deserves an answer...


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deserves an answer...

Posted By: Anaphiel Date: 10/12/04 7:43 p.m.
In Response To: Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL (ukimalefu)

: First let me say that this is amazing, but Anaphiel, Why did you give him a
: face??? And why is he wearing spandex??? Still love it, but I'd like one
: with the helmet ON (you only have a small one in your site)
: Let me say this again, the poster IS great, but the Marathon marine never had
: a face. Sorry to nitpick, I shouldn't, but it bothers me.
You're not the first person who's been bugged by this. And ironically, I'm one of the all-time champions for having a FPS character be a nameless, faceless figure that you can imagine to be anyone you want, imagine to be yourself. There was a pretty good discussion about this topic a couple of years back on this very forum IIRC.
But since I started painting these Marathon pieces, I knew eventually I'd end up doing a piece with the Marine's face showing. After all, it's hard to avoid unless you want to do nothing but shots from behind, or with a full-face helmet (and since I took a lot of my design inspiration from the sprites and the M1 manual, a full-face helmet was out), or conveniently looking away, or in starkly-lit silhouette... all of which I did in earlier pieces.
I also figured that just by putting pixels to digital paper I had already dispelled the illusion to some extent: I had decided to portray a character that was intentionally left without a visual identity by Bungie. I was essentially saying "to hell with what you all imagine you look like as the Marine, this is what I say he looks like." Hell, just assuming that the Marine is a "he" is breaking the illusion isn't it? Mullins worked around that problem in his renderings by making the Marine look completely different in every painting; I made the decision early on to have a more consistent look, make him a recognizable character that would evolve over the course of a series of paintings. And once I started depicting the Marine as a character, a "real" person, I wanted to inject some personality and emotion into him, and it's hard to do that with a fully-armored figure.
So here we are, coming up on the 10th anniversary of the game, and I figured what the heck, the next painting will be the one. I felt that having the face show added to the emotion of the piece, which otherwise can get really static really fast given the pose. Helmet on, he's just chillin'. Helmet off, he looks tired, a little beaten up, like he's gathering himself (that's what I was shooting for anyway). I hedged by making a version with the helmet, but frankly I just don't like it as much.
I'm sure I'm ruining a lot of player's images of the Marine by portraying him as a Tom Cruise lookin' white guy, but hey, what can you do. This version isn't exactly how I picture him either; eventually I'll get one that looks the way he looks in my head when I play the games.
As for the spandex, I tried to keep the uniform close to how it looks in the sprites...In some of my paintings the pants have been more like regular army BDU/cargos, in this one they're more like the high-waisted disco pants in the sprites. Not sure why I changed, but that's what I was shooting for anyway.
hope that helps explain somewhat what I was thinking...
JF

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: You're not the first person who's been bugged by this. And ironically, I'm : one of the all-time champions for having a FPS character be a nameless, : faceless figure that you can imagine to be anyone you want, imagine to be : yourself. There was a pretty good discussion about this topic a couple of : years back on this very forum IIRC. : But since I started painting these Marathon pieces, I knew eventually I'd end : up doing a piece with the Marine's face showing. After all, it's hard to : avoid unless you want to do nothing but shots from behind, or with a : full-face helmet (and since I took a lot of my design inspiration from the : sprites and the M1 manual, a full-face helmet was out), or conveniently : looking away, or in starkly-lit silhouette... all of which I did in : earlier pieces. : I also figured that just by putting pixels to digital paper I had already : dispelled the illusion to some extent: I had decided to portray a : character that was intentionally left without a visual identity by Bungie. : I was essentially saying "to hell with what you all imagine you look : like as the Marine, this is what I say he looks like." Hell, just : assuming that the Marine is a "he" is breaking the illusion : isn't it? Mullins worked around that problem in his renderings by making : the Marine look completely different in every painting; I made the : decision early on to have a more consistent look, make him a recognizable : character that would evolve over the course of a series of paintings. And : once I started depicting the Marine as a character, a "real" : person, I wanted to inject some personality and emotion into him, and it's : hard to do that with a fully-armored figure. : So here we are, coming up on the 10th anniversary of the game, and I figured : what the heck, the next painting will be the one. I felt that having the : face show added to the emotion of the piece, which otherwise can get : really static really fast given the pose. Helmet on, he's just chillin'. : Helmet off, he looks tired, a little beaten up, like he's gathering : himself (that's what I was shooting for anyway). I hedged by making a : version with the helmet, but frankly I just don't like it as much. : I'm sure I'm ruining a lot of player's images of the Marine by portraying him : as a Tom Cruise lookin' white guy, but hey, what can you do. This version : isn't exactly how I picture him either; eventually I'll get one that looks : the way he looks in my head when I play the games. : As for the spandex, I tried to keep the uniform close to how it looks in the : sprites...In some of my paintings the pants have been more like regular : army BDU/cargos, in this one they're more like the high-waisted disco : pants in the sprites. Not sure why I changed, but that's what I was : shooting for anyway. : hope that helps explain somewhat what I was thinking... : JF

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finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL *	Anaphiel	10/11/04 5:46 p.m.
A+ material. NM	HolyMcGibblets	10/11/04 8:07 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	D-M.A.	10/11/04 8:13 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Anaphiel	10/12/04 1:36 a.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Hamish Sinclair	10/12/04 11:01 a.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Anaphiel	10/12/04 11:15 a.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Zetor	10/12/04 2:40 p.m.
Adam Sandler and Ben Affleck?	Anaphiel	10/12/04 2:58 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	K-chi	10/14/04 12:49 p.m.
bows down	blake37	10/14/04 12:52 p.m.
awright everybody, get up!	Anaphiel	10/14/04 1:24 p.m.
Re: awright everybody, get up!	blake37	10/14/04 3:19 p.m.
Re: awright everybody, get up!	K-chi	10/14/04 6:33 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Reiginko	11/1/04 7:05 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Andrew Nagy	10/12/04 8:55 a.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Bob-B-Q	10/12/04 4:23 a.m.
Posters?	K-chi	10/12/04 2:21 p.m.
Re: Posters?	Yossarian	10/12/04 3:46 p.m.
Poster desire, thirded. NM	Mista_B	10/12/04 4:37 p.m.
Re: Poster desire, Pfhorted NM NM	Brian Wise (Mr. Cactus)	10/12/04 6:13 p.m.
Re: Poster desire, 5th, 6th & 7th'ed (3 posters) NM	Steve Levinson	10/12/04 6:44 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	ukimalefu	10/12/04 7:00 p.m.
deserves an answer...	Anaphiel	10/12/04 7:43 p.m.
Re: deserves an answer...	Vid Boi	10/13/04 2:42 a.m.
Re: deserves an answer...	Brian Wise (Mr. Cactus)	10/13/04 3:05 p.m.
Re: deserves an answer...	Siphonopho	10/13/04 7:34 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Andrew Nagy	10/12/04 7:59 p.m.
Re: finally done (more or less) * modem-busting DL	Anaphiel	10/12/04 8:55 p.m.
Am I imagining things?	K-chi	10/22/04 10:20 a.m.
Re: Am I imagining things?	deathmonger	10/22/04 11:55 a.m.
Re: Am I imagining things?	ukimalefu	10/22/04 1:28 p.m.
Re: Am I imagining things?	Forrest of B.org	10/22/04 4:37 p.m.
Re: Am I imagining things?	K-chi	10/22/04 3:08 p.m.
Re: Am I imagining things?	B\|aZ	11/13/04 1:18 a.m.



	Your Name:
	Your E-Mail Address:
	Subject:
	Message: : You're not the first person who's been bugged by this. And ironically, I'm : one of the all-time champions for having a FPS character be a nameless, : faceless figure that you can imagine to be anyone you want, imagine to be : yourself. There was a pretty good discussion about this topic a couple of : years back on this very forum IIRC. : But since I started painting these Marathon pieces, I knew eventually I'd end : up doing a piece with the Marine's face showing. After all, it's hard to : avoid unless you want to do nothing but shots from behind, or with a : full-face helmet (and since I took a lot of my design inspiration from the : sprites and the M1 manual, a full-face helmet was out), or conveniently : looking away, or in starkly-lit silhouette... all of which I did in : earlier pieces. : I also figured that just by putting pixels to digital paper I had already : dispelled the illusion to some extent: I had decided to portray a : character that was intentionally left without a visual identity by Bungie. : I was essentially saying "to hell with what you all imagine you look : like as the Marine, this is what I say he looks like." Hell, just : assuming that the Marine is a "he" is breaking the illusion : isn't it? Mullins worked around that problem in his renderings by making : the Marine look completely different in every painting; I made the : decision early on to have a more consistent look, make him a recognizable : character that would evolve over the course of a series of paintings. And : once I started depicting the Marine as a character, a "real" : person, I wanted to inject some personality and emotion into him, and it's : hard to do that with a fully-armored figure. : So here we are, coming up on the 10th anniversary of the game, and I figured : what the heck, the next painting will be the one. I felt that having the : face show added to the emotion of the piece, which otherwise can get : really static really fast given the pose. Helmet on, he's just chillin'. : Helmet off, he looks tired, a little beaten up, like he's gathering : himself (that's what I was shooting for anyway). I hedged by making a : version with the helmet, but frankly I just don't like it as much. : I'm sure I'm ruining a lot of player's images of the Marine by portraying him : as a Tom Cruise lookin' white guy, but hey, what can you do. This version : isn't exactly how I picture him either; eventually I'll get one that looks : the way he looks in my head when I play the games. : As for the spandex, I tried to keep the uniform close to how it looks in the : sprites...In some of my paintings the pants have been more like regular : army BDU/cargos, in this one they're more like the high-waisted disco : pants in the sprites. Not sure why I changed, but that's what I was : shooting for anyway. : hope that helps explain somewhat what I was thinking... : JF
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