Happy New Year!
There's a lot happening right now with my life and school. I just started my last first semester this past week and I couldn't be more excited for my schedule. I have a couple difficult chemistry and biology classes as well as my research lab, but I'm taking creative writing and bowling.
Creative Writing will be rather interesting, since our associate instructor told us we may not write sci-fi or fantasy. It will be a test of my abilities to set characters in real life rather than a parallel world like Omega. And no magic either, which is sad. Either way, it will be interesting and productive and I have to write a ton, so I should be able to get my creative juices flowing all the time.
Also, I have been working on detailed character sheets. Each is 11" by 14" and has a front and back view as well as detail views. My lightbox has made tracing and inking very easy and I have much more time to draw and color rather than spending a lot of time transferring, like I had done before.
I also ordered a commission from a wonderful artist on DeviantArt for a bookmark of Anna, the main character of Omega. This the first time I commissioned someone for artwork and I know it will look fabulous.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Sunday, December 16, 2012
The Purposes of Learning
This is kind of Omega related. But less so than usual.
A few days ago, someone I watch on DeviantART posted a piece she had been working on. The piece, in terms of it's color choices was wonderful, I found the palette pleasing. However, the piece as a whole disagreed with me. This was because the proportions of the figure were very "off." It was unpleasant to look at for too long.
As I looked back at what this artist does, I realize there are many factors that could have helped her making that painting better and so I want to talk today about the purpose of learning in art, and why classes that seem pointless can actually be very helpful.
This artist had decided that instead of starting with a drawing class, she would jump into a second-level painting class. And I'm sure she learned a plethora of painting techniques, but it didn't help her proportions when painting the human figure.
Whenever I take the time to critique someone's work in my mind, I always go through my recent pieces and see if I notice anything. In this case, how proud am I of my anatomy in my figures.
As a biochemistry major, it was always difficult to fit in a 3-hour art class twice a week with my normal lab schedule, but I have managed it on two occasions: 1) taking Fundamental Drawing my sophomore year and 2) recently taking Fundamental 2D this past semester. Fundamental drawing was a wonderful class, I did everything from learning to see light and shade to form objects to drawing accurate human figures. The difference the class made on my perceptions of light in shadow in my pieces has been dramatic. However, when I started 2D this fall, I was skeptical to what a black strip project and a pack of 220 paper colors would help me do. Four months later, and I realize that I learned how to mix colors, how to balance darkness and light in a picture. When I go to make future pieces, I want to work with limited color palettes and stretch my abilities to portray my characters in the correct colors but also to portray them in the correct lighting.
My strengths may lie in drawing anatomical figures in dynamic poses, but my weaknesses have been in color choices and make a piece "whole." I think was my friend is lacking is a serious knowledge of drawing skill and it contributed later when she was asked to portray figures accurately in her paintings.
I realize that even as an illustrator, I need to continue learning many different mediums in order to learn how to properly improve my artwork, I wish others would see that as well.
I know that this post had nothing to do with Omega, but it just sat in my brain for some time and it's art-related, so I just needed to get it out.
A few days ago, someone I watch on DeviantART posted a piece she had been working on. The piece, in terms of it's color choices was wonderful, I found the palette pleasing. However, the piece as a whole disagreed with me. This was because the proportions of the figure were very "off." It was unpleasant to look at for too long.
As I looked back at what this artist does, I realize there are many factors that could have helped her making that painting better and so I want to talk today about the purpose of learning in art, and why classes that seem pointless can actually be very helpful.
This artist had decided that instead of starting with a drawing class, she would jump into a second-level painting class. And I'm sure she learned a plethora of painting techniques, but it didn't help her proportions when painting the human figure.
Whenever I take the time to critique someone's work in my mind, I always go through my recent pieces and see if I notice anything. In this case, how proud am I of my anatomy in my figures.
As a biochemistry major, it was always difficult to fit in a 3-hour art class twice a week with my normal lab schedule, but I have managed it on two occasions: 1) taking Fundamental Drawing my sophomore year and 2) recently taking Fundamental 2D this past semester. Fundamental drawing was a wonderful class, I did everything from learning to see light and shade to form objects to drawing accurate human figures. The difference the class made on my perceptions of light in shadow in my pieces has been dramatic. However, when I started 2D this fall, I was skeptical to what a black strip project and a pack of 220 paper colors would help me do. Four months later, and I realize that I learned how to mix colors, how to balance darkness and light in a picture. When I go to make future pieces, I want to work with limited color palettes and stretch my abilities to portray my characters in the correct colors but also to portray them in the correct lighting.
My strengths may lie in drawing anatomical figures in dynamic poses, but my weaknesses have been in color choices and make a piece "whole." I think was my friend is lacking is a serious knowledge of drawing skill and it contributed later when she was asked to portray figures accurately in her paintings.
I realize that even as an illustrator, I need to continue learning many different mediums in order to learn how to properly improve my artwork, I wish others would see that as well.
I know that this post had nothing to do with Omega, but it just sat in my brain for some time and it's art-related, so I just needed to get it out.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Inspiring Series
I used to be a crazy avid fan of anime. Dragonball and Sailor Moon were the main catalysts in my future love for anime and manga, and Japanese culture and tons of other stuff art related. At the present time my favorite series are slim and few but help continue to inspire me to create great stories and characters.
I'd like to share those with you.
I'd like to share those with you.
- Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi: Many know of the story of Sailor Moon and her fellow Sailor Senshi. Aside from all the life lessons I've learned from it, Sailor Moon inspired me to pursue making female heroes. Most people told me that she was always saved by Tuxedo Mask but when it came to the big fights at the end, it was mostly just her.
- .hack by Project .hack and the .hack congolmerate: Most of the recent generation is unfamiliar with the beginning of the .hack franchise but I've been with it since the beginning. I got into .hack from the music written by Yuki Kajiura for the first anime series. Since then I've followed every anime, book and game till its most recent end with the movie. Though its gone through many incarnations, I love the psychology of the online game especially in Sign. If Omega got anything from .hack, I want it to be a fantastical world.
- Fullmetal Alchemist (Studio Bones) tops my list of action/war based anime. FMA, if not for it's wonderful stories and characters, delves fairly deep into human motivation. Everytime I watch it, I'm constantly reminded that humans have a spirit that is not easily quelled. It also deals with concepts of war and how blind it can be sometimes, the motivation behind it.
- Haibane Renmei: Words cannot describe how I feel about Haibane. It's like a coming-of-age story. Rakka's struggle to fit in is similar to high school. I love the soft art style and muted tone that helps make Haibane a little more realistic.
- Sword Art Online: Similar to the earlier .hack series, I've fallen in love with SAO. SAO is like a combo of .hack//Sign and .hack//Liminality. Though the characters aren't as broken, they are constantly faced with the possibility of losing their life in a game. What I like is Asuna and Kirito's abilities to learn to live with a new situation and make the best of it.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Goals for Christmas Break
In between making Christmas gifts for friends and making up lost time on commissions, I will be busy busy busy preparing designs for Omega.
I failed NaNoWriMo even more epically this year. At least last year when I wrote, I made it to 10K words before failing. But 3K words into Omega this year and I decided the alternate planet scenario had to go.
For those of you unfamiliar with Omega in general, it was originally a planet that also had human life and it was located in the Andromeda Galaxy. I decided that due to the names, places and languages I'd potentially have to make up, it was not feasible for me to have Omega be a planet.
So I thought, why not parallel earth, a different dimension. So Omega is an earth, with many similarities and a few differences. The map is going to be different and so are some of the creatures.
I get the opportunity to use an older piece of software to render the houses for my manga. I'm not awesome at drawing 3D spaces so at least for now this one will be good to use despite it's Windows 95 origin. But I have to wait to take it home since it doesn't work on windows 7 and still manages to work on Vista (which my mom possesses on her desktop). So yay! Plans.
I hope to have some shots of the floor plans for you here since no one sees floor plans in a manga.
I failed NaNoWriMo even more epically this year. At least last year when I wrote, I made it to 10K words before failing. But 3K words into Omega this year and I decided the alternate planet scenario had to go.
For those of you unfamiliar with Omega in general, it was originally a planet that also had human life and it was located in the Andromeda Galaxy. I decided that due to the names, places and languages I'd potentially have to make up, it was not feasible for me to have Omega be a planet.
So I thought, why not parallel earth, a different dimension. So Omega is an earth, with many similarities and a few differences. The map is going to be different and so are some of the creatures.
I get the opportunity to use an older piece of software to render the houses for my manga. I'm not awesome at drawing 3D spaces so at least for now this one will be good to use despite it's Windows 95 origin. But I have to wait to take it home since it doesn't work on windows 7 and still manages to work on Vista (which my mom possesses on her desktop). So yay! Plans.
I hope to have some shots of the floor plans for you here since no one sees floor plans in a manga.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Introduction to Omega
Welcome to the news and update blog for the original story, Omega.
Omega has been my brainchild ever since I began to get serious about comic illustrations. I've developed the plot, characters and overall design of the story since I was in 7th grade, though it has gone through many incarnations since its inception.
The story follows a young woman named Anna Darael, who was born in our world but it actually from a parallel earth, Omega. Omega is similar to our world but instead of science or religious faith dominating society, Omegian culture is derived from magic and genetics. People of Omega are born with a set of abilities, all that have been passed down familial lines for generations and these abilities fall into three distinct catergories: an ability to use ethereal magic, an ability to mentally connect with creatures, most namely dragons and abilities to use magic in a martial arts way (fighting, weaponry, etc).
Anna's everyday life is flipped upside when it is revealed to her that she is apart of this world rather than ours, and is encouraged by a pair of dragons to use a portal to go to Omega, and help restore the balance that was lost when her sister went to Omega 5 years before. Reluctant at first, Anna decides, at the disagreement of her younger brother, Alex to locate the portal and move between worlds.
There Anna meets several people, all willing to help her find her place in her own world: Rage, a high court magician, Fiametta, a healer with a unique kindness and Ivory, a fiery martial artist looking to avenge her family.
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I want to use this blog to give updates on the writing, character development and overall timeline of creating the world of Omega. I will post writing, art, designs and possibly some trivia. I also promise to have a better layout for this blog that has some art and a little me mixed into it, but we will work with this template for now.
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