#megamikenzie

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Leaf & an Other

Hihi~ When I made my earlier portraits of Children of the Forest and the Others, I noted that I couldn't achieve everything I'd imagined via the Artbreeder interface. For truly nonhuman characters, it has limitations. The only way around that is to supplement what Artbreeder can do by painting over it.

So, here is my updated portraits of Leaf, and an unspecified Other.

For Leaf, the main things that I wanted Artbreeder to do but had issues accomplishing were the scale and shape of the ears and eyes, and the dappled effect on the skin. I had been pleased actually by how close to my imagined hair the program was able to get, so that didn't get much adjusting - I just tried to make it look more explicit that there were plants and vines in the hair. The eyes are noted to be large and slit-pupiled, so that was important to me to change. Also, I tried to counter some of the youthfulness I felt from the original, since Bran describes Leaf as seeming like Arya in age but not at all at the same time, idk how well that comes across though. I'm not sure if I'll do the same with my portrait of Snowylocks (as they were posted as a pair) at the moment.

As for the Other, I worked off the more feminine example I'd posted. The original is pretty buried in this new portrait lol I changed a lot! My initial focus was changing the skin texture and making them seem less human overall. Part of the process for this was changing the eye shape, as well as the shape of the orbital region on the whole, and creating ridges to produce a more angular, structural face. I don't see why an Other would have eyebrows, eyelashes, or protruding ears, so I just nixed those. I'm of the opinion they are a constructed race rather than one that evolved... I thought about changing the nose but ultimately decided against it. I wanted to do something completely different with the hair, too, but I couldn't manage it with my skill level. For those familiar with the anime/manga Houseki no Kuni, I was trying to make hair like the gems have, sort of sheets of ice instead of strands, but damn if it isn't an endeavor. Props to fanartists who go all out - I recommend looking it up if you aren't familiar with the property!! Anyways, I defaulted on strands - I'm satisfied with the result but in my mind that is not what I picture for the Others.

Overall, I'm excited to share these! I'd love feedback <3

#valyrianscrolls #asoiaf fanart #the others #children of the forest #kenzietensei #megamikenzie #artbreeder #leaf #seriously if you havent seen hnk i highly recommend it #the characters are people made out of precious rocks and their hair in particular really demonstrates that #that would be my strong preference for the others hair to seem like solid sheets of ice #but filament style hair isnt impossible for an other either actually #i looked it up and theres a kind of snow called hair snow #its rare but seriously looks like synthetic white wig growing out of logs and whatnot...what a world #neways hope yall like this

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Arya Stark

Hey everyone :) I've been trying to get back into painting again, and yesterday I spent some time making this pic. I used my older Arya portrait as a reference, but while that's meant to be Arya as an older teen/early 20's at most, I think she looks more like a young adult here...

Anyways, wishing y'all the best <3

#arya stark #house stark #my art #asoiaf fanart #valyrianscrolls #trying out some new brushes in SAI #not artbreeder #kenzietensei #megamikenzie

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Tyrion Lannister

I played around with my Tyrion portrait recently. Its hard to get the stripey hair down while trying to maintain a realistic style! I'm not super jazzed for this one, but I thought I'd share anyways. Hope everyone is doing well <3

#tyrion lannister #house lannister #asoiaf fanart #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #kenzietensei #artbreeder

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Tywin Lannister

Finally posting this bastard! So, for starters, I genuinely picture Charles Dance for this character. For one thing, he was pretty close to the correct age (64ish at the start of the series, to Tywin's 58). For another, his eyes have something leonine to their angle imo. They styled him wrong, of course, and he was directed to be much calmer/more cool than I read Tywin as being, but yeah. I think if they shaved his head and gave him the appropriate muttonchops, he'd be perfect!

Speaking of muttonchops, what a challenge those were! I'm not happy with the end result, but it was a tremendous obstacle so I feel I've done about as well as I could to render his hair style.

Also, I'm throwing an extra goodie at you:

Joanna Lannister

Let's talk more about Tywin's hair! So, he shaved it off as soon as he started to go bald. Was it curly beforehand? Somehow, I don't picture it. However, the twins most definitely have curly hair, and their kids inherit that. So I've concluded that Joanna was the one with curls. My portraits of their kids take more after her in general.

(Also, she's significantly younger than Tywin as she is pictured around the time when she passed away, FYI!)

#house lannister #tywin lannister #joanna lannister #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Missandei

I love Missandei and her ever-broadening role beside Dany. She starts off as a scribe and handmaid but we see her do much more, as she counsels her queen and becomes a dear confidant. She's wise as well as experienced in administration, and kind to boot.

I know people are excited about the idea of Daenerys and Arya meeting, but I think Arya would like Missandei and have a lot in common!

#missandei #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it #missandei of naath

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Shireen Baratheon

I've updated my portrait of Shireen! I wanted to finalize the versions I'd uploaded earlier by adding her greyscale. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

I know I've been off a bit lately. Not really feeling very inspired recently. I'll try to get back in the swing of things soon... my health is a mixed bag lately, too. I've had to get a PICC line installed a couple weeks ago and I've been really nauseous most days. Ugh!

#shireen baratheon #house baratheon #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #I know there's some anons recently hoping for portraits of the targ conquerors #I've got a couple efforts at rhaenys and visenya done. im working on it but slowly!

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

i was wondering if you had any tips and tricks for creating characters on artbreeder. i have ocs that i’m dying to make but i can’t seem to figure out how to use the site. if you’re not comfortable with sharing that is alright!

Hi! thanks for getting in touch. Admittedly, they've changed a lot of the UI since my personal heyday on the site, but I'm sure I can offer some assistance!

So, first off, for someone new to the platform I would recommend starting by building off of another user's base product. So find a portrait that achieves some of what you're looking for in your OC (be it hair or skin or face shape similarities, whatever). Click the remix button to enter the editor. Here we are with my portrait of Margaery:

The most important trick I've found to creating nuanced portraits is in cultivating a robust gene library. This takes time, of course, but it is integral to the process! So, upper right hand corner is the add genes button. Click on that and another menu pops up. This menu allows you to browse recently created genes or look through your selection of favorites. As a long-time user, I have a few people I would recommend for their work creating genes. First is user zenozip. They helpfully have labeled everything they make with their username, so we can use the search function to find their genes.

Many users don't label their genes in this manner. Instead, you've got to search terms with your fingers crossed. Let's say you want something to increase contrast in your image. Well, you can try the term 'contrast,' or perhaps 'light' (as in lighting - I shorten terms to the simplest version because a text search will pick up more broad results that way) or maybe 'sharp.'

Once you find a gene you're interested in trying out, click to add it to your editor. I've selected the sad eyebrows gene for our example. It's helpful to get an idea of what a gene is doing to the elements in your portrait if you hope to make the best possible use of it. That means trying it out at slight increments as well as extreme ones, and seeing what happens in either direction of use:

Green on the bar (left image) is indicating positive values whereas that purpley shade indicates negative values. We can see a number of things have changed! For one, the obvious difference lies in the arch of the eyebrow. But the nose is more snubbish and shorter in the right image, her right mouth corner is more distinct. Her hair is also slightly wispier. However, the vast majority of the image remains the same as it was - this is something to keep your eye out for. Genes which focus on one feature or element and don't mess with the rest of your image are fantastic because you'll have to do less fine tuning in the long run. This gene is good at isolating it's major effects to the eyebrow ridge. But perhaps at some point you would want to make use of the effects it has on the nose, so it helps to keep an eye out for these sorts of things. I have plenty of genes in my catalogue I use more for their unintended or negative value effects than their stated purpose!

Making use of genes and having a handful you're confident in using will definitely improve your portraits. I also recommend saving often (the checkmark under her chin) because you can always build off what you've done so far. Also, if you're having trouble spotting the effects of a gene, try upping the chaos of the image (see below). This makes the effects of every change more (or less) extreme.

See? The thing I was saying about the hair is much more prominent now, right?

Another tip is to tag your images. As you build up more and more saved images, you're going to lose track of what you were doing. It also helps in that experiments can be pulled back up and resumed. I personally have a whole bunch of experiments with hairstyles and colors that I tag for so I can search my library of images and utilize them.

For example, I'll give Marg different hair. After resetting the image, I'm selecting to 'add parent' (at top). I call these blends.

Note my selection on the searchbar at the bottom. I'm going to try to make her hair more a pink shade, since that's easier with brunettes.

You can add several parents at a time. The factors you can mess with here are 'face' and 'style.' Face refers to the shape elements of the portrait, whereas style alters coloration and lighting. This is useful to play around with! If you made a portrait where the shapes of everything, the eyes, nose, hair, etc, were exactly as you wanted it, but you wanted to make a significant change in the color of the eyes perhaps, this is one method to doing that. For example, with Targaryen portraits, this is very helpful.

You can use this for makeup, too, or just lighting effects.

Anyways, I hope that's given you enough of a jumping off point! If you'd like to see more of the genes I'd recommend, there's a link to my Artbreeder account on my profile. From there, you can see the genes I've liked and try them out for yourself!

(note the setting on the search bar above) (also note the usernames seen here, specifically ivia_sedai, nikkio, and drconfused; I've used their genes frequently)

Good luck, and feel free to ask any clarifying questions you need!

#artbreeder #art process #how to #megamikenzie #long post #seriously the changes in the interface bug me #oh well #hope this helps #theyve got a collage mode ive got to try out now

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Gerold (Darkstar) Dayne

The Knight of High Hermitage is a member of the cadet branch of House Dayne. Gerold is described as a beautiful man with angry eyes. He's got a streak of black in his silver hair, which was an interesting challenge to portray. Artbreeder resists multicolor hair when it's something straightforward like a single streak - making his hair generally streaky is more feasible. Even so, I couldn't get it to look quite how I wanted in the end.

#gerold dayne #house dayne #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Hi !

Could you do a portrait of the queen visenya targaryen?

Hi anon! I've actually worked on a portrait for her already. Hope you like it!

#anon ask #house targaryen #queen visenya #asoiaf fanart #valyrianscrolls #artbreeder #megamikenzie #queue better believe it #inbox

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Tygett & Gerion Lannister

Tywin's youngest two brothers! Unfortunately, neither makes it onto the page in the novels proper. For Tygett, we know he's an accomplished knight, and that he dies of pox sometime after siring his son Tyrek. I've depicted him in his thirties since it's not clear. We also know he has a lot of resentment for his position "in Tywin's shadow," as it were, courtesy of his big sister Genna. As such, I wanted him to look kinda like Jaime but angrier. Gerion, on the other hand, was full of laughter and jokes. Jaime and Tyrion both call Gerion their favorite uncle, and I think they share something of his personality. He's missing as of the start of the series, having gone on a quest to Valyria ten years prior. He was also in his thirties at this point.

#house lannister #tygett lannister #gerion lannister #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Genna Frey (of House Lannister)

Yikes, I posted this before filling in any details! I'm all over the place lately -_-

Anyway, Genna is a fun character. I think she's got warmth and vivacity to her that I wanted to shine through the portrait! Also, I forget if her hair is golden or more white blonde (like Tyrion or Tommen) but if it's the former then let's say it's lightened with age ;p

#genna lannister #house lannister #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Arthur, Ashara, and Allyria Dayne

Since none of these three Daynes of Starfall make it onto the page, I decided to post them together. For minor characters, there's a fair bit of license to do as I wish with them. The only real sticking points are that they have purple eyes, and that Ashara has black hair. It's probably not interesting to anyone but me, but I got into the weeds on the hair color issue. I don't think there's anything canonically stating Arthur's hair color, though most fancasting I've seen has him darker. Allyria is betrothed to Beric Dondarrion, who tragically(/hilariously, in this context) does not remember her hair color after numerous resurrections. Ned, their nephew, has light blond hair, so the unnamed eldest Dayne sibling of this generation (perhaps an Alyn or Arlan or some such thing) likely has a lighter look and/or probably married someone with valyrian coloring. So I've decided that Ashara has the blackest, Arthur has dark brown, and Allyria has medium brown hair. Anyways, that's my ramble for today! Ought to be following this up with Ned and Darkstar after him.

#house dayne #ashara dayne #arthur dayne #allyria dayne #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it #ned's unnamed father is one of those little nitpicks i have for the series imo #there's clearly some theme naming happening here #george needs to let us know which name starting with a he has so i can finally rest peacefully

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Galazza Galare

The Green Grace is a major player among the Ghiscari nobility. She's described as over 80 years old, with thinning skin, but still retaining her grace and piercing green eyes. I wish I could show her veiled as she is in canon, but that's beyond Artbreeder afaik!

I think this is the last of Dany's courtiers that I'll be posting for a bit. If you have any characters from the Essos narrative you want me to work on, drop me an ask or a message! I have a couple minor characters from Tyrion's POV where it intersects that I hope to post, like Penny and Sweets, but again, let me know if there's someone in particular you want to see me try my hand at.

#galazza galare #the green grace #meereen #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Aurane Waters

I was looking through my list of prepared portraits this evening while working on my queue, and I remembered a request I received back in April for the Bastard of Driftmark. I don't have a very cohesive, flowing queue order right now, so I figured I'd post Aurane (& Hildy up next, from the same anon request) and not worry about saving him for a courtiers of King's Landing sequence down the line. Enjoy!

#aurane waters #house velaryon #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Domeric Bolton

Ah, a young life tragically cut short by an opportunistic bastard (literally).

I think fans find Domeric interesting in the same way that Rhaenys, the daughter of Rhaegar, is interesting. What little we get of them is appealing, but they're long dead. Asoiaf is chock full of characters like that, really.

#domeric bolton #house bolton #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Barristan Selmy

Hi folks! Trying to get back in the groove. Where we left off, I was posting some of the many folks who round out Dany's POV in Essos. Ser Barristan is a valued councilor to the young queen, of course, and eventually gets his own POV chapters~

If you can't tell, the show's choice of actor had a big impact on this portrait. I think Ian McElhinney embodied the role perfectly. As I'm one of those folks who started the series with season one of GoT and then rapidly consumed the books, I end up picturing this casting choice in my head for Barristan... He's got that honorable grandpa vibe imo!

#barristan selmy #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #kingsguard #queensguard #megamikenzie #queue better believe it