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MaximasXXZ · February 2008

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Dyrwen66 · February 2008

The watercolor is really fantastic. Reminds me of acrylic almost.

MagicToaster · February 2008

Maximas, dude!!!! It's been a while, how are things in the middle east? I especially liked that winged skull.

CyberMonkeytron3000 · February 2008

When you and Mr Dave stop posting here this place became completely void of zombie art- I for one am glad your back!

Strayth · February 2008

The Detective is my favorite, and thanks for your service, OP. The watercolors also rock, but that detective is just so bad-ass. The gold is a nice touch.

Radar6590 · February 2008

The Ragnarök idea looks pretty cool. The only issue I could see with any of these is that that woman's lower half looks a little odd, even for exaggeration. Also, the fact that the area behind her hands is black makes it look kind of like her, eh, underwear extends below where is probably would.

Otherwise awesome stuff.

MaximasXXZ · February 2008

Aye, the Dirty Third image has been brought up to me before. I drew her with some Microns and unfortunately I was under a book deadline so I couldn't go back and fix her huge thighs.

My co. 1st Sgt put it best when he saw her, "Man, Uri's been reading too many booty-ho magazines."

As for my zombie contributions, I will never fail to deliver everyone's daily dose of vitamin Z.

supabeast · February 2008

Tweak the horizontals in the “India Company” lettering to match the curve of the circle. The fast way to do it is to just recreate them in Illustrator and warp the text using Path > Envelope Mesh > Warp.

The gigantic ass on the woman in the third platoon’s logo is great. 100% dead on for the corp.

Do more watercolors, you have a knack.

Mr Dave · February 2008

hay max!
that company logo is rad as a motherfuck
i'm also keen on the watercolour ones. those are hard to get a good colour pallete going without overloading the page with paint. thumbs up

Lly · February 2008

Sweet. The first one is awesome. I'd be happy to have that as a tattoo!

Stay safe over there man.

Ravenshadow · February 2008

Max leveled up!

Sweet.

MaximasXXZ · February 2008

Here are some pictures from Iraq. Not even close to all of them. I have some 12 GB of Iraq photos on my computer.

Boots---Kuwait

An Iraqi house.

"Irony"

CPL King with a Soldier on a rooftop at Abu Gharayb (The prison with the bad pictures).

Fallujah city, post Operation Phantom Fury.

A random shot I got somewhere out in Zaidon.

Fallujah city again.

This girl was so happy we gave her a toy.

CPL Drennen in a humvee turret.

Random painting I saw on a wall at a local school.

And me in a humvee. I'ma straightup g, bitches.

Yeah I'm nothing close to being a professional photographer. But I love taking pictures! I used an 8.1 MP Sony Cybershot. I bought it right before I left. It's still kickin' too, even after some 1800 pictures in Iraq. Most peoples' cameras break after a couple months.

Anyways, please comment on them. I could use some opinions on my photography. I've got a lot more. This is just what I felt like uploading to Photobucket right now.

UnknownSaint · February 2008

Some of those are pretty good, a unique setting definitely gives some great opportunities. A few have some issues with exposure, notably some blown out skies and highlights. Either drop the shutter speed or ISO a bit or tone down the high range of curves in Photoshop. Keep at it, looking forward to more.

Mayday · February 2008

I read "Uriarte" as "Urinate"

Veritas · February 2008

Definitely liking the photos, few technical issues like the exposure on the skies and stuff but for subject matter you have some pretty good captures. Composition wise I like the shots of CPL King and CPL Drennen the best so far.

Also, I fucking love the India Company logo.

MaximasXXZ · February 2008

Heh, so much love for the India Co. logo. I was hoping people would like it, it's really my first time designing a logo. I've taken one black and white design class in college, and that was years ago.

It's actually based on an older logo from Vietnam. Unfortunately I can't find it online. But it was essentially the same elements. A crudely drawn skull with an old long bayonette stuck down the center of it, with white angel wings coming out the top of it. They didn't fold back down though like mine do. India Co used to be a raider company I believe, which is why it had wings. For helo ops. Since we don't really do that anymore, I brought the wings down, to show that we're grounded now but still paying homage to our roots.

As for my name. I'm in the f---ing Marines, you really think I haven't heard that one before?

MaximasXXZ · February 2008

This is an image I did for a small local dog treat place as a favor. It's inked by hand with Photoshop lettering. I really want comments on my designs, I think the lettering could be made more interesting somehow; but I'm not sure how.

Wonder Bread · February 2008

The flecks of foam coming from his mouth make it look rabid. Other than that I can't see any huge problems. The "eyebrows" bug me a bit, but I'm not sure why.

biiirdmaaan! · February 2008

It has a lot of energy and I disagree with with Wonder Bread about it looking rabid. However, if the mouth was open or noticeably full, it would look like more like it's chowing down on some delicious doggy treat. It also looks more like a cat than a dog to me for some reason. (These are mostly nit picky. I think it's a strong piece)

About the lettering: in general, I think it's more important that lettering be readable than interesting, so I think it came out well.

MaximasXXZ · April 2008

Ugh, I don't know what I'm doing anymore with Watercolor...

devices · April 2008

MaximasXXZ wrote: »

Ugh, I don't know what I'm doing anymore with Watercolor...

that is a powerful image!

only thing that seems a bit off is the way the modern day soldier is holding his rifle. he seems to be holding it out from his body too much (as though reloading?) and it looks just a little awkward (please note that i have no idea the proper way to hold any sort of weapon).

that aside, i love how well you balance detail with shadowed/hidden areas... it makes the work look very stylish and really adds to the whole picture (and it's effect).

my favorite part is the older (vietnam?) soldier's expression. it looks very... real. its something i would definitely like to get a poster or print of.

Greatnation · April 2008

"Ugh, I don't know what I'm doing anymore with Watercolor..."

Kicking ass?

Seems like the perfect image for some text on the bottom

MaximasXXZ · April 2008

I really don't like the faces. I'm trying to get used to drawing/painting without outlines but I taught myself how to draw, so I have to unlearn nasty habits. I guess it bothers me more than anyone else.

Lly · April 2008

Holy hell. That is a fantastic piece, made all the more awesome because you are an actual soldier out there. It gives it a lot of meaning. Very nice. The faces could be a bit more abstract to go with the dreamlike feel of the rest of it, but fucking great anyway.

MaximasXXZ · April 2008

Watercolor over graphite. (I forgot the little band that goes above the shade on his cover, I know.)

I did that earlier, I'm officially a combat illustrator now in the Marine Corps. It's a pretty sweet gig, they didn't have an illustrator at the shop either, but had a studio set up for one in case they got one. Well, they got one, so now I have my own little room with all the tools in the world! For free!

Edit: I apologize for the shitty photo, I had to leave it at the shop and all I had on me was my phone.

Ice-Nine · April 2008

Great artwork man. I like the watercolors.

Lly · April 2008

That new job sounds great. Grats on that

Artist for the army, how glamorous!

NotASenator · April 2008

Semper Fi man.

Keep your head down.

MaximasXXZ · April 2008

So I got an idea for a new comic that I can do at work. It's a Marine Corps-themed comic based on the all-too-common "Terminal Lance Corporals" (TLC) of the Marine Corps. TLC refers to someone who is more or less "stuck" at the rank of E-3, Lance Corporal, because they simply just don't care enough to go for Corporal.

Anyways, I'm trying to come up with a logo for it and this is what I'm going for more or less:

I'm really looking for some input and suggestions as to how to make the design better. I'm not in love with teh color red or anything, I just thought it looked good.

Forbe! · April 2008

So what does a Combat Illustrator do exactly? Draw during fire fights?

Grats on the new job.

NotASenator · April 2008

MaximasXXZ wrote: »

So I got an idea for a new comic that I can do at work. It's a Marine Corps-themed comic based on the all-too-common "Terminal Lance Corporals" (TLC) of the Marine Corps. TLC refers to someone who is more or less "stuck" at the rank of E-3, Lance Corporal, because they simply just don't care enough to go for Corporal.

Anyways, I'm trying to come up with a logo for it and this is what I'm going for more or less:

I'm really looking for some input and suggestions as to how to make the design better. I'm not in love with teh color red or anything, I just thought it looked good.

I'd read it.

MaximasXXZ · April 2008

Forbe! wrote: »

So what does a Combat Illustrator do exactly? Draw during fire fights?

Grats on the new job.

Well despite the fact that it's got the word "combat" in it, Combat Illustrators actually don't have to deploy, though they can if they want. But the actual MOS of "Combat Illustrator" has been dropped from the Marine Corps and integrated with Graphics/Reproduction. Basically you work in a shop printing things and don't graphic design, usually; however since the guy in charge that saw my hand-done art was so impressed, he wants me to become just a regular illustrator. I dunno, it's pretty cool. It's definitely a good change of pace from the grunts.

Unfortunately there's some problems with my MOS change right now and I'm not sure if I'll be able to move, though I'm really hoping I do.

Scosglen · April 2008

I would never join any branch of the military, but I've always imagined that being a Combat Illustrator or similar would be a really awesome job.

MaximasXXZ · April 2008

It is pretty awesome. What sucks is trying to leave the grunts, cause it's really difficult for some dumbass reason.

So any suggestions on how to make my title better?

NakedZergling · April 2008

Hey Maximas.
Thank you for your service. Your work is amazing, keep it up. Take care of yourself and come home safe.

srsizzy · April 2008

There's not much to say on the logo. It's not bad, but it's not especially eye-catching. I don't know the term for that kind of font (fonts like Times New Roman, etc.), but I think a different type might be better. It depends on what's going on in the comic.

MaximasXXZ · May 2008

So I'm working on a new oil painting. Here's a digital composition/reference I put together using my section leader, myself and the machine guns section leader.

With that said, anyone have any good oil painting tutorials?

Mustang · May 2008

I like!

MaximasXXZ · May 2008

Okay, I genuinely need help with this. I'd really appreciate it if someone with some oil painting experience could un-fuck me a little. This project is important to me and some high ranking people, so I want it to look as good as possible. I'm not too worried about the likeness to the image, it's really just a reference for color and lighting.

I'd like to add that I've never in my life used Oils, this is a lot harder than it looks. :P

MaximasXXZ · May 2008

Updated. I still need help.

Chop Logic · May 2008

If you've never in your life used oils, its going to be really difficult to paint a picture like that.

Some things you should think about though: I'm not very good at painting, so I can't help you with that, but I can tell you one or two technical things about oils:

If you haven't done so yet, when you set up your palatte, put 2 drops of oil of cloves into all the colors, 4 drops into the browns (browns dry up very quickly). This will make the oils more buttery and it will prevent them from drying out so you can work on the painting longer.

When you blend (with the fan brush), what you want to do is this: take a very tiny brush and make a zig zag pattern back and forth between the two colors you want to blend, like this:

/
\
/
\
/
\

Then, take the fan brush and very lightly just run it from top to bottom, only once. Then wipe off the fan brush and repeat the whole thing if you need to blend the colors more. Also, when you blend, you are essentially taking paint off of the canvas, so make sure you put enough paint on in the first place.

I don't know how much you know about painting so I don't know how much to tell you, but my real advice would be that if you want to learn how to use oils, you should do this: Set up a still life with some fruit (my first one was an apple, an orange and a yellow pear. These are good because when you paint, they are three very different colors) and a white vase or some sort. Do a charcoal rendering of this, this will help you get down the values and everything before you paint it. Then, paint the same scene. Thats how I got started with oils anyway. It takes a long time and is really frustrating in the begining, but its really the only way to learn.

If you want to know anything else just ask, but painting portraits is something people spend their entire lives learning how to do, so it might be a bit unrealistic for you to expect yourself to be able to paint three people as your first painting. Good luck though.

Penny Arcade

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