Style Experiment

Another nerdy post... but it does have relevant artwork!
In fact, that's kinda the point of this one. I've been trying to post it for days now... but it's lengthy and I've been rather busy doing insane hours at work @_@ (last post if you care).

Okay so.
While drawing my main character, Miss Tavé Deveaux... the same way I've been drawing her for years.... I discovered she could really use some work. Design-wise.

Granted that there shows my awful drawing skills from early high school. XD But still. Even in her later incarnations, it's just not working. For such an interesting and exotic personality that I've written her to be... her look is suddenly rather boring to me. Not only this, but the look and style I had fallen into rendering her with is pretty bulky and inefficient. Great for illustrating; but if I plan to make this a comic (ie: drawing characters over and over from various angles...), my style needs some streamlining. And not just on a character-by-character basis.

What I am trying to avoid, though, is changing my style completely. People have pointed out that my current style and look is unique, which is awesome. X3 But I really like it as well— I don't want to lose some of my trademark elements, but sadly, there are some problems with certain things.
Now I could sit and pick apart my own art forever (which I will try my best to avoid, lol), but I suppose some examples are in order. Here, have an experimental Tavé.

Before you sit and wonder what's different (beyond the obvious), a lot of my character design knowledge went into this experiment. I do actually claim to draw for animation, so I applied many of these principles in the redesign:

• Simplified anatomy
• More expressive features
• More aesthetic shapes
• Stronger silhouette

As an added challenge, I tried for repetition of shapes in certain elements like her eyes/glasses, eyebrows/hairline (yeah, Tavé has rather thick brows, lol), and quite obviously her hair. The little curly-cue dealy I want to carry into things like her clothing and maybe poses, as it's awesome base a character on a central shape like that. I could see her posture as... swirly. Lol.

I am hoping this is an okay look, however... Because this is still a fantasy comic. It just feels to me that the magic can be lost if it looks too... toony? Hmmm. See now... this is where I need feedback. XD I might cross-post something to this effect in my deviantART journal, since there really isn't much traffic here. <.< *ahem?*

Anyway...
I hope I can keep this up with my crazy working hours, lol. I would really like to draw and experiment more, but I've not had the problem of finding time for it in quite a while, lol.

So stay tuned.

¯

Overdue... but good news?

I must apologize for two things:

One; [To myself mainly], this post is late. I was doing so well with my once a week.
Two; this blog is supposed to be about my artwork and/or webcomic. But the subject of this post is relevant.

Things will go very VERY slowly for a few months, because I am quite suddenly and unexpectedly employed full time. Oh yeah-- at a lil' old animation studio.

Currently working on an online-onair thingy for a show on PBS. I am very excited to be living my dream for a little while (the project I was hired for ends in March. awwww.), but this definitely means a tad less from me comic-wise until I've adjusted to a drastic change in habit and lifestyle. XD I went from being self-employed [or unemployed] to working crunch time with long, long hours. Don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing... but the transition hasn't been easy.

I've been trying [and failing] to make a very interesting post concerning character design. I had a super-nerdy epiphany about my art style recently and am itching to share. But I've not even had time to sit and finish my rather verbose musings about it, lol. I'll get it together soon, heh.

Oop... another apology: this post is definitely art-less. ;__; You can enjoy some material from my studio, though. Check their Demo Reel for some awesome (and familiar) things they've done. :)

Until next time!

¯

Eureka! (Writing Mumbo-Jumbo)

(inb4 the week's up! LOL)
Warning: Literary Nerding ahead.

I solved my plot problem.
Arcs. Duh.

I'm not sure why I was trying to think in such a linear, 3-Act fashion, lol. Likely because when I was trying to write this, the novelist in me took over and that traditionally how stories are written.
But because this is a series of events that all lead up to a master plot... it should be broken down into arcs. The perfect solution. *facepalm* I feel silly for not recognizing this right off; but I am glad I've finally started thinking like a comic writer and not such a set-in-stone novelist. Plus I DID say this was going to be webcomic. Soooo.... really, wtf, Me? Get it together.

So. Story Arcs. This will be so much fun.
To tell the entire story (which will still be a pretty long ride, heh); I've broken it into 6 or 7 major "chapters," it looks like; with each being either a large arc itself, or consisting of several smaller arcs.

NOW.
The challenge will be telling two stories at once; as there is an underlying plot being recounted by a main character as the main plot goes along. The mini-plot and main plot later begin to intertwine, until the reader discovers how the two are connected just as the characters do. Perhaps it's been done, but I personally think this makes for a deep and interesting story and can't wait to give this type of storytelling a try.

Now here is where I would attempt to ask for input; but I am quite aware that this blog only doesn't exactly have hordes of traffic, lol. I will present my musing anyway.

So... a really good story still, to some degree, follows dramatic structure:
Cheesy enough; I do still stick by this. It's kind of a given. My musing is; how does one effectively break up a SUBplot to be inserted into a main plot without shattering this model and STILL having it correspond with the events of the main plot? XD
Ironically, it would be easier if I were still going with a linear structure. But now my "linear" design has its own little peaks and valleys (like the model) in the form of arcs. So now I have to find graceful ways to insert the subplot in ways that it's [at least somewhat] parallel... but still in order... without losing readers. @__@

Like I said. This will be so much fun.
I hope you didn't mind the nerd in me coming out this rambly post... but boy am I excited.
Also... I DO have artwork to possibly post; but you have to wait for eet. Hehehehehe. Meanwhile, have another chibi character. This is Soleia. Yes, I know; she looks VERY familiar. *tease tease*
Stay Tuned!

¯

The Devil's in the Details

I did say once a week, didn't I? lol.

Well. Currently I'm beating myself up for dreaming up such an abnormally complex continuity, haha. It's making it rather difficult to pinpoint the exact events of this story... knowing my little world's past, present AND future.
Not only that, but as I plan to go webcomic with this.... it really could be on-going if I wished it to be. I have enough canon to pull it off, lol.

But. As in the past I planned to make this story some kind of novel; I suppose it has to begin and end somewhere. The beginning and subsequent events are easy... it's middles and endings that have got me bogged down. Story readers/viewers may be in for a long ride. But I will keep storytelling as long as people want to know.

Mmm... sorry to post empty-handed, artwise; I wanted to keep that up, lol. There are artstuffs in progress, just nothing I can post yet because of its position/relevance to the story. But you can have a tiny little Tavé.

So yeah. I'll be writing thiiiiiings. Until next week!

¯

Big Plans this Year

So. Hold me to this:
I'm going to update at least once a week here.

I have officially proposed that 2011 will be the finalization year for this pet project of mine. I will finish all the concept work and be able to begin drawing a comic by the end of this year or sooner. Sooner if I'm feeling awesome. Because ZOMG I'm excited. I'm not sure what I've been waiting for all these years... thank you to my new fans who love my story without even having seen it yet, haha.

So this is it. Call this a Resolution post. But I'm going to begin organizing and planning and doing what I need to do to make this happen by or before the end of 2011.

Sorry I don't have anything to make this post more interesting.... ionno, here, have some more teaser art. Old art, it's just never been posted anywhere. Kha'mu likes to mean-eye you, it seems. =P
That will be part of a series of character sheets, naturally... that I have yet to round up and finish. But I will. Oooohhhhhhh, I will.
As usual, STAY TUNED! :D And seriously, hold me to this.

¯

Renewed Interest!

Oh my... *clears the cobwebs*

Alright, straight ot the point:
Good news!! I'm suddenly VERY interested in continuing the development of my fantasy story. (Uh... the one [tentatively] titled "Reverie.") It's not that I had lost interest at all; as this has literally been "ongoing" for a great number of years... I just suddenly gained a host of new fans of my ideas. Not only is it ego fuel (thanks guys!), but it naturally makes me want to finalize and begin publishing my concepts in some form.

I had been stewing for years on how to go about telling this intriguing tale. While writing is the fastest way to get it, well... public, I don't think mere literary form does this story much justice-- it's far too visual. That automatically spells graphic novel or comic to me! Now a true graphic would take years to get out there... sooooooo, starting small and self-paced with a webcomic. :D
Ideally I'd love it to be movie, but y'know. :B Hey, I can dream.

Anyway; I might slowly morph this blog into this story's brain pool... sketches, writings, side plots, etc. It's technically still S'ketchiverse material; I just really need to think of a final title for my story before I name a blog for it, lol.

On that note, the story has seen much development from my last entry [over a year ago x_x]. It has become a telling of two seemingly different stories that begin to intertwine and tell an overall story. I'm eager to attempt this type of storytelling with a visual medium and hope I can pull it off well. But yeah... super excited if it wasn't obvious, lol.

I will try for regular updates; even if it's just lil blurbs. We'll see how that goes. <_<;; Meanwhile, have a teaser.

Anyhoo, to my new fans and those just mildly curious; I can now officially say... STAY TUNED!

¯

Hello again!

Now that I have things temporarily looking okay... (eh, props to the template site I borrowed from until I draw up my own... ¬_¬ ) I guess I can finally start posting.

Now then. Where to start.
uh.
I have no idea, lol.
For once it's a blog all about my kooky ideas and I can't think of what to share. Or maybe it's what to share first. Call it "possibility paralysis." It happens all too often. -.-

Maybe a bio?
Hi. I'm Dia. known as Teh Mutt. Long story.
I'm a graduate of SCAD's Animation program and am currently looking for and working my way toward an awesome job in animation somewhere. Anywhere. hint hint. I'm stuck working my butt off in a seemingly one-horse town until I either find that job that will whisk me away, or until I get the guts (more like... funds, really) to whisk myself away to bigger places. So in the meantime, I art.

Perhaps I can start with introducing some of my concepts. As a warning tho, this is a very introverted blog... it's here for anyone actually mildly interested to marvel, but otherwise it's merely public scrap paper for concept development. So no, I don't care if it doesn't make sense, lol. that is, unless I actually ask for feedback. Rare.

My two current obsessions:

Reverie:

The working title of a storyline I've been developing a while. It centers around a gal called Tavé, who, cliche enough, awoke from a strange incident to find she has no memory. Seemingly unable to recover, she settles for beginning life anew to become just your ordinary girl. But she begins to discover that she is anything but ordinary as her forgotten past begin to resurface—particularly in the form of a rather unusual stranger. The woman calls herself "Kha'mu", and seems straight out of a storybook with her whimsical appearance and mannerisms and crazy claims of Tavé fulfilling some big, important destiny. Tavé dismisses the crazy notions as fantasy of course, but as she goes along, it becomes harder and harder not to wonder as increasingly strange events unfold. Will she ever recover her lost memories of a past that possibly never existed? before it's too late.....?

Yeppers. The fun part is that this story is a just small piece of a rather involved concept-universe that I've had for years. Like... since late middle school. o__o
It's my oldest and biggest concept--I'll post about it later, lol. But it's one big continuity consisting of a series of stories, spinoffs, alternate realities, etc. I'm sure every art kid has one somewhere. =P


The Zoo Crew:
A collection of anthropomorphic characters based on my college friends and me (the Mutt). At one point it was to be a webcomic, but I never did find an appealing plot line... and the only humor I could come up with was inside jokes we had over the years... or animal quirks, which is kinda played out if you don't have a great plot to throw them into. Yeah, I do my homework.
They've essentially just become fun to draw in random situations. They're fuzzy and I still love them. And y'know... the people they're based on, lol.
This lineup is a little outdated with people coming and going and characters changing, but you can check out my deviantART gallery of them:
So yeah. Look for stuff concerning these. I figure since I have this thing about only posting finished work in any of my other galleries, I'll probably post sketches, doodles, writings, whatev. This will likely be wiki-style for a lot of stuff as well. Tags, ftw.

That is all. it's late.

Till next time.

¯