What's up people? I'm gonna try things a bit differently than usual now. Before I was uploading work both here and to my dA on the same day, but now I think it might be a better fit to save blog updates until the weekend. Particular pieces-mainly fanart-I'll probably be uploading to dA first when they're complete (I'll be aiming to do at least one a week now, whether digitally or by hand, MOTL), and tbh I do get *slightly* more traffic there vs here. Maybe when I become more prolific, people would take care to search out me blog more often x3.
But yes, while I will be updating finished fanart pieces to dA first now, I'll be cutting out all the WIP posts there, and I've already stopped uploading non-fanart pieces to the site as I said I would. And given I won't be doing anything w/ CA.org until next year, that gives me plenty of time to work on getting as much content as I can to this blog and working on my Pro-Spec site (which I'll actually be doing l8r today).
Okay, so this is a bit of a big update; let's just get to it then shall we?
First, a new venture. I've always been particularly interested in wanting to make my own video game, and a while ago I got a lot of inspiration for an idea I'm now working on moderately btwn pictures. That's all I'm saying of it now, but suffice to say it'd be neat to get it into playable form. Only problem is, I don't really have any programming experience and my artwork is only now beginning to get to a point I think could work well in main projects such as a video game. I could just as well get a group of experienced programmers to do the hard work for me, but not only is lack of money an issue there, that's also a bit of a cop-out. This is my project, my first project, and I'd like to devote as much of myself to it as possible. It'll take a little while to learn how to do the technical stuff, but I know I have the capability to do it.
Rather than using a programming language or a proprietary software like Flash, I'm going to attempt coding the game in HTML, particularly using the multimedia tags and <canvas> element. It seems like the W3C group has paid solid enough attention to the innovations of the net since Adobe bought Flash on-board, and I've seen some very neat examples of what the technology can do in capable hands. There's also the fact that the opportunities the new HTML5 standard can bring may-if the pieces fall into place as they should-remove the need for heavy-proprietary plug-in software like Flash which, good as it is, is also a bit expensive. There's also plenty of other potential benefits to HTML5, but long story short, I'm gonna give it a try and using such a standard will allow me to keep most of the money spending to game assets and marketing, while still getting to the largest possible web audience (most browsers support many HTML5 standards, the exception being the newer Internet Explorers :P).
At the moment I'm *just* learning HTML (well, again...I spent some time a few years ago at a technical college where it was one of the course material) and it's going pretty well. Just basic stuff, and I'm hoping by the time I get to the game-relevant stuff I have a solid base of how the technology works and can be implemented. In fact I'm going to attempt putting together pseudo-sites as I learn and maybe even create a website out of all of this l8r down the road next year, but for now I'll just keep things modest.
This is the first picture update I have, it being the base to the background for my Pro-Spec site. Haven't had much time over the week to work on this actually, but that should be less an issue now. I'm not sure just how much detail I'll explicitally draw and ink, as I won't be using the lineart in the finished piece anyway (it's a background!), but at least I know what to do w/ the scenery's mood. It's set in late evening, about shortly after sunset. I want it to be very neon-intense w/ a slight cyberpunk complex in there for good measure, while still keeping it grounded to what you'd expect of a modern-day metropolis. I'll have updates as it gets attended to.
Some more work on my Alita fanart piece; got around to doing the inking and starting some clean-up now. Although I was considering NOT doing any inking this time, I also think my initial reasons for wanting to stop that were ill-informed. The Bilstein picture had some really chunking work on it which I wasn't happy w, but I only have myself to blame for that. And it's not like I don't know how to moderate my pressure (although it's a bit difficult to do so when you're outdoors and it's feeling like 40 degrees).
So this time, I've taken more precautions, mainly to only ink in room-temperature conditions and to not be so lazy w/ 'reading' the pencil work. This'll be one of the next pictures to get painted, altho I'll have to do this in addition to two other fan-art pieces I'll post some roughs of next week.
Finally, the Bilstein picture. It turned out pretty well; I learned a lot more about lighting and NOT working too much w/ the underpainting base layer this time, and definitely got a stronger handling on contrasting values. Even managed to tone down most of the lines where appropriate. I still wish I could've drawn him a bit more 'badass' like, but there's always next time (which will itself benefit w/ me now being familiar w/ his design much more). This picture also solidified my color palette approach and has taught me in balancing the palette. In truth I think differently than most others in deciding what colors to put on the palette, but at least I know now that way of thinking-which I might elaborate on some day when I'm on my deathbed xD-has been paying off.
I'll also take this time to make a vow to begin doing more traditional painting again. Even tho oils would be preferable, I still like the acrylics and doing some traditional work should help balance out the monotony that eventually sets in when doing so many pieces digitally in a row. That's really all I care to say of that right now; as usual, letting the actual work do most of the talking when it's ready to present itself.
'Kay; that's all for now. Be back soon, so try and have fun even when the frost is locking up your joints (particularly for those of us on the East Coast, it's always like that this time of year) and turning you into an ice statue Sub-Zero would be proud to demolish. L8r!
What's up? Today's going to be a mess around here, it's raining and-tho I've yet to check the weather forecast-I get the feeling it'll be this way on through 'till bedtime. I like my outdoors time :(.
Not a big update like I wanted today; I've been working on a group of new illustrations but want to hold out until Saturday to post them (that would include the background image for Pro-Spec), so in the meantime I have a considerable update for Bilstein.
The flats have pretty much been put in and the first wave of underpainting's done for the big man and his chair. When I say it was a tall order given all the little details, I really mean that. But I know I'm getting much faster at this 'easy bulk work' now as well, and that's a good thing b/c it means the difficult stuff can be given more attention, particularly the effects and finishing touch.
As of now, I'm moving the picture in a different mood than I originally considered. It was going to be a sort of 'golden renaissance' piece w/ a dominant hue range of cool yellow and red earths and a warm cadmium-like yellow. Basically, something warmer and 'royal'-like I'd suppose. Well, had I been serious w/ that, I'd of actually picked some Terra Rossa or Golden Ochre on my palette, but instead I picked some dark greenish-blue, earth greens, cool earth reds and warm earth yellow (I'll leave it to your imagination to figure out the colors). That's what has led to this very grim-ish, almost cyberpunk-worthy color palette, and I like that. Always wanted to do something a little darker and forboding, and since this guy is technically a villian (and the series invested in high-tech awesomeness), it fits him like a glove. Plus I learned some neat stuff about the colors on my palette so far, and expect to learn even more as I finish this up.
Since I only have 'till the 30th to complete this, the next update will be the finished piece. After that, I have another project entry to get to work on while I also begin tackling the background for the Pro-Spec site. Just b/c the holidays are around the corner doesn't mean there's time for a guy like me to rest down and hit Santa Claus on the cell. Indeed, he'd probably be using Rudolph emoticons in his texts...that idea's always bothered me for some reason...
Okay that's it for now; see you when I come around the weekend. L8r.
Good Wednesday people; I'm not up to posting a lengthy blog today, but as per usual I come in w/ a midweek update. This time, it's the finished inks for my Bilstein boss tribute entry. These should've been finished earlier, but I ran into the issue of working on multiple pieces. Some of those are on hold @ the moment as I continue painting this one (I'll probably post some painting progress next week if it isn't already done by then or close to being done by that time).
I'm still experimenting w/ line weighing to achieve the best results, and it doesn't help that-on the paper I use-my smallest pen (at least the Prismacolor one; haven't given the Fabel-Castell one any use yet as there's no need) still goes a little heavy-handed on some areas, tho I could use some further refinement in adjusting pressure of the hand on the surface. Indeed, I didn't really 'get' into the groove for the inking until around halfway through, and seeing as how I have to ink the image twice (once to cover details, then again to close gaps after erasing), I could've gone much easier on the 1st round. Notice for next time.
Also went ahead and changed his left arm quite a deal from what I had going for a while. The old position (not sure if that's in the WIP I posted earlier; doubt it) just wasn't convincing. Inking this image was somewhat a nightmare, and like I've said before the sheer amount of detail and non-organic features on Bilstein was a big factor. I definitely will be trying more inorganic, geometric objects to draw in the future (might as well go look for that ruler while at it) so characters and instances like Bilstein aren't as much of a problem.
Even so, I'm fairly satisfied w/ how the lines have turned out. Due to the way I paint, a lot of these lines will either end up getting chopped or trimmed down a lot, something I thought of doing w/ Mai but only sparingly did so. In fact, as I attest to in the opening, painting's already started. Hoping to have the flats done today (no biggie), and working on the underpainting w/ what time can be afforded. In any event it should not take long to finish this one, even tho the amount of detail is heavy, simply b/c the overall color palette is going to be smaller (if that actually qualifies for noting if anything's gonna be easier x3).
Next week I'll come back w/ an update on this, my Alita pic and the background image I'm using for the Pro-Spec blog (yes, I finally got around to the damn thing xD), all at various points of completion. Meanwhile I'll be drawing, living and tying up loose ends. Take care; l8r.
Good afternoon you all; the middle of the week is upon us and you know what that means...yep, nothing much lol. Who ever REALLY goes into Wednesdays expecting them to rock their world? Oh but don't feel too bad; I'm here to try and inject a small dose of X...and not the kind to lead to wild kinky night you-know-what [if you're looking for that try the blog three jumps forward ;].
There are a few pictures I'll be posting. Well, more like a few sketches and some progress for my Bilstein image. I could mention about the shitload of other pictures being worked on, but for me art is more the process of showing, and everything else is either too little or too far completed to show off today. Anyway, now that such has been established, let's cut to the 'ish.
I've been doing some massive reading on the Battle Angel Alita graphic novels since a while ago, as I attested to in the previous blog. It's good-fashioned cyberpunk sci-fi seinen [I think it classifies as seinen, since it-in my opinion-is a little too complex and violent at times to be shonen, even if most of those injured or kill are cyborgs...cyborgs got feelings too ya'll] and was something I had been wanting to get the full story on since seeing the OVA some years ago, and again just recently. If you haven't already, check them out, especially if you're hoping James Cameron's adaptation will live up to the source [I'm hoping so, squarely off his work on the Terminator films...oddly I still have zero interest in watching Avatar, maybe the material doesn't strike a strong enough cord w/ me just now].
Before too long I knew I'd wind up doing some Alita sketches, which is what I have here posted above and below. They aren't anything special these sketches; still trying to work out varying issues of perspective and anatomy, only using a recognizable character this time. Since these ones are sketches, there's no telling if I'll complete them or not, but if I do I'd rather save the final versions for some sort of sketchbook. In fact, that likely will be the new plan w/ this; post w/e sketches are around for the week and finish them for inclusion in some form of something later on down the road. That way I can do new sketches for each week rather than reposting updates.
I will, tho, be posting some more progress for this sketch as it's turned into a full inked and colored image. Alita is quite gorgeous, but it took me a volume or two to really notice. And those pouty 'octopus' lips just make her even sweeter to me. There was one graphic in the extra stories graphic novel where Alita [in some revealing short-shorts] is posed ready to battle a quite formidable nemesis. The pose and overall composition and foreshortening work on it inspired me to try a recreation of that image, my own way, and altered enough to not look like a copy. It'll also give more good practice on many things, too numerous to mention.
I just started drawing this one yesterday admist completing the Avatar image and working on other pictures [not to mention attending to ho-hum chores and duties], but so far we atleast got a head and upper torso defined xD. Still figuring what I want the full shot to be in terms of a background, lighting, color etc, but for now I'm just gonna concentrate on getting the pencils laid fully by Friday. If it's alright, I might start uploading progress at each big step w/ this picture, just to give an indication of how my process is like, altho I know there will be quite some hurdles along the way that could make that impossible, but oh well, it's worth a try.
As for this big lug? Well he's still waiting to get finished, but one thing Mr. Bilstein needs to understand is that he's possibly the most complex-designed character I've ever tackled, and stupid me had to throw this overly extravagant chair into the mix as well. I have had some lousy luck in finding really good reference shots for him, so some details are being made up, others taken liberty of, etc, but there isn't any major compromise in that regard. I wanted the chair to look more Egyptian, but...well, meh, I could use some studying of Egyptian architecture sometime if in case something like this pops up again. Full-blown work on this one probably won't start until I finish the Mai image this week, but once it does, it should go by fairly quick, hopefully just a week or so, which would complete the dude right on time.
So that will finish the updates for this week. Well, I will upload the Mai image btwn Saturday and Sunday, so this technically isn't it. But until that time comes, I wish the best of prosperity for everyone out there, just so long as you do what you love. Truly, life isn't worth a damn if you hate what it contains for you day in and day out. Oh, and put down the Iphones for a while eh; Jobs wants you all to stop texting him so much in Heaven already.
What's up everyone; I haven't been as consistent as I'd like, but I've also had to rethink this whole "social networking" angle as well. Donned on me a while back that it's not so much how often I pop up to post something, it's that I make it worth the effort. Lots of other random boring details could ensue w/ that, but I don't have the energy to waste on talking about it.
Needless to say, I've been feeling very invigorated to give it my all w/ the newest works. I gots a couple of WIPs for today and a revelation for an entry in another art project over on dA, so let's go!
This is the current coloring having been done on that Chun-Li picture the lines of which I posted last week. Went back and tightened up the lines on her and Mai some, learning line weighing again. Very happy w/ the coloring so far and it's surprisingly been thanks to some simple setups, tho the road to realizing their use was convoluted. Should be done within the next couple of days.
Surprisingly I haven't done a real avatar picture for any site other than when I was around on 1UP. It's always been snippets of other pictures I was on @ that moment. This time, it's the right mood for something much more appropriate. Another artist I met on deviantART, brenthenowell, is very good w/ creature renders and designs (just check his page out here if you're interested). I'd like to consider myself a monster fan, but don't really show it that often. So, figuring that and Halloween's this month, I drew up this random design in celebration of the fact and to use as an official ava around my network sites. Will complete him after I'm done w/ the Chun-Li picture, he's gonna be scwarwy xD!!
GBK666 over on Fighting Game's Elite and sister site Game-Art HQ is holding a Boss Tribute project for the month of October. Participating artists are able to claim multiple characters from a list of 33 (I think it's about five more than that now) and draw them during that time. Oddly I picked Star Gladiator's Bilstien. Not gonna lie; I haven't gotten a chance to play these games, but this looked the closest to any Cybermorphs on that list (a game I HAVE played and loved the hell out of @ that), and besides Bilstien's design is awesome. Seriously, designs like his and most of the ones Arika came up with during their collabs w/ Capcom make me hunger so bad for their return to the scene. You can just look at him and tell he's boss, exotic and very interesting. Seth...no, just no xD. Hopefully my fan tribute can live up to his character and existing official art. Now if I could just start drawing the damn mofo.
Okay that's all I got for now; I'll only return when the Chun-Li picture is complete, so that should be this weekend (keyword: should). Until then I wish everyone the best of luck w/ their pursuits and to enjoy their lives as they are right now, and of course strive to make them better. Oh and down w/ Wall Street!! Okay, that's truly enough for today; l8r.
It took a day longer than expected, breaks and all, but I have finished the Vice entry for that pirate contest over on dA being run by GBK666 of the Fighting Game Elite club. Well...*sorta* finished...
I actually fully intended on doing a back shot to go w/ this, and even w/ this submitted version a lot of little details got chopped due to time constraints, mainly the sword and the hat. As-is, I honestly don't think it's going to win the contest but I'm not even upset about that.
See, this picture helped to remind me why I love painting w/ color again, something another certain picture I was working on for a while made me forget. It's important to never become tethered to the rules of norm if it feels 'boring' to you at the end of the day. No insult to what's been proven to work in the past, but I have to find what's up for me, and apparently I have more of a taste for impressionist and abstract than I once thought. This Vice picture it certainly rougher than I would have let it be if I had the time to be a tad more careful w/ it, but I gained a shitload of insight on myself while doing it. Needless to say, it was more of an 'experiment' and I will definitely be carrying forward in this direction so far as use of color is concerned.
Another reason I'm really happy w/ this one from a not-technical POV is b/c it helped me rapidly streamline my painting process. Layers in particular, were being really abused my me and were not doing much good in creating something w/ energy. I'll be uploading the Poison picture tomorrow to show proof of this, and hey maybe what was done w/ that picture could be a fit for someone else, but for me it was too many layers, not enough forethought or critical thinking, and boring to work on after a while. I guess I am a speedy bastard after all when it comes to this stuff; no matter the subject matter or complexity I'd rather knock a pick out in three or four days tops, and now I feel I can do that very much so.
There is another contest being ran on that club, for SNK chars in particular (gee, wonder why I couldn't just wait to submit this Vice one for that instead x3), but for right now I'm probably not going to participate in that one. I have a lot of other pictures to start painting on, using what I accomplished here as a launching pad. So the Blue Mary picture is first up and I could/should have it done by Saturday. I also really need to get around organizing Pro-Spec and finishing up pieces to host up there. In general, I need to be focusing more on setting up a good network to begin putting myself out there and finding some work w/ this art, contests can wait xD (tho they're good for exposure, certainly!).
So that said, that wraps it up here. I'll complete the other Vice picture likely sometime (it'd be a shame to let it go to waste), but there are many other ones to get to. Thing is, I'm certain they'll all get done very quickly. My energy's back for this, and it ain't going nowhere ever again.
Peace out everyone; take care and I'll be back l8r. Byez.
Not a biggie of a post here peoples; just following through on my promise to keep uploads somewhat consistent over the weekend while I work on these for that contest I mentioned yesterday. It actually ends Tuesday which is two more days than I thought, so I am gonna save the painting and final outlines until maybe Sunday/Monday respectively, and resume Poison on Monday (and finish her then too; just need to ink it now more or less).
I managed to get this one roughed here in maybe an hour and a half, not counting breaks and distractions. That also includes having restarted from a previous picture of her backside I just wasn't digging @ all, but that's my fault. Had no clear idea what pose I wanted doing this and in general I have a tougher time w/ backshots than front ones, which really needs to be worked on over time. Also, her left hand in particular gave me a really tough challenge; what's here is quite less dynamic of a posture for it than I was aiming for, but I scaled back b/c it wasn't looking too hot in the original form. Such is the life of drawing stuff like this w/ absolutely no handy references around whatsoever :S.
Again, did a nude mainly as some additional anatomy practice, and there's roughly enough detail in this and the front where I can just draw the rest of the outfit and proceed, 'cuz that's where the actual point of these entries is. But indeed, I'll never turn down some anatomy practice if I can squeeze it in there; the more the better ;)
I'll be back tomorrow w/ pics of the painting as it's done for them both; if able I'll pop back l8r tonight to post these ones again w/ the clothing on and then the paintings @ the end of tomorrow. Feeling really good in how these will turn out, since it's been a LOT of (undocumented, truly) time these past few weeks strengthening every aspect of my approach to my traditional drawing and digital painting, but I'll just let the results speak for themselves. Gonna eat egg rolls about now; have a gr8 Saturday see 'ya l8r :)
What is up, peeps? Posting a quick wip here; it's my take on Vice from KOF and in particular it's really for a contest in a club over on dA. I decided on participating on a whim and yet here I am giving this character a pirate-themed redesign that I would hope could actually fit w/n a real KOF game if ever I were so gracious enough to be given that opportunity ;)
This is what I've done so far, this afternoon actually. Partly for anatomy study as well, and to try another perspective and pose that I'm not familiar w/ in most ways. I'll be drawing the outfit l8r tonight and I'll draw a version from the backside tomorrow. Then either Saturday or Sunday I'll color both of those and have them ready by Monday for entry.
The painting's being done in Corel, but I've changed a LOT of things in my process since the last update, certainly, and this will likely be the first picture(s) to showcase that. Here's hoping the whole adventure doesn't suck xD.
Anyways, I'll be back semi-regularly over the weekend to post up progress as it chugs along, but not too frequently. And if able I might sneak in some thoughts I've had over recent issues in adapting to the digital workspace, and how I'm fighting really hard to keep my art as energetic and 'non-process' as possible, 'cuz trust me it's very easy to let the program do most of the work for you even if you know the concepts. The Poison picture (which I'm still going to finish mind you, in fact it's almost done, but I don't know when I'll work on it again over these next few days) is proof enough of that. If that sounds like a curiosity pique, it is.
Welp that's it for now. I'll try and watch a movie and more Yu Yu Hakusho later...damn I miss that show, it's pretty cool even after all these years. Can almost forgive CN for cutting the series short almost every time they re-broadcasted it, but still....oh w/e'vz. I'm out.
Morning everyone; if you stay here in the U.S you know the significance of this day. Exactly this date a decade ago, NYC, Washington D.C and Philiadelphia came under attack by a trio of botched plane flights, resulting in the damage and destruction of not only iconic landmarks, but also the loss of thousands of lives, people unfortunately caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's always been a range of theories on as to who really executed the attacks, and that's a sordid history best left told elsewhere. What one can't deny, though, is the impact the events of that day had on not only this country, but the world at large.
So take this as my ode of respect to all those who lost their lives on that day; I hope you all are doing better and just as well in the afterlife.
Events like 9/11 aren't that commonplace, I have to admit. It's spirit is still charging the range of suicide attacks that are happening even now in the Middle East, and the political revolutions taking place in places like Egypt and Libya share some sense of political common ground (as in, they were politically driven) w/ the attacks of that day. This level of distress and perhaps far worst occurs all the time in the world, and sometimes realizing that is enough to make me slightly depressed.
Ah well; even if knowing the importance of today will make some aspects a little dull, I still have to keep doing what I do. Apologies for no uploads last week; I either haven't felt up to typing up a big blog or would just prefer to actually post up some finished work for once and am holding out until that's done. I've gotten started on setting up my Pro-Spec blog, but I'll hold off until October to launch it, likely near the end of that month. Gives me time to finish up more pieces and do some custom graphics to add a personal spark to the space ;). I finally got the printer cartridges (well, the tri-color one anyway), so I can move on to some important other steps for some pics. I...really loathe the printer cartridge industry. Why can't manufacturers make cartridges that are compatible w/ ALL the printers in their family is beyond me...I smell monetary greed at work there.
Okay; I'll be wrapping this up now. I'll try finishing Super Mario World today (it's the only game I've really been playing atm; so I'll wait until I'm done w/ that before resuming Zelda and maybe Snatcher too...actually, scratch that I'll resume Snatcher today as well), tho right now the game's being an absolute awkward s.o.b w/ this sixth castle. And watch a few more shows and maybe cook some egg rolls (I got everything besides the noodles for crunch, but I was hoping to hold off on them until Monday, for food to eat through the rest of the week). Gotta go for now; take care everyone and I'll be back w/ some finished work extremely soon. Until then, take care an' l8r :)
I'm back, peoples, and it's kinda been a long time. I skipped posting up any art last week b/c I felt I hadn't made enough progress (and the fact I've abandoned the Suzuka and cloud pictures, MOTL), and throughout the time since then I have just been focusing intently on finding my strengths w/ Corel and the real direction I want to take my stuff in. Welp, I'm back now; I feel like I've gotten a fair deal of tough shit done, some ample progress, and I'll also show off one of the newer pieces I'm now just starting on. So let's jump in there, eh?..
Like I just said earlier, Suzuka and that cloud painting have been put on hiatus, indefinitely. I've learned a great deal from the effort put in both, but finishing them won't allow me to do that much in terms of reflecting what I can do *now*. And, that's what it's really about; I need to do pieces that reflect relatively well where I'm at right now. I drew those Outlaw Star pics weeks ago (my drawing skills have improved dramatically sense then, if I do say so myself ;) and the clouds one was just started on a whim to get used to painting them (which I am now,...well, at least cumulonimbus clouds are x3). It's probably true that you can turn anything to a high level of polish regardless of its starting state, but everything can only be improved by such a measure, if the underlying foundation can accommodate. That's why I've moved from those pieces for now; I have a pursuit to push myself to the levels of the artists I admire such as Joe Vriens...
Genzoman...
and Artgerm....
....and it might seem a little impossible to try and cram so much effort in so little time but I'm just that hungry to improve, I'd say. Of course, I can't neglect what progress I make at any time or depreciate that feeling of satisfaction over any piece, so even w/ these works I have discontinued, I feel eternally grateful for what they've helped me learn, as all of that carries over into the newer works (the ones here, I WILL be finishing btw!).
Newer version; grainy, rough, but the foundation's there...
This is the new 'Blue Mary' piece I may or may not have mentioned a while ago. I think this drawing's about maybe 2-3 weeks old by now (if not older), but it's still newer than Poison. I've always been a sort of semi-closet fan of SNK's characters; the original FF3 movie got me hooked into ther aesthetics and universe, and while I may tend to favor Capcom fighters from a pure playability POV, in comparison to the older SF games I think many of the later FF and some of the KOF games more than hold their own. One thing that's always impressed me w/ them is their sense of detail and atmosphere in their backgrounds; by comparison I don't think it was until Darkstalkers where I began really caring for backgrounds of Capcom's fighters, but SNK had that on-lock from the original FF. A small cavet sure, but still...
A much older drawing done back February of the same char
Anyway, I actually decided to do Blue Mary b/c I had drawn her a few months ago and inked her out, but never finished. I was going to color her digitally and all, but I just kinda moved on. Looking back, I can appreciate what I was able to do w/ that one then, but I knew I could do a much better job now and henceforth I'm carrying onward w/ the new rendition. I'm really trying to push for 'full-inclusive' sorts of shots now; work in some focus, some drama, some strong sense of perspective, proportion, foreshortening and composition. It amazes me sometimes how some really technically awesome artists, when you really think about it, stay in some very basic rooms on some of that mentioned stuff. That's the sort of box trap I'm hoping to avoid. Certainly I can see why some may be that way, b/c personal struggle @ this moment indicates that just getting one or two of that sort of stuff down is very challenging, and w/ different subject matter only that much more so. But yeah..back to the picture (lolz)..at the very least I hope it seems like Mary is "reaching out" to the viewer.
Although painting has started on this one, it's so crude @ the moment I'd rather not upload it just yet. Next week tho, I can definitely put up the painting (for all I know it might be finished by then too...just shot myself in the foot, didn't I?)
I would've put the coloring for the jeans and shirt up, but the shirt is terrible atm and why put up the jeans w/o the shirt x3?
P.S: Also, still no lines; haven't inked them yet :S
Now w/ Poison, I've finally gotten most of the base work done; the areas to tackle from here are the textures and lighting. Oh, and I still need to do the linework as well (the paper will be getting got TODAY, thankfully). It's been a tall order, and in-between the week I've had to really reorganize some files to make them easier to access and compressing active memory consumption, but all the effort's been worth it.
The original reference photo...
Somehow, I seem to be pushing for a more realistic look, not necessarily hyperrealism but not quite as simple as some of the more 'basic' anime shading either (which would actually be harder w/ my mouse setup, plus the fact I don't tend to use colors directly, aka I'm a Glazeman). Somewhat unexpected but maybe just natural coincidence. Yesterday alone I spent a good deal of time trying to paint some convincing lipstick/lipgloss and some skin texturing...the issue of constraint and finding a balance btwn too little and too much realism is really daunting, but one step at a time, I would suppose.
Btw, a closer look at the lips: busted my ass trying to somewhat replicate the ref but not ripping it. Some more tune-up work and could have something to go w/ for real ;)
..and my result, many layers and strokes l8r...
I'll leave it @ that for today's update. I do have an inkling to catch up on some games and films I haven't had the chance to do so w/ over the week, but at the same time...I REALLY don't wanna stop drawing and painting x3. Will definitely continue to try painting more of both pics throughout the day and just noting what works for me and what doesn't. At the very least, it feels good to have a head filled w/ some useful jargon again. Hope you all enjoyed the stuff, pleae look forward to next time. L8r and have an awesome weekend!
**NOTE: Apologies this didn't get put up yesterday. Irene threw me really off-schedule, and I didn't have much time to write. Also, chances are I will not be posting any new art until the next Saturday update b/c I don't feel I have enough done w/ the pictures to warrant an update this week. Everything next time should be about done tho ;)**
It's funny to mention this now, but for a while I just wasn't a really big Mario fan. I always appreciated the little Italian plumber's role in the industry; he is our Mickey Mouse after all. And as such, his games have touched us all in a very important way, making us feel like adventurous children all over again. They're also some of the most technically polished offerings on the market.
And yet, to me Mario was just "that dude" for a long time. I tried a little of 64 on the N64; it was neat, but nothing compelled me to complete it. Again w/ Sunshine on GC; fun, maybe a little finicky, but in the end it just didn't hold me over. Not even offerings like Smash Bros. Melee or Mario Kart made me want to REALLY venture out to play the main games. I blame part of this on my age at the time of those games; being either a child or teenager then, my interests gaming-wise did not lie in what I perceived subconsciously as 'child-like' fare. I was either too busy catching up on older consoles like the Genesis or making up stories and drawing, and then of course there was school to deal w/ as well.
However, recently over the past year and so, I have slowly been getting into Mario's groove, opening myself up to his main adventures-old and new-and finding for myself why everyone holds them dear to their hearts. Good, unadulterated slightly nonsensical fun. My time w/ Mario has now culminated w/ a somewhat feverish playthrough of Super Mario World, the first Mario game I might actually play through to completion. Right now, I'd like to share a bit of both the awesomeness I find in it, and some of the more naggling features that persistently bug me. It is a classic, yes, but that doesn't mean it's perfect.
--WHAT I LIKE--
As the first Mario game on the SFC/SNES-and coming right off SMB3-SMW had a lot to live up to. Thankfully it manages to meet the challenge, and I think most of that is attributable to what it gets right. The game doesn't visually look much better than B3, but what's there is very clean, crisp, festive and vibrant. The colors are energetic, the enemy designs are on-point and creative, Mario's own sprite has a good deal more detail, and the backgrounds really help pull and hold these vast visual elements together quite well.
The music, although not as diverse as B3, is damn catchy and downright hypnotizing at moments. Variations are done well and come just in time, and at default doesn't drown the sound effects or voices out. Speaking of which, I really like the implementation of whimsical sounds here; that's been a Mario staple sure, but in World I think they finally got hardware powerful enough to pull them off strongly and marry them w/ visuals that resonated just right. Everything in World sounds full of life and splendor.
The level design, on the whole, is actually very impressive. If it sounds like I'm trying to be shocking for the sake of shocking, that's not true. It's just that the first couple of opening levels in World didn't have the same punch in their design as the same opening set in Bros.3, so it was starting on a lower mark. But the twists some of the levels make are pretty inventive, sometimes ingenious, and most of the set-pieces work w/ aplomb. Also, there are a few really neat moments in some of the stages-such as Ludwig Castle 4 (probably my favorite level in the game so far)-that made me very giddy. I can see why Shigeru Miyamoto considers this to be his favorite Mario game, and for all I know it could be mines as well (but let's wait until AFTER we play the others fully-ed.note ;)
I like the introduction of Yoshi and how he helps to bring a very slight Kirby-esque feel to the game (tho he's never as good as the Kirbster). This being Yoshi's first appearance, he's introduced in a pretty logical fashion and he makes some sections quite more manageable.
I also have to mention Mario's control as a whole: despite some frustration (motl), I'd say he controls about the same as he did in Bros.3, which until it's time was the pinnacle of control in a 2D Mario game. His jump has a real sense of weight to it, he builds up running momentum reasonably, and his button inputs are pretty much dead-on responsive.
On that subject, his range of attacks is also relatively plenty for this being a Mario game. I still really miss moves like the buttstomp and triple-jump from the 3D games (and I have played a fanmade 2D flash Mario game that's extremely well-made and proves those techniques would work well in an official game), but everything he has here, from the spin jump to the dash to slide to the shuffle (yes you read that right; it's Mario's little dance and it rocks. Just sway him back and forth rapidly and there you go; look at 'em little feet dance their toes off xD!), functions to serve a direct purpose and looks pretty good doing it.
--WHAT I DON'T LIKE--
For everything Super Mario World has going for it, there are a few things that do pester me about it. I will get the biggest one out of the way first: controls. Yes, I know I said the controls are fairly rock-solid...and they're certainly not to a level where even a quarter of deaths could be attributable to them being slightly shoddy. But-and this isn't even really a control issue as it is a physics/inertia one-for me, Mario seems to get too much forward momentum coming off average-height jumps into landings. For landing and STICKING on very small foundations, this can be an issue. The problem doesn't seem to exist when it's Yoshi, just Mario, suggesting he either packed on too many spaghetti and meatball meals prior to heading out, or decided to take jumping lessons from Luigi.
Honestly, if I could describe the physics and jump inertia model of Mario in world, it would probably be " .75Bros. 3 Mario + . 15Bros. 3 Luigi + .10 Bros.2 (U.S ver) Peach"...if that makes any sense. Not that there's anything wrong w/ that, but I would've preferred a Mario who was that much closer to his Bros.3 incarnation, b/c of the 2D Marios I've played, that is his best in terms of jump interia and weight, which directly impacts the controls.
Another issue I have w/ World is the length. I don't really profuse to disliking a game simply b/c it's short. I like many arcade games and plenty of them are quite short once you know what to do w/ them. But in the case of World it's different. It's actually decently lengthy for a platformer of its time, clocking in at seven worlds (of which I'm currently on World 6). However, the reason I don't have an issue w/ arcade games being short is b/c either that's the expectation or you eventually learn them inside-and-out to cut down the time, and the process of that learning is through fair difficulty. W/ World, there's no expectation of it to be short, so it actually isn't so. What actually makes me consider it shorter than it is, is that the moments where progress stalls is where I found myself dying more to Mario's delay in inertia and stopping; if it wasn't for those moments I would have been quite further along. Granted, in those same moments the levels themselves were often genuinely more challenging (and I can't claim to be a saint in patience), but the point stands.
Yet another, much more miniscule but still annoying thing, is that the collision detection on the sloping platforms seems to be a bit "off". Take World 6-2 for instance, once you go past the green pipe. You have to make a series of jumps on sloped platforms. This isn't really a big deal, but whenever I landed on one of the slopes at their very edge w/ Yoshi, I would pass right through them. I naturally assumed those areas would still be solid, but apparently the game doesn't like that idea, and so it was life after life after life. Little things like that kind of infuriate me b/c the rest of the game's collision detection is more or less spot-on when it comes to platforms...so why not these platforms? *Sigh*...
Moving away from more technical stuff, I do have to say that the power-up system in World is kinda weak in comparison to Bros.3. Bros.3 has a megaton of other really neat power-ups-namely the Tanooki, Frog, Hammer and P-Wing suits-that are omitted from World for reasons I'm not clear on. I might be premature in that assumption-as the cape in this game actually combines several power-ups into one and there's a balloon power-up that functions mostly like the P-Wing from 3-but in the case of the former it doesn't pop up enough times and in the latter's case, it's only appeared ONCE across all of the 5 worlds I've cleared. For the most part, it is mainly the regular super mushroom or fireflower suit to be had, which actually shifts the focus closer to SMB1 than 3, and maybe that's not all bad but still, a little more variety wouldn't hurt.
(P.S: I should mention that, thinking on it some more, the power-up system in World might actually be fine as-is. I say this b/c if you take into consideration there IS Yoshi there, having both Yoshi and all the Bros.3 powerups would've made the game too easy. Yoshi appears frequently enough and w/ some enemies he can absorb a power from them. So really, the usual power-ups are probably gimped to balance out the presence of Yoshi and increased capabilities of the cape power-up).
(P.S.S: On this note, I could've also mentioned my dislike for the lack of the spade card and power-up panel houses from 3, but for the most part that also seems to work out in the end. 3 is actually pretty generous w/ power-ups if you play it smart, and w/ World you would need to venture back to older stages to get extra lives or certain other power-ups useful for other future stages (like needing the cape for stage 6-1, even tho there is no cape power-up anywhere on that stage). I think it actually adds an extra layer of strategy and tactics to Mario that, while annoying at first, I'm getting used to, and wished Bros.3 employed and hope some of the later Mario games DO feature., backtracking syndrome notwithstanding).
--CONCLUSION--
In the end, despite some of my personal issues w/ World up to now, I would have to say it's a damn fine platformer, and earns its reputation for a reason. It's slightly inferior to Bros.3 but that shouldn't take away from its charm, and it has a LOT of charm. World is packed w/ tight level design, great physics and jumping control, endearing visuals, ear-massaging music and sound, and some inventive enemy designs. It's also a fairly moderate challenge, tho it takes until about Donut Plains Level 2 to begin showing it ;). Makes me pine for the Special and Star World levels that much more xD.
Below I'll share some of my favorite moments from my time w/ the game so far: good and bad, all comical in their own way. But for anyone else on the fence of playing a classic gem like this one, hopefully I have convinced you it's worth the time. If not, all I can do is dance the Mario Shuffle and hope it fills you with the highest levels of envy x3.
Thanks to everyone taking the time to read this; hope you've enjoyed it. I'll be back this weekend w/ some art and hopefully big progress on that front, so look forward to then. Until next time, be awesome and see 'ya l8r :)
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BONUS!!!
The following's just a jaunt through some of the more memorable aspects of the game I've experienced up till now. Both downright neat stuff, and frustratingly ambysal moments, all wrapped in one quick list of blurbs. Yeah!
>The prairie dogs: Hate them. Hate them w/ a blood-soaked passion. Way more of a hassle for me than the Zeus-wannabe Koopas in their respective level. I almost hate them as much as..
>The baby dinosaurs: Don't know what they are; look like triceratops, but less dinosaur-y. They're more random than the dogs and that's where my increased hatred for them comes from xD.
>Bubbles are NOT my friend. I think it's Forest of Illusion 3 or 4...definitely one of those two stages, but anyhow...I just couldn't believe how many times I died from having a jump cut off by colliding w/ a bubble. I guess Mario's a bit more lightweight than I give him credit for :S.
>The pipe Lakitus: bastards! One of them PERFECTLY spawned a spiked koopa shell to kill me just the very moment my feet were saying 'hi' to his bald head. Could not have timed that any better if he tried. Needless to say I would love to use spiked boots on them.
>The double chain hallway bit in Ludwig Castle 4; ingenious. I still think that might be the single hardest section in the game for me as of this writing, and also one of the most fun. It's just a little section...near the end of the hallway you get a big mushroom and yadda yadda yatta. Still, the level of precision needed to get through them w/o dying, and the build-up to getting to that point, really enticed me.
>Ludwig Castle 4, in the sequence right after the hallway. A very pressure-heavy area, my favorite part is after you hit the switch and need to run your ass like MAD after clearing the fireballs as the ceiling's coming down. Only the second time in the game where the dash feature is mandatory, and just as fun as the first time (but w/o invincibility to aid you). There should've been more moments like that..hopefully there will be in these last two worlds.
>"The Jump". You know, the one where you're in that stage w/ all the triceratops-looking dinos for the first time, and you get Yoshi, warping into the silver pipe to launch out into that giant open space w/ the flying koopa. I was actually pretty pissed w/ this part b/c it seemed no matter what I did, I just could NOT clear this section. No amount of timing or momentum out of the pipe would work..unless you had the cape feather. Since I did not have that power-up, it meant backtracking to the nearest stage w/ one (Forest of Illusion 1 I believe) and not fucking up. Backtracking,...in a Mario game?!? Yes, but it wasn't that much really and I liked having to do that, 'cuz it forced a better playthrough on that particular stage. I was also accustomed to the level-back trick earlier to get extra lives for Ludwig Castle 2, and that one was much more time-consuming.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
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Howdy everyone; it's another Saturday and that means it's time for another art update. Before I begin, you'll probably notice that this one will be shorter on the text than usual. That's because I'm actually finding it harder to get the energy to talk about these lol. Between actually working on these pictures (which over the past week's meant neglecting some of them and figuring out how to dramatically streamline my process to set up an environment where these pictures can get done in roughly a day or two, as it should be ;) and life in general, there isn't enough time to devout anymore in writing up a bunch of stuff for these uploads. I'm just getting more into the set of working to actually get stuff done nowadays, so everything here is pretty much on some level of near completion...almost everything...
If this looks like she has a facial cleaning mask on, then I've succeeded.
First up is my current work on Suzuka. This one got neglected later on the past couple of days, so there hasn't been as much done as there should be. However I'm likely going to take a day out to work solely on it, and get her done then. Possibly early next week on Monday..in fact I might just do that w/ all three of these. Take one day out for a few hours and just finish them..should work that...
Okay anyhow, the picture itself really needs to be injected w/ a bit more life, and the colors and value mapping needs to get done as well. At this point I've gotten the process streamlined to a point where this should be finished faster than I originally thought, just keeping fingers crossed everything holds up well.
Probably needs a little glaze of some Burnt Sienne-ish color...
Like Suzuka my cloud painting's gone unworked on the later half of this week. But, I still managed to inject some color in there, to where it's a bit closer to the source image. All I have to really do is blend a bit more in most spots and add in the effects, and it should be done. But, chances are I'll hold off until Suzuka's finished to tackle this one.
Still a ways to go, but at least it can get done much faster now
This Poison picture managed to surprise me w/ it's original size. @ the moment it's practically life-sized, and this version imaged here takes a hit as a result of the resizing I had to do and the compression of the JPEG format. Actually, I've been wondering if it's best to scale down the image size period, but if this scale-down has proven anything it's that there might be too much data in the original to scale down too small before producing some ugly aliasing and artifacts. As for work on the pic itself, yesterday it came to my attention I was moving WAY too slowly on this, so I've begun moving at fuller blast and it's paying off big time. I'll get some more done on her Sunday but put off until Wednesday to get the bulk of the rest finished :)
Actually, this whole "slowness" deal has always been a problem for me. I've always been very meticulous about minute little details. That in itself isn't bad, but something felt wrong about me tackling that level of precesion right off the bat. In other words, I don't think I've been tackling my pictures w/ the right amount of "energy". Ever since I revamped my drawing process those have been coming along much faster than usual from basic concept to realization (inking is another matter; I could get inks done much faster now but I have another idea for doing them which would require a printer w/ working cartridges, as far as inking digital work, given I lack a tablet and wouldn't dare use a mouse for something like inking), but I didn't bother to take the same effor w/ the painting. And yesterday, when I was yet again going through meticulous stuff w/ Poison, I thought "this is boring. Let's bring some ENERGY!".
At that moment I recalled an article of a traditional artist who said that some of the most expressive stuff utilizing all the possible variety of tools and techniques available to the artist. They mentioned, for instance, that the first few stages of a painting should be where the energy is exploding, perfection be damned. Let loose and refine later on. Well,..it wasn't *quite* like that, but all the same. I had been doing the opposite even w/ these digital paintings, and it just wasn't feeling right. So, at least on some level, I agree w/ that notion and I've been pressing fuller tilt on at least Poison since, which has resolved my eagerness and confidence. That fits my mindset just fine, b/c I actually DON'T like spending a long time on these pieces; the onset of new ideas tends to draw away my interest of old ones pretty quickly so it's best to fufill them to their peak in the short while they hold my attention.
Lol, it's like Chop Shop Master Onion meets Mr. Potato Head!
Righties...so that'll complete it for me as far as today's concerned. I'll likely spend some time catching up on games and watching a few films, or just visit a good friend. In the meantime, and until next week, I hope everyone does their best to find some enjoyment and stride in their pursuits. I'll be back w/ something Wednesday, and finally put an end to this WIP madness next weekend and maybe let crack on a few other pictures in the wings. So until then, take care and prosper. Catch 'ya all next time; l8r :)
It's Saturday again, and you know what *that* means! Finally somewhat of a break xD. But before I go and do any recreational activities (and it feels really good outside at the moment; perfect breeze, sun's up, just enough clouds in the sky...watching my step before this becomes some poem) or wind down on some gaming goodness needing to be goodified, I'm here to post up some more progress on a couple of artwork pieces.
Before that, though, I do feel the need to mention that I cancelled the Valkyrie comission w/ the client between Thursday night and Friday morning. Thankfully they did not take it too hard and I even said that if and when I feel up to that again, they can reinstate the request and I'll likely do it.
However it has donned on me the past couple of weeks that this was NOT the proper time to start comissions. I had been working w/ this client for a while actually, when in truth I maybe shouldn't have. I say "maybe" b/c doing those pictures for them helped expand my skill reach, and likely helped give the motivation to begin my own push for self-improvement again. On the other hand, I probably kept changing styles and direction w/ each piece, which isn't so much a sign of being daring as it was a sign of being very unsure on even basic fundamentals like anatomy, perspective and the properties of the tools I was using.
So yeah,..that was then xD. I've been focusing very hard on improving in all the fundamentals and pushing myself to try harder each time, and it feels as though I might finally be producing some results that are living up to what I want to do. As I say, art is a continuously evolving process of improvement and experimentation; I can never be sure if I've settled into a "groove", and when that does happen I have to be careful not to get too comfortable or else the boredom and complacentness begins to settle in.
For now I'm feeling just the right balance is there, and would like to keep it that way. As for the "commission" stuff, well it's like I told that client; maybe sometime in September. There would still need to be a lot done in terms of setting prices, some payment model etc, but at this point I'm really more concerned w/ producing good enough work to get some publishing, maybe w/ a few magazines, books or comics. Commissions can be set to the side in the meantime.
Alright, so enough of the boring stuff eh? Let's get to it...
I said I'd be giving Poison a shot and am living up to that tease. First off I have to say 'damnit' to Ono and Harashi-san for forcing Ikeno to make a Poison so sexy. Or maybe I should say slutty..those are some *really* short shorts after all. Secondly I have to say 'hell yes thank 'ya!' to Ono and Harashi-san for forcing Ikeno to make a Poison so sexy. Or maybe I should say slutty...those are some--ah, well, you get the idea x3.
She's an enigmatic character despite being so flamboyant, but you could say I was only going for some sexiness here and not much more. I definitely wanted to show off her glutes in this, since that's what recently attracted me to the character. Hmm...'exxaggerate' her glutes his maybe more like it. For anyone worrying that her holiest of holies is getting a squeeze too tight into cameltoe territory, keep in mind it's kinda more like a skirt those jeans are now. Or atleast are supposed to be..they might need to look more skirt-like.
I've been trying to find a balance between my influences for a while now, and this Poison pic is sort of an evolution in that regard. Talking about a "style" isn't really relevant; it's just a reflection of what I've been learning for a long time now and am managing to put into practice. What others make of it is on their hands. I just want her to look hot xD. Painting hasn't started on her yet; I haven't even settled on a palette or color scheme/mood, but tomorrow looks alright to get that done. And from there hopefully it won't be much time to finish.
If it's not a problem, can we divert for a second? Up above is a sort of "test" I've been doing to see how certain elements would mesh together in terms of the art. The drawing itself is of a character named Anubis from the really old anime series Ronin Warriors; he was my favorite character in the show :). Anyway, I've been trying to get a better grasp of color, shading, and lighting and just sorta used this old picture as a test to see how my manipulation w/ certain painting and brush techniques would work out in combination w/ line art. The palette I drew the main colors from is about the same as the one I'm using for Suzuka, minus the skin, which I made a more unsaturated, deeper color. So far I'm really just doing this to see if my understanding on color saturation and temperature is on-point, although I wouldn't call the coloring on his face near finished :S.
Specifically, since I want a more realistic style in general, I have to adapt to more realistic rules of lighting. I come from a traditional background and that will always shape my view on color, which is a very good thing. A while ago I read up on some stuff speaking of how the temperature of a light source can affect the shadow of objects contained in its range. I think the general rule is, in real life, the way colors and light works in that regard is that brighter, saturated colors (on the rainbow scale) absorb more light while darker, 'purer' (unsaturated, is what I'm trying to say) colors reflect more light.
This is immensely interesting, as we also know that brighter colors reflect heat while darker colors absorb heat, so there's maybe a proportional relationship between a color, it's saturation level, and the amount of light it absorbs being counter to the amount of heat it absorbs. If I can keep this in mind while painting, I maybe can finally break past some of the color and lighting barriers I feel have been keeping me on lock for some time..though I still need take many other things into consideration. Honestly, a topic like this is too in-detail to talk about in a post like this, but I just needed to get that out there, it's been on my mind like forever and will be there for all the same.
"Nevermind the orange streak there...working on it..."
Okay, so w/ that in mind maybe this Suzuka picture can be seen in a different way..or not x3. So far the painting is still in the other stages, as is the blending. The blending is actually very tricky; I want the colors to still stay clear and somewhat present, but too much blending will start making things murky. Maybe this piece has an Impressionists tone going for it right now? Truly I wouldn't know; I've only been trying to work w/ color and blending in a way that feels good and by some chance it is going in this direction x3. I don't even know much about Impressionist art, so maybe that's worth reading into in the near future as well.
Regardless I think I'm starting to get a solid grasp on how to shape the rest of this picture, so now it just comes down to how soon it can be done. Being the way things are, I'm in no rush to speed through this piece unless I'm being very careful along the way (I've barely been touching the Undo button except when the mouse gets super-screwy when I lay a stroke, and most of the actual painting is being done on one layer...yeah, that's more traditionalist habits carrying over).
That appears to be all I got for this week; well, there are other pictures around but I don't feel ready to show anything about 'em just yet ;). Their time will come, surely. Meanwhile I just want everyone to enjoy their weekend so they're refreshed for next week. Do what 'ya gotta do, basically. I'm off to have some fun (well, wash clothes and cook lunch, then fun) for now, and next week I'll part some words on that crappy movie I saw (sad really; the prequel was pretty awesome). L8r out everyone.
