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FAQ Getting Started Using MCM Graphical Tricks Blood Helpful Items Download MCM Get Characters WoS Skin Forms WoS Viewer WoS Color Palette Fade Grid 1 Fade Grid 2

Blood as an Effect First things first: Blood splatters, blood is thick, and blood is red. I hope at least some of you know that. When choosing preexisting effects to turn into blood, choose wisely. Effects such as the ones below don't work very well because they are whole, together, and not very freeform. However, effects such as these two examples work well because there is no defined shape to them, just as blood should be. The best effects to turn into blood, besides other bloody effects, are water effects. Or anything that has a splattering or sheeting effect. You can get as indepth as you want, or leave a simple single colored splatter. Using the blood color bar that I've provided, you should recolor the image, lightest color to darkest. By then you will at least have an outline of what you want. If you want more blood, simply add more effects. Tweek with the image, draw little bits of blood splattering off. You can also splice effects together to create something new that no one else has used before. This also helps you get a better view on blood. It doesn't always have to be in excess, and it always takes a different shape. This always works well, unless, you have it on clothing.. Blood on Clothing Blood on clothing is the most difficult part to master. You must be able to add the blood and still make it look like your character is wearing clothes and not a painted tarp. In any case, first decide where you want the blood. Do you want it splattered up their clothes, dripping from them, or do you just want them covered in it? The easiest of course is splattered up their clothes, so we'll do that. Decide what shades you want to use. Look at the clothes, if they're light, use the light shades, if they're dark, use the dark shades. And try to not use too many different colors. The more simple, the better it will look. Start with the darkest color and work to the lightest, it's best to keep your blood down to 4 or 5 colors. Draw the blood from bottom to top, certain areas will be lighter than others, and some spots will just have little splatters. If you want to coat your character in blood, the best thing to do is pick out blood shades that you can use to replace the clothing colors with. Here is the example, a skin I made a while back for Vampyro. The shoes are soaked in blood, but you can still see the detail in them. (You can coat the blood on differently, but I thought this looked the best.) The blood splatters unevening up his legs and depending on the color of the material underneith the blood, the red changes shades. It also splatters slightly after the line, giving a natural uneven look. This also works for blood dripping off the clothing. Notice on the arms how I started at the elbows and drew downward. (Seeing as blood drips *down*) It splatters a bit, but for the most part drips down off the arms. When drawing the drips, use lighter shades of blood since those drops are more apt to pick up light. Don't overdo it, too much and it will look like paint, but don't be sparce either; too little and it will look empty. This will also work on weapons you want to drip with blood. But, since most weapons have a metal surface, the blood with slip off in a few spots. There may be gaps or places where the blood can drip off more easily. Final Tips Remember, that blood is a thick liquid, it will remain in the same shape through movement. This is important to remember while skinning. If you put blood in an area on your character in one frame, chances are the blood will be in the same spot in the other frames. Be consistant and you should do fine. Any other questions, you can reach me on AIM at Kindred Arkain and I will do my best to answer your questions. This concludes the blood tutorial.