First week back on a new episode this week. Next week will be my last week and then I have a three week hiatus. The episode I’m on has a very lite rewrite. It’s a very special show for the Fox producers and they are very happy with it.
I’ve been assigned Act 1, Act 3 and the Couch Gag. I’m halfway done with all of those assignments and it’s only Thursday of the first week. Like I said, VERY lite rewrite.
VIDEOS
The following video is a really good talk about how an artist can protect themselves from being taken advantage off. Especially if their client decides to NOT pay them for the work they do.
As can be seen from the title, the talk uses very rude language. Still, the content of the talk is such that I thought it really needed to be shared:
ART
I’m taking a small break from my “Illustrated Film” to finish up my BLACK TERROR KID comic. My film is taking so long I really felt like doing something I could finish. If there’s something I know how to do, is finish a gag comic. I’ve been making them since I was in fourth or fifth grade.
It’s coming along nicely. I thought I’d share a bit of my process this week, and next week I’ll start posting the finished pages. I plan to return working on my film sometime next week too.
Alright, so how did I go about making this comic? Well, I came up with this one by looking at a list of Black Terror Kid gag ideas I have. I looked around for something I could do that would be short. Some of the ideas are fleshed out while other are not. I would read the idea and play a scenario in my head until it ended with a punch line. I had a few ideas but they would have been too long.
Finally I came upon this idea:
BTK tries to make The Claw cookies. Punch line?
This lead me to think about, what if BTK would try to SELL The Claw cookies. I played the scenario in my head and it was short. I liked the punch line so I started writing the dialogue. I worked and reworked the dialogue until I was satisfied. I let that sit for a few days and rewrote a bit. Then let it sit and came up with an idea for the last page that made me laugh out loud to myself. I went back and rewrote what I had again.
When I was done with the rewriting, I finally decided to start thumbnailing the comic. I did this on sticky yellow notes at work, during my lunch break, with a ball point pen. This is what they looked like:
Once I was done with the thumbnails, I assigned each thumbnail a number and began trying to work out what the pages would look like. I did this on my sketchbook and it looked like this:
Once this was worked out, I made photocopies of some page guides I had made for myself and started drawing roughs of the pages with the panels broken down as I had planned. Below is page 1:
You can see the “ghost” of where I changed BTK’s head and turned it more toward camera. I realized that, for the gag to work better, he needed to say something in the panel. I then added a word balloon and wrote in the dialogue.
The title was the last thing on the page I came up with. I had, in fact, forgotten I should put one in. It was a pain in the neck coming up a pun that worked with the theme of the strip, but I did it. After page one was done, I started work on the last four pages. I’ll show the roughs of those after I’ve posted the finished pages. Meanwhile, enjoy the sneak peek of page one. For the next five weeks, I’ll be posting up a finished page and it’s rough.
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The last show I worked on before I left the show was the show that stars Neil Gaiman. I really like his stories so I had fun working on the show. It’s one of my favorite shows of this season.
I’m now on a one week break and then I go back to work next week. I had originally thought I was going to be out for two weeks but I guess I’m not. When I return to work, it will be for two weeks. I’ll be revising the last show of the season. Once that’s done, I’ll be out of work for three weeks. I might open myself up for commissions, I haven’t decided yet. Especially since I’ve never done it before and I don’t know if anyone would be interested.
MY WEEK
I’ve been very busy this week. Besides working on my new BLACK TERROR KID comic, I’ve also taken on yet another job. This time it’s for my wife. She has an 85,000 work novel manuscript she’s finished and has been sending it around to agents. She’s had a few close calls but not bites yet. She’s decided to e-publish the book herself. She now needs a cover for her book, so I’ve volunteered to help her with that.
Monday we had a friend of her’s come over to model a photo shoot. That took up a lot of time. I hope to get started on that cover soon.
VIDEOS/ART
The very beginning of this video has one of my favorite artists Jean Giraud (a.k.a. Moebius) drawing on a Cintiq. The man is (as of the time of this writing) 73 and is a master of his craft. The best part about it, is simply seeing his process. Being a master draftsman, he could have simply drawn directly what he wanted, but he didn’t. The piece he draws is a bit more involved and so he chose to not only put in a perspective grid, but he also drew a quick, rough under drawing of what the wanted to draw.
Why do I point this out? Because after so many years of drawing and being a master draftsman, he STILL relies on the basics. I’ve experience, to often, fellow artists who have been professionally drawing for over ten or twenty years that seems to scoff at the idea that they need to put down a perceptive grid or set down an under drawing because they think they are masters themselves after so many years of drawing. Yet I doubt anyone of them has as much experience as Jean Giraud and HE still uses them. If it’s good enough for him, why not us? Are we better draftsmen then he?
WRITING
Alright, before I begin, I have to apologize to everyone who has read my treatment so far. I have recently reread the whole thing since I first wrote it and discovered how awful the writing in it is. Again, I apologize. It’s all written in a stream of consciousness sort of way and I guess I hadn’t realized how reader unfriendly it actually is. The problem is that I didn’t really want to labor over it too much, since:
it’s not the final product, just a guide for myself, and
it’s the first draft.
My hope is that the ideas presented are good enough for you to realize what I’m after, even though the prose style is completely awful.
Okay so, on with what I did with this part:
After beating my head against the wall writing action, this last scene was a piece of cake. It was pretty straight forward.
I developed the hot dog vendor a bit more here. Gave me ideas for sight gags.
If you read the synopsis below, you’ll notice it’s a bit different than the final treatment. It’s basically the same thing, just in a slightly different way. There’s only so much planning you can do. You have let the story do it’s own thing:
Scene 9 (Thought/Actuality)
Rob puts down his weapon, walks away. He helps the other Sorcerers up and then starts picking up his things, which are now all over the destroyed area they fought on. By the time he’s done, the Sorcerers are gone. When he begins to walk away, the hot dog vendor calls out to him. He has two hot dogs for him, seemingly bought by the Lead Sorcerer. (Resolution)
Outdoor Shopping Area – Day concluded
The Sorcerer stares at Rob as he walks away. How dare he say those things. Who does he think he is? How DARE he. After the MERCY he has shown to Rob. The nerve. This shall not stand!
The Sorcerer begins to cast a spell. He’s going to strike Rob down once and for all.
Rob kneels down to check on his raven friend. He doesn’t notice what’s going on behind him. The hammer has since returned to it’s minuscule size. The raven seems to just be stunned. It blinks up and squawks happily at Rob. He looks a bit scuffled but otherwise, he’s okay.
The Sorcerer aims and is about to strike. But stalls just a bit too long and sees the way Rob treats his bird. He thinks about what Rob said. He looks around at his companions. One is still knocked out and the other is so self involved with himself sobbing, he hasn’t even checked on the woman he’s supposed to have a crush on. He sees the destruction around him. He looks at his hands ready with the spell. He takes a long look at himself and reflects on what’s happened in the last few minutes. He’s about to strike a man in the back. He drops his hands and doesn’t cast the spell. He hates to admit it, but Rob was right. The injustice was theirs.
Rob gets up and takes the raven over to his backpack. He sets him down and the raven shakes itself. Rob unzips a pocket in his pack and takes out some gauze, tape and disinfectant. He begins to apply the disinfectant and cleans his wounds. Once done, he wraps up the wounds. He doesn’t manage to wrap them all up, but he gets enough of them. He then puts the disinfectant away and unzips another part of his pack. He reaches in and takes out a clean shirt. He carefully puts it on. The process is obviously painful. He dearly wishes the Sorcerers would just leave him alone. He doesn’t have a lot of clothes to spare. When he gets a chance, he’ll have to change his ripped up pants also.
He zips up his pack, painfully gets up, and delicately puts the pack on. He forces himself to look around for the Sorcerers. They are gone. There’s no sign of them. Good riddance. His stomach grumbles and he feels the hunger again. He sighs. It’s bad enough he feels the pain all over the outside of his body, but he still has the pain on the inside and he can’t do anything about it. Maybe he could find a water fountain somewhere to fill his belly. He calls to the raven who gingerly lands on his shoulder and he begins to walk out the of the shopping area.
He hadn’t taken two steps before he hears someone call out to him. He turns to see that it’s the hot dog vendor in his stall. Miraculously, the stall survived the chaos of the fight, unscathed. Rob goes over to the stall. The hot dog vendor hands him two hot dogs on a plate. The hot dog vendor still has the same expression and attitude as he did earlier. It’s as if the crazy fight and the destruction around him, hadn’t happened. He tells Rob that the hot dogs are his.
Rob asks the vendor if it’s a gift from him?
The vendor looks scandalized and denies the accusation as if he’d been insulted. He tells Rob the hot dogs were bought for him by the skinny guy with the eighties pompadour. Rob looks around again for the Sorcerer but he’s no where in sight.
The vendor asks Rob if he’s going to take the hot dogs. If he isn’t, he’ll just throw them away.
Rob looks down at the hot dogs. What if it’s a trap? What if they are poisoned or worse?
The vendor takes them and says he’s tossing them. Rob stops him. He’s so hungry he doesn’t care. He asks for them. The vendor hands the hot dogs over. Rob asks the vendor why he’s so calm after what just happened. The vendor tell Rob he grew up in — El Salvador and that he’s seen worse. Rob just kinda thinks oookay and then turns and walks away.
He looks down at the hot dogs and his mouth begins to water. He wonders what made the Sorcerer buy him the hot dog. Perhaps, this is a sign of good things to come. He smiles. He walks over to the fountain and sits down on one of the walls that surround it. He tells the raven there’s enough for each of them. He hands the raven a hot dog and takes one himself. He takes a bite.
Best thing he’s ever tasted. Life is awesome.
THE END
At this point, it’s tricky for me to say how much out of story “business” like the hot dog vendor should be in the final story. On the other hand, he’s kind of important since he give Rob the hot dogs.
Okay, so the next thing there’s left for me to do is figure out a good magick system. Once I do that, I’ll rewrite the parts of the treatment that are effected by the new system. I’m so glad I’m finally done! At least, with the first draft. I think the reediting will be much easier. I don’t think I’ll post the second draft. I might just make a note of the changes (perhaps).
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It’s good to be back drawing storyboards again. I’m back on show 20. The story reel screening went really well and the writers and producers liked it. So much so, that the rewrite was lite.
I was assigned ONE shot to fix in Act 1, but I couldn’t help myself and started revising the whole Act. I was done by the end of Wednesday, which hardly ever happens.
Like I said, very lite rewrite. I’m working on Act 2 now.
ART/VIDEOS
One of my favorite artists is Adam Hughes. He’s an incredible draftsman. I’m in awe of his YEARS of finely honed drawing skills. Below are three videos of him explaining some of this thoughts and the way he approaches some drawing problems. They don’t exactly teach you HOW to draw but it’s great to see his process. It’s also great to hear his thoughts on light, tone and technique. WARNING: These videos skip a lot of basic drawing fundamentals and go straight to the flashy parts. There’s a lot of stuff here that is being thought and not shown or talked about. You’ll get more out of these videos if you know what fundamentals are being skipped over. In other words, they are pretty advanced drawing videos. That said, they are really COOL:
WRITING
I think I’m done using DRAMATICA for the time being. I’ve used it as far as it can go. DRAMATICA is good for setting you up to write but now I’m actually going into the writing process itself. Without abandoning the DRAMATICA themes and structure, I’m going to be using Robert Mckee’s book Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting to guide me and compliment the work I’ve already done.
Alright, it’s time to stop breaking things down and time to start expanding things out. This week I’m taking Scene 1 and expanding it into a more fleshed out “treatment” using Robert Mckee’s advice. According to Mckee, the point of the treatment is to create…
“…the subtext–the true thoughts and feeling underneath what is said and done. We may think we know what our characters are thinking and feeling, but we don’t know we know until we write it down”
Keeping this in mind, I tried to write as much subtext as I could.
Below, I put my short paragraph description of the scene:
Scene 1 (Equity/Projection)
Rob waits for his hot dog impatiently as his stomach grumbles. Once he gets it he sits down and to eat it. He decides to share it with is White Raven.He’s about to cut it in half when he sees the Sorcerers coming toward him and gets bummed out, knowing he’s in for a bad time. (Introducing the characters)
Now, I expand it:
Outdoor Shopping Area – Day
Rob’s stomach grumbles. He looks up from his stomach and he sees his hot dogs getting prepared by the hot dog vendor. The ache of his empty stomach is visible in his face. He tells his Raven (who’s on his shoulder) that their wait will soon be over, but it’s obvious that he’s just trying to reassure himself.
The hot dog vendor comes up to the counter and sets down the hot dog. Rob places down some folded up and crumpled bills, and slowly counts out a bunch of change on the counter. He comes up short. He’s shocked. He could have sworn he had enough. The Raven flies off Rob’s shoulder as he searches himself frantically, only to finds nothing. He empties his pockets only to find lint.
Rob smiles pleadingly at the hot dog vendor, hoping he will take pity. The vendor, who’s a bit gruff and burly looking, looks at Rob unamused. He’s not the generous type and won’t give Rob any slack over a couple of missing cents. He’s got bills to pay. The guys seems like the type of person who’s not moved by much.
Horrified, Rob looks desperately around for the last bit of money. He worked so hard to get it and now some of it is missing. He takes off his backpack and starts searching through the clothes inside and the pockets on it. Hearing a squawk he looks down behind him and he breaths a sigh of relief. The Raven stands in front of the missing change he was looking for.
Rob thanks his friend for saving him yet again, turns back to the hot dog booth and puts down the rest of the money. The vendor hands him the hot dog expressionless. Rob smiles at the vendor, gratefully and thanks him. The vendor just grumbles something and walks away. Lousy, good for nothing, lazy kids, kinda of grumble. The vendor thinks kids these days are too sheltered. Rob grabs a plastic knife from the booth’s plastic utensils carries his hot dog to a nearby table, as if he’s carrying something sacred. The Raven follows.
In the distance, three ominous figures stare at Rob and his bird. They then look at each other knowingly.
Rob sets down his backpack on the table and sits down. He then closes his eyes, crosses himself, and says a silent prayer of thanks. Once he’s done, he turns to the Raven, and offers to share the hot dog with him. The ominous figures begin walking up to Rob. Rob doesn’t notice. He happily picks up the plastic knife, glad that he can finally eat. He’s about to cut the hot dog in twain in order to share the food with his bird when a shadow crosses over him. He looks up to see three hate filled people looking down on him.
Seeing them, Rob feels like screaming in frustration. Not again. Not here. Not now.
END OF SCENE
I added a character moment with Rob and his money in order to try to create empathy with Rob. It was one of those ideas that just popped into my head and I went along with to see where it led.
Also, I’m hoping that the whole grumbling stomach bit makes his situation relatable. Who HASN’T been hungry at some point in their life? Isn’t that a time honored plot device? Chaplin comes to mind.
I also have him pray. Not because I want to be preachy but because I want people to know he’s a “good guy”. I’m hoping that a character praying, symbolizes a person who has absolute moral values, to an audience. That way, when you hear the Sorcerers accuse him of being evil, you don’t assume it’s true. This was also an idea that just happened and I went with it. Not sure if it will work as intended…we’ll see.
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Well, we got Friday of last week off and the rest of the week. I managed to finish what I needed to revise before I went home. I’m proud of that since I managed to finish in spite of the four day week. I have yet to see what the rest of the board fixes look like for the rest of the show. Since my old board revision partner left on to do better things out of his own free will, my new partner isn’t quite up to speed yet. It seems I MIGHT have to revise the whole show, which is something I’ve never done, nor do I think it can be done unless the rest of the show has very few revisions. There’s a reason that there’s two of us. I hope he gets up to speed soon.
MY WEEK
Merry Christmas to me. I spent Christmas alone in bed, sick with a horrible cold that made it almost impossible for me to get up and do anything. My wife and kids went off to Christmas gatherings while I lay in bed watching Battlestar Gallactica on Netflix, playing Gameboy DS games, sleeping and reading comics. Which normally would have been my idea of a party, but except IT WAS CHRISTMAS and I just ended up feeling lonely. The next two days where any better, but at some point during the third day, the “off switch” was pressed and I suddenly felt better.
It’s one thing to be sick in bed. It’s another when you know that BECAUSE you’re sick in bed, your spouse (whom you got the cold from and who is recovering herself from the cold) is having to take care of all three kids by herself PLUS you. I felt like such a heel for getting as sick as I got. At least on day four I got her, her Christmas present.
“On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a replacement for the wedding ring I lost”.
My wife now looks married to me again.
WRITING
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Below is an excerpt of what I wrote the last two weeks, as set up for what I’m writing about THIS week, in case you’re interested in following along with more depth:
Right now, the theory of story that I like to use to flesh out my plot is the DRAMATICA theory. Unfortunately the DRAMATICA theory is so complicated and convoluted, that I can’t really sum it up in a nut shell. If you want to get an idea of what DRAMATICA is all about, click the link below:
As I did the last two weeks, I’ll put up the DRAMATICA Table of Story Elements in order for you to understand what I’m talking about and so you can follow along. For a clearer pdf version of the chart (download chart now):
Alright, so last week I broke down the MAIN Character story throughline and the IMPACT Character story throughline. There is now only one throughline left, MAIN vs. IMPACTStory throughline. This throughline’s point of view is meant to be as if you were sitting in the sidelines watching what’s going on. This is how it’s been broken down. I think it’s far more meaningful:
MAIN vs. IMPACTStory throughline:
Act 1 – Past
Act 2 – How things are Changing
Act 3 – Future
Act 4 – Present
ACT 1
Signpost #1
Type 1.The Past
(The Past Definition: The Past is not unchanging. Often we learn new things that change our understanding of what past events truly meant and create new appreciations of how things really fit together. A Story that focuses on The Past, may be much more than a documentation of what happened. Frequently, it is a reevaluation of the meaning of what has occurred that can lead to changing one’s understanding of what is happening in the present or will eventually happen in the future)
The Main Character and the Lead Sorcerer share a collective conflicting past. Many of Sorcerers the Lead Sorcerer knew, have been beaten by the Main Character. The main Character knows who the Lead Sorcerer is (or at least his type) based on his passed dealings with other Sorcerers. While the Lead Sorcerers knows the main by the reputation of those who have fought him in the past. This instills tension between the two parties. Especially since there is an incomplete understanding of what REALLY happened in the past that the Main Character attempts to clarify without success.
Journey #1
Type 1. The Past ======> Type 2. How things are Changing
Their collective negative past immediately lead to distrust, hatred and aggression. Especially since their past is so misunderstood, which leads the Lead Sorcerer into attacking the Main Character.
ACT 2
Signpost #2
Type 2. How things are Changing
(How things are ChangingDefinition: How Things are Changing concerns itself with change: what direction and how fast? It is not so important where things were, are, or will be, but rather how the struggle between inertia and change seesaws over the course of the story.)
The Main Character tries desperately to convince the Lead Sorcerer to listen and understand that things aren’t as they seem. The Lead Sorcerer insists that just because he isn’t completely evil yet, it doesn’t mean that it will stay that way. Things are always changing.
Journey #2
Type 2. How things are Changing ======> Type 3. Future
The Main Character understands that things change but it doesn’t automatically mean that the future the prophesy holds, is the true one. The Main Character says that the future is also changing.
ACT 3
Signpost #3
Type 3. Future
(FutureDefinition: A story focusing on The Future concerns itself with what will be. This does not require the story to be “set” in the Future – only that the Future state of external and/or internal issues is the subject that is addressed by the story. A character centered on The Future may be trying to discover what will be, or may be trying to achieve a particular state of affairs down the line. In both the Story and Character sense, the end is more important than the present, although it still may not justify the means. )
The Lead Sorcerer insists that the Main Character will enslave the world whether the Main Character says he will or not. The future is set, according to the prophesy. The main character insists it’s wrong, it’s false, it can’t happen.
Journey #3
Type 3.Future ======> Type 4. Present
In order to prove to the Lead Sorcerer that he’s not what the prophesy of his future says he is, he forces the Lead Sorcerer to notice how he acts here and now, by NOT treating him the same way the Lead Sorcerer treated, him. He doesn’t kill or hurt him once he’s down and powerless.
CONCLUSION
Signpost #4
Type 4. Present
(Present Definition: “The Present” does not refer to the way things are going, but to the way things are. It is a here and now judgment of the arrangement of a situation and the circumstances surrounding it. A story that focuses on the Present is not concerned with how events led to the current situation nor where the current situation will lead, but defines the scenario that exists at the moment.)
Because of the way the Main Character treated the Lead Sorcerer, for now, the two characters end up, not as friends but not exactly enemies. There’s a type of mutual respect for each other that exist for the moment, that wasn’t there before.
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Started up on show 17 this week. I was put on Act 3 since it had the most changes. The changes weren’t as crazy as they were in show 16 but, we’ve only got a four day work week, so the pressure is still on. I’m planning on finishing it this week if I can.
In other news, we got a Christmas present from Matt Groening this week. It was a copy of SIMPSONS WORLD: THE ULTIMATE EPISODE GUIDE.
It’s cool because I wanted a copy. I don’t own any version of the Episode guides. The sad part is, that it’s already outdated since it only covers seasons 1 -20. Still, it’s awesome. Thank you Matt Groening.
I flipped through it and it’s sad that I don’t remember all the shows I’ve worked on. I look at some and think, “Did I work on that one? Looks familiar.” On the other hand, some of the screen captures in the book are from scenes I drew, which is fun to see.
VIDEO
Director and co-writer of the Mocumentary STORY OF THE MIMERS sent me a link to his movie. I thought it was great so I’m posting the link here so you can see it too. It’s a pretty darn funny “Mocumentary” of the best Mime artists of all time:
WRITING
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Below is an excerpt of what I wrote the last two weeks, as set up for what I’m writing about THIS week, in case you’re interested in following along with more depth:
Right now, the theory of story that I like to use to flesh out my plot is the DRAMATICA theory. Unfortunately the DRAMATICA theory is so complicated and convoluted, that I can’t really sum it up in a nut shell. If you want to get an idea of what DRAMATICA is all about, click the link below:
As I did the last two weeks, I’ll put up the DRAMATICA Table of Story Elements in order for you to understand what I’m talking about and so you can follow along. For a clearer pdf version of the chart (download chart now):
Last week I posted up my breakdown of the OVERALL story throughline. This time, I’ll put up my breakdowns for the MAIN Character story throughline and the IMPACT Character story throughline. Pay really close attention to how the story tends to change, depending on the perspective we are seeing it through. The OVERALL story throughline is a “birds eye view” of the entire story, while the MAIN Character story throughline is what we would see if we WERE the main character. The IMPACT Character story throughline is the view we would get if we were following the Impact character around.
Below is the breakdown of the types followed by how I fleshed them out:
MAIN Character story throughline:
Act 1 – Obtaining
Act 2 –Gathering information
Act 3 – Doing
Act 4 – Understanding
ACT 1
Signpost #1
Type 1.Obtaining
(Obtaining Definition: Obtaining includes not only that which is possessed but also that which is achieved or lost. For example, one might obtain a law degree or lose an election. One can also obtain a condition, such as obtaining a smoothly operating political system or loosing the love of a parent. Whether it refers to a mental or physical state or process, obtaining describes the concept of attaining.)
Rob has happily obtained the Hot Dog he’s been wanting for a day and a half. He looks forward to eating in peace and quiet.
Journey #1
Type 1. Obtaining ======> Type 2. Gathering Information
As he sits down to eat and is confronted by the three Sorcerers. He tries to find out from them, what he could do, in order to have them give him a few minutes to eat his lunch in peace and quite. When they tell him, he gladly does it.
ACT 2
Signpost #2
Type 2. Gathering Information
(Gathering InformationDefinition: Gathering Information describes the process of acquiring knowledge. It is not the knowledge itself. When a portion of a story focuses on learning, it is the gathering of an education that is of concern, not the education that ultimately has been gathered. Gathering Information need not be an academic endeavor. One might learn to express one’s feelings, or learn about love. Gathering Information does not even require new information, as sometimes one learns simply by looking through old information from a different perspective or with a new approach. It is not important if one is learning to arrive at a particular understanding or just to gather data. As long as the focus in on the process of gaining information, Gathering Information is the operative idea.)
The Sorcerers betray him and attack. The Rob defends himself and his lunch while desperately looking around for a way to escape.
Journey #2
Type 2. Gathering Information ======> Type 3. Doing
Discovering there’s no way out. He decides the best thing to do is to eat the Hot Dog, right there and then.
ACT 3
Signpost #3
Type 3. Doing
(Doing Definition: Doing is the process of being physically active. In and of itself, Doing does not require any purpose, but simply describes engaging in a process, task, or endeavor, whether for pleasure or by necessity or compulsion. )
Unfortunately the Lead Sorcerer destroys his Hot Dog, which forces him to pick up his weapon and fight them off or die.
Journey #3
Type 3. Doing ======> Type 4. Understanding
After dispatching all the monster and the other Sorcerers, he has the Lead Sorcerer in a weakend and vulnerable state. Understanding that the only way to show the Sorcerer that he’s mistaken about who he thinks he is. He chooses to let him go free.
CONCLUSION
Signpost #4
Type 4. Understanding
(Understanding Definition: Understanding is different from knowledge. From knowledge one gets awareness, from Understanding, one gets meaning. To obtain meaning requires not only knowing the substance of its nature, but the context of its essence. In other words, one must not only define what something is, but how it fits into the larger picture as well. To this end, Reason describes the function and Emotion defines the purpose. So Understanding is not just an intellectual pursuit, but requires an empathy with the meaning as well. It is useful to note that many Eastern and ancient philosophies define Understanding as “becoming one with” that which is being considered. Until one joins a subject in unity, one cannot understand it.)
Rob realizes that it’s possible to change the minds of the Sorcerers and that gives him hope, that the attacks might stop and he’ll get the peace he wants. He also knows that every time he uses the warhammer, it gets more and more difficult to control himself and it.
Alright, now it’s time to do the same with the Impact character: IMPACT Character story throughline:
Act 1 – Conceiving an Idea
Act 2 – Developing a Plan
Act 3 –Playing a Role
Act 4 – Changing one’s Nature
ACT 1
Signpost #1
Type 1.Conceiving an Idea
(Conceiving an Idea Definition: Conceiving an Idea is the process of arriving at an idea. If there were no artificial light in the world, one might conceive the need for some form of electric torch. That would be conceiving. But the design of an actual incandescent bulb versus a fluorescent one would require conceptualizing a specific implementation of the idea one has conceived. Conceiving an Idea need not come before conceptualizing. For example, a common dramatic technique is to give a character a very clear mental image of an object or arrangement that holds the solution to the story’s problem. But the character does not know the solution lies in the conceptualization. It is only when she finally conceives of the need for a particular kind of solution does she realize she had the answer all along. Simply put, Conceiving an Idea defines the question, Developing a Plan clarifies the answer.)
The Lead Sorcerers tries to convince Rob that Rob is evil. That the Sorcerers are truly the just and justified between the two of them.
Journey #1
Type 1. Conceiving an Idea ======> Type 2. Developing a Plan
Rob dismisses the idea so the Lead Sorcerer then puts forth that he should let himself be imprisions by the Sorcerers, so that he could be watched and not become what the prophesy says he will.
ACT 2
Signpost #2
Type 2. Developing a Plan
(Developing a Plan Definition: Developing a Plan means coming up with a practical implementation of an idea. It is not enough to simply have the idea. To conceptualize, one must develop an actual mental model of how such an idea might be made manifest. In other words, one might have an idea to build a spacious house. But to conceptualize the house, one must imagine everything that makes up the house — the design, the layout, the colors & textures, everything that is essential to understanding what that specific house is. Developing a Plan requires being able to visualize something as a whole.)
When Rob refuses this plan, the Lead Sorcerer say’s that refusing requires them to kill him, because it’s the only way to be truly safe.
Journey #2
Type 2. Developing a Plan ======> Type 3. Playing a Role
The Lead Sorcerer then shows that, by not complying with the reasonableness of the plans he proposed that he’s only showing that he’s guilty of treacherous intentions. He is showing his true colors as the world enslaving overlord he will become.
ACT 3
Signpost #3
Type 3. Playing a Role
(Playing a RoleDefinition: “Playing a Role” is an elusive concept, subject to inconsistent common usage. For purposes of story, Playing a Role is meant to describe the condition of existing in a certain manner. Whomever or whatever is “Playing a Role” a particular way is not truly of that nature; to do so would require Changing One’s Nature. In fact, playing a role may be put on as a deception or because it is necessary to adopt a role in order to achieve one’s purpose. However, as long as there is nothing more or less to the functioning of a person or thing, it can be said to “be” what it appears to be. Stories often focus on someone who wants to “be” something, without actually “Changing One’s Nature”. The important difference is that “Playing a Role” requires that all the elements of what one wants to be are present in oneself. “Changing One’s Nature” requires that there are no elements in oneself that are not in what one wants to become. )
Rob begins striking down the Lead Sorcerer’s monsters and friends, making it easy to prove his point. He drives it home by showing Rob how easily he would strike down a helpless person, by NOT fighting him. Playing the role of victim to Rob’s predator.
Journey #3
Type 3.Playing a Role ======> Type 4. Changing One’s Nature
Rob shows the Lead Sorcerer that he HADN’T been as consumed and rage as he let on. Rob surprises the Lead Sorcerer by not attacking him when he has a chance.
CONCLUSION
Signpost #4
Type 4. Changing One’s Nature
(Changing One’s NatureDefinition:Changing One’s Nature means achieving an identity with something. This is different from “Playing a Role” which merely requires posing as something. To Changing One’s Nature, one must do more than just pretend to be by mimicking all the traits of what one wants to become. Rather, one must also lose all those parts of oneself that are inconsistent with what one wants to become. “Giving up” a part of oneself is always the hardest part of becoming and the reason so many characters spend a lot of time “Playing a Role” without ever Changing One’s Nature.)
The Sorcerer is deeply moved by this example and becomes very impressed. The Lead Sorcerer, makes a gift of two Hot Dogs for Rob out of respect, leaving Rob with a new perspective about the Sorcerers as a whole.
ART
This week I sketched out more of the warhammer design. This time, I focused more on the hilt.
I was looking through a book of weapons and there was a page in it that had combination weapons. I wondered if perhaps I should make the warhammer a combination weapon also. Below is an idea I had to have a blade come out of the hammer by pulling it out by the hilt. Still not sure if I’m gonna go with this idea yet.
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This year’s SIMPSONS Christmas episode will have an act where there will be Simpsons “Muppets”. The show is directed by Bob Anderson and Matt Schofield. I’ve recently seen a rough cut of that act and it’s a lot of fun. Very MUPPET SHOW-ish. Guest star and all.
Also, it’s the second to last SIMPSONS episode that I did story reel work for. I’m very excited to see the finished product.
ART
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Alright FINALLY got the animation test done. I thought I’d make it a trailer of sorts for the illustrated film. Here it is, (I’ll write my thought about it all below):
Before I give my personal thoughts on how it all turned out, let me explain what I did to finish the thing. First, I added a few lighter tones to some of the drawings, just to balance it out a bit. I don’t love the way all the drawings turned out but they were good enough for my purposes. Once I got the artwork done, it was just a matter of timing out the panels so the that they were presented in the way I wanted. Then I used the Storyboard Pro tools to move the Sorcerers into position so that they would slide in. I did the same with the Viper and the Winged Apes. I typed in the speed I wanted them to come in and the amount of easing out I wanted both of them to have. I made sure when timing out the Winged Apes to have them stop moving a little bit after the Viper, just for visual interest. The entire time I did all this, I kept making movies to test out my timing. I must have made about 10 versions.
Once I got the timing the way I wanted, I looked at the final version and realized that it desperately needed sound. I have a very close family friend (almost a cousin but not really) whom I grew up with. He has a band called KATERPILLAR. I just recently became aware of it (last time I saw Rod he didn’t mention it) and I thought their music was, not only awesome, but perfect for my cartoon. I didn’t think he’d mind me using it so I put one of their songs in. It worked perfectly. I didn’t even need to time the drawings to the music, it synced up all by itself. I’ll have to e-mail Rod and tell him, I’m using his music.
Okay, so what do I think about it all? Well, let me begin with the way it turned out and the process of making it itself. As far as the way it turned out goes, I think it’s “meh” at the beginning and good in the end. Next time, I’ll put some antics and overshoots in. I think it needs them in the first part in order to more clearly show the changes of expression. Not so much in the end though. The camera move hides the need for any antic and overshoots. That, and I think the timing worked out well with the sliding characters.
The process on the other hand, needs work. It takes FAR too long to do. I don’t think I’m a good enough painter to be trying to semi-paint all of it. It takes an awful lot of time and in the end, it doesn’t really look as good as I’d like. I want to be done with this project sooner than later. Finding a faster way to make the process work will need to be a priority. I’ll have to rethink what I want the end product to look like. I mean, it took me almost a month and a half just to do 13 seconds and most of the time was taken with words on the screen. Not good. I’m pretty sure this Illustrated Film I’m doing is going to be a few minutes long. I don’t want to spend all year on it. I have WAY to many other ideas I want to get to and I’m dying to work on them too.
Having said that, what’s next on my project? Well, next is me trying to get my energy for the project going again. This test really took the fun out of it and I need to get my energy back for it. My favorite part of doing a personal project is breaking down the story and coming up with story beats. It’s possible that, that will give me back the enthusiasm for the project again. So next time, I’ll be writing about story. It’s possible that story is what I like more than the drawing. It really pumps me up.
So now, that you’ve heard my take on everything, what do you think? I’d like to hear your opinions and suggestions.
MUSIC/VIDEOS
Speaking of KATERPILLAR. If you’re interested in their music, CLICK HERE to go to their site. Here’s one of their music videos as well as one of my favorite song of theirs. Enjoy:
AWESOME! Another trailer for the HBO version of George R. R. Martin’s THE GAME OF THRONES.
If you like fantasy and haven’t read these books, you owe it to yourself to do so. They are a LOT of fun. BUT be forewarned, these books are being made into HBO shows for a reason. They are definitely rated R books. One the things I really enjoy about the books though, is the way that the story doesn’t follow the tired Noble Heroes versus The Dark Lord fantasy cliche.
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Wow, it was a really heavy work week last week. I was under the gun all week and just barely managed to squeak out my assigned Acts both Act 1 AND Act 3. I was even given a last minute fix on Act 1 that I had to finish before my wife (whom I carpool with) and I had to leave to pick up the kids. I was sweating it to the end.
Compare that to this week where I started revising a different episode. I’ve been assigned Act 2 and the rewrite is VERY lite. So lite in fact, that I’m almost finish revising it, and we only have a three day work week.
Can’t say this job doesn’t keep me on my toes.
ART
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
This is taking a long time and I apologize if you’re getting tired of basically seeing the same drawing over and over. That said, this IS the process. Granted, only doing this in 30 minute chunks everyday, does make the process go at crawl. Believe me, I’m feeling it. I want it to be over so I can get to the next step. Which leads me to think that I’m being too precious about all this and I might be going about it all wrong. Perhaps I should just be rougher with the final product. That way I can finish it sooner than later. I’ll really have to think about it this.
Okay, so here’s what I’ve done this week:
I’ve added shadows to all the drawings and began changing up the edges on them a bit. I’ve also added some core shadows to parts of the drawings. My plan is to continue adding core shadows where needed and then I’m going to add a few slight highlights or lighter areas to places that might need it. I hope to have that all done by next week. Once I do, it will basically be done. The tricky part once I’m done doing it though, is figuring out a way to show you what the finished product looks like. I’ll figure that out, once I get there.
FAMILY
Okay, so, we had quite an interesting start to our week. Sunday night, my 4 year old daughter and my two and a half year old son, were playing together (as they normally do). At some point (as it sometimes happens) they began bickering over who can play with what toy. Well, we didn’t really see what happened exactly but somehow the attempt to either hold on to the toy or take the toy away, led to Dante getting poked, scratch, or swiped on his unprotected eye ball. So began a really tough rest of the night.
Dante came crying into the living room, screaming in pain. It was obvious that there was some serious hurt in his eye. I became very upset with Elizabeth and reprimanded her. She went to her room and cried. I took Dante in my arms and held him, hoping that he’d quiet down soon. When he didn’t I really started getting worried. He wouldn’t let us see his eye and refused to open it. He just cried and cried. I started freaking out. Alesha just got mad at me for it. She decided to tell Dante that if he calmed down, he’d give him a treat. I thought it was a ridiculous notion since the boy was in some obvious excruciating pain. He wouldn’t even be THINKING about having a treat.
She took him and gave him a treat and he was fine as if nothing ever happened. I felt like a complete moron for having freaked out. Was he play acting? Was he just letting off steam? Did he just like being held and pampered so he decided to play it all up? I was upset with everyone after that.
I took the kids to bed, and after praying with them, I went downstairs having to deal with a headache that had been building up all day only to become a migraine after the whole eye poke thing.
I decided to go sleep early to try to get rid of it. Easier said than done since baby Ambrose, who sleeps in our room, was bothered by all the fuss and decided to be fussy too. I fed him a bottle and he fell back asleep after a while. I fell asleep for about an hour myself, when I got woken up from Dante screaming and crying. It was coming from downstairs. It seems Dante was not faking the pain in his eye. He must have been rubbing it in bed and just irritated it more. I had seen him rubbing it when I put him to bed. He was crying as if he’d been hit in the eye again. No matter what we tried, we couldn’t make him stop crying.
Every idea of possible horrible things that might be wrong with his eye began passing through my head. It was heartbreaking. I began to freak out again. Do we need to take him to the hospital?! Alesha tried to be much more cool headed and went more for a, “wait and see” attitude. After all, he was fine and had both eyes open when he went to bed.
After being with him for a while as he cried, asking him questions and holding him, he finally began to calm down. He did NOT want to go back to bed though, nor did he want to open his eyes. I held him for a while and then I asked him if he wanted to lay down with me in my bed. I thought perhaps he would feel more comfortable knowing one of us was there. My headache was still there and hadn’t gone away. I was also really tired.
I took him to our bedroom and lay him down, but he started crying again as if he’s eye hurt. I thought perhaps being prone actually hurt his eye more so I sat him up and he calmed down. I picked him up and took him back downstairs. Baby Ambrose was woken up by the whole thing and was crying as well at this point. Alesha went upstairs to take care of him.
I took Dante and sat with him on the couch. I took the blankets that we have by the couch and covered us both with them. I told Dante that I’d sit and sleep with him there on the couch, sitting up. He seemed fine with that idea and we began to try to go to sleep. Except he kept trying to rub his eye, and I would tell him not too. He’d keep trying or pretending not too and then go for it. I tried holding his hands down but then he’d whined. I wanted him to go to sleep, only he kept being really fidgety with this hands and try to rub his eyes with the blanket. This must have gone on for a good half hour (or at least if felt like that) when I finally just got mad at him and said,
“Stop it. JUST stop it!” He did. Suddenly it was as if he was just tired and he didn’t move his hands again. Ten minutes later, he was asleep.
I fell asleep for a bit too but woke up because I was really uncomfortable. Dante was half on my lap and half on a cushion. I slowly extricated myself from under him, making sure he was sitting up and comfortable and made my way to the other side of the couch where I made myself as small as possible. There, I attempted to be fall asleep. Which I did, because I was sooo darn tired.
The rest of the night I spent, what seemed to me like, every ten or fifteen minutes, waking up, making sure Dante didn’t fall of the couch, making sure he was sitting up, keeping him from rubbing his eye, making sure he didn’t sleep on his eye and generally not getting any good rest at all. The next morning Alesha woke me up and I just felt awful. Alesha hadn’t had a very good night either because, baby Ambrose, sensing the tension in the house, had been fussy all night.
We soon discovered that Dante refused to open his eyes still. The problem now was, what to do. It was Monday and if Dante was seriously injured, we needed to do something about it. We didn’t know if he was just sleepy, so we couldn’t just take him to daycare. Alesha decided she would stay home with him and observe him. If he didn’t recover as the day went by, she would take him to the doctor’s office.
I took the other kids to daycare and went to work, worrying my head off about the boy. By mid morning I was calling Alesha to check up on him. Turns out that Dante was fine. He seemed back to normal and was watching cartoons with BOTH eyes open, asking about when his sister would come home. I was very relieved to hear it. I spent the rest of the day worrying whether or not I would be able to stay awake, on the way home.
We did make it home safe, but even though I was drinking coffee, it was actually starting NOT to work.
COMIC BOOKS
So I saw this video earlier this week and it got me thinking about digital comics on the iPad (or similar touch tablet device).
What if you did something like this with digital comics? What if, when you open a comic page on a touch tablet device, the page would look normal and you can read it like any other comic book page. Only, if you were to touch one of the panels, you could interact with it in some way. It wouldn’t change the panel layout but you can cause some motion to happen in the panel. For example, if there is a person walking in the panel, you can see the person’s walk cycle or in case of a close up, he would bob up and down and the background would pan by. Maybe in a panel there’s a spaceship flying through space, and you can pass your finger through the panel to have the background pan at a speed you want and have the ship’s thrusters animated appropriately. If a person is sad and you touch the screen, he could hunch over a bit more. Nothing extreme, just subtle little changes just to make it more interactive if you choose. What do you think?
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Comments Off on Heavy week last week, lite week this week. Second color pass. Dante almost loses an eye. Applying some slight interactive motion to a comic book panel?
Well, I managed to finish my Act 1 board revisions this Tuesday. Usually I’m done by the Friday of the week before. It all those little things really add up. I was then assigned Act 3, which thankfully isn’t as bad. It’s also shorter. This one I HAVE to get done by Friday.
ART
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Okay, so here’s the deal with these drawings. I’m not convinced that these are the best drawings I could do. I kind of want to keep noodling around with them. On the other hand, I want to get this done, since it’s just a test, so I have to say, “good enough” and keep going.
I started coloring the drawings as you can see:
I started drawing shadows on the drawings above but I didn’t get to the other ones yet. As you can see, I just colored in the “flat” colors on everything. I’m planning to find a fast way to make these drawings look more “rendered” without it taking forever to do. My plan is to add the shadow and lighter tones using a hard edge like I’ve done above. I’ve found, trying to find the right “planes” of the figure to darken, very tricky. Once I’m done, I’ll use the texture brushes to put in the firm, soft and lost edges. I hope that speeds things up. This is really going to show me how long it’s going to take to do this.
I put in the correct colored sky in the drawing below, just to see how it will look.
I decided to put the drawing below here so you can see the final pull out camera move.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how long it’s taking me to do this. I’m trying to figure out a faster way to do this so that I can work on it when I’m not on the computer. It would speed things up, so much more. I may have to come up with a system where I draw some of my roughs on paper, scan them in and clean them up on the computer. That way, I can also work on this when I have some free time at home instead of just working on this during lunch time at work. Even so, I think in the end, the coloring process might be the longest and most laborious part of this project. I hope it doesn’t bore me. This is suppose to be fun.
BOARD GAMES
As anyone reading my blog knows, I like board games. Well, I was surprised one day to be contacted by a priest who happens to also be game designer with at least one published board game under his belt. Fr. Ben Dallas has just recently contacted me to let me know that his second publish game has just recently been released. It’s a party game that goes by the name WHIRLED PEAS.
Since I haven’t played it myself I’m not sure exactly how it plays just yet. I do get the impression that it’s plays like a combination of CRANIUM and TIME’S UP!. It comes with a spinner called THE PEA-KING spinner. It looks like this:
The official description, on Amazon, for the game goes something like this:
Fr. Ben told me that half the profits of the game goes to charity while the other half goes to paying off their publishing debt. If you wish to purchase a copy, you can buy it at Amazon. Not only will you have fun playing this game, but it’s for a good cause.
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The act I’ve been given for this week has some HEAVY rewrites. I told my director I’d try to be done by the end of the week, but it’s pretty bad. I’m not exactly sure I’ll be able to make it. We’ll see how it goes.
Wednesday night, I showed my director my rough fixes for my act. Usually it takes me about a day or two to rough them out. It almost took me three for this one. I spent about a three and a half hours going over the act with my director. It was a very creative and exhausting experience. By the time it was over, it seemed to me that I had more work to do than I did before we started. And that was AFTER I had worked three days on the roughs already. I think the act is better off for it. I just wish I had more time.
…and now for something totally different…
Further down in this post I’ll be writing about GATCHAMAN. As I looked for pictures to use, I stumbled on these fantastic Simpsonized versions of the characters, courtesy of the FELIX IP blog. Go over to his site and give this artist/art director some love.
ART
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Since I just wasn’t happy with what Rob’s design looked like (still), I tried doodling a version on the first piece of paper I had on hand. It so happened to be the last page of revision notes I had for the show I was working on a week ago. The notes are cryptic if read out of the context of the episode.
I liked the doodles and I used them as a model sheet:
I changed the model of Rob’s face from last week. I also added the raven on Rob’s shoulder:
I then began to clean up the drawings, and as usual, have lost something of the “life” from the roughs.
If you notice, the background is blue in some of the drawings. Why? Because that will be the color of the sky BEFORE the bad guys show up.
I’m going to give myself permission to mess around with these drawings a bit more. Especially the raven’s wings in the first shot. Still, they are just about ready to be colored.
Before I even began to do a clean up line, I experimented with timing out the scene, just to make sure it would work. I even thought of roughing out some “anticipation poses” and an “overshoot” pose but I’m not sure it’s what I want. It may plays just as clear without them. So far, it looks like it’s going to look good. Once I’m done cleaning up the last pose, I’ll begin coloring. Doing that will give me a guide as to how long it will REALLY take to finish my “Illustrated Film”. At that point I’ll make the decision whether or not to render out all the drawings or not.
BOARD GAMES/VIDEO GAMES
If you’ve read my blog for while, you know I love playing board games. The problem is that I don’t have anyone around to play them with. Once in a blue moon I might get a game in, but it doesn’t happen very often and my games just sit there collecting dust. Occasionally I play with my kids but they’re 4 and 2 1/2 years old. It’s not quite the same thing.
Sometimes, the only alternative is to play a video game version of a board game. The thing is, most of my favorite games don’t HAVE video game versions…or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this “Geeklist” at Boardgame Geek:
Though DOMINION is not exactly one of my favorite games, it IS a game that I own that I haven’t gotten to the table almost at all and I’ve been dying to play it. This gives me a happy alternative. To download this game, CLICK HERE.
Then there’s a the homemade unofficial MAGIC: THE GATHERING video game. MAGIC is one of my favorite games (CLICK HERE for my review), so it’s nice to be able to play it whenever I’d like. This one turned out to be a pretty darn good homemade game.
And last but not least. The game that got me the most excited. One of my favorite games, (if not my all time favorite game) DREAMBLADE! (CLICK HERE for my review) So AWESOME! Now I can play DREAMBLADE whenever I want. Hurray!
Of course, none of these video games actually replaces playing the game against a human being around a table, but it at least makes you feel like you’re getting a little bit of board gaming done.
I recommend you look at the list to see if you can find a video game version of YOUR favorite board game.
WEBSITES/MOVIES
I forgot who linked to this on Twitter. My guess is that it was ShermCohen. In any case, I thought these storyboard where inspiring. I really want my “Illustrated film” to have this much energy and clarity. I thought I’d share the link below:
Last Friday I went on fellow CARTOONISTATed Seko’s IDIOT ENGINE podcast. It was a lot of fun and if you haven’t heard Ted‘s podcast, you’re really missing out.
Here’s the link to the podcast, if you’re interested:
It was Halloween earlier this week and, on Friday, the studio celebrated with it’s annual Halloween party. Lunch was provided and cash prizes where rewarded to the best costumes of the day as well as the best pumpkins. This is usually done with judges and a runway style display of the costumes. While the pumpkins get a table on the side for all to see. We had fun.
ART
(For those of you coming in late to these posts, if you want to read what my project is about, CLICK HERE to learn about the general world the story takes place in, and CLICK HERE if you want to know the story itself.)
Do to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn’t able to do very much this week on my project. I did manage to fix the expression on the first pose so it’s not so crazed:
I think it looks better. I also tried fixing the second pose and I think it’s an improvement from the last one. Here’s the rough:
Notice how I tend to just search around for the drawing. I’m not the kind of artist that can just project the drawing from my head and just draw it on the paper.
Here’s the more cleaned up version:
I’m still not sure if it’s right though. I wasn’t happy with the hand and hot dog so I redrew it in red, but it still wasn’t right, so I moved it (it was on another layer) to a better position. Once I get it where it works best, I’ll combine the drawings together. Something I was making sure I did in the drawing above was to make the irises in the eyes look like they’re actually on the ball of the eyeballs. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just putting circles there but the they worked with the correct natural perceptive of the eyeball. It’s harder to do than you’d think.
Something I didn’t show was, when I looked at both drawings as a whole, I thought that the heads seemed too big so I shrank the heads a bit. I’m trying to make sure that these two drawings match the proportions of the last colored drawing. I’m still working out the design as I go. I just can’t seem to make him look just the way I want. Perhaps because I don’t have a clear picture in my head as to what it’s supposed to look like. My hope is to solve these issues as I go rather than make a model sheet. I might still need to make one. What I mostly think about when I draw these is, structure, silhouette, rhythm, and whether it all looks natural.
What bothers me most, is that it’s taking me a long time to draw each pose. If it’s taking me this long to draw FOUR poses, how long will it take to draw a multiple scenes with multiple pose?
FAMILY
Wednesday, I had to pick up the kids from daycare three hours after I dropped them off. Baby Ambrose wasn’t feeling too good. Not only that but Alesha had stayed home in order to take Elizabeth to the dentist, only to discover that the car’s breaks were messed up. She couldn’t drive the car and pick up the kids nor could she take Elizabeth for her appointment. I picked up the kids and drove them home, then I took the car to a mechanic down the street from our house in order to get the brakes fixed.
I was gone for three hours, which, I now have to make up. It was a long annoying day.
FAMILY
For Halloween this year, we did pretty much the same thing we did last year. The kids didn’t mind, they where looking forward to doing it all again. We went to local shopping area near the Claremont Colleges and went trick or treating with all the families there.
Elizabeth originally wanted to go as a kitty cat but she changed her mind when we went to the store and she saw a pretty mask there. We got it for her as well as a pretty dress and wings so she went as a pixie princess. Dante went as Superman again. He had grown into his costume this year, and besides, he’s really into Superman right now (we’ve been watching the Fleischer Superman cartoons lately). We didn’t “technically” dress the baby up, but we put him in a warm outfit he had that happened to make him look like a frog.
My parents, my brother and sister-in-law and their little boy Paolo, met up with us there and we all had a good time, talking and helping the kids trick or treat. When it was all over, we went to my parent’s house and spent a nice time there relaxing and talking while the kids played. It was a good day.
I own a copy of the original PS1 version of the game, a computer version of the game and a Gameboy version of the game. It’s one of my favorite games ever. Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered some one had made a “deck-building” card inspired by it.
What’s a “deck-building” card game?
A “deck-building” card game is a new genre of card game, which was created when the card game DOMINION got published in August of 2009.
A “deck-building” card game is a game where players start with a small personal deck of just seven to ten cards (depending on the game) from which you get a hand of cards. You then compete with other player to gather the best collection of cards into your deck from a community pool of cards located between the players (which usually has stacks of advantage giving cards). You do this using the cards from your hand, which you’ve drawn from you personal deck. The cards you’ve obtained from the community pool once in your deck, increases your chances of getting cards that will help gather even better cards to achieve whatever victory condition the game has put forth.
But Puzzle Strike HAS no cards.
Yeah but the mechanics of the game play is exactly the same as a “deck-building” card game. The chips in the game have the same function as cards except you take the chips out of a bag instead of shuffling the cards into a deck and drawing the top cards.
Here’s a video of what you get in the box:
Here’s a review of the Deluxe edition of the game plus an explanation of the how the game plays:
I personally think this game looks like a lot of fun. It’s too expensive though. Luckily they have a $10.00 version of the game you can download at the official site. You have to print out and cut out the cards yourself but it still plays like the chip version. I’ve printed out games before so I don’t think I’d mind doing it again. When I do, I’ll let you know. What do you think of this game? Does it sound interesting?
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