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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Deacon Sirus, Your Local Spiritual Weatherman

Deacon Sirus, weathered hands clasped tight, stood atop the parched earth before his church. The once vibrant fields lay barren, the relentless sun a cruel reminder of their despair. His town, Hopewell, clung to the hope of rain, their whispers laced with desperation. With a deep breath, the Deacon's voice boomed, a plea not just to the sky but to the heavens themselves. His words, honed by years of faith, resonated with an almost tangible fervor. As he spoke, the sky, once an empty canvas of blue, began to stir. Wispy tendrils of grey coalesced, weaving into a tapestry of storm clouds. The wind picked up, a mournful sigh morphing into a hopeful song. The air, thick with anticipation, crackled with unseen energy. Finally, the first fat drops of rain splattered onto the Deacon's face, each one a tiny promise of salvation.

Affinity Photo Workflow: I merged a couple Nightcafe Image AI prompts into this single image.   Used Affinity Photo to clean out some AI artifacts, painted more lightning, added raindrops, and a bit of lens distortion from raindrops obscuring the camera lens.

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Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) Trans-Warping Through Outer Space

I pulled a panel out of Green Lantern #5 (DC Comics 2024) that was drawn by Xermánico and spiced it up a bit with my own edits.

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The Circle Opens: Stonehenge Crossing Into Netherrealm

For thousands of years, the ancient stone circle known as Stonehenge has stood in silence, keeping its secrets. Yet on the morning of the summer solstice, the calm is shattered when the inner stones begin glowing with supernatural power at dawn's first light. Ancient runes and symbols ignite fiery yellow-blue, crackling with energy never seen before in present-day Britain. Within minutes, a beam shoots out from the epicenter of the towering monoliths, converging in an explosion of sound and light at the center of the circle. From the smoke and debris, a shimmering portal emerges—a doorway leading to a strange and mystical realm thought only to exist in myths. Now the door between worlds lies open.

Affinity Photo Workflow: A few image prompts using Bing DALL-E & Nightcafe Image AI to create some of the various objects.   Merged hell dimension within the gateway, added luminescent comet, scrollwork, and text intro.   Portal beam, shaman, and extra monolith work brushed/masked into the merged prompt images within Affinity Photo.  I rather like the text font "Ave Ave BB" once I added some outline weight to it. my first time using this font I think.

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Algernon Discovers Nrub'atocto

Professor Algernon Ross clutching a glowing yellow lantern ventures into the endless midnight of remote, subterranean tunnels. There he stumbles upon the tomb of the primeval demon Nrub'atocto, imprisoned in this nameless cavern for 917 years. Over the slow march of centuries, her malevolent essence has seeped into the encompassing stone, soil, and underground rivers. As Algernon raises his lantern, its wan light reveals the demon's hibernating form still and statue-like. He comprehends the evil that has been gradually diffusing out from this forgotten place deep under the earth.  Part of the Nrub'atocto - She Who Feeds storyline.

Affinity Photo Workflow: A few image prompts using Bing DALL-E both and Image FX to help create the daemon, and some portions of the cave.  Masked in the supporting professor's image taken, combined it with the lantern, added more falling stones from public sources.  Added extra lantern glow, dust and particle effects, and text elements within Affinity Photo.

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Caged Terror: The Fort Wayne Yeti

Jack LaFontaine, goalie for the Kansas City Mavericks, tensed up as the massive creature was posed to drive forward toward the net, its icy limbs glinting under the harsh arena lights. Towering over the ECHL players at nearly eleven feet tall, the icy Yeti-like beast had suddenly appeared, bursting up through the ice during the pre-game warmups. Now this monstrosity seemed intent on smashing through the goalie and then charging into the surprised crowd sitting behind the plexiglass boards.

[Affinity Photo Workflow: Live hockey picture from tonight's ECHL game where the Komets lost their away game against the Kansas City Mavericks.   Ice monster AI prompted using Google ImageFX just to see how this new image tool worked.   Composited the monster in, added some broken ice, various icy vapors, and monster clean-ups by hand.]

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