| I Hope Your Bandwidth Is Good |
[Nov. 26th, 2009|03:46 pm] |
Happy Thanksgiving, you guys!
( And now, drawings! )
Stacked drawings are meant to give a little look at the process where I try out different looks and then settle for one for a new character, or just develop a clear mental image I already had.
As per usual: poses are something less than dynamic, but that seems to be the case when I'm still getting to know a character and setting up his/her appearance and a full up frontal shot serves best to figure out the general impression and silhouette. 3/4 view is limited to facing the left, and the light source is usually there too. Being right-handed can get so annoyingly predictable.
Did a couple of different things here: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) allisino showed the noob that is me how to use the adjustments tab to shoop my lineart into something approximating the lineart I typically work with when coloring. As it was, I was just drafting some ideas, and so used a lighter pen than my usual black gel. Trouble was, using the adjustment technique on draft art compromised some of the subtlety of the original linework, so I decided to experiment.
The first colored piece above was the first I'd done in a long time, and while it's alright, I disliked how heavily I colored. The second one was better-- I didn't darken the lines at all and used more muted tones.
I did the same thing for the third, and damn, she looks like she's standing out of the page.
I guess there're diminishing returns for the fourth one-- with the lightest linework (or perhaps a bad scan), the colors end up overpowering the original drawing, plus I didn't quite get the shade I'd wanted for her armour. I was going for a dull rust red. Everyone says it's pink. I should've used more orange. :/
God bless~
EDIT: On closer inspection, Juniper was supposed to have a white shirt. Oops.
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| Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before |
[Mar. 26th, 2009|03:07 pm] |
So for lunch I was doing a Tuna Helper dish for the first time, and Allie reminds me to drain the tuna before adding it to the mix, otherwise it would turn the whole thing soggy-- Tuna Helpless, as she quipped.
I retorted that, knowing me, it would as likely turn out to be Tuna Hell. That cracked her up.
Seeing as I already had as many as three fleshed out D&D characters I had never gotten to play with yet, it seemed silly to be making any more. Silliness seldom stops me from doing certain things however, and I decided that Tarkov, Farlow, and Siya would be lonely all by themselves; they needed a party.
( The Wizard )
( The Paladin )
So now we had the rudiments of a party-- a little geared towards offense, but with myself being the sole architect of this gathering, one can scarcely expect something as quaint as balance.
When the PHB2 came out, I was told a little about the Primal classes, including the Druid, which gave me some ideas. Having looked over the book myself, I saw that another viable option for an additional controller in the team was available.
( The Warden )
( The Barbarian )
So there you have it. None of these guys even have character sheets yet; just placeholder images and glimpses of lives into whose shoes I may want to jump in in the future. The biggest temptation I'm trying to resist is the thought of just taking the lot of them, saying bollocks to actually playing the game, and then setting them down on their own adventures with each other, where I am both PCs, NPCs, and DM.
I think that's called 'writing'.
Godspeed~
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| Eternally Benighted |
[Dec. 5th, 2008|01:23 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | drawings, life | ] |
| [ | the knight hears |
| | Final Fantasy Tactics-- Track 63 | ] |
In a nutshell: last Thanksgiving was jawsome x 2. I managed to attend two celebrations this year with m'amour, so it's like we're catching up to all the time we had in our lives before we met each other. Has only/already been six months??
There were lulz to be had from learning and playing Apples to Apples and Taboo; never thought I'd have as much fun playing board games as I do videogames. But there was that as well-- Little Big Planet has some of the softest, most frustrating controls I've ever encountered, but when there are four of you failing at the same time, it's hard for hilarity not to break.
We found a superbly-done ICO tribute level on the online created maps selection, tempting me muchly to create levels of my own. Highlight of the playthrough: Allie managed to accidentally lift the drawbridge up at an angle with everyone else on it, almost pitching us all into the abyss. Only I fell in. When I respawned near where Allie was unsuccessfully trying to navigate her way back to the control lever, I was all like, "k guys i got this", pulled the lever, and proceeded to lift the drawbridge up all the way vertically, shaking the other players off and into the void.
I didn't mean to do it, I swear!
Allie got an education in mixed family cuisine too-- over the years, my stepda is usually all, "wtf, guys, i cooked all this cornbread and corn on the cob and potatoes, and ur all lyk, 'where's d rice lol'". So this year, he's adjusted his repertoire some, and we feasted on rice, chicken rice soup, and, much to Allie's amusement, "Thanksgiving Spaghetti". We know what we like, okay!
Aside from what you guys have christened a LolLash, I also managed to finish a couple other pieces over the long weekend, namely Howdy and a gift I'm giving to my friends who own the store from whence I buy most of my Magic cards (High Res). They gave me a lot of free stuff last time I was there, and while they do have a quick grayscale, pencil-shade drawing I did for them I gave them last year, I'd always promised an upgrade but never seemed to deliver. It's a good feeling to finally follow through.
The week flew by, but only because it was so busy. That's okay-- next week will be awesome, I can tell already. lol plans
God bless!
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 2nd, 2008|11:29 am] |
http://meistin.org/
( Yes, I just wanted to use that word. )
Holy crap, why am I so tired?
Last night, I tried to Rickroll the factory, but the office computer's speakers were too weak to get through the phone receiver and into the PA system.
EDIT: Some random drawthings. Here is something my former team leader asked for to put on a t-shirt. LOCS is apparently an acronym of some sort. She loved it. She's the one who commissioned me on behalf of the factory for Meistin Studio's first legit job, but I didn't charge her for this one. I've done all sorts of things for her for free too. I really miss her.
Avatar fans, you've seen Sokka in the Kyoshi warrior getup, right? What do you think of this? Not too shabby? Something's up with the eyes and makeup there, but I just wanted to see if it could be pulled off anyway. I'll leave it to the Avatar team to perfect it if they do choose to go this route.
A little truer to Lash's form this time. Yes, Race, it's Lash in half of a Neotank, driving stick. Many modifications have been made to it, so it's not really much of a Neotank anymore, in as much as it is like the Metal Slug tank on stilts and crack. And that is Hawke loading shells into the main gun with one arm. Where do the shells come from? Maybe he catches them from enemy tanks that fire on them? Maybe nowhere, they just have that one at a time. Maybe none or one is the most they usually need to win.
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 31st, 2008|11:57 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | drawings, random | ] |
| [ | the knight hears |
| | Molly Hatchett-- Flirting With Disaster | ] |
Pet projects, pet projects galore!
Sometime last year, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin was announced, revealed, and since then I've obsessed over my own version of a darker, grittier Wars World. Now that I've played the actual game, I am rather bemused to report that several things about my homebrewn scenario are, in point of fact, superior to the official 'storyline', such as it is.
Not the least of which being that it prominently features my personal pet pairing, guilty pleasure, and penultimate shipping indulgence.
Leave me alone, a man has needs.
Anyway, one of the great things about the comic medium is its ability to communicate profound emotion without the necessity of words. While I am a great fan of the subversive use of language, I just seem to be mired in talk these days, just so much of it, gobble gobble gobble, too much, darling, too much! I'd always wanted to try my hand at telling a story without words, not just in comedy, in which I've had a degree of success, but also in dramatic situations.
Or *cough* romantic situations. If you know what I mean.
Please tell me what you think.
( Cut for many huge images, emo, and possibly Not Work Safe )
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| What's The Buzz, Tell Me What's A-Happenin'~ |
[Mar. 24th, 2008|12:32 pm] |
I have plans. Big plans for the spring. All KINDS of plans, from finishing my current fan-comic project, to resuscitating my website, to working on my writing again.
SADLY, all that will have to wait some as I handle my little household's latest vehicular accident. Once again, no one was hurt, thank God, the incident was minor, and I wasn't directly involved, but I'll be handling all the technicals for my brother. He has so much else going on right now, I'm gladly taking it on, if only to shield him from the additional stress it would entail. As it is, I'm amazed he can stand. GANBARU, MICHAEL. BIG BROTHER'S GOT YOUR BACK
To be honest, seeing him work so hard in pursuit of his dreams put me to shame, and inspired me to resolve to work just as hard in pursuit of my own dreams. This year, I'm going to make a serious effort to get something published in either a serial, or a graphic novel form.
That's why I've decided to keep fleshing out The Black Pack. It's not my most serious story effort ever, so I can play fast and loose with the writing on it and not worry too much if it tanks. I think it has enough hooks to garner a fair amount of interest, but it's not the sort of thing I'm really seeking critical acclaim with. Just a way to get the ball rolling. Although critical acclaim, or at least general internet approval would be nice.
( Guns, guns, guns, improbable characters, and even more guns. )
And so that's that, probably more as things develop. I'm already hinting heavily with the pseudo-promotional drawings I have above, but if anyone can fully guess what my plans are with the premise of the story, I'll eat my hat.
Godspeed!
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 17th, 2008|12:21 pm] |
Holy Week snuck up on me, so it could be a while before my next post of substance. Better get all these sins out of the way before I go to reconciliation tomorrow, haw haw haw.
I finally saw Kiki's Delivery Service and Porco Rosso yesterday. Unlike my previous film acquisitions (why did I ever like Gladiator?), one can never seem to go wrong with a Miyazaki film. That is, of course, unless it's Princess Mononoke or Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Because I've seen them and already know I'm not too fond of those, so I never bothered buying them. Kiki and Porco were gambles that paid off immensely though, like ninja happiness hiding in two boxes.
I feel a kind of kinship with Hayao Miyazaki, but in a distant way, like a thrice removed cousin by marriage. This man evidently loves his young girls. I mean, he really, really loves his young girls. But there's a purity in his work that I lost a long time ago, and I don't expect I'll be getting it back soon. I wasn't always such a huge pervert-- there was a time I was a kid after all, and I expect there will be a time in the future when hormones will cease to be a factor in my writing. So I guess I'll have to wait until I'm about as old as Miyazaki before I start writing girls as sugar, spice and everything nice. Or even older, Hayao seems pretty nice to begin with.
( I have a confession to make, plus spoilers. )
Fio Piccolo is terminally adorable, and if you're a kindred spirit alongside me and my buddy Hayao, you should see Porco Rosso if you haven't yet. I'm looking at you, fandomgreen. One thing though-- character design-wise, she's basically Nausicaa, with all the magical mumbo jumbo surgically removed. Personality-wise, she will induce hunger. For love.
Finally, I've made a major decision regarding one of my larger storylines. It's one of the few storylines of mine that actually features a male main character, and I wondered to myself if the story would hold if I changed the protagonist to a woman. By which I mean, he starts out as a woman, not that events in the story turn him into a woman, like so many second-rate manga I've seen seem to be doing nowadays.
Well, not only would the story hold, but it would actually become more interesting with just that single change. Nothing else changes, just the gender. Plot, background, supporting characters, antagonists, personality, attire, fighting style, etc.; all stay the same, except the main dude is a lady now. Even the female love interest remains the same. Women sure are amazing, aren't they.
( Cut for gender bender. )
Yes, that is a line from the Blues Brothers. I want to breathe a new, twisted meaning to it. If you can actually recognize what storyline of mine this man-turned-woman is from, you win the Mads Trivia Prize.
Godspeed.
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 21st, 2008|10:59 am] |
Derp.
Derp.
loopychew said he needed to finally see The Boondock Saints, so naturally, I decided to watch it again just now. Yesterday, I'd watched Fight Club again. Just recently, I read three volumes of Death Note and finally know what its schtick is.
From sometime ago, I remember reading a review of Fight Club that described it as one of the most irresponsible movies ever made. I think that should go for The Boondock Saints as well, and let's extend that to include the manga/anime/series in Death Note.
I won't go into detail about the ethics. I just want to say that at least Fight Club and The Boondock Saints make me feel like I have gigantic balls after watching them.
Death Note has a complete psychopath for a main character, which wouldn't really have been too much of a problem, if it weren't for the exacerbating circumstance of him being a completely uncharismatic douchebag. I sometimes put The Silence of the Lambs on while I putter about at home just to have Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster as background noise. Light is no Hannibal Lecter.
L is a hilariously interesting character design though, and has my complete approval. But it doesn't make up for the insufferable mangaka tendency once again to unabashedly make shit up as they go along. And as far as I'm concerned, introducing a strong, beautiful, likable woman and then very casually killing her off is something I can take as a personal affront.
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| lulz |
[Feb. 12th, 2008|10:00 am] |
DAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA
( Cut for irony. )
Godspeed~
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