All the Right Notes: Everblue

 Here on "All the Right Notes," I have mostly reviewed TV shows, with an occasional movie and book.  I have wanted, however, to review a webcomic or graphic novel for awhile now.  Webcomics and graphic novels are one of my favorite media to tell stories in because they are a perfect combination of art and writing.  So now seems as good a time as any to shift my focus onto one of my favorite webcomics, Everblue by Michael Sexton.

In any form of storytelling, atmosphere is absolutely essential.  In straight writing, atmosphere is achieved through writing style and word choice.  In movies and TV shows, however, atmosphere can be established through lighting and color palettes that create certain moods for the audience.  Though webcomics can create atmosphere through dialogue or writing, they are more similar to film in that their mood tones rely mostly on colors, lighting, and frame composition (where the camera is positioned in the scene).

Michael Sexton's webcomic Everblue is a beautiful example of the power color and lighting can have on atmosphere in graphic novels.

For a more detailed analysis of Everblue, check out the rest of the review after the break!

Fighting art exhaustion during the school year

As I have mentioned many times in my various pockets of the internet, the school year is always very difficult for me because it takes away all my time draw.  Opportunities to work on my graphic novel, Everdusk, are few and far between, let alone any other projects.

Unfortunately, being forced kicking and screaming away from my art has some pretty hard consequences.  I have found that not drawing for days on end leads without fail to miserable art block.

I've found ways to help combat this.  Carrying around a small notebook to doodle and sketch life drawings in (which is just good practice anyway) helps a lot.  It keeps my eye and my hand in good practice when I don't have time to pull out the ol' tablet.

Even when I do have time to bring out my tablet, however, I have found that college completely sucks my artistic drive dry.  Between classes, schoolwork, and theater, I am exhausted in my free time, and feel like doing little more than scrolling around on the internet when I could/should be working on my art.

So how can I fight against this art exhaustion and still be productive, even if I'm not working on my larger projects?

Break out of your normal art and experiment a bit.

Whenever I DO draw during the school year, I've found that it's often on quick side projects with styles and experiments that 1) do not take much time (maybe about an hour or so) and 2) are very different from my normal fare.

Just in the past two weeks, I produced three pieces of art in my spare time with some different techniques.

This is a wallpaper I put together for an anime promo that was released recently.  It's a French anime that's due to be released in 2013 that's already gathered a decent fanbase.  More info and credit for the images can be found on the deviantART page here.

A drawing of Merida from Pixar's Brave.  I actually drew this in permanent marker on a large piece of paper in my dorm hallway and was pleased enough to take a picture of it; I then colored it in Photoshop.  Credit for the textures found on deviantART here.

Both of these are very different from my typical style.  They weren't terribly time-consuming.  But they WERE fun to make and let me stretch my "art muscles" a bit!

So if you're feeling stuck or don't have much time for art, don't be afraid to try something different.  You just might find that it'll open you to new techniques and ideas and keep you from falling into the frustration of art block!

Behind-the-scenes on "the western woods"

Another speedpaint!  This was my last one before the week from hell known as "finals."  Unfortunately, I'm still not completely done--I'm taking a required science course over two weeks at my college to get it out of the way.  Yeah, it's not gonna be fun, but at least then I'll be done with it!  (Darn you liberal arts educationnn!)

My latest paint was referenced from RiNymph-Stock on deviantART.  She has a lot of lovely stock photos, so if you need references or ideas, be sure to check out her wonderful gallery!  (The photo I used can be found here.)

So let's get on to the step-by-step!  :)  Check it out after the break!

Blizzard Speedpaint: Knowing when to quit

Remember this picture that I speedpainted awhile ago?

Well, I did say I was going to return to it and finish it.  And I diiid...

Let's just that speedpainting this really taught me a lot.  Even if the final product is mediocre at best.

Environments are one of my weakest points.  Of course, as a growing artist I have to recognize this and, instead of shying away from them, only work on them all the harder.  As I have been trying to do... with, well, results.  Of some kind.

But hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere!  And now I know things like looking at reference pictures.  (Can we just say I was testing out brushes and that's why I didn't bother to look at a reference?  Yeah let's go with that.)  But it's okay, because I'm learning.  And that's what sketching is for!  And next time will be a whole lot better!  :)  So here's to more environments and better painting!

Also I'm trying to work without textures (besides just brushes).  For someone that abuses textures, that's no easy task!  But I'm getting there.  :)  This might have been a kind of difficult picture, but it didn't start strong, so it's no surprise that it ended on a disappointing note.  So finally you just have to throw up your hands (or tablet pen) and say, "You know what?  I've done my best.  Time to move on and try again!"

And try I will!

Some kids just won't leave the nest: Pippin!

One of my favorite aspects of storytelling is undoubtedly character creation.  From the moment I picked up my first pencil and started doodling, I was creating characters and stories to immerse those characters in (I'm fairly certain that a lot of these old "books" I wrote/drew still exist somewhere in my house, probably under my bed).  My love of character creation really blossomed, however, when I joined Neopets around the age of twelve.  From there, I took up role-playing, and for several happy years my friends and I developed countless fantastic characters and stories.

Though I'm older now and I've mostly retired from role-playing, I still look fondly at the vast spectrum of characters I hold close to my heart.  I've no regrets about my role-playing; thanks to it, I learned a lot about creating well-rounded, believable characters that can truly touch someone.  If you go on my deviantART, you can actually find a link on my Journal that will take you to a Freewebs page that basically lists all my "canon" characters.  Although I do not draw or write about these characters anymore, I still like to remember they exist (which is why I have yet to retire that page from the public eye, I suppose).

There are other characters, however, that refuse to be simply set aside with fondness.  There are some that just somehow take hold of your attention and, no matter what you do, won't leave you alone.

Continue reading after the break!

Spoilers and Stories

As you might know, I am currently writing/drawing a graphic novel entitled Everdusk (which can be read here).   Really quick, here is a short summary of ED: "Everdusk is the story of Sol’aar, a country that has been under the whip of slavery by its southern neighbor, Galena, for nearly two centuries. Now, the pieces of revolution are falling into place. In the face of crushing oppression, four god-blessed heroes must come together in and overcome their individual bitterness order to obtain their country’s independence and learn what it truly means to become an everdusk."

Obviously, Everdusk is a fantasy-adventure genre tale.  I've always been a fan of fantasy, magic, medieval things, etc.  And just as obviously, as I work on Everdusk, I draw the cast of ED a LOT.  This includes drawing the magical characters using their magic.

Now I have struggled with one question constantly as I have drawn these pictures.  Should I post them on my deviantART (or the Internet in general, such as here), or not?  Is it spoilers to post some of these characters using magic?

I think there are kind of two circumstances here.  One is that the character already knows he/she is a magic-user.  In that case, I don't think it would be any problem posting pictures of them using magic.

What about characters that are introduced in the comic who are not initially aware of their powers, however?  In one way, it's almost as much as a surprise for the audience as for the characters when their powers are revealed.  To be honest, though, I think we can all admit that it's usually clear when a character is going to have magical ability of some kind.

Let's look at some pictures in question.  Both the following pictures are of Mai, the main character in Everdusk.

The one on the left was a speedpaint I just completed this evening.  The picture on the right is a commission by Hchan on deviantART (QUICK PLUG she is an awesome artist with her own awesome webcomic, dream*scar, and you should totally check it out!).  Both of these pictures show Mai quite clearly using some kind of magic.

At this point, it's silly to pretend otherwise as to Mai having magical ability.  Although Mai learns this fact early on in Everdusk, it still has yet to be officially "revealed."  (I have to add, though, that I have not yet revealed to anyone the nature of magic in Everdusk, so although you see this sparkly fun, I don't think many of you could accurately guess what it exactly is.)

So, is it a spoiler to post art like this about things like graphic novels you're working on?  Should you keep all this kind of art from the public until it's officially been introduced in whatever you're writing/drawing?  Why or why not?  What d'you think?

Behind-the-scenes on "stars from my heart"

As a sort of celebration to finally getting my Photoshop CS2 installed on my beautiful desktop (<3), I decided to work on a painting I thought of last night while listening to "Cosmic Love" by Florence + the Machine.  When I finally made myself stop, it was about two hours; a pretty solid speedpaint.  (I saw "finally stop" because this was one of those pictures I feel like I could have kept tweaking for hours if I'd have let myself).
Here is a first "final" version I completed, then a second finished version I completed after tweaking:

Now, I want to address some of the thought process that went into this painting.  I had an initial idea in my  head, and normally I probably would have just plowed into it.  However, I thought better of it.  Recently, I've been reading the newsletters from Disney Visual Development Artist/Character Designer Chris Oatley.  One of his recent newsletters talked about the "The Starting Buzz"--something I'm sure every artist has felt.  "The Starting Buzz" is when you get an idea for a picture and are so excited you just leap right into it, only to find shortly that you just lose interest.

I am definitely a guilty of practicing this.  After reading Chris's newsletter, I really took a look at my art process and decided to make some changes.  What I'm going to talk about here is my decision to take more time in "pre-production," the beginning of the drawing process when you figure out things like composition, maybe some basic colors, etc.

It took me several tries to figure out exactly how I wanted to frame "stars from my heart."  When I was finally pleased with the composition and started laying down some base colors and values, I'll admit I almost lost faith.  I was having trouble seeing the finished product and felt like I wasn't making progress.   Once that happened, I actually decided to slap some drastic colors and textures onto the picture, just to sort of make a big leap and see something new.  And you know what?  It really helped!  It kind of refreshed the picture for me, and I carried on.

Two hours later, and I had what you see on the screen.  I'm not saying it's perfect--far from, of course--but it was a joy to draw and I really felt like I learned a lot during the process.

So remember, guys: Pre-production is one of the most important--if not the most important--part of the drawing process!  Don't plow through it--embrace it!  :)  I really think it makes the end product much more satisfying!

Pen Sketch!

Was listening to Owl City tonight and just felt like whipping something up real quick with my pen.  No references used--probably obviously.  |D  It was still fun, though!  Texture used from Ransie3 on deviantART.

Mad About: New Textures and Brushes!

As any of my art friends will tell you, I ADORE wasting time by browsing deviantART looking for awesome brushes and textures (especially textures) to download and use (or abuse!).  There is really nothing more exciting than trying out a new brush you just downloaded, seeing what you can do with it, what new look you can give your drawings that you had not been able to achieve before.

For my most recent picture, "words," I used not ONLY new brushes I had downloaded, but a new texture as well!

The new brush that I tried out for the lineart was created by Kecky on deviantART.  I have been following Kecky for awhile, and her art is truly some of my favorite.  So when she created some brushes to download, I got really excited!  And a first run with them did not disappoint.

One of the best things about using new tools is that it takes a few tries before you really figure out how to use them properly.  While I used one of Kecky's brushes for the lineart in "words," I am sure that I will be using all of the brushes in many pictures from now on, and I have no doubt that I will discover new and better ways to utilize them!

The new texture that I used came from Ransie3 on deviantART.  The paper/word texture was absolutely perfect for the background, and really pulled the picture together, in my opinion.

Here's to discovering new brushes and textures to further feed our creative juices!

Sources:
words by myself on deviantART
kecky's magical brushes by Kecky on deviantART
Big Textures 11 by Ransie3 on deviantART

more doodles

Some sketches I had lying around!  Most of these are from March, but there are some from February as well.  :)  I'm particularly fond of the fruit in the glass bowl, myself.  Click to view fullsize.  Enjoy!

Notebook Sketches

I recently compiled the sketches I've done in my AmLit and CivLit notebooks for fun.  Normally I don't show these to anyone--I won't even say I doodle them for myself, because honestly I doodle in class just to give my hands something to do when I'm not taking notes.  It keeps my hands preoccupied and helps me pay attention.  But why not?  Enjoy!  :)

Words WIP

I'm working on an entry for my school's art/writing magazine, The Echo, for its cover.  (Before you ask, no,  none of my art was accepted for publication.)  Here's what I have so far.  :)

Colored Sketches

Here are some more pictures from my tumblr blog--this time, colored sketches!  This will be the last "from tumblr" post.  After this, new stuff!  Yaay!  =D  Also, if you're wondering about all the Pokemon doodles--I was doing a "favorite Pokemon from each type" meme, which I plan on continuing when I get the time.  :)

Old Sketches

Hey, all!  Welcome to my new sketch blog, Flock of Flamingos!  :)  I hope you enjoy your time here.  First things first--I'm going to post sketches that I have already posted on my tumblr.  I have since left tumblr to opt for here, but for the sake of recording I'd like to repost here some of what I had previously posted there.  New stuff will come soon!