An idea…
Friday, August 29th, 2008 at 6:20 amSo, I had this wild idea that when I’ve finished that ridiculous doujinshi it might be cool to try something like a comic adaptation of The Art of Dying. Which would mean drawing interiors, streetscapes, a horse and carriage… but the clothes, man, the clothes are so nice. It tempts me. I’m somewhat encouraged by how the characters came out in this first attempt at sketching them.
August 29th, 2008 at 9:59 am
What are the chances of a Gwynn yaoi novel? (yeah yeah… I’m single-minded)
I like that drawing. Every face has a distinct character. The clothes rock, too. Wish I could do as well.
I did take your advice and attempted to sketch a few things. It was my first attempt since, hrm, around 2002, when I doodled with some illustrations for some (porn) Star Wars: TPM fanfic (porn).
Conclusion: I need some books. I need some classes. I need to figure out that whole “proportion” thing. I don’t think I’ll ever be a real artist.
I do, however, have some mad skillz at Photoshop. Behold 4 hours of Wacom work.
Maybe I’ll call it Young Gwynn.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Chances of a Gwynn yaoi novel are kind of zero, I think. He can probably be a cocktease at parties, and he might go with a boy sometimes for variety, or if he’s too high to notice or care who he’s shagging, but he’s really a lover of women. Visions of labia twinkle in his head. I think his native culture condones boys and young men fooling around before they’re old enough to be husband material, and he probably did as others did, but I can’t see it as the basis for a story.
Star Wars ™ porn, eh? My first encounter with erotic literature was a SW parody in Playboy when I was about 7. Darth Vader in pearls, rebel troops falling at his feet and squealing ecstatically: “Where did you get your hair done?”
Classes are definitely good, though if you’re busy there are online tutorials that can probably teach you the same things.
I’ll probably never be a real artist either, but there’s still that point where it’s good enough. (I see that point up ahead, twinkling in the distance, I swear it’s there, like a distant town.) Yamane Ayano does good figures; you could do a lot worse than use characters from Viewfinder as reference models.
When you’re copying, you need to see the image as an abstract thing; you look at one line and say, ok, it extends to about a third of the way down the length of this other line nearby, at such and such an angle, then it bends to a wider angle, goes a bit beyond the end of that other line, etc. It can be helpful to turn the image upside down to copy it.
He’s intriguing! I really like the shadowed moulding of his face, and his expression — he looks somehow old for his years. He could indeed be a teenage Gwynn. (Is he someone famous that I should know?) You could try copying him in pencil; after you’ve spent so long working on something, your mind may have a better feel for what he’s meant to look like when you sit down to draw him.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Excuse my lack of culture, but what is this “Art of Dying” you are speaking of?
Nice sketches, by the way…
Your “ridiculous doujinshi” is very fun to follow, and your blog still very interesting.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
The visions of labia just make him hotter to me, you know.
Yamane Ayano does good figures;
I love her work. I heard the last of the Naked Truth arc was released yesterday,
Is he someone famous that I should know?
He’s a model pic I bought from stockphoto. I use those sites for comping but sometimes you find a pic you just want to play with.
My first encounter with erotic literature was a SW parody in Playboy
I can’t remember exactly what my first encounter with erotica was. But I do remember Xaviera Hollander’s little paperback that my mother had stuffed under the couch cushions. That never works, stuffing things in the cushions. Someone always finds them. *shifty eyes*
August 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Laurent - The Art of Dying is not something you would have heard of; it’s just a story I wrote — actually the first story I wrote, not counting schoolwork. Gwynn from The Etched City is in it, along with two lesbian duellists and a gossip reporter.
Glad you’re still enjoying the ridiculous doujinshi
Kirby - it wasn’t quite the last Naked Truth after all; it’s still “to be continued”.
My parents didn’t want me to think of sex as a taboo topic, so they just left their porn lying around where I could easily find it. Not that there was very much; just Dad’s Playboys and “Fear of Flying”, if that even counts as porn. I used to spread out the Playboys and have imaginary beauty contests with the centrefolds. I ended up with no notion of sex as taboo but an unrealistic idea of what I could expect to look like when I grew up. Naturally, when I actually started having sex, my mother was upset.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
The Art of Dying was one of the best stories in The New Weird. I read it twice.
I can draw. I just cannot make time to do anything “serious.” What are your thoughts on fan art?
August 30th, 2008 at 4:21 am
Thank you. I like your crow pictures. I think fan art is cool, as long as it’s either not for profit or permission is obtained from the original creator before sale. I sometimes do a little fan art myself. To draw the things we’re interested in is a pretty deep human instinct.
August 30th, 2008 at 4:31 am
Oooh, Vali and Mona look hot. (I suppose to say Gwynn looks hot would be redundant.)
Visions of labia dancing in his head, lol. I’m imagining him coming out of a shell like Venus with little winged vaginas dancing around.
August 30th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I nailed Vali, except for her hair. In the story it’s in lots of little braids, which I am not going to draw. Mona needs to look more hollow cheeked and sickly. I’ve thought of a scene to add to the story to make it more visually interesting and give Vali more to do.
I see him kneeling in reverence in front of a giant, radiant twat floating in the sky.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:07 am
* D is back from dead and resumes stalking *
I love the sketch. Nice and fresh. And is that the poor reporter in the upper part of the paper?
I admit I imagined him less… ugly. But not by much.
And a comic adaptation is a cool, cool idea. I want to see more.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Nice to see you, O resurrected one. That’s the reporter; I didn’t imagine him to be that ugly either, he just decided to come out that way for some reason. I’ll probably try a few more versions of him with less grotesquified features.
I’m much enamoured of Tiepolo’s sketches. I would really like a comic in a style like this. I can has learning curve…
September 5th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I hope your life and your writing are going in satisfactory directions, I have so much backlog to read.
I prefer your sketch.
Your hand is not as skilled and smooth, but the characters seem stronger and more alive.
September 5th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I’d like to have the best of both worlds — my characters as I want them to look, but a bit more of the skilled & smooth factor, which I hope will come with practice…