RenTheDragon

Selfies (Finished)

Apologies for the delay folks, I've been stuck in yet another bad art block lately. Been playing a little bit of Halo recently, and got onto a kick that sorta helped waggle me out of it!

So here, we have Ren meeting with the Arbiter at some gym somewhere following the war, and would seem the Arbiter is enjoying some kind of celebrity status (though as much of a celebrity as he can be, given he was one of the worst adversaries to the UNSC during the war). 

3D Blackbird WIP 1

The final model itself is just about done! There's a few other things I need to fix up here and there. I'm also steadily working on the textures as we speak!

I'll also have the rewards sent out before today is out, as well as the missing content from the previous pack.

And have a happy and safe Labor day, folks!

The Competition (Finished)

What's this!? An American on top for once!?

This was an old WIP from last year that I thought I lost, but I recovered recently, and elected to finish! As well as adding a few things to this image too. Another piece to show that I'm still very much alive and working on arts!

Here we have Lucy in her younger years crossing paths with one of the MiG 1.44 protos at an airshow. We'll see what they're saying very soon!

Two Girls and a Chat (WIP) + Announcement

So yeah, I've been real slow with things lately, I'm tracking that. Been kinda busy, in addition to being in a bit of an art block, and if any creative drive does come up, I'll be pouring the entirety of that into 3D work, of which I've made some strides since the WIPs I last shared. Discovered some new plugins that helps making models much easier, and I'm experimenting with textures and rigging.

Had this WIP in the works for a good while now, steadily making progress on it! Thought it...

Things to Come (WIPS)

Here's what I've been pouring most of my effort and focus into the last month and a half. I've been looking to make the jump to 3D for some time now, and I haven't made nearly as much progress over the 15+ years I've been messing with 3D as much as I have in the last 60+ days. Blender is amazing software, free and constantly updating, with a plethora of tutorials on YouTube and the community site.

As a result, my regular art may come a little slower, as I'm focusing on polishing my 3D...

Rewards Sent Out + Big Things Coming

Ah! There we go, the rewards have finally been sent out! I had a lot going on when I got back, as well as taking off for summer leave, but it all should be there. Along with some juicy stuff, and new revisits to some older characters, as well as some new characters too! Once again, I cannot thank you all enough for your patience and support, it's really helping me out.

Another factor in the delay is I've been pouring a lot of my effort and focus into learning how to use a new software...

Vera Kulikova Debut - Finished

Finally got it done! Allow me to introduce Vera Kulikova, a defected MiG-21, former enemy ace turned high-speed instructor for the USAF!

Been rather slow, I know, but I will have the rewards out within the first week of July, count on it!

New MiG Gal (WIP)

So it hit me a while back that I didn't actually have an established MiG-21 in my aero roster, so I thought I'd change that, and give this one an interesting story to boot! I actually got the colors done, working on shading and post-processing as we speak!

As for the backlog of rewards, I'm working on it, I found that a number of the "finished" stuff I did was scattered across multiple folders on my surface AND my laptop, and across two different external HDDs. Yay, I love backtracking...

Blackbird Compromised Page 9 (Done) + News

And here it is! Shandra's got some helping hands to keep her from crashing!

I started the draft for this as far back as December, but haven't been able to focus directly on it, as there was a lot going on in this scene. Got it sorta "finished" earlier last month.

If y'all have seen my journal on FA, I'm back! Still doing a little in terms of settling in, but I'm finalizing some images for an upload here, which we should see very soon! I've got some catching up to do, I'll say!<...

Pre-Flight Relief (Done)

You can get easily excited when kept out of the public eye for as long as he has...

Gah! Finally got this done, and though I think it looks good so far, I feel like I could have done a little better on Drake's details. An F-117 is supposed to be covered in several flat panels, much like the surface of... Well... A Diamond. A hopeless diamond in this case. SO needless to say, shading this was not that easy. xD

Anyway, I'm still alive y'all, and still working on ...

2022-04-26 14:27:43 +0000 UTC View Post

Drake Preflight wank (DRAFT)

In his return to the scene, Drake decides to blow off a little steam before an airshow!

Yup, still alive y'all!

Looming Blackbird - Magazine Cover

A little something I sped through the past few days, bypass the WIP stage for now. Started as a simple pinup, then became a little something with Shandra posing for the in-world "Turbulence" aeromorph magazine! I will include a 'textless' pinup version in the rewards pack.

May do more "Turbulence" covers here and there from over the years, featuring aeros and significant points of their time.

Expect an update with the Chinese H-6 bomber I did up a little while back soon. Now, ...

I'm Alive - Recent events

Hey everyone, first off, despite my lack of any real activity, most of you have stuck around and I greatly appreciate the patience and support.

I can't really say much about our situation, but I still say that I'm perfectly fine, all things considered. Work and other far less serious matters than the ones making headlines have taken priority, and slowed my artistic drive. It's all put a lot is on my mind, but I'm still drawing and finding a chance to laugh and smile at this and that. ...

Propaganda Sergal (WIP)

Had an itch to do up a new image of Sergei, showing off for a propaganda poster, and cooked this up! Stand by, there's been a lot of progress made on this!

Technical difficulties - PSA of the Day

This is just in case any of you all are having issues with the dropbox link, like missing files or the link is straight up dead.

To begin with, I use Dropbox for -ALL- my art storage, for seamless transfers between my desktop/laptop and my tablet computer, without having to use an external hard drive. So I can access it on the go wherever there's an internet connection. After what I've been dealing with, it might be wise for me to start  backing everything up once every month or t...

Big, Dumb Bomber Dad - WIP

During my first few weeks, got an inkling to cook up a big, muscle-gut type of aeromorph, settled on a Xi'an H-6 with the PLAAF. Whipped up a very rough draft, redid it and made this. I made some rather speedy progress on this boyo, as well as working on a story for him and for his escorts as well. So we should see the final product soon!

The H-6 compared to the B-52 and B-2 would not be THAT big, but I have a technical, in-world explanation in the works for his size!

Also, plen...

November and December Rewards Sent!

Thank you all for your patience! Your pledges have all been processed for November and December, and I've sent them out to all my Tier 2 supporters. Once more, if you know your payments are going through, and you're not receiving content, or if anything is missing, please let me know.

I'm getting back in the swing of things over here, and lemme tell you, I have some stuff in store! Going to also try getting cracking on the next Blackbird Compromised page, as well as new content with Sh...

Star of the Show (Shandra Airshow) - Finished

Happy New Years everyone! Hope it's been treating y'all well!

This one's been in the works, but I'm happy to say it is finally completed! It will be included in November's rewards pack (not much for December since it was pretty dead). Added a little more to the image, as the original draft had a lot of blank space above the crowd, as well as updating Shandra's physique a little bit. This image was actually 70% done until I revisited it. Practically did it all over again.

I'm also...

Working Abroad

For the next couple to several months. This was frankly expected in my line of work. Currently still trying to get settled in, settled down and get a feel for the schedule before I feel comfortable enough to start drawing again. I'll try getting last month's rewards pack out as soon as possible!

Wish me luck y'all!

tOmOrRoW (Done)

"I'm sure the thought crossed everyone's mind here at one point. What matters is whether you actually did or did not."

A little something I cooked up, diving into Chris's backstory. Prior to joining, he already had some physical fitness under his belt, being good at running, but no matter how prepared one may seem, there would be little that anyone could be prepared for when they first get to their training unit. Needless to say, it...

2021-11-27 20:39:37 +0000 UTC View Post

tOmOrRoW (WIP)

Woke up early, couldn't sleep, and cranked this out. It's actually nearly done, should see a final post pretty soon. We're delving a bit into Chris's backstory here, and needless to say, he don't look too happy where he is now!

Eliza Tomlinson Debut (Done)

Been meaning to do a sort of debut for Eliza, all she's ever had before was her co-star appearance in this image I did a while back https://www.furaffinity.net/view/22290970/ and her appearance has largely remained consistent since then. Not my usual sort of works, but I'm contented with how it turned out. :3

This will also be going up a little earlier than planned, but high res and alternate versions wi...

Eliza Test Pose (WIP)

A little test image with my JQL girl, Eliza, showing off some of the guns. Might add a little more to this!

Hawg Boi - Marcus Stonewall Debut (Finished)

And here's muh new boy, Marcus "Rockslide" Stonewall, a former A-10A turned to A-10C. I'll include a version with a bio in the near future! Featured alongside it is his old 1980s "European" camo scheme!

Because of circumstances on my end, this image and the upcoming ones until my disappearance will be going up earlier, so... Really pay no mind to the watermark I plastered on the images.

I gotta quit pushing myself staying up so late for these sometimes. xP

Hawg Boi Debut (WIP)

Ooh! A thundie? Stand by y'all! This one is almost done!

Blackbird Compromised - Page 9 (Draft)

Some helping hands have come along for Shandra, but it doesn't look like she really wants it!

Finally a part is coming where I can experiment with legit backgrounds more instead of just open skies for a while, as well as try some new lighting techniques I've experimented with. 

October Rewards Sent + Update on me

Not a very productive month on my part, but the rewards pack has been sent out! Ping me if anything is missing in it! Once more, everyone, your support is and always will be infinitely appreciated!

Sorry this one took a while, which brings me to say, I have had quite a load on my mind the past week or two. Some of you may be aware of what's going on, but I'm very likely going to be unavailable for a while, and may disappear soon. Until then, I've got a few things I've got in the works,...

Blackbird Compromised - Page 8 (Done)

Had this page done a while now, just neglected to plaster watermarks on it.

Mama Blackbird's lost two of her engines, and is on her way back down to Earth! But looks like she's got some "help" on the way!

Aces in the Hole(s) Pt 2 - Jailbreak

And here it is, everyone! The final product for our collab, and I think Drunk did a terrific job here! Trigger's broken free just in a nick of time, and looks like she may have some plans of her own with the twins!

So I've devised a new strategy to somewhat respond to leaking prior to a release, by censoring the "finished" version posted here, and watermarking it in a way so that if someone decided they wanted to leak this, it'd be pretty obvious this isn't supposed to be posted outsid...

Aces In the Holes Pt 2 [Collaboration - WIP] + Leaker Hunt

A little collaboration me and A_Drunk_Dragon are tackling, featuring his lovely Wyvern, Trigger and mah boys, the Raven Twins in a sequel to the last piece with them. This project is not too far along, stand by y'all!

The reason why it's cropped like it is now is a sort of preventative measure we're taking to prevent leaks of WIPs until they're done. Additional preventative steps are being considered currently.