about the Stormhammer. I need a little more to go on.


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## Macbeth (Sep 8, 2004)

Dang, looks like I just missed the deadline. Too bad, I'd like an artistic version of my present avatar. Geuss I'll just have to wait.


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## Sialia (Sep 8, 2004)

Macbeth, for you I might make an exception. But gracious, you'll have to tell me more than that. What do you like about your current avatar? What don't you like? What should the new one represent that's different?

I tried the phoenix one today--concept was cool, but when shrunk to avatar size, it looked like a small lobster. Back to the drawing board! Updates when I get 'em.


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## Macbeth (Sep 8, 2004)

What do I like about my current avatar? Dang, now you made me go and think about it... 

Well, let's see. Probably the thing I like most about it is it's recognizable. I've made a point of using different sprites of Black Mage from Final Fantasy I for all my avatars. So every once in a while I change avatars, but it's always the same character, just a different pose.

I originally chose the avatar as reference to 8-bit theatre (which can be found here). I chose it since it was a good avatar size, showed up well on screen, and the Black Mage character in 8-Bit theatre is awesome.

If you can get around to taking a shot at it, I'd like to see the same character, with whatever visual looks you can imagine. I really like your art (especially when I have to work it into a Ceramic DM story), and I think I'd like anything you do to the avatar. Really, just go wild, try anything you want with the same basic character somehow in it. You're much more artistic then I, and I would be happy to see anything you can do with it. Take that little picture and go completely crazy with it. Whatever you want. Anything you can throw into it, I bet I'd like. 

I can't think of too many other ways to inspire you. The main ideas I have for possible inspiration are my current D&D character (a psychic samurai who uses a nagamaki with a crystal in the pommel. A nagamaki is kind of like a cross between a polearm and a sword) and my Cermaic DM stories. I'm pretty sure neither of those would be any good for adding to my avatar, so don't feel you have to do anything relating to those. Just go crazy, and we'll see how it turns out.

I have some more sprites of the same character I've used as avatars, I'll post them when I get a chance to post from my home computer. Thanks for even considering taking a shot at it, I'd love to see anything you could do to it.


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## Macbeth (Sep 8, 2004)

Oooops, forgot to post what I DON'T like about my avatar. The main thing I don't like about it is the pixelated look. I feel like I want to change away from the pixelated look, but I want to keep the recognizable avatar. Any artistic stuff you can do with is would be awesome. Just because I don't like the pixelated look doesn't mean I want something 'realistic' looking, I just want something smoother and more artistic. Geometric shapes (like BSF's avatar), abstract stuff, crazy filters, pretty much anything you can think of that's not pixelated is cool. 

The main thing it should represent that's different is that it shouldn't be JUST pixels. You can keep the pixel-based image, as long as you do something to it that's not so 8-bit. I really want it to be... I don't know... more artistic, I geuss. And anything you do will be artistic, so just go crazy. Have fun with it. Try anything, just post the results.


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## Krug (Sep 8, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> I would like Krug to tell me more about the Stormhammer. I need a little more to go on.




Well Sialia, the Stormhammer is a dwarven clan name. I guess it's the equivalent of a heraldic symbol? I see it as having a hammer in the middle and storms being depicted by... well I'll leave it to you. Lightning flash(es)? Whatever gets your fancy.


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## BSF (Sep 8, 2004)

Sialia, 
Macbeth wants basically the same avatar, but like different, you know?  

Seriously though, if I might offer a suggestion, give the mage silk robes.  Something like a silk kimono.  That kind of fits in for his Samurai PC as well.  

Just a thought...


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## Macbeth (Sep 8, 2004)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> Sialia,
> Macbeth wants basically the same avatar, but like different, you know?



That would be funny, except it's exactly true. I just want Sialia to run wild with my avatar, and see what images spring from the depths of her imagination.


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## Macbeth (Sep 8, 2004)

I feel really bad for leaving such crappy ideas, so just take this and run with it: variations on a theme. (the theme being my current avatar)


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## FireLance (Sep 8, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> I tried the phoenix one today--concept was cool, but when shrunk to avatar size, it looked like a small lobster. Back to the drawing board! Updates when I get 'em.



 Now you've given me the idea for a race of lava-dwelling, spear-wielding lobster-men who explode into a fireball and come back to life after you kill them. If my players complain, I'll tell them who to blame.


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

Me, I'd just give the party a tank full of ordinary-looking [phoenix]lobsters and a hearth with a cauldron full of water waiting on it, just to see what would happen.


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

Fascinating. A Google image search on the words "black mage" turns up almost as many surreal and wonderful tings as a search on the word "Macbeth"


I'm really not sure I can improve on what's out there already. But it does give me some ideas about the latitude available.


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

most peculiar. I drew Macbeth's and it was perfect, and just as I was about to save it, it vanished. utterly. the program crashed without so much as an error message. It's not even still on my clipboard from the last time I cut/pasted it.

I've never had this happen before.

poof.

It's an omen i tell you.


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## Macbeth (Sep 9, 2004)

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Wish I could have seen it.


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## Aries_Omega (Sep 9, 2004)

*Avatar*

I would like an avatar. I just have no idea what to choose. I wanted to use the pic from Rifts of the deity Aries. The pic is of him with a runesword, blaster on the shoulder and pulse rifle in the other hand. Awesome pic. In Rifts strangely I like playing cyber knights, scouts and psi-stalkers.

In AD&D I play like playing human or half elf (usually wild elf or wood elf) ranger. If not then Monk, Druid or Sorcerer. I know...not very imaginative.

Lastly in real life I am an Army vet. I served as a Cavalry Scout and did reconnaissance, gathering info, patrol and the like. I am very proud of what I did and my unit (the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, CRAZY HORSE!!!!).

Any suggestions are welcome as well as questions to help get a direction for what I should use. As you can see I been using a ready made avatar that I found somewhere. I chose Sub Zero since he is the only character from Mortal Kombat that I know the moves for.

Aries


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

Try this:


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

Aries_Omega said:
			
		

> I would like an avatar. I just have no idea what to choose. . .. I am very proud of what I did and my unit (the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, CRAZY HORSE!!!!).
> 
> Aries



I don't usually like trying to do portraits--too much is lost at 64x64. I have much better luck with something symbolic. Think about a concept that you think represents you--if you had to pick one noun to be your face, what would you choose? Or adjective . . sometimes I can do adjectives.

Aries-Omega suggests a very simple but powerful graphic to me:


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## Macbeth (Sep 9, 2004)

That's awesome! I'm using it now. If you feel like still playing around (not that you should, this one is great), here's some other sprites.


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

CrusaderX said:
			
		

> Very nice work, Sialia. If you have the time, I'm looking for an avatar similar to my current one, only with a cooler, bolder, and more stylized look. While still being fairly simple. If that makes any sense.  The concept would be a Paladin's shield to go along with my Crusader X nick - so I'm thinking a holy shield that incorporates both a cross, as well as an "X" symbol somehow.



First attempt looks like something that belongs on top of the General Lee.

Starting over.


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## Knightfall (Sep 9, 2004)

Macbeth said:
			
		

> That's awesome! I'm using it now. If you feel like still playing around (not that you should, this one is great), here's some other sprites.




Don't forget to put a liner note in your sig saying "Avatar by Sialia".


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## Macbeth (Sep 9, 2004)

Done and done.


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## BSF (Sep 9, 2004)

Sialia,
As always, you ROCK!


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

Krug said:
			
		

> A Stormhammer symbol for this old, gnarled dwarf?



How's this?


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## Sialia (Sep 9, 2004)

Temprus said:
			
		

> Is it possible to get 2 avatars: one with a d20 with the 20 being center and one of 3 six sided dice?



Um. Usually, I'll try anything that's not a portrait. But I'm just not feeling inspired by this. I'm not sure how to make this any more artistically interesting than just throwing some actual dice on the scanner and calling it a night.

Can you think of any way to make this a more interesting project? Is there something special about the dice for you--something that is special to you specifically and not to everyone who posts on these boards.

I mean, I'm especially fond of the gren d20 I luck-rubbed on Piratecat last spring, but to anyone else, it just looks like a d20.


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## Ferret (Sep 9, 2004)

When I heard the description for the Strom hammer, I though a cloud over the head and a single bolt arking down the hanle or having the cloud on the head.


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## CrusaderX (Sep 9, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> First attempt looks like something that belongs on top of the General Lee.
> 
> Starting over.




If I play a Dwarven Paladin who drinks alot of moonshine and shouts "YEEEE-HAWW", that could work!


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## Macbeth (Sep 10, 2004)

Okay, this is kind of off topic, so feel free to strike it down, but the gourp that I play with in BSF's game recently decided on a name and symbol. I've done a horrid version of the symbol in microsoft paint (I wish I had photoshop  ), and I was wondering if you might play around with it either as part of my avatar, part of a new avatar, or part of a picture in whatever size you want.

The basic image attached below is the basic symbol, and each memeber of the group uses that symbol with some device specific to the character vertical in the center in front of that basic design as a personal device. I'm going to list some of the personal elements, in case they strike your fancy (these items would go where the red line is in the second picture):

A nagamaki (a oriental weapon like a very large sword, BSF describes it as a cross between a polearm and a sword) - For my Samurai
A feather - for our shaman
A fist - for the martial artist
Some kind of Crafting tool - for our skill master type guy
A bow and arrow - for our ranger
Something water related - for our cleric of a water god

Our party is know as the Seekers of Legend (a reference to the meta-plot BSF has going in the campaign). Color doesn't matter, you have a better eye for color then I do.

I know this is a bit of a bad request, so feel free to blow it off, I just realized how awesome it would be to have a very artistic, professional version. Do it whatever size you want, it doesn't have to be an avatar, but if it does come across at avatar size, I'm sure one of us will use it.


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## Temprus (Sep 10, 2004)

> Originally Posted by *Sialia*
> Can you think of any way to make this a more interesting project? Is there something special about the dice for you--something that is special to you specifically and not to everyone who posts on these boards.
> 
> I mean, I'm especially fond of the gren d20 I luck-rubbed on Piratecat last spring, but to anyone else, it just looks like a d20.




Well, maybe have a raven holding the dice or something storm themed since Temprus means "Storm Lord".


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## Sialia (Sep 10, 2004)

Ferret said:
			
		

> When I heard the description for the Strom hammer, I though a cloud over the head and a single bolt arking down the hanle or having the cloud on the head.



More like this?


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## Sialia (Sep 10, 2004)

Temprus said:
			
		

> Well, maybe have a raven holding the dice or something storm themed since Temprus means "Storm Lord".



Now _that_ is a cool concept.

But it's funny how these things work out. The raven came out great, right away, but I can't get it to "read" at avatar size. On the other hand, the dice that I drew to go with it though are cool. So for the time being, here's the 3d6 you orginally asked for. I like them and I think they are full of storm and ill portents, etc. I'm not sure why--it's still just 3d6, but now I feel like they are an interesting 3d6.

If I can figure out the raven, I'll do another later.


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## Sialia (Sep 10, 2004)

For those that are curious about the raven, here it is. I like it full size, but at 64x64, no one could tell what it is.


Actually, I think it's more of a vulture.


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## Krug (Sep 10, 2004)

Thanks Sialla. Way cool!


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## Sialia (Sep 10, 2004)

It looks good on you Krug.

But I realized there's one thing I want to tweak, now that I see it in place. I'll see if I can get to it over the weekend.


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## Temprus (Sep 10, 2004)

Thanks Sialia, its perfect!


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## Ferret (Sep 10, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> More like this?




Preeeety much.


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## Sialia (Sep 12, 2004)

It would be very easy to change the colors on this one, but since we didn't talk about colors before, I more or less stuck with the ones from your original avatar. Let me know if you'd rather have blue or gold or purple or just grayscale or whatever. Oh, what they hey--here is is in metallics too, just for fun.


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## Sialia (Sep 12, 2004)

Whoops. Forgot the cross. Here ya go.


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## BSF (Sep 12, 2004)

Sialia, I really like the hammer and the shields.  To be honest, I am kind of wishing I could find a way to use at least one of them for a treasure prop.  I just don't think my inkjet printer would do them good justice, especially that small.  Still, it might.  Hmm.  

In any event, very nice work on them.


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## Sialia (Sep 13, 2004)

Well, if it helps, here's the larger size version I worked from.


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## Sialia (Sep 13, 2004)

Another disastrous failure at the phoenix.


sigh.

trying again.


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## Sialia (Sep 13, 2004)

Make that two more disastrous failures.

So now we have a lobster, a flying skull, and a combustible flamingo.

Going to bed.  Try again tomorrow.

Fear not--Madriel's avatar went through about 12 versions of "fried egg on a stick" before I got to the rather nice one we settled on at last.

There's a world of difference between what reads well at 300x300 and what reads well at 64x64. It's always something of a surprise to see what happens when I shrink these.


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## Sialia (Sep 13, 2004)

Macbeth--how's this?


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## FireLance (Sep 13, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Make that two more disastrous failures.
> 
> So now we have a lobster, a flying skull, and a combustible flamingo.



I think we have the next Iron DM challenge!


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## Ferret (Sep 13, 2004)

Can we see the pictures? Pwease?


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## Macbeth (Sep 13, 2004)

That looks great Sialia! 

But, since I figure you like feedback, here's some thing you might change. Keep in mind that I really like it as is, I just want to give you some more ideas, should you feel inclined to take them.

First, if I could draw in MS paint the two halves would have been even. Ideally the two interlocking pieces should be identical in proportions. My bad, for the bad Paint drawing.

The lines could be more defined (though the rough look is growing on me). The only reason mine have two lines is I couldn't make it look right with one line. Again, my bad.

In the past you've said you could easily color change your exisiting computer work, and I think this was made on the computer, so Other color schemes might be cool. Just an idea, it looks great as is.

Thanks a ton. Just wanted to give you feedback, since I think having feedback is the only way to improve. Don't let me sound too neagtive, it looks awesome.


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## Sialia (Sep 14, 2004)

Oh yeah--these are all infinitely flexible, and I like feedback. Color is easy. Tell me what colors you want, roughly. Finally got a phoneix/lance that reads ok small, so here's a rough draft:


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## Knightfall (Sep 14, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Oh yeah--these are all infinitely flexible, and I like feedback. Color is easy. Tell me what colors you want, roughly. Finally got a phoneix/lance that reads ok small, so here's a rough draft:




Cool!

Can we see a larger version, please and thank you?


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## FireLance (Sep 14, 2004)

Sialia, I am awed. It looks absolutely beautiful. I love it! Thank you so much!


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## Sialia (Sep 14, 2004)

Ok, for the curious, here are some of the phoenixes I drew. (Ok you geeks out there--what's the proper plural form?)

The problem with most of these was trying to get them to read clearly at the small size. I'm not sure where the lobster one got to--it was clearly a phoenix at the big size, and only turned into a lobster when read small--the wings came out looking like the claws.

Also, here's the one that became the "final", and a cleaned up version of the avatar. Although now that I look at it, maybe I like the earlier draft better. Hard to tell.

'Nother question for you Arizonians: what do you call people from Phoenix, AZ?


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## Sialia (Sep 14, 2004)

What colors do you want? 
And should it look metallic? stone carved? wood carved? inked on parchment? tattooed on skin?


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## Sialia (Sep 14, 2004)

The lobster.

The sole redeeming coolness about this picture is that it was actually sketched in my own blood. (And Photoshopped a little afterwards, although less than you'd think.)

I'm not kidding. I got a nasty papercut during a meeting I was chairing at work, and so to avoid interrupting things, I absentmindedly wiped my bleeding hand on the agenda and continued the meeting. This would have worked fine--I made my rolls for poise beautifully, except that the whole table noticed the spreading stain across the agenda and they were all so grosssed out we had to interrupt the meeting for me to go wash up.

Some days, you just can't win.


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## Macbeth (Sep 14, 2004)

Wow, Sialia. I like the first one, but the newer one is completely awesome. I really like it, and personally I prefer the metallic blue shades, but I think some of the other players had mentioned yellow on green as a possible color scheme. If it's not too much trouble, could I see it in yellow on green? If you're busy, don't bother. I can live with the blue.


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## Macbeth (Sep 14, 2004)

And one tiny thing. If you can, could you take the second one, but make it so it is made of two interlocking pieces, like the first. The proportions of the second one are perfect, I just like it better when it is made of two interlocking pieces. Again, You've done so much for me already, don't feel you need to do it, it's just a little nit-pick. I feel like a Ceramic DM judge, what with all the nit-picking.


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## Macbeth (Sep 14, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> What colors do you want?
> And should it look metallic? stone carved? wood carved? inked on parchment? tattooed on skin?



Ummmm... It's great as is, but inked on parchment and stone carved both sound cool. I assume what was attached was mettalic? It does seem a little... metal-ish, for lack of a better word. hard choice to make, but... Inked, I geuss.


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## FireLance (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks again, Sialia. I do like the second one better because of the sharper detail on the wings. The flickering white flame on the speartip is also a nice touch - it brings across the idea that the spear is holy as well as flaming. The full-size version is just great. The phoenix really looks like it's sculpted from flame, not just a bird with red and gold plumage.

I'm sure it's been said before, but you have got _talent_.


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## Crothian (Sep 14, 2004)

still taking requests?  If so a clear ooze consuming a book would great.  And you have some amazing talent, I really like a lot of what I've seen here.


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## Sialia (Sep 14, 2004)

Aw shucks. Thanks. Praise and feedback are what make this hobby such a kick for me. 

I just love getting attention. Fawn on me lots and I'll draw anything.

Almost anything. 

Crothian, I have to say I've always liked your current avatar, but I'll see what I can do. It's hard to beat something simple with loads of personality.


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## Crothian (Sep 14, 2004)

I understand, and while I do like my current one it just doesn't fit with the way the boards look.


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## BSF (Sep 14, 2004)

Crothian said:
			
		

> still taking requests?  If so a clear ooze consuming a book would great.  And you have some amazing talent, I really like a lot of what I've seen here.






I was hoping you were asking for some masking tape to hold the button back together.


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## BSF (Sep 14, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> What colors do you want?
> And should it look metallic? stone carved? wood carved? inked on parchment? tattooed on skin?




Sialia, I am amazed you are even working on it.    Let me give you a little more information on the PC's.

We have a Shaman who has a few ranks in woodcrafting.  He makes fetishes and masks.  The group symbol is actually based off a fetish he made early in the game. 

We have a Wanderer who is an armorer, weaponsmith, blacksmith and a carpenter.  He has crafted masterwork leather armor with the symbol outlined in silver on it.  

We have a martial artist that is a sculptor, though he hasn't created a symbol for himself yet.  

Macbeth's character was given permission to commission a symbol for himself.  I'm not sure what he decided on for material.  

The priest has some skill as a weaver, though he hasn't taken any time to create a symbol yet either.  

The other two characters do not have any applicable skills to create a symbol.  But they are a Ranger and a Sun Mage (basically a derivative of a Sorceror.)

If any of that gives you ideas, that is wonderful.


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## Sejs (Sep 14, 2004)

I would like to pipe in and agree with the other posters saying how very talented you are - amazing work, all around.


And to ask, would it still be possible to hop on the avatar love-train?  Please oh please?


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## Dracomeander (Sep 14, 2004)

I just have to say your work looks fantastic. I hope you are still taking requests. If I could get an unique avatar, I would definitely have a reason to post more of my opinions.

As for an idea for my avatar, I was thinking a small dragon in poncho and flat-brimmed hat, ala Eastwood man-with-no-name, holding a gnarled walking stick.


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## BOZ (Sep 14, 2004)

hmm, sounds like crothian wants an avatar similar to the one he had before he broke the reply button.


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## Sejs (Sep 14, 2004)

er.. oh right.. forgot to ask for a particular avatar, heh.. oops.


If you're still doing them, could I please get a gelatinous cube with big, feathery angelic wings and a glowing halo?




Cuuuuuuuuube!


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## Macbeth (Sep 14, 2004)

BardStephenFox said:
			
		

> Macbeth's character was given permission to commission a symbol for himself.  I'm not sure what he decided on for material.



Really? I had forgot about that. I'll have to give it some thought. Any ideas, Sialia? A vaguely heraldic symbol for a Samurai, away from his homeland, now serving a ranger who is one of the major power players in a forest loving soceity. My character's favoerd wepoan is a nagamki, and he has psychic powers. I have no idea what his symbol would look like.


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## Sejs (Sep 14, 2004)

A kabuto with brain rays coming out of it, in front of a tree?


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## CrusaderX (Sep 14, 2004)

Thank you for your work, Sialia!  The shields look great, and I appreciate you taking the time to create these.


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## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 15, 2004)

I'd like to get a custom avatar replacing my KMFDM avatar (which I just put there because I like it), but I'm kinda torn on what I should get.  Maybe a trident or something rising out of a sea (based on a literal translation from Welsh and German of my latter two names)?


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## Sidekick (Sep 15, 2004)

First off Sialia you are doing some great work here.  These avarats are totally gear!!!

and on that note can I have one?  I've always wanted a cool, unique avatar.  I'd LOVE an eagle that is catching an arrow or holding a spear in its talons.

Thanks in advance (hopefully).


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## Sialia (Sep 15, 2004)

Sejs said:
			
		

> er.. oh right.. forgot to ask for a particular avatar, heh.. oops.
> 
> 
> If you're still doing them, could I please get a gelatinous cube with big, feathery angelic wings and a glowing halo?



Who could resist?

But while I'm working on this, amuse me: tell me why.  There has _got_ to be a good story about this.


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## Knightfall (Sep 15, 2004)

Hi Sialia,

While I still love the original avatar you did for me, I'm looking for something shiny and new. A full helm like before but facing straight ahead. It should look dark and evil with fire pouring out the eye slits and steam trickling from the mouth holes. You can give the helmet whatever dark designs you can think of. Just note my favorite color scheme, black & red with maybe some etching in silver or gold. (lightning in the motif would be cool too.)

What do you think?

Cheers!

KF72


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## cdsaint (Sep 15, 2004)

Salia,
  I can't believe I didn't notice this thread until just now. I'm continually amazed by the talent found here at ENWorld. I was very taken by the 3d6 avatar, and rather than request a custom avatar of my very own.... Would it be possible to make the dice oxidized brass or copper? Maybe on a wooden background?

Thanks,

Chris


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## Sejs (Sep 15, 2004)

A good ways back there was another one of those "Oh boy, Elves! They're just the greatest ever!" threads (of the Edena_of_Neith stripe, memory serving).  One of my comments was that I would find playing an awakened half-celestial gelatinous cube with cleric levels more interesting than just cooing over elves all the time.

Then Gez went and stated the critter up, class levels and all.  After that, the cube sort of took on a life of its own including me convincing my GM to let me play 'em in a long running campaign after having lost my previous character.  The in-game explination for Cube was that the temple the party was currently exploring used to be in the service of the gods of good back before the place was taken over by minions of nasty wicked evil, several decades ago.  Unbeknownst to the badguys, this temple housed a particular relic that the party needed in order to bring about the downfall of said evil.  Years back when the temple was first coming under assault, one of the upper-ranking clerics cast a _planar ally_ spell to get a guardian for the relic.  What she got was Cube.  The temple then later falls and gets minion-infested; the minions don't know about the relic or its guardian, all they know is that any time some of them go into a particular area, they disappear.  They're not even sure the people that are gone are dead - they never find any blood or bodies, just a small pile of the missing ones armor and weapons... all perfectly clean.  With no other idea of what's causing it, or what to do, they seal off that section of the temple by bricking all the entrances shut.  

Cube can't dissolve stone, and in any case the relic seems to be safe for now... so it just hunkers down and waits.  And keeps waiting for several years until the PCs come along, break down the seals and start poking around looking for the relic.  There's a confrontation between the party and Cube in which it's revealed who the party is (non-minions) and why they need the relic.  Cube agrees to let them take it, on the condition that he goes with them to ensure his charge is used properly and in the capacity they said it would be.


Heh, Cube was an absolute blast to play.


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## Sialia (Sep 15, 2004)

Too, too wonderful. 

Thank you for sharing.

I'll get on it this weekend.


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## Sialia (Sep 15, 2004)

cdsaint said:
			
		

> Salia,
> I can't believe I didn't notice this thread until just now. I'm continually amazed by the talent found here at ENWorld. I was very taken by the 3d6 avatar, and rather than request a custom avatar of my very own.... Would it be possible to make the dice oxidized brass or copper? Maybe on a wooden background?
> 
> Thanks,
> ...



Half the fun of having a unique avatar is having it be . . . unique. It's really hard to do anything unique and fun with dice at 64x64. 

Come up with an exciting twist or angle on it, and I'll consider it.


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## Angcuru (Sep 15, 2004)

Well, since you're not big on portraits, I do have another idea for an avatar that you might find enjoyable to do.  If you get the time. 

A pic depicting aspects of a character rather than a facial portrait may have more meaning, and be more commonly appreciated, I think.  

I'll be specific as I can so you have a lot you can work with, but anything close would be great.

A straight-bladed katana-style sword with solid mahoghany hilt and no 'crossguard'.  The blade should be shimmering damascus-patterned(optional, if too difficult) steel encasing a single , long thin diamond (concavely ground, if you can/want to get that close in detail) which forms the edge of the blade.

The sword should rest on a bed of amber silk, entwined in ivy flowers.  Resting at the pommel area of the sword is a single anemone flower.  And then scattered at random thoughout the image are such flowers as forget-me-nots, honeysuckle, and lily of the valley.

It would be so incredibly awesome if you could do this one.  

And to join the chorus of others, your work is incredible.


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## Sialia (Sep 15, 2004)

Angcuru said:
			
		

> Well, since you're not big on portraits, I do have another idea for an avatar that you might find enjoyable to do. If you get the time.
> 
> A pic depicting aspects of a character rather than a facial portrait may have more meaning, and be more commonly appreciated, I think.
> 
> ...



Ok, this is better, but we still need to simplify. 

Lots.

At 64 x 64 only the outlines of shapes and general textural impressions really come through. If you couldn't draw it with a felt tip on a postage stamp, it's not going to come through clearly. Even though I work at 300 x 300 before I shrink down, all the little details really change when the shrinking and jpgging happens. A beatifully detailed thing can become unreadable when the grainy details overwhelm the strength of the big shapes.

So I can give you a shiny gray stripe for the sword on a yellow silky ground, but if I surround it with the vegetation, you'll have trouble telling what it is, especially without a hilt.

If you can rough sketch what you want on a piece of paper with a dark pen and then scan it and post it, I'll see what I can develop from it. The sketch should not be larger than a 3x5 card to begin with.


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## cdsaint (Sep 16, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Half the fun of having a unique avatar is having it be . . . unique. It's really hard to do anything unique and fun with dice at 64x64.
> 
> Come up with an exciting twist or angle on it, and I'll consider it.





Well, I was trying to make it easy on you since I know you have plenty of other requests to handle. But, if you insist, I'll try to think of something unique and personal to myself that would be both appropriate and fun, and will post when I come up with something.

Chris


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## Sialia (Sep 17, 2004)

Bandeeto says "it's not a true cube."

it's gelatinous, i say, and wearing angelic robes. it's intelligent you know.

Bandeeto say "It's a cube. it would dissolve the clothes. And it should be transparent."

Fine, fine, I say. I'll have another go at it tomorrow.

I'm not proud of this: I stole the wings from a painting by Robert Campin. Circa 1425.

And it was Bandeeto's idea to go with the "plate" style halo instead of the circlet kind. I liked the effect, although i disputed the scale several times before settling on this. The raidant rays were my own, but also loosely drawn from paintings of the period.

 They should be straighter.

But I thought I'd show y'all the draft. I liked it.

What do you think--am i heading in the right direction?


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## BSF (Sep 17, 2004)

Sialia,
I think it is delicious.  So it isn't a perfect cube, big deal.  As you said, it's a gelatinous cube.  Maybe it's relaxing just a little bit?

The halo is nice.  I was expecting the circlet halo, but I like the disc.

The wings are nice.  It would be interesting to see a comparison with white feathered wings.  I kind of like the gold motif though.  

Dang, that thing is 64 x 64.  I am amazed at how much detail you can fit in there.  I like it, despite whatever Sejs thinks.  
I think I might need to see if I can find the stats for that little critter.  I'm not sure I would ever use it, but then again, you never know.


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## Sialia (Sep 18, 2004)

Ok, I'm actually closer to proud of this one. All drawn by me, no theft.

In fact, I like it enough to have signed it and included a larger version, suitable for printing out and stapling to your character sheet.

I know, I know. I broke my "no portraits" rule.

So, it's not actually a rule. More like a guideline.

Half-celestial gelatinous cube.

For a concept like that, some rules simply don't apply.

A tip of the halo to you for that one. You made my week.


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## Sialia (Sep 18, 2004)

One more quick comment on this one: 

"Its not transparent" Bandeeto says to me.

"I tried making it transparent, and it was impossible to figure out what the thing was at 64x64," I replied.

"But . . but . . that's the whole _point_ of gelatinous cubes! You not _supposed_ to be able to see them . . ."

I conceed the weakness. 

Here's a revision. Still not invisible. But at least _somewhat_ translucent.

Although I still think it's harder to read.


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## BSF (Sep 18, 2004)

Sialia,
Give it in iridescent sheen.  Yeah, I know the MM says Celestials are metalic colored, but youa re taking artistic license right?  Besides, iridescent sheen is cool.  (Ask me about my PC's PrC some time.)  

Make it transparent, then throw an iridescent sheen on the cube.  

It's not like a Gelatinous Cube with angel wings and a halo is completely unnoticable anyway right?  See, the minions were all humanoids with darkvision.  They don't use light spells, or even torches.  They would be trying to figure out what those floating wing thingies were, in the dark, when the cube would eat them.  So, the iridescence would only show up when people with real light showed up.  

OK, maybe you won't like my idea, but it won't be from a lack of effort on my part.


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## Sialia (Sep 18, 2004)

iridescent.


although I'm not sure. seems a bit . . . cheery? less awesome.


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## BSF (Sep 18, 2004)

Hmm, 
you might be right.  

Is there a different filter for pearlescent?  It seems like they should be the same, but maybe there would be a filter with less blue & purple?


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## Sialia (Sep 18, 2004)

If there's a filter for iridescent, I don't know about it. I just hand tinted it. 

Blue and purple was my guess--I'm not really sure how to render pearl without color.

But it's an interesting thing to ponder.

I started to work on the slime covered book, and just asked my pal to come drool on a phonebook for me for bit so I could get an idea of something to sketch from. Darn thing climbed up on the desk, got comfy and fell asleep.

I'll have to go back and try again tomorrow, assuming there is anythign left of my phonebook.


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## BSF (Sep 18, 2004)

Out of curiosity, what program do you use for your rendered art?  Not that I have any artistic talen, but I have Paint Shop Pro (Windows) and the Gimp (linux laptop) on my computers.  Maybe I could find a filter or something that would have some pointers?


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## Sialia (Sep 18, 2004)

well, there's a "plastic wrap" filter, as it turns out . . .

and a "glowing edges tool."


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## Sialia (Sep 18, 2004)

I serve only Photoshop. Photoshop is my master, my adored one, my precioussss. Photoshop is our friend, yes.

That, and sometimes pen or paint and paper. With a little Photoshop.

And FoodTV. Which is currently showing an overtime battle of IronChef.

I am going to go worship my other glowing box for a while.

Good night!


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## Sejs (Sep 18, 2004)

Heh, I told myself time and again "Sejs, she said this weekend, so let the lady work and don't bug her."  It became my little mantra every time I cruised over to ENWorld.

Wow - I'm in awe.  Those look just amazing, Sialia.  Thank you SO much for this!



Edit/Additional Gushing:  I've saved all the Cubes now, gonna get 'em up on the little isp-provided webspace the wife and I've got in the morning.  Also gonna print out all the portraits and show 'em to my gaming group.  "Ah-HA!  Check it out, guys - Cube's got ART!" I shall say, "Bask in the radiant glow of the outpouring awesomeness."  Then I will make hand gestures that indicate the flow of awesome as it travels from the picture to them.


You rule, Sialia.  Can't say it enough.  Thank you again for your work.


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## BSF (Sep 18, 2004)

Heh - Iron Chef - have fun.

I found a couple of links that might be worthy of your attention.

http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/free/blfree_jwls38.htm
http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/free/bl_free.htm?PM=ss14_graphicssoft
http://www.tahnee.com/iridescent paintings.htm

I'm not sure if those are at all useful, but there you have it.


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## Sejs (Sep 18, 2004)

Glee!

I am grinning like a 5 year old on christmas morning


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## BSF (Sep 18, 2004)

We have a winner!  

Sejs, welcome to the wonderful world of "Avatar by Sialia".  Now, go make all the other kids on your block jealous.


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## Angcuru (Sep 18, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Ok, this is better, but we still need to simplify.
> 
> Lots.
> 
> ...




Hmm, silly me, I never thought of that.  Although my art skills are shall we say....lacking, I'll see what I can do in the way of a rough sketch.

Love the cube, BTW.


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## Angcuru (Sep 18, 2004)

Alright, this a general approximation of that I'm going for.  My sketch ended up looking like a dish of ravioli, so my minor MSPaint experience will have to suffice. :\

The sword is just like this, 'cepting that there would be no curve.  

This is just a general idea for the image.  Use your imagination and talent to derive something you think would be good for an avatar.  I trust your judgement.


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## Sialia (Sep 19, 2004)

Just testing my new sig. Pay no attention.


>preen<


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## Sialia (Sep 19, 2004)

Well.  I didn't think this was possible, but here it is.


Thank you for making me stretch on this one.

Thank you also for the mock up, which helped, lots.


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## Sialia (Sep 19, 2004)

This accidental double post being replaced with another random thing that crawled across my desk.

I don't explain 'em, I just draws 'em.


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## Sialia (Sep 19, 2004)

What is it with the fashion for transparent things that are so darn hard to do?

The book and slime thing has me a bit stumped. If there was a previous version of this avatar, I'd like to see it. I've tried the book from several angles, and it just doesn't seem to be "reading" well.

I mean, apart from being covered in slime.

There is probably some sort of psychological block invovled, because every time I try to work on this one, I relive the horror of the time a swamp creature backed up through my kitchen sink and ate my rhyming dictionary while I was away in NYC. When I got back to the Fenway, my poor old tome was covered in black and white fur, and drooling.

And for those of you who are curious, no, this wasn't in gametime. That apartment had some serious draininage and mold issues.

But the woman who got it after me had the joy of seven feet of raw sewage when the Muddy River ate the T, and that pleasure was never mine. I got off with a small puddle of slime on the kitchen counters and floor. That beast ate her whole . . . everything really. 

It nearly got her boyfriend too, when he insisted on wading through the sewage full of live wires to rescue her cat. He must have made some fabulous saves.


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## Sialia (Sep 19, 2004)

me is pooped.  done for this weekend. more next.


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## Ferret (Sep 19, 2004)

Maybe watching the "Salt is bad for you" advert from the UK (done by a CGI slug) and also drawing the slime in lines not sheets.


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## Angcuru (Sep 19, 2004)

Very nicely done, Sialia!    Just the way I was hoping it would turn out.


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## Sidekick (Sep 20, 2004)

Hey Sialia, I'm sorry if this is being pushy but...

 something with an eagle or a hawk would be hella cool.  If you could have it grasping an arrow that would be my dream Avatar!!!

Thanks, you are doing some seriously cool work here Sialia.  Mad props


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## Piratecat (Sep 20, 2004)

This thread has the best title on the ship, blast ye, an' much 'o the best cargo as well. Yarrr.


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## Sialia (Sep 20, 2004)

Sidekick said:
			
		

> Hey Sialia, I'm sorry if this is being pushy but...
> 
> something with an eagle or a hawk would be hella cool. If you could have it grasping an arrow that would be my dream Avatar!!!
> 
> Thanks, you are doing some seriously cool work here Sialia. Mad props



Well, I haven't been able to get this to work at 64x64 yet, and I'm too tired to do more tonight. But I thought you might like to see the rough sketch, just so you know I'm working on it. Bandeeto says the legs are on in a ridiculous torque, as if it were snowboarding on the arrow. And when it's small, I can't tell if it's an eagle, a vulture, or a parrot.

But this may have to wait a bit--tomorrow is back to work, and next weekend is all booked up already. So rest patiently--I haven't forgotten.

Nor the request for the dragon in sarape and hat, but the rough of that isn't cooperating either. That hat is darned hard to do. It looks flat, but there's not really a straight line in it--it conveys the illusion of straight and flat without being either. It's a round, dented thing. And it has to sit on the critter's head, not hover above it. Beats the heck out of me so far, but perhaps it will come with time.

While we're waiting, why don't you both tell me about your avatars, and what they mean.


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## Dracomeander (Sep 20, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Nor the request for the dragon in sarape and hat, but the rough of that isn't cooperating either. That hat is darned hard to do. It looks flat, but there's not really a straight line in it--it conveys the illusion of straight and flat without being either. It's a round, dented thing. And it has to sit on the critter's head, not hover above it. Beats the heck out of me so far, but perhaps it will come with time.
> 
> While we're waiting, why don't you both tell me about your avatars, and what they mean.




The story behind the avatar. Sounds like it should be the title of a new thread.  

Meander is the name of my first character. He was created as a fighter in D&D before the release of AD&D. He was from a prominent family who had a legend of being descended from a dragon. Since he was going out adventuring he didn't want to use his real name so he chose to go by the name Meander.
Throughout his adventuring career he has always had a fascination with dragons as well as being a bit of a gambler. He would collect any and all tales he could find of dragons and gather the group to go track them down. Not to slay the dragon, but to try to get the chance to talk and discover more lore about them.
In the course of adventuring, he came upon the remains of an alchemist's lab where there was a potion labelled simply My Masterpiece. His gambling nature prompted him to say 'Why not?', so he drank it. It was a potion of immortality. 
This was about the time the group was switching over to that new thing called AD&D. Meander got ported over as a dual-class fighter just starting out on the path of wizard. Between his fascination with dragons and his burgeoning mystical abilities, he started gaining more and more draconic attributes until he acquired a Wish as a reward for a services done in removing a circle of Lich Lords from some kingdom he and his associates were passing through. The wish combined with his nature to transform him into the Iconic Dragon his family had descended from so now he is a wandering dragon archmage.

Meander has, as PC and NPC, survived transformation into every incarnation of this game called Dungeons & Dragons wandering through world after world and edition after edition acting as sort of a magical knight errant.

As for the Avatar, Draco is obviously for dragon and Meander means to wander aimlessly. What better way to represent the Wandering Dragon than transforming him into the old west movie knight errant of the Man-with-No-Name?


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## Sidekick (Sep 20, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> While we're waiting, why don't you both tell me about your avatars, and what they mean.




Hey Sialia, the Eagle clutching the Arrow is the traditional symbol for Kukjae Hapkido, the martial art I am a student of and dearly love.  Kukjae translates to 'International' and hapkido is a Korean eclectic martial art.   The eagle is the king of birds, powerful, swift and alert while the arrow represents incomming attacks that Hapkido teaches us to aviod and control.

Hapkido comes from the same place as Aikido: Dai-Aki-ru-Jitsu (a Japanese art).  So it involves locks, throws, break etc.  But because of its Korean influence we also practice long distance attacks & defences.

Anyway that's my completely non-RPG avatar!  If anyone reading this goes, hey that sounds like fun, Hapkido is HUGE in the US with 90% of the grandmasters (9th degree and above) in the States...  Kukjae Hapkido is only in NZ as it is the formation of Grandmaster Lee (9th Hapkido/9th TKD) and due to his experience with TKD has more emphasis on kicking form and patterns than most Hapkido's.

Oh and Sialia.  That avatar looks awesome.  I cannot wait for the final product!


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## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 20, 2004)

I already got my avatar, as you see (thanks, Sialia!), but I may as well add a post and share what it means.  Basically, my middle name is Dylan, which is a Celtic sea god (and father of the Lady of the Lake), my last name is German for fork.  Hence, the sea god's fork, hence a trident.


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## Sialia (Sep 21, 2004)

This is way cool. Thank you very much for sharing your stories and concepts--it makes it more fun for me to understand why I'm drawing what I'm drawing.

Andrew, I'm wodnering if the avatar is a bit too dark, now that I see it from a different computer. Would you like me to lighten it up a bit, or do you like it as is?


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## Andrew D. Gable (Sep 21, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Andrew, I'm wodnering if the avatar is a bit too dark, now that I see it from a different computer. Would you like me to lighten it up a bit, or do you like it as is?



I think it's fine the way it is.


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## Angcuru (Sep 21, 2004)

I'd gladly tell you the significance surrounding the imagery in the avatar you made for me, but it would take a LONG LONG LONG LONG time to fully explain it.        

But, to violently simplify it...

The pic signifies several key aspects of the main character in a story I'm writing (who is also named Angcuru, for now at least).  His people had 'evolved' to be identical to humans, save for a somewhat longer life span, and total ignorance to the 'negative' aspects of humanity I.E. hatred, anger, greed, etc. and simply put, finding love and being happy is all that matters to them.  Certain circumstances lead him to leave his people for a time, during which he first encountered violence, killing, and specifically, humanity.  He had to learn to defend himself, and as was his custom, he found the most direct and precise way to do so.  The whole purpose of combat is to remove your opponent(most often by killing), and so, the only weapon specifically designed solely for combat was the sword.  So he studied the sword, and the surgical, sudden-death precision of his strikes lead him to select the 'perfect sword'.  Single-edged, molecule-diamond sharp for killing, and a rounded blunt opposite edge for subual/non-lethal strikes.  

Long story short, he discovers that he is technically immortal(much to his chagrin), his people end up being either slaughtered or otherwise lost to him, and his life generally goes to hell.  This is where to flowers and suchlike come in.  Amber was the color of his lost & undeclared love's hair and eyes, so he dwells on the color a LOT.  Ivy is signifying fidelity and marriage, something his people held very dear, and something that he will now never have.  So by intwining the blade, it is symolic of the drive that causes him to keep going, doing whatever it is he does.  The anemone flower signifies 'forsaken', which he very much feels he is, and at the base of the sword hilt, it is the fury which drives him in battle.  Forget-me-nots symbolize true love, the meaning of life for his people, again something he believes he will now never find.  Honeysuckle for devoted affection, something he wants to give and to feel, again, never will.  And finally the Lily of the Valley is symbolic of Return to Happiness, which he hopes to find, but doubts he will.

It may seem a tad long, this, but it really is violently simplified.


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## Sialia (Sep 21, 2004)

Oh! (smacks head)  A sea eagle. Stellars Sea Eagle, as found in Hokkaido.


Right. Nix the brown and white plumage then. Replacing with black and white, with yellow feet and beak.

Closer.

Here is draft 3.

Perhaps still some cleanup work to do, but I don't think I'll have time to get to it for a bit. Use this in the interim, and check back occasionally for updates.


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## Sidekick (Sep 22, 2004)

Hey Sialia, I can't seem to click on the Eagle that you just just posted.

Th elittle hand thing isn't coming up at all.  I'll try again later from home though.


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## Crothian (Sep 22, 2004)

Sialia said:
			
		

> What is it with the fashion for transparent things that are so darn hard to do?
> 
> The book and slime thing has me a bit stumped. If there was a previous version of this avatar, I'd like to see it. I've tried the book from several angles, and it just doesn't seem to be "reading" well.




There was no previous one, I had an ooze before but it wasn't transpoarent and there was no book in the picture.  It wasn't that good of one so the avatar didn't last that long.  

I wenjt with transparent becasue I thought it would be cooler to see part of the book inside the ooze, but it by no means needs to be transparent if that's causing problems.


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## Sialia (Sep 27, 2004)

Update to the eagle. The head is still wrong, but I've fixed some of the anatomical impossibilities of the wings. Intro'd others, but fixed the first set anyway.

Getting there, but that's all I have time for tonight.


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## Ferret (Sep 27, 2004)

That is the size that it is. You only need to click when it is bigger then a specified size. To see it in a new window, either right click on it, go to properties and copy the address and paste in a new window, or if you use Firefox, right click then got to view image.


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## Sialia (Sep 28, 2004)

Ok, try this.


I think I'm almost happy with this one.


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## Sialia (Sep 28, 2004)

Ok, this one doesn't work well small yet, but I thought I'd share the draft.


It amuses me.



I'm not sure this is quite what was meant by a slime devouring a book . . .

It looks like a gaming literacy poster to me.


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## Macbeth (Sep 28, 2004)

Oh man, slime devouring as book...

I'm going to have a geeky smile on my face for days now. I love puns. You made my day, Sialia.


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## BSF (Sep 28, 2004)

Sialia, 
That is delicious goodness there.  It gives me ideas that I am not sure Macbeth and the other players will like.  But hey, those are the risks when your DM is looking at Sialia artwork!


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## Crothian (Sep 28, 2004)

Wow, that is really cool looking.  I was going to come in say if that was causing you trouble just go with an ooze in a Fedora and sunglasses; basically a mob ooze.


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## Ferret (Sep 28, 2004)

Looks like a flubber reading a book! Wow!


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## Sidekick (Sep 28, 2004)

Sialia, thank you very much for the eagle.  I am truly thankful.  Now my martial art can live on in Enworld.  Through me!!


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## Sialia (Oct 1, 2004)

Happy Birthday to me . . . who wants a slice?


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## BOZ (Oct 1, 2004)

happy birthday, if it really is your birthday.


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## Ferret (Oct 1, 2004)

Thats no cake thats a jelly!


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## FireLance (Oct 2, 2004)

Looks like a gelatinous mimic to me. Caution is advised.

Slightly belated birthday wishes, Sialia!


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## Sialia (Oct 9, 2004)

Book. Slime. Less flubberry, drippier. 
Fire away with the feedback.


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## BOZ (Oct 9, 2004)

Ferret said:
			
		

> Thats no cake thats a jelly!




heh, i didn't see that at first...

anyone have any peanut butter?


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## Crothian (Oct 9, 2004)

Well, let us see if it fits...I'll walk around a little with it on to make sure that it moves with me....


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## Crothian (Oct 11, 2004)

I like it and I'm keeping it if I may.  Thanks you bunches, I owe you one!!


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## Sialia (Oct 11, 2004)

I'm still not quite sure abotu the left sid eof the . .err . . .head? but I haven't come up with a better fix yet. If I do, i'll post it.

Somebody remind me who hasn't had a response yet. Anyone?  Did I forget somebody completely? Or am I all caught up, apart from edits and tweaking?

I am deliberately avoiding redoing a completely new avatar for anyone I've done an avatar for previously--I'll tweak or update, but I want to make myself available to people who haven't anything as yet.

So who's next on my list?


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## Dracomeander (Oct 11, 2004)

As far as I can tell, that is a very good anthropomorphism of a slime hunkered down intently reading his book. Most people don't hold their head straight while reading, so I see nothing wrong with your interpretation.

As far as your waiting list, still waiting for your interpretation of the dragon in a serape. If the hat is giving you too many fits, go ahead and drop it but possibly add a road winding off into the distance.


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## Conaill (Oct 11, 2004)

Hmm... I didn't quite "see" the book at first. I thought the spine of the book was the wooden post of a lectern, with a slime spilling off the top of it (with the black covers of the book interpreted as empty space to the side of the lectern). Perhaps making the black of the book cover more easily distinguishable from the black of the background might help.

Other than that, great slime for such a small image!


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## Sialia (Oct 12, 2004)

Dracomeander said:
			
		

> As far as I can tell, that is a very good anthropomorphism of a slime hunkered down intently reading his book. Most people don't hold their head straight while reading, so I see nothing wrong with your interpretation.
> 
> As far as your waiting list, still waiting for your interpretation of the dragon in a serape. If the hat is giving you too many fits, go ahead and drop it but possibly add a road winding off into the distance.



Ah--yes!  <smacks head>  I knew there was one more in the wings.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll go see where it went.


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## Sialia (Oct 13, 2004)

This one has had me about 6 times. I don't know why it fought me so hard. I think this is about as close as I'm going to get.I can change minor things like color and border, etc. but I think the face, hat and sarape are about as good as they are going to get.


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## Ferret (Oct 15, 2004)

Cool! More hats! Woo and YAY! Any chance of posting the big pieces as well?


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## Dracomeander (Oct 16, 2004)

Slightly different from what I was envisioning, but I LIKE IT. Just a slight tweek and it should be perfect. If you could add some dark reddish tint to the face to enhance the contrast between dragon and wardrobe, I think we'll have a real winner with the smokin' bordered version. Will use the grayscale version 'til you have time to add the tint. 

Thanks


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## Aries_Omega (Oct 16, 2004)

*Question*

Are you still taking requests for avatars? If so where do I sign up at?

Aries


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## Ferret (Oct 19, 2004)

Just make a request and the artiste will do what she(Soz if wrong) can.


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## Sammael (Oct 19, 2004)

I am really impressed with your art, Sialia. If you can find the time, I'd love a new avatar. Something fiendish, a bit similar to my current WAR avatar, but perhaps even more shrouded in mystery. Red, black, grey... a hint of fangs, horns, and glowing eyes shrouded in darkness. Or even a human(oid) head casting a fiendish shadow.


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## Sialia (Oct 21, 2004)

Aries_Omega said:
			
		

> Are you still taking requests for avatars? If so where do I sign up at?
> 
> Aries



Page back a few --I sketched a draft for you already, about post #141. Give me feedback about it if you want something different.  Color and texture are easy to change--I could do the symbol for "Aries Omega"  embossed in gold leaf, rippling through smoke, carved on wood, riveted into metal, suspended in gelatin, spray painted across bricks, stitched into silk, or whatever. Think about where you might put your logo if you wanted to post it somewhere in the real word.

If you want something _conceptually_ different than just the symbol, point me in a direction. I'm not much fond of doing character work, unless the character is something so striking that a simple silhouette of it would carry most of the impact. The way I work, small details like specific type of weapon or armor just don't carry well at 64x64. And it's very difficult for me to do specific likenessess.

Things that make me laugh have a way of sticking with me long enough to get done--the half-celestial gelatinous cube demanded a whole lot of versions until I got there, but it sure wouldn't let up on me until it got itself right.

I have limited connectivity these days, so I expect it will be a while between posts for me now through the end of the year. I expect to be able to check in once or twice a week. I'll post when I can.

Let me know what you'd like.


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## Sialia (Oct 21, 2004)

Dracomeander said:
			
		

> Slightly different from what I was envisioning, but I LIKE IT. Just a slight tweek and it should be perfect. If you could add some dark reddish tint to the face to enhance the contrast between dragon and wardrobe, I think we'll have a real winner with the smokin' bordered version. Will use the grayscale version 'til you have time to add the tint.
> 
> Thanks




Try this:


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## Sialia (Oct 21, 2004)

Sometimes . . .  things don't work out quite the way I expect. Wings, horns, fangs, eyes, smoke--this all sounds very reasonable--easy even. I could picture this in my sleep.

So I start with the smoky part--that's easy--and then unfocus for a bit and wait for demonic faces to start to show through the fog--usually doesn't take but a minute for me to start seeing creepy shapes in that kind of static. And then I just reach in and grab them out, usually. Voila--nothing simpler.

And _this_ is what I get this time around.

Sigh.

Back to the drawing board.


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## Sialia (Oct 21, 2004)

Aiee. Ok, maybe NOT back to the drawing board. Maybe to bed before I DO start seeing these things in my dreams.


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## Sammael (Oct 21, 2004)

That is quite interesting, although I'd like to see it in color and reduced to 64x64 before I reach a conclusion. A bit different that what I had envisioned, but conveying the same message.


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## Sialia (Oct 23, 2004)

Fear not--I had no intention of using it for an avatar--it was just one of those assignments that got completely out of control. I'll start over again soon, but I just had to get to sleep that night--when things go that hideously awry, it's time to stop.I almost always start in graycale and then add color after--it makes it easier to make sure I have a composition that carries simply.

After I get a new rough draft, I'll post again.


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## Sialia (Oct 23, 2004)

Ok, Sammael. 


I have another very strange experience working your avatar--which I'm not going to share because I've deleted it already-- and now I'm starting to wonder _why_.

I think you'd better tell me why you want to look fiendish.


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## Sammael (Oct 24, 2004)

Well, because my internet personna _is_ Sammael, a Duke of Hell? I've always used fiendish avatars in one shape or another. If it's a problem, I understand. I am not religious at all myself, but people have been bothered by it before.


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## Ferret (Oct 25, 2004)

I can see a pair of bared teeth in the top near-right of the first greyscale demon pic.


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## Sialia (Oct 25, 2004)

It's not a religious problem, per se. More of a _focus_ problem.

The way I do these is a bit more like summoning than drawing.

I don't usually decide what or how to draw the avatar before I get going--I start with swirly fog and stare into it until I see the outline of something--something that suggests a shape that is already there--and then I just bring it out. It's much eaiser than drawing--like seeing cloud shapes. Almost anyone can see shapes in clouds. Photoshop lets me nail them down and show them to other people.

Usually this works pretty well, as long as I'm either willing to just take whatever comes, or have a clear sense of what I'm looking for. And the really best ones, they always feel like I didn't have anything to do with drawing them at all--they just come all by themselves.

Anyway, so. I've gotten enough weird results working on yours that I think I'm not focusing properly. Your avatar is being tricky and elusive, and isn't going to sit still to have it's portrait drawn until I understand it a level better.

Your spec was clear, and perfectly reasonable--should be well suited to my style. There's no problem there. But thers's something else missing--the thing that makes _your_ fiend different from anyone else's. What kind of a fiend are you?

Tell me more about being a Duke of Hell, and how you got there.


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## Sialia (Oct 25, 2004)

Fourth try, and now I'm getting a Chinese luck dragon.

My five year old thinks he's adorable and made me name the file "Cutie-pie" and wants me to make him magenta instead of red.


There's a definite lack of fiendishness happening here.


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## Sialia (Oct 25, 2004)

And a Ferengi.

Maybe that's closer.




But not close enough.


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## Sialia (Oct 25, 2004)

And now it looks like a very angry kobold.


Or possibly a pooch that's set itself on fire. A mean looking pooch, but a pooch nonetheless.

So much for tonight. i'll try again. But not tonight.


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## Ferret (Oct 25, 2004)

Lets see 'em! Please I like the idea of those!


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## BOZ (Oct 25, 2004)

LOL  me too


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## Sialia (Oct 26, 2004)

Duke, duke, duke, duke of hell, hell hell, duke of hell . . .


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## BOZ (Oct 26, 2004)

now those aren't too bad.


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## Sammael (Oct 26, 2004)

Hey, sorry for not replying earlier, I've been having problems with ENWorld lately.

Both are good, although the second one says "fiend" a bit more... If we drop the oversized fangs, I think we're there somewhere. 

As for describing Sammael... angel of death, brought down by ambition, sees eternal punishment as a reward; ruthless, with a dual nature (still seen as angel by some, devil by others), the most handsome of all devils (hey, I didn't make that one up), as likely to help mortals (sin by association with a devil) as to destroy them. Sometimes mixed up with Satan/Lucifer.


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## Dracomeander (Oct 27, 2004)

Sorry to take so long in replying. Too busy to get online.

The red adds just the right touch. That's what I call an avatar with attitude. Absolutely perfect.    Thank you!!!!!!


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## Knightfall (Oct 27, 2004)

Dracomeander said:
			
		

> Sorry to take so long in replying. Too busy to get online.
> 
> The red adds just the right touch. That's what I call an avatar with attitude. Absolutely perfect.    Thank you!!!!!!




It looks good on you, Dracomeander.


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## Sialia (Oct 28, 2004)

Sammael said:
			
		

> Hey, sorry for not replying earlier, I've been having problems with ENWorld lately.
> 
> Both are good, although the second one says "fiend" a bit more... If we drop the oversized fangs, I think we're there somewhere.
> 
> As for describing Sammael... angel of death, brought down by ambition, sees eternal punishment as a reward; ruthless, with a dual nature (still seen as angel by some, devil by others), the most handsome of all devils (hey, I didn't make that one up), as likely to help mortals (sin by association with a devil) as to destroy them. Sometimes mixed up with Satan/Lucifer.



Yeah, yeah yeah. He's all that.  But tell me something about _you_ and I'll consider doing the next revision. Might even post the third mockup I already did.


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## Sialia (Feb 19, 2005)

I have a new trick I can do. Check out this awesomeness. Not actual size. Actual size is wee and cute.

Were I ever to get to a con, I could wear this pretty shiny on my lapel, and folks might recognize me. Or I could clip it to my dice bag. 

Or make 'em real small and use them to play Pente or  . . uh . . other games that use glass pawns.

I'd have to charge folks something to turn their avatars into wearable IRL pins/pendants/tie tacks/what-have-you.  But I could do it.

Would anyone be interested?

I figure I'd have to charge about $10 for the pin, and $3 for the shipping&packaging.

And I'm only willing to do art that the artist has granted permission to use. My stuff, no problem. Your own art or logo, no sweat. But if it's soembody else's intellectual property, I won't touch it without their written permission.


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## Sialia (Feb 19, 2005)

Here's some more views of 'em.

Not all the avatars work well for this--I've tried a few that were just too hard to read through the glass. 

High contrast and color help a lot.


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## Piratecat (Feb 19, 2005)

Okay, that's incredibly cool.  How do you do that?


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## Sialia (Feb 19, 2005)

Ancient Chicano Secret. 


Here's some more.


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## KidCthulhu (Feb 20, 2005)

Sialia said:
			
		

> Ancient Chicano Secret.




Uh, Si?  You're not Chicano.  Nor, to continue breaking the metaphor, do you run a laundry.

These are very cool, however!  You could use them as character markers on a battle maps, instead of figurines.  Especially if you had a particular group of bad guys you always fight.  Imagine a Star Wars game where you have a bag of 20 glassy markers with stormtrooper pictures inside.  Very cool.


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## BOZ (Feb 20, 2005)

hey, neat stuff!


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## BSF (Feb 20, 2005)

Hey, those are nifty keen.  I might be interested in something like that.  I will have to contemplate.


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## Sialia (Feb 20, 2005)

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Uh, Si? You're not Chicano. Nor, to continue breaking the metaphor, do you run a laundry.
> 
> These are very cool, however! You could use them as character markers on a battle maps, instead of figurines. Especially if you had a particular group of bad guys you always fight. Imagine a Star Wars game where you have a bag of 20 glassy markers with stormtrooper pictures inside. Very cool.




True and perspicacious on all accounts. 

"Young Chicana Not-Really-Much-of-a-Secret-Since-She-Posted-it-on-her-Website", then.

http://www.craftychica.com/

Here's another idea she gave me.

It's a good alternative for designs too delicate to survive the "under-glass" thing. (Low contrast, high-detail.)


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## Sialia (Feb 20, 2005)

So, for those of you messageboard addicts who are now thinking "this is cool!" or  "This looks like fun!"  Or, "Why should I pay Sialia $10 to do this for me when I can do it myself," I should probably admit that is craftster.org is a messageboard almost as addictive as ENWorld, and that there is a thread there on this sort of thing that knocked my socks off:http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=46.0 

But if you want to use my art to do some of these, you should probably ask me about it.


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## mythago (Aug 3, 2005)

Hey, if you can make me one 'a those where the cursor blinks, I'll give you TWENTY dollars.


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## Sialia (Sep 15, 2005)

It lives!

Post your requests for avatars here.


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## Rodrigo Istalindir (Sep 15, 2005)

Oooh...I've wanted a new avatar for ages.  Something that reflects my dashing, swashbuckling, impish bard nature.  (As opposed to something that reflects my true nature, which would probably be a pic of a hemorrhoid or something   )


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## BOZ (Sep 15, 2005)

welcome back!  and you have achieved 1000 posts.


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## Sialia (Sep 19, 2005)

Rodrigo Istalindir said:
			
		

> Oooh...I've wanted a new avatar for ages.  Something that reflects my dashing, swashbuckling, impish bard nature.  (As opposed to something that reflects my true nature, which would probably be a pic of a hemorrhoid or something   )




Not a problem, but if you don't mind, I'd like to wait until after the Fall CeramicGM closes, so there's no conflict of interest.

I'm superstitious about these things.


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## BSF (Sep 20, 2005)

C'mon Rodrigo, you can do better than that with a description can't you?


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## Baron Opal (Sep 20, 2005)

Delightful, I'm glad to see you are still interested in doing this.

I'm torn. I love the mind flayers and having a custom 'flayer avatar would be awesome. However, I would also like one tied to my handle. A round signet ring, gold, with a large black opal as the stone. Preferably with deep glimmers of green, blue, and some red.

What do you think, Sialia?


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## Sialia (Sep 25, 2005)

I think I want to illustrate your guppy, but I'll see what I can do.


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## Sialia (Sep 25, 2005)

Sadly at 64x64, we lose a lot of glimmer. Here's a draft, both big and avatar sized. Is this what you had in mind?


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## Sialia (Sep 25, 2005)

hmm. maybe this is manlier.


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## Sialia (Sep 25, 2005)

Also, I started this sketch of a flayer a long while back and never finished it. Is it soemthign that interests you? If you're not in love iwth the ring, I could noodle around with this a while.


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## Sialia (Sep 27, 2005)

getting closer, I am , I think.

You can't really read the embossed illithids on the sides yet, but you get the idea.

I'll see if I can clarify.

Alternatively, a motto would be pretty easy to add. You'd have to supply the text.


A signet ring should have _some _ engraved part suitable for pressing in wax.


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## Baron Opal (Oct 3, 2005)

Thank you for your efforts, I really appreciate it. The ring isn't doing anything for me. I really like the metallic illithid, however, and if you wanted to develop that into an avatar, that would be cool. I also like the pose of your unfinished work. That could be a good avenue to explore as well.



			
				Sialia said:
			
		

> I think I want to illustrate your guppy, but I'll see what I can do.




If you still have that itch, my son would love it!


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