Ok... that Sonic versus Shadow pic is the most awesome thing I've seen in a while, which is weird, as I'm not a fan of the Sonic Battle styled "straight curves" art, but in that picture with the window effect and everything else it works. Also I applaud you for an amazing job colouring that beastie aswell.

You are teh talent SUPREME.

*dies from awesomeness*

Holy s*%$, those are really great drawings. I can't believe that you f*>@ing drew them. I think I'm going to pass out. Keep it going.

Gravy, you finished that Sonic/Shadow picture. The rain's actually kinda spiffy, what with all the atmosphere and whatnot. Huzzah!

Holy Sonic, Batman, this art gahzaws!

Dreamer: Aaw, thank yous! Its all about sitting down and playing with it. I actually took a class in high school that taught Photoshop. Not coloring your drawings kinda stuff, though. More like rendering photo-real images direct in the software. Taught me A LOT about lighting and texture, though. After that, it was all just playing around and practicing. Going on to my fourth year with Photoshop now, almost. And I was strictly a black-n-white guy before I fell in love with that sucker. =)

Becca: Thank yas! ^^

Cimson: Ahaha! Thank you very much for the very awesome comments and critique. Always love that kinda feedback. Thanks! =D

Tornadot: Haha! Maybe someday man. ^^ It sure would be awesome to work on the book that was (technically) my first comic book. But Im in no rush there are alotta stories out there that need drawing, after all. =D And the Sonic book is gonna be around for a lo-o-ong time, anyway. ^^

Craig: Haha! Thanks man!

Sonic133: Thankyas!

BuzzBomber: Thanks!

SuperBowser: Haha! Thanks! ^^

Well anyway, Ive been mad busy with work. No new Sonic fan-arts. ^^;; But a little while ago I dug up Archies online coloring book basically a bunch of crappy-quality scans of line-arts for old covers, pages, and fronts. Kinda a back to basics coloring exercise. I only colored two of them that day. First drawn by Spaz, second by Art Mawhinney. There are a couple more pics they had on there I might try coloring sometime, when I get the chance. Anyway

I got alotta respect for Jensen Delgado of F fame hes not, but coloring comics is hard and being able to make the book look as good as it does when its still on such crappy print stock says something. But unless hes stepping up his game, Im really hoping they shift Ray to interiors when the series goes to coated. Or Greenlee Id heard shed done some coloring for Penders, so maybe shell be doing some int. color work.

Because honestly every Archie reader has their complaint as far as the book goes. But my only gripe is that the colors lack BANG. Faded, the infamous white plastic highlight of doom, gradient fill backgrounds And Sonic and his crew are supposed to be a colorful cast. Archs been making the moves to really get their act together on Sonic and on their other properties. So Im really hoping the colors will be getting the same treatment. ^^

Aye, I regret not having seen this thread earlier. You're pretty amazing at this, that's for sure. That style of yours looks excellent when applied to Sonic, but I have a question. The Other M sketchbook, are those really just sketches, or did you touch them up? (besides coloration, of course)

Dopefish: A-yu-up. Those're all sketches. Bear in mind, I'm rather anal as far as sketching goes, though. Plus, I know a bit of Photoshoppery, too. Which also helps to clean up for a nicer presentation. =) Although, I usually sketch in a blue ballpoint pen, btw. Not pencil so often. ^^;

Anyhow. I went to JaCon in Orlando, Florida, last weekend. Right before heading out, I did a quick romp through my usual haunts. Saw an art-jam at Penders', sketched this up in the last twenty minutes before I had to leave. Never got around to posting it in the jam though - didn't get to ink it until midway through the con, and didn't color it until yesterday. (Plus, the colors were kinda' bad - hadn't CGed in over a week and all.) But here it is now. ^^ Lemme' know what ya' thinks.

Once more with feeling. Holy Sonic, Batman, teh art rulez

Hey, so YOU'RE the one who did those first few pages of that one Other-M issue! I was reading through those the other day, trying to get a feel for Other-M once again, and I noticed it. I really like the style you use, though at the present my brain is being uncooperative in describing exactly why. I guess the main thing is that you use a ton of detail in each page, with each character. I really like how you spend a lot of time on people's costumes/clothes, which really can make the difference between bleh and amazing. I tend to get hung up on what a character wears as much as what they look like, since I roleplay and you have to have a certain pizzazz to put some spark into your character.

And I love your Bunnie Rabbot! I'm a fan of Bunnie-girl, though it's more a quiet fanship from me, and I really like how you gave her outfit more sparkle. The Other-M Bunnie was great too in your sketches of the Other-M characters above, could see the gentle personality - yet she was clinging on to Bean, since she just barely got 'im back. I like.

I wish more people would post up regular old-fashioned fan art on this board. We've got a ton of talent here at the board, some focus could be nice.

Jeez, you're absolutely incredible, this just tells me more that I need to work harder :P.

Whoa!
Your drawings rock dude!
I am speechless!

WOA!!!
you're art is AWESOME!!!
I wish I could draw like that!
really beautiful ^_^

Remember when you first appeared and everyone said your art was awesome...

You've improved, and it's gone beyond words,absolutely superb... Great stuff

Super Bowser: Hehe. Thanks. ^^;

Tergonaut: Haha! Thank you very much! Working on that Other M issue was a great experience for me, so I'm always glad to hear that peeps dig the style of those pages. I really wish I had more free time to dedicate to it, 'cause Ian's alternate-world story really grabbed me. But these days it's all about the paying (and potentially paying) work. (Ian and I are together again, though, on an upcoming indie comic book, called The Living Minority. Which'll be making its debut sometime this year. =D)

Robotnik: Thankies. ^^

Erika: Thanks.

Mongooza: Thank ya' much.

Swifthom: Haha. Thanks. I actually wish I'd acquired a better grasp on Sonic and his crew by now, though. But eh... Regretablly, Sonic fan art is something I only get the time for every once in awhile.

Anyhoo. A (very quick) pin-up of Shadow the Hedgehog done over the weekend, along with a few other (non SOnic) fan arts, for conventions I'll be hitting over the summer.

he certainly needs no gun, he could just terrify his foes to death!

nice work there as usual, although his chest fluff looks a bit like a beard if you didn't know the character.

Woah!!!!THOSE ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!How do you draw them?

You've got a very interesting drawing style. It reminds me of the graffity I come accross when I travel to uni by train. I like what you do and can't really say anything bad about it.

Yep, very nice. ^^

I hate you.

You made my mind connect the words "Shadow" and "Cool" in a positive way.

Seriously, amazing picture. Has to be for me to think Shadow looks amazing ^_^

Man- you're a great artist.
I especially like the lighting and angle in the Shadow pic. I'll be sure to check out your galleries.

How do you catch the essance of shadow in that pic? I can just feel the fear. Shaow looks cool but with a gun and those rocket boots? Perfection reached.

Whoo! NEVER thought I'd see this topic again - thought for sure it had gone by way of the trash, post-hack and all that. ^^;; Well, since it's back, I'll just come back to posting new stuffs in here.

Becca: Lol! He is SANTA-Shadow! XD

Chaos xShadow: With ballpoint pens and Sharpies. Usually on paper.

Diana: Thanks! Graffiti is much one of my favorite things - all the bold and cut lines. ^^ I've been trying to tone it down a bit, recently, because of projects. But I love doing Sonic characters in a graff-kinda' way. ^^

Craig: Lol! Oh, I'm not much the Shadow fan, either - 'least ways Shadow outside of Adventure 2. BUT, he is a fun challenge to draw. Them quills of his are a PAIN. XD

AbiJayEchidna: Thanks!

Burmecian Soldier Dan: Thanks! Well, I dunno - I always hope to hit the right points of a character when I draw them. Especially when I draw ONLY them, 'cause then there isn't acton or nothin' goin' on in the scene to distract you. All you've got is the character, and if I screwed him up then it's VERY noticeable. So if I got Shadow's smug badassity (XD Didn't know how else to say it ^^;; ) down, then I'm glad. ^_^

Anyhoo... Since I never got to post up the larger versions of these on account of being on a crappy connection for all of June, here's some older stuff.

That old Other M sketch bo Bean and Bunnie, inked and colored last June.

Broken Bunnie - she's lost an arm.

Pinup of a running Sonic. ^^

That Sonic vs Knux pic, just to put everything together. ^^

AND the newest thing, a pic of Sonic and the Sega characters. Sans a few, of course, but they wouldn't've fit. XD

Haha! Psuedo-double posting, it would seem - I suppose waiting another month before making an additional post to this topic after my own wouldn't get me into TOO much trouble, though.

Photoshop warm up from this morning - I'm sure most will recognize who these characters are, and definitely who drew them. ^^ It's the front from StH 126.

Pencils and Inks: Jay Axer

I've been trying to work up the courage to try and color Axer's stuff for a long time - this took alot of work (and this is one of his EASY ones XD). But I probably brought it on myself, color-holding nearly the whole picture.

(Color-holding is when you change the line-art color, by the way. Ie, I color-held the lines for every character to correspond to their hair and skin colors, etc. Color held the background, the out-space, everything. Normally not too much of a chore, but considering the line-intense nature of Axer's style, it took a REALLY long time. XD)

Oh man, I wish I could color like that. Great job Reilly. Curious though- I thought Axer's first name was Jeff?

i'm pretty sure his first name is jeff, the 'jay' is most likely from his username of 'j.axer'. 'j' = 'jay', seems logical at all?

and that's a really good job there reilly. i like the textures you get on the backgrounds, how do you manage that?

you've got my vote to colour more, have you told axer that you're using his artwork? ^^ some people get antsy, or are just pleased to know.

as for your earlier pictures, i love the pose (compersition? my tutors fill us full of arty jargon at uni and i keep forgetting it. xx ) of sonic and knuckles in that fighting picture.

santa shadow still rocks.

Oh! I knew I rembered this art besides of the fact you did a page of OM. That group pic, I remmbered specifically on deviantART - hell, I remember favboriting it. It's a great style and your skill increases every momment. Keep it up!

Are you going to do one of Nack?

Miss Puar: Lol! Oh man. XD Yes, yes. J. Axer's name is Jeff. I guess I was just sleepy that morning, and with his Deviant Art handle being JAYaxer.deviantart.com... E-e-e-eh... XD Thanks! Glad ya' dig the colorin'.

Becca: A-yup-yup. Usually it's no big deal to use pro-art for color practice, but on the occassion I KNOW how to access the original artist to let them know, I always make sure to do it. ^^ I told 'im. As far as the BG texture goes, it's a trick I learned from a comic book colorist duo called TwinCruiser. (Now, sadly, a single person. Michel Koiter, part of the twin-team, passed away last year of heart failure.) It's called "Overlay Texturing," and on the whole it's a pretty easy Photoshop trick. To get it to look good, it just takes lots and lots of use. What you do is:

1. Define a pattern (Edit>Define Pattern) of a texture you've created or found on the Internet or whatever.

2. Make a selection of the area you want to apply the texture to in your pic. Create a new layer above all your other work. (IE, above your flats, shades, highlights, etc, but UNDER your line-art layer.)

3. Grab your Paintbucket tool and set it to Pattern. Select the texture pattern you defined earlier, and fill the selection you made on this new layer called Texture.

4. Switch the mode of this layer to Overlay. You can Desature, adjust the layer's opacity, adjust the Brightness/Contrast or Levels as needed to give your texture the right kinda' look.

5. And voila, texture-fied! =D It takes alot of practice to get used to, but it's REALLY fun to do and can really add an entirely new dimension to your artwork when used correctly. The Rays use it ALOT on their recent interior work for Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog.

Mike: Thanks! Really glad ya' dig the stuff, and thanks for the fave on Deviant. ^^

Ultra Devil Chao: Haha! Ya' know, I suppose I will someday. XD I did some sketches of Other M Nack sometime back, if that counts. ^^;;

Anyhow, just a quick step-by-step. Pencils (the cleaned pencils), the inks and the colors of a character study of Ian Flynn's Other M Sonic.

funky, i'll have to give it a go sometime. thanks for the tutorial! (dispite using photoshop for years now, i've never really experimented with it all that much. too worried that i'll ruin a picture that i've already spent too much time on. ox bleh.)

sonic looks good and slightly edgy in your other M rendition of him there. i like your way of making some of the lineart blend in with the body, (it's softer for his fur, good thinking there.) while in other places it's still black. it just seems a little uneven as you kept it black on his spines.

That running pic is great. Dunno if it's been said before, but I bet it would make a GREAT T-shirt design.

Eeep. Haven't posted anything new in awhile, huh? ^^;; Here's a quickie from a couple days ago - a speed exercise to prep for a possible Iron Artist meet at my next convention. Decided to Photoshop it, since it'd been a couple months since I last colored anything. Just a routine study. Hope ya' guys dig! =D

*tapes your feet to the floor so you can't vanish from the forum again!*

meh, even your quickies look good! good luck at the convention.

Becca: Hee. =3 Thanks! No worries - lately I've been doing alot more Sonic-related art to sorta' "train," so I'm sure
I'll be stoppin' around here more often as a result. ^^

Yo yo! Here are some quick character studies from last week. I've been trying to hit faster times on Sonic characters lately -
typically each of these took about five to ten minutes of thinking and scribbling, followed by anywhere from ten to fifteen
minutes of cleaning up the sketches with a lightbox. Total drawing time balancing out at some fifteen to thirty minutes per
character, depending on the amount of detail work - ie, Sonic and Knuckles, quick, while Eggman and Shadow took longer. More
detail=More work, after all.

Fantastic. =)
It's just great to take a closer look at your pictures, the ones without the outlines being my favourites.. they are 3d-ish, it's interesting to see how the character looks with only the colors and no outlines at all. =)
You're totally great! Can't wait to see more stuff from you! (and since I'm at it, I'll add you to my devwatch ^.^)

Showoff.

NAW! Just kidding. You are great. EXCELLENT! I especially love that "GET IN MY BELLY" picture of Robotnik. And just when I thought I was getting good at drawing, you swoop in! Well at least it's inspirational to me. You're now under my official list of influences.

sorry if i've asked this before, but do you use a tablet? i've never been able to get my colours under the lineart that even with a mouse.
then again..i'm left handed and use the mouse right handed. >>;

great artwork as always, wish more people showed art without the lineart.. it gives a different feel to the picture.

Erika: Aah, thank you very much! ^^

SuperShadow: Haha! Thanks man!

Becca: Yup! I've used a tablet for... three years now, I think. ^^;; I know some people that are awesome with a mouse, but a tablet is significantly easier to get used to working with. Ya' should consider it, especially given your circumstance. It is much easier if ya' can use your best hand. ^^

We-e-e-ll. So I was practicing comic book stuff the other day, and decided to redraw - for practice and layout portfolio - four pages from the first part of "Songoose" that ran in Sonic the Hedgehog #153. Written by Karl Bollers and originally drawn by Ron Lim, this is my own take on it. ^^

Redrawing according to another artist's visual material isn't at all the same as drawing from a script, but it was only for practice. ^^

Hope ya' guys dig!

the only person i know with a tablet foams at the mouth if i so much as glance at it, and i can't afford one.. so we'll see. 😛 i'd love to give one a go, especially as i've seen the results you can get.

as for the comic, i , uh, dig? *gets out a spade* oo

no, i like it. always interesting to see art in a different artist's style.

Wow, this topic's been going on for over a year now, I wonder how I could have possibly missed it for this long. o.o;

As many others have said, this is some amazing stuff here. I love the 3D perspective of the drawings. Like how certain parts just jump out at you (Mecha Sonic's foot in the Bunnie vs. Mecha drawing, Knuckles' fist in the Knux vs. Sonic drawing). I also like how loose your style is. How motivational. ;p

Becca: For a long time I used an Aiptek 9x12 tablet. It's cheap for that size - only $150. However, people have told me that tablet is quite crap. XD (Having a Wacom now, I can see what they meant. But my Aiptek did serve me faithfully for three years before it died, and I could accomplish everything I ever wanted to do with it.)

Rabid Rodent: Haha! Yeah, it has been a year and more now, I think. Time sure flies. ^^; When I started this topic way back when, I was only a very casual Sonic fan-artist. Nowadays, he pops up at least once on every page in my sketchbook. XD I guess things change after awhile, huh? ^^ Thanks dude!

SuperShadow: Heh, thanks! =D Hey, fingers crossed, 'cause I am making a play for that comic book now. I really really really really want to be part of the team that takes that book to new heights of comic coolness. >=D

Anyhow, Photoshop colors on the last Songoose page! =D

I am NEVER drawing again, EVER. I'm never reading an art topic again either, I'm so awful at drawing I feel awful looking at these things. These belong in a museum, and you should know it. I can't even draw Sonic, Tails or Amy. The best I can do is 2D chao with custom faces because I can't draw the real ones. People like me should never put pencil to paper. I hate myself.

Superb, as expected; as delivered.

Hmm. Your art strangely resembles Al Bigleys, but SOO MUCH BETTER THAN HIS! Your art is AMAZINGLY AWESOME! By the way, what you did with Photoshop is incredible! You'll have to teach me how you did that! Unfortunately, I only have Paint Shop Pro, and I'm still learning with that.

I'd love to see you at Archie! Don't give up, keep sending in applications!

how is using paintshop pro unfortunate? i used it for years with no problems.. you can still get great results form it. ^^

that mina picture is brilliant. the little details like the light relecting and everything is great, expecially on mina's hair.

How're things going with Archie, Matt? I love the work! Good luck!

AWSOME!!!!!

Some nice drawings. You have a developed style that is really quite pleasing to the eye and I want to make love to it. Sort of suprised I haven't seen this topic a couple years ago, really.

Oh and ROFL @ Herostar. I don't know if he was serious or not, but I found that hilarious.

HeroStar: All it takes is a lot practicin and a lot of hours doin it, sir. ^^

Chryssalid: Haha! Thank ya, Capn. =)

EE: Thanks dude! Alas, havent heard nothin yet I knew when I sent in the portfolio a couple months ago that they were
in the midst of a creative shuffle not only putting Ian as the main man at the helm, but also condensing the art teams with
Tracy Yardley as the new leading man. The timing wasnt the best, and it could be another whole few months before I get a
Yes or No. Just gotta keep tryin though. ^^ I know them two are gonna rock the book, and hopefully Ill be rockin it
with em by the years end. >=D

Becca: Thanks! ^^

bw: Thanks dude.

Wesu: Thanks man! Glad ya dig the style. =D Yeah, this topics been goin for a couple o years now, I guess. XD Man, time
flies, huh? ^^;;

Anyhow, another quick colorin study of the Other M incarnation of Sonic the Hedgehog. Its a bit long, so chances are
good itll distort some windows. XD My bad. ^^;; Did something similar to this four months ago - just keepin' it recent, ya'
know?

EDIT:: Whoop! Almost forgot entirely. The Other M logo was done by Aha McCoy, by the way. ^^

were you trying a different way of colouring his eyes here? because i've noticed you normally leave eyes as plain ovals of colour with no pupils.
for some reason, it makes his eye look bigger then usual. *pokes it* oo

good picture as always, dispite it's evil table-streaching powers. 😛

Method pictures = <3!!!!

I love method pictures, and I do love your art Matt, I would post more, on here, and on your DA account, but...well,... I'm lazy.

Still, I like this, though, to be honest, I don't like it as much as some of your earlier pics... Just personal opinion, but for me at least, your mobians have got to styleised. Your humans work well with it, as per you recently dAed comic stuff, but IMHO your older Sonic style was better, but that's just me. Either way, the drawing is stll awesome! Espesically how I get this "Er...WTF?" Vibe from the study, as if he's encountered something familier to him, yet different, yet he is dissmissing his confusing in a quick, sonic like fashion, for now...totally other M.

Also, on a tangent, ta for the tut you put on dA, I used an analouge of it recently =3

Keep up the good work either way, and good luck in your endeverours.

(PS, Do you have any info on updates for Other M? I'd ask Ian Potto but...well, your easier to ask for some unkown reason =S I've heard the next bunch should be summer special but is it happening at all?)

Edit: (Bleh! @Drunken spelling!)