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Mostly I've been working on other things for the last while, so I haven't really been able to update this thing so much. Hopefully I'll have another video done when things have quietened down a little here, up until then here is an older image I did which I've now painted over, I had it on my phone so before I get rid of it, here is this old picture of Hellboy I did for posterity.

You know what, I really like those colours.
Definitely going to try and do an animation like that at some point.

Yeah, think I'll do that. Scan some ink drawings in, colour shapes like that in corel photo-paint, then transfer those into Flash and see what happens. I just need something to actually animate.

The plan falls down!
Think I'll use that style just for like an introduction to something bigger then, maybe.
Don't know what to do at the moment though, as a bit busy working on easter stuff this week.
As you might have been able to tell from the eggs!

Figured I'd make things a little less ugly with that image. I wish I could remember the name of the artist I did that project on last year so I could get better references for text and such.
I've been ripping them off ever since in a whole bunch of stuff.

Graph paper scans in incredibly bad (Plus I just have a pretty old and partially broken scanner) but, I figured I'd put up some static imagery. These are pretty much just to paint on top of different paper with white, which looks good, when you can actually see any of it. Which isn't going to happen with this image (which you can see right here)

At 3/28/10 11:39 AM, Rockiton341 wrote: Nice video you made!

Thank you for this curiously non-specific but apparently positive response! :D

And for those of you interested in BEHIND THE SCENES of that last video, the zombie holding the "brains" sign is me, from a photo taken with that same grainy mobile phone I've been using for these pictures up on here, and the zombie sounds at the end are made by myself and my sister, although mine pretty much drown out hers because I am clearly the ham-acting zombie king in this situation.

OPINIONS PLEASE?

Also, in case you don't like actual videos and prefer to see the entirety of the content of that video in grainy, late night mobile phone photos (And who wouldn't prefer that?) - your fictional wish is my command!

UPDATE: I suppose you're all eager to know what I've been doing this past week, I now release you from the edge of your seats:

HERE'S WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING

Feel free to enjoy the relaxing slouch that a full chair's accessible range of movement can allow.

I'm just going to work on something a bit closer to what I want this new project to turn into so that you can get a rough idea of what I'm thinking about...

This one won't be as quick as the last set though, as I am now working on a story for an audio script alongside all this, we'll see how that pans out! Plus I've decided to kind of use this methodology to make this other video series I've been wanting to do for a while. I'll keep you updated!

At 3/15/10 09:51 PM, Kinsei01 wrote: well actually we have all kinds of places laying around for users to collaborate
Here are a few links, browse around, and if you see some one you like, Pm them and see if you can work with them.
Art Collaboration Thread
Art Request Thread
Even The lounge can help
we even have a comic thread or two (Shameless plug, YAY!)

Thanks!

Thinking about making some more quick videos this week, if anyone is interested in collaborating on something like the above but with (for example) comics, if you would like to provide audio or suggest panel ideas please let me know here.

The completion of the Smith Syndicate?

And, we're done! And yeah, I love Killer7 too. Glad you liked it! Think I might go and replay that game some time next week.. That's all for now though, folks!

Not entirely sure what I'm going to do next.

At 3/12/10 03:38 PM, rockymeet wrote: hey men great job, that's very nice really I like very well.

Thanks, man, much appreciated.

Seven down, one to go!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get on the PC that much this weekend, so, I'll try and get the last one done today as well. Things to do!

Seriously though, if anyone wants to like, comment, or, say anything at all, that would be welcomed. I can't improve without help!

I just realised I hadn't actually put many real images on this thread. So... Here comes an entirely unrelated image I took with my mobile phone of a fantastic thing I made with buttons and bits you can push and part of an old tape player! New video coming later.

At 3/11/10 08:02 PM, J-qb wrote: im telling you to draw apples because youll find out that it is hard enough to draw an apple, let alone a human figure.
The apple you drew doesnt look like an apple; poeple understand it is supposed to represent an apple, but it doesnt really look like it.

The secret reason Im telling you to draw apples is because youll have to actually look at your object.
Just drawing it from memory wont do. You will need to closely examine what an apple actually looks like.
That is (one of) the most important thing(s) in art; looknig at your object.

I just want to say that I wouldn't necessarily subscribe to this theory because I think it's just as important that you can get people to know what you mean through (for example) visual shorthand than it is to accurately depict something...

... if you wanted a direct copy you would just use a photograph, etc. I think that more important than something looking accurate is to make it look attractive: tone, shapes, texture, I think it is more important to explore these with different mediums.. And when you draw something, you should be able to tell by eye if something looks wrong anyway, just adjust the image until you think it looks right!

Then, as you get better, you'll learn more about what actually does look right, what works and what doesn't.. Drawing real life objects is very helpful, but, don't worry about the 100% accurate, scale perfect depiction, worry about whether or not it looks good to you.

Unless things only look good to you when they are 100% scale perfect (some people are like that) - in which case, basically what I am saying is everyone has different brains and will see things differently. Except maybe twins? But then you've got nature vs. nurture arguments. And then you've got me saying I'd go to bed and then not actually going. One of those is going to be resolved immediately.

At 3/11/10 07:47 PM, Ashman wrote: thanks kinsei, you so kind

why does everybody tell you to draw apples, its too simple

id rather eat one

I guess I agree... I think maybe it's irrelevant because the topic is suggestions to starting characters, and, I guess it's a bit anti-climactic to be like "the suggestion is: do not start characters"... Nihilistic almost. Maybe just subconscious from the username though, nobody has ever told me to draw apples... I did anyway... Okay man I really need to get some sleep. Night!

At 3/11/10 07:36 PM, J-qb wrote: im gonna be a bitch here and start about how you should learn your basics first.

Hey! I think you started off with a way too complex drawing; a good subject to start with would be an apple; it consists of basically two shapes. If you consider how hard it is to draw an apple accurately, you can see how hard it would be to draw a human figure (consisting of maybe 100 shapes) well.
Off course, I understand that you dont want to draw step by step, you want to draw characters immediately.
However, as cool as it may seem, you wouldnt pull it off. Drawing takes practice. I believe that you need two things to be a good artist; A good, artistic eye, and a lot of practice.

So; start drawin a little less compley figures, and move up from there!

Dude, just so you know, I didn't draw the original image. Those crazy scribbles are supposed to help the guy who did. No, I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking either.

Is that any better now?

I tried to make it a bit more clear.. But, I really think it's better in the MSPaint one. Maybe I just like scribbles better.

Here is kind of what I mean... (this is a very quick fix on MSPaint, you could maybe lightbox or something)

I think it looks alright, the head is too far to the left though, the shape of the hips seems right, but, finish that leg! Also, it kind of looks more like she's leaning.. Without any background for context, the mind could fill in anything there, so, you need to put a few clues in the final thing to stop that (background shading, a floor etc) - all in all, good job!

And -yet another- thing went wrong, in that it didn't upload correctly, so THIS TIME it should work.
THIS TIME.

Actually, scratch that.. I went back in and changed it slightly just to make it less static-y in the middle, again, it's not perfect, but, it's what I wanted it to be. I feel better about it now! I'll keep the old one up for posterity, but, here's the new model:

Also guys you can put forth a comment on something maybe!

Yet more swearing from videogame characters? Well, okay..

I mostly wasn't able to get to a computer yesterday, so, ended up finishing this one today. There's still some things wrong with it, but, I'm moving on all the same!

BONUS VIDEO - TWO IN ONE DAY?!

Well, technically I finished that one yesterday, but, I wanted to wait until I had another one before I posted here again. I've just finished the set for my least favourite character from the game, I know that it's on purpose that he's so obnoxious and childish - he's a kid (and there's the imagery and symbolism you can get with him being blind and the headphones), but, I just hate him.

Now you too may share this hatred.

Another day, another video.

Thanks very much! I'm definitely thinking once I'm done with these I could use something like them for chapter headings or as little key breaks or something. Maybe like, freeze frame in a video and use the text with a narration?

Also, I'm looking for some help with finding either ready made audio or scripts that tell a simple, quick (under two minutes) story to illustrate, if anyone would like to help me with that maybe?

At 3/7/10 08:10 PM, Luxembourg wrote: Quoted for truth. Contrary to popular belief, people don't just pop out of the womb with paint and canvas in hand. Getting better isn't for the feint of heart, it takes a lot of work for anyone, but it's definitely worthwhile to persist.

"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all. " -Michelangelo

I usually HATE people who post quotes, but this quote really actually has a lot of meaning to what goes on in this forum.

I totally agree man, art to me is just like being a (good) magician, you have to work hard enough that people don't even know what you did or how you did it, but they like the results. And, I guess the whole point of drawing is trickery... And, yeah, keep at it, if you get good enough at the basics then you'll see the path you should take, it's like with all things, if you're stuck, you just keep trying different stuff until you know what you should do.

Also, yeah, I should stop posting at 2am. Back to bed!

And, here comes another one.
Decided to make these into a quick series, guess I'll try and do one every day this week and then see if I can use what I've learned to make something I can apply to actual videos.

At 3/6/10 09:30 PM, Kinsei01 wrote: most of the time when people skip the basics the advanced stuff looks worse.

That's good advice for life really.
But, yeah... I mean, there's more to it than just proportions and stuff.. You need to be looking at different media, on the PC or on paper/card/canvas... Maybe I'm projecting too much. I'm going to go to bed now! Good luck!