Almost in the Clear

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG! As many of you know, I have been very busy for the past few months with highschool marching band. This has made making post very difficult since August ( when practice had started. ). With the season just about being over with me only having two, non competitive, show performances left and the only days of the week of having after and before school practices being now only once a week for the next two weeks, post will be more frequent at least in theory. There is no 100% certainty to that claim as I am going to try and get a job for money and who knows what projects I'll get that might make it harder to get post out but I will do my best. That's enough on that though, lets get started on today's post.

No matter how busy I am, I as always I am working hard to ensure that my artistic skills can improve. This is a page where I started trying to figure out the facial features and shape of the main character of the story I'm writing ( This is a link to said story ). Those who've read my story know that the main character is made to not be a very confident and brave character. Wanting to represent these characteristics starting with the eyes. Getting some advice from one of my friends to do more of a droopy eye shape which I think works really well with the top right one. The eyes that are in the middle that are much more sharper was a style I feel most comfortable doing but with the main character it won't work very well. It might work for some other characters though.
On to another topic, if you feel like supporting me and my blog along with the other things I do online then I'd like to take the time to bring up my print shop in Deviant Art. On my page I have made a few photo's into prints for anyone to buy the prints. Said prints can be bought in various forms such as an art print, canvas, or as a photo. Someday I may make drawings into prints but, as of my current skill in drawing I do not feel that my art would be worthy of being bought yet. The link to my page will be right here! 
I also created a snapchat account so make sure to check that out when you get the chance on my contact me page. After getting snapchat I realized how awkward I am at using things of the sorts but I will try and make it where you could learn a little about my day to day life a little better. Probably not going to go far with that probably as I am planning on posting YouTube videos at some point.

 
  ( Picture of me working on blog ). I'm not the person who thinks vloging when one doesn't do that much different from the usual works very well. However, as I find myself getting closer and closer to college and having to think of practicing more and more in the things I want to do such as film, animation, game design and so on. I feel that experimenting would be a good way to not only a good way to experience new things but to also get some practice.
I'm also still working very hard on the next chapter in the book I am writing ( Link here ). I haven't finished the 8th chapter yet as I planned for it to be another major part of the story but I am having second thoughts on just how and what should be done. Another thing that could be done is that I could take a break from the action and take a moment to just have a few fun/filler chapters in order for the pacing to be much better as I feel the story has gone a bit too fast. Who knows, make sure to check it out and give me some ideas. I'd greatly appreciate and I know that the story is kinda garbage at the moment as it was planned heavily as a comic series meaning that parts with intense action like fights are very hard to portray in words.
Lastly I would like to take a moment to thank you guys for being patient through my dry posting periods. Things in my day to day life have been taking a lot of time and energy and for you guys to be so patient is just great :3. The post are becoming more frequent and more vibrant I feel and that is because you guys have been patient. Thank you and till next post I'll see ya'll later!


Make sure to share this blog with everyone you know ;).

Bit of a diffrent post

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG. Today I thought I might do a bit of a different post as some people have told me that as a writer of such a blog I should include things that I think and do which in way I do share with my drawings and today's post will kinda be based on a previous drawing but it'll be more focused on somethings I've been thinking about and doing. One of the first things I'd like to talk about is old time cartoons, their style, what are my feelings about them and why that is and why it isn't. So to start things off, for anyone who's been with this blog for awhile may remember a pair of drawings I did awhile back shown below.

Anyone could tell this is heavily  based of old cartoons as the joints are made to be more lose and curved rather than structured and rigid and the eyes have the slight touch to them that isn't too detailed but is a mark of the time and lastly the gloves being a big part for old time animators being a favorite of theirs. So yeah, I do like the style of old time cartoons but the reason I wanted to talk about this is because of the why. Well one big reason is I love the looseness and unrealistic characteristic often seen in such cartoons.

Another big reason is because an amazing fighting game I love known as SkullGirls by Reverge Labs.

Many who see this game might dismiss it as a very fan service game ( they wouldn't be too wrong about that though...) but the animation is great and two of my favorite characters are kinda appropriate ( the two characters are Beowulf and Peacock ). Anyways ( getting a bit sidetracked ) the art style is cartoonish and the character Peacock is entirely based off old cartoons ( also the music ( mostly jazz ) works so well with the artistic backgrounds). Point is, while every character takes inspirations from different sources it is more active with the old cartoon style. Point is, I like old time cartoon style and a great game with amazing art and music is one of the many reasons for that being the case. SO! what is the reason that some people might think I like old time cartoons and just isn't the case? Bendy and the Ink Machine. Not a terrible game but in my opinion it is way overrated and it is everywhere. Next story is about how my Mom likes to write poems and wants to share them. Now it is a well known fact to my family that I write a blog and post my own content on it to share so my Mom had asked me if I could make her a blog. This is, she wants to be able to customize it as much as possible and I know for a fact that'd she'd have trouble with the Blogger interface that I use for this very own blog. So, I've decided to make her blog site for her using Notepad++, html and css and it made me think. Why do I use Blogger instead of making my own site? Why limit myself to a site made to those who can't code and design when I could show my skills, practice and set myself apart?! Because I'm lazy ;3 and since I can't pay myself and I'm not my Mom who I'd gladly pick up a new language of coding to make her the best site ever! So, once I finish that project I'll post the link to it so you guys can meet my marvelous Mom and see how bad I can mess up code I've learned in a single day..... Look forward to that.... Lastly some friendly advice. There's a few days left......watch E3 2017, there's some good stuff :3. Till next time I'll see ya'll in the next post!

No HP for today

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG and before we go any further I would like to apologize for the lack of post and the still lack of content for you guys but at the end of this post I may just post something for you guys to look at anyways. So, what is the reason I don't have anything to show for today? Well, for many of you who seen the one post I did on Friday I was inspired to do a big drawing and I did so on that day using only two colors I had available to be via pastel and charcoal but while it turned out great it felt a bit empty as there was a lot of white space. So it took my till the next day to get some advice on what to fill that white space with. Unfortunately said advice required more color which I ended up having to buy a Daler Rowney color pencil kit ( same brand as my charcoal, pastel and blending sticks) which based on my drawings so far one could note that I've never colored much without digital means which I could have done but with such a piece that I find enjoyable in itself without digital work I wanted it colored on the paper ( but I may do a digital work sometime of it ). So, since I had no way of knowing things like blending, color, and quality it pretty much took me today to figure that out ( although most of my day was filled with other stuff not just experimenting with five dollar color pencils ) and that leads us to now. I would like to be done and be able to show you guys already but I am taking my time with this one as I want it to be great ( to my skill level of course ) and using new supplies, techniques and even adding a whole new layer to my practice is kinda intense so please be patient with me. Now that in it self explains the situation very well to this point but there is one more thing holding me back... Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, I'm sorry but not only is every piece of it just so skillfully crafted with its graphics and music but it is really fun to play and the hours I've spent on it just last week and this weekend are disgusting >-<. That's all for today and I hope you are enjoying the blog. Till next post I'll see ya'll later but as promised I do have something for you of a digitization of a sketch I did and I do not think I have uploaded to this blog yet for some reason so I hope you enjoy it!

   Now that I checked again my blog I just saw that I did show this but just with a bunch of photoshop stuff all around it so enjoy the clearer picture for now I guess >-<.

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.  

Me and Art

Hello and welcome today to another post of LLG, today since I may have forgot to have been thinking of a topic of today >-< I decided to talk a bit on why I want to get better at drawing and no it's not as simple as just me being a bad artist which is true at the moment but it's a little more than that. First off as sort of apparent with the HP awhile back I like many people get stressed out quite a bit and the method I usually use to calm down ( Punching the heck out of a punching bag ) is not always available and it scares people sometimes 0_0 ( which is understandable for people who see a person going full demon on an object meant to be human like ) so drawing is a nice way to calm down a bit while creating something rather than destroying ( and a notebook is more available than a full size punching bag). Next is that I have many friends who are great artist and looking at their work just inspires me and I wish that someday I'd be able to inspire someone else in such a way.  moving onto the more competitive side of things I can be a stubborn person and when I see a skill I will try and learn it just because it presents a challenge and this was very apparent with me and martial arts which is a very exciting adventure for me ^-^. Lastly, since I was little I'd always hear stories of great heroics and started making little stories of my own character's flawless heroics. Later on in my life when I learned that heroes were human too and that just like me had their own flaws and personalities it just inspired me to make more stories of these flawed heroes and of course I also enjoyed a little story driven horror to be part of these stories or even on their own ( hint hint to a future project that I am starting to work on ^_o ). These stories I'd always share vocally to my sister and she enjoyed them. Even later on I started experimenting on a 3-D modeling and animating software known as Blender which was my first work in animation which I sadly lost when my 15 year old laptop literally burnt itself ( BTW the animation was a simple door opening on a spaceship but it looked really choppy now that I think about it and it wasn't even rendered properly ). Slowly I started to move my focus from a engineering career to an animating/gaming ( I love games and making them with javascript ^-^). That leads to today where I want to share my stories to the world, I know books are a thing but I've never been talented at writing ( or drawing but it has appealed to me more ) and I've always enjoyed comics, animations and video games and I hope with some help from you guys I will be able to achieve such a dream of mine ^-^. Kinda the reason I post almost everyday and when I don't I try and make up in practice. With that said I'd love to announce that as of today I received just what I have been hoping for and working so hard on this blog for and that is some pointers and advice from YOU GUYS! Sadly whoever posted this has not listed their name as I truly want to thank them.

    I'd like to thank the writer of the comment by letting you know that I did looking up examples to try and learn how to try and improve with shading on clothes and I deeply apologies for not being able to enlarge the image of the comment but that is as big as it gets >-<. Just to let you guys know that these are comments I am looking for, the ones who look at my mistakes and lists on how I should improve. Unknown user ( what the blog thing calls you since you didn't list a username) thank you and I hope that I can see another comment from you in the future. To end this post I'd like to end it with a QOTD and if you don't know what that is, it is just a question I ask about the topic that I talk about in the post and you just comment your answer or response in the comment section below. So for today's QOTD I want to know what is your favorite way to get rid or use stress from life? I can't wait to see your comments and just note that any comments you post I will feature in the next post so if you are like the person above that doesn't want to be known you can just comment as unknown user that is fine but I have no idea how to do that so you may have to search that up. With that it brings the end to this post and can't wait to see ya'll in the next one ^-^.

Nintendo Switch

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG and today I'd like to talk about another topic for gaming by talking about the Nintendo Switch and my thoughts on it. I'm sure to many of you probably know about all the stuff that I'm going to talk about today but I'd like to talk about it from my perspective. With that said I'd like to start on the console it self. The console largely consist of a WiiU looking tablet.

The " Switch Tablet" comes with two attachable controls on the side on the picture shown above. Also, the console has the ability to connect to a T.V. while also having a portable mode shown again above. This is an amazing feature that I think is very useful feature for games that are normally not portable such as the highly hyped Skyrim. Next, the Switch will feature a paid online service much like the Microsoft's X-Box. 

The last thing I'd like to talk about is the 3 most hyped up games for this console from my point of view. The game series Legend of Zelda is a timeless series and many fans have been looking forward to the next installment of the series known as " Breath of the Wild ". This game has been shown quite a lot and it is going to be one of the very first games released on this console.  

Beautiful graphics, solid controls and much more are seen in most demos shown so far and with a few years of development this is definitely a great game to look forward to. Next up is a much needed restart of a once wonderful series known as Sonic.

Sonic Mania is a promising game from a game company that has been struggling much as of lately due to many flops of games such as Sonic Lost Worlds and Sonic Boom but, Sonic Mania promises to be the much needed restart of the series by going back to the roots of the game series while adding some new features! While I have big hopes for the game Sega has had some problems with promising games in the past so I'd like to approach with caution. Other than that I look forward to seeing a game to match or surpass great sonic games of past like Sonic Colors or Sonic and the Black Knight. The last game on this list is the one I feel I'd most enjoy it's finished product which is Super Mario Odyssey.  

Is it goofy that Mario's hat is alive? yeah. Is it odd and inconsistent that the humans in the game have normal proportions compared to Mario? yeah. Does it make the game bad? No. While we can't say for sure how good this game will be just from the little info we have but we can tell that Nintendo is taking their gloves off for this title as it just looks so gorgeous and is very creative and playful with its self. Anyways those are the main titles that I am looking forward to for the Nintendo Switch and for today's QOTD I'd like to know ya'lls thoughts and what game you guys are looking forward to in the " Switch". See ya next post ^-^

   

 

Equipment

Hello and welcome to another post of LLG, today's topic is gonna be focused on the equipment and software I use to do lots of the stuff that will appear on this blog and what I may obtain in the future so with that said let's get started! Obviously I'm not the best artist and because of this I would like to save money and equipment that would be more appropriate for art ( like a sketch book, inking pens, special pencil and etc.) so for the moment my main art book is a 70 sheet wide ruled Mead notebook that is used for all my sketching's shown below.

 Obviously not a high grade sketchbook ( I do own one ) but that's how it'll be for quite awhile. Next is the most important tool I use and that is my pencil.

  This is the brand and model of pencil I use ( Pen-Mate mechanical pencil ) and the lead size various on what exactly I am trying to do. Next is my digital pencil/paintbrush/pen/air brush and etc. My one and only Jot Pro Stylus!

Next is the software I use is a pretty noice :3 one if I could get on my laptop but I still have the phone version which is where art like this comes from. 

This is Auto-desk's Sketchbook application and it is an absolute great alternative for Photoshop but do bear in mind that while there is a free version it is the paid phone version that I am currently using. Next, I do use Photoshop but for certain reasons I do not wish to disclose I am limited to when and where I can use it and I've done stuff like so on this.

Another Adobe software I use ( under the same limitations as Photoshop ) is Illustrator for things like below.

 Leaving Adobe I use Blender ( A free 3-D Resource!!!) that is great to use. Sadly most of the work I've done on it has been lost so until I do some more work on it there will be no showcases on it ;^;. Lastly as I am learning coding ( Code Academy is a great place to learn ) I am experimenting on a program known as Unity and gosh boy is it fun! ^-^ Sadly there is no showcases for that as well at the moment but hopefully in the future there will be. Now to end this post what are some software and equipment I'd want and may get in the future? For equipment I'd love a drawing tablet ^-^, inking pens and that sums that up pretty much. For software though * deep breath * that's a long story so I'm going to break it up in chunks. For art, definitely computer version of Sketchbook, Photoshop and Illustrator. For music, Vocaliods would be so fun and I wish I could get Garage Band but I have a mac so if you guys know of something like that for mac, Help a friend out here then PLEASE >-<. Finally for animation I do know how to animate on things like Photoshop, Sketchbook and FlipNote ( realizing that I forgot to list the best animating tool that is FlipNote >-<) so I'm good on that. With that said this brings the conclusion to that very drawn out post that is only gonna be seen by maybe five friends who I hound about this stuff but someday... someday I will get comments and or followers and I will have a point for these long post 0_0 but for now I just do what I want on this blog to try and improve myself just a little more everyday. This blog provides a great challenge everyday to try and draw everyday ( even if they are bad) and to try and think of topics ( even if they are bad ) and I do quite enjoy it and I hope you guys do to. ^-^ sorry about the long post and hope to see your comments on the QOTD which is, " which of the listed equip, or software do you like most?" With that, see ya'll guys in tomorrows post!