Want to go back to the E:D Portraits Gallery?
SO YOU WANT ME TO PAINT YOUR CMDR?
|
-COMMISSION STATUS: Paused for August I am currently accepting commissions. See my contact information below. -PORTRAIT DETAILS: Digital Painting The purpose of my commission work is to respond to the large request for character portraits related to forums and player communities associated with Elite: Dangerous. Therefore, all of my completed paintings will be ED themed. Here are guidelines I insist you follow for best results. *** Thank you for your support CMDRs! I was recognized by Frontier in their 85 newsletter for ED development. This was exciting news to me! *** Interview by Kirk McKeand for PCGamesN - View it Here His published article on PCGamesN can be viewed here - Meet the artist who's trying to tell the story of Elite: Dangerous pilots through his art |
CMDR Kevin Massey, Lord Herald of the Prismatic Imperium
|
CREATION OF YOUR CMDR PORTRAIT
Your character is the foreground and is included as an isolated image so you can change the background.
Click to Enlarge
Image SizeMy final result is a tall digital portrait painting of your CMDR designed in a similar style as the PowerPlay portraits in Elite: Dangerous. You don't have to be a leader of a trillion people to have a portrait of your own to proudly display to your friends and foes.
INCLUDES 3 IMAGES +Variations -3086 x 5000 BIGGER RESOLUTION -Cropped Square with compression for your avatar -PNG Character w/o background *Images are doubled in resolution from last year. Compressed images are available by request. File size ranges from 4-12MB. |
Click to Enlarge
Quality
I will create your digital portrait using a custom set of brushes and render the character in a setting not made possible with the current features of Elite: Dangerous. Most of the attention will be dedicated to ensuring a likeness to the presented reference. For CMDRs with access to the Holo-Me editor it is highly recommended that in-game reference is included as low quality images with forced perspectives are very difficult to work with on their own.
Backgrounds are included to compliment the character without distracting from it. Requests with competing background elements such as detailed personal space vessels and other items will require simplification because of a low horizontal point and limited space. *Subject matter is manipulated for each size so that the composition looks great across all images. The standard price for my services is $250 USD. I would be willing to increase the price for more complicated images that do not adhere to my guidelines below. |
STEP 01
Mood Color
Mood color is the overall color pallet of the painting and will influence the color of lighting and skin. Each painting has a unique color pallet. Pick a color pallet from the list below that best represents you, your character, and your environment. You can submit your own pallet.
STEP 02
Visualize your CMDR! I have included a library of various styles I had created prior to NPC visuals added to the game. The goal is to make it E:D Lore Friendly while capturing a bit of your play style. This is your CMDR when you are not piloting that spaceship in most cases. The images below are unsorted but feature styles that would be appropriate for any of the ten power play factions and beyond. You are welcome to include your own reference for inspiration. In-Game reference is an excellent option.
Face, Pose, Costume
- In a majority of requests my CMDRs have included a posed photograph of themselves. This is very much ideal but I can work from other sources, especially when your character looks nothing like you or are a different gender. If you have access to the Holo-Me character creator than I highly recommend you use that even if you include real photographs. Since 90% of images sent to me are poor quality for creating a likeness on a five thousand pixel canvas I appreciate having alternative references. The camera perspective from the Holo-Me Editor is ideal.
- Whatever reference you decide to use, please consider the quality and lighting of the images. In almost every case so far, I do not personally know the CMDR or what they look like. It is not easy for me to paint a face with poor photo or lighting quality. If the picture is taken outside in the sun then there is a good chance your reference will make your skin blue or purple!
- I can make adjustments if wished (such as an actor's hairstyle or an older/younger look) so the picture does not have to be the only reference the CMDR sends. The CMDR is welcome to send reference for any details! Keep in mind that too many details can create limitations and reduce the quality of your portrait. I will honor what I can.
- Your character must be human with absolutely no exceptions. The avatar must fit in lore so I will not be accepting requests for aliens, monsters, people with horns or supernatural eyes, and so on. I am open to requests for various scars, markings, prosthetic limbs, prosthetic eyes, tattoos, and other details. CMDRs are welcome to submit as much reference as they wish to help communicate what they want their character to look like.
*Super Important: Your CMDR will be the foreground element and will not be interacting with the environment in any way. Your CMDR will not be leaning on a desk or sitting in a chair. Your CMDR can hold a prop such as a gun.
All commissioned characters will be cropped above the knees and will be of consistent scale to other commissioned characters so that they can be arranged in posters and advertisements for my services.
Environment
This is important. See the environment examples on the previous page: [SEE HERE]
The best environments are usually the most simple. I don't mean simple to draw, I mean simple in idea. You need only one subject matter. Think of a cool location that represents your interest. That will be the background of your character.
Elite: Dangerous is a huge sandbox full of wonders but there is limitless locations you can currently only dream of visiting. Perhaps you are visiting a beach on a newly discovered Earth-Like World in uncharted space. Maybe you are visiting the busy market mall on a Coriolis Space Station. What if you were in your native land, an estate on the edge of a large Imperial City? Assume your character is visiting the slums of a Federal Outpost while it is pouring rain? Think outside the standard image of standing in front of your vessel or magically floating before a nebula you claimed. If it can be created in the game with a screenshot then you are missing out on the potential my services grant you. Of course I can put your character in front of your ship or astronomical entity if you request it but keep in mind that your character will take up most of the image space.
Please do not try to make your environment too elaborate with too many things going on at once. See the previous examples for ideas of what I will be willing to do.
The best environments are usually the most simple. I don't mean simple to draw, I mean simple in idea. You need only one subject matter. Think of a cool location that represents your interest. That will be the background of your character.
Elite: Dangerous is a huge sandbox full of wonders but there is limitless locations you can currently only dream of visiting. Perhaps you are visiting a beach on a newly discovered Earth-Like World in uncharted space. Maybe you are visiting the busy market mall on a Coriolis Space Station. What if you were in your native land, an estate on the edge of a large Imperial City? Assume your character is visiting the slums of a Federal Outpost while it is pouring rain? Think outside the standard image of standing in front of your vessel or magically floating before a nebula you claimed. If it can be created in the game with a screenshot then you are missing out on the potential my services grant you. Of course I can put your character in front of your ship or astronomical entity if you request it but keep in mind that your character will take up most of the image space.
Please do not try to make your environment too elaborate with too many things going on at once. See the previous examples for ideas of what I will be willing to do.
There are a few more details to consider for the painting.
EYE COLOR
I usually cannot tell what color the eyes are in a photo. Since my paintings are vibrant, eye color will need to be addressed.
CMDR NAME
As our gift to the community, we share our Commanders off to add more depth to the Elite: Dangerous Universe. The title of your painting will be your CMDR's name.
DESCRIPTION
Include a one sentence description of your CMDR. I will not publish or share a back story, that is up to you. But a one sentence line will be useful for the painting description.
EYE COLOR
I usually cannot tell what color the eyes are in a photo. Since my paintings are vibrant, eye color will need to be addressed.
CMDR NAME
As our gift to the community, we share our Commanders off to add more depth to the Elite: Dangerous Universe. The title of your painting will be your CMDR's name.
DESCRIPTION
Include a one sentence description of your CMDR. I will not publish or share a back story, that is up to you. But a one sentence line will be useful for the painting description.
STEP 03
CHECK LIST!
PORTRAIT
-Mood Color:
-Face Reference [ ]
-Pose Reference [ ]
-Environment Reference [ ]
-Eye Color:
-CMDR Name:
-Description:
PORTRAIT
-Mood Color:
-Face Reference [ ]
-Pose Reference [ ]
-Environment Reference [ ]
-Eye Color:
-CMDR Name:
-Description:
Now that you have gathered your material together, you are ready to make a submission for commission! Send everything in an email to my address!
[email protected]
I will check over your work and probably accept it if you followed the guide. Assuming there is an immediate commission slot available, I will send you an invoice from my PayPal.
SUPER IMPORTANT! DO NOT SEND ME MONEY!!!!! Unless it is a donation. XD
It is very important that I get the option to approve your submission and send you an invoice.
SUPER IMPORTANT! DO NOT SEND ME MONEY!!!!! Unless it is a donation. XD
It is very important that I get the option to approve your submission and send you an invoice.
STEP 04
And now you wait! I try to get about 1 painting done a week, or 3-6 paintings done per month. Please expect up to 8 weeks for your painting as I will not publish or send them to you until I am happy with the results. I might send you an email letting you know I have started on it. I may even send progress reports if I have a question about something. You can connect with me on Discord.
Once I have completed the images I will upload the full quality online and send you an email with links to each full size. You will want to download them from your computer using right click and save.
FINE PRINT: All characters may appear in propaganda articles and media related to The People's Media but the names of the CMDRs will be anonymous. Characters will have similar back-light from the top left so that the they can be grouped together in future works.
Once I have completed the images I will upload the full quality online and send you an email with links to each full size. You will want to download them from your computer using right click and save.
FINE PRINT: All characters may appear in propaganda articles and media related to The People's Media but the names of the CMDRs will be anonymous. Characters will have similar back-light from the top left so that the they can be grouped together in future works.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much? I am charging $200 USD for high detailed Power Play Portraits. I doubled the canvas size last year for increased resolution and details in the character's face.
- How do I pay you? I am using PayPal. Please do not send me money before I send an invoice. (This helps me with proper taxes and fees.)
- It's not quite right though. I will not do an avatar 're-do' but can revisit for minor edits at client's request.
- When must I pool together all the credits? I am asking for payment in advance so I can eat while I work.
- ARRRR I demand a refund! I already invested my heart and soul but fine, I can be a pirate too. No refunds ARRR!
- But what about progress reports? Lucky for you, I usually work in one or two sittings and take a break near the end to get a fresh look. I can send you progress reports if I have questions though. I typically don't need to if the reference is good but will if requested.
- What all will I get? The portrait will be in .jpeg format with high quality compression. I will email additional images depending on resolution requests for those with computers that cannot handle the full size. The main image will be a large portrait of the character with environment. The second will be similar but a square aspect ratio with modifications to the composition. The third will be the full character with an alpha included so you can change the character's background if you wish. I might include variations of sizes and so on. Each of the images are adjusted to have the best composition I can manage. This means I will move around elements in the painting to capture the same mood across each image size. They are not as simple as cropped versions of the largest image.
- So uh, I'm a dude but my CMDR is a lady... Get some good reference using stock images or a friend. Stock images need a link so I can credit the artist.
- How elaborate can the environment be? This is a tricky one as I am spending plenty of time creating detailed characters. The environments are supposed to be foggy with a hue of your choice, like several of the examples. Think of the environment as colorful noise, almost like a filtered screenshot that is faded to show off your CMDR. In some cases I will place your character in a real environment. I am less likely to pick up a project request that requires your character on the bridge with his full crew. Extensive scenes like this would fall into a different category where I would be charging $50 an hour. It is unlikely you want to spend that much for an avatar but if you do, we can work out the details.
- I want my ship in the picture somewhere! Send me reference. A screenshot of your ship in decent lighting should go a long ways. I cannot afford to buy your ship in Elite Dangerous just to take a screenshot of it. Could you do this for me?
- Why do you need reference if I am paying you to be the artist? Gathering resources takes time and I do extensive research of my own in addition to what you provide. Setting up the reference takes more time than the actual painting. You are paying me to paint your portrait and I want to focus on making that look great. I'm trying to keep the commissions from being job contracts although I am willing to work with you on this. Just know that I will change my rates to match what I charge for freelance game art.
- I sent you a picture. Make my CMDR look like me. Make sure you are not wearing eye glasses, sun glasses or hats. If you want me to include accessories I can. I find it difficult to know what you look like when you are wearing shades but your request is a character without glasses. This will help me save time and the results will be more accurate.
- My CMDR is a 640 year-old humanoid alien witch who- I was browsing some user submitted images on the Elite Dangerous forums and... I've seen things.. Nope.
-CONTACT ME: My official website is www.Kev-Art.com. I prefer contact via email or Facebook. All contact information is listed on my website.
The People's Media - Your voice in the Empire and the stars beyond.