Just colouring for the final image trying to get the right sort of shading to give it less of a digital effect and more hand drawn, i need to get the line weighting right when it comes to it I've realised as it brings out the details a lot more. 

Started the final piece now still a bit rough at the moment, its starting to come together, the colouring still a bit smooth on the jumpsuit doesn't quite fit the hand drawn style i was going for right now but i still need  to do some more shading and then i can add a photocopy texture or a screen tone to it. the positioning still isn't quite right, think i need to change the perspective slightly. still need to draw a head crab and get it in the image. one thought that i had is that i need to have something on the other side of the portal, probably just an office or a lab i was also thinking about putting some marines or other scientist to illustrate what is goin on a little better. 

Started to sketch out a few drafts for the final piece just working on differnt designs for the scientist, 

first i was just playing around with my draft image, i added my portal design which im really happy with actually it fits in with the image really well and actually looks like what it is supposed to, i like that it looks a little more out of control compared to the portal from the actual game which again i think it fits in well with the story as everything is going wrong with the portal experiment in the lab.

i also added some bullet holes in the background so it looks like the scientist is getting shot at which is a point that i really wanted to get across. lastly i added just a photocopy texture, i did this because Shirow uses this same technique and it does make the image look a little more rough around the edges and a bit more "worn" and original. 

 A few more designs for my scientist here, i wanted to make the clothing a little more 80s and was just messing around with different faces as the one above for my draft wasn't really detailed at all and i wanted to change the hairstyle it needs to be bigger and bolder. 

Here some different designs for the final stance, i tries to make the coat a bit more 80s by adding puffy shoulder pads and baggy sleeves, also i tried giving her a tie to make it look more like a scientist ( plus the woman scientist in half life is wearing a shirt and tie and glasses) honestly though i don't like any of these two designs accept the coat although i want to change it slightly. i think i am going to change the glasses back to the visor also, sounds silly but it just reminds me of harry potter and once i thought that there was no going back. i also added some syringes not sure if im going to have them on the final design but i do quite like them adds to the scientist feel a bit more.

Another design for the scientist i really like this one, went back to using the visor which i think looks much better makes it a bit more techy and futuristic, i added the black mesa logo to the coat as well but i also took alot more details off the coat which i like as it looked like there too much going on now i can focus on just detailing little bits. i decided to get rid or the tie too and went back to the jumpsuit. i think i am going to use this as my final design, next i shall do a final version on Photoshop with the pen tool and add some extra details also put the syringes back in and add proper boots and hands and then i can finally start bringing together my final design. 

Okay so i have decided on doing a proper version of the image from the below blog post for my final piece and ive started working on the portal that I am going to have behind my scientist, the one I used for the image below was just a cut out from a game screen shot (top left)  just so I could see what it would look like before I started to make it. These few tries were made originally with the pen tool to get the original shape, I then just coloured with different orange and yellow shades. I tried out a couple of different filters as I couldn’t really get the effect and blending I wanted and I ended up using underpaing. Then I just neatened up n earased parts to get my shape, plus blurring it a little to make the colour run together better.

I am quite pleased with how they all turned out ( besides top left that's a cut out from the game not my own) i think i want to bring together top right and bottom left as i  think the colourings just right on the top right but i like that slight glowing edges on the bottom left image. 

I feel as though i need to bring more elements of half life into my idea now and eventually into my final image as i have been mainly focusing and capturing Shirows style i need to start bringing them both together to start bringing together my final piece. as i said i want to do a cover page ( chapter page/ splash page ) that represents the quote and what's goin on within the game at that point. ( Quote - Dont shoot im with the science team, Scenario in game - Black Mesa research facility is being infiltrated by marines, due to the experiment failure/accident - being which they have opened a portal to another world and aliens have managed to come to their world/ black mesa, due to this the marines are shooting the aliens but the scientists also - being a government cover up.)

Even though Gordon Freeman is the main character in Half Life i don't want him to be the main focus for my piece as the quote chosen is based around the scientists and marines not him however including him in the final piece would make it noticeable straight away that it is to do with half life. im not really sure wether to put him in or not. to make the image noticeable that it is from half life rarther than using gordon freeman i think i would prefer to put more subtle things in like the black mesa logo maybe a head crab or two.

This is just a quick cut together image of an idea i had, having a portal behind my scientist, in which i want to put a head crab coming out of the portal. ( portals of course being from the other valve game Portal but i thought i could use it for half life theme as is it still relevant to that game) 

Okay thinking about my final piece now, i have chosen my colouring style, even though i shall be doing it digitally i need to keep a hand drawn style in mind. my first idea for my final image is to do a chapter cover page like those shown in my previous blog posts ( ghost in the shell) this gives me chance to do a big cover page. i did think to do a comic strip with events that are happening within the game but i would much prefer to do one big picture with lots of colour rather than black and white. 

the Scientists within half-life are still quite typical looking although being set in a sci fi world Shirows style is allot more futuristic and im trying to give that twist to my images. i like the start to this one although i think i need to change the lab coat a bit and add allot more detail in of course, keeping to the 1980s clothing style i need change the lab coat, make the shoulder a but more puffy and the sleeves more bunched up and of course all the decal to go along with it. the image below is the kind of thing im going to aim towards. 

I Finally got around to looking into half life properly, I chose the quote but i hadn't played the game,I kind of knew a bit about it and had seen people play it before but didn't really know the story line and the whole world to go with it. I was pretty much settled straight away on choosing Shirow and i think i chose the half life quote as they were both along the lines of 'Sci Fi' hoping it to be quite a smooth mix between the two in the end. 

Basically the general storyline is that Gordon Freeman ( working at Black Mesa as a scientist ) is testing portal technology which opens a portal between earth and another dimension called Xen, suddenly he is transporter and see a glimpse of the other dimensions seeing aliens from another world. awakening back at the research facility in the ruined test lab, finding that communications have been cut to the outside world has been cut so he needs to try and get to the surface but then discovers that the government is trying to cover the failed experiment up destroying the aliens that leaked out from the portal as well as the scientist at black mesa basically one huge massacre... the story continues from there but i wanted to focus on the black mesa facility and the scientists as the quote is centred around the scientists being massacred by marines and covered up by the government. so i want to keep this as the main theme when making my final piece.

Followed up on the 80's thought and it turned out to be really similar these are just a few examples but i should have to keep this in mind when i work towards the final piece as its defiantly part of Shirows style and possibly influenced him whilst drawing these pieces even though it is of a Sci Fi genre. 

just some quick observations - exaggeration parts of the body - waist high waistbands, shows hips and makes trousers shapely, shoulder pads - gives the person/character allot more definition and style also clothes being quite baggy as well 

Just a quick note while it still in my head - some clothing and styles of Shirow reminds me of 80s clothing big shoulder pads and all, bomber jackets....may not be the most relevant thing...... :) ( also just noticed leg warmers, jumpsuits although with a sci fi twist very 80s i like it :)