Fantasy Earth Zero Contest

Joined another contest on deviantart. Supposed to do a rendition of our own version of either warrior, mage or scout. I chose scout at 1st but gave up and went for warrior instead. So here's some progress of what i did to the final product.

Did some rough sketches and silhouette study to find a suitable one for me to work on. i wanted an interesting silhouette that will bring out a character more, so i chose the bottom right one. Eventually i combined other stuff together from all that mess to the base i chose. I can already hear ringing words from my lecturer that i need to do more but time is not on my side and i am loaded with college assignments as well. This is the best i could do for now.


Next comes the weapon. I researched a bit on the skill list tree of the warrior class for the game. Then i came up with a weapon that could use ALL skills. We have the single handed weapon and shield skills followed by smashing skills for double handed wielders. As usual my preference of weapons usually end up with hammers. So keeping the hammer in mind, i created a gauntlet/shield that acts as defence and offence at the same time should the warrior wanted to do hand to hand. Think God of War gauntlets of Zeus. Then a hammer would still need a long haft, so a spear it is. And one that could combine with the shield gauntlet thingy to make it a hammer. There you go, best of both worlds for the skill tree.


The initial rough stage...the theme for my armor is 'Hawk'. The hammer looked weird at this point but i couldn't be bothered to fix it at that time. Assignments first.


Later i whipped up a more solid looking hammer head and tested it on the arm that was to wear it as well.


Confirmed the outline at this point and worked on the basic color feel i would want for the overall.


The very initial color base without the shine works yet. The armor still needs some polishing for that extra glow.


The red skirt-cloak was feeling a bit too monotone and making it seem lacking in contrast and boring. So i tweaked a dark blue tone to it instead and found it more satisfactory. Polished the armor a bit to have that oooo-so-shiny effect.

Fun facts
- After completion, i notice that the colors are very Ragnarok Online-ish. I might have been subconsciously doing a color scheme close to theirs. Coz that was the very 1st mmorpg that i loved very much.

- As if the color scheme wasn't a blow enough, many pointed out that this looked something like the paladin class of Ragnarok Online. Ok...must be the blue i made myself change to. Wait does that mean it would be a Lord Knight class if i left it red instead? ARGGGH FAIL IS ME!

- So yea because i wanted to do hawkish stuff, i ended up with a chocobo head for the hammer head. I totally did not intend for it to be chocobo related and reffed off a real hawk's features. To tell the truth i kinda despise FF.

-The earlier hammer head ended up looking like it came out of Card Captor Sakura xD not intended as well. But rofl, really looks like that wand Sakura carries about capturing cards.

---

Fat chance of winning for this, but just gain more experience joining these competitions. ;_; i wished that i could draw more for the contest. But i'm so time tied this sem that i wanna go jump off some building.

Don't Say Lazy

Sadly this is not an article about K-on! but only borrowing the title of the song for my entry title.

Another day, another week, another month, another sem. We as students never cease to piss our lecturers off, just to be fair about how they mess with our lives too. Today, like any other day of the week we get constant slapping to the face on how much we really suck.

Recap on some of the finer points we heard today from our lecturer.

"You guys are too lazy, never listen to what i say and love to do/repeat mistakes"
i would avoid it too if i had such strong art sense to know how to...

"90% of the pile of works here can be trashed into the bin"
at least my work can help fill up the bin for the trash lady to take out...

"The good ones must have gone to other majors like multimedia or others and left the remaining in Illustration"
...i...*speechless*

"Only once in 10 years we get a special case"
Looks like we can strike out our batch for this...

"Illustration major is a master in everything (drawing related)"
Come to think of it we must be architects when we need to, fashion designer when we need to, hairstylist when we need to, mecha artist when we need to....*list goes on*

"Illustration is hard to get jobs, because you are not what the industry wants. You graduate but your art sense is not there."
D: i think i'll go be a programmer...

I'm beginning to feel that it is true what my brother tells me sometimes. If you're not talented in some ways this whole art deal is a real torture to the common art-tart wannabes. Be it you have talent in execution, talent in hard work, talent in enduring verbal abuse, etc. We must at least possess one of those traits to survive in a more bearable state. Screw the "you can be like this level too without being talented but through working 10 times harder than the talented person next to you". So yea, you work 10 times harder just to be barely able to keep up, and let's just say that next talented dood just puts in a little effort, and VOILA! you go "wth have i been doing..."

You'll end up disillusioned at some point at why DA FARK you can't get to do anything right no matter how much more you put in than the regular Joe. Nevermind you think, just put in more effort. Devote your life, devote every waking second of your time and focus into it. And still the results are bare minimal. Something is really not right here...the word 'SUCK' must really be written somewhere on your body and sapping all your goodness away.

Let's just say you choose to continue in that pattern and push on despite not seeing any visible improvements yet. You ignore the fact that you have to sacrifice more to get by. Then comes along the weekly bombardment of nuclear bombs that goes off with radiation that contains the 'SUCK' ions. Shit hits the fan at this point...the feeling gets worst that all this while what you have been doing is for nothing.

That's where you are given one of the choices in life which will determine your outcome. Take the easy way, just forsake this hot pot for the frying pan and hope for the best in future.

OR

Do it the tough guy way as the saying goes "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going". I'm sure if you are familiar with Benjamin (China dood) you would know how he toughed it out and walked through all the shit and 'SUCK' radiation. He was told that he will never make it with his works and now? who's having the last laugh when he's making a name for himself?

So at the end of the day, morales might run low and you might be covered full with shit (from the spinning fan earlier). But don't give up yet coz everyone in the same room is covered in shit as you are. Go use that shit, fertilize some flowers, smell those flowers and get that ass working again.

I need this entry for my own sake more than anyone else...

They did it again...

They did it again.

I'm suffering burnout at the early stages once more.

I just feel like spending a day, sitting at one spot stoning without a thought in my mind. Those days are almost impossible to come by anymore. Not a day goes by without something of a drawing medium in my hand. I don't despise it but my arms feel like falling off.

What have i to look forward to these days, i do not know myself.

Sorry for lack of updates, and when i do it's mostly negatives.

Adios.

Miku Append

Has been some time since i last updated on Miku vids on this blog. For good reason of diversifying my interest elsewhere. Anyways, some genius chinese dood used the new Miku Append, which supposedly sounds more realistic than the older version of Miku to make the above song. Hear it and let me know what you think lol. I just think my wife got a superb upgrade.

more details at the official Crypton site if you interested. Not only her voice got an upgrade now she looks more mature. This version has it's own appeal compared with the old one. I like them both actually.

Unrelated, here's a little something fun to read.

I was stuck in a traffic jam recently. Nothing moved for ages when a man rapped on my window. "What's going on?," I asked.

''Terrorists down the road have kidnapped a few BN politicians. They're asking for a ransom or they're going to set them alight with petrol. We're going from car to car, taking up a collection."
I then asked, "How much is everyone giving on average?"

"Most people are giving a gallon."

All Good Things Must End

...and that is my sem break. Time to face sleepless nights again starting tomorrow.

My whole holiday has been a fruitful time for me to recuperate and work on personal projects plus commissions to fuel my expensive hobby of figurines. So i totally screwed doing any of the assigned holiday works ahahaha. I'm so gonna get it but i think i'm not alone in this so yea :/

I was working on some pieces of stuff for a Touhou artbook together with my doujin group, due for printing around June. Deadline was pretty long, since the beginning of this year actually but due to my own tight college schedule i only managed to get some of it done during the 7-week-break.

Needless to say when i eat, sleep, play or what not i was always thinking about Touhou stuff. Thanx also to the constant pushing from the other members to keep me motivated throughout the entire break.

Here are some super small thumbs of what i was up to during my whole break, in the order of how i posted it. No high res will be up for now until the book is officially printed and sold ^^;;







I'm gonna have to go back and retouch-up the older ones orzll...
With each new piece i produce i feel that my previous pieces lack completeness. But not now since quantity is an issue. I promised 6 pieces but ended up assigned 10 now because of some others who promised to produce more...

Since sem has started...i can't promise anything but try to work towards that 10. Hope i won't burn myself out D:

Introverts Vs Extroverts

Introverts usually get a bad rap from extroverts. They are often defined in a negative way: shy, lacking in confidence and social skills, withdrawn, etc. Extroverts often can't understand why someone would happily decline an invitation to a party so they can stay at home on their own.

Never has there been an article i read which comes across explaining what i've always wanted to express but couldn't word it down properly. Upon completion of reading this post , i hope you will understand my kind much better.

Extroverts gains energy from interacting with others, which is why they love going to parties. Put an extrovert in an empty house, and chances are that he will be itching to get out and make contact with others fairly quickly.

Introverts, on the other hand, would feel extremely comfortable spending time on their own, because they gain energy from being alone and reflecting, and expend energy when interacting.

Suffice to say that we are the exact polar opposites of each other. I respect the choices of extroverts (ETs) wanting to hang out more often, so i hope the same respect can be shown to introverts(ITs). Exerting yourselves to get an IT to participate is just being mean to the other party if he chooses not to be participative.

One activity that's designed to torture introverts, while providing a spotlight for the extroverts, is karaoke. ... I sat with my fellow introverts and hoped that I could get through the session simply by singing through along during some of the choruses.

Hell yea, what the heack is with Karaoke. Beg as you must for me to participate in one, i will never compromise to put myself in a situation which is awkward to both me and the ETs. I was once cheated to enter with a group of friends before. It was pure torture from the 18th level of hell. I never kept in contact those friends anymore.

Things were going well until one of the ETs felt that they needed to hear an IT solo.

Obviously, some ITs would reject the offer if they aren't feeling up to it, to which ETs will with sadistic glee use quotes like

"Don't be such spoil sports!"
"Come on! Just this once we'll like to hear you do it!"

i say to you, F*CK YOU! i don't usually endorse using foul language in my entries, but that is how pissed i am with incessant annoyances coming from ETs. LEAVE US BE WHEN WE FEEL LIKE WE WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE.

After a suitable period of time, I excused myself and made to take my leave. Almost immediately, one of the other ITs stood up and announced that she had to go too.

We both exhaled loudly as soon as we were out of earshot.

I salute the author for even forebearing with the whole karaoke shit. I would just walk out despite losing friends in the process. Who needs them anyway. Coming out of the karaoke is just like being released from a torture prison except that it's not much a prison to me because i am not bounded by the shackles called friendship. Sure i do give face sometimes and if it goes beyond my annoyance threshold i'm off.

I wouldn't describe myself as being shy or socially inept; far from it. Still, i do feel decidedly uncomfortable in certain social settings. I don't do large parties very well. Over the years, i have become quite adept at faking small talk with strangers, but it's about as pleasurable as a root canal without anesthetics.

*nods head in agreement*
i wholeheartedly support what is said here. And yes, most often than not i am faking a face when mingling with strangers.

I once went to a party with an ET friend. As soon as we were through the host's front door, he was off. He spent the entire evening working the room, talking to different people and having a ball. I, on the other hand, found a free chair around a table and sat there for the entire evening, listening to the extroverts who came and went.

i wouldn't consider myself that much of an IT in this case, because i do mingle around a bit. To which after that i would love to adjourn somewhere to spend some time just sitting around and chilling.

I would rather stay at home with a good book.

Exactly. What's better than having to read a book peacefully or for my case just work on my drawings.

I respect who or what you are. So would you do the same for me?


All citations taken from Monday 12 April 2010 Star paper, "Party poopers" by Mary Schneider. Credit goes to her marvelous article.

Graduation from Bachelorhood

Graduation from bachelorhood, outcast to the brotherhood...

Congratulations,
i'm happy for you but at the same time i feel something within me has passed on.

Congratulations,
i celebrate for you but what is this knife i'm holding in my hands now?

Congratulations,
i share the joy of seeing the pair of you together but what is this red substance flowing down my cheeks?

Congratulations,
summer has come for you but winter drapes the remaining few of us seeking warmth from one another.

Congratulations,
you managed to break the curse of this sad and ronery brotherhood before any of us.

Congratulations biatch D:

i dedicate this video to you.