A thread by @SourCherryJack...

https://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1544560/1

... inspired a sketch. Because it's not allowed there, it's going here.

The scene doesn't make sense as it is in this depiction.

The program I painted in is simple. It doesn't have layers, has only type of paint and paintbrush, and has very few tools. I'd need to start from an empty canvas to correct the problems— which I might do, eventually.

That last portrait-style pixel art I uploaded unexpectedly became my big project for MerMay.

This is Lady.

The plan from here is to redraw the right arm, maybe increase the contrast in the skin tones, add water and a background, then animate the scene.

I could have used my time better than I did snapping at a teen for acting like a thoughtless troll. I apologized, but a BBS moderator deleted my post. The kid blocked me, so he wouldn't see a new post from me, anyhow. :shrug:

This is a story publishing-focused list. Some items are high priorities that are already in progress. Some are low priority and may be dropped if circumstances change. The links are both for me and you, if you're interested.

• Sign up to itch.io and set up creator page — DONE
• Request remove of (outdated) Twitter and Pinterest icons from Smashwords book pages
• Figure out why previous author profile wasn't used by D2D (owners) on Smashwords
• Prepare new epub for "Operation Park Closer" — DONE {see below}
• Publish "Operation Park Closer" on itch.io — DONE (https://falsfiction.itch.io/operation-park-closer)
• Remove "Operation Park Closer" from Smashwords
• Remove "Operation Park Closer" from Ream
• Publish "Little Red's Hoodie" — DONE (https://falsfiction.itch.io/little-reds-hoodie)
• Convert short story to script with simplified dialogue

Notes about these stories and others:

• "Little Red's" and "Park Closer" are opposites in some ways. Someone might enjoy one story and dislike the other.
• "Park Closer" is not representative of what I think of Fals Fiction because establishing a brand is soul-crushing. It's more a technical test of the publishing platforms.
• I'm participating in this year's FediZineFest with a short story ebook-style "zine" alrrady submitted. It's supposed to go out to buyers next month. Honestly, it's another story that wasn't meant for the Fals byline, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore.
• I might be stronger at writing bizarre love stories than standardized Romance stories. 😅
• All my novels (RotO, HUSSS, the forest fairy lords, and the older ones) are on hold again out of necessity.

Update, May the 4th: On the 30th, family news brought on another dramatic shift of my household's long-term goals again, away from what's easiest for me, which of course messes with the time and energy I've got for fiction writing. What I make is never a priority for long without being shoved down, because I dont make money off it. Sucks.

Anyhow, I persist.

Update, May the 8th: I welcome feedback. Everything is transient. It can be changed.

Trees are cool.

48 x 48 (scaled up)

5 colors matched to real life

Weird Science Fiction

A mediocre driving student at an interstellar academy for transportation, is on a(n unexpectedly dangerous) mission to befriend the nice guy on campus.

This 3k-word story is free to read from my new account on Ream. No signup required.

Update: If you'd care to trade money for an epub version, which has been further cleaned up, then take a look at my first ebook on Smashwords.

Above are three of my character sprites in a setting made of shared assets.

Did you know itch.io has loads of free pixel art game asset packs that may be used for random projects?!

I'm glad I've been learning how to draw stuff myself. But it's still nice to experiment with layouts, colors, and tools without make every piece from a blank canvas. If I can find enough to at least serve as bases I can draw on top of, I might be able to switch next month to writing interactive fiction or programming simple games. (Mm, not so simple as what I've made in Scratch last month. That was cute but not worth sharing.)

Credits:

• stringstar fields (shrubs) by Trixie
• Village Props (ground, trees, stones, and bench) by Cainos
• Castle of Despair by bullov (bags, scroll, base for books, and reference for recolors)

This is half me talking to myself and half showing off concept drawings.

I was working on early game design today—

(nothing's final (like how immediately after this posting I made changes))

(where I'm at with the concept background)

—and I got to talking with someone today about my inspiration for its world.

Every day through several months, years ago, an original epic fantasy was running through my mind. At one point back then, I started an outline and story notes to reference later.

After today's conversation, I pulled up the project files for that novel series idea. (Those files are apart from the game files because of the way I organize my projects.) I started cleaning up file duplicates. That's when I noticed the modification date on some of the documents.

I was preparing those story writing documents this same week in 2022. Some were created this same date, 18th of February. These are documents like character and world-building reference sheets.

That means at this time three years ago, I was thinking about the same characters for the same world running through my imagination now.

Happy anniversary to me.

~☆~

Oh,and the Void? That's both a character and a place in the story.

Advice to beginners: Learn to draw a box.

That's good advice to artists learning the basics of drawing standard forms.

The thing about that is my dislike of drawing boxes when I was a kid.

I could draw straight lines and connect the dots. I could freehand a diagram copied from another page while changing its size. These are valuable skills!

But they were easy for me to pick up.

What I could not do was understand what the lines did if the box was turned. I couldn't move the box in my mind. Changing the size meant moving the point is closer together. To change the angle, the points had to be in different places relative to each other.

I could draw a "3D" diagram of a box.

The problem was understanding a 2D image as a 3D or really as a 4D (moving) object. I could draw a real 3D box on the page only how I could see it through my eyes in the moment.

I couldn't visualize the hidden parts.

This was despite how often I played in and around boxes.

This was a problem for understanding other 3D shapes like heads and feet, too.

Can you guess what helped?

Scultping.

Holding pets and persons in moments that form strong memories of what they feel like.

Martial arts.

In general, I needed to understand how solid 3D shapes feel, not only what they look like.

I've still got a ways to go to master the drawing of a box. But I've certainly gotten some basics down, yeah?

Long ago in places far away, I made tree paintings with acrylic on paper or canvas. But now I'm learning how to do it digitally with a mouse.

My first attempts have been helpful as studies but not what I was aiming for.

I'm getting closer to a style that works for what I'm envisioning—

This concept art doesn't really show the stages below. From the last frame of the animation, imagine more growth and leaves.

Steps I'm Feeling Out:

1. Create multiple layers. One of the great features of digital art for the artist is that we can work on multiple layers with no waiting for pieces to dry. Each layer represents a depth.
2. Name each for the dominant thing expected to be at the layer's depth. Example: "trunk" and "fore-branches".
3. Block out the shapes on the appropriate layer. This can be whole tree or only the trunk and dominant branches.
4. Differ the main color(s) for each layer. If nothing else, this helps with checking if you're on the target layer, at least while there aren't too many details. But it can also help with creating a sense of depth on the final image.
5. Add shadows and highlights. This helps defines the shapes (and can be done on separate layers if confidence is an issue).
6. Set on to the fine details. Add and shift colors as needed,

I plan on revising this post when I'm further along. Maybe it will help someone.