By The World Forgot

On character designs

Suzanne Annaars — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 03:33:16 +0000

Character design is a weird thing. I never used to think about it much when I first started drawing, since most of my characters lacked any real backstory at the time. Hell, some even completely lacked personality. Ouch. The problem with those sorts of characters is that they might be fun to draw once in a while, but if you want to put them in a universe of any sort, you’ll need to give them more of a purpose so they can fit in. Creating an empty character is sort of like doodling a random puzzle piece out on cardboard, cutting it out, turning to your half-finished jigsaw, and expecting your creation to miraculously link into anything.

To be honest, I’m not used to thinking things through. If and when I do anything, it is usually spontaneous and I’ll want to get it over with as soon as possible. I only very rarely start something and finish it later, which is something I very badly need to learn to do. Drawings, like good stews, need to simmer for a while before you can properly decide whether they are any good at all. If they are, hurrah. If they are not, no biggie. There’s plenty of time to fix what’s wrong. Unless you’re on a deadline, of course. Can’t help you there.

Lynev, the character pictured above, is one of my easier subjects because she serves a clear purpose: to lead, to listen, and to help a bunch of idiots carry things from one place to the next. Because she is such a minor character, that’s really all she needs to do. I’m not entirely happy with the character design, but I’d say it’s not too bad for a first try.

Though I only found this until AFTER I drew the sheet, thundercake on Deviantart did a very helpful little write-up to help with this whole design thing.

Dunarda: The story that never was

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:25:56 +0000

I know thinking about my Dunarda story is probably BEYOND the ‘beating a dead horse’ stage by now, but my brain can’t help settling on it every once in a while . How many times have I tried to start it up by now? Far, far too many. I can’t even remember what the original story was, and the ones that followed have just sort of melded together into nonsense.

I am not a storyteller, that much has become clear to me by now. Maybe some day I will be able to work together with someone who is, but for now… I don’t know. I’ll keep doodling, trying to make sense of the characters themselves, instead of where the story would take them.

I may post some Lynev character design process pictures some day soon, but for now– good night, my freaky darlings.

What have I been up to?

Suzanne Annaars — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 00:22:41 +0000

Lately a lot of people have been asking me what I’ve been doing with myself. I always have trouble answering in person, but I find I am able to put things into words much more easily with a backspace button at hand. Plus, you know, it’s about time I use this blog for something. Here goes nothing.

Art

I haven’t been too busy with art lately, dabbling in some new techniques here and there but never with results that I liked enough to pursue. Though acrylic paint is still giving me trouble, painting with coffee was one of the more interesting experiments and made me want to dig up my Indian ink. Though I would surely need to buy some new pens as well.

Digital art has slowly been picking up again, though I’m staying away from colour for a while so I can redirect my focus to my line art. Outlines, all that. It needs a lot of work but I feel like I am once more improving. It’s been years since I was truly happy with anything I drew, but I may be slowly on my way again. I’ve been planning work on my Dunarda story, in the shape of (web)comic pages, which should also help me improve at a steady rate. I’ll probably post some examples up here once I’ve got enough to show off. I really hope this project goes anywhere, though I find myself saying that every single time I restart it. So who knows!

Photography

Having been ripped out of my comfort zone has done me good, I think. While I long to visit a zoo again (and most likely will, within the next week or so), having been exposed to a foreign country and environment over the past three weeks helped me realise that I really need to broaden my horizon if I want to continue with this hobby. Taking pictures of anything bigger than a dog has me struggling to find a proper composition, and don’t even get me started on how I don’t seem to grasp the concept of F-stops at all, yet. This is basic stuff, too. I really should find some more workshops, or perhaps a short course. Or a more advanced photographer to tag along with. I’ve still got the feeling that every ‘good’ picture I take is purely by coincidence and nothing else.

Miscellaneous Projects

Speaking of projects, this Dunarda thing is getting replanned and rewritten. I plan to get some drafts for the first few chapters done by (at the very least) the end of next month, so I can get cracking on the thumbnails and roughs for my new and surprisingly cramped format of webcomickyness. I still have to tweak and adjust that until it is to my liking, but I’ll get there eventually. I’ll reread the books I have on the subject, and I will also try to stay away from Hanna Is Not a Boy’s Name because I am oh so easily influenced by other people’s art styles. And I just got her first two chapters in the mail, too! Oh, the torture.

My photography-based 365 project is still going strong, with not a day missed so far (give or take a few shots slightly after midnight). I even kept up while I was in Turkey this month, and posted everything with the proper dates and textbits written for that day as soon as I got my hands on some Internet, so all was still properly in order. I’d almost say I was proud of myself, but I’m afraid I’d get cocky and I can’t have that. Must keep truckin’ until Day 365 rolls around, right? No slowing down now, nearly two thirds into it.

I’m also still organising and editing a book that I may or may not have printed after my 365 project is finished. I’m a little stuck on the details of it (every single photo? Just highlights? Text or no text?) but the thought of having something to physically hold in my hands after the whole thing is over is certainly fun to play around with. I’m using Blurb’s book-making software BookSmart, which I’ve been liking so far. I’ve heard some mixed things about it, though, so if anyone has a better suggestion I would love to hear it.

And now that I am done, it is bedtime. Good night, my freaky darlings.