Photoshops of 2012

Some people like to make EVE videos. I like to photoshop stuff. I'm not a particularly good photoshopper, and consider myself an amateur at best. But I still enjoy the process of turning an idea into something substantive. (And I'll show some of the process, as well: original artwork where appropriate.)

(Click images to view them at a larger size.)

I've always been intrigued by the great propaganda posters that come out of Goonswarm. Most are of exceptionally high quality, and also have a strong emotional and motivational element to them.

It was the great propaganda posters of Goonswarm that inspired me to try my hand at posters of my own. Whether any of my work lives up to the greats is another story, but it's a craft I continue to hone.

I wanted to do something to honour of Goonswarm's involvement with Hulkageddon V. I found this appealing WW2 film still of a female actress/medic. It was simple, yet powerful. The only alteration required was removing the red cross symbol from the badge on her hat and replacing with the Goonswarm bee.

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Before joining faction warfare I decided to spend the month of May participating in Hulkageddon V. I joined Corelin's Fancy Hats Corporation.

This poster was meant to demonstrate the backstabbery prevalent in EVE Online (one of the great features), and as a recruitment poster for the organization.

The poster itself required little in the way of modification. Simply the addition of thought bubbles and some humourous subtext.

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When Goonswarm announced that Hulkageddon was going to continue into the forseeable future, I wanted to do a poster announcing it.

I just kind of struck on the idea of going retro using an image from the old Asteroids video game. Again, this is very simple photoshop, but I'm pleased with the result, not to mention bringing in a bit of old video game pop culture into the mix. Many EVE players are of an age that they'll remember Asteroids fondly.

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This was a time consuming project. I wasted much time, initially, trying to alter the original Star Wars artwork. Removing Darth Vader. Replacing the heads on Luke and Leia. It, of course, wasn't working out. It was looking like complete shit.

I was nearly ready the give up on the concept when a lightbulb went on above my head. Why try messing with the original? Why not just recreate the concept from scratch?

It was still a time-consuming process, but it went a lot smoother and easier. I'm happy with the result. Even though the watercolour effect hides a lot of the defects in the process, the poster doesn't hide the truth that I'm an amateur at this photoshop thing.

Paperdolling the Hans and Rina images was fun, so that I could get them into the poses required. And making Bob the Darth Vader of the image was satisfying.

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When creating Fweddit propaganda, Susan Black is always a fun subject. She's such a polarizing figure. Hero of the Minmatar. Troll of the Amarr. It's her blog that creates the dichotomy.

The Minmatar hate it when you use Susan as a subject. Calls of stalking follow every poster that features her. I'm not sure they know the meaning of the word. The posters are as much a troll of the Minmatar, as Susan's blog posts are a troll of the Amarr.

It's all fun and games. If she's getting her panties in a bunch over her portrayal in these pieces, then she needs to take a step back from her role as de facto leader of the Minmatar.

It required a lot of fine-tuning and touching up to get Susan's face properly melded into that of the original photograph. I think it turned out mostly well, though I should have did extra work on the eyebrows to give a greater sense of fear.

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Another propaganda piece. The original artwork was intriguing. Of course, I wasn't going to use the original text. As much fun as it is to mock Susan, calling her a whore is way out of line.

The general gist of the original poster seemed applicable to calling out Susan's blog, though. The dangers of reading it. (*grin*)

I learned from the Star Wars mock-up, that trying to alter an original poster is fruitless, when it's usually easier and more visually rewarding to just recreate the original. That was the process from the very beginning, a re-creation.

I'm really pleased with the results here. From the little Minmatars. The text of an actual Susan post in the background. The language. The aging effects on the poster.

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Rather than a poster, I wanted to create a scene. I'd had the punchline for the poster in my head for awhile. The Tuskers Frigate Free-For-All seemed like a perfect opportunity to make use of it.

This photoshop was actually a lot easier to put together than it probably looks. It required finding the right textures and overlays to give it a sense of realism. (About the only failing of the image is the hand holding the picket, very hard to manipulate those hands.) And it, of course, would never have worked without Rixx Javix's original Tusker's FFA poster as its centerpiece.

I quite like the God Hates Frigs joke, the punchline of the image, which plays on those reprehensible posters from the scum at the Westboro Baptist Church.

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I had an idea. But first I needed to find a photo of a dead puffin. Google image search to the rescue. Traced out the dead puffin. Added in the Fweddit Chikun. traced out some Imperial Navy Slicers. Traced out the moon surface from another image. And then added the stamp of approval from the Amarr government.

As a propaganda piece, it came out well.

I may have added too much aging to the poster.

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There were other photoshops I did in 2012. The work I've described above is the work I'm especially proud of.