#notahipster Hipsters wouldn’t go to Costa. Hello! I write this from the local Costa whilst sipping my lemon iced tea! (I don’t do coffee, and I LOVE iced tea!)
Anyway, I tried to write this post last week in the library (it’s my new hang out) but the wifi disabled Tumblr so I did some code instead. Basically, I go out and work about 1 day a week now. This is a new thing (since I got my laptop!) that actually really helps my productivity; gotta look busy! But seriously, it can get very lonely very quickly being in my flat all day every day. Just having my thoughts to listen to gets frustrating and slowly I lose my grip on reality, so I leap out and go and do other things. If it’s not libraries and coffee shops, it’s buying new art materials, books etc, working with pals (thanks Alex!) and throwing myself at more networking events than an introvert can deal with. I’m also gymming more and going to a life drawing class. Now, I did consider renting a desk somewhere in Manchester, and the thought is still highly tempting, but right now I’m not really in this for the money, so it will end up being a useless expense. Just £5 per week on iced tea and cake is much more affordable! However, working alone really has been a big struggle for me since I decided to become indie/ freelance, but only having one problem instead of 50 little ones is still waaay better!
Ok, enough rambling, work talk! I am still working on those other projects I mentioned and may potentially have more on the horizon, which is fab because I haven’t even tried to find work! However, it is sad that it slows up the production of my game, but the financial stability of doing some small projects alongside production is a great feeling, plus working on other things actually makes me work harder and focus better on my game, instead of being able to do what I want all the time (that’s never a good motivator).
So, game talk! My Cintiq 13HD Touch arrived and I friggin’ love it! I started playing around with it and ended up fully inking and colouring Tyna!
Anyway, I tried to write this post last week in the library (it’s my new hang out) but the wifi disabled Tumblr so I did some code instead. Basically, I go out and work about 1 day a week now. This is a new thing (since I got my laptop!) that actually really helps my productivity; gotta look busy! But seriously, it can get very lonely very quickly being in my flat all day every day. Just having my thoughts to listen to gets frustrating and slowly I lose my grip on reality, so I leap out and go and do other things. If it’s not libraries and coffee shops, it’s buying new art materials, books etc, working with pals (thanks Alex!) and throwing myself at more networking events than an introvert can deal with. I’m also gymming more and going to a life drawing class. Now, I did consider renting a desk somewhere in Manchester, and the thought is still highly tempting, but right now I’m not really in this for the money, so it will end up being a useless expense. Just £5 per week on iced tea and cake is much more affordable! However, working alone really has been a big struggle for me since I decided to become indie/ freelance, but only having one problem instead of 50 little ones is still waaay better!
Ok, enough rambling, work talk! I am still working on those other projects I mentioned and may potentially have more on the horizon, which is fab because I haven’t even tried to find work! However, it is sad that it slows up the production of my game, but the financial stability of doing some small projects alongside production is a great feeling, plus working on other things actually makes me work harder and focus better on my game, instead of being able to do what I want all the time (that’s never a good motivator).
So, game talk! My Cintiq 13HD Touch arrived and I friggin’ love it! I started playing around with it and ended up fully inking and colouring Tyna!
She’s half done in this photo. I’ve completed her now, but she’s fully naked and this is meant to be PG (well, kind of). I haven’t really designed my characters fashion and dress sense yet so she’ll be staying that way for a little bit longer! I’d say poor Tyna, but she strikes me as the type that prefers to be naked.
I also started drawing my main characters bedroom, and was really happy with it until I realised that I messed up the perspective! So I thought I really need to go back to basics and teach myself everything my school, college and university missed (sadly, it’s a lot). So whilst I was on holiday, I read up on perspective (Perspective! for Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea), colour and lighting (Color and Light by James Gurney). I really feel like they’ve helped already! I found the perspective book very easy to read and approachable, so totally recommend it if you struggle with perspective (like I DID, haha!). I’ve also bought another book on figure drawing which is meant to be fantastic, so lots to study!
I really neglected my art the last 5 years (I mean, I barely doodled!) and felt I had to dedicate myself to it 100% to improve my skills. The last 4 months have already shown vast improvement, heck, even the last 4 weeks! I have started drawing another bedroom scene, and the perspective is solid, the composition is solid, and it was done in less than half the time of the previous bedroom scene! I think the Cintiq is a big part of that too, but study and practice helps too. I can’t wait to carry on with it and get it plugged into my game, but I have a lot of work to do before then. Coding is something I often do on evenings or when I’m out, and as this is a visual novel and my story is already written, it doesn’t take too long to do luckily. Seeing the story play out in the game though (and not as a novel being read in my head) does change things, and I feel I need to make some tweaks here and there, as well as adding some more menus and fun interactive bits!
Anyway, I’ve been in this Costa for about an hour now and have run out of iced tea! Better get back home where I can get some more! See you guys next time!
I also started drawing my main characters bedroom, and was really happy with it until I realised that I messed up the perspective! So I thought I really need to go back to basics and teach myself everything my school, college and university missed (sadly, it’s a lot). So whilst I was on holiday, I read up on perspective (Perspective! for Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea), colour and lighting (Color and Light by James Gurney). I really feel like they’ve helped already! I found the perspective book very easy to read and approachable, so totally recommend it if you struggle with perspective (like I DID, haha!). I’ve also bought another book on figure drawing which is meant to be fantastic, so lots to study!
I really neglected my art the last 5 years (I mean, I barely doodled!) and felt I had to dedicate myself to it 100% to improve my skills. The last 4 months have already shown vast improvement, heck, even the last 4 weeks! I have started drawing another bedroom scene, and the perspective is solid, the composition is solid, and it was done in less than half the time of the previous bedroom scene! I think the Cintiq is a big part of that too, but study and practice helps too. I can’t wait to carry on with it and get it plugged into my game, but I have a lot of work to do before then. Coding is something I often do on evenings or when I’m out, and as this is a visual novel and my story is already written, it doesn’t take too long to do luckily. Seeing the story play out in the game though (and not as a novel being read in my head) does change things, and I feel I need to make some tweaks here and there, as well as adding some more menus and fun interactive bits!
Anyway, I’ve been in this Costa for about an hour now and have run out of iced tea! Better get back home where I can get some more! See you guys next time!