Not that anybody asked, but if you are at all interested in a career in the arts, my strongest suggestion is that you make sure you have that little piece of paper that says degree.
Now I've only achieved an associate's in Illustration but I was there for 8 years, and that was thanks to a particular teacher who taught such classes as Comic Book Illustration, Dimensional Illustration, Mask Making, Fantasy Illustration and 3D Studio: Miniature Set Design. But that's a whole other post that I shall have to make at some point.
The purpose of this post is to talk about today's sketch. You see, I work with photo scrap, but I also work out of my head. If you ignore the rules (like I do) you're going to get abnormalities and distortions. Though they kind of work for this guy! Currently working on a symmetrical version of this character. I'm currently working on the amped up sellout version of this. I could easily see this guy (last one at the bottom of the post, though finished) on a kid's skateboard!! I just might have to put one on mine, too!! \m/
SLiM
My current labor of love is a self-made original tabletop role-playing game. I have wanted to do this for over 25 years. It's finally happening!
The project, that is. I'm nowhere near even remotely finished. I spent at least a year or two *blush* on the written part of it. I'm actually still writing the written part. The rules, characters, classes, origins, the whole ball of wax. Basically, the project is everything an individual needs to start playing: maps, custom dice, adventures, GM rules, player rules, all of it!!!!
And that's not counting all the artwork I still have yet to do!! I sometimes wonder if my aim is way higher than my batting average. I mean, I'm aiming at the damn stars, here!
I've set a deadline. The deadline for this project is 7-30-19, but I seriously doubt if I'll be able to make it. The plan is to see what I've accomplished by then. If I'm close to finished, I'll dedicate the rest of the year to the project. If not, I'll have to devote the remainder of the year to other projects I have on the back burner.
I recently discovered something that is making it easier for me to describe my classes, origins and NPC characters. It's called Hero Forge.
Now for those of you who have been living under a rock (like me), it's an online business that lets you design, customize, and if necessary pay for your very own miniature figurine. I so needed this as a kid!
Here are a few of the templates I've made, but let me just say there are SO many more things you can with Hero Forge. These were made back in January, so they're a trifle dated. Here's a link:
https://www.heroforge.com/
Growing up with such things as first edition Dungeons and Dragons heavily inspired me. Black ink drawings littered the pages of my Monster Manual. At nine years old, this was my current obsession. Illustrations by such renowned artists as David A. Trampier, Larry Elmore, Bill Willingham and Jeff Easley had such a big impact on me, as did the general subject of Dungeons and Dragons in 1983. Star Wars (Jedi) could just wait! I mean, there was a cartoon out, there were action figures, some of which I had already owned, and thanks to the efforts of my neighbor Kenny, an attempt to convince Mikey (another boy my age) how lame Kenny thought Strongheart was, I was now pouring over the pages of various D & D manuals and modules.
I had bought them purely for the imagery contained therein. Sure, I would've liked to play, but I wasn't allowed to play with the big kids next door, and every time I'd buy a new module, I'd rush right over to show Kenny, who would always say something like "sure, it's cool and all, but I can't DM you if I don't have the rules that go with it." Oh well. It got me where I am today.
This is a fun little project I've just started. Basically, I want to do my own black ink interior image, as sort of a salute those that came before me. I set up my Manfrotto tripod, attached my Sony Cybershot to it and viola! I now have three images of myself I can slip-sheet and turn into...goblins, orcs, human raiders, whatever I want to be:
HA HA HA HA HA!!!! I crack myself up!! This was fun. Now to drag 'em into Adobe Photoshop and play around with them!! By the way, geniuses thrive on clutter. And dirty laundry. :-P Here it is all duffed up, spiffy and dapper looking!!
I so want to say "and that...is why they pay me the big bucks," or something like that. But it's not that great. Anyway, when I print these out they'll turn out a trifle too small to create a decent illustration. Oh sure, I own an Artograph projector, but it's all boxed up since we may move soon. Guess Imma hafta run this'n here up to ye merry ol' library for some copies! I'll catch you cats and kittens later!!
^ . ^
SLiM
