Super Art

 Most of the games out there I have played don't support non-direct game activities. You don't get anything extra for imagining your character in action or how they look. Fortunately, Heroes Rising does. It is possible to do more than simply feed the competitive, combat monster inside and engage the creative part of your brain, and these activities can garner you in game rewards.

Why do so few players take part in them then? 

If the answer is you don't know how or are afraid you might be judged poorly for your efforts, I want to help you overcome that. I'd like to demonstrate the process I use for coloring in some of the artwork that Dan Peyton provided for the current coloring contest. 

This contest intrigues me, because the best in show could possibly be turned into a power card. 

Here we go...

1) First, select the image you want to color based on the images provided at Pictures for Coloring Contest. Copy it. (FYI, the process I am describing is uses my laptop. It can be done with any number of devices, but you will need to determine which capability your device uses. The apps I use are the Snipping Tool App and Paint 3D for Windows.) I've selected a simple image for the purposes of this article.

For some, printing off the image and coloring by hand is also a fun variation. I personally have enjoyed trying to use the Paint 3D app on my computer to see what all it can do. Overall, I've had my fair share of pretty crappy attempts and ones that I'm really happy with. You are going to get out of this what you put into it in the end. Don't be afraid to try, but also don't be disappointed if at first it isn't perfect. You learn by doing.

2) I paste that image into Paint 3D and the first thing I do is use the Magic Select option to create a sticker of the main image. With this, I can remove and resize the main character image, remove it from the canvas, and create a background for the artwork Dan provided. After creating the sticker of the selected image, I use the undo button to bring me back to a blank page. Then I use the Spraycan tool to create a layered background. 

For this I want a dramatic background, so I am going to first spray a light blue color all over the page in a series of circular blobs until nearly all of the white is covered. I repeat the process with a darker blue, then a dark purple. If I don't like how the colors mix, I use the undo button (something you can't easily do if painting or coloring on paper), erase and redo until I get what I like.

3) I then apply the sticker I created of the original image to place it back on the page. I could, if I wanted to, make the background as detailed as I wanted, adding landscapes, buildings, or whatever I wanted, but for these coloring challenges, just a basic, colorful background will enhance your efforts on the main image.

Let's add some color to the cape first. You have several pen options to use, but for large areas, I recommend using the Flood Fill button to add the color. You can adjust what is added with the two slide bars which make your color either stronger or more contained by the edges of the drawing itself. I like to lower the opacity(boldness of color) to a lower value at first so I can bring it up if I want in order to strengthen to shade. Just keep clicking until you have the color you like. I add a lavender shade of purple to the outside of the cape and then a darker purple to the interior.

You can use the Spraycan tool to add color to areas where the hashmarks of the original image are too dense for the Flood Fill tool to shade. The Spraycan tool if very useful to add variations of color for shading, detail, and to cover up areas you would like to correct.

4) For the main body, you can use the same process for skin tones, but instead of just using one color repeatedly to enhance the strength of the color, you can mix different colors to get a skin tone you like. I use faint opacities of brown, pink, and orange for my image, but you can do whatever you like. It is your picture to color. I use the Spraycan to apply a black base coat over the hair, focusing on the areas where the black lines are, then highlight with a lighter brown over the in between areas to give this hero brown hair. I then use the Pixel Pen, on a setting of 1Px, to add some individual strands of hair for texture.

There are nine different 'pens' and one eraser tool in my Paint 3D app. I suggest playing with using each of them to see what they do. Try using your Opacity and Thickness to save yourself effort in trying to do everything one way. Superheroes have come a long way from being the 4-Color images they used to be. You can add metallic, glossy, and matte hues to your colors. You can add shapes and other patterns, such as emblems on the costume.

Using some of the techniques I already mentioned, I finished this image in roughly 15 minutes. I used the Line Draw tool to even add some use of a super power emitting from his eyes. This may be Dan's foundation, but in the end, whatever you chose to do on YOUR canvas is UP TO YOU. There is no wrong. If you like it, it is perfect.

I hope this inspires some of you out there to try doing more of the coloring contests, art contests, and, if you paint with words, Fiction Forum contests.

Try your hand at doing something new. You might find you enjoy it.

May 31st is the deadline for the current challenge, so if you want some extra MP for Faction Wars, please give this a go.