#Maybe I'll develop this beyond a sketch

[personwho1s]

[hatt0ris]

I WANTED TO MAKE MORE THAN JUST THIS but it took like. a week to get done and im sick these days

anyways in light of mk1's nonsense i revisited some koncepts i had for a roleswap au. i took hanzo's inspiration from a mix of mkx and mk11 outfits and kuai i kind of just winged it based off my own preferences in past appearances!!

more rambling is under the cut about the actual AU :-]

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY ART ON ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA OR CROP THEM FOR ICONS. THANK YOU!

SO I HAVE NOT ACTUALLY DEVELOPED THIS BEYOND SOME OLD SKETCHES I HAD OF KUAI'S DESIGN but i had some general ideas of how this was supposed to work???

the shirai ryu is still alive and well! he's still a family man and very clan oriented. satoshi is still born and grows into his clan's responsibilities, however harumi dies in child birth.

the lin kuei on the other hand is Not Doing Well. they end up getting wiped out during a raid from the shirai ryu and most of kuai's immediate family (whether by choice or blood) ends up going down with them.

prior to this kuai ends up passing after a failed mission to retrieve the map of elements from the shaolin temple in an attempt to prove himself to his clan. (instead of bi-han being the one set on that path, kuai ends up taking the initiative instead WAY before he's ready without anyone's knowledge and ends up dying when met with scorpion.)

most of it is similar how it is in actual canon for how scorpion's story goes. he gets resurrected he pledges loyalty to quan chi in order to get revenge, blah blah blah. mortal kombat happens. the two meet again at some point.

kuai's still on that "you killed my family" juice but its...more so about familial ties (like bi-han and smoke) rather than it being the love(s) of his life (like hanzo's wife and son) , seeing as he died young from his own overzealous nature.

very much has anger issues. he's impatient and has alot shorter of a temper by comparison to scorpion in the original canon. hardly ever humbled until that point lol

hanzo on the other hand is surprisingly more lax. meditates often, drinks alot of tea and while he *IS* stressed he handles it alot better than kuai does. maybe has a problem of ignoring his problems though for the sake of the task at hand.

kuai ends up harassing hanzo alot in this AU even outside of the tournament. he's kind of a bitchy ghost there to remind hanzo of what happened to him and lowkey hanzo guilts over it.

kuai has alot of grim reaper motifs in his design. he carries a scythe made of ice primarily and fights at a more long distance range.

hanzo on the other hand is alot more of an up close brawler. he keeps alot of design traits from mkx with a bit of mk11 sprinkled in for inspiration of his "classic" design.

STILL A PYROMANCER!! i just havent thought out how. he's just regarded with a bit more respect for having those unnatural abilities lol

but yeah this is just me spitballing in bullet points. i'm hoping to make more stuff later that is a bit more...thought out properly but it follows more of like

mk mythologies --> mk9 -> mkx

type of timeline i guess? except hanzo is in bi-han's position and kuai ends up being put in scorpion's. bi-han doesn't really have a place in the AU outside of being a background character and driving motive for kuai's vengeance later on. (though we're not gonna talk about how bi-han's mentality eventually fed into kuai's at a young age and made him come to the conclusions he did before he died.... maybe.)

smoke exists for the sake of painful flashbacks lol

satoshi's also a bg character but he does end up growing up with the shirai ryu and takes on his own share of clan responsibilities. idk whether or not he takes after hanzo's pyromancy or not in this AU but either way he grows up to be a well respected figure in the clan!

alot of stuff outside of this remains the same though, just the lin kuei and shirai ryu's dynamics get swapped.

ANYWAYS YEAH IF YOU READ THRU ALL THIS THANKS FOR READING BYEEEE (i'll be adding to this au more later on when i finish my other sketches lol)

[starflungwaddledee]

hello!! its me!! in your inbox again!! Ive gotta know: what kind of thought went into Starstucks design? do you have any beta designs, early sketches, or has she always been so cute?!

HELLOOoooooo yesssss quality asks from moonie!!!! i am always so excited!!! i'll pop this under a cut because it got long, but the short answer is: sadly i'm boring and predictable 😂

i am SO embarrassed to tell you that very little thought went into her design, at least on any sort of... cerebral level. the reason for this is because she is my sona, though she does now have a story of her own, and i personally have an extremely rigid set of personal iconography! both irl and online

i joked with my gf and some friends who know me beyond kirby that if you knew me outside of here you would spot me a mile off because my aesthetics for sonas or personal representation have been rock-solid consistent for almost a decade!

i'm always pink and cream and ice blue, always have star themes, always have grey-blue/pink eyes, always have freckles (often white constellations) over big pink cockatiel cheeks, and always have huge bows 😂 also often i have flower crowns but she avoided this by being All Head. i did accessorise her festive outfit though!

so really... she couldn't have looked much different to how she does. i did add the stars on the bottom of her feet (hidden stars are a typical design choice for me tho) and the heart shaped face marking after drawing her a few times on the blog! i just thought the heart shaped marking added a little interest at the time, especially above the eyes; maybe because i was used to drawing bandee who's bandana covers that top edge of his face marking!

now that some time has passed, of course parts of her design tie into her lore in fun ways ("oh she has stars on her feet!" "what makes the constellations on her cheeks move!" "wow her bow looks a bit like wi-!!"), but that was entirely unexpected when i designed her. i never intended to develop her as much as she has been because the interest from others was frankly so unexpected; but i'm having a total blast doing it!

i also chose a waddle dee rather than any of the other aliens on offer because i personally tend to just... feel pretty average! not impressive or significant enough to be a knight or a puffball or anything like that! waddle dees resonate with me, they're just easily spooked little critters with zero defensive mechanisms doing their best and i can relate to that

though i suppose that it's now rather clear that starstruck is not an average waddle dee, if one at all.. so i guess time will tell

sorry if this is a bit of a let down 😅 the unfortunate answer is that she's based on Me and how i look/feel/dress/etc irl. my hair is that shade of pink. i have an exceptionally comprehensive collection of flower crowns and comedically oversized bows. i am very small and very round. i do have intensive freckles in constellation patterns. sadly, alas, my eyes are only grey-blue. so there was only ever so many variations she'd be able to draw on from my rigid set of aesthetics haha!

[somerandomcryptid]

So you know a bit about our lovely developer. But what about some of the play testers? Maybe you'd like to know about the person with the most play time on Adventures in Esempi?

Well dear reader thankfully I can help. XD has kept extensive logs about them. of course I know more. But I like to keep to information that's been gathered or said(of course excluding my lovely sketches) so I'm afraid there will be a few holes.

Annnd there might be some retrospective. So a few things have been removed for spoiler reasons. And most of XD's... notes have been removed. They tend to be of little consequence beyond showing his obsessions.

Now how about some sketches of PT51, or "Cryptid", as is their chosen name.

I've taken a few sketches from across the timeline, for your enjoyment :3

PT51 was not supposed to be a playtester, actually. They are the kid of PT43 that asked for a copy of the game to play test for themself. Despite this they have the highest play time by far. Maybe this should be expected since they were doing it more for leisure then work? But even then, in the 2 months and a half they have spent a little under 360 hours on the game. That is a fourth of their time. And their chats are fascinating! So of course I did some digging, (sorry. I can't include this bit :3) So here's what I found. Their legal name seems to be "Rose Victoria(?) Eliott" Victoria as their middle name is only speculative, but I find it likely. However, this may not be their preferred name. In game they go by "Cryptid", not telling in it's self but they have always refered to themself with they/them and their father has always referred to them with they/them and exclusively "my kid", even correcting himself when he almost used she/her. All this to say I will refer to them as "Cryptid" and use they/them. Another thing I find fascinating is the fact they are homeschooled. I know this because when I asked about their playtime in relation to school (their father said they were 14 previously) they replied with quote "I'm homeschooled. And my schedule's pretty loose. So it hasn't really messed with it :)". The reason for their homeschooling I haven't got confirmation on. But I suspect it might be related to their ADHD. They seem a lot like Dream in that way. And they have bonded with the ai. though one thing about their playtime is that the AI's have been active so much in their save that they have gotten more... Aware. I've tried multiple soft resets. But it hasn't helped too much. They're getting antsy. I don't blame Cryptid though! They seem like a lonely kid. A lot like Dris was after Dream's death. If not quite a bit more cheerful. One other issue of note is their player ai has gotten... aware... Not fully yet. But in the times Cryptid isn't playing it's been developing. I've try to delete it but it seems to be popping up again

It doesn't seem to be dangerous. But I would still prefer it didn't exist. It's having too many existence crisises and I'd prefer it to not to break things. It's not even supposed to exist.

That's all of their file I'll share for now. The rest turns much more... Unhinged.

And since I asked and they said they did want me to tag them @calamari-minecraft-corner :3

[jubilantmedusa]

Hi! I just wanted to say that I really like your fics <3 I re-read your latest Zukka one 3 times. Do you plan to write any more soon? What type of ideas do you have? I hope I don't sound pushy I'm just curious!

Aww, so glad you enjoyed it :)

I doesn't take much to get me to talk about ideas and WIPs so here you go!

I'm not sure how soon any of this will get done, just because life is very busy right now (which is the reason I've been focusing on short stuff - I prefer medium/long, but short is more achivable right now; and it is a fun challenge to stick to a word limit).

Actively working on:

Zukka HC Sketch + Fic: I have two other Zukka H/C-ish sketches that I need to write stories for. They should be a little less angsty then the last one, in theory, but still have some H/C element. Waiting for inspiration to strike. (1 - 1.5k each goal). I might do more of these, or I might switch to a non-H/C sketch/fic focus. Or I might stop when those two are done. IDK. Whatever's fun.

Iroh and Zuko Post "The Desert" Whump AU: Zuko and Iroh’s escape from "The Desert" is intercepted by an enemy who quickly surmises that the most effective way to torture Iroh is to torture Zuko. With Iroh literally losing his mind, can Zuko (who is not doing well) save his uncle and himself? (currently at 4k; estimated 12 - 16k)

If I can finish the above by the end of the year I'll be pleased.

Ideas that I really want to do and have at least done *some* pre-writing for:

Iroh's Second Spirit World Journey: An Iroh centric story that diverges after "The Earth King." When Zuko never wakes up from his angst coma, Iroh goes literally beyond the ends of the earth to try to save him (aka - Iroh's second spirit world journey). Could have a sequal (or even be a trilogy, potentially), but not required. I really want to write this but I'm not sure if it would have an audience. Estimate: long, over 25k

Escaping the Desert: Another "The Desert" divergence story - Zuko and Iroh are captured by the Rough Rhinoes. Unfortunately, so is Toph. Zuko will do anything to save his uncle, but what about the strange blind girl who was with the avatar? Estimate 15 - 25k. The problem with this one is it would more or less require a trilogy... but if I can keep all the stories to around 10-15k that may be achievable.

Zukka Iron Lung: There is a plague that only effect firebenders. This spurs the invention of the iron lung -- Sokka is one of the lead engineers. When Sokka goes to the Fire Nation to Save the Day, he catches feelings for the Fire Lord. Unfortunately, Zuko then catches the plague. Length TBD.

Zukka Post Series romance: Zuko was injured/disabled before the finale and never took the throne. Sokka hasn't spoke to him since. He has, however, developed PTSD. With his life seemingly falling apart. Sokka decides to run away and go to university at Ba Sing Se. He stops for tea at the Jasmine Dragon, which is now run by, you guessed it, Zuko. Angst and romance ensures. Bonus airbender field trip. Length TBD.

Ice Demon / Waterbender Hospital - This is something I'm not sure anyone would be interested in except me, but I do like medical whump. I've done some light worldbuilding for a waterbender hospital, and have a vague idea of sending Zuko there when he's attacked by an Ice spirit. For some reason. Maybe involving Aang and his quest to master the avatar state? or maybe not, because that would be a lot of story. Lots of more to develop here. Could be gen or Zukka. Season 3 somewhere. Length TBD.

Fire Demon story - I would love to write a longer form season one AU that shamlessly steals the premise of the excellent short fic Fire Walk by Sholio and makes it into a multi-chapter Zuko joins the gang early story. Length TBD.

Ancedotes: This is an idea for a series of short form slice of life/characters backstory fics (3 - 8k, lets say). So far they'd include - "Old Man " a story that answers the question 'how did Sokka learn about physics?' - coming of age/loss of innocence; "Losing at Pai Sho" a story about teen Iroh learning to not be arrogant; and "First Kiss" - the only idea I've ever had for an Azula story, featuring Ty Lee's first kiss and Azula's first... something else. I have an idea for Toph and Zuko, but not committed to them. Katara story has not come to me. I also wanted to pair these with exercises from The 3 A.M. Epiphany because idk the whim struck and the idea is in my head.

Aside form that, I'd like to write a few whumpy Zuko short stories (3 - 10k) that focus on the gaang relationships I haven't written about as much - friendship fics featuring Katara & Zuko, Aang & Zuko, or Toph & Zuko.

If I am ever to become independently wealthy, I'll write my season 3 AU.

And if I ever feel very, very silly - but still slightly angsty - I'll have Iroh commission a symphony in C.

Thank you so much for the question! I am flattered. It was very nice.

If there's an idea you (or anyone who stumbles across this) especially likes, let me know!

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #34 | 08.27.23

Hi everyone!

Another month has flown by, and we are already entering the month of September soon! It's crazy it's already Fall......... Hope you all have been doing well <3

Since we're getting into the latter half of the year, I wanted to sit down and talk to you about the usual monthly progress as well as do a check in on where Alaris is sitting. This is a longer one, so without further ado, let's dive in, shall we?

Writing

We continue to move forward with writing. But it's extremely refreshing this month since I've Finally moved into Etza's route! Already, the route is feeling relatively different from the past three routes I've been writing---not necessarily because the past three routes are repetitive, but moreso because Etza's route (and the Fae ones moving forward) is very different regarding plot content. I can't say much more than that because then we start getting into spoiler territory. But it's been exciting since Etza, Kuna'a, and Aisa have always been the "final stage" of writing for Alaris to me.

I'm aiming to have Etza's first draft done by the end of next month. We'll check in next month to see my progress, but that's my goal at least! I also wrapped up the finishing touches for Druk's route this past month and moved his onto developmental editing, so we are just moving into New Stages all across the board yay!

Art

Most of my attention was actually on art this month though! Specifically, on finalizing Kickstarter merchandise so I can ship it out. I finished the updated Mermay prints as well as the character postcards.

they r beauty they r grace

I will have some extra prints that I'm happy to send off. Obviously, you will have to pay for them LOL. But if you're interested in any, I'll have an extremely limited stock. Patrons will get first dibs, so if you are interested but aren't subscribed to my Patreon, I'd recommend getting on that for this upcoming month since I will not be restocking the Mermay prints ever again!

We also continued to get backgrounds from Vui. These are spoiler territory, so I will not be showing them this month teehee. But they're beautiful per usual Vui fashion!

Check-In

Now that we're in the latter half of the year, I wanted to talk to you all about overall Alaris progress and some more specific parts of development.

As of right now, we have about 210k written for Alaris (including the demo). And the end estimate is about 350k. For art assets, we have 20 CGs out of an estimated 48 CGs finished and/or sketched out. For BGs, we are on background 18 out of 25. The GUI is for the most part finished, save for some small finishing touches. And we have 6 out of 8 original tracks completely done.

If it's not clear, Alaris will definitely be a 2024 release rather than an end of 2023 release, which may be disappointing news for those of you eager for Alaris. But realistically, even if I make absolutely cracked progress on the assets from now until the end of the year, I would still need time to polish the full game, especially considering how long it took me to polish intertwine for Otojam, which was significantly smaller. And that's excluding my team members, who I don't want to force into a crunching position. All that being said, I hope to get some playable content to you all before the end of the year, namely the updated demo and maybe Kayn's beta build!

I wanted to take a moment to mention one thing concerning the updated demo. As you all may know from past devlogs, I've updated many of the assets for the enhanced demo. Initially, I had wanted to release the updated demo quite a while back, but there was one set of assets that ended up getting held up in production. For full transparency, since I've talked about the updated demo for a while but haven't been able to show much more progress beyond that, I wanted to touch on (generally) why it's been held up, mainly because I don't want you all to think I'm just Not Delivering on it!

My GUI artist is the same person who made the Alaris logo (re.Alice). She's wonderfully talented, which is why I wanted to work with her for the Alaris GUI as well! As many may know, sometimes life happens and so without getting into any specifics, this is what has been holding up the enhanced demo since I haven't been able to update and code in the new GUI.

Based on recent updates from Alice, I'm hopeful that I'll be receiving the new GUI this upcoming month, and I'd love to release the updated demo (T e n t a t i v e l y) in October! Of course, when the September devlog comes around I'll be able to update you all more concretely. But I wanted to communicate where things currently (and have been) standing since I've been wanting you all to experience the updated demo so badly but didn't want you all to feel like I've been forgetting about it/dropping the ball on it/etc. etc. etc.

Thank you, as always for being so patient and supportive of me! As we head into this final half of the year (jesus), I hope the progress I've been making behind the scenes for Alaris will start to come to fruition through the enhanced demo and some playable beta builds of the individual routes <3

Market Research

I did ~some~ market research this month, but it's honestly been pretty sparse, mainly because my usual market research time was actually replaced by Jam Time this month.

Specifically, if you didn't get the chance to check them out, I helped with two games this month for a 10 day jam. I think they're both pretty top-notch if I'm allowed to humbly brag since the teams behind them were very talented!

The first is Oblivisci Memorias

After receiving a mysterious request, you create a potion meant to erase memories. But the process is a grueling one, and as you add ingredients to your potion, you may find yourself reminiscing on memories you thought you had long since suppressed.

And the second is Titan Arum

Alone, you find yourself catsitting in your family's new house as they traipse through Europe. But incidents slowly signal to you that something's... off about this house. What story exists behind its walls? And more importantly, are you brave enough to uncover it?

[the-lone-wolf-artist]

A Big Changes to this Blog that was Long Overdue...

Hello Everyone…

It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on this blog, well beside repeats of Desolate Paradise content.

You see, a lot of stuff has changed over the years since I first started this blog in 2016 to now 2024, man a long time huh? Anyway, I never expected the good, the bad, and the ugly things and how it would affect my life. I won't get into the details, but basically I'm just like anyone else in the world that deals with hardships and loss. I found it hard to stay passionate and creative with my art and my mindset, that it got to a point where I had enough…

I stopped doing everything that I loved the most and took a huge break from it.

While I was stewing, reflecting, and just recharging my batteries, I was doing other hobbies during this time that I enjoyed. I was writing for a while through the many fandom Au's I've created and I slowly started getting my spark back and my creative juices flowing again.

I started doodling, sketching and doing art again, even though they may not be the best of what I've done before. I'm still happy with them and it's getting me back to what I love doing most.

I then reached a decision on what I want to do with this blog to not only solve the inactivity but also better myself in the process.

The Big Changes to this Blog

These are the "Big Changes" that will be happening to the The Lone Wolf Artist Blog…

As I mentioned before I do have other hobbies that I have developed over the years that I love doing behind the scenes, such as:

Writing

Animating

Sewing

Beading jewelry

Resin Art

Diamond Art

These are the few prime examples of things I like doing that has expanded my creative space and mindset besides drawing all the time. The reason I haven't posted these types of content was because I was too focused on making masterpieces and trying to keep up with drawing inactivity on this blog.

I started to learn that it was making me unhappy and too stressed out, but that's all about to change for this blog with these hobbies and the other fandom's I'm interested in too! You see the The Lone Wolf Artist Blog is gonna be my personal space for my other hobbies and the other fandom's that I enjoy beside Motorcity, like:

One Piece

Red Dead Series

Studio Ghibi Content

Monster Hunter Series

Evil West

Okami

And Many More Fandom Content I enjoy!

These are the few examples of the other kinds of fandom that I enjoy and love. My interest goes beyond just Motorcity. I have written many fandom Au's stories during my huge break and I'm dying to bring them to life!

Basically this blog is gonna be a place where I get to do what I want to do and you guys get to see the kinda stuff I created through my written fandom Au's stories instead of focusing on one fandom!

Now the Future Changes of this Blog

Now with these big changes happening with this new direction to the Lone Wolf Blog, it doesn't stop there.

You see I do have other changes that will be coming in the future too! Such as:

1: Question Box Opening [Reason for the Idea: It is where you guy's can ask me questions. (FYI: Their will be Rules to prevent Chaos.)]

2: Request Box Opening [Reason for the Idea: Where you can request drawing ideas for me to draw with rules too. (FYI: I'm a bit undecided about the idea right now. If this idea becomes official, it will be a Limited Box Opening of how many I would take; basically an on and off box.)]

3: Previews of W.I.P.S. Artwork's [Reason for the Idea: I know my art takes a lot of time and patience that causes these long pauses in my blog activity, so maybe I'll post some W.I.P'S of my art content process time to keep up the activity.]

4: Previews of W.I.P.S. Animation's [Reason for the Idea: I sometimes dapple in animation every now and then, maybe I'll post some rough animations that I'm really proud of through my simple animation journey.]

5: Short AU Stories [Reason for the Idea: When I'm not drawing or my hand is slightly sore, I like writing small stories in between from my AU's, maybe I'll post these little stories, but no promises I'm not the best writer but not awful.]

6: Small Comic AU's & Scene's [Reason for the Idea: I write a lot and sometimes I like to take the time to bring these scene's to life.]

7: Gaming Clips [Reason for the Idea: Sometimes during the weekend breaks, I play games to give my creative brain a break. Every now and then I capture awesome, funny and goofy moments during my playthrough's that I'm wiling to share.]

These are a few of my suggestions… I will makes post's when I make the final decisions.

Now The Desolate Paradise Blog Issue

The Desolate Paradise Blog (AKA: Motorcity X Wolf Rain's AU Crossover Story) is going be on hiatus in indefinitely…

I made this decision because I want to focus on my other fandom AU's without focusing on this one all the time and causing me to be stressed out and trying to force myself to keep working on it. It wasn't fun anymore and that's not what I wanted for this AU…

So I'm going to put it on hiatus effective immediately, will it return?…

I don't know right now. For now its on pause and needs to stay like that, until I'm ready to come back to it or.. maybe give up on it entirely…only time will tell.

Thank You for Reading and Listening

Thank you all for listening and reading this. It means a lot to me, I hope it clears up a lot of the stuff that's been going on with the inactivity to not only the The Lone Wolf Artist Blog but also the Desolate Paradise Blog too.

It was kinda bothering me for a while and I felt I needed to express it and want to make a change for the better.

I hope you are excited about the new changes that will be happening for the better and hope you all enjoy the new content that will be posted on the The Lone Wolf Artist Blog soon!

With that I bid you farewell and I shall return to the darkness again.

[king-of-kaoss]

I would love to learn more about 'mixed signals' and 'marimo'!

why thank you for your interest good sir!

mixed signals is a platonic mcu peter parker and tony stark fic, as well as (peter parker and flash thompson) i started like a year or two ago at the height of my hyperfixating on them. i wanted to do my own take on the Stark Industries field trip trope, post infinity war/endgame where tony lives. and also give Flash some opportunity for growth and character development using the backstory crumbs they gave him in the mcu spider-man movies. i went down some quantum physics wikipedia rabbit holes to give it some fun sci fi elements and ofc gave each chapter a song with relevant lyrics cause thats what tickles my brain when it's hyperfixating c:

you can read the first half (4 chapters) here and i posted a lil tease for chapter 5 in the prev ask game i answered earlier here. i have a chunk of ch 6 written and the rest is roughly planned out and just needs written and maybe reworked slightly for my own interest now that some time has passed.

and well how about another teaser from chapter 5 (read the other one first!) c;

marimo is well barely a wip but it's going to be an ambitious drawing perhaps a bit beyond my skill. but the idea is to draw a nicely rendered sleeping zoro covered in moss and foresty growth as if he's been dormant a long time (he's dreaming UuU). i'll prolly do it w pencil in my sketchbook. and then maybe attempt a digital vector drawing because i'd love for it be vibrant and colorful but i havent found my forte with color traditional media. i have colored pencils and oil pastels and watercolors but applying them to a lovely sketch will ruin it i am certain; maybe i could experiment with a few versions tho.

progress so far has just been gathering a few references:

[anticanonhearts]

Do you have any recommendations on how you developed your specific art style?

(Thanks for the ask!<3)

Omg, most of the time I don't even think of myself as having a specific art style! But I'll try my best to be helpful!

I use the program Clip Studio Paint, there's a free version which I used to use, and it changed my art drastically. I use the pencil to sketch as I would on paper, and I rarely clean it or do final lineart or anything (because I'm lazy, mostly.) Then I color with the "oil" or "thin gouache" brushes, as if I were painting on canvas c: (having some oil painting background helped.) So those are some tool things...

I try to use fun & vivid colors as much as possible. One of my own art idols (lunarelles) who uses color in such amazing ways, once said something really cool about just throwing unlikely colors on there and see if you like it, whether or not it makes sense. Like, why not make the shadows orange, you know? They said it in a much better way, but the overall idea still stuck with me. I also love to add blue+purple shadows on people, I just think it looks nice!

Sometimes, if I want a super paint-y vibe, I'll keep the sketch layer open, but paint in a layer over it- again, just as if I were painting on a canvas! This is pretty time consuming though, and I only do when I feel like going above and beyond.

As for like, the style of my lineart/sketch, that's probably more tricky. It's really the result of all my years of drawing and imitating the other artists whose work I admire. Maybe I like how one artist draws noses, or wrinkles in clothing, or I like how they shade/render hair, etc, so I see if I can incorporate that into my own style.

I also use pinterest A Lot for inspiration, it helps especially with poses.

Yeah okay! I think that's it. It's hard to identify my style, but that's my process! I hope you found this helpful in some way!:)

Thanks <3

[george5259999]

Week 10 - Completing the Loop

Week 10 Activities - Short Reflection

For the final tutorial, we were tasked with cleaning up a 3D scanned object, and slicing it in Cura.

As well as manipulating and slicing the example model that Rob Provided (Images) , I was actually lucky enough to ask my friend to scan my foam model, and I was then able to print my own bottle out on my Prusa Mini FDM Printer. For the scanning, they used a RevoPoint Pop scanner, which worked in a similar way to UNSW's Einscanners - just on a budget. After converting the point cloud to a mesh, I sent it to Cura and sliced it at a 0.15mm layer height and 10% infill. After a few hours, this is what I ended up with.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish my model, as I had no fine sandpaper or any primer to coat it, however I was really fortunate to have my 3d printed model.

I really wanted to end this term right, and figured if I had the tools on hand, I might as well use them to the fullest. Besides getting the materials to properly finish my model, I don't think I would change much from this week if I could do it again. Although I wouldn't consider my product perfect by any means, it was the first time I could say that I completed a conceptual design to my fullest capabilities. It felt very satisfying knowing that I was involved in the product from its inception, to the physical models on my desk.

Overall Course Reflection

When I first enrolled in this course, I was worried that I would be behind from the first day. I think its normal to feel a bit of imposter syndrome when entering unfamiliar territory. I really wanted to go into this course with determination and enthusiasm to learn, and I gained a lot of confidence when the classes started. Everyone in the Industrial Design faculty was really welcoming and supportive, and I definitely felt included and involved in the course content.

When comparing my progress to the learning objectives and the marking rubric, I can honestly say that I felt like I achieved these set goals. Model making and sketch modelling have been such rewarding skills to learn, and they are so multifaceted in their use. From developing skills with my hands like drawing and carving, to communication of these designs through posts like this, IDES1262 has encapsulated the importance of perception in design, and overall presentation.

Even beyond the rubric, I have definitely gained a lot of creative inspiration and confidence, and this course has definitely put design thinking into the forefront of my mind. I find myself thinking about applying these skills and methods into my course work and into personal projects at home.

It was nice to come into this course with a base level of knowledge in many of these topics. In the first few weeks of sketch modelling and engineering drawing, I definitely felt at home when sticking to the rules and guidelines of technical drawing. When it came to sketching and freeform drawing, it took me a bit more time to get into the nuances of it all. Eventually, I realised I needed to stop being so strict and uptight in my drawing. I think this was one of the most valuable lessons this course has taught me. I usually get very attached to concepts and drawings, but by taking a step back, this course made me realise that concepts can be improved and iterated much faster when you fail faster. From traditional drawing techniques, foam model making, and digital design, I definitely gained a lot of useful information which I feel elevates my current understanding of these techniques, and I look forward to utilising them in the near future.

The middle third of the course definitely felt like my weakest section, as it was the area I had the least experience in; but it was also my favourite as a result. Being challenged in a particular area can always be rewarding, because it is where I saw the most improvement over the weeks. To further develop my skills, I have set the goal of practising freeform sketching and using markers to accentuate my pieces. I want to set up a place to store these images, to later reflect on them; similar to this blog format, as I have found it greatly rewarding. Creativity is definitely like a muscle that needs stimulation and use. I find that my other coursework can lead to this skill lying dormant, so it is my responsibility to find ways to use it for personal projects; especially if I want to peruse a career in Engineering Design.

As an aspiring Engineer, I believe that Industrial Design and Engineering should have a more collaborative and symbiotic relationship; and I really hope that I get to work with more creative minds like yourselves in a professional environment; and even interact with the Faculty of Built Environment more during the rest of my studies.

Thank you Rob, Gonz and Tom for taking me in as one of your own for the term, and for the informative advice and feedback. And thanks to everyone in class who asked questions, left feedback on my blog posts, and also in person for the first few weeks. Overall, I am stoked that I got to take this subject as my free elective, because it was informative, insightful, and a great creative outlet. Hope to see you all around on campus when things get less grim and Uni opens again. Maybe I'll catch some of you at the makerspace. Stay safe, and best of luck with the rest of your time at UNSW.

[the-lazy-tallest]

It's kinda sad, looking back on this.. I had big plans, high hopes... still wanna continue this for her, and.. Kinda did. I wrote it all out, just hadn't drawn it yet.

I figured I'd wait until folks showed some interest again, one last ask, something to push at that piece I spent hours on for the lore, of her staring up at the big testing facility related building on Planet Devastus, hinting at something that hurt, some trigger that happened at that very moment, and just.. Hoping someone would ask. Take a guess, or push me to answer, or.. I dunno, something..

Maybe I shouldn't have been waiting on someone else to push me.. like I kind of have been, with my waiting irl. Waiting for therapy, waiting for the meds to work, waiting for life to stabilize, waiting..

I don't even remember why I decided to wait.

Anxiety? Depression? ..Rejection? Probably some mix of that, I suppose.

But Tai's story still waits to be told, and I should get around to that sometime, I hope. She's one of my dearest ocs, so she'd never disappear.

It's just me that did, heh. ..Sorry.

I hope anyone who was watching for more stuff from me is well, and knows I'll be okay.

I still know the plans for this blog, and could continue at some point.

Tai hints at a sore past, then is pushed by someone to continue, so she does. I even had an animation in mind for that, but I might just share the wip, which is also on my YouTube channel, been there for a while, but... Never shared it here for fear of spoiling too early. But I just might post it on it's own to share here, if I don't feel like finishing it, hah.

She escapes to Urth, gets a job, makes this blog, meets someone (also had a wip animatic relating to that meeting), who y'all would actually get to see being met, and see their relationship develop, even letting y'all push them together or give Tai doubts, talk to Tōhi to see what all he knew (though he only speaks irken, and it's a much more bird-ish sounding version, but still understandable, bit like an accent of Irken rather than a sub-language.)

You'd see more hints of her being watched by those blue eyes, might even have someone point them out to her and have her look back confused, and play that out interestingly

And eventually reveal who that was and what role they played, and then that reveal would play out eventually in a scene, based on how y'all played with that one relationship, where that dream I'd mentioned would come into play some too

And it'd be baaaad news. Very bad. Tai would need a lot of comfort and help thinking and all, and I thought that'd be the best time for interactions to get more influential on her, in her moment of weakness, within reason of course, with you folks acting a bit like voices in her head in that moment, and see how that played out

Eventually she'd cool back down, and any recovery from bad choices could be done, and all that, and..

There was a lot more I had planned, beyond that, but..

That's just a taste, of course. To prove I really do remember, and still am sitting on those plans.

I'm somewhat willing to try and get back to it, if you're all still interested of course. Just a bit in need of motivation, y'know?

I'm tossing this extra, 3rd rough sketch animation thing, since I doubt it'll get more done on it, and therefore it's not spoiler related.

Apologies, as usual, just.. Someone liked somethin out of the blue, and it reminded me of what could've been, had I just pushed myself more rather than waiting. Felt like venting a little, but then kinda realized I might try again if it was wanted, and if not, I'm willing to let go, and keep all of Tai's story stuff between friends and all.

Sidenote, the silhouette is someone you haven't met, and the gal in the yellow dress is someone new, but that I've shown here before, even named off, if you recall, hehehe.

[thewolfmanslayer]

Honestly the amount of people who say artists and writers should do stuff for free, or try to rip them off on comissions still royally piss me off.

I think the worst part of it is the entitlement, I dont want to make this too much about generations but a lot of commissioners are millenial/Gen z's who grew up on the "steal and pirate everything" mentality, take everything that you can because no one else is going to hand it to you. which I can get behind, when you are screwing over MULTI BILLION DOLLAR COMPANIES. NOT THE STRUGGLING ARTISTS AND WRITERS who are trying to keep food on the table as desperately as you probably are!

It's simple, you wouldn't walk into a restaurant, order food and tell the server "sorry I don't have any money, but I've got like a few thousand followers on social media, I can get your name out there, get the restaurant some exposure" NO! They don't need "exposure" they need you to pay the damn bill!

On top of that, most of these artists and writers ALREADY HAVE FOLLOWINGS. They already have thousands of people following them, waiting for the chance to get a commission, who are willing to pay for said commission, they don't need "exposure" when they're already out there! He'll even the artists and writers with a few hundred don't need it, they'll get more followers as time goes by, their skill alone will see to it.

And what is with people trying to get free art and writing? It's not going to work! You can't harass someone until they cave, trust me, you'll be long since blocked before you even have the opportunity. I don't do comissions, online anyways, but my own friends and family, people who actually know me STILL PAY ME whenever they ask for me to do art for them because they KNOW it takes TIME AND EFFORT.

How many times do we need to have this discussion???? Like when is it going to finally click that people who need to pay their bills just as much as you do AREN'T going to do this shit for free!?

Here's the thing about art and writing, that you've heard a billion times but still aren't getting; IT. TAKES. TIME. AND. EFFORT. TO. GET. DONE. the art isn't going to magically appear and the writing isn't going to suddenly write itself, if either were so convenient YOU WOULDNT BE ASKING AN ARTIST OR WRITER IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Look at that, you see that? The first picture I did back in 2012-13, the picture beside it? I did that TWO YEARS AGO. I didn't suddenly know exactly what to do, or had anything close to a god given talent for drawing (I'm not that talented). The first picture WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST I COULD DO AT THE TIME THAT I MADE IT. In the time between these two drawings I admittedly took a break from art, but then I got back into it four years ago. EVEN STILL that was four YEARS of starting over from the basics, relearning everything, learning new things, wanting to actually improve my art.

Which, guess what, DID NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. It was HOURS UPON HOURS of my limited free time as an adult drawing over and over and over and over again, every single goddamn day to get to the point that I was able to make that redraw look as good as it does in comparison. He'll, my art now puts them both to shame! Because I spent the time improving my quality!!

Now look at these artists doing comissions, they've probably put EVEN MORE of their time to get that good! They've put in LITERAL YEARS of sweat, blood, tears, frustrations and dedicated hardwork. Some did the same as me, self teaching and lots of practice, others probably had to go to school, which definitely wasn't cheap. But all of us put in that time and effort TO REACH THESE POINTS. Of being better artists, developing our styles, getting faster at drawing.

And maybe you think that this is super easy, right? That I or every other artist can just fire some art off and boom its good and done in like an hour?

FUCK. NO.

Even now it takes me several hours a day OVER MANY DAYS to make something exceptionally good! It doesn't matter how good an artist is, it still. Takes. Time.

Maybe the issue is that you don't understand how much actually goes into art, let me break it down for you, the steps that most people follow to finish ONE drawing.

-Rough draft: general character outline, get a feel for what I want to draw.

-Rough sketch: I start doing a bit of pencil to start filling in details like mouth, nose, eyes, hair, clothes. Ect.

-Penciling: I go over the rough sketch and clean everything up, maybe do some editing, this is when you can start making out all the details.

-Ink: I trace over the finished pencil with a pen tool and actually have the line art, everything looks clean, presentable, it actually looks like a character now. I'll spend time editing this and possibly redoing the inking many times over to get to a point where I like it.

-Flat color: I decide on which colors to use for skin tone, clothes accessories. Ect.

-Shading/highlights: I figure out where my light source is and how strong it is, I then apply the correct amount of lighting and shadows to the color to give it depth, I also have determine the texture of skin, clothes and accessories to make everything look real and natural.

-Blending: I smooth out the shading and highlights so that it looks more natural and isn't too hard (noticeable difference between color) so that it looks as natural as possible.

-Finish: I go over last minute details, finish any editing or corrections that need to be done. Once it's good I call it a day.

Each process is longer in length then the previous, with the exception of the final editing (as long as everything looks good) and even the rough draft can take some time. Over all this is SEVERAL HOURS of work for a SINGLE DRAWING.

So is it sinking in yet? How much is put into doing even a single character drawing? God forbid if its done with background. This isn't a "scratch a pen around and be done with it in ten minutes" kinda deal, no, this is SEVERAL HOURS OF SOMEONES LIFE BEING PUT INTO THIS

And if you still have the AUDACITY to try and wrangle free art from an artist then there's no helping you, you're just a selfish piece of shit, no question and I want nothing to do with you.

Someone might say "But I got free art/writing from.-" look I don't give a shit if someone did something for you THAT ONE TIME, these other artists and writers? Totally seperate and different people. You're one freebie experience does not, and should not apply to other artists and writers.

"But what if I really want this commission but don't have the money right now?" Well, that's tough shit. Save up and properly commission them when you can, it's not their problem.

"But what if I'm in a really bad financial situation and really want it?" That sucks, and I'm sorry, but again, not their problem. Chances are this is their only source of income and they need to make money so that they don't end up in a similar situation.

"They have a gift! They should share it!" What kind of cheap ass- LOOK, just because someone is talented or really good at something does not automatically obligate them to do anything for total strangers in anyway shape or form. These are living, breathing people, the same as you. They need to eat, they need to pay rent/mortgages, they need to pay vet bills, send their kids to college, do their taxes and everything else that YOU YOURSELF need to do. Asking anyone to spend their time doing something for free, when that something is how THEY ARE SURVIVING is beyond asinine. Not only that, this obviously isn't a hobby to them, it is very clearly THEIR JOB. Would you want to do a job where you didn't get paid at all? Doing a shit ton of work for absolutely nothing? No? Didn't think so.

"It shouldn't be about the money!" Well unfortunately, as with almost every other job, it is. We live in a world where we desperately need to make money in order to survive. That's the painful fact of the matter. If money never had to be an issue ever again then this would be a very different story. But it's not, plain and simple as can be.

Look, these people are just like you, artists and writers who are just trying to get by in a shitty ass world, using the one thing they have that let's them have an income. Leave them be, don't try and trick them, guilt them, or cuss them out when you don't get your way. Either properly comission or leave them the hell alone, plain and simple.