I seem to have spent most of the weekend frolicking and sleeping. -_- Didn't do as much as I hoped.
Was supposed to finish jewellery and wings this weekend. Hah! >.> And no, the jewellery isn't done. Necklace, bracer (or is that bracelet) and her hooked rod thingies still need proper detailing - all I did was put in the highlights.
Alas for lazy nugfaces! >.< Must work moar... moar! :( Need to finish by 15th August.
I'm experimenting with a slightly different way of rendering, and I think I like the results so far.
Unfortunately, it also seems to change how I hold my pen, with the result that I'm getting a blister on the first joint of my pinkie. I've tried holding the pen differently, but it doesn't give me the results I want when I do. >.> Apparently I need to grow new callouses in order to use this technique.
The great thing about this 'early digital' art time we're living in (and considering it's only the last what - 20-30 years? that's pretty early, if you consider history in general)... anyways, the great thing is there's lots to discover for yourself in terms of techniques. The basic principles of stuff still hold true, but the *how* of doing things with a different medium has lots of stuff to explore.
Back to blisters. >.<
Going to have to do this in shorter sittings over the week, I think, rather than one long sitting and, 'YAY I FEENEESH her today'... cause looking at my hand, I think that might be a Bad Idea. But at least it's moving!
SQUEE!
(Yes, it's flipped around. I tend to flip my work back and forth a lot while working, so it's not only flipped now, but is going to continue to do so! Zoom! ZOMP! Zoom!)
via blog.cocoia.com
Wow. Someone's been drinking the Kool-aid. Why on earth they switched to these terrible, unidentifiable icons is beyond me.
>.> Ok so this is a cheat. I blame ArenaNet! :(I didn't work on the piece last weekend cause I was doing BLA nonstop. XDAnd then this weekend I'm wishywashying around, unable to decide which style I want to use. If I use a paintypainty style (my normal) it's going to take a lot longer... and I need to be done by 15th August to enter the contest.If I do a more graphic style, like this one, then it'll be faster... but... I don't like that style as much.AUUUUGH! *brain splodes*On the bright side, I think this colour scheme has much more oomph than the original one.
Sooo, I've been poking around Heroes of Three Kingdoms, which is supposedly in its closed beta.
Supposedly, because:
1) There's no easy way to report bugs, even though I've found them
2) They basically sent the invitation to everyone and anyone who ever played a PWE game
3) There's no NDAs, no nothing... not that I noticed anyway. ;)
It fulfills my expectations of a PWE game. I.E. the gameplay seems to be the same old non-existent thing married to endless grind, the cash shop will doubtless be a vampire, and I already see bits of the casino system showing itself.
As long as you're fore-warned that that *is* what PWE games are, Heroes of Three Kingdoms delivers.
1) The quest text is interesting (at least, if you like Wuxia or historical Chinese stuff)
2) The world is beautiful
3) HoTK is emphatically historical - that means there are history nuggets hidden all over, and you get to meet 'legendary' heroes like Zhang Fei, Liu Bei, etc. (Or at least, I assume you will, from the way things have been going over my puny 15 levels!)
4) The music is nice. But only nice. Jade Dynasty's music is *gorgeous*. HoTK's soundtrack can get a bit repetitive.
5) Fashion (read, cosmetic cashshop items) promises to be as pretty as in all PWE games
6) Day and night cycles - gorgeous solar flares when riding into sunset, sunrise. It's such a little thing, but it matters.
SooOoOooo check it out. Despite the flaws in the gameplay itself, HoTK is very, very pretty. One could even say that PWE simply has a different focus from Western MMOs, and that gameplay isn't the core of the game at all. Just... be careful with your wallet.
Oh yes. And that's my newbie Charmer, Zhiruo (fan dancing/fighting healer archetype thingie) in her newbie clothes in Hebei, what I assume is a nooblet area. =) The city shots are of a city (duh) named Chang'an.
In the wake of the whole Blizzard-Activision RealID debacle comes this shiny, scary, fun toy! This toy was not inspired by the whole RealID thing that I know of, but it's still oddly relevant! Online Personas - An Installation by Aaron Zinman You puts in your namez. It searches (some parts) of the Intarwebz. It makes a pretteh graphic. It shows you how the Intarwebz sees you! Be aware though, if you share the same name with many other non-snowflakes, it will show an aggregate you! Go forth my minions, play wif it! (Also, apparently one of my closest friends was born in 1834, got married in 1814, and has 5 children. I think there's something she isn't telling me...)
via thinkgeek.com
Zomg! I wants eet!