Category Archives: Character of the Week

Those of you who pay close attention to the Also Awesome section of this post every week will be familiar with the name of this weeks featuree. Yin is almost always there, but has never actually had a COTW nod until now, and to be honest I couldn't exactly explain why. It's certainly not through lack of skills. But this week she pulled a blinder with this rendition of the Egyptian Goddess of Motherhood and the Sky. I mean just look at the shading on the dress. For once I don't actually have words for how beautiful and natural it looks. And I adore the lintless insignia patterns Yin uses for backgrounds. It is a great signature effect and really makes her work stand out and catch the viewers eye. Then you have the actual construction of the costume. The head piece is fantastic, the dress simple and magnificently patterned and the transparent sections really add that extra something to make it even more special. And the expression, so regal. Kids, quick tip, this is how you get COTW. Do something this good. Because this is as close to perfect as you can get.

Gallery- Gods & Goddesses Of Egypt

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This weeks COTW was very tough to choose. We had exceptional work from classic 'machiner's like AMS, Vampyrist and Vengeance, the usual high standards of COTW stalwarts like Anarchangel and Stulte and stunners from lesser recognised 'machiners in Angel of Chaos and Lef. We even had the return of the legend that is dblade. But I ended up choosing this piece by Linea because it had something that the others just lacked slightly. If you look at the Also Awesome section down below, all the pictures are quite static and standard pose, and I'm not belittling any of these guys in any way, I can't pose to save my life. But if we look at Linea's here, that raised arm on a sideways pose, the lowering of the hat so it covers one eye, the flowing dress. It sets the whole thing off. This picture has a life of it's own. The fact you can only see one of the characters eyes and that costume hides most of her face bar a slight glimpse of the top of her smiling mouth, gives the character such a mysterious and mischievous personality, it's hard not to love it. And that gets it character of the week for me.

Gallery: Linea24's Astra Universe

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The last two weeks have been very good for what I like to call the "second wave" of heromachine creators, especially those coming back off hiatus. Last week saw the return of Jeimuzu, Linea24 and the subject of this week's COTW, Stulte. Stulte is one of those creators who no-one could ever imitate, his style is so unique, a wonderful mixture of steampunk, genuine Victoriana and fantasy that is blended so seamlessly by fantastic costumes, character design and shading. Just look at the ancillaries and accessories on this picture to see how much thought and attention to detail goes into these pictures. Magnificent.

Gallery- Stulte's Stuff

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And it's back to business as usual for COTW. After taking a hiatus for a couple of months, Jeimuzu has finally decided to show up again and, by the looks of it, being away has only made him better. Though hopefully that's not a trend.

Mech Suit: Blue Boy

Mech Suit: Emerald Destiny

Golden Heart

Pisces Amethyst

Leo Peridot

Ahuizotl

Black Sheep

Gallery: Jeimuzu's World

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You know, I say time and time again that I can never tell exactly how much work Vampyrist puts into his shading because it all just looks so natural and seamless. Well this one is much the same, mostly helped by the fact that a huge chunk of the shading here is so stunning you aren't paying much attention to the rest. Vampyrist is a master of glow effects and in terms of energy effects I'd say he's probably the best there is. Just look at the fore-arms here and tell me I'm wrong. And there's excellent use of items, male-alternate arms used to create a rougher skin texture really adds to the character. So, yeah, pretty impressed by this one.

Gallery: Vampyrist's Corner

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You know, it's very hard to write this post sometimes, because you end up repeating yourself a lot. In the case of this weeks pick, there are a few flaws (not shading the shoes, wonky eyes, oddly positioned swords) which are of set by some excellent bits (posing decisions like the slight tilt of the head, the torn clothing, the shading) to make a picture, which whilst not perfect, is certainly good enough to be at the top of this weeks list.

Gallery: My Collection Of Creative Imagination

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Ok, first things first, sorry there wasn't a COTW up last Friday. I'd had a very busy end to the week and I just forgot. Stuff happens sometimes unfortunately, but don't worry I won't make a habit of it. Anyway, to make up for it, have some AMSing art. Why? Because he's the best. Always was, probably always will be. Flash fact. Oh and anyone who says that this face isn't one of the most beautiful they've seen done in heromachine needs to go replace their eyes because they are obviously broken. Same goes for the costume.

Gallery: does anyone really need a link to this anymore?

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Gonna be a condensed COTW this week unfortunately, due to me being very short on time. But it's not like there's a lot that needs to be said about this one anyway, nor is there much that can be said, due to the fact that it is very hard to speak when ones jaw is on the floor. I mean look at how the pose was put together, the masking that makes up the torso is incredible and the same for the helmet. The entire thing just screams action. Job well done.

Gallery: My Collection Of Creative Imagination

Choosing this weeks COTW was hard. Very hard. But I think I made the right choice out of the three I was contemplating. Considering whose art this is, whose characters they are redesigning and the fact that there's multiple characters in the picture, it is a brilliant example of multiple aspects of character creation on Heromachine. Body shape, costume, facial expression, hair, posing, body language, shading, effects, item usage and masking, all present and more than correct here. All we need now is a background.

(open in new tab to enbiggen)

Gallery: Mi Propia Realidad

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God, you guys have no idea how hard it was for me not to make this a Characters Of The Week. I had 3 pics that I was planning to do this post on, but I thought that I'd have to be a bit unbiased for once, considering two of them were other peoples interpretations of my characters. So in the end I went with the one that I would have gone with otherwise. And it's a damn good one. Apparently Cliff didn't think this was good or interesting enough for the Heads Up contest last week… you're an idiot dude. This would have easily made the poll and I'd hope it would be in the lead at this point, because it is really good. Sure the shading and masking is a bit scruffy in some places, but it seems to suit some how. I especially like the shading on the lower lip and how you used a bow and insignia to fix up the top lip. I didn't actually notice it until I had it in large view for this post, so you get plus points for that. So, the moral of the story is, next time you do something for the contest and are wondering whether or not to enter it, just do it.

Gallery- Cliff's Eclectic Mayhem

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