Concept Design Progress Report & Tablet

HEYO!

As I told you in my post before this one I wanted to publish the progress of my concept assignment. It may look naive, but I'm still learning and this is the first time doing anything like this.

Tho I have done similar things before spontaneously, I believe that I have enough knowledge to say that I have some idea of what I'm doing.

Above is the second thing that came to me during this assignment. (I will tell you about the first drawing and why I'm not using it in another post)
It is designed while thinking of a water environment. At first it only looked like a serpent without useful features. But after giving it a thinker I decided to give it arms so that it could do things like arts & crafts and the like. I also added the fin to indicate that this creature is meant to live in an certain environment.
However this is not the final form of this creature. I may change some design details soon since I already have some new ideas as we speak.
Since this is the first sketch it may have some anatomical flaws and other fails that need to be corrected. These corrections will happen later on. There is a more detailed explanation as to Why below.

Thats all I have to say about the actual creature design so far, now for the environment it lives in.
The drawings bellow give you an idea of what I've come up with this far or well, at least thats what I've taken pictures of. I drew some new ideas this morning and yesterday.

Remember that these environment designs are under water. These sketches may have flaws and lack detail. BUT! the important thing is to get the idea down on paper. Not to draw 100% while you're still not sure of what you want the environment to look like. When drawing these mini sketches you get many different ideas down and maybe even inspiration for new ones.

I need to do some research before I make the final product. 5 - 10 min sketches ftw!

Tablet Issues: Quick Update

I told you in the older post that my tablet gave up on me and that I'm now completely stripped off digital drawing.

Good news: I might be able to get some financial support from my parents to help me pay for a new small tablet as a substitute for the one I'm getting this summer.

Bad news: I have to wait for an answer and it will be on hold till the March 25th. This means that I will have 5 days to finish my concept drawing if I decide to draw it digitally.

I'm very frustrated since I have alot of new ideas and inspiration as well as new techniques that I want to try in photoshop. The wait is killing me and I haven't even been without my tablet for like 3 days. Bad sign I must say.

I plan on getting a Intuos4 small (A6) as a substitute. It's small and pretty cheap and I've never owned a Wacom before either so this could be a good chance to try one out, that actually works. (The ones we have in school rage-quit and fucks itself up every time you try to use em. Annoying.)
If it works the way I hope it will then it's good to bring to school if anything is needed to be done digitally, like game graphics and/or stuff for art-class.

That is all.

Much love,

MalinSama

The Dead Tablet and The Concept Art Assignment

Hey there dears!

It is official, my tablet is now dead and won't let me draw on it anymore. It has failed me.
Unfortunatly this means that the requests that I have taken on, are either going to have to be on hold or drawn traditionally in a miraculous way. I will try to draw them traditionally and see if I can actually get them done that way. I might have to get some new materials in order to create the effects I have imagined. I'll see if I can get anything sketched and shown to you guys soon :)


The new tablet I'm getting will be within my grasp after summer break when I'm finished working. So for better or for worse it is possible that the requests have to wait till then.


I'm saving up to get the wonderful Cintiq 12WX since I've had to live with my big old tablet for 3-3½ years now.

My current non-working tablet.
The awesome Trust A4 Widescreen tablet. This baby has worked wonders for me and I'm very happy with my 3-3½ years of digital drawing. I've used it well and I haven't had any problems with it. I truly recommend this particular tablet for first time buyers! It's cheap and big, drawing programs don't come with it but you get a photo editing program at least.

This is the wonderful Cintiq 12WX which I will be working my ass of to get a hold of this summer. I was thinking of getting the 21UX first but since I'm not professional I will not need it for a good long while.








Looks like I'm going traditional for a while guys! I actually like the idea of doing more traditional drawing since using a tablet and drawing in programs like photoshop allows you to make changes that you normally can't do in real life.


School work!

At the moment we are doing concept art in class. An assignment that I personally love with all my heart.

We are supposed to create an intelligent creature and give it a civilization and then create a environment where it will live and flourish. We also have to write about their politics and customs like for example religion and diet. Everything you could possibly think about regarding a completely new species. I'm going to take some pictures of the design I have so far and publish it here. Since it's not finished material I don't think it's worth publishing on Deviantart or any other art site. So I'm gonna dump it here!

For the time being I'm going to document the progress of this concept assignment. Since it will have to be traditionally done I will definitely have some progress pictures to publish. Unfortunately I don't have a scanner so you guys will have to live with my crappy camera and photoshop edits.

Thats all,

Much love,

MalinSama 

Thoughts and Dreams

Hey Guys!

I've been doing alot of thinking lately and so much has been going on in my life as well.

First off I've had these strange ''mood swings'' making me go from jolly and happy to deep depression. Tackling a depression by myself results in a few bad things, I wont deny that.

I'm actually getting annoyed by it, after talking to a dear friend of mine it sounded like I was just going through this so called ''phase'' that would be over before I knew it. But for some reason I don't feel that way. For me it's a much bigger problem. I'm just so worried and out of place right now. These ''mood swings'' have been going on forever if they wont quit slapping me in the face I'm gonna get pissed.

Maybe it's the school work thats biting me in the ass. Since I have alot of catching up to do. A few tests and some big assignments as well as 3 failing grades. Not liking that at all. I know I can do better. I know it for a fact.

Dreams

I have many dreams and things I'd like to do, but I do have some main ones sitting there on the top shelf gleaming with glory.

I'll just list them for yah!

+ Concept artist/animator

+ Police officer or something that has to do with the military. Specializing in K-9's.

The things listed above are realistic dreams that I may be able to accomplish. Through hard work of course.

I'll write more about it some other time! I'm just giving you guys a heads up about stuff.

Requests

My dears who have sent me requests I haven't forgotten about you!

I'm sorry for not sending you any sketches and the like, I'm working on them while fighting everything else in everyday life. Don't kill me for taking so long, kay?

CALL OF DUTY

Our clan is finally shaping up, damn it sure has taken a long time! We have a blog where you can see our recent activities and whats going on. So please check it out!

In the future we're going to be publishing some clantages and other things like dual-commentaries and other fun stuff so please keep your eyes peeled for that if you find it interesting.

http://bsncod.blogspot.com/ 

Much love,

MalinSama

Keep it simple!

Hello guys!

Been doing a bunch of school work lately which turns me into a lazy person. So here goes.

I've been saving a book I got for Christmas, (I've been wanting to read it so badly but at the same time keep it untouched and a mystery) this is the kind of book I could only dream of owning and now it's mine. So what is this book called? Hm?

The Illusion of Life - Disney Animation

By Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.

This book is all about the history of animation and how Walt Disney together with his group of animators made animation into what it is today. In this book you read about ''The Principles of Animation'' and you get to read a bunch of quotes that Walt Disney had once said.

With this book Frank and Ollie hope to inspire and teach future animators (and/or interested people wishing to understand animation better) about what Disney Style Animation really is. Over 500 pages of pure knowledge and information about the wonderful art of animation.

This is the kind of book I'd guard with my life and not even leave behind in a fire.
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Thanks to this particular book I've decided to start over art wise. I read that keeping it simple was one of the most important things when animating. So, that's exactly what I'm going to be doing with my drawings from now on.

I've always gone to the advanced way of drawing before learning the simple but expressive way when it comes down to creating something. I might have mistaken that art really isn't about how clean or detailed your artwork is, but more about the feeling you want it to express. I think that's what I'm missing. Simplicity, the capability of keeping it simple and clean.

Below I have three examples of drawings that I have drawn while keeping it simple. They might look like shit compared to many other great artists, but that's not the point. I believe that if I keep it simple I will learn anatomy easier and different facial expressions. I also believe that this will help me evolve as an artist and as a future animator.

Sexy editing is done in Paint.

No critique needed.

Have a good one,
Malin

Let's get this party started!

Hey guys!

My name is Malin and I'm currently studying game development. I dream of becoming an animator some time in the future and attend CalArts, just the thought of attending a school Walt Disney established would be wonderful. Maybe if I work hard enough I might be able to make my dream come true.

Enough about me!
I should probably tell you about my intentions with this blog, first off I plan on getting some photos, art and game stuff on here. I'll probably talk about books, animation videos which I really like or other things related to that. Got anything you'd like to see here? Then don't just sit there! Comment and maybe I'll like the idea and try it out!

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With that said, I'll just get to todays happenings.


I've had to study really hard these past few days and it's certainly taring me down. I like learning new stuff but sometimes there are just way to many things to do.


Since I want to get into a good college, some studying wouldn't be all that bad for my grades.

However,
I did get some cute gifts from my mom, since she thought I was doing well with my studying!

I got these beauties, the candles made them so cute!
  
I have a crazy love for owls, in case you didn't know, huhu. I've always unintentionally bought owl or bird related things and it seems that the majority was owls. So now I buy them intentionally since I happen to love them so much!






Had a nice day at school as well,
we had multimedia where we're programming and designing our first game at the moment. Depending on how well we do on this assignment we will be divided into groups so that those with their beta game handed in will be in one group and then the ''beta'' group will be divided into even smaller groups to match a game making team. So I will need to step up my game with some working scripts and new ideas.
or...
If you happen to have any nice owl sprites lying around and would like to share them with me then I'm very happy! If not, then I'll have to redo some major parts of my idea and game design.

I'll just have to put my mind to it and deliver something working and well, somewhat original.

Thats all for my first post.
Have a good one,
Malin