IT'S MEEE!

HELLO! and welcome back to yet again another high " quality " post of LLG ( The Little Legend Guy ) that took a year to make cause I'm a lazy piece of sugar honey ICED tea! So, what do I have in store for you lovely viewers for today?! Could there be another chapter of TFTBU ( The Fates That Bind Us ) out today?! Could I have finally achieved some sort of mastery even at the slightest for the art that I have actually committed more than a year trying to improve?! COULD I FINALLY START DOING YOUTUBE VIDEOS LIKE I PROMISED?!?! Nah this is just gonna be a post for excuses for me not achieving any of those... Well let's jump right into it!

 As per usual our first topic will be the art. For this weeks ( or month because I've been lazy on posts) HP ( Horrible Picture ) of the day is gonna include several entries. The first one is on the left of this very text and is one I drew mainly to practice character design, Hair and expressions ( very light on the last one though ). It is a drawing of the main character of the book I am writing, TFTBU, who is known as Tera. It was all sketched out and inked on paper so no digital stuff was done to the image ( other than the the Instagram filters ). Some things I'd like to note is that this is the first time I've ever drawn female hair and the third time I've drawn hair recently ( and by recent I mean in the last 7 months ). Also, I got halfway done inking the sketch when I realized that Tera is actually supposed to wear glasses so I messed that up quite a bit...

  Next up is a drawing of a secondary character of the book who is slightly based of myself ( character is Mateo). The features are based around me and many people have actually said they can tell that it's me so I'm really happy that I've managed to cartoon myself slightly although I do plan to tweak the character's features a bit. As the same with the last drawing ( the one of Tera ) I forgot the iconic " Goggles " that truly marks the character as me which made me very sad but as for the things I was practicing with this drawing such as, 3/4 view, character design, expression and hair all came together quite nicely. Lastly I did sketch and ink this one much like the other and if you are wondering why I inked so much ( I don't very often unless it is an important drawing which they are but that's not the reason.) it is because there is a way to manipulate the photo with your mobile smart phone to actually make drawings easier to see if they are inked which is why the next drawing won't look so hot...

This is what a non-inked drawing looks with my phone even with some editing... It's a bit hard to see but you can see the guides I've made for the hair and eyes but have yet to finish them. I do plan on doing the whole thing same as the other drawings as this is supposed to be the other side character Ethan. It'll focus on character design, expression, hair and the 3/4 view. Definitely will be a difficult one as the other two characters could get away with messy hair but Ethan has styled hair so yeah... Well that does it for today's HP.
On to the next topic, YouTube! Those who know me or those who have watched the short film that I did for UIL ( University Interscholastic League ) called, " It's Just a Dream " link is right HERE so check that out if you want but back to the topic! I am not camera shy so YouTube should be no problem for me right? CORRECT! problem is however ( here comes the excuse ) I am missing some sound equipment... I have the mic and some audio software ( Adobe Audition CC ) but if I don't want to have to lug my laptop to every film setting and use my phone as the connection for the mic! I have to buy a headphone and mic split jack. So yeah... Might do just a voice over video or a stationary one but IDK if my attention span can handle it so we'll just have to wait and see! Also... maybe a surprise to ya'll but I am not the most proactive person so I might also get lazy and that'll definitely cause delays...
Well to not degrade myself any longer for my laziness and procrastination let's get onto the next project I haven't worked on in awhile! TFTBU or The Fates That Bind Us ( just in case you didn't get the acronym after the time I mentioned it at the beginning ) is still on hiatus because I suck at writing, drove my story into a whole, got rid of months of work and am now thinking of how to recover. That being said, I think of the story all the time, new chapter coming soon! Also I'm working on another series so that there will be something to kinda help spread my work a bit but it's going to be very similar to TFTBU.
To end today's post, I'd like to talk a little about a school thing I did this week that really was fun! So, those who know me, and some who don't, know that I am part of the AAVTC ( Arts, Audio, Video, Technology, Class ) in my highschool. This is a program that anyone at my school can take and it can lead to specialized classes for things like Film, Graphic Design and Animation. Thing is, I've taken at least the base level for all of the things offered by this program and have been highly active doing things like school news, UIL and etc. That being said I and another student who is a classmate and friend of mine took up the opportunity to join our two teachers in charge of the program to visit the middle school to promote the program. I had a great deal of fun and the kids really loved our presentation as we were the loudest and had some pretty nice videos to show off the program and what the students in it do. It was really fun especially considering that I've taken just about everything so questions about any class was a breeze for me. That's all for today so till next post ( whenever that'll be ) I'll see ya'll later!

Stretch and Squash Animation

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG! Now I know that this blog is usually about art and it will stay that way but of all the drawings I made this week have all be terrible so I'm just going to go over some animation concept. So without further ado lets get started with Stretch and squash.

Stretch and squash is a simple animation concept shown in this short ball animation I made. Also as a side note, I'd like to make it obvious that for the first few frames appear faster as I used fewer frames and used Stretch which we'll talk about now. Stretch in animation is when you make an object thinner and longer than it usually is which gives the illusion of acceleration when used in fewer frames. Now if stretch is used to express acceleration than Squash is used to express deceleration. Squash can be seen on one frame where the ball makes the first contact with the ground. This can make the impact very strong and will make any animation way better when used properly. Now for the last frames, I added just one frame of stretch and this is due to the fact that the acceleration was much lower than before and I made sure to use a lot more frames closer to each other as I wanted to make it appear as all the initial momentum was gone as the ball begins to slow down. Now there are much more ways this concept can be used in other situations than just a ball but this is an easy way to introduce the concept and not to mention that my skills in art at the moment barely allow me to draw much and trying to animate that in such a way would just turn out horrible but I am working on it. That's all for today and till next post I'll see ya'll later!

Youtube Video!!!

Hello and wow!!! It's been awhile since my last post but it's because I'm been busy as can be with finals, exams and...final exams... Anyways long story short I don't have any big drawings to show you as I've only had time for small doodles and working on the projects like the very one I am posting right now which is a project I had to do to show my projects I've worked on this year. So if you want to visit that video just click this link right here -> https://youtu.be/0j4NiKlgNSk Till the next time I post I'll see Ya'll later!

HP!!!!

Hello and welcome back to another HP post!!! Sorry about the long delays but with the study year ending I've been showered in reviews and projects that have been killing all of my time and energy that I normally use to post. That being said I am very sorry for all the delays and that since the year is still going I may have even more but, for today I have found the time and energy to post so I'll be showing of some recent digital works I have done ^-^! Let's do this!

This first one is one I did for some extra credit and is based around the Shakespeare play of Caesar. This is the most recent one I have worked on and was made with a new tool I have bought known as the Wacom's Intuos Draw small tablet which has been amazing!

This next one is an animation I worked on for a video portfolio I am going to be working on quite soon and was very fun in making ^-^.

This is the last one for today but it is an animation I had worked on for Earth day and would've posted earlier but I had no time to do so.... Well that concludes today's HP and I don't know when I may post the next one but I just want to thank everyone for being patient with the delays. I am trying my best ti post as soon as possible. Till next post I'll see ya'll later!

Meme complete!

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, a blog that mainly follows me and my quest to become a better artist! Now I know I didn't post Friday or Monday both of which are some of my biggest posts but worry not as for today I don't have one, two or even three HP's for you but a total of FOUR!!! Or more like three and a half as the last one I got very lazy on >-< but I have finished a big project I've worked on for quite while and while animated I am still working out on how I will be able to show it on this blog so wait a bit longer for that. So let's jump in!

This project was a fun one that had me think and draw in creative ways to kinda show what many people think of certain things so let's pick at it piece by piece. 

This first one is missing a part at the top with the words copy so keep that in mind >-<. This was the one that took the most time as I messed around with the lighting in order to look like a flickering screen in the animation and I also wanted it to really feel like what I think my parents think I do as they can see me as antisocial ( even though I am slightly more extrovert on test and extremely extrovert in life) and they think I'm always locked up in a dark corner copying other peoples work. That last part is something I can't blame them for though because as you know most of my work is crap and when I make something that exceeds that it even makes me feel like I copied even if it isn't as good as others but that's just me making this longer than it should be >-<.

This next one took some time but wasn't too hard as my guidelines ( basically most digital work I do is first sketched out and I call that my guidelines) made it easy to get the bulk of it and the animation was just the 3 red lines above my head appearing. This is yet again another one I can not blame them for thinking ( me playing games while working ) because while I work hard sometimes at hours at a time I do find myself taking breaks ( much like how I do with these post >-<) when I feel worn out or just need ideas. 

Finally we get to what I feel I do most of the time as I do try my best to make enjoyable art. If this looks familiar that is because it is based of the " Traveler " sketch I did and While I think the flag looks great in this piece I think the textures on the hills can be a bit overwhelming. Is it a mountain scene or a junkyard? honestly you think it to be whatever you want because I have no idea what it is so have fun with that >-<. Last thing on this one, while I could have spent the time to animate the flag I didn't and just made the words fade in.

For this last one I could not have gotten lazier like this is rock bottom. I had almost no more time to turn in the project that I just quickly drew a cylinder ( can't wait to get a drawing tablet as I'm sick of the mouse >-<) but yeah.... That's all for today and see ya'll next post!

  

HP of the day Progress

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG. Today's HP is the same as the last few days as I have been working really hard on this one and only other part of this project, good news however as this is the last day where I am going to show this HP alone as I have finished enough to go on to the next pic.

This is the completed drawing and while I have animated it a bit I will only show the animation when the whole project is finished. Last this I would like to say is that I am doing this project in photoshop so while the shading is great and some of the textures look really nice it isn't because of my sketching ability but one day it may be ^-^. That's all for today so till next post I'll see ya'll later! 

HP of the Day more meme's

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG and today we are doing another similar HP to yesterday. Why? cause with me being very busy it is the only thing I have some time to work on for awhile so if I want content that's where I'm going to get it >-<. That being said it isn't too bad as this project is multiple drawing and animations so it's pretty big and I think you guys should enjoy it a bit despite the repetitiveness.

As you can see I've progressed a bit since yesterday but I still need to finish and tweak the animation but for the time I've spent I've gotten pretty far so far. I know that it is a bit blurry but once finished it shouldn't be so. I know it's a short HP today but that'll just have to do for today. Until next post I'll see ya'll later!

Double HP of the Day!!! GDI meme

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, post are getting less frequent as of late and I'm sorry for such but today I thought I wasn't going to have time or content to post for today but life had other plans and such was possible. So with that being cleared up let us begin!

Fair warning to the fact that both drawing today are the same but on different platforms as this sketch I did was yet again just a quick guide I cooked up in order to aid a project I have been given. The following is a simple non detailed drawing of a person in a dark room on a computer copying the works of others. Due to limits on time and me wanting to do a quality final product I raced to draw this with little to no detail only focusing on the anatomy which I had superb difficulty on the right side odd enough and jotting the basic ideas for the digital version at the top.

This second pic is one of a work in progress for the project given to me where I must make original animations for all of the boxes. Those of you who think the top left picture is a bit bland are correct to think so as it is incomplete as I still need to add some color, lighting effects and the animating still needs to be done. So that about rounds ups today's HP's I hope you enjoyed them and till next post I'll see ya'll later! 

HP???

Hello and welcome to today's HP. If you saw the title and the post I made earlier than you are probably thinking to yourself that I did not have something prepared for you today and that's where you'd be wrong because while I am not posting art today I do have some pics for you today that I have been thinking about for quite awhile. First off.

I've been working on Pencil for an animation to test all the stuff, my own practice and for all you guys who follow me on this blog as a thanks ( don't expect anything special though as it is the third 2-D animation I've done ever and it is the most complex and I have to learn the software still but yeah...) Lastly on this pic I'd like to let you know that while I thought the pencil tool did not show up in the final result I was mistaken so sorry for the confusion. For the next and last pic of the day I'd like to let you guys know how I am able to keep track of stuff on my blog like how many times people see my blog and from what country they are viewing from. 

I know it's a bit hard to read but currently LLG has had almost 500 views in 3 different countries which is America, Egypt and Germany. Now, I know the # of views is small compared to other post from other people but that is still people checking the page 500 times. That's cool and all but when I made this blog and set up the schedule I was looking more for comments rather than views or followers ( but those are still appreciated) and looking at the stats I was shocked to learn

that the blog has had only 3 comments and two of them while great are not the ones I am striving for as I want advice and criticism. So, with that said thanks for even checking out this blog and reading the content but please feel free and encouraged to comment. It really means a lot to me and I really work hard to try and get the comments so just make my day and comment please? I know it discourages people to ask that but I feel like it needed to be said. Thanks and can't wait to see ya'll next post.  

 

Pencil Animating Software

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, today we are heading back once again to the artsy side of this blog as we'll be talking about the 2-D animating software called pencil. Pencil is a open source free to use animating software that is usable for any computer and what I am currently trying to learn to use myself as its simplistic design and cheap price at nothing is very appealing to a new comer in such a medium.

https://www.pencil2d.org/ This link listed besides the image is the website where you can download the software if you are a person who is intrestead in 2-D animation. So, what makes Pencil different from the other potential animating software that I've brought up before, Blender? Well, Pencil is a 2-D animation software which means that the user draws each frame in the animation rather than building a whole 3 dimensional object and guiding its movements. Pencil in my about 2 hour experience ( as I've used it for a short time ) is expectantly slightly buggy. You may be asking why it is expected to which I would remind you that it is completely free of any cost and also tell you that it is not fully developed but is being worked on.

The software still has it together enough to where it is workable as long as you save periodically and have a slight background in things like adobe flash. The software's timeline ( shown at the bottom of each image) can contain raster images, vector, sound and even the camera for the shots you are making. Next for your tools you have your pencil which is very useful as it allows you to sketch out things or write down notes on frames and it won't be seen in the final product. Next is the paintbrush which is what I think you should use for the actual work but like I said I've had the software for awhile but only have had little time actually using it and I have not been able to get it to work. Lastly for drawing is the pen tool which should not be confused with the pen tool used in things like photoshop and illustrator as it doesn't work the same but rather like the pencil tool from illustrator for those graphic designers out there who know what i'm talking about. Honestly, with a bit of more development this software can become quite similar to flash in animating and I think you guys should try it out so you can give your feedback to the developers so they can improve it further. To end this post I want to know from you guys what is your favorite style of animating between 3-D and 2-D? I know that those are pretty vague groups as they both have their own sub styles within them and I haven't forgot about stop motion it is just I have not wrote a post about it yet so I see it as irrelevant for a QOTD at the moment but it will come up and with the glory it rightfully deserves.

Till next post I'll see ya'll later.

     

Webcomics

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, today we are moving away from the animation topic that has been on recent post but still in the art category. If you have read the title, then you would know that the topic of the day is webcomics! As always the first question this blog likes to answer for any topic ( no matter how small ) is what the topic is. So, webcomics are comics that are on the web. So, where would one post such a comic? There are numerous ways to post a comic series. The first and easiest way is to post it on social media.

Sites like Deviant Art are made mainly to showcase one's art. Sites like these can double for posting webcomics. Sadly I don't know much else about the site but I am 50% sure that it is made to where you can't get paid for comics which is true for other sites similar like tumblr. Now, another way to set up a web comic is through a blog such as the very one you are reading. This is possible and very manageable but despite that I have not made a comic as I am just not at the skill level needed to make multiple characters, background and movements in my art yet but do know that in the future this may happen. Sadly like Deviant art you can't get paid by yourself but you can set up an ad system in order to get money very similar to youtube ( please note that there are no ads on this blog as I haven't set up the ad system and will not be doing so). Now, for the final place that is a good place for a webcomic is a site/app that I have mentioned on this blog before and that is the site tapastic.

Tapastic is a site where you can not only post stories you write but also the stories you draw as a webcomic. The site can be viewed online on desktop or on the mobile app. This is the site I know the most about as I never really visit the others sites as often and tapastic makes it very easy to find things I do enjoy ^-^. Now, sadly I do not know the specific way people get paid I do know that there are three ways that are huge possibilities. The first is the most obvious which is the premium comics on the site which require you to buy coins with real currency and use said coins to buy keys to unlock comics, I am not a hundred percent sure how this works though. Next up is the ads on the site and app which are said to explicitly there to help the site and the creators which when you make comics for mostly free is pretty nice on both sides. Lastly is the brand new experimental tipping system. With this, even if a comic is free to read on the site you can use the coins used to buy keys to also " tip " creators you feel deserve the little boost. Now, lets say you don't want to deal with that site and stick to your Deviant Art and or tumblr but still want a little pocket money for things you may want or need.

Well then, why don't you consider making a Patreon account? Patreon is a site where creators, like yourself, can still make content of any sorts where ever you choose. So, how does this work to get money? Well, if you have fans willing to support you, they can give you money in appreciation through your Patreon page and you can even set up special gifts or perks based on your content to give to these " Patrons ". There are many options for creators out there but there is a catch as always. You can always post things for fun or even the learning experience but if you want to be able to support yourself on said creations you have to work hard, practice and study a lot. Even after you perfect your skills to make content you have to be able to then make content that you feel proud of and that others will like in order for them to support your work. As I've probably said on this blog before my dream is to become a game designer/animator/most things in media today. Through a lot of practice and work I've learned coding, 3-D modeling and animating, I've learned at least the basics of adobe software like photoshop, illustrator, and premiere, and through lots of practice and hard work I am currently trying my very best to be able to learn how to develop a story, plot, characters and their environments and to be able to translate all of those things on a piece of paper or on a virtual paper. So, to ends today's post as I do with most I'm going to ask a question that I'll never get a response for but it does help my mind to try and think of the topic so I'd like to know, " are any of you guys out there planning to start a series of any type ( you don't have to say about what I just am curious if you guys are interested on the topic) and if yes, what are some steps you are taking and for the ones who are currently doing so, what steps did you take?" As always you can type your answers on the comment section below and if you do comment I will post it up and talk about your answer on the next day's post. See ya'll next post and maybe this will be the QOTD with a lot of comments. * laughing unsure *  

 

3-D Animation

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, today we are going to talk about 3-D animation. Specifically, what it is, how it is used and what are my experiences with it as I have worked on it myself in the past. Sadly all pictures shown are not my work as I have done very little quite a time ago and anything I have done has been lost and the reason I don't have any new stuff like in the past year is because I have been busy practicing and working on other things ( like hand drawing and digital art as of lately ) but sometime in the future since I do have a Blender ( 3-d modeling and animating software ) on my laptop.

So, what is 3-D modeling and animating? Well, 3-D modeling is simply where you create a 3 dimensional virtual object using special software. This models can be anything as simple as a knife to something as complex as an entire city! This has various uses as they can be used for things such as movies ( the entire movie or even a CGI edit ) games or even non entertainment stuff such as architecture and various fields of science.

3-D modeling given the right tools, great tutorials and hard work can be very fun and not too difficult for simple stuff. I've found that it so simple that even a middle schooler ( when I first got into 3-D animation and made a rocket ) can do it. Was my model like the movie toy story? not even close but it was really fun and when your the only middle schooler in the class with a fully animated and rendered ( rendering is a common term to use in 3-D modeling that is basically just loading textures, color and animations to a usable file type) you feel really cool :3. Now that would be the last big project I would do in Blender until I got to a game design class where I had to make 3-D models that could be placed in games which was even better as I learned not only how to animate and model but also call up said models and animations for a programed game. In the end I really think any young person with a computer ( hopefully a newer one as my last laptop couldn't handle the software and burnt itself >-<) to give it try. To end this post with the QOTD I want to know, " Are you guys considering trying out 3-D modeling?" You can leave your answer in the comment section below and till next post.  

Cartoon Style

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, now I know post have been happening a little later than usual and aren't that great ( compared to most of my post cause this blog in general sucks ) but don't worry it's not just me being lazy but I've been overwhelmed lately with work so once things start clearing up expect some nice post and at earlier times. Enough of that though lets get into a topic that I'm excited for and may do multiple posts on since there are so many styles to go over but today we'll cover them as a whole. So, what defines the cartoon style of art?

Cartoon art can be anything that doesn't go very far to achieve photorealism like last post. If you've seen the HP's on this blog you'll notice ( maybe) that the style I am trying to achieve ( it's not noticeable though since I suck ). The downsides to cartoon style is that you can't make things look so realistic and that is just about it. Other than that this style has lots of up sides such as having no trouble adding unrealistic creatures as they seem more natural in their surroundings, you can make very colorful scenes and shots like the one above. Finally the last major upside to come to mind right away is that many mistakes that would make realistic art fail is that slight mistakes don't make characters fall into an uneasy area known as the uncanny valley as the characters aren't human enough to make someone uneasy. 

The picture above is an ok example but given my short time I couldn't get a better example but for know it'll do. Looking at both pictures we see both characters are human children ( even if one is an alien hybrid but that's besides the point ) but while the one at the top has a nonexistent expression it looks fine while the second one is making a normal expression and while the animators did a fantastic job ( love both animations :3) there is a slight feeling ( at least to me ) that something is off and that is because the character is more human than the other but not human enough for us leading to the uncanny valley. Long story short, cartoon's don't need to worry so much on this. Out of time for this post so no QOTD and see ya guys next post.