The Vigne Gallery (& Photoshop)

There were talks about what Eru’s next move would be. Then, came the ads around the city, and the teases on social media which brought the excitement of his enthusiasts to a fever pitch. Finally, the morning of Banala’s latest gallery opening had arrived and the fans were wrapped around the block to see what astonishing works had made their way from his unique mind to the canvases. This latest project was more for the times and the people than for himself (right?), so Eru kept the speech short before cutting the ribbon, “Good morning and thank you so much for your patience. I’m just as excited to unveil the works mused after today's most infamous vigilantes and renegades as you all must be to see them. And, a word of warning goes to say that some of the pieces in my gallery have been modeled after the more controversial to outright detested personalities of our super-powered world, but the overall display would be incomplete without them. Some ol’bullsh*t as my old man would say. Because our bad defined the good. And together, they have defined a new culture for we the people. And here, they will be immortalized like the Greek-- or the Roman-- whatever, for further generations to observe. So without further ado, I present to you my living gallery, were more pieces are sure to come;La Vigne Gallery!"

Want something Photoshopped?

Hey, it’s your boy C here, and maybe you’d hate to call me that. I understand, and what I also understand is that some people need a little help getting that perfect avatar pic or character look, and that’s where I’m offering my photoshop assistance.

Just give me a few notes or pics to work with and I’ll see what I can do. I’ve seen a few threads like this before so I’m sure most of you get the ideal already.

I’ll be using all of the photoshop pics I finish to complete my in-character gallery, so please feel free to ask for some editing!

Rules are for b*tches

• Please be patient
• Feel free to have your characters blow money in the gallery. Or blow a load in the gallery over the art. But DO NOT blow up the gallery! Please :)

This is really cool. An IC location, with an OOC purpose? Awesome!

@joey_destroyer_of_worlds: Thank you :)

I like this Classique!

@lightwavelegua: Dude, I'm putting in the work the reach that Mercenary status!

Because, inside jokes!

Thanks man

@classique:

@classique:

I know I know you somehow.

@surkit:

Nah, lots of folks think they know who's behind the keyboard, but Classique flies under the radar, makes a few moves, and disappears before you can really ever get to know who he is!

And I'm hella busy IRL, so my consistency rates around here are nothin'

Maybe you'd know me if you were on the Vine Villains team for the few weeks that I was on the roster, cleaning their toilets and stuff :P

I know you. You're famous. But, I'm not so sure you really know me

Reposting for character context

VQ Magazine Quarterly

A preview from our upcoming July issue interviewing the millennial's Picasso, Eru Banala

***

After a practically nonexistent check-in and waiting period at the airport we were off in his first and only private jet. The hull made this bird appear to be plucked right out of the seventies with minimal decor and only smooth french curved wings leading into a small and vanilla fuselage.

Inside the cabin though, every wall was latent in freaky ass Japanese projecting technology that made it seem as if we were soaring through the air aidlessly, except for our blue leather chairs and a glass top coffee table to hold the complimentary homebrew Banala brought on board.

Rather than breaking bread, we poured shots and the conversation had gotten on a roll.

So, let's get to know the man first. Your name isn’t actually Eru Banala, am I right?

[He laughs] No, where I come from not everyone's named like a Harry Potter spell, so when I wanted to, sort of, make myself more marketable I wanted to put myself in the deep end of weird.

And how did your family and friends feel about your turning so extravagant all of the sudden?

I think they gave me worse looks for sticking with art. ‘Why not go the full Minaj route if you're going to dress like her’, my mother would say

Great question, why not?

I can paint one hell of a view, but I’ve got nothing on her anaconda game I suppose

---Later---

Now let's talk about something more recent, like the series you’re going to be compiling in Gothic City

Yes, yes, yes [He takes a shot]. Because you see, here’s how I see it-- everything I’ve painted so far-- has been bullshit! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, because no matter how many prints I sell of the ‘Emma’ or how many times a piece from the ‘Quaalude’ series is downloaded for wallpapers or whatever, what do those have to say about us? That we like pretty faces? Everyone knows this already… That the modern age appreciates a drug induced culture? No. That says nothing new or honestly distinct about today’s society. But when I look down at cities from my jet, like right now [he points to Chicago at our feet as we fly over the city]. You know what I see? Such a distinct culture-- Such an interesting skyline, that when I say ‘Windy City’ you can instantly recall the Willis Tower or Trump’s f*cking skyscraper, you get where I am going with this, yes? Sure, Gothic City does not have all of these landmark fixtures like the Windy City, but it is home to some of the century's most infamous crusaders in our modern era of super vigilantism. And that’s what I want to capture for the rest of the world and times to see-- Crusader City!

All of those capes come with even more crime, which you seem almost unfazed about

It’s dangerous. It’s likely to fail. It might just go unappreciated. And I couldn’t be more excited!

***

Pick up the July issue in stores, download the issue or subscribe to our print to read the rest of our interview with Eru Banala

Nah just here too much lol I thought you were someone I wrote with around the time before we rebooted, but I think you were writing before I even got here. You name seems familiar af though.

I desperately want that gold box out. The word bubble is perfect.

Hellllpppppp please =).

@lunahawk:

“I remember the first time I saw her saw her soar by my jet incoming to Gothic. It was the radiant grace her entire being captured that held my interest. But then, after viewing footage of her heroic acts and see-first hand this angelic warrior at work-- I knew I must make her my muse… Which sounds less creepy written down than said outloud, so without further ado I present my latest piece, The Hawk!”

(we good?)

@classique:

(Awesome, thanks =) )

@classique:

@hound_of_war:

“For my next piece I wanted to capture the likeness of heroism gone dark. There’s that period near the impending end of every life where nature reveals those who fight and those who fly. And needless to say most of the personalities behind today’s masks and cowls are a majority of the ‘fight’ persuasion, but the man I’ve mused my latest piece after didn’t just adapt to the fight to stay alive. From the reports I’ve read on him, he was raised into combat, taught to perfect the art and now continues to innovate the physical trade itself. So today I present to you the face of justice you probably don’t want to run into on a bad day, The Mamba & The Bat!”

Okay, so there are two safe and easy attempts at what you asked for, but I see you're going with a whole 'Dark Knight Returns'-thing and in that case maybe you'd want something with more blue. And I've given that a few shots too

And this one isn't quite finished but I wanted to point out something before I got back to work. The blue really throws off the whole aesthetic of this pic when too much blue is added, because the heavy shadowing obscures so much of Bats. It looks good and makes sense when all black because that is the natural color of shade, no matter how exaggerated, but when I start adding so much blue in, it ruins the concept. The details of his face are too minimal and it raises the question what kind of environment would possibly hide him in so much blue that it erases all visible traces of flesh tones. Did that make any sense? Anyways, I can keep working on this because I have some more ideas on how to compete the piece in the vein of having so much blue despite the logic, but I'm just curious about which route you wanted the gloves and cowl to go, between the first two photos and the last one.

@classique:

The first one is perfect honestly. Exactly what I was going for. You nailed the shading, man.

Can you play a little bit more with it if it's not too much trouble? Make the belt a lighter yellow and a the grey in the suit too, to the point that it remains aesthetically pleasing if you can. I'm going to be using it for an upcoming RP and it would help a lot.

@hound_of_war:

How about one of these? Too light? Too yellow?

That pic by Tony Daniel is badass by the way :O

@classique:

I don't know which one I like more to be honest. lol

Yeah, love that! Tried to do something similar with Timeless, but aren't many characters looking to get appearance alteration to change their looks IC (and looking back, I should have included such purpose in the OP, doh!). Good luck with this!

Does this gallery ever showcase other artists' works? Just wondering in case I use any of my artist characters or something.

Thanks :)

You know what... That's a great idea and now I'm going to steal it from you by updating the OP with that feature :)

But don't worry, I'll give you credit XD

Any notes you want me to post in your honor when I cement your genus in my thread? Like a signature

@classique: Hehe. Naw, I'm good. xD

Eru models his latest piece after a woman, knowing this will keep him from killing her. Eru, equal parts sociopath and artist, finds this method of therapy as direct confrontation to his more predatory instinct. Like applying a nicotine patch to his ill mind finely tuned with mutant abilities to carry out brutal hits.

He has clear memories of his parents asking God why he'd bundle so much potential for destruction in one child. Their faces, as recalled, were always painted sour.

He is, metaphorical terms, already dead. Devoid of that which pumps affection out a human heart or buzzes around true compassion in the whispers of an idle mind. So this woman: a starkly pain, honestly unfit and entirely complacent denizel of Gothic City represents so much of what he lacks, that she had to be captured in paint.

Isn't it odd how one can apply so much time and effort into the vain of self care, yet no one ever really changes? To be so invested in momentary satisfaction, that they lose sight of what true change would even look like?

Eru plays with the concept of understanding the model's complacency as she smiles in front of him. He could have easily taken a high resolution photograph of her to muse over for this portrait, but he had hoped in some abstract way, that having her so close by would perhaps ease his process of understanding.

Eru smiles a lot. Especially when he thinks some bloodshed or paparazzi is about to bring him closer to bliss, however, these glimpses of emotion are the same types of fuckary that drove prospectors to their graves with fools gold.

The piece comes together nicely, and the unwavering attention the model pays to her poses suggests she is enjoying the moment. She enjoys seeing how Eru utilizes the blue scale to reflect her skin in mood light, the way he applies layers upon layers to replicate the natural springs of her larger eyes, and the care he takes in painting the textures of her outfit.

She sees herself coming together in beautifully natural flare upon his canvas, yet he keeps coming back to the mouth.

He keeps trying to get the curves of her lips right. The wrinkles of the flesh. He wants to capture the warmth of her grin upon these cool blues, but it just isn't coming together. No matter how he mixes the palette or strokes the brush, he simply cannot match her emotion. He knows at a certain point, this painting may not save him from killing her after all.

Their eyes meet for a moment. Huh, he groans as he drops the brush and begins to imitate the shape of a gun with this right hand.

Just then, fate brought his assistant to his side, kissing him on the cheek and offering drinks. Eru gives a moment pause to consider how much clean up would be involved in killing the model and this witness. He shrugs. Finally, Eru takes a drink and goes back to the faking game.

Why haven’t I’ve seen this before? I love this thread already LOL