Tahiel's (lame)Art Corner

[Tahiel]

And one more. Now I think I'm all drawn out. lol

[Lumine]

Awww they're adorable xD I loveee the tail~

[Tahiel]

Thaaanks, I feel it's the lamest of them all, but meh, I'm not that good with couples, and I rushhed it because we're having storms and I didn't want power going out in the middle of it. X'DDD
Usually I would've put texture to the armthings.

[Tahiel]

And one for Svalentia.

[Tahiel]

Major art dump over here. I moved from my DA mostly to the tumblr since I'm only doing trades for now...

A few (smaller versions) of them:

[Maneki Neko]

You have a new follower. :3 Love your work. :3

[Tahiel]

Nyah >3< thank you. I've only recently got back into drawing since I'm way too lazy for it. xDDD I've been trying my hand at manlier men and a bit more realism into the style. Sometimes they still come out way animeish, other times they come out less so. It's so surprisingly hard to keep it steady x_x. (like the sketch I'm working on <_<; it went from anime to more realism in the blink of an eye and I can't even tell how I did it xDDD)

I'm also trying out SAI at last, it's all different from PS, I can't get the hang of the tools yet. lol

/done venting about art style inconsistency.

[Maneki Neko]

xD I know what you mean... with pretty much all of that. >_>;

- I'm trying to get back into arting. You can probably tell from the state of my Tumblr how consistent I've been about it so far. xD

- I am lazy. <_<; Too lazy to be good about keeping in the habit.

- Manlier men = what I'm hoping to be able to draw. D: I'm not having too hard a time of it, but it's still not strong enough for me to feel confident in them. Looking at superhero comics or European comics may help. (I'm not sure what your local comic scene is like since I more often see American superheroes, manga, or European comics, in that order.) Whatever you like and you think helps make them look manly (and manly their-age) can be incorporated, and anything you don't can be discarded (or used on characters you want to look different from your usual, if it suits your style overall). :3

- Realism.... It's hard to find a balance for me. Thankfully my style influences weren't too heavy on the manga/anime so there are stylistic standards I never got into and have to break. Too realistic and I feel like I won't be able to maintain my personal style and too stylistic and it feels unfinished. (Talking about my personal style, here, of course. There are some people who have a beautiful realistic style I'd just die to have in my artistic stable and there are others with super stylized styles that - same.)

- I think all artists grow in their style as they work. Especially as they try out new things and are influenced by other things. You can look at long-running single-artist series and see their style develop. It's usually gradual so you don't even notice unless you get towards the end of their run and then go back to look at their earlier works. xD It's inspiring. But also daunting when you realize that you get to be the one to go through that progression. And thinking about all those hundreds/thousands of panels that made up the comic run plus the sketches and concept art and random art that went on behind the scenes.... @_@;

Anyway - before I got off track - yeah. When you're incorporating new stuff into your style it can come and go. Just keep lugging away and some things will stick and other things will be discarded or refined into something new. x3

Have you ever done a progression series? Ie: redrawn an old piece of work fairly close to the original, but in keeping with how you'd draw it now? I have a progression series that's lasted four pictures long (though I haven't added to it since 2003...) It's fun to track your style evolution. ::adds::

ev_boxing.jpg

- SAI.... I want to try that out because some of the artists I work with on Menewsha swear by it. But when I did the trial it was so confusing I closed out of it quickly and didn't give it a proper shot. :'


/end babbling

[Tahiel]

Ahaha, yes I had a look at your tumblr! Seems we're on the same boat in regards to just about most stuff. I'm way lazy for drawing too- I mean, I probably wouldn't have gotten back into it if I hadn't wanted art of my new character (the pretty winged one lol, I'm quite proud of that one and my twin pic in the tumblr <3) so bad that I actually considered trading.
Also, I was mighty bored. XD
But I think I've been cured of that.

Ah yes, superhero comics. It's so hard to draw in that style- male OR female. I had a while way back where I tried it, but definitely sucked at it. Your guys looked good enough! Maybe someday I'll be able to draw a sic-pack and then I might make more manlier OCs hahaha... xD

I do have my old collection of X-men and such to browse through 8D (As for your mention, we get local, american and Japanese stuff. Local varies from comic style to cartoon a lot, tho. Link if you want to browse some despite the language xD)
I've been trying to draw buff men, but I still fail miserably at those.


Re. realism and personal style...
I know what you mean (even though I don't consider myself as having a 'style' yet, but I've been told I do xD) I'd love to be able to do realism though. >3<
But alas, practicing, so much work for something I'm no longer 'serious' on... xD But yeah, I'm hoping to get consistent enough in something at least, during this batch of practices.


I don't think I've ever done a progression series, no. (Hey, when did we get a pretty lightbox? 8D) It does sound interesting! But sadly I don't really have many of my old pics to re-draw from. But it does seem interesting.


Re. SAI, oh, I know! I was almost annoyed at the way everyone kept babbling about SAI, but I can totally see why they love it now. xD I got the portable lighter weight version, my only problem with it is that I can't find how to make a goddamn transparent png, even following tutorials, because I don't get the option I should. xD
The thing is, it has beautiful pen pressure. Even for my $50 tablet, which worked rather crappily on PS, it worked wonders! If only I could actually draw on the computer (lacking practice and security when doing my lines, I'm afraid), I would have the cleanest lineart ever in history.

I'm still, as I said, fighting with the tools though. I've only mildly befriended the watercolor tool which I really like the outcome of, but I saw this amazing artist LS on gaia the other day and she used the brush tool, which I can't get too cooperate at all haha.
In all fairness, I should be shadowing all those trades to properly learn to use SAI but... uh, lazy. <_<;;;

[Maneki Neko]

I probably wouldn't have gotten back into it if I hadn't wanted art of my new character

That's the reason I learned to draw in the first place. >_> I wanted art of my character and knew it'd be easier to have if I had a drawn reference. 8D

Local varies from comic style to cartoon a lot, tho. Link if you want to browse some despite the language xD)

Some of those styles are actually quite cool. xD Some of them are a bit too "cartoon-y" for my personal tastes, but that's expected, really. xD

But alas, practicing, so much work for something I'm no longer 'serious' on... xD

Yeah. xD I'm not 'serious' about art, exactly. But art works hand-in-hand with my true passion (writing), so I'm trying to jump start that passion for art because many of the projects I want to do involve art. :x Of course, it's harder to work art into whatever you "really" want to do or what you "need" to do in life if they don't work hand-in-hand. So I totally understand setting art aside as pure casual hobby. xD

re: lightbox
I think it's been around from the start of the site. xD; But it comes down to using the attachment feature.

If only I could actually draw on the computer (lacking practice and security when doing my lines, I'm afraid), I would have the cleanest lineart ever in history.

Yes. D: I would love one of those types of tablets. My digital inking is horrific. I refuse to do anything more than sketches or doodle linework quality or touch-ups anymore. I get better results by hand. >_>;

Once you get to know SAI better, I will probably bother you with a lot of questions about it. xD Assuming I start a fresh trial, that is, to double-check. xD I use OpenCanvas myself. >_>

[Tahiel]

lol Right? That's why I learned to draw too! But then I found I couldn't for the life of me draw my own characters like I wanted. My RP partners were very into drawing tho, more than I was.
And then I found Gaia and it was like "Oh. You can COMMISSION artists to draw for you *____________*" and the end of everything began.

Some of those styles are actually quite cool. xD Some of them are a bit too "cartoon-y" for my personal tastes, but that's expected, really. xD

Yes, same here. :3 Things like Patoruzu and stuff, they're not my style but are still coolish. I like the less cartoonish ones.

I love writing too. I have my writing blog that I started with the hopes of getting back into it (before I discovered RPing and art, writing was all I did <_<;;; it's almost sad to say my old stories I wrote when I was like 11 are better than my current ones in terms of quality XD;;; ), but I have yet to sit and actually write.

re: lightbox

Oohhhhhhhhhhhhh, well that makes sense. lol

My digital inking is horrific. I refuse to do anything more than sketches or doodle linework quality or touch-ups anymore. I get better results by hand. >_>;

Thissssss, when I can manage lines I manage awesomely clean ones, but otherwise... ugh...

I had started to try digital inking with PS with the advice of "zoom in as much as possible and do it in small sketchy lines that form a big one" and it worked relatively better than doing the same in SAI. SAI, however, manages cleaner lines when you freehand one long swipe than a hundred small ones.

Well, you can bother me with SAI questions now. xD Maybe if I don't know the answer I'll google it and learn something too. haha.

[Maneki Neko]

Yes. >_>; RPing eats up 90% of the time I would like to spend writing. I don't really mind because I feel like I'm gaining writing experience even if it's not through actual solo stories (but it does mean I don't make progress on the solo works I want to write. D: ).

I'm allergic in art to anything that sounds like I'll have to do the work too many times over. xD I've watched a few people draw in SAI and I'd see how they'd do their lines and then undo and do them again and again and then yay finally one they were happy with. xD I mean, certainly it only took them a few seconds but it'd drive me nuts. <_<

/ramble

Will definitely hit you up for questions before too long. xD I know that Saturdays are going to become my, "Work on my Ren'py game." day, so after the script is refined and polished (I already have the framework in place, so it just comes down to filling it out) I'll be starting on the artsu. :x

[Tahiel]

I know what you mean. I mean- my dream has always been to publish a book, and I can't because I never advance on solo stories. xD But oh well. RPing is too fun to quit. 8D

Ugghhh I can't stand repeating things either! Art or writing... I get told it's best to do things again and again and again, I just can't! I've already done it once! Leave me alone! *flails* lol
I still have to watch ytb tutorials for SAI. Ugh.

OMG. RENPY.
The only reason I didn't get super addicted to making games too was that I was far too lazy to hunt for fully free bg stuff and make art for it. But I had like a million ideas for games.
I did this test game, and I was like *_______________________* loooove. lol It was much easier than RPG Maker and the one I used before for that for the same purpose (Umh... somethingBook, I forget the name lol).

I still have renpy installed. Must not. Open it. xD

[Maneki Neko]

xD I haven't made a game... yet. But I promised myself I would by the end of this year. And... well, I've started a lot of scripts and character designs, but my problem is that I can't seem to make something simple and beginner.

Every time I start on an idea, I go, "okay. now that I have the basics... how can I make it something people will go yes, I like this person's work and wish to see more of it and possibly donate to show my love? and then add on features that make it too complicated for me to actually start on. xD;

I keep doing this to myself. I never learn. xD Even the one I'm set on doing first is getting out of hand. D: I'm not even looking at the Ren'py program until I've finished the script. >_> And at least done placeholder sketches for the art.

[Tahiel]

Yes, it's difficult to make something simple for that type of game, and I'm not even going on just the adding features, but all the basic ramifications that can have- I mean, the test game I made, I made it a silly light shounen-ai for my friend, as gift, intending it to be short, and then it just seemed like it would keep going and going with choices... so I didn't even finish it. xDD;; *pro at being lazy*
The character generator I used for it was the cutest though.

You seem to have a better grasp at where you want to go to though. xD Kudos on that. You may even actually finish it. I'm sure your game will be great without many "extra" additions too. :3

[Maneki Neko]

Hee. xD We'll see how I go. :x I think my problem is having higher expectations of myself being a writer and an artist and my coding skills just being not up to par. D: I also have a certain degree of experience "designing" games, thanks to my experiences being Event Coordination lead for Menewsha. So my eyes are bigger than my stomach, so to speak. xD

[Tahiel]

lol it's hard to come up with games for forums Y_Y I suck at that. But the coding skills thing is part of why I tried a little test run first, also making sure it was what I wanted. But honestly Renpy and all these other types of similar game making programs are, for the most, fairly easy and straight forward even with the coding!
It's somewhat like simplified HTML, and if I can make a goddamn basic webpage a game script in Renpy is sure as hell not going to stop me (er, so long as I don't pretend to do something super complicated, that is )

Either way, I'm certain you'll do just great! Be sure that if it's a free game I'll give it a try 0/ lol (Don't judge, I'm poor :P)

[Maneki Neko]

xD I'm poor too - so no worries. xD

My current intentions are to release all games with a free, 'basic' version and a pay, 'deluxe' version. The free version would have things like fewer bachelors/bachelorettes to interact with and sketches or b&w pictures instead of full-color. Otherwise, the same. I figure that would give fewer incentives for pirating and more incentives for purchase if the 'basic' version amused them. xD

[Tahiel]

lol I'm sad to say nothing is a small incentive for pirating, but they do tend to pirate starter ups less. (There was this game developer who pirated his own game for advertising XD it worked wonders for him!). I'm sure you'll do great though.

[Maneki Neko]

That is true. xD I was just frustrated by the rather stupid 'trial' versions of some of the Ren'py pay games, where you didn't even get to really play the game so much as get introduced to the characters before the trial ended. It's like, "Why do I want to pay twenty dollars for this game with art less good than mine and writing that I already find irritating when I don't get to try the game mechanics that interested me in the game in the first place? >:B"

[Tahiel]

Haha, that's a very good point. I didn't even download the trials though, just the full games. I hate being teased if I know I'm 98% likely not to spend my money into buying them. X'D
Really though, I felt there was something missing from those games (not literally, but more like they could have been better if they had had x), but I just can't pinpoint what that was.

[Maneki Neko]

Yeah. I think a lot of games out just sort of have... I dunno. Perhaps it's sort of a lack of real choices. Or the writing isn't mature enough to carry off the story they're trying to tell.

There's a story Ren'py game (no choices that I remember, just a story) that was incredibly good. Literally made me cry. It didn't have the interactivity I was actually after and the art was a little hit or miss. But the story was so good I hope they'll make an actual game-with-choices some day, because I think they can give me story paths that would be fun to follow.

I feel like too many Ren'py storytellers are... "fans" more than they're writers? I'm not sure if that makes sense. But it doesn't feel so much like many of them have their own stories to tell so much as they want to retell their favorites.

[Tahiel]

Ah, yeah, I know what you mean- some of the games I tried were kind of going towards okay with the storytelling and the story itself, but those were the ones that had no choices or little choices, and honestly, if I wanted a movie I'd watch a movie and if I wanted a book I'd read a book- I downloaded a game to play. And the others were just full of pointless choices that took me in circle of the almost unique path. (kinda like my test game lol, but hey, mine was a test game and unfinished!)

I get what you mean. Or maybe they have all the right ideas but don't quite know hot to get there. It's a shame really.

[Maneki Neko]

There's a fairytale game that's fairly recent, using art-ized stock photos. It looked really promising and maybe it would have been if not for the "fake choices" thing.

As far as I can tell, they had only one idea for the nixie/mermaid guy you could end up with, so your choices were essentially, "get involved with the mermaid guy" or "don't". I believe I tried every option for him and only ended up with the one ending.

For the wolf guy, in the beginning there were three choices: let him into the house, let him in to talk, or climb out the back window and escape. The first two lead to the exact same ending. Why bother with two different choices if the results are the same? I know that in real life, your motives can be different for the same action, but it seems very pointless in that case. (But at least there were at least two different endings for their story, though you wouldn't think it.)

I didn't bother trying for two different endings with any of the other bachelors (I actually didn't bother even trying to get with one of the bachelors), the first two soured the enjoyment. But it's kind of worth the download since it's actually one of the better free Ren'py games I've tried.

::ramble bore you:: xD

[Tahiel]

Yeah, I know what you mean, the two-choices lead to same ending thing is what I used with my test game, but then I was just being silly and I "released" it only for my friend's sake lol. I wouldn't have dreamed of making an actual game where every choice led to the same thing- though of course there's times a choice might have circled back to an obvious main point.

What's the name of the game? I'll give it a try. xD
I rarely try for the harder-to-get endings though, you know, those games that have a bajizillion bachelors and endings for each, are also a little over the top. lol
I guess I like a typical choose your own adventure- limited pages, varied endings. xD

You don't bore me btw xDDDD

[Maneki Neko]

A test game is a test game. xD You just need to see what's possible, you don't need to spend forever on it because if you do, you may get frustrated or bored and not finish. xD imho;etc.

Here's the fairytale one: http://games.renpy.org/game/faery_tale.shtml

And here's that short visual novel: http://games.renpy.org/game/tcast.shtml

And yay for not boring you. 8D

[Tahiel]

Haha yeah that's true. And even then I never finished it *shot*

I'll have a look at those games!! <3 Thanks for the links.

[saintmelmonie]

**whistles** I gotta respect how well you position your figures. They are in some of the most elegant poses...

[Tahiel]

Thank you :">