Running Into Jupiter At High Speeds

nom nom nom

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:29:48 GMT

It's a new year, and I'd just like to remind everyone of something.

That I am a DAPPER FUCKING GENTLEMAN.

This was the first year since middle school that I've actually gone out for New Year's Eve. I went and saw a fireworks display with my friend Penguin, and then we went back to her house and played Guitar Hero and listened to 90s Europop. I had a lot of coffee though, which I don't have very often, and have had a serious stomach ache and headache all morning long. My sister was the one who went out drinking, but somehow I got the hangover XD

Also, I made noms!

These are mini pumpkin pies, and the recipe can be found here. Now, I hate cooking, but I love baking. Cookies, cake, you name it. I just love it. It's the only vaguely feminine thing I do. So, Bakerella is one of my favorite blogs. I've made some stuff from that site before, like red velvet cake balls (delicious!) and candy graduation caps (adorable!).

The mini pies are pretty good, but I have some problems with the recipe. My biggest complaint is that the recipe makes too much filling. I made 24 pies, and that only used about half the filling. Fortunately, I had a third crust left over from Thanksgiving, so I made a third batch - but really, there was enough filling for 4 batches. Also, the filling could use a bit more of the spice. It calls for 1 teaspoon, but that really doesn't add that much flavor. And the cream cheese is a bitch to get smooth in the filling. But still, the pies are cute and pretty good. I didn't add chocolate to mine, though - the idea of pumpkin and chocolate mixed just doesn't appeal to me.

Anyways, happy new year, everyone!

i lied, i do have some art to post this month

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:49:51 GMT

Normally I hate posting twice in one day, but I just have to mention this.

My parents got me a new tablet. Shiny new Intuos 4. I was just playing around with it, and started work on inking something I scanned before I came home. Check this out:

That was done with only a 7px hard black brush. Now, I'm one of those people that believes that tools alone cannot make good art. But really? This is amazing. My old Graphire could never do this. I am stunned. Also, the stylus came with multiple nibs, which create different textures. Haven't figured out how to change them out yet, but that's pretty neat. This tablet is the closest a tablet has ever felt to drawing with pencil and paper to me. Just. Wow. Thank you so much, mom and dad.

Also, I have to name her. My old tablet was named Larry. I'm thinking of Guinevere for this new one.

i'm so shallow when it comes to top hats

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 23:08:13 GMT

I just got back from seeing the Sherlock Holmes movie. The theatre was totally packed, which was surprising. I know that it's the opening day, but I didn't realize how popular the movie was already. That, and I'm used to theatres being empty on Dec 25.

Anyways, the movie was fun. Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr have great chemistry as Watson and Holmes - they threw banter back and forth all throughout the film, and it seemed very natural. The film picks up after the characters have been working together for quite some time, and the acting really makes it feel like the two are very close. I'm very glad that the film didn't fall into the stereotypes that many adaptations of the story gets into - Watson wasn't the bumbling comic relief (as is seen in the later stories, but never in the originals), Holmes never dons a deerstalker. Now, it's been ages since I've read the books, so I can't vouch too much for accuracy to the stories, but it was still a fun watch. It drags a bit in the third act, though. And Mark Strong makes such a good villain.

I was pretty much suckered in to seeing this because of the costumes, by the way. I love me some Victorian clothing.

Also, seems that Robert Downey Jr believes that Watson and Holmes are gay. I'm sure with that, he made a loooot of slash writers very, very happy.

why i won't be seeing 'avatar'

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:01:27 GMT

I am not going to see James Cameron's Avatar. I am not interested in white guilt recycled in space. Yes, I know that many sci-fi stories are some sort of race issue in space (or almost-space, ala Bladerunner), but at least Star Trek, Bladerunner, etc, try to be original. Avatar is clearly just white hero going "native", with the "natives" being a blatant show of othering and exoticism. People have been calling this "Dances with Smurfs", and really, that's what it looks like (though, I like to think of it as Ferngully + alien tits - Tim Curry's sexy voice). Now, this may be a bit disjointed, since I'm just posting this in case anyone asks me why I won't see this. So, I think I'm just going to do bullet points on why I won't see it.

1. The cultural appropriate to make the Navi "exotic". In an interview, Cameron said this about the design for the aliens' clothing: I designed her costumes based on a taparrabo, a loincloth thing worn by Mayan Indians. We go to another planet in this movie, so it would be stupid if she ran around in a Brazilian thong or a fur bikini like Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. So, a fur bikini is stupid, but Mayan clothing on a non-earth world isn't? That just confuses me. But my main problem with this is that the Mayan culture is being othered because Cameron thinks it looks exotic/"native". Every promo image I've seen of the Navi has the aliens wearing feathers and beads and using bow and arrows... and it's clear what they're going for with this. It's the stereotypical image that a lot of people have in mind when they think of Native Americans before they learn what kind of clothes Native Peoples really wore. By dressing the Navi up like this, Cameron is making people think of Native Americans, and enforcing the stereotypes of Natives as "earth people" or whatever.

2. The sexism in designing Zoe Saldana's character. To be specific, Cameron's "she's gotta have tits" statement. This. Bugs. The. CRAP out of me. Cameron has had plenty of strong female characters before, like Ripley and Sarah Connor. I love Sarah Connor. I love her to death. She's one of my fictional role models. And one of the reasons why I loved her was because she wasn't there just for the male gaze. She wasn't supposed to be hot, she was supposed to be strong. Now, that's not to say that hotness and strength can't go together - they totally can, look at that bombshell Princess Leia. The problem I have with Cameron's statement is that by saying 'Right from the beginning I said, "She's got to have tits," ', that's saying that her sex appeal comes before her strength, before any other characterization at all. In the interview Cameron said this in, he also stated that "real women are complicated", and that men need to realize that real women "don't look and act like Vampirella". Yet here he is, saying that the most important feature on this female character is her TITS.

3. The CGI hype. Okay, this is my weakest argument against it, but still, needs to be said. It feels like everyone I know has said that they don't like the story for Avatar, but they'll see it "for the good CGI". Well, I'm sorry, but pretty graphics aren't enough to make me see a film any more. I saw 300 because I thought the effects looked cool, and that was a huge waste of eight bucks. Besides, I don't even think the effects look all that better then other films I've seen.

4. The White Savior becoming one of, and then saving, the Noble Savages. Just... that. I've said it. It's the same plot as Dances with Wolves and other white guilt movies. I hate the fact that the natives have to be 'saved' by the White Hero. I'm sick of that cliche, and the way that it implies that native peoples can't save themselves.

So, there you go. Why I'm not seeing Avatar and would rather not hear any more hype about it.

seems i have a deep love for 90s europop

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:22:32 GMT

I'm a terrible person, but I want this to happen so insanely badly over at T9.

Also, this is pretty much going to be my only art post this month - I haven't had time to draw with finals, and I'm not taking my scanner home over the holidays, since it'd be a pain to take home.

yet more boring stuff about school

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:23:24 GMT

Last day of my last week before finals is over. Wow. It went by... really quickly.

Got registered for classes last night, which was a really good idea, because I checked the course listings this morning, and about half of the classes I signed up for were filled. Though, I think their server almost crashed from so many people that stayed up until midnight.

Thursday is my last final, so I'll be getting to go home on Friday.

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:42:03 GMT

Registration for next semester starts at midnight, so I'm staying up to do it as soon as possible. Mainly because I've already had to completely revamp the schedule I set up because of classes filling up. I had to revamp it twice.

Also, what logical sense does it make to only offer one History 161 (US from 1607-1877) class at a huge university like this and cap it at 96 people? Seriously, this course is a core requirement for every major. What. The. Hell.

brb, laughing my ass off

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:41:18 GMT

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA

CLASSES WERE CANCELLED UNTIL 11AM.

BECAUSE OF SNOW.

TWO INCHES.

OF SNOW.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

THIS STATE IS CRAZY

i need to get over this fear of posting just a video

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:35:37 GMT

Oh hey, I just found my Meatloaf CD. So here, have some epic rock spam.

Now that? That is true rock.

Also, did you know that Meatloaf and Tim Burton had planned to make a Batman musical? Somehow I doubt it would be as epic as this one.

they're all too busy watching the weather channel

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:41:32 GMT

People in this state are crazy. The highways in town were shut down due to multiple accidents yesterday... because of one inch of snow. That melted half an hour after it stopped snowing.

And I keep seeing people wearing parkas/gloves/scarves/etc in 55 degree F weather. Just. Just what.

I think I've finally given up on Heroes. (Segway? I need no segway!) There's a lot of reasons, and I'll do a full write-up on why later, because I feel my concerns with the show are valid. I know that hating on Heroes has become sort of a bandwagon right now, and I want to make it clear that my love for the show during the first season still stands. But that doesn't mean that I can't criticize what's happening to it now. This will have been the first time I've given up on a show for a reason other then 'I was bored with it' (which has happened with Lost, Desperate Housewives, Smallville, etc), and because of that, it's important that I say why. But I'll discuss this later.

In slightly more optimistic news, I got 195/200 on my Bladerunner and film noir paper. Nice.

this is me thinking this might interest someone, somewhere

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:15:29 GMT

I finally finished my term paper in my film and literature class. I've been doing research for it since the third week of school. I've compiled three annotated bibliographies on it. I've written four drafts of it. And it's finished, printed, and turned in to the prof. And because I'm feeling especially nerdy, I'm going to share with all you my (sort of) abstract.

This essay is an exploration of the film noir genre and its evolution, using Howard Hawks’s The Big Sleep and Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner as focus points of a forty-year span of film. It argues that film noir as a genre did not end in the 1950s, as is the popular belief, but has lasted through the 1980s and into the present. Part of this argument lies with the emergence of the neo-noir genre, introduced in the 1970s, which, despite aesthetic differences, is still true to the classic genre. It also discusses the way in which noir has lived on through the use of noir elements and themes in seemingly unrelated genres, especially science fiction. Through out the essay, I will elaborate on how the two focus films both fit into and influence noir.

If anyone's interested in reading an essay on the film noir genre and it's last effects on film, let me know and I can email you a copy of the paper. God, why am I saying this? I'm such a geek :B

Now I need to get back to writing a paper on the influence of Rome on the modern day. And then rewrite an essay on why the film adaptation of Ethan Frome fails at framed narrative.

more art!

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:07:08 GMT

Eibborn! My half of our trade is done! :D

Eib balancing a laptop on his nose while doing a handstand. :D I dunno, I thought it was cute. And if you look closely, the screen on his laptop is the main page of the Sabrous website.

Tried some stuff out on this as far as coloring goes. I was tried to just loosen up and let my painting get a bit messy. I think it turned out pretty good. Also playing with pens. I've found I really like my Staedler chisel-tip and Micron brush-tip pens. They make for some really nice inking.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:24:27 GMT

Hey, so remember last month when I said I'm going to do an art dump once a month? Well, I'm keeping to that. So, hey. Art dump time!

So yeah, like the cut said, this is going to be a lot of unfinished sketches. So this is really more of a sketch dump then an art dump. I just don't really have the time or energy to sit down an do a full drawing much anymore. These (with a few exceptions) were quickly done between classes. Anywho.

First off, an unfinished sketch of Holly Short from the Artemis Fowl series. Eh. Not much to say about this.

One of the few things I took time on. This fine fellow is Jack, a character in a short story I'm working on. He's a cowboy with a robotic arm. And he's black. From the same universe as my 'Paper Bird' stories, but from the America ersatz country of that world.

This was supposed to be Emily and the Lamp Lighter from my Paper Bird short "The Lamp Lighter", but I gave up on it.

Tomas, from a project I'm working on. He was in my last art dump, but I made some changes. His hair is longer, and he's got a tattoo (which says 'Sanctuario'). I think he looks a bit older here, which is more what I had it mind for him.

Slowly, slowly working on his project. Not much time to do so.

Playing with DEC markings. They're normally mostly white, with black and blue markings. But occasionally you get a mostly black or mostly blue one. This guy is black, with a blue stripe on his face and belly, and the rest of his markings are white.

The DEC are a mildly psychic race, which helps make up for the fact that most of the species has really poor eyesight. Most all DEC are partially colorblind, and a few are fully colorblind. Most tend to be near-sighted. I think a DEC using goggle-like glasses would be really cute.

This is Rei. He was literally my first original character - a Brazilian time traveler that a friend helped me create back in middle school. ....also, shut up, I like Zoolander.

I'm apping Rei to T9, so I've been doing a lot of sketches of him to use for icons.

Colored images are ones I'm actually using for icons.

Rei's pointed ears and a forked tongue are a side effect of his time traveling powers. They were granted to him by one of the Guardians of Time and Space, which was in the form of a dragon. As Rei ages, he'll slowly turn into a dragon identical to the one that gave him his powers, and will replace that Guardian.

Sketching Rei made me remember my other middle-school era characters. These were my main three of the time - Elaine, a normal girl that has to deal with a lot of crazy magic users and has been infected by that magic; Puck, a former friend of Rei's, who is also a time traveler, but was booted from his universe into Elaine's; and finally, Demie, a bighorn sheep-type faun. These guys were in a comic I wrote and drew during middle school, called "When Idiots Collide". It wasn't very good, but it was fun to write. Also, all my characters back then had pointed ears. Don't ask me why; I don't know.

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving. Waaaant tuuurkey

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:05:33 GMT

Never drive 800+ miles in three days if you can avoid it.

Grandfather's funeral was... nice. My dad put it together, so it was less a standard religious thing and more just everyone telling funny stories about the guy. I liked it. I think it was the best funeral I've ever been too, since it was more the celebration of life then mourning of death.

My sister found her old copy of the soundtrack for Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and gave it to me. We listened to it in the car, and I've got to say, it is one of the most intense and metal soundtracks I've ever heard. Also, slowly but surely, I'm gaining more and more old BB swag for cheap.

Sink's leaking in my dorm faucet pretty bad, I'm thinking of calling maintenance to come and check it out on monday.

GOD I'M SUCH A NERD :B

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:39:27 GMT

I want to watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Day of the Locust back-to-back and then write a paper on the use of the grotesque, the surreal, and the deconstruction of the American Dream presented in the two films.

However, I think that watching them back-to-back would be so much of a mind-screw that by the end of DotL, I'd be reduced to a whimpering ball cowering in a corner.

...I also want to write a paper on framed narrative and the use of children as a symbol of innocence and imagination in The Princess Bride, The Adventures of the Baron Von Munchhausen, and The Fall. Because I'm just that lame.

in which i am helpful to other nerds

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:53:34 GMT

Most of you know that I play Terry McGinnis/DCAU's second Batman over at trans_9. I've been playing there for over a year now, and perhaps the only real problem I've had (besides rp commitment issues which I've done a pretty good job of getting over) is finding good user icons. I've found a few here and there, but since the show has been over for six years, and the fandom is pretty much dead, finding decent pre-made icons is pretty hard. I've made most of my icons myself.

And that what this post is for. As of now, I have about 30 icons that I use between my two rp journals, and more that I've made but don't use. And I'd like to share them. To give a hand to other Terry rpers out there that need icons.

Just so you all know, I'm doing this totally out of wanting to help my fellow BB rpers. <3 You don't need to credit me, or even ask permission, since these are all pretty simple and some aren't the best quality. I'm not trying to become an icon maker or anything, I just wanna help out. :3 Though, I wouldn't mind if you drop me a line if you use any icons - I always love to talk to another BB fan. Also, feel free to request icons of specific characters, if you'd like. I'll probably update this post as I make more icons, so if there's a character or certain scene you'd like to see, let me know!

Now enough talk, ON TO THE ICONS!
1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18.

19. 20. 21.

22. 23. 24.

25. 26. 27.

28. 29. 30.

31. 32. 33.

34. 35. 36.

37. 38. 39.

40. 41. 42.

43. 44. 45.

Like I said above, if you have any requests, let me know, since I'd love to help out. (And any excuse to get to watch BB makes me happy)

Kind-of sort-of cross-posted to beyondgotham and itsmynamenow.

happy halloween :D

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:27:54 GMT

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Here, have some art with ZOMBIES!

And if you're interested, progress shots can be seen here.

zombies on the brain... such an ironic phrase

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:47:56 GMT

So, I wrote a quick, spontaneous short story. A short piece from the journal of a doctor that's trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse. Though, hopefully not as stereotyped as one may think. Read under the cut:

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

It's been a year since the Infection first broke out. Writing that… it terrifies me. It's been a year. A year of Hell. We've been walled up in this compound for a year now. I've been keeping this journal for a year.
We sent a recon group out a week ago. It's getting harder and harder to send anyone out anymore. We saved so much gasoline when we first moved into the compound, and now it's almost gone. I don't know what we'll do when we run out. The bus is the closest thing we have to an armored car, so it's the safest thing to go out in to find supplies. I don't want to think about trying to get supplies by foot.
The recon mission got back three days ago. When I went to check them for wounds at the gate like normal, there was someone I didn't know on the bus. I know everyone here.
They said that they'd found him wandering around down on the old country roads. He told them his name was Brian, and asked for shelter. No one wanders around outside the compound on foot except the Infected, but he didn't have any serious wounds and his speech wasn't slurred. He didn't have jaundice infections, either. They assumed the best and brought him back with them.
Even though he wasn't infected, that didn't automatically mean he was healthy. He was dangerously skinny, for one. When he pulled off his jacket to let me check him for wounds, I could see his ribs protruding from under his shirt. His arms were just flesh and bone. It might have been starvation, it might have been anorexia. I don't know.
He also had this terrified look to his eyes. Like a deer in the headlights. There were dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days. His clothes were covered in dried blood and dirt. I don't know if the blood was his or someone else's. He clung to a beaten up old electric guitar like it was his baby. He'd been totally silent as I checked him, but as soon as I pried the thing from his hands, he started screaming until I gave it back.
I've never heard a human scream like that. Not even an Infected. Then again, when they start to decay, the vocal chords go pretty fast.
After that, he was silent again.
He was taken to see Brakke and Romerez. They're our leaders. We used to have a third, Grant, but he was bitten on the last recon. Romerez had shot him herself so that he could die before the virus took him over. We're working on deciding who will take his place. We'll probably vote next week.
I don't know what this kid said to Brakke and Romerez, but they agreed to let him stay. They probably would have let him stay permanently, but he made it very clear to the whole compound that he was just going to stay a few days then leave with a few supplies.
The kid – I shouldn't call him that, he's probably in his mid-twenties – was messed up. He was quiet, and always checking out his surroundings. He didn't like staying in a single spot for very long. He wore this short English-style trench coat that was covered in blood, but he wouldn't let anyone clean it. And that damned guitar. Whenever someone touched it, he'd start screaming again.
Despite all that, he was still a pretty nice guy. He made jokes a lot of the time, and was polite. Turns out he was a chain smoker, and once someone gave him some cigarettes, he opened up.
He was from New York. He'd been in California when the Infection first surfaced. He was trying to get back to New York. He'd started out with a car, but once the gas companies stopped operating, he ditched the car and continued on foot.
Clearly, he was crazy.
But he brought everyone hope, at least at first. If he could make it to Colorado without being turned, then things must have been getting better. That's what we all told ourselves.
I guess we were wrong.
Yesterday, Clara Prachet tried to ask him to take a letter to her sister in Kansas. Brian refused, but Clara kept asking. Other people tried to talk him into taking their letters to their family in the east. No matter how many times he said no, everyone kept pushing. I'll never forget what he said when they pushed too far.
"You fucking morons don't GET IT," he started screaming. He shouted it over and over, probably about five times, until everyone was quiet.
"There is nothing out there. Your families are probably dead, if they're lucky. The Infected are all over the fucking country. I'm still clinging to an idea that I'll probably make it home and everything will be okay. But reality is, New York is probably dead. I'll probably be dead in a few months, too. So you should all face the goddamned truth. This is the end of the fucking world. We're all fucking doomed."
I think I heard him crying that night, when he was trying to sleep in the dorms with us. This morning, he was gone.
Craig Wiez, Ray's son, tried to steal painkillers from me this afternoon. This is the second time this month. I should try to find a padlock for my cabinets.
Tomorrow is weekly check-ups. I need to make sure all my equipment is sterilized. I should probably wash my lab coat, too.
One year. Jesus.

- Dr. Roman J. Derek
Journal 11/8/2019

The title is from the last line of Yeats's "Second Coming", which inspired the story. That, and zombies just seem to be everywhere this year. There's the Blackest Night comics event... T9 is running a zombie invasion plot... I felt like getting on the bandwagon. Also, it gives me a reason to finally use my 'zombies' tag again.

On an unrelated note, it snowed today. All these NM desert-dwelling kids were shocked and freaked out at the early snow, but as someone from CO, I'm used to snow by Halloween. It finally feels like October to me.

comics are expensive

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:51:08 GMT

Now that I'm trying to get into comics, I've decided I need a job.

new default icon

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:41:22 GMT

Decided to update my default user icon. I've changed by glasses, hair, and location since making that old one, as well as got a pair of goggles. But I kept little dragon.

But, yeah, just alerting people, because I'm not sure if everyone is like me, but when I see a new icon on my flist I tend to be a bit confused at first. I may just be weird.

Mainly, I wanted an icon that showed me actually smiling. The old one was too... 'broody angsty'.

Also, GOGGLES!

i'm just standing still

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:27:49 GMT

Since the first time since the second week of school, I finally feel like I'm not drowning in homework. It's... a really, really nice feeling.

So, like I said, I went back to CO over the weekend. It was... a lot of driving. And I mean a lot. But, it was also fun. I got to hang out with a friend of mine, and give my kitties hugs. I found out a friend of mine is going to be the Queen of Hearts for Halloween, which is an awesome coincidence, since I'm going to be the Mad Hatter. Too bad we'll be 450 miles apart :/ Maybe we can talk our friend in Chicago to be the White Rabbit and we can all be Alice in Wonderland characters together... while apart. I missed getting to hang out with another friend, who turned 21 today, whose birthday I was going to help celebrate early, but I couldn't get a hold of them at all. Which sucks.

I have kind of missed CO. The seasons actually flow right there! I've been so confused about what month it really is down here, because it feels like it's still August. Back home, it was chilly, the first snow of the year had already happened, and most of the trees had lost all their leaves. That, to me, is a normal October. Only last week did the trees down here start to change color, and it's still getting into the 80s some days. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. Though, it did rain today. That's... fall-like, I guess.

I also got my hands on a few comics these past weeks, which I'll probably talk about soon. I've also been working on my SEEKRIT PROJECT. Design phase is almost done, and I'll probably start the actual thing sometime this week. I'm working really hard on it, and it should be really interesting, so keep an eye out for updates.

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:07:49 GMT

Back from Denver. Had fun. Went shopping with my Goth friend. Bought books.

I have more to say, but I am really tired. I managed to got back to NM two hours earlier then I expected, though, which is good.

I need to finish an outline for my Western Civ midterm and study for my geology midterm. Civ is a take-home test due wednesday. Geo is in class tomorrow morning.

Oh, and I got googles. Sweeet.

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:50:40 GMT

Going home for a four day weekend. Driving all the way. 450 miles. Need to leave soon.

Whee.

i know it's a kid's series but i love it

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:49:20 GMT

Whoot, Artemis Fowl graphic novel 2 is out! That was my favorite book in the series, and I love the design of the GN (especially Holly's design). Though, they did leave a preeeety big plot point in the first GN (well, small for book 1, important for book 2), so I'm not sure how they'll get around that. But, yeah, I may just order it off Amazon and have it shipped to me. Or wait until I go home for fall break and get it from an indie shop in Denver.

Though, my first thought when I found this out was 'Sweet, more icons for Holly's rp journal!'

sketch dump!

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:53:54 GMT

Exactly what the title says! I'm thinking of doing a sketch dump once a month from now on.

I'm working on the designs of some of the characters from Paper Bird. I just can't seem to be satisfied with Sam's face... he's supposed to look kind of ferret-y, but without looking totally cruel or unpleasant. Didn't really capture that here. Emily's design is sort of set, but I was playing with her a bit here. I think she looks to innocent with her hair down.

Kahlil's design is perfect and I love it and it was influenced a lot by the art style used in the X-men: Evolution cartoon. No, really, I based him on a mix of Prof. X and Wolverine. ....I shouldn't have admitted that.

So, there was this OC meme that I was going to do on DA, but decided against it. I did do a few sketches of Sam for it, though. This is yet another design for his face. Getting closer. Close up of his eye, too. He's supposed to look tired and have kind of blood-shot eyes, which I think I was able to do with that sketch.

Full-body of Sam for the same meme. His head is too big. :/

I also thought about doing the meme for Emily. Working on hairstyles for her. She looks so much more coy and conniving with her hair up.

Doodle of Kahlil. He was supposed to be playing with a mechanical spider, but I didn't finish.

On to the aliens! I posted the color version of half of this turn around earlier in the week, so I'll go ahead and post the full sketch. DEC 6-208, who I've been mentally referring to as DEC Seis Doscientos Ocho, or just 'Dosci'.

Tomas. He and Dosci are for my secret project. I'll say this much: Tomas is a 19 year old Mexican, and Dosci crashed a spaceship in Tomas's backyard.

Profile view of Dosci. Trying to figure out how DEC look from all angles.

Profile view of Tomas. He's got a pretty big nose.

This was drawn pretty much just to define a scale. Tomas is a pretty short guy, and the DEC are HUGE. They're about 6.5 feet, over 7 if you include the ears. Also, DEC are totally hairless, so they'd be confused by human hair.

Possible concept of armor for a DEC. Not too sure about it.

This was just a quick exercise. I was using a brush-tip pen to try and draw a DEC in as few strokes as possible to work on streamlining their form a bit.

Dosci strolling along. Point of interest: DEC toes. Their 'thumb toe' was on the back of the foot on the original design (seen here) like a bird's hallux (the backwards toe), but I've changed it. Now it sticks out from the side of the foot, more like the thumb-like toe on a chimp or ape foot. I could go on and on about how the DEC evolved feet like that, but I'll spare you from that.

I thought it might be fun to play species-swap with Dosci, so I drew him as a nikitak from Inhuman and Sabrous. Of course, he would have rather a lot of markings for a nikitak, but I still think he looks ADORABLE. Though, going from having a single hand on the end of a tail to having four hands would probably be very, very confusing for him.

Fan art of Murdoch, the necromancer from Sins. A bit darker then the actual character is, but I felt like putting a different spin on him.

And finally, a very, very angry cat. I drew this because I'd read over 100 pages in one book for lit class only to realize that I was reading the wrong book. Now I have to get at least half way through the other book. Fortunately, it's short, but I've decided not to annotate it, because I just want to get through for class on tuesday. So, yeah, angry kitty.

In other news, I finally finished the Zot! Black and White Collection by Scott McCloud. It had some problems, but I really liked it. The conflicting ideologies of strict science and loose imagination where interesting, without be contrived or a bit science versus magic/religion/whatever plot. I also really loved the focus on the mundane - I've always dug looking at normal people doing normal things in a epic setting, because it helps me relate to the characters. Sure, I wanted to know what Zot was up to, but I could relate to Jenny's yearning to be in the perfect alternate earth and trying to deal with an idealist in a world that doesn't live up to their standards. The art could be better, and sometimes the story is a bit scattered, but it's definitely a good read.