Defined Green Lantern Comic Rings
- Thread starter Gregatron
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All in all, I’m really happy with where things are going. After much struggle, I think I’ve finally cracked the code on Gil Kane’s V1 design.
The inherent problem—and the outstanding variable on many of these designs—is the disc size. In the real world, the face of a round signet generally lies somewhere between 8mm (for smaller pinky rings) and 20mm.
However, as has been noted many times, Green Lantern artists have usually tended to draw the face of the ring as BIG. Whether that is exaggeration via artistic license or mere shorthand is hard to say. In Gil Kane’s case, much of his art depicts a ring-face which looks to be roughly around 23-26mm in diameter (assuming that Hal Jordan’s hand is the size of an average adult male, of course). However, some of his art also depicts far more realistic proportions, looking closer to 20-23mm.
This thread has shown my struggle to find a balance between fidelity to what the comic art actually looks like and what a real-world ring looks like. My gut instinct tells me to go bigger with the V1, and a bit smaller with the ED and REBIRTH, but even those latter two versions are occasionally draw with big discs.
At the very least, I’m not really keen on some of the fanmade (and even official) replicas out there with dinky little symbols (or symbol-pieces, in the case of the V2 designs). This is friggin’ GREEN LANTERN, after all, and the iconic power ring should not be some tiny trinket with a tiny GL symbol.
The inherent problem—and the outstanding variable on many of these designs—is the disc size. In the real world, the face of a round signet generally lies somewhere between 8mm (for smaller pinky rings) and 20mm.
However, as has been noted many times, Green Lantern artists have usually tended to draw the face of the ring as BIG. Whether that is exaggeration via artistic license or mere shorthand is hard to say. In Gil Kane’s case, much of his art depicts a ring-face which looks to be roughly around 23-26mm in diameter (assuming that Hal Jordan’s hand is the size of an average adult male, of course). However, some of his art also depicts far more realistic proportions, looking closer to 20-23mm.
This thread has shown my struggle to find a balance between fidelity to what the comic art actually looks like and what a real-world ring looks like. My gut instinct tells me to go bigger with the V1, and a bit smaller with the ED and REBIRTH, but even those latter two versions are occasionally draw with big discs.
At the very least, I’m not really keen on some of the fanmade (and even official) replicas out there with dinky little symbols (or symbol-pieces, in the case of the V2 designs). This is friggin’ GREEN LANTERN, after all, and the iconic power ring should not be some tiny trinket with a tiny GL symbol.
Tinker, tinker.
For this iteration, I set myself toward an idealized, real-world version of the design, with 23mm as the maximum size for the disc. The band’s filleting is also reduced, resulting in the more squared-off look that the comics usually show, rather than the more organic and rounded look I’ve been using. And I continue to play with the band shape, in terms of where the profile curvature begins (in this case, about 2/3 of the way up), and how severe it is.
For this iteration, I set myself toward an idealized, real-world version of the design, with 23mm as the maximum size for the disc. The band’s filleting is also reduced, resulting in the more squared-off look that the comics usually show, rather than the more organic and rounded look I’ve been using. And I continue to play with the band shape, in terms of where the profile curvature begins (in this case, about 2/3 of the way up), and how severe it is.
I'm really loving this newest iteration! THe hardedges plus the classic proportions gives a great fresh vibe to a simple almost retro design.
Thanks!
I'm actually in the process of REbuilding the current iterations. You see, after porting in and/or exporting numerous designs and elements across the various ring workspace files in Shapr3D, there tends to be an accumulation of sketch folders and tesselating bodies (even for deleted models and sketches)--sometimes in the thousands.
As a result, it's getting harder and taking longer to just to load up design files or port elements/designs from one file to another, because each is full of files from literally hundreds of deleted iterations.
So, I'm rebuilding each design from scratch in its own new workspace file, using the existing measurements and data from the current designs. This is also allowing me to shake out any bugs, asymmetrical bits, or errors out of them, as well as making additional tweaks and improvements.
And here are the current, reconstructed models. Numerous little tweaks to improve shapes. As noted, I’d previously been using splines to create the bands, but getting the bottom of each shank properly round and then flaring them out into the face of the ring was tricky, no doubt resulting in microscopic imperfections in the bottom curve of the band (due to my manually adjusting the splines’ control points to try and match a circle with the proper diameter). I’ve gone back to using proper circle sketches for the shanks, then transitioning to arcs where the bands flare out into the faces. I would prefer mathematical perfection, here, so as to ensure properly round bands.
I also increased the arc of the domed V2 and V3 gems from 75 degrees to a full 90, resulting in a more properly-domed shape. It’s a tricky balance to get right.
On a related note, I’m still playing with signet disc and symbol-piece sizes. I tend to think that the V1 and EMERALD DAWN should be the same or close to the same size—probably 22–23mm, if going for the more realistic, less comic book-BIG look. And while I’m using the EMERALD DAWN as the basis for the yellow Gardner ring, having a bigger disc on the latter just doesn’t look right. 20-22mm seems more on-point for that design. I’d like to keep the ED and Gardner essentially the same, design-wise, but the disc size may have to vary between them. We’ll see.
I also increased the arc of the domed V2 and V3 gems from 75 degrees to a full 90, resulting in a more properly-domed shape. It’s a tricky balance to get right.
On a related note, I’m still playing with signet disc and symbol-piece sizes. I tend to think that the V1 and EMERALD DAWN should be the same or close to the same size—probably 22–23mm, if going for the more realistic, less comic book-BIG look. And while I’m using the EMERALD DAWN as the basis for the yellow Gardner ring, having a bigger disc on the latter just doesn’t look right. 20-22mm seems more on-point for that design. I’d like to keep the ED and Gardner essentially the same, design-wise, but the disc size may have to vary between them. We’ll see.
More tweaking. Nearly ready to order test prints. I’ve created 21/22/23mm versions of both the EMERALD DAWN and Gardner rings. Just have to decide which ones to print. The rest are pretty much ready to go, as-is.
Some things I’ll be looking at in this batch are a few sizing/proportion issues, degrees of filleting, and overall look and feel. Still a few nagging questions to address, but several designs are close to being locked down, I think.
But I’ve said that before.
Some things I’ll be looking at in this batch are a few sizing/proportion issues, degrees of filleting, and overall look and feel. Still a few nagging questions to address, but several designs are close to being locked down, I think.
But I’ve said that before.
According to a check on my order status, the test prints are nearly done, and should ship soon. The REBIRTH seems to taking longer than the rest. We’ll see.
That being said, I also need to order some more silicone rubber for making the gem molds.
And, just to help kill the time while I wait for the prints, I’ve been playing around with modeling the very simple signet ring design from GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Not a huge amount of reference on this version, but I think I’m in the ballpark.
That being said, I also need to order some more silicone rubber for making the gem molds.
And, just to help kill the time while I wait for the prints, I’ve been playing around with modeling the very simple signet ring design from GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Not a huge amount of reference on this version, but I think I’m in the ballpark.
Test prints finally shipped.
Meanwhile, I’m goofing around with a variant drawn by Patrick Gleason and various others. V2 style, but with the modern symbol, which also has chamfered edges and an inset gem.
Also trying out a black background in “Visualize” mode, which helps show off the designs a bit better than the white I’ve been using.
Meanwhile, I’m goofing around with a variant drawn by Patrick Gleason and various others. V2 style, but with the modern symbol, which also has chamfered edges and an inset gem.
Also trying out a black background in “Visualize” mode, which helps show off the designs a bit better than the white I’ve been using.
A few tweaks. The symbol-piece is now the same length (22mm) as the regular V2.
Skimming through Gleason’s art, there’s some fluctuation with this design. The band is sometimes non-tapered/parallel and thin, and sometimes wide and/or tapered. Also, the line art doesn’t indicate the presence of a gem (that, or it’s a hockey-puck shape with a flat top, instead of being domed), but the coloring (modern, computerized comic coloring, which can employ gradients and other tools to indicate shapes not conveyed by the art) will occasionally indicate a small, domed gem.
While some artists (perhaps most notably Dave Gibbons) have depicted the V2 style rings without a gem, and the center of the GL symbol just being an empty socket (albeit with some colorists adding the lime-green color to suggest a gem), I prefer the design including one.
I’ve kept my version consistent with my previous V2 design. Their tapered bands are identical, with the central ring sections of the symbol pieces having an identical diameter, and no undercut.
Here, let’s mix up the white and black backgrounds, for some variety.
Skimming through Gleason’s art, there’s some fluctuation with this design. The band is sometimes non-tapered/parallel and thin, and sometimes wide and/or tapered. Also, the line art doesn’t indicate the presence of a gem (that, or it’s a hockey-puck shape with a flat top, instead of being domed), but the coloring (modern, computerized comic coloring, which can employ gradients and other tools to indicate shapes not conveyed by the art) will occasionally indicate a small, domed gem.
While some artists (perhaps most notably Dave Gibbons) have depicted the V2 style rings without a gem, and the center of the GL symbol just being an empty socket (albeit with some colorists adding the lime-green color to suggest a gem), I prefer the design including one.
I’ve kept my version consistent with my previous V2 design. Their tapered bands are identical, with the central ring sections of the symbol pieces having an identical diameter, and no undercut.
Here, let’s mix up the white and black backgrounds, for some variety.
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Killing more time by going back to Neal Adams. Lots of variations in his art, too. Sometimes he goes more along the lines of Gil Kane, and others with more of a traditional signet ring.
On that note, I’ve been fussing for years about the discs on the V1-style rings. It could be argued that there ARE no discs, and that various artists are simply drawing a traditional signet ring, which is all one solid piece, with only the finger-hole and the engraved symbol on the face.
However, various pieces of artwork clearly show that telltale line (circled in red, below) which indicate a joint/separation between the face of the ring and the band. Or, at the very least, a specific change in shape from the curve of the band to a sharp 90-degree angle (which is quite obvious in the third image seen below). Certainly, artists like Alex Ross have also adhered to the separate disc-style quite clearly.
If an artist wanted to depict the ring as one flowing piece, there are ways of doing that. That being said, artists such as Adams and Pat Broderick occasionally went much more with a traditional signet ring look:
Me, I’ve consistently stuck with the separate-disc look, which has been a convenient excuse for my multi-part construction on the V1-type designs.
Here are some quick doodles in the Adams vein. The one on the left employs the disc/90-degree look, and the one on the right is more of a traditional signet ring. The one on the left does NOT have a separate disc—it’s all one piece. Both have 22mm diameters for their faces, and the one on the left includes some tweaks which I’ll doubtless implement after I get a chance to examine the V1 test print that’s currently on its way.
As an aside, I’m leaning more and more toward that 22mm diameter, rather than the 23mm of the aforementioned test print. But I need to examine the print in hand, first.
On that note, I’ve been fussing for years about the discs on the V1-style rings. It could be argued that there ARE no discs, and that various artists are simply drawing a traditional signet ring, which is all one solid piece, with only the finger-hole and the engraved symbol on the face.
However, various pieces of artwork clearly show that telltale line (circled in red, below) which indicate a joint/separation between the face of the ring and the band. Or, at the very least, a specific change in shape from the curve of the band to a sharp 90-degree angle (which is quite obvious in the third image seen below). Certainly, artists like Alex Ross have also adhered to the separate disc-style quite clearly.
If an artist wanted to depict the ring as one flowing piece, there are ways of doing that. That being said, artists such as Adams and Pat Broderick occasionally went much more with a traditional signet ring look:
Me, I’ve consistently stuck with the separate-disc look, which has been a convenient excuse for my multi-part construction on the V1-type designs.
Here are some quick doodles in the Adams vein. The one on the left employs the disc/90-degree look, and the one on the right is more of a traditional signet ring. The one on the left does NOT have a separate disc—it’s all one piece. Both have 22mm diameters for their faces, and the one on the left includes some tweaks which I’ll doubtless implement after I get a chance to examine the V1 test print that’s currently on its way.
As an aside, I’m leaning more and more toward that 22mm diameter, rather than the 23mm of the aforementioned test print. But I need to examine the print in hand, first.
