HaloFanForLife’s Minimalist Halo Characters: #14 The Didact!!

This is it. The last of my Halo minimalist art pieces.

Who better to end this series than the big baddie of Halo 4 himself, the Didact!

Minimalist Didact v2_sm

There is a ton of detail in this one, even for a minimalist art piece. I used 8 colors for him. I could have dropped it to 7, but felt the dark red near his shoulders (which is hard to see in the small graphic above) was needed.

I was going to go with a dark background for this to help blend the Didact in However, when I did, it just didn’t seem right. SO I kept it lighter and allowed the Didact to pop off the background more.

So comes an end to my Halo minimalist art project. There were more I wanted to do, but didn’t want to drag this out too long. I have other characters in mind and would consider doing a second series of these. However, I’d like to know if YOU folks want to see more of them. Please let me know by either replying below or sending me an e-mail to sal@halofanforlife.com. Let me know which characters you’d like to see done in this style.

Alright, so I said these would be made available in a larger format after these all were revealed. I can’t sell these as posters as I had wanted to as that breaks the usage rule per Microsoft. (Not that I had expected to make any significant money from these anyway, and all the money made would have gone right back into the blog anyway) So I’m at a conundrum as to how to make these available to you folks, without my artwork being ripped off. I’ve asked Jessica Shea, aka BS Angel, if she would be willing to show these as an article on Halo Waypoint. I’m waiting to hear back from her on that. If yes, then I’ll give her my high resolution files so she can post them. If not, then I’m going to need suggestions.

A reader had asked about t-shirts. Again, because I’m not permitted to make money from these, I can’t do that either. While I could easily watermark these, that would detract from the piece itself. To boot, I’d have to place the watermark over part of the piece so it couldn’t be as easily replicated. Again, I think it would be tacky to do so for art pieces.

So again, I’m open to suggestions here.

Thanks to all of you who have been following this project, especially those who commented here. I enjoyed making these. If you look back over the whole series, I only used between 5 to 8 colors for each piece. Not to bad when trying to keep to a minimum.

I recreated these in Adobe Illustrator using some fun techniques and refining some of the shapes. I tried to use as few colors as possible yet show enough detail so that each character was instantly recognizable.

-Sal

Found this Hunter art on Pinterest.

Normally I have a bunch of things to show from Pinterest finds. This week it’s only one, but it’s a GOOD one.

Hunter fan artI unfortunately do not know who the artist is to give proper credit. If anyone out there does know, PLEASE e-mail me at sal@halofanforlife.com (with a link for proof please), so I can credit the artist on this.

Don’t forget you can always check out my pinterest page by the link to the left on the main page in the blogroll. And of course you can go see it right here and now.

-Sal

 

Is a Halo movie actually being made???

qK4EqHUProduction Weekly reveals films and tv shows going into production weekly. Jim from IGN caught this and asked about Halo.

The answer of what seems to be a MOVIE, no lees done by Ridley Scott himself is exciting. Now, is this part of the Steven Spielberg TV show or an honest to goodness movie?

I have to say, if it’s a movie, that really is some exciting news. TO be produced by Ridley Scott even better. He’s the one who brought us Alien, a CLASSIC Sci-Fi movie (and subsequent franchise).

SOURCE LINK

-Sal

 

Halo Comic Book Review: Escalation #1 (SPOILERS)

Halo Escalation 1 01 COVER_sm
Darkhorse has delivered another epic Halo comic book series in Escalation.

In issue #1 we’re introduced to a few new characters. First up we find out about another Spartan Fireteam named “Jackknife”. It’s led by Spartan Scruggs. Scruggs looks like a cross between Jun from Darkhorse’s Halo Initiation and Frank O’Conner, 343 Halo franchise development director.

Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer is prevalent in the story and first shown in battle…sort of.

Several of Halo 4’s spartan armor are shown as well, which is nice to bring further into the canon.

One thing I think could have been improved upon is the height difference between Lasky and Palmer. Consistently Palmer is shown to be the same height as Lasky. We all know Palmer is nearly a foot taller than Lasky. Maybe I’m nitpicking though.

Lord Hood makes his appearance again in Halo, which is very nice to see. Admiral Osman (whom we know from the Kil0-5 trilogy a well as an episode of Spartan Ops) is also in the book. Now you just know if ONI is involved, something MUST be up!

A brief review of the happenings of Spartan Ops as well as Lasky and Palmer’s actions with regards to Dr. Halsey. Very surprisingly, Palmer does NTO throw Lasky under the bus, but rather takes one for him.

Now we finally get into the meat of the story which is about a high profile meeting between a Brute Chieftan and…THE ARBITER! YES!!! Finally, the Arbiter is BACK. ANd he looks MAGNIFICENT in this issue. His armor has been upgraded. He looks much more badass!!!

As can be expected the Brute Chieftan is untrusting and wary of the Arbiter. This is in part why the UNSC is present, not only to have escorted the Arbiter, but to make sure nothing goes awry with the meeting.

Suddenly the meeting comes under attack. Palmer and the rest of teh Spartans assigned to this mission jump to action. It’s some rogue band of Covenant. Are they part of Jul M’Dama’s group, or something else? One thing that’s cool is that we see the Jackals as we knew them from the classic Bungie trilogy of Halo games. Long beaks!

Spartan DeMarco from Fireteam Majestic is on this mission. It’s not know if he lost his position as team leader or if Jackknife is a compilation of team leaders for this high-profile mission.

The Arbiter, Brute Chieften, Admiral Hood, Lasky and the Spartans run for cover and find refuge in a parts depot. That’s the end of the book.

Now let’s talk a bit about art style and color. I have to say I enjoyed this art style even more than I did Halo Initiation’s art style. The only thing that is a slight mark is the slender Spartans. Other than that, no complaints. The inking is well done and color choices are fantastic.

Oh, I should make note that we see Brute armor from Halo ODST/Reach in here, as well as some of the classic Elite armor, notably the Flight armor.

This was a great opening to the series. I love how each era is represented in this book, bringing it together. That makes this much more cohesive in terms of continuity. The writing is definitely on par with what we know of Halo.

All in all an excellent read and visual delight! I highly recommend getting this series. This issue’s been out for a month, so it may be hard to track down. However, I believe you can still order this through Darkhorse itself.

I’ll be reviewing issue 2 tomorrow, so come on back for some more Halo comic book goodness, brought to you by Darkhorse!

-Sal

-Sal

 

HaloFanForLife’s Minimalist Halo Characters: #13 The Arbiter!

Now you don’t think I wouldn’t include the Arbiter would you???

Stepping from the light into the shadow as it seems the Arbiter had done as of late until recently, here he is in my version of minimalist art style.

Minimalist Arbiter_sm

This one uses 6 colors, The light purple on the carbine really pops out here. I was tempted to add another color, but thought this worked with just the 6, so I stuck with that.

Here is the final preview of my Halo minimalist art project. Any guesses ????

day 12 extra 2_sm
Check back later today for this final reveal.

A bigger version of this and all of the other minimalist pieces will be available after they’ve all been shown. Stay tuned for more details on that.

I recreated these in Adobe Illustrator using some fun techniques and refining some of the shapes. I tried to use as few colors as possible yet show enough detail so that each character was instantly recognizable.

-Sal

 

Eric Hewitt (Ghostayame) joins 343!

Bravo and GhostayameGhost pictured above right, has been hired by 343! Folks, this is GREAT news for the Halo franchise. I believe he above any other pro-play they’ve hired has made the most impact on Halo. This will bode well for competitive matchmaking for certain.

I was fortunate enough to meet Eric when he came to my LAN party in August of last year.

2013-09-14 22.36.56_sm

At that time I handed him two pages of ideas for Halo. Hopefully, he’ll review those and maybe bring them up to the rest of the folks at 343.

A HUGE Congrats to Eric! Well deserved!!!

-Sal

 

HaloFanForLife’s Minimalist Halo Characters: #12 ODST

Today is the last day of my Halo minimalist project. As such, I’m revealing not one, not two, but THREE art pieces today. This is the first of those three.

I’m sure you could guess today’s first reveal was a human, but did you know who/what?

It’s an ODST! Specifically Buck, though I changed the color palette for him.

Minimalist ODST_sm

This one was only 6 colors. I liked that much of him blended with the background. In this way it shows how ODSTs drop behind enemy lines.

As I mentioned, this is but the first of today’s three reveals. Who or what might be the last two?

Here is the second of day 12’s previews:

day 12 extra 1_sm

I’ll let you all think of what or who this might be. CHeck back later today for this reveal as well as the preview of the final art piece in this project!

A bigger version of this and all of the other minimalist pieces will be available after they’ve all been shown. Stay tuned for more details on that.

I recreated these in Adobe Illustrator using some fun techniques and refining some of the shapes. I tried to use as few colors as possible yet show enough detail so that each character was instantly recognizable.

-Sal

McFarlane Halo 4 Master Chief Statue

My friend PensHalo was lucky enough to get this grand statue. The statue emulates the cover art from Halo 4, showing Master amid the wreckage of the Forward unto Dawn.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at his statue, shall we?

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue 3-4 front-
The box is well done with graphics and shows what the model looks like inside.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue BACK-
Here’s the back of the box. This shows the alternate hands you can pose Chief with. We’ll get to that in a bit.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue number 717-Gawd, he missed it by THAT much! Almost 117. That would have been AWESOME!

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue foam containter-This is what you see when you open the box. The statue comes within a large foam shell.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue Todd McF sig-A signed card by none other than Todd McFarlane himself.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue base and sword in foam-Here is the base of the model within the foam as well as the energy sword hand.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue base TOP-Ah, now we get to the good stuff! DETAIL! There’s a ton of detail in the base itself, parts, wires, etc.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue base SIDE-This is the front, showing the Halo 4 logo nicely.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue in foam-Chief is awoken from Cryo, er…styrofoam sleep!

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue HELD-This graphic show a side, front and back view of Chief. Click to make bigger. That’s some GREAT sculpting and detail there!!!

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue hand hole and weaponsSo now we come to the alternate hands. As you can see by the left most part of the above graphic, there is a hole by which you can insert any one of the three alternate hands.

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue sans right hand-
Chief is almost ready. Just needs a weapon. Which one did PensHalo choose to display him with?

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue as COVER-Why none other than the assault rifle of course. He even jokingly commented that anyone displaying this statue with anything but the AR should have their statue taken away. I agree, plus their “membership card” of being a Halo fan! LOL

McF Halo 4 Master Chief Statue Displayed-
Finally we see where PensHalo’s statue is fully on display. Hey! That looks like MY basement!!! (Oh, I wish…LOL)

Thanks for sharing your pics Pens. Another reader also sent photos of his statue as well that I’ll share sometime later this coming week.

-Sal

HaloFanForLife’s Minimalist Halo Characters: #11 Watcher

It’s the next to the last day of the Halo minimalist art project. It’s happened all too quickly for me…

So, did you guess right? The mostly full preview fooled several people, though blueamcat on twitter got it right!

Screen shot 2014-01-11 at 9.01.37 AM

So here it is, the Watcher!

Minimalist Watcher_sm

I kept this to 6 colors. This one was pretty easy, though I’m thinking about changing that pink to a lighter shade of the orange. What so you good readers?

Okay, since tomorrow is the last day and I have three to show, I’m going to preview one now, then tomorrow I’ll have three posts, each successively showing a reveal and a preview. (With exception to the last one of course)

Here is the first of day 12’s previews:

day 12 blackened

The preview makes it easy to guess the race, but do you know who or what it is???

A bigger version of this and all of the other minimalist pieces will be available after they’ve all been shown. Stay tuned for more details on that.

I recreated these in Adobe Illustrator using some fun techniques and refining some of the shapes. I tried to use as few colors as possible yet show enough detail so that each character was instantly recognizable.

-Sal

HaloFanForLife’s Minimalist Halo Characters: #10 Storm Jackal

We’re getting close to the end of the Halo Minimalist art series. It’s day 10 and we’re back with a new design.

Did you guess it right? The profile was a bit different than all the others. Hmm, I do believe one of you DID guess it right! Russell Dredge, you indeed were correct! It is a Storm Jackal!

Minimalist Storm Jackal v2_sm

I went back and forth with the decision of the background color here. While most of the others blend into the background, that just didn’t seem to work for the Jackal here. I did choose one of the colors I used for this, just not the dark blue.

There was SO much detail in this that I had to bump up the colors used to 8. I might have been able to get away with 7 though…Still, I think it turned out nicely. What do you think?

Here is the next to the last day’s preview. Number #11. Do you know who/what it is?

day 11 blackened

Are you liking this series so far? What has been your favorite? Any guesses as to who/what may be in the remaining couple of days?

A bigger version of this and all of the other minimalist pieces will be available after they’ve all been shown. Stay tuned for more details on that.

I recreated these in Adobe Illustrator using some fun techniques and refining some of the shapes. I tried to use as few colors as possible yet show enough detail so that each character was instantly recognizable.

-Sal