A Day Off

Well, today I started the final version of the new website artwork. No, not every page is getting new art just yet, but the main page certainly is. I've been working on this piece on and off again for some weeks now, and I finally got what I wanted today thanks to my new scanner, some old markers, and a sense of purpose. Also, several hours of movies.

So here's a taste of today's process:

The project was simple; for the main page of my website, I want a picture of all my characters. Obviously, this is impossible. So I boiled it down to just the main ones. Sort of a collage of sorts. Whatever -you know what I mean. You've seen them before. This project isn't about originality, it's about showing off my different styles...STOP STARING AT ME!

Anyway, I'm not gonna show you all the rejected nearly-finished pieces because scanning them would be a tremendous waste of my time, so here's the concept sketch for this current one.


This was the one I finally went with. If you can't tell who all the characters are at this point, that's fine because I can. This is just a thumbnail and I know whats what.

In case you were wondering, and are unfamiliar with all my stuff, I'll tell you who they all are on the next piece.

So yeah, this is the concept. It finally crammed everyone I wanted in there and showed them all off pretty well. This is the first time I've successfully pulled this off.

So yeah, I spent all day working on the final one, and I forgot to scan it before I started inking it, so here it is partially inked:


I think it came out pretty good, and when I finish coloring it, I think it's gonna be a nice addition to my current and future web page.

This one is done with pencil -mechanical of course- and surprisingly, no non-photo pencil this time. I have reason to believe some of the ingredients in them were causing my markers to smear. Since I wanted to do this today instead of experimenting, I just removed it from the equation.

Now, as promised, a who's who of this picture. Who they are, what series they hail from etc.

(from top to bottom, left to right by series)
Lady Nightheart (Nightheart)
Dromar Evincar and Eolande Saillune (Eternal Sun)
Sean and Jake (The High Life)
Nienna Orntier, T.B. Ryerson, Kioko (Newscast)
KC Connor, Aiko, Raye McKeever (Tales From the Satellite)
Jimmy (T3: Time Traveling Toaster) Kat (Untitled 2D project)
Kaikoura (Newscast Expanded Universe)
Pickles T., Guid-O-Lizer, and Spit (The Adventures of Guid-O-Lizer and Spit)

I started coloring it tonight, but I remembered I have work in the morning so I had to stop. Hopefully, it'll be done by Sunday. If it's not up on the main page, I'll post pictures of it here first.

Oh, and I decided to learn Na'vi. So yeah. Eat it.

"I know it's her. We were......partners..."
-Chris Redfield

New Arts

I have had Avatar on the brain lately, and because of that I have been working on the Rai'ku race as featured in the Newscast Expanded Universe RPG (NCEXURPG). Specifically, I have been reworking their history a bit, and also their former culture. You can of course, read all there is to date right now here, but you know, it's purposely pretty vague.

Anyway, like most of the characters I design, I usually revert to Asian cultural influences because, well, I like them. I love Chinese clothing and I think it works especially well for Kaikoura when she's in slave attire though in the future, I will be reworking them a bit to look a little more space-ish. However, I have become entranced with Indian culture -no, not Native American, but like...Indian. From India. Yeah...

So I began working on this:

This is Kaikoura, the slave girl from the above link and my character for the NCEXURPG. In this picture, she is older and much braver and also you see a lot more of that Indian influence.

This is only a quick concept piece I did for fun but I think I am gonna turn it into a finished piece when I get some time.

To be continued...

And now, the exciting conclusion of this post...

Now, what was I saying? I probably should have checked before I started writing...hmmm, hold on a moment... okay, I think I've got it now. Ahem, so what I was getting at is you can expect to see a cleaned up and colored version of this in the not-too-distant future. And with the rate I've been working lately, I would expect it to be sooner rather than later. Nothing like a new scanner (pics on Saturday after I get paid) to revitalize the urge to post artworks on the interwebs for all to criticize.

Oh, by the by, if you haven't seen James Cameron's Avatar yet, stop what you're doing, find a show time, and go see it as soon as possible. No, this is not a friendly suggestion or simple recommendation, this is a direct order. Go on, I'll still be here when you get back, and then we can giggle about it together.

Seriously though, this is the first movie where I have not been disappointed by the CG effects. In every movie I've seen to date, I can pick out what is real and what isn't with a very small degree of....incorrectitude? Incorrectness? Whatever. However, this movie...I just, I mean, I know the Na'vi aren't real (weep) but they look real, and more importantly are the ships and robots. I've always felt that CG models lack a certain weight that practical special effects (i.e. miniature models) bring to a shot. However, this time, I must admit that it can be done in 3D.

This is a huge blow to my ego as a proponent of practical special effects. I have to go lie down.

"Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu."
-The Na'vi

The first official day of vacation!

Well, I have finally completed Christmas quarter and soon, will also have completed 2009. I spent 10 hours yesterday driving through a blizzard to get back up to Salt Lake City, where I am vacationing for the remainder of the year.

I have some projects in the works for my break, mainly, I am writing a script for an upcoming comic project that has been in the works for several years called Darkness Comes. I can't say much about it right now, other than it's the story of four old friends reunited by zombies.

I also plan on updating the website this week. It depends on how well I can get Photoshop to work with my laptop. Historically, the two have not gotten along.

Other than that, I spent the entire day relaxing, I think I have earned a little reprieve.

Have a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate.

"Over? Why my dear, delusional Dark Knight. It hasn't even begun."
-The Joker

OH. MY. GOD.

I need to make sure I always have access to this, so I am posting it here. By the way, website and deviant art updates coming soon. Maybe tomorrow.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS....HOLY SHIT! Where's the Tylenol?!"
-Clark Griswold

Pie day

This is a test. I'm showing my mumzie how to set up a blog.

The rhythm of life

This is a late night post, so I'm gonna make it quick.

If you haven't been here:

http://www.pandora.com

you should go. It's basically internet radio, you enter a few artists or songs you like and then it automatically finds songs similar to the ones you like based on your preferences. I have been enjoying it quite thoroughly for the past few days. There's a limited amount of time you can listen a month without paying, something like 40 hours. But honestly, the service is pretty great so...

If you wanna check out my station, I've added it to the sidebar there. Enjoy.

"Grabbin' pills."
-Louis

Animation Final 2009

Here it is, the long-awaited (by me) 20 second animation for my Advanced Animation class. I know what you're thinking -this sucks. But you're wrong. It only marginally sucks.

Anyway, enjoy!



"THE PTA IS DISBANDING! YEEAAHHHH!! YYEEAAAARRRGGGG!!!"
-Random Person (The Simpsons)

Cool Vids From Yesteryear and FONTMANIA!

I haven't decided if I am going to break up posts with different subjects yet, but for now, I don't think so. It seems silly if I have multiple things to post about and something might get missed in the fray. Hey, I'm not so stuffy as Kotaku just yet.

So, thanks to Netflix and my XBox 360, I have now enjoyed the entire series of John Cleese and Connie Booths' Fawlty Towers. For those of you not in the know, it's a surpringly popular British comedy sitcom from the 1970's about a hyperactive hotelier, and was voted one of Britan's best sitcoms of all time. So that got me to thinking; there was ANOTHER British sitcom I used to love on PBS, right before Keeping Up Appearances, and I really wanted to give it another look see. Unfortunately, the BBC's website yielded no adequate results.

So I found this website:





which has afforded me the ability to watch a great deal of the show; Mother and Son (as it turns out, it's Australian-based, not British). Watch the show. It's dark humor, but always good. Here's a teaser of an episode.



And to top things off, a great font site (they're free) shown to me by a teacher, though it's probably pretty well known. Indeed, I myself have used this site before, but I always bypassed it in favor of 1001 free fonts dot com. Anyway, check out this site for fonts.

http://www.dafont.com

"Yes, you'll be closer to the door then, for when you leave..."
-Maggie Bear

We Have New Message Board RPG!

Hey folks,

Today we celebrate the launch of

The Newscast EXU RPG or NCEXURPG for short. What is it? Well in essence it's a spiritual successor to Newscast RPG. Since it didn't officially 'end' and is still listed as ongoing, this is a way for newcomers to enjoy the random hilarity of the Newscast universe in a more direct fashon.

It begins on the Jachrid Space Station, the starting line for the Jachrid Rally and system-wide hotspot. What hilarious adventures will ensue? Only time will tell. The spaceport is currently open to all who wish to play.

More than anything, this is a test post so we can see that I am serious about doing this.

"You're right, no....human being would stack books like this."

-Dr. Peter Venkman

To All Who Visit This Happy Place; GET THE HELL OFF MY LAWN!

Greetings, everyone.

My name is Ayame Nelson. You might remember me from such classic writing spots as From The Big Book of Everything, Newscast RPG, and my personal favorite, If You Ever Want to See Your Son Again... That last one was a very personal piece for me. I've never since penned a better set of ransom demands.

So what is this then; another blog stopping up the already jam-packed internet tubes? In a word, "yes". In several words, "yes, now shut up and let me finish". It has been suggested to me that I begin to take account of things which I observe (mostly online, but also some in the real world) that influence me or inspire me. While I have a feeling that the actual content will eventually boil down to 'things that irritate me to the point where I begin hurting others', I remain nevertheless excited about the prospect.

Let it be now known that things not partaining to online will not contain links, as I don't have the foggiest idea of how to link this blog to an event in space time...yet.

So, now we know why we're here, who are we? And by 'we' I mean, me.

You already know my namem which IS Japanese and means Iris. No, I am not Japanese, not even partially which is one of many reasons I usually go by Ami instead. I am 24 years old, live in Las Vegas, Nevada, am attending school, working part time, and trying to become an artist. My hobbies include (but are not limited to) MST3K, video games, reading, writing, drawing, building props, making movies, and ranting. We'll probably learn more about me as we go along. For now, that should be enough to get you moving.

Since this is an introduction thread, I am going to try and keep it short. However, I should probably be mentioning a few of the following housekeeping items.
#1. This is gonna update whenever I feel like it. I'll make it a point to update frequently, but no set times, or dates. I am not going to turn this into a chore.
#2. I don't have a MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, or WoW account. If I get one, you'll be the first to know...that I've gone batshit insane.
#3. I'm leaving the comments open. Comment away. If your comment annoys me, I'll delete it. I don't think you need guidelines as to what not to post. Even though we're on the internet, I firmly believe that some of you are mature adults, and if you're not, go back to pwning n00bs on XBL, okay?

And now, I'll close with a tradition that I follow on my other blog; N.U.S.,

"I am gonna riff away like it's nobodies business...I...can't think of anything NOW, but..."
-Crow T. Robot