#i need to learn how to draw animation loops or something

[esteemed-excellency]

I don't have enough animation skills for this but I'm thinking about an animatic with Hiram's butler and the Deviless' maid: the screen is divided in two sides and the pov follows them around during a random day. On one side the maid plans the Deviless' social schedule, welcomes people at her place etc, while the same thing happens on the other side with the Butler at Hiram's townhouse. At one point they move in sync by shutting the doors in the face of two particularly annoying guests. They both make a 😒 face, and it looks like they're looking at each other to complain together.

Towards the end they swap sides, as the Deviless sends the maid to Hiram with a letter, and he replies sending back the butler with some flowers. As they go back to their respective townhouses they meet in the same location to chat for a bit and the scene becomes one. The video ends with the synced split screen again as they return to their lodgings at the end of the day, closing the entrance doors at the same time.

[tinycrescent]

do you have any tips for learning how to draw? your art looks so free and expressive even in rough sketch form, and the colors are absolutely gorgeous, but i don't even know how to color normally and don't have the means to do it digitally, so i'll leave that for later haha. anyway just wondering if you did anything in particular to practice or to learn your skills. your art is just so good. sorry if you've been asked before. thank you for sharing your art with the dn fandom!!

thank you for your message!!! ♥︎ you're very kind. I hope what I write here is helpful, but this is sort of a complicated one for me to answer!

in all honesty, I struggle deeply with seeing my art as good enough. my relationship with my creative process is something I’d consider unhealthy more often than not– though I’d like to think it’s getting better as of late. :')

I wasn’t formally taught how to draw, but I was obsessed with hand-drawn media from a young age, whether it was comics, 2D animation, illustrations, etc., and growing up, I would try to emulate the artists I loved as practice. I was just using a cheap yellow pencil and notebook paper, but it was all I needed at the time. and I think that's a really good place to start! don't worry about buying a bunch of art supplies all at once; you'll naturally accumulate tools as you go.

I’d say look at art, a lot of different types of art, and study it to discover what you like, and equally importantly, what you don’t. drill into why. if an artist you love shows their works in progress or sketches, really take a look at those. it’s so much easier to understand a rough image and how it was drawn/what marks the artist used rather than dissecting a polished piece. 

if you have friends who like to draw, spend time drawing with them! make up stories and characters together. I drew all the time growing up. all the time. I was a super quiet, well behaved kid in school because I was terrified of getting in trouble, and yet I was constantly reprimanded for drawing during class. it was the one thing I was willing to get yelled at for. my point isn’t to get in trouble (lol), but more so– draw whenever you can, wherever you can. even when it’s mindless. keep paper nearby. doodle. draw what you see around you.

these days, it’s my perfectionism that really kills my love for drawing. it stops me from drawing at all sometimes, because I’m worried (before I even start!) whatever I make won’t be “good enough”, whatever that means. it got much easier when I stopped trying to keep a neat sketchbook and allowed myself to let go. draw quick, draw messy, draw “bad”. you have to make art you aren't satisfied with to get better. and it sucks! you might try something new and feel like, damn this looks so incredibly amateur, but it's an unavoidable part of the process. if you can look at what you made, accept it for what it is, and then keep going, you’ve already jumped the biggest hurdle.

when I’m stuck in a mental feedback loop of oh my god, I don’t know how to draw, why is my art so bad, I compare something I made this year to the year before. even if the differences aren’t immediately apparent, chances are you learned something between then and now– whether it be a better understanding of your personal taste/drawing style or composition or, like, how to draw ears. it gives you concrete proof that you’ve improved.

⬇ this is a Light I drew in 2022 compared to one from early 2024. even now, I look at the more recent image on the right and think, yeah I would probably draw that differently. but I'm also proud of the me back then who did her best.

really, truly, I’m still learning how to draw all the time. part of the reason I made this account and started posting Death Note fanart was because it was a low pressure way to be creative and let go and have fun. and maybe that’s my biggest piece of advice, simple as it is. enjoy it! draw self-indulgently. strive to improve, but also be lenient with yourself. if you find the love in drawing, it'll pull you through the times when it’s frustrating.

♥︎

[solar-sunnyside-up]

Hey, I’m sorry to dump this on ya but your blog gives me a lotta hope and I just wondered if you had anything to say to my current ails- I am but a very anxious teen and I am so scared. I see so many people talking of how the world “Will end in 2040” or how “damn the past was so much better because it was simpler” and I am lowkey starting to believe that. I’ve got a problem with romanticizing a past I wasn’t even a part of and I really don’t want to live in some awful dystopian future and I fear I’ve missed out on so much because of when I was born :( and how come no one can afford basic shit anymore? I don’t wanna have no money at all! I really would like to be happy in the future but with all the bullshit caused by social media and the lack of money it seems bleak. I’m sorry that this is such a negative ask but I am not doing so hot and was hoping you’d have an insight ? Don’t respond if you don’t wanna

Hey ya there sprout 🌱 it can be really tough out there!

Your feelings are valid, so valid in fact that those exact feelings are why Solarpunk as it currently exists is around! We've all been there!

Between the wages of the top 10% of ppl vs everyone else being greater then during the French revolution, the average citizen globally being worse off then when the great depression was happening, climate crisis after crisis, all while consuming endless bits of info both horrifying (ex Politics) and hopeful (ex Social Media activism) it's waaaay too much for anyone to bare alone! Much less constantly! That burden shouldn't be on any of us!! But since it is, I'm here to help at least lighten the load even if temporary.

The best thing to do when we feel like this is to stop. Find 5 minutes to be still. We are fight/flight/fawn creatures and we will only loop in our solutions without actual clear choices if we don't Chill Out. We're mammals our natural state is Chilling Out and Play.

Next, think about how cool the planet is and particularly how cool humans are?

How there's finger flutes on ceilings thousands of years old, smaller then average indicating that parents held their children up to draw on the ceilings.

Think about the invention of looms and spinning fibers! What other creature could do that? Think about the kids that could build Snowmans without aching fingers because of lovingly knit mittens.

We sing like whales do, like birds do, like wolves do, and we do it to share stories and ideas over food! It is the first things babies mimic! We have songs so old we no longer know their origin just that they came from love! We even have songs to herd cattle meaning music transcends just us but bleeds into our relationships with the planet!

That we have play behavior! Just like wolves and foxes and whales and octopus it is so built into our DNA to play its generally how we learn things! This ranges from agriculture (children tossing seeds around, blowing on dandelions!) To chores (parachute games > folding laundry, playing pretend > usually chores/job based) to hunting (tag! Hide and seek!)

Think about our interconnectiveness with the planet too, how we are guided by Honey guides to find abandoned hives to share in the spoils of bread and honey. How Sweetgrass needs us to flourish, how berries and nuts need us to spread across the land, how we fix other animals broken bones and beaks and help them return home when otherwise they wouldn't ever get home.

Now that you can remember we deserve to be here, that you deserve to be here. We can look at the current situation and bare it.

And we do that by doing small things. Jam out and listen to music while picking up litter on your block, go to a library and just hang out or research something you love, make seed Bombs and toss them I to abandoned lots, make silly cartoons. Whatever it is, it will be enough.

The weight of the world isn't ment for the individual no matter how much Capitalism and Elites will try and guilt you over their failures. That weight is ment for collective groups, but your job as a Person is to be happy where you can and to be kind so others can be happy. The last thing that I always keep in my heart is a quote from my fave author Ursula Le Guin:

Hang in there, a brighter tomorrow is gunna happen. I promise 🌻

[adyophene]

Hello ! I just have a little question, how do we start drawing ? I want go draw but idk how to start- any suggestion ? Or, if for starting it's better to do it with tutos, any tutorial to recommend ?

Have a great day !

Oooh, this is a tough question to answer! I suppose one the best pieces of advice I have is to figure out, before anything, what you are hoping to draw. What style, what tones, what media.

I have a feeling this might get long, so I will throw the rest under a readmore.

For me, when I started taking my art a little more seriously (I never went to art school or anything) I just focused on finding both tutorials on the fundamentals, and finding tutorials that focused on the aspects of art that interested me, which were animation and cartooning!

They go hand-in-hand, after all, and you'll find you end up honing in on the tutorials that coincide with your interests! IE- I ended up doing a lot of figure, and expression drawing because they would help me express emotion and movement better! I also spent so, so long just training my hand to be a bit more confident with drawing steady lines just because I loved the look of clean line-work!

So try to identify what your personal draw towards art is! By doing both something you like, as well as focusing the basics, I found that, at least in my personal experience, it put me in a positive feedback loop where I could keep seeing results in exactly the type of art I was interested in! And, once you start to feel confident, that is when you start adding in little bits of study from fields you might struggle with! A 90/10 split on what you're comfortable with and then what is new is usually a good way to go about it! Weirdly enough, though I don't watch him, I saw that the youtuber pewdiepie actually had a really good set of videos where he started from being a complete beginner and improving his art over 100 days. I believe its an absolutely great watch for a new artist, because he really does a great job in showing what a brand new journey into art can look like, and explains what he thinks each day. I think my favorite line was, 'after 24 days, I was finally having fun' because that can really sum up the new artist experience. It will absolutely be a slog at times, and can be really disheartening, but when you start to see progress, becomes so, SO fun.

Here is the link to the first vid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMLEudGbxQk and his second https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJDtQTTAogk

ALSO- this was just the first video that came to mind because I watched it recently. I would recommend finding other videos about people learning to draw, or doing 30-100-365 day challenge videos. As for my personal favorite channels for art tutorials (though keep in mind, I haven't watched them in a few years ;-;, I need to study again);

There were a number of others that I wish I could link as well, but I am struggling to remember them. I hope any of that is helpful. My own art journey has been very long, and non linear, and I have to say, I'm not even satisfied with my own art! Its a endless mountain to climb, but it is so worth it to do! And lastly, I want to say thank you so much for sending this ask, you've made me dig back in to artists I used to study, and made me want to really focus back in on my own improvement!

[sunriseverse]

If you're still looking for prompts, how about this: either shape-shifter AU, or someone getting cursed and turning into an animal?

so uh. this is. six months late. sorry. and also not the fluff you were probably expecting. but! please enjoy this offering, because i had a lot of fun writing it :)

-

The kid is gone when the morning dawns.

Wu Xie is new to this; all of this, any of this. That he had overlooked something this simple is both unsurprising, and horrifically, teeth-baringly infuriating. He should have known better. He should have known better. It’s not like shifters are rare; they’re half the population. Hell, out of the Iron Triangle, the only one of them who doesn’t have the blood in them is—

He cuts that thought off there. It’s too painful; better to not think about it; better to focus on his own stupid, stupid fuck-ups: namely, the fact that he’d not thought to check if the kid they’d taken had the blood, and now—well. Wu Xie just hopes he’s not gone and gotten himself killed of thirst trying to run away. It’s a nasty way to go; he’s seen men turn insensate and pathetic from the dehydration that warps their minds and the world before their very eyes, makes them beg even as their lungs dry and their faces go sallow, until their lips start to bleed.

“Laoban,” Wang Meng says, frowning as he approaches Wu Xie. “None of the others have seen him.”

Wu Xie bites back a scoff. Of course they hadn’t; no one expects to see an animal out here, besides camels. Maybe if the kid’s lucky, he’s got some desert-adapted traits; if not, then—well. It won’t be the first time all he’s had to show for his efforts is a dead body, but it doesn’t please him, even if he’s working on stripping most emotions besides a single-minded focus from the viscera of him. “I’ll go find him,” he says. “The scent tracks shouldn’t be too disturbed—it’s been a calm few days; the sands haven’t shifted much. He can’t have gone far.”

Wang Meng’s expression wars between concern and disbelief. “Wouldn’t it be better to go out with the Jeeps?” he asks. 

Wu Xie huffs. “And let him hear us from fifty kilometres away?” he says, raising a brow, and itches for a smoke. Wang Meng always makes disapproving sounds when he sees them; Wu Xie wonders how long it’ll take for him to stop. The nicotine always mellows out the worst edges of anger, draws his focus back to where it needs to be. But, no. Not right now. Even he knows that putting that shit in his lungs right before he shifts is a bad idea. He doesn’t really want to pass out from smoke inhalation. “No,” he says, “I’ll go. Don’t let anyone in camp know I’m gone. And if I’m not back by nightfall—”

“I know,” Wang Meng says, lips pressed thin. Wu Xie’s own twitch. If nothing else, Wang Meng is learning the very same valuable skills he himself is.

They head back for the tent to keep up appearances. Wu Xie downs a full bottle of water, and strips out of his jacket, sets it aside carefully, a photo worn by the number of times he’s turned it over in his hands hidden in the pocket that lays over his heart. He’s a coward; he doesn’t want them to see him like this, what he’s about to do. But cowards are the ones who live the longest, so a coward he’ll be. 

Shifting is—

It’s been a long time. His mind associates it too much with looping around Pangzi’s shoulders, warm puddles of sunlight, the gentle brush of a finger against the flat of his head. He’d avoided it, selfish, in an attempt to preserve that connection. Now, he’s using his skills for exactly what they’d been meant for: hunting. The sands are distantly warm against his belly, protected by scales; he slips between shadows, camouflaged by the dusty colour of his body; flicks a tongue out to scent the air. Already, he can catch the faint scent of another animal—something small, covered in fur. He’s lucky the kid isn’t a flier; they tend to have better stamina. 

He’s not quite sure how long he goes for; the sands blend together under the high noon sun, his only sense of direction the scents of the group back at the camp and the scent of the kid’s form. When he finally catches sight of a small, unmoving body. Dusty fur, small. The scent of him is still warm, so he’s not dead—yet. Wu Xie draws closer, raises his body to get a better view, tongue flickering out, and then shifts back to human form. The kid’s body, a rodent of some sort, is dwarfed by the palm of his hand. Wu Xie, who doesn’t have anything to put him in, sighs and resigns himself to carrying him. 

The good news is that he can see the camp in the distance; he hasn’t gone that far—the kid had mostly been hidden by the colour of his fur blending into the sand and his small size. He makes the trek back in good time, arrives just as his throat is beginning to rub against itself as he swallows from the aridity. Most of the camp is hiding in their tents, away from the beating sun, and so he can slip back into theirs without being noticed.

Wang Meng is sitting at the portable desk, playing something on his phone. When Wu Xie enters, he scrambles to his feet. “Laoban,” he says. 

“Water,” Wu Xie orders, without preamble. “And a pipet.” It’s fortuitous they’d brought some along in case Wu Xie were to grow too dehydrated in his animal form and be unable to shift back. Wu Xie sits down on one of the bedrolls and draws up water from the bottle that Wang Meng opens for him and carefully feeds it into the kid’s mouth, carefully held upright so he doesn’t choke.

For a long while, he’s half afraid it’s a bust, that the kid’s died on the way back. He’s too small to feel his heartbeat properly or see his chest rise and fall, and half the water just spills out the corners of his mouth. But then, after an eternity, the kid’s tiny body jolts and he comes back to consciousness. Wu Xie has just enough forewarning to drop him to the ground before he shifts back to human, heaving gasping, ragged breaths, and scrambling for the tent flap, zipped shut. Wu Xie rises to his feet and easily halts him with a hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” he says, softly. “You almost died out there; do you really want to tempt fate again?”

Weak with dehydration still, the kid squirms under his grasp until he finally gives up and turns his face to glare at Wu Xie. “Better dead than with you,” he tries to say, but the words come out hoarse.

Wu Xie sighs. The analysis isn’t wrong, but then again, he’s known for a long time now that he’s willing to be anyone’s worst nightmare to get what needs to be done done. “Drink,” he says, instead, and holds the bottle of water to the kid’s lips.

For a long moment, the kid glares at him, lips pressed firmly shut, and then, finally, the thirst gets the better of him, and he drinks. Wu Xie lets the ghost of a smile cross his face. “Good,” he says, patting the kid’s shoulder. “You won’t die today.”

[assassiowl]

I completed the 100 face challenge - this is the write up of what I went through (6 days starting on December 18th 2024)

I think just about all of them are Pinterest references, this was my experience. Going in I knew I wanted to practice faces, consistently they would let my pieces down, I noticed there were a few key areas in particular that if they went wrong it was very obvious very quickly. The face was almost always the first, hands and hips followed closely. Other issues were less pressing, so the first focused practice started here. The 100 face challenge was pretty popular a few years back, it sounded just like what I needed to really hone in on one problem area. My ideal pose was one that was ever so slightly out of my comfort zone. I picked out as akward poses as I could, interesting expressions.

Day 1: 1 to 11 I couldn't include was the breaking down of the individual parts, I did a page on eyes, noses, mouths, ears and skulls in the morning. They were quick and also of various angles. This was to get a feel of each in isolation. This could be considered as priming for learning. I'd compare it to learning what a loop in code is, you don't necessarily know what to do with it yet, but it's there for when you do.

Day 2: 12 to 34 I was surprised at how fast I felt more confident, when I started day 2 it was literally over night that the improvement could be felt. I could tell that the hesitation behind a lot of my lines needed to go, seemingly an ongoing task, but I kept going back over sections with a darker line to "lock it in", scratchy, but sections I thought were more important to highlight I started giving extra attention.

Day 3: 35 to 50 This isn't specific to this group - after each face I'd stop and just look at it and compare it to the reference and try to work out what was 'wrong' and just think about what I could work on next. I didn't warm up before launching in, it's evident with how light 35 is in particular. But once I got going things really picked up around face 40. I remember at some point it clicked that I should be looking at the shapes and differences between light and shadow. Perhaps it was a gradual realisation the more I did it there was a shift that went 'stop thinking and just draw what you're seeing'. That being said the fatigue was setting in (duh I just drew 50 faces in 3 days in a really tiring way). In the night I woke up at 2am and genuinely thought the grim reaper was coming for me and I wasn't going to finish the exercise. It was terrifying.

Day 4: 51 to 68 This was probably the peak of my technical execution, everything was coming together, I was feeling really good about most of them, and I distinctly remember for 64 - 66 I was chatting with my friend at the time, so truly it was the most - turn brain off moment, where I was just enjoying the process of observation and creating. And they probably turned out the best, the encouragement from showing them after each one was great. I must've said something like "holy crap, I think this is my best one yet. I began feeling like I wanted to try things more frequently, capturing texture or shading in particular. But by the end of this day I was just about ready to put the challenge down. I started repeating "just 'x' heads to go", lots of long drawn out sighs and burying my face in my hands.

Day 5: 69 - 85 I really needed a break. I was cursing the days and the choice to do this. I just wanted it finished. Around the mid point I could feel myself rushing so I really pulled back. Anything to get me through to the next face I'd try. Wild expressions, stylised approach, pushing references, drawing things which weren't there, anything I could think of to make it more engaging. I haven't included number 75, that one is a near full body conversion of a photo of a friend to an anime style. I was really feeling the tiredness and just really wanted more than anything for it to be done.

Day 6: 86 - 100 The end was in sight. That gave me a some room to breathe. This was the dawn of the exploration of ideas. Perhaps it was the culmination of fatigue that meant I couldn't put a resistance of "what if it looks bad" or I was just so tired I couldn't even.

(I returned to the original three references at the top of this post for comparison to where I started)

Closing thoughts: I learned a whole lot. The observational improvement is finding it's way into everything I draw now. Would I recommend it? :v

I think you really have to have a reason to do something like this, be in the right headspace, time and have some internal motivator to push you past the worst of it. When you can't even look at another person again and finding a reason to show up anyway. 10 days was the original challenge, it's a good length, the fatigue wouldn't hit so much and it's not so drawn out that you lose the will to finish it. It's just how you personally engage best. I need a focused study like this since it's how I work best, I rest after, some people would rather spread it out or don't like doing the same thing on repeat. Find how you work first and if drawing 100 heads still sounds engaging, then YES, my improvement in such a time has been ridiculous. I laid out the groundwork to be able to do so for myself, not just artistically, but emotionally. What isn't shown in this post is the years of emotional processing to get to a point where I would be receptive to something like this. This was just part of an ongoing journey of how I'm making art for myself that I really wanted to document due to how important it was.

[bvannn]

Weekly Update November 29, 2024

I’ve had awful insomnia and not a lot of motivation to draw, but I think I figured out why the second one is true: I recently moved into a new apartment, and it has terrible ventilation, and my hands are freezing cold all the time! It’s going to get worse as winter approaches, since I live in the Midwest, but I ordered a space heater today to hopefully remedy this for now, plus I’m trying to get a better job so I can move somewhere nicer, but I guess a degree in the field and a couple years of experience in the field aren’t good enough nowadays. I think it’s because no one wants new employees once they realize they need to pay them, so they put out listings that never get filled. It’s fine I’m doing what I can about it. I’m trying to work around my problems.

Drawing has been very limited due to cold hands, insomnia leaving me with a lack of energy, and some illness flareups. They’ve been extra bad this week for whatever reason, probably stress. I did a couple more epithet erased TTRPG drawings at the beginning of the week, got some maps done and decorated. I figured out the digital tabletop I want to use insofar as map making, I’ll have a friend walk me through fog of war and other features at some point. I wrote out a doc with the villains’ backstory, and I’m getting really attached, which is great. I’ll post tokens for some of them once I have them. Theoretically I could run the first ‘episode’ as soon as the last tokens for that are finished, but I think I’m going to put it off until I have stuff for the next couple episodes done.

I’ve fiddled around with music stuff this week but tried to stick with what I’ve already started. I posted Raccoon Rock, I’ve done a similar animation loop for the Blow Off Steam re-edit to make a lyric video out of, and I have sketches for a few other cover arts, including one for a batch. I have plans for that batch, finally, but I’m still going to release the songs first, just for the sake of having something to release. I found a couple vocaloid producer mutuals on Bluesky so that should help with motivation.

FF has the first round of tuning done, I did learn about a new program called tunelab which can help with pitchbends and pronunciation, although I’m not sure it’s entirely legal? If it is I’m totally using it though it looks really nice. I also finagled with my vocal mixing strategies again to get a hold on how to do growls, and I found a much easier method than what I was doing. I’ve been finaggling with OBS again and maybe if my hands are still cold next week and I run out of stuff to do that involves drawing I’ll make a tutorial.

I did a bit more of another animation project that’s been on the back burner, that’s also at a bottleneck since I need to draw more assets. Comic has also been going pretty slow due to art bottleneck but I did get page 12 finished and page 13 is sketched, we’re 41% done. I think right now the main concern is going to be waiting for that space heater, I’ll try to catch up on sleep and maybe watch cartoons or something to fix my mood. I do have another craft project I could do but I’m not going to start another craft project until a couple more art things are off my plate.

It is Black Friday so I’m tempted to spend money on something for my mood, but right now I’m just raiding all the music plugin giveaways. Maybe I’ll write some smaller songs to throw on the pile of unreleased music. Or maybe not, who knows.

[hyper-newt]

Comet Hook devlog #3

First prototype done !!!

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Other devlogs : 1 - 2- 3

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New devlog !!!

I finished the prototype and you can play it :)

(it is bad though, but that's the point ! i can see what works and what doesn't)

Here's what new down below :o

So first, i'm sorry for the lack of devlogs, I actually finished the prototype a month and a half ago, but I needed to tweak some stuff before releasing it. And uh college stuff and I had to study. But I have a break right now so here we are :)

I wanted to lock in to finish the prototype, it is quite rushed but it helps to fail faster. That's why I removed a bunch of animation and simplified some stuff so i could work more on the gameplay loop (and now it's your problem >:) ).

And so, here are some notable changes : (also some gif are from old builds of the game, so stuff are a bit different on the public prototype)

Fusing comets ! Replaces having multiple comets at the same time (Having multiples comets should be an upgrade, but heh too lazy to code it)

There's three type of upgrade right now :

D -> Defense (bunch of extra health)

A -> Attack (extra health + extra damage)

S -> Speed (extra health + extra speed)

The little number under the letter is its health. So when you hit a fish with the comet, only the first upgrade will be hurt.

You can have up to three upgrades at once.

Catch multiple fishes

Catching multiples fishes at the same time grants you a bigger and stronger comet ! Isn't that cool ? But now if you do bad at the minigame, it will end (you can see the fish health at the right, and yours at the left).

Also fishes stay stunned for a limited time now, so you can't catch all of them at the same time

The Shop

I will not speak about how it looks

But anyway, take a comet, throw it in the sell box, and take an item like a comet and throw it in the buy box ! easy

And if you want money outside of selling, there's some gold fishes swimming around that you can KILL for money <3

Mini bosses

You see these little red orbs ? Destroy all the fishes around it and it will be unlock.

Attack it again, and !!! A miniboss !!!

Catch them all and you'll finish the level

A map to explore with upgrades

These little thingy make you stronger (health, speed and attack), collect them !

An actual boss ! (no spoilers hehe)

niark niark you'll have to suffer through the whole prototype

Now that the prototype is done, here are my thougths on it

I think it's a bit too hard and not that much intuitive, it also doesn't feel that much like a fishing game :/

The fishing minigame is also kinda boring, but that's because I didn't bother coding something smart. Though I think I can make it better in an other way.

I'm not a big fan of the gameplay loop, having to fight some minibosses could be cool but the way I did it doesn't really work

And finally comets can get annoying ! At the end you have too much of them and that's a waste of performance + no one will go get the comets they left behind, so I do need to work on it.

I go a bit more in depth in the itch.io description :

So I'll make another prototype (but I'll remove the boss at the end, it isn't worth it for a prototype, but for a demo sure! )

And for the youtube video version of these devlogs, I learning to write music to not rely on copyrighted content but it takes time :(

Anyway I hope you'll still have fun playing it though (three out of four people that tried the game liked it, that's neat)

Next devlog will be about another game, I want to try out some other games idea. I hope to be able to release it in a month or less, depends how I'm feeling (im sick of coding, drawing is easier and I can't even do that because it goes against the idea of prototyping argh !!!)

Thank you for reading this devlog and have a good day

bye byeeeee!!!!

[livewireprojects]

Past sketches of the Kawoshin fankids I worked on(with weird background info)

I made a post a bit ago about my & @tay-likes-toons's Kawoshin kids I thought I'd show the old sketches I made before. I've already explained the characters so unless something that wasn't mentioned needs added I'm not making another description for them.

Before I go on I want to mention that these were ideas made up from before the final movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion happened. I hadn't seen the Rebuild movies(let alone anything in the series past Kaworu & Shinji's interactions & Kaworu dying in the movie) but knew some stuff. The RPs were stuff got made up/weird attempts to add what I understood with our own ideas for how the series should end since it felt like the last film was never going to happen. I've tried to cut down on a lot of rambling but all you need to know is Kaworu some how cause Shinji to be an angel like him thanks to stuff in the time loops.(Cause I get the feeling Kaworu as an angel is immortal so he'd be separated from Shinji eventually thanks to Shinji's mortality & for some reason my solution is making Shinji also immortal) The kids are also angels thanks to this.

Adam, Ibuki(who has gone threw a few name changes), Kain & Evie were originally quadruplets but at some point aside from Ibuki & Kain they were all turned into different aged siblings. For whatever reason Evie stays in a baby/toddler form(angel ability), she can go into her actual form(her real age) when she wants & at some point eventually stays in it. Ibuki's design is based on draft anime Kaworu & Kain's is based on a sketch/prototype Kaworu were he had smoothed down hair with bangs swooping to the left.

This is the first sketch I ever made of them, I forgot when I made this. Added Kaworu & Shinji cause it was meant to be a family pic. Most of them suffers from "I can't draw heights well enough so the legs are longer to make up for missing mass in the drawing". Shinji is kinda short compared to the rest of the family cause he's still learning to control his angel abilities. Also yeah Ibiki use to be named Satoshi for some reason, at one point he was named Gendo Jr cause in some RPs Gendo became a better dad that was on good terms with Shinji. I don't think Kain had a name at the time or it was changing a lot.

This was posted July 24, 2019 which I'm guessing means this was made in 2019.

Everyone is a little more closer to how they look currently, also Kain's name was spelled with a "C" back then. Evie's adult form was meant to seem mysterious since she hides it.

Posted to DA January 26, 2023

Everyone is how they are now & they're human thanks to retcons/edits since the final movie did eventually come out so I fixed things

[pocket-deer-boy]

I've been wanting to learn to animate for a while, but I have no idea how to get started; do you have any advice?

This is really tough cause i’m going to be fucking honest. It is hard to get into animation without either paying for expensive tools that will save you a ton of time, space, and effort, or without sacrificing a lot of desk space to some cheapskate camera setup. And that's not even getting into how many different types of animation you could get into. I'm assuming here you mean hand-drawn 2D animation simply because that's the stuff I do. I also don't really know exactly what you're asking. Do you want to know what kind of tools to use, or do you want to know about techniques? I'm going to assume the former because there's tons of online tutorials for the ladder.

If you're trying to save money i would still recommend physical media first. There's a lot of tools you can use.

If you strictly want to get into 2D animation, get yourself a peg bar. There's other ways to keep all your paper sheets in place frame by frame, but this is an effective one for moving a lot of paper around. Don't worry too much about drawing tools, any old pencil, eraser and printer paper will do. Be gentile with the eraser and be okay with messing up your sketches.

For recording your animation, I'm assuming you have either a phone or better yet have access to some kind of digital camera. God help you with building a camera setup here, this may require trial and error. This could be your next big expense, you can use tripods and point them at a desk or god forbid the floor for example.

Once you've got everything you need for your process: make a 12 frame loop animation on 2's. Put all your sheets on the peg bar, number your sheets from 1 to 12, and plan out your animation. Don't be afraid to keep it rough, this is just a little test of skill and of your setup. Once you've got all 12 frames finished, line up all your sheets on the peg bar and take them to your recording booth. Use something to stabilize the peg bar, tape can work in a pinch, and record your animation frame by frame. Transfer the photos from either your phone or your digital camera, line all the frames up in whatever free video editing software you pirated got, and voila! You've made a hand-drawn paper animation! This means you're braver than me. Godspeed little baby animator, and take care of your hands.

If you have access to a camera and a tripod, you can also try your hands at all sorts of stop-motion animation.

If you specifically wanted to get into digital animation, you're going to have to prepare to spend ludicrous amounts of cash on digital equipment. Computers aren't cheap, tablets aren't the cheapest, and the software itself is pricey. Animation is not exactly cheap.

[jpivot]

do you have any tips for makign the pngtuber?! it looks so cute, are they just idle animations or do they actually move when you draw etc?

it's just idle animation, the movement on the drawing/gaming ones just use the blink slots to randomly change between the "normal" pose and the "doing something" pose. i used veadotube mini so the only thing I directly control is the shift between talking/not talking and switching between the different states (standing/drawing/gaming). they're quite simple, it's just the movement of animation giving it the illusion of complexity. I know there's a way out there to map mouse/controller movement to your vtuber thing, but I didn't look into it because... well. I didn't want to lol

things can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. I'd recommend keeping the designs simple so it's faster to draw and make variations of. it took me one night to work on this one and I learned a lot about better ways to organize/set up my art/file for exporting as I was making edits. if I had a really intricate-looking drawing to start with, I'd have spent more of my time just drawing a single pose instead of being able to place an image in the program to see how it works and how things look in it. I started with just 2 static images and then went "what if it moved a bit" and then added things as I went. breadth vs depth, I guess.

hmm... as for tips...

the talk mouth is on a layer that covers up part of the face when I unhide it. this was nice because when I made a change to the animated drawing/controller poses, I could export out the talking variation immediately by just turning 1 layer on, instead of having to swap/redo changes between multiple layers (annoying). I also had the parts that moved (the arms) in a separated group, so when I changed the thickness of a line on his vest I didn't have to redo that change over and over again across 3 more frames. I still had to redo it for the 3 poses, but that's just 3 times total instead of 1 + 3 + 3 = 7 times total. if I were to do this again, I'd have things set up in a way where the different variations use as many of the same layers as possible, so changing something in one place automatically works for every pose.

and you can keep your life simple. for the animated frames I didn't redraw the arms from scratch for each frame of movement-- I just used the liquify tool to nudge them slightly and fixed up any small sections that looked weird. it ends up looking very intentional but with less work. it's easy to make it look bad though if you don't keep it subtle, I just had to feel it out by doing it.

...and you don't need to do any animation if you don't want to!! I just think it's cool and also a fun challenge. all the stuff I did on this one is built upon my experience making that older one I linked in my post, 2 years ago. the goofy crying pose i made for that is where I learned you weren't restricted to static images for the stand/talk/blink/blink-talk poses.

the drawing sprite in my new one has the default pose set as a looping "drawing" animation, and the blink is set as a "paused drawing" image. it used to be the other way around but I found a limitation with how setting the random start time and duration of the blinks worked, so I switched them.

[pumpkinstep]

I play a lot of mobile games. I mean like A Lot. so I decided to say if some frequently advertised games are good or not.

Gardenscapes:

the ads are deciding. which is a shame because the game itself is really cute and fun. it's a standard match three bejeweled styled game with minimal micro transactions. the premise is that you fix up a garden you inherited or something and uncover the towns history and other cool stuff while following the interpersonal relationships of the folks you meet along the way.

10/10 worth playing

Homescapes:

again, the ads are deceiving.

the game is the same as gardenscapes except your butler and our protagonist Austin, (he's a super cute middle aged guy), finds out his parents are going to sell their house because it's getting on in years and a but run down.

he swears to fix up his childhood home so his parents won't have to sell it.

it's a super sweet story and I enjoy cleaning up and learning the history behind each room in the house and uncovering more about Austin's family.

10/10 worth playing

side note, the company playrix, the folks who made these 2 games, have been around for ages and even released a version of gardenscapes for the old ds. a little fun fact.

Manor Matters:

sticking to the same scope,

this game is a hidden object game that mixes homescapes with historical mystery. it's pretty cool and the puzzle panels aren't as cluttered as Mystery Case Files.

They're actually surprisingly practical and clean. though I would argue it makes it harder to find things as a result. it is timer based so I'm sure not everyone would like it.

in most cases, having to use energy to play the game is a big downside to most mobile games but here I feel it helps you take a break when you need it most.

recently they added match 3 to their bag so it changes between finding things and matching.

I like this change since I'm not as good at hidden object games as I used to be.

personally 8/10 but for some it may be a 5/10

I also would like to add that these three games have energy/lives involved in gameplay, however I've noticed that they only deplete if you fail to complete a level. that being said, it is still a mobile game so don't be surprised when you encounter coin eater levels that only seem to get easier after a million attempts. it is possible to play and beat every level you try without spending any money, you just gotta be patient.

also there's not a lot of ads that play in these games. I don't remember ever buying an ad free version and as far as I remember, viewing ads are optional

moving on to something else entirely

My Cafe:

it's a good time waster

if you ever enjoyed games like diner dash, you'd probably like this one. it's laid back, there's no pressure, you just fill cafe orders and sometimes you get stories and special events that shake up the play a bit.

lots of micro transactions and has special in-game currency that you're encouraged to buy. there's plenty of opportunities to earn them though.

6/10 it's enjoyable and a good time waster. sometimes I get the games music stuck in my head

Animal Restaurant:

I know this game made the rounds a lot in the ads. it's exactly how it looks. it's super sweet and cute and wholesome. you run a little restaurant and change out the decor to make more money and draw new customers in.

there are mircotransactions but it's very optional and tucked away in a separate menu you have to find

I really enjoy this one a lot 10/10

My Universe:

I've been seeing a lot of ads lately for this one.

I've been playing it for like maybe 2 years now on and off and it's a pretty decent game. the ads are just like the game, at least the ones I've been getting. though there is one that devates a bit but you just get a sort of compressed look at the gameplay loop, its not that different really.

it's the ad where you cut down materials and take it to one building to earn cash then move to another building to get a better tool to collect tougher materials.

I'd definitely recommend getting the ad free thing cause there's a lot of ads in this game. luckily it wasn't that expensive and the game itself was enjoyable enough to buy it

8/10 would play again, just not all the time

finally

Project Makeover:

I just picked this one up and started playing it. actually it's what inspired me to make this absurdly long post in the first place.

I finally caved after seeing the ads for it everywhere and like a million times so I took a look at it.

If you ever played on the barbie website as a kid and like Loved it, this is the game for you. this is Girl Game to the max, well maybe not that much but it's very much up there.

if you like reality TV or fake reality TV, that's a bonus too.

it very much has that kind of vibe and it is a lot sweeter and much more endearing that the ads make it out to be. I definitely feel like if the game was marketed for what it really was, then maybe it might be more popular. especially since the early 2000s style of internet games is kinda coming back. at least I feel that way.

it's a match 3 game wrapped around a fashion show drama where you clean people up and tidy a room for them to feel better in. very nice stuff.

as always, it has in game currency and micro transactions, however I haven't encountered any ads yet since I started playing like 2hrs ago. so I think that's pretty good.

for me it's a 7/10 but it could easily be someone's 10/10

ps.

I have played that weird murder grandma secret garden bs game. yknow the merge one that was one of the first to capitalize on lily's gardens weird ass ad style? it had a live action ad that had a known older female actor in it. my mind says Kathy bates but idk if that's right

anyway

i played a bit of it and the start of the game hooks you in with the mystery part, keeping super vague but then it's a very strenuous and long merge stuff on a board type game while you fix up the garden.

it's an alright merge game if that's all you want out of it.

but for those who want to know more about what the hell is up with grandma, the game doesn't say.

I found someone on YouTube who has been playing through the levels for a while and after pretty much hours of content and events, I gotta say, as far as I can tell, they ditch the mystery as soon as they get the chance to.

maybe they've updated the game to add more and build it up or whatever since that person has played but it takes a Really long time to progress.

like lily's garden, the ads have very little to do with the game itself it seems.

if any of yall are interested, I can make another post on games I've played . I know it's hard to find a good mobile game that doesn't suck or isn't RAID like blurgh

[pocketyarnlings]

Free Crochet Stegosaurus Amigurumi Pattern

Dinosaurs are such popular animals to crochet as toys! If you love stegosauruses, then this pattern is perfect for you. This guy works up quickly even with the spikes done in a continuous round. There are some colour changes and detailing for the body and spikes, which are fun to experiment with as well.

There are affiliate links in this post. We will receive a commission if you make a purchase through our affiliate link at no extra cost to you. Do note I have used some if not most of these products at some point in time.

Table of Contents Show

Introduction to Crocheting Stegosaurus

In this post, we will first be starting off with the relevant supplies and techniques you would need to crochet this stegosaurus. Here to make this stegosaurus, we will be using only 2 different yarn colours, which are also used for the detailing on the body. Then we will head into the pattern proper which includes the head and then the body.

As this is an ambitious beginner friendly pattern, here you will learn how to attempt different special stitches like bobble and popcorn stitches, and also learn how to do multiple colour changes in amigurumi.

Stick around after that to check out the full video of how to crochet a stegosaurus and finally we will end off with the full pattern PDF download if that is the mode of reading that suits you best. Don’t forget to grab the free Animal Shaping Starter Guide if this is something you would love to design in the future!

Supplies and Techniques for Crocheting a Stegosaurus

Here I have listed the techniques as well as the materials needed to crochet a stegosaurus amigurumi. Each one is individually linked if you need to learn more about how to master each technique, or you could check out this post on “How to Learn Basic Crochet Stitches step by step for Absolute Beginners - 6 Easy Steps!”.

There are also some special stitches involved in crocheting this stegosaurus which are listed below (bobble and popcorn stitches) and they are also individually linked to tutorials which will be helpful if you do not know how to make these stitches.

The materials needed are also listed below or if you wish to see what I start off most of my projects with, then check out this post on “My Crochet Tools and Accessories that are Super Simple to Start With”. Read on below.

Terminology for Crocheting Stegosaurus

Ch = chain

Sc = single crochet

Sl st = slip stitch 

St = stitch (refers to number of stitches in one round)

Hdc = half double crochet

Dc = double crochet

2sc1 = single crochet increase (meaning 2 single crochet in same stitch) 

Sc2tog1 = single crochet decrease (referring to invisible decrease) 

FLO = front loop only

BLO = back loop only

Special Stitches for Crocheting Stegosaurus

4sc1 = 4 single crochet in same stitch

4dc bob = 4 double crochet bobble stitch

= yo, insert hook in indicated, yo, pull up loop, yo, draw through 2 loops, [yo, insert hook in same, yo, pull through 2 loops] 3 times, yo, pull through 5 loops on hook

4sc pop = 4 single crochet popcorn stitch

4sc in indicated, remove hook from loop, insert hook through 1st sc of 4-sc group, replace loop on hook, yo, draw tightly through loop and st on hook

Materials and Tools for Crocheting Stegosaurus

3.0mm Clover crochet hook

Scheepjes Catona or any equivalent fingering or sport weight yarn

Version 1 - Yellow, Green (25gm each)

Version 2 - Light brown, Grey (25gm each)

Black (stash for eyes)

Darning needle

Stitch markers

Filling – use leftover yarn or polyester fiberfill

Scissors

Glass eyes (just for landmarking)

See how they look like and my selection for my amigurumis just below.

Also check out my full list of commonly used crochet tools and accessories here.

Now that you have gathered your supplies and had a look at the basic terminology to reading the following pattern, let us first get started!

Yarn

Scheepjes Catona or any equivalent fingering or sport weight yarn

Crochet hook

2.5-3.0mm Clover crochet hook 

Stuffing

Use leftover yarn or polyester fibrefill

Darning Needles

Safety Eyes

4mm glass eyes or safety eyes 

Stitch Markers

Plastic stitch markers or metal stitch markers

Crochet Stegosaurus Pattern

Crochet Stegosaurus Head

Start off head with yellow yarn.

Round 1: Magic ring sc4 (yellow) - 4st

Round 2: (Sc1, 2sc1) x 2 (yellow) - 6st

Round 3: Sc5, 2sc1 (all yellow) - 7st

Round 4: Sc3, 4sc1, sc3 (all yellow) - 10st

Round 5: Sc4, 2sc2, sc4 (all yellow) - 12st

Round 6: Sc5, 2sc2, sc5 (all yellow) - 14st

Round 7: Sc6, 2sc2, sc6 (all yellow) - 16st

Round 8: Sc2tog8 (yellow) - 8st

Add stuffing to head.

Round 9: (Sc2, sc2tog1) x 2 (yellow) - 6st

Crochet Stegosaurus Body

Continue into head from body.

Round 10: 2sc3, 3sc2, 2sc1 (all yellow) - 14st

Round 11: Sc9, 3sc2, sc3 (all yellow) - 18st

Round 12: Sc9 (yellow), sc2 (green), 4sc pop (green), sc2 (green), sc4 (yellow) - 20st

Round 13: Sc1, 4dc Bob, sc2, 4dc Bob, sc5, 2sc1, skip 1st, 2sc1, sc5 (all yellow) - 19st

Round 14: Sc8 (yellow), sc4 (green), 4sc pop (green), sc4 (green), sc2 (yellow) - 19st

Round 15: Sc11, 2sc1, skip 1st, 2sc1, sc5 (all yellow) - 20st

Round 16: Sc9 (yellow), sc4 (green), 4sc pop (green), sc4 (green), sc2 (yellow) - 20st

Round 17: Sc11, sc2tog1, skip 1st, sc2tog1, sc4 (all yellow) - 17st

Round 18: Sc8 (yellow), sc4 (green), 4sc pop (green), sc4 (green) - 17st

Round 19: Sc2, 4dc Bob, sc2, 4dc Bob, sc4, sc2tog1, skip 1st, sc2tog1, sc2 (all yellow) - 14st

Add stuffing to body.

Round 20: Sc2tog5 (yellow), sc1 (green), 4sc pop (green), sc2tog1 (green) - 8st

Round 21: Sc8 (yellow) - 8st

Cut off green yarn. Continue using just yellow yarn.

Round 22: Sc6, sc2tog1 - 7st

Round 23: Sc5, sc2tog1 - 6st

Round 24: (Sc1, sc2tog1) x 2 - 4st

Round 25: Sc4 - 4st

Close up in FLO and fasten off.

Embroider Stegosaurus Face

Embroider Stegosaurus Eyes

Add eyes by embroidering French knots just above snout on either side of face. Use a pin marker to landmark before threading in the yarn. Thread in black yarn through head and out to the desired eye location. Without removing yarn from the needle, place tip of needle close to the surface of the face. Loop yarn close to the face around needle twice.

Insert eye back into intended eye position and out through head again. Do not pull the yarn taut because the whole knot will go into the head. Instead, when pulling needle out of the head, pull gently so that the knot stays on the face.

Embroider Stegosaurus Smile

Sew 1 big smile extending across the face just below the snout.

Crochet Stegosaurus Video

After referring to the pattern above, remember to check out the full video on how to crochet a stegosaurus, from start to finish with nothing left out. It takes less than an hour and it includes captions with voice-overs as well. You can scroll to the specific parts that you are struggling when you are attempting the pattern above. Remember to also like the video and subscribe to my Youtube Channel so that when new amigurumi videos are released, you will know about it!

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If you felt this post was amazing then remember to spread the love by pinning the image below to Pinterest so that others might find it and learn how to crochet a stegosaurus too! I appreciate you so much for doing this!

Stegosaurus PDF Pattern

The Pocket Stegosaurus PDF Pattern is an ad-free downloadable PDF printable, with checkboxes included and step-by-step pictorial tutorials. The pattern is easy for beginners, fast and no-sew. Just click on the image below or scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the pattern download.

Conclusion of Crocheting Stegosaurus

Thank you for joining me in crocheting this little pocket stegosaurus. Remember to tag me @pocketyarnlings on instagram so I can see your makes too and I will feature them in my email newsletter. Here is how you can support me so that I can make more posts and videos for you in the future:

If you want to try the pattern for free, check out the pattern above with ads.

If you want to refer to the written pattern without ads, check out the PDF download for a price over here.

If you want to see the way the amigurumi is made in real-time, then check out the video on my Youtube channel here.

If you don’t want to watch a video (<1 hour) to see if you are progressing correctly, check out the step-by-step pictorial tutorials over here.

If you want to learn how to design similar animal amigurumi, check out the free Animal Shaping Starter Guide here.

To check out more of my ideas for using various types of crochet stitch techniques to shape amigurumi animals, grab my free Animal Shaping Starter Guide below! Inside, get quick ideas on how to get started on shaping ears, snouts, cheeks, bodies and limbs for animals!

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[nickhembery]

Wrongly right and a shorter path

Two or three years ago there was a weird news story in video games. A screenshot of a game in development leaked, I think GTA6, and someone commented on this picture and confidently stated their opinion, that games were developed by making in-game assets first (what your characters, items and environments looked like) and actual game mechanics were added later as developers figured out how the game would work. The response to this comment as it went viral were quite funny.

Lots of real game developers posted various in-development images and videos of their past games to point out how wrong the original opinion was. Characters running through plain grey environments. Players represented by giant lozenges with googley eyes (in what would later be a pirate game). A bunch more that I can't recall.

The point was that you had to design the gameplay first and add the graphics later. You build the house before you paint the walls.

But.

As I've been learning about game development I've watched lots of tutorials there has been a distinctive pattern. They all start with a simple process, open the development program, start a new project file, and then LOAD IN PRE-MADE ASSETS. The characters. The weapons. The tiles of floors and walls. To start to code a game you have to be able to test it at the drop of a hat. To test it you have to run it. To run it you have to have something on screen to see. To have something on screen you need assets.

So this commenter who was so confidently wrong was also sort of right?

Before I start experimenting and trying to make my own game I need to a) buy/acquire some existing assets or b) make some really crappy placeholder myself.

I'm going with option b for the main character right now and will likely go with option a for other things. I'm aiming for a complex player that can go about with weapon hidden or showing (changeable weapons) and maybe changeable (visible) armour too. The latter would be difficult in a low-pixel 2d style. There's just not enough real estate on the character to get clear changes going. That's if I end up going with 2d.

One of the frustrating parts of how this game engine works in 2d is that for a character to be animated (idle stance, moving feet when walking, swinging weapons when attacking) then every single frame has to be a separate drawing. With four directions to face, eight different movements and between 2 and 5 frames per action loop, then I'm looking at 108 separate drawings for the character, and another 80 for each changeable weapon. That's a really big sprite sheet. So I'm actually wondering if it would be easier to make in 3d.

3d still has the same pre-make assets and individual animations, but an animation is a single file, rather than a set of images that have to be drawn. But there's a whole load of other complications that will come in with making a game 3d over 2d. I need to learn more before I can make a decision.

[alinartistique]

Progress report January 2025

So, hi. First progress update since this blog's inception. The intention behind this blog is mainly to keep an overview of everything I worked on for myself. And of course, since this blog is accessible to you, who are interested (or aren't, idk I'll still info dump) it also keeps you up to date on my art/animation/webcomic progress.

So here we go:

My webcomic, Twisted Play:

I've finished Chapter 2.1 part 1 mid-december. Now it's time for part 2. I've spend some days inbetween reworking its script and dialogue. Art-wise, I prepared a sketch for me to start working with. So, working on the lineart will be the next big thing here.

In April 2024, I posted the last installment of Chapter 1.2 on Webtoon Canvas, concluding chapter 1. After this, I set it on a hiatus for the time being, main reason being my deteriorating mental, and in the later part of the hiatus even physical, health. I'm now back to working on Chapter 2.1 with the hopes of finishing it till the end of this year.

Artworks I made: Warning! Blood/gore/disturbing imagery.

In total, I've worked on two stand-alone illustrations: "Tell me doctor..." ft. Chouwa and "Undeserving" ft. Chiron.

In 2024, I stuck with my schedule of creating three illustrations a month. Now in 2025, I plan to at least keep up with two illustrations a month, in favor of my other projects, mainly Twisted Play.

Finished animations:

So, in 2024 I began creating animations (animation memes) since it's been a goal of mine to learn how to somewhat animate and bring my OCs to life in a different way. So for that, I have a YouTube channel ft. all of my animations up to this point. (Link can be found on my blog (/Socials), support over there is always highly appreaciated.

2025 started of with me working on a spontaneous animation meme: "Smarty". (see picture below) I legit just found the audio and thought "Oh god, yeah let's do a small animation of Chouwa to that." And that I did. And in my personal record time...one week.

After that, the next finished animation was a small sh*tpost YT short...which I ended up thinking it's too cringe, something about it really irks me now that it's finished and now it's sitting in my laptop. Who knows, maybe at some point I'll work it over and post it...or not. Honestly, the few nights I spend on it feel like a waste.

And after that, I made a small sh*tpost animation that I was actually happy with, the "Mr Teddy Bear" YT short skit ft. Desire and Chouwa. Small, but it was a nice little thing to work on.

Animation WIPs:

I keep putting myself in this mess. Yk how inspiration for something new always strikes when you're already preoccupied with other works? I'm sure some of you can relate...right?

"Bop it" animation meme: ft. Chouwa and Chiron (Picture 1) I'd estimate it's about 60% finished. I'm currently at the middle part of the animation that's more fast paced but once I got that done, the last 1/3 of the animation is basically a looped version with some changes I'll add afterwards.

"Lambada" animation meme: ft. Chouwa (Picture 2) Around 50%? Pretty much the same like with the "bop it" animation. I'm currently stuck at the middle part. Only difference here is that it's not as fast paced as the "bop it" animation's middle part.

"888" animation meme: ft. Chiron (Picture 3) I started this one like...not even a week ago with the sole intention of practicing tweening. It's still a bit wonky but I'm getting there. The thing here is that it's also a loop animation that'll loop a total of four times, each loop having small changes in them. So I finished the beginning part of it that makes about 25% of the animation I actually need to do aside from the copy-pasting.

"Nym" animation meme: ft. Chiron I really just had a bit of a headache the other day and didn't really feel like working on the other stuff so I went and drew/animated the intro segment of this animation, an animated drawing of a snowfield and a starry night sky. That's all for now. The sketch for this animation has been sitting on my laptop for months...

"Trash" animation meme ft. Noriaki, Chouwa and Chiron Another spontaneous idea. In January, I only prepared a sketch version. I'm trying to keep this tucked away like this for a while until I actually finished some of the ones I mentioned above.

I have four more animations (sketches mostly) on my laptop, but didn't work on them this month.

Miscellaneous:

Created a new OC: Porrima. (See below) It'll function as my future content warning assistant for upcoming animation meme content. Porrima isn't intented to be a new character appearing in Twisted Play. But who knows, I might just put it in as an easter egg in some scenes? Like a popular childrens toy or cartoon character? Like, idk, Hello Kitty levels of famous in the Twisted Play universe? Not sure. I'll think of something.

Finished Noriaki's new outfit design sheet. Will be posted with new artwork, planned for february.

Started a smaller design sheet for eye animations related to my OCs archangel powers. The animation part of it was a spontaneous idea that doesn't take all that long to implement and actually makes it clearer how everyone activates their powers. Currently, only Noriaki's eye animation is finished. Rest will follow sometime in between.

And that's it. Honestly, I'm happy to see how much it actually is that I managed to work on this month. Pessimistic ol' me keeps thinking I'm lazy if I just take one day without drawing anything. Not saying I'll start neglecting my current WIPS more now! On the contrary, seeing that I'm not as lazy as I perceived myself to be, gives me motivation to keep going.

I'm not as active on tumblr as I am on Instagram yet. Maybe consider following my instagram if you really want to see more stuff in between. But I'm planning to make these progress posts a monthly thing.

So finally, after typing away for like...45 minutes? See ya in the next progress report in february. :)

[scribblewise]

Hey it's webcomic day! I just learned about this today. I make webcomics!

The theme of this year is to share your process.

I'm not really sure what to say about my process other than it's changing all the time, but generally I do almost all of my writing on the canvas because the way I end up drawing a character can make me feel like I need to change the dialogue or action, or vice-versa, it is all very much a process that loops and feeds back into itself, and I feel like something is finished when it looks funny and reads funny to me. If it's not funny, I break it until it is. This does not always lead to comics that everyone would consider funny, that's fine.

As for the animated comics I'll give you the cliff notes:

I use two programs: Krita for illustration of frames and Tahoma2D for compositing those frames together and exporting the animation

When you export frames of animation from Krita for Tahoma, you need to have a period after the initial name so that the files come out like: "example.0001.png, example.0002.png example.0003.png" etc. Because this is how Tahoma understands imported frames.

Real world example, showcasing the need for coming up with a predictable filename structure that also produces unique filenames for the frames so you can keep track of all the different moving parts. "0004_" is appended in the front because this is the fourth comic, the next number is the panel number, and then followed by each thing that's represented.

3. Most of the visible movement of an action is typically at the beginning and the end - so you want more frames there than in the middle, and you can fiddle with the timing of the frames to fine-tune it.

4. Don't be afraid to use every tool at your disposal. Even if you use mostly hand-drawn frames like me, subtle motion tweens like squashing and stretching even into just the few percentage points can really add some flavor.

5. Animation programs are complex by nature! It's normal to get frustrated if something is a real pain in the ass to figure out or implement. That's not a weakness!!

Above all, uh, don't be afraid to make a mess, even if your process is purely digital it's still just as a messy process as a physical medium, although it expresses itself in different ways. You can always clean it up, or just learn to work around it.