Oh Yeah...

I am re-realizing how close I am to actually getting Felicity Issue One finished. It is both an awesome yet frustrating sensation. Still alooot of work left in it but it's actually going to get finished. Considering how much I've had to overcome in my personal life since I started this and how much this actually means to me, I'm quite giddy at the idea.

Oh lawdy.


I hope I don't somehow obtain yet another illness, or tragedy or immense distraction in the next week or so(Read:Dream girl? Don't come into my life until riiight after I finish this k?)

-T

The Carronian Hero

I have a start and don't stop mentality with alot of my work. I have like, momentum based efforts- I rarely start something that I don't finish and if I do I never go back to complete it. This is one of those pieces. I think I put like 2 or 3 hours into it to get where I was but it's unlikely I'll ever finish it.

Zepher from the 'End War' Chapter of Broken Falcon. Inspired by the thought, 'what's actually under that poncho of his?'. I was reading up on alot of Metal Gear related crap at the time- I can see influence of it here.

It was the last thing I was working on before I took a break from the computer- hence why I think it's unlikely I'll go back. It started as a doodle then I began to play with coloring it up.
Cintiq based piece, this one.

-T

1, 2, 3, Anatomy.

What I realized pretty quickly about Stylization is that Anatomy is more important than anything.

Stylizing something is all about understanding the basic shapes- and then knowing how to pull, push and warp those shapes beyond reality. So you gotta know your stuff(unlike myself).

Anatomy is a huge part of art in all its forms- it's really important that any Artist practices anatomy & proportions- to understand what grounds it has within reality.

I did alot of anatomy doodles and practice when I was banned from computer use(Self enforced).
I just wanted to upload a select few to show how loose and airy it is- it's practice. It's not meant to be neat or tidy or precise, this kind of practice is more like making mental notes on paper- Testing your knowledge.



Just a few anatomy practice sketches.
The way of practicing that I find to be most effective is to find reference of a pose(Mainly from books)and then draw that pose without referring to the pose at all.
You can then crosscheck your drawing with the pose and see what you did wrong, what you left out or what you managed to get right. It's kind of like revising for an exam? Only it's not quite as shite. Trust me on that D:

Dynamic Anatomy is the book I use all the time for my anatomy practice. And it's bound to have already been recommended to you by now if you're interested in improving your drawing skills. If not- allow me. Go and buy it. It's full of so many huge words that can be difficult to easily digest but you don't need to read the technical stuff. He has a bit at the end of every section called 'Things to note when drawing'. Just read these parts and pay careful attention to all of the drawings and you'll gain a wealth of knowledge.


I was concentrating alot on legs with my recent anatomy sketches, as legs are one of my weakest areas. I have trouble maintaining a weight in my poses and often struggle to correctly proportion my legs. The main cause of this is simply not enough practise. All I have to do to improve on it is to simply study more reference and try to learn.

Please note that these aren't at all correct enough for reference or anything. I'm simply uploading them to show my thought process and how I try to apply my style to studying from reality.

-T

Teach Her How To Cook Eggs.

Metal Gear Solid 4 hit on friday there, I think. I'm not really that huge a MGS player- but I am a fan. I love the artwork, the designs, the games stories and cutscenes. I just suck ever so badly at playing it.


If like me, you don't and never will have a PS3- I found this guy on Youtube. He uploads each cutscene as he plays through the game- allowing you in on the story. Which, so far is incredible.

I thought Old Snake would be crap- but he's just the same badass character we all love. 'Cept- to be honest, I think being old makes him even better.

I'm still going strong with Felicity- I'll try to throw in a couple more updates before I'm finished.
Still another two weeks or so left in it I'd say.

-T

Speed Paint(er) Go Go Go!

Very early on in Felicitys character designing stage- I did occasional 'realistic' renders of the characters. It was simply to try and help define the characters as I was finding my feet in the new style I'd begun to create. Whilst I've not maintained a constant 'realistic' rendering of all the main characters- I seem to have done one speed paint of 99 per year. So I figured I'd upload them here.


2006 - Earliest version of 99 sported a ponytail at one end of her hair aswell as this sort of Misty-like side tuft. This is extremely faithful to the look of the 2006 99 and bares resemblance to Elizabeth Hurley who was one of the first inspirations for her look.

2007 - As far as I can recall, this was latter half of 2007. It sports 99s more defined hairstyle(which was first implemented in 'Volume 325', the banner at the top of the site). It's way too heavy on the eyemake-up but I think it conveys a far more defined personality than the one prior.

2008 - The lastest of the speed paints, simply did it to continue on the tradition. Subtle tweaks and differences are noteable here. However, 99s visual development reached the end of its cycle by the tailend of 2007. The biggest changes to her character since then were personality and similar non physical attributes.

My Cintiq, as you can see- made this a hell of alot smoother than in the past- I used exactly the same techniques.

Still alive! Just heavy on the Felicity Comic workload right now :V

-T