writing
art
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Saturday, May 31, 2003
I wish I had more people at home (anyone at all would be mroe, really) who I could talk to about what I'm writing. I have a few friends who write (Sarah and Noelle both do, or at least used to; Leah at school does) but I'd feel really odd talking to them about anything I'm writing. I spent all of high school (well, most of it) writing the Saga and other fantasy stories and refusing to discuss them with anyone because... I have no idea. It's too intimate, I guess; I don't mind strangers I never have to meet face to face knowing all about them, but I get freaked out by the thought of friends reading them. Leah read the Saga, and I spent most of freshman year making her listen to all of my plans for it and such, which was okay, but no one else... I'm glad Dan and Matt have both said they're interested in it, but it's just weird.Maybe I should just call Sarah. We tend to have the same basic perspectives and things, I imagine she'd be a lot of help. Also, I worship her creativity, as she's probably the coolest, most creative person I know. Which just makes me sound kinda pathetic. Alas.
But I probably won't. I suck sometimes.
Becky had too much free time at 5:19 PM
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Ari doodles, Nic's character, of course. The second one would be her looking suspciously at a thing of Squeeze Skippy.
Gloria Paine, Guns's alter ego. She has terrible fashion sense.
Guns in action, blowing something up. I was much happier with this sketch than the finished version. I don't like the way her face or hands turned out; I spent quite a long time on her arms and that didn't work out as well either. Alas. But mostly the point of the picture was to draw a fireball type deal (it's actually an electricity ball or something like that) with Photoshop effects, and I like that part, so I guess it's all good.
Later (if I remember) I'll scan the pencil colored versions of the original Guns picture and the Gloria picture.
Becky had too much free time at 4:42 PM
Friday, May 23, 2003
GlobalSecurity guy uniform, AKA, what all of the henchvillains wear when trying to arrest Guns.
Rodney, Tesla's roommate. He works for GlobalNews. (Noticing a trend? I suspect that GlobalCom, who run everything, are the actual villains.)
At least I'm not really drawing a comic yet. Really.
Becky had too much free time at 2:57 AM
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Yes, more. What do you mean I have too much free time?Guns has a sidekick, based on an old RPG character of mine who never got enough use. (Pout.) So here's Tesla Gray, in sketch and color.
For anyone who's curious (does anyone actually read this place?), Tez's shirt has the GlobalTech logo on it. I'm not quite sure who/what GlobalTech is yet, but I know he worked for them before joining forces with Guns. I suspect they're a branch of the government, and further suspect the government is eeeevil. Not seriously evil, because this would be more of a sci fi humor/parody, but still the badguys. (Guns isn't leading some sort of rebel force, and has very little social conscience; she's in it for the money.)
And because I have no life, here's a Guns wrap sheet and a Tez wrap sheet.
Next up, villains! Probably... Hmmm....
Yeah, I need something to keep me occupied.
Becky had too much free time at 7:03 PM
Y'all knew this was coming, right? Guns in color. Yeah, the pants/boots/shirt would be black, not grey, but fuck a whole lot of that when it comes to coloring. You get the point, right? Of course right.
I really need someone to convince me not to do this as a comic. Someone. Anyone. Please.
Also, I updated the sketch and computer colored archives. Go me?
Becky had too much free time at 3:17 PM
Yep. Still on my mad art kick... I did something like five pages of stick figures based models at online stores... jcpennys.com was quite helpful, really. Anyway, I got a really goofy idea and... something kinda happened.
It started off by fleshing out one random stick figure and turning it into this. I really don't know what's up with her hair, but I gave her a gun because I had the name Guns Ablasin (hee, get it) stuck in my head for some sort of futuristic theif/soldier/something. Kinda like Ace Rimmer, but a girl, and less British and... Not Rimmer.
(She originally had a trenchcoat, which I just couldn't get right over her legs, so I turned it into a pair of flares. And a very special collar.)
So I drew another stick figure, which was going to be someone shrugging casually, but I decided it looked more tense than that, so it because a chick with guns, which became Guns Ablasin. I'm ridiculously happy with this; it's less action-y than I'd like,a nd her face doesn't have much of an expression, because I actually really like her pose (not from a model!) and her costume. Because I can never, ever do costumes.
Short sleeved trenchcoat? Why not? The things hanging from her belt are gunsheathes, and she's holding rayguns. Ray guns because I can not draw actual guns. Ah, well. (Also, you can't tell, but that's a turtleneck under the trenchcoat, and she's got on gloves.)
I attempted a real action shot, from behind even, with mixed results. I do think her body turned out well, though again not as action-y as I'd like, but the trenchcoat was pretty bad. Hmm.
And finally, Guns sans trenchcoat. Ain't she a looker? (Okay, so her head is too small, but otherwise I like the proportions on this. Even my hands are starting to improve a little!)
I haven't decided anything for sure about her personality yet, but I keep getting this flashes of ideas. I kind of want to give her a partner (Glory something) and do a comic called Guns and Glory. Is that wrong? 'Cause I suspect it is. I need someone to talk me down, yo. I don't have the artistic talent for a comic, and have how many other major projects? Sigh. (Anyone out there in internetland want to collaborate? she asks as though people read this.)
I have just of enough of an idea that I'm really tempted....
Becky had too much free time at 1:19 AM
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Yeah, I've done more drawing in the past three days than the last semester combined. Kinda scary. Anyway.Image sketch, first one in a looooong time. (Like, first semester freshman year.) The face is a bit wonky, but I really like the proportions on her, and the pose in general... The hand isn't great but took me FOREVER. And I really like how her legs/pants/shoes turned out. Mmmyep.
So naturally, I colored it. It's the first time I've used a strong black line; I'm not quite sure how I feel about that yet, though it made life about a million times easier. But on the other hand, it's a very flat coloring job; I used the anti-burn (dodge?) tool because I just don't understand highlights. I mean, I basically get shadows; when something is over something else, there's a shadow under. But highlights? Eep. (Maybe if I understood things like "light sources"... nah.) Anyway, I think it turned out pretty cute. (As for the background, can you tell I spent awhile today cruising sundownercomic.com?)
I may actually do a picture of Itsy something like that for the domain and change the layout. Wow, using my own art for the layout... wierd.
Becky had too much free time at 7:31 PM
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Sketches! Though blogger is being very very funky...Eh? I had an idea for a picture, but that ain't it. Well, that's almost it. But not really. Betcha can't even tell who that would be.
Smurf, from HISMSV, AKA, the newsies at camp fic.
Someone from the back, which I thought was going well, then changed my mind, then changed it back, and back again. Kinda looks like she's about to step into the looking glass or something.
Gravity defying hair! And no feet. I like this one. Her shoulder turned out so well! Yay!
And finally, the obligatory Arant sketch. Note to self: find way to make muscles *not* look glued on.
Becky had too much free time at 3:32 AM
Monday, May 19, 2003
Dude.... I think I finished the draft of Saga 21.I'm on such a writing kick. Mwahahahahaahaha! I'm doing something like five to ten pages a day; sure, a lot of it is fanfiction, but I'm finally convinced there's nothing wrong with that. I think I'm going to put myself on a chapter of Saga, chapter of HISMSV schedule... Don't get to work on one without the other; don't fall too far behind on either one, that way. Hopefully.
Yay for having no classes, no job and nothing to do but write. I can feel the power. Oh yeah.
Becky had too much free time at 4:21 PM
Sunday, May 18, 2003
Dude, I just realized that I never actually posted my Tom Bianchi sketch. It's from (according to the date Fetch is giving me) November 10, 2001. So, you know, it's about time I put it in here. (Oh, the things you find when you clean out other directories...)
Anyway, Tom Bianchi rules. His website is here, for anyone who cares.
Becky had too much free time at 10:58 PM
You know, if I ever want to write the Saga for publication, I'm really screwed. The whole thing is just deus ex machina after deus ex machina. (Did I spell it right, Kloppman? Whatever.) Seriously, Ilyan's whole purpose is to get around problems in the narrative that I created but couldn't get myself out of. Damn me for writing me into corners! And this next chapter... I mean, it's pretty necessary, but litterally, God Is A Machine. Well, Goddess. ::shrug:: If I ever rewrite it in novel format, I'll have to find some way to fix that, because it's really really annoying me now. But I'm kind of stuck with it.
Things are starting to speed up again, at least. That's worth something.
In other news, I am in love with Justin Timberlake.
Becky had too much free time at 6:19 PM
Friday, May 16, 2003
Yep. Well, being passive agressive is definitely easier. But what's the worse that can happen? ::shrug::Becky had too much free time at 1:10 AM
Dude. I'm now officially the lamest person ever. For my newsies-at-camp fic, I have Excel spreadsheets detailing all 52 characters, by name, bunk, specialty and crush.
I have too much freaking time on my hands, is what I have.
Becky had too much free time at 12:05 AM
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
And now, for a talk about soulbonding.When the whole "SB" thing became more widely known and began to spiral out of control and be about which characters were having gay sex and all... I tried to avoid the label. Because what I read at the kurai.com SB page wasn't that; it was intimacy between a writer and a character--sometimes not a character original to the writer, but someone the writer empathized with to an extreme, who s/he felt a connection to. That's what I do. That's what I have, I think, and even though (as close as I can tell) that's EXACTLY what the kurai SB page says, I still feel kinda squicky using the term.
Also, because it's not "voices in my head." Or even close. Unlike a lot of the people who claim the SB label, I don't have real conversations with my characters... now and then, a goofy bit of me-meets-them dialogue shows up (usually whining when people's stories are stalled) and at one point, I "overheard" a conversation wherein Blink was welcomed to my cast of regular characters. But really, I don't talk to them. They're fictional characters whose personalities I feel very strongly, and who I'm strongly attached to. Yes, they help keep me sane. But that's because writing exorcizes my personal demons. (Example: the vast majority of Saga Season 2 is not very secretly about terrorism and war and issues I've been trying to sort through for the last two years, and writing it in a fantasy setting helped me a lot.) And I've occasionally referred to Kalin as my in-house therapist, but that's really just a joke.
I have a hard time pinning down who're really my SBs and who are just characters I admire or love. Batman, for example, is on the line and I can't figure out which side he falls on. He represents something to me, but unlike my other characters he doesn't inspire me and I don't see him in his own environment, so to speak. Hmmm.
So here's who I think my SBs are.
Kalin Malistar - No surprise here, really. Kalin is still my closest SB, and I love him dearly. Occasionally angsty, but as he's grown up (he is an adult now) he's become remarkably down to earth and stable.
Cleran - More recent than Kalin, of course. He's less stable, too, but also very loved. The second season of the Saga revolves around him because he's close enough to me (so to speak) that I can make him a focal character and know how he'll react.
Daevan Bladedancer - Out of all of these, he's the one who goes back the farthest with me. He's been around since at least eighth grade, possibly earlier than that. I don't know where he came from exactly... Daevan intrigues me because he's bad, but not really evil; he's irredeemable but it's largely by choice. I have trouble writing him, though, because I always want him to be good and he just isn't, and that frustrates me. But I know he's a SB because when I try to write him incorrectly, I know it's off.
Blink!muse (Kid Blink Ballatt) - Shut up, I can SB with a background character from Newsies if I want. Not that it was precisely my idea. I don't know how much of Blink!muse is canon, as he is a fairly minor character, but he's become fully fleshed out in my head. I don't know quite why I got so attached to him. Hmmm.
What's interesting is that I just reread my ages old SB page and none of it's correct. Kalin and Daevan are on the "wanders in and out" list. The only one on the permanent list who I think is even close to a real SB is Itsy, and that's debatable. She's more of an archetype that I use a lot; the loud-mouthed girl who appears in lots of various situations. Similarly, Crimson-Carmon-Thiefy-Girl is so skitzophrenic because she's an archetype, too. Silver really was an SB for a long time, too, but I definitely grew out of her. (And in a lot of ways, she fit the Itsy archetype.) None of the Sailor Moon fanfic characters are still in my head (that tends to happen to fanfic characters of mine) and none of the Wierdos, nor Archer (who fits the Sarcastic Guy Archetype), Jarmee or Hall. Mythan, Breena, Arant, Kara and Mia have fared a bit better and still are around in Temira. (Well, not Mia, but the others.) And I wouldn't say any of the unoriginal types are still around. Again, that tends to happen as I grow out of various phases.
Probably at some point that'll happen to Blink. Hmm.
Aaaaanyway. I don't know why I had that on the brain. I just think it's an interesting phenomena, I'm not sure why I feel so much closer to some characters than to others, even if I think they're just as well developed in the context of the story. Also, I wonder why none of my SBs are girls. Odd, that.
(As Nic put it: "Blah, we just know you like your boys better. Admit that and it'll be fine.")
I feel like this post should have some sort of conclusion... Alas.
Becky had too much free time at 7:17 PM
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
There. I finally, finally, finally finished episode 20. What's odd is that the different bits and pieces (well, some of them) aren't bad, but it really isn't a cohesive, flowing chapter. The pre-credits bit is fine, and has no relation to the part directly after, where the sparring happens. Which is in no way relevent to the story, anyway, I just needed something. Stupid filler. And then the second half of the chapter... Blehhhhhhh. That's all I've got to say.But at least it's done and posted. I've never been this relieved to put up a crappy chapter before, ever.
Becky had too much free time at 6:47 PM
Monday, May 12, 2003
Now that I'm home, I finally have time to post the final doodles of the semester. Woo?pipe body 1 - Not too bad, really. Nothing spectacular, as it's just a body outline, but still, proportionally I think it's pretty good.
pipe body 2 - Okay, so it went from being a plain pipe body to being a not finished verison of Arant. Clearly. I wanted to do a heroic type pose, and since in my mind "hero" = "arant" this just kind of happened. Also not too bad. He kind of looks like he has breasts, though; I'll have to work on that.
pipe body 3 - AKA, "the bad one." Yetch. Now that I've finally gotten shoulders pretty figured out, someday I'll have to work on hips. And legs. And, you know, not sucking.
pipe body 4 - Also fleshed out a bit. No idea who she is. This one is pretty much just okay.
pipe body 5 - AKA, basic sketch of Aran, about to blow something up. She's very Sailor Mercury in that pose, but that's about all I can do. I think her arms are a tad bit too long.
...I am, once again, nearly done with Saga 20. I've torn the ending out and rewritten it about five times; I can't get it to something that I like. Stupid crappy chapter. Grrrrr.
Becky had too much free time at 6:38 PM