Merry Christmas!

-T

Respawn in 5

Annoyed at myself for the major blog neglect. Have had to do way more hours than I'd like at my parttime job, been abit ill on and off for a little while and been making some edits to the preview pages of Felicity before they go up, aswell as some other work *Breathes in* so I've just been too tired or busy.

I'll be making more of an effort now though because I enjoy posting on my blog more than my other spots, gives me a chance to blab a bit about what I'm doing. Until I'm done with todays workload- thought I'd upload a little bit of quick concept art- an idea I've since realized isn't exactly in anyway practical. Still, sometimes you get an itch to explore an idea this far before you tweak that it's.... stupid.

Exploring this odd notion was a quick way to remind me how much I consider practicality in my designs by default(Sometimes without realizing). Upon putting the design in context(Superhero)I was reminded of the physical limitations having big(Albeit cool looking)wings would bring. Originally the only reason I went with the torn sleeves of the 'Final' design was to allow maxium manoeuvrability, a design element that seemed to come into effect by itself.

-T

A look at Felicity in Print

-T

On da' way!

Just wanted to drop a blog entry in to stop the lack of blog entries running any further. I've got some stuff I've set aside for the blog that I'll be uploading tomorrow. I've been neglecting to update of late because I have to use Chrome as my browser, as the latest version of Firefox seems to be completely crapola. Problem is when I upload an image to my blog via Chrome I can't dynamicly resize it(And it'd be too small to have a look at if I just made it blog-friendly-sized.) So basically I have to cut and paste code from previous blog entries and it's something I can't do unless I feel like I can be bothered(Which by the time I go to make blog entries, is almost never.) If there is anybody who happens to know how to fix this or knows why blogger suddenly stopped resizing images for me automatically then help a noob out please. There's Good Karma in it for you.

But yeah, I feel bad about not bothering, it's not like I haven't got loads of stuff to show. I has a fail.

-T

Growing Pains

Cell-shading has always been a huge part of Felicity. It's always been there, from the projects earliest conception and it has evolved along with it. I've been struggling with some growing pains of late though and finding it difficult to decide whelter my artwork has actually outgrown the cell-shading method I apply to it. Let me explain-

The coloring method I use to render the characters(should be pointed out that vehicles/backgrounds are painted)is my own shoddy way of colouring that I first conjured up when doing Press Start To Play. I needed a colouring method that'd be easy on the eyes and create consistant results regardless of how wobbly my artwork might be(and would be).

Felicity adopted the colouring method for the exact same reason(albeit a far more advanced and evolved method). I built this method around the fact that I never used to be so good with my lines, I'm still a terribly messy drawer but compared to what I used to be, well it's night and day. I've cleaned up my act alot over the years and I'm feeling I don't have to 'hide' my lines so much anymore.

The method, whilst wielding the impressive visual look I wanted has always been riddled with downsides. The biggest of which has brought me to a point where I'm questioning its worth. To begin with, even back in the days of Press Start To Play(a comic that rarely if ever missed the update scedule before the eventual end)the method took BLOODY AGES. I do have to say though, doing nearly 100 PSTP strips, artwork in between and then a further 100 pages of Felicity(and all the other Felic stuff)took an effect and I found the time the method takes me now, it's not even half. So I got faster overtime- an interesting thing because I honestly wouldn't have believed prior to doing it for years that persistance would present knowledge and that knowledge would lead to shortcuts that not only made it easier and take less time but that made it more effective and prettier.

The biggest issue though, the one I want to bring up- is the 'Soul' factor as I'm calling it.

(Demo'd by the image above)

It happens with all kinds of digital art I've found(purely digital)from my own experience. Drawing a piece on a page is worlds different than drawing the same piece on a Cintiq, or a tablet. They both have their pros and cons but the drawing on paper will ALWAYS have more 'Soul' than the digital. On paper, the marks made can keep up with how fast you make them, on paper you can't fuss over one tiny element until it's pixel perfect, you have to go with your raw instinct. Paper is a far greater impression of you and your vision than digital can be. Now don't get me wrong- I'm not downsiding Digital(I am afterall a Digital Artist myself)but working in both mediums for so long I understand the problems. And one thing I didn't see happening was reaching a point where my lines(something I've built a colouring method around hiding)appealed to me more than my cells.

To avoid any confusion I want to lay down a quick rundown of what my Cell method actually is. I scan my artwork, I then simply take the layers above to 're-draw' the artwork in shapes bit by bit, tone by tone until it's complete. And yeah, it really is as tedious and long drawn as it sounds. Alot of my friends in the artworld are still baffled to this day that I ever colour like this. I can't deny that the thought of doing Issue 3 with cell shading sounds pretty damn depressing. It has always been a double edged sword of effort/result. Only now and ever since Issue 2 I've felt that there's too much of that 'Soul' Factor being lost in my Celling. For PSTP it didn't matter so much- it lent itself brilliantly to the zaney cartoon world, Early Felicity didn't suffer from it either, stylistically I had no idea what I was doing so the colouring helped elevate the sloppy artwork into a greater class it didn't deserve to be in.

Now, my actual raw lines, while messy- are what I want to show. Feel like I've got to the point where I need to rethink my colouring. The Cellshading is something that I'm not going to abandon or hault completely and certainly- whatever avenue I go down for the new colouring will be in tribute if not very similar to how it has always been.

I just need a way to evolve the artwork beyond what it is. It's been stuck like this for a long time now and all this time the linework and style has improved and the colouring, it's just holding it back now.

These are me'thoughts. Just spewing them out there. I want to run a few more experiments through the computer but I have to crack on and begin Issue 3 this month so I hope I can resolve the issue soon.

-T

Thinking it out

Had tremendous bother trying to upload this for some godforsaken reason.

I've had alot of people asking me to share more of the process behind Felicity and the concepts and 'base' work. I'm trying my best to remember that, here I've scanned in a few rough sketches.

I usually take a pencil to a page and spend a few minutes jotting down ideas for compositions, poses, expressions. In this instance doing some early work fleshing out a few scenes in Issue 3. My poses, composition and everything else are usually always completely defined during the storyboarding phase, where I'll literally thumbnail the comic panel by panel, page by page. I find doing these kind of 'warm-ups' make for a good chance to try things on and visualize a scenairo.

Hugely rough and quick work but it qualifies for the process and I'm trying to share more of that.

-T

PS: This blog better format correctly or so help me God >:I

Deviant Art Seem To Really Like Harley/Joker

Um... How the crap? Milestone for me, first time this has ever happened.

-T

Dum Da Dum

Duno if this one will ever make it to DA. So it lives free here! Huzzah

-T

Wallpaper for 99reasonstowin.com

A sneak peek!


Got two wallpapers lined up for the site.

-T

Why The Wind Waker might be the best Zelda ever

As the years go on I find myself having more and more affection for The Legend Of Zelda: The WindWaker. It was summer 2003 whenever I first set sail on the Great Sea and I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of WW. It felt like the game my expectation had built in my mind, it didn't disappoint. However, my overall affection for The Ocarina Of Time won over, with Windwaker always placing alittle behind.

While I'm not ready to say WW is better than OOT- I find it catches up alittle every year and each time I play it. Here's some of my thoughts as to why- in years to come, the WindWaker might actually be considered as much of a masterpiece as Ocarina is.

Twilight Princess helped me realize that Zelda is in danger of getting old, it's in danger of repeating itself and never breaking any boundries. WindWaker was exactly what Nintendo need now. It's fresh, unique and at the very least- its style would provide us with a current gen visual experience, helping Wii owners to forget they're playing with the least power. I feel it's actually quite amusing how Twilight Princess, the game everyone wanted Windwaker to be, has ultimately been the game that has revealed just how tired Zelda has become. So like I said right from day one- Long Live the Wind Waker.

The Style.

The Windwaker is beautiful. The goal to create a 'living cartoon' succeeds on every level.



It pays tribute to the franchises roots with clear inspiration showing through from earlier 2D games; it summarizes perfectly what Zelda is all about. Cleverly- the visual style not only presents Zelda in an all new way but it goes leaps and bounds beyond what we expect the Gamecube to be capable of, with seamless loading through the overworld and high resolution textures, first class animation and just sheer brilliant art design.


Thanks entirely to such a brave move concerning the Art direction, WW is ageless, looking newer now than any Zelda game since and easily one of the prettiest games Nintendo have ever made.


It stands the test of time.



While the WW arguebly does nothing to reshuffle the Zelda deck, the strong visual idenity does more to freshen the franchise than anything before or since. And on closer expection- elements we've seen again and again in Zelda titles aren't quite the same in WW.



For example, the Overworld is gone in this game, there is no vast stretch of land connecting the points of our adventure. Instead, for the first time ever, we're given an entire sea to play with. A brave move that ultimately could have backfired if Nintendo had not of created an 'Epona' that would completely change how we play Zelda.




The Boat in WW is something I feel a lot of people take forgranted, to craft a vast ocean and to have our hero sail across it, taking the wind into consideration, the speed, the waves, the weather and for it to feel natural and simple for the player- that is an incredible achievement. Far more challenging, from a design point, than giving us a horse and a field.



The combat is as well refined and polished as OOT first made it. Only now it combines brand new elements of parrying, dodging and acrobatics- making each fight an intense experience of speed and reaction. In addition- a curious element of note chimes climbing in pitch combined in relation to your strikes informs you just how much more damage your enemy can take. Tying in beautifully with the games Musical conductor theme and at the same time providing vital information about how close you are to success. Combat in WW is a unique, perfectly crafted system that is an absolute joy to execute.


The Story

WW has no prentences, it doesn't think it's any other Zelda- it's a brand new story. It hasn't got the problems most of the other 3D Zeldas have, which is the obvious burden of topping OOT. The WW has confidence in itself and it shows through the major design choices. There's a sense that this game is proud of how different it is and that the difference is what saves it from the OOT trap.


Ultimately at the core- it's the same game we've come to expect, that is why it works. But there are so many new layers to WW that people forget just how different it really was. It's about as different as any Zelda has been without breaking the forumla.



The story combines all the Zelda elements but all begins with a simple mission to save a little sister from harm. Innocently, Link becomes involved with a far larger picture and we discover each part of it with him, as we adventure across the ocean for answers. The Story in WW is an adventure, we feel the need to explore and hunt for the answers as much as Link does and I feel that is the key to the success of WWs story. We don't have some predetermined path of righteous justice, we don't have knowledge of the world we're venuturing into. We're just some little kid from a happy little island who ends up being the boy who saves the world. That's an adventure. That's Zelda.

No other Zelda like it.



The WW style hasn't died completely, it lives wild and free on the ever popular DS. Phantom Hourglass and the upcoming Spirit Tracks both lend themselves to the beautiful art direction composed for the WW. However, they aren't 3D Zelda games, they're a whole beast of their own, with excellent precision controls and the gameplay flow we've all come to expect from Zelda. As great as that is, it isn't the same as the experience had on Gamecubes WW and Fully 3D Zelda titles. This makes WW one of a kind and I wish it wasn't. I long for another fully 3D WW adventure but to be honest, I feel that the knowledge that I won't ever get one is what helps elevate WW even further in my mind.

When you set sail on the open Ocean in Windwaker, the waves crashing against your vessel, the seagulls racing along side you and the gloomy tower on the horizion lurching closer, this is an experience that no other Zelda has ever given us.



You can actually feel the wind in your face.


If you never played it, play it right now. If you did- go and replay it.

-T

Destructoid Feature

Just a record that I got a surprise feature-

http://www.destructoid.com/art-attack-friday-twulf-143251

Got featured on Destructoid, a popular Gaming website. Really cool to be featured especially when you see some of the other artists featured before me. Curious choices for the gallery upload though! Some ancient artwork that sucks but then again, all my artwork sucks to me.

Thank you to whoever did it! Even though you probably don't know I have a blog and therefore won't read this. Thanks all the same!

-T

Loss

I normally have rules about the standard of doodles I post but not only do I need to revise those rules but it's a long time before this story element is addressed in Felicity. So excuse the poor quality-


But I liked it.

-T

Fet Jorce Gemini

A Digi-doodle-


God my head is sore right now. One of those all-day ones. Grr, arg.

-T

American Woman

One of the first proper 99 pics I did and I think the first ever Mock Magazine Cover(Something of a Felicity tradition now.) Always liked something about the image, figured I'd update it to break in the new computer. Things are alittle less detailed than I could have made them but it's really just a quick warmup-

I put 'em side by side for the best comparison. I'm aware the text in the second is harder to read and what not but I was only really aiming to update the artwork. Skidoosh.

-T

W I and P

A quick art dump. Been spreading my time between so many things recently, resulting in a huge amount of work unfinished, been hard to keep on top of things. A W.I.P for PD:S, hard to know if I'll even get to finish it-

And one of the 10 minute speed paints I've been doing for the last week or so-

-T

Coming soonz!

Something is coming soonish. Coming right now though, a teaser poster! I wonder what it possibly could be...


Digi-painted and a butt load of texture overlays.

-T

A Good Blaster By Your Side.

Just a quick Digi-doodle of your man from that film, you know the one- it was really popular!



-T

Issue Two Online

God, I feel like a broken record but yeah, Issue Two is online. Just incase a few of you find my blog and don't know about my DeviantArt.

-T

Hitchhiker

Cleans for latest 99 ref. Two interesting things about her latest design updates- they're both old elements re-introduced. First being the surface to her body suit and the second being the streamlined boots with black banding the bottom. When I say old elements, I mean from like 2007, so we're talking waaay back.

-T

Lil' Rabbit

I'm real short on words at the mo, or rather the effort to create them : (.
So, a doodle-



Lil'Rabbit!
Magpies Arch Nemesis! A color concept AT last. Time for some chillaxin' then back to Felicity.

-T

Words To Images

Work on Issue 2 is in full swing. I've to begin work on a new scene after this post and I've got to admit- I'm really glad for a change of scenery, was just beginning to get a bit sick of that current scene.

I've never shown any of the process behind the creation of Felicity, atleast- the comic itself. Felicity is a 100% Digital comic, everything is drawn and enhanced on the computer, as opposed to any of my other work which is usually scanned from paper. The reason for this, was initially as an experiment to see if I could do it, how fast it would take, how much worse it'd look than if I'd drawn it on paper.

Now that I have a Cintiq the process of creating the lineart and backgrounds for the comic has sped up... quite abit. It's really quite staggering how much faster the whole process is now, although that could also be because of the experience I've earned from Issue 1.


Above is an example of how the storyboard looks directly opposed to the finished comic(Note that it is the full image cut 50/50 and not Uncolored/colored). Couple of things I want to share about the storyboarding process- first is how I do it. I use MS Paint, which is pretty hilarious but I have to stress that you should try it yourself if you're struggling to get a comic started.

MS Paint is limited in so many ways- it forces you to roll with your gut instinct, which in my experience is often the best. It forces you to look at the page as a whole and not as separate panels(a mistake I made a lot in comics I tested out long before Felicity). I think each page has to look like a full piece of art itself and something in the limitations of MS Paint(Especially the lack of zoom)really helps you to create the best overall guideline for your image.

What would follow story-boarding is rough dialog, often in-correct as I won't refer to the scriptword-for-word until I come to do the final text. Sometimes I change dialog at this stage if I feel it'll help the panel, often though this isn't a good idea so I try my best to avoid it. Then after that I work up the line-art in Photoshop(Essentially drawing the image properly from my MS Paint thumbnail guidelines.) After that the hard work begins with the coloring and backgrounds.The backgrounds are hand painted in Photoshop, sometimes I'll also include textures if it is supa-up-close.

That's a very basic overview of the process, I just think I should really share the fact that MS Paint is a great composition tool, atleast for when you're working completely digitally. I still maintain that paper and pencil is the best method for anything really but when going digi, I go paint for sure. Best of all, it's a program we all have by default!

Okay, time to get to work on the next scene. Oh actually, one more thing-

My brother got me an early birthday gift in the form of a 3D Bust of Mounty! It's totally rad, I can't really explain how amazed I am at the accuracy the sculptor achieved(accurate to the 3D Mounty I see in my head).

I don't know his name at the moment, so I can't thank him personally but I love it, makes me more curious than ever to see if the other cast members can exist in true 3D.

You can head on over to the Felicity Forums to have a look at a textured version of the bust, along with a few more camera angles.

-T

Phone Doodle

Doodled this while on the phone the other night, kinda liked it so began to color it, nothing fancy at all but I figure I'll slap it up here.

Even superheroes have heroes! (Character here is Magpie, unmasked) and they daydream of those heroes... or something. I just wanted to draw floating stuff.

-T

99ReasonstoWin

Today, about 2 hours ago actually, Felicity finally launched.

http://99reasonstowin.com

I'm going to make a cup of tea.
An AMAZING cup of tea.

Got some proper content to add to the blog abit later on. Just wanted to mark the launch.

-T

Sketch/Roughs/Randoms

I've finished designing Felicitys website and created all the graphics to go with it. It's been built now and awaiting content, so it's actually going to be launching sometime within the next week or so. I'll be sure to shout loud when it does. You'll be sick of hearing about it.

Fingers aren't much in the mood to type- figured I'd update the blog though. Here's some random rough stuff from over the past month and abit.

I'm still a concept artist for the Perfect Dark Source mod, which incase anyone was wondering- is going to be back online very soon. They used alot of my old artwork on the site and I can't stand the sight of it now so I did a new piece. I drew the pose from photoreference and just painted it up in Photoshop(works best on a white background.)


'Fake' Felicity still, I just badly painted over an existing photo for abit of fun. Results quite nice-


Very rough sketch of Magpie-

Rough thumbnail for a possible Mirrors Edge fan-art I'm thinking of doing. I added basic color to help me define my composition and ideas-


I've got alot of Felicity guff still to do and I'm quite inspired tonight to do some superhero stuff- so expect some doodles.

Oh and Happy new year :D

-T