Glowshard's Awakening

Deep within the volcanic caves of Mount Draconem, a tiny emerald egg began to tremor and shake. Hairline cracks formed across the ancient shell etched with cryptic runes as rays of lava light filtered in. After centuries lying dormant, the hatchling within sensed it was time to break free into the world.

With a final mighty push, the egg shattered apart, and out tumbled Glowshard, a small sky-blue dragon wyrmling covered in glittering crystalline shards. He let out a squeaky sneeze, sending sparkling motes shimmering through the air. His eyes blinked open, revealing brilliant golden irises that reflected the lava flows around him. Despite his miniature size, power coursed through Glowshard's veins, gifted to him by the magical volcano that was his hatching ground. His whip-like tail twitched with excitement as he explored his new surroundings, tiny wings flapping in a frenzy. The cavern walls glowed with mystic runes left behind by ancient dragons of old.

Glowshard's instincts took over. He opened his mouth, feeling the scorching heat building within, and released his first real burst of dragonfire. Instead of a cone of flame, however, brilliant lances of pure light and energy erupted in a blinding flash. Shard-like projectiles ricocheted wildly, fracturing the rocks and causing the entire volcanic cavern to luminesce. Glowshard blinked, startled by the unexpected brilliance. Had he done that? A surge of uncertainty mingled with exhilaration coursed through him. This was only the beginning...

Affinity Workflow: A few cycles of image prompts using NightCafe AI (DALLE-3) to end up with the cute glowing dragon. I then cleaned up some AI artifacts, sharpened some edges, and extended the image vertically a bit to show off his motes of magic.

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Nrub'atocto Lingers Underground

Some more artwork to go with the previous Nrub'atocto - She Who Feeds storyline showing the entity still trapped below ground with the skeletal remnants of lesser daemons entombed around Nrub'atocto.

Affinity Photo Workflow: Two image prompts using NightCafe AI to help create the monster and portions of the cave, which were then merged and composited with layer masks.  Stacked various layers to paint in more color, and added a human skeleton to help you comprehend the scale of the daemon.  

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No Joke. This Is A Stickup!

I pulled one panel from Batman #144 (© DC Comics 2024) drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Nesi, then remixed them into my own version of The Joker making a terrible joke as he dumps sinister laughing gas into the local Starbucks while firing an AK-47 in the air to get everyone's attention.

Affinity Photo Workflow: Panel pulled, dialog balloon replaced with my own weak joke.  Frame created with vignette overlay.  Gas recolored to green to be more Joker-appropriate.  A variety of masks are applied to alter the look (such as reflection).  New deadly laughing gas was added to the canister in his hand.  Mixed some skull-and-crossbones into the nasty green gas.  Replaced the original Joker face with another grabbed from a different source so we could see his psychotic grin way better. 

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The Joker Laughs As He Gets A Beatdown

I pulled panel elements from a couple pages of the issue of Batman #142 (© DC Comics 2024) drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Nesi, then remixed them into my own version of The Joker getting a beat down provided to him by some Gotham City thugs.

Affinity Photo Workflow: Thugs pulled out and adjusted to show movement.  Machete and crowbar elements were added for more fun.  Masked and mixed in Joker's HAHA into the background, radial-gradient added, then recolored everything green.  Painted in grass.

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The Joker, Batman, and Donald Trump walk into a bar together...

I pulled one panel from Batman #144 (© DC Comics 2024) drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Stefano Nesi, then remixed them into my own version of The Joker making a self-referencing joke to Batman: The Killing Joke as he walks into a bar.

Affinity Photo Workflow: Dialog balloon added with my own weak joke.  Hand-created the frame. Some minor half-tone/masking filters to adjust color saturation a smidge. 

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Bayou Mutations

Deep in the heart of the Louisiana bayou, where the air hung thick with the musty scent of decay and the calls of unseen creatures echoed through the cypress trees, two unlikely friends made their home. Shagster and Shilowe, products of a long-forgotten experiment gone awry, were beings unlike any other.

Shagster stood taller, his brutish frame a grotesque amalgamation of alligator, ape, and rat. Green scales covered his powerful muscular body, while wiry fur sprouted in patches. His elongated snout was filled with jagged teeth, and beady black eyes revealed a glimmer of intelligence. Despite his hulking size, he walked upright, his long arms swinging slightly with each step. Shilowe was sleeker, her features an unsettling mix of ratlike visage, rippling ape musculature, and powerful gator jaws. She lacked the towering height of her companion but moved with agility, also walking on two legs. Her prehensile fingers allowed easy scaling of trees when needed to forage for food.

For years, the pair had eked out a solitary existence, shunned by the human world and hunted by bayou dwellers who mistook them for monsters. But their mutated forms housed remarkable intellects, and they soon learned to communicate with each other through a series of grunts, chitters, and body language. One fateful night, as they foraged for crawfish among the mangrove roots, Shagster and Shilowe stumbled upon a submerged artifact – a remnant of the lab that had created them. Examining it together, they unlocked forgotten memories, fragments of their former lives as test subjects.

At that moment, a spark of determination ignited within them. No longer content to hide in the shadows, they vowed to uncover the truth about their origins and confront those responsible for their tortured existence. The bayou had given them life, but now it was time to embrace their destiny, whatever that might be. With Shagster's brawn and Shilowe's cunning, they set off on an adventure that would take them from the depths of the swamp to the glittering cities beyond, leaving chaos and confusion in their wake as they walked upright through human society. For these mutated marvels were just getting started.

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The Batman Finally Murders The Joker

I extracted a batch of panels throughout the issue of Batman #140 (© DC Comics 2023) drawn by Jorge Jiménez to provide my own truncated version of Batman beating the cr*p out of The Joker.

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The Mist, part 1 & 2 (imagine a movie sequel call THE MIST: REBORN)

Rediscovered an old post I did, and decided to pull my original camera images and try another attempt at creating the morning's drive through The Mist... join me, as we head to the grocery store to help barricade windows.

Affinity Photo Workflow: My own photos plus a couple monsters borrowed from NightCafe AI Image collection I found combined, mixed & masked, extra textures, and more mist added with a bit of HSL color tweaking.

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The Dominators Launch Another Attack on Earth!

I grabbed a panel out of Batman: The Brave and the Bold #9 (DC Comics 2024) that was drawn by Gabriel Hardman split it out, altered the dialogue, and spiced it up with custom balloon, panel wrappers & a bit of font work.

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Superman Soaking up the Sunshine on Top of the Daily Planet

I pulled a panel out of  Action Comics #1061 (DC Comics 2024) that was drawn by John Timms and spiced it up a bit with my own patriotic-colored edits.

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Melting Birthday Cake

Made my own birthday cake today. I may have used too many candles.

Affinity Photo Workflow: Affinity Workflow: Pictures of cake, candles, chocolate drip, numbers, and kitchen counter all scrapped from the internet. A little fire brush, and smoke brush. Some creative warp mesh (pushing and pinching), and a ton of mask blending during the combining of 8+ images.

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