Disclaimer on Improvement

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Dec 022013
 

Blogging it OLD SCHOOL! I have no idea what that could mean, but it sounds cool so that’s what I’m saying I’m doing.

On Friday I posted a comparison of a drawing I drew back in March of last year and a picture of the same subject matter drawn three weeks ago. I don’t know about you, but to me the difference was striking. However, I feel I should elaborate a little more on the improvement.

Back when I first started doing mash-ups, I was more preoccupied with finishing pieces quickly. This resulted in a “good enough” attitude that carried through the first few themes. This started to change with the Wonderland set as I experimented with shading. What I originally intended as a a one time thing, became the standard (not to mention I got better at it). I started being more careful and also tried to find better ways to do things. I think my next big breakthrough was in the Wakfu set when I tried using more fluid brush strokes which helped make my lines seem less “shaky”.

The new attention to detail meant that I was taking longer to draw each piece. Not coincidentally, my production took a nosedive. I allowed myself to take the time to draw something good instead of worrying if I could churn out a whole set in a week. In ten months of drawing mash-ups in 2012, I drew more than double the amount of pictures I drew in 11 months in 2013, although to be fair, I was drawing almost every night back then, whereas now I mostly only draw on weekends.

All this to say that while there is definite improvement in my drawing, I was also definitely underachieving when I started. I think a more fair comparison of my actual improvement as an artist is to compare today’s work (say the Steampunk set) with stuff I drew back in August of 2012 (say the Firefly set).

I will be continuing to revisit some of the themes I covered prior to July 2012 just because they’re my favorite subjects and I’d really like to have some pieces for them that I’m proud of. I may choose a different costume to change things up a little however. For example, in this week’s Star Wars flashback, I chose to use a costume from the Empire Strikes Back instead of the original. Which character did I choose? You’ll have to come back on Friday to see!

Whoops! I Forgot Didn’t I?

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Nov 262013
 

Well, here it is Tuesday morning and I’m writing the blog that I forgot to write on Monday night. I was going to write my blog after rebooting my computer but by the time it completed rebooting, I had moved on to something else and completely forgot about the blog. I am that absent-minded.

So, remember when I said I didn’t think I’d have time to draw three strips AND a mash-up in a weekend and that I’d be doing three strips and no mash-ups? Well it turns out that I really missed drawing mash-ups last weekend, so I ended up drawing one this weekend. I get a different kind of satisfaction from drawing a mash-up than I do drawing a strip, so it looks to me like I’ll be switching back to the old format of two strips and a mash-up shortly after New Year’s. There was a chance that I was going to stay with the three strips a week format like a lot of other online comics, but it’s not for me.

I said my thoughts of Star Wars The Card Game would follow my first play last week. I’m running short on time before I need to go catch the bus, so I’ll keep it short. I liked the game. It’s got some good mechanics and plays well. I’m not sure I built a well-balanced Dark Side deck as I was short on characters for the most part. I also needed more resources to play the good cards than I was generating. It may all have been just a bad shuffle and draw. I’d have to try the deck again though I have two other Dark Side decks to try out first.

Okay, that’s all I have time for this morning. Have a good week y’all!

Mailbag!

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Nov 182013
 

Hey all! I thought I’d take this week’s blog to answer some emails I received…

…

That was fast! But seriously, if you have any questions you’d like answered, like: “Why is one of Barnaby’s eyes bigger than the other?” Don’t by shy! Write in!

We played Battlestar Galactica again over the weekend and I couldn’t help thinking that we don’t really get how to play as humans in the game while playing as a Cylon has been a guaranteed victory. I’ve been reading some strategy in some forums dedicated to the game and I hope to have a better showing next time (unless I’m a Cylon). It couldn’t get much worse! 🙂

Drawing two strips and a mash-up is more fun than drawing three strips and no mash-ups. I guess the mash-up is a change of pace so it feel fresher. I’ll admit though that this weekend’s strips were a little simpler than usual because they only involved one character for the most part.

Not much else to talk about. Going to try Star Wars The Card Game this week. Thoughts to follow in next week’s blog.

Have a great week!

Thought I Forgot, Huh?

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Nov 112013
 

It’s still Monday so I’m not late. I just didn’t have the slightest idea of what to write about. I still don’t actually, but Monday is blog day so let’s blog!

I spent a good portion of the day drawing. Remembrance Day is a federal holiday in Canada so I had the day off. I finished my three strips yesterday and felt like drawing so I drew a mash-up. Looks like there’ll be a mash-up in the week of the 29th after all. I actually started a second mash-up as well. All I have left to do is the shading. What theme did I choose? I’m not telling. You’ll have to come back in the weeks of the 29th and 6th to find out.

I’m missing one figure (Lightcore Smolderdash) from Wave 1 of Skylanders Swap Force. I actually saw her at Target, as well as plain Star Strike and Scorp, who are both Wave 2 figures. It’s just as well I didn’t pick them up as I’ve read that both are scheduled to be included in three-packs in Wave 2 (which are a better deal than picking the figures up individually). Still, the fact that Wave 2 figures were on the shelf means that the full Wave 2 release is imminent and with them the last Swap Force movement types needed to be able to unlock every zone in the game.

So far, my favorite new Skylanders are Pop Thorn and Roller Brawl. I loved their designs and they play really well, particularly Roller Brawl who is one of the fastest Skylanders I’ve ever played and I love Skylanders with speed. Of the Swap Force figures, I like Magna Charge for much the same reason.

The big Skylanders question is whether Swashbuckler, Blast Zone and Stealth Elf will be released outside of the starter packs. I bought the Dark Edition to get the Dark versions of these characters (and Slobbertooth and Spyro) but I want the plain versions too…Worse comes to worse, I’d consider buying the Wii version of the game to get the plain ones. I’m so hooked.

Okay, that’s all for this week. Have a good week y’all!

After Steampunk, What Is There?

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Nov 042013
 

Hey everybody, welcome to this week’s blog!

Let me start with the most important news: I won a game of Battlestar Galactica! No, but seriously, have you played Battlestar Galactica? It’s really rough on the humans. Guess it was a good thing I was a Cylon this time right? MWAHAHAHA! Our gaming group has played a few times now and we’re still eager to play again. There’s so much to do and learn to really master the game. Of course, it might be easier if I didn’t keep adding expansions and changing the victory scenario, but that’s Cylon talk. The humans got the closest they’ve ever gotten to winning this time. We’re all interested in seeing if the humans can pull it out at least once.

In site news, I’m going to switch things up a little after the steampunk mash-ups are done. I want to hit a certain plot point in the current Funnies story arc before Christmas. I’ve calculated the strict minimum number of strips I need to get there and the only way I can manage my goal is to move up to three strips a week. I don’t think I have it in me to draw three strips and a mash-up every weekend, so I’m going to focus on the Funnies for now. I may surprise myself and find that I’m pumped up enough to draw a mash-up as well, but I make no promises.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I used to be able to draw a mash-up in about two hours, but as I raise the bar for myself in terms of quality, I find that it’s taking upwards of six hours for a single piece (I’m still not finished this week’s).  Steampunk Barnaby took somewhere around ten hours spread out over several days. Strips take anywhere between two and four hours depending on the complexity of the panels. That’s a lot of drawing.

I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, because I am enjoying myself drawing. But I don’t want to burn myself out on drawing so I’ve got to set limits.

That said, strips will be going up on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday starting November 26th.

I put up some uncoloured pics for those who like to colour. You can see all the pictures available to colour by clicking on Artwork in the menu bar and then on the thumbnail of Cyran (or even easier, click on Colouring in the tags in the right sidebar). Eventually all the old mash-ups will be added. If you colour a picture, be sure to scan it and send it to me. I’d love to see them! If you’re okay with it, I’ll even put it up for others to see.

 

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